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RandySF's JournalAZ-SEN: GOP faces brutal Arizona primary fight
Republicans hoping to hang on to the Arizona Senate seat face an increasingly tumultuous primary environment, with firebrand former sheriff Joe Arpaio entering the race from the right and Rep. Martha McSally trying to win over President Trump’s supporters without alienating more moderate general election voters.
The Tuesday announcement from Arpaio, whose criminal contempt conviction Trump pardoned last year, came just days before McSally joined the primary. While Arpaio made his name as an immigration hardliner and promoter of the discredited conspiracy theory that former President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, McSally is the party establishment pick meant to appeal in the general election.
But McSally doesn’t have a clear path in the late August primary for the seat now held by Sen. Jeff Flake (R), who announced his retirement in the face of poor poll numbers.
State Sen. Kelli Ward (R) was originally the only candidate running from the right, but new polling shows Arpaio close to McSally while siphoning off Ward’s conservative supporters.
Arpaio’s entry changes the calculus of a race that could become one of the more brutal primaries in the country.
“With the entrance of Joe Arpaio and now the formal announcement of McSally, this race just got very interesting — and not in a good way — for Kelli Ward,” former state GOP chairman Robert Graham told The Hill.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/368828-gop-faces-brutal-arizona-primary-fight
Porn Star: Stormy Daniels and Trump Asked Me to Join Them in Hotel Room
Adult film star Alana Evans appeared to confirm an earlier report that Donald Trump had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to the commander in chief’s youngest son, Barron, in March 2006. Evans told the Daily Beast that she received several phone calls from Daniels, who was a friend, while she was in a room with Trump.
“Stormy calls me four or five times, by the last two phone calls she’s with Donald [Trump] and I can hear him, and he’s talking through the phone to me saying, ‘Oh come on Alana, let’s have some fun! Let’s have some fun! Come to the party, we’re waiting for you,’” Evans said.
Evans did not take her friend up on the offer but then talked to Daniels the next day. “She tells me, ‘All I’m going to say is: I ended up with Donald in his hotel room. Picture him chasing me around his hotel room in his tighty-whities.’ I was like, ‘Oh I really didn’t need to hear that!’ Then she said he offered her keys to his condos in Florida, and I was like, ‘Wow guess you had a good night,’ and that was the last we ever spoke of it,” Evans said.
The Daily Beast published its story shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported that a lawyer for Trump helped arrange a $130,000 payment to Daniels that was essentially hush money so she would not talk about “an alleged sexual encounter” with Trump. The Daily Beast reports that it had been in “protracted talks” with Daniels about an interview after it got confirmation from three sources that she had been involved with Trump. “She ultimately backed out on Nov. 3, just five days before the 2016 election.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/porn-actress-says-stormy-daniels-and-trump-asked-her-to-join-them-in-hotel-room.html
'Black Widow' Writer To Consult With Scarlett Johansson Next Month
After years of asking for it, we finally are one step closer to getting a Black Widow film. Jac Schaeffer was hired to pen a draft for the film and that Marvel Executives have held discussions with Scarlet Johansson about her own expectations for the film. The only thing really missing would be an official green-lighting of the project, but they may want to wait until the draft is done to decide if they will produce the film. That is pretty much all we know so far, but it seems that a few more steps are being taken towards getting the draft together, as Justin Kroll posted a rather interesting update.
https://twitter.com/krolljvar/status/951943787588108288
It is certainly a great thing that Johansson will be involved with developing the direction of the film. She has been playing the character since 2010’s Iron Man 2 and it would be a given that she wanted to offer some insight into her experience playing the character. So far we still not know if this will be a continuation of Black Widow’s life beyond the events of Avengers: Infinity War or if this might be an independent story set during her years when she worked as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. It is also unclear if we will see any other Avengers make an appearance in this film. The most obvious additions would be either Winter Solider or Hawkeye, especially the latter if they would finally show us the events teased during the first Avengers film. We have only been waiting since 2012 to find out what happened in Budapest.
https://mcuexchange.com/black-widow-writer-scarlet-johansson/
Black Panther sold more tickets than any other Marvel movie in its first 24 hours
T’Challa may soon rule more than Wakanda. Black Panther is Marvel’s most anticipated movie yet, based on pre-sales at the US ticket-buying site Fandango.
Tickets for the movie, which went on sale Monday night, sold more in the first 24 hours on Fandango than any other Marvel movie, Fandango said in a release. The movie was also the top ticket-seller of the day, beating out current releases like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The company did not say how many tickets sold. Black Panther hits US theaters on Feb. 16.
T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, is the Black Panther, the ruler of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. The character was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, where he was in the early stages of taking up the mantle of the Black Panther from his father, T’Chaka, the late king. The comic-book character on which he’s based was the first mainstream superhero of African descent, and fans are eager to see how he’ll be portrayed in his own film. It’s being helmed by Fruitvale Station-director Ryan Coogler, and has an all-star cast including Michael B. Jordan, Get Out‘s Daniel Kaluuya, and Lupita Nyong’o, who apparently couldn’t get tickets to her own movie because it sold out so quickly.
https://qz.com/1177599/blank-panther-sold-more-tickets-than-any-other-marvel-movie-in-its-first-24-hours/
Trump Reportedly Wonders Why Pretty Korean Lady Isnt Handling North Korea For Him
A career intelligence analyst who is an expert in hostage policy stood before President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last fall to brief him on the impending release of a family long held in Pakistan under uncertain circumstances.
It was her first time meeting the president, and when she was done briefing, he had a question for her.
"Where are you from?" the president asked, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the exchange.
New York, she replied.
Trump was unsatisfied and asked again, the officials said. Referring to the president's hometown, she offered that she, too, was from Manhattan. But that's not what the president was after.
e wanted to know where "your people" are from, according to the officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity due to the nature of the internal discussions.
After the analyst revealed that her parents are Korean, Trump turned to an adviser in the room and seemed to suggest her ethnicity should determine her career path, asking why the "pretty Korean lady" isn't negotiating with North Korea on his administration's behalf, the officials said.
The exchange was disclosed to NBC News amid backlash from reports that Trump used the phrase "shithole countries" in referring to African nations and questioned why the U.S. should allow in more people from Haiti — reviving charges he's racist.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-s-history-breaking-decorum-remarks-race-ethnicity-n837181
New York Man Raises Money For Hundreds Of Harlem Kids To See Black Panther
“Black Panther,” the highly anticipated Marvel movie due out in February, has become a bit of a poster child for well-done on-screen representation of people of color. So Yonkers, New York, native and marketing consultant Fredrick Joseph set out to give hundreds of Harlem kids the chance to see themselves reflected in the film.
“To me nothing is more important than inclusion and representation for children,” he said. “This is such a bigger moment in time than a superhero movie.”
When first creating the GoFundMe campaign on Friday, Joseph aimed to help 300 kids see the movie. By Thursday morning he’d far exceeded his initial goal of $10,000, raising more than $35,000.
Joseph plans to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem to hold private screenings for children and chaperones the week following the movie’s release. He said any remaining proceeds will go to BGCHarlem.
For Joseph and many others, “Black Panther” is more than another installment in the superhero genre ― it’s an example of blackness existing comfortably in an increasingly white medium.
“I want these children to be able to see that people who look like them can be superheroes, royalty, and more,” Joseph wrote on the page for his campaign.
Marvel officially began teasing the film when the character of Black Panther made his first superhero movie appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. Since then, fans and the black community at large have been rooting for the film, which is Marvel’s first full-length superhero movie with a nearly all-black cast. Centered around a prince turned king turned superhero, the movie shows blackness as multifaceted.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-panther-gofundme-harlem_us_5a563007e4b0d614e48b9ddc
'Black Panther' Box Office Estimates Climb to a Projected $120M Opening
Earlier this week we reported that advanced ticket sales for the upcoming Black Panther solo film were very impressive and that it was a fairly decent indicator that the film could have a major opening weekend. A recent update to the potential opening weekend estimate indicates that those advance ticket sales, along with a very healthy and positive buzz on social media, may have the King of Wakanda’s solo debut headed for $120M opening weekend in the U.S.
While early estimates had the film grossing about $90M in its opening weekend, estimates have only gone up and this $120M estimate represents a 33% increase from last week’s prediction, indicating that the recent trailer and reveal of a soundtrack produced by Kendrick Lamar have helped increase audience anticipation for the film. At this point it seems that our own Caleb A. Borchers, who recently predicted a $110M opening (which was much higher than estimates at the time), was right about the film’s buzz building as release approaches. We’ve also seen reports that test screenings have been going over VERY well with fans and that Ryan Coogler may have absolutely knocked it out of the park with Black Panther. If the buzz around the film continues to grow, perhaps the opening box office could challenge 2016’s Deadpool ($132.4M) for the best February open. For now, however, it looks like the film might be yet another financial success for Disney and that Coogler may get scooped up quickly for a sequel.
https://mcuexchange.com/black-panther-box-office-estimates-climb-projected-120m-opening/
The four states to watch in 2018
Finally, turning to this year’s midterm races, the NBC Political Unit has identified what we consider the four most important states to watch in 2018:
Arizona: Competitive Senate contest that could decide control of the chamber; emerging presidential battleground state; a couple of competitive House races (AZ-1, AZ-2); large Latino population.
Florida: Competitive gubernatorial race (both in the primaries and general) and whoever wins could be a national star; likely competitive Senate race; huge 2020 battleground; and a handful of must-watch House races (FL-27, FL-26, FL-18).
Ohio: Competitive gubernatorial race (both in the primaries and general) and whoever wins could be a national star; likely competitive Senate; huge 2020 battleground.
California: As many as NINE competitive House races (CA-7, CA-39, CA-49, CA-25, CA-48, CA-10, CA-45, CA-21, CA-50). If Democrats win six or more of these districts, they’re likely going to win back control of the House.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/trump-s-self-inflicted-wounds-are-mangling-his-presidency-n837071?cid=eml_pol_20180112
Republicans Embrace Democratic Lawmaker Accused Of Sexual Harassment
NEW YORK ― Republican lawmakers in Colorado are embracing a Democratic colleague who quit his caucus this week after nearly a dozen women, including a female Democratic state representative, accused him of sexual harassment.
Eleven women ― including a former legislative aide, several lobbyists and fellow state Rep. Faith Winter (D) ― accused state Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) of sexual harassment in November. Winter, a married 37-year-old lawmaker, says Lebsock aggressively came on to her at a bar in 2016.
“I said ‘no’ five times to leaving the bar to go have sex with him,” Winter told HuffPost. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Lebsock denies the allegations, which are being formally investigated by House leadership. On Tuesday, the day before Colorado’s 2018 legislative session began, he sent his colleagues a bizarre 28-page manifesto defending himself and detailing the sexual history of one of his accusers. He offered an alibi for one of the incidents, in which he allegedly tried to unbutton a woman’s blouse at a bar, claiming that he was playing a “Ms. Pac-Man” arcade game that night and recorded a very high score.
The document did not win Lebsock any sympathy from his caucus. Several Democratic lawmakers, including Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran, wore black on the first day of the legislative session in protest and called for Lebsock to resign. Duran received a standing ovation when she told colleagues in her opening speech that “we must confront these issues head-on and successfully reform the culture of the Capitol.” State Rep. Matt Gray (D) said he would introduce a resolution to expel Lebsock from his seat.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-lebsock-sexual-harassment_us_5a58f572e4b04f3c55a23e59?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067
O'Keefe: Trump asked me to get Obamas college records
Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe claims in a forthcoming book that President Trump asked him to "get inside" Columbia University and obtain a copy of former President Barack Obama's college records.
O'Keefe writes in his book "American Pravda: My Fight for Truth in the Era of Fake News," that Trump "suspected Obama had presented himself as a foreign student on application materials to ease his way into New York's Columbia University, maybe even Harvard too, and perhaps picked up a few scholarships along the way," according to The Daily Caller, which first reported on the section of the book.
O'Keefe said he told Trump that the request did not fall into his line of work, but Trump reportedly continued to ask the conservative activist to find the sealed records at the university.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/368853-okeefe-trump-asked-me-to-get-obamas-college-records?__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true
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