Contributor: Under the Trump administration making art can feel futile. How do we keep doing it? (Comic)
Julio Salgado (@juliosalgado83) is a digital illustrator based in Long Beach.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
LA City Council bans N-word at public meetings, triggering legal threats
Watch your mouth! The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to ban the use of the N-word and C-word at public meetings — triggering free speech backlash and the threat of a $400 million lawsuit. The controversial vote by the body allows council leadership to issue a warning for any use or variation of the slurs. Repeat offenders can be booted from the chamber and barred from future sessions. Advertisement Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is black and introduced the measure, said the use of slurs during public comments has made residents hesitant to attend meetings. 3 The council chamber where a 14–0 vote Wednesday banned use of the N-word and C-word during meetings, citing years of disruptive outbursts. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 'It is language that, anywhere outside this building where there aren't four armed guards, would get you hurt if you said these things in public,' Harris-Dawson told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year. Advertisement He added that public comment has become 'rank, cantankerous, and rude and demeaning and insulting' since Donald Trump's election in 2016, according to the LAist. The Wednesday ban is already drawing legal threats. Wayne Spindler, an attorney and longtime City Hall commenter, said Wednesday he intends to sue. 3 Critics of the new rule, including frequent City Hall speakers, claimed the city was infringing on free speech and promised legal challenges. Getty Images Advertisement 'I'm going to file my $400-million lawsuit that I already have prepared and ready to file,' Spindler said during public comment, adding he plans to read explicit Tupac Shakur lyrics until he's banned from a meeting. Spindler was arrested in 2016 after submitting a public comment card showing a burning cross, a man hanging from a tree and the phrase 'Herb = [N-word],' referring to then-Council President Herb Wesson. Prosecutors declined to bring charges. David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, warned the council's policy likely won't survive in court. 3 Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said offensive speech has surged since 2016, creating a chilling effect on civic engagement. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Advertisement 'The First Amendment prohibits the government from censoring speech because it disapproves of that speech,' Loy wrote in a letter to the City Council. The city has lost similar battles before. In 2014, it paid $215,000 to a black man who was removed from a meeting for wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and a T-shirt with the N-word. The new rule took effect immediately.
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Cosmopolitan
Who Is Julia Garner's Husband, Mark Foster?
Between The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Wolfman, and Weapons, Julia Garner has had a *very* busy couple of years…but somehow, she's managed to keep her private life out of the spotlight. You may not even realize that she is married (!!) and has been since 2019. Julia Garner's husband, Mark Foster, isn't just some rando, either—he's a singer and musician best known as the front man for indie pop band Foster the People. (Remember when the song 'Pumped Up Kicks' was playing legit e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e back in 2010? Yeah, you can thank Mark for that. Music vid incoming!) Although they first met all the way back in 2013, it took several years for them to start dating. Once they did, however, things moved FAST, and in a matter of 18 months, the two got engaged and then married in a fabulously low-key ceremony. Here's everything you should know about Julia's hubs, including how he met the actor and how he rose to fame with Foster the People. But first? A moment for this dreamy Gucci ad they did together: After graduating from his Cleveland high school in 2002, Mark decided to move in with an uncle in Los Angeles to pursue a music career. During that time, he worked several odd jobs, played with a few different bands, and even had a brief career as a commercial jingle writer before Foster the People was finally born. 'I felt like an 18-year-old Hunter S. Thompson,' Mark told the Los Angeles Times when asked about that time in his life. 'I was just diving into this Hollywood Hills subculture and taking it all in. I wasn't shy about taking my guitar out at a party. I wanted to be the center of attention.' Mark eventually founded Foster the People (initially called Foster & the People) with drummer Mark Pontius and producer Zach 'Reazon' Heiligman, and they played their first show in October 2009. His longtime friend Cubbie Fink later joined as bassist, and in late 2010, the group hit it big after their single 'Pumped Up Kicks' became a viral success. Today, the band is composed of Mark and keyboardist Isom Innis, and since its inception, Foster the People has released four albums: Torches, Supermodel, Sacred Hearts Club, and Paradise State of Mind. During his first few years in Los Angeles, Mark struggled with addiction while balancing several jobs and attempting to launch his music career. 'It got pretty dark,' he told Rolling Stone. 'My friends thought I was going to die. I was blind to it. When I was 19 years old, it got to a point where I said, 'Enough is enough.'…I saw time was just passing me by. I wasn't being productive.' According to Mark, it was a run-in with an old friend that convinced him to reevaluate his life. '…My friend ran into me and he just—he started crying,' Mark explained to NPR. 'And that kind of—that was the first thing that shook me up, 'cause this was, like, a kid that partied with me for a lot of it, you know. And I was like, wow, it must be serious if he's worried—just 'cause I was so skinny.' Julia isn't the first celeb Mark has romanced. He also apparently dated Nina Dobrev for, like, a month back in 2014. Ofc, the two never actually confirmed the relationship, so it's unclear how long they dated (or if they even dated at all). Regardless, pls enjoy this photo of them together from 2012 with Nina's ex Ian Somerhalder, with whom Mark is apparently also friends: Mark also sparked dating rumors with Michelle Trachtenberg for a hot minute in 2012, but again, rumors were never confirmed and they were short-lived. In January 2013, Mark met his future wife at the Sundance Film Festival, where her horror film We Are What We Are was making its debut. The two bonded over the fact that Julia's grandma lived in the same small town outside of Cleveland that Mark's dad lives in, as she later told Vogue. But they didn't exchange info at the time, and they didn't speak again until Mark found Julia on Instagram. Julia told the Hollywood Reporter that Mark started Liking all her pics after giving her a follow. 'I was like, 'Who's this guy Liking all my photos? Is this a stalker?'' she joked. 'I clicked on him and I was like, 'Oh, Mark. Oh, he's cute. I'm going to follow him back.' Then he DM'd me.' In April 2019, during a cross-country RV trip before Julia left to begin filming season 3 of Ozark, Mark decided to pop the question. The two had been dating for about 10 months at that point, and as Julia told Vogue, the proposal went down in Flathead Lake, Montana, where Mark read her an original poem before asking her to marry him. After they got engaged, Julia and Mark debated between having a big wedding or simply eloping. Initially, they'd planned on a June 2020 celebration, but luckily, they ended up tying the knot before the COVID-19 crisis became global. 'For some reason, I was like, 'You know what? Let's not wait until June. Let's just do it, because who knows?'' Julia explained to the Hollywood Reporter. In December 2019, the two had a quiet ceremony at New York's City Hall, where Julia's parents had gotten married 40 years earlier. The next day, they held a reception at Public Hotel, where Mark surprised Julia with an original song, 'Lovers in a Stream,' for their first dance. Although their schedules keep 'em busy, Mark and Julia still seem to make *plenty* of time for each other (and cheering each other on). Mark has shared TONS of mushy posts in honor of his wife and her accomplishments, and he raves about her in interviews, too. When she won her Best Supporting Actress Emmy in 2019 for her work in Ozark, Mark had a major Proud Partner Moment™ on IG. 'Congratulations, you beautiful angel of a human,' he gushed in a since-deleted post. 'It brings me immeasurable joy to see you lifted up and recognized by your peers, your industry, and your fans. You deserve every bit of love and respect. You're so incredibly special. I consider myself the luckiest guy on the planet to be able to watch whatever you do from the front row, with a bag of popcorn and your hand wrapped in mine.' Um…😍. Pls keep on being adorable, you two.
Politico
2 days ago
- Politico
Trump administration cuts UCLA research funds
Frenk's letter said 'hundreds of grants may be lost' but did not provide further details on the scope, but the Los Angeles Times reported that it accounted for about $200 million in funding. POLITICO has not independently confirmed that number, and spokespeople for UCLA and the U.S. Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UCLA is the latest university to come under fire from the Trump administration, which purports it is targeting elite colleges and universities in an effort to root out antisemitism in higher education. The Trump administration has been locked in conflicts with several universities over similar cuts — including most notably Harvard. There are interlocking legal battles to stop the Trump administration's efforts to block foreign students from attending the university and to restore the flow of billions of dollars worth of federal grants. Several major universities have agreed to significant settlements with the administration in order to get their funding restored, including Columbia University and Brown University earlier this week. Frenk wrote that the university is 'actively evaluating our best course of action.' In his letter, Frenk — who is Jewish and recounted that his paternal grandparents and father left Germany in the 1930s to escape that 'climate of antisemitism and hate' — says the administration 'claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons' for the cuts to UCLA. 'This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination,' he wrote. The funding cut to UCLA comes just three days after the university agreed to a $6.5 million settlement in a lawsuit with Jewish students and a professor, who alleged that the university did not do enough to protect them from harassment and discrimination by pro-Palestinian protesters last year. On that same day, the Department of Justice alleged that UCLA had violated federal civil rights law in its response to the encampments on campus. 'We share the goal of eradicating antisemitism across society. Antisemitism has no place on our campus, nor does any form of discrimination,' Frenk wrote Thursday. 'We recognize that we can improve, and I am committed to doing so.' Through the beginning of his second term, Trump and other administration officials have used the power of the federal government to target his perceived critics and enemies. In addition to the targeting of major universities, his administration has launched investigations into former government officials from past administrations and attacked law firms that have represented clients the president dislikes.
