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Healey defends $2B courthouse deal for company connected to political heavyweights
Gov. Maura Healey is defending the nearly $2 billion state contract for a new Springfield courthouse awarded to a company co-owned by Ayanna Pressley’s husband and the current head of the MCCA.
30 Most Important Bears of 2026: Gervon Dexter (No. 14)
Our Most Important Bears of 2026 series continues with Gervon Dexter, who's entering a contract year and will prove key along the defensive interior.
Hampson Earns College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Honors
MEDFORD, MA (July 15, 2026) -- The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its men's 2026 Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-Americans, and Tufts University senior Quinn Hampson was honored as a Second Team honoree as released Tuesday afternoon.
Google AI researcher says he resigned over military contract
Alex Turner, a research scientist at Google DeepMind, said he tried to change Google executives' minds about working with the Pentagon.
Google AI researcher says he resigned over military contract
Alex Turner, a research scientist at Google DeepMind, said he tried to change Google executives' minds about working with the Pentagon.
Scientists stunned by bizarre find in 300-year-old bones: you won’t believe it - Futura-Sciences
Centuries-old bones, modern revelations It sounds straight out of a crime novel: can cannabis really get stuck in the human skeleton for hundreds of years? The answer, it turns out, is a resounding yes. Thanks to newly uncovered archaeological evidence, researchers have been able to identify persistent traces of the...
Federal agency intervenes in Michigan's legal fight over Kalshi sports contracts
A federal board charged with overseeing futures trading is barring a popular prediction market from implementing a new rule after being ordered to cease sports betting operations in the state.
Review: Denshattack! Fast Arcade Action That's Technically Rock-Solid and Highly Addictive
Multi-track drifting!!
Seventy Vikings Earn Academic All-Conference For Spring Sports
Portland State Athletics had 39 student-athletes recognized as Academic All-Big Sky Conference honorees for winter sports as released by the league today. Among winter sports teams, the women's indoor track team had a 3.56 GPA, followed by the Big Sky Conference Champion Men's Basketball team at 3.42. Women's Basketball had a 3.27 GPA and Men's Indoor Track was at 3.22.
Real Estate Photography Business: Nathan Cool's 2026 Plan
Nathan Cool shares 15 years of real estate photography experience on rebuilding a sustainable business in 2026. Master skill-building, targeted marketing, full-service bundling, and pricing strategy to attract quality clients.
Pelletier Honored as College Sports Communicators 2nd Team Academic All-American
GREENWOOD, Ind. – On Wednesday, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Women's Cross Country / Track & Field teams were announced with graduate student Kayla Pelletier (Southington, Conn.) being named as a 2nd Team Academic All-American.
National Nuclear Security Administration: Additional Actions Needed to Plan for Science, Technology, and Engineering Facilities and Workforce Investments
The National Nuclear Security Administration relies on unique science, technology, and engineering facilities and a highly skilled workforce to...
State of Indiana to end minority and women's business contracting program
Gov. Mike Braun's announcement comes after Attorney General Todd Rokita issued an opinion stating that the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises program is unlawful.
Indiana Gov. Braun to end minority and women's business contracting program
The announcement comes after Attorney General Todd Rokita issued an opinion stating that the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises program is unlawful.
These are the best things to do in Brevard this weekend, July 17-23
Find your weekend adventure! Science Sunday and 'Soundtrack of Summer' top our list of fun things to do in Brevard.
Former Tiger Tom Southall Selected to Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame
Tom Southall, a member of the Colorado College football and track & field teams from 1981-85, has been selected for induction into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame.
Ebola is spreading faster in eastern Congo than it can be tracked, as deaths pass 700
Eighty percent of new Ebola cases in eastern Congo are emerging from unknown chains of transmission, according to WHO, a sign the outbreak is spreading faster than health officials can track.
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.
California State Fair Brings 17 Days Of Food, Fun And Entertainment Starting Friday
The 172nd annual California State Fair returns to Cal Expo with nationally known concerts, exciting new attractions, carnival rides, award-winning exhibits,
At War With Iran Again, Trump Finds an Opponent He Cannot Easily Dominate
The president is accustomed to forcing other countries to bend to his will. But he is struggling to come up with a strategy to extract Iranian concessions as the cease-fire he brokered collapses.
Lakers’ Signing One of ‘Worst Contracts’ in Free Agency
The Los Angeles Lakers will look very different next season after losing multiple key players in free agency this summer. One new addition to the Lakers’ squad is former Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler. He secured a four-year, $129.5 million with Los Angeles as part of a sign-and-trade agreement with the Jazz. The contract is a […] The post Lakers’ Signing One of ‘Worst Contracts’ in Free Agency appeared first on LA Sports Report.
After Lōkahi Deal, Glucotrack’s Glucose Tech Will Run Separately
Once required stockholder approvals and Nasdaq listing requirements are met, Lōkahi holders are expected to own about 90% of the company; proceeds are expected to support CBGM technology.
SonicWall warns of SMA1000 flaws exploited in zero-day attacks, patch now
SonicWall warns that threat actors have been exploiting two SMA1000 vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-15409 and CVE-2026-15410, in zero-day attacks and urges customers to install the newly released security updates.
Scientists show that DNA can last for up to 50,000 years in Africa — much longer than previously thought
Researchers extracted DNA from long-dead animals that lived in South Africa during the last ice age, revealing that genetic material lasts longer in hot climates than was previously thought.
Health Brief: The $10M contraceptive mess
Plus: The Trump administration deepens its push into psychedelic medicine.
Window World 450 Race Week Entertainment: Hauler Parade, Trackside Live, Driver Autographs & Live Music
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — When race fans from around the world arrive for the first NASCAR Cup points race in 30 years at North Wilkesboro Speedway, they'll find four days of entertainment off the track before the green flag drops for the Window World 450 on July 19. Race week will include a Cup Series …
County business park to get first infrastructure, new name
New Hanover County’s Holly Shelter Business Park could be getting its first infrastructure and a new name in the coming months. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $6.5 million infrastructure construction contract and renaming on Monday. Once developed, the approximately 300-acre master-planned industrial park is expected to accommodate more than 2 million square feet of industrial space. The construction contract was awarded to Carolina Civilworks, which submitted the lowest responsive bid for the construction of the infrastructure, Akin Akinola, the county’s engineer, told commissioners on Monday. In May 2023, the county approved a development agreement with Sidbury Land & Property Company to establish the business park. The firm then conveyed approximately 52 acres to the county, giving officials the option to purchase another 200 acres, Akinola said. “The county’s role is to construct the initial public infrastructure that will make the site ready for future development,” he said. “Today’s contract award represents the first major construction phase of that project.” The first phase of development will include approximately 2,750 linear feet of business park roadway, a water main and fire hydrants, along with a sanitary sewer pump station, sewer force main and gravity sewer. Other infrastructure will include a right-turn lane on Holly Shelter Road, along with associated drainage, utilities and traffic control improvements. “Completing this work establishes the backbone infrastructure necessary to serve future development and positions the site for future economic investment,” Akinola said on Monday. County staff, in consultation with Wilmington Business Development officials, are also recommending renaming the park as the I-40 Coastal Commerce Park, said Jennifer Rigby, the county’s chief strategy officer. The new name would emphasize the park’s proximity to I-40 and its location on the coast, she said. Several county commissioners also asked to add New Hanover County's name to the business park's name to commemorate the county's contributions. “We are hoping to achieve space for our businesses to grow and expand here in New Hanover County,” Rigby said. “We’ve had great success with out Blue Clay Business Park and this is another opportunity to really provide locations for our businesses to grow and expand.”
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.
George Cardenas: Are TIFs an economic tool — or a secret cash cow?
Chicago needs TIF policy that is transparent, does not change per project, and increases the overall Chicago’s taxable value without detracting from it, George Cardenas writes.
2026 NASCAR Odds: Denny Hamlin Favored For North Wilkesboro; Kyle Larson Second
NASCAR is heading to North Wilkesboro for the first points race at the track in 30 years. Who will take the checkered flag? Here are the early odds.
Miller School Researchers Help Advance Award-Winning AI Model for Predictive Health Care
Miller School researchers helped advance an award-winning AI model that could improve early detection and personalized care.
Man who the diarrhea parasite cyclospora after lunch shares symptoms, advice
A man in New York City contracted the diarrhea parasite cyclospora, and suspects a lunch bowl with chopped lettuce was the cause.
The 6 worst contracts in NBA free agency, including Trae Young's massive deal and a wild Lakers overpay
Yankees' Corey Seager Pursuit Should Stop Right in its Tracks
The New York Yankees should not even consider trading for Corey Seager.
Scarehouse partners with The Plaza at North Shore to create new Halloween destination
ScareHouse, a nationally recognized haunted attraction, is partnering with The Plaza at North Shore to launch the “Halloween Hangout” in Pittsburgh.
The Moment Victor Wembanyama Decided to Pass Up $50 Million
Victor Wembanyama signed a five-year, $251 million maximum contract with the San Antonio Spurs instead of a $300 million supermax deal with individual performance incentives.
In Paris, Rice physiology students trace science to its source
For professor Laura Kabiri, who teaches the same physiology course in Houston, Paris changed what the material meant to her students.
Average MLB fastball velocity is up for the 6th straight year to 94.7 mph
Four-seam fastballs averaged 94.7 mph through Saturday, up from 94.5 mph last year, 93.7 mph in 2021 and 91.9 mph when Major League Baseball first started tracking in 2008.
Before you connect another smart TV, tablet or phone, lock it down
Smart TVs ship with ACR enabled by default, tracking everything you watch. A 10-step checklist covers privacy settings, VPN setup and guest wifi.
Mark Cuban says AI can expose hidden healthcare contract costs
Mark Cuban said companies should run their healthcare bills through an AI bot to uncover hidden costs.
Bipartisan bill seeks to bolster AI use in pediatric cancer care
Members of the Childhood Cancer Caucus are proposing the Accelerating Innovation for Kids Act, aimed at fast-tracking the deployment of this tech in pediatrics.
Google Pixel Watch Fitbit Sensor Permission Bug Leaves Health Tracking Broken for Some Users
The Google Pixel Fitbit sensor permission bug locks users out of Google Health apps by demanding sensor access already granted. Even factory resets do not fix it.
Costco's Kirkland Signature Lager discontinued. Load up now.
Oregon's Deschutes brewery says it is winding down the cobranded Kirkland Signature Lager with the end of its production contract with Costco.
How a Promising Navy Drone Boat Program Got Mired in Politics
Navy acquisition reforms upended a $2.1 billion contract competition. When it was over, several companies with ties to the Trump administration had made the cut.
Timberwolves Reportedly Sign Former Duke Star to $9.3 Million Contract
Minnesota locked in second-round pick Isaiah Evans on a four-year deal.
Austin Reaves, Sandro Mamukelashvili are helping Lakers' cap situation
Austin Reaves and Sandro Mamukelashvili did something with their contracts to help give the Lakers some added salary cap flexibility.
Letter to the Editor: A give-away contract with Another Planet Entertainment
The contracts proposed, between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Dept. and APE fall short of the industry standard. The APE contracts are not typical for a venue this size, potentially costing…
VCU Health Board of Directors elects Cantor as chair, extends contract
Additionally, board members Fotini “Fay” Manolios will serve as vice chair, Joel Nied will serve as secretary and Randolph Reynolds Jr. will serve as treasurer.
Money out of Politics faces petition signature challenge as campaign works toward November ballot
The challenge says a ballot measure to limit political donations from Michigan’s public utilities and large government contractors didn’t collect enough valid signatures to make the ballot.
Health Officials in Michigan Identify ‘Potential Source’ of Cyclospora Outbreak
The illness, which has sickened thousands across much of the United States, is on track to contribute to the largest outbreak in recent history.
Uber Blew Its Whole 2026 AI Budget By April. Small Businesses Are Next
Uber spent its 2026 AI budget in four months. Anthropic built spend caps into Claude Enterprise. The cap-and-trace playbook small businesses need now.
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
Kansas business law expert strives for competitive balance in U.S. House race
Colin McRoberts is a Lawrence attorney seeking the Democratic Party's nomination in the 1st congressional district — a seat held by GOP Rep. Tracey Mann.
New York Yankees Proposed Trade for Giants’ Luis Arraez Revealed
San Francisco Giants infielder, Luis Arraez, who is on an expiring contract, is starting to become one of the most popular trade targets on the MLB trade market, and the New York Yankees stand out as a top fit, given their need for a contact hitter who can hit for average, play good defense, and […] The post New York Yankees Proposed Trade for Giants’ Luis Arraez Revealed appeared first on HEAVY.
Flutter Entertainment options trading jumps to 2,690 contracts
Flutter Entertainment options trading jumps to 2,690 contracts
NFC East Contract Standoff: Jalen Carter Tests Eagles’ Trust
Colorado Updates Requirements for Consumer- and Business-Facing Automatically Renewing Contracts
In 2026, Colorado revised its law on automatically renewing contracts affecting Colorado residents and businesses to cover both businesses and individuals who seek or acquire, by purchase or lease, any goods, services, money, or credit.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Performance Benchmark Review
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced breathes new life into the classic with modern graphics, gameplay improvements and full ray tracing support. In our performance review, we examine its graphical fidelity, VRAM usage, upscaling options, and how well it runs across a wide range of modern GPUs.
Music Review: Gracie Abrams confronts crises on 'Daughter From Hell'
Crises loom across singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams’ third album, “Daughter from Hell.” The resulting 16 tracks are darker than her previous two records, writes The Associated Press' Elise Ryan in her
The Ministry's "Great Purge" of Science: Can AI Help?
Publish or perish. Universities decide whether to renew researchers[1] contracts or promote them through the academic ranks largely on the...
A chance encounter led to one of the largest T. rexes ever found. Now, it could be ‘lost to science’
A large T. rex skeleton nicknamed ‘Gus’ is on track to break auction records, and highlight one of paleontology’s biggest predicaments.
A chance encounter led to one of the largest T. rexes ever found. Now, it could be ‘lost to science’
A large T. rex skeleton nicknamed ‘Gus’ is on track to break auction records, and highlight one of paleontology’s biggest predicaments.
Bioenergy Life Science adopts decentralised clinical research to support nutraceutical claims
The ingredient supplier says real-world decentralised studies can help brands generate finished-product evidence at lower cost while addressing growing regulatory expectations around substantiated health claims
Knoxville team behind Dollywood projects joins new NERF, Peppa Pig attraction
Developers of the new Play District in Pigeon Forge have joined forces with the Knoxville architecture firm behind several Dollywood projects.
Ask Mark Anything: Does UK Athletics lead the nation in ‘bad contracts?’
Mark Story’s weekly mailbag includes questions on J Batt, Milan Momcilovic & Malachi Moreno & a potential breakout player for UK men’s hoops
When regulation is good for business
By now, I think I have established both my view that I am a fan of ESG investing and the benefits of regulating what is and isn’t a sustainable investment, and my view that in Europe, ESG regulation has gone too far and become too costly. It almost feels like the old Aristotelian maxim of doing things in moderation that leads to the best outcomes is valid in regulatory efforts as well. To give you an example, let’s look at a study by the National Bank of Belgium on the impact of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) on fund flows of conventional and ESG funds. The SFDR was announced on 27 November 2019 and came into effect on 10 March 2021. It was implemented in several stages and split funds marketed in the EU into three broad categories: (i) Art. 6 funds that are basically conventional funds without any specific ESG integration, (ii) Art. 8 funds that ‘promote environmental or social characteristics’, which must provide additional reporting how they do that, and (iii) Art. 9 funds that are impact funds. The gaps between the announcement and the phased implementation give us an idea of how fund flows were affected by the regulation. It is clearly visible in the figure below that once the new regulation was announced and when it was initially implemented, fund flows in Art. 8 and Art. 9 funds increased significantly. Conventional Art. 6 funds also saw more inflows, but the increase was not statistically significant. I should add that the data below is pure fund flow, cleaned of performance effects and of any reclassified funds that moved from one classification to another. Note also that once the initial rush in ESG funds was over, additional, stricter regulatory requirements didn’t create that many new flows. This implies that with additional regulation, the funds incurred higher costs to comply but didn’t benefit in terms of new inflows and higher assets under management. Fund flows as the SFDR regulation was implemented in the EU Source: Emiris et al. (2026) When examining the drivers of these flows, the authors of the study found that institutional investors were more likely to switch to ESG funds and particularly so in countries where concerns about sustainability are culturally more accepted. In a society where buy-in into environmental and social risks is higher, private investors were shifting more of their assets into ESG funds as the regulation made it clear which funds are really green and which ones are not. And institutional investors in these countries did so as well, given the societal pressures and reputational risks of sticking with conventional funds. Meanwhile, fund managers reacted to the changing regulatory environment as well. Many funds that were mildly green before the regulation was announced became greener and more sustainable as the regulation was introduced to attract new assets and new investors. Cleverly, and unsurprisingly, these ESG funds also charge on average higher fees, which means that not only did fund managers gather fresh assets, but their profitability increased as well.
Denver unveils $100 million to create jobs, attract businesses
Magnitude Returns To Work Tab Ahead Of Whitney Bid
Winchell Thoroughbreds' Magnitude returned to the work tab on Sunday morning for trainer Steven Asmussen for his first workout since winning the June 27 Stephen Foster (G1), breezing a half-mile in :50.40 on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, Daily Racing Form reports. The Gun Runner colt ...
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.
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.
Hundreds of Vt. healthcare workers rally against UVM Health layoffs
Hundreds of unionized nurses and support staff took to Church Street Sunday, calling for a fair contract and an end to layoffs at UVM Health.
Former Lions Star Linked To Matthew Stafford And The Rams
Taylor Decker’s time with the Detroit Lions has officially come to an end after the veteran left tackle and the organization failed to resolve a contract impasse.Following unsuccessful negotiations on a new deal earlier this offseason, Decker asked to be released, and the team ultimately granted his request. However, Decker remains a free agent and […] The post Former Lions Star Linked To Matthew Stafford And The Rams appeared first on HEAVY.
Packers make surprising contract extension decision despite defensive coordinator change
Off-ball linebacker Isaiah McDuffie reached a new one-year deal, and now he's under contract with Green Bay through 2027.
Don Iwerks, special effects pioneer, dies at 96
The Academy Award-winner created special effects used in Disney films and attractions around the world.
Inside the Record-Setting Business of the Los Angeles Dodgers with President & CEO Stan Kasten
Stan Kasten, Los Angeles Dodgers President, CEO and Part Owner, joins Sports Business Radio to discuss the record-setting business of the Dodgers. From superstar Shohei Ohtani's impact on attendance, sponsor sales and merchandise sales, to improvements to the fan experience at Dodger Stadium, to the Dodgers surpassing 4 million fans last season and being on track to draw that many fans again this season, we discuss how in many regards, the Dodgers are maximizing revenues better than any other pr
Inside the Record-Setting Business of the Los Angeles Dodgers with President & CEO Stan Kasten
Stan Kasten, Los Angeles Dodgers President, CEO and Part Owner, joins Sports Business Radio to discuss the record-setting business of the Dodgers. From superstar Shohei Ohtani's impact on attendance, sponsor sales and merchandise sales, to improvements to the fan experience at Dodger Stadium, to the Dodgers surpassing 4 million fans last season and being on track to draw that many fans again this season, we discuss how in many regards, the Dodgers are maximizing revenues better than any other pr
2026 MLB Draft Tracker: Every Chicago White Sox Pick
Here's What The R/T Badge On A Dodge Charger Actually Means
The R/T label on Dodge Chargers means Road and Track, not Rapid Transit, Racing Technology, Rally Touring, or Racing Team, as some fans have thought.
These 7 SUVs Have Engines From Proper Muscle Cars
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Physicists recreate black hole energy extraction in the lab
Researchers have recreated the physics of extracting energy from a spinning black hole using a stationary device that produces synthetic ultrafast rotation. The achievement transforms a long-standing theoretical idea into a practical experiment and could inspire new advances in optics, wireless communications, and quantum science.
FULL SHOW: Inside INdiana Business 7/12/26
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Back in court: St. Luke’s sues private Idaho prison health contractor
Corizon, now called Tehum, faces a $31 million lawsuit from St. Luke’s, which stems from the settlement of a previous suit.
Italian & German interest in Rangers' Barron
Three clubs track Rangers midfielder as Celtic consider Manchester United goalkeeper.
From libertarian dream to political weapon: How the far right appropriated the crypto wave
Leaders such as Trump, Milei and Bukele raise these assets as a banner to attract disenchanted citizens while profiting from their popularity
Armor Health selected as new medical provider for Blair County Prison
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Florida-based company is expected to take over inmate medical care at the Blair County Prison as of Aug. 1, after the county’s longtime contract with PrimeCare Medical, a Harrisburg-based company, expires as of July 31. Commissioners voted Thursday to award a three-year contract to Armor Health, with a first-year price of $3.73 […]
2026 Bucs training camp preview: Quarterback
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2026 MLB Draft Day 1 Tracker and Open Thread
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2026 MLB Draft Tracker: Day 1 picks and results
Assassinations unleashed under Trump haunt Iran war endgame
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Habs Daily: Top Prospect Fan Vote, Konyushkov Contract, Price HHoF
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Tracking Tennessee baseball players, signees picked in 2026 MLB Draft
Here are the Tennessee baseball players and signees selected in the 2026 MLB Draft.
The problem with drinking too much water
Kelsey Wallis’s migraines started during track season. At first, she blamed the Springfield, Mo., heat. Wallis was a high school distance runner...
Timberwolves’ Projected LeBron James Contract Offer Revealed By Top Insider
The Minnesota Timberwolves are hearing all about how sweet reunions are. That hasn’t stopped them from lining their cards in hopes to sign the NBA’s hottest free agent. For over a week, the NBA world has (impatiently) been waiting for LeBron James to make a free agency decision. After James told the Los Angeles Lakers he […] The post Timberwolves’ Projected LeBron James Contract Offer Revealed By Top Insider appeared first on HEAVY.
Physicists finally build a quantum material predicted more than a decade ago
Researchers have achieved a major milestone by creating a long-sought two-dimensional quantum material and confirming its unusual conducting edge states. The ability to control these states through strain could make the material a promising platform for future room-temperature quantum electronics.
Retired Iowa lawmaker Jean Lloyd-Jones reflects on her political life in memoir
At 96, Jean Lloyd-Jones has published ‘A Woman’s Place: My Life as a Public Servant.’ The book tracks her path from the League of Women Voters to the Iowa Legislature, as well as her work founding the Iowa Institute for Peace.
See map tracking spread of ‘explosive' diarrhea illness across US
Cases of cyclosporiasis continue to climb rapidly as 13 new states reported infections. See map tracking the spread.
Bedford County joins Roanoke Regional Partnership in bid to attract business, jobs
Bedford County has officially joined the Roanoke Regional Partnership — a nine-locality group that markets the region to companies looking to expand or relocate. County leaders say the move could bring new business and economic growth to Bedford, but residents are asking a pointed question: Is the money worth it?
Politics Unusual: Rep. Kean Jr.'s return to Congress, Sherrill's first 6 months
In this episode of Politics Unusual, FOX 5 NY's Teresa Priolo speaks to The New York Times reporter Tracey Tully about Rep. Tom Kean Jr.'s return to Congress after revealing his struggles with depression. Also, a conversation with POLITICO reporter Matt Friedman.
Baker Mayfield Sets New Contract Deadline – And It's Coming Up Fast
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a chance on embattled quarterback Baker Mayfield in 2023. That chance paid off. Now Mayfield wants the partnership to pay off more, to the tune of a massive raise. Mayfield is under contract for the NFL 2026 season, in the final year of a three-year, $100 million ...