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September 2, 2026 Mike McQuade By Melissa Kirsch I’ve been reading this tremendous novel from 1976 called “Bear,” by the Canadian writer Marian Engel. It’s about a woman who goes to a remote island to do research and ends up taking a bear as her lover. The Times review jibes with my own: “The narrative is pure magic, an alchemic transformation from fact into folk tale and the rich areas of the human psyche, a metamorphosis so subtle that its sexual shock is completely acceptable to us.” Check it out if you haven’t, and check out more things magical, alchemic and surprisingly engaging below. On this week’s list: 1. The lone katydid 2. Pianos near you 3. Turning the tables 4. Your birthday crossword 5. Mapping MOOP 6. A poem for the day 1. The lone katydid Shelby Tauber for The New York Times The nighttime insect chorus reaches fortissimo in late August, filling the dark with its mating calls. In the woods outside New York, it’s bliss to sit still and listen through the open window to male katydids invisibly trying to out-fiddle other suitors. I do it as the poet Diane Ackerman, one of the most perceptive chroniclers of the natural world, advises: “Eyes closed and jaw relaxed into a smile, which gives the brain a rest from the whole seeing-is-believing thing.” Insomnia offers few gifts, but one I cherish as I lie awake as dawn arrives is the call of the last katydid, the lone romantic who’s pulled an all-nighter and bravely keeps up his song after everyone else has scurried off to avoid being eaten by morning birds. The name “katydid” is onomatopoetic, from the three-syllable sound the insects make. In the early hours, instead of what Ackerman calls a “tattletale” (“Katy did! Katy did!”), I hear a plaintive cry: “Anyone? Anyone?” It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, this solitary soul hoping to meet someone before the lights come on. 2. Pianos near you Lauren Segal for The New York Times Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Where is the nearest public piano?” Me neither! But I’m going to start, now that I know about this catalog of the world’s street pianos, the uprights and baby grands in communal spaces that anyone can play. Searching near me, I see there are 100 opportunities to tickle the ivories, including one in a supermarket 19.2 miles away. I also can see there’s one waiting to be played in a pizzeria in Lyon, France, and another in a sandwich shop in Yakima, Wash. My feeble repertoire of “Heart and Soul” and “The Entertainer” would likely not be welcome at either, but if you’re more musically gifted, search your area, then get out and make some music! 3. Turning the tables on Terry Gross JC Olivera/FilmMagic, via Getty Images; Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times Many people had suggested over the past few years that I would like the podcast “Talk Easy,” an interview show hosted by Sam Fragoso. I’ve resisted checking it out — what could this interview show offer me that I’m not getting from the interview shows I already love, like “Fresh Air”? I gave in when I saw that the host of “Fresh Air,” Terry Gross, was a guest on “Talk Easy,” and what do you know, I’m a convert. Fragoso, a writer and filmmaker who is 31, interviews Gross reverently. He seems to know her life story better than she does, which makes you trust him — this guy has done his homework. Gross has been getting people to open up for decades, but at first, she seems reluctant to open up herself. But Fragoso is so prepared, so game, so respectful and patient, that by the time Gross gets teary discussing her late husband, you’re certain you’re in the hands of a worthy heir to her throne. I found this conversation riveting and have since been pleasurably making my way through the vast “Talk Easy” archive. (I particularly liked the interview with the musician Patti Smith. When Smith tells Fragoso that it took her years to understand the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, he says, “I sometimes think understanding has nothing to do with art,” a perspective I found rather freeing.) 4. Your birthday crossword Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times Speaking of archives, my colleague Tom turned me on to this repository of New York Times crossword puzzles from 1942 to 1993. In these years before Will Shortz became the crossword editor, clues tended toward high culture over pop culture, literal definitions over wordplay. My memories of trying to do these puzzles when I was growing up are of complete bafflement at their expectation of arcane historical trivia; when Tom sent me the link to the archive, my response was “I don’t think I know enough about war!” But I took Tom’s suggestion of starting with the puzzle published on the day I was born and was surprised to find I could solve it. It wasn’t as fun and lively as the more modern crosswords, but I am now aware that certain equations are known as QUARTICS and a TARE is a type of noxious weed. Try your birthday and let me know how you fare. And if you’re interested in crossword editors of yore, check out this dyspeptic farewell from Will Weng, who retired in 1977, bequeathing Eugene Maleska the “minor joys and headaches” of readers’ feedback as well as his office chair. “The padding has worn through and the springs are beginning to get sharp,” Weng warned. “But I know better than to ask for a new chair. If I got one, it would be filched after one day. I have been on The Times ever since 1930 and have never had a decent place to sit.” (For the record, I have a very comfortable office chair — yet another thing that has changed over the years.) 5. Mapping MOOP Heidi Schumann for The New York Times The Burning Man festival is on again. Which means tens of thousands of people converging on Nevada’s Black Rock desert to “cut loose in surroundings reminiscent of both ‘Mad Max’ and Cirque du Soleil,” as my colleague Callie Holtermann described it. While I have no real desire to attend Burning Man, I do like looking at photos of its outrageous spectacles and learning about the enormous amount of coordination it takes to construct and deconstruct a temporary city. One of the festival’s principles is to leave no physical trace of its presence in the desert. A clean-up crew looks for trash or other “matter out of place,” which Burning Man calls MOOP. People perform “line sweeps,” standing arm’s length apart as they walk the area, scanning for MOOP. Every item found in the sweeps is recorded to ensure the cleanup accords with the Bureau of Land Management’s threshold (you can’t leave more than one square foot of MOOP per acre). This process takes weeks! Afterward, a map is released that details everywhere MOOP was found and how much effort it took to remediate it. The No. 1 most common item of MOOP last year was lag bolts — metal fasteners used to anchor structures to the ground. As regular readers of The Good List know, I’m taken with the ease with which the internet allows us to map things that give us pleasure, like beaches and public pianos. And now to see such labor devoted to map the random refuse of human beings living on the earth, the 146 cigarette butts and 46 paint chips left behind by Burners. Why? I suppose we map things that have meaning to us, that we want to memorialize. The MOOP map gives this detritus an eternal record of existence, for better or worse. 6. A poem for the day Steve Hebert for The New York Times The Kentucky writer Wendell Berry died this week at 92. In his poem “September 2,” he wrote of the need for rest after exertion, the natural waning of the season: And in my mind, where had stood a garden straining to the light, there grew an acceptance of decline. Having worked, I would sleep, my leaves all dissolved in flight. Read more of Berry’s poems here. One more thing: A while back I wrote about the power of sustained eye contact. Katherine Holmes, a reader from Sandwich, N.H., happened into this powerful intimacy while walking her seven-year-old chocolate lab, Bunny: My dog and I unintentionally took your advice yesterday when we locked eyes with an enormous doe. My dog squatted into “play” position and just sat there. The doe stared back at us. We were probably 10 yards apart. I kept my dog at heel so the doe could safely wander off, but she didn’t. Or wouldn’t. This detente lasted minutes. The doe finally walked toward us, which I’m not sure my dog would have interpreted as friendly, so we angled left and walked away. I’ll never know what the doe was thinking. Or my dog. It was a nice moment of connection with a member of the wildlife community. Or at least I think it was. If you had a nice moment of connection with a member of the wildlife community, or any community at all, tell us in the comments. Or email me! If you’re a Times subscriber (thank you!), you can check out past editions of The Good List anytime. And if you’re not yet a subscriber, you can explore all our journalism for free, without any paywalls, for a month by downloading the New York Times app. — Melissa The editor of The Good List is Jodi Rudoren. Eli Cohen handles the photos.

👜 1 for the road: Rotisserie chic Photo: Walmart For National Chicken Month, Walmart released limited-edition rotisserie chicken purses in two "flavors," traditional and lemon pepper. The bags, priced at $5.97, sold out in less than a day — but Walmart hinted there are "more cooking." Walmart said it's playing into this fall's "oversized clutch trend" by giving one of its most "beloved deli items a fashionable twist." Read the announcement.

🐅 Legendary golfer Tiger Woods will have his driver's license suspended for five years after striking a deal in his DUI case today. He was also ordered to pay $1,500 in fines. Go deeper.

⚖️ Google secured a major court win today when a judge ruled the tech giant won't have to spin off its "network" ad business. The decision has enormous implications for the $1 trillion global advertising economy, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

⚓ The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier docked in Thailand today after its grueling Middle East deployment sparked concerns about sailors' mental health and living conditions. Today is the first full port stop in more than nine months — a deployment Trump said last month wasn't "nearly long enough." Go deeper. 💰 The U.S. Mint began selling gold-colored $1 coins featuring an image of Trump today. The coins can be used as legal tender, but that doesn't guarantee every store will accept them, Axios' Herb Scribner reports. 🇨🇦 Trump's beef with Canada is irking Americans. More than 6 in 10 (63%) oppose Trump's executive order to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America," per a recent Reuters-Ipsos poll. Americans also expressed wariness over the renewed U.S.-Canada trade war, Axios' Avery Lotz reports.

🤝 Trump's Anthropic truce CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump administration trusts Anthropic again after months of clashes with the AI company. The statement is a remarkable turnaround from the bitter fight over national security and AI safeguards. 💡 I asked Lutnick at today's G20 innovation summit in Chapel Hill, N.C., if he trusts CEO Dario Amodei. He told me: "We trust Anthropic." Lutnick continued: "They've done what we asked. They're back on the right side. So the answer is: Yes." 🔎 The declaration comes as Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown takes a more prominent role in the company's relationship with the White House, including a headlining role at this week's G20 Innovation Ministerial, Axios' Maria Curi reports. Industry leaders know that aligning with the Trump administration goes a long way. Brown, who praised Trump's pro-data-center intervention, offers a reset for a company once on the outs with the White House. Go deeper ... More from the interview.

Trump Goes After Anonymous Email Provider in Italy. The Real Target Is Free Speech in the U.S. In the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s war on the left, the U.S. government’s designation of a popular antifascist webhosting provider as a terror group could shutter a swath of radical websites in the U.S. https://theintercept.com/2026/08/28/trump-antifa-terrorist-websites-free-speech/? The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders” Top military officers from a secretive command watched a speedboat cut through the waters of the Caribbean Sea, early last September. A plane above provided live video of the vessel and the 11 men on board. In the early morning hours, Adm. Frank Bradley sought the counsel of his top legal adviser, Col. Cara Hamaguchi. Then he ordered SEAL Team 6 operators to attack the packed boat. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/02/military-boat-strikes-killings-year/? Western North Carolina Pleaded for Hurricane Help. It Got ICE Instead. After Hurricane Helene, a group called Latinos Aventureros covered more than 4,300 miles crisscrossing Western North Carolina, spending 650 volunteer hours delivering food, water, medicine, and other supplies to an estimated 1,700 people. https://theintercept.com/2026/08/29/hurricane-helene-ice-asheville-nc-g20-trump/? Christian Employers Can Now Discriminate Against Trans People The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency tasked with protecting workers from illegal discrimination, inked an unprecedented settlement with a conservative Christian employer association that could have long-term, wide-ranging consequences. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/01/christian-employers-settlement-gender-discrimination-eeoc/? ICE Is Paying a Controversial AI Firm to Hide the Identities of Agents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is launching a new “Doxing Mitigation Initiative” using AI to help ICE personnel keep their identities hidden from the public, according to an email addressed to all agency employees on Monday. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/02/ice-ai-whistleblower-doxing-zerofox/? CBS News Spins El-Sayed’s 9/11 Tweets Into a Manufactured Anti-Muslim Scandal It always felt inevitable that Bari Weiss’s tenure at CBS News would see the network devolve into rank Islamophobia — but even for most of us, who took a dim view of her takeover of the news behemoth, tying Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to the 9/11 attacks was an unexpected new low. To make matters worse, many centrist Democrats and their allies cleared the way for just this kind of attack. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/01/cbs-news-abdul-el-sayed-9-11-tweets/? Seth Moulton Sold Out Trans Kids — and Lost His Senate Race Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey comfortably defeated Rep. Seth Moulton in his Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, in what the media — and Moulton himself — had described as a “generational” challenge. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/02/markey-moulton-massachusetts-senate-primary/? Ecocide in Iran “We won,” ‌President Donald Trump declared in March, less than two weeks after launching his war of choice against Iran. Claiming that nation was “very much destroyed and, even, obliterated,” Trump had already promised the conflict would bring peace to the region and, somehow, the globe. “The heavy and pinpoint bombing … will continue, uninterrupted … as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Trump wrote. But more than six months and two failed ceasefires later, the floundering conflict sputters along. And you may have noticed that world peace has yet to be announced. https://theintercept.com/2026/08/31/iran-war-environment-toxic-chemical-exposure/? Right-Wing Trans Hate Comes for the WNBA The WNBA is having a moment. Viewership is up. Attendance for this year’s WNBA All-Star Game surpassed the NBA’s All-Star Game. Games and events can be viewed in a record number of places, from broadcast to cable and streaming. And just this week, Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream set a single-game record. https://theintercept.com/2026/08/28/wnba-women-basketball-sports-trans/?

Jury in Malta acquits businessman in killing of investigative journalist VALLETA, Malta (AP) — A jury in Malta on Wednesday acquitted the Maltese businessman accused by prosecutors of being the mastermind of the 2017 car bomb killing of crusading investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, sparking renewed calls for accountability in the Mediterranean island nation. https://apnews.com/article/malta-journalist-killed-caruana-galizia-yorgen-fenech-e2cd05e8e19e9a5239a7f9d2aaa66893?

Microsoft Finally Backs Down: The Windows 11 Taskbar Update You've Been Waiting For Microsoft is at last reversing one of its most hated design choices—and giving users back the control they've been asking for. https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-finally-backs-down-the-windows-11-taskbar-update-youve-been-waiting?

Trump Administration Sets Grim New Poll Record An astounding nine in 10 Americans now believe corruption is widespread in the U.S. government—a figure that has spiked under Trump. More Americans than ever now believe corruption is widespread across the U.S. government. A new Gallup poll found that nearly nine in 10 Americans now believe corruption is prevalent across the government—a 10-point increase from the same survey last year, in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term. Those figures mean the United States has the highest level of perceived government corruption among countries with advanced economies, according to Gallup, which polled 1,000 Americans in May and June. The increase has been particularly pronounced among Democrats, whose views have shifted sharply since Trump returned to the White House. In 2024, during Joe Biden’s presidency, 57 percent of Democrats said corruption was widespread. That figure increased to 76 percent in 2025, Trump’s first year back in office, and reached 91 percent this year, according to Gallup. Republican views, by contrast, have changed comparatively little over the same period. This year, 83 percent of Republicans said corruption was widespread, compared with 90 percent of independents. In response, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast: “President Trump has launched an all-out war on fraud across the entire federal government, holding criminals accountable and saving taxpayers billions of dollars. The Democrats in Congress have refused to do anything to stop waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.” Polls point to a likely brutal midterms for Republicans, with perceptions of corruption within the Trump administration likely a factor in the grim GOP outlook. A recent Emerson College poll has Democrats leading Republicans by eight points on the generic congressional ballot. Democrats have increasingly focused their criticism on what they describe as potential conflicts of interest and “self-dealing” within the Trump administration. The allegations include scrutiny of a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for administration allies who said they had been unfairly investigated, as well as no-bid contracts awarded to individuals and firms with ties to Trump allies. The issue has also drawn attention to Trump’s personal financial activity while serving as president. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Robert Garcia sent Trump a 17-page letter last month demanding an explanation for the more than 21,000 stock trades made in his name in 2025, followed by another 3,500 in the first three months of 2026. The transactions generated more than $2.2 billion in revenue last year, according to The New York Times. Warren and Garcia characterized the activity as extraordinary, writing: “The sheer volume of stock trading by a sitting president is unprecedented. You—or the entities responsible for your accounts—made an average of approximately 50 trades every day markets were open during the first quarter of 2026.” The lawmakers also pointed to 15 transactions they argued could present potential conflicts of interest. One involved Trump’s purchase of Nvidia and AMD stock on Jan. 6, shortly before the administration announced policy changes that would make it easier for the companies to sell chips to China. Trump has said he does not participate in the decisions underlying his investments. White House officials have likewise claimed that the president and his relatives have not, and would not, engage in conflicts of interest. Congressional Democrats are also expanding their scrutiny to members of Trump’s family. House Democrats announced last week that they had launched an investigation into Donald Trump Jr. and 1789 Capital, the venture capital firm he joined after his father returned to the White House. In a letter obtained by MS NOW, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked whether 1789 Capital’s investment decisions since January 2025 benefited from access to the Trump administration. “There is a broad base consensus for the fact that something is broken in Washington,” David Szakonyi, a political science professor at George Washington University, told The Washington Post. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-sets-grim-new-poll-record/?

Trump Humiliated as Republicans Skip His Big Day En Masse The president cannot even get his own lawmakers to care about his midterm convention. Republicans are rolling out the excuses to skip Donald Trump’s midterm convention, which the president has organized in a desperate attempt to give the GOP a much-needed election boost. Trump is set to headline the second day of the televised event in Dallas next week in an attempt to galvanize voters amid continuing expectations that the GOP is going to suffer an electoral wipeout in November’s crucial elections. However, at least 45 Republican candidates and members have told Politico they will skip the Sept. 9-10 event, dubbed “Trumpapalooza,” with dozens still unsure whether they will bother to attend. The lawmakers have come up with an array of excuses, from wanting to remain in their districts to campaign, prior arrangements, the eye-watering $25,000 entrance fee, and a desire to distance themselves from the deeply unpopular president to boost their election hopes. One House Republican said they are not attending the event because it will be a “waste of time.” “You shouldn’t be having to rally your base at this point,” the House Republican told Politico. “You should be trying to convince independents. Independents are not attending nor watching the midterm convention.” Rep. Tom Barrett, who is fighting to retain his competitive Michigan seat in November, said he will not be attending Trump’s convention because he feels he would be “more useful in my district.” “I travel a lot for this job and if I can be back home and see my family and do the job back home as well, then that’s sort of what I lean toward doing,” he said. House Republicans are well aware that intense voter backlash to Trump’s second term—including the war in Iran and rising gas and food prices—could affect their chances in the midterms. Some are also concerned that, rather than using the convention to boost Republicans’ election hopes, Trump will waste his headline appearance by rambling on about his personal obsessions, such as his White House ballroom, or dismissing the affordability concerns faced by tens of millions of Americans. “I can’t control what the president’s going to say at the convention, but I can control where I’m at, what I’m doing,” Rep. Barrett said. Several other House members said they cannot come to Dallas because of prior family or campaign engagements. Reps. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Andrew Garbarino of New York said they will remain in their districts to take part in events related to the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said he will be going to a dove-hunting event in Oklahoma rather than attending Trump’s convention. House Speaker Mike Johnson will be at the convention and still expects a decent attendance in Dallas. However, he admitted at a Tuesday news conference that many House Republicans will want to remain in their districts because “it’s a critical time right before early voting begins nationwide.” There is also the issue of who will actually want to watch the event on television. Both nights of the convention will coincide with the first two games of the NFL season, which are guaranteed to draw a bigger primetime audience. “It raises the question of whether the timing is somewhere between ill-conceived or just not conceived at all,” Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Hill. “It seems more like a reaction to concerns about enthusiasm among Republican voters. It’s more of a reaction than it is a clear plan.” The White House referred a request for comment to the Republican National Committee. “The outreach and enthusiasm to attend, participate, and speak at this historic midterm convention has been incredible, from members of Congress to Republican candidates to everyday Americans,” RNC National Press Secretary Natalie Baldassarre said. “Republicans across the country are rallying behind President Trump’s America First agenda that’s brought lower drug prices, lower taxes, and a secure border, and this convention will provide the momentum needed to expand our majorities in November.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-humiliated-as-republicans-skip-his-big-day-en-masse/?

Pentagon in ‘Disarray’ as Hegseth Faces Double Crisis The defense secretary is under fire for taking a wrecking ball to military leadership in the middle of a war. Pete Hegseth is accused of setting the military up for potential disaster as the fallout of his ego-driven overhaul of top leadership spills into public view. The 46-year-old former Fox News host has masterminded a massive purge within the Defense Department that saw Army Secretary Dan Driscoll walk out on Monday, raising fears about a lack of experienced leadership at the top of the military. It comes as the Pentagon burns through resources—both material and human—in its fight with Iran, which has now dragged on for over six months despite President Trump initially projecting it to last four to five weeks. The fight is thought to be exacting a heavy toll on the nation’s weapons and munitions stockpiles, which the Center for Strategic and International Studies says will last for the war in Iran, but which pose a threat to the U.S.’s ability to fight future wars. The Associated Press, however, reports that the war has used around 65 percent of Patriot interceptor missiles. Driscoll said he feared that Hegseth’s leadership of the Defense Department could cause “generational damage,” a person familiar with the close JD Vance ally told the Financial Times. He “had tried so many different ways and so many different times, but it was just clear that... Hegseth wasn’t willing to listen to the facts or the truth, or the reason, or any of that, because of his personal animosity,” they said. Reflecting on his exit, Brookings Institution senior fellow Tom Wright told the FT that it was a “revelatory moment, and I think it illustrates that the Pentagon is in disarray.” Hegseth’s latest act is to block the progression of seven officers tapped by a military committee to become two-star generals, amid a wider crusade that has seen 80 top military leaders either shown the door or have their promotions blocked. Two of the seven were Black, and two were female. Driscoll reportedly feared that Hegseth’s reimagining of the Defense Department in his image was removing vital experience and harming both morale and the military’s effort to modernize, The New York Times reported. More than half of Hegseth’s firings have been of Black or female officers, The New York Times reports Driscoll’s exit follows the ouster of Army chief Gen. Randy George, who served as chief of staff of the United States Army from 2023 to 2026, but who Hegseth showed the door to in April, a year and a half before the typical four-year term would have ended. The departure of both men means the Army currently has neither a top civilian nor a uniformed boss. Announcing his departure, Driscoll wrote in a statement on X that, “I had the privilege of working… to modernize and accelerate how the Army mans, trains, and equips the most lethal fighting force on the face of the earth. “We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth.” To make Hegseth’s headache worse, his acting Army chief of staff, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, is not on track to get the required vote to pass his Senate confirmation hearing, if he were to be officially nominated. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker said in May that he had become aware of “some opposition within the committee” to LaNeve’s appointment, Politico reported at the time. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Joni Ernst is among a group of Republican senators who don’t think LaNeve has enough experience as a four-star general to take over the role if he gets the appointment. “The opposition... is not about LaNeve himself. It’s about Hegseth, and the anger that is very much still alive on Capitol Hill over General George’s exit and Hegseth running roughshod over the army,” a congressional aide told the FT. Now concerns have been raised about the two top positions, both empty and in need of the Senate approval process at a time when the Army is engaged in direct operations—particularly in air defense—in the conflict with Iran. Hegseth’s war is also taking a toll on the Pentagon’s human resources. Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln were only last week relieved from their deployment in the Middle East after over 250 days at sea. They fought in the war from the very beginning in February, amid reports of deteriorating conditions onboard. The Military Times even reported that some sailors had attempted to go overboard. The war has cost 18 service members their lives and left more than 750 wounded. It is also feared that the war may have a long term impact on the U.S. presence in the Middle East. The Washington Post cited eight sources who said that the U.S. was considering a diminished presence once the fighting was over, with two saying many of its bases had taken a brutal beating at the hands of Iranian missiles and drones. Hegseth faces a headache with the Navy too, after Navy Secretary John Phelan stepped down in April. Trump on Tuesday tapped Acting Navy Secretary and two-time failed congressional candidate Hung Cao to take over the role, pending Senate approval. “It is unimaginable that Secretary Hegseth is purging the ranks of top military officials at the same time that the U.S. is in an ongoing conflict and as security challenges mount,” said ranking armed services committee member Jeanne Shaheen, according to the FT. “The premise that the Department is in disarray is completely baseless and an insult to every dedicated professional and warfighter in this building who comes to work every day to defend this nation,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Axios. He also said that the U.S. “maintains a deep, ready arsenal.” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly denied that there was any shortage of munitions and said Trump has “complete trust” in Hegseth. In a statement to the Daily Beast, she also blamed the previous administration for Hegseth’s overhaul of the military, saying: “After Joe Biden’s Pentagon prioritized DEI and woke ideology, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly reversed course and restored a Department of War that is focused on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-in-disarray-as-hegseth-faces-double-crisis/? ps:Oh man are these guys pathetic or what?????

Shameful State of Trump’s Warship Is Finally Revealed The USS Abraham Lincoln is at port after 286 days at sea. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier arrived in Thailand on Wednesday looking rusty and beat up after a nightmare deployment. The ship is heading back to its home port of San Diego after being replaced by the Japan-based USS George Washington. The ship’s arrival at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi province comes weeks after concerns were raised about the welfare of the crew of about 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard. The Abraham Lincoln left San Diego on Nov. 21 last year and has spent almost all of the 286 days since at sea, making only brief stops in Guam in December and in Oman to replenish supplies as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran raged on. The 1,092-foot warship, which is one of the largest in the world, looked a shadow of its former self as it lumbered into the port near the party destination of Pattaya in the east of Thailand. Crowds gathered to watch the spectacle after sunrise, with the deterioration of the ship becoming clearer as it edged closer to port. The vessel’s paint has chipped off badly, whilst rust seems to dominate its hull. It will stay in Laem Chabang Port for a four-day “rest and relaxation” stop before continuing its journey back to the U.S. This is its first full port stop since it was deployed in November. “Our arrival in Laem Chabang provides a well-deserved opportunity for our sailors and Marines to rest and recharge,” said Rear Adm. Robert E. Loughran, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3. “It also underscores the strong and enduring partnership and alliance between the United States and Thailand.” Indeed, those excited sailors and Marines were photographed spilling onto the streets of Pattaya, a resort town known as Thailand’s ‘Sin City,’ which has a murky sex-driven illegal underworld. NBC News reported that some 5,000 service members were set to enjoy the seaside destination. “Please be on your best behavior,” a commanding officer could be heard saying over loudspeaker, according to the aforementioned publication. The former fishing village has a murky underworld and a reputation as a sex tourism hot spot. Officials were ready for the arrival of the pent-up sailors. In preparation, over the weekend Thai police conducted a late-night sweep targeting public prostitution along Pattaya’s main beachfront promenade, according to Thai media. Twenty-five people suspected of soliciting in public were detained, including 18 Thais, five Laotians and two Ugandans. The sailors will be glad to leave the floating nightmare. Family members had spoken out about the gross conditions on the aircraft carrier, whose deployment was originally expected to last seven months before being extended. Conditions reportedly deteriorated after Iran destroyed a U.S. Navy base in Manama, Bahrain, which had served as a vital supply hub for American forces in the region. Sailors have reportedly been forced to wash in moldy showers, ration their meals and necessities such as soap, toothpaste, and deodorant, while many are working to the point of exhaustion, with some experiencing deteriorating mental health. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-rust-covered-warship-limps-to-port-after-nightmare-voyage/?

👋 Good morning! The NFL season kicks off a week from today. Stat du jour: In the last 40 years, only two men have won a US Open match at age 40 or older: Jimmy Connors, the day he turned 40, and Gaël Monfils, the day he turned 40, which was yesterday. In today's edition: College sports is eating itself, calling pitches from the dugout, the end of a Big Three streak, KD's investment portfolio, College Football Challenge (make your picks!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Kroenke buys Angels: Stan Kroenke, who already owns the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Arsenal and more, has entered an agreement to buy the Angels from Arte Moreno for an MLB-record $4 billion. "It was needed," said Mike Trout, who has won three MVPs, made 12 All-Star teams… and played a grand total of three playoff games in 16 years with the team. 🎾 Disaster averted: Top-seeded Alexander Zverev survived what would have been a historic upset against Lorenzo Sonego at the US Open, coming back to win in five sets to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed in over 20 years to lose his first round match at a grand slam. 🏒 ASU hockey investigation: An investigation is ongoing after Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich collapsed and later fell into a coma during the first day of workouts with the team last month. The 2023 Blues draft pick remains in a coma two weeks later. ⛳️ Presidents Cup teams set: Captains Brandt Snedeker (USA) and Geoff Ogilvy (International) have finalized their 12-man rosters for the Presidents Cup, the biennial tournament coming to Medinah Country Club (Illinois) later this month. The Americans have won 10 straight editions, and 13 of 15 overall. ⚽️ Balogun deal falls apart: After it looked like a transfer was in place to send Folarin Balogun from Monaco to Everton, the deal fell apart on Tuesday ahead of the English transfer window closing. The USMNT star reportedly failed the physical, which led to Everton negotiating the terms, and Balogun ultimately deciding to stay at Monaco.   SPORTS MOVE FAST. SO DO THE MARKETS. Polymarket turns sports predictions into markets you can trade. Find the matchup or future you like, take your position, then watch the price move as the action unfolds. Stay in or trade out before it's over. Your call.   🎓 COLLEGE CHAOS HOW DID WE GET HERE? (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) Do you ever read a college sports headline in the year 2026, step back for a second, and think, How did we get here? How did we get to the point where players on actual NFL rosters are rejoining the college ranks? (Developing story: LSU is seeking to import ex-NFL and NBA players, and the SEC is not happy about it. A trial looms Thursday.) How did we get to the point where players can hop from school to school, turning entire rosters into hordes of roaming freelancers and destroying any lasting connection with their university? How did we get to the point where southwest legends Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC, Stanford and Cal are in the ACC, and extremely non-Midwestern schools from California, Washington and Oregon are in the Big Ten? How did we get to the point where Congress is trying to step in and regulate college athletics? Where federal, state and district courts — not schools, conferences or the NCAA — are deciding who can and can't play? Seriously, how did we get to the point where college football has devolved from joyful celebration of everything that makes sports great into vindictive, litigation-filled chaos? What they're saying: "It's embarrassing where we are with college football," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said on Tuesday ahead of his team's marquee matchup with LSU this weekend. “We have no rules. There's no governance. It's a joke. Never did I think I'd be living in an era like this but that's where we are." Jay Busbee, Yahoo Sports: You can trace all of the "How-did-we-get-to-the-point-wheres" to the tsunami of revenue rolling into the sport, money that effectively obliterates decades of tradition. Every time Money and Tradition collide, Money wins in a five-touchdown rout. And in the stands, plenty of fans, broadcasters and university officials who were once wearing Tradition jerseys have happily changed into Money ones now that they've seen how the game is going. But nobody roots for Money. Nobody roots for new broadcast agreements, or for escalating coaching salaries, or congressional acts "protecting" college sports. People root for their teams on the field, the competition and tradition and aura that surrounds a college football Saturday. Every single grubby money-grab, every tacky justification, every courtroom filing only tarnishes the game a little more. Keep reading: College athletics is eating itself, and LSU is at the head of the table   ⚾️ DUGOUT DECISIONS WHO'S CALLING THE PITCHES? (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) The role of MLB catchers is changing rapidly, and not just due to the introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS). The latest evolution? Some teams are calling pitches from the dugout, with coaches making and relaying the pitch selection instead of entrusting catchers with that responsibility. Russell Dorsey, Yahoo Sports: The Marlins began this trend in 2025, opting to have a member of the team's coaching staff call pitches from the dugout and signal them to the catcher via signs. From there, the catcher selects the pitch via PitchCom, and the pitcher executes. The trend is catching on around the league. The Mets, Rockies and, most recently, Nationals have been calling pitches from the dugout this season. Several more teams, while they might not have adopted this practice at the big-league level, have experimented with it in the minor leagues and discussed implementing it. Calling pitches from the dugout isn't uncommon in high school or college ball, where many coaches call pitches from the side. Historically, though, once a catcher reaches pro ball, he is responsible for calling the game. With this latest trend, that could change across the league. "I think it's going to end up being a real thing here soon," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "I thought about this when I was [coaching] in college. I'm like, 'The major-league guys are crazy. Why wouldn't they do what we're doing?' It makes too much sense." What they're saying: Some backstops are excited about the direction this could push the position, while others reject losing a responsibility they consider to be a core part of their craft. For: "I feel like you can focus a lot more on the physical aspect [when not calling pitches]," says Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman. "You can think more about the running game or, like, how I'm going to receive this pitch. Your brain is not so locked down on 'Is this the right pitch? Is this the right spot?' … It kind of frees you up for some of the actual catching stuff." Against: "Hate it, man. I understand that's kind of where the game's heading, but it's taking the feel out of the game," said Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers. "If I'm looking in the dugout trying to get the pitch from the dugout, I'm not paying attention to this guy [at the plate]. He could be adjusting right in front of me, and I'm not paying attention to it." Looking to the future: New trends don't always stick, but plenty of top minds around the game believe this particular change is here to stay. "Five years from now, I would say 90% of teams [are calling pitches from the dugout]," says Marlins assistant pitching coach Rob Marcello. And in 10 years? "I imagine that it's going to be like the NFL, where you have a coordinator calling it from up top," says Reds catcher Jose Trevino. "Like, after I'm done playing, I could get a call from a team and they're like, 'Come call pitches for us.'"   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Djokovic falls to the court after losing his opening match at the US Open. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images) 🎾 1,249 weeks later Novak Djokovic will fall out of the top 10 when the next ATP rankings are released on Sept. 14. That will mark the first time since Oct. 7, 2002,* that neither Djokovic nor Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal will be in the top 10 — a 1,249-week stretch of uninterrupted Big Three presence. Never has the end of this era been more apparent. Anatomy of a streak: Federer, who first cracked the top 10 in May 2002, started the streak in October 2002. He stayed there until November 2016, returned three months later, and fell out for good in October 2021. Nadal entered in April 2005 and didn't leave until March 2023, a record 912 consecutive weeks. Djokovic entered in March 2007, briefly fell out due to injury in 2017-18, and has remained there ever since. Alex Bregman rounds the bases after his third homer of the game in Monday night's win over the Brewers. (Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images) ⚾️ 62 home runs The Cubs just rattled off one of the most prolific slugging months in MLB history, smacking a National League-record 62 home runs in August. The only team to hit more in a single calendar month was the 2019 Yankees, with 74. Dynamic duo: Pete Crow-Armstrong (14 HR in August) and Alex Bregman (12) became just the third pair of teammates to each hit at least a dozen homers in the same month. The others? Rangers duo Iván Rodríguez and Rafael Palmeiro (August 1999) and Yankees legends Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (June 1960 and July 1961). Tacko Fall with the Cavaliers in 2021. Otto Porter Jr., the guy on the left, is 6-foot-8. (Jason Miller/Getty Images) 🏀 7-foot-6 The 76ers have signed 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall to give them some more depth behind the oft-injured Joel Embiid. Fall, who last played in the NBA in 2021, is tied with Yao Ming and Shawn Bradley as the third-tallest player in league history. Only Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol, both 7-foot-7, stood taller. In related news: Philadelphia also signed Jameer Nelson Jr., son of the former national college player of the year (remember those Saint Joseph's teams?) and 14-year NBA veteran who now serves as the Sixers' VP of Basketball Operations. Man, that makes me feel old. *Here's what the ATP Top 10 looked like on Oct. 7, 2002: 1. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), 2. Tommy Haas (Germany), 3. Andre Agassi (USA), 4. Marat Safin (Russia), 5. Tim Henman (Great Britain), 6. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain), 7. Albert Costa (Spain), 8. Sébastien Grosjean (France), 9. Carlos Moya (Spain), 10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)   📈 PORTFOLIO PROFILE THE SLIM REAPER REAPS INVESTMENT GAINS (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Activision/Call of Duty) Nvidia bought open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion last week, handing Kevin Durant another massive investing win. The hoops legend backed the company's seed and Series A rounds in 2017 and 2018, when it was still a chatbot app. Portfolio: Durant's holdings, amassed primarily via Thirty Five Ventures, span a variety of categories, including sports (Philadelphia Union, Paris Saint-Germain, Gotham FC, LOVB). Given last week's news, we're focusing today on his murderer's row of early-stage tech investments. The below victories (plus Hugging Face) only scratch the surface. WHOOP: Invested in 2017, a year before it was valued at $125M, and again in the company's Series E at a $1.2B valuation. WHOOP was valued at $10.1B in March. Robinhood: Invested in Robinhood at a $1.2B valuation in 2017. The company was valued at $32B in its 2021 IPO, and its market cap today is $94B. Coinbase: Invested at a $1.6B valuation in the company's 2017 Series D. Coinbase opened trading in 2021 at a valuation near $100B, though its market cap today is $47B. Postmates: Invested in 2016, reportedly netting Durant $15M when Uber bought the company for $2.65B. Golden opportunity in the Golden State: Durant played for the Warriors from 2016 to 2019. He initiated each of the above investments during that period. Today, his track record ensures he's a desirable name to list on any cap table no matter where he's playing, but his time spent so proximate to Silicon Valley kickstarted a remarkable investing career. This story first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Sign up here to begin receiving it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 Tiafoe reacts during his first round win. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images) 🎾 US Open, Second Round The second round gets underway today in Queens (11am ET, ESPN/ESPN+), where Jessica Pegula (11:30am), Aryna Sabalenka (7pm), Frances Tiafoe (7pm) and Carlos Alcaraz (8:10pm) are among those headlining the action. Strong openers: Now that Novak Djokovic's staggering streak of 78 consecutive first-round major victories has come to an end, the longest active streak belongs to Tiafoe (22 straight). The next longest, as you might have guessed, belong to Alcaraz (21) and Jannik Sinner (20). More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Brewers at Cubs (7:40pm, MLB) … What does NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.73 ERA) have in store for us tonight? ⚽️ Leagues Cup: Toluca vs. León (9pm, Apple); Club América vs. Monterrey (11:30pm, Apple) … Semifinals in Los Angeles and Houston. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 11 (8:45am, Peacock) … Riders travel 97 miles from Cartagena to Lorca. Spain's own Enric Mas holds the lead at the midpoint.   🏈 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) The NFL season kicks off exactly one week from today. Friendly reminder to set a date for your Fantasy Football draft! Question: Which nine franchises have won multiple Super Bowls this century (since Jan. 1, 2000)? Hint: Five NFC, four AFC. Answer at the bottom.   🏆 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS! Introducing College Football Challenge, a new weekly game where you'll be competing against fellow Yahoo Sports AM readers — and both of us (Kendall and Jeff). How it works: Each week, you'll make 10 picks about Saturday's best matchups, taking into account margin of victory. We'll have winners each week and your stats accumulate, so we'll also have winners at the end of the season. Make your picks: Create your entry now, and join the Yahoo Sports AM group.   Trivia answer: Patriots (6 Super Bowls), Chiefs (3), Steelers (2), Ravens (2), Seahawks (2), Eagles (2), Buccaneers (2), Giants (2), Rams (2)

This Is How Melania Is Profiteering From Trump: Author The first lady has used her status primarily for personal gain rather than for others’ benefit, author Michael Wolff said. Melania Trump is a pioneering first lady, but not necessarily for the right reasons, according to the president’s longtime biographer. Appearing on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast, author Michael Wolff said that the first lady’s tenure is unprecedented in the way that she’s turned her public duty into a money machine. “There has never been a situation like this,” Wolff told host Joanna Coles. “Never been a first lady who... gets not to live in the White House. A first lady who clearly doesn’t want to spend any time with her husband.” Wolff alleged in the latest edition of his Substack, Howl, that Melania may not have spent a single night in the White House during her husband’s second term. He claimed the first lady is now “firmly ensconced in New York City,” rather than the Executive Residence. “There may have been first ladies who don’t want to spend time with their husband, but by the nature of the role, they have to. Not for Melania Trump,” he continued. “But in addition to that, she gets paid millions upon millions upon millions of dollars for being the first lady.” “She’s the first person who has, again, hiding in plain sight, gone out and built a business around being a first lady, in which she pocketed herself individually $17 million last year,” the author added.President Donald Trump’s certified annual financial disclosure released in July revealed that his wife pocketed millions from her eponymous vanity documentary, in addition to her book sales and crypto NFTs. The first lady earned more than $10 million from the film alone. Directed by disgraced filmmaker Brett Ratner, the documentary cost $75 million to produce and earned only $16.6 million worldwide during its theatrical run. Melania raked in an additional $6 million from her collection of NFTs, and another $500,000 from her autobiography, according to the certified disclosure. “This is extraordinary,” Wolff said. “Among all of the extraordinary things in the Trump administration, among all the norm-breaking, this one is right out up front.” What’s even more incredulous, the author added, was the fact that she “doesn’t do anything as the first lady.” “What are the two roles of being the first lady? To sort of be a model of domestic propriety at some level, and to support good causes,” he explained. “Well, she’s clearly not a model of domestic propriety, and the cause that she supports is... her own business interests.” “There’s a lot of people around Trump—supporters, friends, family—who have gotten these incredible deals, who are getting rich off of Donald Trump, but the price for them is abject loyalty,” Wolff added. “So she is the only one who not only... doesn’t have to appear loyal—as a matter of fact, appears quite disloyal—but who has achieved this level of independence.” The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-is-how-melania-is-profiteering-from-trump/?

Republicans Have a Texas-Sized Senate Problem on Their Hands. What’s It Going To Cost Them? Spoiler alert: President Trump is not feeling generous. This column is being republished with permission from its original home on Substack. For more from Chris Cillizza, subscribe here. As November’s midterm elections loom ominously on the GOP’s horizon, Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn has unloaded on the man who beat him in a runoff to become the Republican nominee in the state’s Senate race over the summer: Ken Paxton. “Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Cornyn told the Texas Tribune. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it — we are where we are.” You might be tempted to dismiss Cornyn’s comments as simply sour grapes — after all, Paxton ended the incumbent’s Senate career over the summer by a whopping 28 points. And I am sure Cornyn is bitter. But he’s also right! Here’s the fundraising numbers (as of June 30) for Paxton and Democratic nominee James Talarico: Paxton: $9.2 million raised, $7.5 million spent, $1.75 million on hand Talarico: $68 million raised, $47 million spent, $21.5 million on hand Talarico has raised seven times more than Paxton—and has 12 times as much money left to spend. And it’s not just Cornyn making that point. Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy, in an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, bluntly admitted that “money is a problem” in the Texas race, adding: “We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas. We need help from the president.” Texas is going to be—at minimum—a $100 million investment for the GOP. Paxton has never been a good fundraiser. He isn’t going to turn into one all of a sudden. Senate Republicans don’t want to be on the hook, because they were very clear that Cornyn rather than Paxton was the better general election nominee. Trump endorsed Paxton anyway. Under that line of thinking, Trump—and the $400 million that MAGA Inc., his allied super PAC, has sitting in the bank—should be the one to try to bail Paxton out of political disaster. Except that Trump isn’t super keen on that. While a Paxton super PAC is reportedly going on air to the tune of $15 million this week, the larger question remains: Who is going to cut the check—and it’s a very big check—that it is going to take to (potentially) drag Paxton to victory? It’s a question on which the Senate majority might tilt. https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-have-a-texas-sized-senate-problem-on-their-hands-whats-it-going-to-cost-them/?

Trump Demands His Own Fans Pony Up Fortune Just for a Photo Getting in the door costs much, much more. A picture is worth a thousand words—and $88,600, if GOP donors want theirs taken with Donald Trump next week. The Republican National Committee is holding two events on Sept. 9 and 10 in Dallas as part of a midterm convention, during which Trump and Vice President JD Vance will appear at roundtables and give keynote addresses. Each event is pricey to attend, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, not including the cost of a photo. Just getting in the door at the Sept. 9 event with Trump, 80, costs $250,000, according to an RNC invitation seen by the outlet. Donors who then want their photo taken with the president must pay $88,600 more. To see Vance, 41, the following day costs $75,000, and a photo with him runs $35,000, the invitation says. The Daily Beast has contacted the RNC and the White House for comment. Four other elections for Senate seats held by Republicans are also deemed battlegrounds: Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, and Maine.In some states, the early voting window opens later this month. Meanwhile, the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. has plenty of cash to use on the midterms: more than $400 million. Over $800,000 of that was used last month to help South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham advance to the general election, much to the surprise of her primary opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman. MAGA Inc. hasn’t publicly announced any spending plans against Democrats, which has led some Republicans to worry about Texas in particular. “They keep saying they’ll spend, but they haven’t,” a senior GOP source told CNN. Spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told CNN that the super PAC “will be hosting events throughout the nation” leading up to the midterms, but to date it hasn’t announced any events in Texas. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-fans-asked-to-cough-up-88k-for-photo-in-gop-cash-grab/? ps:Beyond pathetic!!!!!

‘Battered’ Putin Vows to Hit Back as Crisis Spirals The Russian dictator admits Ukrainian strikes are hitting his country where it hurts. Vladimir Putin has vowed revenge after Ukraine humiliated the Russian dictator with a new drone attack on a major oil hub. A barrage of long-range drones on Tuesday left the vast Ust-Luga fuel terminal in flames. The terminal, on the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg, can process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day. It was the latest attack on Russia’s energy infrastructure as Kyiv focuses on economic targets four years into Putin’s war—a strategy that appears to be taking a toll on the 73-year-old president. Putin told reporters on Tuesday he had ordered his military to prepare and launch large-scale strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities. “They battered our people, and they will get a response,” Putin warned, in what amounted to a public admission that Ukraine’s attacks are inflicting real damage on his country. Ukraine struck Russian oil refineries at least 21 times last month, the highest number recorded in a single month, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The attacks have meant Russia has struggled to produce enough fuel to meet domestic demand, despite being the world’s third-largest oil producer, accounting for more than 12 percent of global crude oil production. Wholesale fuel prices have soared, authorities have introduced rationing in several regions, and videos circulating on social media have shown motorists waiting in long lines to refuel in Moscow. Oil exports and the broader energy sector account for roughly 30 percent of Russia’s budget revenues and remain critical to financing Moscow’s war effort. The Ust-Luga terminal targeted on Tuesday is Russia’s second-largest shipping terminal, behind Novorossiysk in southern Russia, which has also been hit by Ukrainian drones. “Damage and fire were recorded in the Ust-Luga port area as a result of the drone attack,” Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region, said on Telegram. Putin has attempted to ease public frustration over the fuel crunch, with lengthy lines returning to gas stations and major fuel suppliers reimposing limits on gasoline purchases. “The situation will gradually improve,” Putin said in mid-July, weeks after admitting that Ukraine’s attacks on his oil refineries have resulted in Russia facing a “certain shortage” of fuel. On Tuesday, the Russian president also claimed that Russia had repaired 90 percent of the oil refineries damaged in Ukrainian attacks. “We have only 10 percent of our refineries left to repair, but it wasn’t enough to prevent another strike on the ones that had already been repaired,” Putin told reporters. “Just last night, there was another attempt to strike three oil refineries. It didn’t work because they’re already protected.” But one of Putin’s most prominent foes warned last month that Ukraine’s relentless drone campaign is pushing Russia’s battered oil industry toward a potentially catastrophic “breaking point.” Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 63, the self-exiled former oligarch who headed the oil giant Yukos, suggested that Ukraine’s repeated strikes on oil refineries had caused damage that Moscow could no longer properly repair while keeping the facilities running, contradicting Putin’s remarks this week. “No one can name the day when the patches give out—not in Kyiv, not in Washington, and not in Moscow,” Khodorkovsky wrote in a blog post. “But the question is no longer whether Ukraine’s campaign is working, it’s what happens as the breaking point approaches.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/battered-putin-vows-to-hit-back-as-crisis-spirals/?

Trump Sparks Fury With Plans to Tear Down Popular Sculpture From Kennedy Center Joel Shapiro’s Blue is the latest victim of the president’s hands-on redesign. Donald Trump has ordered the tearing down of a popular statue in the latest step of his MAGA makeover of the Kennedy Center. The National Park Service will close an area around the performing arts hub on Wednesday and bring in a crane to yank Joel Shapiro’s Blue from the grounds. The dancing figure becomes the latest casualty of Trump’s redesign of the center on the banks of the Potomac. Internal documents obtained by The New York Times suggest that the sculpture was tapped early in Trump’s second term for removal. Former curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center, Josef Palermo, was laid off in March as Trump installed lackeys across the board. He said on Tuesday that the lack of announcement about the removal was worrying. “The Kennedy Center is in effect holding these pieces in trust for the American people, and there should be a lot more transparency,” he said. The statue had been in situ outside the REACH theater expansion since 2019. The trust that owns it will determine its next location. Hands Off The Arts, an activism collective that aims to protect art threatened by Trump’s politicization of the center, reacted angrily to the news. “First they came for the façade, now they come for the grounds. Say your final goodbyes to Blue, Joel Shapiro’s beloved figure outside The REACH,” an Instagram statement from the group read. It referenced Trump’s ill-fated efforts to have his name permanently fixed to the front of the center. “Wednesday, September 2, 2026 will forever be known as the day the United States government tore down a piece of public art at the behest of a petulant crybaby. But it won’t be the last.” The group said they had “paused” a protest scheduled for Friday, but added that it had “some other ideas up our sleeves.” “Knowing President Trump’s blue state hysteria, bet the Kennedy Center statue would stay in place if it were red. Or gold,” another commentator added. Another person had a similar take. “Pretty sure if we slap tacky gold leaf gilding on it 47 would love it,” they said. President Donald J. Trump has taken aim at the Reach, a $250 million expansion that marks the only structural addition to the Kennedy Center since its 1971 debut. Philanthropist David Rubenstein, the former Kennedy Center chairman ousted after Trump stacked the board with his own loyalists, primarily funded the project. In a court filing pushing to put Trump’s name back on the front of the building, administration lawyers ridiculed the addition’s moniker, writing that “just seven years ago, the Center named a substantial portion of its grounds, ‘The REACH,’ without a semblance of protest. Nobody had any idea what it even meant.” Despite the legal team’s confusion, the name is a deliberate acronym standing for Renew, Experience, Activate, Create, and Honor—a nod to President John F. Kennedy’s visionary ideals and the institution’s mission to make the arts accessible to the public. The tearing down of Blue follows filings ahead of last week’s court appearance in which Trump administration lawyers suggested the building could be bulldozed and replaced with an outdoor amphitheater unless they could shut the place down for two years to carry out the renovations the president has deemed necessary. They argued that the venue was “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital.” Trump took control of the Kennedy Center after returning to office, replacing its leadership and installing a board that made him chairman. His obsession with it is one of the many ways he is trying to reshape Washington in his own image. The 80-year-old former real estate mogul is also constructing a ballroom at the White House; building a helipad on the South Lawn; and planning a giant arch near the sacred Arlington Cemetery. He also attempted to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American flag blue”—only for his handpicked contractors to damage the iconic landmark. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-sparks-fury-with-plans-to-tear-down-beloved-sculpture-from-kennedy-center/? ps:What a pathetic leader!

Former Presidents Unite to Shame Trump Over 9/11 Diva Fit Donald Trump is snubbing a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic terror attacks. All four living former U.S. presidents have confirmed their attendance at a ceremony in New York next week to commemorate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which Donald Trump has decided to skip for a typically petty reason. Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the 9/11 attacks, will all attend the event at the World Trade Center site marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, The New York Times reported. Trump was initially also set to appear at the event at Ground Zero. However, the Times previously reported that the 80-year-old president bailed after being told he would not be allowed to deliver one of his rambling speeches at what is supposed to be a somber occasion to remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed that day. Instead, Trump will mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks at the Pentagon, which was also targeted by a plane hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum has barred politicians from making speeches at the annual Ground Zero commemoration since 2012, except for delivering poems or other texts, such as the Gettysburg Address, in order to keep the day’s focus on the victims and their families. Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the memorial on behalf of the Trump administration, but will not speak. Trump has furiously rejected the suggestion that he bailed on the 9/11 event in New York City after being told that he could not give a speech. In a vile Truth Social post, Trump attacked New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who was one of four bylines on the original report about his upcoming absence, and claimed that she had “made up a story.”“Maggot Hagerman, the Fake Reporter from The Failing New York Times, an unattractive person both inside and out, and who knows less about me than most reporters on the beat,” Trump wrote on Aug. 28. “She’s been falsely writing about me for years—She’s a stalker, and should be forced to turn over any and all money that she’s made through her fake reporting on me.” A source told the Times that Trump’s travel plans before and after the 9/11 event meant it made more sense to fly out from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after appearing at the Pentagon, rather than cause major logistical issues by flying from a commercial airport in New York or New Jersey. Trump is headlining a midterm convention in Dallas before the memorial and is scheduled to depart on Sept. 12 for his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, where the Irish Open will be held. Biden’s appearance at the 9/11 memorial will be a rare public outing for the 83-year-old as he is being treated for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 election rival who was a New York senator at the time of the 9/11 attacks, will also attend the memorial event. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-presidents-unite-to-shame-trump-over-911-diva-fit/?

Raging Trump Melts Down at TV Network Over His Big Disaster The president went nuclear on a seemingly innocuous news report. Petulant President Donald Trump has melted down over a minute-long ABC News segment about his disastrous war in the Middle East. The network’s chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, reported on Tuesday evening that the Trump administration was looking to “turn up the economic pressure” on Iran as the two countries traded military strikes for the first time since June. Bruce was referring to comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during an earlier interview with FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Bessent said the U.S. would target countries that support Iran, and freeze assets belonging to officials, as well as banks and offshore accounts. He called this “economic asphyxiation.” Appearing on World News Tonight with David Muir, Bruce said that showed clearly what the White House wanted to achieve. “The Trump administration is trying to turn up the economic pressure on Iran,” she said. “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying they are going to, quote, ‘economically asphyxiate Iran and force them to the bargaining table,’” she added, triggering Trump’s ire. Not long after the broadcast, the 80-year-old president posted on Truth Social, denying the report and appearing to contradict Bessent’s comments. “I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported,” he said. “I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” he added. Trump’s post ended with his usual sign-off—“President DJT”—although his Truth Social posts are mostly written and sent by his $150,000-a-year assistant, Natalie Harp, 35. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Tehran was prepared to “reciprocate” if the United States returns to the terms of the June ceasefire agreement negotiated by the two countries. Bruce also noted the escalation in fighting. On Sunday, the U.S. carried out rocket strikes on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command said it launched “precise action” against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to prevent it from placing mines in the vital shipping route. Tehran responded by attacking two U.S. bases in Jordan with ‌ballistic ⁠missiles. Iran also claimed that it targeted an air base in the UAE with drones, although these claims were denied by the nation’s Ministry of Defense. On Monday, in a Truth Social post just after 8 a.m. ET, the president described Iran as “officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD!” He followed up on Tuesday, saying that the U.S. was hitting targets near the Strait of Hormuz “in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines” to the waterway, and “shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan.” He warned: “If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” https://www.thedailybeast.com/raging-trump-melts-down-at-tv-network-over-his-big-disaster/? ps:Even more pathetic!!!!!

Exploring the Land of Abraham’s Birth The city of Urfa (known as Şanlıurfa in Turkish) is a living tapestry of faith. Nestled in southeastern Turkey and revered as the “city of prophets,” Urfa is one of those places where the air itself seems thick with millennia of prayer and pilgrimage. For travelers and seekers interested in the roots of the Bible and the interplay of archaeology and belief, Urfa offers an unparalleled experience. It is a landscape where the narratives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam converge with tangible force, from the cave believed to be the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham to the world’s oldest known temple complex at Göbekli Tepe. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-places/exploring-land-abrahams-birth/?

Longtime Republican Voter Calls BS on Trump Retiree Tom Weeks, 66, is among a growing number of Texans turning on Trump. A longtime Donald Trump voter has had enough of the president’s “bulls--t,” calling him out live on CNN. Lifelong Texas Republican Tom Weeks, 66, has pledged to vote for Democrats in the midterms over data center concerns. Many Republicans in the state are angry at Gov. Greg Abbott’s refusal to block construction of the massive facilities, giving his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, hope for an upset. A UT/TPPP poll found that 57 percent of Texas voters either strongly or somewhat oppose construction of the centers in their community. Among those is Weeks, who reacted angrily to President Trump pushing back against voters’ concerns. “The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday, appearing to undermine the concerns of everyday Americans. He didn’t stop there. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!” he ranted. Weeks, who met with Hinajosa last month to discuss his concerns, called Trump’s response “bulls--t.” “I think it is bulls--t rhetoric and is insulting as hell. It is insulting our intelligence because they don’t want to hear this noise on their property. Let them build one at Mar-a-Lago,” Weeks, who lives in the North Texas suburb of Granbury, told Laura Coates Live on CNN on Monday. “People who think we are backwards morons are not the ones living with it. I think he has made some moronic statements.” A growing voter backlash over data centers that strain local resources—and the AI technology they power, which threatens to put Americans out of work—is becoming an increasingly serious liability for Republicans. Abbot responded to the political backlash by halting approvals of some 1,800 new data centers worth billions of dollars, citing concerns that they use too much power and water. “My party has failed,” Weeks, who worked in the paper supply business, told the Washington Post last week. He’s been fighting against the construction of data centers and a bitcoin mine, rattled by the round-the-clock noise they bring. “Nothing has been done by our party to help,” he added. “Any Republican who has been in office since we started this fight, I’m not going to vote for them.” “We’re going to vote for whoever we think understands our plight and she does,” he said of Hinojosa, Abbott’s challenger. He’s not the only one. Rena Schroeder, who unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for a state Senate seat last March, attended a Talarico campaign event featuring Hinojosa last month. Schroeder, who now identifies as an independent, said she plans to vote Democratic. She also helped launch a group called “Break Rank,” which she said has attracted around 100 voters. Weeks is also involved. “We’re calling it ‘breaking rank’ because of the level of corruption” in the Republican Party, she said. “We the people are breaking rank.” Glenda Berg, another lifelong Republican, also plans to vote for Talarico and Hinojosa. Berg, 84, a retired bookkeeper who lives near Temple in Belton, said she voted for Abbott and Trump three times but has since been “appalled” by the president’s actions, which she said run “against what democracy is based on.” It comes amid a mounting approval problem for Trump. CNN reported his overall approval rating has fallen to 34 percent, matching a career low reached after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Half of Americans now strongly disapprove of him, a record high across his two terms, while just 15 percent strongly approve, also a record. Only 31 percent have a positive view of the Republican Party under his leadership, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS from July 23 to 27. Reuters separately reported that Trump’s political brand is increasingly a liability for Republicans defending slim congressional majorities in the November 3 midterms. A Reuters/Ipsos survey of 924 registered voters, conducted Aug. 28-31, found his approval at 33 percent, with Democrats appearing more energized heading into the midterms. A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll found Trump’s approval had fallen to a new low, with 32 percent of 1,000 respondents approving of his job performance and 64 percent disapproving, including 54 percent who strongly disapproved. The Aug. 21-26 survey marked a 1-point drop from March. It also found 68 percent said Trump was not handling the war with Iran well, compared with 25 percent who said he was handling it somewhat or very well. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points. https://www.thedailybeast.com/longtime-republican-voter-calls-bs-on-trump/? ps:It's about time, but I'll believe it when I see it!

MAGA Rep Throws Trump’s Insulting Lecture Back in His Face Rep. Tim Burchett is on the side of Americans who don’t want data centers built in their backyards. A MAGA congressman has blasted Donald Trump for suggesting that people who oppose the construction of data centers want to “end up being backwards and poor.” The 80-year-old president dismissed concerns from voters across the country who do not want the energy-intensive behemoths built in their communities, saying they should want them so they can be “successful and rich.” “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday. “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening.” When asked for his response to Trump’s remarks by MeidasTouch’s Pablo Manríquez, Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett replied: “I guess I’m backwards and poor.” “I think what we need to do is start putting those in military installations and places like that, and they’ve done a poor job of educating the public on those things,” Burchett, 62, said on Monday. “They’re just ‘oh, we’re for them, and then you should be for them’ kind of thing,” he added. “We should have brought everybody to the table. We used to stay in the legislature, go a little slower, get there a little faster.” Opposition to data centers is one of the few things that appears to unite the country. In June, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 77 percent of U.S. adults worry AI-driven data centers will raise electricity costs. More than half (57 percent) also said they would oppose building a data center in their community.A May Gallup survey also found that seven in 10 Americans said they would oppose constructing artificial intelligence data centers in their local area, including nearly half (48 percent) who were strongly opposed. Several MAGA and Republican federal and gubernatorial candidates have realized voters largely oppose data centers, running ads that break with Trump and voicing their opposition to boost their midterm chances. Trump’s own supporters made sure to tell the president they opposed him while replying to his Truth Social post. “Mr. President: Think about farm land and about water resources, and a man as intelligent as you will see that the absolute position you are taking is flawed,” one Truth Social user wrote. “What use is being rich if you cannot get access to water and food?” Another added: “Thank you, but no thanks. We wish to remain a farming community, not IT. America cannot eat a data center, or survive without our farms.” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most vocal opponents of data centers in Congress, had her own take on Trump’s assessment that only “backwards and poor” people do not want them built. “How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?” she told MeidasTouch. “We’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-rep-tim-burchett-throws-trumps-insulting-data-centers-lecture-back-in-his-face/?

Hegseth Posts Vile Attack on Woman as Pentagon Collapses Around Him No gibe is too cheap for the would-be presidential contender. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been called out for a vile social media post apparently mocking a Canadian youth cadet instructor for being overweight. Hegseth has been burnishing his Christian credentials for a possible presidential run in 2028 despite the Pentagon hemorrhaging top brass under his command as he backs Donald Trump’s increasingly costly war on Iran. The 46-year-old is also fixated on the physical appearance of the officers under his command, declaring last September that he no longer wants to see “fat generals and admirals” or overweight troops. On Monday, Hegseth shared a photo with his two million X followers originally posted by the Vernon Cadet Training Center, in British Columbia. It shows a smiling cadet receiving a medal on the final day of training. The Canadian facility teaches cadets aged 12 to 18 military-style leadership and drills and is operated under the Department of National Defense. Its instructors are largely volunteers. Hegseth picked one photo from the original carousel of 10, added a Canadian flag and wrote, “(this is real).” His post attracted a flood of criticism, with one Canadian veteran writing, “Wow. The Secretary of Defence is body shaming cadet groups. A youth group. This is not a military unit. They are kids looking for adventure, test themselves and align themselves with the values of service.” Another asked what point Hegseth was trying to make by sharing the picture. “You’re the Secretary of Defense, and our country is currently engaged in a war,” they wrote. “Why are you posting what appears to be some sort of insulting tweet about teenagers in Canada?” “Hegseth... is rage-posting about Canadian teenagers in a cadet program,” another post read. “Unserious, unhinged, and embarrassing.” Another commenter wrote: “There’s the Pete Hegseth brand of Christianity and there’s the Dolly Parton brand of Christianity. Be like Dolly.” The Daily Beast has contacted the Vernon CTC for comment. Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Jacob Bliss told the Daily Beast, “The X post speaks for itself.” In a statement to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defense said, “We are proud of the professionalism and contributions of all our dedicated Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members.” Promoting the program’s aim to provide youth with the opportunities to develop “leadership skills, knowledge, and self-confidence in a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment,” the statement added, “We celebrate the achievements of cadets across Canada and the dedicated CAF members, civilian instructors, and volunteers who help young people build character, resilience, and teamwork, preparing them to lead with integrity, serve with purpose, and grow with honor.” The post follows President Donald Trump, 80, ramping up his trade feud with Canada and signing an executive order to rename Lake Ontario—which straddles the U.S.-Canada border—“Lake America.” Hegseth previously opposed having women in key military positions. In November 2024, just days prior to Trump announcing his role running the Pentagon, the former Fox News host told podcast host Shawn Ryan, “I’m straight-up saying we should not have women in combat roles.” He added, “It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.” When Hegseth announced his new policies on “the highest male standards” for combat roles last September, Hegseth said, “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.” The X post comes as Hegseth is in the midst of a crisis at the Pentagon with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll quitting on Monday after months of feuding behind the scenes. Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that Driscoll quit due to “concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the Generals who were responsible.” A close friend of Vice President JD Vance, Driscoll is expected to exit the Pentagon in the coming days, according to The Wall Street Journal. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pete-hegseth-posts-vile-attack-on-woman-as-pentagon-collapses-around-him/?