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Browns Send Strong Message to QB Dillon Gabriel

Dillon Gabriel entered training camp on the outside of the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback competition, but his performance is forcing the team to reconsider his workload. The post Browns Send Strong Message to QB Dillon Gabriel appeared first on HEAVY.

Aug 3 • 6:03 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Outernet turns your saved posts into real-world adventures

Founded by the creators of viral offline events like San Francisco’s citywide scavenger hunt Pursuit, Outernet's app helps users save places and events they discover online, then nudges them to actually go.

Aug 3 • 2:00 PM EDT • Technology • techcrunch.com

If Not AOC, Then Who?

What do we do if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decides not to run for president in 2028? It makes sense that many leftists are currently focused on calling on her to take the plunge. But the absence of a Plan B, or even much discussion about one, is worrisome. The US Left can’t afford to sit out the 2028 Democratic primary. Doing so in 2024 was a disaster: our abstention self-marginalized anti-billionaire politics from the national conversation and thereby gave space for Harris to pivot to the “center” (i.e. the policy preferences of corporate donors, establishment hacks, and AIPAC). Abstaining again in 2028 would be especially counterproductive since democratic socialists now have so much wind in our sails after our big electoral wins in NYC and across the country. It’s time to deepen our momentum, organization, and profile — not to retreat to the margins during America’s single most important political battle. Even more urgently, keeping Trump’s heir out of the White House may depend on whether leftists and the party’s unprecedentedly disenchanted base can force the Democrats in 2028 to take meaningful steps towards a very angry electorate and away from the corporate-consultant blob that has helped get us into this mess. If AOC (or Abdul El-Sayed) decides to run, we should enthusiastically go all in — DSA, fighting unions, progressive organizations, anybody who wants to see a better country and world. But, as far as I can tell from the outside, there’s a real chance that she doesn’t run. And we can’t just wait and see where she lands before discussing alternatives, since AOC’s decision might not come for quite a while, giving us little time to scramble at the last minute for an alternative. So we should start working now on getting a Plan B into motion, and recruiting a good candidate for the role. Here’s one idea. A Worker Candidate — Healthcare Not Warfare 2028 Run a union worker Leftists don’t need to always run experienced, well-known socialist politicians for high-profile contests. Lula, the current president of Brazil, began his political career as a metalworker militant who ran for governor of São Paulo in 1982. Especially in an era of institutional distrust, it’s possible to lean hard into making a virtue out of a working-class comrade’s distance from traditional politics. Experience abroad shows this clearly. Rachel Kéké — an immigrant hotel housekeeper — ran as the candidate of the leftist La France Insoumise for the National Assembly in 2022, defeating a former minister in the Macron government. The Belgian Workers’ Party in 2024 won its first Flemish seat in the European Parliament by running Rudi Kennes, a three-decade veteran of the Opel Antwerp auto factory. And the South Korean left in 2024 elected auto factory militant Yoon Jong-oh to the National Assembly. If a tiny French Trotskyist organization could make such a big splash in 2002 and 2007 by running a well-spoken postal worker cadre for office — the LCR’s Olivier Besancenot received about 1.5 million first-round votes — it’s not far-fetched to expect that a much larger organization like DSA, together with a broader coalition of the willing, could run this playbook to much greater effect. This is especially the case now that almost everything DSA does immediately becomes a national news story. We don’t need someone famous. We just need a charismatic, well-vetted comrade who works in a relatable working-class occupation — e.g. a nurse, or a worker in auto or construction, or at Amazon. Ideally, they have a compelling personal story or have been part of a significant strike or organizing campaign, but even those criteria don’t necessarily have to be deal-breakers. The main lesson of the Graham Platner fiasco isn’t that we should never run outsiders for office (the momentum he generated proves the exact opposite), but that they need proper vetting and roots in democratic membership organizations like DSA or a union. In any case, there are plenty of ways to signal working-class authenticity without resorting to Platner’s or Fetterman’s performative macho white dude affect. Better to have someone of any gender or race who is actually working class, with firm socialist politics, who can speak from experience about the day-to-day realities of trying to make it in America. There are surely at least a dozen such worker leaders in our movement nationwide; we just need to sit down and convince one that their personal sacrifice for the greater good (i.e. running for president) will be worth it. If we don’t have a frontrunner with a clear path to victory like AOC (or El-Sayed, were he to win Michigan), it’s better to embrace someone whose decision to run in itself tells an important story about US politics: workers have been iced out of our political system and are now fighting hard to break back in. The novelty factor, in itself, would generate press. And it would help democratic socialists signal to the American public that our movement’s defining characteristic is that we represent workers vs. bosses, not that we’re “the furthest left” force in American politics — a framework that suggests we’re extremists and that helps our opponents isolate us from non-college-educated voters by highlighting extremely minoritarian (and misguided) stances included in DSA’s platform like prison abolition. We don’t get many opportunities to speak to tens of millions of Americans; we need to use these opportunities to broaden our appeal beyond those already in our orbit. Run to polarize the 2028 primary and general election around “Medicare for All” and “End All Aid to Israel” Why should democratic socialists use our scarce time and volunteer energy to run in a race we’re unlikely to win? Running in the 2028 primary will not only recruit us scores of members (imagine having a DSA member intervening in eleven nationally televised primary debates!), but — more importantly — it has the potential to be a decisive leap forward towards an America that finally starts meeting the needs of working people instead of HMO and AIPAC billionaire donors. Polarizing litmus tests are good, actually — as long as they’re fought for around popular demands in a thoughtful and strategic way. Democratic socialists have an opportunity and responsibility to make the 2028 primary about two of the most widely and deeply felt issues of our moment: domestically, America’s unaffordable, family-breaking private healthcare system; internationally, America’s bankrolling of the genocidal Israeli government. A candidacy relentlessly demanding Medicare for All and No Aid to Israel would pose a sharp question to the American public, the Democratic Party, and other 2028 contenders: Why can’t working-class Americans afford their healthcare bills at the same time that our government is spending at least $3.8 billion yearly to fund an Israeli regime eager to keep dragging us and the world into more forever wars? Our candidate can agitate around a clear message: I’m running to give voice to all those working-class Americans who are struggling to get by. No matter what state you live in, who you voted for in 2024, or your background, it’s just plain common sense that we should make healthcare more affordable instead of spending billions to enable the Israeli government’s crimes against humanity. Every American who agrees with me when I say ‘Medicare for All — Not a Dime for Israel’ should make their voice heard through our campaign. Racking up a high number of votes for this agenda is a crucial way to show the Democratic Party and the country as a whole that we can’t keep supporting a life-destroying status quo in our healthcare system and in the Middle East. If we want to defeat Trump’s handpicked crony this coming November, we need to speak to ordinary people’s frustrations with the status quo — we can’t keep running the same tired establishment playbook and expecting a different result. For those highly engaged voters (or skeptical media pundits) who raise concerns about wasting votes, the candidate can take the time to explain why this isn’t the case: It's true I'm a long shot. But Zohran showed anything can happen — and voting for me is a pragmatic decision, not a wasted vote. In a heavily divided primary with a large number of candidates and a very discredited establishment, my campaign and the democratic socialist movement I’m part of are positioned to be the balance of power if we can get a large enough number of voters to loudly demand Healthcare Not Warfare. Since there’s a high chance no candidate will get to 50% in the 2028 primaries, the Democrats could very well be heading towards a brokered convention, where a disciplined, principled current committed to breaking from corporate donors can play an outsized role in making sure whoever ends up with the nomination raises the banner of single-payer healthcare and cutting aid to Israel. How exactly could running this sort of primary campaign be translated into actual leverage? The candidate replies: I’m aiming to win the nomination, but if I don’t achieve that goal, my delegates and I will pledge our support in the primary only for a candidate who agrees in the general election to call for ending US aid to Israel and establishing Medicare for All at home. These are both winning planks for November against the Republicans, and the only reason I can see that other candidates haven’t yet raised these is that they’re still more scared of the donor class than they are of the people. That needs to change. If Democratic leaders want young people, workers, and those sick of the status quo to show up in big numbers this November, they need to meet us halfway. In this way, whether or not we win the nomination, democratic socialists could still play a decisive role in 2028. The approach outlined here is similar to what radical left parties periodically do in parliamentary democracies like Denmark or Sweden when they find themselves as a junior partner electorally: they dictate to center-left allies what their terms would be for enabling, from the outside, the formation of a new government. Running a Healthcare Not Warfare candidate will make it significantly more likely that the 2028 Democratic candidate stands with ordinary people instead of donors on these two pivotal planks — a shift that will, in turn, make it easier to achieve the existentially important task of defeating MAGA’s heir in November. Look at how much popular traction the Uncommitted movement got with a similar strategy in 2024 with so little on-the-ground organization — surely we can go much further with a working-class candidate, a much bigger DSA, and a Democratic Party base that has turned against Israel, billionaires, and the hacks in the party who prop them up. Objections and Responses There are quite a few objections to this proposal, many of which are very reasonable. Let me briefly address each here. Socialists shouldn’t waste their scarce time and resources on a candidate unlikely to win. This is a good rule in general, but there are important exceptions, and presidential elections are the main one. There’s no other political contest that gets anything like this level of attention and engagement in the US, so if you want to be a serious force in nationwide politics, you basically can’t afford not to have a candidate. Far from being an overall drain on our resources, running a dynamic 2028 campaign would likely result in a major net increase in members and capacity. In that spirit, the very pragmatic Milwaukee sewer socialists — who mostly ran to win at home in Wisconsin — supported Eugene Debs’s propagandistic presidential campaigns, which they correctly saw as a crucial means of recruiting to the Socialist Party. And now that the (post-1972) Democratic Party gives more weight to voters than party operatives in determining its presidential nomination, it’s become feasible to run as a socialist in primaries without risking a split in the vote against the Republicans in November. We should just support Ro Khanna, who also supports M4A and ending aid to Israel. I like Ro Khanna and would enthusiastically vote and canvass for him for president were he to get the nomination. But there’s a real chance that Khanna’s bid for office doesn’t catch on; he lacks the grassroots organizational apparatus of DSA, and, because he’s not really of the Left or labor (despite his current very good positions), he’s unlikely to generate the type of buy-in and enthusiasm that a DSA candidate would. Moreover, Khanna would be running as an individual, not as someone emerging from and building an organized movement — his campaign would not likely focus on building sustained power from below, nor would it likely polarize the 2028 primary around M4A and Israel aid. Also, and not inconsequentially, the poor electoral results for Tom Steyer and Saikat Chakrabarti this spring suggest that there’s perhaps not much of a popular appetite in the Democrats’ base to support multi-millionaire class traitors. Much better, then, to run a democratic socialist worker. If by Super Tuesday it’s clear that our campaign has captured the main left lane in the primary, Khanna should drop out and endorse us; conversely, if he’s managed to capture this lane, DSA could at that point transform its Healthcare Not Warfare campaign into an independent campaign to elect Ro Khanna focused on winning (and holding him accountable to) those two critical planks. An openness to consolidating an anti-corporate candidate by Super Tuesday is a necessary component of the strategy I’m proposing, because otherwise we risk splitting the primary votes (per DNC rules, you need at least 15% to get any delegates to convention). We should convince Shawn Fain or Sara Nelson to run for president instead. I agree it’d be great if either ran for president, but my impression is that there’s basically no chance that will happen in 2028, because both are firmly focused on their union leadership duties (and, in the case of Fain, beating back a federal witch-hunt). This plan could have DSA end up endorsing a non-socialist, non-DSAer for president. That’s against our principles. It’s a myth, and bad politics, that socialists can’t ever support candidates who aren’t members of their organization and/or who don’t call themselves socialists. Bernie, after all, was not a DSAer. And socialists abroad regularly make tactical decisions about if and when supporting a non-socialist candidate makes sense from the standpoint of promoting working-class interests, defending democracy, and building a socialist current in the process. If your “principles” prevent you and DSA from helping achieve the momentous stride forward of having a Democratic candidate in 2028 run on Medicare for All and ending aid to Israel, those “principles” are not very good. In fact, they actively undermine the causes they’re aiming to support. We shouldn’t confuse principles (working-class independence) with tactics (the best way to advance this in a given context). In my recent article in Catalyst on Milwaukee sewer socialism (I’ve uploaded the full text here), I have a section showing how similarly rigid rules about endorsements had to be eventually discarded in the old Socialist Party nationwide after WWI because they tended to lead socialists towards a sectarian abstention from broader anti-corporate electoral insurgencies beyond their party’s control. For what it’s worth, Lenin’s current under Tsarism frequently backed bourgeois candidates in the second round of elections and Lenin himself advocated that British Communists support Labour Party candidates; for his part, Kautsky in 1912 defended the German Social Democracy’s electoral pact with the Progressives in the runoffs. If our predecessors could be that tactically flexible in an era before the limits of their underlying strategic assumptions about intransigent class politics in capitalist democracies were made clear, then there’s no need to insist on being more tactically rigid today, after a century’s worth of accumulated experience. As long as you maintain your own political profile and organization while engaging in broader coalitional efforts, there’s zero inherent contradiction with the principle of political independence. More specifically: DSA and allied organizations should enthusiastically back Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed if AOC declines to run and he throws his hat in the presidential ring. (I have no idea whether he’s even considering this path, but there’ll surely be chatter about it if he wins his Senate race this November.) Though he doesn’t call himself a socialist, El-Sayed is a principled Berniecrat, a consistent fighter for Palestine, and would have a clear path to victory. Using the “s” word is far less important than whether a campaign fights for the interests of working people at home and abroad — and whether actively participating in it can grow the organized working class and the Left. And the same holds true if a less anti-corporate candidate were, under pressure, to adopt our two Healthcare Not Warfare planks. Why focus only on M4A and ending US aid to Israel? There are so many other important issues to fight for! Obviously there are many pivotal issues beyond healthcare and Israel, and our candidate — and especially our organizations involved in the campaign — should be prepared to speak on all of these. But one of the crucial lessons of the Zohran campaign is that you have to relentlessly stay on message if you want to cut through the noise. CNN and Fox News will want to talk about DSA’s views on Venezuela and abolishing the police; we need to polarize the debate on the widely and deeply felt issues that are most favorable for growing the Left, isolating our opponents, and winning urgently needed changes. One recent poll found 63% of Americans support M4A, even after respondents were told it would raise taxes and eliminate most private insurance. Another found that 74% of Democrats opposed “providing additional economic and military support to Israel.” And focusing on two demands sets the campaign up to be able to leverage its mandate to make clear demands upon other candidates (which we can’t do if we run with a laundry list of demands). Talking about a Plan B is a distraction from the more urgent work of building a groundswell of calls on AOC to run. It’s good for DSAers, fightback unionists, and progressive organizations to try to convince AOC to run. This proposal is meant as an addendum to pushes to get AOC to run and to line DSA up for that eventuality, not as a substitute for those efforts. But I’m worried that, like in 2024, we might eventually find ourselves with no time to find a viable alternative unless we start now. DSA, with its abundant deliberative processes, moves slowly. The approach you’re suggesting seems risky. If a DSA candidate runs but doesn’t receive a lot of votes, it’ll undercut our current national momentum. This is a reasonable worry. All big initiatives always carry risks, and the path I’m advocating is certainly not free of these. That said, if a Healthcare Not Warfare campaign doesn’t catch on like we envisioned, it’s a pretty simple pivot in March 2028 to explain that in the future we really need our standard-bearers like AOC, or our growing bench of national electeds, to step up in presidential primaries. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the risk of my Plan B proposal is on the whole significantly less than the risk entailed by an AOC run. We should all back her if she runs, since she’d fire up the base, provide huge openings for organizing, have a real shot at defeating a Republican (especially given MAGA’s unpopularity), be a great standard-bearer for our issues, particularly M4A and ending aid to Israel, and be less willing than mainstream candidates to capitulate to any anti-democratic machinations from Trump and co. But it’s also true that AOC could lose, which would be a devastating setback to the country and the Left. Or she could win and find herself unable to pass much, if any, of her (and our) program, a demoralizing prospect. So if we’re willing to take these risks with AOC (and we should), it follows that we should be able to take lower-level risks if she doesn’t throw her hat in the ring. What’s Your Plan B? The US Left is facing its biggest opening for growth and influence since the 1930s. Initiatives that would have been impossible a few months ago are now potentially feasible. A President AOC is now easier to imagine, but if she ultimately assesses that the risks aren’t worth the potential reward in 2028, we can’t be left flat-footed. So even if you’re not convinced by the specifics of my Plan B, I hope you can at least agree that it’d be a disaster for us not to have one — and not to start getting a Plan B into motion. Hopefully other organizers and political currents will put forward their responses and alternative ideas ASAP. The stakes are too high to just wait and see. More As always, please share this article widely. This newsletter depends on all you lovely people to get the word out. Thank you! I uploaded the full text of my Catalyst article on Milwaukee sewer socialism here (it’s updated and 3x as long as the version published earlier on this substack). If you haven’t yet, please make sure to subscribe to Catalyst here; I read every issue front to back, highly recommend. 🌹🎵 Ivan Lins (arranged by Arthur Verocai) — “General da Banda” 🌹🎵

Aug 3 • 12:50 PM EDT • Politics • laborpolitics.com

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase defends trans athletes in women's sports as culture war engulfs WNBA

Four WNBA coaches addressed trans athletes in women's sports within days as protests grow outside games supporting Sophie Cunningham's stance.

Aug 3 • 9:43 AM EDT • Sports • foxnews.com

How to Train, Fuel, and Recover, According to Science

I've spent 17 years writing about how the human body builds fitness, and I distilled the most important lessons into a new ten-part email series. Read the first installment below, and sign up today to get the rest delivered directly to your inbox.

Aug 3 • 9:30 AM EDT • Science • outsideonline.com

Let’s do science: Share your wild turkey sightings

MAINE—All good wildlife management starts with science, and all good science starts with data. That’s where you come in. Maine’s Wild Turkey August Production Survey invites community scientists to play a direct role in monitoring our state’s wild turkey population. Whether you enjoy watching wildlife from your window, spend time hiking, hunting, or exploring the outdoors, or just need an excuse to get outside, you can help. Each summer, Maine’s wild turkey hens are busy raising the next generation of birds. By reporting your sightings and observations, you’ll help our biologists monitor annual reproduction rates, track population trends, and make informed management decisions that support healthy, sustainable turkey populations for generations to come. The information collected helps ensure there are abundant opportunities for both wildlife watchers and hunters to enjoy Maine’s wild turkeys. It’s easy to participate! Whenever you see wild turkeys anywhere in Maine during August, simply report: Date and location of your observation Number of adult females (hens) Number of adult males (gobblers) Number of poults (young turkeys) Estimated poult size relative to the adult hens Every observation counts, even if you don’t see poults. Together, these reports provide a clearer picture of turkey productivity across the state and are an important part of Maine’s wildlife management. Ready to help? Report your turkey sightings online using the Wild Turkey August Production Survey. Submit an Observation Subscribe Share Leave a comment

Aug 2 • 4:11 PM EDT • Science • barharborstory.substack.com

Houston's Barbecue Inn to serve its final meals after nearly 80 years in business

Since the announcement, lines have formed outside the restaurant. ABC13 crews at the scene saw a line wrapped around the building on Saturday morning.

Aug 1 • 12:54 PM EDT • Business • abc13.com

I was kicked off my family phone plan. You could be next

Phone bills are the most common expense people 18 to 29 had covered by someone outside their household, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

Aug 1 • 12:00 PM EDT • Business • cnn.com

Science filled BioBus set to make stops in Capital Region to promote STEM and learning

Aug 1 • 9:33 AM EDT • Science • cbs6albany.com

Science Inquiry Comes Alive for Jacket Middle Schoolers

Snails, sidewalks and Double Stuff Oreos... At Partnership Middle School, instructors are finding innovative ways to help students connect the classroom to what they see in the real world every day. By integrating hands-on experiences and scientific investigations into weekly lessons, 6th and 7th grade science teachers push their classes to explore the curriculum standards through the lens of critical thinking, communication with their peers, experimentation, and scientific inquiry. Last week, two different approaches for two different grade levels saw Jacket teachers ignite the same spark for learning. On Tuesday, 6th graders in Lydia Jones' science class took their lessons outside as they explored the school grounds to identify living and non-living things. Despite the warm temperatures, they engaged in discovering unexpected objects on the campus and connecting that to what they learned in class about the criteria for what qualifies a thing as "living". Ms. Jones tasked students with walking the grounds and listing as many living and non-living things they could find in just a few minutes. Students spotted a fire hydrant, construction vehicles, grass, trees, soccer equipment, rocks, sidewalks, and even a snail hidden in the plants. After they finished the exploration, students returned to the regular classroom to discuss their results and whether their objects were classified correctly. On Thursday, 7th graders in Omini Parks' science class participated in their first lab of the semester as they explored and identified the physical properties of a favorite snack -- Oreos. Ms. Parks identified the class objective before the lab activity began by writing the academic standard on the dry erase board in a declarative statement: "I can collect and evaluate qualitative data to describe substances using physical properties." Students watched a video about how Oreo sandwich cookies are made, and then engaged in a question and answer discussion to give observations on the manufacturing process, review various types of physical properties and their scientific terminology, and talk generally about how the lab inquiry would work. The Q&A ended with a predictable question from students... "Will we be able to eat the Oreos?" The hands-on lab exercise required the 7th grade scientists to observe and record the differences between regular Oreos and the Double Stuff variety based on their physical properties. They followed the instructions in their lab brief to chart a comparison between the two types of cookies by observing properties with their magnifying lenses, measuring the height and diameter of both, and weighing the cookies with and without their filling. The activity let students put their lessons about physical properties into practice with real objects while also practicing vocabulary and writing skills to record their observations and using math skills from the last school year like taking measurements and calculating averages. Of course, they ended the lab by charting the taste of the cookies as well! These types of activities allow students to see the science standards they are learning come to life in the real world and engage with the content in new ways. Beyond that, they serve as a foundation for encouraging and growing scientific inquiry. Later in the school year, students will use the scientific method they are learning to complete science projects that require real research and the ability to explain and answer questions about their process and results. At the school-level competitive Science Fair last year, 41 Partnership students earned a place in the 2026 regional Science Fair held at MSU. From there, 14 advanced to the State Science Fair conducted at Northeast Mississippi Community College in April.

Aug 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • starkvillesd.com

FIFA has scrapped $20 billion World Cup sell-off plan, New York Post reports

FIFA's plan to sell a piece ​of its business empire ‌to outside investors has collapsed following an open ​revolt by soccer ​officials worldwide and a ⁠major rift among top ​FIFA executives, the ​New York Post reported on Friday.

Jul 31 • 5:56 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com

Can bodies acclimate to 115-degree heat? A doctor breaks down the science

Residents spending time outside in July say they have gotten used to triple-digit heat, but medical experts warn that heat acclimation only protects the body to a point.

Jul 31 • 12:46 AM EDT • Science • fox10phoenix.com

Maine House speaker vows to avoid conflicts with new job

With 186 members, Maine has a part-time, citizen Legislature, many of whom work outside the State House.

Jul 30 • 2:11 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

Health Privacy Legislation Advances in the Senate

CDT supports stronger privacy protections for consumer health data that falls outside of HIPAA. We’ve consistently called for privacy protections that move away from outdated notice and consent regimes and instead embrace limitations around corporate data practices that limit data collection, retention, sharing, and use of data that is necessary for the products and services […]

Jul 30 • 1:12 PM EDT • Health • cdt.org

The National 2026 live updates: Latest from today’s National Sports Collectors Convention outside Chicago

Follow live coverage of the 46th National Sports Collectors Convention from Rosemont, Illinois

Jul 30 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

Breaking down FIFA’s stake sale, how it compares to other sports and whether it’s necessary

The intention is to raise $4.2billion from outside investors, which led to the narrative that FIFA wants to sell (part of) the World Cup

Jul 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

DHS agent calls raid outside Newsom event a 'stunt' in court documents

A federal immigration agent said in newly publicized court documents that an immigration raid outside a political rally hosted by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year was a “stunt.”

Jul 29 • 5:19 PM EDT • Politics • sfchronicle.com

Garmin's New Tracker Has No Screen. Here is Why it Completes the Ecosystem for Cyclists.

The subscription-free Cirqa captures crucial 24/7 data without the bulk of a watch. Here’s how it protects Garmin's walled garden and seamlessly integrates with your existing bike computer.

Jul 29 • 11:55 AM EDT • Technology • velo.outsideonline.com

Business journalism studies took her to the White House | UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

The story by UNC Hussman alumni Brennan Doherty ’19 and video by John Roberts ’16 (M.A.) was originally published on unc.edu. This story is part of a four-part series on Carolina alumni working in Washington, D.C. Soon after her 2015 graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill, Megan Cassella was an intern for the Reuters news agency, eagerly awaiting and prepping for a special assignment. “Every now and then they needed an intern to run over to the White House last minute,” Cassella said. “You have to send your information the night before, so I started proactively sending my information to the White House every single night to be able to go the next day if they ever needed an intern.” Since then, she’s made many return trips to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in a career that’s included roles at Reuters, Politico, Barron’s and now CNBC, where she works as an on-air Washington correspondent. A longtime newswriter, Cassella made the move to TV in 2024, appearing on broadcasts multiple times daily to report on the biggest political and business stories. But the keys to doing a good job — knowing how to research, asking insightful questions, building relationships and explaining complex topics to a broad audience — remain the same. Did you know: Outside of the state of North Carolina, the Washington region is home to the largest concentration of Tar Heel alumni in the country. Cassella’s time as a Tar Heel was crucial in sharpening those skills, both in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and through roles at student-run publications like The Daily Tar Heel. She excelled in Carolina’s business journalism program with former professor Chris Roush, which led to an internship at The Charlotte Observer and helped Cassella find her journalistic niche. A data journalism course with Associate Professor Ryan Thornburg taught her how to find stories in numbers, and former professor Paul O’Connor’s reporting class took Cassella to the North Carolina Capitol weekly, where she gained invaluable experience interviewing politicians. “Those hands-on experiences that Carolina gave me really kept my interest and have really benefited me since I’ve been up here in D.C.,” said Cassella. “I have UNC to thank for the fact that I even went into business journalism in the first place.” Megan Cassella ’15 “You’ve got to thrive on adrenaline in this job. You’ve got to do well with last-minute changes, with running by the seat of your pants.” Megan Cassella ’15 ‘There’s nothing else like it’ In recent months, Cassella has reported live from the G7 Summit in Geneva, covered the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran war and followed changes to trade policy, including tariffs. “Anything in this realm that influences Wall Street, I’ll be covering,” Cassella said. Her working hours are long and variable. After waking up, Cassella immediately checks her phone to see what news broke overnight. By 8:15 a.m., she usually learns which newscasts she’ll be on, and then she heads to the newsroom, White House or wherever her assignment is. “We want you in the 9 a.m. show and the 11, and then the 3 o’clock show wants you, too,” Cassella said, referring to a hypothetical day. If Cassella gets an exclusive or major news breaks, she might be told, “We want that on TV right now.” Within five minutes, she’d be expected to get to the camera, figure out what to say and deliver the news to a live audience. “It’s exciting. It’s nerve-wracking,” Cassella said. “But there’s nothing else like it.” A well-rounded education Cassella grew up in Maryland, the youngest of four kids. Her oldest brother, Brian Cassella ’05, attended Carolina, became a photojournalist and recently won a Pulitzer Prize. She remembers visiting campus as a young child and loving it. “I just always wanted to go,” she said, and that desire grew when she, like her brother, gravitated toward journalism. But it wasn’t just the journalism school that drew Cassella to Carolina. “It was also the whole liberal arts curriculum,” she said. “Even though I always wanted to be a journalist, I got to college, and I sort of felt I had to think about other things. I had to explore my options and see if that’s what I really wanted.” Did you know: In April UNC-Chapel Hill opened its Carolina in the Capital office in Washington. She combined her journalism schooling with a global studies major and a history minor. That broad range of academic experiences in Chapel Hill molded her, preparing Cassella for a career that’s taken her to the highest levels of political journalism and inside the Oval Office. “When you sit back and remember you’re actually sitting inside the White House and asking questions of the president, it’s a cool feeling,” Cassella said. “No matter who is in office, no matter what administration or party, it’s a privilege to be there.” Megan Cassella on… Being a Tar Heel in Washington: I run into Tar Heels all the time. My husband’s a Tar Heel. We actually met here in Washington, not at Carolina, even though we were the same class. Probably most of our friends are still Tar Heels. Even up here in D.C., we all get together for games and March Madness. And through work, there’s Tar Heels all over the place. It’s often used as a connection. Favorite Franklin Street spot: When we go back, our first stop is always IP3. That’s more my husband’s doing than mine. In college, I was a huge Spanky’s fan. Felt like it was a classic spot. May it rest in peace. Advice to journalism students: Reps, reps, reps! Nothing beats the experience you’ll gain by simply starting to do the work — asking the questions, reporting and writing the stories, doing the TV hits. When you can, go places in person. Talk to more people than you think you’ll need. Read as much as you can, from different sources and on different topics. If you’re not sure how to start your story, that usually means you need more reporting. When you’re not sure, ask.

Jul 29 • 10:39 AM EDT • Business • hussman.unc.edu

Grant Thornton to acquire CBIZ for nearly $3 billion

The all-cash, private equity-backed deal is poised to establish the largest accounting and professional services firm outside of the Big 4.

Jul 29 • 10:30 AM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com

Here’s how an under-the-radar court decision could bolster Oklahoma’s political parties

Outside groups and self-funded candidates have dominated recent Oklahoma elections, but that could soon change.

Jul 29 • 10:28 AM EDT • Politics • kgou.org

Nothing has better exemplified his corrupt tendencies: Ex-Trump official debuts Trump-Epstein ‘bookmobile’ outside Capitol

Jul 28 • 11:40 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Sophie Cunningham rally rocks WNBA game as 'save women's sports' activists face counterprotest

Footage shows crowds holding signs outside the Seattle Storm game as Sophie Cunningham fans rallied in support of her women's sports stance.

Jul 28 • 10:26 PM EDT • Sports • foxnews.com

GOP governor survives challenge from Bitcoin evangelist in gubernatorial runoff

South Dakota's first gubernatorial primary runoff pitted incumbent Larry Rhoden against outsider Toby Doeden after neither cleared the 35% threshold to win outright.

Jul 28 • 5:39 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

This South Dakota race shows how wealthy candidates are changing American politics

The incumbent governor faces an unexpected challenge from a self-funded outsider.

Jul 28 • 12:45 PM EDT • Politics • ms.now

Dems clash over AIPAC money, ‘ogre’ attack and electability during crucial Senate debate

El-Sayed refused to apoelogize for the “ogre on a pike" remark that drew backlash from fellow Democrats, while Haley Stevens slammed him over his unreleased tax returns and roughly $300k in outside income.

Jul 27 • 10:28 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Person experiencing mental health crisis armed with gun outside Mass. police station

According to police, a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis is armed outside of a police station in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the town's police department said.

Jul 27 • 9:04 PM EDT • Health • wcvb.com

Armed person in mental health crisis parked outside Mansfield police station, police say

Mansfield police are asking residents to avoid the police station due to an active incident.

Jul 27 • 8:50 PM EDT • Health • turnto10.com

Trump says he's done more for Michigan autoworkers than their parents

President Donald Trump told Michigan autoworkers he's done more for them than their own parents in a speech at a GM facility outside of Detroit.

Jul 27 • 7:05 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

Tocqueville’s Political Science of American Democracy

The dispersal of power that makes the republic safe for its citizens is the same dispersal that leaves those outside it with nowhere to appeal.

Jul 27 • 3:55 PM EDT • Science • aei.org

Michigan passenger rail is finally poised for change

Michigan has more state-owned passenger rail infrastructure than anywhere outside the Northeast — and almost nothing to show for it. That could change soon.

Jul 27 • 11:44 AM EDT • Business • crainsdetroit.com

MLB News Outside The Confines: Trade season kicks off

The Red Sox and Nats kick off the trade season. Three are inducted into Cooperstown. And other MLB news.

Jul 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Sean McVay: Outside expectations won't change the Rams' approach

Jul 26 • 10:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

WEST SEATTLE ARTIST: Another new business mural

On Saturday, we showed you the new mural at Circa (WSB sponsor). Today, a reader report reveals another new West Seattle business mural: That's artist Elie Flanagan. Alki resident Geraldine happened onto Elie and her work in progress outside Alki Coffee Co. and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (2742 Alki SW) on Saturday, and noted the theme fits ...

Jul 26 • 7:46 PM EDT • Business • westseattleblog.com

Cori Bush and Wesley Bell's rematch sets up key test for Democrats in Missouri

Former Rep. Cori Bush, outside the courthouse where the Dred Scott case was argued, promises to reverse her ouster from Congress.

Jul 26 • 7:37 AM EDT • Politics • ksat.com

Cori Bush and Wesley Bell's rematch sets up key test for Democrats in Missouri

Former Rep. Cori Bush, outside the courthouse where the Dred Scott case was argued, promises to reverse her ouster from Congress.

Jul 26 • 7:37 AM EDT • Politics • wsls.com

Cori Bush and Wesley Bell's rematch sets up key test for Democrats in Missouri

Former Rep. Cori Bush, outside the courthouse where the Dred Scott case was argued, promises to reverse her ouster from Congress.

Jul 26 • 7:37 AM EDT • Politics • news4jax.com

Duke Health brings new clinic to underserved city

Duke Health brings new outpatient clinic for surgical patients to an underserved city outside of Charlotte

Jul 25 • 12:24 PM EDT • Health • spectrumlocalnews.com

What are we overlooking in kids' mental health? Playing outside!

Most young people spend less time in nature than previous generations. They need it for their health and development.

Jul 25 • 6:01 AM EDT • Health • beaconjournal.com

Panthers Nic Scourton carted off the field on first day of training camp

Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Nic Scourton suffered a torn ACL in his right knee on the first day of training camp and will be placed on injured reserve, AP says.

Jul 24 • 6:30 AM EDT • Sports • spectrumlocalnews.com

Delaware State Fair: unique food, competition & eclectic entertainment

Weird Al Yankovic and Men at Work are the big headliners at this year's Delaware State Fair, but there is so much more going on outside of the entertainers and

Jul 24 • 5:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • wdel.com

CrossCurrents: HVACR Business Intelligence

Welcome to the first edition of CrossCurrents: HVACR Business Intelligence. Each installment curates the most important headlines from outside the traditional HVACR press, drawing...

Jul 23 • 8:00 PM EDT • Business • contractingbusiness.com

Johnny Depp cracks Trump tariff joke during surprise Comic-Con appearance as Ebenezer Scrooge

Johnny Depp surprised fans outside San Diego Comic-Con with an in-character appearance as Ebenezer Scrooge — and cracked a joke about President Trump’s tariffs.

Jul 23 • 6:49 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Business owner finds man dead inside dumpster in Kansas City, Kansas

A body was found inside a dumpster outside a business in Kansas City, Kansas, on Thursday.

Jul 23 • 6:48 PM EDT • Business • fox4kc.com

Firms Gain Advantage by Treating Hiring as a Business Decision

Businesses need both in-house and outside counsel who understand how employment decisions affect competitive advantage and help them build their talent strategy, says Stinson’s Dawn Valdivia.

Jul 23 • 4:30 AM EDT • Business • news.bloomberglaw.com

Health officials track Arizona’s first travel-associated case of Clade I mpox

The Arizona Department of Health Services was notified this month of a state resident who contracted Clade I mpox while traveling outside the country.

Jul 22 • 7:49 PM EDT • Health • azfamily.com

Steelers’ DK Metcalf ranked outside of top 25 WRs

Pro Football Focus does not view DK Metcalf highly entering 2026.

Jul 22 • 5:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Outside Lands organizer gets green light for more S.F. concerts

San Francisco is doubling down on live music in Golden Gate Park, extending permits that will bring more concerts — and more crowds — to the city’s west side.

Jul 22 • 4:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • sfchronicle.com

Northern Arapaho Business Council crafts policy governing 'outside organizations' after sermon sparks outrage

Protests, Sunday services continue after Foundations for Nations pastor goes viral with call for tribal members on Wind River Reservation to reject their traditional spiritual ways.

Jul 22 • 2:14 PM EDT • Business • wyofile.com

Update: Attacks on Independent Science and How We’re Fighting Back

UCS is helping to rebuild federal science infrastructure and institutions from outside the government… to preserve what’s being dismantled within it.

Jul 22 • 12:56 PM EDT • Science • blog.ucs.org

Woman shot in neck after shooting at southeast Houston business

A 20-year-old woman was shot in the neck after gunfire erupted outside a southeast Houston business Wednesday, according to the Houston Police Department.

Jul 22 • 6:26 AM EDT • Business • click2houston.com

Man shot after altercation outside business on Detroit’s southwest side

A man in his 20s was wounded in a shooting following a physical altercation outside a business on Detroit’s southwest side.

Jul 21 • 11:12 PM EDT • Business • clickondetroit.com

Harrisburg business owners raise concerns after 15-minute parking spaces removed

A Downtown Harrisburg business owner is seeking answers after 15-minute parking spaces that she says were approved outside her business were later removed.

Jul 21 • 7:59 PM EDT • Business • wgal.com

Health systems buck at state health plan

Atrium Health and WakeMed leaders said they were shocked to learn they were left out of the top-tiered status in the new North Carolina State Health Plan.

Jul 21 • 4:00 PM EDT • Health • spectrumlocalnews.com

Breaking down N.C. U.S. Senate candidates' latest finance reports

With fundraising numbers in the millions, one expert breaks down what it means for the election, the role outside donors will play and much more.

Jul 21 • 3:30 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

Giants Coaching Holdover Named Potential Breakout Candidate in 2026

John Harbaugh has a knack for developing elite coaching minds, and ironically one of the New York Giants' best is a guy who has been in the facility for years. Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen, who has spent the past two years coaching the Giants' edge unit, was named as an assistant coach to watch by The Athletic. Bullen was initially hired by since-fired head coach Brian Daboll, yet he survived the cultural purge from Harbaugh, who even added "run-game coordinator" to his title.

Jul 21 • 12:05 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Andy Burnham says politicians 'need to be better' in first speech as UK's new prime minister

Burnham spoke for several minutes outside 10 Downing St., where he promised to end street sleeping by homeless people and deliver a “circuit breaker” for a system he says has taken wrong turns since the 1980s.

Jul 20 • 8:32 AM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

Did World Cup permanently change ticket-price politics? - Live Updates

A wave of fans left outside World Cup stadiums after buying "ghost tickets" has added momentum to state and federal efforts to crack down on speculative ticket sales.

Jul 19 • 7:45 PM EDT • Politics • politico.com

UCF’s Preston Cushman Focused on Going 1-0 Every Week

The veteran offensive lineman ignores outside noise to anchor a disciplined culture, eyeing a Big 12 resurgence and a chance to become UCF’s first drafted blocker since 2011.

Jul 19 • 12:50 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Parking lot fight leads to fatal shooting outside Southeast Dallas business

Dallas police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened early Sunday morning after a disturbance outside a business in Southeast Dallas.

Jul 19 • 9:50 AM EDT • Business • fox4news.com

FedEx Delivery Driver Falling Into a Front Yard Pool Outside a Georgia Home Shows What Seconds of Screen Distraction Can Do

A viral video of a FedEx deliveryman falling into a front yard pool outside a Georgia home may have given him an unexpected way to cool off in the summer heat. The light-hearted video has ... Read mor...

Jul 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • yahoo.com

What the regionality of Marx’s Republican primary win reveals about Colorado conservatives

Running for governor of Colorado, controversial outsider Victor Marx, 61, a self-proclaimed exorcist and a friendly ally to the late Charlie Kirk, pulled out a 39.9% Republican primary victory. State Sen. and Republican establishment candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer came in a close second with around 39.4% of the vote. Meanwhile, Scott Bottoms, a state legislator and […]

Jul 19 • 2:45 AM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Why stadium food is so expensive

Food and drinks at most sports stadiums cost significantly more than they do outside the venue, but new laws could make concessions more affordable.

Jul 18 • 8:50 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Strolling the street with drink in hand could be legalized in 5 Berkeley nightlife area

In “entertainment zones,” you can order booze from a bar and sip it outside places like Berkeley Rep, La Marcha or Chez Panisse.

Jul 17 • 10:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • berkeleyside.org

To Win Their Races, Black Politicians Confront a New Landscape

With the Voting Rights Act weakened, Black representation will depend less on Black voters and more on broad, multiracial appeal or on ideological outsider campaigns.

Jul 17 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Did ancient Egyptian princesses use weapons? Controversial study claims they hunted or trained with the military, but not all experts agree.

Nearly 4,000-year-old skeletal remains show that several royal women repeatedly used their upper-body muscles. Researchers link those changes to archery and weapon training, but outside experts urge caution.

Jul 17 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • livescience.com

Earth-like exoplanet could have life-supporting water on its surface

Scientists discover the first confirmed atmosphere in habitable zone outside our solar system on LHS 1140b

Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • theguardian.com

This “exotic weirdo” exoplanet has a rocky surface and an atmosphere

Astronomers found a helium atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet — a good sign for the search for life outside the solar system.

Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org

Matthew Stafford's 2025 pocket efficiency put him in rare company

Matthew Stafford was one of three quarterbacks in 2025 who rated efficiently inside and outside the pocket.

Jul 16 • 8:02 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Wildfire smoke raises health concerns for Mid-Michigan outdoor workers

Smoke from Canadian wildfires is moving into Michigan, creating air quality concerns for people who spend long hours outside.

Jul 15 • 7:51 PM EDT • Health • wlns.com

Chico City Council approves entertainment zones for downtown and Meriam Park

CHICO, Calif. - Chico City Council voted 6 to 0 to approve an ordinance creating entertainment zones in downtown Chico and Meriam Park.The ordinance, taking effect September 18, 2026, will allow customers to carry approved alcoholic beverages and walk around outside within those designated areas."I feel like the downtown could use all the help it could get right now," said Celeste Cramer, general manager of Downtown Chico Business Association. "In the other areas where they have been doing the entertainment zones and throughout California, it has increased their sales. They haven't seen an increase in violence, or tickets, or anything like that. It's a good thing to try out."Numerous other cities around California such as Redding, Sacramento and San Francisco have put their own entertainment zones into effect and have had success.Action News Now stopped by both designated locations and spoke with organizers and bar owners."I'm super excited, I think this is an opportunity for us," said Scott Baldwin, owner of Argus. "We can get a booth at the farmers market. You can order a cocktail from that booth and then we'll have it ready for you at the door as you walk through. Think of it as a picnic situation. You can grab some tacos, you can get a Kentucky Buck. You can sit down anywhere in the entertainment zone and enjoy Argus outside of Argus."Chico's Chamber of Commerce hosted community stakeholder meetings and community engagement sessions to tailor the ordinance to the city's needs as a university town and rural area.The ordinance will allow people 21 and older to walk around with open containers of alcohol within the entertainment zones as long as they have a wristband, stamp or another visible marker showing they're allowed to do so."To us it's more than an ordinance," said Jen Rothenwander, marketing manager at Meriam Park. "It's an opportunity to invest back into the community, and to continue to do what Chico does well – which is to create the spaces for people to stick around and gather, and shop and spend."The Meriam Park entertainment zone will be enclosed by Springfield Drive, Alcott Avenue, Notre Dame Boulevard and E. 20th Street.The Downtown Chico entertainment zone will span mostly from Highway 32 to Lost Park.Chico Chief of Police Billy Aldridge spoke with Redding Police and was informed they had zero problems with their entertainment zone.Chief Aldridge endorses the ordinance in Chico. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: "actionnewsnow-com_blox_yup-rectangle-one", slotId: "actionnewsnow-com_blox_yup-rectangle-one", targeting: { "pos": "yup-rectangle-one" } });

Jul 15 • 7:37 PM EDT • Entertainment • actionnewsnow.com

Suspect arrested for murder in deadly beating outside Las Vegas business

Authorities say they've arrested a suspect in connection with the deadly beating of a man outside a Las Vegas business last week.

Jul 15 • 5:24 PM EDT • Business • news3lv.com

Man found dead outside Mesa business

Jul 15 • 5:02 PM EDT • Business • 12news.com

NASA’s Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a giant planet outside our solar system, called an exoplanet, hiding within one of the

Jul 15 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov

Chattanooga officials hope to launch business grant program in blighted corridors

Chattanooga officials are hoping to launch a grant program for local businesses outside the downtown core later this year.

Jul 14 • 9:00 PM EDT • Business • timesfreepress.com

Baseball fans celebrate the sport’s biggest stars outside Independence Hall ahead of All-Star Game in Philadelphia

The MLB All-Star Game starts at 8 p.m., featuring the best players from the National League and American League.

Jul 14 • 7:02 PM EDT • Sports • whyy.org

USA TODAY Sports college football experts are correct on Lincoln Riley

Preseason coaching rankings correctly have Lincoln Riley outside the top 15. It's up to Riley to do the job he was hired to complete: Make the CFP

Jul 14 • 11:12 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

The Quintessential Trump-era Politician

In 2020, I wrote an article about collaboration and collaborators. The title was History Will Judge the Complicit, and it started with the story of two famous East Germans, Markus Wolf and Wolfgang Leonhard, who both landed in East Berlin just after the end of the war. Although they came from very similar backgrounds, the former stuck with the regime, eventually becoming its spy boss; the latter, horrified by the brutal reality of Soviet-style communism, escaped. By way of juxtaposition, I also wrote about Lyndsey Graham and Mitt Romney. These two men also made very different decisions when confronted by Donald Trump’s assault on the ideals that they had both grown up believing: A glance at their biographies would not have led many to predict what happened next. On paper, Graham would have seemed, in 2016, like the man with deeper ties to the military, to the rule of law, and to an old-fashioned idea of American patriotism and American responsibility in the world. Romney, by contrast, with his shifts between the center and the right, with his multiple careers in business and politics, would have seemed less deeply attached to those same old-fashioned patriotic ideals. Most of us register soldiers as loyal patriots, and management consultants as self-interested. We assume people from small towns in South Carolina are more likely to resist political pressure than people who have lived in many places. Intuitively, we think that loyalty to a particular place implies loyalty to a set of values. But in this case the clichés were wrong. It was Graham who made excuses for Trump’s abuse of power. It was Graham—a JAG Corps lawyer—who downplayed the evidence that the president had attempted to manipulate foreign courts and blackmail a foreign leader into launching a phony investigation into a political rival. It was Graham who abandoned his own stated support for bipartisanship and instead pushed for a hyperpartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. It was Graham who played golf with Trump, who made excuses for him on television, who supported the president even as he slowly destroyed the American alliances—with Europeans, with the Kurds—that Graham had defended all his life. By contrast, it was Romney who, in February, became the only Republican senator to break ranks with his colleagues, voting to impeach the president. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office,” he said, is “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” In the wake of Graham’s unexpected death on Saturday, I wrote about him again. He was, in many ways, the quintessential politician of Trump’s Washington, a man who shifted 180 degrees. Graham had been a fervent American patriot, proud reserve officer and military lawyer; he became one of the most important defenders of a president who believes soldiers are “suckers and losers” and shows no respect for law of any kind. As his politics changed, his language grew coarser and his behavior grew worse: He urged Israel to “level the place” in Gaza, and insulted the Danish prime minister in Munich, prompting a colleague, Senator Elissa Slotkin, to issue an apology. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which you can read in The Atlantic (gift link here) Like his close friend John McCain, Graham believed that America should stand at the center of a broad democratic alliance. The few times I met him were in that context, at the Munich Security Conference or at other European-American gatherings, which he once attended with great regularity. He also took seriously the practice of American democracy at home. In a 2014 conversation with The Atlantic, he described himself as a pragmatic politician who eschewed populist slogans. “I know Washington is broken, but what’s broken about it is everybody yelling and nobody trying to fix it,” he said. “I’m trying.” When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood. Trump privately mocked the military that Graham loved as nothing but “suckers and losers.” He put falsehoods, cynicism, and personal greed at the center of his politics, while expressing disdain for transparency, accountability, and democracy itself. In 2015, Graham described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell.” Also as a “nutjob.” When Trump won, Graham understood, as did so many others, that he would have to make some important choices. For a while, he went silent. In the spring of 2016, I saw him at one of those conferences in Europe. He seemed too depressed to speak. But then, like many other Republicans—and, more important, like many other people who have lived under political occupation or experienced radical regime change—he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator. As I wrote in 2020, it’s very hard to look in to anyone’s heart and to understand their motivations from the outside. But it does seem that Graham had a deep need to be relevant, to be in the game, to be a player, at any cost. And that, rather than any particular achievement, is what he will be remembered for. Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc and check out the SNF Agora Institute chart) June 27 Trump diverted funds from more than 900 projects nationwide—including safety upgrades at national parks—to finance beautification projects around Washington, including $700,000 used to fix a White House walkway. June 28 After a years-long Department of Justice investigation into Abbott Laboratories over its management of a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria turned up enough evidence to criminally charge the firm, top department officials instead opted for a financial penalty—illustrating the department’s move away from strict corporate enforcement under the Trump administration. June 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stacked the Defense Policy Board—which is charged with providing independent national security recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—with Trump allies, including tech billionaire Marc Andreessen, who has invested in defense contractors like OpenAI and SpaceX, after purging the panel last year. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Axon—which makes about 90% of US tasers—two weeks before ICE solicited bids for a $220 million taser contract. The White House unveiled limited-edition US passports for America’s 250th birthday, featuring a portrait of Trump overlaid on the Declaration of Independence. June 30 Trump made around $1.2 billion from his various crypto companies last year, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial and $600 million from sales of his meme coin. Trump is considering issuing 250 pardons to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. These are expected to be largely doled out through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s informal network of intermediaries. White-collar defense attorneys say they can typically win pardons for clients for $2 million. Last year, Trump administration officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to Clark Construction for the White House ballroom—negotiations in which the president was directly involved. July 1 The Amazon MGM Studios documentary about Melania Trump earned the First Lady more than $10 million. Trump made hundreds of individual stock purchases worth as much as $12.8 million the day before his announcement pausing “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days sent the S&P 500 soaring nearly 10%—one of the largest single-day gains ever. Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral saw record surges in revenue during Trump’s first year in office, earning $77.5 million and $121.9 million respectively, compared to average annual revenues of $25 million and $75 million during Trump’s first term. Entities across the Persian Gulf paid more than $300 million to Trump’s businesses last year, including $263 million from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country’s president. Kash Patel failed to properly disclose his stock purchase of a Department of Justice contractor, MicroStrategy, worth up to $250,000 last year, despite laws requiring disclosure within 45 days of the trade. July 2 Trump has been directing administration officials to steer more government contracts—so far worth more than $2.4 billion—to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace firm, after Amazon gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, donated to the White House ballroom project, and reached a $40 million deal to license a Melania Trump documentary. Alongside the billions he made from cryptocurrency last year, Trump earned millions of dollars from real estate licensing fees, including $21 million from organizations in the UAE and $9.2 million in Saudi Arabia, along with smaller sums from merchandise sales, including $4.7 million from Trump Watches and $35,920 from 45 Guitar, a guitar brand endorsed by the president. House Democrats accused consultants tied to the Trump administration of financial fraud, alleging they gave prospective donors to America250—the bipartisan committee created by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial—the banking and routing numbers for Freedom 250, the White House’s fund for events like the UFC cage fight. Democrats also allege that Freedom 250’s CEO traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos to solicit donations from foreign government officials and business leaders. The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of gun regulations would lift the prohibition on mailing handguns to individuals, a significant win for GrabAGun—the direct-to-consumer firearm retailer on whose board Donald Trump Jr. sits and in which he holds a 1.1% ownership stake. GrabAGun currently must rely on a middleman to transfer firearms to customers. Trump’s financial disclosure revealed that he made more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, growing his investment account to at least $858 million across stakes in around 1,600 companies, compared to the 13 total trades Joe Biden made during his entire presidency. July 4 Nearly 1 million people who bought the president’s meme coin—Trump Coin—collectively lost $3.8 billion on the token, while he walked away with $636 million. July 6 Shares of Dell closed up 4.4% after Trump recommended people buy the firm’s computers during a speech announcing the launch of Trump investment accounts for children, boosting the more than $1 million worth of shares the president owns in the company. July 9 Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh named crypto investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen to a task force aimed at modernizing the Federal Reserve, including rethinking its approach to inflation—a key factor keeping interest rates elevated. Palm Beach International Airport has officially changed its name to Trump International Airport—a move that will require Florida to pay royalties to the president’s family for licensing his name. I was there a few months ago, during a trip to Barcelona. The sculptures were a revelation, I’d never seen so many together before. Each one has its own personality. Enjoy the good weather, if you are lucky enough to have it. History Will Judge the Complicit The Quintessential Politician Autocracy Inc Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Jul 13 • 4:19 PM EDT • Politics • anneapplebaum.substack.com

Suspect arrested after man found dead over the weekend outside northwest OKC business

Police arrested a suspect in connection with a homicide investigation that started when a body was found over the weekend outside a business in northwest Oklahoma City.

Jul 13 • 12:21 PM EDT • Business • koco.com

Boundary Spanning Leadership's Impact on Public Health

Explore three examples of Boundary Spanning Leadership's public health impact, from overdose to Alzheimer's to youth behavioral health.

Jul 13 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • astho.org

Want fewer Platners in politics? Stop electing outsiders.

It's rare to hear 'both sides' in this political climate, but when we asked USA TODAY readers about problematic politicians, we heard it plenty.

Jul 13 • 6:04 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

When Medical Mistrust, Wellness, and Politics Align

Decades of systemic failure have left patients feeling more heard outside the clinic than in it. Here’s what doctors can do.

Jul 12 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • medscape.com

Platner’s collapse doesn’t mean we should reject outsiders in politics

We don’t need fewer amateurs running for office. We need far more of them, recruited seriously

Jul 12 • 9:00 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com

The First Test of Bar Harbor's New Entertainment Rules.

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Bar Harbor Historical Society. BAR HARBOR—The Finback Alehouse was the first real test of the town’s new special amusement permit process, July 7 while eight other permits sailed through the process last week. The permit allows music in places where liquor is served. The town’s ordinance which was recently tweaked for a new process allows for the regulation of noise and hours of activity. The only discussion at the July Town Council meeting was about the Finback Alehouse on Cottage Street, in the heart of Bar Harbor’s downtown district. The Finback’s distinctive design—a front wall that is like a garage door that can be opened and closed—was a key to that discussion. The restaurant, which often hosts live bands, singers, and karaoke, at night, has had one substantiated noise complaint this season, which is documented on its application. According to Bar Harbor Police Chief David Kerns, most complaints about noise happen after 10 p.m., and if the Finback had two more violations within a year, they’d have to stop having music. One town councilor said that he’d have no problem reissuing the permit if the door was down. The permit passed through the process with no conditions. Vice Chair Earl Brechlin moved the motion with two time changes for two holiday weekend dates. It passed unanimously. The council asked the Finback why they’d chosen an indoor license with a wall that can be opened to the street. Dale Stockburger, representing the Finback, said he’d applied for an indoor permit rather than an outdoor structure or partial structure (which is usually applied to tents or pavilions). The restaurant has traditionally had an indoor license. Stockburger said that whether the door is open or closed is immaterial because he now stands outside with a decibel reader to make sure that the music isn’t too loud. OTHER SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PERMITS New Councilor Deborah Vickers worried that she had potential conflicts of interests on two other renewals due to the location of her employee housing. Vickers co-owns the Black Friar Inn. They have employee housing directly behind the Finback, which is also 300 yards from the Bar Harbor Inn, she explained. The Bar Harbor Inn also had a permit up for renewal. The councilors unanimously voted she did not have a conflict of interest. The councilors approved permits at The Bluenose Inn, 90 Eden St, Class A; Acadia Hotel Downtown, 20 Mount Desert St, Class A and C; the Bar Harbor Inn, 8 Newport Dr, Class A, B, C and D; C-Ray Lobster, 882 State Hwy 3, Class D; Holiday Inn Bar Harbor Regency, 123 Eden Street, Class B; Finback Alehouse, 30 Cottage St, Class B; Project Social, 278 Main St, Class C and D; Bar Harbor Beer Works, 119 Main St, Class B and D; and Mainely Meat BBQ Dreamwood Hill, 369 State Hwy 3, Class D. That process is laid out in the Special Amusement Ordinance of the Bar Harbor Town Code which is Chapter 14 of the town code. Special amusement permits have class codes. These are the meanings: Number - how many musicians are allowed by the permit. Class A - Indoor non-amplified entertainment. Class B - Indoor amplified entertainment or dancing. Class C - Outdoor non-amplified entertainment. Class D - Outdoor amplified entertainment. RESIDENCE LICENSES RENEWED AND A TAXI LICENSE The councilors also renewed the licenses for three specific sorts of residences that require that yearly renewal per the town code. The employee living quarters at Atlantic Oceanside Hotel, 119 Eden St and another at 278 Main Street were renewed. The shared accommodations license renewal at 39 Kebo Street also occurred. These are annual renewals. Bernard Taxi Services’ license was also renewed. This license had been added to the agenda at the meeting. Bar Harbor Update on Leaf and Grass Clipping Disposal BAR HARBOR — Bar Harbor residents will still have a place to throw away their leaf and grass clippings this summer. The town’s agreement with EMR in Southwest Harbor for disposing of those items will continue through November 30. The agreement, according to a town press release, will continue “while the Town continues evaluating long term composting solutions and the required state permitting process.” As of July 1, residents bringing their grass and leaves across the island to the facility in Southwest Harbor will have to fill out a property registration card. Each property can throw out up to 85 pounds of the grass and leaves. “Any disposal exceeding the 85 pound allowance during this period will be the responsibility of the property owner at the applicable disposal rate,” the press release explains. LINKS TO LEARN MORE Watch the meeting Meeting agenda QUICK NOTE: We’d released the Bar Harbor Leaf information as a brief, but wanted to make sure that people saw it, so we’ve included it here, too. HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you. Subscribe Share Bar Harbor Story Share Leave a comment

Jul 11 • 4:22 PM EDT • Entertainment • barharborstory.substack.com

Joe Klein: At 80, Here’s What I’ve Learned About Politics—and Life

I am 80 years old, this year of our 250th anniversary, and I find myself a cliché. My life has been a common political journey, from left to center. I recently took the Pew Research Center’s “political typology” test and found that I was a “pragmatic and polite conservative,” which seemed a rather abstruse basket: A politically mixed (though Republican-tilting) group, they lean conservative on economics and the role of government, while tilting more liberal on issues related to race and foreign policy. They prize civility and cooperation in politics. Well, that sounds pretty mushy—and I find it hard to square with the strong opinions I have on many issues. I’ve voted for Democrats in federal elections, but I grow more Republican the closer I get to local politics. Democrats, I’ve found, simply aren’t very good at running things, especially school systems, where they are in the thrall of the teachers unions. My friends joke about my obsession with the unions. They know all my lines. If industrial unions are organized against the power of capital, who are the public employees organized against? But enough of that. I’ve ranted that rant too often, and my political journey has been more complicated than that one issue. It has been empirical, based on actual experience—on a lifetime of reporting and a lot of reading. An early example: I was a journalist with the underground press in Boston at the turn of the 1970s and considered myself a member of the antiwar and civil rights movements. The first big issue I covered was busing to achieve school integration. Yes, the white bigots were disgusting. But I couldn’t find any black parents who favored the plan to bus their children to schools outside their neighborhoods either. Black activists and politicians—and white liberals—were gung ho, but not actual parents of black kids in school. Busing was a form of social engineering imposed from on high, by a judge—W. Arthur Garrity—who lived in a wealthy liberal suburb. Wealthy liberal suburbs were not affected by his plan, of course. I began to see that there were limits to what government could do, especially when it came to changing a society’s culture.

Jul 10 • 4:21 PM EDT • Politics • thefp.com

Man beaten to death outside Las Vegas business, two suspects at large

Authorities say they are looking for two people who beat a man to death outside a Las Vegas business on Thursday.

Jul 10 • 1:45 PM EDT • Business • news3lv.com

Man beaten to death during fight outside Las Vegas business

A man was beaten to death during a fight outside of a business early Thursday morning, Las Vegas police said.

Jul 10 • 1:42 PM EDT • Business • 8newsnow.com

Asha Sharma, the outsider handed the Xbox controls

Elevated to fix Microsoft’s struggling gaming division, she is making tough decisions about its future

Jul 10 • 12:29 PM EDT • Technology • ft.com

FCC Approves Reflect Orbital's Space Mirror Satellite That Astronomers Hate

The FCC says the most controversial aspect of Reflect Orbital's Earendil-1 satellite, its giant mirror, falls outside its authority since the regulator mainly focuses on radio spectrum.

Jul 10 • 9:46 AM EDT • Technology • uk.pcmag.com