Law.com on what 2020 holds for the LGBTQs: In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue decisions in three cases that will determine whether discrimination based upon gender identity and sexual orientation is covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). Title VII is a federal law that bars employment discrimination on the …

Another action-packed year has come and gone for this here website thingy, which in a few months will mark its 16th anniversary. Unreal! I want to sincerely thank all of you, longtime JMG flying monkeys and newbies alike, for coming along on the endless Trump-zaster that 2019 has been. While the last year has seemed like nothing but an infinite …

From today’s White House pool reporter: The motorcade arrived at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach at 1046 am after an unremarkable trip. We did not see the president. Press vans split off outside the club. We are currently holding in the vans near the library. The president’s motorcade is back on the move at 11:36 am after …

Raw Story reports: On Tuesday, just hours before the New Years celebration, President Donald Trump issued a self-proclaimed “threat” against Iran, proclaiming that they “will be held fully responsible” for the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and adding that they will pay “a very BIG PRICE!” The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! …

The Associated Press reports: West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust after a photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage, officials said Tuesday. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the leader of the regional Anti-Defamation League chapter …

Reuters reports: A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her. After reaching out to touch a child, the pope turned away from the crowd only for a nearby woman to seize his hand and pull her …

From the conservative Washington Examiner: On the day before 2020, President Trump ripped into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Twitter, saying the California Democrat is “all lies” and “the most overrated person [he] knows.” After Democrats ran the impeachment process in the House, Pelosi suggested she would wait to send the articles to the Senate until Republicans agree to terms …

CNBC reports: During the week Mike Bloomberg announced his run for president in November, a technology company he founded was reaching out to potential recruits through an outside firm, saying it would be the “primary platform” for the Democratic National Committee. But the claim wasn’t true. The firm, Hawkfish LLC, is the main digital agency and technology service for the …

The Washington Post reports: Nearly a year after the Trump Organization pledged to root out undocumented workers at its properties, supervisors at the Trump Winery on Monday summoned at least seven employees and fired them because of their lack of legal immigration status, according to two of the dismissed workers. The timing of the firings at the rural Virginia winery, …

Louisville’s CBS News affiliate reports: U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman told reporters Monday he will determine if any of the state inmates pardoned by former Gov. Matt Bevin also committed any federal crimes. “I will say this in regard to the underlying conduct in these pardons that were received … if the underlying conduct took place in the Western District of …

From the Hollywood Reporter: The mysterious sexual assault lawsuit brought by an anonymous massage therapist against Kevin Spacey is ending, according to papers filed in federal court Monday. “John Doe” died, and after the accuser’s attorneys informed Spacey, the actor’s attorneys filed a notice of death in court. This began a 90-day clock for the accuser’s estate to be substituted …

Reuters reports: Sarah Palin said in an amended defamation lawsuit against the New York Times on Monday that the deep-seated “animosity and ill-will” of the newspaper’s editorial page editor toward her motivated him to falsely link her to a mass shooting. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, made her claim against the editor, James Bennet, …

“In 2020, we will have a new president in the White House. How many of you do NOT want that to be Donald Trump? I certainly don’t. “Unfortunately, the House impeachment of the president has greatly increased the likelihood Trump will remain the president for the next 5 years. “We all know that Trump is not going to be found …

ABC News reports: Former Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he will not run for Senate in New Hampshire after all, saying he would put his efforts into reelecting President Trump in 2020. “After much consideration I have decided to forgo a campaign for the US Senate. While taking on a career politician from …

Michigan Live reports: The Shiawassee County Prosecutor’s Office has authorized murder and mutilation charges against a 50-year-old Morrice-area resident in the death of 25-year-old Kevin Bacon. The prosecutor’s office released the 50-year-old man’s name on Monday, but The Flint Journal-MLive is not naming him until his arraignment. Bacon’s friend and roommate, Michelle Myers, previously told The Flint Journal-MLive that at …

The Daily Beast reports: Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg told the Associated Press on Monday that he “would not have wanted to see” a son of his serving on the board of a Ukrainian natural-gas company, like ex-Vice President Joe Biden’s son did. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor (who is childless at present) said if elected, he would “do everything …

NBC News reports: Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who faces a tough re-election battle next year, said in a radio interview on Monday that it was “inappropriate” for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to say he was working in “total coordination” with the White House and she excoriated Democrats for prejudging the process. “It is inappropriate, in my judgment, for …

From the Russian state outlet RT News: Julian Assange sounded like a shell of the man he once was during a Christmas Eve phone call, British journalist Vaughan Smith told RT, noting the WikiLeaks founder had trouble speaking and appeared to be drugged. Assange was allowed to make just a single call from the maximum security Belmarsh prison in southeast …

The BBC reports: Sydney’s Lord Mayor has defended the decision to press ahead with the city’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display, despite calls it should have been cancelled due to the bushfire crisis. Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Clover Moore said the celebration would “give hope to people”. Parts of Australia have been ravaged by bushfires intensified by high temperatures and …

Politico Europe reports: Boris Yeltsin had a reputation for the sensational and the unpredictable, from ordering tanks to shell a rebellious Russian parliament to drunkenly hunting for pizza in Washington in his underwear. But he saved arguably his biggest surprise for last. Twenty years ago this New Year’s Eve, with six months to go until the end of his final …