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🏞️ Parting shot! Photo: Matt Lasure Speaking of otherworldly ... Reader Matt Lasure of Saint Paul, Minn., shares a "Best National Park" submission: "One of my favorite pictures, showing the alien landscape of Badlands National Park [in South Dakota]. Taken on a family trip in July 2022."

A No-Win Situation View in browser Back in April, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, wrote an op-ed celebrating the Trump administration’s efforts to get Americans off food stamps. Officially known as SNAP, the program has shed an estimated 6 million participants since Donald Trump’s return to office—a shift that Rollins argued could help break a “vicious cycle” of government dependence. The idea that too many people have come to rely on federal handouts has long been a line of attack against SNAP. Per the Department of Agriculture’s preliminary data from April, about 37 million low- and no-income people in the United States are on food stamps. That’s roughly one in 10 Americans, down from one in eight last year. The reduction is in line with the administration’s broader approach to social welfare. Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump has touted as one of his signature policy achievements, slashed funding to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. And its cuts to SNAP—tightening eligibility requirements and limiting the amount of aid that recipients might be able to collect in the future—were the largest in the program’s history. Food stamps will lose $186 billion in federal funding through 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates. But what Rollins has framed as a way to curtail waste, fraud, and abuse is already having far-reaching impacts on the Americans who rely on the program. Last week, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, suggested that “it’s very likely that the number of children receiving SNAP has dropped by more than 1.5 million since July 2025,” when the OBBBA became law. Inflation has been rising quickly this year, in part because of the Iran war, and the assault on food stamps is now compounding an ongoing affordability crisis. If states can’t meet the federal government’s new requirements for SNAP, they may have to take on a collective $9 billion in food-stamp costs themselves—forcing local legislators to make hard choices about which kinds of social-welfare programs, and which kinds of people, should receive aid. This past winter, when the White House decided to briefly stop funding SNAP during the government shutdown, Trump said that the program’s enrollment number was “many times what it should be.” It’s true that food-stamp enrollment—which tends to rise during moments of economic crisis and contract in moments of recovery—spiked substantially during the coronavirus pandemic as Congress temporarily increased benefit amounts, and enrollment still hasn’t reverted to its pre-2020 level. But stricter work requirements (homeless people and veterans are no longer exempt, for example) and reductions in federal funding have helped drive down SNAP enrollment at a vertiginous moment. Most people, whether on food stamps or not, are cutting back on groceries. And no other institution “is going to swoop in and provide these financial resources” to families struggling to buy groceries, Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, told me. In Arizona, the number of people with access to SNAP benefits has almost halved in less than a year—the biggest drop in any state. A recent New York Times report explains that the OBBBA’s cuts and updated rules have created “bureaucratic chaos” in the state, which has been exacerbated by a labyrinthian paperwork process and antiquated tech infrastructure. The fact that Arizona laid off a third of its caseworkers after losing a federal grant has also made it harder to verify who is and isn’t eligible for aid—and monthly visits to food banks have outpaced SNAP enrollment in the state for the first time, according to the Times. States have historically managed SNAP payments on their own; the federal government supplies the money for benefits and for some of the administrative costs. Critics of this arrangement have noted that the post-COVID swell in enrollments has coincided with an uptick in improper payments, most of which have historically been overpayments. In 2019, 7.4 percent of the payments SNAP doled out were made in error, according to the USDA; last year, the national error rate was 10.6 percent. The OBBBA puts states in a tough spot. When it went into effect, it gave most states until the end of September 2026 to get their error rates below 6 percent—a little more than a year. If they fail to do so, they will begin sharing the cost of food-stamp benefits with the White House in 2027 (Alaska and other states with higher error rates will have longer deadlines). The consequences will affect red and blue states alike, unlike some other Trump-backed economic initiatives. According to data released by the USDA last month, 41 states had error rates above the threshold in the 2025 fiscal year, and many are now scrambling to get those numbers down. California could end up paying roughly $1.9 billion if legislators don’t find a way to reduce the state’s rate by almost half, and Florida may need to pay $900 million, according to one estimate. Taking on those costs would require states to radically reshape their budgets, raise taxes, or find some other way to pay for SNAP—otherwise, their constituents may hold them accountable when the food-stamp payments stop coming. Officials in Alabama and Arizona have already considered ending the program, and, in an anonymous survey, four states identified “withdrawing and/or pausing from SNAP” as a potential risk. If states are able to lower their error rates, SNAP could be transformed for the better. But if they fail to do so by the fast-approaching deadline, it’s hard to see who wins: not food-stamp recipients, not the states that will have their budgets upended, and not the administration, which has been trying to convince Americans ahead of the midterms that it’s responding to their affordability concerns. Rollins has described SNAP as a “broken program,” but these changes aren’t guaranteed to restore trust in the system. Instead, the push to repair SNAP could end up breaking it even more. Related: The deadline for a major shutdown casualty The new food-stamp rules will make your head spin.

📔 Trump's Senate playbook President Trump has three go-to moves for GOP senators who frustrate him: persuade them when he can, ignore them when he must and bully them at will. Why it matters: The approach doesn't always produce results. But it almost always provides drama. 🥕 Persuade: Trump dispatched two top deputies to the Senate GOP lunch yesterday to make the case, in person, for a third reconciliation bill with elements of the SAVE Act. Then he sent in the big guns. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles huddled with the Senate GOP leaders shortly after their lunch. When Trump faced a Senate rebuke over the Iran conflict last month, the White House aggressively lobbied wavering Republicans to flip their votes. Ignore: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche doesn't need Senate confirmation to do the job, Trump declared on Truth Social today. He can serve as acting attorney general indefinitely. Problem solved. 🥊 Bully: Trump began the week by demanding that Majority Leader John Thune scrap the filibuster and pass the SAVE Act. "Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!" Trump wrote. 👀 What we're watching: Bullying appeared to be Trump's preferred tactic this week. By yesterday, he was openly questioning whether Thune should remain majority leader. Thune's best defense was to downplay his own powers. 🪄 "He thinks I can wave the magic wand," Thune told Politico. "I wish it were that easy." Trump's penchant for bullying has emboldened some senators to stand their ground — such as John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who have blocked Blanche's nomination. Both will be out of the Senate in January. 🔎 Zoom in: Trump's anger with the Senate keeps flaring, despite Thune's success in rapidly confirming his nominees. With Jay Clayton's confirmation as director of national intelligence, the GOP-led Senate has confirmed 515 of Trump's nominees — with another batch of 74 on the way. 👟 That's a faster pace than the first administration and leaves only a handful of civilian nominations remaining on the Executive Calendar. Trump now has the authority to install many of the remaining nominees in acting roles across the federal government. 🌎 Zoom out: With one week left before the August recess, Senate Republican vibes are going from bad to worse. New polls show Americans continuing to sour on the GOP. The MAGA base is still enraged over the SAVE Act. Everything from the NDAA to crypto legislation is hitting roadblocks. And Trump doesn't appear interested in easing the pressure on his own party. The bottom line: Trump reserves the right to toggle among his three approaches, depending on his needs and mood. And while he can ignore the Senate on some personnel, he can't ignore it on legislation. He still needs 50 votes — or, in some cases, 60. "When crazy becomes the norm, it feels pretty routine," one GOP senator told us. — Hans Nichols and Stef W. Kight

How long can it take to become a US citizen? For some immigrants, becoming a US citizen takes a few years. For others, limited visa availability and annual country caps mean waiting decades before even applying. https://usafacts.org/articles/how-long-can-it-take-to-become-a-us-citizen/?

Senate committee advances nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz to be Trump's CDC director A Senate committee on Thursday advanced Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to be director of the nation’s top public health agency, setting aside concerns that she will not stand up to political meddling. Read More. 🍳 Big four get panned Data: CNN/SSRS poll; Chart: Kathleen Hunter/Axios None of Congress' top four leaders came close to breaking even on their net favorability ratings in a new poll, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lodging by far the most negative reviews. 😡 Why it matters: Schumer could face pressure to step down as leader after the November midterms amid criticism from the party's progressive base. 44% of respondents in the CNN/SSRS poll said they held an unfavorable opinion of Schumer, with 15% reporting a favorable opinion. In January 2017, it was an even split: 25% of poll respondents had a favorable view of Schumer and 25% an unfavorable one. 🚗 Driving the news: House Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Thune also have seen their unfavorables trend upward in the CNN/SSRS poll. While Johnson's net favorability was up five percentage points since March, it's down nine percentage points from January 2025. Almost two-thirds of respondents — 63% — said they either had no opinion of or had not heard of Thune, while 52% said the same about Jeffries. That's higher than for Johnson and Schumer. 🤔 The intrigue: Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remains even less popular than the four current leaders. More than half of respondents, 53%, said they held an unfavorable view of McConnell, who has been absent from the Senate since mid-June after a fall at his D.C. home. Just 11% reported a favorable view. McConnell's lengthy absence and past health scares are fueling speculation about his capacity to serve. — Kathleen Hunter

Mandela Barnes drops out of the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor Mandela Barnes dropped out of the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor on Thursday amid news that the state party had reviewed past allegations of inappropriate behavior, further shaking up the race less than two weeks before the Aug. 11 election. Read More.

Malaysia begins screening 5,000 refugees for their planned return to Myanmar Malaysia has started documenting and screening thousands of detained Myanmar nationals as part of a repatriation program agreed with Myanmar, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said Thursday. Read More.

Turkey wants to join a new Lebanon security initiative after UN mission ends Turkey is interested in participating in a new security initiative for Lebanon when the 7,500-member U.N. peacekeeping mission in the south of the country expires at the end of the year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint press statement with his Lebanese counterpart on Thursday. Read More.

Average 30-year US mortgage rate rises to highest level in a year at 6.66% The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose for the fourth consecutive week to its highest level in a year, another setback for prospective homebuyers hoping for a break from elevated home loan borrowing costs.The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.66% from 6.58% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.72%. Read More.

I have often wondered about this. Where are the evil angels now? Clearly some of them are working among us, but there must be a holding place for those not working in the world. Or did God allow all of them to roam and deceive the population? It seems to me, if that were the case, they might be able to overwhelm humanity.

✈️ 1 for the road: Dulles' flashy future Rendering: United Airlines Gold is in and people movers are out at Washington Dulles International Airport, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil and Mimi Montgomery report. The big picture: President Trump's planned $22.5 billion overhaul replaces aging concourses and adds millions of square feet of new capacity. With Trumpian flair, the president said yesterday that concourses C and D ("basic disasters") will be replaced, while the jet-age-era main terminal designed by Eero Saarinen ("one of the great architects of the world") will stay. Rendering: United Airlines 💰 Funding specifics weren't disclosed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that United Airlines, which operates a hub at Dulles, "will partake in part of the payment." Trump floated a two-year timeline. United's announcement said the transformation will span "several years." Go deeper ...

📈 The U.S. economy grew at a 1.5% annualized rate in the second quarter, capturing a three-month stretch shaped by the Middle East conflict and a surge in energy prices. That's slightly slower than the 1.8% growth that economists expected. More from Courtenay Brown. US filings for jobless benefits rise to 197,000 last week, but layoffs remain historically low The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but layoffs remain in the historically healthy range of the past few years. Read More.

☄️ Two annual meteor showers — the Alpha Capricornids and Southern Delta Aquariids — are both set to peak tonight. Another top show, the Perseid shower, peaks in mid-August. How to watch.

😬 Americans' midterm concerns Data: Charles F. Kettering Foundation and Gallup. Chart: Noah Bressner/Axios Many Americans are worried that November's midterm elections could be stolen or otherwise compromised, Axios' Avery Lotz reports from new Gallup polling. The findings: Majorities of Republicans (56%) and Democrats (77%) say they fear that politicians will pressure election officials to change voting outcomes. 80% of Americans overall report at least a "fair amount" of concern that political leaders will take actions they know are possibly illegal. 🗳️ Nearly three-quarters of Americans report at least a fair amount of concern about multiple aspects of the election process, rather than just one fear. 40% say that they're concerned about being confronted, followed or recorded while voting. Go deeper ... See the data.

Taco Bell's comeback plan Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images The CEO of Yum Brands, Taco Bell's parent company, says the chain's "magic formula" of "brand buzz, innovation, value and digital" will help it recover from a sales dip tied to the national cyclospora outbreak, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports. Health officials have identified more than 11,000 confirmed or suspected cases of the parasite, which can cause explosive diarrhea. The outbreak has been linked to lettuce from supplier Taylor Farms. 📉 Yum says that the chain's sales are down 2% in the quarter compared with a year earlier. CEO Chris Turner said on an earnings call today: "The brand has seen a meaningful near-term sales impact." But he added: "We expect the sales impact to be temporary." 🥬 Taco Bell has removed lettuce from Taylor Farms. Execs didn't say whether they would keep doing business with the supplier. Turner said: "Our teams are acting quickly and transparently while keeping the safety and well-being of our consumers as the top priority. ... Consumers have become increasingly aware that this is an industry-wide issue, not an issue specific to Taco Bell." Taylor Farms said in a statement: "We are confident in our food and food safety systems and will continue to be transparent as more information becomes available." 👑 Taco Bell has been the crown jewel of Yum's lineup in recent years, delivering consistent sales growth. But as Bank of America analyst Sara Senatore wrote Monday: "The past two weeks have brought the brand's momentum — which seemed accelerated through the year — to a sudden halt." Go deeper.

Everyone thinks we have a wonderful right to free speech because of the first amendment. But that is not true. Just go to Dearborn, Michigan, as I have, and try to preach any Bible doctrine on any street corner. Or try to hand out ANY Christian tract, and see what First Amendment you have.

From another thread, In that article: James wrote: “When we arrived there, disunion existed among the brethren. They had been visited by Stephen Smith and Josiah Hart, who had tried to prejudice them against us. It had had a bad effect, but we went on with the meeting. “The burden of the meeting was pointing out the errors of S. Smith, H. W. Allen, and the importance of church action as to the course of some brethren. Ellen had a vision and saw the frown of God was on us as a people, because the accursed thing was in the camp, that is, errors among us, and that the church must act, and the only way to do Brethren Allen and Smith good was to withdraw fellowship from them, in their present position. All acted on the light given, all received the vision, and, even to an individual, all raised the hand to withdraw fellowship from them.” I wonder. With this LGBT thing in some places, do we have an accursed thing in the camp? What are your thoughts?

Windows 11 Has a Dirty Little Secret, and LG Just Used It to Push Pop-Up Ads You thought plugging in a new monitor was safe. Thanks to a dangerous Microsoft loophole, at least one hardware maker is turning standard PC accessories into adware delivery machines. https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-11-has-a-dirty-little-secret-and-lg-just-used-it-to-push-pop-up?

Adult Vaccines: Protect Yourself Against Tetanus and More Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on March 07, 2025 https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/ss/cm/slideshow-adult-vaccines

In November 1769, magistrates in Culpeper County, Virginia, warned a young Scottish immigrant named James Ireland that preaching without an Anglican license would land him in jail. He… The post Nicholas Miller and the Protestant Case for the First Amendment appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Anthony Fauci was sworn in before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29 and delivered a short opening statement accusing the chairman of an obsession with putting him in prison. The post Fauci’s Fifth, the Biden Pardon and the Limits of Silence appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

European nations vow FIFA World Cup boycott over Infantino private equity plan as opposition spreads GENEVA (AP) — European nations agreed Thursday to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions to protest Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in soccer’s biggest tournament to private equity investors. The North American soccer body rejected his plan later the same day. https://apnews.com/article/fifa-investors-infantino-kushner-uefa-afc-76169d3e9bb68f4d174b3c87f6b53e50?

Musk’s Massive Midterm Plot to Rescue Trump Revealed The world’s richest man is hoping to plug a gaping enthusiasm gap among Republicans. Elon Musk is planning a massive political spending push to try to help Republicans prevail in the November midterms despite President Donald Trump’s record-low approval ratings. The former “First Buddy” was the president’s biggest donor during the 2024 election cycle, with his America PAC pouring more than $260 million into Trump’s re-election effort. The Tesla chief was rewarded with a powerful White House position as head of the nebulous task force DOGE, but after an explosive falling-out with Trump last year, he said he was pulling back on political spending. Those threats appear to have been short-lived, according to a new report from Axios. The world’s richest man is reviving his dormant super PAC, which will invest heavily in door-knocking, digital advertising, and direct mail aimed at energizing conservative voters who are less likely to cast ballots in off years, sources told the outlet. Polls have shown a worrying lack of enthusiasm among reliable GOP voters, with Trump underwater on key issues including the flailing economy and his deeply unpopular war on Iran. Musk’s representatives declined to say how much he plans to spend, but given his previous donations, it’s fair to expect a windfall for Republicans, according to Axios. Republican super PACS and committees already hold a $300 million cash advantage over their Democratic counterparts, and Musk’s 2024 donations through America PAC made him the largest individual political donor in a single cycle in U.S. history, the outlet reported. James Blair, Trump’s senior political adviser, told Axios that America PAC was an “essential partner for our historic GOTV operation in 2024, and their return for 2026 is a huge boost for Republicans across the country.” America PAC spokesperson Andrew Romeo told the outlet that Trump and the GOP apparatus had “put Republicans in a strong position to buck history and retain control of Congress this fall.” The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment. Musk’s political brand became toxic early last year when he was leading DOGE, the executive branch’s “Department” of Government Efficiency that tried to unilaterally cancel government grants and contracts, dismantle government agencies, and purge the federal workforce. Despite Musk pouring a record $21 million into a normally low-profile, non-partisan Wisconsin state Supreme Court race in April 2025, liberal appellate Judge Susan Crawford beat his preferred candidate, Brad Schimel, by 10 points. After Schimel’s loss, Musk said he would spend far less on political campaigns. He also said he had “done enough” political spending right around the time of his shockingly public—and personal—break from Trump last summer over the Republicans’ “big beautiful” spending bill. Musk, however, has made nice with the president and resumed pouring tens of millions of dollars into Republican super PACs, The Hill reported in February. https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musks-massive-midterm-plot-to-rescue-trump-revealed/? ps:Just imagine that, if the democrats had done that in the 2024 election , or any other one, to get people out there to vote the republicans would've been up in arms and crying foul!! But here we are and not one peep from republicans about this travesty!

Trump floats pulling Blanche’s nomination for attorney general to avoid conceding to GOP demands WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he may pull acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination for the full-time post to avoid conceding to Senate Republicans’ demands over a sweeping tax audit immunity deal benefiting the president and members of his family. https://apnews.com/article/congress-blanche-attorney-general-nomination-trump-2b7240c1844c1efd298257fbb5771ad3?