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Corn Belt Politicians Are Using High Gas Prices To Push Even More Carveouts for Ethanol

With the average price of gasoline in the U.S. reaching its highest level since the start of the Iran war, lawmakers are thinking about giving energy producers special treatment to supposedly cut costs at the pump.

As part of the negotiations over the Farm Bill, which is expected to be voted on by the House of Representatives this week, a bipartisan group of Corn Belt lawmakers is proposing a measure to authorize the sale of E15—gasoline with an ethanol content up to 15 percent—year-round. This fuel is typically not allowed to be sold in the summer months because it evaporates easily, which contributes to air pollution and smog. (The Trump administration waived requirements last month to allow for E15 to be sold this summer, citing high gas prices.)

The proposed amendment would also limit blending exemptions for small refineries under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)—the federal law that requires refiners and fuel importers to ensure that a certain percentage of the transportation fuel sold in the U.S. comes from renewable fuels, the most common of which is ethanol. Compliance with the RFS is estimated to cost refineries about $70 million in both 2026 and 2027, according to the energy consulting firm Turner, Mason & Company.  

“At a time when consumers are acutely sensitive to energy prices, this amendment represents a pragmatic solution that balances energy affordability, rural economic strength, and regulatory certainty,” said a coalition of agricultural and energy groups in a support letter for the measure. Additionally, its reforms to RFS exemptions “will help restore transparency and predictability for all parties subject” to that law. 

It doesn’t seem like “all parties” are on board. 

Last week, the National Corn Growers Association published a press release calling out a group of “oil corporations” for attempting to “derail legislation that lowers fuel prices.” 

“There is a tiny minority of major energy corporations – like Delek U.S. Inc., Cenovus Energy, CVR Energy, HF Sinclair, Parr Pacific Holdings and Suncor Energy Inc. – that are masquerading as small refineries to get Renewable Fuel Standard exemptions they don’t need,” said the association’s president, Jed Bower. “Their greedy actions are holding up legislation that would help farmers who are struggling during tough economic times.”

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NOW THAT’S FUNNY: Democrat Party Mouthpiece Stephen Colbert Tells the NY Times He’s ‘Nonpartisan’

Stephen Colbert, host of the soon to be discontinued Late Show, was recently interviewed by the New York Times and had the audacity to claim that he’s nonpartisan. It’s the funniest thing he has said in years.

Colbert has completely ruined the legacy of the Late Show by turning it into his own personal political soapbox that basically functions as a super PAC for the Democrat party. Almost all of his guests are Democrat politicians and he spends every night telling the country how much he hates President Trump.

It’s why the show is losing millions of dollars a year and why it is being taken off the air forever next month.

FOX News reports:

Colbert calls Trump ‘authoritarian’ but rejects ‘partisan’ label in exit interview with NY Times

As talk show host Stephen Colbert prepares to depart from his show, he condemned President Donald Trump during a Tuesday interview with The New York Times.

CBS announced in July that it had canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and that it would officially go off the air in May 2026. Liberal critics have accused CBS and Paramount of ending the show to appease Trump and receive approval for a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media.

Colbert spoke out about the saga in a New York Times interview headlined, “Stephen Colbert Gets Ready to Hang It Up.” When asked by the Times why the FCC and Trump administration are “focused” on him, Colbert argued this is simply authoritarians being authoritarians.

“Authoritarians don’t like anybody who doesn’t give them undue dignity. Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians are never going to like anybody to laugh at them,” he said. “The number of newspeople who have said to me or Jon Stewart or any of the guys who do this, ‘God, I wish I could say what you say on air.’ And we can.”

“I think that upsets them,” he added further. “I think it might be upsetting that we really do not live in their world of principalities and powers.”

It’s possible that Colbert is just trolling the public with these claims, as he is so obviously partisan, to a fault.

Few people will be sad to see him leave the airwaves. He is a smug, preachy, unfunny, bore. He took a show that used to be for the enjoyment of the whole country and turned it into something that mocked and belittled the half of the country that doesn’t vote the way he wants them to.

Maybe he can get a new ‘nonpartisan’ show on MSNOW. That’s where he really belongs, anyway.

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Person dressed like KKK member recorded walking through Rhode Island town at 2 a.m.

Video captured outside of a store in Rhode Island appears to show a person dressed in a pointed white hood and white gown, causing outrage among the community. 

Police said they are investigating the video. 

Local perspective:

The video was recorded by one of the security cameras outside Candy’s Curiosities & Vintage located in West Warwick, Rhode Island, according to a Facebook post published by the store’s owner.

The video shows a person dressed in all white, very similar to the uniforms worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan, walking down the sidewalk.

What they’re saying:

“I’m absolutely disgusted that you stopped by to pay me a visit,” the shop owner wrote on Facebook. “Try it during the day. Dare ya. Loser.” 

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New Digital ID Bill Ties Your Identity to Your Phone—and Everything You Do Online

Republicans are once again teaming up with Democrats to ram Digital ID through at the federal level.

The bill they’ve just introduced is, if you can believe it, worse than all the others before it.

HR 8250, deceptively named the Parents Decide Act, doesn’t just force everyone to link their identity to use apps on their phones, it mandates that they must do it to use ANY operating system. That means Apple, iOS, Windows, Google, Android, even Samsung—basically everything.

And once that’s in place, there’s nowhere to step outside of it.

But one brave group is refusing to go along.

GrapheneOS has made a statement saying: GrapheneOS will remain usable by anyone around the world without requiring personal information, identification, or an account.

Glenn and Eric Meder from Privacy Academy have been working to educate people on how to escape the digital control grid, including how to put GrapheneOS on your phone—for free. And they have a solution to Digital ID right now.

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Federal Prosecutors to Seize Comey’s Book Sale Profits

Federal prosecutors will seize James Comey’s book sale profits after he was indicted on two felony counts on charges related to his Trump assassination Instagram post.

The Justice Department issued a forfeiture notice because prosecutors believe Comey posted the ’86 47′ Trump threat to help with sales of his forthcoming book, “Red Verdict.”

“Upon conviction, the defendant shall forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the said offense,” the indictment read.

James Comey posted his threatening ‘8647’ Instagram post shortly before his book launch last May.

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EU Pushes Age Verification App for All States

The European Commission wants every member state running age verification by the end of 2026, and it wants them running its own app to do it. A recommendation adopted Wednesday tells the bloc’s twenty-seven governments to accelerate deployment of the EU Age Verification App and have it available to citizens before the year is out, regardless of the unease some capitals have expressed about adopting Brussels’ code over their own.

The push lands months after security researchers tore through the same app the Commission is now urging governments to ship. In April, consultant Paul Moore bypassed the app’s protections in under two minutes, demonstrating that the rate-limiting controls were stored in an editable file, biometric authentication could be turned off with a simple configuration change, and sensitive credentials were accessible without secure hardware protection.

The Commission patched the headline issues. It is now telling governments the app is ready for production.

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, framed the recommendation as the next step toward shielding minors online. “Effective and privacy-preserving age verification is the next piece of the puzzle that we are getting closer to completing, as we work towards an online space where our children are safe and empowered to use positively and responsibly without restricting the rights of adults,” she said.

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Artemis astronauts’ awkward reaction as Trump teases classified UFO files will be released ‘soon’

The Artemis II crew smirked as President Donald Trump fielded questions about his long-awaited UFO files during their visit to the White House on Wednesday.

Standing behind the President in the Oval Office, the four astronauts listened as reporters pressed Trump on when Americans might finally see the highly anticipated government records.

Trump had invited the crew, NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, to celebrate their historic journey around the moon earlier this month, praising them as heroes of a mission that marked a major milestone in NASA’s return to deep space.

The moment took an unexpected turn when questions shifted from spaceflight to unidentified flying objects, drawing visible reactions from the astronauts as Trump began discussing the long-awaited disclosure.

When asked about his promised UFO disclosure, Trump suggested that long-awaited files could soon be made public.

‘I think we will be releasing as much as we can in the near future,’ the president replied. ‘For some reason, and I guess it’s just a reason, it’s been in the minds of people for a long time. They want to find out about the UFOs and anything having to do with UFOs or related material.’

Trump first announced the planned disclosure in February, ordering the Pentagon to release all government files related to UFOs and extraterrestrials.

However, months later, Americans have yet to see a single document or video from the promised release, fueling growing curiosity about what the files may reveal.

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NJ recreational marijuana could put PA buyers in legal trouble

Recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states and Washington D.C., but Pennsylvania has yet to approve its use

But while it is readily accessible nearby, especially in Bucks County with easy borders to New Jersey, a short trip over the bridge to purchase fun weed could still get you a long prison term and may force you to forfeit your gun rights and face fines.

The law allows for drug trafficking charges up to $250,000 under the federal Controlled Substances Act, since it still classifies marijuana as a “Schedule I” narcotic as dangerous as heroin.

While there’s been a shift in the public’s attitude toward marijuana, penalties for possessing it have not eased with the federal government or with Pennsylvania.

Here’s what you should know if you buy New Jersey recreational weed, but live in Bucks County.

Can I buy recreational marijuana in New Jersey if I’m from Pennsylvania?

Yes. Since 2022, when NJ legalized recreational marijuana, any shop will sell it to you. Five shops this news organization visited this spring said they have no idea how many out-of-state buyers they have, and take a don’t ask-don’t tell attitude.

“Our busiest days are Fridays when everyone’s coming home from work, (after 5 p.m.) and Sunday’s right before Eagles games,” said a Willingboro shop employee, who asked that his name not be published.

Do NJ weed shops require identification?

The shops we visited require a current driver’s license or government issued ID to enter. In New Jersey, you must be 21 to use recreational marijuana. Your ID is digitally scanned and, if you’re purchasing medical marijuana, it’s sent to Trenton, the state capital where the the Cannabis Regulatory Commission controls sales.

Is there a record of my purchase?

Yes. For medical marijuana, time, date and what you bought is recorded and retained for four years, but not for recreational cannabis, according to the state website, and those records are kept for four years. Weed shops aren’t permitted to copy your ID or retain record of your purchase “beyond what is required for the completion of that single financial transaction.” If you put your name on a mailing list for customer programs, that’s considered voluntary and can be subject to review by the authorities.

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Louisiana Lawmakers Pass Bill To Send People To Jail For Smoking Marijuana Near College Campuses

Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus.

The legislation from Rep. Gabe Firment (R) was passed by the House of Representatives in a 59-34 vote last week.

HB 568, which now heads to the Senate for consideration, applies to people who violate drug laws “while smoking, vaping, or otherwise abusing such controlled dangerous substance while on any property used for school purposes by any school, within two thousand feet of any such property, or while on a school bus.”

The pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said the “incredibly draconian penalties” in the legislation threaten to reverse cannabis reform progress made in the state in recent years.

In 2021, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill decriminalizing marijuana by removing the threat of jail time for possessing up to 14 grams.

“HB 568 would make cannabis use a felony in huge swaths of urban and suburban areas. Two thousand feet is a little over ⅓ of a mile,” Kevin Caldwell, MPP”s Southeast legislative manager, said in an action alert to supporters. “In addition to mandatory incarceration of up to a year, the bill includes a fine of up to $1,000.”

“This is an attempt to bring back the draconian penalties that Louisiana was infamous for in decades past. This bill seeks to undo years of hard work by advocates for ending jail time for minor cannabis offenses,” he said. “Under this legislation, a student could be incarcerated for a year for consuming in a college dorm room.”

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Hakeem Jeffries Remains Defiant & Calls For Maximum Warfare Against The GOP

Woke House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday forcefully defended his vow to unleash “maximum warfare” against Republicans when pressed by reporters about the inflammatory phrase.

Asked about the language in light of the recent attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, Jeffries replied, “I stand by it,” adding, “You can continue to criticize me for it, I don’t give a damn about your criticism.”

Jeffries has used the phrase repeatedly in recent days while celebrating Democratic redistricting wins in Virginia and vowing to “crush” what he has called the “DeSantis dummymander” in Florida.

At a Capitol news conference last week, he framed the fight over congressional maps by declaring, “We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

The New York Democrat has attempted to argue that his rhetoric refers to a hard‑fought political and legal campaign over redistricting. Even as he doubled down, Jeffries hypocritically insisted he “unequivocally” denounces political violence, saying in a television interview that “violence is never the answer, whether it’s targeted at the right, the left or the center.”

Republicans have seized on the comments, with the National Republican Congressional Committee circulating a clip of Jeffries saying he stands by “maximum warfare” and calling the remarks “unhinged” in a widely shared post on X.

Critics in opinion outlets and online have argued that by vowing “maximum warfare” against the GOP “everywhere, all the time,” Jeffries is dehumanizing Republican voters and escalating a climate in which political violence is at an all time high, even as he publicly claims to call for unity and lower temperatures in public life.

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