Melinda Gates tapped divorce lawyers in 2019 after Epstein links to husband

Melinda Gates, the estranged wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, reportedly met with divorce lawyers in 2019 following reports of links between her husband and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison that year.

Citing sources close to the situation as well as documents it obtained, The Wall Street Journal reported that Melinda Gates began working with lawyers from multiple firms two years ago.

One source as well as a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told the Journal that one concern Melinda Gates had was Bill Gates’s association with Epstein.

The Journal reported that Melinda Gates and her advisers held several calls in October 2019, around the same time The New York Times released a report detailing the multiple meetings her husband had with Epstein, at one point reportedly staying at his Manhattan townhouse late into the night.

A spokesperson for Bill Gates said at the time that the meetings were to discuss philanthropy and that he regretted ever meeting with Epstein. When reached for comment by the Journal, a representative for Bill Gates told the outlet that he stands by his previous statements regarding Epstein.





https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/552551-melinda-gates-spoke-to-divorce-lawyers-two-years-ago-due-to

6 victims in shooting at Colorado Springs birthday party, suspected gunman takes own life

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In a "senseless act of violence" early Sunday morning, a man drove to a birthday party at a mobile home, walked inside and started shooting, killing six people and himself, according to police.

The Colorado Springs Police Department said officers responded to a report of the shooting at 12:18 a.m. in the 2800 block of Preakness Way, which is in a manufactured home community along South Powers Boulevard.

Officers found six adults dead inside the residence. One man was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.
"Words fall short to describe the tragedy that took place this morning," said Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski. "As the chief of police, as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather, as a member of this community, my heart breaks for the families who have lost someone they love and for the children who have lost their parents."

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said, "Today we find ourselves mourning the loss of lives and praying solemnly for those who were injured and those who lost family members in a senseless act of violence on Sunday morning."


https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/colorado-springs-shooting-multiple-victims/73-428e2525-2e0d-4c6e-a716-6badf26bedea

MI-GOV: Detroit police chief planning GOP gubernatorial run against Whitmer

James Craig, a Republican and the chief of the Detroit Police Department, is preparing a campaign against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), handing the GOP a high-profile contender in one of the midterm cycle’s marquee gubernatorial races.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill that Craig is laying the groundwork for a bid and has spoken with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), the chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA). A second source familiar with the matter confirmed that Craig has met with Ron Weiser, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and is expected to announce on Monday a plan for his retirement from the Detroit Police Department.

Local reporter Charlie LeDuff and Fox 2 first reported Friday evening that Craig is preparing to retire from the top post in the Detroit Police Department and is considering a challenge to Whitmer.

Craig is a veteran of several police departments across the country. Before coming to Detroit, his home city, in 2013, he was chief of the police departments in Cincinnati and Portland, Maine. He also was a police officer for decades in Los Angeles.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/552482-detroit-police-chief-planning-gubernatorial-run-against-whitmer

Tweet of the Day

Scotland: SNP wins 4th term, short of overall majority

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has won parliamentary elections in Scotland, but failed to gain an absolute majority, according to final results from Thursday's vote.

The win gives SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon a platform from which to launch a second Scottish independence referendum — otherwise known as "indyref2."

Sturgeon has long favored staging a second vote on leaving the UK and with the help of the Green Party, she may now get her chance.

Referring to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's threat to stop any such moves, Sturgeon on Saturday said: "There is simply no democratic justification whatsoever for Boris Johnson, or indeed for anyone else, seeking to block the right of the people of Scotland to choose our own future."

Though the SNP failed to win an outright majority, it is the fourth election in a row in which the party has dominated at the polls.




https://www.dw.com/en/scotland-snp-wins-4th-term-short-of-overall-majority/a-57472899

Gal Gadot Claims Director Joss Whedon "Threatened My Career' During 'Justice League' Reshoot

Actress Gal Gadot has amplified her previous remarks on director Joss Whedon, renewing the heat he’s experienced for his alleged toxic behavior toward the casts of tv shows Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the film Justice League.

Echoing the remarks of others about Whedon’s alleged behavior, Gadot has previously acknowledged her own run-in with Whedon. But she merely said at the time she had an “experience” with him, “which wasn’t the best one, but I took care of it there and when it happened. I took it to the higher-ups.”

In a Saturday interview with Israeli news outlet N12, Gadot elaborated on her prior statement, revealing the content of Whedon’s threat.
“He kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable, and I just took care of it instead,” Gadot claimed to N12 in remarks reported by several news outlets in and outside of Israel.

The clash reportedly came when Gadot pushed back on some new dialog Whedon had written. During the exchange, he also allegedly disparaged Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins.

Whedon has denied any wrongdoing.

Gadot has supported the claims of others, particularly her Justice League colleague Ray Fisher, who has condemned Whedon’s alleged behavior and decried the lack of support from WarnerMedia executives.





https://deadline.com/2021/05/gal-gadot-joss-whedon-threatened-career-justice-league-shoot-1234752563/

UK: Voters flock to PM Johnson's party as Labour loses northeast stronghold

Voters in an opposition stronghold turned en masse to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives, boosting his parliamentary majority on Friday despite a high COVID-19 death toll, last year's record economic slump and cronyism charges.

Conservative Jill Mortimer beat Labour's candidate in Thursday's ballot by 15,529 votes to 8,589 to take the parliamentary seat for Hartlepool, a victory once unthinkable in a northeast English port town that for decades backed Britain's main opposition party.

The overwhelming victory for an often-criticised governing party increases pressure on Labour leader Keir Starmer, who has struggled to revive his party's fortunes since adisastrous national election in 2019.

Johnson celebrated by quickly visiting Hartlepool when he ascribed his party's success to its policies of delivering Brexit and ploughing money into areas where many voters have felt neglected by successive London-based governments.



https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-johnsons-party-win-election-parliament-seat-2021-05-07/

Trump's New Blog Is a Trap

harlie Warzel: “The Trump website is essentially a GoFundMe page for the twice-impeached leader of the Republican Party. The one link that does work is the one that says ‘CONTRIBUTE’ and leads to a nice page where you can give the man your money.”

“There’s also a nice Facebook Pixel tracker on the site that will collect some nice data that can be used to target custom audiences on the platform. Trump’s account is, obviously, banned at the moment, but maybe Trump-adjacent accounts could use this. Or perhaps Trumpworld might sell that dataset to a third party for advertising purposes. Maybe it might be useful later on for a potential campaign.”




https://politicalwire.com/2021/05/06/trumps-new-blog-is-a-trap/

Progressive Allison McGuire elected to Denton (TX) City Council

UK: Labour expected to get creamed in tonight's local elections

What happened, folks? Economic populism not snout to erase the stink of anti-semitism and other problems?