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Legendary director Steven Spielberg abandons California as debate over billionaire tax heats up

Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, have left California and moved to Central Park West in Manhattan as politicians argue whether a billionaire tax will hurt the Golden State.

The legendary director became a resident of the Empire State as of Jan. 1, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

‘The billionaire class cannot have it all. This nation belongs to all of us.’

Spielberg’s relocation is sparking more fears about a tax proposal that has already driven out other billionaires, including Peter Thiel and others.

“Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” said spokeswoman Terry Press to the Times.

The one-time tax has not yet qualified for the ballot, but if it passes, it would go into effect in 2027. It would apply to residents worth $1 billion or more.

The debate over the union-backed tax has led even some Democrats to back off from the proposal. Opponents say it will drive billionaires out of the state and potentially cripple tax revenues.

Although Spielberg denied that the billionaire tax has anything to do with his exit, he left the state just in time to avoid the tax, which would apply to those who were residents of California on Jan. 1, 2026.

Spielberg is estimated to be worth about $7.1 billion, which means he’d have to pay the state of California about $355 million if the tax passed.

His move was first reported by the New York Times.

Among those pushing the bill is independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who visited Los Angeles to advocate for it.

“Enough is enough,” said Sanders. “The billionaire class cannot have it all. This nation belongs to all of us.”

RELATED: LA Times gets obliterated online for scolding people wanting to leave high-tax California

Spielberg’s spokeswoman also refused to indicate whether he had any opinion on the possible tax.

Spielberg is known for numerous popular movies including “Schindler’s List,” “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Catch Me if You Can,” and the “Indiana Jones” franchise.

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​Steven spielberg leaves california, Billionaire tax in california, Tax on billionaires, Wealthy abandon california, Politics 

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‘You got f**kin’ nothin’: Ketchup-covered, blindfolded frat pledges seen in viral police bodycam video — but no one’s talking

Newly released police bodycam video from a 2024 alleged hazing incident at a University of Iowa fraternity house has been going viral.

A short clip of the incident posted on X was nearing 52 million views Friday evening, while a YouTube video clocking in at over an hour has eclipsed 250,000 views as the weekend commences.

‘We finally found a pledge class that isn’t the worst ever.’

The video shows dozens of shirtless pledges from the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity — some of them covered in ketchup and blindfolded — in a dark basement as police and firefighters converge on the bizarre scene after a fire alarm was activated, KCRG-TV reported.

RELATED: Oregon U. official reportedly says ‘go f*** yourself if you voted for Donald Trump.’ He’s also a hazing prevention speaker.

“This is the police department! This stops here! Who’s in charge?” one officer asks in the video, after which a voice is heard saying, “They’re upstairs.”

Another official asks the group as a flashlight shines on them, “Does anyone want to be forthcoming about what’s going on?”

But they’re mum on the matter.

“Looks like we have quite a bit of hazing,” one official is heard saying in the bodycam video.

One male wearing a white Iowa hoodie — and apparently drinking a beer and vaping — is seen in the raw clip apparently making life difficult for police at the scene.

RELATED: Unhinged student who flipped Turning Point USA table gets arrested and faces 5 charges

Image source: University of Iowa Police bodycam video screenshot, redacted

“You got f**kin’ nothin’,” he tells officers at one point. In another segment he tells a cop, “You guys can f**kin’ leave, how ’bout that?” and “there’s no hazing.”

Officers found 56 pledges in two dark rooms during the incident, KCRG said.

“They’re just messin’ with them,” one male, another apparent non-pledge, tells an officer after being asked what had been going on.

While no one appeared to reveal specifically who was in charge, the station did say the pledges “responded in unison” that no one was there against their will.

KCRG said prosecutors charged one arrestee with interference with official acts, but the charge was later dropped.

The University of Iowa suspended Alpha Delta Phi until the summer of 2029, the station said, adding that three fraternities presently are under suspension.

The “Circling Back” podcast, however, expressed quite a different perspective on the bodycam video, as one podcast participant noted, “We finally found a pledge class that isn’t the worst ever.”

The podcast crew also remarked that the frat pledges seemed decidedly less interested in obeying “actual law enforcement” than their frat leaders: “These guys need to be celebrated.”

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​University of iowa, Campus police, Campus safety, Fraternity, Hazing, Viral video, Arrest, Alpha delta phi, Suspended, Crime 

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Those who ‘take a knee’ to Trump will be ‘held accountable’ when Democrats seize control, Susan Rice threatens

A former official of the Biden and Obama administrations threatened corporations and others who cooperate with the Trump administration during a podcast interview.

Rice made the comments while a guest on the “Stay Tuned with Preet” podcast with former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.

‘This is not going to be an instance of, you know, forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest.’

“It’s not gonna end well for them. For those that decided that it was, you know, that they would act in their perceived, very narrow self-interest, which I would underscore is very short-term self-interest, and take a knee to [President Donald] Trump, I think they’re now starting to realize, ‘Wait a minute, you know, this is not popular, Trump is not popular,'” Rice claimed.

“If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted.’ I think they’ve got another thing coming,” she added.

Rice said Democrats would have an “accountability agenda” if they make substantive gains in the midterm elections and curtail President Donald Trump’s power.

“You know, companies already are starting to hear they better preserve their documents,” Rice added. “They better be ready for subpoenas. If they’ve done something wrong, they’ll be held accountable, and if they haven’t broken the law, good for them.”

She pointed to some polling showing that Americans were souring on the president’s record on immigration and economics.

“This is not going to be an instance of, you know, forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest,” she said.

RELATED: Majority of Americans approve of Trump’s response to anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rice also praised the protest against the president’s immigration enforcement operations.

“The people of Minnesota, above all, have shown us how bravely … it is possible to come together and to have an impact, and to do so through peaceful, nonviolent, mass protest,” she added. “So I think that is a very important sign, and I think it will have knock-on effects in many other parts of the country.”

However, recent polling shows a majority of Americans approved of the president’s response to protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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​Susan rice threat, Midterm threat from democrats, Threats to corporations, Preet bharara, Politics