News

NBC reports: The Atlanta Braves’ “Kiss Cam” entertainment at Turner Field featured a famous couple Thursday night: former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn. The two were in their usual seats near the Braves dugout during a 5-0 loss to Toronto, and they received a loud cheer when shown on the video board. Carter kissed his wife and then gave …

Responding to the worsening refugee crisis in Europe, yesterday Pope Francis declared that any church that isn’t using their empty facilities to house refugees should pay property tax. “Some religious orders say ‘No, now that the convent is empty we are going to make a hotel and we can have guests, and support ourselves that way, or make money,’” the …

NASA’s Cassini–Huygens probe launched back in October 1997 and 18 years later it continues to provide fascinating discoveries. Via Science Daily: A global ocean lies beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s geologically active moon Enceladus, according to new research using data from NASA’s Cassini mission. Researchers found the magnitude of the moon’s very slight wobble, as it orbits Saturn, can …

Mark Zuckerberg today announced that Facebook is finally going to roll out a “dislike” button. Business Insider reports: “I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Today is a special day because today is the day I can say we’re working on it and shipping it,” Zuckerberg said during a Q&A at Facebook’s headquarters. Zuckerberg said …

Via press release: “Extra’s” Mario Lopez sat down with Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for a candid one-on-one interview. Hillary sounding off on everything from what she thinks of Republican candidate Donald Trump to Kim Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West. Hillary telling Mario what she this of Donald Trump’s popularity, “I am watching this with some concern because I think …

Stick around for the end. Talking Points Memo recaps last night’s show: “Last Week Tonight” — with the help of some popular crime show actors — presented a new Miranda rights speech Sunday night to include important qualifiers about public defenders. “Fifty years after the Supreme Court gave everyone the fundamental right to an attorney, even if you can’t afford …

Huge news from the Sydney Morning Herald: Malcolm Turnbull will become Australia’s 29th prime minister after beating Tony Abbott in a dramatic leadership ballot in Canberra on Monday night. Mr Turnbull’s victory is reminiscent of the coup former prime minister Julia Gillard staged against Kevin Rudd in 2010 and makes the former communications minister Australia’s fifth prime minister in just …

Two years behind schedule and $400M over its $2B budget, the 1.5 mile extension of the 7 line to Hudson Yards finally opened yesterday. The New York Times reports: In a West Side neighborhood long isolated from the rest of Manhattan, crowds gathered on Sunday for a truly rare sight in New York City: the opening of a new subway …

NBC reports: A new set of images has been received from the New Horizons spacecraft, showing close-up images of Pluto taken on July 15 (and only just recently processed) while it was passing by the dwarf planet at high speed — but not so fast it couldn’t see terrain so varied it’s astonishing astronomers. “If an artist had painted this …

Miss Wisconsin did not make the first cut despite an introduction that blew up for all the third graders on Twitter.

The New York Times reports: About 40,000 New York area residents learned on Thursday that they had won two tickets in a city-sponsored lottery to watch Pope Francis’ procession through Central Park on Sept. 25. A day later, many of them had been moved by the spirit of capitalism to offer those tickets on eBay and Craigslist, in some cases …

New York City news outlets and blogs are lighting up today after a ferocious pit bull attack in the Bronx left two men hospitalized. The attack has spurred renewed calls for the city to ban the breed. The New York Daily News reports: A Bronx woman ordered her two pit bulls to viciously attack a 62-year-old man Friday morning as …

Citing low viewership, Verizon has dropped the mostly unwatched Sportsman Channel, which is really only known for carrying Sarah Palin’s latest reality show attempt. Visitors to the channel’s website are now greeted with a splash screen which calls on their 57 viewers to deluge Verizon with complaints for violating their God-given freedom to watch shitty hunting shows.  And speaking of …

Even though baby boys continue to contract herpes from their rabbis, yesterday the New York City Board Of Health repealed its requirement that Ultra Orthodox parents sign a Bloomberg-era consent form which warns them about a controversial circumcision ritual. Gothamist rants: After a few years of toothless bureaucracy and a minimal amount of government involvement, New York City is a …

This scathing White House clip was going viral yesterday while most eyes were on Kentucky. Via Talking Points Memo: Timed to a speech given by former Vice President Dick Cheney slamming President Obama’s Iran deal, the White House released a video highlighting Cheney’s continual defense of the Iraq war. The two-and-a-half-minute video titled “Former Vice President Dick Cheney: Wrong Then, …

At about 12:30PM NYC-time today, Queen Elizabeth will become longest ruling monarch in British history. The BBC runs the numbers: The Queen will have reigned for 63 years and seven months – calculated at 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes at about 17:30 BST. Prime Minister David Cameron will lead tributes in the House of Commons and there …

Nutjob Rep. Louie Gohmert is attempting to derail the Iran deal with a House bill that would reclassify the pending agreement as a treaty. Yesterday Glenn Beck announced that Gohmert has told him that if his bill is approved, he won’t seek reelection. Glenn Beck: “I just got an email from Louie Gohmert. He said, ‘Last week I announced to …

The BBC reports: Pope Francis has unveiled reforms intended to make it easier for Roman Catholics to get annulments and remarry within the Church. The Church does not recognise divorce, teaching that marriage is forever. In order to separate, Catholics must have their marriage annulled by showing it was flawed from the outset. The radical reforms allow access to procedures …

The Man burned in the Nevada desert on Saturday night. And so did something else. USA Today reports: Timothy Leary, the late father of LSD, was memorialized at Burning Man after a fantastic procession and burning of his ashes in the Black Rock Desert. It was a spectacle that not even he probably could have imagined, as actress Susan Sarandon …

Back in December 2013 then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg rode the 1.5-mile extension of the 7 line from Times Square to Hudson Yards and held an “opening ceremony” in the new station. More than 18 months later after numerous issues and a $400M overrun on the $2B budget, the station will finally open this Sunday.  Allegedly. Crain’s Business reports: The subway …