President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at cracking down on ticket scalping and fees that drive up the costs of attending live events for consumers. The order directs the Federal Trade Commission to work with the Department of Justice to ensure that competition laws are enforced in the concert and entertainment industry " including the Better Online Ticket Sales, or BOTS, Act " and pushes state consumer protection authorities on enforcement, according to a fact sheet seen by Bloomberg News. It also seeks to "ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process, including the secondary ticketing market." Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be asked to ensure that ticket resellers are complying with the tax code and other laws. read more
America's public high schools are strange places to find displays of the alphabet. Perhaps with plummeting standardized test scores and a substantial increase in English-as-a-second-language students in sanctuary districts, high school educators feel the need to review kindergarten basics. In Fairfax County, Virginia's West Springfield High School, located just 17 miles from the White House, school administrators and teachers have decorated the history hallway this month with a special, leftist rendition of the alphabet. The display, titled "The ABCs to ME," is decorated with the school's colors: a blue background lined with an orange border. Featured in the display is a sign that reads, "A is for Abortion" with an image of a coat hanger with a positive pregnancy test. read more
Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday said his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal valuing the company, once known as Twitter at $33 billion. read more
Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka thinks now is the time for the city to acknowledge the "failure of defund movement." The West Seattle representative's symbolic resolution that "reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities" will come in front of the council's public safety committee Tuesday. "This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor's Office has made improving public safety an absolute priority," Saka said in the announcement of the proposed resolution. "This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system." Mayor Bruce Harrell is also ready to declare a new pro-police era in Seattle. read more
The city of Los Angeles has issued just four rebuilding permits in the Pacific Palisades 75 days after a fire devastated most of the coastal community, highlighting the city's struggle with providing basic government services. After the city dedicated significant resources to tearing down a 20-year-old family treehouse earlier this month over permitting disagreements, many individuals highlighted their struggles with obtaining permits for building even simple structures. According to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, only four permits have been issued for rebuilding thus far after a fire destroyed 6,000 structures and leveled much of the community. read more
#21 All they read are headlines. It's why they post parodies as real news stories too, headlines.