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☀️ Florida's wildest primary Illustration: Allie Carl / Axios A pair of Florida lawmakers are wading into the crowded GOP primary in Florida's 19th Congressional District, endorsing Catalina Lauf in a seat President Trump won by 24 percentage points. 🚨 Why it matters: It's a conventional play in a crazy primary full of carpetbaggers. But in a 10-way race in which a candidate could win with less than 20% of the vote, even a small edge could translate into a member's pin next January. Five candidates have previously run for Congress in other states. Two have served in Congress. One, former Rep. Chris Collins, pleaded guilty to a felony and was pardoned by Trump. 🐘 The winner will be heavily favored to succeed Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor. 🚗 Driving the news: Reps. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who represents a neighboring district, and Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), whose district is farther north, are backing Lauf, who served in Trump's Commerce Department during his first term. They join Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) in backing Lauf. Lauf also has the support of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's super PAC, which has produced AI ads in support of her. "I am incredibly honored to have the support of Congressman Greg Steube and Congresswoman Kat Cammack — two proven conservative fighters who know firsthand what it takes to stand up to the Washington establishment," Lauf said in a statement. 🌎 Zoom out: The race has become a coliseum for former members of Congress and perennial candidates. The Southwest Florida district, centered in Fort Myers area, is home to many Midwestern transplants. Collins of New York and former Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina are both mounting comeback bids. Lauf has run for Congress twice in Illinois. In 2020, she lost the GOP primary in Illinois' 14th District to Jim Oberweis — who is now running against her again in Florida. Lauf later won the GOP nomination in Illinois' 11th District in 2022 but lost the general election. Ola Hawatmeh previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York. 💰 The intrigue: The conservative Club for Growth has pumped $1.1 million into the race to defeat Collins. The group doesn't appear to care who wins — as long as it's "Anybody but Chris." Zoom in: Jim Schwartzel, a local businessman, and Lauf were essentially tied atop a recent poll, with both in the high teens. Collins was in fourth place at 8%. The Victory Insights poll surveyed 1,200 likely Republican primary voters across six congressional districts Aug. 4–6 using a combination of text-to-web and interactive voice response. It was not commissioned by a candidate or committee. A separate internal poll for Lauf's campaign has her marginally in first place ahead of Schwartzel, with over a third of voters still undecided. — Hans Nichols and Marc Caputo

Amendment 3 ballot title, summary language, don’t pass muster, judge rules A Florida circuit court judge has ordered Attorney General James Uthmeier to rewrite significant portions of the ballot and summary title of Amendment 3, ruling the words “Save our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” are “akin to a political slogan” in violation of state law. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/04/amendment-3-ballot-title-summary-language-dont-pass-muster-judge-rules/? Florida’s no-children-at-drag shows law upheld by federal appeals court A federal appeals court has upheld a Florida law banning children from attending drag shows, a measure put in place with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/04/floridas-no-children-at-drag-shows-law-upheld-by-federal-appeals-court/? Auditor General: DeSantis administration ‘significantly delayed’ access to Medicaid records The DeSantis administration slowed down state auditors reviewing how Florida conducted its Medicaid eligibility determinations following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, a state Auditor General report found. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/05/auditor-general-desantis-administration-significantly-delayed-access-to-medicaid-records-required-for-review/?

💨 Disappearing town halls Illustration: Eniola Odetunde / Axios 🦖 The congressional town hall is becoming an endangered species. Why it matters: August recess once meant lawmakers returning home to face constituents — sometimes friendly, sometimes furious. After a wave of explosive confrontations last year, many lawmakers have stopped them altogether. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) is among the dwindling number of lawmakers who still regularly subject themselves to the traditional, open town hall. 📢 "You've got to show up in the town square and answer the questions. I told people I'd do it when I ran, and I kept my promise," Flood told us. Flood holds three in-person town halls a year. He said his forums last year each drew about 750 people, while attendance this year has ranged from 235 to 315. Zoom in: Only 11 lawmakers have town halls scheduled for the rest of August, according to LegiStorm's town hall tracker. ⛱️ For a ritual once synonymous with August recess, that's a remarkably thin showing. ⚡️ Flashback: Republicans got screamed at — a lot — at town halls last year, as constituents vented over DOGE, federal layoffs and the Trump administration's spending cuts. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) was booed, heckled and repeatedly interrupted at a March 2025 town hall in Asheville as he defended Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE cuts. 🔥 During an August 2025 town hall, constituents shouted at Flood, "Liar!" and "You don't care about us!" The angry confrontations prompted NRCC chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) to tell Republicans to stop holding in-person town halls. In summer 2009, Democrats faced angry voters at their town hall meetings across the country as constituents protested the Affordable Care Act. (As of January 2026, public approval of the ACA was 61%, according to KFF.) 🫏 Democrats suffered historic losses in the 2010 midterm election. Zoom out: Flood says the most heated moments don't always capture what happens inside the room. 📺 "What you see on TV isn't necessarily what's really happening," he said. Even the "really animated" constituents who disagree with him on most issues, Flood said, may applaud him on others — from supporting Ukraine to addressing housing affordability. 🤔 The intrigue: The old-school format has particular appeal for independent voters, who value the chance to hear from their representatives at a nonpartisan event, Flood argued. "They walk in, and you know, oftentimes they've got like a notebook and a piece of paper and a pen, and they're like, 'Yeah, I'm here to listen and see what I think,'" Flood told us. "I think they get a lot of value out of it." The bottom line: Asked if he thinks his colleagues should follow his lead on town halls, Flood told us: "I know what's right for me, and this is right for me.… How do things get better if we don't talk to each other?" — Kate Santaliz

Traditional plastic forks shed harmful microplastics. Plastic created from sugar is an alternative At a Massachusetts lab, pebble-sized pellets are transformed into forks and films that won't leave persistent microplastics in the environment. Read More.

Trump officials propose new requirements for food additives and ingredients U.S. health officials on Monday proposed a rule change that would require food manufacturers to notify regulators before introducing new ingredients or additives into processed or packaged foods. Read More.

Betting Big View in browser When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he was nursing grudges and claiming a mandate. The institutions he saw as his enemies—in politics, business, and education—faced a dilemma about how to respond. A few concluded that they should resist the president’s demands of fealty and collaboration. Another group tried appeasement, seeking accommodation that would allow them to otherwise operate as usual. And some looked at the landscape and concluded that something fundamental had shifted in American politics. They saw the MAGA movement as a lasting change, and decided that their best move was to make their own radical shift to adjust. As I wrote last week, predictions of a Trump-driven realignment of the electorate now look extremely shaky. The groups that he was able to attract to the Republican ticket two years ago—young voters, especially men; Hispanic voters; and Black men—have turned solidly against him and against GOP candidates in polls ahead of the midterms. Voters who were unimpressed with Joe Biden or Kamala Harris and who heard Trump’s promise of stopping inflation are now angry about the president’s shrugging at higher prices and inflationary war in Iran. With some distance, the 2024 election looks less like a decisive turning point and more like a fluke. But that realization has come too late for those who reshaped themselves for a reality that has proved ephemeral. David Ellison, who, along with his father, Larry, is a friend of Trump’s, decided to use the new Trump administration as an opportunity to build a huge media conglomerate. First, his company Skydance merged with Paramount. Taking control of CBS News, he installed Bari Weiss as editor in chief, seeking a leader who would appeal more to both the White House and to conservative viewers. But Weiss’s makeover has so far looked like a flop: 60 Minutes has hemorrhaged staffers, and the Evening News has hemorrhaged viewers. Her proposition was that a slightly more conservative version of the mainstream media would bring the audience back to a struggling network, but that doesn’t appear to actually be appealing to either MAGA viewers or legacy CBS watchers. Ellison has already moved on to an attempted merger with Warner Bros., reportedly promising administration officials deep political changes at CNN if the deal was approved by federal regulators. Ellison got approval, but now that deal is in trouble anyway. Facing an antitrust lawsuit led by the attorney general of California, Paramount agreed to pause the merger until a trial next year. Experts are divided on how likely Paramount is to prevail, but if the merger doesn’t close by September 30, the company will owe Warner Bros. shareholders $7 million every day until it does. In a New York Times column last week, Ellison complained that people are drawing incorrect inferences about his politics, but his private views are beside the point: What is public is Ellison’s willingness to play to the Trump administration’s politics to build an empire. CBS News is not the only media interest to discover that courting MAGA news consumers is not a guarantee of success or growth. The Times also reported recently on how a range of right-wing influencers has seen audiences shrink drastically. Their travails appear to reflect Trump’s own difficulty in keeping his 2024 coalition together: The most pro-Trump figures have seen some of the biggest drops, amid ideological battles inside the MAGA coalition over Israel and the war in Iran, while more Trump-critical figures on the right have sometimes gained. Other corporate leaders also bet on Trump. Elon Musk attempted to become something like an unelected deputy president at the start of Trump’s second term. That experiment ended acrimoniously, and the men’s relationship has been on and off ever since, but Musk’s reputation is now inextricably connected with Trump’s. X has shed users. Tesla sales have struggled, in part because anti-Trump consumers have turned against Musk and also because Musk has been distracted by other ventures, such as SpaceX. These decisions to throw in with Trump were notable because many institutions treated his 2016 win as an accident of chance, and were happy to publicly resist him. In doing so, though, they seem to have opened the door to more direct corporate involvement in politics—and with it, greater vulnerability to political pressure. The idea that corporations had gone “woke” by embracing DEI and other progressive causes in 2020 and 2021 was to some extent a marketing ploy by the companies, but it infuriated Republicans and made them targets for Trump’s second administration. Trying to protect themselves, corporate leaders now may have overcorrected, mistakenly assuming a lasting MAGA regime. Within right-wing politics, many individuals and organizations also leapt into Trumpism. The venerable Heritage Foundation reworked itself and lost or pushed out many long-standing scholars and staffers. Now it finds itself in an identity crisis—and also shut out of the White House because Trump is still sore about the attention and credit that Project 2025 won for driving his agenda. Many mainstream Republicans remade themselves as MAGA Republicans, but the results have not always been good. Just ask Senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary to an even-more-MAGA challenger this May. Earlier this month, Politico’s Kathy Gilsinan reported on the broken pipeline for bringing new foot soldiers into conservative government and nonprofit organizations. “Everyone knows what the problem is: The organizations that bring young staffers to Washington, D.C. have spent the last decade prioritizing blind ideological loyalty instead of competence or intelligence,” a senior GOP congressional staffer told her. “We have a generation of rabid, incompetent idiots.” This is the risk of betting big on a long-term realignment: If you wager wrong, politics overall will snap back quickly, but you will be stuck with the consequences of your decision for much longer. Related: Americans are turning on Trump. What if 2016 was a fluke? (From 2020)

📚 1 for the road: "First-of-its-kind" library Anythink Nature Library in Thornton, Colo. Photo: Unfound Door At a new library just outside Denver, you can get a book, a pair of snowshoes and a trail to use them on, Axios' Alayna Alvarez reports. The Anythink Nature Library includes a 33,000-square-foot library, nature center and community gathering space. The local public library system calls it "the nation's first nature library." 🏕️ The $43.4 million project sits on 15 acres, with a collection that includes wildlife cameras and camping gear alongside books and other nature-focused materials. Inside, visitors will find a nature lab, a sunroom, and a darkened space for quiet reflection and sensory learning. An aerial view of the library. Photo: Anythink Nature Library 🥾 Outside, the property features gardens, a trail loop, and a café with indoor and outdoor seating. A trailhead connects the library to the 140-acre Aylor Open Lands trail system. Take a look.

🦠 The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the WHO said today. The WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told reporters: "So we are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us." Go deeper. WHO says Congo's fast-moving Ebola outbreak started months before it was declared The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said Monday as responders in eastern Congo struggle to catch up. Read More.

🌊 Hurricane-watchers are eyeing several disturbances amid what's been a sleepy Atlantic storm season — but it's too early to tell if any major storms will develop soon. Latest forecast.

⚽️ FIFA letter laments "breach of trust" Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Three of soccer's top governing bodies said today that FIFA president Gianni Infantino's recent plan to sell an interest in the World Cup was a "fundamental breach of trust." 📝 In an "open letter to the football family," UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC wrote: "When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned." UEFA runs soccer in Europe, CONCACAF does so in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the AFC governs the sport in Asia. The plan was abandoned following immediate and intense pushback. FIFA apologized last week for the way it was handled, and some senior staff reaffirmed support for Infantino's leadership. Go deeper ... Read the letter.

Trump signs order calling for spacing out childhood vaccines, against medical groups’ guidance WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits. https://apnews.com/article/vaccine-research-autism-trump-kennedy-rfk-d10f81f221c4ae9f5b2f83dd0ee98b29?

Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says KENSINGTON, Maryland (AP) — The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://apnews.com/article/hottest-month-july-climate-change-4a9d612281485356103631f0f09b61af? Hottest month ever recorded Reproduced from NOAA. Chart: Axios Visuals July was the hottest month on record for the contiguous U.S., Alex Fitzpatrick reports from new federal data dating back to 1895. Last month's average temperature was 76.89°F, topping the 76.77°F mark set in July 1936. That's 3.3°F warmer than the 1901-2000 average. 🌡️ NOAA said in its monthly report: "Above-average temperatures covered the entire [contiguous U.S.], with all states ranking in the warmest third of their July temperature records and none ranking near or below average." July brought a series of "heat domes" across the country that trapped warm air beneath them, fueling several extreme heat events. Researchers have found that climate change is making extreme heat events more common and more intense — but they're also linked to phenomena and patterns like El Niño. Go deeper. Boats stranded in a Serbian marina along the Danube River on Aug. 7. Photo: Andrej Isakovic/AFP via Getty Images 📉 Meanwhile: Water levels along Europe's Danube River are at record lows after prolonged heat and drought. The phenomenon has exposed the remains of an ancient Roman-era bridge and dozens of German World War II warships. 🥵 What's next: Europe is bracing for yet another heat wave after a summer already marked by record-setting highs. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, tells AP: "This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another." Read more.

Trump’s Staggering Vanity Project Cash Grab Exposed Leaked records show $423 million routed to the president’s D.C. projects this year. President Donald Trump is pouring an astonishing $423 million into his crusade to remake the nation’s capital in his own image. The president, 80, has spent much of his second term rebuilding in D.C., ordering a ballroom at the White House, a South Lawn helipad, a 250-foot “Triumphal Arch,” and an overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The list goes on—and the National Park Service spreadsheets behind it just revealed the massive dent it’s making in public coffers. This year’s allotment for the White House grounds tops $323 million, according to internal Interior Department documents obtained by former CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane, who now publishes on Substack. Work on the National Mall ahead of America’s 250th birthday drew close to a further $100 million.The combined $423 million is more than twenty times the $20 million the two sites drew under the Joe Biden administration in 2024. “The National Park Service is being used as a piggy bank for Trump’s vanity projects,” said Tim Whitehouse, who leads the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 70, has cut millions of dollars in funding for Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. Jobs still waiting in the queue include tree work at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, an emergency fix to a wastewater plant at Death Valley National Park, California, and new roofs at Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Texas.The workforce has thinned, too. Roughly 2,000 employees left the park service in the year to May after DOGE cuts and other reductions, according to the records obtained by MacFarlane. One employee said anonymously that colleagues were being “forced to prioritize Trump’s vanity projects over our own needs.”Trump’s building spree gathers pace as his standing with voters collapses. The president sank to 32 percent approval in a Quinnipac poll released last month—the worst showing of his political career, and below even his ratings in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building. Sixty-eight percent of voters told that pollster that Trump is not focused enough on the problems facing everyday Americans. His own advisers say he’s in denial, and that he’s fixating on “the hobbies that distract from his terrible polling numbers.” The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman estimates his construction projects consume about 70 percent of his attention, even as the president insists that voters are disillusioned with the GOP, and that “they’re not angry with me.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-staggering-vanity-project-cash-grab-exposed-as-white-house-takes-423m-in-federal-funding/? ps:It's not just staggering it's absolutely pathetic!!!!!

Republican Senators Fear Trump Is About to Make a New Midterm Nightmare The president’s long-running obsession with election integrity has his party on edge. Senate Republicans are panicking that Donald Trump will spend the rest of the summer publicly hammering them over a voting bill they have little to no chance of passing. The SAVE America Act, which the 80-year-old president has ranked above everything else on his agenda, would force Americans to produce citizenship paperwork when they register and show photo ID at the polls. Trump has repeatedly claimed the act is essential because millions of noncitizens keep participating in elections to stop him from winning them. Studies, even by the MAGA-aligned D.C. think tank the Heritage Foundation, have shown time and again that cases of noncitizen voting are vanishingly rare. The House approved the bill in February almost entirely along party lines. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. They need 60 to pass what Trump has cast as the party’s insurance policy for November, telling GOP representatives in March that the measures would all but “guarantee the midterms.” Sen. Mike Rounds, 71, told Politico on Monday that an August offensive from the president would shock nobody. “That would be consistent with his approach,” he said. “We also know the votes aren’t there.” Senators cleared out of Washington for the summer recess on Saturday with no version of the legislation advanced. They will not sit again until Sept. 14. That leaves them just three weeks of floor time, before they scatter for October and the midterms, for a vote they’ve already failed to pass six times. Majority Leader John Thune, 65, whom Trump has threatened to have ousted from leadership over the debacle, called up a narrower photo ID measure early Saturday morning, written by Ohio Sen. Jon Husted. Every Republican who voted backed it. The move still fell eight votes short, at 52-46. One GOP senator, speaking anonymously, told Politico that Thune’s calculation was simple. “He thinks it will give us cover with the president,” they said. “I think he’s wrong,” they went on, adding their colleagues were “not factoring in the president’s reaction.” Sen. Thom Tillis, 65, was blunter about the math. “At the end of the day, all Republicans need to start getting satisfied with everybody pretty quickly, so that we can get the voters to be satisfied with us, and we maintain our majority at least in the Senate,” he told the publication. “I look at political data almost every day of the week,” he went on. “I don’t see [the SAVE America Act] as one of the major factors that are going to get [voters] out to the polls.” The Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment on this story. “The American people overwhelmingly support election integrity and the SAVE America Act,” spokesperson Lauren Bis said. “Republicans must use reconciliation to pay our troops, support our farmers, secure our elections and thwart Democrats’ obstructionist tactics.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-senators-fear-trump-is-about-to-make-a-new-midterm-nightmare-with-election-threat-obsession/?

Magnitude 7.4 quake rocks western Colombia, killing at least 111 people CALI, Colombia (AP) — A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 111 people, damaging hundreds of buildings and leaving many trapped under debris while their loved ones and rescue workers searched through rubble. https://apnews.com/article/colombia-ecuador-earthquake-26fd40f93272d834fced47a4a673edc9? 🇨🇴 A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake killed over 100 people and collapsed dozens of buildings in cities across western Colombia. Get the latest. Magnitude 7.4 quake rocks western Colombia, killing at least 111 people A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 111 people, damaging hundreds of buildings and leaving many trapped under debris while their loved ones and rescue workers searched through rubble.Search teams and civilians picked through the remains of destroyed buildings in the country’s third-largest city, Cali, passing large pieces of concrete and other rubble down a long line of volunteers. Read More.

👋 Good morning! Happy Monday. World record: Stephen Biebelhausen inspired dads everywhere on Saturday when he ran Cleveland's Guardian Mile race in 4 minutes, 17 seconds… while pushing his child in a stroller. In today's edition: Senate punts on college sports bill, Mad Max makes history, Rivera repeats as top U.S. gymnast, "Eala Mania," Baker's Dozen (it's back!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🎓 CAPITOL HILL SENATE PUNTS ON COLLEGE SPORTS BILL Senator Ted Cruz speaks with a reporter following a series of votes at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) Last week began with legitimate hope that the Protect College Sports Act would be on a glide path toward becoming law. It ended in an all too familiar place: mired in the nuts and bolts of American politics. Driving the news: The U.S. Senate adjourned for its annual five-week August recess on Saturday without voting on legislation that intends to regulate college athletics, kicking any possible vote to September, as Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger first reported. What happened? Politics happened. As the PCSA inched toward a vote, a wave of detractors emerged to block the path. Instead of being jammed through without much scrutiny, which seems to be what co-authors Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) intended, the bill is now riddled with amendments and various outside groups imploring senators not to pass it. Mounting opposition: The Congressional Black Caucus released a statement slamming the bill; more than a dozen Republican senators filed objections or amendments; several labor unions sent a joint letter in opposition. Other priorities: A logjam of agenda items before the Senate last week took precedence over college sports. Bills to fund the government, implement sanctions against Russia and balance the budget, as well as administrative nominations, shoved the act aside. Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports: Though NCAA officials and university presidents may believe they have allies in Congress who want to fix their problems, expecting Congress to actually do something ignored the underlying reality of our system. When you ask for a political solution, you will get politics whether you like it or not. And what do you know? Just when it seemed like the PCSA was headed for a floor vote, politics happened in a big way. And while the bill sits on the shelf for the next five weeks, there's no telling what might happen in America or the world that will demand more immediate attention when Congress returns. Where it stands: Cruz is confident that the Senate will prioritize the PCSA when it returns on Sept. 14. "We look forward to [President Trump] signing the bill on College GameDay in the fall," he told Yahoo Sports. But some supporters fear that a five-week long break will invite more detractors, and ultimately hurt the bill's chances. Keep reading: The NCAA begged Congress to fix its problems. Now it's paying the price as Washington politics take over.   ⚾️ STRIKEOUT MERCHANTS MAD MAX: THE LAST OF A DYING BREED? (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) Max Scherzer yet again etched his name in the MLB history books on Saturday, passing Walter Johnson for 10th on the all-time strikeout leaderboard. By the numbers: Mad Max reached 3,516 career punchouts in just 2,999 innings. That is by far the fewest of anyone in the top 10 thanks to his sterling mark of 10.55 strikeouts per 9 IP — the eighth-best mark ever and second only to Randy Johnson (10.61) among those in the top 10. The future Hall of Famer notched three-quarters of his strikeouts with the Nationals (1,610) and Tigers (1,081). The rest came with the Mets (294), Diamondbacks (240), Blue Jays (109 and counting), Rangers (93) and Dodgers (89). He joins Justin Verlander (3,554 strikeouts) as the only active players in the top 10, while Johnson (4,875) and Roger Clemens (4,672) are the only others who pitched this century. How high could he climb? Injuries have limited the 42-year-old Scherzer to just nine starts this season, but if he stays healthy the rest of the way he should get about seven more. At his current strikeout rate, that should move him past Gaylord Perry (3,534) into ninth. If Scherzer returns for one more year, he'd likely pass Verlander, who's retiring at the end of this season, and Don Sutton (3,574) to claim seventh place. Scherzer pumps his fist after recording the final out of the fifth inning on Saturday. (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images) The last of a dying breed? Given the state of the modern game, with innings decreasing and injuries on the rise, it's fair to wonder whether we'll ever see another pitcher crack the top 10 on the all-time strikeout list. Chris Sale (2,730 strikeouts) and Gerrit Cole (2,338) are the closest active pitchers. Sale's late-career renaissance in Atlanta gives him some hope, but he's 37 and still four elite seasons away from the top 10. Cole's a year younger, but also 400 strikeouts behind and coming off Tommy John surgery. Six more ~185-strikeout seasons? Sorry, not happening. Maybe 29-year-old Tarik Skubal (1,011) remains dominant for another decade-plus. Maybe 24-year-old Paul Skenes (548) avoids the injury bug and becomes the GOAT. Maybe the game evolves. Maybe we invent a new way to surgically repair an elbow. Maybe anti-aging makes it possible to pitch well into your 50s. That's a lot of maybes. Bottom line: Scherzer is one of 35 pitchers in MLB history with multiple no-hitters, and one of 11 with at least three Cy Young Awards — accomplishments that, while extraordinary, could realistically be matched by future legends. But when it comes to knocking down the door of the sport's most prolific strikeout merchants, he may just be the last of his kind.   🇺🇸 SNAPSHOTS PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) Chicago, Illinois — The Sky's DiJonai Carrington was ejected from Saturday's game against the Fever after committing a flagrant 2 foul against Sophie Cunningham, who's been at the center of the WNBA's latest controversy following her comments about transgender women in sports. The Fever went on to win, 90-86, behind big games from Kelsey Mitchell (27 points) and Caitlin Clark (26 points, 11 assists). Fanning the flames: Carrington took to social media right after her ejection, posting "WHITE PRIVILEGE" and tagging the Fever. "I think the league is taking care of that ," Cunningham said after the game. "This has nothing to do with race." (Chris Coduto/Getty Images) Phoenix, Arizona — Hezly Rivera won her second straight U.S. gymnastics all-around title on Sunday. The 18-year-old, a gold medalist two years ago in Paris, is the first American woman not named Simone Biles to go back-to-back in this event since 2011. On the men's side: Frederick Richard, aka Frederick Flips, won his first national title despite giving up a points deduction for wearing a non-conforming uniform — an intentional move the Michigan grad and social media star also made last year in hopes of bringing more visibility to the men's side of the sport. (Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) Greensboro, North Carolina — Michael Brennan (-22) ran away with the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, winning the PGA Tour's regular-season finale by three strokes to climb into the top 70 and secure a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Meanwhile, in New York: LIV Golf also held its regular-season finale, where Joaquin Niemann won for the ninth time on the breakaway tour and Jon Rahm secured his third straight season-long title.   🌍 SNAPSHOTS PHOTOS AROUND THE WORLD (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images) 🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada — Alex Eala fell to Belinda Bencic on Sunday at the Canadian Open, snapping her seven-match winning streak but doing nothing to dim the shine of "Eala Mania" that has recently followed the rising Filipina star everywhere she goes. What she's saying: "The atmosphere this whole week has been just incredible," said the 21-year-old who played in front of adoring crowds all week in Toronto, which boasts the largest Filipino population in Canada. "I'll carry these memories with me for a really long time." (Tim de Waele/Getty Images) 🇫🇷 Nice, France — Dutch rider Demi Vollering won her second Tour de France Femmes on Sunday, becoming the first two-time winner of the nine-stage event that debuted in 2022. Redemption: The 2023 champion lost the 2024 race by just four seconds to Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, who held the yellow jersey this year entering the final weekend. But Vollering went on to win each of the final two stages to erase the deficit and defeat her rival by a little over a minute. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images) 🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia — More than 90,000 people took part in the annual "City to Surf" fun run on Sunday, with participants running from downtown Sydney to Bondi Beach to raise money for charity. American inspiration: The race, first run in 1971, was inspired by a similar fun run in San Francisco called Bay to Breakers, which debuted in 1912. In addition to both going from downtown to the waterfront, runners are also known to don novelty costumes.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, AUG. 10 Jódar celebrates his fourth-round victory. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) 🎾 Canadian Open, Quarterfinals In Montreal, we've got No. 18 Arthur Fils vs. No. 20 Rafael Jódar (6pm ET, Tennis) followed by No. 19 Luciano Darderi vs. No. 28 Brandon Nakashima. And in Toronto, it's No. 7 Iga Świątek vs. No. 15 Diana Shnaider (7pm) followed by No. 9 Elina Svitolina vs. No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova. Exclusive club: Jódar, 19, is just the third teenager ever to reach three consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinals since the format was introduced in 1990. The other two? Fellow Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Decent company. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Phillies at Cardinals (7:45pm, FS1) … Philly (63-56) maintains a narrow hold on the third wild card. St. Louis (59-59) is 3.5 games back. 🏀 WNBA: Tempo at Dream (8pm, NBCSN/Peacock); Sky at Storm (10pm, USA) … Toronto (10-21) and Seattle (6-28) have lost a combined 19 consecutive games.   🏈 HALLOWED HALLS TRIVIA TIME The Class of 2026 was enshrined on Saturday. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images) The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio, home of the NFL's first repeat champion (in 1922 and 1923). Question: What was the name of that team? A) Canton Bulldogs Canton Cardinals C) Canton Tigers D) Canton Maroons Answer at the bottom.   🍿 BAKER'S DOZEN TOP PLAYS OF THE WEEKEND (Savannah Bananas) A huge shoutout to Ashton R. in New York City, who just turned 9 years old, loves Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, and enjoys watching Baker's Dozen with his dad. Great news, Ashton: The highlights are back! And this weekend delivered some real gems. 🍌 Best trick catch ever ⚽️ From way downtown ⚾️ Catch of the year?! ⚽️ Throw-in assist ⚾️ Corbin HR robbery 🏈 Cam Coleman!!! ⚾️ Luis Lara at the wall 🥏 This dude took flight ⚾️ Is that Derek Jeter? 🥍 Behind-the-back goal ⚾️ Carson in the corner 🎾 Insane reflexes 🏈 Great throw, great catch Watch all 13.   Trivia answer: A) Canton Bulldogs

Hillsborough Republicans vie to try to defeat Kathy Castor after 20 years in Congress Florida Republicans hope redrawing this district to favor the GOP will prove insurmountable for long-serving Democrat Kathy Castor, Mitch Perry reports, but Sabato’s Crystal Ball recently moved the race from leaning Republican to a toss-up. Republican candidates include former state House members Mike Beltran and Kevin Steele, and Navy veterans Rocky Rochford and Bea Valenti.

Trump’s Secret Nuclear Admission to Aides Is Leaked The president is telling advisers he may have to abandon the key rationale for his war on Iran. Donald Trump has privately admitted that he may be forced to end his war on Iran without achieving his main objective, according to a bombshell report. The conflict began on Feb. 28 when Trump joined Israel in launching massive air strikes that decapitated the leadership of the Islamic regime. The president cycled through several rationales for the war before hitting on keeping Tehran from building a nuclear bomb—and has stuck to that line in the five months since. That reported retreat would make it harder for the White House to paint any end to the conflict as a victory. Iran’s closure of the waterway, through which a fifth of global oil supply passes, has sent gas prices in the U.S. soaring ahead of midterm elections likely to be dominated by cost-of-living concerns. Democrats hold an almost 8-point lead in the polls, which means the GOP could lose control of both the House and the Senate. Trump has tried to smooth over any panic among his aides, the Journal reports. He’s told them Iran is unlikely to restart its nuclear program while he’s in office, pointing to American strikes that wrecked three of the country’s main nuclear sites last year, according to the Journal. He also brushed off uranium still buried in the country during July’s NATO summit. “We’ve already got the nuclear material, because it’s so far underground,” he said then. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-secret-admission-to-aides-that-he-may-be-willing-to-walk-away-without-iran-nuclear-deal-is-leaked/? ps:Something we never should've been involved with in the first place!

Trump Hit by Humiliating Reality Check After AI-ing Golf Photo The 80-year-old president underwent a remarkable transformation. Donald Trump has been caught cheating at one of his own golf clubs—although this time not on the course itself. The 80-year-old president was called out online after posting a photo of himself driving golfing great Gary Player around the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Sunday. The original picture, taken by freelance photographer Andrew Mordzynski and published by Getty Images, shows Trump as he actually is: a pasty, overweight, slightly disheveled octogenarian. But in the digitally altered version posted by Trump on his Truth Social account the president appears to have had some kind of magical glow-up: younger, slimmer, and more manly. It’s the version of Trump he’d rather have us see. In the original picture, Trump, wearing a white and gold cap from his own merchandise line, has puffy eyes and a blotchy, reddish face. His mouth is open. In the starkly different version of the same photo Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon, his eyes are wider, his mouth is closed, his skin is tanned, and the back of his hair is neatly trimmed. His chest area has also been smoothed, and the “TRUMP” logo has been changed from the original, in a square patch, to more visible standalone letters on the shirt. What appeared to be sweat near his forehead has been removed, with the philtrum between his nose and lip more pronounced. Other visual indicators of an AI or photoshopping tool being used include the heavily airbrushed skin textures on both men, forsaking realistic pore and hair details. The background also has a blurred look resembling a painting, with a warm, artificial-looking glow. Apart from receiving a more tanned look, Player, 90, looks virtually identical in both photos. X account Patriot Takes shared Trump’s photo with a different picture of the president with his golf buddy on Sunday, adding the caption “Trump’s AI Image vs. Reality…" The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. Also not visible in the photo from Sunday are the bruises of varying sizes spotted on Trump’s forearms, alongside what looked to be a couple of scrapes. Trump also sported Band-Aids on a couple of fingers of his right hand, which he rested on his knee while squinting forward at the route ahead. The president’s bruising is usually most notable on his hands, not his arms, which were exposed due to his polo shirt. He has previously blamed the bruising on his large daily dose of aspirin and excessive handshaking as part of the job. Trump is no stranger to using AI, regularly filling his social media feed with computer-generated slop. Last week Trump posted an AI-generated image on Truth Social depicting him alongside generals George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, two of the most celebrated U.S. military commanders of World War II. A previous AI posting spree saw him digitally insert himself next to President John F. Kennedy, as well as cast himself as the star of imaginary science fiction films. Last October, Trump famously posted an AI video of himself as a king, flying a jet, and dropping a brown substance on No Kings protesters. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hit-by-humiliating-reality-check-after-ai-ing-golf-photo/?

You are confounding Person with Nature. Natures don't commit sin, person's do. Jesus did not possess a human person separate from His Divine Person. Because Jesus is ONE PERSON (not two) - for Jesus to sin GOD would sin. I shouldn't have to break this down as to why it's wrong and alien to what the Bible clearly says about God. Sacred Scripture states that the efficacy of Christ's atonement was dependent on Christ's sinlessness, NOT his potential to not be God - and this is where the conditional creature-christ doctrine ALWAYS goes. To claim what God said WOULD HAPPEN was in reality an undetermined outcome reduces the Almighty (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) to a simple bystander hoping the whole thing doesn't end up on an episode of Gilligan's Island. You claim that if Jesus couldn't sin, His temptations were meaningless. But consider this: A boulder hit by a battering ram feels the full impact of the force even if it doesn't break. In fact, because Jesus never gave in, He bore the maximum possible pressure of temptation—far more than any fallen human who surrenders early. He sympathizes with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15) because He felt the full force of the test, not because He was in danger of destruction which Ellen White militantly gloated about. Additionally, the idea that the Son of God was on 'probation' with an outcome 'undetermined' undermines and repudiates the sovereignty of God. Christ came as the 'Lamb slain from the foundation of the world' (Rev 13:8). God’s plan of salvation was an absolute, guaranteed triumph rooted in His divine nature and covenant promise, not a high-stakes gamble where God Himself could cease to exist. A Savior who could eternally perish is a created, finite being—which is precisely the error of Arius.

Trump’s immigration crackdown looms over Minnesota’s bruising Senate primary Minnesota’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday features establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and the more progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. The immigration debate is an added schism in a race that otherwise echoes many of the other left-versus-center divides that have played out across the United States this year. Read more. Why this matters: Craig voted for tighter enforcement soon after President Donald Trump returned to office last year, only to later express regret for her decision after the Republican president sent a surge of agents into Minneapolis. Those votes may turn out to be some of the most fraught of Craig’s eight-year career in Congress, decisions that Flanagan has highlighted while trying to portray her rival as unwilling to fight an unpopular administration in Washington. Craig flipped a Republican-held seat in 2018, and every two years she overcame millions of dollars of attack ads to win tough reelection campaigns. Until Craig’s Senate run, the heat came from the right. Newly under fire from the other side, the decisions she made as a swing-seat congresswoman have become a liability as a statewide Senate candidate. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Wisconsin primary also features progressive clash with Democratic establishment Congressional Democrats launch probe into efforts to deport US military members and their families Trump announces staff secretary Will Scharf will be his new White House counsel Justice Samuel Alito confirms he’s staying on the Supreme Court for another term Joe Biden’s cancer has spread, his son Hunter says

Western wildfires Firefighters across the Pacific Northwest are heading into another week of battling dangerous wildfires that have killed at least four people and destroyed hundreds of homes. Crews near Spokane, Washington, are making progress on three fires that have burned more than 10,000 acres, while a suspect accused of setting one of the blazes remains in custody. Farther north, more than 20,000 people were recently ordered to leave their homes in western Canada as a fast-moving wildfire raced toward towns along British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. The Bald Range wildfire burns in Summerland, British Columbia, on Saturday. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP) MEANWHILE: Western Europe breaks temperature record in summer plagued by heatwaves and wildfires Wildfires burn across western US and Canada as residents are evacuated Wildfires burning across the western U.S. and Canada on Sunday left some residents keeping a wary eye out for possible evacuation orders while others already forced to flee their homes waited to see what would be left on their return. Read more. What to know: In the U.S., crews in Washington that have been fighting three wildfires that have been burning in the Spokane area for over a week continued cleanup near containment lines. Earlier in the week, a man was arrested and charged with intentionally setting the biggest of the three Spokane-area blazes. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Wildfire tracker WATCH: Wildfires force 20,000 to flee as British Columbia declares state of emergency Western Europe sets new temperature record as heat waves pummel the region

Peace talks Iran has laid out a list of demands it says the US must fulfill before it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has been a major flashpoint in the nearly six-month conflict. The conditions include lifting the US naval blockade, withdrawing military forces and permanently ending the war, but there is little indication Washington is prepared to agree to those terms. President Trump signaled over the weekend that Washington is increasing economic pressure on Tehran, saying the US is "low-keying" negotiations. Iran, however, says no talks are taking place. PLUS: Israel rejects Trump's Gaza plan, demands Hamas disarm first Israel rejects Trump’s Gaza plan, more details emerge on the Strait of Hormuz Israel on Sunday rejected a deal announced by President Donald Trump for Gaza. Details emerged on the potential deal between Iran and Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran suggested that vessels linked to “hostile countries” would be barred. Read more. Why this matters: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the deal on Gaza announced by Trump last month, saying Israel’s military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.” Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting that “Israel rejects the 15-point document” but is still discussing plans for Gaza with Washington, after making similar comments last week. Trump had said Israeli forces would withdraw as the Hamas militant group’s disarmament is completed. There was no immediate White House comment on Netanyahu’s statement. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Leaking oil tanker grounded off Oman sinks further, satellite images show

The homosexual community has established a secure beachhead in Adventism--Kinship. The denomination made a serious mistake in trying the Kinship issue in secular court. Apparently, they didn't learn much from the Pacific Press case, which they also lost. If the denomination is serious about its disapproval of homosexuality, it could simply disfellowship openly gay members, ban them from church properties, and fire denominational employees. Non-gay partisans should br treated in a similar manner. Problem is that many congregations and some institutions. are in the pro-gay camp. Disfellowshipping takes place in the local congregation, not conference headquarters. When the Burbank SDA church ran afoul of the local conference over money/ personnel issues, the conference padlocked the church building. A congregation hires an openly gay pastor, the local conference, Pilate style, simply washes its hands. Dr. Lawson will likely go down in SDA history as the man who established the gay/lesbian agenda among SDA, a legacy in which he would take great pride, [pun intended]. I corresponded with him in the past. He was respectful and pleasant. There is a lot about him to admire, including his exposure of Quest. He fought well for a cause he believed in.