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Writers Guild Seeks NY Probe of Colbert Show's Cancellation

Writers Guild Seeks NY Probe of Colbert Show's Cancellation

Bloomberg18-07-2025
The Writers Guild of America asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate CBS's decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, saying the network's parent company may have given in to political pressure.
Paramount Global, the owner of CBS, is trying to merge with Skydance Media and needs government approval for the deal. Earlier this month, CBS paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump alleging media bias at the network.
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Fancy Farm returns to west Kentucky with barbecue, political zingers. See updates
Fancy Farm returns to west Kentucky with barbecue, political zingers. See updates

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Fancy Farm returns to west Kentucky with barbecue, political zingers. See updates

Grab some pork and popcorn. Kentucky's annual Fancy Farm Picnic is back, with several high-profile Senate candidates ready to lob shots at their competitors before a rowdy crowd. The event has become known for its fiery political speeches, laced with zingers. And while event organizers typically limit speakers to those holding state office or running in a general election, they've extended invitations to primary candidates running in 2026. That includes Andy Barr, Daniel Cameron and Nate Morris, who've all accepted slots as candidates campaigning to take U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's seat. Thousands of pounds of barbecue will also be served through the hot summer day. And The Courier Journal will be there to see it all. Here's are the highlights. Stay in the know: Sign up for our On Kentucky Politics newsletter Prominent Democrats join dinner, skip Fancy Farm Picnic Democrats joined the 28th annual Mike Miller Memorial Bean Dinner on Aug. 1 in Marshall County ahead of 145th Fancy Farm Picnic. The event, held at the Kentucky Dam Village Convention Center, featured prominent speakers including Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Colmon Elridge. During her speech, Coleman touted how she and the Beshear administration broke "historic tourism records in the last three years" and have created new jobs for Kentuckians. 'We created 65,000 new jobs and $35 million worth of private sector investments,' Coleman said. 'We secured raises for law enforcement, for state employees, for social workers, but ironically, the one group of people that the Republicans in the General Assembly don't think deserve a raise is our educators.' Coleman previously confirmed she would not participate in the political speaking portion of the picnic, saying she believes that time should be reserved for candidates on the ballot. She touched on her absence during her speech, saying she will not be at the event 'partly because there are so many obvious jokes, but not much worth laughing about at this moment.' '… Although I do hear of some races, like in 2027, that might bring me back to the Fancy Farm stage,' Coleman said, potentially alluding to the upcoming gubernatorial election. John 'Drew' Williams, who announced he plans to run against Republican U.S. Rep. James Comer in 2026, will be the lone Democrat speaking at Fancy Farm. When asked how it feels to be the only Democrat on stage, Williams told The Courier Journal, 'I don't mind it at all.' 'It's become a hate fest in a lot of ways, the picnic,' Williams said. 'We should treat it like a church picnic. Quips are fine. Jokes are fine. But we're getting really hateful in the way we talk about each other.' Williams added he feels 'pretty confident' about his first time speaking at Fancy Farm and is 'ready to be in front of (his) community." 'Even if there are hecklers there, all they're doing is getting me prepared to go up there and get heckled and yelled at in Congress,' Williams said. Who's speaking at Fancy Farm 2025? The speaking order for the event, with allotted times, is as follows: Fancy Farm Political Chairman Steven Elder, welcome Bishop William Medley, invocation Campbellsville University President Joseph Hopkins, national anthem Emily and Austin Lamb, "My Old Kentucky Home" Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President Ashli Watts, emcee, 5 minutes State Rep. Kim Holloway (R), 4 minutes State Sen. Jason Howell (R), 4 minutes U.S. Rep. James Comer (R), 6 minutes Congressional candidate John "Drew Williams (D), 6 minutes U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Cameron (R), 6 minutes U.S. Senate candidate Andy Barr (R), 6 minutes U.S. Senate candidate Nate Morris (R), 6 minutes Attorney General Russell Coleman (R), 5 minutes Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell (R), 5 minutes State Treasurer Mark Metcalf (R), 5 minutes U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is listed as pending on the most recent speaker list. How to watch political speeches at Fancy Farm Political speaking will begin at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. KET will begin live coverage of the event at 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT. Host Renee Shaw and political commentators Trey Grayson and Bob Babbage will provide pre-event analysis. Watch the coverage at Fancy Farm 2025 schedule Barbecue by the pound goes on sale bright and early at 8 a.m. But the picnic's official kickoff doesn't start until a little later. Here's the schedule for the day. 10 a.m. CT: Official picnic start time 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Music by Harold Daniels 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.: Meals served in parish hall 1:30 p.m.: Pioneer Award presentation at political stand 2 p.m.: Political speaking 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.: Music by Louisville Orchestra 7 - 10 p.m.: Music by Seeing Red band 10 p.m.: Raffle drawing This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Fancy Farm picnic 2025: Updates from Kentucky's annual political event Solve the daily Crossword

The Trump administration takes a very Orwellian turn
The Trump administration takes a very Orwellian turn

CNN

time25 minutes ago

  • CNN

The Trump administration takes a very Orwellian turn

Back in March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeted at the Smithsonian Institution that began as follows: 'Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.' Despite the high-minded rhetoric, many worried the order was instead a thinly veiled effort to rewrite history more to Trump's liking. The order, for example, cited a desire to remove 'improper ideology' – an ominous phrase, if there ever was one – from properties like the Smithsonian. Those concerns were certainly bolstered this week. We learned that some historical information that recently vanished from the Smithsonian just so happens to have been objective history that Trump really dislikes: a reference to his two impeachments. The Smithsonian said that a board containing the information was removed from the National Museum of American History last month after a review of the museum's 'legacy content.' The board had been placed in front of an existing impeachment exhibit in September 2021. Just to drive this home: The exhibit itself is about 'Limits of Presidential Power.' And suddenly examples of the biggest efforts by Congress to limit Trump's were gone. It wasn't immediately clear that the board was removed pursuant to Trump's executive order. The Washington Post, which broke the news, reported that a source said the content review came after pressure from the White House to remove an art museum director. In other words, we don't know all the details of precisely how this went down – including whether the removal was specifically requested, or whether museum officials decided it might be a good way to placate Trump amid pressure. The Smithsonian says an updated version of the exhibit will ultimately mention all impeachment efforts, including Trump's. But it's all pretty Orwellian. And it's not the only example. Trump has always been rather blatant about his efforts to rewrite history with self-serving falsehoods and rather shameless in applying pressure on the people who would serve as impartial referees of the current narrative. But this week has taken things to another level. On Friday, Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This came just hours after that agency delivered Trump some very bad news: the worst non-Covid three-month jobs numbers since 2010. Some Trump allies have attempted to put a good face on this, arguing that Dr. Erika McEntarfer's removal was warranted because large revisions in the job numbers betrayed shoddy work. But as he did with the firing of then-FBI Director James B. Comey eight years ago, Trump quickly undermined all that. He told Newsmax that 'we fired her because we didn't believe the numbers today.' To the extent Trump did lay out an actual evidence-based case for firing McEntarfer, that evidence was conspiratorial and wrong, as CNN's Daniel Dale documented Friday. And even some Republican senators acknowledged this might be precisely as draconian and self-serving as it looked. Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, for one, called it 'kind of impetuous' to fire the BLS head before finding out whether the new numbers were actually wrong. 'It's not the statistician's fault if the numbers are accurate and that they're not what the president had hoped for,' said Lummis, who is not often a Trump critic. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina added that if Trump 'just did it because they didn't like the numbers, they ought to grow up.' Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both worried that Trump's move would make it so people can't trust the data the administration is putting out. And that's the real problem here. It's not so much that Trump appears to be firing someone as retaliation; it's the message it sends to everyone else in a similar position. The message is that you might want that data and those conclusions to be to Trump's liking, or else. It's a recipe for getting plenty of unreliable data and conclusions. And even to the extent that information is solid, it will seed suspicions about the books having been cooked – both among regular Americans and, crucially, among those making key decisions that impact the economy. What happens if the next jobs report is great? Will the markets believe it? We've certainly seen plenty of rather blunt Trump efforts to control such narratives and rewrite history before. A sampling: He engaged in a yearslong effort to make Jan. 6 defendants who attacked the Capitol in his name out to be sympathetic patriots, even calling them 'hostages,' before pardoning them. His administration's efforts to weed out diversity, equity and inclusion from the government often ensnared things that merely celebrated Black people and women. He and his administration have at times taken rather dim views of the free speech rights of those who disagree with them, including talking about mere protests – i.e. not necessarily violence – as being 'illegal.' A loyalist US attorney at one point threatened to pursue people who criticized then-Trump ally Elon Musk even for non-criminal behavior. Trump has repeatedly suggested criticism of judges he likes should be illegal, despite regularly attacking judges he doesn't like. His term began with the portraits of military leaders who clashed with him being removed from the Pentagon. It also began with a massive purge of independent inspectors general charged with holding the administration to account. All of it reinforces the idea that Trump is trying to consolidate power by pursuing rather heavy-handed and blatant tactics. But if there's a week that really drove home how blunt these efforts can be, it might be this one.

I'm Rethinking Amusement Park Rides for Good After Watching Netflix's 'Critical' Docuseries
I'm Rethinking Amusement Park Rides for Good After Watching Netflix's 'Critical' Docuseries

CNET

time27 minutes ago

  • CNET

I'm Rethinking Amusement Park Rides for Good After Watching Netflix's 'Critical' Docuseries

Each week, Netflix releases a list of the Top 10 films and TV shows dominating the platform, and for the week of July 21, the new original docuseries Critical: Between Life and Death made a big impression on viewers, ranking No. 7 in the platform's most-watched shows. While medical shows -- including series like The Pitt, Pulse and ER -- have always been popular, Critical is an unscripted documentary that depicts real-life emergencies as they're happening. What makes it so captivating is the intensity and high stakes of these situations, and there's no shying away from the blood, open wounds and emotionally distraught patients and their friends and family here. Interestingly, the show fell out of the Top 10 pretty quickly -- after its first week, it dropped. That's not to say it's not popular, but my personal theory is that it has proven a little too intense for some people. That was my reaction, anyway. After a couple of episodes, I couldn't keep pace with all the grim, traumatic events. In fact, I'm shocked I kept watching after the first episode, which featured four people getting thrown from or crushed by a malfunctioning amusement park ride. Being that this is the height of summer and there's a Six Flags nearby that my kids and I frequent regularly, this is not what I wanted to see, and seeing this real incident unfold may have turned me off of fairs and amusement parks for good. I can't be the only person who gets a nagging feeling any time I board any kind of thrill ride that something terrible could happen, that I'm an accomplice to my own Final Destination death scene and here it is, proof that those fears -- while obviously not common -- can come true. The episode depicts the hospital call centers that are first notified of the ride collapse, and we witness ambulances, helicopters and emergency responders dispatched to the scene, later returning with their patients, most of whom are unresponsive. As the four patients injured at the funfair (as it's referred to on the show) are sent to several trauma centers around London, 40 cameras follow them and the health professionals who are helping them. We're given a front row seat to all of their treatments as their bodies are cut open, scans are taken and they're assessed for physical and neurological damage. I'm someone who gets grossed out by Dr. Pimple Popper videos, so there were several moments while watching this show where I had to look away. (Spoiler alert: The patients do get an epilogue of sorts where we learn that all of them not only survived but are back to leading healthy, relatively normal lives.) Netflix The show does address the fact that 50% of calls to the trauma centers in London are because of violence; accidents such as this one are much less common. And yet even with that in mind, I will panic forever at the idea that the giant spinner ride at the fair is going to dislodge and become a flying projectile. Critical: Between Life and Death is a remarkable show for just how close the filmmakers are allowed to get to such life-threatening action but watching the show made me realize some fears I didn't even know I had. At least while watching The Pitt, there was a sense of relief that it wasn't real. Here, there's no such comfort.

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