Loony Louis Gohmert actually took to the podium of the US House today to bitch that US Capitol fire safety rules don’t allow him to barbecue ribs on his office balcony for the quarterly party he throws for fellow reps. According to Gohmert, “all of the networks” want to do stories about his fantastic ribs, but thanks to typical government …

The New York Times reports: Walmart announced on Friday that it had settled a lawsuit that accused the company of discriminating against gay and lesbian employees when it denied health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses. Under the deal, Walmart will set aside $7.5 million, mostly to compensate employees affected by the denial of spousal benefits during the three years before …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: The humor publication MAD Magazine has named Gov. Pat McCrory to its annual “20 Dumbest List” because of his support for House Bill 2. The December issue spoofs McCrory as a “stall cop” with an image of the governor in a security officer uniform, a nod to the Paul Blart “Mall Cop” movies. “Keeping …

Entertainment Weekly reports: Hairspray might be set in the ’60s, but the stars of NBC’s upcoming live version of the film and Broadway show think it has a lot to say about modern times, too. “The subject of Hairspray is very current to today,” Jennifer Hudson, who plays Motormouth Maybelle, says in a new featurette. She later explains, “To me, …

Reuters reports: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation, a Duterte aide said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries. Trump’s brief chat with the firebrand Philippine president comes during a period of uncertainty about one of Washington’s most important Asian alliances, stoked …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: Rep. Steve Russell was disappointed that his religious freedom amendment was stripped from a federal defense-spending bill the House passed on Friday. But the Oklahoma Republican is encouraged he will prevail in the long-term, telling BuzzFeed News that the incoming Trump administration has given him “very good assurances” it would address the issue upon taking …

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: Government contracts available: Christians need not apply! That’s the unofficial motto of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D), who’s taken it upon himself to exclude people of faith from partnerships with the state. In an executive order eerily similar to Barack Obama’s, Louisiana’s liberal governor decreed that any company or organization …

The Associated Press reports: When Donald Trump named his Treasury secretary, Teena Colebrook felt her heart sink. She had voted for the president-elect on the belief that he would knock the moneyed elites from their perch in Washington, D.C. And she knew Trump’s pick for Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, all too well. OneWest, a bank formerly owned by a group of …

Two years ago I reported that a business group had proposed a privately-operated $100M gondola system (much like existing the Roosevelt Island Tramway) which would connect Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. The proposal soon vanished into “neat idea but not gonna happen” history but now it has new life with the coming years-long closure of the L train forced by damage …

Politico reports: Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s first campaign manager, said Thursday that New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet “should be in jail” because the newspaper published parts of the president-elect’s tax returns during the race. Lewandowski, who has been floated for a possible role in the White House or the Republican National Committee, had previously said he hoped Trump …

The Wisconsin State Journal reports: Donald Trump supporters are asking a federal judge to stop Wisconsin’s presidential election recount, which got underway Thursday. Great America PAC and Stop Hillary PAC, political committees supporting Trump and opposing Democrat Hillary Clinton, moved in Wisconsin’s Western District court late Thursday for a temporary restraining order to bring the recount to an immediate halt. …

From the totally reasonable World Net Daily: A Donald Trump-hating Twitter user – who is too scared to reveal his true identity because he says he fears backlash from Trump supporters – is attempting to destroy a leading conservative news site with a coordinated campaign attacking its advertisers and claiming it’s “racist.” The anonymous Twitter user, known as Sleeping Giants, …

The New York Times reports: Since Gov. Mike Pence was chosen as Donald J. Trump’s running mate in July, he has faced complaints from groups critical of his record on gay and transgender rights, who said he has long been an opponent of the gains made by the L.G.B.T. community in recent years. Mr. Pence has been particularly dogged by …

The Associated Press reports: Michigan’s attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to block a potential recount of the state’s presidential vote, which was won by his fellow Republican, Donald Trump. Attorney General Bill Schuette, like the Trump campaign, argues that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cannot seek the recount because she was not “aggrieved” to the point at …

The Hill reports: Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said Friday morning that he will be boycotting Donald Trump’s inauguration to protest the president-elect’s rhetoric. “I’ve been to, let me see, two Clinton inaugurations, I’ve been to two of them for Bush, two of them for Obama,” Gutiérrez said in an interview with CNN’s “New Day.” “I’m not going to this inauguration,” …

Via Mediaite: George Stephanopoulos of Good Morning America grabbed one key question by the tail in his morning interview with senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway and refused to let it go, sending the usually unflappable Conway into a debate ditch. Conway, who served as the third campaign manager for Donald Trump and is the first woman in American history to …

CBS News reports: A special tribute was held in honor of World AIDS Day to the victims who died of the disease in New York City. The AIDS Memorial Park at Saint Vincent’s Triangle in Greenwich Village was dedicated on Thursday. The project was launched in 2011 to remember the men, women and children who have died from AIDS in …

Yahoo Finance reports: In a stunning development, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just revealed that the US unmployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 4.6% in November. This is the lowest level since August 2007. Economists were expecting the rate to be unchanged from October at 4.9%. During the month, US companies added 178,000 non farm payrolls, which was a tad lighter …

The New York Daily News reports: Donald Trump’s Treasury pick treasures his family’s privacy. Steven Mnuchin told a judge during his 2014 divorce he wanted his home address kept private because he was worried protesters upset by foreclosures might harm his three young kids – and he even got the address wiped off the internet. In a sworn statement requesting …

Politico reports: A top Russian official is accusing the Ukrainian government of undermining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by trashing him on social media and disseminating dirt on one of his close associates. A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday contended that the Ukrainian government over the summer damaged Trump’s campaign by implicating his then-campaign chief Paul Manafort in a …