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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s convocation of hundreds of generals and admirals today turned out to be, in the main, a nothingburger.
In the days before Pete Hegseth stepped onstage to address the hundreds of generals and admirals he summoned for a mysterious meeting outside Washington, D.C., officials at the Pentagon joked that the defense secretary could have saved a lot of time and money by making his remarks via email instead.
To: Entire Military Leadership of the United States, Stationed All Over the World, Who Would Have to Be Flown In Very Disruptively and Expensively If This Weren’t an Email but for Some Reason Were an Urgent In-Person Address
From: Pete Hegseth
CC: Donald J. Trump
Subject: WARFIGHTER ETHOS
PLEASE DROP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING TO READ THIS EMAIL AT ATTENTION.
In the 1960s, the authors of one of the world’s first popular compendiums of fun and interesting facts entreated readers not to mistake the “flower of Trivia” for the “weed of minutiae.” Trivia stimulates the mind, Edwin Goodgold and Dan Carlinsky wrote in More Trivial Trivia; minutiae stymie it.
The deal is a victory for Trump who has pressured drugmakers to voluntarily comply with his policy priorities. If not, they will likely face regulation or high tariffs.
Trump’s strength with Republicans on the economy could prove to be a boon for the GOP.
Tension between immigration agents and community activists is growing in Chicago, where ICE agents have deployed tear gas and pepper balls against ongoing protests outside Chicago’s Broadview ICE detention facility.
Democracy Now! speaks with community activist Cristóbal Cavazos, who says that the people of Chicago have been steadfast in their mobilization against ICE, with communities engaging in daily protests and community safety patrols.
President Trump has directed 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to be deployed to Portland, claiming troops are necessary to “protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” Trump’s order comes after he signed an executive order claiming the decentralized antifa movement is a “domestic terror organization.
The U.S. government appears to be headed to a shutdown at midnight Wednesday after President Trump and Democratic leaders failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill. Democrats are looking to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs that were implemented by the tax and spending bill passed earlier this year.
As the Israeli blockade of Gaza continues, a nearly 50-boat flotilla carrying humanitarian aid is currently some 150 nautical miles from Gaza. The grandson of Nelson Mandela, Nkosi Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela, speaks with Democracy Now! from the Global Sumud Flotilla.
South Africans “are beneficiaries of international solidarity.
After a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip on Monday that aims to end Israel’s war on Gaza, free the remaining Israeli hostages and remove Hamas from power. Netanyahu expressed support for the deal, but he has already backed away from key elements, including a call for Israel to eventually pull its troops out of Gaza. Hamas has not responded yet to the deal.
NVIDIA has announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to build out data centers that use its chips.
The YIMBY movement gathered in New Haven—and revealed its biggest vulnerability.
Trump’s brand new Fed appointee is already going against the grain.
Gary Rivlin joins Elizabeth Spiers to discuss his book on Silicon Valley’s race to cash in on AI.
ICE raided a new Hyundai plant in Georgia detaining hundreds of workers from South Korea.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or the acting CDC director could create new recommendations without a vote from the panel, giving the health secretary broad authority over the childhood vaccine schedule. But there’s little precedent for such a move.
Public health experts and program lawyers have warned that adding autism to the compensation program would exhaust the court’s workforce and financial resources.
“I think there are an awful lot of people in the medical community who come to a different conclusion about the use of Tylenol,” Thune said.
The president wants to stem rising autism rates even if it means pregnant women don’t treat their pain and delay their kids’ vaccinations.
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
A survey from the liberal-leaning group Somos Votantes shows Latino voters are souring on the president.
Privately, aides concede voters remain uneasy about prices but argue their policies are beginning to turn things around.
Bill Beach said the president’s suggestions that the jobs report was rigged betrayed a misunderstanding in how those numbers are assembled.
The monthly jobs report showed just 73,000 jobs in July, with big reductions to May’s and June’s numbers
As the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on Venezuela, we speak with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In recent weeks, the U.S. has bombed multiple alleged Venezuelan “drug boats” at sea, killing at least 17 people without providing any clear evidence that they were involved in drug trafficking or linked to the government in Caracas. The U.S.
