A former Yolo County Sheriff's Office lieutenant is one of five people charged with murder following a fireworks warehouse explosion that killed seven workers in the rural Northern California community of Esparto last summer, authorities said. Samuel Machado is accused of illegally having 1 million pounds of fireworks on his property at the time of the blast and using his law enforcement position to shield the illicit operation from scrutiny for years, according to the Yolo County district attorney's office. Machado was placed on administrative leave following the violent July 1 explosion, which was felt by residents up to 20 miles away, destroyed a family farm and sparked a 78-acre grass fire.
Conservative columnist Kevin Williamson warns people "not to make the mistake of overcomplicating [President] Donald Trump." "He's a simple man whose actions are ... described as the ordinary daily application of his vices: laziness, vindictiveness, greed, vanity, arrogance, cowardice, and, above all, stupidity," said Williamson in the Dispatch. "He is a rage-addled dimwit with a savantic gift for manipulating lesser fools and a vulnerability to manipulation by men who are similarly vicious but more capable: Vladimir Putin, J.D. Vance, Stephen Miller, even one or two of his idiot children." "Stronger men can push him around, and weaker men succeed by flattering him," added Williamson. "His enemies can manipulate him at least as easily as his allies." Nevertheless, Trump must be taken seriously " at least "in the sense that one may take a brain tumor as a serious thing but not a thing you'd have an argument with or lose a chess match to."
President Donald Trump praised "Allah" " the Arabic word for God " for the second time in recent weeks Saturday morning in a lengthy rant about the current state of the U.S. war against Iran, complaining about media coverage of the conflict and the United States' failure to achieve its stated war objectives. "The Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is winning' when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime Leaders' are no longer with us, praise be to Allah!"
First, the good news: A ceasefire has been agreed upon in a war threatening a level of devastation unimaginable when President Donald Trump ordered five weeks of bombing and missile strikes in an effort to collapse the Islamic regime in Iran. But while critical questions remain ahead of talks set for Saturday on a longer-term deal -- not least, whether the truce fully takes hold -- the war has left Mr. Trump facing a sobering paradox.
The United States Postal Service is suspending employer pension contributions for workers beginning Friday, citing a looming cash shortfall, the agency announced Thursday.
Three Democratic members of Congress said they were horrified that immigrants were being stuffed into holding cells "like sardines" at a Mesa Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility they showed up to without warning on Thursday night. The visit came in the wake of the Arizona Mirror's reporting on Thursday detailing how the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center, located at Mesa-Gateway Airport, has been operating far over its 157-person capacity for most of this year.
Kamala Harris just gave the Democratic Party the most explicit sign yet she'll run for president in 2028:
Not the best way to get those disgruntled 6,265,888 supporters back
Whooping cough surged in Mississippi last year, ultimately claiming the life of a baby " the first whooping cough death in the state in 13 years. Incidents of parents opting out of vaccinations for religious reasons " a choice introduced in the wake of Judge Sul Ozerden's 2023 ruling " have also surged. Kindergarten vaccination rates this year dropped to the lowest level in years. The campaign to change the rules in Mississippi " and to use that victory to make change across the nation " was years in the making, orchestrated in part by two men with close ties to the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr: Del Bigtree of the Texas-based Informed Consent Action Network, or Ican, and Ican's lawyer, Aaron Siri.
Donald Trump's administration acknowledged it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe into New York's Medicaid program. This glaring mistake is another example of the Trump's administration tendency to attack first and confirm the facts later, particularly in their dealing with Democratic Party-led states.
"Ready! Fire! Aim!"
A record 35 candidates are vying for the presidency in Peru on Sunday. Only one, however, pitched himself as the most pro-Donald Trump option. Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a chubby-cheeked business magnate and former mayor who goes by the nickname "Porky", had been the race's frontrunner since August. He ran a far-right campaign, expressing support for the United States bombing of alleged drug-smuggling boats and proposing that the US military intervene in Peru to capture gang leaders. Read more
(New York, New York) " New York City could be heading into a period of painful austerity, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned that the city's financial situation is "worse than broke" and confirmed plans to scale back key programs. Speaking amid mounting concerns over the city's budget, Mamdani said New York is facing a significant deficit that will force difficult decisions across multiple sectors. Among the areas on the chopping block: housing vouchers, library funding, and other public services that many residents rely on. The mayor did not provide a full breakdown of the cuts, but indicated that reductions will be widespread as officials attempt to stabilize the city's finances. Housing assistance programs, which have been critical in addressing affordability and homelessness, are expected to take a hit"raising concerns among advocates about increased displacement and housing insecurity. Read more
Thread Link is My Back Pages - Dylan, G. Harrison, Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn, Eric Clapton, Neil Young
A high-profile US defense department official who oversees the agency's artificial intelligence efforts made a profit of up to $24m selling a private investment he held in Elon Musk's AI company earlier this year, according to government ethics records released this month. The value of his stake totaled a maximum of a million dollars when he joined the department.
I really took the time to look at this. It's hard to believe someone actually got paid to produce this. This does not benefit society at all. Unless you look at it to say it continues to divide the races or to keep the slavery chip on future generations.
Israeli forces shot and killed Ritaj Rihan (9) in front of her classmates in a schoolroom tent in the northern Gaza Strip, causing them "a strong psychological shock."
How some people can live with innocent blood on their hands is anyone's guess
Donald Trump has shared violent, uncensored footage of a woman being bludgeoned to death in Florida, accompanied by a long-winded social media spray against his predecessor Joe Biden's immigration policies. Haitian man Rolbert Joachin " who the US Department of Homeland Security said was granted a protected visa under the Biden administration in 2022 " has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly beating a mother with a hammer outside a gas station in Fort Myers on April 3. The president described the brutal attack as "one of the most vicious things you will ever see" as he shared unblurred CCTV of the incident on Truth Social.
