“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 …

Reuters journalist killed covering clash between Afghan forces, Taliban  —  Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said.

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 …

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.

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 …

Our Woke Book Burners  —  Books are not violence … Apparently, we have to remind people about this again: … We've devoted a great deal of time lately to discussing illiberalism and authoritarianism, and justifiably so.  But we have to recognize that liberalism and free expression face …

Hunter Biden's prosecutor rejected moves that would have revealed probe earlier  —  Last summer, federal officials in Delaware investigating Hunter Biden faced a dilemma.  The probe had reached a point where prosecutors could have sought search warrants and issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas.

Democratic, Republican Confidence in Science Diverges  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in science, compared with 70% when Gallup last measured it more than four decades ago.

Trump showerhead rule to increase water flow getting dumped  —  So much for Donald Trump's quest for “perfect” hair.  —  President Joe Biden's administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn't getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads.

CNN Snares Kasie Hunt From NBC in Big Bet on Streaming (EXCLUSIVE) … CNN has snatched Kasie Hunt, the Capitol Hill correspondent long viewed as a rising star at NBC News, as part of an aggressive bid to push the WarnerMedia cable-news outlet into the new frontier of streaming video.

Ticket sales are moving slowly for the coming Trump-O'Reilly stadium tour  —  Donald Trump is having trouble selling advance tickets for his upcoming speaking tour with conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly, according to interviews with ticketing officials for the venues.

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.

Might Trauma Affect Gender Identity?  —  , SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, FAITH AND REASON INSTITUTE  —  Another month, another social milestone.  On June 27, Kataluna Enriquez became the first transgender woman in history to be crowned Miss Nevada USA, thereby qualifying to compete in November's national Miss USA contest.

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 …

U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rebound in boost to economic growth  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales unexpectedly increased in June as demand for goods remained strong even as spending is shifting back to services, bolstering expectations that economic growth accelerated in the second quarter.

Mark Meadows desperately begged ‘stable pony’ Ivanka to convince Trump to stop Jan. 6 insurrection: book  —  Ivanka Trump was the stabilizing voice that everyone needed on Jan. 6, those in the White House believed.  —  In their new book, Washington Post reporters, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's …

Kevin McCarthy's trip shows House Republicans see the path back to power is with Donald Trump  —  (CNN)The House GOP's plan to win back power is becoming increasingly centered on one man: Donald J. Trump.  —  On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy became the latest in a parade …

Biden selects Jane Hartley as ambassador to U.K.  —  President Biden will nominate Jane Hartley, a former ambassador to France, to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.  —  The ambassador to the Court of St. James's is considered …

Two men charged in plot to attack Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento  —  WASHINGTON — Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges in connection with an alleged plot to attack the Democratic Party headquarters building in Sacramento after last year's presidential election.

As COVID-19 surges again, what experts say about the millions of unvaccinated  —  U.S. coronavirus cases have doubled in recent weeks.  —  As Americans start packing bars and live venues once again in the age of mass COVID-19 vaccination — with many abandoning masks and social distancing measures …

The Dreaded Misery Index Is On The Rise Under Biden  —  Young adults today are likely unfamiliar with the term “misery index.”  But they could soon learn about it the hard way, thanks to President Joe Biden's economic incompetence.  —  The misery index, a measure started under President Lyndon Johnson …

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 …

Gaetz enlists Trumpworld for scandal-ridden re-election fight  —  Little conduct could surpass fealty to Donald Trump in the minds of GOP voters.

Oligarchs' Favorite U.S. Visa Might Not Last  —  Calls are growing louder to fix the “golden visa” program that has flooded the United States with dubious foreign money.  —  Thanks in large part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, “golden visas” and “golden passports”—visas and passports granted …

'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 …

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.

Manchin signals he'll be team player on spending deal  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a crucial centrist vote in the Democratic caucus, is signaling to colleagues that won't derail a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that contains many of President Biden's legislative priorities.

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.

Civil disobedience returns to Capitol Hill  —  With Nicholas Wu.  —  CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS BACK — After Covid restrictions and post-insurrection security measures kept peaceful demonstrators away for nearly two years, protests have returned to office buildings on Capitol Hill.