Happy birthday to Academy Award nominee Carol Kane, Chief Engineer Pelia on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. She may have been in a few other things... like The Princess Bride, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi, Scrooged, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Poker Face, and a whole lot more.
#StarTrek
Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s crusade to purge women and people of color from our Armed Forces has never been subtle.
But today, a New York Times exposé revealed exactly how far he’s gone to dismantle the careers and achievements of our finest servicemen and women.
More than a dozen military insiders — both active duty and those already purged — spoke to the Times anonymously to unmask a horrific ongoing attack.
They detailed a process used by Hegseth and his team to halt senior officer advancements for reasons completely unrelated to merit, job performance, or fighting wars.
Hegseth’s efforts are part of a quest to advance his white-and-male centered worldview, facts, history, and actual service be damned.
In the absence of any such evidence, insiders confirmed that he has used his position to withhold promotions from qualified, decorated veterans. The Times cited several enraging examples:
• Last fall, Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll to remove two Black and two female officers from a 29-person promotion list. Driscoll repeatedly refused, citing their decades of exemplary service. In March, Hegseth bypassed him, removed their names, and sent the modified list to the White House.
• In total, Hegseth has removed 32 officers from Air Force and Navy one- and two-star promotion lists. He also pulled the only Black officer and the only female officer from a Marine Corps list, leaving their promotions in limbo.
• Vice Adm. Sara Joyner, a highly decorated three-star fighter pilot, saw her advancement stalled over a 2021 Navy recruiting ad where she said, "I’m not just a girl with a dream. I’m a sailor with one." Hegseth deemed the line a "big problem." Joyner has since retired.
• Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett was recommended for a promotion after successfully managing the aftermath of a massive Navy fuel spill in Hawaii. Hegseth blocked his advancement after Barnett participated in a Navy-sponsored Pride event back in 2018.
It is an outrage to watch a media personality whose greatest battles have been with hangovers intentionally harm the careers of people who risked everything to keep America safe. Hegseth’s actions are insult to all who have served and a risk to national security.
[Image: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov]
BREAKING NYT confirms:
The Trump Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old former magazine writer who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. https://t.co/fUT5THlyKc
Our government isn’t broken.
It works great for billionaires.
For Big Pharma.
For Wall Street.
For corporations that can hire lobbyists.
It's rigged for the wealthy and well-connected.
We need to build a better system—one that works for working people.
Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of San Fernando Valley native Jason Collins.
Collins wasn't just a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community, he was an icon of the sport. My thoughts are with his family and friends during this time.
Trump called himself "the father of IVF." But his administration wants to remove IVF protections for workers—meaning women could be fired for missing work for fertility treatments.
You can't claim to support IVF and then punish women for pursuing it.
The Supreme Court temporarily restored access to mifepristone. But the truth remains that we shouldn't be one court ruling away from millions of people losing access to safe, effective medication.
I won’t stop fighting until modern reproductive healthcare is restored.