White House aides keep trying to torch the State of the Union address.  Presidents keep getting in the way.  —  Obama aides tried to move the speech to a gymnasium in Ohio.  That didn't work.  —  WASHINGTON — Now and then, a few intrepid White House speechwriters will wage a quiet battle …

The Fair Tax is haunting the 2024 GOP field  —  President Biden and Democratic allies have relentlessly attacked Republicans in recent weeks for cracking the door open to a Fair Tax, a plan to scrap the American tax code and replace it with a jumbo-sized sales tax.  —  They might get many more opportunities to bring it up.

The White House Announces Guest List for the First Lady's Box for the 2023 State of the Union Address  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - First Lady Jill Biden will welcome guests to join her in the viewing box for President Biden's State of the Union Address on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

Club for Growth Distances Itself Further From Trump  —  The anti-tax group has invited six possible presidential candidates to its donor retreat in Florida, and a notable name was left off the guest list.  —  WASHINGTON — The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group that spent nearly $150 million …

China's Balloon May Have Taught Pentagon More Than Beijing Learned From It, General Says  —  Still, NORAD's chief says the U.S. military took “precautions,” including “non-kinetic effects.”  —  The recently-downed Chinese spy balloon may have sent more useful information to the Pentagon than to Beijing …

Brexit Was a ‘Colossal Mistake,’ Former PM John Major Says  —  Britain made a “colossal mistake” when it left the European Union, former prime minister Sir John Major has told a Westminster committee.  —  Sir John said while he is not a “significant Europhile”, he believes the UK was stronger in the EU.

Fighting in a Burning House  —  The Media Environment vs. Democracy  —  The photograph above is a screen shot from an old Star Trek episode titled “The Day of the Dove.”  Pictured is a mysterious being of pure energy that has stolen aboard the Enterprise.

New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels  —  The measure could add 10 nuclear power plants' worth of solar panels atop parking lots  —  French parking lots could soon generate as much electricity as 10 nuclear power plants, after a law is expected to win final passage …

China Has More ICBM Launchers Than U.S., American Military Reports  —  While the U.S. leads in intercontinental missiles and warheads, China's gains are fueling debate in Congress  —  The U.S. military has notified Congress that China now has more land-based intercontinental-range missile launchers …

The Astonishing Transformation of Austin  —  My town, once celebrated for its laid-back weirdness, is now a turbocharged tech megalopolis being shaped by exiles from places like Silicon Valley.  —  A person can live in many places but can settle in only one.

Households Burn Through What's Left of Their Pandemic Savings  —  High prices and the end of relief programs eats into previously flush accounts  —  The cushion of savings many built up during the pandemic is thinning out.  In some households, it is already gone.

Spy balloon furore puts focus on Xi Jinping's leadership  —  Concerns emerge about decision-making at top of Beijing's policy apparatus  —  President Xi Jinping's push to revive China's economy at the outset of his historic third term in power relies on two abrupt shifts in policy …

Hogwarts Legacy game launch becomes referendum on J.K. Rowling  —  Hogwarts Legacy, the new video game stemming from author J.K. Rowling's “Harry Potter” fiction, is launching this week to big sales and big controversy. … - The Potter author has been accused of transphobia — she denies it …

Rep. Katie Porter Says Governor Should Keep Promise to Choose Black Woman to Fill Feinstein's Seat  —  Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) says Governor Gavin Newsom should uphold his promise to choose a Black woman to take Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat, if the 89-year-old Senator doesn't finish her term in office.

How an FBI Informant Derailed Denver's BLM Movement  —  A new podcast reveals how an undercover informant in a silver hearse sowed chaos inside Colorado's 2020 racial justice scene.  —  An outlandish guerrilla militant who drove a silver Hearse to Denver-area Black Lives Matter protests …

Trump Charges in Georgia Over 2020 Could Lead to Bigger Fed Case  —  The first major criminal charges that Donald Trump could face for interfering in the 2020 election might come from Atlanta — and what happens in Georgia isn't expected to stay in Georgia.  —  Fulton County District Attorney …

Exclusive: New PAC targets Dems written off by the establishment  —  2022 Senate almost-winner Mandela Barnes is launching a PAC to help candidates who are written off by institutional supporters, Axios has learned. … - Before he was elected, Moore — like others running in places like Illinois …

How a major election theory case at the U.S. Supreme Court could get thrown out  —  An unusual move by North Carolina's highest state court has raised the question of whether the U.S. Supreme Court will end up throwing out a major election case about a once-fringe theory that could upend federal elections across the country.

Sen. Daines responds after Twitter suspends his account for hunting photo: ‘My wife is a great shot’  —  The senator is working with Twitter to resolve the suspension, according to Daines' spokesperson  —  Sen. Steve Daines: This is a tremendous embarrassment to the US

Ex-Pink Floyd partner brands Roger Waters antisemitic, lip-synching Putin apologist  —  Pink Floyd star David Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson step up the long-running feud with former bandmate Roger Waters with a scathing attack on Twitter.  —  Samson, an acclaimed novelist, tweets at Rogers …

Chess Grandmaster Banned From Prize Events After Racist Rant  —  ‘NO PLACE’  —  Another day, another scandal in the cutthroat world of online chess.  On Monday, Chess.com—one of the largest such platforms in the world—said that it would hit a 2578-rated Georgian grandmaster with a partial ban …

FBI Arrests 2 in ‘Racially Motivated’ Plot to Attack Baltimore Power Grid  —  Two people, including a known neo-Nazi leader, were arrested last week after the FBI interrupted their plot to attack the Baltimore power grid, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland announced Monday morning.