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In the latest installment of “Dr. Fauci Does Not Have Time For Rand Paul’s B.S.,” the famed immunologist sparred with the Republican senator from Kentucky over the origins of COVID-19. (We’ll give you one guess as to who won.)

During a congressional hearing meant to assess the country’s response to the pandemic, Paul attacked Dr. Fauci’s credibility, trying to inadvertently place blame for the pandemic on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while also entertaining some popular far-right conspiracy theories related to the virus. Paul claimed that Fauci and the NIH allotted grants that funded “gain of function” research that may have been responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Gain of function” research is a fairly controversial form of scientific study that basically increases the lethality and infectious nature of a pathogen so that scientists can study how it affects people and craft countermeasures against it. Recently, it was discovered that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a lab near the site where the first coronavirus cases were reported, had been conducting “gain of function” research using bat-originated coronaviruses. This does not mean that the virus leaked from the lab — either accidentally or on purpose. Like pretty much every other outbreak in history, COVID-19 is probably the result of the virus being passed from animal-to-human contact. Still, the news that a Wuhan lab had been experimenting with coronaviruses before one of the deadliest pandemics in history shut down the world for over a year is a good enough thread for Paul to link COVID-19 to Dr. Fauci.

Paul accused Fauci of funding research into coronaviruses in China, asking him to comment on whether he still supported NIH funding of “gain of function” research in Wuhan and Fauci — as politely as he could while trying to educate the conspiracy-mongering permed-poodle — shut down whatever it is Paul was trying to pin on him.

“With all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect,” Fauci told Paul. “The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” Fauci also clarified Paul’s misinformation on a grant the NIH did give to a group called EcoHealth Alliance, which did do research on the coronavirus in bats after the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s, though it was not “gain of function” research.

“Let me explain to you why that was done,” Fauci continued. “The SARS COV-1 originated in bats in China. It would have been irresponsible of us if we did not investigate the bat viruses and the serology to see who might have been infected. If you look at the grant and if you look at the progress reports, it is not gain-of-function, despite the fact that people tweet that and write about it.”

While Paul was trying to stir up suspicion and distrust in government scientists who have been leading the charge to find an answer to this deadly virus, Fauci was transparent about his frustrations with the lack of transparency from China and the need to investigate the origins of the virus. So yes, we should all be thinking seriously about “gain of function” research and trying to figure out where COVID-19 came from so we can anticipate the next outbreak… but no one should be getting their facts from an ophthalmologist, who thinks mask-wearing is just a thing people do for dramatic effect and that herd immunity is equal to a 22% infection rate.

Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/anthony-fauci-shuts-down-rand-paul-congressional-hearing/

Source : https://www.distractify.com/p/ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez-relationship-timeline

The obsession with Billie Eilish’s newly blonde hair continues. Since the singer revealed her platinum blonde look, fans have been wondering what exactly inspired the transformation. Eilish has no problem giving credit where credit is due, and she recently explained that a fan was what eventually convinced her to try out the new hairstyle.

Eilish appeared as the guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Monday where she spoke about her blonde locks. The singer said she came across a “fan edit” (presumably an image or video) in which they had edited her then neon green and black hair into a platinum blonde look:

“I’ve been wanting blonde for a while. I don’t know what came over me. I saw a fan edit when I had green hair, and it was like, me just with whatever hair color I had, and they just edited blonde hair on me, and I was like, ‘Ahhh! It’s so sick I want it!’ I kind of thought of it as a dream, I didn’t think it was going to happen because my hair’s been through so much, I thought it would burn it all off if I tried — but I did it.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Eilish described how surreal it was to finally be able to watch her The World’s A Little Blurry documentary. The singer said it took a full six hours to watch it the first time because she kept pausing it to freak out. “It took us like six hours to get through it because we kept pausing it over and over and screaming and running around,” she said. “It was crazy because they were filming me for like three years and I had no idea what they got on camera and what they didn’t. I’m pretty much myself in front of a camera, I don’t really have a line. So I was pretty worried about what was going to be in there, but I love it.”

Watch Eilish’s full interview on Ellen above.

Source: https://uproxx.com/pop/billie-eilish-blonde-hair-convinced-by-fan-edit/

Colt Brennan

Colt Brennan

Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is a writer who sometimes writes things and sometimes is based in L.A., but is definitely always on Twitter @rachelkiley.

Source : https://www.dailydot.com/irl/tiktoker-boyfriend-cheating-live-photo/

Ben Affleck’s relationships have consisted of high-profile romances. While many of them did not last, he may be rekindling with an old flame.

Source : https://www.distractify.com/p/ben-affleck-relationships

Top 10 SNL Impressions Done in Front of the Actual Person
It’s always awkward/hilarious when “SNL” impressions are done in front of the actual person. Our countdown includes Cheri Oteri as Judge Judy, Jim Breuer as Joe Pesci, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, and more! Which “SNL” impression is YOUR favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Watch more great “SNL” videos here:
Top 10 Most Savage SNL Impressions – https://youtu.be/NeQ-MpGRxjU
Top 10 SNL Cast Members With The Best Impressions – https://youtu.be/skU6epTsvY8
Top 20 Funniest SNL Political Impressions – https://youtu.be/45GHLVxde_w

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The Athletics may follow the Raiders in moving from Oakland to Las Vegas as progress on their proposed new stadium site at Howard Terminal remains stalled.

On Tuesday, the team and Major League Baseball tried to apply pressure to Oakland city officials to approve their waterfront ballpark proposal by saying they will begin exploring relocation opportunities at the direction of the league, via ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

“The future success of the A’s depends on a new ballpark,” A’s owner John Fisher said in a statement. “Oakland is a great baseball town, and we will continue to pursue our waterfront ballpark project. We will also follow MLB’s direction to explore other markets.”

The A’s proposal to build a stadium at Howard Terminal called for the team to privately finance the $1 billion stadium, but did call for a significant investment of north of $850 million from the city for infrastructure around the stadium site, which the mayor’s office has pushed back on. As the stalemate continues between the city and the team with their lease at the Oakland Coliseum set to run up in 2024, Major League Baseball made clear that staying in the Coliseum site, both in its current form or in building a new stadium in the same location, is not something they are willing to let happen.

“The Oakland Coliseum site is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball. We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland. The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets.”

As Passan notes, the frontrunner for the A’s services is expected to be Las Vegas, where the Raiders recently moved and the city also added the Aces and Golden Knights in recent years to enter into the pro sports marketplace. Vegas’ success with those teams has made the city the most talked about relocation or expansion site for the sports leagues that don’t have a team there already, and so it is unsurprising MLB seems to be steering the A’s in that direction. Passan also points to two Canadian cities, Montreal and Vancouver, as possible destinations along with Nashville, Charlotte, and Portland, but Vegas seems like the most likely destination should Oakland not budge on approving the proposal.

Major League Baseball is clearly looking to strong-arm the city into approving the plan, shutting down alternatives like building a new stadium in the Coliseum site and making it public that the relocating efforts will begin. MLB is certainly aware that if the A’s were to leave it would be the third and final professional sports team to leave Oakland in less than a decade, as the Warriors moved from Oracle Arena to the Chase Center in San Francisco and the Raiders likewise left the Coliseum for the desert oasis of Las Vegas. As such, they may feel the city can be pushed into not losing all of their franchises, but on the other hand, the city has shown it won’t budge on this issue and isn’t afraid of teams walking.

Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/oakland-athletics-waterfront-ballpark-plans-howard-terminal-relocate-vegas/

Source : https://www.distractify.com/p/will-amy-roloff-wedding-be-televised

Back in December 2020, Tom Cruise went viral when he was secretly recorded tearing into crew members who were caught violating COVID restrictions on the set of Mission: Impossible 7. In a profanity-laced rant, the actor berated the crew who put the entire production into jeopardy after Cruise had jumped through significant hoops to get things back on track. That’s all after the pandemic threw the film industry into disarray as rolling shutdowns scuttled shoots and caused significant delays across the board.

Cruise opened up to Empire about finally getting M:I 7 back in front of the cameras. Yes, part of it was so that he could return to the increasingly death-defying stunts that he’s become famous for, but the actor definitely feels the responsibility of making sure his team still has work. Via Empire:

“All those emotions were going through my mind,” he says. “I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. It was very emotional, I gotta tell you.”

Those emotions definitely came out during the recorded rant where Cruise went off about he expected everyone on his set to be the “gold standard” as Hollywood was watching the Mission: Impossible 7 production closely to guide the way.

“We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf*ckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!” Cruise can be heard yelling. “You can tell it to the people who are losing their f*cking homes because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this f*cking industry!”

While Cruise was praised for taking the COVID-19 rules seriously, he was not without his detractors. Former Scientologist Leah Remini claims the rant was staged for publicity. “Tom does not care about the families of his crew; this is all for publicity,” Remini told The Underground Bunker. “I mean, how anyone is falling for this is just mindblowing. I would bet that Tom had this rant written for him and had his Scientology assistant record and release it.”

(Via Empire)

Source: https://uproxx.com/movies/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-7-leaked-rant/