Twenty-eight year old Las Vegas Raider defensive lineman Carl Nassib, a six-year NFL veteran, has come out as gay, making him the first active player in league history to acknowledge he’s gay, NFL.com reports.

The 6’7″, 275-pound lineman posted on social media about his sexual orientation.  This is his second season with Las Vegas; he had previously played two seasons each with the Cleveland Browns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  He was a third round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2016.

Nearly 74 million people–more than 20% of the American population are enrolled in Medicaid, the government health care assistance program for low-income people, an increase of 9.7 million people from February 2020 to January 2021.

According to the Washington Post, enrollment boosted by people who lost employer based plans and fear of medical needs as the coronavirus spread around the country.  The increase was also due in part to a provision in coronavirus relief legislation that prevents states from kicking people off Medicaid rolls during the pandemic.

“We’ve really seen how important Medicaid is to ensuring the overall health of our country and have seen this through the pandemic,” said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in an interview Monday.  “We are seeing what a lifeline the Medicaid program is to so, so many Americans.”

https://youtu.be/rwGCIhtdglk

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville wants to undermine the way people have checked identifications at polling places for decades:  banning election officials from using utility bills as a form of proof of residence to register to vote:  “Last time I looked, there was not a photo on our utility bill.”

You forgot to mention that gas prices are the same now as they were in June 2018. Or that this time last year unemployment was 11.1% — today it’s 5.8%.@POTUS agrees families shouldn’t pay more at the pump – that’s why he’s opposed to GOP proposals to raise the gas tax. https://t.co/tc5cDXrbJR

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) June 21, 2021

Forbes: “The Republican National Committee spent more than $175,000 at Mar-a-Lago on May 12 for a venue rental and catering, according to a financial disclosure filed on Sunday. Donald Trump retained a 100% interest in his private Palm Beach resort when he became president. The RNC now has spent at least $2.6 million at Trump’s businesses, 98.5% of which occurred after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee for president in May 2016. The $175,000 was for the portion of the RNC’s spring donor retreat that it re-located to Mar-a-Lago from another venue in April, an RNC spokesperson told Forbes. ‘Many G.O.P. donors liked visiting Mar-a-Lago,’ a Republican involved in planning the event told the Washington Post when it first reported the change in plans this March.”

“McCrae Dowless pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to two crimes stemming from the investigation into the absentee ballot fraud scheme he’s accused of running in Bladen County and other parts of southeastern North Carolina. Neither of the charges dealt directly with the election fraud allegations, however. Instead, he pleaded guilty to two of the four charges he faced related to Social Security disability fraud, and prosecutors agreed to drop the other two charges. Dowless entered the plea minutes before jury selection was about to begin in his trial in Greenville.”

“He also agreed Monday to pay back up to $14,000 to the government as restitution for the disability payments he fraudulently took, but he won’t know for two more months what other punishment he might face. Sentencing in his case was set for the week of Aug. 23. The disability fraud charges came as part of an investigation into Dowless for allegedly running an absentee ballot scheme in which he and some assistants would collect people’s ballots and, in some cases, fraudulently sign them or even fill in votes for races that the voters had left blank, officials say. The accusations against him led to the 2018 9th District congressional race, between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready, being redone without Harris. Harris’s campaign hired a group called Red Dome Consulting, which in turn hired Dowless. Prosecutors said that Dowless took – and tried to hide – more than $130,000 from Red Dome Group, even though he was also getting Social Security benefits for claiming to be too disabled to work” – Raleigh News and Observer.

“How is it possible every nation in the Antarctic treaty has held up their end of the deal? No oil exploration? Nothing? Seriously? Why does John Kerry keep going there? He may be a Globalist climate radical, but seriously? He’s not a scientist! Why is every thing these people have done exactly like Nazis? Even down to medical experimentation? Where did those 43,000 german women who were shipped to Antarctica at the end of WWII go? Is it possible we are actually dealing with the 4th Reich? Did Nazis really escape to Antarctica? Why can’t a plane traverse it? Why are all plane paths set to completely avoid it? Environmental reasons? For real? If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you! What is our reality? WHO or WHAT is in Antarctica?” – Trending topic on still-extant QAnon conspiracy site GreatAwakening.win, its top reply opening with “You’re asking the right questions” before going off on how the Rothschilds bankrolled the Nazis, posted Monday.

“An Indiana man was sentenced Friday in federal court for making racially motivated threats to intimidate and interfere with his neighbor, who is Black, in violation of the criminal provision of the Fair Housing Act, and for unlawfully possessing firearms. Shepherd Hoehn, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson to 46 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for these offenses. Hoehn previously pleaded guilty to these charges on Feb. 12, 2021. According to court documents and statements made during the hearing, on June 18, 2020, a construction crew began working at the direction of Hoehn’s neighbor to remove a tree from the neighbor’s property. Upon learning of the tree removal, Hoehn became angry and took several steps to threaten, intimidate and interfere with his neighbor and the construction workers.”

“Specifically, Hoehn placed and burned a cross above the fence line facing his neighbor’s property; created and displayed a swastika on the outer side of his fence, facing his neighbor’s property; created and displayed a large sign containing a variety of anti-Black racial slurs next to the swastika; visibly displayed a machete near the sign with the racial slurs; loudly played the song ‘Dixie’ on repeat; and threw eggs at his neighbor’s house. On July 1, 2020, the FBI executed of a federal search warrant at Hoehn’s home. During the search, several firearms and drug paraphernalia were located. ‘Every person in the United States has the right to live in their home free from the threat of violence based on race,’ said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. ‘The federal government will not tolerate, and will prosecute to the fullest extent the law allows, the sort of race-based threat that this defendant engaged in. We will continue fighting against racially motivated conduct, too often used to drive people from their homes and their communities'” – DOJ press release.

Detroit News: “The board of commissioners in a Michigan county that former President Donald Trump easily won will consider Tuesday whether to formally request an audit of its election results, including whether an ‘unauthorized computer’ manipulated the numbers. The Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners is contemplating sending Jonathan Brater, the state elections director, a letter seeking a hand recount of its ballots in the 2020 presidential race, according to a meeting packet posted on the county’s website. The proposed letter says the audit should explore one of the ongoing and unproven conspiracy theories about the November vote: ‘whether there is any evidence that any unauthorized computer actually manipulated the actual presidential election vote tally within Cheboygan County.'”

“‘As commissioners, we have heard from many of our constituents expressing concerns/questions related to the November 3, 2020 election,’ says the proposed letter from John Wallace, chairman of the county board. ‘We believe we have a responsibility to address these concerns/questions.’ The Republican-controlled board plans to consider whether to send the letter during a meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. It’s unclear how the Michigan Bureau of Elections, which falls under the leadership of Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, would handle a potential audit request from Cheboygan County, a 25,000-person county at the top of the Lower Peninsula. A spokeswoman for Benson declined to comment Monday. The local board’s consideration of the requestis another sign of the heavy push Trump’s supporters in Michigan are currently making to reexamine the election in the battleground state. The Republican incumbent lost Michigan to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,000 votes, or 3 percentage points. Bipartisan boards of canvassers, a series of court rulings and dozens of audits performed by election officials have reinforced the outcome.”

“A reported 3.9 magnitude earthquake off the Florida’s east coast Friday was actually an ‘experimental explosion,’ the U.S. Navy confirmed. A spokesperson with the Navy told Action News Jax that what was measured were a result of military ‘shock trials’ and they are not unusual, nor is it unusual for them to register as earthquakes. Shock trials test a ship to see how it holds up in an undersea explosion. This is to test strength of the ship’s hull, making sure it can perform in battle. The USGS measured the seismic event roughly 100 miles off the coast of Ponce Inlet” – CBS 47.

AP: “Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation’s most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate. Left unsettled is whether California will continue to ban evictions for unpaid rent beyond June 30, a pandemic-related order that was meant to be temporary but is proving difficult to undo. Federal eviction protections also are set to expire on June 30. California had passed its own protections that applied to more people. Newsom and legislative leaders are meeting privately to decide what to do, part of the negotiations over the state’s roughly $260 billion operating budget. An extension of the eviction ban seems likely to give California more time to spend all the money to cover unpaid rent. But landlords and tenants’ rights groups are arguing over how long that extension should last.”

“California has $5.2 billion to pay off people’s rent, money from multiple aid packages approved by Congress. That appears to be more than enough to cover all of the unpaid rent in the state, according to Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Newsom on housing and homelessness. But the state has been slow to distribute that money, and it’s unlikely it can spend it all by June 30. A report from the California Department Housing and Community Development showed that of the $490 million in requests for rental assistance through May 31, just $32 million has been paid. That doesn’t include the 12 cities and 10 counties that run their own rental assistance programs.”

“Given the CCP’s active coverup of Covid-19 and contribution to the 3.8 million deaths worldwide, China should not be rewarded by allowing Beijing to host the Winter Olympics in 2022” says McCarthy in a letter to his conference outlining eight “pillars” of action against China as punitive measures for the Coronavirus pandemic that they unleashed on the world.

Daily Beast: “President Putin has pulled off a targeted propaganda operation against the U.S. that’s so simple it never should have worked – and he did it in plain sight as part of the build up to last week’s summit with President Biden. This weekend, Russia’s favorite propaganda shows celebrated a job well done. State TV propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov asserted on his show on Sunday: ‘Biden should keep in mind that not only America is back, but Russia is back too.’ The ploy began when Putin sat down for an interview with NBC’s Keir Simmons. He directed the conversation away from his suspected involvement in the murders and attempted murders of his critics. Instead, asking: ‘Did you order the assassination of the woman who walked into Congress and who was shot and killed by a policeman?’ The Russian president was referring to Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to climb through the broken window of a door leading directly onto the House floor during the Jan. 6 riots. The bait had been thrown.”

“Putin’s plot paid off in spades, when Tucker Carlson played the clip of his comments to NBC on his show and expressed agreement. Carlson said: ‘Now, under normal circumstances, we would never play tape of a foreign adversary criticizing our government. But honestly, those are fair questions.’ Without a hint of irony, Carlson added: ‘Vladimir Putin knows authoritarian systems very well, and he sees clearly what is happening in this country.’ The Fox News host seemed to assume that an authoritarian adversary was providing this advice without an ulterior motive – and eagerly shared it with his American audience. His decision was cheered by pro-Kremlin propagandists in Moscow.”

The U.S. and its trans-Atlantic allies on Monday imposed financial sanctions against senior Belarus officials and police units the Biden administration said are responsible for escalating political repression, including the forced diversion of a commercial airline carrying dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his subsequent arrest in May. The sanctions mark a significant expansion of pressure by the Biden administration as it coordinates joint action with the European Union and other Western governments against the political crackdown by the former Soviet state’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko. ‘We are united in our deep concern regarding the Lukashenko regime’s continuing attacks on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and international law,’ the U.S., the EU, the U.K. and Canada said in a joint statement accompanying the sanctions. The statement cited the arrest last month of Mr. Protasevich and his companion after Mr. Lukashenko forced the Ryanair flight carrying them through Belarusian airspace to land in Minsk” – Wall Street Journal.

AP: “Dozens of people have ignored advice not to travel to Stonehenge for the annual summer solstice celebrations, which were cancelled Monday due to coronavirus concerns. English Heritage, which looks after the Neolithic monument, had planned a live feed of the sunrise at Stonehenge for the second year in a row. But the organization said that program had to be interrupted because of safety concerns after ‘a number of people have chosen to disregard our request to not travel to the stones this morning.’ Thousands of people who tuned in to watch the sunrise at the stones online ended up watching pre-recorded footage before the live feed returned around 5 a.m.”

“Video from Britain’s PA news agency and elsewhere showed dozens of people gathering inside the stone circle, with some scaling a low fence to climb inside the restricted area to reach the stones. Some were seen dancing and others held a banner that read ‘Standing for Stonehenge.’ English Heritage said it was ‘disappointing’ to see people ‘act in a way that put themselves, our staff and the police at risk’ during a pandemic. The summer solstice typically draws tens of thousands of people to the stone circle in southern England to celebrate the longest day of the year.”

“Most Americans support both easier access to early voting and requiring photo identification to vote, according to the Monmouth University Poll. The public is more divided on expanding vote-by-mail, although a majority would like to see some national voting guidelines established for federal elections. The poll also finds that only one-third of the public believes ‘audits’ of the 2020 election results are legitimate efforts to uncover irregularities. Moreover, one-third of Americans continue to believe Joe Biden won the presidency only due to voter fraud – a steady trend since November that underlines the crystallization of our nation’s deep partisan divide. A large majority (71%) of the public feels in-person early voting should generally be made easier. Just 16% say it should be made harder. Opinion is more divided on voting by mail – 50% say this should be made easier and 39% say it should be made harder. At the same time, fully 4 in 5 Americans (80%) support requiring voters to show photo identification in order to cast a ballot. Just 18% oppose this.”

“Easing in-person early voting access and requiring photo IDs both have bipartisan majority support. Approval of making early voting easier stands at 89% among Democrats, 68% among independents, and 56% among Republicans. Support for requiring a photo ID to vote stands at 62% among Democrats, 87% among independents, and 91% among Republicans. Only Democrats back making voting by mail easier to do, with 84% supporting this idea compared to just 40% of independents and 26% of Republicans. More than 2 in 3 Americans (69%) support establishing national guidelines to allow vote-by-mail and in-person early voting in federal elections in every state. Just 25% oppose this idea. Support for establishing national voting guidelines on these issues comes from 92% of Dems, 63% of independents, and 51% of Republicans” – Monmouth Polls.

Donald Trump told his staff he wanted to send all Americans who were exposed to coronavirus while overseas or on cruise ships to Guantanamo Bay on Cuba as a way to lower the numbers of US cases, according to a new book by two Washington Post reporters.

As reported from Business Insider, Trump asked aides, “Don’t we have an island that we own?” in February 2020 as cases were spreading in Asia and Europe.  “What about Guantanamo?”

“We import goods….We are not going to import a virus,” Trump told aides after US had reported its first couple hundred cases according to “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” written by Washington Post writers Yasmeen Abultaeb and Damian Paletta and due for release on June 29.

For a person who complains a lot about unnamed sources, Tucker Carlson seems to like being an unnamed source for a lot of stories about Donald Trump and internal Fox News politics, the New York Times reports, citing sixteen separate journalists.

“In Trump’s Washington, Tucker Carlson is a primary supersecret source,” the media writer and Trump chronicler Michael Wolff writes in his forthcoming collection of essays, “Too Famous.”  “I know this because I know what he has told me, and I can track his exquisite, too-good-not-to-be-true gossip through unsourced reports and as it often emerges into accepted wisdom.”

Carlson isn’t just gossiping about his fellow Fox-ites; he’s leaking information to outside media to leverage the information internally at Fox.  It’s an odd duality for a person who complains about journalists and hosts from other networks during his hour-long prime time show–an now innumerable hours for the Fox News streaming service, which prominently features Carlson.

Palmer Report: “Weeks ago, federal prosecutors brought conspiracy charges against two ‘Oath Keepers’ employees of Roger Stone, for their roles in the January 6th Capitol attack. At the time, Palmer Report explained that under these circumstances the main reason to bring conspiracy charges against them was so that conspiracy charges could also be brought against Stone.”

“Sure enough, Harry Litman of the LA Times tweeted on Sunday night that the Feds are in fact investigating Roger Stone for the Capitol attack. This comes as no real surprise. Video evidence has been circulating for months that showed Stone interacting and plotting with these same Oath Keepers on the morning of the attack. And while that alone wouldn’t be enough to get a criminal conviction against Stone, it was more than enough for the Feds to dig in and uncover the entire evidence trail. What stands out is that the Feds are now allowing the media to find out that they’re targeting Roger Stone in the January 6th investigation. The Feds know that this will only place additional pressure on them to bring charges against Stone before too much longer – so this can be taken as a sign that Stone’s indictment likely isn’t too far off. It’s worth asking if this is a sign that one or more of Stone’s Oath Keepers pals may be cutting a plea deal against him.”

The ruling was unanimous, partially invalidating NCAA’s “amateurism” rules, stating that student athletes can provided with additional benefits by colleges, including laptops, payments, etc.