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Hunter Biden boasted that he “smoked crack” as a college student with then-Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry, according to a recording that surfaced Friday. During the 8-minute, 15-second audio clip, President Biden’s son and another man were debating whether slain civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi ever used cocaine when Barry’s name came up. “Although the mayor from DC did,” the other man said.

New Yorkers are so obsessed with Barry the barred owl that some are concerned he could be scared away. So far, he seems to like the attention. Barry the Barred Owl is New York City’s bird of the moment.Credit...Dave Sanders for The New York Times ===================================================================== It was late afternoon in the North Woods of Central Park, and the sun was setting fast. Joshua Kristal, a photographer with a penchant for birds, was starting to feel despondent as he searched along the creek, looking for any movement. This was the third time he’d traveled more than an hour from Brooklyn...

48 Hours after the Trump-Zelenskyy phone call transcript has been made public, and 24 hours after the “whistleblower’ complaint is made public, Things are now becoming much more clear… The whistleblower complaint is the “Schiff Dossier.” After the 2018 mid-terms, and in preparation for the House “impeachment” strategy, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Lawfare Group members to become committee staff. Chairman Schiff hired former SDNY U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman (link), and Chairman Nadler hired Obama Administration lawyer Norm Eisen and criminal defense attorney Barry Berke (link), all are within the Lawfare...

Hurricane Barry weakened Saturday to a tropical storm as it came ashore with sustained winds measuring 75 mph (120.7 km/hour) along the Louisiana coast west of New Orleans. The winds quickly dropped to 70 mph (112.6 km/hour), bringing Barry down from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm. However, flooding caused by the storm is still "life-threatening," the National Weather Service warned. The storm could bring between 10-20 inches (25.4-50.8) of rain by Sunday evening, with some areas receiving up to 25 inches (63.5 cm), USA Today reported. According to NBC News, the storm is expected to turn north-northwest...

The Humane Society evacuated animals that were up for adoption in Louisiana shelters, which helps increase capacity for dogs and cats that may be displaced in the storm. Ahead of Tropical Storm Barry making landfall along the Louisiana coast, more than 120 dogs and cats in the storm's path were flown to safety. The animals were evacuated Friday from St. Landry Parish Animal Control and St. Martin Animal Shelter in Louisiana and flown to Manassas in northern Virginia, the Humane Society of the United States said. Staff and volunteers of the humane society helped unload the pets from the plane...

Barry has strengthened into a hurricane and will make landfall soon, along the northern Gulf Coast, spreading torrential rain up the lower Mississippi Valley, leading to major river flooding and flash flooding in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee, along with storm-surge flooding and strong winds.

The Federal Trade Commission reported to have approved a five billion dollar fine against Facebook.... The Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta resigning Friday.... Back to the Epstein case itself federal prosecutors have filed their reasoning as to why Jeffrey Epstein should be denied bail... On Thursday the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the indictment and felony conviction of the late Joe Robertson..... At last word Tommy Robinson was safe in HMP Belmarsh in London, held in isolation. But while the prison also houses political prisoners like Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, it has been also called the UK's Gitmo...

Tropical storm Barry has finally earned its name. The storm is drifting W in the central Gulf of Mexico. The tropical system is somewhat unusual because the low pressure system was originally over Georgia before drifting into the GOM. The New Orleans area has been inundated with heavy rain with flooding over the past several days, unrelated to the current tropical storm. Gulf of Mexico Satellite Channels Public Advisories NHC Discussions Radar Mobile, ALRadar NOLARadar Lake Charles, LARadar Houston/Galveston NWS Local Weather Statements New Orleans, LANWS Local Weather Statements Mobile AL/Pensacola FLNWS Local Weather Lake Charles LA/Port Arthur TXNWS Local...

Tropical Depression Barry likely to form later today. May become Hurricane...

When former President Obama left the White House, he pledged to take a back seat to make room for other Democrats in the party to shine. Nearly 17 months later, that’s proving to be an impossible task. Obama drew headlines this week after a Politico report revealed that he is consulting a long line of would-be 2020 candidates and offering advice to party leadership. And he drew another round of headlines when it was announced that his political committee, Organizing for Action, is revving up to help Democrats in the midterm elections. Democrats have turned to the party patriarch as...

To some in Washington, D.C., he was a “living legend” who advocated for the city’s poor. To others he was a controversial figure remembered for being re-elected mayor despite serving a prison sentence for possession of crack cocaine. On Saturday, an 8-foot-high bronze statue of former Mayor Marion Barry was unveiled on Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation’s capital, just blocks from the White House. The statue, designed by artist Steven Weitzman, was ordered by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington's Fox 5 reported. The estimated $250,000 cost was covered by a combination of public and private funds,...

Looking back on 2017 is like waking up after a party where you made some poor decisions, such as drinking tequila squeezed from the underpants of a person you do not really know. (At least you hope it was tequila.) The next day finds you lying naked in a Dumpster in a different state, smeared from head to toe with a mixture of Sriracha sauce and glitter. At first you remember nothing. But then, as your throbbing brain slowly reboots, memories of the night before, disturbing memories, begin creeping into your consciousness. As the full, hideous picture comes into focus,...

From white water rafting in Bali to visiting temples on Java, former U.S. President Barack Obama's private family holiday is being closely tracked in Indonesia where he spent four years as a child. Obama remains popular in the world's most populous Muslim nation and his trip has been splashed across the media during an extended public holiday to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Obama was six when he moved to Jakarta after his American mother, Ann Dunham, married an Indonesian man following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father. "I feel proud that my...

Former US president Barack Obama is to make his first visit to Scotland when he addresses business leaders in the capital next month. He will also answer questions from the audience at the event, which is being held to raise money for charity. The charity was set up by leading businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter. Tickets for a table of 10 at the dinner are expected to go on sale for approximately £5,000. The Hunter Foundation has previously arranged for US politicians and actors including Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney to come to Scotland. All of the...

In February 2012, then-President Barack Obama promised he’d buy a Chevrolet Volt in five years when he’s out of office and that time is now. Inquiries to Obama’s representatives so far have gone unanswered whether arrangements to acquire the now-second generation extended-range EV are being made. And, the statement he made to 1,600 United Auto Workers in Detroit seemed sincere enough. “Five years from now when I’m not president anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself,” said Obama after saying the secret service allowed him to sit in it, but not take it anywhere for obvious reasons. “Yes, that’s...

In the future, Americans — assuming there are any left — will look back at 2016 and remark: “What the HELL?” They will have a point. Over the past few decades, we here at the Year in Review have reviewed some pretty disturbing years. For example, there was 2000, when the outcome of a presidential election was decided by a tiny group of deeply confused Florida residents who had apparently attempted to vote by chewing on their ballots.

Hey, Barry--don't let that doorknob hit you in the butt on your way out I don’t know? Do you think you know? Did you know that both times he was elected, he was sworn in twice? Both times. Why? Both times, why?

Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Barry, a film about a formative year in the life of a young Barack Obama, following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this month. According to Deadline, the streaming service beat out several other distributors to land the rights to the critically-acclaimed film from director Vikram Gandhi, which premiered September 10 in Toronto. Netflix was said to have spent $4.5 million to acquire the film, though the final number was not confirmed. Barry tells the story of one year in the life of the future president, as he attends Columbia University in...

Michigan’s economy performed poorly during the 2000s, only to be hit hard by the recession near the end of the decade. While growth in the current decade has been tepid in Southeast Michigan, the Grand Rapids area is a boomtown. The region fully recovered from the recession and has grown beyond its peak in 2000. There are more people employed in the area — composed of Kent, Barry, Montcalm and Ottawa counties — and those workers are both producing and earning more. There are 542,600 jobs in the area, 19.8 percent more than its 2009 recessionary trough and 4 percent...

Cops kill man after machete attack at Ohio deli Last Updated Feb 12, 2016 8:17 AM EST COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police shot and killed a man who stormed into a central Ohio restaurant wielding a machete and randomly attacking people as they sat unsuspectingly at their dinner tables, authorities said. Four people were injured in the brutal attack Thursday evening at Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, a Mediterranean restaurant in Columbus. The victims were taken to an area hospital and were expected to recover. CBS News has learned that investigators have identified the suspected attacker as Mohammad Barry. CBS News homeland...