President Biden’s open dislike of Facebook could spell problems for the social network.
This week, Joe Biden took the job that many believe Mark Zuckerberg secretly craves, or at least craved. And in doing so, he completed a reverse metamorphosis for Zuckerberg. A butterfly no longer, he finds himself alienated politically.
“He’s not a welcome figure at the cocktail party any more. And I don’t think he has been for a long time,” says Sarah Miller, director of the American Economic Liberties Project. She also happens to be on Joe Biden’s transition team.
“There is not a lot of love lost there,” she told me. “Facebook is broadly seen as the most prominent villain, among all the tech monopolists.”
Obama’s administration was considered to be close to Silicon Valley and to Facebook. If Biden was ever a friend, he’s not now.
In fact, the president often uses Facebook as a byword for the ills of a free internet gone wrong.
Talking to the New York Times a year ago he said:
“I’ve never been a fan of Facebook, as you probably know. I’ve never been a big Zuckerberg fan. I think he’s a real problem.”
It’s not just Biden. In the days after Biden’s election victory, his deputy head of communications, Bill Russo, tweeted:
“If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after.”
Police said it was reported that two men invaded the home in the 2900 block of Grover Street in McKeesport. A witness told police there was a knock at the rear door of the home and when they answered, a firearm was pointed in their face.
A witness identified Hale, and it was reported that Hale hit Gutierrez-Faust in the head and face multiple times and then strangled him, according to the criminal complaint.
The second suspect, still unidentified, then reached into Gutierrez-Faust’s pocket after and took money and crack cocaine, according to the document.
Police said it was reported that two men invaded the home in the 2900 block of Grover Street in McKeesport. A witness told police there was a knock at the rear door of the home and when they answered, a firearm was pointed in their face.
A witness identified Hale, and it was reported that Hale hit Gutierrez-Faust in the head and face multiple times and then strangled him, according to the criminal complaint.
The second suspect, still unidentified, then reached into Gutierrez-Faust’s pocket after and took money and crack cocaine, according to the document.
A winter storm watch in our region will go into effect from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning.
The affected areas include Westmoreland Ridges and Fayette Ridges, including the cities of Ligonier, Donegal, Champion, Ohiopyle,
Terra Alta, Rowlesburg, Hazelton, Davis, Thomas and Canaan Valley.
From 2 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Tuesday, the watch will be in effect; however, a winter weather advisory could be issued by that time.
NWS Pittsburgh says that potential ice from the expected snow, sleet and freezing rain could lead to power outages and tree damage. They anticipate that the Monday evening and Tuesday morning commutes could be impacted by the weather conditions.
“Travel could be nearly impossible,” the NWS Pittsburgh wrote in its alert on Sunday morning.
Deportations carried out during The Obama Years left immigrant communities fractured and financially devastated.
When people demand the reunification of immigrant families today, they usually mean the thousands of asylum seekers separated from family members in the last four years. “The specter of [the Trump administration’s] family separation at the borders was so haunting that the term has been kind of narrowed,” said Naureen Shah, senior advocacy and policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “But just because these things happened in the past, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a really awful present effect.”
If Mr. Biden is serious about “securing our values as a nation of immigrants,” he can’t just reverse President Donald Trump’s decisions, or label deportations under President Barack Obama a “big mistake.”
He must repair the harm that was done when he was vice president, which left communities fractured and financially devastated, as the public health researcher William D. Lopez observed in his book, “Separated.” He should extend some of the same relief sought for victims of Mr. Trump’s policy of family separation — such as mental health services and reunification — to those torn apart by Mr. Obama’s policies.
It’s true that the motivation and goals of the Obama administration’s policy differed from the Trump administration’s. Mr. Trump’s policies were designed to traumatize children and parents. They were rooted in his extremist adviser Stephen Miller’s animus for family migration.
(CNN)A Chinese-born alleged drug kingpin accused of presiding over a multi-billion dollar narcotics operation has been arrested by Dutch authorities.
Canadian national Tse Chi Lop was detained at Amsterdam’s Schipol International Airport on Friday, according to Australian Federal Police (AFP), which has taken the lead in a sprawling international investigation. Before his arrest, Tse was one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives.
Authorities allege that Tse, 57, is the leader of the Sam Gor Syndicate, arguably the biggest drug-trafficking operation in Asia’s history. Experts say he isin the same league as notorious drug lords El Chapo and Pablo Escobar.
After Tony Moreno retired from the Pittsburgh police in 2018, he intended to move to Florida.
But Moreno, 51, of Brighton Heights, said he had ideas about how the city could be improved. He looked for someone to share them with, someone who could run for office.
“I started seeing how drastically Pittsburgh was changing in policy and demographics and I didn’t like it,” Moreno said.
“I have a dislike for politics,” Moreno said. But after 24 years on the force, working in what he called a “broken system,” he decided to run for mayor.
“I can’t leave Pittsburgh worse than when I got here,” said Moreno, who is originally from Whittier, Calif, the boyhood home of President Richard Nixon.
Couric’s comments have reportedly worried the producers of Jeopardy!, where she’s preparing for a week-long guest hosting gig, making her the first woman to lead the game show.
Couric recently appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, where she discussed extremist beliefs in Congress, following the riot on the Capitol
The 64-year-old said: ‘And the question is how are we going to really almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump’
She’s now facing backlash from the mostly ‘conservative’ audience of Jeopardy!, ahead of her guest hosting gig
The average age of the show’s audience is 64.2 years old, and it’s made an effort to avoid politics
A source told Page Six that the game show’s producers are worried, adding: ‘At the very least, she already appears to have ruled herself out of becoming the permanent host of the show’
It comes after the death of beloved host Alex Trebek back in November
The F.B.I. and local authorities are investigating a bombing on Saturday morning at a church in Los Angeles County that had recently been the target of protests for its extremist views against L.G.B.T.Q. people, women and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The police responded to reports of an explosion at the church, First Works Baptist Church, in El Monte, Calif., just after 1 a.m. on Saturday.
An “improvised explosive device” was found to be the source of the attack, said Chief David Reynoso of the Police Department in El Monte, which is about 13 miles east of Los Angeles. Officials would not elaborate on what they found.
No one was in the church at the time, and no injuries were reported. The authorities found obscenities and the words “get out” spray-painted on the front of the church, Chief Reynoso said.
A Las Vegas-based tour bus heading to the Grand Canyon rolled over in northwestern Arizona on Friday, killing one person and critically injuring two others, authorities said.
A spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said the cause of the Friday afternoon wreck was not yet known, but a fire official who responded said speed appeared to be a factor. No other vehicles were involved.
“It was a heavily damaged bus. He slid down the road quite a ways, so there was a lot of wreckage,” said Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District Chief Tim Bonney. “Just to put it in perspective, on a scale of zero to 10, an eight.”
None of the passengers was ejected from the vehicle but they were all in shock, Bonney said.”
A lot of them were saying the bus driver was driving at a high rate of speed,” he said.
A photo from the sheriff’s office showed the bus on its side on a road that curves through Joshua trees with no snow or rain in the remote area.
The carcass of an enormous finback whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was discovered near the Italian port of Sorrento earlier this week, the Italian Coast Guardsaid in a Facebook post.
Officials discovered the carcass on Sunday (Jan. 17), before towing it to the nearby port at Naples. The whale measured about 65 feet (20 meters) long and likely weighed more than 77 tons (70 metric tons) — likely making the corpse “one of the largest” ever found in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the agency.
Coast Guard divers first discovered the whale after a young calf swam into the Sorrento harbor in a state of distress, according to news reports. The calf reportedly rammed its head into the harbor walls several times before retreating back underwater; when divers followed it, they discovered the fin whale’s corpse.
The calf is presumed to be the dead whale’s offspring, and the Coast Guard is monitoring for signs of the young whale’s return. Meanwhile, marine biologists in Naples are working to ascertain what killed the whale.
Finback whales (also known as fin whales) are the second-largest animals on Earth, after the iconic blue whale. Finbacks can grow to be 85 feet (25 m) long and weigh up to 80 tons (72 metric tons), according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They are considered endangered after commercial whaling decimated the global finback population over the last century.
Today, commercial whaling is illegal throughout most of the world, and boat strikes pose the biggest threat to finbacks, according to NOAA.
(CNN)Thirty-three missing children were recovered this month in an anti-human trafficking operation led by FBI’s Los Angeles field office, the bureau said in a statement Friday.
Of the 33 children recovered during “Operation Lost Angels,” eight were being sexually exploited at the time of their recovery, the FBI said. The operation began on January 11.
Two children were recovered multiple times during the operation, the FBI said, noting it’s not uncommon for rescued victims to return to commercial sex trafficking “either voluntarily or by force, fraud, or coercion.”
“This harmful cycle highlights the challenges victims face and those faced by law enforcement when attempting to keep victims from returning to an abusive situation. Victims may not self-identify as being trafficked or may not even realize they’re being trafficked,” the FBI statement said.
Some of the other victims located during the operation were sexually exploited in the past and were considered vulnerable missing children, the statement said.
One suspected human trafficker faces state charges as a result of the operation and several other investigations were opened, the FBI said.
Some of the rescued minor victims “were arrested for probation violations, robbery, or other misdemeanors” while one child a victim of a noncustodial parental kidnapping, according to the statement.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and the caseload “for both sex and labor trafficking-related crimes has increased significantly in the past several years,” the statement said.”
The FBI considers human trafficking modern day slavery and the minors engaged in commercial sex trafficking are considered victims,” said Kristi Johnson, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office. “While this operation surged resources over a limited period of time with great success, the FBI and our partners investigate child sex trafficking every day of the year and around the clock.”
Teaching children about human trafficking
The operation involved the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and more than two dozen other law enforcement agencies along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the California Department of Child and Family Services, and victim advocacy organizations, according to the FBI.
The FBI is working with its partners to provide resources to the rescued children, including medical care and legal services.
An Allegheny County man died after he was involved in a crash Friday evening in Hampton, the county Office of the Medical Examiner said.
Douglas Hanson, 57, died at Allegheny General Hospital after the single-vehicle wreck in the 4000 block of Branding Place, according to the office. It listed his home as the Allison Park area.
The county had reported a vehicle over a hillside late Friday at the Branding Place location. It occurred shortly before 7 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
Hampton police could not be reached immediately early Saturday.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – As many as 17 Pittsburgh police officers face discipline after they’re accused of drinking on the job.
The city isn’t saying much about it, but they confirm they are aware of it and are taking action. Police brass say they can’t discuss “personnel matters,” but acknowledge hearing the allegations KDKA has heard. An investigation is underway.
It was election night, Nov. 3. Extra police were on duty, working long shifts in case trouble erupted.
The allegations are that as many as 17 of the officers took a dinner break on the South Side. As dinner was served, the allegations are that alcoholic beverages were served too.
It’s a troubling revelation for Beth Pittinger, the head of Pittsburgh’s Civilian Review Board.
“The problem is that they were still on the clock, so that means they were still on duty. They had to be prepared, to be ready at a moment’s notice. They were still on duty. But that didn’t seem to matter,” said Pittinger.
But that’s not the only problem. Pittinger says they didn’t follow COVID-19 protocols.
(CNN)The Justice Department revealed new charges against a Texas man who allegedly participated in the Capitol attack and posted online death threats against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a US Capitol Police officer.
Garret Miller of Texas faces five criminal charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection, including trespassing offenses and making death threats. Miller allegedly tweeted, “assassinate AOC,” according to court documents.
He also said the police officer who fatally shot a Trump supporter during the attack “deserves to die” and won’t “survive long” because it’s “huntin[g] season.”
“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster,” the statement said.
King, with his trademark suspenders and iconic voice, spent more than 60 years in the spotlight. He hosted CNN’s “Larry King Live” for 25 years, interviewing everyone from world leaders and icons to criminals and conspiracy theorists during 6,000-plus episodes of the show from 1985 to 2010.
“Instead of goodbye, how about so long,” King told viewers when singing off from his final CNN show in 2010.
King went on to work on a variety of projects following his CNN tenure, including co-founding Ora TV in 2012.
King’s historic career began on local radio back in Miami back in 1957 as a talk show host and disk jockey. His passion for free-flowing interviews began in 1958 when he an on-location interview program from Miami’s Pumpernik Restaurant, where he literally spoke to whoever entered the door. He eventually added to his skill set by providing color commentator for Miami Dolphins’ broadcasts and landed on television by 1964. Around the same time, King started writing columns for newspapers including The Miami Herald, The Miami News, and The Miami Beach Sun-Reporter.
Legal and financial issues nearly derailed his career in the 1970s but recovered to launch the Larry King Show” on Mutual Broadcasting Network in 1978, which paved the way for his highly successful CNN program.
Born Lawrence Zeiger on November 19, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, he started going by Larry King early in his career. He battled lung cancer, lived with Type 2 diabetes, survived multiple heart attacks and underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 1987. The broadcasting legend promised to help others and established the The Larry King Cardiac Foundation (LKCF) in 1988, which helps facilitate critical treatment for people who would otherwise be unable to receive care because of either financial or insurance issues.
The non-profit organization was funded from the proceeds of King’s books, speaking engagements, and from entertainment galas conducted in New York City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, according to the LKCF website.
King wrote “Taking on Heart Disease” to help educate victims of heart disease. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989, has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, won a pair of Peabody Awards for Excellence in broadcasting, 10 Cable ACE awards and was honored in 2008 by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California, among many other awards and milestones.
The longtime Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers fan was regularly seen at Dodger Stadium cheering on his favorite team. He was married eight times, to seven different women, but had been single since filing for divorce from actress Shawn King in 2019.
King lost two of his five adult children when Andy, 65, and Chaia, 51, died within weeks of each other in 2020. Andy had a heart attack while Chaina had been battling lung cancer.
(CNN)The path in the Senate to convict Donald Trump is extremely slim, with a growing number of Republicans expressing confidence that the party will acquit the former President on a charge that he incited the deadly insurrection aimed at stopping President Joe Biden’s electoral win.
After Democratic leaders announced they would kick off the process to begin the impeachment trial on Monday, Republicans grew sharply critical about the proceedings — and made clear that they saw virtually no chance that at least 17 Republicans would join with 50 Democrats to convict Trump and also bar him from ever running from office again.
In interviews with more than a dozen GOP senators, the consensus was clear: Most Republicans are likely to acquit Trump, and only a handful are truly at risk of flipping to convict the former President — unless more evidence emerges or the political dynamics within their party dramatically change. Yet Republicans are also signaling that as more time has passed since the riot, some of the emotions of the day have cooled and they’re ready to move on.
“The chances of getting a conviction are virtually nil,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican.
“I don’t know what the vote will be but I think the chance of two-thirds is nil,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of his party’s leadership who called the Democratic push to begin the trial “vindictive.”
Officials with the Massachusetts National Guard on Friday released a statement identifying and correcting falsehoods in a report that suggested a Massachusetts congressman was responsible for Guardsmen being sent to a parking garage.
Without mentioning the source of the report, the statement appears to reference an article published by the conservative Breitbart website on Thursday. The authors said a source told them Rep. William Keating had “complained about one National Guard member not wearing a mask at a cafe in the building” and linked that to troops being “forced to evacuated the Capitol building grounds.”
“It makes no sense and quite frankly could not be farther from the truth,” Maj. Gen. Gary Keefe, the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard said in a statement.”
The relocation of National Guardsmen within the U.S. Capitol building grounds has nothing to do with Congressman Keating reminding a soldier of the requirement to wear their mask,” the general wrote.
The statement explains that Capitol building officials asked the Guardsmen to move their break area to a garage because the Senate was in session.
Keefe also said that photos of the Guardsmen in the garage have been taken out of context.
“What the stories failed to mention was that they were on a break, resting between shifts,” Keefe said in his statement. “At the end of the duty day, soldiers returned to their hotel rooms
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In the aftermath of President Trump’s tumultuous exit from the presidency there is increased talk of folks wanting to leave the Republican Party. As an alternative they offer a MAGA-centric party known as the Patriot Party.
This would be a major mistake and a fool’s errand as bad as the Jan. 6 effort that sought to disrupt the Electoral College count.
As a Reagan Republican, I’m proud of the legacy of a party that freed the slaves, won the Cold War and has stood for common sense free enterprise principles. If folks choose to leave to follow a blind cult of personality centered on a one-term president, then count me out. Their efforts will lead to monumental failure and an empowered Democratic Party.
Roman Catholic bishops criticized on Friday President Biden’s recent executive order on applying anti-discrimination protections to certain groups, arguing it didn’t properly account for religious liberty and furthered “false theories on human sexuality.”
Wednesday’s order, they said, “threatens to infringe the rights of people who recognize the truth of sexual difference or who uphold the institution of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. This may manifest in mandates that, for example, erode health care conscience rights or needed and time-honored sex-specific spaces and activities.”
Signed by bishops from across the country, the statement represented another sharp disagreement Church leadership had with the second U.S. president to identify as Roman Catholic.
The executive order referenced the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a controversial opinion on what’s protected under sex-based anti-discrimination law.
Former President Donald Trump said Friday in his first public remark since leaving office that he will make a comeback in some form — but he’s not saying how.“We’ll do something”
Amid the pomp and circumstance of this week’s inauguration, one prominent Democrat was notably absent.
Amid the pomp and circumstance of this week’s inauguration, one prominent Democrat was notably absent.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., first told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that she had foregone her invitation to President Biden’s inauguration to support a union strike in the South Bronx.
“I’m thrilled for President Biden and Vice President Harris,” she said, “I think the festivities were phenomenal.”
But when pressed, the progressive rabble-rouser admitted that she’d also sat out the swearing-in due to security concerns, adding that she didn’t feel safe around her colleagues at the moment.
“This was supposed to be a show of force and unity and you weren’t there. Explain it,” Cuomo said.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio — A large amount of drugs seized in Steubenville on Thursday night landed two people in jail.
Jamal Goings, 30, of Chicago, was arrested, along with 22-year-old Mayia Dokes of Mingo Junction, who was present at the search and arrested on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
Goings faces multiple drug charges, including drug trafficking and possession, following a search in a Steubenville home.
Policed seized 60 grams of fentanyl, 30 grams of crack, and $500 during the search.
Chick-fil-A says it is “kicking off the year by offering a grilled version of a spicy favorite.”
Starting on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, fans get a Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe sandwich for a limited time.
The grilled version of the sandwich “features grilled chicken marinated in a spicy seasoning served on a toasted multigrain brioche bun with Colby-Jack cheese, lettuce and tomato.” A creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce was “created specifically for the new sandwich.”
Hank Aaron, legendary slugger and Hall of Famer, died at the age of 86, the Atlanta Braves announced Friday morning. CBS46 in Atlanta first reported the news.
Aaron established himself as an inner-circle all-time great during the course of his 23-year career with the Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers from 1954-76.
In said career, Aaron hit .305/.374/.555 (155 OPS+) with 624 doubles, 755 home runs, 2,297 RBI, 2,174 runs, 3,771 hits and 240 stolen bases. He retired as the all-time home run leader and held the record for decades. He’s still the all-time leader in RBI and total bases. He also holds the record for the most All-Star games at 25 and the most seasons as an All-Star at 21 (for a stretch, MLB held two All-Star games per year).
The 1957 NL MVP, Aaron also won three Gold Gloves and two batting titles while leading the league in home runs four times, RBI four times, runs three times, hits twice, doubles four times, slugging four times and OPS three times. He won the World Series with the 1957 Braves and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first try in 1982.
Seattle residents have reportedly taken issue with city officials’ lack of public response in the wake of violent unrest in the Washington city on inauguration night.
Seattle residents have reportedly taken issue with city officials’ lack of public response in the wake of violent unrest in the Washington city on inauguration night.
Local activists are seeking answers after Seattle City Hall failed to publicly address Wednesday night’s protests, local KOMO News reported.
Just hours after President Biden took office, a group of about 100 people marched in the Emerald City, where police said windows were broken at a federal courthouse and officers arrested three people.
The crowd called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, outside the federal immigration court, several people set fire to an American flag, The Seattle Times reported.
President Biden’s open dislike of Facebook could spell problems for the social network.
WASHINGTON —
Hank Aaron, legendary slugger and Hall of Famer, died at the age of 86, the 
