There was a time when one could often find Mandela Barnes on MSNBC. His hits peaked in late summer 2020, when Wisconsin ’s 33-year-old lieutenant governor took to the liberal airwaves to register his outrage over a police shooting in Kenosha. Those appearances left a strong impression, as Barnes — young, Black, equal measures charismatic and unapologetic — condemned law enforcement’s accounts of how one of their own shot Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man. ”We’re being told not to believe our eyes,” he said on the network. “If we have the accountability we deserve … we wouldn’t be in the place that we are with this racial reckoning.” It was an era when Democratic Senate candidates were fixtures on MSNBC, preaching soundbites to the liberal choir and hoovering up millions of dollars’ worth of donations, a reward for taking on a reviled Trump toady. Fast-forward two years, and Barnes is now a Democratic Senate candidate himself. But he’s appeared on the liberal cable network … [Read more...] about The Hot New Strategy for Unseating Trump Republicans: Don’t Make It About Trump
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Inside Operation Grouper: the DEA’s War on Marijuana Smuggling
It was the first hour of November 3rd, 1980, as the Learjet left behind Miami’s city lights and headed west over the dark of the Everglades. Aboard were two principals, each flanked by their respective henchmen . Until this hour, they had never met. The one who had leased the plane was a thirty-six-year-old drug-smuggling kingpin named Dan McGuiness. He had a penchant for ordering up Learjets on short notice. Once, after striking up a conversation with a young woman in a Boston bar, he went, on impulse, over to a pay phone and called up a Learjet from Miami to take the two of them to Jamaica for the weekend. McGuiness had pulled off enough successful smuggling deals to be able to afford little luxuries like that. The other man, forty-two-years old, was well known in smuggling circles as Theo Poulos, a specialist in providing highly specialized off-loading services to “mother ships” coming up from Co l ombia laden with marijuana . The aircraft was now headed for a … [Read more...] about Inside Operation Grouper: the DEA’s War on Marijuana Smuggling
Leslie West, Mountain Guitarist Who Belted Out ‘Mississippi Queen,’ Dead at 75
Leslie West , the towering guitarist who created the hard-rock milestone “ Mississippi Queen ” with his band Mountain , died Wednesday morning. West’s brother, Larry West Weinstein, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone. He was 75. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. On Monday, West was rushed to a hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at his home near Daytona, Florida, where he never regained consciousness. Released in 1970 on Mountain’s debut album, Climbing! , “Mississippi Queen” was two and a half minutes of boisterous bliss built around West’s burly yowl and guitar blasts and drummer Corky Laing’s completely unironic cowbell. One of those never-say-die songs of the classic-rock era, “Mississippi Queen” has been featured in countless soundtracks, TV shows ( The Americans , The Simpsons ), and in Guitar Hero III . In an interview with Guitar Player earlier this year, West said the song “has just everything you need to make it a winner. You’ve got … [Read more...] about Leslie West, Mountain Guitarist Who Belted Out ‘Mississippi Queen,’ Dead at 75
Teresa Giudice Gets Married To Luis Ruelas in Glamorous Wedding Ceremony
TMZ.com Teresa Giudice has tied the knot again ... and TMZ has obtained video of the moment the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star said "I do!" Teresa and fiancé Luis Ruelas got hitched Saturday night in front of 200 hundred family and friends at the fancy Park Chateau Estate & Garden in New Brunswick, NJ. Luis' sister, Dr. Veronica Ruelas , officiated the wedding. Our video captured the 2 lovebirds face-to-face while holding hands and surrounded by white roses as Veronica read their vows. TMZ.com After Luis said, "I do," his sister turned to Teresa and asked, "And Teresa do you take Luis as your husband, your best friend and partner in life? Teresa smiled and said, "Yes, I do." Veronica became the comedian ... "To overlook the endless dog hair on your white furniture?" Looking to the sky, Teresa laughed and again said "Yes" before Veronica wrapped up and made it official. Waiting for your permission to load the … [Read more...] about Teresa Giudice Gets Married To Luis Ruelas in Glamorous Wedding Ceremony
Learjets, Mistresses, and Bales of Weed: My Dad’s Life as a Drug Kingpin
T he black Cadillac pulls into the diner’s parking lot in Queens. Built in the 1950s, the building looks like it only exists on a rainy day, the rock-lined exterior out of another time. I step out of the Uber and look up at the restaurant where, in 1983, my father was arrested after escaping federal prison. He had spent two years on the lam, and was brought down by the U.S. Marshals after eating breakfast with his longtime mistress. He had just come from organizing a new shipment from Colombia. I imagine the day was also rainy. Almost 40 years later, I am there to meet with the Drug Enforcement Agency officer who tracked him for nearly a decade, trying to bring down one of the biggest mari juana kingpins of the 1970s, the man I once called “Daddy,” and one of the architects of the modern drug trade: Dan McGuiness. When the Cadillac arrived at my hotel, I had to laugh. The last time I saw my father, he, too, was driving a black Cadillac. He had just arrived in Los Angeles … [Read more...] about Learjets, Mistresses, and Bales of Weed: My Dad’s Life as a Drug Kingpin