JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Monday challenged a decision by a top state elections official to disqualify his candidacy and remove him from the August primary ballot. A court filing, on behalf of the challenger Sullivan by his attorneys, said the decision by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher disqualifying him violates state and federal law. It asks that he be placed on the ballot. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the small fishing community of Petersburg, has maintained that he's a qualified candidate for U.S. Senate and that election officials lacked a legal basis to boot him from the ballot. Read more
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- A notorious mob hitman who once testified against John "Junior" Gotti before cleaning up his life and becoming a councilman in New Jersey has been arrested on extortion and loansharking charges that, if proven, reflect a return to the lifestyle of his youth. John Alite, 63, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey, where he was sworn in early last year as a councilman in the borough of Englishtown. Released after a court appearance Saturday, Alite is scheduled to return to court for a detention hearing Wednesday. Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two more people in Missouri and Washington state have been arrested in connection with what authorities say was a planned attack targeting President Donald Trump's UFC cage-fighting show at the White House earlier this month. Federal law enforcement officials disrupted the plan a few days before the June 14 White House event, according to court documents. William Lee Spartacus Falkner of Belfair, Washington, was arrested Friday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to court documents filed Monday in the Western District of Washington. Jordan W. Rincker, 28, was arrested Sunday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the Western District of Missouri. A defense attorney appointed to represent Falkner did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment, and court records do not reveal if Rincker has obtained an attorney. Neither man has had the opportunity to enter a plea. Read more
AP: A federal judge ordered immigration officials to release the president of Wisconsin's largest mosque from detention Thursday, finding that Salah Sarsour has raised a "substantial" claim that he was being targeted for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights. Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 30. The government has claimed he is a foreign policy threat, but Sarsour's attorneys say he was actually targeted for speaking out against Israel. U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon wrote in a decision Thursday that attorneys for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not provide enough evidence to refute Sarsour's claims of retaliation for free speech, nor did they explain why Sarsour was suddenly considered a threat now after more than three decades of legal residency in the United States. Read more
Clive Davis, the visionary music executive whose instincts reshaped popular music and launched some of the most influential artists of the last six decades, died Monday at his home in New York City at 94, his family said.
A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the Trump administration to subpoena Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials, accusing the Justice Department of using its investigatory powers to retaliate against state officials for not cooperating with federal efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Read more
The incompetent and nefarious Trumpf junta is planning to charge legal immigrants seeking US citizenship $570 more in application fees while eliminating waivers and fee reductions for low-income applicants. Paper applications would increase from $760 to $1,330, online applications from $710 to $1,280, and application fees to reconsider a citizenship request denial would jump by $645.
Dummkopf Trumpf and the illegal war against Iran on behalf of Israel has bankrupted the US government, so the junta is squeezing poor immigrants for money
Former NBC journalist Chris Hansen of "To Catch a Predator" fame delivered a pointed quip in a video published Monday after a man swept up in a child exploitation sting arrived wearing a shirt prominently featuring President Donald Trump. The sting was carried out by the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana late last year in coordination with Hansen. A video published Monday revealed new details about some of the 15 men arrested in the operation, including 21-year-old Brennan Temple. Temple, according to Hansen, had sent sexually explicit images and messages to someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl
The article touches base on Obama's Presidential Center, his South Side legacy, and the importance of active citizenship.
History made! (philosophically speaking) Read more
United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country. Trump's statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling. "There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired," Trump wrote, "unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America."
A volunteer projected images of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein on the tarp of the Kennedy Center. Other messages projected on the tarp: "Boys Will Be Boys" and "No one bends the knee like the GOP" highlighting Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Johnson (R-LA), and uber-incompetent D/FBI Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel.
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New cases of New World screwworm have been confirmed in West Texas, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its response, including immediate sterile fly dispersal flights over Crockett County. In a post on X from the USDA's New World Screwworm Rapid Response, the agency said that "in the last 24 hours, 1 lamb in Crockett County, TX, and 2 calves in Edwards County, TX have tested positive for New World Screwworm, bringing the total number of domestic confirmed detections to 15." The USDA said it "has already taken action and will be starting sterile fly dispersal flights over Crockett County (outside current affected areas) immediately."
On MAGA, Evangelicalism & Christian Nationalism
In this clip from Ask N.T. Wright Anything, Michael Bird and Tom Wright discuss the rise of Christian nationalism, the influence of MAGA ideology within white evangelicalism, and why many believers are struggling to reconcile faith with political movements centered on power, nationalism, and culture wars.
LAPD officers responded to reports of a woman screaming on 13 June, which turned out to be harmless cheering, the night that the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA finals. Terrified at the sight of Jameson, a two-year-old golden Saint Bernard doodle wearing a blue NY Knicks jersey, one of the LAPD officers fired four rounds into the defense animal, killing him.
Since 2000, the LAPD has faced 2,000 claims of police brutality
Donald Trump likes this woman. She's someone's daughter. Does he think it's one of his own? She doesn't look like Tiffany or Ivanka. The blonde woman looks like she's sitting in a room with a blanket or flag from The Great State of New York.
