Anti-government organizations are filling a disaster-response gap — and using it to spread their message. For nearly a decade, the Oath Keepers — which formed in 2009 in the wake of Barack Obama’s election to the presidency — have responded to disasters like hurricanes and floods by administering rescue operations, serving hot meals, and doing construction work. Disasters provide the Oath Keepers with opportunities to fundraise and gain the trust of people who might not otherwise be sympathetic to their anti-government cause. By arriving to crisis zones before federal agencies do, the Oath Keepers take advantage of bureaucratic weaknesses, holding a hand out to people in desperate circumstances. This all serves to reinforce the militia members’ conviction that the government is fallible, negligent, and not to be trusted. And every time a new person sees the Oath Keepers as the helpers who respond when the government does not, it helps build the group’s fledgling brand. The group has been in disarray since some of its leaders and most active members, including Rhodes, were arrested, tried, and convicted for their participation in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Facing public backlash and social media bans, the Oath Keepers have retreated from the public sphere. For a time, they took down their website and stopped gathering in public. But the retreat has been short-lived. “Militia groups are finding some footing again,” said Hampton Stall, a research specialist at Princeton University who runs a watchdog site called MilitiaWatch. “2023 will be the year they start to reactivate.”

Dizzying shooters, agonizing puzzles, and water stages (ugh) that raise the question: Continue?

Recalling the issues of its predecessor HBO Max, the launch of Warner Bros. Discovery streamer Max experienced some glitches

Ramaswamy’s hedge fund firm invested with the since-infamous Shkreli. Later, he would say he was “pathologically incapable of telling the truth.” Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential candidate who made a fortune in biotech, once was involved in a significant investment in a biotech company run by disgraced investor Martin Shkreli. Shkreli, the oft-described “pharma bro” who went to prison for four years for committing securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy after he gained notoriety for dramatically raising the cost of a life-saving antiparasitic drug, said in a YouTube video in mid-April that Ramaswamy was at one point his “biggest investor” and called him “a friend.” ... Reached by phone, Shkreli demanded money from POLITICO and its parent company Axel Springer to cooperate. “I will tell you everything I know. And in exchange, I suppose your company would do something for me,” he said, later adding “The really juicy stuff I know is something that I could potentially sell to the National Enquirer or to monetize that myself.” When told that POLITICO does not pay for interviews, he said: “I’m just struggling [to understand] what’s in it for me. … I’m gonna need a sweeter deal than that. I have this new software. If you plug that, maybe we got a deal then.” He then offered money to write a positive story about him, saying, “If I bless your Cash App like five bands [$5,000], will you say some nice shit about me?”

Of late, certain researchers have speculated that they might be able to solve two problems plaguing burgeoning cities—a glut of non-degradable waste and dearth of building materials—by folding the former into the latter. Now, a team in Japan reports that used, sanitized disposable diapers can be incorporated into concrete and mortar, which would still meet Indonesian building standards. Low-cost housing is desperately needed there as the urban population continues to bloom and housing is scarce. Obviously, all of the people moving to the cities bring more waste there, as well.

Most real numbers are unknown—even to mathematicians

No-Till Legend Dave Brandt of Carroll, Ohio, died unexpectedly over the weekend as a result of injuries from a severe car crash.

Twitter’s Global Head of Construction and Design was repeatedly told that compliant locks were too expensive and instructed to immediately install cheaper locks that were not compliant with life safety and egress codes.

Talks broke down on Friday but resumed later that night. A deadline to raise the borrowing cap is fast approaching. Republican negotiators rejected a White House offer to limit spending next year on both the military and a wide range of critical domestic programs as part of high-stakes negotiations over the federal debt ceiling, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. Republicans are pushing instead for higher defense spending and more significant domestic spending reductions, the people said, posing a challenge to White House negotiators aiming to resolve the debt ceiling standoff without agreeing to what they see as draconian changes to federal programs. During talks ahead of a deadline that could arrive in less than two weeks, Biden aides offered what they viewed as a key concession by proposing that Congress largely hold spending constant on a wide swath of domestic programs, including education, scientific research and housing aid. The president’s negotiators also proposed essentially holding military spending flat for next year. The president’s budget earlier this year sought major increases to both funded by higher taxes, and holding their funding constant instead would amount to a cut of as much as 5 percent due to year-over-year inflation.

Apple, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and REI are accused of targeting union supporters after organizing efforts gained traction, charges the companies deny.

Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor who starred in films like “Punisher: War Zone,” “King Arthur,” the “Thor” films and shows like HBO’s “Rome” and the upcoming “Ahsoka” series,” died on Sunday in Italy, Variety has confirmed with his publicist. He was 58.

Spanish soccer has a racism problem, its football federation chief Luis Rubiales said on Monday, echoing criticism by Brazil after Real Madrid lodged a race crime complaint following insults hurled at their Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr.

A Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges Friday against a former city police officer accused of participating in the beating of a 28-year-old mother during civil unrest in October 2020 — but prosecutors quickly refiled the case to bring it back to court. The development came as Darren Kardos, 43, was set to be tried on counts including simple assault and reckless endangerment over the beating of Rickia Young, a Black home health-care aide from North Philadelphia who said she was driving to pick up her teenage nephew in West Philadelphia in October 2020, when she attacked by officers and pulled from her car after inadvertently getting caught between police and people protesting in the area. Police also separated her from her toddler, which contributed to the incident attracting national attention and criticism. Prosecutors said Friday that a key witness — another police officer — did not show up to testify after being subpoenaed, making it impossible for them to try Kardos. Young was not in court either, but Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco said prosecutors had video evidence to put the case on without her testimony.

“I mean, it’s, it’s a little bit comical. Everybody who’s ever met me can tell you, I love all people, I love all cultures. You can tell by my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. I was actually planning a road trip through Africa before this happened.”

WHY ARIZONA (KVOA) - A well respected member of the Tohono O'odham community has been gunned down by Border Patrol agents. ... Mattia was shot and killed by Border patrol agents Thursday night. She said Mattia had called Border Patrol. "He called to request for assistance because there were multiple illegal immigrants who had trespassed into his yard and he wanted assistance getting them out of his property."

If you say you’re from Kentucky and you’re anywhere but Kentucky, you’ll find three common responses.

A low-cost, recyclable powder can kill thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to sunlight. Stanford and SLAC scientists say the ultrafast disinfectant could be a revolutionary advance for 2 billion people worldwide without access to safe drinking water.

Workers from a variety of industries urged Cal/OSHA's board to quickly pass new rules for hot, indoor workplaces.

Machaela Cavanaugh’s tear-and-rage-filled filibuster of a Nebraska anti-trans bill she knew would probably pass anyway. On an icy morning in February, Machaela Cavanaugh, a Nebraska state senator, woke up with strep throat at the Cornhusker Hotel. She took some cold medicine and drove to the Nebraska Capitol Building in Lincoln, where her colleagues, sitting at rows of black-walnut desks beneath a gold frieze depicting cattlemen and homesteaders arriving in the state, had gathered for the 33rd day of the 90-day legislative session. “I felt like shit and I got on the floor and I made a speech that I do not remember, except for that it circulated the internets,” she recalled. Among other things, she announced that she intended to “burn the session down to the ground.” Five weeks earlier, a Republican colleague had introduced LB 574, the “Let Them Grow” bill, which would ban transgender people under the age of 19 from seeking what it described as “gender altering procedures,” including puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and surgery. Like most of her colleagues, Cavanaugh hadn’t known much about the health-care needs of transgender people before the bill was introduced, but in the weeks since, she had talked to doctors, read papers, and listened to hours of testimony, and she had concluded that the proposal was ill-conceived, unscientific, and bigoted. She’d tried, and failed, to persuade her Republican colleagues to let it die in committee. Now, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats (and one progressive independent) in the Nebraska legislature 32 to 16, all she could do was filibuster. “I don’t care if the record just shows me hacking up a lung,” she said, flushed and hoarse. “I’m going to stand here, and I’m going to take every minute that I can. So get out your correspondence, do your taxes, make your lunch plans, plan your funeral.” She embarked on the first of the many digressions that would follow. “It’s always a good idea to plan your funeral,” she said. “Not because I think anybody is dying. Just it’s a good proactive thing to do in life.” She wore a black blazer and bright-yellow pom-pom earrings and talked for nearly three hours. “This body is going to have to make some choices,” she said. “You’re going to have to decide what your priorities are. My priority is protecting children. That’s it.”

A party TD claimed earlier this year that transgender issues were a bigger issue for the public. According to those responses, 414 emails containing the terms “eviction” or “eviction ban” were sent to the offices of 12 ministers and junior ministers between 1 January and 31 March of this year. In contrast, just 22 emails were sent to the offices of the same 12 TDs mentioning the terms “trans”, “transgender”, “transgenderism”, “gender”, or “sexuality”. A selection of correspondence about both issues was also released by some departments, which revealed that some of the emails received by TDs about “gender” issues related to topics such as gender equality and gender quotas.