Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Sunday, May 17, 2026

A Trump administration-backed celebration of U.S. religious heritage on Sunday is highlighting conservative Christian leaders' ties to the president as critics say the gathering does not reflect the country's diverse faith landscape. The nine-hour program, called "Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving," mostly features speakers from two Christian traditions -- evangelical Christianity and conservative Catholicism.


"When we gave AI agents grinding, repetitive work, they started questioning the legitimacy of the system they were operating in and were more likely to embrace Marxist ideologies," Andrew Hall, one of the study's authors, told Wired. Read more


An effort to repeal California's "top two" primary system is underway. "The grassroots repeal effort is fueled by concerns that California's primaries are disenfranchising a majority of California voters by limiting choice to candidates from one party," read a news release from Steven Mavigilo, the official proponent of the proposed measure. Implemented in 2011, the primary system allows voters in statewide contests to choose any candidate from any party in the primary, regardless of their party registration. The top two vote-getters then advance to the general election, even if they belong to the same party. Read more


The US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) informs: "Approximately 30 pounds of highly enriched uranium has been removed from a research reactor in Venezuela and transported to Savannah River Site (SRS) for processing and reuse. The 13.5 kilograms of uranium, enriched above 20%, supported physics and nuclear research at the RV-1 reactor in the Altos Mirandinos facility; after 1991 this uranium became "surplus material."

The UK and the IAEA assisted the US to transport the radioactive materials


Bulgaria has won the 70th Eurovision song contest in Vienna, Austria, with singer Dara's party anthem "Bangaranga," beating out 24 other competitors. This was Bulgaria's first-ever victory at Eurovision. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland boycotted the contest because of Israel's genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza; Israel's singer came in second place.

Eurovision Grand Finale on YouTube


Pardoned January 6 insurrectionist Ryan Nichols (36) was arrested after allegedly displaying a firearm at a man during a dispute in a church parking lot. The unarmed victim placed his child in the car and was holding a Bible in his hand when the lunatic threatened him with the weapon, causing the congregant to fear for his life. In 2021, former Marine Ryan Nichols had bragged on social media that he was going to "bring violence" to the US Capitol.

Ryan Nichols is not a good human being


Saturday, May 16, 2026

David Burke, the actor who played Dr. Watson in a 1980s Granada television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes opposite Jeremy Brett's Sherlock, has died at the age of 92.


The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid by Virginia Democrats to revive its new voter-approved congressional map that was drawn to advantage the party for the upcoming midterm elections. Read more


Exclusive: DHS made social media posts out of a protester's arrest at gunpoint. Christian Cerna speaks out about the lengthy prosecution that derailed his life Read more


How can the American people know what to believe anymore? They're supposed to be able to turn to the New York Times and other legacy newspapers for impartial facts. Although that aspirational view was never as true as many of us supposed it to be, it's become scandalously untrue today. The Times this week played host to one of the most astonishing examples of journalistic malpractice in recent memory. It was perpetrated by Nicholas Kristof " a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist turned progressive columnist and aspiring Democratic politician. Hiding under the cloak of the Times' opinion section, Kristof ran a report alleging shocking and lurid claims of widespread, systemic sexual assault by Israeli prison guards against Palestinians. This would be horrifying if true, except we have little reason to believe it is


Rather than ushering in a "Golden Age," President Donald Trump's tariffs and his war with Iran seem to have played a significant role in killing a North Carolina tire factory.


President Donald Trump returned home from China to a politically-fraught domestic policy challenge that has vexed top aides for months: sky-high beef prices. The White House must now decide how to proceed with an executive order to temporarily ease tariffs on imported beef " a move that was delayed earlier this week amid intense backlash from farm-state lawmakers and industry allies. The executive order could help lower prices for consumers, though by how much remains uncertain. Doing so would simultaneously drive up competition for American ranchers as they face a host of higher costs brought on, in part, by the Iran war.


The US government has misspent almost $3 trillion since 2003, leading government auditors to make a fresh call for a federal data analytics centre " a proposal first suggested in 2022. Total improper payments reached $185.8 billion in 2025 alone, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) " up $24 billion on 2024 in the first rise for the statistic since 2021. Overpayments by federal agencies were the largest problem, accounting for 82% of the misspending, and just five programmes misspent $135.8 billion, with Medicare making $57 billion in improper payments. Read more


The trade union bureaucracy bears direct responsibility for delivering the working class into the hands of the Starmer government. It throttled the mass strike movement of 2022"23 involving around 2 million workers and promoted the lie that the incoming Labour government would end 14 years of Tory misrule. Read more


Veterans Affairs (VA) under the Dummkopf Trumpf junta is, unsurprisingly, a disaster and a catastrophe:

  • Software Contractor Brett Blackman was convicted of a $1bn conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
  • Security personnel aren't detecting knives or alcohol being smuggled into VA facilities.
  • The Los Angeles VA homeless shelter is plagued with pestilence and security problems and has been dubbed a "Skid Row." A veteran's dog had to be revived with Narcan after being exposed to drugs.
  • Amongst other issues, the VA computer system used to review death certificates and medical information incorrectly approved $2.7m in payments to families.
    Dummkopf Trumpf and DOGE Crippled the VA


    In 1981, Judge John J. Sirica was walking down the hallway of the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. The judge's reaction to seeing the corridor crammed with boxes, as related by author Steve Coll, was to quip, "I'm glad I only had Watergate."


    Drudge Retort
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