Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced Friday that he is opposed to the confirmation of Neera Tanden to lead the The Office of Management and Budget. In a statement, Manchin said that the “overtly partisan” statements that Tanden had made about lawmakers on both sides of the aisle would have a “toxic and detrimental impact” on her ability to work with Congress in the role. ... Her apology for the tweets during her confirmation hearings was apparently not enough for Manchin, who broke party line to approve President Trump’s appointees, including in his vote to confirm twitter troll Ric Grenell as Trump’s ambassador to Germany.

Dozens of deaths have been tied to this week's storm, but experts say the death toll is likely far larger.

The Justice Department brought charges on Friday against six people suspected of being members of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group, adding new defendants to a case that had already accused the group of an organized plot to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6. The charges, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, accused Kelly Meggs, the self-described leader of the Oath Keepers’ Florida chapter, and his wife, Connie, of joining four other militia members, including a married couple from Ohio, in a “stack” of Oath Keepers who ascended a flight of stairs outside the Capitol and then breached the building. The group of six, court papers say, worked with three Oath Keepers who were charged last month: Thomas E. Caldwell, Jessica M. Watkins and Donovan Crowl. The new indictment against the nine Oath Keepers is the most significant evidence to date that far-right extremists worked in advance to try to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s victory on Jan. 6 and help former President Donald J. Trump stay in power. In late December, prosecutors say, Mr. Meggs, 52, referred on Facebook to a tweet in which Mr. Trump predicted that a rally in Washington on Jan. 6 to protest the results of the election would be “wild.”

Mr. Prince offered to supply weapons, drones and mercenaries to a Libyan militia commander seeking to overthrow the government, according to U.N. investigators.

The human body has become a strange contradiction at the heart of the modern blockbuster. Sexy, yes. But sexual? No. When Paul Verhoeven adapted Starship Troopers in the late 1990s, did he know he was predicting the future? The endless desert war, the ubiquity of military propaganda, a cheerful face shouting victory as more and more bodies pile up? But the scene that left perhaps the greatest impact on the minds of Nineties kids—and the scene that anticipated our current cinematic age the best—does not feature bugs or guns. It is, of course, the shower scene, in which our heroic servicemen and -women enjoy a communal grooming ritual. On the surface, it is idyllic: racial harmony, gender equality, unity behind a common goal—and firm, perky asses and tits. And then the characters speak. The topic of conversation? Military service, of course. One joined for the sake of her political career. Another joined in the hopes of receiving her breeding license. Another talks about how badly he wants to kill the enemy. No one looks at each other. No one flirts. A room full of beautiful, bare bodies, and everyone is only horny for war.

The owner of the apartment building near the North Portland home that served as a flashpoint late last year in the gentrification and racial justice movement has sued the owners of the empty lot next to the house. Ken Vonderach’s lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that the lot is a nuisance that has been transformed into a “major homeless encampment and staging ground for people to trespass” on Vonderach’s property. Vonderach, who lives outside of Denver, owns the Roux apartment building adjacent to the so-called red house on Mississippi Avenue. He also owns the Ellis apartment building across the street. His suit names brothers Colin and Bryan McLean, owners of the 7,200-square-foot corner lot adjacent to the red house. Bryan McLean said Thursday that their company is proceeding with plans to donate the lot to Self Enhancement Inc., a prominent nonprofit that has long served the area’s African American youth and families.

A key witness said her written statement was a narrative police dictated for her to write down.

Many parents might be unfamiliar with the word "simp," but chances are your tween or teen has used or at least heard the term. Simp is slang for a person (typically a man) who is desperate for the attention and affection of someone else (typically a woman).

Uber drivers in the UK are workers, not contractors. What comes next will affect the entire gig economy.

Ted Cruz is in the midst of a major scandal, but it likely won't lead anywhere, because real consequences don't exist in politics anymore.

Biologist Carl Koch believe Shannon Stevens might be the only person this has ever happened to.

After Black voters turned out in record numbers, the GOP wants to make it harder to vote.

Using a loophole in an old Android version of DoorDash, more than 26,000 DoorDash drivers are collectively declining cheap orders to make more money on the platform.

Dignity Health said its employee, an ER nurse, failed to meet the deadline to add her premature newborn to its health plan, so she was responsible for the medical bills. It rejected her appeals for a year until ProPublica called.

Snowflake was left at home while the senator and his family slipped away to Mexico.

But among those most hopeful for the future hydrogen economy is the fossil fuel industry and its allies. The Hydrogen Council — a leading lobbying group whose members include major oil and car companies — predicts that hydrogen will account for 18 percent of total energy demand by 2050. And as DeSmog recently reported, a major PR firm for the fossil fuel industry is behind a big push for hydrogen in Europe. However, right now the majority of hydrogen actually is produced from fossil fuels: namely, methane (natural gas) and coal. Analysis shows that hydrogen is also currently inefficient and cost-prohibitive when compared to the approach to decarbonize the economy known as the electrification of everything, which would involve switching the majority of transportation and heating from burning fossil fuels to electricity produced increasingly by renewables.

If you keep up with news regarding technological advances, you have probably heard of the ongoing debate between blue gas vs. Tesla.

As many as 4 million Texans have had no power during the historic winter weather experienced by the state this week. As of Wednesday night, 7 million in the state had water issues with either boil notices or no water at all. Fingers are pointing. Pipes are bursting. Homes are flooding. Grocery store shelves are emptying. Gas pumps are drying. Nerves are fraying. The Insurance Council of Texas said insurers are expecting the winter storm of 2021 to become the costliest weather event in the history of the state, topping Hurricane Harvey. So how, you ask, does this relate to pro football? Glad you asked. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones owns a Frisco-based natural gas producer that is cashing in on a surge in prices for the fuel, Bloomberg reports. The billionaire owns Comstock Resources Inc., which has sold gas from its Haynesville Shale wells in East Texas and northern Louisiana at premium prices the past week. Demand has led to gas prices at some regional hubs to soar past $1,000 per million British thermal units, according to Bloomberg. “This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices,” Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns said on an earnings call Wednesday, via Bloomberg. “Frankly, we were able to sell at super premium prices for a material amount of production.”

Why is GPT-3 handing out mascots? I’ve been reading Mondo Mascots, which collects photos and short descriptions of Japan’s many, many mascots. The mascots, which promote anything from companies to towns to public service campaigns, can be extremely inventive. Honestly wasn’t expecting GPT-3 to declare the mascot of AI Weirdness to be Baugo, a cyborg tomato. (To add to the weirdness, Baugo is apparently a township in Elkhart County, IN.) "The mascot of AI Weirdness is a cyborg tomato named Baugo". Tomato has a partially metal head, with one eye an orange telescoped thing with circuits and crosshairs.

The justices are hearing a new challenge involving the landmark 1965 law—and the Roberts Court is even more conservative than last time.