Category: Taylor

Categories
Anthony Taylor

Anthony Lynn ‘not angry’ at doctor in Tyrod Taylor fiasco, says Taylor remains long-term starter – Yahoo Sports

Anthony Lynn ‘not angry’ at doctor in Tyrod Taylor fiasco, says Taylor remains long-term starter – Yahoo Sports

Los Angeles Chargers have a full-blown fiasco on their hands.” data-reactid=”16″ type=”text”>The Los Angeles Chargers have a full-blown fiasco on their hands.

Tyrod Taylor.” data-reactid=”17″ type=”text”>Head coach Anthony Lynn addressed the situation again on Wednesday, this time with the public now aware of exactly what happened to quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

team doctor punctured Taylor’s lung with a pain management injection prior Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.” data-reactid=”22″ type=”text”>News broke Wednesday morning with a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter the team doctor punctured Taylor’s lung with a pain management injection prior Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Taylor was a late scratch with what was described as a chest injury, and Lynn revealed postgame that he had to be hospitalized. NFL Network reported on Monday that that “chest injury” was actually a result of complications from a pregame injection. Now we know that injection damaged one of Taylor’s lungs.

Lynn throws support behind doctor

Lynn confirmed the report with reporters on Wednesday and also shared his thoughts on the team doctor.

“I’m not angry at all,” Lynn said, per NFL Network. … “No one’s perfect. … The doctor is a good man. It’s just unfortunate.”

with legal implications and the long-term trajectory of the team in play.” data-reactid=”28″ type=”text”>Lynn is in the position of navigating a minefield here through no fault of his own. Beyond the obvious and immediate concerns around Taylor’s health, Lynn is left to manage what is all of a sudden a very precarious quarterback situation with legal implications and the long-term trajectory of the team in play.

Anthony Lynn could face a difficult decision when Tylor Taylor’s cleared to play. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Herbert to start Sunday vs. Panthers

Justin Herbert dazzled in his unexpected debut in Taylor’s absence Sunday. He looks ready to take the reins. And he’ll start again on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.” data-reactid=”41″ type=”text”>Rookie quarterback and presumed future of the franchise Justin Herbert dazzled in his unexpected debut in Taylor’s absence Sunday. He looks ready to take the reins. And he’ll start again on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Lynn confirmed the expected on Wednesday, announcing Herbert as the starter this week with Taylor not ready to go. Lynn told reporters that the team isn’t planning to place Taylor on injured reserve and reiterated his stance that Taylor will remain the starter once he’s cleared to play.

“You never wanna see a guy lose his job this way,” Lynn said.

It’s a different tone than Lynn took when managing the information prior to the news about Taylor’s punctured lung went public. On Monday, Lynn put his stance on keeping Taylor as the starter on Herbert not being ready, flying in the face of what was obvious to everyone who watched Sunday’s game.

“There’s a lot we didn’t get done with Justin on the field yesterday,” Lynn said on Monday “He’s a backup for a reason.

“It’s not like we won the damn game yesterday. We lost.”

Taylor a leader in Chargers locker room

Taylor, a team captain, is obviously well-liked in the Chargers locker room and has the respect of Lynn and his teammates. Lynn said that Taylor played in Week 1 with the rib injury that required the Week 2 pain injection without complaint and has been working with Herbert to get him ready to start this week.

“He’s been real professional about it,” Lynn said.

All that makes this even more difficult for Lynn.

Would Lynn really bench a successful Herbert?

Lynn’s right. You don’t ever want to see a guy lose his job like this. But if Herbert expands on the promise he showed in Sunday’s game against the Chiefs next week and beyond, what’s Lynn going to do? Put a star rookie quarterback back on the bench?

Philip Rivers. Once the Chargers drafted Herbert, Taylor’s role became that of a placeholder.” data-reactid=”54″ type=”text”>Taylor, a 31-year-old journeyman, was never the answer here. Herbert is the guy. He’s the quarterback with the first-round pedigree expected to be the long-term replacement for Philip Rivers. Once the

Read More

Categories
Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor’s family settles with City of Louisville for $12 million, significant police reform – WAVE 3

Breonna Taylor’s family settles with City of Louisville for $12 million, significant police reform – WAVE 3

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – The family of Breonna Taylor and the City of Louisville have reached a $12 million settlement, Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday.

The settlement is the largest ever paid by the city in an officer-involved shooting case.

Taylor, 26, was shot dead when Louisville Metro Police Department officers served a narcotics warrant at her home on March 13.

The settlement also makes history by including an unprecedented list of police reforms that LMPD now will be required to implement.

“It’s important to know here, a financial settlement was non-negotiable without police reform,” Lonita Baker, an attorney for the Taylor family, said at a joint news conference with Fischer on Tuesday. “Justice for Breonna is multi-layered. What we were able to accomplish … is tremendous, but is only a portion of a single layer.”

The news comes two days after the six-month anniversary of Taylor’s death and several days after WAVE 3 News Troubleshooters first reported the state’s criminal case was being presented to a grand jury, with a decision on possible charges expected to be announced soon.

“We are not gonna stop our cause to hold the officers responsible for Breonna’s death accountable,” Baker said.

The settlement is aimed at changing some of the departmental policies that may have contributed to what happened the night Taylor was killed, such as an overhaul of the execution of simultaneous search warrants. Minutes before the Taylor raid, narcotics officers arrested Jamarcus Glover at a suspected drug house several miles away. Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, and a convicted drug offender, also was named in the warrant that sent officers to Taylor’s home.

The agreement also mandates that a commanding officer review and give written approval of all search warrants and SWAT matrices, documents aimed at calculating the specific dangers of a warrant location.

Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor (Source: Facebook)

The settlement requires the presence of paramedics whenever a warrant is executed. The night of the shooting, an ambulance left Taylor’s apartment before officers broke through her doorway. Taylor did not receive immediate EMS treatment and bled to death on the floor of her apartment. Sgt. Jon Mattingly, who was shot in the femoral artery by Taylor’s boyfriend during the raid, had to be rushed away from the apartment on top of another officer’s car. Several minutes went by until he received medical treatment, too. Mattingly survived his injury.

Other reforms include an early-action warning system to identify officers with “red flags,” and the retention of records related to internal officer complaints and investigations.

It also removes the police chief’s option to close cases against officers “by exception,” allowing an officer to resign or retire without discipline. The “exception” option was most notably used by former LMPD Chief Steve Conrad in the Explorer child sex abuse case. Conrad allowed then-LMPD Officer Kenneth Betts to resign from the department in the middle of an internal investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. Conrad closed that investigation by exception, allowing Betts to continue working as an officer at another department.

Officers handling money during seizures will have to be in pairs and wear body cameras, according to the contract, which also requires LMPD to hire a number of social workers to help officers on certain runs.

The city also will have to offer housing credits to officers to encourage them to live in Louisville, as opposed to surrounding counties, as well as encourage them to perform at least two hours of paid community service each week.

The settlement pushes the city to bargain for increased drug and alcohol testing in the next round of contract negotiations with the department’s FOP.

“Everyone around the table was dedicated to advancing (these) reforms for the whole community,” Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell said at Tuesday’s news conference, before addressing Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer. “Miss Palmer, we tried our best to get a start.”

High-profile, civil-rights attorney Ben Crump also spoke Tuesday, praising local leaders for their passage of new legislation that banned no-knock warrants. The LMPD officers had secured one for the Taylor raid, but they essentially voided it when they knocked on her door the night of the raid. State lawmakers will consider a similar measure when the next legislative session convenes in January.

“I’m very happy that the Metro Council stood united to pass Breonna’s Law to abolish these dangerous no-knock warrants,” he said.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R)

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) (Source: WAVE 3 News)

Mattingly and detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove were placed on administrative reassignment following the raid, per LMPD protocol. Hankison was fired for “blindly” shooting 10 rounds into Taylor’s apartment from outside, according to his termination letter. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office is investigating and will determine whether to criminally charge the officers.

“Regardless of this landmark step on the journey to justice, we still are demanding that (Kentucky Attorney General) Daniel Cameron bring charges immediately against the police officers that murdered Breonna Taylor,” Crump said.

Activist Tamika Mallory directed a similar message to Fischer, standing just feet away:

“If for any reason these officers are not indicted … you must instruct your police department to fire every single one of them on the spot,” she said.

Louisville Metro Government will cover $5 million of the $12 million settlement. A city insurance policy will cover $5 million, and the remaining $2 million will come from a trust. Fischer said the settlement is not an admission of officer wrongdoing.

“It’s just an acknowledgment of the need for reform and the need for a settlement to take place,” Fischer said.

Copyright 2020 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.

Read More

Categories
Swift Taylor

Taylor Swift Folklore Funny Tiktoks And Tweets – BuzzFeed

Taylor Swift Folklore Funny Tiktoks And Tweets – BuzzFeed

Now, two weeks after the album’s release, I give you 50 of the *best* Folklore jokes — imho, of course:

Read More

Categories
Swift Taylor

Taylor Swift, boyfriend spotted hiking in Utah – KUTV 2News

Taylor Swift, boyfriend spotted hiking in Utah – KUTV 2News

Taylor Swift, boyfriend spotted hiking in Utah – KUTV 2News
Read More

Categories
Billboard Taylor

Taylor Swift Achieves Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart & Biggest Week of 2020 With ‘Folklore’ – Billboard

Taylor Swift Achieves Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart & Biggest Week of 2020 With ‘Folklore’ – Billboard

Plus: Logic and The Kid LAROI debut in top 10.

Taylor Swift’s Folklore flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, capturing the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s Lover.

Folkore was released with little advance notice on July 24 and earns Swift her seventh No. 1 album.

Folklore starts with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 30, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. That marks the largest week registered for any album since Swift’s own Lover, which debuted at No. 1 on the Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart with 867,000 units.

Further, in the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album are: Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 8-dated chart (where Folklore bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Aug. 4.

Folklore’s debut of 846,000 equivalent album units is led by 615,000 in album sales, 218,000 in SEA units (equating to 289.85 million on-demand streams of the tracks on the album), and 13,000 in TEA units.

Seventh No. 1 Album: Folklore marks Swift’s seventh No.  1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, tying her with Janet Jackson for the third-most leaders among women in the history of the chart. Ahead of them on the leading ladies list are Barbra Streisand, with 11 No. 1s, and Madonna, with nine. Among all acts, The Beatles have the most No. 1 albums, with 19.

Before Folklore, Swift topped the chart with Lover (No. 1 for one week, Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart), Reputation (No. 1 for four weeks, 2017-18), 1989 (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2014-15), Red (No. 1 for seven weeks, 2012-13), Speak Now (No. 1 for six weeks, 2010-11) and Fearless (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2008-09).

Most No. 1 Debuts Among Women: All seven of Swift’s No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1 — a record among female artists. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Britney Spears are tied with the second-most debuts at No. 1 among women, with six each. (Beyoncé, Gaga and Spears each have a total of six No. 1 albums — and all of them also debuted at No. 1. Meanwhile, six of Madonna’s nine total No. 1s debuted atop the list.)

Among all acts, Jay-Z has the most debuts at No. 1, with 14. All 14 of his No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1.

2020’s Biggest Week for an Album, and Biggest for Any Album Since Swift’s Last Release, Lover: Folklore’s start of 846,000 equivalent album units marks the largest week for 2020 for any album. It blows past the previous high, which was registered just last month by the opening stanza of Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die (497,000 units in the tracking week ending July 16; as reflected on the chart dated July 25).

In addition, Folklore nabs the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, Lover, less than a year ago. It launched atop the list dated Sept. 7, 2019, with 867,000 units earned in the week ending Aug. 29, 2019.

Lover was released on Aug. 23, 2019. Unlike the surprise-released Folklore, Lover was preceded by months of traditional promotion, which began with the release of the set’s first single, “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie, on April 26, 2019.

Also, while Lover was available widely to purchase at all retailers in its first week, including Target, which carried four deluxe CD editions of the set, Folklore had a limited availability at retail in its first week. Folklore was only sold via Swift’s official webstore or via digital retailers. Folklore will be released on CD widely to all retailers on Aug. 7.

Swift Has the Three Biggest Weeks for Any Album in the Last Four Years: In the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album were tallied by the debut weeks of Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).

The last time anyone not named Taylor Swift had a bigger week than Folklore was Drake, who saw his Views album launch with 1.04 million units at No. 1 on the May 21, 2016-dated chart.

Biggest Sales Week for an Album Since Lover: Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, marking the largest sales frame for any album since Swift’s Lover sold 679,000 copies in its debut week (Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart).

As noted above, in Folklore’s first week of release, the album was only available to purchase through Swift’s website and digital retailers.

During the album’s first week, Swift’s webstore sold over a dozen physical/digital album bundles (with a CD, vinyl LP or cassette, plus the digital album). All of the physical/digital bundles delivered the digital version of the album upon purchase to the customer, while the physical version will ship to the customer later. Sales of such bundles — where two formats of the same album are bundled together — are counted as one sale, with the album configuration sold determined by the first version of the album that is fulfilled to the customer.

Swift’s store additionally sold an array of merchandise/digital album bundles.

‘Folklore’ Is Already 2020’s Top Selling Album: With 615,000 copies sold of Folklore in its first week, the album has already become 2020’s top selling album. It surpasses the previous top-seller, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which has sold 574,000 since its release on Feb. 21.

First Act to Have Seven Different Albums Sell at Least 500,000 in a Single Week: As Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, Swift becomes the first act to have seven different albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week, since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Swift previously achieved half-million sales frames with the debut weeks of her last six full-length studio albums: Lover (679,000, in 2019), Reputation (1.216 million, in 2017), 1989 (1.287 million, 2014), Red (1.208 million, 2012), Speak Now (1.047 million, 2010) and Fearless (592,000; 2008).

Swift was previously tied with Eminem, who has seen six of his albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a week.

Largest Streaming Week of 2020 for an Album by a Woman: Folklore garnered 218,000 SEA units in its first week, which equals 289.85 million on-demand streams of its songs in its first week. That’s the biggest streaming week of 2020 for any album by a woman, and the biggest by a non-rap album this year. The only albums to generate bigger streaming frames in 2020 are two rap titles: Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die, with 422.63 million in its opening week, and Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, with 400.42 million and 348.72 million in its first and second weeks, respectively.

Folklore’s 289.85 million streams also mark the second-biggest streaming week ever for an album by a woman, behind only the debut frame of Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (307.07 million; chart dated Feb. 23, 2019). 

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Logic’s No Pressure launches with 221,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 172,000 are in album sales (supported by an array of merchandise/album bundles), 48,000 are in SEA units (equaling 65.16 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and 1,000 are in TEA units.

No Pressure — which Logic describes as his “farewell” effort as he announced his “retirement” — racks up his biggest week for an album since Everybody opened at No. 1 on the May 27, 2017-dated chart with 248,000 units.

No Pressure is Logic’s seventh top 10 effort, stretching back to his first chart entry, Under Pressure, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Nov. 8, 2014-dated chart.

Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die falls from No. 1 to No. 3 in its third week, after two frames on top, with 107,000 equivalent album units (down 34 percent), while Pop Smoke’s former No. 1 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon dips 2-4 with nearly 107,000 units (down 23 percent).

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical slips 4-5 with 71,000 equivalent album units (down 9 percent). The album peaked at No. 2 on the July 18 chart after Disney+ premiered the filmed version of the Broadway show on July 3. Hamilton has now spent 27 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 — the most of any cast recording since Hair hung on for 28 weeks in 1969.

Gunna’s Wunna runs 21-6 on the new Billboard 200 with a 205 percent gain in equivalent album units earned (rising to 67,000) after the former No. 1 album was reissued on July 24 with eight additional tracks. Lil Baby’s previous chart-topper, My Turn, falls 5-7 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6 percent).

The Kid LAROI makes his Billboard 200 debut with F*ck Love at No. 8, which launches with 40,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 33,000 are in SEA units (equaling 49.39 million on-demand streams of the albums songs), 7,000 are in album sales (aided by dozens of merchandise/album bundles) and a negligible sum from TEA units.

F*ck Love is the 16-year-old rapper’s (real name: Charlton Howard) first full-length mixtape. The set includes a guest turn from LAROI’s mentor, the late Juice WRLD.

Rounding out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 are a pair of former No. 1s, as Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding shifts 7-9 with 33,000 equivalent album units (down 1 percent) and Harry Styles’ Fine Line dips 9-10 with 31,000 units (up 7 percent).

Read More

Categories
Swift Taylor

Taylor Swift – ‘Folklore’ review: pop superstar undergoes an extraordinary indie-folk makeover – NME

Taylor Swift – ‘Folklore’ review: pop superstar undergoes an extraordinary indie-folk makeover – NME

This summer, Taylor Swift was meant to headline Glastonbury. In fact, she was meant to be playing a whole host of festivals and shows on an international tour as well as hosting her own two-part ‘Lover Fest’ in America, all in celebration of her seventh studio album ‘Lover’, which was released last August). The global pandemic, of course, meant these plans were scrapped, leaving Swift with bountiful spare time. No longer locked into rehearsals or jetting around the globe performing to tens of thousands, she used these hours to write.

The results of these unforeseen quarantine writing sessions have come together on Swift’s new, eighth studio album, ‘Folklore’. She’s uncharacteristically ‘done a Beyoncé‘, announcing the album less than 24 hours before it drops, a stark change to the very deliberate, calculated release schedules we’ve seen from Swift in the past. In a simple statement posted to social media, she acknowledged that she’d usually wait and release the album at the “perfect” time, but said the global situation acted as a reminder to her that “nothing is guaranteed”. These shock release tactics go hand-in-hand with a change in musical direction for Swift; ‘Folklore’ is something totally unexpected from one of the world’s biggest pop stars.

Over the course of seven albums, we’ve seen Swift evolve from a fresh-faced, teenage country crossover hopeful to sleek synth-pop chart-juggernaut. Each record has brought with it gradual changes – 2010’s ‘Speak Now’ was rockier and 2012’s ‘Red’ saw more pop-leaning production, and by the time we got to 2014’s ‘1989’ she’d cast the cowboy hat aside entirely for pure pop bangers. On album eight, Swift dives headfirst into the world of folk, alternative rock and indie.

It was written in isolation; she remotely teamed up with a handful of her musical heroes – and indie legends – including The National‘s Aaron Dessner (who worked on 11 of the 16 songs), Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon (he makes the record’s only guest appearance on ‘Exile’) and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff. In her pre-release statement, she claims to have worked with another ‘hero’, the mysterious William Bowery – though no known details exist about him elsewhere and fans have speculated that this is a pseudonym for her brother or boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn.

Whoever Bowery is, the results are unexpected, and sometimes astonishing – ‘Folklore’ feels like Swift has travelled to a metaphorical cabin in the woods – albeit one with a very strong WiFI connection – and concocted a gorgeous, relaxed record filled with modern folk songs.

Dessner’s fingerprints permeate most of ‘Folklore’. The trickling piano on ‘The 1’ and ‘Mad Woman’ are reminiscent of last year’s The National album ‘I Am Easy to Find’ and ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’ evokes the glitchy production heard on the band’s 2017 album ‘Sleep Well Beast’. These brooding instrumentals are always complemented by Swift’s distinctive vocals and ear-worm hooks, though, a reminder that this is the artist behind some of the biggest songs of the past decade. Meanwhile Bon Iver collaboration ‘Exile’ is a melancholy duet, a slow-burner that eventually erupts into a climax of glittering euphoria filled with chorused vocals and soaring strings reminiscent of Vernon’s fourth Bon Iver album, last year’s ‘i, i’.

Despite the bold new direction, there are moments of nostalgia for Swift albums gone by, too. ‘Betty’, a sweet tune about high school romance written by Swift and the enigmatic Bowery, fuses this new folk-rock sound with moments of country we’ve not heard for several albums. ‘My Tears Ricochet’ feels like a sister to the Imogen Heap co-written ‘Clean’ from ‘1989’, only this time a megawatt pop song is encased in layered vocals and twinkling music box instrumentals.

True: at 16 songs (17, if you count bonus track ‘The Lakes’) ‘Folklore’ can sometimes drag slightly. ‘Mirrorball’, a saccharine declaration of romance, lacks the bite of the rest of the album, while ‘Epiphany’ feels slightly sluggish. Yet for the most part, the elegant melodies, glittering production and, crucially, Swift’s songwriting and lyricism pull it back from the brink.

In fact, it’s Swift’s vivid storytelling that makes ‘Folklore’ such an impressive album. This facet has always been a keystone in her music, but her discography twinkles with gems in which it’s heightened (the gut-punch couplet of “you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest” on ‘Red”s ‘All Too Well’; the rich description of a gaudy wedding in the title track to ‘Speak Now’).

‘Folklore’ is infused with this sort of storytelling. Take ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’, which is a contender for the best Taylor Swift song ever written. Describing one woman’s life crumbling around her, the descriptive lyrics evoke those of ’80s singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, or the complex tales Bob Dylan spins in his lengthy, winding verses. ‘Invisible String’, filled with an unusual turn of phrase – “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA” – is a candid glimpse inside Swift’s current relationship. And, of course, there are plenty of pithy kiss-offs perfect for your next Instagram caption, the greatest arriving when Swift whispers “And if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?” on ‘My Tears Ricochet’.

‘Folklore’ feels fresh, forward-thinking and, most of all, honest. The glossy production she’s lent on for the past half-decade is cast aside for simpler, softer melodies and wistful instrumentation. It’s the sound of an artist who’s bored of calculated releases and wanted to try something different. Swift disappeared into the metaphorical woods while writing ‘Folklore’, and she’s emerged stronger than ever.

Details

Release date: July 24

Record label: Republic

Read More

Categories
Swift Taylor

Taylor Swift got educated on Juneteenth and wants you to be, too – CNN

Taylor Swift got educated on Juneteenth and wants you to be, too – CNN

(CNN)From now on, anyone working for Taylor Swift will have the day off for Juneteenth.

What’s more, Swift wanted to educate her followers about the celebration so the superstar singer posted information on her official social media accounts about the holiday also known as Freedom Day.
June 19 commemorates the day in which slaves in Texas learned slavery had ended — two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
On Friday, Swift posted a video of The Root writer Danielle Young explaining the origins of Juneteenth and why it should be a national holiday.
She thanked the site and Young before also sharing her thoughts about the day.
“Personally, I’ve made the decision to give all of my employees June 19th off in honor of Freedom Day from now on, and to continue to educate myself on the history that brought us to this present moment,” Swift wrote in the caption. “For my family, everything that has transpired recently gives us an opportunity to reflect, listen, and reprogram any part of our lives that hasn’t been loudly and ferociously anti-racist, and to never let privilege lie dormant when it could be used to stand up for what’s right.”
The post came days after Swift took on the issue of Confederate monuments in her adopted home state of Tennessee, writing on social media, “As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”

Read More

Categories
Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor case: Kentucky attorney general asks for patience as police killing probe continues – CNBC

Breonna Taylor case: Kentucky attorney general asks for patience as police killing probe continues – CNBC

A demonstrator holds a sign with the image of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers, during a protest against the death George Floyd in Minneapolis, in Denver, Colorado on June 3, 2020.

Jason Connolly | AFP | Getty Images

Kentucky’s attorney general on Thursday asked the public to remain patient with his office’s investigation of the police killing of Breonna Taylor, more than three months after the Black emergency medical technician died during a raid on her Louisville home.

“I can assure you that at the end of our investigation, we will do what is right,” Attorney General Daniel Cameron told reporters at a press conference, which did not include announcements of any criminal charges against police involved in the raid.

“We will find the truth,” said Cameron, who took over the criminal investigation as a special prosecutor in the case last month.

“It’s important that we get this right,” he said.

The attorney general pointedly asked people to refrain from violent protest over the 26-year-old Taylor’s killing.

“Violence and lawlessness will do nothing more than to perpetuate further tragedy,” Cameron said.

He said he is “saddened and heartbroken” by Taylor’s death.

Taylor’s death has attracted nationwide interest and been among the subjects of protests in the weeks since the Minneapolis police killing of a Black man, George Floyd, on Memorial Day. 

The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than seven minutes, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder and manslaughter in that case, and three other officers who assisted in the arrest have been charged with aiding and abetting those crimes. Floyd was being arrested on suspicion of using counterfeit money for a purchase. All four cops charged in the case have been terminated by the Minneapolis Police Department.

On Wednesday, now-former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe, who fatally shot a Black man named Rayshard Brooks in the back as he allegedly pointed a taser at cops he was fleeing from, was charged with murder and other charges.

Another Atlanta cop, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault and other counts in the incident, which occurred after cops roused a sleeping Brooks from a car parked outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant Friday.

Cameron said his office is conducting an “independent” investigation of Taylor’s death, while also continuing to receive information from the Louisville Police Department’s public integrity unit.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump and law enforcement officials, Monday, June 8, 2020, at the White House in Washington.

Patrick Semansky | AP

“We believe that the independent steps we are taking are crucial for the findings to be accepted both by the community and those who are directly involved in the case,” Cameron said.

“I’m not going to get into specifics of what we have,” Cameron said when asked about evidence in the case.

He also said, “I’m not going to provide a specific date when our investigation will be concluded.”

Taylor was shot eight times on March 13 by police, who were executing a no-knock search warrant at her residence as part of a drug investigation.

Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against three cops, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, alleging they “blindly” fired more than 20 shots into Taylor’s apartment.

Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was in the apartment with her during the raid, did not have criminal histories, and no drugs were found in the raid, according to the lawsuit. Walker, who attorneys have said feared a home invasion, fired a gun he had at one officer, hitting him in the leg.

Cameron took over as special prosecutor in the case because the local district attorney until recently was prosecuting Walker for attempted murder on the cop. Walker’s case has since been dropped.

“An investigation of this magnitude requires time and patience,” Cameron said.

Read More

Categories
Swift Taylor

Taylor Swift responds to controversial Trump tweet on Minneapolis – Vox.com

Taylor Swift responds to controversial Trump tweet on Minneapolis – Vox.com

On Friday, Taylor Swift became one of the most prominent voices denouncing President Donald Trump’s tweets regarding the unrest in Minneapolis. “We will vote you out in November,” Swift warned Trump, saying that he had “stok[ed] the fires of white supremacy and racism [his] entire presidency.”

In Minneapolis, protests have been raging over the past few days in response to the police killing of George Floyd on Monday. Shortly after midnight on Friday morning, Trump tweeted that he wanted to dispatch military troops to Minneapolis to shoot American citizens, saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump’s words triggered an unusual response from Twitter itself, which began screening the president’s tweets, as well as outrage from onlookers. And Swift, who has 6 million more Twitter followers than Trump has (86.1 million to his 80.5), was one of them.

After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020

Swift’s tweet stands in sharp contrast to the apolitical stance she took for most of her career. When she came up as a teenager in country music, she refused to talk about politics at all, saying that she was too young and uneducated to want to influence anyone’s political decisions. She remained pointedly silent during the 2016 election, even as celebrity after celebrity endorsed Hillary Clinton.

In Miss Americana, a documentary about the singer released in January on Netflix, Swift says her early political silence was part and parcel of her desire to be a “good girl,” one everyone around her would like. Swift’s managers told her she should never discuss politics, lest she suffer the fate of the Dixie Chicks after they criticized George W. Bush, and so she stayed silent. But in 2018, she says, she decided she could no longer be passive in the face of political injustice and would have to speak out.

In 2018, Swift endorsed two Democratic congressional candidates in the midterm elections. Miss Americana shows Swift pleading with her father and staff to sign off on her decision. She cites Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn’s anti-LGBTQ voting record: “I think it is so frilly and spineless of me to stand onstage and go, ‘Happy Pride Month, you guys,’ and then not say this, when someone’s literally coming for their [the queer community’s] neck,” she says.

And now, Swift has gotten comfortable enough being politically vocal to use her enormous platform to denounce Trump in public.

Swift is among the most visible of those celebrities using their fame to drive political conversations, but she’s not the only one by far. Cardi B has made a habit of posting wonkish progressive videos to social media for years, and she campaigned for Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary in 2019. Early Friday morning, the rapper posted a video to social media expressing her solidarity with the protesters in Minneapolis.

“How many peaceful protests have we seen, how many trending hashtags have we seen?” she asked rhetorically. “I’ve been doing fucking police brutality videos since my teeth got fucked up, and the only thing that’s changed has been my fucking teeth.”

She finished her video by urging her followers to vote in down-ballot races. “The people that are voting for these people are most likely cops, most likely rednecks. That’s why every single time that some fuck shit like this happens, it goes in their favor,” she explains. “Because these people have the power — these DAs, these judges, these attorneys — they have the power to prosecute these cops when they do fuck shit.”

Cardi B has 11.9 million Twitter followers. Taylor Swift has 86.1 million Twitter followers. And Donald Trump has 80.5 million followers. If Trump has built his political power in part on his social media clout — and he has — he’s facing some major threats to his online influence right now.

Support Vox’s explanatory journalism

Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today.

Read More

Categories
Brown Taylor

Mike Brown and Zac Taylor release statement on Bengals parting with Andy Dalton – Cincy Jungle

Mike Brown and Zac Taylor release statement on Bengals parting with Andy Dalton – Cincy Jungle

On Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals officially released quarterback Andy Dalton.

A 10-year veteran, Dalton was a three-time Pro Bowler for the Bengals and broke several team passing records since the team selected him in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of TCU.

Dalton is the Bengals’ all-time leader in completions (2757), touchdown passes (204), passer rating (87.5) and 300-yard passing games (28). He also stands second in career passing yards (31,594) and career completion percentage (62.0). He also holds the team’s single-season records for passing yards (4293 in 2013), touchdown passes (33 in ’13) and passer rating (106.3 in ’15).

“Andy will always hold a special place with this franchise, and I know that he holds a special place in my heart,” said team president Mike Brown in a press release. “This is a hard day for our club because we know and appreciate what a consummate professional Andy has always been. We respect and appreciate Andy, and we thank him.”

Off the field, Dalton’s community contributions have been among the most significant in Cincinnati sports history. Following his rookie season in 2011, he and his wife, JJ, established the Andy & JJ Dalton Foundation, which conducts a wide range of community outreach efforts in the Cincinnati and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas areas. The foundation’s mission is to provide opportunities, support, resources and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children. Dalton’s work in the community was recognized during the 2016 season, when he was named the Bengals’ nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

“Andy will always be considered a key member of the Bengals’ organization,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “His teammates and coaches appreciate his leadership and his commitment to winning. Just as importantly, Andy and his wife JJ are leaving a lasting impact in the community with the incredible work their foundation has done over the years. Andy and his family have meant a lot to this team and this city, and we wish them the best in the future.”

Read More