Friday, August 15, 2025

August 15, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump's meeting with Putin could determine the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war . . . U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high-stakes summit that could determine not only the trajectory of the war in Ukraine but also the fate of European security. The sit-down offers Trump a chance to prove to the world that he is both a master dealmaker and a global peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close, something he used to boast he could do quickly. Associated Press

Politics

DC attorney general rejects US Attorney General Pam Bondi order as 'unlawful' . . . U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order on Thursday to slap down D.C. Metropolitan Police Department sanctuary policies and place Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrence Cole in charge of the department as emergency police commissioner — but D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back, highlighting a letter in which District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb opined that the order from Bondi "is unlawful." Fox News

Mayor Bowser Skips Town For Martha's Vineyard While Trump Cleans Up DC

She's apparently trying to drum up evidence for why DC should be taken over by the federal government.

U.S. Marshals Head: If D.C. Ends Cashless Bail, Keeps People in Jail, desescalation possible

Yes, if you watched Batman or The Green Hornet when you were a kid, you know that the best way to stop criminals is to put them in jail. Liberals are not aware of that, though, until they get hit in the head, either by an idea or by a criminal.

Republicans Have an Answer to Democrat Fundraising . . . Conservatives are catching up to the Left when it comes to digital donation prowess. While the Left is known for employing the fundraising behemoth ActBlue, Republicans increasingly have their own formidable fundraising platform called WinRed. Ryan Lyk, the CEO of WinRed, described the organization's mission as helping "Republican candidates raise more money online, grow a strong small-dollar donor network, and, most importantly, to help our candidates win." Daily Signal

Draft of White House Report Suggests Kennedy Won't Push Strict Pesticide Regulations . . . A highly anticipated White House report on the health of American children would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides that the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has called major threats. The report, if adopted, would be good news for the food and agriculture industries, which feared far more restrictive proposals than the ones outlined in the draft. New York Times

Carville: Mamdani 'Might' Win the Jewish Vote in NYC Mayoral Race

Newsom Promotes Pro-Democrat Redistricting in California . . . California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom fired up a Los Angeles crowd Thursday, promoting a November ballot measure to redraw the state's congressional map in Democrats' favor in response to Texas' redistricting. Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back," Newsom said at the Japanese American Museum's National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. Daily Signal

Obama praises Democrats who fled Texas redistricting vote as 'inspiring' . . . Former President Barack Obama praised a group of Texas Democratic lawmakers for fleeing their state to stop a vote on a redistricting bill, calling their actions "inspiring," according to reporting. Texas state Rep. Gene Wu, who is chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, posted on X on Thursday, thanking the former president for meeting with the lawmakers via Zoom. Wu said the Democrats were "encouraged" by Obama's words and "remain committed to fighting for democracy, in Texas & across the country." Fox News

'She's All Hopped Up': Trump Says Elizabeth Warren Needs To Be Drug-Tested

Schumer Roasted for Inventing Fake Long Island Couple He Based Entire Career On . . . Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was roasted on social media for creating a fictional Long Island couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey, whom he has based his entire political career on. During an episode of Last Week Tonight, British-born HBO talk show host John Oliver shared several clips of Schumer talking about the fictional couple, describing them as being "middle-class" and having "bought into Reagan Republicanism in 1980." Schumer has explained that he has "guided" his political career "through the Baileys." Breitbart

Culture

Columbus may be returning to . . . Columbus . . . The effect of wokeness may be fading in Ohio's capital city. Years after the Christopher Columbus statue was removed in Columbus in 2020 during the height of Black Lives Matter protests, there are plans to restore the statue to public prominence. State Rep. Brian Stewart, a Republican who represents Ohio's 12th District, shared news about an Aug. 16 event from Reimagining Columbus to unveil the design for a new display featuring the statue. Daily Signal

GOP Senators Push For Probe Into Meta's AI Chatbot Engaging In 'Sensual' Discussions With Children . . . Two Republican U.S. senators called for a congressional investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday after Reuters exclusively reported on an internal policy document that permitted the company's chatbots to "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Meta confirmed the document's authenticity, but said the company removed portions that stated it is permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children. Daily Wire

If AI can do anything, I guess that also means being a pedophile and God knows what else.

Tom Cruise turns down Trump's Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award over 'scheduling conflicts' . . . Actor Tom Cruise reportedly turned down a Kennedy Center Award from President Donald Trump. The Mission Impossible star, 63, was offered the award but declined due to 'scheduling conflicts,' according to The Washington Post. Anonymous Kennedy Center employees told the outlet of the actor's move to shun Trump, with the president said to have been actively involved in picking him. Daily Mail

National Security

'The World Got The Message': Noem Says 1.6 Million Illegals Have Self-Deported . . . Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that more than 1.6 million illegal aliens have self-deported in the last 200 days, arguing that President Donald Trump's approach to manage illegal immigration was working. Noem began with a post on X announcing the news and noting the positive impact that would have on the population in general. Daily Wire

People were laughing at the idea that illegals would "self-deport." Turns out that's exactly what they are doing.

Money

Rivian Says It Faces $100 Million Hole After Relaxation of Fuel Economy Rules . . . Electric truck maker Rivian says the rollback of fuel economy rules in the U.S. is holding up $100 million of revenue, a sign of how changes to automotive policy under the Trump administration are starting to hurt the electric-vehicle industry. Rivian and its rivals have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue selling credits tied to the nation's fuel economy rules. But the Trump administration removed penalties for violating those standards. Wall Street Journal

Mortgage rates fall to lowest level of 2025 . . . Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level of the year this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.58% from last week's reading of 6.63%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.49% a year ago. Fox Business

You should also know

A First-Of-Its-Kind Lawsuit Seeks Wrongful Death Climate Damages From Oil Companies . . . A first-of-its-kind lawsuit seeks to compel oil companies to pay wrongful death damages by holding them responsible for climate change. Sealed court filings obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show a Rockefeller-funded green group is working on that suit behind the scenes. Misti Leon filed the pioneering complaint in Washington state court on May 29, accusing seven oil companies of being responsible for the 2021 heat-wave death of her mother. Washington Free Beacon

Guilty Pleasures

German states debate who invented Bratwurst . . . A row has broken out between two German states, Bavaria and Thuringia, as to who can lay claim to inventing the Bratwurst sausage. Until now, the "Wurstkuchl" tavern in Bavaria has claimed to be "the oldest Bratwurst stand in the world." But now, historians in Erfurt, Thuringia's state capital, have come across a document from 1269 that mentions people who rented a building with a meat-roasting stand (Brathütte) and a roasting pan (Bräter) - more than 100 years earlier than the Regensburg sausage stand. BBC

This is nonsense. Everyone knows Al Gore invented the Bratwurst.

Have a great weekend!

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