The socialist frontrunner in Wisconsin&#8217;s Democratic gubernatorial primary hired a self-described &#8220;sex worker&#8221; to run her campaign and voted against a law that bans grooming children.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, who held a 20-point advantage in the polls going into Tuesday&#8217;s primary, was one of just six Wisconsin lawmakers to vote against a measure that bars adults from &#8220;engaging in a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child&#8221; to participate in sexual activity or pornography.
The bill overwhelmingly passed the Wisconsin State Assembly 93-6 and cleared the state Senate by voice vote before Democratic Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) signed it into law in March.
Hong, according to The New York Post&#8217;s <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/us-news/wisconsin-socialist-francesca-hong-voted-against-anti-child-grooming-law-responding-to-pervy-teacher-pursuing-14-year-old/">report</a>, has not publicly explained why she voted against the legislation. Others who voted against argued that it was redundant to existing state law.
The legislation initially came about as a response to the case of Christian Enwright, 31, — a teacher from Kenosha who pled guilty to 15 misdemeanor counts of &#8220;<a href="https://captimes.com/news/education/kenosha-teacher-scandal-spurs-legislation-new-policy-and-a-lawsuit/article_28fc8e7e-4328-4e32-9881-bda07e89388e.html">disorderly conduct</a>&#8221; in connection with his interactions with students, including a 14-year-old girl.
&#8220;[Enwright] engaged in classic grooming behavior, preying on the vulnerability of at least one female student, under the guise of being a mentor, to foster and further a predatory relationship with her,&#8221; a school district investigator said.
In addition to inspiring the new anti-grooming law, Enright&#8217;s actions sparked a lawsuit by a student&#8217;s parents against both him and the school district. Media outlets did not publish the names of either the girl or her parents because she still attended school in the district.
Hong entered Tuesday&#8217;s primary as the clear polling frontrunner. The democratic socialist has raised eyebrows during the campaign with a number of her old social media posts — in which she called for the cancellation of Thanksgiving and suggested abolishing the Senate.
She has also called for defunding the police — a position she&#8217;s tried to temper throughout her campaign — as recently as 2021, saying, &#8220;Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can’t be an option.&#8221;
She also made headlines with her support for legalizing sex work, a point she punctuated by hiring an OnlyFans model to manage her campaign.

politics-election-2026-governor-hong-committee-1536×864

Socialist Voted Against Child-Grooming Bill. She Might Be Elected Governor.

Socialist Voted Against Law That Bans Grooming Kids. She Might Be Elected Governor.

Democrat

Democratic Socialists Of America

Francesca Hong

Media

Politics

Socialists

Wisconsin

A criminal trial fanatic ambushed the attorney for Lindsay Clancy in her high-profile murder trial, asking one question that first got laughs — and then a detailed story.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington immediately recognized &#8220;CourtDawgDaniel&#8221; when he came out of the building, and agreed to walk with him down the street. Reddington&#8217;s reaction made it clear he was not prepared for the question that followed.
&#8220;I met you the other day,&#8221; Daniel said, after getting Reddington&#8217;s attention.
&#8220;Court Dawg!&#8221; Reddington replied, realizing he was on camera and adding, &#8220;At least my shirt&#8217;s tucked in.&#8221;
&#8220;Can I walk with you down to the —?&#8221; Court Dawg asked, gesturing toward the end of the street.
&#8220;Of course you can,&#8221; Reddington replied. &#8220;Whatever you want.&#8221;
Court Dawg went on to explain that he loved to attend criminal trials, traveling from court to court in his RV to see as many as he could: &#8220;So I&#8217;ve been coming to your trial and just really enjoying it, but I just have one question for you that probably has nothing to do with this case. Did you always know you wanted to be a lawyer?&#8221;
Reddington, clearly taken aback, laughed: &#8220;That&#8217;s a great question.&#8221;
&#8220;I have a distinct memory of when I was in high school, I think probably junior year,&#8221; Reddington continued, adding that he&#8217;d found himself in a bit of trouble and landed in the dean&#8217;s office. &#8220;And while I was sitting there waiting for him to come in and yell at me, I was bored so I happened to pull out a book — and it was careers, and I read the thing about lawyers, and it had a picture of Abraham Lincoln, and I said, &#8216;Hey, that might be fun.'&#8221;
&#8220;That was the only time I ever thought about it really,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;And you never went back [and changed your mind],&#8221; Court Dawg prompted.
&#8220;Nope, I went to Boston College, and back then everybody wanted to be a lawyer, so then you take the LSATs, you go to law school, and here we are,&#8221; Reddington replied.
Court Dawg admitted that he was trying to &#8220;live vicariously&#8221; through the attorneys he watched, saying, &#8220;I&#8217;m an engineer. I wish I had been a lawyer.&#8221;
Reddington interrupted then: &#8220;But can I tell you, I don&#8217;t want to live vicariously through you as an engineer.&#8221;
Reddington&#8217;s current trial — involving Massachusetts mother <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsay-clancy-diary-entries-puts-focus-on-psych-meds">Lindsay Clancy</a> — is expected to last six to eight weeks. The defense is arguing that Clancy, who was reportedly suffering from postpartum depression at the time, is not criminally responsible for strangling her three young children before attempting suicide herself.

Patrick Clancy describes ex-wife’s mental health struggles leading up to children’s deaths in her murder trial

Lindsay Clancy’s Attorney Asked Unexpected Question After Fiery Cross-Examination

Courts

Murder

trial

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is scrambling to rewrite history — and reinvent himself — as his party lurches leftward and embraces candidate after candidate who&#8217;s younger and more extreme than the last.
Newsom, recognizing the appetite in his party for &#8220;insurgents&#8221; and agents of &#8220;change,&#8221; insisted that he could be all of those things while also bringing the experience that came with his more than two decades in elected office.
&#8220;I think what&#8217;s happening is there&#8217;s just a desire for change,&#8221; Newsom said. &#8220;I think this notion of insurgency over incumbency is the real message here, and people just want fighters — they want people with conviction, strength, clarity, people that get it and want to get things done. And they&#8217;re done with the status quo, and I totally respect that.&#8221;
Newsom went on to claim that despite his eight years as governor — and more than a decade in elected office prior to that — he was not an example of the &#8220;status quo&#8221; people were so desperate to leave behind. Instead, he still viewed himself as the &#8220;insurgent&#8221; rather than the &#8220;incumbent,&#8221; coining a new phrase to describe his position in the field: &#8220;established insurgent.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve long felt like I&#8217;ve been an established insurgent,&#8221; he explained, adding, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always had that mindset. I&#8217;ve been in elected office a long time, but I&#8217;ve never been naive about people&#8217;s desire for change, including my own desire for change.&#8221;
Newsom&#8217;s comments came as he traveled to Michigan, where Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed eked out a narrow victory over the more established Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens. The likely 2028 hopeful brushed aside concerns about El-Sayed&#8217;s more extreme views and alignment with far-Left streamer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hasan-piker-gloats-over-socialist-election-victories">Hasan Piker</a> — who is well known for praising Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, idolizing communist dictators like Mao Zedong, and making outlandish claims like &#8220;America deserved 9/11.&#8221;
El-Sayed, despite being given multiple chances to denounce Piker, has doubled down at every opportunity — but Newsom did not appear to be bothered by that, and instead argued that El-Sayed&#8217;s success was simply a manifestation of the people&#8217;s &#8220;desire for change.&#8221;
Responding to Republicans who have argued that El-Sayed is just more proof that the Democratic Party is embracing the extremes, Newsom said that was &#8220;nonsense,&#8221; adding, &#8220;He&#8217;s not even a member of the DSA.&#8221;
The California governor, whose term ends in January, is expected to launch a presidential campaign ahead of the 2028 election cycle — and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-2028-poll-just-shook-up-both-parties">recent polls</a>, which show democratic socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) eclipsing him, might be the inspiration behind his attempts to reinvent himself.

Governor Newsom And San Francisco Mayor Lurie Announce New Funding For Homelessness And Mental Health Ffforts In The City

Gavin Newsom Has A New Buzzword For Believing In Nothing

Democratic Party

Gavin Newsom

Democrats in Montana have embarked on a desperate campaign to force their own U.S. Senate nominee to quit the race, and they&#8217;re willing to harass members of her family to make that happen.
According to Washington Reporter editor-in-chief Matthew Foldi, Democrats have become increasingly aware that independent candidate Seth Bodnar would stand a much better chance against the Republican nominee, Kurt Alme, a former U.S. Attorney backed by President Donald Trump. The only person standing in the way is Alani Bankhead — who won the Democratic Party&#8217;s five-way primary on June 2 with 43.7% of the vote — and the party appears ready and willing to throw out more than 48,000 votes to force a more favorable general election matchup.
The goal of the &#8220;project,&#8221; according to a series of <a href="https://x.com/MatthewFoldi/status/2086521870333923649">screenshots</a> Foldi shared, was to make the Montana Senate seat — and thus potential control of the upper chamber — &#8220;more winnable&#8221; by convincing Bankhead to drop out of the race. A call to arms sent out to activist groups around the state suggested that it was an &#8220;all hands on deck&#8221; situation because Bankhead, who had not responded to &#8220;gentler nudges,&#8221; had to drop out by August 10 in order to be taken off the ballot.
&#8220;Democrats want to push @AlaniBankhead out of the race in favor of &#8216;independent&#8217; candidate Seth Bodnar, who is backed by Chuck Schumer and former senator Jon Tester. These documents offer an inside look at how Democrats’ dark money apparatus will use any means, including intimidation to secure their preferred nominee,&#8221; Foldi posted, following that with a screenshot of a document titled, &#8220;Montana Senate Seat: How to Help.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The document is titled: Montana Senate Seat: How to Help. It urges Democrats “who have relevant relationships” to urge Bankhead to drop out of the race.
(3/xx) <a href="https://t.co/St1x4C0ng7">pic.twitter.com/St1x4C0ng7</a>
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) <a href="https://x.com/MatthewFoldi/status/2086522798642524619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Anyone with &#8220;relevant relationships&#8221; — meaning those who might have the ability to put pressure on Bankhead either directly or indirectly — was encouraged to use them to &#8220;encourage&#8221; Bankhead to exit the race ahead of the August 10 deadline. The document even included a list of people close to the candidate who could be targeted by their pressure campaign. The list included several family members, close friends, as well as current and former campaign staffers.
The document also contained <a href="https://x.com/MatthewFoldi/status/2086524470257123814">helpful tips</a> for those inclined to participate, from reminders to tag Bankhead in their posts to pre-written drafts that they were urged to alter slightly so as not to appear AI-generated.
Just one week prior, up against a nearly identical deadline, South Dakota Democratic Senate nominee <a href="https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/democrat-julian-beaudion-pulls-out">Julian Beaudion</a> withdrew from the race, citing a similar <a href="https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/left-wing-activists-urge-south-dakota">pressure campaign</a> orchestrated by left-wing activists who pushed him out in favor of former Democrat-turned-independent Brian Bengs.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/us/politics/julian-beaudion-drops-out-south-dakota.html?eafs_enabled=false">Beaudion</a> explained just after he exited the race that he&#8217;d done so in light of a recent &#8220;devastating house fire” — the cause of which is still under investigation — and “intimidating threats to drop out of this race.”
“The mental and physical safety of my family is my priority and for this reason alone, I step aside,&#8221; he said.

Democrat Alani Bankhead Campaigns for Montana Senate Seat

Inside Dem Dark Money Campaign To Harass Their Own Female Nominee Until She Quits

2026 elections

Dark Money

Democrats

Montana

Senate

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham pushed back after Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington blamed &#8220;WHITE PRIVILEGE&#8221; for her own ejection from Saturday&#8217;s game — a post Carrington later deleted.
Cunningham <a href="https://x.com/kareemcopeland/status/2086219526266556444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2086219526266556444%7Ctwgr%5E6d9bb0378f30ffe86b5bba7a7baf000c6f030b5a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Foutkick-sports%2Fsophie-cunningham-speaks-out-against-dijonai-carrington-flagrant-foul-white-privilege-post">dismissed the accusation</a> outright, pointing to her own ejection last season for a similar foul.
&#8220;I think the league is taking care of that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There&#8217;s no reason to even play that card.&#8221;
Of the foul itself, Cunningham <a href="https://x.com/kareemcopeland/status/2086220659319771185">said</a>, &#8220;Clearly, I think it was unnecessary. I&#8217;ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has  some pent-up stuff. So, get your [stuff] off. That&#8217;s fine — I can take it.&#8221;
She went further, calling the hit deliberate: &#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s intentional&#8230; I do think when people play the Fever, we&#8217;re nationally televised, there&#8217;s a lot of eyes on us and people just want attention. And that&#8217;s her just trying to get attention.&#8221;
Video of the interaction — which showed Carrington clothes-lining Cunningham as she went in for a lay-up — spread quickly across social media. The foul — which landed Cunningham on her back on the court — was upgraded to a flagrant two after review, with officials citing &#8220;wind-up, impact, and follow-through&#8221; and a &#8220;high potential for injury for player in a vulnerable position.&#8221;
Fever Coach Stephanie White reacted to the hit, saying, &#8220;It was a hard foul. I don&#8217;t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call.&#8221;
Sky coach Tyler Marsh, when asked about Carrington&#8217;s locker-room reaction to her removal from the game, replied, &#8220;I have to get back to you on that because I&#8217;m just now hearing about that. So yeah, we&#8217;ll handle that.&#8221;
Cunningham made waves when she said in an <a href="https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/49306657/sophie-cunningham-finger-point-indiana-fever-wnba">ESPN interview</a> last month that she did not believe it was fair for women and girls to compete in athletics against biological males — and has been the target of protests and criticism ever since.
Sports Illustrated delivered <a href="https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/2086229865930297827">clear bias</a> in a headline covering the most recent incident, which read, &#8220;Sophie Cunningham Got A Bitter Taste Of Karma After Drawing Flagrant Foul In Fever-Sky.&#8221; The outlet appears to have since quietly <a href="https://www.si.com/wnba/sophie-cunningham-karma-flagrant-foul-fever-sky">changed the headline</a>.
Women&#8217;s sports advocate <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2086418921914012058">Riley Gaines</a> responded to Carrington&#8217;s reaction, saying on Fox News that her post was more indicative of &#8220;black privilege&#8221; than anything else.
&#8220;I would actually say that this is BLACK privilege to be totally honest with you! Because her posting this white racist comment right after assaulting Sophie Cunningham on the court is actually black privilege, because she knows the WNBA won&#8217;t do a SINGLE thing of significance about it!&#8221; Gaines explained. &#8220;And imagine if the roles were reverse if Sophie made a comment similar to this — then she&#8217;d likely never play again!&#8221;

Sophie Cunningham

Sophie Cunningham Smacks Down Opponent’s ‘White Privilege’ Comment

Sports

Transgender

transgender athlete

WNBA

Women's Basketball

Women's sports

National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya stopped CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan cold during a Sunday morning interview, refusing to let her steer the conversation away from what he says was his censorship by former President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration.
Midway through the interview, Brennan turned to Bhattacharya&#8217;s trip to Atlanta that week, marking one year since the shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters that killed DeKalb County police officer David Rose — a Marine combat veteran and father of three who had graduated from the police academy five months earlier. Brennan asked whether enough was being done to counter that kind of &#8220;misinformation,&#8221; noting that the shooter&#8217;s father said his son had been &#8220;brainwashed&#8221; about the vaccine and thought it &#8220;was making him suicidal.&#8221;
Bhattacharya, the acting CDC director, pushed back, reminding Brennan that not everyone agreed on what constituted &#8220;misinformation&#8221; — and that had been weaponized to great effect during Biden&#8217;s administration.
&#8220;I think the key thing is there&#8217;s a loss of public trust in public health that happened in part because a lot of — frankly, even on this network and on other networks — there was a particular single point of view put across during the COVID pandemic that led to things that really did cause harm to people,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The school closures are probably the number one thing that the —&#8221;
Brennan interrupted, attempting to redirect the conversation: &#8220;This is not a productive line of claims. We covered COVID in depth on this program like no other Sunday show did.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not blaming you specifically,&#8221; Bhattacharya replied. &#8220;What I&#8217;m saying is that you want to talk about misinformation — the kinds of decisions and the public, sort of the face of public health during the pandemic led to many people losing trust in public health.&#8221;
&#8220;The Trump administration officials,&#8221; Brennan interjected.
&#8220;No, I mean like Biden. So Biden, for instance, censored me,&#8221; Bhattacharya said.
&#8220;The pandemic began under the Trump administration, and we put those officials on our air,&#8221; Brennan said.
&#8220;Just so we&#8217;re clear, the Biden administration censored me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They sent out direct attacks on people who disagreed on whether the COVID vaccine stopped — &#8221;
Brennan cut in to note that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had called the COVID vaccine &#8220;the deadliest vaccine ever made.&#8221;
&#8220;That is misinformation, and we&#8217;re not being clear about that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I think that is dangerous. Wouldn&#8217;t you agree?&#8221;
&#8220;People lost their jobs, Margaret, because the Biden administration censored people and said, &#8216;Look, you can&#8217;t even talk about COVID vaccine harms,&#8221; Bhattacharya responded.
&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about a shooting,&#8221; Brennan said.
&#8220;Yeah, and I&#8217;m talking about why you have the kind of distrust that&#8217;s led to the kind of problems that we were talking about earlier in public health,&#8221; Bhattacharya replied. &#8220;That distrust was not caused by President Trump, it wasn&#8217;t caused by Bobby.&#8221;

Jay Bhattacharya

NIH Director Reveals What Got Him ‘Censored’ By Biden Admin During COVID

NIH Director Stops Margaret Brennan Cold: 'The Biden Administration Censored Me'

CBS News

Margaret Brennan

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) bid a sad farewell to his longtime vacuum cleaner on Saturday, and even The New York Times took a moment to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/us/politics/beth-vacuum-chuck-grassley-iowa.html">eulogize</a> the legendary piece of machinery.
Grassley shared the sad news in a pair of posts on X — including a photo of his beloved &#8220;Beth&#8221; that showed damage to the cord from electrical sparks.
&#8220;U willl see Beth no more. See black that’s from electrical sparks. It’s not safe to use anymore. GOOD BYE BETH. U hv been a real workhorse. Ur namesake still is hard worker. I will miss u,&#8221; the senator wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s a sad day at Grassley household…. For my 34 years and 15 yrs before that at my mother in law’s home Beth has worked dependably….
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://x.com/ChuckGrassley/status/2086183580594491507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It’s a sad day at Grassley household … For my 34 years and 15 yrs before that at my mother in law’s home Beth has worked dependably …&#8221; he added.
The New York Times took note of the occasion, publishing a brief tongue-in-cheek obituary for &#8220;Beth&#8221; on Saturday.
&#8220;Beth, a trusty tan Hoover vacuum cleaner with a burgundy cloth dust bag that for years tended to the floors of the Iowa farmhouse of Senator Chuck Grassley, earning admirers in both parties, has died. She was believed to be 49,&#8221; the obituary began — and then proceeded to document Beth&#8217;s history as portrayed by Grassley on social media.
In 2018, as others in the household prepared food for Thanksgiving, Grassley shared a photo of Beth and said that he&#8217;d be doing his part to get ready for guests as well: &#8220;Mrs G and daughter Wendy hv started big job of preparing meal for30 at farm Thxgiving. So my housework contribution begins. This is my machine (Beth).&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Mrs G and daughter Wendy hv started big job of preparing meal for30 at farm Thxgiving. So my housework contribution begins. This is my machine (Beth😄) <a href="https://t.co/DYJCkdrqzk">pic.twitter.com/DYJCkdrqzk</a>
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://x.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1064964569804783618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Beth made follow-up appearances in later social media posts, and even found a &#8220;fan&#8221; in Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
The Times also noted that Beth, at the time of her &#8220;passing,&#8221; was older than several lawmakers currently serving in the U.S. Senate — a group that includes Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) — and had long outpaced the average eight-year lifespan of a Hoover upright vacuum.

Chuck Grassley

Chuck Grassley’s Vacuum Died, And Even The New York Times Took Notice

The New York Times

The United States military is reportedly close to a breakthrough in the development of high-energy laser weapons, opening the doors to a future battlefield where targets are destroyed at the speed of light.
Laser weapons would give the United States an obvious advantage with regard to defensive capabilities, especially because they would allow operators to target incoming enemy drones and missiles for almost immediate destruction. In addition, they would not be forced to deploy missile interceptors — such as the Patriot (MIM-104) or the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) — at a much higher cost.
The U.S. Army is close to awarding a contract for a laser weapons system: Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL), according to a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/inside-americas-laser-revolution-military-nears-big-battlefield-breakthrough">report</a> from Fox News.
Army acquisition executive Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano said that the service was negotiating a contract with AeroVironment for the E-HEL, saying that it had been tested recently at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where it had shown &#8220;a lot of recent promise and capability.&#8221;
The initial goal is to implement E-HEL in a defensive posture so that the United States is not forced to put millions of defense dollars into traditional kinetic weapons that will be used to shoot down relatively cheap enemy drones — a move Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OLi34jNSBHk">likened to</a> &#8220;throwing Ferraris at frisbees.&#8221;
Lasers, in contrast, may only cost a few dollars each time they are fired — and they require no additional ammunition, only maintenance — meaning that the operational costs are almost nothing once the system has been installed.
The U.S. military has attempted to add lasers to its arsenal several times in the past, from a 747-mounted &#8220;ray gun&#8221; to a Humvee-mounted laser designed to target roadside bombs — but as WIRED <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/landmark-deal-would-officially-add-laser-weapons-to-us-army-arsenal/">reported</a>, none of those attempts were able to deliver on the promise of low-cost effectiveness.
The Army is not alone in its efforts to develop and implement laser-based weaponry. The U.S. Air Force has already implemented a compact laser weapon system as a defense against enemy drones, and the U.S. Navy has been slowly integrating HELIOS (high-energy laser with integrated optical-dazzler and surveillance) after years of testing.
Outside the United States, China has also put considerable time and money into laser-based counter-drone weapons and other laser weapon systems.
And in the United Kingdom, the <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2025/november/20/20251120-dragonfire-trials">Royal Navy</a> has already inked a £316 million (over $426 million) deal to develop a laser weapon after successful trials shooting down high-velocity drones. Until now, the Royal Navy has relied on a combination of kinetic weapons — including Sea Viper missiles and other traditional weapons — and the Phalanx system to defend against aerial attacks.

Red Laser Beam and Reflections

Experimental Weapons Offer Glimpse Of The Battlefield Of The Future

China

Military

Military Weapons

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army

U.S. Military

U.S. Navy

weapons

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins gave Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed a clear opportunity to distance himself from antisemitic communist streamer Hasan Piker — and El-Sayed doubled down instead.
Collins, while speaking to El-Sayed on Wednesday evening, asked him to respond to comments from Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) warning him to back away from Piker: &#8220;I can&#8217;t come together with someone if you are willing to embrace people that love Hamas, or that think America deserved 9/11. I think that&#8217;s reasonable.&#8221;
&#8220;In Trump&#8217;s words, &#8216;What a lovely gentleman,'&#8221; El-Sayed said in response to Fetterman&#8217;s comments.
&#8220;I mean, he said that you need to renounce people like the Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who was out there campaigning with you, who was out there in Michigan on Monday night, I believe last night as well. Do you have any plans to do that?&#8221; Collins pressed.
&#8220;Look, I&#8217;m less focused on folks who are campaigning with me, more focused on the folks I&#8217;m campaigning to,&#8221; El-Sayed said, not directly answering the question but still making it clear that he had no intention of backing away from Piker. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s important to stay in touch with the folks you want to elect you. I think that&#8217;s clearly what&#8217;s gone wrong with Senator Fetterman, it&#8217;s clear he probably doesn&#8217;t spend much time in Pennsylvania, because he was campaigning with Bernie Sanders and now wants to renounce Bernie Sanders. I don&#8217;t know if he still thinks he&#8217;s a Democrat or not, I&#8217;m hoping to get to the U.S. Senate and maybe we can hash that conversation out in person.&#8221;
Fetterman is not alone in calling for El-Sayed to renounce Piker. Gun control activist Fred Guttenberg weighed in on the issue, commenting on Piker&#8217;s reaction to those pushing El-Sayed to move to the center to win the Senate seat.
&#8220;Everyone being like, &#8216;Abdul has a f*ck-ton of work to do mending bridges,&#8217; here&#8217;s the f*cking take nuke for you: You are all unbelievably Islamophobic pieces of sh*t. You literally called the dude a f*cking terrorist for months on end,&#8221; Piker said on his election night livestream.
&#8220;Mazel Tov @AbdulElSayed for winning a Democratic primary with a minority of Democratic voters. You will need everyone of your voters and @HaleyforMI voters to win a general. For that to be possible, you will need to move on from Piker. Guessing you won&#8217;t and I won&#8217;t be surprised when you lose,&#8221; Guttenberg <a href="https://x.com/fred_guttenberg/status/2085090821506764957">shot back</a>.
And there are more, as one MS NOW host noted: &#8220;Some Democrats I&#8217;ve talked to &#8230; on the plane this morning, a guy said to me, &#8216;I&#8217;m anxious &#8230;&#8217; he said, &#8216;I voted for Haley Stevens &#8230; in fact, if he wins, I will be voting for MIKE ROGERS.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 WOW! MSNOW is now PANICKING after Democrat voters told her they&#8217;re voting Mike Rogers (R) because Abdul El Sayed (D) became the MI Senate nominee
&#8220;Some Democrats I&#8217;ve talked to&#8230;on the plane this morning a guy said to me, &#8216;I&#8217;m anxious&#8230;&#8217; he said, &#8216;I voted for Haley… <a href="https://t.co/MweVr8G4bb">https://t.co/MweVr8G4bb</a> <a href="https://t.co/iuEXdhiAyL">pic.twitter.com/iuEXdhiAyL</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2085096708204290525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Michigan Democratic Senate Primary Winner Abdul El-Sayed Holds News Conference Day After Primary Win

CNN Gives El-Sayed A Chance To Renounce Hasan Piker — He Does The Opposite

Abdul El-Sayed

Democratic Socialism

Hasan Piker

Kaitlan Collins

Michigan

Three family members are facing charges in New York City for attempting to carry out a gang-related hit outside the Bronx Criminal Court in late June.
Reputed &#8220;Slutty Gang&#8221; member Chase Lackard, 20, was charged in the attempted hit of a member of rival gang P. Laafay. His mother, 49-year-old former Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, was arrested with him on Tuesday and charged as an accomplice. His father, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/us-news/ex-con-husband-of-ny-police-bigwig-in-custody-after-familys-drive-by-gang-shooting/">James Lackard</a>, 47 — an ex-con who did time on drug charges — turned himself in on Thursday.
According to a series of <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/04/us-news/ny-police-bigwig-was-getaway-driver-for-goon-son-in-gangland-shooting-sources/">reports</a> published by The New York Post, both Jennifer and James helped their gang-banging son to plan and then carry out the attempted hit on June 29. After dropping mother and son off at the criminal court building, James drove around the area and returned to pick them up.
Text messages from that timeframe showed Jennifer helping Chase work out how to carry out the next part of their plan.
&#8220;Be directly in Fromt (sic) When I Leave,&#8221; Chase told his mother in a text message.
&#8220;When? … You can’t just sit directly outside. It has to be timed right,&#8221; she said in response.
When they left the building, according to court documents, Chase got into the back seat and his mother rode in the passenger seat. They circled the block, and when Chase spotted his intended target, he reportedly fired several shots from the vehicle but missed. The family then drove away from the area, stopping a short distance away so that the parents could switch seats and Chase could change clothes in the car.
Both Chase and his mother were arrested at their home on Tuesday — after which Jennifer Lackard was immediately <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/04/us-news/new-york-police-bigwig-accused-of-driving-getaway-car-for-her-son-fired/">fired from her job</a> with the police department: &#8220;Effective immediately, the City of Mount Vernon has terminated Jennifer Lackard’s employment. The allegations are unrelated to her duties with the Mount Vernon Police Department and do not stem from any conduct associated with the Department or the performance of her official responsibilities.&#8221;
Lackard, prior to her termination, had been a boss within the Wellness Unit since 2022 and had advocated for her precinct to respond to mental health issues without resorting to traditional policing methods: &#8220;A lot of the people we encounter are in a mental health crisis. Some are combatant, some are really, really aggressive and some are not. And some are frequent fliers because they don’t have support.&#8221;
Damon Jones, who previously worked for three decades at the Westchester County Department of Corrections and now publishes Black Westchester Magazine, was incensed.
“This is f*cking embarrassing! I am embarrassed as a black law enforcement officer to see the dysfunction in a city that has a black mayor, a majority of black city council, a majority black police department that we have to see continuing dysfunction and just foolery in an organization that should be so professional,&#8221; he told The Post.

male being fingerprinted

Police Official Accused Of Helping Son Carry Out Gang Hit

Crime

gangs

Gun Violence

New York

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Violent Crime

The University of Michigan&#8217;s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will eliminate letter grades from first-semester transcripts for incoming freshmen under a new pilot program to help new freshmen acclimate to college.
Instead of traditional letter grades, students will receive a &#8220;Pass&#8221; (P) or &#8220;No Credit&#8221; (NC) during their first semester. The <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/lsa-first-semester-grade-covering-pilot-program.html">university says</a> the change is intended to reduce stress tied to early grades and improve student mental health.
&#8220;Beginning in fall 2027, the College will designate all LSA first-year students’ first-semester grades as pass (P) or no credit (NC) on their transcripts,&#8221; the website explains. &#8220;While LSA students will still receive grades and instructor feedback in every course as they always have, final grades will not be recorded on their external transcripts and will not be reflected in their GPAs. LSA students’ official transcripts will state that all grades in the first semester are automatically designated as P/NC.&#8221;
The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts had <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/lsa-site-assets/documents/LSA-At-A-Glance.pdf">nearly 20,000</a> undergraduate students enrolled last year, making it the largest of the university&#8217;s schools and colleges.
One goal, according to the program, is to encourage students to try new things and take classes across a wide variety of subjects without worrying that their grades will hold them back if they find those subjects a struggle. Another is to ensure that students can build confidence in their academic abilities as they first acclimate to campus culture and the demands of college-level coursework.
&#8220;Helping all students establish early momentum has been recognized as the most important element in U-M’s campus-wide Student Success Initiative. We believe that covering grades will help students start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals,&#8221; the website reads.
The only students eligible for this pilot program will be incoming freshmen who start at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in the 2027 fall semester, and the &#8220;grade covering&#8221; will apply only to their first semester grades.
Although they will not appear on individual transcripts, some people will still have access to the students&#8217; actual letter grades and official GPA. The financial aid office will be able to access official grades to determine whether students are meeting required standards for scholarships and grants, and the athletic department will also be able to access grades to determine athletic eligibility.

College of Literature, Science, And The Arts Building at the University of Michigan

Prestigious College To Hide Freshmen’s First-Semester Grades

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Education

higher education

Mental Health

Schools

University of Michigan

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten warned on Thursday that Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) was likely to cost his party a seat in the upcoming midterm elections.
Enten laid out the polling in Miller&#8217;s race showing his standing has fallen sharply since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-moreno-accuses-max-miller-of-abusing-his-daughter-after-congressman-breaks-silence">accusations</a> of domestic violence surfaced and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Miller&#8217;s former father-in-law, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senator-says-family-dispute-put-him-in-seventh-level-of-hell">called on</a> him to resign.
&#8220;Max Miller is going to cost his party — most likely cost his party a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives when we&#8217;re talking about the politics of this,&#8221; Enten said, &#8220;You can see quite well on the Kalshi prediction market chance to win Ohio [District] 7, look at this, Poindexter, the Democrat, 37% on July 25th, over the last few weeks his chances way up to 70%.&#8221;
In contrast, he added, &#8220;Max Miller&#8217;s chances, look at this, falling down through the floor, falling into Lake Erie, going from 64% now down to 30%. What seemed like a race that was favoring Miller is now favoring the Democrat Poindexter as this scandal has hit the press.&#8221;
CNN host John Berman jumped in to point out the fact that the new poll numbers had only come ten days after the first — and that was how quickly the race had turned on Miller.
&#8220;Is there a way to measure the impact that scandals have on House races?&#8221; Berman asked.
Enten laid out more historical data, noting that, on average, 85% of House members succeeded in reelection bids — but for those mired in scandals at the time of the election, the success rate dropped to 57%.
&#8220;Scandals matter. Scandals matter. I know a lot of people think nothing matters, but scandals still do matter in our politics,&#8221; Enten added.
He went on to say that another important factor was how much interest there was in a particular scandal — and the numbers were not working in Miller&#8217;s favor on that point either. According to Google Trends, searches in Miller&#8217;s district for information about him and the still-unfolding scandal were up 3200% over the previous two weeks.
Miller has repeatedly claimed that there is nothing to the accusations against him — but his attempts to interview his way out of public scrutiny have thus far been unsuccessful.

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Virginia Kruta