Targeting Biden, Catholic Bishops Advance Controversial Communion Plan  —  The decision was aimed at the nation's second Catholic president and exposed bitter divisions in American Catholicism.  —  The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States, flouting a warning from the Vatican …

FBI asks Jan. 6 suspect about ties to Congress, extremists groups  —  NBC News reports the FBI have been questioning at least one of the people charged in the Capitol riot about his possible connections to members of Congress.

White House freezes Ukraine military package that includes lethal weapons  —  The Biden White House has temporarily halted a military aid package to Ukraine that would include lethal weapons, a plan originally made in response to aggressive Russian troop movements along Ukraine's border this spring.

A Grad Student Tried to Correct a Misleading COVID Narrative.  Rebekah Jones Tried to Ruin His Career for It  —  Jon Taylor's desire to help Floridians understand a pandemic that was remaking their lives nearly cost him his career.  —  Taylor, a 37-year-old Ph.D. candidate …

Why Do People Want Jeff Bezos to Buy and Eat the Mona Lisa?  —  An online petition that started as a joke has gone viral, becoming a kind of digital performance art piece all of its own.  —  In order to “imagine a new art, one must break the ancient art,” the French author Marcel Schwob wrote more than 100 years ago.

Video: Children narrowly missed in Bronx sidewalk shooting  —  MOUNT EDEN, the Bronx — Shocking video released by the NYPD Friday shows the moment two young children were nearly caught in the crossfire on a Bronx street when a gunman shot a man multiple times at close range.

'I'm a Republican.  I'm not sure what that means anymore.'  —  Chuck Hagel, who served as a GOP senator from Nebraska and as the secretary of defense in the Obama administration, discusses the current state of the GOP.

How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory  —  To Christopher Rufo, a term for a school of legal scholarship looked like “the perfect weapon.”  —  Remote work turned out to be advantageous for people looking to leak information to reporters.

The Delta Variant Could Create “Two Americas” Of COVID, Experts Warn  —  If you are fully vaccinated, you are most likely to be safe.  But in parts of the US where few people have gotten COVID vaccine shots, the Delta variant could trigger renewed deadly surges.  —  Copy

The Supreme Court's Newest Justices Produce Some Unexpected Results  —  In the term so far, including two major decisions on Thursday, the court's expanded conservative majority is fractured and its liberals are often on the winning side.  —  WASHINGTON — The arrival of Justice Amy Coney Barrett …

U.S. Military to Withdraw Hundreds of Troops, Aircraft, Antimissile Batteries From Middle East  —  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Saudi crown prince of drawdown in June 2 call, officials say  —  WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is sharply reducing the number of U.S. antimissile systems …

South China Morning Post publishes story about alleged defector  —  Yesterday, Allahpundit wrote about the Daily Beast story about rumors that a high level Chinese State Security Minister had defected to the United States in February.  According to the story, his name is Dong Jingwei and he is (or was) China's top spy-catcher:

She Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away  —  At 17, biologist Juliane Diller was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Amazon.  Fifty years later she still runs Panguana, a research station founded by her parents in Peru.  —  On the morning after Juliane Diller fell to earth …

Victoria's Secret Angel Megan Rapinoe Is Under Fire For Anti-Asian Tweet  —  Earlier this week, Victoria's Secret clipped its own wings by leaving attractive women in the dust for Megan Rapinoe, who looks like Tony Hawk's sister.  Now the new face of Victoria's Secret is in hot water for some iffy tweets back in 2011.

Man surrenders after video shows vandal in truck with Trump flag damaging Pride mural  —  DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - A 20-year-old man intentionally damaged a colorful crosswalk mural in Delray Beach, police said.  It had been painted to commemorate Pride month in solidarity with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community.

Texas loses to Oklahoma on electric vehicle company Canoo's ‘mega-factory.’ Power grid cited as one reason.  —  Canoo says it will complete its assembly plant in Oklahoma by 2023 but will manufacture and ship its first vehicles to U.S. customers from the Netherlands by the end of 2022.

Dow Falls More Than 500 Points  —  Stocks drop after Fed official James Bullard said he expects the first rate increase in late 2022  —  U.S. stocks retreated Friday, as traders warily eyed the Federal Reserve for hints of where monetary policy is headed.  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average …

Pennsylvania Republicans want voters to be able to recall elected officials — but only in Philly |  Clout  —  Clout pop quiz: What's the most efficient way to foul up reform-minded legislation with potential for bipartisan support in Harrisburg?  Make it apply only to Philadelphia!

Ronald J. Ostrow, tenacious Times reporter who led the paper's Watergate coverage, dies  —  Ronald J. Ostrow, a soft-spoken but tenacious reporter who helped vault The Times into the first rank of Washington journalism during the Watergate scandal and won respect from leading Democrats and Republicans alike …

Washington Society Steps Back Out  —  Like a grizzly waking from hibernation, the ruling class is coming out of this thing with an appetite.  —  WASHINGTON — Something surreal was happening on the Potomac one recent night.  A big white tent erected outside the Kennedy Center seemed to be a portal back in time.

New Covid study hints at long-term loss of brain tissue, Dr. Scott Gottlieb warns  — A new U.K. study examined brain imaging before and after a coronavirus infection and looked specifically at the potential effect on the nervous system.  — “In short, the study suggests …

Joe Rogan torches CNN's Brian Stelter: 'Hey motherf—er, you're supposed to be a journalist'  —  'Brian Stelter's show keeps slipping and slipping and slipping in the ratings'  —  Podcast juggernaut Joe Rogan blasted CNN's leftwing media guru Brian Stelter on Thursday's installment of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

Why Has “Ivermectin” Become a Dirty Word?  —  At the worst moment, Internet censorship has driven scientific debate itself underground  —  On December 8, 2020, when most of America was consumed with what The Guardian called Donald Trump's “desperate, mendacious, frenzied and sometimes farcical” …

Grothman Bill Bans Critical Race Theory  —  Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) has introduced the Ending Critical Race Theory in D.C. Public Schools Act.  This legislation ensures that the harmful ideology of Critical Race Theory (CRT) will no longer be present in the Washington, D.C. public school system.

A Homeless Amazon Warehouse Worker in New York City Tells Her Story  —  “Jeff Bezos has no idea that his workers are homeless, especially in New York, and I'm not the only one.”  —  Lauren Kaori Gurley  —  Natalie Monarrez's commute to work at Amazon's colossal warehouse in Staten Island …

44% of Voters Rate Biden's European Trip a Success  —  President Joe Biden just completed a weeklong trip to Europe that included the G7 summit and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but less than half of voters think his European trip was successful.