Tuesday, August 5, 2025

speedboat

August 5, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Exit Strategy: Texas Democrats Who Fled State to Avoid Vote Could Face Arrest . . . The Texas House of Representatives voted Monday to force Democrats who fled the state in an attempt to prevent congressional redistricting to return to the state Capitol under threat of arrest. On Monday, dozens of Texas Democrats were in Democrat enclaves such as Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts, where they were welcomed by those states' governors. The warrants will only apply within Texas and lawmakers "will not face civil or criminal charges from the arrests," per The Texas Tribune. Daily Signal

California could slash 5 GOP US House seats to counter Texas' move to pad Republican margin . . . California Democrats are considering new political maps that could slash five Republican-held House seats in the liberal-leaning state while bolstering Democratic incumbents in other battleground districts. A draft plan that's circulating aims to boost the Democratic margin to 48 of California's 52 congressional seats, according to a source familiar with the plan who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. Associated Press

Why does everyone act like gerrymandering was just invented once Republicans do it?

Schwarzenegger Seeks To TERMINATE Newsom's Plan to Redraw California Congressional Map

Politics

Justice Department Opens Grand Jury Probe Into 'Russiagate' . . . The Department of Justice staff will act on the criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard related to the reputed conspiracy to tie Donald Trump to Russia before and after the 2016 election. At a July press briefing, Gabbard asserted that former President Barack Obama was involved in the "manufacturing" of an intelligence assessment relating to reputed Russian interference in the 2016 election. Daily Signal

Trump Administration Will Reinstall Confederate Statue in Washington . . . The Trump administration will restore and reinstall the only statue that had honored a Confederate official in the U.S. capital after demonstrators toppled and set it on fire during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The defaced statue depicts Albert Pike, a Confederate diplomat and general who worked closely with Native Americans from slave-owning tribes that sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and fought to protect slavery as an institution. He was also a prominent leader of the Freemasons. New York Times

Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., declares she is a 'proud Guatemalan' at progressive conference . . . Several House Democrats, including members of the "Squad," criticized the United States over the weekend at a conference in Mexico City that questioned U.S. influence and policies, with one lawmaker saying she was prouder to be Guatemalan than American. The second annual Panamerican Congress brought leftist officials from all over North and South America. Those in attendance included Democratic lawmakers: Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts. Fox News

Then go back to . . . Guatemala.

Culture

DHS to refuse entry to transgender male athletes seeking to compete in women's sports . . . The Department of Homeland Security has entered the gender war, announcing Monday it will refuse to issue visas to biologically male foreign athletes who seek to compete in the U.S. as women. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it was carrying out President Trump's executive order demanding that government agencies pursue policies to keep "men out of women's sports." The goal, the agency said, is to "guarantee an even playing field" for women. Washington Times

There's so much sanity breaking out, I just can't take it.

Gen Z turns away from alcohol as wellness, mental health reshape social drinking . . . Young Americans are rethinking their relationship with alcohol, not out of necessity but by choice. Just 39% of Generation Z adults say alcohol is their go-to social drink, according to Keurig Dr Pepper's inaugural State of Beverages report. More than 60% prefer nonalcoholic options when spending time with friends, the highest rate of any generation, the July report said. Washington Times

Fired ABC Reporter Admits Liberal Bias at Network . . . Former ABC News Senior Correspondent Terry Moran admitted in a July 29 Substack post that his previous employer is "almost inadvertently" a biased organization. ABC News fired Moran in June over his tirade against White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, whom he accused of being a "world-class hater" in a now-deleted X post. Moran wrote on his personal Substack that ABC News has fallen into the trap of lacking "viewpoint diversity," particularly when it came to Trump. Daily Caller

National Security

Three Venezuelan Migrants Released Into United States By Biden Admin Charged With Murder . . . Three Venezuelan nationals released into the United States by the Biden administration have been charged in connection with a murder in Texas. The three men were each charged with capital murder and are believed to have shot and killed a 48-year-old man at a Motel 6 in Garland, Texas. Two of the three men, Jose Trivino-Cruz and Jesus Bellorin-Guzman, were released through the Customs and Border Patrol One app, an online platform that allowed migrants to remotely schedule asylum appointments. Daily Wire

Tom Cotton Presses IRS To Probe CAIR's Tax-Exempt Status, Citing 'Ties to Terror Organizations' . . . Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is petitioning the IRS to formally investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for violations of its tax-exempt status, citing "ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," according to a formal letter sent Tuesday and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. CAIR, one of the nation's foremost anti-Israel advocacy organizations, has long been dogged by accusations that its funding streams are entangled with Hamas. Washington Free Beacon

International

Netanyahu Vows that Israel Will Take Full Control of Gaza Strip . . . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly decided Israel will seek to take full control of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu's office informed Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir of the decision Monday. Zamir, according to The Jerusalem Post, was told, "If this does not suit you, then you should resign." Netanyahu said his government is "committing to free Gaza from the tyranny of these [Hamas] terrorists." Daily Signal

State Department may require visa applicants to post bond of up to $15,000 to enter the US . . . Countries deemed to have high overstay rates and deficient internal document security controls could be required to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 when they apply for a visa. "Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure and who are nationals of countries identified by the department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering citizenship by investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program," the notice said. Associated Press

Incredible moment migrants are detained on Spanish beach after being tackled to the ground by tourists . . . The dramatic scenes unfolded on Sotillo Beach in Castell de Ferro, Granada on Sunday afternoon. Footage shared online shows a speed boat packed with young men arriving at the shore at around 2pm. The occupants of the boat dive into the water in front of stunned holidaying families and swim to the beach before making a run for it. Daily Mail

Money

Companies Are Slashing Jobs Thanks to AI . . . AI is already causing tens of thousands of layoffs in the U.S. job market, according to a new report. According to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, AI is reshaping the technology sector, causing a 36 percent increase in job cuts for that industry. The rising usage of AI technology by private employers resulted in more than 10,000 job cuts in July alone, according to a report released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which cites AI as one of the top five factors contributing to job losses this year. Breitbart

You should also know

Pope Encourages the Faithful to Aspire to Greatness . . . Pope Leo XIV drew the attention of the world in a bold homily Sunday that sought to inspire and comfort the more than 1 million people gathered in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth. "We are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings," Leo said to the crowd. "Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are," the pope explained. "Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you." Daily Signal

NASA to build to nuclear reactor on the moon . . .

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator. NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut. Politico

Ex-NFL player convicted in Oklahoma of dog-fighting-related charges after 190 dogs seized . . . A former NFL player and Oklahoma native has been convicted of multiple federal charges months after officials seized 190 dogs from an alleged animal fighting venture, according to court documents. LeShon Eugene Johnson, 54, of Broken Arrow, was convicted by a federal jury on Aug. 1 of three counts of possession of a dog for use in an animal fighting venture and other charges. KNWA

AI Is Listening to Your Meetings. Watch What You Say . . . AI is listening in on your work meetings—including the parts you don't want anyone to hear. AI notetakers may pick up on the small talk and private discussions meant for a select audience, then blast direct quotes to everyone in the meeting. Nicole and Tim Delger run a Nashville branding firm called Studio Delger. After one business meeting late last year, the couple received a summary from Zoom's AI assistant that was decidedly not work-related. "Studio discussed the possibility of getting sandwich ingredients from Publix," one bullet point said. Another key takeaway: "Don't like soup." Wall Street Journal

Guilty Pleasures

'Pornographic' mermaid statue is to be removed in Denmark . . . The Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture is reportedly taking down the massive 14-tonne Den Store Havfrue (the Big Mermaid) from Dragor Fort after criticism from locals. Politiken's art critic, Mathias Kryger, branded the statue 'ugly and pornographic', while Sorine Gotfredsen, a priest and journalist, wrote in the newspaper Berlingske: 'Erecting a statue of a man's hot dream of what a woman should look like is unlikely to promote many women's acceptance of their own bodies.' Daily Mail

Sorry to be a philistine, but were some of those Renaissance nudes, at least to some extent, 14th-century pornography?

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