Comment on Jon M. Chu Waited 20 Years for the Chance to Direct ‘Wicked’ - The New York Times

To Republican lawmakers, the 2024 election results were the mandate they’d been hoping for to justify their attacks on transgender rights. After a historically anti-LGBTQ campaign cycle in which more than $200 million was pumped into anti-trans advertisements, GOP elected officials from Congress to state legislatures are feeling emboldened by Donald Trump’s victory—and moving fast to put the next wave of transphobic policies in place. Ohio is a case in point.

By AAMER MADHANI WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. The official said “the pure math” of Ukraine’s situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months. But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its troop levels if it’s going to stay in the fight with Russia. The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.

Tuberville continues to prove himself the most inept of Vladimir Putin's useful idiots in the U. S. Senate. In this case, he claimed that the United States has spent $211 billion in Ukraine and that "NATO" has only spent about $52 billion. A few problems with that sentence: 1. He took that $211 billion from a Reuters story from earlier this year.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani raged against U. S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman Tuesday for refusing to postpone his trial so he could attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in January. Following a court hearing in Manhattan, Giuliani told reporters that Liman "ruled against us on everything." "The trial he set down for the period of time during President Trump's inauguration," Giuliani said. The trial was set after the former mayor refused to pay $148 million to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two former Georgia election workers he defamed following Trump's 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. Giuliani accused Liman of being a "serious left-wing Democrat," despite his being appointed by Trump. "It's punishment for being the one who revealed first Joe Biden's 30-year criminality," he insisted.

El Cheato's advisers are once again discussing how to unilaterally strip federal resources from Democratic-run cities if they refuse to participate in deportations of undocumented immigrants next year. Via the Washington Post: Advisers to Trump have pushed for using federal pressure — such as withholding federal funds — against municipalities that don’t cooperate with U.

Jack Smith plans to release his final report on the federal investigations into former President Donald Trump before Inauguration Day on January 20, according to a CNN report citing a source close to the matter. Via Newsweek: The report is expected to detail Smith's findings on key cases involving Trump, including allegations of election subversion and mishandling of classified documents.