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Capitals sign 2026 1st-rounder to entry-level contract
Washington's top pick from this year's draft is already locked up, even before he steps foot in the NHL.
ECU Health welcomes 152 new resident physicians and fellows to train across Eastern NC
WCTI ABC 12 Greenville and WYDO Fox 14 Greenville offer local and national news reporting, sports, and weather forecasts to viewers in the Greenville, New Bern, Washington, North Carolina region, including Farmville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Snow Hill, Pikeville, and Simpson, North Carolina.
Fixing America’s polarization with proportional representation
Presidentialism plus single-member districts is a bad combination that incentivizes leaders to consolidate power by fueling division.
Most Americans prefer to die at home, but the U.S. healthcare system often prevents it
‘Fix-it’ medical approaches often go against people’s wishes near the end of life, creating unnecessary and preventable suffering.
Concert review: DeVotchKa and Wheelchair Sports Camp celebrate Little Miss Sunshine at Red Rocks
Film on the Rocks returned to Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Monday night with a celebration that felt uniquely Colorado. Denver Film partnered with the
Health Brief: The $10M contraceptive mess
Plus: The Trump administration deepens its push into psychedelic medicine.
House passes Daylight Saving Time reform as Trump signals support for ending clock change
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House with bipartisan support, but Senate skepticism and debates over circadian rhythm and road safety loom ahead.
Pro-Palestinian protester sues Trump administration, citing KKK Act
Mahmoud Khalil alleges private groups, including the conservative Heritage Foundation, and public leaders conspired to persecute him.
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
Measles exposure warning issued for three Providence Health sites in Portland metro
Oregon health officials identified three potential measles exposure sites at Portland-area Providence facilities.
Trump’s plan to make daylight saving time permanent to get a vote in House
The bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act would end the practice of switching clocks twice per year.
Trump congratulated Iraq’s prime minister on election. He wasn’t on the ballot.
President Donald Trump repeatedly congratulated Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Kadhim al-Zaidi on his victory in a “highly competitive” election.
Yum shares fall after report US health authorities investigating Taco Bell in cyclosporiasis outbreak
Yum Brands' shares fell as much as 4.5% on Tuesday after the Washington Post reported federal and state health officials were investigating whether lettuce served at Taco Bell may have been associated with an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness.
Venezuela earthquake health response enters early recovery phase as focus shifts to restoring essential health services
Washington, D.C., 14 July 2026 (PAHO) – Nearly three weeks after the devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela on 24 June, the health response is entering a critical early recovery phase focused on restoring essential health services, strengthening referral networks and preventing secondary public health emergencies, according to PAHO's latest
Killings of three British politicians in a decade shine light on febrile political mood
For the third time in a little over a decade, British lawmakers stood up one-by-one in Parliament on Monday, paid tribute to a slain politician, and echoed each other’s fears about the rising tide of violence in politics.
Thomson Reuters to Sell Stake in Legal, Tax Business to KKR
Thomson Reuters Corp. agreed to sell a 51% stake in its legal and tax publishing business to investment firm KKR & Co. in a $500 million deal.
AJ Dybantsa Adds Undeniable Offensive Touch to Washington Wizards
AJ Dybantsa's explosive scoring and elite gravity have redefined the Washington Wizards ceiling. By living at the stripe and punishing double-teams, Dybantsa flashes elite potential.
WA’s only braille library reopens in Seattle
Washington's only braille library reopened for walk-in services, almost a year after the facility in South Lake Union closed due to budget woes.
Windows Search just got a faster, cleaner overhaul - how to try it today
I tried the new Windows Search, and it offers a refreshing change with an updated layout that makes it easier to find what I need.
Jordan Walker shines in new MLB Home Run Derby format; the 20 greatest NFL coaches of all time
Plus why every semifinalist can (and cannot) win the World Cup
The Latest: Supreme Court justices set to testify in rare appearance before Congress
The U.S. and Iran are once again on the verge of all-out war
Your coffee habit may be making your liver healthier
A new study adds to the growing evidence that coffee is good for you.
Microsoft Patches a Record 570 Security Flaws
Microsoft Corp. today released software updates to plug at least 570 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software, almost triple the number of vulnerabilities the software giant fixed in its record-smashing Patch Tuesday release last month. Microsoft…
Heavy Metal Icon Iron Maiden Sells Stake in Music Rights to Sweden’s Pophouse
Swedish music investment firm Pophouse Entertainment Group AB is adding another high-profile name to its portfolio by acquiring a stake in the publishing and music rights of Iron Maiden.
Breaking Down The Vikings Backfield In 2026
Who will eventually lead the Vikings in rushing?
The two volatile forces pushing Michael Dell to new heights
Michael Dell has enjoyed a fantastic year for his business and a growing relationship with President Donald Trump.
US small-business sentiment rebounds in June, inflation a major worry for many
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. small-business sentiment increased in June, but the share of owners reporting that inflation was their "single most important" problem was the highest in nearly two years, and more said they had raised average selli...
Solis Mammography opens 2 new imaging centers
On top of two other centers opened in Florida earlier this year, Solis now operates 15 locations across the Sunshine State and over 170 outposts nationwide.
The Trae Young Era with Washington Wizards Is Nearly Underway
After Trae Young embraced a new franchise, the Washington Wizards are officially embracing him back
Authorities investigate Taco Bell and lettuce in multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak
Authorities have not yet identified a produce grower or supplier responsible for the outbreak that has hospitalized more than 80 people.
In an era of suspicion, political conspiracy theories flourish online
The internet’s reactionary machinery is churning at full force after Lindsey Graham’s sudden death and Mitch McConnell’s illness.
RFK Jr. faces Hatch Act complaint after intervening in congressional races
A top Senate Democrat has requested an investigation into whether the health secretary broke a law that bars political appointees from trying to influence elections.
Heat can be deadly, but sunshine itself? Science says we could use more of it
Extreme exposure should be avoided, but we’ve gone too far the other way – enjoyed safely, the sun can have enormous health benefits, says author and MIT journalism fellow Rowan Jacobsen
Subpoenas issued to NY Times reporters seen as 'unprecedented' threat to press freedom
Media advocates have reacted with alarm to subpoenas issued to five New York Times journalists who reported on security concerns about the new Air Force One
Trump rolls out the White House welcome mat for new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi
President Donald Trump is set to welcome Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, to the White House
After Lindsey Graham's death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging lawmakers
After Lindsey Graham's death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
NEW YORK (AP) — The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington's best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country's aging lawmakers.
After Lindsey Graham’s death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging lawmakers.
After Lindsey Graham’s death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
NEW YORK (AP) — The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging la…
After Lindsey Graham’s death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
NEW YORK (AP) — The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging la…
After Lindsey Graham’s death, questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
NEW YORK (AP) — The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of Washington’s best-known politicians, is renewing focus on the country’s aging la…
Pat Oliphant, prizewinning giant of political cartooning, dies at 90
The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist skewered presidents from Johnson to Trump, reaching a vast audience through syndication.
49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk Gets Brutal Commanders Prediction
Former NFL wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh issued a blunt prediction to the San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk. Over the last few weeks, Aiyuk has been on a tirade on social media with several videos explaining his side of the story while attacking the Niners.Nonetheless, after attacking the 49ers, Aiyuk then transitioned to shots at Washington Commanders […] The post 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk Gets Brutal Commanders Prediction appeared first on HEAVY.
Jail should not be the only option for kids in mental-health crisis
States need to reverse the decline of residential psychiatric treatment options for youth, before juvenile detention becomes the default alternative.
NFIB Podcast Features Washington, Oregon Business Owners
National Podcast Featuring Washington State Director Patrick Connor
‘Water rushing through the bricks’: Pipe burst floods Cleveland business, impacts service
Council President Blaine Griffin said he’s going to see what he can do to address Cleveland’s aging infrastructure after a water main break left people without water and flooded a local business.
Dodgers on Deck: Friday, July 17 at Yankees
After the All-Star break, the Dodgers embark on a three-city, nine-game, 11-day road trip that will take them to New York, Philadelphia, then back to New York with a little stop in Washington D.C. in between. First up is The Bronx for a three-game series against the Yankees beginning Friday night at Yankee Stadium. The […]
Oregon, 14 other states sue Trump administration to block school mental health funding cuts
Fifteen states including Oregon and Washington sued the Trump administration to block funding cuts to a $1 billion program that helps school districts hire and train more mental health professionals.
McConnell took a photo with that day’s newspaper. The internet suspects AI.
The senator’s attempt to end rumors about his health led to more online speculation about the image.
5-year update: Food Pharmacy at UF Health Jacksonville sees results
Improving the lives of patients one bite at a time. That’s the goal of a food pharmacy at UF Health.
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
Worker at mental health facility sexually assaulted teen multiple times, warrant says
The mother said she had to report it to police.
MLB All-Star Break: League Growth Shines, Labor Fight Looms
Rising labor tensions are clouding the league’s significant gains elsewhere.
Trump-backed Daylight Saving Time bill clears key House hurdle
The Sunshine Protection Act cleared a key House hurdle, but opponents warn permanent Daylight Saving Time could disrupt natural circadian rhythms.
Darline Graham Nordone has little political history beyond praising her brother
Darline Graham Nordone, the late senator Lindsey Graham’s younger sister, has the backing of President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term.
With Platner out, Democrat Jordan Wood relaunches U.S. Senate bid
A former congressional chief of staff, Wood, 36, said he knows how Washington works and has spent more than a year explaining his positions on federal issues to Maine voters.
Anthropic’s Claude Science app is coming for Kendall Square
Few places on the planet have more at stake in AI’s transformation and disruption of life sciences than the Massachusetts biomedical ecosystem.
Georgia furniture company to shut down after 40 years, will close both store locations
The company said it will start deep discounts and final liquidation of its products on Thursday.
Square Enix Is Charging Full Price For A Shinier Octopath Traveler
'Improved resolution' is not worth $60, Square
Trump recommends Lindsey Graham’s sister to serve rest of his Senate term
The president recommended that South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster select Darline Graham to serve into January. Her brother died suddenly amid a campaign for a fifth term.
Anthropic's Claude Science could disrupt Kendall Square and biopharma
Few places on the planet have more at stake in AI’s transformation and disruption of life sciences than the Massachusetts biomedical ecosystem.
The Death Of Physical Media And The Real Challenges To Software Archiving
Along with the many displays of outrage, gnashing of teeth and other displays of profound grief at the recent news that Sony will no longer manufacture physical game discs come 2028, we have also h…
Eagles Reporter Floats Potentially Shocking Saquon Barkley Development
Saquon Barkley's tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles has been dominant. Barkley had 2,005 rushing yards in 2024 and followed that up with another stupendous season where he topped 1,400 all-purpose yards and landed at No. 8 on the top starting running back ranking by Pro-Football Focus.
Senate returns to Washington after Sen. Graham’s death with uncertain agenda
Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after a tear in his aorta
Senate returns to Washington after Sen. Graham’s death with uncertain agenda
Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after a tear in his aorta
The Latest: Trump demands 20% toll for passage through strait
President Donald Trump said Iranian ships will no longer be able to travel through the Strait of Hormuz and America would charge a 20% toll on other countries’ eligible cargo, escalating tensions after weekend of attacks by both nations to assert control of the critical waterway
Vatican hits back at U.S. claim that Pope Leo speaks as a politician
President Donald Trump's ambassador had sought to portray the pontiff as the political leader of the Holy See. The Vatican swiftly said he is “proclaiming the Gospel.”
A 200-year-old physics experiment could help build future computers
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have discovered a surprisingly simple way to create exotic light structures called optical skyrmions using a 200-year-old optical effect known as the Poisson spot. Instead of relying on expensive, highly engineered materials, they simply shine a laser at a tiny circular disc, producing stable swirling patterns in light that researchers believe could one day help power advanced data storage, communications, and computing technologies.
The latest science on cannabis has some good news and bad news
Recent studies have shed light on the effect of cannabis consumption.
Scientists strike invisible gold in the deep sea—locked inside fool's gold
Pyrite, an iron sulfide ore, is often known as fool's gold because its shiny metallic luster and pale brass-yellow color can easily fool the untrained eye into mistaking it for real gold. This time, however, ...
Former NFL QB calls Commanders his 'breakout' offense in 2026
Not everyone is worried about the Commanders' offense in 2026.
Left-wing challengers are beating House Democrats. These incumbents could be next.
Democratic incumbents have struggled against democratic socialists in several primaries this year. For other lawmakers, age has become a campaign issue.
GLP-1s are latest wedding trend that has serious implications
Doctors worry the drugs are becoming a wedding fad as online prescribing makes them easier to obtain.
N.H. lawmaker clocked at 107 mph asserts ‘legislative privilege’
The state representative likened her situation to that of an EMT or police officer responding to an urgent call. What was her emergency? She hasn’t said.
Maine Democrats to Chuck Schumer: Stay Out of Our Senate Race
Local Democrats are warning the top Senate Democrat to keep away as they replace Graham Platner, and the candidates are giving his leadership in Washington low marks.
There’s an Injury Epidemic in Pro Sports. There’s Also a Recovery Revolution.
Athletes are pushing their bodies to astonishing feats, knowing that medical advances can heal them quickly.
Private equity might dodge state laws by partnering with healthcare nonprofits
It wasn’t billed as a takeover. The nonprofit hospice where Washington state nurse Milli Palmer has worked for nearly two decades announced in October 2024 that it was entering a “joint venture” with Compassus, a private equity-backed home health company. The deal was billed as a 50/50 partnership between Compassus and Providence, Palmer’s employer. But […]
Businesses brace for years of inflation as new costs pile up
Companies blame tariffs, energy prices and demand from AI data centers, raising concerns that inflation above the Fed’s target rate could persist.
The surprising health benefits of eating spicy food
Like it hot? Your heart, gut — and even your lifespan — may benefit.
Eating this food regularly could lead to greater longevity
Like it hot? Your heart, gut — and even your lifespan — may benefit.
Graham’s death complicates Senate Republicans’ packed agenda
Republicans return to Washington facing a thinner working margin, stalled spending bills and a fight over Trump’s attorney general nominee.
Yankees Cam Schlittler has reservations about All-Star Game appearance
On Sunday at Washington, Schlittler told reporters about his concerns related to pitching in the All-Star Game on his normal between-starts throw day.
Packers Get Blunt Jadeveon Clowney Take Amid 49ers Speculation
The San Francisco 49ers have surfaced in plenty of rumors involving veteran pass rushers, but they haven’t signed one as training camp approaches.After finishing last season with 20 sacks, the 49ers are counting on Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams to help generate more pressure this year. They also added another edge rusher by selecting Romello […] The post Packers Get Blunt Jadeveon Clowney Take Amid 49ers Speculation appeared first on HEAVY.
Who could replace Lindsey Graham? South Carolina’s next steps after senator’s death.
Senator Lindsey Graham’s death has sparked a political scramble in South Carolina.
Who could replace Lindsey Graham? South Carolina's next steps after senator's death
Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death has sparked a political scramble in South Carolina
George Washington's prayer life, private struggles take the spotlight in New Museum of the Bible play
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the Museum of the Bible is inviting audiences behind the scenes of the American Revolution with A General s Prayer, a new one-man play exploring
US Health Watchdog Expects $5.56 Billion in Recoveries and Savings
By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The federal watchdog for the U.S. health department generated $5.56 billion in expected recoveries and projected savings over six months and barred 1,212 individuals and companies from federal programs, it said on Monday, even as its overall ...
Graham’s death highlights a power shift and a new question: What’s coming next in Washington?
The death of Sen. Lindsey Graham and the long hospitalization of former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell are poignant reminders that time conquers even political careers marked by great power and ubiquity.
Yomiuri: Sumitomo Ties Up with Thai Group to Expand Anime Character Business
Sumitomo Corp. will collaborate with Thai consumer goods conglomerate Saha Group on intellectual property (IP) business initiatives utilizing the anime series "Crayon Shin-chan."
Boston's Brayan Bello Shines in Return to Major Leagues
Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello played a huge part in his team's comeback victory on Sunday afternoon.
Lindsey Graham’s journey from a pool hall to the heights of political power
A former military lawyer who reached the rank of colonel in the Air Force, the wisecracking Graham was known for his Southern drawl, political flexibility and reliably hawkish stance on foreign policy.
Sen. Lindsey Graham's career marked by reversals, including on Trump
Sen. Lindsey Graham's career in Washington was shaped by his hardline foreign policy beliefs and shifting views of President Donald Trump.
Bridging divides: Alumnus helps legislators find common ground, reach policy solutions
Jack Thomas ’22, M.P.P. ’23 is the director of congressional engagement and public policy at the National Institute for Civil Discourse in Washington, D.C.
Science is pushing back on the hype over cold plunges
Can an ice bath really help you lose weight, keep you mentally sharp, and speed up your post-workout recovery? Mounting research is throwing water on those claims.
McConnell says fall led to hospitalization, breaking weeks of silence on health
Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of…
Lindsey Graham remembered for a vision of American foreign policy that’s fading in Washington
Graham was a rare bridge between President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and the traditional Washington consensus prioritizing alliances with Europe and Israel, one falling out of favor with many in both political parties.
McConnell says he was hospitalized due to a fall and contracted pneumonia
The update comes after weeks of silence about his condition and growing questions over the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican’s health.