State Senate to seek more election material from Maricopa County; door-to-door questioning recommended  —  Andrew Oxford Mary Jo PitzlArizona Republic  —  Senate President Karen Fann said the Legislature needs more materials and data from Maricopa County for an unprecedented and controversial review …

“You're Gonna Have a Fucking War”: Mark Milley's Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran  —  Inside the extraordinary final-days conflict between the former President and his chairman of the Joint Chiefs.  —  The last time that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff …

Kevin McCarthy Rolls Over for Donald Trump, Like a Dog  —  HEEL … The meeting itself, at Trump's golf course, of course, was a show of dominance from the party's real leader to its House “leader.”  —  So Kevin McCarthy met with Donald Trump ("Much to discuss!), and I'm struggling to come …

Talking With Tucker Carlson, the Most Powerful Conservative in America  —  On a Thursday afternoon in June, five months after Inauguration Day, I asked Tucker Carlson whether Joe Biden was the legitimately elected President of the United States.  —  This was halfway through a meandering phone conversation …

Manchin Says No Filibuster Exception for Voting Rights Bill  —  Senator Joe Manchin said he wouldn't carve out an exemption to the chamber's filibuster rule for voting rights legislation, effectively dashing chances that Democrats could maneuver around Republican opposition to overhauling the nation's elections laws.

MAGA World's ‘Freedom Phone’ Actually Budget Chinese Phone  —  MAGA Influencers are pushing a phone preloaded with apps like Parler and Rumble that appears to be a vastly more expensive version of a phone made in China.  —  The pro-Trump internet went wild on Wednesday for the Freedom Phone …

Matt Gaetz hired legal firm used by Jeffrey Epstein and El Chapo, campaign report shows  —  Gaetz's campaign has spent $135,000 on legal expenses in the past year as his troubles have mounted.  —  Updated Just now  —  With his legal troubles still looming over him, U.S …

L.A. County will require masks indoors amid alarming rise in coronavirus cases  —  Just a month ago, Los Angeles County and the rest of California celebrated a long-awaited reopening, marking the tremendous progress made in the battle against COVID-19 by lifting virtually all restrictions on businesses and other public spaces.

The pandemic-fueled decline of cash  —  Cash is getting a bad reputation.  It was already on the ropes but the pandemic accelerated a decline that's been underway.  —  Why it matters: Consumers used less cash in 2020.  That along with a trend toward digital transactions in the smaller-dollar realm …

'I'm Here, Mom!':  FBI Arrests Man Who Wore Roman Gladiator Costume To Capitol Riot  —  Nathan Wayne Entrekin was talking to his mother during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.  —  Nathan Wayne Entrekin, a man who wore a Roman gladiator costume to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in support …

'The screen door slams, Mary's dress...' waves?  Sways?  An investigation into The Boss' mystery verb  —  The internet doesn't seem to know the correct lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's “Thunder Road.”  It's possible Springsteen doesn't know either.  —  The latest niche Twitter controversy began on July 3 …

Gaslighting for critical race theory  —  The conclusion of George Orwell's essay “Politics and the English Language” includes these two sentences: “Stuart Chase and others have come near to claiming that all abstract words are meaningless, and have used this as a pretext for advocating a kind of political quietism.

Floods in Germany and Other Parts of Western Europe Leave at Least 45 Dead  —  Strong rains caused rivers to burst their banks, overloaded sewage systems and washed away buildings in Germany and Belgium.  Homes and streets in the Netherlands and Switzerland also flooded.

Grassley And Johnson Request More Information From Justice Department About Special Counsel Mueller Team's Missing Phones  —  WASHINGTON - Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are asking the Justice Department for more information and records after learning that the department …

Explosive Interview Directly Implicates Trump in Tax Scheme  —  As investigators look into a scheme at the Trump Organization to avoid paying taxes on employee benefits, one witness has set the scene to show Trump was involved.  —  A witness in the New York investigation against the Trump Organization …

Fox News Guest Says Kamala Harris Slept Her Way to the Top: 'She Started Out Her Political Career as Willie Brown's Bratwurst Bun'  —  On Thursday, Jesse Kelly said on Fox News that “Kamala Harris will do anything to get ahead,” including sleeping around.  —  In the early 1990s …

Windermere police officer arrested in Capitol riot along with ex-Apopka cop son  —  A Windermere Police Department officer resigned and was arrested Thursday on charges that he participated in the January riot at the U.S. Capitol — the first member of Central Florida law enforcement to face charges in the attempted insurrection.

Biden's big bets on government grow: The Note  —  He needs people to see the federal government as a force for good.  —  If it's true that if you break it then you own it, does it necessarily follow that you own what you build?  —  President Joe Biden has cast his presidency in bold terms …

Sailor becomes first woman to complete Naval Special Warfare training  —  A sailor in the U.S. Navy made history this week by becoming the first woman to complete the service's rigorous, monthslong training for prospective Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen.

Covid vaccines for kids under 12 expected midwinter, FDA official says  —  Emergency authorization for Covid-19 vaccines in children under 12 could come in early to midwinter, a Food and Drug Administration official said Thursday, a move that could bring relief to many parents who have been unable to vaccinate their children.

Jeff Bezos Picks 18-Year-Old Dutch Student for Blue Origin Rocket Launch  —  Oliver Daemen will fly to the edge of space after another passenger who paid $28 million for the seat had a scheduling conflict.  —  Someone paid $28 million to not go to space with Jeff Bezos next week.

Young Black Activists Helped Change The State Flag.  They Intend To Change The State.  —  Maisie Brown has heard people argue that removing an emblem of the Confederacy from Mississippi's state flag meant little—that, in a state still rife with systemic racism, it was nothing more than a symbolic change with no substance.

Another Mercenary Spyware Vendor Comes into Focus  —  Summary  — Candiru is a secretive Israel-based company that sells spyware exclusively to governments.  Reportedly, their spyware can infect and monitor iPhones, Androids, Macs, PCs, and cloud accounts.

Biden Admin to Border Agents: Prepare for the Flood  —  Docs say 1,200 migrant families expected to be processed each day  —  The Biden administration is telling immigration agents to prepare to process hundreds of thousands of migrant families and asylum claims as the White House moves …

Four Pinocchios for Ron Johnson's campaign of vaccine misinformation  —  “The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. ...  There is a risk to the vaccine.  Again, it's very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death.

Iran's plot to kidnap a dissident in New York is a warning to Biden  —  A host of authoritarian regimes have tried to silence exiled dissidents and other foreign critics in recent years with tactics ranging from holding family members hostage to kidnapping and murder.