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Its all just a big misunderstanding, and we all know Kennedy didnt get any illegal votes from Chicago back in the day. 6,600 non-citizens mistakenly added to NJ voter rolls, and nearly 400 cast ballots, governor says | CNN Politics

> Scientists build nearly 700 new cancer models derived from patient tumors and make them available to researchers worldwide in hopes of accelerating treatment discovery (More) > COVID-19 infection may awaken dormant viruses, triggering more severe COVID-19 and lingering symptoms associated with long COVID (More) | What is long COVID? (More) > Neanderthal-derived gene variant of the growth hormone receptor may contribute to a higher muscle mass among some adult carriers (More) | ... plus why scientists think Neanderthals were sprinters, not endurance athletes (More)

Yes, what memories. They were my 'gateway drug' as all their songs were just about finding love and happiness at first.. Then they seemed to shift gears as chemicals and more had an effect...

> Disney and TikTok strike deal allowing select creators to make short-form videos with Disney assets; the content will appear in a new vertical video feed within the Disney+ streaming app (More) > NFL preseason begins tonight at 8 pm ET with the Carolina Panthers taking on the Arizona Cardinals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (More, w/schedule) | Preakness Stakes to be the first Triple Crown race held on a Sunday starting in 2027 (More) > Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is hospitalized after fans contact police over apparent acts of self-harm on a TikTok livestream (More)

The British Pound is the world’s oldest currency still in use at 1,200 years old. The pound has been an identity as a symbol of British sovereignty. James

But my nieces and nephews who know the truth and many others have held back from open sin in the camp per se. So we try to reach them with love and tenderness, and much prayers. What more can you do. Back in the day, you got blotted out of the church books just for being divorced, now it takes a federal case or worse to get someone taken out of the books

If you swing at someone with a machete to end his life and miss his head by a centimeter, did you break a commandment? And why...?

⛰️ Scoop: Thune's N.H. play Senate Majority Leader John Thune is scheduled to headline a fundraiser for former Sen. John E. Sununu outside of D.C. tomorrow, according to people familiar with the plans. 👉 Why it matters: The GOP high command sees New Hampshire as one of its top pickup opportunities this cycle. Even if the Senate schedule prevents Thune from attending in person, the fundraiser is intended to send a clear signal to donors that they should take the New Hampshire race seriously. First, though, Sununu must defeat former Sen. Scott Brown, who represented neighboring Massachusetts from 2010 to 2013, in the Sept. 8 GOP primary. 🥊 The winner is expected to face Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). The other side: Pappas has been warning that the race is closer than many national Democrats assume. "Don't take New Hampshire for granted," he told Punchbowl last month. Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, has already reserved more than $10 million in New Hampshire for the cycle. — Hans Nichols

🔥 GOP hemp wars President Trump personally intervened last night in a dispute over delaying a ban on hemp-derived THC products, calling a key senator. Why it matters: Pot-like products clearly matter to the White House ahead of the midterms. ☎️ Driving the news: In a wide-ranging call, Trump laid out the argument to Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) for why the White House supports a provision in the stopgap funding bill that would delay the ban by about a month, according to a source familiar with the call. The reason given: The White House is working on a broader framework addressing THC products for medicinal uses, and officials are concerned the ban could complicate those plans. ❌ Budd has filed an amendment to strip out the White House-backed provision. Zoom in: The dispute boiled over during a closed-door Senate GOP lunch today, where several Republican senators clashed with White House liaison James Braid, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Budd argued forcefully for allowing the ban to take effect in November as planned. Concerns centered on children's easy access to hemp-derived THC products, which Cotton called "gas-station marijuana candy." Braid, in response, committed to no further delays — beyond the one included in the short-term funding measure. Support for Budd's amendment has grown, and it now has nine cosponsors. 🤔 The intrigue: A delay in the ban would reportedly benefit White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' son-in-law, who owns a company that sells intoxicating hemp products. — Stef W. Kight

🔄 Johnson swaps problems For Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Chuck Edwards' decision to drop his reelection bid just trades one problem for another. Why it matters: Instead of trying to hold a vulnerable seat with a scandal-ridden candidate, Republicans now have to scramble for a replacement who'll be starting at square one three months out from Election Day against a well-funded Democrat. North Carolina's 11th District already was in Democrats' sights long before Edwards became the target of a House Ethics probe this spring — and things were not trending Republicans' way. 🔮 Sabato's Crystal Ball shifted the race from "lean Republican" to "toss-up" last Thursday, after Edwards' Democratic opponent, Jamie Ager, significantly outraised him in the second quarter. Then the House Ethics Committee concluded Monday that Edwards violated House rules over sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment based on his conduct toward female staffers — and recommended his censure. After Edwards abruptly dropped out via social media very early this morning, GOP operatives privately acknowledged the seat was in trouble — and the late shakeup has only weakened their position. 🚨 One North Carolina Republican told us that Edwards had already "soured" the party's chances of holding the seat. 🔎 Zoom in: National Republicans will be forced to pour money into the race, as the replacement nominee will have to quickly build a campaign from the ground up. 💰 Ager is already fundraising off Edwards' abrupt exit, texting supporters: "Our Republican opponent dropped out today. While we don't know yet who we'll face in November, we need to be prepared for anything. Political experts have called this race a 𝙏𝙊𝙎𝙎-𝙐𝙋 so this seat will be critical to flip the House blue." 🚗 Driving the news: "After much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term," Edwards wrote in a 3:32am ET post on X. ⚡️ The ethics panel's findings corroborated several incidents first reported by Axios, including handwritten correspondence, personal gifts, drinking outings and casino trips, and cited them as supporting evidence for its findings. Between the lines: Republicans are also bracing for Democrats to try to force a vote on expelling Edwards, a move that could further complicate the GOP's narrow House majority. Edwards is likely to be censured when the House returns from its August recess, and the vote is expected to garner broad bipartisan support. 👀 What to watch: Democrats see an opportunity to keep attention on the case as they push for tougher penalties for lawmakers found to have engaged in sexual misconduct. — Kate Santaliz

I'm still looking for ideas on this.

Pakistan's ruling party leads in Kashmir vote despite boycott call by banned group Pakistan’s ruling party has taken a commanding lead in elections for the legislative assembly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, results from the first two phases of voting showed on Wednesday, despite weeks of protests and calls for a boycott by a banned political group. Read More.

Bill aiming for peace between Turkey and Kurdish fighters goes to parliament Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party on Wednesday filed a bill in parliament to advance a peace initiative aimed at ending the decades‑long conflict with Kurdish militants, including a provision for an effective pardon for former fighters. Read More.

Disney's strong quarter driven by 'Toy Story 5' and the draw of its US theme parks Disney's solid third quarter was driven by a $1 billion box office haul from “Toy Story 5” and the strong draw of U.S. theme parks that helped to offset continued weakness from international tourism. Read More.

Ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to return from exile in December Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to her country from exile in India in December despite facing a death sentence in Bangladesh over a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2024. Read More.

British Columbia is logging its last old growth. Protesters are sleeping in the road to stop it The five-car caravan crept down a gravel logging road as the day's last beams of golden light filtered through the trees. About 20 forest defenders were making a stand in southwest Vancouver Island, at a spot where a logging company was expected to cut old-growth trees the following morning. Read More.

Video game giant Electronic Arts closes $55 billion go-private sale of its business Video game giant Electronic Arts officially has new owners. Read More.

☀️ Scientists have captured images of the Sun's surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. Go deeper.

💥 Lasers vs. drones Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The U.S. Air Force recently deployed laser weapons to help combat drones overseas, Axios' Colin Demarest reports. Military use of directed energy — whether lasers, microwave or some combination — is still rare, despite decades of research and billions of dollars spent. ✈️ Driving the news: USAF forces in Europe and Africa say they've been using the Compact Laser Weapon System in "locations across the theater." They declined to say exactly where, citing "operational security." The Boeing-made CLWS is a portable laser weapon designed to take down small drones. Go deeper ...

Progressives jolt Dems in huge primary win Abdul El-Sayed at a press conference in Detroit today. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images Progressives scored their biggest win of the year in yesterday's Michigan Senate primary, Axios' Holly Otterbein writes. Left-wing outsider Abdul El-Sayed underperformed predictions, but his victory over moderate Rep. Haley Stevens was a rebuke to party leaders — and to big donors. 🥊 El-Sayed told supporters this morning, as AP called the race in his favor: "In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world." Our key takeaways from last night's results... 1. Progressives are laying the '28 groundwork. Progressives have been eager to show that they can carry a battleground state in the next presidential election. They'll now get a chance to prove that in November. 2. Money isn't everything. Stevens and her allies spent $65 million on ads, compared to $7.5 million by El-Sayed and his supporters. Stevens' loss is also a face-plant for AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby whose super PAC poured more than $30 million into the race against El-Sayed. 3. Bernie handed Chuck an "L." Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive icon, went on a mission to elect progressives up and down the ticket this year — often opposing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's favorites, including Stevens. Abdul El-Sayed supporters cheer at an election watch party last night in Detroit. Photo: Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images 4. The left had downballot muscle. Will Lawrence won a battleground House nomination, and Donavan McKinney ousted Rep. Shri Thanedar. 5. Republicans like the result. Recent polls suggest that former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP's Senate nominee, would fare better against El-Sayed than Stevens. Go deeper.

Microsoft Just Fixed File Explorer, But It's Still Broken Windows 11 is finally getting customizable File Explorer context menus, but Microsoft's biggest usability problem is still hiding in plain sight. https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-just-fixed-file-explorer-but-its-still-broken?

ICE Rounds Up Dozens of Relatives of U.S. Troops The change reflects the ruthlessness of Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda in his second term. More than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops have been detained, and at least six have been deported, in President Donald Trump’s massive crackdown on immigration. At least eight immediate family members of service members are currently in ICE custody. The Associated Press found that many military family members have been detained during immigration appointments while applying for parole-in-place or seeking to adjust their legal status. Parents and spouses of service members have generally been protected from deportation for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Experts say the move could have a negative impact on U.S. troops as they fight Trump’s war with Iran. Deporting family members can leave troops in emotional distress, without caretakers for their children and forces some to leave their posts to take care of their families or help with the immigration process. “How can I even focus on my military career because I have to worry about how my wife is doing?” said Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, whose wife was detained in front of their six-year-old daughter outside a Walmart in July while he was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. The change reflects the ruthlessness of Trump’s mass deportation agenda in his second term. According to a new April 2025 policy, “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.” Dan Gividen, who served as ICE’s deputy chief counsel under Trump in his first term, said it was uncommon for immigration authorities to detain service members’ immediate family members unless they had committed violent crimes. “We would not place them into removal proceedings, period. That’s insane,” Gividen told the Associated Press. “The fact that they’re doing it now is just outrageous.” One of the reasons why many join the U.S. military is because it offers a pathway to legal immigration status from within the country. The benefit, which the military itself advertises, extends to spouses, children and parents of active-duty service members and veterans. The policy dates back to 2007, when President George W. Bush introduced it during the Iraq War. “They basically told me that if you serve, and if you served honorably, you can help your parents,” said Vilchis-Valle, 23, who was honorably discharged shortly after his mother was deported. “In a perfect world, I wished, because of my service, they could have pardoned her.” ICE historically canceled orders to detain parents or spouses of troop members or allowed them to adjust their legal status, Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney and retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, explained. “It’s the same thing that happens if you don’t provide healthcare to the troops, or you don’t provide housing to the troops,” she said. If soldiers are preoccupied with detained or deported family, “they’re not concentrating on their job anymore.” The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-detains-relatives-of-us-troops-during-immigration-crackdown/? ps:What a commander and chief, gets people to vote for him and than deports them as there kids who are serving our country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Judge Torches Trump’s DOJ Goons in Scathing Ruling The judge ripped into the administration for moving to dismiss charges against the worst Jan. 6 defendants. A federal judge slammed the Department of Justice as he “reluctantly” granted the Trump administration’s request to throw out the charges against nine members of an extremist organization that led the Capitol riot. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 rioters, effectively wiping out about 1,270 convictions and ending criminal proceedings against the remaining defendants who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.He also commuted the sentences of 14 people found guilty of organizing and leading the attack—including former members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers—which freed them from prison but meant they were still classified as felons. Judge Amit P. Mehta on Tuesday granted U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s motion to dismiss the charges against nine Oath Keepers, including its leader Stewart Rhodes, less than a month after charges were dropped against five Proud Boys. Mehta’s scathing decision made it clear he was only ruling that way because he lacked the authority to deny the request, since the executive branch has final authority over charging decisions. His ruling laid out the gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants and warned that in the court’s view, dismissal was not “in the public interest.” “Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle,” Mehta, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote. He also ripped into the DOJ for failing to provide a compelling reason for dropping the charges “The government does not say that the charges were legally deficient or that evidence presented is insufficient to sustain Defendants’ convictions,” he wrote. “It confesses no prosecutorial misconduct, nor does it assert any denial or compromise of the defendant’s rights. And it does not identify any legal error that resulted in an unfair trial or wrongful conviction.” The Daily Beast has reached out to the DOJ for comment. Rhodes and five other defendants had been convicted of the most serious crimes, including seditious conspiracy, for trying to violently overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump. Two others were convicted on other conspiracy charges, while another was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison, the second-longest of any J6 defendants, and had called on Trump to issue a full pardon so he could own a gun, vote in his home state of Texas, and receive veterans benefits. Using encrypted communications, Rhodes helped recruit and train rioters, brought paramilitary gear and weapons to Washington, D.C., and helped breach the Capitol building. While the angry mob attacked police officers inside, Rhodes remained outside coordinating the attack, according to the DOJ. He then continued plotting even after the riot failed to stop the election’s certification until he was arrested in 2022. Rhodes and the other defendants had challenged their convictions in hopes of expunging their records. They were facing an April deadline to file their arguments about why the government had overreached with its charges. Defending the convictions would have likely required the DOJ to argue that the far-right groups were acting on behalf of Trump, who has long denied being responsible for the violence that took place at the Capitol, The New York Times reported at the time. Instead, Pirro—a longtime Trump loyalist—filed to have the charges dismissed against the remaining defendants. https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-torches-trumps-doj-goons-in-scathing-oath-keepers-capitol-riot-ruling/? ps:The really sad thing is they all know, everyone of his administration know what they're doing wrong!!!!!

Military Families Rage at Trump Over Gross Conditions for Troops Relatives of the crew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln say exhaustion on the carrier could get someone killed. Sailors fighting President Donald Trump’s war with Iran are washing in moldy showers and rationing meals in the ninth month of a mission that shows zero signs of ending. The USS Abraham Lincoln sailed out of San Diego in November on a deployment supposed to last seven months. Trump, 80, launched his air campaign against Iran in February. The carrier has been in the fight ever since, and its 5,000-plus sailors and Marines still have no homecoming date. The president said the conflict would last a “few weeks.” It’s been five months. Bonnie York, whose stepson is aboard the Lincoln, told MS NOW she had been told a doctor or therapist on the ship warned the crew needed to reach port before people started “losing their minds.” She voted for Trump—and partly because he promised not to start any new wars. She no longer believes the country is safer for it. “You’ve essentially stranded them out there,” she said of the crew. Relatives of the crew told the network they fear the exhaustion on board will get someone killed. A dozen spoke to the outlet about the conditions, and most asked not to be named, fearing retaliation against their relatives on the vessel. Brett Snow, a Navy veteran with a son on the ship, said the grind has produced a situation “ripe for accidents.” Even in peacetime, he said, a carrier is one of the most hazardous places to work. The crew has set foot off the ship for just two days in the more than eight months since it left California. There was a brief stop in Guam in December, then no port at all until the Lincoln reached Oman on July 7, ending 208 unbroken days out on the water. No U.S. carrier has spent longer at sea without a break in the modern era. Families of the service personnel on the ship described toilets that are out of service, laundry rooms shut for weeks and long stretches without hot water. Nicole Conrad, who, like York, voted for Trump, has not seen her son’s face for months. He has messaged her about locked showers, a shuttered laundry and a meal that came to two tortillas and a half-cup of rice. She now wants Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 46, to see the ship for himself. “He put our nose in a war that we shouldn’t be in,” she said. The crew’s relatives went public two days after Trump handed Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, control of a new panel on military family welfare, the New York Post reports. He signed the order in the Oval Office on Monday. Its members are Christie Mullin, wife of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and 20 spouses of the Joint Chiefs, the service secretaries and each branch’s top enlisted leader. Hegseth brushed off an earlier round of complaints about conditions at sea. Photographs of near-empty meal trays aboard the Lincoln and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli spread online in April, and the Daily Beast reported at the time on parents’ fury over their children going hungry on board. The defense secretary called that coverage “fake news.” Rep. Sara Jacobs, 37, a San Diego Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the crew’s fatigue and mental health worry her deeply, and warned that history shows such strain can carry serious consequences, including a heightened risk of suicide. Trump, she said, “needs to end the Iran war now and bring our service members home.” Other military families have had a different week. The Associated Press counted 51 cases of mothers, fathers, husbands and wives of serving troops taken into immigration custody since Trump returned to office. At least six have been deported. At least eight are still being held. No federal agency keeps a tally, and the Department of Homeland Security told the wire it compiles none, so the real figure is almost certainly higher. The arrests have pushed back deployments, driven some troops to take leave and left others with nobody at home to mind their children. Experts told AP the reversal could damage readiness while the country is fighting a war. One of the officials who has stepped in to get military spouses released is Markwayne Mullin, whose department is making the arrests, and whose wife took her seat on Trump’s commission for military welfare on Monday. The Daily Beast has contacted his department, along with the White House and the Pentagon, for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/families-rage-at-trump-over-american-forces-aboard-uss-lincoln/?