And another day of Project 2025 work, long-term approaches, not enough migrants to bus, the ‘unborn human being’ in AZ, mpox, curtailing free speech on college campuses, tossing college library books in FL, defining ‘recyclable,’ student drug use, and Disney+’s terms of service comes to a close:
“It’s always the people who brag about their Christianity who hate vulnerable people the most.” — Elizabeth Spiers
Trump’s continued attacks on Harris’ rise stir fears he could question election outcome if he loses in November. “We know one thing for sure: Trump never loses. And so if he’s not declared the winner of 2024, as in 2020, it must be because he was treated unfairly yet again; it was stolen yet again,” John Bolton, who was Trump’s national security adviser and has since become a vocal critic of the former president, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last week. “I don’t think he knows exactly what his theory is going to be this time to explain how he was denied winning the election, so he’s trotting out a number of things,” Bolton said. “And I think this is why people need to start thinking more now about how to deny Trump the ability, the day after the election, if he loses, to try and throw the process into chaos again.”
Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term. Last month, Russell Vought sat in a five-star Washington, DC, hotel suite, bowing his head in prayer with two men he thought were relatives of a wealthy conservative donor. Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term, expected the meeting would help his think tank secure a substantial contribution. For nearly two hours, he talked candidly about his behind-the-scenes work to prepare policy for former President Donald Trump, his expansive views on presidential power, his plans to restrict pornography and immigration, and his complaints that the GOP was too focused on “religious liberty” instead of “Christian nation-ism.” But the men Vought was talking to actually worked for a British journalism nonprofit and were secretly recording him the entire time...Trump has publicly rejected Project 2025 as Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has sought to tie him to some of the plan’s most extreme proposals. But in private, Vought said that those disavowals were merely “graduate-level politics.”...Vought said his group, the Center for Renewing America, was secretly drafting hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos that would lay the groundwork for rapid action on Trump’s plans if he wins, describing his work as creating “shadow” agencies. He claimed that Trump has “blessed” his organization and “he’s very supportive of what we do.”
Google says it observed Iran trying to hack the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns. Google said in a research report Wednesday that it detected efforts by Iranian hackers to target both the Trump and the Biden-Harris campaigns in May and June, part of a larger email phishing operation that still persists.
Georgia Republican urges more GOP support for Harris: ‘Reclaim this country’s future’. Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) pushed for more Republicans to support Vice President Harris, arguing in a Tuesday interview that it was perfectly acceptable for those in the GOP to back her even though she’s a Democrat. “I think it’s important to reinforce the fact to Republicans around the country that just because you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, doesn’t mean you’re Democrat,” Duncan told CNN anchor Jim Acosta on “Laura Coates Live.” “It just means you’re a patriot,” Duncan continued. “You’re doing your duty as an American to step up to the plate and reclaim this country’s future.”
Presented with rise in border crossings, Kamala Harris chose a long-term approach to the problem. A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies...Harris was never the “border czar,” or put in charge of border security or halting illegal border crossings, as former President Donald Trump, Republicans and even the occasional media outlet have claimed. Instead, she was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle and pushing its leaders — along with Mexico’s — to enforce immigration laws, administration officials said. Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vows to keep busing migrants north. One problem: Not enough migrants. Fewer buses from Texas have been arriving in blue cities since the start of the year because of a steep drop in the number of migrants apprehended at the border.
Montana Supreme Court rules minors don’t need parental permission for abortion. “We conclude that minors, like adults, have a fundamental right to privacy, which includes procreative autonomy and making medical decisions affecting his or her bodily integrity and health in partnership with a chosen health care provider free from governmental interest,” Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote in the unanimous opinion. The ruling comes as an initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in the state constitution is expected to be on the Montana ballot in November. County officials have verified enough signatures to qualify the issue for the ballot, supporters have said. The Secretary of State’s Office has to certify the general election ballots by Aug. 22.
Ruling: Fetus can be referred to as ‘unborn human being’ in Arizona abortion measure voter pamphlet. An informational pamphlet for Arizona voters who will decide in the fall whether to guarantee a constitutional right to an abortion can refer to a fetus as an “unborn human being,” the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday. The question on whether to add the right to an abortion to the state constitution goes before voters in the November general election.
U.S. military sexual assault rates 2 to 4 times higher than govt estimates, study says. The Brown University report faults the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as putting the military's long-standing issue of sexual assault secondary to force readiness.
WHO declares mpox global health emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the mpox outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern. The highly contagious disease - formerly known as monkeypox - has killed at least 450 people during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has now spread across parts of central and east Africa, and scientists are concerned about how fast a new variant of the disease is spreading and its high fatality rate.
Sweden confirms a case of mpox — the first reported infection of the strain outside of Africa. Sweden said Thursday that it had confirmed a case of the more contagious version of mpox circulating in central and eastern Africa.
US colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations. Some of the new rules imposed by universities include banning encampments, limiting the duration of demonstrations, allowing protests only in designated spaces and restricting campus access to those with university identification. Critics say some of the measures will curtail free speech.
New College of Florida tosses hundreds of library books, empties gender diversity library. Hundreds of New College of Florida library books, including many on LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies, are headed to a landfill. A dumpster in the parking lot of Jane Bancroft Cook Library on the campus of New College overflowed with books and collections from the now-defunct Gender and Diversity Center on Tuesday afternoon. Video captured in the afternoon showed a vehicle driving away with the books before students were notified. In the past, students were given an opportunity to purchase books that were leaving the college's library collection.
Federal judge in Texas expands ruling that blocks Biden administration protections of LGBTQ students. A Texas federal judge this month ruled that the Biden administration had acted unlawfully in interpreting Title IX to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ students. The ruling preempts any future action by the Education Department to prohibit discrimination in educational settings on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The State Fair of Texas is banning firearms, drawing threats of legal action from Republican AG. But that decision by fair organizers — which comes after a shooting last year on the 277-acre fairgrounds in the heart of Dallas — has drawn outrage from Republican lawmakers, who in recent years have proudly expanded gun rights in Texas. On Wednesday, the state’s attorney general threatened a lawsuit unless the fair reversed course. “Dallas has fifteen days to fix the issue,” said Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “otherwise I will see them in court.”
When Is “Recyclable” Not Really Recyclable? When the Plastics Industry Gets to Define What the Word Means. Is there anything more pathetic than a used plastic bag? They rip and tear. They float away in the slightest breeze. Left in the wild, their mangled remains entangle birds and choke sea turtles that mistake them for edible jellyfish. It takes 1,000 years for the bags to disintegrate, shedding hormone-disrupting chemicals as they do. And that outcome is all but inevitable, because no system exists to routinely recycle them. It’s no wonder some states have banned them and stores give discounts to customers with reusable bags. But the plastics industry is working to make the public feel OK about using them again. Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators...Under increasing pressure to reckon with the global plastics crisis, companies want to rely on recycling as the answer. But turning old plastic into new plastic is really, really hard...For at least three decades, the industry has misled the public about what really is recyclable...When you see something labeled as “recyclable,” it’s reasonable to expect it will be made into something new after you toss it in the nearest recycling bin. You would be wrong...“Recent case law confirms that the term ‘recyclable’ means ‘capable of being recycled,’ and that it is an attribute, not a guarantee,” said a comment from the Plastics Industry Association. Forcing the material to be “actually recovered” is “unnecessarily burdensome.” -- We will eventually destroy our civilization. And all for money and greed.
L.A. ballerina sentenced to 12 years in Russian penal colony for 'high treason'. Ksenia Karelina was visiting family in Russia when investigators searched her phone and found she had donated to a Ukrainian charity.
Californians will soon be able to add their driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet. To enroll, users must scan their driver’s license or ID, then scan a photo of their face. People who participate in the pilot program will be able to use mobile IDs to buy certain age-restricted products at specific retail locations in Sacramento and to pass through some airport security checkpoints.
Medicare announces lower prices on 10 common, high-cost drugs. The Biden administration said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with drugmakers to lower prices on the 10 costliest prescription drugs under Medicare. It's part of the federal government's first-ever drug pricing negotiations, a cost reduction it claims could help ease the financial burden on the estimated 1 in 7 older adults in the U.S. struggling to pay for their medications. Here are the negotiated prices for the drugs, based on a 30-day supply:...Still, Dusetzina said, these are "pretty big discounts." "I think that it shows that they're taking these negotiations very seriously and they're trying to get much lower prices," she said.
What parents don’t know about student drug use. Young adults ages 18 to 25 make up 11.1% of the more than 7.7 million drug-related annual emergency room visits in the United States, and they have the highest rate of cannabis-related ER visits, according to a 2023 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA...Today’s weed is indeed addictive for at least 1 in 6 teens and 1 in 10 adults, according to SAMHSA. While the overall odds may be with you, there is no way to predict whether you will be one of the 16.7% of teens or the 10% of adults who become addicted.
Research shows our bodies go through rapid changes in our 40s and our 60s. Researchers have found that molecules and microorganisms both inside and outside our bodies are going through dramatic changes, first at about age 44 and then again when we hit 60. Those alterations may be causing significant differences in cardiovascular health and immune function.
Disney says man can't sue over wife's death because he agreed to Disney+ terms of service. Disney is trying to have a widower's wrongful death lawsuit dismissed and sent to arbitration because the man had signed up for a Disney+ account several years ago. Jeffrey J. Piccolo sued Disney Parks and Resorts in February, months after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died after she consumed food containing allergens at a restaurant in Disney World..."There is simply no reading of the Disney+ Subscriber Agreement which would support the notion that Mr. Piccolo agreed to arbitrate claims arising from injuries sustained by his wife at a restaurant located on premises owned by a Disney theme park or resort which ultimately led to her death," the attorneys said. They went on to say that the "notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer’s right to a jury trial in any dispute ... is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair."
Stonehenge’s ‘altar stone’ originally came from Scotland and not Wales, new research shows. The unique stone lying flat at the center of the monument was brought to the site in southern England from near the tip of northeast Scotland, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. It’s not clear whether the 16-foot (5-meter) stone was carried by boat or across land — a journey of more than 460 miles (740 kilometers).
RIP Gena Rowlands. She was 94.
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