Jonathan Larsen

@jonathanlarsen.bsky.social

8882 Followers 972 Following

Journalist. jonathanlarsen.substack.com and thefuckingnews.substack.com Ex-MSNBC (Up, Countdown), ex-CNN (AC 360), ex-ABCNews

Hello, Is there anything I can say to convince you to make a donation to the DNC and my campaign to defeat Susan Collins before our first FEC deadline of the General Election at midnight tomorrow?
FFRF Action Fund Board President Annie Laurie Gaylor’s Full Statement “C Street is church/state entanglement you can put an address on. A self-described ‘church’ quietly covers the rent for members of Congress and steers them toward one narrow religious agenda, here and overseas. Our representatives answer to voters, not to an unaccountable religious sect. Government belongs to all of us, believers and nonbelievers alike, not to any faith trying to run it from the shadows.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser’s Full Statement “As we’ve said for years, C Street, the Family, the Fellowship, and whatever other names the shadow network goes by, are deeply problematic, and not simply because they sponsor the National Prayer Breakfast. Christian Nationalist mega donors secretly own a house where Members of Congress rent rooms at below market rates and where foreign governments hold off-the-record meetings with those legislators. By choosing to live at C Street, Members of Congress send an alarming message to their constituents and all Americans. We should all be concerned about the impropriety and influence of this shadowy group.”
Public Citizen lobbyist Craig Holman’s Full Statement “The standard rent for apartments on The Hill, immediately adjacent to the Capitol, is far higher than the reported few hundred dollars these members with the Family are paying. Not only is their rent unusually low, but the rental fee includes free access to meeting and event spaces in the dwelling. The lawmakers’ true living costs are being subsidized by a conservative religious faction that seeks to influence federal policies. Any subsidies above the actual comparable costs on The Hill would constitute an illegal gift by the lobbying entity.”
Danielle Welch’s Full Statement “I entered this race when it became clear that Tom Suozzi could not be trusted to stand up to Donald Trump. With the new reporting on Suozzi’s residence at C Street and connection to the Fellowship Foundation, it is clear that he cannot be trusted at all. ”Suozzi owes his constituents a lot of answers. Associating with a group that opposes LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights should be disqualifying. Praising Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who operates the notorious CECOT prison where ICE detainees were transferred and tortured, should be disqualifying. Failing to disclose rent so low that it may violate the law should be disqualifying. People are tired of corruption.”
Nominal (current) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Iran is $300.29 billion ($300,293,000,000) as of 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Muhammad Ali was a devout Muslim. Suggesting otherwise distorts both his personal faith journey and the historical record. Like many other African-Americans who originally belonged to the Nation of Islam, Muhammad Ali transitioned to Sunni Islam under the leadership of Imam W.D. Muhammad in the 1970s and lived the rest of his life contributing to causes of justice and peace, motivated by his faith. Any exhibit honoring his life should accurately reflect his unwavering commitment to Islam. We call on the Freedom 250 Mobile Museum to correct the record." - Edward Ahmed Mitchell CAIR National Deputy Director
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/nicholas-cage-coppola-name-change?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us "“I thought, well, I’ll keep the name ‘Nicolas’ because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an ‘h,’” Cage said of his father August Coppola, a longtime professor at San Francisco State University. “I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did.”"
orn Nicolas Kim Coppola, the actor known Nicolas Cage famously attended his earliest auditions under that pseudonym, telling Vanity Fair “I wanted to create a kind of wild and artistic and bizarre image,” one separate from his internationally famous uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola. The Oscar-winning actor, who is currently starring in Amazon Prime series Spider Noir, finally made that name change official last year, the 62-year-old said in a new interview, after a long life with a double identity.
“Every day he would sit at a table in the corner of my office as I went about my daily duties,” Timmis wrote in his 2022 book. “I asked some dear friends if he could live with them.” Timmis has more to say, about Moolenaar today: “He is a great example of a man possessing strong Jesus-centered values as a public official, while not alienating himself from people who disagree with his views. Consequently, this Republican has made many friends across the aisle. He and his close friend Tom Suozzi, a Democratic Congressman from New York, have been cochairs of the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington for the last two years. John is the best example I know of friendship through reconciliation.”
“I went down there — and it was really a pivotal time for me and my faith — and actually started helping out, caring for a, basically a building called The Cedars, where Mike [Timmis] had been involved. And one day he drove up, and he saw me out there. I was taking care of the lawn … I was raking leaves and trying to figure out what I was gonna do next in my life… “Here I was, 29 years old, lost a campaign, didn’t know what I was gonna do next… I’ll never forget him [Timmis] saying, ‘Y’know, John, I don’t know what God’s doing in your life but God’s economy is different than our economy and I’m just so glad you’re here and doing what you’re doing’ and gave me a hug and I thought that was amazing.”
Several years ago, a source close to The Fellowship told me that when Moolenaar was 23 — so in 1984 or 1985 — Moolenaar came to The Fellowship’s headquarters in Arlington, VA, known as The Cedars. “Moolenaar came in as a baby intern,” the source told me. “He came to The Cedars when he was 23, spending time getting discipled.”
I asked Schenck whether he thought Suozzi used living at C Street to establish his bona fides with a minister known then as a right-wing evangelical. “Oh, yes,” Schenck said. “He knew i was an evangelical minister. He knew what I had done on the Hill. And he was kind of assuring me, ‘Hey, I may be a Democrat, but, you know, I'm in the family,’ so to speak.” Suozzi said Schenck wanted to keep C Street quiet, to have it both ways. “He said, you know, I don't talk about it, but: ‘Good experience,’ or words that effect,” meaning: Life at C Street. Schenck said, “It was just, he was trying to assure me, you know, ‘I'm in. I'm in the family; good people, you know. I live both worlds.’ That sort of thing.”
House disbursement forms show Suozzi spent $800 per month on lodging in March and April of 2024.