News

The 101 freeway will be closed in Los Angeles this weekend and Mayor Eric Garcetti used a local high school’s jazz band to accompany him in delivering a status report. Via the BBC: Garcetti recorded an R&B-style number, complete with music video, in an attempt to soften the news that the 101 freeway will shut for 40 hours. As factual …

From the AFA’s OneNewsNow: Josh McDowell says a new study shows the pervasiveness of pornography in the church and among Christians. The well-known evangelist and apologist commissioned the research by Barna Group. To his disappointment, the statistics proved what he had already feared – pornography has infiltrated the church, especially among young adults. “Of young adults 18-24 years old, 76 …

A massive 565-foot construction crane collapsed this morning in downtown Manhattan as operators were attempting to secure it under high winds. At least one person was killed in his parked car and wreckage is strewn for two city blocks. Con Ed workers have cut power and gas lines to the area as a precaution. This is the first crane collapse …

Clinton had a 31-point lead in the last national poll from Qunnipiac. The Hill reports: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has dramatically cut into the nationwide lead of primary rival Hillary Clinton, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. The poll released Friday finds Clinton leading the race with 44 percent support, compared to 42 percent support for Sanders, within …

And yet another one. Rolling Stone reports: Earth, Wind and Fire vocalist and co-founder Maurice White died in his sleep in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. A rep for the band confirmed his passing to Rolling Stone. He was 74. The singer had been battling Parkinson’s disease since 1992, according to TMZ. His health had reportedly deteriorated in recent months. …

Well, well, well. ABC News reports: The State Department is now saying that Hillary Clinton wasn’t the only former Secretary of State or their staff to handle classified information on a private email account, a Congressman told ABC News. Colin Powell and the immediate staff of Condoleezza Rice, both of whom served under President George W. Bush, also had information …

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio today introduced a proposal for a $2.5B streetcar line that would run along 16 miles of the East River waterfront in Brooklyn and Queens. Via the New York Times: By winding along the East River, the streetcars would vastly expand transportation access to a bustling stretch of the city that has undergone rapid …

Politico reports: The drug industry’s most notorious CEO, who exulted in making a fortune by jacking up the price of a life-saving medicine, will plead the Fifth Amendment on Thursday morning when he appears for the first time before lawmakers he trashes on Twitter. The appearance of former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, the hoodie-wearing, hip-hop-loving indicted millennial multimillionaire, will …

The Democratic presidential town hall begins shortly in New Hampshire. Anderson Cooper will moderate and CNN is live-streaming their coverage although you’ll need your cable provider login. Embedded below is a bootleg live-stream from YouTube. Watch along with us and weigh in as Bernie and Hillary jab with their increasingly sharp elbows.

Who do you think it was? Britain’s Telegraph reports: An anonymous US politician has put forward Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in one of the most unlikely nominations since that of Soviet strongman Josef Stalin in 1947. The nominator, likely to be a Republican senator or congressman — both of whom are eligible — submitted …

Bernie Sanders this morning announced that he’s agreed to debate Hillary Clinton on Thursday night. The Hill reports: “The answer is yes,” the independent Vermont senator said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked if he would participate in the Thursday night debate. “You know that I have always wanted more debates,” Sanders added. Sanders’ campaign maintained on Tuesday that he …

Over at The Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta believes the Christian Post‘s story about TLC bringing back 19 Kids & Counting is bullshit. He writes: First of all, the only publication reporting this news is the Christian Post. Are we really supposed to believe no one else is covering this? That alone should make you suspicious. The Christian Post also doesn’t …

There was no clear winner when I finally crashed at 2AM and we still don’t have one this morning. CBS News reports: Monday’s all-important Democratic caucuses in Iowa ended in a virtual tie. A statement from the party’s leader called the finish between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders “historically close,” but didn’t declare a winner. Dr. Andy McGuire said Clinton …

The International Astronomical Union has announced the names of a slew of exoplanets and stars as chosen by worldwide public ballot. Enter exoplanet Poltergeist, as nominated by an Italian group. Also new to the nomenclature galaxy is the star Cervantes (Spain) and the exoplanet Galileo (Netherlands).  The IAU writes: The votes are in — the names of 19 ExoWorlds (14 …

Via Flavorwire: The corner of Read and Tyson Streets in Baltimore will forever bear the glorious ghost of an iconically filthy moment: Divine (aka Harris Glenn Milstead), as Babs Johnson in John Waters’ Pink Flamingos, asserting her status as the “Filthiest Person Alive” by watching as a dog poops, approaching the poop, and then eating the poop.Soon — Kickstarter gods …

Donald Trump bragged that he’d get more viewers for his anti-Fox News rally than the actual GOP debate. Not by a long shot. Via Politico: Fox News’ Trump-less debate Thursday night drew 12.5 million viewers, the second-highest telecast in the network’s history but the second lowest-rated GOP debate of the cycle thus far. To be sure, the ratings on the …

The Associated Press reports: The Obama administration confirmed for the first time Friday that Hillary Clinton’s unsecured home server contained closely guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails with material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation comes just three days before the Iowa presidential nominating caucuses in which Clinton is a candidate. Department officials also said the …

St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans have been ranked among the world’s 50 most violent large cities based on homicides per 100,000 residents. Brazil has a staggering 21 cities on the list. From the Daily Mail: Latin America features highly in the ranking, released by Mexico’s Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, as it is home to …

We couldn’t get out of January without losing another rock legend. Billboard reports: Jefferson Airplane guitarist, vocalist and founding member Paul Kantner has died. He was 74. Kantner passed away on Thursday (Jan. 28) of multiple organ failure, following a heart attack earlier in the week. From 1965-1972, Jefferson Airplane was a pioneer in the Bay Area counterculture psychedelic rock …

Take it away TMZ: Ghostface Killah from Wu-Tang Clan just made a BIG mistake by mocking Martin Shkreli … according to Shkreli who’s now making a slew of threats against Ghost. TMZ obtained a video the pharma exec recorded while wearing his hardest sport coat, with 3 masked men standing behind him. Shkreli, who dropped $2 mil for Wu-Tang’s one-of-a-kind …