Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani did not appear to deny his opponent’s charge that he did not vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. During Thursday’s debate, ahead of the New York City mayoral general election, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running for mayor as […]

Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares kicked off the Thursday debate referencing text messages in which his Democrat opponent Jay Jones wished death on a political rival.  Jones responded in his opening remarks on the controversy that has plunged the third-tier race on this year’s Virginia ballot into the national spotlight, asserting he “deeply, deeply” regrets the messages about wishing death on former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, and Gilbert’s children. Here are the key takeaways from the debate held at the University of Richmond. 1. Ashamed, Embarrassed, Sorry “I am ashamed. I am embarrassed, and I’m sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I’m sorry to his family. I’m sorry to my family,” said Jones, a former member of the state House of Delegates, during the debate. “And I’m sorry to every single Virginian. I cannot take back what I said, but you have my word that I will always be accountable for my mistakes.” After Gilbert extended condolences over the passing of Democrat Del. Joe Johnson in 2022, Jones texted Republican state Delegate Carrie Coyner that he would prefer to shoot Gilbert instead of murderous dictators Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot. He went on to double down and assert that “public policy only changes when policymakers feel pain themselves, such as that felt by parents when their children die from gun violence.” 2. What Would Lincoln and Jefferson Say? The attorney general said this shows who his opponent is.  “We have seen a window to who Jay Jones is, and the way he thinks of people that disagree with him,” Miyares said. “Abraham Lincoln said, the character is what you do in the dark when no one is watching, but now we know what he was doing in the dark.” After referencing the 16th president earlier in the evening, the attorney general also referenced Virginia’s own Thomas Jefferson, the third president. “One of my favorite quotes came from Thomas Jefferson. It is this. I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”  Miyares said, “In every autocratic regime, the people in charge always think ideas matter more than people.” 3. Fighting Crime Miyares was proud of the overwhelming support of state law enforcement organizations, such as the Fraternal Order of Police and numerous sheriffs.  “Every single major law enforcement association in the state of Virginia has not just endorsed me, Jay, they have said you need to drop out, and I find it a little bit stunning that today you say one of the pillars of your public safety platform is protecting children,” he said. He added, “If you were truly sorry, you would not be running for this office because you disqualified yourself.” He highlighted his record fighting crime.  “I said I was going to work with law enforcement instead of against law enforcement, which we did,” he said. He added, “I promised that we would prosecute repeat violent offenders, which we have by launching Operation Casefire, because we were saying that 5% of felons were committing over 50% of our violent felonies. The result, a dramatic reduction in a murder rate, and in our ceasefire cities, reductions of murder’s high as 60%.” 4. Suing Trump Several times when talking about his own anti-crime record, Miyares stressed that Jones never prosecuted a case. At one point, Jones responded, “If you’re going to prosecute a case, you should prosecute the president.” Jones spent most of the evening debate pledging that if elected he would use the office to sue President Donald Trump’s administration, as other Democrat state attorneys general have done. He criticized Miyares for not doing so.  “The stakes of this race are too high for it to be about anything else because when Donald Trump fires workers, defunds our schools and levies tariffs to destroy our regional economies, sends armed troops into cities and defunds law enforcement, he has a willing cheerleader here in Jason Miyares, who will not step up to sue,” Jones said. “Where other attorneys general have fought to protect their state’s resources and values and institutions, Jason hasn’t done them.”  Miyares said he “calls balls and strikes,” and noted he has sued both the Biden and Trump administrations. He further said Jones is focused on Washington, not on Virginia. The post Texts, Trump, and More: 4 Key Takeaways from Virginia’s Attorney General Debate appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Three candidates debated for the first time Thursday night in New York’s mayoral race. The election has garnered a significant amount of attention this year given the stakes involved. Current Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race at the end of September, leaving just three major candidates standing. The frontrunner candidate is Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old self-avowed socialist who catapulted to an improbable, but decisive victory in the Democrat primary. Facing him is the man he defeated in that primary, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—who is running as an independent—and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican. Sliwa was the founder of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit group that aims to prevent crime. Here are 4 takeaways from Thursday night’s debate. Does Experience Count for Much? Cuomo focused on his experience as governor of New York as a decisive factor in his favor compared to his opponents. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was quick out of the gate to contrast front-runner socialist Zohran Mamdani’s lack of experience with his own decades in politics at Thursday’s mayoral debate. pic.twitter.com/z77iILa250— New York Post (@nypost) October 17, 2025 “He has literally never had a job,” Cuomo said of Mamdani. The former governor said that the mayor’s office is “not a job for a first timer.” He pointed to the possibility of a serious crisis like 9/11 or a pandemic as a reason that New York couldn’t take a chance on the young candidate. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, people literally will die,” Cuomo said. Mamdani responded by asking rhetorically, “why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes? That’s the kind of experience that’s on offer here today.” Cuomo said that he followed federal guidelines in his COVID-19 response but acknowledged that people died on his watch. 2. Trump Looms Large The three candidates addressed President Donald Trump, his influence on the race, and potentially the city. Sliwa said that opposition to Trump would be a huge mistake and would hurt New York. He pointed out that several major projects in the city will need federal funding. “If you try to get tough with Trump, the only people who are going to suffer from that are the people of New York City.” Cuomo said that while he is willing to stand up to Trump, Mamdani’s election will mean that the president will take over New York. “If the assemblyman is elected mayor, Donald Trump will take over New York City and it will be Mayor Trump who runs New York City,” Cuomo said. Mamdani said that he would stand up to Trump and would shield illegal aliens from deportation. 3. Israel/Hamas Peace Deal Matters to NYC The negotiated peace deal between Israel and Hamas is a serious matter of contention in a city with over a million Jews, nearly a million Muslims, and frequent anti-Israel protests that have turned violent. Mamdani adjusted the answer he gave in a recent Fox News interview where he refused to say that Hamas should disarm. “I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel,” Mamdani said when Fox News’ Martha MacCallum asked the assemblyman if he thought the terrorist group should lay down their weapons. WATCH:Zohran Mamdani is a big advocate for peace in Gaza. But when Martha MacCallum of Fox News pressed him on whether Hamas—the terror outfit currently slaughtering its Gazan critics in the street—should disarm, he demurred. “I don’t really have opinions about the future of… pic.twitter.com/pAdmfLgvqO— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 16, 2025 Mamdani said on Thursday, “Of course, I believe that they should lay down their arms.” But he then said that Israel needs to lay down arms too and said he was one of the first public officials to demand a ceasefire in the conflict. Cuomo said that Mamdani’s position on the conflict was unacceptable and that he sided with those who wished to “globalize the intifada.” Mamdani has refused to denounce those who use that phrase. Cuomo said that Mamdani “still won’t denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’ which means kill all Jews.” Sliwa said to Mamdani that “Jews don’t trust you are going to be there for them when they are victims of antisemitic attacks.” Cuomo added, “I agree.” 4. Law and Order Policing and crime were major issues in the debate. Mamdani had said on X in the past that he aimed to defund the police and has called NYPD a threat to public safety, positions he’s since retreated from. Can one of the moderators pretty please simply read Mamdani’s own word back to him when he denies over and over that he never called for defunding the police? pic.twitter.com/gks9PMHWts— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) October 16, 2025 Mamdami said that his plan was to rely on a Department of Community Safety instead of the police to combat crime. “We will have dedicated teams of mental health outreach workers in the top 100 subway stations with the highest levels of the mental health crisis and homelessness,” Mamdani said. Cuomo was critical of Mamdani’s past statements about the police. “Respect the police. They’re not racists,” Cuomo said. “As the assemblyman calls them, they’re not a threat to public safety. As he says, they’re not anti-queer. They are here to protect New Yorkers” Sliwa stood in opposition to both Mamdami and Cuomo on the crime issue. He said that Cuomo’s record on the NYPD as governor was terrible and noted that his parole board released “43 cop killers.” Sliwa also said that Cuomo was far worse on crime than his father, Mario Cuomo, who had also been the governor of New York. “I knew Mario Cuomo. You are not Mario Cuomo,” Sliwa said. CURTIS SLIWA: 'I Knew Mario Cuomo. You Are Not Mario Cuomo'@CurtisSliwa rebukes former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for not enforcing the law and allowing ?"43 cop killers back into the street.""Don't say you are pro police." pic.twitter.com/aVkGx1XDzP— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) October 16, 2025 The post Trump, Crime Loom Large in New York Mayor Debate. Here Are 4 Key Moments. appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Ace Frehley Dies After Fall in Home Studio

Wikimedia CommonsKristen Pfaff was the bassist for the band Hole. In the summer of 1994, Seattle was a city in mourning. That April, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had died of suicide at the age of 27. Local musicians were still reeling from the loss when another of their own died young that June. Then, Kristen Pfaff, the bassist for the band Hole, was found dead in her bathtub. Like Cobain, she was 27 years old. Though Pfaff’s story is far less known than Cobain’s, her life — and death — had a huge impact on the Seattle music scene. Pfaff was creative and gifted and, like many musicians in Seattle at the time, struggled with an addiction to heroin. Though she had been working to get clean, Pfaff had been seemingly enticed by old demons. Drug paraphernalia was found near her body, and her death was attributed to a heroin overdose. That said, not everyone believes that that’s the full story of Kristen Pfaff’s death. Fringe theories in the aftermath have suggested that something else happened that night, something that had to do with Pfaff’s bandmate, and Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love. From Janitor Joe To Hole Kristen Pfaff was born on May 26, 1967 in Buffalo, New York. According to the Seattle Times, she was interested in music from a young age, and studied classical piano from age five to 14. But as a teenager, Pfaff also developed an interest in rock-n-roll. While attending the University of Minnesota, Pfaff founded the rock band Janitor Joe. And when Pfaff toured with the band, she caught the eye of Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson of the band Hole, who were looking for a bassist. YouTubeKristen Pfaff playing with her first band, Janitor Joe. “She was in a band called Janitor Joe. We saw her play, and she was amazing,” Patty Schemel, the band’s drummer, recalled to SPIN in 2014. “She was just cool. Her playing was heavy, and she was knowledgeable, and she had command of her instrument. When she played, that was it: We knew.” Though Pfaff was reluctant to leave Janitor Joe, her father convinced her that joining Hole would be a good career move. So, in 1993, Kristen Pfaff moved to Seattle — and helped define Hole’s sound. “She joined the band, she moved to Seattle, and that’s when all the songs came to life, literally,” Erlandson, who briefly dated Pfaff, recalled. “She was the star of her band and so she was bringing that to Hole and that created sparks in everybody; we all saw an even greater potential than before.” ‘I Know How To Live’: The Life of Kristen Pfaff Kristen Pfaff and the members of Hole: Eric Erlandson, Courtney Love, and Patty Schemel. In April 1994, the band released the critically acclaimed album Live Through This. But the album’s release was marked by tragedy. Just a week before it came out, Love’s husband Kurt Cobain died of suicide. And just a few months later, Kristen Pfaff died too. Kristen Pfaff’s Struggle With Heroin Not long after Kristen Pfaff moved to Seattle, she began to consider leaving Hole and moving back to Minnesota. Her father told the Seattle Times after her death that Pfaff did not “like all the trappings,” that came with being on a major record label and “thought it was a little out of her control.” What’s more, Pfaff had begun to struggle with an addiction to heroin. “Kristen and I would get together, and we were always trying to keep the amount of drugs we were doing secret,” Schemel told SPIN. But Pfaff had begun to seek help for her addiction. In the winter before her death, she attended a drug rehabilitation program. And Pfaff decided it would be best to move back to Minneapolis, away from the raging drug scene in Seattle. But in June, she returned to the city to get her things. Unfortunately, Pfaff would never return home. Terry Schemel/Da Capo PressPatty Schemel, her mother, Courtney Love, and Kristen Pfaff before a show. On the night of June 15, 1944, Kristen Pfaff gathered her belongings in preparation for leaving the next day. According to Far Out Magazine, her friend, Paul Erickson, offered to sleep in her car to ensure that no one stole her things. He was in the car around 8:30 p.m. when Pfaff’s bandmate Erlandson, swung by. And when Erlandson left roughly 30 minutes later, Erickson went into Pfaff’s apartment to check on her. He purportedly heard her snoring in the bathroom, which didn’t strike him as unusual – Pfaff was known to fall asleep in the bath. But when Erickson returned to the apartment the next morning, he found Kristen Pfaff dead. According to the Washington Post, she was kneeling in five inches of water with her head and shoulders hanging over the tub. Nearby, a cosmetic bag held syringes and other drug paraphernalia. Pfaff’s friends and family were shocked by her death. Not only was it a new tragedy on the heels of Kurt Cobain’s suicide, but Pfaff’s loved ones believed that she’d stopped doing drugs. Schemel told the Seattle Times that she thought Pfaff had stopped using, and Pfaff’s father stated: “It’s my understanding at the present time my daughter was not using drugs.” However, Kristen Pfaff’s cause of death was found to be “acute opiate intoxication.” The bassist had apparently died of an accidental overdose. But not everyone accepts that story. How Did Kristen Pfaff Die? Wikimedia CommonsKristen Pfaff’s gravestone in Buffalo, New York. Though Kristen Pfaff’s official cause of death was determined to be a heroin overdose, her mother has never accepted the official story of her daughter’s death. Far Out Magazine claims that Janet Pfaff even pushed for her daughter’s death to be investigated as a homicide, as Janet insisted that her daughter was not using drugs when she died. What’s more, several pages of Kristen Pfaff’s journal were purportedly ripped out, which struck many as strange as well. In the aftermath, fringe theories have circulated online suggesting that Courtney Love had something to do with Pfaff’s death. Just as some have claimed that Love killed Cobain, Internet rumors suggest that Love also orchestrated Pfaff’s murder, ostensibly out of jealousy. However, there is no evidence for this. Kristen Pfaff’s death at the age of just 27 was seemingly just the latest in a series of heroin overdoses in Seattle, as her death came after the fatal overdoses of Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Mother Love Bone, and Stefanie Sargent, the guitarist for 7 Year Bitch. Sadly, Pfaff’s death seems to have been a tragic accident. She was “bright, personable, wonderful,” her father told the Seattle Times on the day after her death, “very, very talented, smart, and she always seemed to be in control of her circumstances. Last night she wasn’t.” After reading about Kristen Pfaff’s death, take a look at these photos from Seattle’s grunge scene. Then, learn about the so-called “27 club”, the celebrities, including Kurt Cobain and Kristen Pfaff, who have died at the age of 27. The post The Tragic Story Of Kristen Pfaff, The Bassist For Hole Who Died At Just 27 appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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