35+ min ago (874+ words) The richest man on earth owns X. The family of the second-richest man owns Paramount, which owns CBS " and could soon own Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN. The third-richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fourth-richest man owns The Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios. Another billionaire owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of the media? Vanity may play a part, but there's a more pragmatic " some might say sinister " reason. As vast wealth concentrates in the hands of a few, this small group of the ultra-wealthy may rationally fear that a majority of voters could try to confiscate their wealth " through, for example, a wealth tax. But rather than rely on Republicans, a more reliable means of stopping majorities from targeting your riches might…...

48+ min ago (460+ words) In recent days, five U.S. senators and two representatives requested documents from the Department of Homeland Security and a formal investigation into how a firm closely tied to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended up receiving money from a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign. The demands came in response to a ProPublica story this month that revealed that the Republican consulting firm had been secretly working on the ads, which star Noem. The company, called the Strategy Group, has long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. Its CEO is married to Noem's chief spokesperson at DHS. Under Noem, DHS bypassed the normal competitive bidding process when awarding the contracts " allocating the majority of the money to a mysterious Delaware LLC that was created days before the deal was finalized. The Strategy Group does not appear on public…...

1+ hour, 16+ min ago (473+ words) Mark Kelly aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to a simulated launch countdown in November 2001. The US Department of Defense on Monday announced it was launching an investigation into a Democratic senator who had participating in a video warning active-duty troops to not follow illegal orders given by President Donald Trump. In a social media post, the DoD said it had "received serious allegations of misconduct" against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired US Navy captain who was one of several Democrats with backgrounds in national defense to speak out against the president potentially giving unlawful orders that pit the US military against American civilians. As a result of the investigation, the DoD said that Kelly could be recalled to active duty to face potential court-martial proceedings for violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). "All servicemembers are reminded that…...

1+ hour, 30+ min ago (1132+ words) U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks at a campaign event of Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in Lindale, Georgia, U.S., October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene surprised me Friday by announcing her resignation from the Congress effective January 5. I was surprised, because just a few days prior she flexed her muscle when she got the president to step off. She had been demanding the release of the Epstein files. Donald Trump called her a traitor. Though she got death threats, she didn't budge. Then, last Monday, he caved. CNN's Dana Bash said their feud was the breakup heard around the world. That seemed confirmed by Greene's resignation. Trump called her a RINO (Republican in Name Only). He pledged support for a primary challenger. Indeed, it appeared she is similar to many moderate Republicans, a casualty…...

8+ hour, 27+ min ago (276+ words) U.S. President Donald Trump makes a sports announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 5, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis President Donald Trump was recently handed another loss in court, after failing to convince a Florida judge that he was owed money by the Guardian newspaper for reporting on a federal investigation involving his company. Additionally, Lowell reported that Judge Carroll found that reporting critical of Trump and his businesses could not be used by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which is the parent company of his Truth Social platform, to demonstrate actual malice in litigation. The Guardian reported at the time that one of the trustees of E.S. Family Trust was a director of Paxum Bank. And one of the bank's part-owners had ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. SDNY prosecutors were probing whether the loans violated federal money laundering laws. According to…...

9+ hour, 34+ min ago (255+ words) The peace plan that President Donald Trump's administration offered to end the ongoing war in Ukraine has been widely criticized for being overly accommodating to Russia. Now, a new report shows that Russia may have been even more intricately involved in its composition than previously known. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the proposal " which Trump administration special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (who is also the president's son-in-law) " relied heavily on input from a "Kremlin insider." Kushner, Witkoff and the Kremlin advisor huddled behind closed doors in multiple "secret meetings" in Miami, Florida, according to the Journal. Dmitriev also specifically called on the Trump administration to engage in multiple economic agreements in the areas of artificial intelligence, energy and other industries. The Journal also reported that the bulk of the plan was written by both Kushner and…...

10+ hour, 23+ min ago (673+ words) President Donald Trump's weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice is weakening investigations in civil rights and national security, among other things, according to The Guardian. This weaponization, they write, has led to thousands of lawyers leaving or being fired, and, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Justice Connection, "overall DOJ employment has dropped by about 5,500 lawyers and non-lawyers who have left since Trump took office." "By contrast, the department last year employed about 10,000 attorneys, according to DOJ data," they add. Much of this reduction in staff has been the product of Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi. "In revamping the department, attorney general Pam Bondi and other top officials have ousted many attorneys they deemed as anti-Trump, including about 20 who worked on the prosecutions of the mob who stormed the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop Congress from certifying…...

11+ hour, 15+ min ago (699+ words) On Monday, a judge ruled that acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed, and subsequently dismissed her indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Former federal prosecutors are now saying that the judge's ruling may have thrown all of her office's work into question.During a Monday segment on CNN, former U.S. attorneys Harry Litman " who led the Department of Justice's (DOJ, or Main Justice) operations in the Western District of Pennsylvania under former President Bill Clinton's tenure " and Greg Brower, who handled cases in the District of Nevada during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, both agreed that anything bearing Halligan's name is likely now damaged goods."Her future was already pretty well sealed ... with a series of blunders and pratfalls, including misconduct in the grand jury," Litman said of Halligan. "There…...

11+ hour, 46+ min ago (377+ words) Mark Kelly in February 2019, Gage Skidmore President Donald Trump's Department of Defense is now targeting a sitting U.S. Senator, one of six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video reminding members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the Intelligence Community of their right to refuse to obey an illegal order. U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired astronaut and former naval officer, along with the other five said, "threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home." "Our laws are clear," they added. "You can refuse illegal orders." In an official statement on social media, the Department of Defense alleged it has "received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.)." It added, "a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial…...

12+ hour, 7+ min ago (224+ words) Karoline Leavitt, the current White House press secretary under President Donald Trump, jokingly suggested her role was giving her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on Monday, while also bemoaning several vacations that have bee disrupted by her job. "Honestly, I have PTSD about making plans, so I just don't," Leavitt said. "It's very difficult to make plans in this job." Additionally, she claimed that this hectic professional schedule forced her to cancel at least three planned vacations with her husband, 60-year-old real estate developer Nicholas Riccio. "My husband and I had three different mini weekend getaway vacations this summer. All three got canceled due to foreign policy events," Leavitt explained. "We just roll with it. If there's a night where I happen to become free, then we take full advantage of that as a family." In the face of the recent…...