Billionaires Gone Wild  —  Understanding the oligarchs' power grab and the dire threat to American democracy  —  A few stories about centibillionaires — men whose net worth exceeds $100 billion — and their role in our society:  —  · In 2022 Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, purchased Twitter.

Angry Trump Humiliated as Effort to Prosecute Dems Backfires Again  —  Let's start with some good news: Donald Trump's efforts to jail his Democratic enemies have thus far mostly been marked by ham-fisted, buffoonish failure.  The targeting of people like Senator Adam Schiff …

The FCC (probably) didn't censor Stephen Colbert  —  For the 12 of us who woke up Tuesday morning wondering what we had missed on Monday's late-night shows, CBS greeted us with a concerning development.  —  Overnight, Stephen Colbert had laid into his network, dedicating time at the top …

Trump moves closer to a major war with Iran  —  The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize.  It could begin very soon. … - The sources noted it would likely be a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that's much broader in scope …

Trump's economic adviser says authors of tariff study should be “disciplined”  —  White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the authors of a New York Fed study that found that Americans pay for tariffs should be disciplined, in an interview with CNBC Wednesday morning.

Billionaire Les Wexner tells lawmakers that he was ‘conned’ by Jeffrey Epstein and did ‘nothing wrong’  —  The 88-year-old former Victoria's Secret CEO denied he was Epstein's “co-conspirator,” and said he “was duped by a world-class con man.”  —  Listen to this article with a free account

STAT+: FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna's flu vaccine  —  WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration reversed course and told Moderna it would review its application for a new flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday.  —  The agency told Moderna earlier this month …

Democrats Plan to Counter Trump's Speech to Congress With Rally  —  The House Democratic leader has asked rank-and-file members to sit quietly at the speech or skip it altogether, wary of creating a distraction.  —  Democrats knew in real time last year that they had bungled their response …

The political effects of X's feed algorithm  — Germain Gauthier orcid.org/0009-0000-4262-7483 1 na1, - Roland Hodler orcid.org/0000-0001-8402-8243 2 na1, - Philine Widmer 3 na1 & - - Ekaterina Zhuravskaya orcid.org/0000-0002-3496-2086 3,4 na1 Show authors  —  Abstract

Manic Trump, 79, Unleashes Deranged Conspiracy Posting Rampage  —  SPIRALING  —  The president seems to be panicking about Republicans' chances in the midterms.  —  President Donald Trump has unleashed a bombardment of debunked election conspiracy theories as he pressures Senate Republicans …

GOP Lawmaker Reportedly Had Affair With Aide Who Died By Self-Immolation  —  Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) accused his primary opponent of using the story to smear his aide's memory.  —  WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker's apparent affair with an aide who later died by suicide has roiled a close primary election in Texas.

Amid Mass ICE Arrests, Trump Pardon Recipient Juan Orlando Hernández Given Special Treatment  —  After the former Honduran president was pardoned, ICE dropped its detainer on him, and he was whisked away to a luxury hotel in New York City.  —  Copy HTML

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up  —  Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until President Trump appoints a permanent director.  —  The director of the National Institutes of Health …

Judge declares mistrial in Texas ‘antifa’ protest case over attorney's T-shirt  —  Lawyer for defendants accused of terrorism at ICE protest decried by Trump appointee over shirt's potential for ‘bias’  —  A federal judge in Texas declared a mistrial on Tuesday after a defense lawyer wore …

The ‘Most Massive Attack On Free Speech’ Is Happening Right Now, And The Twitter Files Crew Is Mighty Quiet  —  For the last five years, we had to endure an endless, breathless parade of hyperbole regarding the so-called “censorship industrial complex.”  We were told, repeatedly and at high volume …

Where Christian nationalism is most dominant in the U.S.  —  Christian nationalism is now deeply entrenched inside today's Republican Party, according to a sweeping 50-state survey. … - The divide reflects a broader clash over whether America's future is pluralistic or rooted in a singular religious-national identity.

Pope Rejects Trump's “Board of Peace” Invite  —  The Vatican will not be joining Donald Trump's “Board of Peace,” announcing Tuesday that it was turning down a January invitation from the White House.  —  “For us, there are ... some critical issues that should be resolved,” …

Report: Staff at Dilley raiding cells to confiscate kids' letters and drawings detailing conditions inside  —  Staff at Dilley's South Texas Family Residential Center have begun raiding cells at the immigrant detention facility to confiscate letters from children detailing the conditions inside …

US EPA plans to loosen mercury rules for coal plants this week, NYT reports  —  The Trump administration plans to loosen restrictions on coal-burning power plants this week, allowing them to emit more hazardous pollutants including mercury, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

RFK Jr., Kid Rock go shirtless in new HHS ad  —  Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has joined forces with singer Kid Rock in a new ad promoting the department's Make America Healthy Again initiative.  —  “I've teamed up with @KidRock to deliver two simple messages …

The right's obsession with American ‘heritage’ is all about who gets to be seen as ‘white’  —  What Elon Musk was really getting at when he incorrectly claimed “American culture” is of “English-Scotts-Irish origin.” … At the outset, it's appropriate to recognize that the recent uptick …

Colorado Democrats Push to Rip Up 2028 House Map for an Extra Edge  —  A proposed ballot measure to give Democrats more seats for the 2028 and 2030 elections signals that the nation's gerrymandering fight is likely to persist for years.  —  A group allied with Colorado Democrats is beginning …

Trump administration releases remaining Gateway funds — and then some … Over the course of three installments the Trump administration paid Gateway a total of $235 million.  That includes the $205 million the federal government was in arrears to Gateway, along with another $30 million stemming …

DOJ acknowledges violating dozens of recent court orders in New Jersey … There were also six missed deadlines to respond to court orders, 12 missed deadlines to provide bond hearings to ICE detainees, 17 out-of-state transfers after judges had issued no-transfer orders …

FBI Contacts Mexican Authorities in Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping, New Ransom Demand  —  NANCY GUTHRIE KIDNAPPING FBI CONTACTS MEXICAN LAW ENFORCEMENT ... TMZ Receives New Ransom Demand … The FBI has reached out to authorities in Mexico, in the hunt for Nancy Guthrie and her kidnapper …

Democrats Just Humiliated Jasmine Crockett (And She Is PISSED)  —  There is major drama brewing in the Lone Star State, and the Democrats just got caught playing dirty.  In this episode, we spill the tea on why Stephen Colbert and CBS refused to air an interview with Democrat James Talarico.

National Review: “The SAVE Act's Virtuous Goals Are Not Worth the Cost”  —  National Review:  —  Republicans in Congress, supported vocally by the Trump administration, are pushing for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act.  It now appears to have majority support in the Senate after passing the House.