Three states held their primary elections Tuesday, cementing key match-ups for competitive races in November. 

The biggest surprise was Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum winning the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida. 

If Gillum, a Bernie Sanders-backed progressive, wins in November he’ll be the first African American to lead the state. Gillum will go head-to-head with hard-line conservative Rep. Ron DeSantis, who has the backing of the president and easily won his GOP nomination.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s Senate match-up will be two female House members both who have acted like centrists during their time in office. On the GOP side Rep. Martha McSally easily secured the nomination after a bitter primary and on the Democratic side Rep. Kyrsten Sinema rolled over her opponent.

So what else happened Tuesday night? Here are our key takeaways:

In Florida’s governor’s race each party picks their extremes

In Congress, DeSantis is a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of far-right rebels who relish in taking on their party’s leadership. DeSantis and the roughly three dozen conservatives in the group have been known to sink – or at least threaten to – their own party’s legislation if they don’t believe it is conservative enough.

Some establishment Republicans had been hoping that Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam would be their nominee because they saw him as the stronger candidate in the general election. Florida went for President Trump by just one percentage point in 2016.

But nervous Republicans may be breathing a sigh of relief since Democrats chose progressive Gillum. Some establishment Democrats had thought that former Rep. Gwen Graham, a centrist, would have been a stronger competitor in a general election.

In an interview with CNN after his win, Gillum attempted to push back at being a far-left candidate by pointing out that despite the Sanders endorsement he had been a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton’s in 2016 said he would be governor “not just for some, but for all.” 

Trump is still kingmaker in primaries

In the Florida governor GOP primary, Trump endorsed DeSantis over the state’s more mainstream agriculture commissioner. Trump’s early endorsement of DeSantis proved to be helpful, DeSantis won easily Tuesday. The congressman ran hard on Trump’s endorsement. He even had ad where he was seen building a wall with his daughter and reading Trump’s book to his son.

“Such a fantastic win for Ron DeSantis and the people of the Great State of Florida. Ron will be a fantastic Governor. On to November!” the president tweeted Tuesday night. 

Trump had also endorsed current Florida Gov. Rick Scott for the GOP nomination for Senate. Scott did have a primary opponent, though it was not a serious challenge and he was always expected to win.

Meanwhile, in Arizona’s Republican Senate primary, no candidate got the official Trump blessing but all fought hard to tout their ties to the president.

McSally, the establishment pick, had once distanced herself from Trump as the congresswoman running for re-election in a purple congressional district. But in an attempt to make it through the GOP Senate primary, McSally cozied up to Trump with visits to the White House and support for some of his policies. Meanwhile, former state senator and physician Kelli Ward touted a tweet the president had fired off last summer saying it was “great” to see her running. And former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio boasted about his relationship with the president, who pardoned him for criminal contempt of court last August. 

In Oklahoma’s GOP primary runoff for governor – the state had its full primary earlier in the summer – former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and businessman Kevin Stitt both ran on support for Trump. Stitt won Tuesday.

A good night for House lawmakers

McSally, Sinema and DeSantis all made it through their primary for higher office this cycle. But they weren’t the only ones who made it out of primaries Tuesday night, there were no primary upsets and some House members who had faced tough primary challenges came out far ahead.

In Florida’s District 7, Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy easily beat a challenge from the left. Democratic Rep. Darren Soto in Florida’s 9th District got double the vote against former Rep. Alan Grayson who ran for his old seat.

In Florida 26th District, Rep. Carlos Curbelo breezed past his primary challenger. In District 18, GOP incumbent Rep. Brian Mast took down his two challengers who mounted bids after Mast called for a temporary moratorium on assault weapon sales.

Could turnout be a sign of things to come in November?

Voter turnout in Arizona was expected to shatter the previous record with early indications that more Democrats were a major factor. That would be good news for Democrats hoping to capture Sen. Jeff Flake’s now open seat in the fall. 

Meanwhile, Florida turnout did not appear to be record-setting, however it had been 16 years  since more voters had gone to the polls for a primary, according to data from the Florida Secretary of State’s office. This year, early results showed Republicans narrowly leading Democrats in turnout in the purple state. If Republicans are able to keep that trend, that could mean victory in two competitive statewide elections in the fall – the Florida governor’s race and the Senate race. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (who ran unopposed Tuesday) is officially running against Scott.

Arizona’s voting locations were a mess

Voters in Arizona’s largest county, Maricopa, ran into problems right away Tuesday with multiple reports of closed polling locations in the Valley, malfunctioning equipment and computers that weren’t set up.

To respond to the widespread issues county recorder and secretary of state asked to keep polling places open later than the 7 p.m. closing time. But the Board of Supervisors ultimately shot down the request. In a statement the board said keeping polls open could “confuse voters, delay returns, and have other unintended consequences.”

But polling places in parts of Maricopa County stayed open anyway – sort of. Because of a rule that says you can vote as long as you’re in line before 7 p.m. voters continued to stand in line, in some places well after the official close time.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BXcJzL

The nation’s eyes are on Arizona and its hotly contested U.S. Senate race, seen as a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats fighting to retake control of the chamber and challenge President Donald Trump’s agenda on everything from illegal immigration to taxes and trade.

The open Senate race is among the nation’s most competitive, and is consequential for a state that may be on the cusp of electing its first woman senator.

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, a two-term congresswoman from Tucson, defeated her Republican rivals, former state Sen. Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Fountain Hills, according to early and unofficial results from the Secretary of State.

Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who has served three terms and is from Phoenix, also defeated her rival, Deedra Abboud, a progressive activist and attorney from Scottsdale.

The Associated Press called the races for McSally and Sinema.

President Donald Trump, whose presence has loomed over the Senate race, congratulated McSally in a late-night Tweet while bashing U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, who announced his retirement last fall.

“Martha McSally, running in the Arizona Primary for U.S. Senate, was endorsed by rejected Senator Jeff Flake….and turned it down — a first! Now Martha, a great U.S. Military fighter jet pilot and highly respected member of Congress,WINS BIG. Congratulations, and on to November!”

With McSally and Sinema the apparent nominees, Arizona voters are on track to elect their first woman senator.

Either party has a good chance of winning, analysts say, worrying Republicans while giving Democrats credible hope of gaining a statewide foothold.

ELECTION RESULTS:  Live results for federal, state and city offices in Arizona  

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, died Saturday. Gov. Doug Ducey will appoint a Republican to succeed him.

That the seat being vacated by retiring Flake is even in play is reflective of a traditionally red state trending toward purple at a level not seen in recent memory. 

Arizona voters have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since Dennis DeConcini, an old-fashioned centrist, who won the seat in 1976 after defeating Republican Sam Steiger for the open seat and served three terms.

“It’s crucial to Democratic hopes of taking control of the Senate, it’s just hard to see how they would do it without Arizona,” said John J. “Jack” Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. 

“If somehow they take control of the Senate, Democrats would control the confirmation process, making it extremely difficult for Trump to get his way.” 

Outside groups wage $8M ad war

In Arizona’s race, Democrats, Republicans and their well-financed allies are clawing for any advantage.

Outside groups allied with the top-tier candidates have waged an $8 million ad war in the primary election alone to promote and attack the candidates on health care, character and border security.

Sinema noted Tuesday night that Arizonans “are also reflecting on Senator John McCain’s lifetime of service and the example he has set for us” and said “it’s up to all of us to follow his lead of always putting country over party.”

“Tonight, we look ahead and continue fighting to uphold the values we all share: a fairshot at the American Dream and an unwavering commitment to the Arizona we love,” Sinema said in a written victory statement. “I’m grateful to everyone who voted today, and now, our work continues. We will spend these next ten weeks earning the vote of Arizonans across our state. Together, we can make sure that all Arizonans have an independent voice in the U.S. Senate.”

Arpaio, McSally and Ward competed for the Republican nomination. 

Arpaio told The Arizona Republic he was disappointed with the results, but would accept the decision by voters. He offered to help McSally in the general election if she wanted it. 

“I’ll still be working to support President Trump,” he said. 

Ward was delivering a concession speech around the same McSally accepted her nomination. In the final days of the race, she drew heavy fire for suggesting an announcement by the McCain family that the late senator would be ending medical treatment was timed to harm her candidacy. She did not fully apologize for her remarks.

In her victory remarks as prepared for delivery, McSally talked up her relationship with Trump.

“On issue after issue, by working together, we have shown an ability to solve problems and get thing done for Arizona. I have worked closely with President Trump to cut taxes for working families, to create jobs, to secure the border, to honor our veterans … and when I am in the Senate, I will work with him to confirm judges who uphold the Constitution,” McSally said.

McSally, appeared emotional as she took the stage. She began her remarks by honoring Sen. John McCain and sharing personal recollections of working with him to, among other things, save the A-10. After a moment of silence, she said the general election will be s  “choice between a patriot and a protester” 
 
The general-election race between her and Sinema, she said, will come to “a choice between a doer and a talker…between a patriot and a protester … between a career fighter pilot and a career politician – between proven grit and Hollywood glitz.” 

James Elliott, a U.S. Army  combat veteran from south Phoenix, said he hopes McSally will help build Trump’s border wall.

“I believe that (Senators) McCain and Flake have done absolutely nothing for Arizona and I’m hoping that she will do actually something for Arizona,” said Elliott, 54. adding

“First and foremost the wall. I like the fact that she backs up the president. I’m a big supporter of Donald Trump and I’ve been there since he first came down the escalator.”
Elliott said he hopes she is being authentic about her support of Trump.

“I’m going to put my faith and my vote …  in for Martha McSally and I’m really hoping that my vote counts and hope that I get what I’m voting for.” 

Ken Roth, a real estate developer from Paradise Valley, said McSally’s credentials as a make her the best person to follow in the footsteps of former U.S. Sens. Barry Goldwater, John McCain and Jon Kyl.

“She’s got the talent and she’s certainly got the brains,” said Roth, 74, adding that he has supported her since the earliest days of her political ambitions.”

Roth said that drive will help McSally win over Sinema in the November general election.

You can’t uncover the fact that she is a Democrat,” he said. “I certainly think Martha just has a lot more to offer, just given her training.”

Sinema has been running as an independent candidate, free of partisan affiliations.

MIDTERM ELECTIONS: 1-seat swing in Arizona could change Congress

All three of the GOP candidates have leaned into their relationships with Trump, who has not endorsed any of them. The president is considering a swing through Arizona in the days after the election to rally voters behind the Republican Senate nominee. 

All three candidates have run to the right on border security and issues involving illegal immigration. Ward and Arpaio have accused McSally of moving from the center to the right to appeal to Republican base voters who might view her as too lenient on the red-meat issue, an attack she has dismissed.

A win by any of the candidates would likely solidify the Arizona Republican Party’s attachment to the president. That would mark a stark contrast with the combative stance that Flake has taken with the president over his political and personal actions.

“That would be a significant intra-party consequence,” said Richard Herrera, associate professor of political science at Arizona State University.

Running like a 3rd-party candidate

On the Democratic ticket, Abboud, a progressive activist and attorney, ran a long-shot campaign against presumed front-runner Sinema for the party’s nomination.

Abboud has emerged as a well-liked candidate among the Democratic base, but her chances of pulling off an upset are slim. She has shunned corporate donations, so has virtually no campaign money.

Sinema, a deft fundraiser, is running her campaign more like a third-party candidate than Democratic contender, frustrating some Democratic voters who want her to vocally oppose Trump and GOP leadership. 

The strategy allows her room to pick up independent voters and possibly disenchanted Republicans who connect with her style and political messages. 

The election of a Democrat could signal a shift in long-term partisan voting trends statewide, Herrera said. 

“Certainly a Democratic candidate winning a prominent statewide race would energize Democrats across the state and could shift more independent voters,” he added.

Senate primary results

Read or Share this story: https://azc.cc/2BTjfaC

Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It appears that Waymo’s “fully self-driving” taxi service was a bit too aggressive with its 2018 launch date.

A report from The Information Tuesday paints a bleak picture out of Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo is headquartered and seems to be experiencing glitches with its autonomous vehicles.

Merging into highway traffic, navigating around groups of people, turning left — these are just a few of the hurdles facing Waymo’s fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans that the company is hoping to turn into a fully autonomous taxi service. 

The minivans often drive in the center of wide roads and stop for a full three seconds at stop signs, habits that aren’t popular among some local residents. At least a dozen people told The Information, “I hate them.” 

Although Waymo claims that its fleet has self-driven more than 8 million miles, people familiar with the Waymo testing program say that the minivans still rely on remote operators to step in and help the cars in tough situations.

This is in contrast with recent messaging from Waymo and other outlets: Ellice Perez, Waymo’s head of operations, posted a brief, behind-the-scenes glance of Waymo’s process on Medium showing a factory “buzzing with teams,” and Bloomberg took a ride with a teenager who commutes to school in a Waymo van.

Yet, in an exclusive report about Waymo’s plans, The Verge reported that a “chaperone” would be in vans on initial self-driven runs.

These problems are what’s kept other startups and self-driving programs from pushing such ambitious launch dates. GM’s Cruise project is set for 2019, and Ford’s is way out in 2021.

For full autonomy, known as Level 5, researchers and experts expect that it will take tech and car firms more time to test and improve their self-driving technology. That’s why companies such as Tesla have focused on more semi-autonomous features — Level 2 self-driving skills are more attainable with an alert human ready to take over.

And within the next step of autonomy — Level 3 — there’s this murky question of whether a human driver needs to pay attention or not. 

That’s why “Waymo wants to bypass Level 3,” Cody Fleming, an engineering professor at the University of Virginia, told me earlier this year. But if Waymo’s vans still can’t merge into traffic, it might be too soon to let go of its human drivers.

Bachelor in Paradise

type

TV Show

Current Status

In Season

seasons

2

run date

08/04/14

performer

Chris Harrison

broadcaster

ABC

Genre

Reality

Hello again, rose lovers! Before we start this week’s “journey,” a housekeeping note: Some of you have asked that I recap the week’s action chronologically, which I am happy to do. To that end, I’ll still be tackling the couple-by-couple action from the week in one recap, but I’ll do Monday’s drama first, and then move on to Tuesday. Let’s begin, shall we!

Part 1: Monday Night in Paradise

The “ladies” have the roses this week.

Jordan and Jenna and Benoit
The male model insists that he and Jenna are “in a good place,” but…

“Are you f—ing kidding me?” Jordan barks, spying “his” girl mid-makeout. “Jenna needs a guy who knows how to use his hands — [Benoit] can’t even throw a Frisbee 15 feet!”

That night, Jordan pulls Jenna aside and pours his Zoolander heart out: “I’m scared that I’m never gonna meet someone like you again, and I’m never gonna feel what I’ve felt the past few days,” says Jordan, adding that his feelings for her are akin to “love at sight.” (You read that right — he forgot the “first.”)

So, is it au revoir to Benoit? Not exactly. Jenna announces that she needs to make a choice, and there will be no more kissing of any guys until… What’s that? Benoit’s tongue is in her mouth again? Oh lord. This, of course, leads to a Benoit-Jordan blowup by the hot tub — but these boys are both too pretty to let things come to blows.

The next day, Jenna is still letting Benoit hang all over her — but as soon as he walks away, Jordan swoops in. Sure, he may not be ready to get married right away, but the male model is looking for love — and he tells Jenna, once again, that he thinks he’s found it with her. Is she impressed, or just uncomfortable from her giant swimsuit wedgie?

Hard to say. Unfortunately, Jordan’s sales pitch is a little lacking. “You’re not meant for anybody else,” he says, sounding not at all like a total stalker. “Today, if you choose him, I’ll say goodbye — and then you call me and let me know how this whole thing went for you.” Miraculously, though, it works! Jenna decides to go with her heart (Jordan) instead of her head (Benoit).

Hurt and angry, Benoit hurls a football into the surf again and again. Whatever, pal — I’m sure there’s a nice woman waiting for you in Canada.

Chris and Krystal and Connor
These two “aliens” (Astrid’s term, but it works) are deep in the lovey-dovey phase, talking about what they’re looking for in a life partner and making out constantly. “There’s really nothing that can stop us,” says Chris. Oh man, why’d you have to go and say something like that?

Yep, Connor — the dude who threw Lincoln’s “wedding” photo in the pool during Becca’s season — has arrived, and he has one thing on his mind: Glitter. Krystal’s feeling it, big time. “You were the person I came into Paradise wanting to meet,” she tells Connor. Krystal informs Connor that she’s too “smitten” with Chris to consider going on a date with someone else, and suggests that he look for a “connection” elsewhere.

Here’s where things get extra painful. Krystal then saunters back to Chris and assures him that she told Connor that she won’t go out with him. Do I even need to tell you that a few minutes later Connor asks Krystal on a date anyway… and that she says yes? The Goose is not amused.

“I did come to [Paradise] to meet someone, that particular person — and you caught me by surprise,” Krystal tells Chris, before asking him in a baby voice if he’ll talk to her when she gets back from her date. “If I’m up,” he mumbles glumly.

As for Krystal and Connor’s date?

I dunno. The date card said something about a “mystical” evening, so… yeah. All you really need to know is that the evening ended with the two of them smooching in the surf. When they return to Paradise, Chris is waiting up to talk to Krystal, but she tells him she’s too tired to talk — can they chat in the morning? You know what this is, rose lovers. That’s right — karma! (Next: How Annaliese got her groove back)

The other day, Tiger Woods became the latest athlete to be asked about President Donald Trump, a man he has known for years. Of course Tiger was asked about Trump. Everyone talks about Trump. Why should Woods be excluded?

The questions were appropriate and reasonable. Trump called them part of “The Fake News Media,” so that confirms they were really good.

Tiger’s answers were harder to define. Basically, Woods said nothing. Words tumbled out of his mouth, but they were little more than pablum.

“We’ve played golf together … You have to respect the office … (I’m) really hungry.”

The quintessential Tiger Woods, ladies and gentlemen.

Tiger’s answers should surprise absolutely no one who has been paying attention to him for the past two decades. When it comes to controversial topics, Tiger’s default position is to say nothing of consequence. He’s been doing it for years.

It must be said that saying nothing has served Tiger very well, in a Jordanesque, “Republicans buy sneakers, too” kind of way. Even though the age of athletes passing the buck to make a buck has transitioned into an era of historic athlete activism, why would Tiger change now?

But I think even he has outdone himself this time. Of all the topics in the universe, there’s one on which everyone has an opinion: Donald Trump.

Everyone, apparently, except Tiger. Being able to successfully straddle the fence on Trump really is quite an achievement. It’s not exactly a 15th major, but it might be close.

Column: Tiger vs. Phil Mickelson on pay-per-view is more about greed than golf

More: Donald Trump appreciates Tiger Woods’ support: ‘He is very smart’

This is how it unfolded. On Sunday following his final round at The Northern Trust tournament in New Jersey, Woods first was asked about his relationship with Trump.

“Well, I’ve known Donald for a number of years,” he said. “We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency.”

Then came a crucial question for the era in which we are living:

“At a time, especially 2018, I think a lot of people, especially people of color, immigrants, feel threatened by him, by his policies, he’s thrown himself into sports debates in terms of race with LeBron James, with the anthem — what do you say to people who might find it interesting that you, I guess, have a friendly relationship with him?”

LeBron might have talked for a half hour about that one. Serena Williams, too.

Tiger? Not a chance. This is the guy who once ducked talking about the ethics of playing in a South Carolina PGA event when the Confederate flag was still flying by saying he was going on vacation.

“He’s the president of the United States and you have to respect the office,” Tiger said. “No matter who’s in the office, you may like, dislike the personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.”

And finally, one more:

“Do you have anything more broadly to say about the state and I guess the discourse of race relations?”

The answer you are about to hear is as vintage Tiger as there is.

“No. I just finished 72 holes and [I’m] really hungry.”

I’m now going to get into my time machine and travel to the year 2048. It’s a far more demographically diverse United States than 30 years earlier. The Parkland, Fla., kids and their peers are nearing 50. As they and their children study the history of this nation during the Trump years, their eyes grow wide when they realize that Tiger Woods — a man of color, obviously, and a truly historic cultural figure from the very end of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st century — answered a question about race relations by saying he was “really hungry.”

Tiger probably doesn’t care. History, however, most likely will.

 

 

A North Carolina woman was found guilty of tampering with evidence for trying to use acid and alligators in 2011 to dispose of a murder victim’s body, according to a Tuesday release from the district attorney’s office in Fort Bend County, Texas.

Amanda Hayes and her husband Grant Hayes killed his ex-girlfriend — Laura Ackerson — in North Carolina, cut up the body and transported it to a family member’s home in Richmond Texas, the release says.

There they attempted to use acid to dissolve the body. When that attempt failed, they dumped the body parts in an alligator-infested creek, hoping “alligators would eat her remains,” the release says.

The couple was previously convicted of Ackerson’s murder according to the release. Hayes’ latest conviction adds an addition 20 years of prison time to the 13-16 year sentence she received for second degree murder.

The couple was involved in a custody dispute with Ackerson around the time of the murder, Raleigh NBC affiliate WRAL reported in 2011, citing family members. 

In separate trials, the couple blamed each other for the murder, the station reports. 

Hayes testified that she did not kill Ackerson and that she only helped dispose of the body because her husband threatened her, a release says. The jury disagreed and Hayes was given the maximum sentence for tampering with evidence by District Court Judge Maggie Jaramillo.

Parts of Ackerson’s body were found in Oyster Creek, located in Richmond, Texas, over the course of several weeks in 2011.

Grant Hayes was given a life sentence for his involvement in Ackerson’s murder, the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s office says.

Contributing: Emily Reaux, KHOU-TV, Houston.

 

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2og0x3g

Conditions at the US Open were labelled “dangerous” as five men had to retire from their first-round matches on Tuesday because of heat-related issues.

Temperatures close to 38C (100F) in New York were made more stifling by levels of over 50% humidity.

French player Julien Benneteau, who won on day two, said matches in the middle of the day should not have been played.

“They were lucky they only had retirements,” said the world number 60.

The conditions led to tournament organisers implementing an extreme heat policy in men’s matches for the first time.

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who said he “struggled” with the heat in his win over Marton Fucsovics, added that the physical issues affecting some players were “really sad to see”.

Six players were forced to retire from matches on Tuesday, with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) saying five of the withdrawals – Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia, Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, Argentine Leonardo Mayer, Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny and Serb Filip Krajinovic – were “heat-related”.

The WTA has an extreme heat policy for the female players, unlike the men’s ATP, which has a discretionary rule.

USTA managing director Chris Widmaier said the decision to introduce it for the men was made after consulting its medical team.

The ruling offered a 10-minute break to both players after the third set and was taken if either or both wanted it.

The break took place in women’s matches between the second and third sets.

Former world number one Djokovic and his Hungarian opponent Fucsovics were the first players to use the rule after both suffered in the high temperatures.

“It wasn’t fun to play in the heat,” said Fucsovics, who lost in four sets.

“I was dying after each point. It was too hot for tennis. It’s dangerous.”

Djokovic, who asked for a sick bucket to be put next to his chair in the second set, said: “There’s so much cramping going on. You don’t want to see that.

“You have to be fit, of course. I agree with that. But there are some conditions that are so extreme that, as fit as you are, you can’t just not feel it.”

The USTA said it would make a decision on Wednesday, when conditions are forecast to be similar, whether to implement the heat rule for a second time.

“We will be doing this on a case by case basis,” Widmaier added.

He said the show-court Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums do not have air conditioning when the roofs are closed, although they may be shut overnight in an attempt to try to cool the courts.

Image: Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images

At Facebook, some employees have joined an online group to complain about what they say are the company’s left-leaning politics, reports the New York Times. 

It’s named FB’ers for Political Diversity, and was created by Brian Amerige, a senior engineer at the social media giant.

Amerige wrote a post called “We Have a Problem With Political Diversity” on Facebook’s internal message board, which was shared with the Times.

“We are a political monoculture that’s intolerant of different views,” reads the post. “We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack — often in mobs — anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology.”

The Times said around 100 Facebook employees have joined the group, according to “two people who viewed the group’s page and who were not authorized to speak publicly.” The company has more than 25,000 employees. 

The group says its aim is to “create a space for ideological diversity” within the company, but the post has also received criticism. One engineer told the Times that several employees have complained to their managers about the post. 

Google faced a similar problem when former engineer, James Damore, sent around a memo arguing that the lack of diversity in tech was due to women being biologically inferior to men. As you might expect, it didn’t go over so well, and Damore was fired shortly after the memo was sent. He is now part of a class-action lawsuit against the company. 

Despite claims from people like Donald Trump that Silicon Valley is suppressing conservative voices, right-wing viewpoints from sites like Breitbart have largely flourished on the network. According to a 2017 analysis by social media monitoring company NewsWhip, liberal publishers only see half the engagement of conservative pages.

Facebook has also been accused of letting hate speech — especially from those on the alt-right — flourish on the site, something it’s still figuring out how to deal with.

Younger

type

TV Show

Current Status

In Season

tvpgr

TV-14

seasons

2

performer

Sutton Foster, Debi Mazar, Miriam Shor

broadcaster

TV Land

Genre

Comedy, Romance

We wouldn’t be surprised if you feel older after watching the season 5 finale of TV Land’s Younger.

There was no shortage of drama as Liza (Sutton Foster) almost left Millennial for good, only to be saved by a deal from Quinn that ended up costing Charles his central role in his own company, and also gave Kelsey a massive promotion. And that was just one storyline: Elsewhere, Josh was dreaming of having babies with Liza before ex-wife (current wife?) Clare showed up on his doorstep looking very pregnant, and — perhaps the most agonizing part of the episode — Enzo nearly died!!

Since it’s now MONTHS until we find out what that last look of impending doom on Liza and Charles’ faces meant, we decided to grill show creator Darren Star and Hilary Duff (Kelsey) about how much we can read into it, and what’s in store when the series returns for season 6.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You teased us with the idea of Liza leaving Millennial and going to work with Cheryl (Martha Plimpton). Did you ever intend for her to follow through with that and leave for good?
DARREN STAR: We tried to follow the logic of the character; it just felt like she would want to leave, and because of her relationship with Charles (Peter Hermann), it just sort of bit her in the ass a little bit. It’s all the idea that her lie has unseen consequences that hit her in unexpected ways. That’s the thing about a lie; it has this ripple effect. It started very innocently, and it just takes on greater weight as the series goes on.

Have Quinn’s (Laura Benanti) plans to invest in Millennial and share Liza’s story come to an end?
STAR: Possibly, and that’s totally fine. I think it’s moved beyond the idea of a lie to a relationship between a boss and an employee at a time when it just isn’t as simple as it used to be. I think we really conceived of this season thinking about the #MeToo movement. You can’t help thinking about it and how it affects our characters, including the way we looked at them, how we perceive them differently now, and how we perceive Charles and Liza’s relationship differently. It’s a story about a boss and employee, and that’s still tricky waters to navigate regardless of somebody lying about their age. It’s just in and of itself a tricky situation.

HILARY DUFF: I like that the lie can end. I think we have enough going on and enough depth to the show that that doesn’t matter anymore. I got kind of tired of that storyline, but I was so happy that they continued to let more and more and very important people find out. I love the way Charles found out. We were about to start shooting when they sent the scripts in and we were all kind of experiencing this for the first time at the table read and we’re like, “This feels like the end of the season! What’s going on?”

In that final scene, why do Charles and Liza look so miserable after seeming so happy to be together moments earlier?
STAR: I don’t think they’re miserable, but I think they’re just suddenly thinking that it’s not as fun and easy as they went in thinking it might be. I’ve always thought of Charles and Liza’s relationship as sort of like illusion vs. reality, and now they’re getting what they want but it’s not as easy as they imagined. That relationship has always been based in a bit of fantasy for both of them. Now they’re together, but they have to deal with reality, which is what every relationship is about once you get past that infatuation period and start dealing with the actual person.

How much of Charles’ identity is tied to being a publisher? Will he feel lost without it next season?
STAR: Well, he’s not going to be the day-to-day voice of his company, and it’s certainly going to create an issue for him and some complications down the line. He gets to preserve his company, but I don’t think it’s game over for him there completely. 

With Charles no longer the face of the company, Kelsey is confronted with a massive promotion. Is she ready for it?
STAR: I think that’s a big question. She’s very young and sometimes people’s ambition can get in front of their maturity. I think in Kelsey’s case, she’s probably been handed something that’s bigger than she imagines, so I think a big question is how does she deal with it? Liza’s going to be very important for her because I feel like Kelsey hasn’t done it all on her own; she’s really been in a partnership with Liza.

DUFF: I think she’s going to rise to the challenge and be able to take it on. I think she’s going to get stressed and feel like she can’t handle it a couple of times, but she knows what she’s doing. She has really good intuition, and she’s tired of feeling like no one trusts her at the company when her imprint is the one making all the money now. I think with someone like Quinn behind her to help her, she’s going to pull it off, but everything can’t go so smooth, or we won’t have a season. What’s great about Kelsey is that she always feels like it’s going to be okay. She’s very optimistic and feels like there’s a way to solve everything. I’m really curious to see where it goes.

I’m also so curious to see how Diana (Miriam Shor) reacts to Kelsey in this superior position, especially if she finds out Liza’s true age.
STAR: Will she (Diana) ever find out? I don’t know right now. I don’t know how important it is for Diana to know. I think it’s important for her sanity to be preserved for the moment. Every show has to evolve. The story and characters naturally keep pulling you in interesting, challenging directions. What I love about the women on this show, they’re not at all competitive with each other; they’re supportive of each other. They’re ambitious. This is also a show about women at work. Liza’s initially doing this to be relevant and get a job. That just ends up exceeding beyond her wildest dreams.

DUFF: Diana and Kelsey don’t have the greatest relationship, and I don’t know how much of that is because she sees herself in Kelsey. I have no idea how Diana would respond. Part of me thinks she’s just not even going to hear her, or just be fine with it. Everyone else has had such a big reaction that I feel like it’ll almost be really nonchalant, like, “Whatever.”

So it seems like we’re fully committing to Team Charles at this point. Is all hope lost for Team Josh fans?
STAR: I don’t think so. I feel like Liza and Josh (Nico Tortorella) have this sort of incredible connection. I think Liza has made a decision where she felt like he was too young for her, but more than that, that she was too old for him. But I also think that Josh has matured a lot over this season.

But now with a baby with Clare (Phoebe Dynevor) on the way… Did you always plan to reintroduce Clare in that way?
STAR: We did. Phoebe wasn’t available to us for a while so we just started thinking about what else we were going to do with Clare. We thought it would be interesting to bring back the baby thing with a different red herring for Josh, and then have Clare appear unexpectedly pregnant at the end, with us not really knowing really how it got to here or what the circumstances are.

I really didn’t see it coming.
STAR: Good. I love surprises in shows. I like watching shows and just seeing the unexpected. To look back to Melrose Place, a character was in a car crash and disappeared for the whole season and reappeared… I think there’s something to really letting audiences believe the character is gone and forgetting about them so you get the shock when they come back. Clare certainly wasn’t dead; she was just off screen for a long time.

I’ve also really loved seeing Josh and Maggie’s friendship evolve this season. They really seem to bring out the best in each other.
STAR: Yeah, I think they’re kind of kindred spirits in a way. They’re both artistic souls and again, I love that this show is about people from different generations finding friendships with each other, and Liza is the catalyst to all of these friendships. I think it’s a great message the show has, that Josh and Maggie are great friends and have so much in common and love hanging out together, and I think that Lauren (Molly Bernard) and Diana (Debi Mazar) is another relationship that we have begun to [explore]. I like the chemistry between them too.

But my absolute favorite relationship is Diana and Enzo (Chris Tardio). Please tell me they have staying power?
STAR: I love them too. They’re really fun together. They’re really fun to write. I love their chemistry. I love what he does for Diana and what she does for him. He’s a character that was in the series a couple of seasons ago, and we always liked him and always thought it’d be great to bring him back and see more of the two of them together because they really had something. They’re just this odd couple that really works. It’s fun to discover.

What about Kelsey and Zane (Charles Michael Davis), do they have a future?
DUFF: Part of me is very annoyed by his behavior. Not sticking around to work for his peer that’s a girl? I’m like, “You’re weak sauce, dude.” I think last season humanized him a lot where you’re like, “Okay he’s not just a player, he actually has feelings for Kelsey.” But he didn’t really take her seriously in the beginning, so it’s good that she moves on.

One of the highlights of this season was all the musical moments; Liza’s performance of the “Lonely Goatherd” and Diana and Cheryl doing Cabaret. How did those come about?
STAR: I think the yodeling, the Sound of Music song, was just thinking about a very sentimental way for Charles to look at Liza with fresh eyes. We came up with that idea for the Christmas episode and the fact that we were able to get the Sound of Music “Lonely Goatherd”… it was just something that I wanted to see Sutton do. The Cabaret number was just completely for fun and it was fun to see that side of Diana. I also just really wanted to see the two of them perform and we had an excuse to do it. I can watch that over and over again.

Hilary would you want to do some singing next season?
DUFF: I would love to. I don’t know if Kelsey would be a good singer or not. Darren always says Kelsey and Liza don’t sing. He’s like, “They’re not like you guys” to Sutton and me. I think it would be fun. I think like a drunken party scene or…You know what I would love to see next season? You know how companies do retreats all together? It would be cool if Kelsey wrangled a big retreat for everyone to go somewhere and just like all hell breaks loose.

Do you have a favorite episode or scene from this season as a whole? Hilary, I love anytime you have to act drunk.
DUFF: Playing drunk is so hard for me and they make me do it all the time on the show. This time Martha (Plimpton) was showing me how to walk down the hallway looking drunk by spinning in circles a bunch of times to make myself dizzy and it worked. For that episode (episode 11), we shot the drunk, hung-over, and emotional stuff with Liza in one day, and I was just wiped when I got home. We’re pretty close and filming that crying scene was towards the end of the season too, so — even though we’re happy to be done because the schedule’s pretty crazy — we all go our separate ways for a few months and we’re like, “This sucks, it’s so emotional!” I was also pregnant so that was probably helping me out.

STAR: I have so many favorites. I love the two musical numbers; I thought they were just a blast to watch and film and to be able to see that side of Sutton and Miriam — who were both Broadway performers — was just really fun. I actually love that scene at the end of the finale where Diana goes and finds Enzo when he’s cleaning out the sewers. She steps up to the plate and it’s so nice to see. That’s love.