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I have always lived my life around a simple principle, “Don’t eat weird stuff.” And see? I was right. The Coronavirus ripping through the Wuhan region of Red China – and that has now spread here – may well have crossed over to our species because some people in China eat bats. Yeah, on purpose. How the hell did they ever get the idea that dining on Dracula birds was a good plan? It doesn’t matter – what does is our response, and right now the Administration is behind the power curve. With attention fixed on the circle of self-abuse...

During a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) stated that while he welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in Syria, “It is far from a victory.” Romney said, “I welcome the vice president’s announcement of a ceasefire, which will prevent further loss of life. I hope the agreement is honored. … The announcement today is being portrayed as a victory. It is far from a victory. Serious questions remain about how the decision was reached to precipitously withdraw from Syria and why that decision was reached.”

For Martina Myers, a high school English teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” seemed too good to be true: funny, well-crafted and focused on Native American youth. Her students at Piñon High School, many of whom struggled with substance abuse and mental illness, took to it immediately. They wrote poems in response, on native pride, addiction, self-acceptance and suicide attempts. So when Ms. Myers learned last year of the allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Alexie, who issued a statement admitting he had “harmed other people,” she felt...

The Reno-Tahoe International Airport publicly apologized to Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren after she was pursued by Trump supporters yesterday through airport. A video posted by the Nevada GOP on social media shows protesters following Warren as she went through the public area of the airport. Republican protesters were chastising her, calling her “Pocahontas.” The group said that it was protesting attempts to impeach President Trump as Warren once again visited Northern Nevada on her campaign. (Warren is a senator; the impeachment process to date has been led by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.) Those actions violated airport rules, however,...

There is always a bitter sort of irony in watching videos of the unveiling of a flashy new iPhone on your own scuffed and scratched years-old device. As reviews of the new iPhone 11 rolled in this week — and I watched them on my trusty iPhone SE from 2016 — I almost immediately started doing the math in my head to figure out if I could afford the shiny new phone. But this year's parade of iPhone reviews was a bit different. Where most reviews have traditionally recommended readers upgrade every two years, The New York Times, for example,...

Kroger on Tuesday followed Walmart in asking shoppers not to openly carry guns in any of its stores, in states where “open carry” is allowed, unless they are authorized law enforcement officers. The announced changes come amid a wave of deadly shootings in the U.S., including two at Walmart stores this summer. Both companies are also calling on the government to strengthen background checks. “Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers,” Jessica Adelman, group vice president of corporate affairs, said in an emailed statement. “We are also...

Former Republican congressman-turned-radio host Joe Walsh (R-IL) went off on Donald Trump and the racist invectives the president used to attack his enemies throughout the week. Shortly after Trump claimed he was “not happy” with his Wednesday night rallygoers who chanted “send her back” as he blasted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Walsh offered his reaction to CNN’s Briana Keilar. He started by saying Republicans should’ve condemned Trump en masse for his recent attacks on Omar and her progressive colleagues, but they haven’t because “they don’t gave a damn what he does” and don’t care about how much he lies.

Rep. Mark Walker, a Republican from North Carolina, was present at the controversial rally held by President Donald Trump last week, during which supporters chanted “send her back” as the president attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar. On CNN Monday, Walker said hearing the chant was an “immediate dagger that went through my heart.” “My wife, Wolf, is a two-time historical black college and university graduate, as a former minister we have worked years in the inner cities,” Walker said. “The minority communities that value or put a little bit of trust and value in what we’re trying to do in Washington,...

President Trump's former ghostwriter says writing "The Art of the Deal" is the biggest regret of his life and wishes the 1987 bestseller "weren't even in print." "I knew this was a bad guy when I did the book," Tony Schwartz told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett for this week's episode of "The Takeout" podcast. The pair sat down for lunch at New York's ViceVersa restaurant. "Trump is not only willing to lie, but he doesn't get bothered by it, doesn't feel guilty about it, isn't preoccupied by it," Schwartz said. "There's an emptiness inside Trump. There's an...

Friends of Michael Cohen have noticed that since Trump's Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin he's been more openly questioning Trump's fitness to be president. "It's one thing for him [Cohen] to be concerned about his suitability to be president," a knowledgeable source told me. "It's quite another thing to be concerned about his [Trump's] loyalty to his country." The source added that Cohen was sending a public signal to this effect when he tweeted, on Monday after Trump's Helsinki press conference: "As I said to @ABC @GStephanopoulos, "I respect our nation's intelligence agencies who determined that Russia, had in...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Catalina Celentano used to hold training sessions for hospital workers in Lynn, Mass., to familiarize them with the cultures of patients from Cambodia, Russia and the Dominican Republic. When she moved to New Hampshire, she suddenly found herself in an ethnic vacuum. “I went from being able to speak Spanish every day to not speaking Spanish at all because there wasn’t anybody to speak Spanish to,” said Mrs. Celentano, who was born in Colombia to a Colombian mother and Hungarian father. “The only person I spoke Spanish with was a cleaning lady and she moved back to...

The GOP Speaker Paul Ryan attacked President Trump today after his meeting and press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ryan released the comments after the press conference this morning. Nancy Pelosi urged Paul Ryan to take a stronger stance against the Republican president.

I’ve got a piece up over at the Washington Post about the Brett Kavanaugh nomination. It was a safe choice — and an opportunity lost. There was a choice out there that fired the conservative imagination, the kind of choice that arguably only a Donald Trump would have the guts to make: There was a moment, in the early afternoon of July 9, when conservatives contemplated the delightful possibility that they might witness the best possible version of President Trump — the man with the will (and flair for the dramatic) that would allow him to be bolder than the...

This morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, journalists for the network continued losing their collective minds over Supreme Court Justice Kennedy’s announcement that he was retiring from the bench. ABC led its morning coverage Thursday with three reports, portraying the news that President Trump would pick his successor, as a move back into the Dark Ages with abortion rights at stake. “It guarantees that this court and this country is going to change profoundly,” correspondent Terry Moran gushed. Anchor Robin Roberts opened by noting dramatically that “every American” could be affected by this new SCOTUS pick. Correspondent Terry Moran touted...

George WillÂ’s Friday column has kicked up a stir by arguing that voters of all ideological stripes should hand majority control of the Senate and House to the Democrats in November. This is a profoundly bad idea, and Will makes nearly no effort to consider its actual consequences.There are four main reasons why running Republicans out of Congress will not produce the results that Will is seeking. One, Democrats do not respect the values Will champions and cannot be counted on to advance them. Two, the recent history of divided government shows that it moves policy toward the out-partyÂ’s ideology...

This is right up there with the congressman worrying that stationing Marines on Guam could cause the island to tip over and capsize . . . On CNN this morning, Chris Cuomo expressed the concern that under a denuclearization deal with North Korea, the NORK nukes might be sent to . . . Pakistan. Panelists Jon Avlon and Gordon Chang talked poor Chris in off the ledge, assuring him that wouldn’t happen.Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Shortened title. Full title: Former CIA Director John Brennan Blames “Messers Trump and Netanyahu” For Deaths of Hamas Supporters in Gaza In 2010 Barack Obama’s former CIA Director John Brennan called Jerusalem “al Quds” in a public speech. Al Quds is the Muslim name given to Jerusalem. On Monday Brennan lashed out at President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the deaths of Hamas supporters in Gaza. Four days ago Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar announced what he hoped would be hundreds of thousands of protesters storming the Israeli border with Gaza on Monday.

Donald Trump, with his feral cunning, knew. The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become AmericaÂ’s most repulsive public figure. And Pence, who has reached this pinnacle by dethroning his benefactor, is augmenting the public stock of useful knowledge. Because his is the authentic voice of todayÂ’s lickspittle Republican Party, he clarifies this yearÂ’s elections: Vote Republican to ratify groveling as governing. Last June, a Trump Cabinet meeting featured testimonials offered to Dear Leader by his forelock-tugging colleagues. His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, caught the spirit of the worship service...

CNN political analyst Brian Karem on Thursday described the debate over whether to release a Republican-written classified memo critical of the FBI and the Justice Department as a "tipping point for our democracy," warning the document's release may lead the country to be ruled by "demagoguery and despotism."In a CNN segment flagged by NewsBusters, host Brooke Baldwin introduced Karem by telling him that, while House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is downplaying the memo, President Donald Trump wants to use it help discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation."And you're hearing that from the F.B.I.," Karem responded. "That is the most disingenuous piece...

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld says he hopes Republican Roy Moore loses Tuesday’s special election in Alabama for a U.S. Senate seat. “I hate team-sport politics, and right now this is team-sport politics,” he said on “The Five” on Monday. “The argument is: Moore is bad, but a Democrat is worse, and... it’s a shame, because it shouldn’t be. It doesn’t always have to be a team sport.” He said President Donald Trump throwing his weight behind Moore is part of the “team sport” element of politics. “Even though Trump is endorsing this guy, it’s because he has to, because...