North Carolina educator 37-year-old Lesli Lambeth Bryant was slapped with two counts of indecent liberties and second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, court docs show.
Angela Nikolau, 33, and her beau Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, the daredevils who got engaged atop the Empire State Building’s antenna were sprung Wednesday after getting hit with a slew of charges for the cringe Instagram stunt.
It has been one of the most popular days thus far at President Donald Trump's state fair, but now it's over. Washington, D.C., has reached a level of heat that it is becoming dangerous, and organizers of the fair decided to shut things down until this evening after 5 p.m., the digital signs read. The timeline raised questions from some folks who know the hottest time of day is likely around 5 p.m. "However, it’s going to be hotter at 5pm," said White House correspondent Wid Lyman. The hourly forecast shows temperatures will begin to fall around 7 p.m."It is miserably hot and humid today, genuinely feels like a sauna when you step outside," Fox congressional correspondent Bill Melugin wrote on X.July 3 is the federal holiday being observed for Independence Day, so many people in the area have off work, making it a perfect day for activities. After lackluster crowds, thousands came to the fair on Friday, only to be told it had to be shut down. Friday was also the day that some of the Trump heirs attended. First son Donald Trump Jr. was on hand with his new wife and Tiffany Trump was also there with her husband. Tourists were angry about it, saying they'd never heard of something as absurd as closing a state fair due to heat. "I've never heard of the fair closing bc it's hot and I live in SW MO where they do the fair mid August," said one person. One reason for heat fears is that the biggest attraction, the Ferris wheel, has gondola seats that are largely enclosed, and it isn't air-conditioned. There are also restrictions about what can be brought into the fair, including water bottles. Only clear bottles can be brought inside. Still, those who have spent the week mocking another of Trump's 250 failures were filled with jokes. "All 21 people at Trump’s state fair please go to the nearest exist the fair is closing," quipped democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko. "Hearing that the "Great American State Fair" may be closing until July 5. Supposedly, an announcement on site," joked Joel Siegel of Spectrum News. As one former Washington, D.C. resident explained, "As a former D.C.-er, let me explain a few things: D.C. is built on a swamp. Humidity even in the 70's F is unpleasant. In the 90's, you feel as if you are being melted into a puddle. In the 100's? Your brain capacity will be low. Is it as bad as Arkansas? Not quite, but it's sticky dehydration. Other than the D.C. National Zoo, which is built inside a small, steam-oven like canyon (but at least has some shade trees), the Mall in D.C. is the hottest spot in the city. It is a long, open trek, getting from 1 building to another. On the 4th, many buildings will be closed by Trump's fools."
The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship this week. The Times said the decision "capped a more than decade-long effort by Mr. Trump to use the issue as a political tool." A relief, to be sure, but no cause for celebration. A plain reading of the 14th Amendment would bring anyone to the same decision. The court was split, however, with some justices unable to resist the temptation to dehumanize immigrants by calling them "foreign birth tourists." The majority didn't check the president, though that's how most people will see it. A more accurate interpretation would be that it encouraged him, or some future authoritarian, to try again. Change a few things, including who's on the court, and a plain reading of the 14th Amendment won't matter anymore. All it would take to destroy equal citizenship would be five rogue justices pretending that history didn't happen and words don't have meaning.The high court can't be allowed to continue in its present form, not when it profanes the Constitution, perverts the rule of law, and comes within a hair of transforming America into de jure apartheid state. It has already legalized corruption. It has already gutted the Voting Rights Act. Yesterday, it said that the US Congress (meaning we, the people) has no rights which a Republican president is bound to respect. All things being equal, it's only a matter of time before the current court finds a way to turn "white makes right" into law. The Republican won't stop it. Will the Democrats?I can't say I'm encouraged after reading Dana Milbank's latest. A former Post columnist who now writes for NOTUS, Milbank wanted to know if the unitary executive powers amassed by Trump and blessed by this court can be used to launch what he called "a new Progressive Era, in which a Democratic president imposes by executive fiat government run health care and many other ideas liberals have long dreamed about but lacked the votes to enact." Milbank interviewed "veterans of previous Democratic administrations and liberal policy wonks" to ask "what would it look like if the next Democratic president wielded power the way Trump does?" The answer, Milbank said, is like "an embryonic Project 2029," though no one called it that. "The advocacy arms of the Roosevelt Institute, the Center for American Progress and other influential groups on the left are already assembling lists of ways a Democratic president could use the breathtaking executive power Trump has seized."On that list are some golden nuggets. They include (and here I'm quoting Milbank almost verbatim): creating a government-run health insurer; seizing patents from drug makers that developed their products with government funding; establishing government-run grocery stores; cutting off funds for businesses that don’t significantly raise their wages; taking “golden shares” in, or other forms of government control over, frontier AI firms, banks, pharmaceutical firms and others; dismantling the Department of Homeland Security; and breaking up media monopolies like Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. I'm sampling what is a truly mouth-watering list of progressive objectives, but two aspects stand out from the full list. One is that it's limited to policy. Two is that there's nothing on the list about reforming the Supreme Court. Indeed, there does not seem to be awareness among Milbank's sources that the Supreme Court will strike down every one of these policies if given a chance, no matter how good or popular they might become. Worse, a kind of magical thinking seems to be driving the debate. None other than Neera Tanden suggested what's good for a Republican is good for his Democratic successor in the eyes of the court. "Trump has discovered, or created, powers that no president has ever had that have been sanctioned by a rightwing Supreme Court,” said the head of the Center for American Progress. “Trump has widened the aperture of the powers the federal government has.” That aperture, Tanden said, can be used by a Democrat to "create a kind of new social contract.”Not if John Roberts has anything to say about it. It doesn't matter how much "Trump has widened the aperture of the powers the federal government has." The next Democratic president can't change America without changing the court. It is not politically neutral. It does not serve the law. It is profoundly corrupt. And only a fool would forget that what this court gives, this court can take away. It must be held accountable for its impunity for the law, same as everyone. So expand its number, impose term limits, strip its jurisdiction, throttle its budgets – whatever it takes, because there will be no new dawn as long as there's a rightwing supermajority that's prepared to veto it.
New York City residents were surprised to find two masked people climbing the Empire State Building just after noon on Wednesday.The New York Police Department confirmed via social media that they closed down streets near 5th Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan.They unfurled a banner that read, 'When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.'The couple identified themselves on social media as daredevil climbers Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau from Russia.They unfurled a banner that read, "When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace."The NYPD later confirmed that officers had taken the couple into custody but did not immediately say what charges they may face.One woman told USA Today that there were rumors that the man proposed to the woman during the climb."But I don't really know exactly what it is," Stephanie Hazelwood said. "It just seems like an attention thing and art, maybe."Video obtained by ABC News did indeed appear to show the male climber getting on one knee and proposing to the female climber, who then takes photos of her hand."If it's a proposal, it's an elaborate one, and I hope she said yes," one news anchor said on the video."OK, they're hugging. I think he just proposed!" the other anchor said.The couple were the subject of a documentary titled "Skywalkers: A Love Story" from 2024 and have a large following on social media.RELATED: Watch: 'Pro-Life Spider-Man' climbs New York Times building and California's second-tallest skyscraper in daring protest against abortion A spokesperson for the Empire State Building said the "unauthorized" incident was resolved and used the occasion to market the building."It is to be emphasized that the Empire State Building Observation Deck, atop the 'World's Most Famous Building' in the center of New York City, does offer a practical way for the most memorable marriage proposals," the spokesperson said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
