Scaramucci Removed as White House Communications Director at Kelly’s Urging – WSJ

WASHINGTON—Anthony Scaramucci was removed from his position as White House communications director, just 10 days after his appointment to the post. Mr. Scaramucci, who is nicknamed “The Mooch,” was removed at the urging of former Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, who was sworn in as White House chief of staff Monday morning. Mr. Kelly is seeking to impose more discipline in the White House, two administration officials said. After the swearing-in ceremony—which Mr. Scaramucci attended—Mr. Kelly returned to hi

Source: Scaramucci Removed as White House Communications Director at Kelly’s Urging – WSJ

Anthony Scaramucci’s wife files for divorce | Page Six

Anthony Scaramucci, the White House’s potty-mouthed new communications director, has been dumped by his beautiful blond wife because of his “naked political ambition,” multiple sources exclusively tell Page Six.Deidre Ball, who worked as a vice president in investor relations for SkyBridge Capital, the firm he founded in 2005 and sold to ascend to the White House, has filed for divorce from “The Mooch” after three years of marriage after getting fed up with his ruthless quest to get close to President Trump, whom she despises.One source told Page Six, “Deidre has left him and has filed for divorce. She liked the nice Wall Street life and their home on Long Island, not the insane world of D.C. She is tired of his naked ambition, which is so enormous that it left her at her wits’ end. She has left him even though they have two children together.”Scaramucci and Ball, 38, began dating in 2011 and are believed to have married in 2014.The source said that the Wall Street financier, 52, had been “hell-bent” on claiming his position at the White House after he was originally pegged for a senior role and sold SkyBridge Capital in preparation in January.He was blocked by Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff. But, after an aggressive campaign, Scaramucci was made communications director on July 21 by Trump, prompting Sean Spicer to quit.Modal TriggerAnthony Scaramucci, Deidre Ball, Donald and Melania TrumpAnthony Scaramucci, TwitterA second source close to Scaramucci — who has alternately not been wearing his wedding ring, or has been sporting it on his right hand — said the former couple had fought over his loyalty to Trump. This was his second marriage and Ball was noticeably not present at his recent SALT conference in mid-May.The source said, “Deidre is not a fan of Trump, and she hasn’t exactly been on board and supportive of Anthony and his push to get back into the White House.”The friend added, “Anthony is focusing on his children, his work for the president and the American people. There is nothing more important to him.“I don’t know who Deidre thought she was marrying but anyone who knows Anthony knows he’s an ambitious man.”According to reports, University of Buffalo graduate Ball donated $5,400 to the congressional campaign of anti-Trump Democrat Kathleen Rice in 2015. But she also donated $10,800 to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign and $2,700 to Jeb Bush’s campaign the same year.She went by the Twitter handle @MrsAScaramucci but, according to reports, she deleted her account after her husband was appointed as White House communications director.Meanwhile, Scaramucci — who had been known as a slick operator up to this point — showed off a different side of his character during a bizarre late-night interview with the New Yorker, telling reporter Ryan Lizza that he thought Priebus was a “f–king paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.” Then, lacing into White House adviser Steve Bannon, he added, “I’m not Steve Bannon, I am not trying to suck my own c–k.”He added, “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f–king strength of the president. I am here to serve the country.”Ball could not immediately be reached and a rep for “The Mooch” didn’t comment.

Source: Anthony Scaramucci’s wife files for divorce | Page Six

Trump forces out Reince Priebus, names Gen. John Kelly chief of staff | New York Post

President Trump on Friday dropped a bombshell on Twitter, announcing that he named Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly as his new chief of staff.Modal Trigger“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American … and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration,” he tweeted at about 4:50 p.m.The current chief of staff Reince Priebus had been in the president’s dog house for months — but the president praised him and thanked him in a tweet.“I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!” he wrote.

Source: Trump forces out Reince Priebus, names Gen. John Kelly chief of staff | New York Post

Horror as couple ‘who couldn’t pay their medical bills’ jump to their deaths from New York apartment building amid furious row over US healthcare reforms

A COUPLE jumped to their deaths after struggling to pay their medical bills in a horrific double suicide. The  man and woman leaped from the ninth floor window of a building in Manhattan at 5:45am today. 2 A couple have died after jumping from a building in Manhattan Both were carrying separate suicide notes which revealed them to be parents. A note was found in the woman’s pocket saying that their children were upstairs and asking for someone to look after them, reports the NY Post. Another found in t

Source: Horror as couple ‘who couldn’t pay their medical bills’ jump to their deaths from New York apartment building amid furious row over US healthcare reforms

The night John McCain killed the GOP’s health-care fight – The Washington Post

It was the most dramatic night in the United States Senate in recent history. Just ask the senators who witnessed it. A seven-year quest to undo the Affordable Care Act collapsed — at least for now — as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) kept his colleagues and the press corps in suspense over a little more than two hours late Thursday into early Friday. Not since September 2008, when the House of Representatives rejected the Troubled Asset Relief Program — causing the Dow Jones industrial average to plunge nearl

Source: The night John McCain killed the GOP’s health-care fight – The Washington Post

Lana Del Rey admits she tried to hex Trump: ‘Why not?’ | Fox News


Lana Del Rey confirms in a new interview that she instructed her fans to join a mass occult ritual against President Donald Trump.

“Yeah, I did it. Why not? Look, I do a lot of shit,” Del Rey tells NME.

In February, the singer tweeted: “At the stroke of midnight… Feb 24, March 26, April 24, May 23… Ingredients can b found online.”

Lana Del Rey
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Lana Del Rey Is Ditching Her American Flag Visuals Because of Trump
The dates refer to the timing of the waning crescent moon, which occult followers believe is a time to get rid of stress and negative energy.

Asked about her love of the occult, Del Rey said: “I’m in line with Yoko [Ono] and John [Lennon] and the belief that there’s a power to the vibration of a thought. Your thoughts are very powerful things and they become words, and words become actions, and actions lead to physical charges.

“I really do believe that words are one of the last forms of magic and I’m a bit of a mystic at heart.”

Lana Del Rey
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Album of the Week: Lana Del Rey’s ‘Lust for Life’ Is Her Most Lana Del Rey Album Yet
Lana Del Rey released her fourth album, Lust For Life, on Friday (July 21).

Comedian Kathy Griffin Cuts the Price of Her Hollywood Hills Home | realtor.com®

If at first you don’t succeed in a real estate sale, restage, find a new agent, drop the price, and try again.That seems to be Kathy Griffin’s strategy in selling her 8,095-square-foot home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, with a view of Universal Studios and the Hollywood sign.She put the house on the market in October for $5.5 million and then took it off for a few months. Now the home’s popped back up for sale—for a shade under $5 million. The listing agent is Steve Frankel of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury.

Source: Comedian Kathy Griffin Cuts the Price of Her Hollywood Hills Home | realtor.com®

Parents are freaking out over Teen Vogue’s anal sex guide | New York Post

Teen Vogue’s “Guide to Anal Sex” is sparking a slew of outrage — including one mom so incensed, she burned a copy of the mag.The magazine posted the guide earlier this month, touting it as “the lowdown on everything you need to know about butt stuff, no matter who you are, whom you’re having sex with, or who you want to have sex with.”“This is anal 101, for teens, beginners, and all inquisitive folk,” it reads. 

About a week later, a woman known as “The Activist Mommy” posted a video on Twitter of her burning Teen Vogue’s June edition in a campfire — with the hashtag #PullTeenVogue.“They are teaching children 11 through 17, that’s the target audience…how to be safely sodomized,” the woman said in the video. “Yes, they are teaching kids how to have anal intercourse. We should not be teaching children — period — how to have sex.”“These editors’ brains are in the gutter,” she ranted as she ripped apart the glossy mag and tossed it into the flames. “Now let’s put their sales in the gutter where they belong.”Others joined her campaign on social media.“If u text the content of this article to a 12 yrs old girl, you’d lose ur job and probably be prosecuted,” Tony Shkurtaj tweeted.“Fifth grade science teaches the different body systems,” Tracy Fino wrote. “Yet grown people still confuse sexual organs with non sexual organs.”But others blasted the outraged mom, and came to the magazine’s defense.“You guys are blind to think that stopping a magazine will stop teens about learning about sex and their sexuality & positions,” Rheanna tweeted.Phillip Picardi, digital editorial director at the magazine, issued a tweetstorm defending his publication’s decision to publish the article.He explained why he believes it’s important for teens to receive sex education — and said the story is “a continued part of our sex education coverage.”“The backlash to this article is rooted in homophobia,” he began. “It’s also laced in arcane delusion about what it means to be a young person today.”

Source: Parents are freaking out over Teen Vogue’s anal sex guide | New York Post

Sen. John McCain diagnosed with malignant brain tumor | Local news | tucson.com

U.S. Sen. John McCain revealed Wednesday evening that he has a brain tumor.The announcement follows a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix last Friday, where a pathology report revealed the glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.A statement from McCain’s doctors say he is recovering from his surgery, but it is unclear when the 80-year-old Republican would return to the Senate. “Further consultations with Senator McCain’s Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate,” the statement read. Because glioblastomas can grow rapidly, the most common symptoms are usually caused by increased pressure in the brain. These symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness.Depending on the location of the tumor, patients can develop a variety of other symptoms such as weakness on one side of the body, memory and/or speech difficulties, and vision changes, according to the American Brain Tumor Association website.Glioblastoma can be difficult to treat because the tumors contain so many different types of cells, the association says.About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent.The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCain’s tumor, according to his office.That isn’t a cure; cancerous cells that aren’t visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCain’s doctors are considering further treatment including chemotherapy and radiation.The senator and chairman of the Armed Services Committee had been recovering at his Arizona home. His absence had forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation.In a statement, McConnell said: “John McCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate family’s prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well.”Doctors say McCain is recovering from his surgery amazingly well and his underlying health is excellent, according to the statement.McCain was the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2008, when he and running mate Sarah Palin lost to Barack Obama. A Navy pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner for 5½ years.The senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, tweeted about how the news of her father’s cancer shocked the family.”It won’t surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father. He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him. So he is meeting this challenge as he has every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has,” she wrote.

Source: Sen. John McCain diagnosed with malignant brain tumor | Local news | tucson.com

U.S. slaps new sanctions on Iran, after certifying its compliance with nuclear deal – The Washington Post

The Trump administration certified to Congress late Monday that Iran has continued to meet the required conditions of its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers. But senior administration officials made clear that the certification was grudging, and said that President Trump intends to impose new sanctions on Iran for ongoing “malign activities” in non-nuclear areas such as ballistic missile development and support for terrorism. “We judge that these Iranian activities severely undermi

Source: U.S. slaps new sanctions on Iran, after certifying its compliance with nuclear deal – The Washington Post

Porn star-tossing Instagram playboy finds ‘the one’ | New York Post

He’s the “King of Instagram” known for spending his life surrounded by bikini clad models, luxury cars, and for claiming he once slept with 17 girls in a week.But now millionaire poker player Dan Bilzerian has revealed that he is in his first-ever monogamous relationship with a stunning model who is 16 years younger than him.Bilzerian, 37, has confirmed he is dating Sofia Bevarly and told Square Mile magazine: “Yeah. Got a girlfriend. First time. Well, I had a girlfriend before, but I was still f—ing other girls.”The new couple met at a marquee pool party but admits it wasn’t exactly the fairy tale love-at-first-sight meeting.He said: “I think I f—-d like three girls before her that day. We just started hanging out … She’s a little different, you know? She’s smart, she’s cool, and she liked a lot of the s–t I like. So here we are.”The buxom blonde has featured in a number of Bilzerian’s notorious shots on Instagram, including one of the pair ascending the steps to a private jet, with the caption of “going on a date.”In other shots, Bevarly clings to the playboy as she perches on his shoulders during wakeboarding, and poses in a bikini on the back of a 100–year–old Galapagos tortoise.Taking the step to monogamy wasn’t easy for the controversial social media star, who claims to have slept with over a thousand women.He admitted: “A girl has to be super-hot now for me to be even semi-interested. You just get pickier. I think that’s true of everything. Money, toys, girls – all the hedonistic stuff. You just raise the bar.”And you can see how Bilzerian constantly pushes the boat out from his over-the-top Instagram, which has over 22.6 million followers.From images of yacht parties and expensive cars to guns and his adorable cat Smushball, Bilzerian is usually pictured surrounded by a posse of scantily clad women.The playboy lives in the Hollywood hills but also has houses in Los Angeles and San Diego and is said to be worth $100 million.Besides poker and managing his popular Instagram account, Bilzerian has had cameos in a number of movies.These include small roles in “Olympus Has Fallen,” where he was Gerard Butler’s stunt double, “Lone Survivor,” “The Other Woman” and “Equalizer.”Bilzerian is known for living on the edge and his daredevil lifestyle has nearly caught up to him a number of times.He has suffered a double heart attack and pulmonary embolism in the past.An excruciating video also emerged in 2014 of the controversial star throwing a porn star off his roof, aiming for the pool, but missing.In April last year, it was reported that Bilzerian had won a $600,000 bet over whether he could cycle the 300 miles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas within 48 hours.

Source: Porn star-tossing Instagram playboy finds ‘the one’ | New York Post

Why the GOP Congress will be the most unproductive in 164 years

Just six months ago, it looked like the Republican Party was about to go on a legislative blitzkrieg, shredding law after law passed by the Obama administration. ObamaCare would be vaporized and replaced with a nickel rattling inside an empty Mountain Dew can. Dodd-Frank was sure to be tossed aside for a transparent giveaway to Wall Street. And Republicans would pass their regressive tax reform, their perplexing border-adjustment tax, and so much more. The GOP hadn’t held total power in American politics since 2006, and the party had become much more conservative in the interim. And instead of George W. Bush, a man who recognized at least some theoretical limits on free market fundamentalism, the new Congress would work with a sub-literate tabula rasa named Donald Trump, a man who could probably be persuaded to inject himself with experimental medication if an important-seeming person whispered “do it” in his ear.But a funny thing happened on the way to libertarian utopia. Indeed, it turns out that the GOP-controlled Congress can’t seem to pass any meaningful laws at all. Either they have forgotten how, or the divisions in their own increasingly radicalized caucus are proving too difficult to surmount. Whatever the explanation, thus far these GOP legislators are on track to be the least productive group since at least the Civil War.Now, okay, technically the Ryan-McConnell 115th Congress is so far actually a bit more active than recent Congresses, if you measure by the 43 laws that President Trump has adorned with his garish signature. Obama was at 40 at this point in 2009. George W. Bush had signed even fewer midway through 2001. But sheer number is not the best way to think about how much is being achieved. As The Washington Post’s Philip Bump pointed out, a majority of the bills signed by Trump thus far have been one page long, meaning many are just symbolic or ceremonial.Some of this very brief legislation has also been passed under the Congressional Review Act, a previously obscure statute that allows Congress to nullify recently enacted federal regulations. The CRA had been used just once before Trump took office, and yet 14 of the 43 bills signed into law by the president have been CRAs. Most of them roll back Obama-era protections against various kinds of transparent evildoing, like preventing coal mining within 100 feet of streams. They’re not meaningless, but the Voting Rights Act they are not.So what’s the holdup on important bills getting to Trump’s desk? Both Obama and Bush had passed extraordinarily consequential legislation by this point in their first terms. The Bush tax cuts were signed in June 2001, and the massive stimulus that some economists credit with preventing another Great Depression was inked by Obama in February 2009. This Congress has not yet forwarded any legislation to the president that will significantly alter the trajectory of our politics or economics. Feel free to review the whole list yourself here and argue differently, unless you think the “U.S. Wants To Compete For a World Expo Act” (H.R. 534) is going to be the subject of debate by future historians.One major problem for the GOP’s lack of progress is polarization — just not the kind you’re thinking of.Over the past few years, journalists have given significant attention to the data maintained by political scientists at the University of California Los Angeles, which tracks the ideological makeup of individual members of Congress over time. The most important finding they’ve uncovered is that over the past 30 years, congressional Republicans have become substantially more ideologically extreme, while congressional Democrats have moved marginally to the left but are not much different as a group than they were in 1980, a process known as “asymmetric polarization.” For most of the post-war period, there were Democrats who were more conservative than the most liberal Republican, and vice versa. The last time this happened in the Senate was in the 108th Congress, when soon-to-be-ex-Democrat Zell Miller sat to the right of several liberal Republicans, including Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and future party-switching Republicans Lincoln Chafee and Arlen Specter.The slow decline of this ideological overlap has led inexorably to gridlock and dysfunction when one party controls the presidency and the other leads at least one chamber of Congress. There is is simply less to talk about. It’s not like disagreeing about whether to get a Border Collie or a Boston Terrier; it’s like if you want a dog and only a dog and nothing but a dog and your partner despises animals of all kinds.But you would think that this sorting would make for more coherent ideological blocs more capable of making policy when one party controls Congress and the presidency, as Republicans do now. That was surely what Republican voters expected when they woke up triumphant on Nov. 9 last year. But the divide within the Republican Party is proving to be as prob

Source: Why the GOP Congress will be the most unproductive in 164 years

Scarily convincing fake video tool puts words in Obama’s mouth

A computer program that can edit videos of people speaking to realistically make it look like they said something else has been created, raising fears of clips being tampered with online. Researchers at the University of Washington have lip-synced a video of former US president Barack Obama using the program to superimpose new audio onto the clip. The realistic results put words in Obama’s mouth by converting audio sounds into mouth movements and blending them onto an existing video of speech.  Paid content The Facility is an underground compound made up of luxury apartmentsDigital Trends Tiny Device to be in 50 Billion Products by 2020 (Read Article)Banyan Hill PublishingRecommended byThe effect could be used in special effects and to improve the quality of video calls, the researchers said. “When you watch Skype or Google Hangouts, often the connection is stuttery and low-resolution and really unpleasant, but the audio is pretty good,” said Steve Seitz, co-author of the research and professor at the University of Washington. “So if you could use the audio to produce much higher-quality video, that would be terrific.” Until now, video lip-syncing involved hours of filming and editing.  But the computer program can create a clip with new audio after analysing one hour of speech rather than 14.  

Source: Scarily convincing fake video tool puts words in Obama’s mouth