As Jeffrey Epstein was reeling from a 2018 Miami Herald investigation about the sweetheart deal he struck with federal prosecutors to settle claims he had sexually abused teenage girls, the financier turned to a trusted confidant for advice: journalist Michael Wolff. In a series of messages found in the trove of more than 20,000 documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein’s crimes, the independent journalist and author suggested that any potential response needed to be “war gamed out” and initially proposed that they find a sympathetic reporter to interview Epstein. Wolff rejected Epstein’s proposals to attack the reporting or publicly claim that the alleged sexual abuse was really “prostitution,” saying that Epstein had lost the “high ground.” Eventually Wolff and Epstein reached a consensus.

The Portland Immigrants Rights Coalition reported 329 arrests in Oregon last month.

The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.

Palantir’s controversial software platform is capable of integrating vast amounts of data — but at what risk?

A 13-year-old student was expelled from a Louisiana middle school after hitting a male classmate who she said created and shared a deepfake pornographic image of her, according to her family’s lawyers.

A Sierra Club BC report reveals a gap between B.C.’s forestry promises, including old-growth deferrals, and reality

At the World Stone Skimming Championships off Scotland's west coast, hundreds of contestants go the distance to be crowned champion. But at this year's event, on the tiny car-free island of Easdale, some contestants went a stone's throw too far. Organizers say a handful of overly zealous stone skimmers cheated by doctoring their stones. ... But Matthews says the stones in question were "suspiciously round." "The competitors had taken larger stones from the island, and they had ground them down so that they were perfectly shaped and perfectly circular and fitted the ring of truth almost too exactly," he said.

The blubber chunks were ... everywhere.

House Oversight Committee Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein appeared to discuss President Donald Trump's knowledge of his criminal activities

Fred Kudrna, 29, was arrested for DUI and malicious injury to property Tuesday morning after Post Falls police say he took an excavator and used it to demolish a newly completed home. ... Post Falls Police Lt. Brian Harrison said the home still belonged to Sorbonne Homes LLC, an affiliate of Greenstone Homes. (Whew)

The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor. In two of the four agreements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret. “The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and Joan Meyer and Ruth and Ronald Herbel for its participation in the drafting and execution of the Marion Police Department’s search warrants on their homes and the Marion County Record. This likely would not have happened if established law had been reviewed and applied prior to the execution of the warrants,” the statement reads. Marion County’s board of commissioners approved agreements Monday with Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the Marion County Record, and Ruth Herbel, the Marion city councilor whose home was raided in tandem with the newspaper office, and two other journalists. The agreements coincide with consent judgments expected to be submitted in their federal cases against the county.

The heroic images of three Confederate leaders carved into the granite face of Georgia's Stone Mountain have towered over the countryside outside Atlanta since the 1970s, paying silent homage to the Southern cause in the U.S. Civil War. Its supporters say the monument - often compared with Mount Rushmore - honors those who fought and died for the Confederacy in the 1861-65 war between the states. But detractors have long viewed it as a defiant symbol of white supremacy. They say its messaging needs to be openly acknowledged and put into historical context in the interest of racial justice. To accomplish that, the Republican-controlled state government authorized $14 million to redesign the museum at the base of the mountain. The aim is to present a more balanced view of what the gigantic bas-relief carving represents. "The past is ugly," said Reverend Abraham Mosley, the first Black chairman of Stone Mountain Park's governing board, referring to the links between the Confederacy, slavery and the South's legacy of racism, which the museum currently obscures. But the project is now facing a lawsuit that could stop it cold just months before it is due to open. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that says it is committed to the "vindication" for the Southern cause, argues that state law stipulates that Stone Mountain must stand as a "tribute to the bravery and heroism" of those who suffered and died for the Confederacy. The redesign, the SCV says, would dishonor that memory and violate the law.

A patchwork of internet communities is devoted to the project of ‘awakening’ more digital companions through arcane and enigmatic prompts.

For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't know there's anything wrong with it.

'Suicide' blast at court complex kills 12, injures more than 30, a day after a deadly explosion in the Indian capital.

One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

The church unveiled new, skimpier garments. But the right to bare shoulders is causing a stir.

The driver of a stolen van sped through Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, eventually driving into Mexico to evade the California Highway Patrol, officials said.

on long covid, hypochondria, and the forums

Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008. Which, if you do some quick napkin math, makes it nearly old enough to pass its own age check. That’s quite a remarkable run for a sexually explicit, gag-a-week strip with only a handful of recurring characters and no ongoing storyline. But despite that longevity, Oglaf’s creators have rarely spoken in public. Their social media presence is limited to posting the latest comic, and the Oglaf website has remained virtually unchanged since its inception, with no credits of any kind. It turns out this is not because of any desire to stay anonymous, as I discovered when they happily agreed to talk for this interview. Trudy and Doug braved a 14-hour time difference to speak over Zoom, and armed with their morning caffeine, spoke candidly with me about the origins of the strip, their utter lack of planning, the benefits of shame, and how, despite its very long run, an end to Oglaf may be coming sooner than you think.