“While your letter generally claims that excerpts from the book contain ‘disparaging statements,’ it is quite telling that at no point do you claim that any specific statement in the book is false. Your client does not have a viable legal claim merely because unspecified truthful statements in the Book may embarrass the president or his associates. At base, your …

Gentle readers, today is Madonna’s 60th birthday. Below is a short story that first appeared on JMG on this day in 2006, a date which, as you’ll see, plays a role in the story. Ricky Loved Madonna Twenty years ago today, August 16th 1986, I was a few months into a new job with AMC Theatres, a position that I …

The Miami Herald reports: As one of his first acts in office in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott canceled a $2.4 billion federally funded and shovel-ready bullet train from Orlando to Tampa because it carried “an extremely high risk of overspending taxpayer dollars with no guarantee of economic growth.’’ It was a political slap to then-President Barack Obama, who considered the …

The Hill reports: First lady Melania Trump is planning to attend a summit in Maryland early next week focused on combatting cyberbullying. The White House announced that the first lady will be “addressing the positive and negative effects of social media on youth” during brief remarks at the summit in Rockville, Md., on Monday. The first lady is set to …

CNN reports: The Vatican broke its silence on Thursday about a Pennsylvania grand jury report that detailed decades of sexual abuses by priests and cover-ups by bishops, calling the accusations “criminal and morally reprehensible.” “Regarding the report made public in Pennsylvania this week, there are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow,” …

Catholic League president Bill Donohue today posted a lengthy “debunking” of media reports about the still-unfolding and massive molestation scandal wracking the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. Donohue’s missive includes his usual charges of anti-Catholic bigotry and personal attacks on “salacious” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. There’s also this: Shapiro said that “Church officials routinely and purposely described the abuse as …

Politico reports: There’s a new way of demonstrating loyalty to Donald Trump and his Republican Party: Claiming that the president could not only survive an impeachment effort, but that it would guarantee his victory in 2020. The idea gaining currency on the right is that Trump can be Bill Clinton, not Richard Nixon. It depends on a delicate political calculation …

The Hill reports: Democrats have about a 75 percent chance of retaking the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, according to the data crunchers at FiveThirtyEight. The website launched their new House forecast on Thursday, predicting an 80 percent chance that Democrats gain between 14 and 58 seats. The party needs to flip 23 seats to retake the House …

NBC News reports: Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who became a top White House aide to President Donald Trump, on Thursday released exclusively to MSNBC a secret tape of campaign official Lara Trump offering her a $15,000-a-month job after her she was fired from the administration. The tape — which, according to Manigault Newman was made on …

The Des Moines Register reports: An Iowa woman fired for disparaging Mexicans at work cannot collect unemployment despite her testimony that other employees also made derogatory comments about “blacks and foreigners” since Donald Trump became president. Angela Diers filed for unemployment after she lost her job at Dexter Laundry, a Fairfield manufacturer of commercial washers and dryers, for telling a …

Vanity Fair reports: In recent days, Trump has called Manigault Newman “crazed,” a “lowlife,” and a “dog” on Twitter. His campaign filed an arbitration suit against her seeking “millions.” And Trump told advisers that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to have Manigault Newman arrested, according to one Republican briefed on the conversations. (It’s unclear what law Trump believes she …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump’s military parade this fall is shaping up to cost $80 million more than initially estimated. The Department of Defense and its interagency partners have updated their perspective cost estimates for the parade, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity. The parade, slated …

Click On Detroit reports: President Donald Trump tweeted about the passing of Aretha Franklin on Thursday. Trump, joining the chorus of reaction and tributes around social media, said, “She was a great woman, with a wonderful gift from God.” The legendary soul singer met with, performed for and was honored by many of the presidents during her long career. In …

“Any allegation provided by a woman is supposed to be enough, isn’t it? Isn’t that how everyone wanted this Me Too moment to work? You believe all women. You believe all women whether or not the evidence exists. They’re asking for evidence so I guess, what, they’re calling her a liar? Are they shaming the woman and calling her a …

TMZ reports: Aretha Franklin, known for having one of the greatest voices in music history, and for hits like “Respect,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” died Thursday after a long battle with cancer, TMZ has learned. Sources close to the singer tell us Aretha passed away in her Detroit home where she was under hospice care. …

CBS News reports: New York City unveiled an ambitious plan on Wednesday to replace the notorious Rikers Island jail complex with four smaller lockups located in densely populated neighborhoods, including turning an Art Deco government building that went up in lower Manhattan in 1930 into a tower for up to 1,500 inmates. Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials …

The Associated Press reports: Newspapers from Maine to Hawaii pushed back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on “fake news” Thursday with a coordinated series of editorials speaking up for a free and vigorous press. The Boston Globe, which set the campaign in motion by urging the unified voice, had estimated that some 350 newspapers would participate. They did across the …

People Magazine reports: Omarosa Manigault Newman‘s tell-all Unhinged claims that Ivanka Trump hated the Saturday Night Live sketch that labeled her “complicit” in March 2017. “At the senior staff meeting, Ivanka couldn’t stop bemoaning it, how offensive it was, how ridiculous it was,” Manigault Newman, 44, says about Trump, 36. “We’d all been subject to SNL attacks. We’d all been …

Last month homocon Chadwick Moore was supposedly banned by Grindr for posting an anti-trans message in his profile, sending Moore to Twitter where he whined to the FBI, who are surely interested in helping him get dick. Last night Moore took his butthurt to Fox News to attack Vermont gubernatorial nominee Christine Hallquist. Media Matters has the transcript: CHADWICK MOORE: …

From his op-ed just published by the New York Times: Mr. Trump’s claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash. The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of “Trump Incorporated” attempted to defraud the …