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Why some protesters are dressed as kangaroos and clowns amid Texas hearing on abortion pill

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(AMARILLO, Texas) — A ruling is expected to come down from a federal judge in Texas Wednesday that could see an abortion medication being taken off the market in the United States.

The lawsuit, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom – a Christian conservative legal advocacy group – has asked Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas to reverse the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.

If the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, there would be a nationwide injunction on mifepristone, affecting even states where the procedure is legal.

Another drug used in combination with mifepristone for abortions, called misoprostol, would still be available, but it’s not approved by the FDA to be used for abortions on its own.

According to a transcript of a closed-door meeting, Kacsmaryk told trial lawyers that he planned to wait until late Tuesday to make public the logistics of the hearing to avoid protests.

“This is not a gag order but just a request for courtesy given the death threats and harassing phone calls and voicemails that this division has received,” Kacsmaryk told attorneys in the case. “We want a fluid hearing with all parties being heard. I think less advertisement of this hearing is better.”

Organizers from the Women’s March said they intend to stage a “kangaroo court” outside the courthouse, where protestors will be dressed in costume to suggest the case is based entirely on fraudulent claims.

Kacsmaryk “says he doesn’t want a ‘circus-like’ atmosphere, all while behaving like a clown who treats our lives like a political game,” the organizers of the Women’s March wrote. “So, we will bring the circus to him. Come in your clown makeup, and we will show the world what the Federal Court is all about here in Amarillo, a kangaroo court!”

If Kacsmaryk rules in favor of ADF, mifepristone would, at least temporarily, be taken off the market. All states where abortion is legal would only be able to offer in-clinic procedures.

This means patients will not be able to access telehealth services to get abortion pills and clinics already experiencing a surge of patients from states where abortion is illegal could be even more inundated.

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

What You Won’t Do for Love” singer/songwriter Bobby Caldwell dies at 71

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Bobby Caldwell, best known for his classic tune “What You Won’t Do for Love,” passed away Tuesday at the age of 71.

“Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken,” his wife, Mary Caldwell, shared on his official Twitter page. “Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years.”

Mary said Bobby “had been ‘FLOXED,'” referring to a toxic reaction to antibiotics, noting “it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months.”

Caldwell released his signature tune “What You Won’t Do for Love” in 1978, and it peaked at nine on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since been covered by several artists, including Michael Bolton and Boyz II Men, and was sampled by Tupac Shakur for the 1997 posthumous track “Do For Love.”

And that isn’t the only Caldwell hit to be sampled by other artists. The Notorious B.I.G. sampled Caldwell’s track “My Flame” for 1997’s “Sky’s The Limit,” featuring 112, while the 1980 track “Open Your Eyes” was sampled by J Dilla on Common’s 2000 track “The Light.” And in 2019, Lil Nas X was sued for using Caldwell’s track “Carry On” on his 2018 mixtape Nasaratti without first getting permission

In addition to his own music, Caldwell wrote songs for other artists, like Neil Diamond, Chicago and Roberta Flack, including the Amy Grant and Peter Cetera number one single “The Next Time I Fall.”

Paris Hilton was disappointed Pink parodied her in the “Stupid Girls” music video

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Paris Hilton‘s new memoir, Paris: The Memoir, is here and includes thoughts on Pink, Demi Lovato and Britney Spears.

The socialite took issue with Pink’s 2006 music video “Stupid Girls,” because it referenced her infamous sex tape, 2004’s 1 Night in Paris.

Paris said she was a teenager when it was filmed and the tape was released against her will. While reflecting on the intense backlash she endured because of it, the heiress wrote about Pink, “The whole video is a not-at-all-subtle send-up of ‘porno paparazzi girls’ in general and, specifically, me, in a parody of my infamous sex tape,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

“Pink sang about ‘outcasts and girls with ambition’… But she chose not to see it in me,” she continued.

While disappointed by what happened, Paris stressed in her memoir that there is “no Pink-Paris feud” and praised the “generous, evolved, and progressive” singer.

She also had praise for Demi Lovato and raved about the singer’s 2017 documentary, Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, because it inspired her to come forward about her experience with abuse.

“Demi shared a painful reckoning with a difficult past; in person, I saw her in the midst of an intense journey of self-acceptance and discovery. I envied that acceptance. I wanted that discovery for myself,” wrote Paris.

She eventually came forward about the horrors she endured at boarding school and has been advocating for nationwide change.

Paris also touched upon Britney by revealing they crawled out of a window following a 2006 party at the Beverly Hills Hotel since the host didn’t want them to leave.

They escaped as Lindsay Lohan was leaving, resulting in that infamous “bimbo summit” shot of them crammed in a car.

Pharrell announces lineup to 2023 Something in the Water festival

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Pharrell‘s Something in the Water festival will return to Virginia Beach in April to celebrate art, culture and music. Artists taking to the stage this year include Clipse, Coi Leray, Doechii, Flo Milli, Jay Pharoah, Jazmine Sullivan, KAYTRANADA, Kehlani, Kid Cudi, Latto, Lil Durk and Lil Uzi Vert.

Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Masego, NLE Choppa, Polo G, Saucy Santana, Summer Walker, SWV, The Kid LAROI, Wale, Wu-Tang Clan and a few of “Pharrell’s phriends” will also be entertaining fans with musical performances.

Presented by Walmart, and produced by IMGoing and Live Nation, SITW will take place from April 28 to April 30. Three-day passes are available for purchase on somethinginthewater.com. Those unable to attend in person have the option of livestreaming the festival, which will be on Pha rrell’s YouTube cha nnel.

Exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, an ally of Steve Bannon, arrested by FBI

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire with business ties to Steve Bannon, has been arrested on federal charges out of New York.

Wengui owned the 152-foot-long yacht Lady May on which Bannon was arrested in August 2020.

Guo and Bannon have been under investigation in connection with GTV Media Group, which the Securities and Exchange Commission previously accused of violating securities laws.

The FBI arrested Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, Wednesday morning in New York on charges he orchestrated a $1 billion fraud.

“Kwok is charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself, and his close relatives, a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

The SEC filed civil charges Wednesday that accused Guo and his financial adviser, Kin Ming Je, of “multiple offering frauds” that targeted retail investors through online and social media posts and videos.

“Since in or about April 2020, Guo has conducted fraudulent securities offerings that have collectively raised at least hundreds of millions of dollars from investors in the United States and around the world. Unbeknownst to those investors, Guo and his financial adviser, Je, misappropriated a large portion of the funds raised from certain of the Subject Offerings in order to enrich themselves and their family members,” the SEC complaint said.

Guo, 54, pitched three unregistered securities offerings to investors as a means of obtaining shares in GTV and a fourth offering as a means to obtain a crypto asset security called “H-Coin” that he falsely claimed was backed by gold reserves, the SEC said.

Wengui, a critic of the Chinese government, fled China in 2014 and is viewed as a fugitive by the PRC. He appeared on Forbes’ Billionaires List in 2015, worth an estimated $1.1 billion, but declared bankruptcy in February 2022.

Bannon helped Guo found GTV, but has not been charged.

Bannon is currently being prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney for defrauding donors to the We Build the Wall online fundraising campaign.

Panic! at the Disco shares footage from final concert

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Panic! at the Disco officially came to an end with one final concert in England last Friday. If you missed it, the Panic! Twitter account has shared footage from the show.

The minute-and-a-half-long clip, set to the Pray for the Wicked cut “Dying in LA,” begins with frontman Brendon Urie thanking the crowd for supporting Panic! over the last 18 years.

“I’m filled with emotion as we’re up here on this stage for a farewell to all of you beautiful souls,” Urie said. “[I] couldn’t thank you enough for being here.”

Urie, who’d been fronting Panic! as a solo since 2015, announced in January that he was disbanding the project after a final European tour, citing his wish to spend more time with his family and new baby.

Following Friday’s concert, Urie shared an Instagram post reading, “I’m overcome with gratitude. I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. For the last 18 years, it’s truly been an experience that I’ll always be grateful for.”

Peter Gabriel thinks we need to embrace artificial intelligence

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

It seems like a lot of folks are worried about artificial intelligence replacing humans in various areas, including making music, but Peter Gabriel isn’t one of them.

Gabriel, who contributes the forward to the new music guidebook Reverberation: Do Everything Better With Music, has always embraced technology. While he tells Yahoo! Entertainment, “I’m probably just as scared (of AI) as everybody else,” he says he’d prefer to “jump in the river rather than talk about it.”

“I do think about it quite a lot, and I think not enough people are thinking about it. And it would be great to get ahead [of it],” he says. “You know, this is something that’s going [to] have way more impact than the Industrial Revolution and the nuclear bomb. So, if we don’t start anticipating what it might do, it’s going to be too late, because it’s very fast.”

And while some may suggest that it would never be possible for AI to take the place of great musicians and make great music, Gabriel doesn’t seem so sure.

“Most people argue no; I would say they just need better algorithms,” he shares. “So, we might as well just grab the algorithms and dance with them, rather than fight them. … Unfortunately, I don’t think my job or anyone’s job is safe from AI.”

He noted, “It’s coming whether we like it or not, so we might as well try and work with it rather than work against it, and make sure that there are programs in there that protect ethics and some sort of morality.”

Elton John on why he’s ready to stop touring: “The idea of going out on top was such a big thing with me”

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Elton John needs an Emmy for the EGOT, and his concert special Farewell from Dodger Stadium could be his winning ticket.

Variety reports the singer received an EGOT push at a recent event for Television Academy members, which screened his Disney+ special at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Elton then spoke about his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour and why performing at Dodger Stadium was a full-circle moment.

“I’m so critical of myself … I’ve never played and sang so well in my life, for so long. And I really mean that sincerely,” he said.

“[It] was so important to leave on a really high note,” added Elton, stressing he “didn’t want to go out when I was going down.”

Choosing Dodger Stadium to be his final North American performance was also symbolic, as it was where he played two career-making shows back in 1975. Elton said he “was so unhappy and so ill” back then, revealing he’d “taken an overdose two days before.”

“I’m at a different stage in my life. I have never been so happy,” Elton said, reminding the audience he turns 76 next week.

Speaking about his age, the singer admitted he is slowing down despite having “the energy of a 20-year-old.” Noting that turning the big 9-0 is 14 years away for him, Elton said, “Your mortality hits you. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to stop [touring].”

The singer expressed he now wants to spend time with his sons — Elijah, 10, and Zachary, 12, whom he shares with David Furnish — and see them get married.

Elton then reflected, “To finish at Dodger Stadium in three nights, while I’m 75 at the end of my career, it was everything I could have dreamed of and more.”

Credit Suisse, Citi and more bank stocks tumble amid Silicon Valley Bank turmoil

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Bank stocks in the U.S. and Europe tumbled on Wednesday as the global financial system continued to reckon with the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, the largest bank failure since 2008.

Shares of Credit Suisse fell more than 26% in early trading after a top backer said he would not be able to provide any more cash to support the Swiss bank.

The pressure on the banking industry appeared to strain some of the largest U.S. banks, too.

Citi fell nearly 5% on Wednesday morning while J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo each dropped nearly 4%.

The downward trend hammered the major stock indexes. The Dow Industrial Average fell more than 500 points, which amounts to a 1.3% decline; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell about 1.5%.

The banking sector’s struggles mark the latest sign of fallout from the fall on Friday of Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th-largest bank in the U.S. Two days later, Signature Bank, the nation’s 29th-largest bank, closed its doors, suggesting the financial panic had spread.

Many bank stocks plummeted at the outset of this week but rallied on Tuesday, regaining much of their losses. The broad decline in early trading on Wednesday renewed fears of damage to the wider financial system.

The turn downward follows news on Tuesday that the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing the fall of Silicon Valley Bank.

The Federal Reserve Board, the governing body of the Fed, announced a day earlier that it would launch a review of the “supervision and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank, in light of its failure.”

The second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history triggered a major government intervention to protect the financial system.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which protects the stability of the financial system, took over Silicon Valley Bank on Friday in an effort to protect depositors.

Fearing a wider spread of the crisis after the collapse of Signature Bank, the FDIC, the Treasury Department and the Fed took further action on Sunday, telling depositors in both fallen banks that the FDIC would protect all of their funds, including those that exceed its $250,000 limit.

Later that day, the Fed announced an emergency lending program to cover the deposits at issue and restore wider confidence in the financial system.

Still, the worldwide fallout in the banking sector appears ongoing.

France’s two largest international banks, Societe Generale SA and BNP Paribas SA, fell more than 10% on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank AG, a top German lender, plummeted 8%.

Some financial institutions were spared, however. Schwab, the eighth-largest U.S. bank, ticked up almost 3%.

On this Day, March 15, 1976: KISS releases their fourth album, ‘Destroyer’

March 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

On This Day, March 15, 1976…

KISS released their fourth album, Destroyer, which included such future classics as “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “God of Thunder” and the ballad “Beth,” which became their first top-10 single.

The album peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Album chart, making it the third consecutive KISS record to make the top 40.

Within a year, Destroyer was certified Platinum by the RIAA, making it the band’s first Platinum record, and was eventually certified Double Platinum.

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