Drama, debt and dysfunction at the DNC

27 July 2026, 6:27pm Cockburn

 Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin stepped into his role in early 2025. He said last year it’s the “political equivalent of being a fire hydrant. You get pissed on by everyone.” That might be partially his own fault. The committee, under his leadership, is $2 million in debt. Their physical headquarters have been put up for collateral in a last-ditch attempt to obtain a line of credit. And Martin threw his phone at a junior aide in a fit of frustration at the beginning of the month, resulting in an HR investigation.

Upon Reflecting on His Pool Debacle, Trump Makes Pirro the Scapegoat for His Own Mistakes

August 3rd 2026

Edited by Yiannis Damellos

Source: NPR and agencies

Picture by ChatGPT

Feels like the Twilight of the Gilded Age of Trump, the Age of No Reason.

The rapid collapse of the federal government's Reflecting Pool prosecutions has exposed far more than a failed criminal investigation. It has revealed a President struggling with the consequences of his own political delusions, an incompetent administration ready to self-implode, and a search for someone to blame when the facts no longer support it. 

Blocking Cholesterol with Sildenafil and Statins Can Reduce the Spread of Some Cancers

August 3rd, 2026

Source: The Times of Israel

Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have uncovered a promising new strategy for preventing cancer from spreading, or metastasizing, by combining two widely used medications: sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) and statins, which are commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research, the study suggests these well-known drugs may interfere with a biological process that metastatic cancer cells rely on to invade other parts of the body.

Six Reasons Why the United States Is Low on Munitions

Photo: U.S. Army photo by Capt. Frank Spatt/DVIDS

Commentary by Mark F. Cancian and Chris H. Park

Published July 31, 2026

The United States’ shortage of key munitions has entered the national debate and reportedly become a major element in presidential decision-making in the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran. Use during the war against Iran is indeed a major driver of the issue, but it is not the only one. There are other reasons—strategic, industrial, institutional, and operational—why the Department of Defense (DOD) lacks the depth of munitions inventories that it needs today. Understanding the full history is necessary to fix the problem.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issues order rescinding "anti-weaponization fund"

morning news

Updated on: August 3, 2026

12:25 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order Sunday evening formally rescinding plans to create a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of President Trump.

Two crew killed after firefighting helicopters collide in Greece, as British pilot survives

4 hours ago

Paulin Kola and Nikos Papanikolaou

Two crew members have been killed after two helicopters collided mid-air in Greece while battling wildfires. The fatalities were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer. A British pilot and another Greek co-ordinator on the second helicopter survived.

Jailed ex-leader Maduro welcomes ‘any path to dialogue’ in Venezuela ahead of US talks

Maduro, who is imprisoned in New York, made the remarks ahead of the meeting between Venezuela’s interim government and opposition leaders

Agence France-Presse
Published: 4:40am, 3 Aug 2026

Venezuela’s imprisoned former leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday welcomed “any path to dialogue”, ahead of a US-backed meeting in the coming week between representatives of the Latin American country’s interim government and opposition leaders.

Capital One says it closed Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns

August 2, 2026

2:31 PM ET
By Willem Marx

Capital One bank has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from the Trump Organization over the closure of hundreds of bank accounts back in 2021, arguing in new papers that the shutdowns were the product of a monthslong anti-money-laundering review — not retaliation for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as the Trump family businesses have claimed.

Daily Beast: ‘Where’s Mitch’ Chants Erupt at Major Kentucky Political Event

AWOL
The absent Senator has attended the Fancy Farm picnic for more than 40 years
Sarah-Jane Collins, Daily Beast Reporter
Updated Aug. 2 2026 1:59 PM EDT 

Published Aug. 2 2026 12:54 PM EDT
Elizabeth Frantz/REUTERS

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s absence at a major event on the state’s political calendar this weekend took center stage as members of the crowd shouted, “Where’s Mitch?”

RFK Jr loses temper in angry clash with CNN host over measles and Covid: ‘You want to sit here and attack me?’

Heated health secretary angrily accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci of ‘lying about everything’ and CNN of ‘punishing’ people during Covid in contentious interview

John Bowden in Washington, D.C.

Sunday 02 August 2026 18:17 BST

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got into it with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday in an interview segment that quickly evolved into Kennedy angrily berating Bash and her network for “punishing” people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rep. Max Miller denounced by Sen. Bernie Moreno, his former father-in-law

“I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake,” the senator said.
By Mia McCarthy
08/02/2026 11:09 AM EDT|

POLITICO

Sen. Bernie Moreno, the father of Emily Moreno who made allegations of domestic and child abuse to her ex-husband Rep. Max Miller, denounced the Ohio Republican for the first time Sunday, calling for him to exit the House.

Republicans revive Red Scare rhetoric to fight DSA gains before midterms

By Kevin Brannigan

Breaking News & General Assignment

Published August 1, 2026

President Donald Trump and Republican leaders have spent more than a month warning voters that communism is overtaking the Democratic Party, deploying Cold War-era language to frame the November midterm elections as a fight for the country’s survival.

The rhetoric is aimed squarely at the Democratic Socialists of America, a progressive organization whose endorsed candidates have won dozens of Democratic primaries at the local, state and federal level over the past year. Those winners will appear on the ballot as Democrats in November, and Republicans see an opening to tie the entire party to its left flank.

Stuck in a game of diplomatic treadmill with Iran and Israel, Trump is spinning his wheels again

August 2, 2026

Trump's Iran policy has devolved into a cycle of repetitive rhetoric without resolution 

President Donald Trump's latest announcement that he is canceling planned strikes against Iran—provided the two sides "rapidly" reach a deal—is less a diplomatic breakthrough than another chapter in a familiar pattern that has defined his Iran policy. For months, Trump has alternated between declaring that a deal is imminent, threatening overwhelming military force if one is not reached, and then returning to negotiations without producing a lasting resolution, after a series of provocations, many of which have been instigated by Tel Aviv. As Iran immediately disputed the latest account and mocked Trump again, and Israeli officials have publicly disputed the existence of any agreement to halt military operations in Gaza, it seems that Trump's latest announcement follows that same script. 

Amid fears of Iranian cyberattacks, Michigan joins Minnesota in reporting hackers targeted water systems. The FBI is now investigating

FORTUNE
Cybersecurity
By Michael Casey and The Associated Press
August 1, 2026, 5:47 PM ET

Michigan on Saturday joined Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks on nine of the state’s water systems but an official said all systems were operating “safely.”

Earlier this week, authorities said cyberattacks targeted over 30 water systems in Minnesota. The source of the attacks is being investigated, but they came amid warnings that Iranian hackers have been focused on such systems.

Massive US tungsten discovery could run into Nasa roadblock

Miner may have found America’s largest deposit of crucial defence metal, but the space agency 

hinders development

Jamie Smyth in New York, Published 7 HOURS AGO

Read the original here

A mining company says it has discovered America’s largest deposit of tungsten, a crucial defence industry metal in severe shortage, but US space agency Nasa is blocking development on a large swath of its claims.

“If I Prove That You Can Win Statewide Taking on AIPAC, That Is Catastrophic”

 2026 Elections  8 hours ago 

Abdul El-Sayed says Tuesday’s Senate primary in Michigan is a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party

Najib Aminy

On July 8, Abdul El-Sayed had just wrapped up a campaign stop inside a sweltering church auditorium in Ferndale, Michigan. The room was packed with supporters fanning themselves with campaign signs, many braving the summer heat to hear the progressive Senate candidate make his case against his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

Then came the applause.

We’ve Officially Entered the Twilight of Late-Stage Trumpism

Greg Sargent for The New Republic
July 30, 2026
NAKED EMPEROR
It’s all there in a new CNN poll, and it’s heartening to see: Large majorities are sick of Donald Trump’s vanity, venality, and megalomania.

No one has ever seen anything like it, as Donald Trump himself might say. Buried in a new CNN poll is something striking: Trump isn’t just cratering by conventional approval measurements; he’s also absolutely collapsing by many metrics involving personal traits, from his mental state to his disconnectedness from ordinary people to his fondness for building monuments to himself.

Trump Threatens to Revive "anti-weaponization fund" Unless Senate Confirms Blanche

Trump Administration

August 1, 2026

President Donald Trump publicly pressured Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn by threatening to revive his controversial "anti-weaponization fund" unless they vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general.

The threat came just one day after Trump and Blanche had insisted the nearly $1.8 billion fund was effectively dead. Blanche told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the fund was "not moving forward," and the Justice Department had previously informed a federal court that it had been abandoned. Now, Trump is reversing course.