Scott running for Senate in epic showdown with Nelson, test of Trump's popularity  —  TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Rick Scott makes his long-awaited Senate candidacy official Monday, setting up an epic battle against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson and testing the limits of whether a close alliance …

To hell with it: Trump increasingly weary of staff advice  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The speech was written.  A cast of relatable Americans with emotional stories was standing by to reinforce the message.  But President Donald Trump was in no mood to play along.

Israel blamed for missile strike in Syria; 14 reported dead  —  BEIRUT (AP) — Russia and the Syrian military blamed Israel for a pre-dawn missile attack Monday on a major air base in central Syria, saying Israeli fighter jets launched the missiles from Lebanon's air space.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he's left Facebook over data collection  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told USA TODAY he's leaving Facebook out of growing concern for the carelessness with which Facebook and other Internet companies treat the private information of users.

The Sam Harris debate  —  Ezra and Sam Harris debate race, IQ, identity politics, and much more.  —  There's a lot of backstory to this podcast, which is covered in more detail in this piece.  —  The short version is that Sam Harris, host of the Waking Up podcast, and I have been going back and forth …

Facebook Launches New Initiative to Help Scholars Assess Social Media's Impact on Elections  —  By Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, and David Ginsberg, Director of Research  —  Today, Facebook is announcing a new initiative to help provide independent …

White House has no plan for countering Comey  —  Former FBI director James Comey is about to return to the national spotlight with the release of his memoir next week — but the White House is doing little to prepare for the onslaught, according to two officials.

Art Collector and Bon Vivant Dies in Trump Tower Home He Couldn't Sell  —  Todd Brassner, who died in a fire at Trump Tower on Saturday, loved fast cars, electric guitars, expensive watches and making long, erudite pronouncements about art and art history.  He was an art dealer with health problems …

Bots in the Twittersphere  —  An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts - not human beings  —  The role of so-called social media “bots” - automated accounts capable of posting content or interacting with other users with no direct human involvement …

Trump Has Lost the Confidence of Investors  —  Equities, bonds and the dollar are showing anything but trust in the president's stewardship.  —  President Donald Trump likes to equate the rally in stocks since the November 2016 elections with confidence in him and his policies.

Cardi B's Money Moves  —  The rapper responsible for last year's most unexpected hit emerged from a singular New York City story of strip clubs, gangs, and below-board basement butt injections.  Navigating new fame and a new record, Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B is fighting to stay true …

Cynthia Nixon Wants to Legalize It  —  What would you say is harder: appearing in two concurrent Broadway shows when you were a full-time college student, or running for governor of New York State when most people know you only from “Sex and the City”?  I think that running for office …

Russian Stocks Take Worst Hit Since Crimea on Sanctions, Syria  —  Ruble falls most globally; stocks drop most since 2014  —  Analysts warn other companies could be next for penalties  —  Russian stocks headed for their biggest drop in four years and the ruble slumped the most in the world …

On the cusp of 112, a whirlwind tour for World War II's oldest veteran … Richard Overton, the grandson of a slave, worked in a furniture store and as a courier for decades until he finally retired when he was 85.  That was more than 25 years ago.  —  Now, Overton — the country's oldest …

Horror of Being Governed by ‘Fox & Friends’  —  During the early days of the Obama administration, I did a few appearances on “Fox & Friends.”  —  The conversations were predictably shallow, tilted and exploitive.  The hosts had a particular knack for asking the idiotic with chipper earnestness …

We're in a battle to defend democracy — and Trump is on the wrong side … What if the West found itself “engaged in a fundamental contest between our free and open societies and closed and repressive systems” — and the U.S. president was on the wrong side?  —  This is not a hypothetical question.

Trump vs Putin?  Time to Be ‘Scared’  —  In an early morning tweet exactly one year and 77 days into his presidency, Donald Trump on Sunday finally criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.  —  It took a chemical weapons attack in Syria by Putin's ally ("Animal Assad," …

In John Bolton, Trump Finds a Fellow Political Blowtorch.  Will Foreign Policy Burn?  —  WASHINGTON — Shortly after Ambassador John R. Bolton was sent to represent the United States at the United Nations, an institution he had long scorned as an anti-American citadel of corruption, he hosted President George W. Bush for a visit.

Betsy DeVos to Oklahoma teachers: ‘Serve the students’ … Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Oklahoma teachers who walked out of their classrooms to protest school funding cuts should “keep adult disagreements and disputes in a separate place.”  —  “I think about the kids,” DeVos said Thursday, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma  —  “I never got any help, any kind of therapy.  I never told anyone.”  —  X—  Last week I returned to Amherst.  It's been years since I was there, the time we met.  I was hoping that you'd show up again; I even looked for you, but you didn't appear.

Trump Hotel to Employees: Don't Hire Relatives … Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, has presented all kinds of headaches for his White House.  Forget the multiple federal investigations into the Kushner family businesses; his manifold financial interests have presented scores …

Sessions Has Asked A Federal Prosecutor To Oversee Document Production From The Clinton Email Investigation After Trump Criticism  —  US Attorney John Lausch will be overseeing the production of documents to a House committee relating to the Justice Department's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server.

Has the California backlash against liberal craziness finally begun?  —  In a state consumed by conservation and environmental issues, one highly endangered species has long gone unnoticed and unprotected - the California Conservative.  Is it still possible to rescue them from the brink of extinction?

The emerging plan to save the American labor movement  —  The Trump era has sparked some of the most creative thinking in labor in years.  —  The Center for American Progress (CAP), one of DC's most influential liberal think tanks with deep ties to the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton campaign …

'I know I don't need it'  —  Fabian Rodriguez was cradling his new rifle when he stopped at one of the gun-show booths to purchase a $5 chicken fajita MRE.  —  The “Meal Ready to Eat” is a mainstay for troops on combat missions.  But Rodriguez, a 28-year-old San Antonio native who sells auto paint …

Interior Official Compared Parkland Students To Nazis, Promoted Conspiracies  —  A high-ranking official at the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation has repeatedly shared conspiracy theories on his personal Facebook page, a review by TPM found, including posts calling the students …