WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post.

In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans pushed aside Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader, lawmakers said. The Louisiana lawmaker is seen as a hero to some after surviving a mass shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice few years ago.

Republicans who have been stalemated after McCarthy’s removal will seek to assemble their narrow House majority around Scalise in what is certain to be a close vote of the full House. Democrats are set to oppose the Republican nominee.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is meeting behin

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is dropping out of the Democratic primary race against Joe Biden to launch an independent campaign for president next year, he said in a speech on Monday.

Speaking to a crowd in front of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, he cast his decision to leave the party his family has symbolized for decades as in keeping with American values of individualism -- and his own platform, which mixes liberal policy priorities with tougher rhetoric on immigration and controversial claims about public health.

"Something is stirring in us. It says, 'It doesn't have to be this way,'" Kennedy said. "People stop me everywhere, at airports and hotels and malls on the street, and they remind me that this country is ready for a history-making change. ... They are ready to reclaim their freedom, their independence. And that's why I'm here today. I'm here to declare myself an independent candidate … for president of the United States."

"I'm comi

I don't know what the world may need, but I'm sure as hell that it starts with me, and that's a wisdom I have laughed at

I don't know what the world may want
But a good stiff drink it surely don't
So I think I'll go and fix myself a tall one

'Cause what the world needs now is a new kind of tension
'Cause the old one just bores me to death
'Cause what the world needs now is another folk singer
Like I need a hole in my head

I don't know what the world may need
But a V-8 engine's a good start for me
I think I'll drive and find a place to be surly

I don't know what the world may want
But some words of wisdom could comfort us
Think I'll leave that up to someone wiser

'Cause what the world needs now are some true words of wisdom
Like la la la la la la la la la
'Cause what the world needs now is another folk singer
Like I need a hole in my head

I don't know what the world may need
And I'l

In recent days, Democrats have tried to show our colleagues in the Republican majority a way out of the dysfunction and rancor they have allowed to engulf the House. That path to a better place is still there for the taking.

Over the past several weeks, when it appeared likely that a motion to vacate the office of speaker was forthcoming, House Democrats repeatedly raised the issue of entering into a bipartisan governing coalition with our Republican counterparts, publicly as well as privately.

It was my sincere hope that House Democrats and more traditional Republicans would be able to reach an enlightened arrangement to end the chaos in the House, allowing us to work together to make life better for everyday Americans while protecting national security.

Regrettably, at every turn, House Republicans have categorically rejected making changes to the rules designed to accomplish two objectives: encourage bipartisan governance and undermine the ability of ex

The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's classified documents case on Friday temporarily paused a series of significant pre-trial deadlines pertaining to prosecutors' sharing of sensitive materials that the former president is entitled to while building his defense, The Messenger reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon authorized a paperless order delaying the deadlines she'd previously set for October 2023 through May 2024, when the trial for Trump and his three co-defendants in the case is scheduled to start in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Though Cannon's order doesn't address the May 20 start date for the trial itself, it does state that all of the scheduled deadlines connected to classified information are on hold "pending consideration and resolution" of a Trump motion proposing a new timeline that was filed last month.

That Sept. 22 filing accused special counsel Jack Smith's team of making "unjust efforts...to foist rushed CIPA litigation o

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
All those nights when you've got no lights
The check is in the mail
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail
And your third fiance didn't show
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah)
Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah)
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead
The morning's looking bright (the morning's looking bright)
And your shrink ran off to Europe
And didn't even write
And your husband wants to be a girl
Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna go where people know
People are all the same
You wanna go where everybody

Back Back Forward Punch, looking for my level up. Back Back Forward Punch. Yes I came here to get drunk
Back Back Forward Punch
Pixel cannon laser gun
Back Back Forward Punch
I came came here here to jump
Yo yo yo yo yo
Yo wasuup it's tommy shades
No no no I'm not a figment
Yess next to me is sketch
Playing co-op as my wingman
The mission is impress
With the freshest button combos
A futuristic quest called,
Doing what I want yo
I step step to the bar
Imma get pixlated
Next to a cutie whos booty
It seems has been upgraded
I truely do need to know
What your what your doing later
I think that you and your crew
Need to come and multiplayer
In this Drunk Arcade
You know that we gonna play
In this Drunk Arcade
Drink untill we pixelate
In this Drunk Arcade
You know that we gonna play
In this Drunk Arcade
Drink untill we pixelate
I'm collecting drinks like
They givi

Spoiler alert - Karlach's kink is Ray of Frost, leaving at least one gnome mage with slightly singed lips and stars in his eyes.

gaming

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat viewed as a national leader in voting rights, has received 67 death threats and over 900 threats of online abuse within just three weeks, according to a system used by her office that tracks harassment and threats against election workers.

In 2020, Griswold's office launched a "rapid response" election security unit, a team of election security experts tasked with protecting Colorado's elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. A year later, her office set up a tracker to monitor the growing number of threats against election workers.

Griswold told Salon that "if anybody understands" what election workers around the country "are going through, it's me." She continued, "Everything that we have done for my security, we have had to fight tooth and nail for. State and federal governments have largely abandoned election workers. I understand what these county clerks are going th

Kpop gets all the press. Meanwhile, Spop is all the rage in the Ukrainian underground...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZALtzTmPz-E

@momo

music

@sindastra Per your request:

Oh....my... God.
Becky, look at her butt,uh! it's so big.
She looks like one of those rap guy's girlfriends.
But, uh, y'know,
Who understands those rap guys?
They only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute, okay.
I mean, her butt! It is just so.. Big.
I cannot believe it is just so.. Round.
It is, like, out there. I mean, gross.
Look! She has just so... Black!

I like big butts an' I can not lie.
You otha brothas can't deny.
That when a girl walks in wit' a itty bitty waist an'
A round thing in yo' face. You get SPRUNG.
Want to pull up tough, cuz you notice that butt was STUFFED.
Deep in the jeans she has wearin'.
I am hooked an' I cannot stop starin'.
Oh baby, I want to get wit' ya,
An' take yo' picta.
My homeboys tried to warn me.
But that butt you got makes me so horny.

@jeaton Your profile pic absolutely demanded I send this to you, but that might just be the soup talking.

movies

The Afrofuturism movement within sci-fi may be equal to this moment, in part because it grows out of a history of displacement, atrocity, and instability.

One task of science fiction is to knock us off-kilter — to transport us to altered times and places, the better to question our own world. But sci-fi has renewed competition in that department from reality itself. The quickening storm of events in America in the last half-decade, culminating in 2020 in the Covid-19 pandemic and the uprisings against systemic racism, has unmoored us from old norms and expectations with a suddenness that societies witness perhaps once or twice per century. The future is upon us in its full uncontrolled ferocity, and it takes all our resilience just to adapt from week to week and keep steering toward hope.

But at least one movement within sci-fi may be equal to this moment, in part because it grows out of a history of displacement, atrocity, and instability. It’s Afrofuturism, the

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado judge overseeing the first significant lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot on Friday issued a protective order prohibiting threats and intimidation in the case, saying the safety of those involved — including herself and her staff — was necessary as the groundbreaking litigation moves forward.

“I 100% understand everybody’s concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we’ve seen in other cases,” District Judge Sarah B. Wallace said as she agreed to the protective order.

The order prohibits parties in the case from making threatening or intimidating statements. Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state representing Trump in the case, opposed it. He said a protective order was unnecessary because threats and intimidation already are prohibited by law.

It was sought by lawyers for the liberal group Citizens For Responsibility and Eth

In my long experience working with artists across all media, one of the things that I've found the most rewarding is discovering their inspirations, which often lead to new creative ideas of my own.

So I thought I'd ask Kbin, what inspires you? Is it a piece of music? A novel? A poem? A picture? A philosophy? A spiritual text? What lifts your soul to song? A software? A science? A symphony?

What gets your creative juices flowing?

Full disclosure - I am the mod of @13thFloor, which is dedicated to engaging the creative spirit. Your inspirations and creativity are more than welcome there as well.

This is a great track by Inkjetski - Home to You - dig the guitar work:

https://inkjetski.bandcamp.com/track/home-to-you

@exchgr thanks for your music - you've got real talent - looking forward to hearing more!

music

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but congressional Republicans are once again careening toward internal crisis and a damaging government shutdown.

You may remember this song-and-dance from the last four or five times the party’s hard-line Freedom Caucus members held America’s economy hostage. That doesn’t make our latest spin on the roller coaster any less nauseating.

In the past, Republican leaders managed by the slimmest of margins to avert financial catastrophe by working with Democrats to pass temporary funding bills. This time it isn’t even clear they can achieve that minimum level of competence — in part because House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has blown his internal credibility to bits.

Meanwhile, th

We created https://urusai.social as a safe, cozy, English-first home for happy weebs and all of our varied interests - URUSAI! Social: All the otaku content. None of the toxicity. Come join us in our mission to be wholesome!

Transferring servers is a simple 2-step process and all your stuff comes with you, even your followers! #anime #manga #mastodon #instance #server #otaku #nerds #geek Boosts appreciated! #BoostMe

This is a bit of test post to see if it helps federate urusai.social with kbin's domain tracking. @neatchee is the admin, and they're running a nice stack over there - otaku fans should go check t

The end of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has had a profound effect on maternal healthcare and abortion access across the country. Fourteen states have now completely banned abortion and two dozen more have bans at 22 weeks or less. As a result, an already grim maternal health care landscape has worsened.

New data reveals an unexpected consequence of these developments: Young women, even those in states where abortion remains legal, say they are foregoing having children because they are afraid to get pregnant because of changes that followed the Dobbs decision that ended Roe.

Polling conducted in August by my organization, All In Together, in partnership with polling firm Echelon Insights found that 34 percent of women aged 18-39 said they or someone they know personally has “decided not to get pregnant due to concerns about managing pregnancy-related medical emergencies.” Put another way, poor or unavailable maternal health care post-Dobbs is leading people to alter s