Politics

The New York Times reports: The leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said on Tuesday evening that his region had earned the right to independence from Spain, but he immediately suspended the process to allow for talks with the central government in Madrid. “I ask Parliament to suspend the declaration of independence so that in the coming weeks we can undertake …

The guy who once advocated that Missouri legalize anti-LGBT discrimination (even though no statewide protections currently exist) today announced his run for the US Senate. The Associated Press reports: Republican Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has made it official: He’s running for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill in 2018. Hawley, a 37-year-old in his first year of …

The Guardian reports: Jimmy Carter has reportedly said he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to defuse tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes, and bring “permanent peace” to the Korean peninsula. In an intervention that is likely to irritate Donald Trump, the 93-year-old former president told a South Korean academic that he was …

According to interviews with multiple insiders, whenever Trump comes up with another insane idea, staffers often distract him with other items until he forgets about his original plan. Politico reports: Trump would impulsively want to fire someone like attorney general Jeff Sessions, create a new wide–ranging policy with far–flung implications like increasing tariffs on Chinese steel imports or end a …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to take executive action on health care, saying he would go around Congress to provide new insurance options for Americans. Trump didn’t provide additional detail on what executive action he would take and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that …

The Miami New Times reports: This past Sunday, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross abruptly changed his tune on the NFL player protests. Ross, who’d previously supported players kneeling to raise awareness of police violence and racial inequality, told the Miami Herald‘s resident Kaepernick-basher, Armando Salguero, that since President Donald Trump had made the protests “about patriotism,” he now disagreed with …

The Daily Beast reports: According to the YouTube page for “Williams and Kalvin,” the Clintons are “serial killers who are going to rape the whole nation.” Donald Trump can’t be racist because he’s a “businessman.” Hillary Clinton’s campaign was “fund[ed] by the Muslim.” These are a sample of the videos put together by two black video bloggers calling themselves Williams …

Business Insider reports: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller once jumped into a women’s track meet to make a point about masculinity. In a lengthy profile published on Monday, The New York Times reported that Miller “jumped, uninvited, into the final stretch of a girls’ track meet, apparently intent on proving his athletic supremacy over the opposite sex.” The White …

Fortune reports: Columbus Day has become a fraught holiday in the United States, but you wouldn’t know it from President Trump’s official proclamation. Published on the official White House website, the statement heralds Christopher Columbus for “setting the stage for the development of our great Nation” and “inspiring countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions—even in the face of …

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced on Twitter this morning that she will run for reelection in 2018. For the last few weeks there’s been considerable speculation that Feinstein might retire in the face of a potential primary challenge from a progressive Democrat. Just yesterday Feinstein hedged somewhat during an appearance on Fox News. Feinstein, who had a pacemaker implanted in …

Newsweek reports: John Oliver gave an elaborate—and sometimes stinging—explanation as to why statues of Confederate leaders should not remain standing Sunday night. The British comedian dedicated the large majority of his HBO comedy show Last Week Tonight to a comprehensive history lesson about the divisive monuments that critics say celebrate America’s dark past. “If the Confederacy was not about slavery, …

The Associated Press reports: Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party’s establishment against insurgents inspired by allies of President Donald Trump. Prince was in Wyoming this weekend to discuss a possible Senate campaign with …

Talk about zero fucks left to give. The New York Times reports: Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.” In …

Mediaite reports: Country singer Jason Aldean opened Saturday Night Live following the Las Vegas Massacre that took place at his concert. “This week, we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history,” Aldean began. “Like everyone, I’m struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal.” Aldean went on to …

“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ’em to me! Throw ’em to me Mr. President!’ The next day they said, ‘Oh, it was …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump’s campaign sent out a fundraising email Saturday politicizing the mass shooting earlier this week in Las Vegas. The Trump-Pence Weekly Newsletter, which is emailed to subscribers by their re-election campaign, reminded potential donors and voters of the president’s remarks Wednesday when he visited the city. “Our nation is still in shock and mourning following …

From the Hollywood Reporter: President Donald Trump is pushing back against late night television show hosts who have been sharply critical of Republicans. The president took to Twitter Saturday morning to argue that Republicans should be given “equal time” because of the “one-sided” coverage, an apparent reference to Federal Communications Commission rules dealing with candidates during elections. Late Night host …

The Washington Times reports: Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tweeted “Bye Felicia” to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Friday afternoon after declaring the top diplomat’s strategy to handling Russia had failed. “Tillerson’s plans are backfiring. Russia sanctions still in place, State is in shambles, & he discovered his boss is a moron. Bye Felicia!” Waters tweeted. The term “bye Felicia” was …

TechCrunch reports: Facebook thinks showing Wikipedia entries about publishers and additional Related Articles will give users more context about the links they see. So today it’s beginning a test of a new “i” button on News Feed links that opens up an informational panel. “People have told us that they want more information about what they’re reading” Facebook product manager …

Via Mediaite: Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will hold a briefing with the White House press corps. One thing that’s sure to come up in today’s briefing: President Donald Trump’s cryptic (and somewhat ominous) declaration on Thursday night that a meeting of military leaders marked “the calm before the storm.” When asked what he meant by that, Trump said only: …