For the Fourth of July, Donald Trump's hometown paper, The New York Daily News, celebrated with a cover of the president, but it's not one Trump will be framing for the walls of Mar a Lago any time soon.
In fact, it portrays the president as a "clown who plays king":
The accompanying cover story is an editorial titled:
Our immigrants, ourselves: What Trump can't take away from this great nation
Which they also tweeted in an epic thread:
And Twitter was here for it:
Connecticut Democratic Representative John Larson criticized billionaire Elon Musk for not being present to testify at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing about the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), additionally ripping Musk for pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
After President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead DOGE in January, tasking him with rooting out federal government waste and corruption, the department has faced mounting scrutiny. Lawmakers have raised concerns about DOGE’s growing influence on the Trump administration and its decision-making processes.
Musk’s absence from the hearing on Wednesday drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who were seeking clarity on DOGE’s access to Americans' Social Security information and Treasury Department data during its cost-cutting reviews.
Recently, Musk said that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is "the big one to eliminate" as part of his slash-and-burn approach to cutting federal spending.
Larson, visibly frustrated, demanded, "Where is Elon Musk?" while gesturing toward the empty chairs:
"When this committee, the oldest and most continuous in the Congress, neglects its responsibility and essentially holds this hearing today to block any further discussion. The men and women on this committee are good people. They're honest and caring people."
"And that's why I do not understand why you would relegate this committee to no longer being of significance and resort to saying you will do whatever Elon Musk and Donald Trump tell you to do. Where's the independence of the committee? Where's the legislature? We're an equal branch of government."
"And you start off with a blather and yet look at the empty seats here. Where is Elon Musk? I'm sure he's a genius and is a very credible person because of the wealth he's accumulated, but that does not put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee in this Congress."
"If he's so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that he found are so eminent, why isn't he here explaining it? You know why; because he's out to privatize Social Security. He's been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and what he intends to do, privatize it."
"The American people, some of them may have been born at night, but not last night."
Larson shared footage of his remarks to X, accompanying it with the following caption:
"Elon Musk called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and Donald Trump called it a scam. Make no mistake - they want to slash & privatize Americans' benefits. My resolution compels them to provide answers, but Republicans are trying to stop it from even coming to a vote in the House."
You can see it below.
His remarks went viral—and many agreed with his assessment.
Earlier this month, Musk sparked controversy by calling Social Security "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time." Around the same time, Trump claimed in a joint address to Congress that his administration was investigating alleged widespread fraud in the Social Security program.
Trump stated that government databases list millions of beneficiaries at improbable ages, including individuals over 160 years old, and even claimed the rolls include one person aged 360, suggesting they would have been alive not long after the Mayflower arrived.
There is no evidence to support claims of hundreds of thousands of people over 100 collecting benefits illegally, and no one living in the U.S. is older than 116. In a February 19 statement, Lee Dudek, the acting SSA commissioner, clarified that people listed as over 100 in the system are "not necessarily receiving benefits" but are often individuals without a recorded date of death.
Social media clout-chasing hit another low when an American influencer snatched a screaming baby wombat away from its mother for a content stunt while visiting Australia.
Now, she may be banned from the country.
Sam Jones is a U.S. hunting influencer who calls herself an “outdoor enthusiast” and “wildlife biologist” with over 92,000 followers on her Instagram page, which has now gone from public to private following the backlash to her interference with native wildlife.
The now-deleted clip showed Jones picking up a baby wombat from the side of a road at night and laughing as she jogged down the road with the terrified marsupial dangling from her grasp.
The short-legged animal native to Australia was heard screeching for its mother as an Australian man filming Jones laughed hysterically, commenting, "Look at the mother…Oh, it's chasing after her!"
The adult wombat was seen scrambling towards Jones from out of the brush and onto the road in an attempt to reach her child.
You can see the video that was saved on Reddit here.
from ImTheMainCharacter
Standing next to the open door of a pulled-over vehicle, Jones addressed viewers with, "I caught a baby wombat!" as the frightened joey continued thrashing and wailing.
The clip ended with Jones saying, "OK mama’s right there and she is pissed, let’s let him go," to which the cameraman commented, “Nah, he’s all right," as the influencer placed the distressed animal back on the ground near its mother.
Jones captioned the video with:
"My dream of holding a wombat has been realized! Baby and mom slowly waddled back off together into the bush."
Social media users were appalled after watching the video.
Wombats, along with all animals native to Australia, are legally protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, according to news.com.au.
Australia’s Sky News reported that Jones’ visa was under review by Australian immigration officials as they determined whether she violated the law.
Australia's largest wildlife rescue organization, WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service), confirmed that Jones' stunt was illegal.
WIRES Wildlife Vet Dr. Tania Bishop told the Australian news outlet that the wombat in the video was "likely around eight months old" and would be with its mother at that age "at all times, relying on her for protection."
Bishop also noted how Jones picking up the baby wombat from under its two front legs could've harmed the animal.
“When she’s running, it’s not supported underneath, and wombats are incredibly solid, especially in their back end, so there’s every chance she could have fractured the upper humerus, or the top of the arms, or caused damage to the shoulders," said the wildlife expert," adding:
"You can see the joey swinging, but it’s also hissing and crying out, which is a sign of extreme distress."
“You can also see the extreme distress the mother is in, chasing her across the road.”
Bishop also pointed out how Jones made the mother vulnerable to potentially getting hit by a car as it scurried across the road after its child was carried away from her.
“This is just an extremely unacceptable way to treat our wildlife, which is already under incredible pressure right now,” said Bishop.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement:
“Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers."
“I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual. I don’t expect she will return," Burke added.
Jones, who also switched her TikTok account to private, addressed the backlash, explaining:
“For everyone that’s worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum. They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed."
“I didn’t think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close."
“I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so," she added.
Bishop reminded tourists that while native wildlife in Australia is remarkable, taking a photo without physically interacting with the animals should suffice. "You don’t have to pick them up," she said.
“They’re already under stress, we don’t need to do anything more to put them in danger."
“We need to enjoy them while we still can in the wild.”
Penalties for animal cruelty offenses in Australia vary according to jurisdiction.
Fines for individuals can reach as high as $235,600 and $250,000 for corporations.
Jail time can be up to seven years.
No one can really prepare you for the unique challenges ahead when you start adulting.
Any advice you've been given is certainly helpful, but they don't always apply to unforeseen circumstances.
Curious to hear what these entail, Redditor schrodingerscatalyst asked:
"What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?"
"How tired I’ll feel all the time."
– No_Strawberry_1576
"My mom used to say 'I need to go lay down.' "
"Now I too, mostly want to lay down."
– 50DuckSizedHorses
"I used to think adults were grumpy and boring and could never understand why they'd choose to live that way. Now I get it. Everyone is just tired."
– ItsBlahBlah
"How hard it is to meet people/sustain relationships. When you're young, you are constantly surrounded by people your age, going through on essentially the same schedule as you."
"But once you're an adult, it's really hard to meet people in between the daily grind, and even harder to plan things with people you do know because they are also living their own lives."
– AMateriaIGirl
"The work you do is 20-30% max of your status, pay, promotion etc. The other half is who you do it in front of, and how well you get along with those people out of work."
"I worked my @ss off f'king hard and only got shi* projects and work because I was always out working, not spending time with the office staff."
"As soon as I got near the paymasters and decision makers, when they could actually see me working and taking responsibility, I got bumped up a few levels."
"Now you just go out for drinks with a select few seniors and watch all the sh**ty jobs get given to other people. I've had panic attacks when I don't have one tenth the workload I used to have, and I'm still told I'm doing too much."
"Is it kissing @ss? In some jobs, it would be. I moved around until I found a spot where I actually like and get along with the senior people, and now it's just hanging out with friends and getting double the paycheck at the end of it."
"Is it right? I don't know. It's just the way it is."
– bonechairappletea
"Social skills in the workplace are more important than actual skills. I have seen guys who didn't know their @ss from their elbow promoted to positions solely on their ability to talk their way into it."
– FartinDarton
"Nobody told me socializing was a life skill and not just an entertainment activity. As an ostracized kid, I always figured I'd have time to figure out how to find decent people as an adult. I didn't know the barriers I created for myself would impede by daily life and career so much."
"Things you never think of, like 'How am I going to get home from this dental appointment if I'm still affected by anesthesia?' "
– paleo2002
"Elderly parent losing their mind due to dementia and needing care, but nursing homes are $7k per month, and in-home nurses are 3k per month. Yeah that’s a problem that no one could have prepared me for."
"Edit to add: I found my answers and my parent is cared for now, but the path leading up to the answers was a terrible and scary path."
– bophed
"Realising your parents are not the people you thought they were as you grow older."
– rockoboks
"It was only when I was older I realised just how hard my parents worked bringing us up. We would always be doing something - sailing, camping, walking whatever and as a parent it's just so time consuming and there's so much stuff to take when you have kids."
"I always loved my parents, but becoming a parent and then my dad's death made me appreciate what awesome people they both were (mum is still with us) and how much my dad taught me without me realising."
"I realised how incredibly lucky I was, and I've tried to live up to the man my dad was. I miss him so much still 18 years after he died."
"So, yes they aren't quite the people I thought - they are better even though I always respected and admired them."
– Christopherfromtheuk
"Or seeing them go through some sh*t. My mom went through cancer and is not the same person she was before - not even remotely. And now she’s a full-time caregiver for her partner, whose five children really need to step up and put him in a home where he will be safer, and my mom won’t be killing herself every day caring for him."
"I still love her and would do absolutely anything for her, but I miss my old mom."
– banoctopus
"The relentless admin of life."
– YPLAC
"100% what I came here to say! It NEVER stops."
"Dentist every six months, tax filings every year, remember to take the cat to the vet, send a birthday card to your in-laws, remember that your partner likes cheddar cheese (but not that brand!), vacuum the house (oh, look, it’s dirty again less than 48 hours later), argue with your WiFi provider over a price increase, do the laundry, adhere to the new low sodium diet the doctor recommended, contribute to the potluck at work, do your research before voting, pay the auto insurance bill…"
"None of it is big stuff. It’s just an absolutely relentless army of small stuff that kills your joy."
– banoctopus
"How much of your time revolves around eating and/or making food; cooking, washing dishes, cleaning sinks, even just selecting what to eat - so much damn time."
– johndoe15190
"Getting up every morning to go to work for decades does kill your soul."
– carptrap1
"Dust. There is dust everywhere. There is so much dust, and it accumulates so fast!"
– Ahasveros5
"I don't get it. I can swipe every surface, then vacuum & mop the floors twice. Turn around and there's a dustbunny in the corner. Where do they come from?!"
– Rare_Art5063
"And hair!"
"I'm constantly muttering to myself about how mammals are fucking disgusting creatures every time I'm cleaning our bathrooms, sweeping the floors and cleaning out the lint trap."
– disisathrowaway
"Getting laid off."
"Everyone’s working, doing their thing, workload fluctuates and slows down after the pandemic. The expectation is for us to give two weeks notice when we leave but I’ll be damned if I didn’t get a six hour heads up that my computer would lock at the end of the day and my severance check would be in the mail in a week."
– clovisx
"Happened to me last year."
"A decade at the company, I was like employee 12 or 13 or something. Took a huge pay cut to join it, and busted my @ss to build it up and make it really successful. Missed out on so many events in my 20s to make sure this thing was a success. Eventually get rewarded as time goes on and ended up directly below the owners in the org chart and sat in that role for about 5 years."
"New owner (friend of the existing owners) joins, he's an investment banker with zero knowledge of our industry. I get moved under him. 5 months later, I'm called into a last-minute meeting out of the blue. He nukes half of my department and then says that because the department is now so small, they don't need me to run it and will be folding them under another senior staff member."
"I got the boot weeks before my equity vested. I had to process everything, grab sh*t from my office, and turn over all of my credentials in 3 minutes. Absolutely shellshocked on my entire drive home."
– disisathrowaway
"Just how boring most things are. The days blur together and the next thing you know, your body hurts everywhere all the time and you can't remember yesterday. But you remember 40 years ago like it was yesterday."
– MyCheeses
"Keeping a job. There's that 'honeymoon' period once you start the job. But then as the days turn into months... And the months turn to years... You look in the mirror and say, 'Is this it? This is all life has to offer?'"
– Squirrelluver369
"The crushing realization that this is all there is and the crippling depression that follows."
"You spend years getting a degree. Or even if you are in college. Working on the side. You slowly realize and question what your doing. You go into a job. That at first. You really enjoy. But as the months turn into years and years turn into decades you're doing the same thing over and over and over again and it just gets boring."
"The pride you had in your job is long dead. And the thought that this all there is. Until you either die or save up enough to retire. But by the time you save up enough to retire you'll be too old to be able to enjoy much."
– The_Grim_Gamer445
Everyone's life path is different.
Because of this, there are no books about dealing with the day-to-day challenges or repetitiveness that come with adulting.
We just have to confront these changes all around us and come up with solutions to continue navigating through life.
Those are the things that help us grow and evolve as people.
People who draw attention online, especially if they are particularly beautiful, have gorgeous, healthy hair, or are especially talented, are always met with comments like, "God knew I'd be too powerful if I had that" or "If I could do that, I'd be insufferable."
And it does seem to be laughably true that while some people seem to "have it all," there are others who needed to be humbled a little bit, or else they'd be totally insufferable.
Ready for a good laugh, Redditor Fun_Butterscotch3303 asked:
"What have you been genetically blessed with, and nerfed (cursed) with?"
"I have a voice that was made for radio. And I have a face that was made for radio."
- vabeachkevin
"Wellllllll, I have a face that was made for radio and a voice that was made for silent movies."
- TurdCollector69
"When I gain weight, it goes first to my a**, hips, and thighs, and they get rounder and give me an overall curvy shape. My belly stays mostly flat."
"The problem is that I am a heterosexual male."
"My squat is 140 Kg (308 lbs)."
- uvuvwevwedossas
"I just had a woman I work with go on for 20 minutes about the 'dump truck' of an a** this guy had. She kept saying he needed hazard lights and that she never guessed how good this short king looked from his profile pic. He had thicc thighs, too."
"She was OBSESSED. Girls sometimes like something to grab onto, too!"
- misstlouise
"Genetically blessed with a super active immune system. I recover from things really fast and really well. Wounds and diseases."
"Nerfed with a super active immune system- it goes into overdrive at the touch of a button. I get inflammation from lots of things and it makes me sick for days or weeks."
- JauntyAngle
"Same same. I always say this body evolved to handle famine and parasites, and in its current environment, it’s just bored and looking for trouble."
- stumpybucket
"I have... no idea what that's like."
- TheBookishAndTheBard
"I have good problem-solving skills but am nerfed with the ability to procrastinate until it’s an emergency."
- AnniePlaylist
"Hahahahahahaha, guess what I'm doing RIGHT NOW (spoiler: it's procrastinating)."
- HungryBearsGoRawr
"I'm blessed with naturally thick, curly hair that hairdressers always compliment. But I'm nerfed with the worst hay fever you can imagine. Spring isn't romantic when you're sneezing 20 times in a row and your eyes are constantly watering."
"I joke every year that I must be allergic to myself, because spring is also when I shed the most."
- Hot_Doll00
"I’m seven feet, one inch. It's a huge blessing and a huge curse. On average, people my height live 12 to 15 YEARS less than average-size people. All the other issues I can deal with, but that one is hard to overlook."
- The7footrr
"If I was attractive at all or had any amount of a**, it would be over for you b***hes!!"
- PPhead_
"Man, I'm smart. Once I lose weight, dress better, clear up my skin, develop some social skills, manage my depressive episodes, and come into some money, I will be f**king unstoppable."
- ceilingkat
"God knew you would be too powerful."
- enchanted_biscuit
"Good looks, great body, and I look significantly younger than my 40 years thanks to my Japanese genes."
"I’m so nearsighted that I look like Hans Moleman the moment I put on my glasses."
- CurviestOfDads
"Blessed to have the ability to hyperfocus on and really get things done, nerfed heavily with the fact that it's only with things I find interesting, everything else will literally put me to sleep with boredom... ADHD is a motherf**ker."
- xzether
"Thing that has my interest: do the thing to the point of near mastery, it gets all my focus, I learn everything I can about it, and I can talk about it to everyone around me with knowledgeable enthusiasm."
"Thing that no longer has my interest: dead to me, can never do it again, or talk about it without shame."
- Swimming_Lemon_5566
"Blessed with being smart, nerfed with absolute laziness."
- iosif_SKAlin
"Being smart during childhood means I never learned good study habits."
"Thinking I'm lucky in life in that I have it easier also deterred me from physical activities thinking no one had to put in as much effort as it would take me to get half as good as other kids, so I must be just one of those naturally bad at whatever so no point in working on it."
"End result: never learning to put in more effort than I needed to ace the test. No need to do homework or study or work hard..."
- icepyrox
"The answer to both of these is ADHD. Blessed with advanced pattern recognition, hyperfocus, thrives in an emergency, high empathy and sense of justice, quickly picks up new skills, great storyteller."
"Nerfed by rejection sensitive dysphoria, inability to sit still and relax, paralyzing anxiety, dopamine deregulation, and the Big Daddy: Executive Dysfunction."
- planetalletron
"Got an afro that's pretty soft and I'm about 5'11."
"But it turns out I'm a little too shy for my own good. Making connections is rocket science to me."
- AfroBaggins
"My mom’s skin. That woman didn’t have a wrinkle on her face until she turned 60. But also, my mom’s mental health issues."
- theanxiousknitter
"Ahh, I feel that. Blessed with my mom’s good looks and intelligence but nerfed with her mental health disorders and also others she didn’t have!"
- AdditionalAerie5347
"I can withstand extremely high temperatures for a long time, losing 10-20 pounds of water weight in a day is no big deal, fairly consistently from working in extreme heat."
"Sadly, I live in canada and it's not warm conditions for about eight months of the year, and I really can't handle the cold."
- UnrequitedRespect
"I basically never get ill, I’ve never had to take antibiotics as an adult."
"I’m annoyingly hairy, though (for a woman)."
- Civil-Koala-8899
"I just pictured an old Eastern European man pointing to you while telling his grandchildren in a very thick accent that you’re who they should marry because you’re kind and you’ll make strong children."
- SecretJerkAccount
"She is good woman. Make strong babies. Survive the winter with her strong genes. Her baklava make even Stalin drool. I wish for to have her as daughter."
- Mayble_Not_The_Pope
"I read that in a perfect accent."
- hothotdoggs
It's interesting to think about how people perceive themselves in terms of both their strengths and weaknesses. It's a great reminder that the insecurities that we might have about ourselves may only really be obvious and not so important to the people around us.
MCU Actor Scarlett Johansson recently spoke with InStyle magazine and shared a strict personal policy about not being photographed with fans when she's out in public.
“It really offends a lot of people,” she said, explaining why she wants to avoid fan photos when she's not on a film set.
“It doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative, of course, that people are fans, or happy to see me," she said, adding, "But I always say to people, ‘I’m not working.’ [And that means] I don’t want to be identified as being in this time and place with you. I’m doing my own thing.”
Johansson, who has been a vocal critic against relying on AI technology after her likeness was used without consent, added:
“I like to be in my own thoughts that have nothing to do with what other people think of me. I don’t like being self-conscious.”
Social media users understood where she was coming from.
Her line stuck with people.
Also in the magazine interview, Johansson opened up about that very dirty joke written about her on SNL, saying it was "so vulgar" and "I just can’t believe that they went there.”
The NSFW punchline was part of SNL's Christmas episode during the "Weekend Update" end-of-year annual joke swap between co-anchors Michael Che and Johansson's husband, Colin Jost.
The ritual entails Che and Jost reading aloud the joke they've written for each other that neither has read beforehand.
Johansson, who appeared for the December 21, 2024 episode's cold open, was backstage watching the segment on the monitor when Jost read the quip that Che wrote for him about his wife's vagina.
The camera cut to Johansson, whose jaw was on the floor.
The joke that Jost had to read live on air went:
“Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from their menu."
"But I ain’t tripping. I’ve been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.”
Jost face-palmed as the studio audience gasped and howled in hysterics.
“It was so vulgar,” Johansson told the magazine, and continued:
“I just can't believe that they went there. I was like—it was so gross. It was really gross.”
She started to laugh over the depravity of the joke, adding that it was "Like, old-school gross.”
Despite the lewdness, Johansson, who gave birth to her and Jost's son in August 2021, remained a good sport.
“My experience of it was so funny," she said.
Johansson explained that the producers gave her advance warning of a "vagina joke" that Che wrote for Jost to read before filming, but it didn't occur to her that it would come at her expense.
“I was like, 'I mean, it's a vagina joke, how bad could it be?' And then, as soon as the Costco photo came up, I was like 'No! No, Michael!'," said the Hollywood A-lister.
She also recalled how the camera crew capturing her raw reaction to the joke from backstage was overwhelming.
“The fact that it took on a full To Catch a Predator-style reveal or whatever,” she said, laughing. She referenced the Dateline series featuring confrontational setups involving hidden cameras and adult men arriving at a sting house to have sex with a minor, consequently leading to an arrest.
Johansson said of the backstage ambush:
"That was so intense. All of a sudden, it was like a whole bunch of people holding up lights, and a guy with a video camera.”
“They were waiting for me to react. I felt insane."
She had been at the studio at Rockefeller Center all day, and by that point, Johansson said, “I was like, 'I think I'm going to faint.'”
Fulfilling a longtime bucket list, ScarJo will star in the newest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World Rebirth, a standalone sequel to 2022's Jurassic World Dominion, directed by Gareth Edwards and written by David Koepp.
Jurassic Park alum Jeff Goldblum surprised her with the casting announcement during a live broadcast of NBC's Today Show last year.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe Jeff said that to me. I think my life is complete now. I can retire," she joked with the morning show host, Savannah Guthrie.
She will be leading the ensemble cast that includes Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Ed Skrein.
Johansson will also make her directorial debut with the upcoming drama film Eleanor the Great starring June Squibb as the titular character.
