Samoa’s prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, has criticised Robert F Kennedy Jr’s views and the spread of vaccine misinformation related to the deadly 2019 measles outbreak that claimed the lives of at least 83 people, mostly babies in her country.
It comes as Kennedy, who is president Donald Trump’s pick to lead the top US health agency, faced attacks in Senate confirmation hearings this week with Democratic lawmakers accusing him of covering up his anti-vaccine views.
“If he is the messenger for anti-vaxxers, as a leader, I do not agree with him,” Fiame told the Guardian in her first public comments on Kennedy after the first day of his confirmation hearings in the US.
Fiame said she was surprised by his nomination given his anti-vaccination rhetoric. She added that she refused to believe that Kennedy’s and Trump’s sentiments reflect those held by most Americans.
The 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa was caused by a dangerous drop in vaccination rates that stemmed from a medical vaccination error in 2018 and was fuelled by anti-vaccination sentiment. The previous Samoan government’s public health mismanagement also contributed to the crisis.
By October 2019, vaccination rates had fallen to 31% – down from 84% four years previously, according to WHO data. The decline began after a 2018 medical error, where two infants died due to nurses incorrectly administering vaccines mixed with an expired muscle relaxant. Though the error was unrelated to vaccine safety, anti-vaccine activists falsely blamed the MMR vaccine for the deaths.
As a result, when measles entered Samoa in late 2019, the low immunity levels allowed the disease to spread rapidly, leading to at least 83 deaths and over 5,700 cases, mostly among babies and young children.
“The facts remain that the two babies who died [in 2018] were through human error of the nurses. All the different actors, especially anti-vax people, got on board and suggested that the vaccination was the cause, which is complete rubbish,” Fiame said.
“We have a track record prior to that of high rates of vaccination for our children, and they were safe. The facts speak for themselves,” Fiame told the Guardian. “It was unvaccinated children who died.”
While Kennedy denies his visit to Samoa in 2019 worsened the outbreak, health officials argue that his anti-vaccine rhetoric fuelled public fear at the height of vaccine hesitancy in Samoa.
“His visit did not help our cause as we were already dealing with misinformation and hesitancy from the two deaths,” said Luana Tui, a Samoan community health worker who was part of the vaccination drive during the measles pandemic.
In the wake of a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has condemned Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine views. Kennedy, a vocal critic of vaccines, has been spreading misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, leading to a decrease in vaccination rates in many communities.
The deadly measles outbreak in Samoa has claimed the lives of dozens of children, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency and launch a mass vaccination campaign. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has called out Kennedy for his dangerous rhetoric, stating that his anti-vaccine views have directly contributed to the spread of preventable diseases.
Malielegaoi emphasized the importance of vaccination in preventing outbreaks of deadly diseases and urged the public to listen to medical experts rather than celebrities like Kennedy. He also called on social media platforms to take a stand against the spread of misinformation about vaccines.
The deadly measles outbreak in Samoa serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of anti-vaccine propaganda. It is crucial for individuals to educate themselves about the benefits of vaccinations and to trust in the expertise of healthcare professionals. Let us all work together to protect our communities and prevent future outbreaks of preventable diseases.
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Samoa, Prime Minister, RFK Jr, vaccine views, deadly measles outbreak, criticism, Samoa news, health crisis, vaccination controversy
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The hearings for some of President Trump’s controversial cabinet picks began this week, including RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel. Washington Post White House reporter Jacqueline Alemany, former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Brendan Buck, former Press Secretary to House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner, join José Díaz-Balart to discuss.Jan. 31, 2025
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The White House has maintained a positive outlook on the hearings for controversial cabinet picks, emphasizing the nominees’ qualifications and commitment to serving the American people.
Despite facing tough questioning from both sides of the aisle, the White House has expressed confidence in the nominees’ ability to effectively carry out their duties and bring about positive change in their respective departments.
While some detractors have raised concerns about the nominees’ past actions or statements, the White House has stood firm in its support, citing their track records of success and dedication to public service.
Overall, the White House views the hearings as a necessary part of the confirmation process and remains optimistic about the outcomes for these controversial cabinet picks.
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When she was a member of the House of Representatives, Tulsi Gabbard was a fierce defender of personal privacy rights protected by the Fourth Amendment. She consistently opposed permitting federal agents to spy on Americans without search warrants, and she consistently voted against the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.
Last week, Gabbard, now about to be nominated as Director of National Intelligence — the head of all known American spying agencies — changed her mind on Section 702 and no longer believes that the Constitution means what it says.
Here is the backstory.
After the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 and the full extent of his use of the FBI and the CIA for domestic warrantless surveillance became known, Congress enacted FISA. It proclaims itself to have established the only lawful method for surveillance outside of the Fourth Amendment. This proclamation is itself a profound constitutional error, as ALL surveillance in defiance of the Fourth Amendment is unconstitutional.
That amendment was written in the aftermath of British agents executing general warrants on the colonists. General warrants were not based on probable cause of crime, but rather governmental need. And they did not specifically describe the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized.
Rather, general warrants — issued by a secret court in London — authorized the bearer in America to search wherever he wished and seize whatever he found. The agents ostensibly were looking for proof of tax payments. They were really engaged in spying. They were looking for subversive, revolutionary materials.
After the Revolutionary War was won and the Constitution was ratified, the Bill of Rights was ratified. The Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights protects all “people” from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government — both law enforcement and spies. The courts have interpreted “unreasonable” to mean “without a search warrant.”
The Supreme Court has characterized spying as surveillance and surveillance as a search under the Fourth Amendment. That amendment requires search warrants issued by judges and based upon probable cause of crime demonstrated to the judges under oath and specifically describing the place to be searched or thing to be seized for the surveillance — the spying — to be lawful.
The amendment’s drafters’ intentional employment of the word “people” makes it obvious that the amendment protects every person from every search and every seizure by anyone from the government without a warrant. It is not limited to Americans or adults or good people or people the government likes; rather, it protects all people.
In a linguistic effort to accommodate the warrant requirement and its probable cause pre-condition, the congressional drafters of FISA required that the FISA Court may issue warrants for surveillance based on probable cause not of crime but of being a foreign government agent. The FISA Court then, on its own, morphed foreign agency into foreign personhood and then morphed that into communicating with a foreign person.
So, if you text or email or call your cousin in Geneva or an art dealer in Florence, you become a target for a FISA surveillance warrant — merely by communicating with a foreign person.
Even this loosening of Fourth Amendment protection by the Orwellian re-definition of probable cause was not enough to satisfy the rapacious appetite of the government to spy.
Thus, President George W. Bush ordered the National Security Agency — the federal government’s 60,000-person strong cadre of domestic spies in the Department of Defense, and thus subject directly to the president — to engage in warrantless spying, in defiance of FISA and on a scale vastly greater than that which Nixon had ordered of the FBI and CIA in the 1970s.
When Congress learned of the warrantless spying through the courageous revelations of Edward Snowden, rather than defunding it, it enacted Section 702 as an exception to FISA, and thereby made warrantless spying on foreign persons in America legal. In a direct affront to the Fourth Amendment, Section 702 permits the NSA and its cousins in the 16 other federal spying agencies to spy without warrants on all communications involving foreign persons.
What happens when a foreign person communicates with an American?
Section 702 permits warrantless surveillance of Americans who communicate with foreign persons, permits the NSA to maintain a database of all such American persons, permits the FBI to search those databases without a search warrant and, if the NSA learns of evidence of criminal behavior without a warrant, requires it to share that evidence with the FBI.
It gets worse.
Since Department of Justice lawyers have persuaded the FISA Court to issue warrants to spy on Americans who communicate with foreigners out to the sixth degree of communication, the NSA has contended that Section 702 also permits it to spy out to the sixth degree.
How many persons can be spied upon under the NSA’s interpretation of 702?
Call your cousin in Geneva and NSA can spy on everyone with whom you speak and everyone to whom they speak and so on, out to the sixth level of communication.
The FBI reported that in 2021, it searched 3.4 million names in the NSA database of Americans who communicated with foreigners. If you take those 3.4 million out to the sixth degree of their American communications, the number grows exponentially. You will have reached 330 million Americans before completion of the process.
In order to win the votes of Republican senators who hate the Fourth Amendment, Gabbard has told them she now favors Section 702 warrantless spying. This is the very same Section 702 used to justify spying on Donald Trump before his election in 2016 and during his first term as president.
Gabbard apparently covets her new job more than she covets her principles. Of what value is the Constitution if federal officials abandon it?
Andrew P. Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge, has published nine books on the U.S. Constitution. To learn more, visit JudgeNap.com.
Over the years, Tulsi Gabbard’s views on privacy have evolved significantly. Initially, Gabbard was a staunch advocate for government surveillance and national security measures in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. However, as she gained more experience and insight into the implications of mass surveillance on individual privacy rights, her stance shifted towards a more libertarian perspective.
Gabbard has become a vocal critic of government overreach and has called for greater transparency and accountability in surveillance programs. She has also expressed concerns about the erosion of civil liberties in the name of national security and has called for reforms to protect individuals’ privacy rights.
In recent years, Gabbard has been a strong advocate for online privacy, pushing for legislation to protect consumers’ data and prevent abuses by tech companies. She has also been a vocal opponent of government surveillance programs like the NSA’s bulk data collection, arguing that they violate the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens.
Overall, Tulsi Gabbard’s views on privacy have evolved from a position of supporting government surveillance to one of advocating for stronger protections for individual privacy rights. Her commitment to safeguarding civil liberties and privacy rights has made her a leading voice on these issues in Congress.
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Tulsi Gabbard, privacy, evolution, political views, data protection, internet privacy, surveillance, government, technology, privacy laws, civil liberties
Are you a history buff or a World War II enthusiast looking for a gripping read? Look no further than “44: In Combat from Normandy to the Ardennes (Battleground Europe: Soldier’s Views of 1944 and 1945 Book 1)”.
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Whether you’re a seasoned historian or just looking to learn more about this tumultuous period in history, “44: In Combat from Normandy to the Ardennes” is a must-read. Pick up your copy today and immerse yourself in the stories of those who lived through one of the most defining moments of the 20th century.
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Joined ESPN The Magazine after graduating from the University of Missouri.
Although he primarily covers the NFL, his assignments also have taken him to the Athens Olympics, the World Series, the NCAA tournament and the NHL and NBA playoffs.
Host and co-executive producer of the new ESPN series, “Backstory”
Member of three Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for national, explanatory and public service journalism
Author of three books, including New York Times best-selling “First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush”
24-year newspaper career at The New York Times and Miami Herald
Jan 25, 2025, 06:20 AM ET
THIS PAST FALL, Dan Snyder had dinner in London with longtime associates. For only the second autumn since 1999, Snyder was not the owner of his beloved Washington football team.
He was not living the ups and downs of an NFL season, as he had done since his childhood in Maryland.
He was not presiding over the Commanders‘ rebuild, already on the cusp of a stunning turnaround, the kind of rise that Snyder lived for in a previous life: from 4-13 in 2023 to what would eventually be a 12-5 regular season and an underdog playoff run, culminating in an NFC Championship Game appearance Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
But now Snyder is a ghost: The new-look Commanders are not only led by first-time general manager Adam Peters, new head coach Dan Quinn and sensational rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, but they also have a new ownership group, led by Josh Harris and his Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
At the London dinner, Snyder, 60, was polite, if not subdued, and did things the associates had come to expect, such as ordering almost everything on the menu. Snyder said that he was enjoying a quiet existence, mostly in London. Life was better for his family, far from the controversies that had engulfed him and the team the past several years. Talk inevitably turned to the improving Commanders, already off to a strong start. When one associate returned to the United States, a colleague asked him the question that’s been on the minds of many fans and league executives:
What’s it like for Snyder, for years the most hated owner in sports, to watch the Commanders succeed without him?
“He f—ing hates it,” Snyder’s dinner companion told the colleague.
Neither Snyder nor any of his representatives responded to interview requests from ESPN. But according to league sources, team owners, sports executives, lawyers and others with knowledge of his current status, some of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive legal matters, Snyder has recast much of his life since he sold the Commanders under duress 19 months ago.
He has mostly lived in London, often surrounded by a security detail, or spent time on his superyacht. He is trying to sell his remaining U.S. real estate holdings and decided to give away a $35 million estate to the American Cancer Society after it sat unsold for months. Any business he conducts is from the U.K., where sources with firsthand knowledge say he has expressed interest in buying into a Premier League soccer club, although others who know him well doubt Snyder will ever own any professional sports team again.
What little remains for him in the United States includes a tangle of unresolved legal issues — and the thoughts of what might have been if he had never sold the team.
SNYDER NEVER WANTED to sell, even after putting the Commanders up for sale. Few people outside the league, Harris’ company, or the Commanders organization know that he tried desperately to blow up the sale at the last minute.
Snyder had been pressured into the sale by fellow owners who roundly hated him and league executives eager to see the franchise returned to its former glory — and profitability. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue recently told confidants that Snyder is “the worst owner in the history of the National Football League.”
A source with direct knowledge said that, after months of negotiations with Harris, Snyder was imagining ways to keep his team. One idea, the source said, was to announce that he had years earlier given up alcohol, and to say that much of his alleged misbehavior over the years that caused so much league and fellow owner angst happened while he was drunk. Snyder also purposefully set a minimum price of $6 billion for the Commanders, knowing that few people, even among the ultrarich, could afford that price tag.
Despite Snyder’s resistance, the sale process moved ahead, with Harris’ group barely clearing the asking price. Harris needed to recruit approximately 20 limited partners.
Then, on July 20, 2023, shortly after owners approved the sale for a North American sports franchise record of $6.05 billion, the NFL gave Snyder another reason to be mad, fining him a record $60 million on the way out. A league investigation led by attorney Mary Jo White not only affirmed Snyder’s alleged sexual harassment of a team employee but also concluded he had fostered a toxic workplace culture and that the Commanders had withheld revenue from the NFL. Sources said Snyder was infuriated that the fine dropped the amount just below the $6 billion he had insisted on from the beginning.
“There’s no way I’m paying,” Snyder told confidants about the league fine.
Suddenly, the sale’s closing — a supposed formality — turned into an eleventh-hour drama, multiple sources with direct knowledge told ESPN. Snyder threatened to kill the deal by refusing to share his bank information, preventing Harris from wiring him the money. At 1 a.m. on July 21, Snyder and his wife were fielding phone calls from various executives and confidants, urging him to do what he’d pledged and let go of the team.
“I don’t want to do this,” Snyder told a confidant.
A rally celebrating Harris’ ownership group was scheduled for later that day at the since-renamed FedEx Field.
But as 1 a.m. became 2 a.m., Snyder was refusing to hand over the stadium keys.
“I don’t care!” Snyder said, according to sources with direct knowledge of what transpired in those hours. “It would be trespassing if anyone goes there. It’s still mine!”
League executives didn’t know what Snyder would do next but told Harris’ group to be on call, ready to wire the funds if and when Snyder shared his bank information — and before he could renege.
In the days leading up to the close, sources said, Dan and Tanya Snyder were pressed by confidants and friends, including Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, the three-time Super Bowl winner who supported Snyder even during the darkest times, to complete the deal out of love for the team and fans.
Associates reminded Snyder in those wee hours that the primary reason to sell was his family. The past few years of relentless revelations about bad behavior and questionable ethics, largely of Snyder’s own doing, had taken a toll on his three children. Tanya reminded her husband that the sale would relieve their emotional distress. A confidant warned Snyder, “The only way your legacy gets worse is if you rip this back now.”
Quiet minutes passed. Tanya said, “Dan, I know this is hard. This was a dream.”
With that, Snyder relented. He gave the go-ahead to Jason Wright, then the Commanders’ team president (he declined to comment for this story), to share the bank information so the Harris Group could wire the $6.05 billion. It was finally official: Harris and his fellow investors owned the Washington Commanders. The league had finally pushed out its most hated owner. The rally the next day at FedEx Field commenced as planned.
Months later, Tad Brown, CEO of HBSE, told confidants, “We don’t get the Commanders if not for Joe Gibbs.”
Despite Snyder’s protests about the $60 million fine, it was paid July 21 “as part of the overall transaction,” a league official confirmed.
“The fine was a condition of the sale and was included in the resolution that was voted upon and approved by the full membership,” the official said.
A spokesman for HBSE declined to comment on the sale, citing a nondisclosure agreement signed by the two sides.
THOUGH DAN SNYDER held tight to the end, Dan and Tanya Snyder had been quietly planning their second act for months. Less than three weeks after announcing on Nov. 2, 2022, that they intended to sell the Commanders, the Snyders established a company to operate in England and Wales. The document established a new company, dubbed “Snyder UK Investments Limited,” but it also signaled the Snyders’ future intentions. On the documents setting up the company, Snyder, and Tanya, then the co-CEO of the Commanders, were asked where they “usually” reside.
They both answered: England.
London made sense as the place for the Snyders to envision their post-Commanders life together. The United Kingdom holds a special place in Snyder’s heart. His late father, Gerald, who was an author and freelance writer for National Geographic and United Press International, held a dual U.S.-U.K. citizenship. At the age of 12, Dan Snyder moved from Silver Spring, Maryland, to Henley-on-Thames, outside London, as his father researched and wrote a book on the Loch Ness Monster. For two years, the family lived in the U.K. and Snyder attended a private school. It was then that Snyder became a devout Anglophile who today adores London’s history, culture and nightlife, associates said.
Snyder left the United States with a raft of legal action against him or the team during his tenure, including expected subpoenas from federal and civil lawsuits, investigations by multiple attorneys general and a two-year-old FBI and IRS inquiry into the Commanders’ finances.
Since November 2022, federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, have been investigating deceptive business practices alleged in an April 2022 letter that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent to the Federal Trade Commission.
A federal grand jury was impaneled, team financial records were subpoenaed, and several former team executives met with prosecutors, sources with firsthand knowledge told ESPN. No indictments have been returned. President Donald Trump this week appointed a new interim U.S. attorney for the district, and the future of the inquiry will be up to him. Snyder has been a loyal supporter of Trump, including writing a $1 million check to the president’s 2017 inaugural committee.
Snyder also is the central figure in a federal lawsuit filed a year ago by one of his former minority partners against Bank of America, the bank that Snyder owed a debt of nearly $1 billion when he sold the team. In the lawsuit, a Tampa, Florida, billionaire and former minority partner of the Commanders, Robert Rothman, alleged that Bank of America conspired with the NFL and Snyder to force him and two other minority partners to sell their stake in the Commanders back to Snyder in 2021 at a valuation roughly half of the $6.05 billion Snyder was ultimately paid.
The lawsuit, which does not name Snyder as a defendant, alleges that Bank of America turned “a blind eye” to “financial red flags” raised by Snyder’s management of the team, including his alleged failure to pay the partners a share of the profits and his increasing reliance on team debt to finance his lavish lifestyle.
The centerpiece of Rothman’s lawsuit is Bank of America’s December 2018 approval of the franchise’s $55 million credit line taken out by Snyder without his minority partners’ knowledge or required approval. The bank allowed Snyder to draw $38 million in March 2019 from the credit line “without verifying Snyder had obtained board approval,” the lawsuit states.
A Bank of America spokesman has said the bank “will vigorously defend ourselves against these allegations.”
A federal judge has given permission for Rothman’s lawyers to begin to seek discovery on some of the claims in the original suit, which could include seeking sworn testimony of Snyder and NFL executives, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Our complaint clearly alleges my client, Bob Rothman, lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of Bank of America’s actions,” attorney Brian Kopp said. “In the process, the bank overloaded Dan Snyder with debt, knowing that he would have to sell the team. Even though he made a lot of money selling the team, I suspect that Dan Snyder feels that he got squeezed by the bank.”
Practically, Snyder’s relocation to London marked the beginning of his estrangement from some of his American friends and longtime associates, including nearly everyone connected with the NFL, according to several sources who speak with members of Snyder’s inner circle. During his 24 years at the helm of the Washington football team, Snyder’s closest ally among NFL owners was Jerry Jones, who told ESPN recently that he has not spoken with Snyder since he sold the team.
But bridges were burning long before the move. In October 2022, ESPN reported that Snyder told close associates that he had dug up dirt on Goodell and fellow NFL owners, including Jones, and told a close associate he would use it to “blow up” those who forced him to sell. “They can’t f— with me,” Snyder said privately.
When it came to Snyder’s nearly quarter-century partnership with the NFL, Jones said simply, “It was time for a divorce.”
WHEN HE’S IN London — and not aboard his 305-foot superyacht, the $180 million Lady S, which was docked this month off Harlingen in the Netherlands — Snyder has filled some of his days visiting Westminster pubs and restaurants, a source with firsthand knowledge says. The pubs are within walking distance of the luxury hotel where he’s been living while a condo he bought is being renovated, the source says. On other days, the source says, he visits the Chelsea office where his U.K.-based investment firm is housed.
It’s unclear how Snyder has invested the $6.05 billion windfall he received for the team he bought for $800 million in May 1999. On documents detailing his investment firm’s holdings, the Snyders list £1 million in assets.
One of Snyder’s post-Commanders’ investments backfired in a high-profile way. Snyder invested $6 million in a film titled “The Apprentice” through Kinematics, an upstart production company run by his 29-year-old son-in-law, Mark Rapaport. The film tells the story of Trump’s early years under the mentorship of lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn. When he made the investment, Snyder assumed the film would depict Trump positively, a source with firsthand knowledge told ESPN. But last February, Snyder screened the film with Rapaport at an island home and, the source said, became enraged by the decidedly negative portrait. The film was shelved until Kinematics finally sold off its stake last summer, and the filmmakers searched months for a U.S. distributor. In October, “The Apprentice” was released in the United States to box-office failure but critical acclaim and, this week, Academy Award nominations for actors Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong.
Within months of closing on the Commanders sale, the Snyders listed for sale their Potomac, Maryland, estate, known as “River House,” overlooking the Potomac River. The 30,000-square-foot mansion, the Snyders’ main residence since 2001, was listed for $49 million, but after it sat unsold, the Snyders slashed its price to $35 million. Still, there were no buyers.
Finally, in March, the Snyders donated the estate to the American Cancer Society. It was the largest gift in the organization’s 110-year history; the organization has still not sold the estate. It’s now listed at $29.9 million. The Snyders will be able to use the $18.5 million appraised value as a tax write-off. They’ve also listed for sale their Virginia estate, not far from George Washington’s Mount Vernon. The asking price is $60 million, but it remains vacant and unsold.
According to sources in London sports circles, Snyder in recent months has shopped for a piece of a soccer team, preferably in the Premier League, where exponential growth in team valuations rivals the NFL. A source close to the Premier League acknowledged hearing of Snyder’s interest in a club but said no formal move has been made. “I keep hearing he wants another act as a team owner — the Premier League is his dream,” said another source who was briefed on Snyder’s Premier League fandom and keen interest in an ownership stake.
Such a move would be “an act of redemption,” the source said. “He could maybe prove people wrong by getting a Premier League team. … He could reinvent himself there because he can’t do it here. He literally can’t.”
But other sources close to Snyder and in the Premier League believe he would never buy into a soccer club or any other professional sports team, for that matter. The reason isn’t because of finances, or prestige, or even baggage.
“He isn’t a fan of other sports,” one source said. “He’s a fan of the [Commanders]. That was the biggest thing.”
At the age of 6, Snyder attended his first Washington home game with his father, who scraped together enough money for two tickets. Snyder was hooked. “For him, it wasn’t somebody losing a team. This was different. He loved that team.”
IN THE MONTHS after the associates dined with Snyder in London, Washington’s season continued its stunning rise to the NFC title game, led by Jayden Daniels, the type of superstar quarterback who Snyder for years contended might save him from being forced to sell the team.
And D.C. has rallied around its team in ways it hasn’t for decades — since its last Super Bowl win after the 1991 season — and in ways Washington rarely rallies around anything.
In late December, after years of lobbying by Jason Wright and other Commanders executives, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to transfer the site of the team’s former home, RFK Stadium, to Washington, D.C., paving the way for a long-awaited new stadium. Suddenly it’s cool again to be a Washington football fan.
Even the former team employees who accused Snyder of fostering a toxic workplace have joined in, starting a text chain to discuss the turnaround with each other.
“Karma is real,” said Melanie Coburn, the former team cheerleader and marketing director who testified about the team to Congress. “For years, we endured the dysfunction and toxicity at the organization under Dan Snyder and blamed all the losses on the dark cloud he brought over the team. Turns out, we were right.”
Snyder’s outlook has evolved. There’s still anger, and he remains “in denial” about what led to his ouster, said a person close to his inner circle. But there’s also something else: “Sadness — for himself,” that person said. “It’s killing him. … It’s devastating for him.”
But even from across the pond, Snyder’s specter still hovers over the team. After Washington upset Tampa Bay in the wild-card round, its first playoff victory since Jan. 7, 2006, Josh Harris and limited partner Magic Johnson stood outside the locker room, surrounded by exuberant family members and cameras. Johnson put his right arm around Harris and spoke into the microphones.
“What does it take?” Johnson said. “New vision, new owner with a strategy, picking the right people … and then, we all step out of the way and let them do their jobs.”
“Talent, culture and people,” Harris said.
Neither man mentioned Dan Snyder’s name. There was no need.
Dan Snyder views Commanders’ title run: ‘He … hates it’
Washington Commanders’ owner Dan Snyder has reportedly expressed his disdain for the team’s recent success in the playoffs. Despite the Commanders making a deep run in the postseason and being just one win away from a championship title, Snyder is said to be unhappy with the team’s performance.
Sources close to Snyder have revealed that he believes the team’s success is overshadowing his own legacy and control over the franchise. He is allegedly frustrated with the attention and praise being given to the players and coaches, instead of himself.
Snyder’s attitude towards the Commanders’ title run has left many fans and analysts shocked and disappointed. It seems that even in the midst of a potential historic victory, Snyder’s ego and need for control continue to take precedence.
As the Commanders prepare for their championship game, it remains to be seen how Snyder’s negative outlook will impact the team’s morale and performance. One thing is for certain, however – Snyder’s lack of support and enthusiasm for his own team is a troubling sign for the future of the franchise.
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Louisianans across the southern part of the state woke up this week to find themselves in a stark winterscape with a fluffy blanket of powdery snow on the ground after a historic storm dumped 6 inches of snow or more across the region.
The snow, fueled by bitterly cold arctic air moving down from the north and moisture moving up from the Gulf, began falling Tuesday morning and continued throughout most of the day. Unusually, the cold air that made the snow possible arrived well before the moisture did, meaning that once the snow hit the ground, it didn’t immediately melt like so many Louisiana snowfalls. It accumulated to our wonder and delight.
Most schools and businesses were closed, and authorities warned residents not to go out for fear that the treacherous conditions could cause significant accidents.
We are heartened that it seems many Louisianans heeded those warnings and did not get behind the wheel. But they certainly got out.
Almost from first light, people were outside, marveling at the flakes drifting down from the sky. Once there were a few inches on the ground, it was common to see children and even adults flopping into the snow to make snow angels, rolling snowballs for hurling and improvising sleds to slide down hills.
Snowmen began popping up in yards and open spaces, many of them garbed in Mardi Gras-themed attire, naturally.
There were people on skis in the French Quarter and a guy playing ice hockey on Canal Street in New Orleans. Flakes fell as Mike the Tiger trotted in his enclosure on LSU’s campus.
Obviously, weather events like Tuesday’s are almost completely unprecedented in Louisiana. Baton Rouge’s totals will likely surpass the six inches received in 1940 and be the second biggest snowfall ever recorded in the city. Though it won’t come close to the biggest snowfall recorded there — 12.5 inches in 1895 — it is still the greatest amount of snow recorded in over a century. Lafayette saw similar totals, beating out the second highest snowfall total of 4.7 inches in February 1960.
New Orleans got about 10 inches, tying that 1895 record and adding a surreal veneer to its famous landmarks.
It’s unusual when a rare weather event sparks so much joy. We are all too familiar with terrifying weather forcing evacuations and creating uncertainty about the future. For most, this was not that — it was a time for adults to play like children, for neighbors to gather and marvel at the houses that looked like they had been staged for holiday postcards.
We are grateful that there have been no reports of widespread emergencies caused by the cold, and that most seem to have listened to officials who urged them to shelter in place.
Next week, our temperatures will be back up in the 60s, and this week’s wild winter weather will be nothing more than a dreamy memory. We hope that will never melt away.
In Louisiana, snow days are a rare occurrence. But when they do happen, the state puts its own unique spin on them.
For many children in Louisiana, a snow day means more than just a day off from school. It’s a chance to experience something they rarely see – snow. From building snowmen to having snowball fights, kids in Louisiana make the most of the white stuff that falls from the sky.
But it’s not just children who enjoy snow days in Louisiana. Adults also take advantage of the rare occasion to indulge in some winter activities. Whether it’s sledding down hills or simply taking a leisurely walk in the snow-covered landscape, Louisianans find ways to make the most of the cold weather.
Of course, snow days in Louisiana also come with their own set of challenges. The state’s infrastructure is not equipped to handle large amounts of snow, leading to road closures and power outages. But despite these obstacles, Louisianans always manage to find a way to make the most of their snow days.
So the next time it snows in Louisiana, embrace the opportunity to experience something out of the ordinary. Whether it’s building a snow fort or sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace, make the most of this rare occurrence and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Cameron Diaz‘s return to acting is going smoothly: “Back in Action,” a new Netflix film starring Diaz alongside Jamie Foxx, was the streamer’s most-watched title during the week of Jan. 13-19. With only three days of availability, the film hit 46.8 million views — the biggest opening weekend for an English-language film on Netflix since “The Adam Project” in March of 2022.
Diaz made another appearance lower down on the Top 10: “Knight and Day,” her 2010 action comedy also starring Tom Cruise, was No. 4 on the English-language films list with 5.2 million views.
“American Primeval” had its second week on top of the English-language TV list with 14.3 million views, this time edging out “Squid Game” Season 2 as the most-watched TV season of the week. (“Squid Game” still topped the non-English language TV list with 13.2 million views.) Close behind “American Primeval” with 14.2 million views was Season 2 of “XO, Kitty,” a spinoff of Netflix’s “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” films. Season 1 also picked up some renewed attention, hitting No. 6 with 3.1 million views.
Limited series “Missing You” had its third week on the chart at No. 3 with 5.6 million views, and was followed by Netflix’s stream of “Raw,” a WWE special that’s part of the streamer’s foray into live sports and hit 3.7 million views. Jerry Springer’s limited series “Fights, Camera, Action” was next with 3.5 million views in its second week on the chart.
“The Night Agent” returned to the chart at No. 7 with 2.4 million views, with fans rewatching or newly discovering the series just ahead of Season 2’s Jan. 23 release date. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” spinoff “The Ones Who Live” took eighth place with 2.3 million views after recently landing on Netflix. The last two spots on the chart went to the debuts of “I Am a Killer” Season 6 and “Castlevania: Nocturne” Season 2 with 2.3 million views each.
After a long hiatus, the highly anticipated action-packed series ‘Back in Action’ has finally made its return to Netflix. And it seems like fans couldn’t wait to dive back into the world of adrenaline-pumping stunts, thrilling car chases, and heart-stopping fights.
With a whopping 46.8 million views in just the first week of its release, it’s safe to say that ‘Back in Action’ has captured the attention of viewers worldwide. The show’s return has been met with praise from both fans and critics alike, with many hailing it as a must-watch for any action lover.
If you haven’t already binged the latest season of ‘Back in Action’, now is the perfect time to grab some popcorn, buckle up, and get ready for a wild ride. With its high-octane action sequences, complex characters, and twist-filled plotlines, this series is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last episode.
So, what are you waiting for? Join the millions of viewers who have already tuned in to ‘Back in Action’ and see what all the hype is about. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed.
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Lee Zeldin said Americans deserve a clean environment “without suffocating the economy” during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a department likely to play a central role in President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to slash federal regulations and promote oil and gas development.
“The American people elected President Trump last November in part due to serious concerns about upward economic mobility,” Zeldin said. “A big part of this will require building private sector collaboration to promote common sense, smart regulation.”
It was a mostly friendly hearing that occasionally grew pointed when Democrats questioned Zeldin about climate change asking what, if anything, Zeldin thinks should be done about a problem that has worsened floods and raised sea levels but that Trump has dismissed.
Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, for example, asked about basic climate science, including what impact carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have on the atmosphere.
“I don’t sit before you as a scientist,” Zeldin said. After a follow up question, he did say that carbon dioxide traps heat.
Zeldin, a former Republican congressman serving part of Long Island, has been a longtime Trump ally. He served on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment and voted against certifying Trump’s 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump led efforts to dismantle environmental protections during his first term and has promised to do so again. Experts and advocates believe that Zeldin’s first tasks will be overturning President Joe Biden’s biggest climate accomplishments, including tailpipe regulations for vehicles and slashing pollution from power plants.
During the hearing, however, Zeldin repeatedly declined to commit to specific policies, promising instead not to prejudge outcomes before arriving at EPA. When asked by Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska about whether he would roll back programs that promote electric cars — a program Trump has criticized — Zeldin stayed vague but acknowledged Republican opposition.
“I will tell you that I have heard concerns from you, and many others in this chamber, of how important it is to look at rules that are currently on the books,” he said.
He made it clear that he believed in strict limits on the EPA’s regulatory power. He pledged to honor a Supreme Court decision from last year that weakened the federal government’s ability to write strong regulations and fill in gaps in the law when those laws aren’t clear. It was one of several blows to the EPA’s regulatory authority in recent years — the justices also curtailed the EPA’s power to write broad air and water protections.
“Laws are written by Congress and there are cases that have come out of the Supreme Court that provide the EPA with clear guidance on how we must do our job under the law,” Zeldin said.
Zeldin told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that Americans deserved safe water and clean air and promised to strike a more cooperative relationship with states — several Republican senators said they were tired of the Biden administration’s heavy handed approach to enforcement.
The League of Women voters, a national environmental advocacy group, has panned Zeldin’s lifetime environmental record, giving him a 14% score. Like all Republicans at the time, he voted against the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at boosting renewable energy, manufacturing and fighting climate change.
Zeldin’s record includes bright spots for environmentalists. He supported a bill to reduce harmful forever chemicals, called PFAS, that would have required the EPA to set limits on substances in drinking water. He also was a leading proponent of the Great American Outdoors Act, which used oil and gas royalties to help the National Park Service tackle its massive maintenance backlog. He’s supported local conservation efforts, too.
Soon after Trump picked Zeldin to run the agency, he was less reserved in his views, telling a Fox News interviewer that “left wing” regulations hurt businesses.
“One of the biggest issues for so many Americans was the economy, and the president was talking about unleashing economic prosperity through the EPA,” he said at the time.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed reporting from Washington.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
In a recent Senate hearing, Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michael Regan, faced tough questions from senators regarding his stance on climate change and environmental policies. Despite pressure to provide specific details on his plans for the agency, Regan remained vague in his responses.
Many senators expressed concerns about Regan’s past work as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry and questioned whether he would prioritize the interests of polluting industries over environmental protection. Regan attempted to assure the committee that he would prioritize science and data-driven decision making at the EPA, but hesitated to commit to specific actions to address climate change.
The hearing highlighted the contentious nature of environmental policy under the Trump administration, with many senators skeptical of Regan’s ability to lead the agency in a direction that prioritizes environmental protection. As the Senate considers Regan’s nomination, it remains to be seen whether he will provide more clarity on his plans for the EPA and its role in addressing climate change.
While it was nice to mostly stay put in Silo 18 last week and watch Knox and Shirley storm up the staircase with the Down Deepers to commandeer ten extra floors (plus a food farm!) to prevent being starved out and captured for Meadows’ murder, we missed our favorite platonic post-apocalyptic couple in Silo 17, Juliette and Solo.
Sure, we did visit them for a minute or two to set up “Silo“‘s new chapter titled, “The Dive,” which will have anyone with a morbid fear of deep water running back to watch Frosty the Snowman cartoons before Father Time heralds in the new year.
But first, across the pitted landscape in Silo 18, Bernard pulls back the wizard’s curtain and allows his new shadow, Lukas Kyle, to enter the sacred vault room that’s the gateway to The Legacy. It’s a magnificent repository of cultural artifacts and record of known human history all housed in an elaborate library like a posh European museum. In addition to fine art paintings, leather-bound books, music recordings, glass-domed inventions, photographs, and a model of the solar system, the entire collection is stored digitally and linked to an advanced AI interface.
Behold the human history wonders of The Legacy! (Image credit: Apple TV+)
Key questions are answered here as Bernard explains what The Legacy is and what it contains. He tells Lukas that Silo 18 was built 352 years ago, but beyond that no information is available. It’s implied that Salvador Quinn’s complex letter code contains a secret potentially far more dangerous than a routine silo rebellion, and that it must be unravelled at any cost using the AI.
In attempting to decipher the code in Quinn’s mystery letter, Lukas guesses that it’s a numeric cipher and that a book was used to craft it. Each number corresponds to the appearance of a word on a specific page of a specific book. There were no matches in any of the books in The Legacy and so the book must have been an illegal relic located in the silo somewhere still. A book that’s more than 140 years old!
We now realize that Solo lived inside Silo 17’s own self-contained The Legacy vault, which explains his detailed knowledge of things like trapeze artists, circus animals, and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Down below in Mechanical, Knox and Shirley create a gunpowder-launched propaganda bomb that they fire up to the Up Toppers containing strips of paper asking for answers about what happened to Juliette and how Judge Meadows really died. Power is immediately shut down except for in IT, causing more division and distrust between Bernard and the citizens.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Bernard is feeling the pressure and starts putting the squeeze on Walker using Carla as leverage, not yet knowing Walker’s intimate relationship with the incarcerated Supply Manager. Bernard visits poor Carla in Judicial Seclusion to make a deal about how much gunpowder the Down Deepers are in possession of. She refuses until she’s told what happened to Knox, Shirley, and Walker but Bernard refuses. Later, Rick Amundsen shows Bernard video evidence that Walker and Carla still have a deep emotional bond, one that Bernard definitely intends to exploit.
Tim Robbins and Clare Perkins in “Silo” Season 2 (Image credit: Apple TV+)
In Silo 17, Juliette realizes that Solo is not going to return her survival suit and helmet until she helps him flip the power switch on the ground water pump that will halt the silo flooding. It won’t be easy since the switch is eight levels underwater. She’s not happy about being coerced but has no choice, so they rig a breathing tube apparatus for her tied to an escape line and bell for her to be reeled back in “like a fish.” But she must come up slow due to the risk of The Bends, a lethal decompression sickness where nitrogen bubbles form in the body’s tissues after being at depth. Solo explains that if she does exhibit symptoms, she can go back underwater at least 20 feet down until the symptoms dissipate. (Seems that info might come in handy later!)
Juliette takes the plunge and gets lowered down into the murky water wearing special weighted boots and glass goggles. The spectacular set design here is a spooky submerged nightmare of shifting shadows and decay frozen in time. Like exploring a hellish version of the infamous Titanic disaster, Juliette locates the pump switch and plugs the power cord in that activates the silo-saving pump.
Mission complete? Not quite! Juliette’s return rope gets cut and her air supply abruptly stops, requiring her to ascend fast… too fast. She recalls Solo’s description of swimming and employs that method of propulsion to reach the surface. When she pops up gasping, Solo is gone. She hustles up the stairs to find him but only discovers a hatchet that severed her return rope and a trail of fresh blood. From a balcony one level up, a shadowy figure is watching her!
Eagle-eyed fans with exceptional recall might remember that this is the second time Juliette’s swim rope was cut, as someone sliced it in this season’s first episode when she went into the water. Does Solo know who this person or people are that are trying to kill Julia? Probably, since he’s still reluctant to reveal his identity and knows a lot about working and breathing underwater, which also indicates that he’s been emotionally manipulating Juliette into taking the big plunge for him.
Rebecca Ferguson and Steve Zahn star in “Silo” Season 2 (Image credit: Apple TV+)
And don’t forget all those IT vault combination codes written on the classroom blackboard, showing that Solo was attempting to guess the correct sequence at some previous time, something the real IT’s shadow would have already known by heart. Remember how flustered he became when he couldn’t remember it when trying to get back inside earlier in the season?
The rebellion is growing. Bernard is flailing. Solo is not who he says he is. Quinn’s letter probably holds a horrid secret about how humanity became doomed. And Juliette just wants to get back to Silo 18 to prevent another disaster like Silo 17.
Series creator and showrunner Graham Yost (“Speed,” “Justified,” “Band of Brothers”) has really put his foot on the narrative gas in this seventh episode, confidently raising the stakes and revelations that will lead to the final three installments of this engrossing sophomore season. And with the recent news that AppleTV+ has ordered up two more seasons, Yost and his ace team will be able to do service to Hugh Howey’s source novels and finish up Juliette’s saga properly.
In the latest episode of Silo, tensions continue to rise as Juliette takes a risky plunge into the unknown. Meanwhile, Lukas makes a startling discovery as he views the vault of human history.
As Juliette finds herself faced with a difficult decision, she must decide whether to trust her instincts or follow the rules. Will she be able to navigate the treacherous waters ahead, or will she face dire consequences?
On the other hand, Lukas delves deeper into the mysteries of the vault of human history, uncovering secrets that could change everything. As he pieces together the puzzle of the past, he must confront the truth of his own existence and the implications it holds for the future.
With the stakes higher than ever, Silo Season 2 Episode 7 promises to be an intense and thrilling ride. Don’t miss out on the action and drama as our characters face their toughest challenges yet. Tune in to see how it all unfolds in this gripping episode of Silo.
Three months into his first term, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry sat in his fourth-floor office in the Capitol and told reporter Tyler Bridges, “I don’t move slow.”
Landry was speaking of the dizzying pace of his first 90 days in office, but he hardly slowed down during the rest of the year. Landry pushed through a number of consequential measures and initiatives, consolidated power in his office perhaps more than any governor in decades and generally set the state’s political agenda in ways few others would have attempted.
From expanding incarceration and putting Louisiana State Police in New Orleans to tackling the state tax code, changing the way Louisianans elect many of their public officials and even bringing a live tiger to an LSU football, it has been an eventful first year for the St. Martinville native. He didn’t get everything that he wanted, but he did more than any other single person to drive the news in Louisiana in 2024.
That’s why Gov. Jeff Landry is our inaugural Louisianan of the Year.
The decision by the Opinion page staff was not an easy one. Many other Louisianans did big things in 2024, but it’s the Republican governor who has been the center of the state’s political gravity over the past 12 months.
Among his wins are an extensive reversal of the state’s criminal justice reforms, meaning stiffer sentences and the end of parole for convicts. Over some local opposition but ultimately to widespread praise, he backed up his campaign promise to tackle crime by putting a State Police troop in New Orleans. With his backing, the Legislature changed the state’s jungle primary system for federal offices and some other major offices to party primaries, which will give more ideologically pure Republicans — and Democrats — a leg up.
When a federal court ordered the state to redraw its congressional lines and to add a second majority Black district, Landry helped ensure that U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a political rival and fellow Republican, saw his district carved up.
Landry has also secured some big economic development wins, such as the new Meta data center in northeastern Louisiana, a potentially transformative $5 billion investment in a largely rural and poor area.
He convinced the Legislature to give the governor’s office the ability to name the chairs of state higher education boards, a consolidation of political power that prompted unflattering comparisons to legendary former Gov. Huey P. Long.
Like Long, Landry’s politics contain a populist streak. Also like Long, Landry has sought to use the state’s flagship university for his own political ends. He hasn’t yet marched with the band or built a dorm in the shape of a stadium, but he did arrange an appearance by a live tiger for the showdown against Alabama, a move greeted with much derision.
Like Long, Landry knows that some will get distracted by what his stunt-hand is doing while, at the same time, his policy-hand is engaged in serious work.
His tax package was, at its presentation, a complex and nuanced approach to fixing some of the state’s well-documented ills. What passed wasn’t exactly what Landry proposed, but he did manage to undo some policies that have long been targeted by reformers.
The Republican-led Legislature gave Landry plenty of wins this year, but he didn’t go undefeated. The Senate blocked a number of his wishes, including a poorly conceived constitutional convention. Other proposals, such as his attempt to redirect public money to private schools and even the shift to party primaries, were watered down or delayed.
Even so, Landry has cut a towering figure over Louisiana since he took office in January. And it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon.
For the first time this year, the editorial board is recognizing Louisianans who have made a singular impact on the news or in their fields during the calendar year. For more on those recognized, click here.
As we reflect on the past year in Louisiana, it is clear that one individual has stood out as a true leader and advocate for the people of our state. That person is none other than Gov. Jeff Landry.
Throughout his time in office, Gov. Landry has shown unwavering dedication to the well-being and prosperity of Louisiana’s residents. From his efforts to combat crime and protect our communities to his commitment to creating jobs and improving our economy, Gov. Landry has consistently put the needs of our state first.
In the face of unprecedented challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, Gov. Landry has shown strong leadership and a clear vision for moving Louisiana forward. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that our state is prepared for any situation and that our citizens are taken care of during times of crisis.
Gov. Landry’s dedication to the people of Louisiana is truly commendable, and it is for this reason that we believe he deserves to be recognized as the Louisianan of the Year. His leadership, integrity, and unwavering commitment to our state make him a true standout among his peers.
As we look ahead to the future, we have no doubt that Gov. Jeff Landry will continue to be a strong and effective leader for Louisiana. We are grateful for his service and proud to call him our Governor.
Congratulations, Gov. Landry, on being named the Louisianan of the Year. Your dedication and hard work have not gone unnoticed, and we look forward to seeing all that you will accomplish in the years to come.
