APNewsBreak: Beyond bluster, US, NKorea in regular contact  —  https://apnews.com/686ac7c761694b28b677 93a1d8297145  —  Link copied!  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Beyond the bluster, the Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months …

Why I Was Fired by Google  —  James Damore says his good-faith effort to discuss differences between men and women in tech couldn't be tolerated in the company's ‘ideological echo chamber’  —  I was fired by Google this past Monday for a document that I wrote and circulated internally raising questions …

Manchin Emerges as Possible Pick for Energy Department  —  Move would let West Virginia's GOP governor to name successor  —  Idea in early stages of discussion, with Perry stance unclear  —  Some White House and Republican officials are exploring the idea of putting West Virginia Democratic …

Combative Trump Pulls His Punches for One Man: Putin  —  BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The roster of villains in President Trump's world is legion.  The list of people he has been willing, even eager, to publicly attack includes not just Mitch McConnell, his latest target, but Jeff Sessions …

Republicans, Remove This Madman From Power  —  As Trump tweets yet more provocations at North Korea, his ruling party must act before it's too late.  —  When Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama warned last year that Donald Trump was unfit to control the U.S. nuclear arsenal …

I'm a woman in computer science.  Let me ladysplain the Google memo to you.  —  I'm a lecturer in computer science at Stanford.  I've taught at least four different programming languages, including assembly.  I've had a single-digit employee number in a startup.  Yes, I'm a woman in tech.

Trump Won't Rule Out Military Option for Venezuela  —  ‘Venezuela is a mess,’ president says  —  President Donald Trump warned of possible military action in Venezuela on Friday, even as he amplified threats of an armed response to North Korea missile buildup.

MELANIA, IVANKA AND IVANA TRUMP WEAR HIGH HEELS, A SYMBOL OF EVERYTHING THAT IS BEAUTIFUL AND HORRIFYING ABOUT THEM  —  U.S. IVANKA TRUMP MELANIA TRUMP FIRST LADY DONALD TRUMP SHOES  —  There's been no rest for the wicked just a week into President Donald Trump's 17-day vacation …

The General Services Administration removed Trump hotel data from its website.  You can read it here.  —  On Thursday afternoon, three documents providing detailed financial information about President Trump's D.C. hotel could be found posted on the website of the General Services Administration.

The Bernie Bros and sisters are coming to Republicans' rescue  —  (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency)  —  Things could go well for the Democrats in next year's midterm elections — if they don't Bern out.  —  President Trump is woefully unpopular, feuding with Senate Majority …

Silicon Valley billionaire loses bid to prevent access to public beach  —  Court decision is blow to Vinod Khosla and other wealthy landowners seeking to buy renowned beaches, making public land private … A California court has ordered a Silicon Valley billionaire to restore access …

Former Mueller deputy on Trump: ‘Government is going to kill this guy’  —  CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd warned that President Trump is agitating the government, saying during a Thursday afternoon interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper that the U.S. government “is going to kill this guy.”

Judge Won't Let Ex-Fox News Star Keep Secret Her Feminism Book Was Ghostwritten by a Man  —  A judge rejects Andrea Tantaros' argument that professional jeopardy overcomes a presumption of access to judicial documents.  —  A New York federal judge has decided to lift the veil from a case captioned as [Under Seal] v. [Under Seal].

Steve Bannon's Tall Tale About How He Visited Pakistan in the Navy and Saw the Muslim Threat  —  If you ask Steve Bannon how he got the idea that Muslims in the Middle East are a civilizational threat to America, he will say that his eyes were first opened when he served on a Navy destroyer in the Arabian Sea.

Kid Rock gains GOP backing for U.S. Senate run  —  Kid Rock is gaining some establishment GOP support for a Senate run.  —  Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC formed during the 2016 election that has Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's backing, expressed support Friday for Kid Rock taking …

Daniel Loeb, a Cuomo Donor, Makes Racial Remark About Black Leader  —  The hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb, a prominent supporter of charter schools and a major financial backer of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and congressional Republicans, accused the African-American woman who leads the Democrats …

Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret, Critics Say  —  WASHINGTON — When career employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are summoned to a meeting with the agency's administrator, Scott Pruitt, at agency headquarters, they no longer can count on easy access …