https://drudge.com/user/dbt2 New links and comments. en-us http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Wordzilla/0.58 10 https://drudge.com/news/293810/frontier-culture-and-rugged https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23997/w23997.pdf November 2017, Revised August 2020: "We investigate the Frontier Thesis and identify its long-run implications for culture and politics. We track the frontier throughout the 1790-1890 period and construct a novel, county-level measure of total frontier experience (TFE). Historically, frontier locations had distinctive demographics and greater individualism." <b>"Long after the closing of the frontier, counties with greater TFE exhibit more pervasive individualism and opposition to redistribution. This pattern cuts across known divides in the U.S., including urban"rural and north"south."</b> Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:15:14 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293810/frontier-culture-and-rugged#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293810 discussion, 0.5 daily 293810 https://drudge.com/news/293739/mcconnell-writes-he-has-been https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/06/politics/mitch-mcconnell-discharged "Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home. Elaine and I are grateful for the many well wishes and support from friends, colleagues, and Kentuckians, and for the attentive care I've received from excellent doctors, nurses, therapists, and hospital staff," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:metos4p2yzc3tcdu6h7kszfz/app.bsky.feed.post/3mshwj55wr22b" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiagtced3z7lgzdk7nto2wdkqoizgueelsnjinrre7py7knmta5j54" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"><p lang="en">Mitch McConnell didn&#x27;t &quot;say&quot; one freaking word www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-m ... <br><br><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:metos4p2yzc3tcdu6h7kszfz/post/3mshwj55wr22b?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a></p> -- Will Bunch (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:metos4p2yzc3tcdu6h7kszfz?ref_src=embed">@willbunch.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:metos4p2yzc3tcdu6h7kszfz/post/3mshwj55wr22b?ref_src=embed">2:28 AM &Acirc;&middot; Aug 7, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Sat, 08 Aug 2026 11:33:35 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293739/mcconnell-writes-he-has-been#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293739 news, 0.5 daily 293739 https://drudge.com/news/293704/another-inmate-suicide-deck https://augustafreepress.com/news/the-deck-was-stacked-against-christopher-lee-franklin-who-died-by-suicide-in-a-virginia-jail/ "He said, Sissy, I didn't do this, but men don't beat rape charges. I'm going to die in jail,'" said Elizabeth Self, whose brother, Christopher Lee Franklin, 40, was awaiting an Aug. 19 jury trial on charges related to the alleged Jan. 17 rape of an ex-girlfriend in Stafford County, VA. For Franklin, who had no prior criminal history, and a documented history of mental health struggles -- the U.S. Marine veteran suffered from depression, PTSD and anxiety -- his time in jail leading up to his hearing was made infinitely more difficult by the jail staff's lack of attention to basic details regarding his mental well-being. <p>Self said her brother was not given medications for treatment of his mental health conditions, and was also denied medication that had been prescribed related to eye surgery from before his incarceration. <p>Compounding these issues, Franklin could not eat the food he was served, his sister said, because he did not have teeth. Wed, 05 Aug 2026 02:08:24 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293704/another-inmate-suicide-deck#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293704 discussion, 0.5 daily 293704 https://drudge.com/news/293625/weekend-music-larry-johnson-nobodys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IeAOgJSNk0 Posting is country blues. Blue Goose Records, a great label. Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:11:40 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293625/weekend-music-larry-johnson-nobodys#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293625 discussion, 0.5 daily 293625 https://drudge.com/news/293552/justice-kansas-arrested-clapping https://www.kcrg.com/2026/07/27/teacher-arrested-repeatedly-clapping-favor-data-center-opponents-during-city-commission-meeting/ A 37-year-old teacher was released from a Kansas jail after posting bail following his arrest at a city meeting where zoning changes for a proposed data center project were passed. Lux Claridge, an Emporia High School physics teacher, was arrested for interference with law enforcement after clapping during the meeting. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrpslgftrc2k" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreifltjf5lbsekj2dfmirxrbuppkg5y4tsc6z6ul2yq4xjjjxfsidcq" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"><p lang="en">Just a joke of a fucking country<br><br><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/post/3mrpslgftrc2k?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a></p> -- Matt Novak (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw?ref_src=embed">@paleofuture.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4usmserhjqkvhldgedfjb3jw/post/3mrpslgftrc2k?ref_src=embed">12:14 PM &Acirc;&middot; Jul 28, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:31:27 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293552/justice-kansas-arrested-clapping#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293552 news, 0.5 daily 293552 https://drudge.com/news/293554/congrats-fl-we-hope-you-feel-better-2 https://apnews.com/article/florida-execution-duckett-occhicone-4c313a84631ad20a62998f7dd061dbcf STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- A former police officer convicted of the on-duty rape and murder of a young girl was put to death Tuesday, the first of two lethal injections planned for a single day in Florida, hours before an 80-year-old man was to become the second-oldest inmate executed in modern U.S. history. Tuesday marked the first time since two convicted murderers were executed on a single day -- in Arkansas in 2017 - that a state has planned virtually back-to-back executions. It also comes 18 months after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis began stepping up executions at a pace unseen in Florida since the U.S. death penalty was reinstated in 1976, making his the busiest death chamber in the nation. Occhicone's attorneys had argued that several age-related ailments, including kidney and prostate problems, could make his execution especially painful, constituting cruel and unusual punishment. <p>DeSantis hasn't said why he scheduled two executions six hours apart. A Florida prison official said Tuesday morning that the department was confident in its readiness to carry out both executions. All Florida executions are by injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:38:28 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293554/congrats-fl-we-hope-you-feel-better-2#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293554 discussion, 0.5 daily 293554 https://drudge.com/news/293517/long-term-money-problems-may-accelerate https://scitechdaily.com/long-term-money-problems-may-accelerate-brain-aging/ Years of persistent financial strain may leave measurable effects on cognitive performance by middle age and on brain health decades later. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:hne455ahhpnxi5vnm7a5dquz/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqpxu5zass2a" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreigtw4teb3xgrus4ukc73gtyqoylpcmeqkyiq5ymr4egpvujuhcca4" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"><p lang="en">This is not what the American people signed up for. www.usatoday.com/story/money/ ... <br><br><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hne455ahhpnxi5vnm7a5dquz/post/3mqpxu5zass2a?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a></p> -- Senator Tammy Baldwin (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hne455ahhpnxi5vnm7a5dquz?ref_src=embed">@baldwin.senate.gov</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hne455ahhpnxi5vnm7a5dquz/post/3mqpxu5zass2a?ref_src=embed">8:23 PM &Acirc;&middot; Jul 15, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:31:58 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293517/long-term-money-problems-may-accelerate#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293517 news, 0.5 daily 293517 https://drudge.com/news/293461/gruesome-images-d4vd-hearing-familys https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4lyze30vo Gruesome images of a teenage girl's dismembered corpse have been shown in court before her horrified parents on the opening day of a preliminary hearing in the murder case against the singer who performs under the stage name D4vd. Prosecutors presented graphic crime scene photos showing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body when it was found last year inside a Tesla registered to singer David Anthony Burke in Hollywood, Los Angeles. A homicide detective testified that Burke, 21, had ordered a body bag, chainsaws, an inflatable pool and a shovel online in the days after Celeste's death. <p>Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering and sexually abusing the girl. <p>The grisly details had previously only been described in court filings. Tuesday's hearing marked the first time that the evidence and photographs were shown publicly in court. <p>Although this is not the trial itself . . . Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:14:10 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293461/gruesome-images-d4vd-hearing-familys#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293461 discussion, 0.5 daily 293461 https://drudge.com/news/293452/do-we-ever-stop-growing-up-end https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1229294 Quoidbach et al. elicited estimates of people's personality, values, and choices and compared how much, for instance, 33-year-olds believed that they would change in the next 10 years with how much 43-year-olds reported that they had changed in the past 10 years. For groups spanning 18 to 68 years of age, people of all ages described more change in the past 10 years than they would have predicted 10 years ago. <b>Abstract</B> "We measured the personalities, values, and preferences of more than 19,000 people who ranged in age from 18 to 68 and asked them to report how much they had changed in the past decade and/or to predict how much they would change in the next decade. Young people, middle-aged people, and older people all believed they had changed a lot in the past but would change relatively little in the future. People, it seems, regard the present as a watershed moment at which they have finally become the person they will be for the rest of their lives. This "end of history illusion" had practical consequences, leading people to overpay for future opportunities to indulge their current preferences." Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:33:31 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293452/do-we-ever-stop-growing-up-end#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293452 discussion, 0.5 daily 293452 https://drudge.com/news/293419/ortega-says-no-more-elections-extending https://www.npr.org/2026/07/21/nx-s1-5902228/nicaragua-ortega-no-elections MEXICO CITY " Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said his country won't be holding elections anytime soon, a statement underscoring the strongman's efforts to extend his nearly 20-year rule and dashing hopes by the opposition that he might heed their demands for a democratic vote. The announcement effectively canceled Nicaragua's next elections, originally scheduled for November 2027 after the government-controlled Congress voted in January 2025 to extend the five-year presidential term by one year. Ortega spoke on Sunday at the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that toppled the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and first brought him to power. He returned to the presidency in 2007 and has since rewritten the constitution, crushed political opposition and solidified his control over virtually all branches of the Nicaraguan government. <p>Since mass protests in 2018, which led to a bloody government crackdown that killed hundreds, Ortega and his wife and co-President Rosario Murillo have been holding on to power. <p>Ortega declared himself the winner of the 2021 election " a vote widely viewed as illegitimate by the international community " after jailing all the candidates who could have possibly beaten him. The U.S. does not recognize Ortega's presidency. Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:35:13 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293419/ortega-says-no-more-elections-extending#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293419 0.5 daily 293419 https://drudge.com/news/293379/lumberjack-world-championships-three https://apnews.com/article/lumberjack-world-championships-women-4d9ae78914f02edb8162b16b853088ba Karolina Urbanov from the Czech Republic set world records in two events. She earned first place in the Women's Underhand Chop, cutting through 11" (27.9 centimeters) of white pine in 21.28 seconds. She also came in first in the Women's Standing Chop, cutting through 9" (22.8 centimeters) of white pine in 19.38 seconds. Meredith Ingbretson of Hayward set a world record in the Women's Boom Run, sprinting across the water and back over eight red cedar logs in 13.78 seconds. While women have been competing since the inaugural competition in 1960, the events they participate in have expanded significantly, organizers said. They started just competing in log-rolling, and now participate in more than 20 timber sports events. <p>"When I started chopping I was chopping with the men," said Nancy Zalewski, a competitor for 27 years who has trained others, including fellow participant Kate Witkowski. Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:58:40 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293379/lumberjack-world-championships-three#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293379 discussion, 0.5 daily 293379 https://drudge.com/news/293366/jewish-gopers-sour-vance-look-rubio https://www.jta.org/2026/07/16/politics/as-jewish-republicans-sour-on-jd-vance-many-are-rallying-behind-marco-rubio-for-2028 It's no secret that JD Vance has lost the confidence of many Jewish Republicans, who have taken issue with the vice president's reprimanding of Israeli officials, indulgence of anti-Israel conspiracy theories and silence on Tucker Carlson, the prominent pundit who has turned against Israel. But Vance is still thought by many to be Donald Trump's likeliest successor at the top of the party's ticket in 2028, leaving the GOP's Jewish supporters with the question of whom to back when Trump's second term ends. Many are finding an answer elsewhere in the Trump administration. <p>"The overwhelming majority of American Jewish MAGA voters, donors, and policymakers are enthusiastically supporting a Marco Rubio presidential run," Shabbos Kestenbaum, whose high-profile activism against campus antisemitism has made him a hero among Jewish conservatives, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this week. "I look forward to voting for him as well." Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:03:49 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293366/jewish-gopers-sour-vance-look-rubio#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293366 discussion, 0.5 daily 293366 https://drudge.com/news/293359/social-media-influencers-tates-arrested https://apnews.com/article/tate-brothers-social-influencers-arrest-82b6638219839dcf653c09309da66f16 Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world's most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges. The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, agency spokesperson Brady McCarron told The Associated Press, placing the United States at the center of an international legal saga that has stretched from Romania to Britain. British prosecutors announced Saturday that they were seeking the brothers' extradition on charges alleging they raped and trafficked women between 2010 and 2017. Sat, 18 Jul 2026 20:47:07 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293359/social-media-influencers-tates-arrested#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293359 discussion, 0.5 daily 293359 https://drudge.com/news/293264/warren-buffett-calls-off-donations-gates https://www.reuters.com/world/us/warren-buffett-stops-gates-foundation-donations-following-epstein-revelations-2026-07-14/ Warren Buffett has stopped donating to the Gates Foundation ... <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:2w45zyhuklwihpdc7oj3mi63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqfmbu77zd2d" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreibjs4om5pat2cxgj66fmecoigknmvdzejycdc73xppamstt3jl7dq" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"><p lang="en">The U.S. is just a few dozen measles cases away from exceeding the number of cases recorded in 2025.<br><br><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2w45zyhuklwihpdc7oj3mi63/post/3mqfmbu77zd2d?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a></p> -- Forbes (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2w45zyhuklwihpdc7oj3mi63?ref_src=embed">@forbes.com</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2w45zyhuklwihpdc7oj3mi63/post/3mqfmbu77zd2d?ref_src=embed">5:30 PM &Acirc;&middot; Jul 11, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:31:43 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293264/warren-buffett-calls-off-donations-gates#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293264 news, 0.5 daily 293264 https://drudge.com/news/293287/not-music-thread-fine-story-carter https://www.loganbanner.com/opinion/appalachian-bluebird-the-carter-family-fold-helps-keep-appalachian-music-alive/article_eec1047f-ec2d-513f-896b-cba9f6d4daed.html On Saturday nights in Hiltons, Virginia, the Carter Family Fold continues a tradition that has endured for generations. During a recent visit, I watched dancers fill the old wooden floor while Daniel Grindstaff and The Uptown Troubadours, along with other musicians, played music that you couldn't hardly resist getting up and dancing to. This music venue felt less like a concert and more like stepping into another era. Experienced dancers took to the floor with an ease that comes only from years of knowing the steps. Before long, many of the audience members joined them and children eagerly followed, learning the dances simply by watching and doing, just as generations before them had. The Carter Family Fold was founded in 1974 by Janette Carter, the youngest daughter of A.P. and Sara Carter. Her vision was to create a place where traditional Appalachian music could continue to be played and shared just as it had during her childhood. More than fifty years later, that mission continues. The Fold has become one of the best-known venues dedicated to preserving traditional mountain music and is widely recognized as one of the last authentic weekly barn dances in Appalachia, where visitors are encouraged to not only listen but also to dance. It also includes a museum and the original log cabin where A.P. Carter was born, allowing you to be even more immersed into Appalachian history. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:49:02 -0400 Dbt2 https://drudge.com/news/293287/not-music-thread-fine-story-carter#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.293287 discussion, 0.5 daily 293287