Jimmy Kimmel and ABC might be headed down a dangerous road in the very near future.

Ted Cruz compares FCC Chair Carr to Mafia boss in Jimmy Kimmel warnings

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sharply criticized Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for his comments related to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel shortly before ABC pulled his show off the air.

Cruz said he took issue with Carr threatening to cancel ABC’s broadcast license over Kimmel’s remarks about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“He says, ‘We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way,’” the senator said of Carr in the latest episode of his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” which aired Friday morning.

“And I gotta say, that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas,’” Cruz said, referring to the classic mob film.

“That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it,’” he said.

“Look, I like Brendan Carr. He’s a good guy, he’s the chairman of the FCC. I work closely with him, but what he said there is dangerous as hell,” Cruz said at another point in the episode.

Cruz’s comments put him at odds with President Donald Trump, who applauded Kimmel’s suspension and later called Carr “outstanding.”

Cruz said he’s no fan of Kimmel’s and that he is “thrilled that he was fired” over his comments about Kirk.

“But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives,” Cruz said.

Kimmel, who has been suspended but not fired, said in his opening monologue Monday night that “the MAGA gang” is “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

On Wednesday, Carr slammed Kimmel at length during an appearance on right-wing commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast.

ABC has “a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said.

“But frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Hours later, ABC and Nexstar Media Group, which hosts ABC-affiliated local stations, pre-empted “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely.

Nexstar in August announced a planned $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna — a merger that will require the FCC’s approval.

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The role of social media and why those deranged people need to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk.

Washington Post columnist fired over social media posts after Charlie Kirk's assassination

A left-wing columnist revealed in a Substack on Monday that she was fired by the Washington Post over social media posts amid the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the Colorado school shooting. 

"On Bluesky, in the aftermath of the horrific shootings in Utah and Colorado, I condemned America’s acceptance of political violence and criticized its ritualized responses — the hollow, cliched calls for ‘thoughts and prayers’ and ‘this is not who we are’ that normalize gun violence and absolve [W]hite perpetrators especially, while nothing is done to curb deaths," Karen Attiah wrote.

Kirk, a leading conservative activist, was assassinated at a campus event in Utah on Wednesday. That same day, a separate shooting at a Colorado school left two students injured and the assailant dead.

Attiah included multiple screenshots of her posts on Bluesky, including one that read, "Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for [W]hite men who espouse hatred and violence."

"My only direct reference to Kirk was one post— his own words on record," Attiah wrote on Substack. 

In a post to her Bluesky account, Attiah wrote, "'Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a [W]hite person’s slot'- Charlie Kirk." 

Attiah appeared to reference a July 2023 remark made by Kirk during "The Charlie Kirk Show" about affirmative action in which he named Joy Reid, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee, according to Reuters, rather than speaking broadly about all Black women, as one viral X post suggested.

Attiah said she was fired for speaking out against political violence, "racial double standards" and America's "empathy towards guns."

"The Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being ‘unacceptable’, ‘gross misconduct’ and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false. They rushed to fire me without even a conversation. This was not only a hasty overreach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold," Attiah wrote in the post, where she included a 2019 photo of herself and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.

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If the murder of Charlie Kirk did not cause you to have a reaction then I don't know what will.

Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah event; manhunt for shooter still ongoing

• Conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk died Wednesday after he was shot at an event at Utah Valley University. He was speaking to a large crowd at an outdoor "Prove Me Wrong" debate, where he invites students to challenge his political and cultural views. 
• Authorities posted images Thursday of a "person of interest" and asked the public for help in identifying the individual. The Utah public safety commissioner said law enforcement has "good video footage" of the suspect, who has not yet been identified. Law enforcement officials also said the weapon used has been recovered and described it as a "high-powered, bolt-action rifle." 
• Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance will fly with Kirk's body on Air Force Two to his hometown in Phoenix, Arizona, according to officials.
• President Trump paid tribute to Kirk, and elected officials on both sides of the aisle swiftly condemned the attack and denounced acts of political violence.

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Alleged Charlotte light rail attacker facing federal charge

Federal criminal charges were filed in Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon by the United States Department of Justice against the man accused of fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte light rail over two weeks ago.

The Department of Justice said on Tuesday, Aug. 9, that they have filed federal criminal charges against 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown Jr. He was charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.

“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”

The FBI is investigating the case with the assistance of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

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One of the greatest marketing stories of all time involving Pepsi. Venezuelan drug dealers get taken out and We get an in depth Twins review from Patrick Reusse!!!

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A special Labor Day edition of the Weekly Scramble: GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!!!!!!!

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We should not have to live in a world where we fear our kids getting shot while at school mass

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Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift finally get engaged ending Reuvers cynical nature of their relationship. Our friend comedian Erica Rhodes goes viral in a Chicago TV interview, and some interesting thoughts on the South Carolina lockdown situation.

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SPPS working to fill teacher vacancies before new school year starts

St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is working to fill job openings with less than two weeks to go before the new school year starts.

“I’m confident we will have those teaching positions filled,” said Superintendent Dr. Stacie Stanley.

She explained SPPS Human Resources has been doing new intensive hiring fairs in the community to meet that goal.

The district had more than 135 teacher vacancies as of last week, according to a progress report to the Board of Education on Tuesday.

Cracker Barrel shares plummet after pushback on new logo, brand refresh

Shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

plummeted roughly 10% on Thursday after the restaurant unveiled its new logo earlier this week as part of a larger brand refresh.

The new logo removes the image of a man leaning against a barrel that was prominently featured in the original, leaving behind just the words “Cracker Barrel” against a yellow background. The phrase “old country store” has also been removed.

The company said the colors in the logo were inspired by the chain’s scrambled eggs and biscuits.

The change is part of a “strategic transformation” to revitalize the brand that started back in May 2024. Under that mission, Cracker Barrel’s brand refresh includes updates to visual elements, restaurant spaces and food and retail offerings.

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Twin Cities scream club builds community through relieving stress

Hollie Carr started the group after seeing a Chicago scream club on TikTok. Many people found her group the same way.

“Are you here to scream?” Hollie Carr asked people who strolled by her Sunday night as the sun began to set near the Cedar Nichols Trailhead in Burnsville.

Carr founded Scream Club Twin Cities MN in early August. The group travels to different lakes, rivers and streams every week to scream across the water. And they’re always looking for new participants.

“Screaming is inclusive of everyone,” Carr said. “It doesn’t matter what your issues are or what your stress is. Our goal is to scream in community.”

Minnesota spent nearly $46,000 on welfare per person in poverty in 2023

Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau publishes the Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. This is the country’s only source of state and local spending data, allowing a detailed state-by-state comparison. The survey also divides spending data into categories, making it possible to analyze which public services states prioritize.

Overall, public welfare is the largest expenditure for most states. However, the level at which states prioritize assistance programs over other public services, such as roads and police, differs.

Minnesota, for instance, has a massive welfare system, dedicating a larger share of its revenue to assistance programs than most states. Additionally, Minnesota ranks among the top states for poverty-adjusted welfare spending, making it one of the most generous in the nation. In 2022, Minnesota spent approximately $42,000 (in 2023 $) per person on poverty, ranking second-highest in the entire country.

This trend continued in 2023, as newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals.

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