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AWOL Texas Democrats Unveil New Plan to Strongarm GOP Amid Redistricting Fight

AWOL Texas Democrats unveiled a new plan to strongarm Republicans amid a redistricting fight.

The Democrats fled to Illinois last week to block the Republicans from voting on a new congressional redistricting map.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened the derelict Democrats with arrest and removal from office if they didn’t return to the Capitol.

Texas Democrats will reportedly return to the Capitol for Governor Abbott’s 2nd special session to vote on the GOP’s redistricting effort, however, the timing is unclear because now they are making new demands.

According to the Associated Press, Texas Democrats won’t return home unless “Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal.”

The Associated Press reported:

Texas Democrats on Thursday moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP’s redrawing of U.S. House maps before the 2026 election and put them under escalating threats by Republicans back home.

The Democrats announced they will return so long as Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal, both of which were expected to happen Friday.

Democrats did not say what day they might return.

On Wednesday, an Illinois judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to enforce arrest warrants against derelict state House Democrats.

Judge Scott Larson said Paxton failed to “present a legal basis for the court to obtain subject matter jurisdiction over this cause of action…”

Governor Abbott laughed at the Democrats as they made all kinds of demands for a second special session from Chicago.

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Portland Antifa member ‘Isabel Araujo’ sentenced to one day of community service; threatens journalist outside courthouse

A violent Portland trans Antifa member has been sentenced to only 24 hours of community service and probation after assaulting a woman.

Isabel Rosa Araujo, born Philip Haskins-Delici and known by several aliases, was convicted last week of attempted assault and unlawful use of mace for attacking Sorbeah al-Mosa in March 2024.

At the sentencing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the court barred photography. Both parties stated their pronouns, in line with a request from prior hearings by Judge Adrian Lee Brown.

“I left the house today and left my phone next to my stuffed animals since I believe I may be heading to jail,” Araujo told the judge before sentencing. He wore all black and a keffiyeh scarf around his neck.

In addition to community service, Araujo received a seven-day suspended jail sentence and one year of probation. His attorney, Justice Kelley, argued his client should be allowed to carry weapons for self-defense during probation, citing media coverage and “misgendering” from journalist Andy Ngo as a danger to Araujo. The judge only barred him from carrying mace and similar irritants, suggesting he can carry other weapons. Araujo is also prohibited from contacting the victim.

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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Loses His Cool When Asked About the Socialist Policies of Zohran Mamdani 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNBC this week and things got a little uncomfortable when the host pressed him with questions about Zohran Mamdani, the communist that Democrats have nominated to run for mayor of New York City.

Jeffries repeatedly dodged and weaved when asked direct questions about Mamdani’s policies before finally erupting, asking why he was getting questions about someone who is not even mayor yet.

All of the hosts questions were perfectly valid, but Jeffries clearly didn’t want to discuss the issue.

The New York Post has details:

Hakeem Jeffries bristles when grilled about NYC socialist Zohran Mamdani: ‘Not even the mayor’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries bristled when pressed about Zohran Mamdani Thursday — snapping that he didn’t “understand” why he was being asked about the New York City Democratic nominee.

The New York Democrat, during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” had ripped President Trump as being anti-free market over his recent decision to replace the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following a bad jobs report.

That prompted host Andrew Ross Sorkin to redirect the conversation to the Big Apple mayoral race, telling Jeffries he didn’t understand how the congressman could be both “an advocate for a free market,” and also possibly support Mamdani, a socialist, as mayor.

“I’m trying to understand why you would spend a significant amount of time asking me about the Democratic nominee who’s not even the mayor,” a visibly frustrated Jeffries shot back.

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Google Busted Sending GOP Fundraiser Emails Directly To Spam: Memo

A Republican consulting firm is warning that Google’s Gmail platform is disproportionately flagging Republican fundraising messages as spam while allowing similar Democratic solicitations to reach inboxes.

In a memo to clients obtained by The New York Post, Targeted Victory – whose roster includes the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – described the filtering pattern as “serious and troubling,” saying it continued as recently as June and July. The firm said emails containing links to the Republican fundraising platform WinRed were, “in many cases, sending them directly to spam,” while identical test messages with links to the Democratic platform ActBlue were “delivered without issue.”

“If Gmail is allowed to quietly suppress WinRed links while giving ActBlue a free pass, it will continue to tilt the playing field in ways that voters never see, but campaigns will feel every single day,” the memo said. Video demonstrations of the firm’s testing were included.

The allegations come despite previous scrutiny of Gmail’s email filtering practices. In 2023, the Federal Election Commission dismissed a Republican National Committee complaint alleging political bias in Gmail’s spam algorithms. A year earlier, a federal judge dismissed an RNC lawsuit making similar claims.

Critics, including President Donald J. Trump, have long accused Google of political interference, alleging that the company has manipulated search results to disadvantage Republicans and, in one instance, suppressed news of an assassination attempt against Mr. Trump. In March, Elon Musk wrote on social media that Google had interfered “to help Democrats thousands of times every election season.”

Google has denied wrongdoing. “Email filter protections are in place to keep our users safe,” José Castañeda, a company spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday. “They look at a variety of signals – like whether a user has previously marked an email as spam – and apply equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology.”

Research has previously identified differences in filtering. A 2022 study by North Carolina State University found that Gmail flagged 59 percent more Republican fundraising emails as spam than Democratic ones during the lead-up to the 2020 election. “We observed that the [spam filtering algorithms] of different email services indeed exhibit biases towards different political affiliations,” the researchers wrote at the time.

According to the Targeted Victory memo, the firm first contacted Google about the issue on June 30 after receiving complaints from clients. Google, the memo said, initially “deflected” the concern by “blaming local settings” for the filtering behavior.

The firm’s tests involved sending identical emails to Gmail accounts, with the only difference being a WinRed or an ActBlue donation link. “The only difference between the two emails was the link,” the memo said. “ActBlue delivered. WinRed got flagged. That is not a coincidence.”

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Something Is Rotten in the States of America

Something is Rotten in the States of America.

America’s war budget now exceeds $1 trillion a year – an almost unimaginable sum.

The Pentagon plans to spend $1.7 trillion “modernizing” a nuclear triad that should instead be downsized. A proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system may cost $500 billion while making nuclear war more likely. And a “new” Cold War with China and Russia is already underway, with threat inflation as one of its defining features.

With military spending so high – and the military so valorized – Washington offers it as the solution to nearly everything: crime in D.C., eliminating drug cartels south of the border, containing China and Russia, “winning” in Somalia, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons – the list is endless. Supporting and defending the Constitution, however, is rarely mentioned.

War has become America’s new normal. “Peace” is now a word that dare not speak its name. According to the Pentagon, the only peace worth pursuing is “peace through [military] strength.” A warrior ethos is marketed as if it were synonymous with democratic virtue.

I once called for a 10% reduction in Pentagon spending. That’s no longer enough. We need a 50% cut – we need a military dedicated to genuine national defense, not imperial dominance. Surely we can protect America for $500 billion a year rather than the $1 trillion we’re spending now.

Changing the narrative is crucial. Why do we need 750+ bases overseas? Why expand our nuclear arsenal when we already have 5,000 warheads? We don’t need these things – they are the hallmarks of wasteful militarism. They escalate tensions, endanger us, and drain the nation’s wealth.

And why do we have 17 or 18 intelligence agencies? Despite all that intelligence, we still lost in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Where is the accountability? Why are no generals relieved of command for such failures? In fact, they’re more likely to fail upwards.

“All governments lie,” as I.F. Stone warned. Combine that with the truth that war’s first casualty is truth itself, and you begin to see the rot in America today. Perpetual war fuels deception and government overreach. Almost anything can be justified when the cry is, “We’re at war!” – even when the reasons for going to war are false.

Consider the Gulf of Tonkin incident – revealed later as phony – and the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. Consider Iraq’s mythical WMDs. Consider the lies revealed in the Afghan War Papers. Consider the weasel words of generals like David Petraeus, forever hedging “gains” as “fragile” and “reversible.” Consider the U.S. military’s record since World War II – generally ineffective because there’s been little accountability for failure. (And yes, civilian leaders share the blame.)

The military-industrial complex grows ever more powerful, sidelining the American people while democracy withers.

Something is rotten in the States of America.

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Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Travels to Martha’s Vineyard for ‘Family Commitment’ as Trump Handles City’s Crime Problem

This week as Trump is using federal forces to deal with the out of control crime problems in Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser departed for Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts for a ‘family commitment.’

What is it with Democrats and Martha’s Vineyard? It seems to be a favorite destination for members of the party.

Bowser is expected to return to DC on Friday so maybe she just needed to be at an event or something.

FOX News reports:

DC mayor travels to Martha’s Vineyard amid Trump’s federalized crime crackdown of city

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is out of town Thursday after traveling to Martha’s Vineyard for a family matter, Fox News has learned.

The Democrat was not in the District Thursday, and a source confirmed she traveled north to the Massachusetts island vacation hot spot.

The mayor was traveling for a “family commitment,” according to her office. She’s expected back in the city Friday.

“The mayor has a family commitment and had to pick up her daughter,” the mayor’s office said when asked about her trip to Martha’s Vineyard. “She will return to the District tomorrow.”

Bowser made the trip to the Massachusetts island after President Donald Trump federalized the city’s police department Monday after a spate of high-profile crimes.

Some people are suggesting she could do more good by staying in Massachusetts.

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The West is in panic as Israel’s plan for ‘full control’ of Gaza heralds a new Nakba

If you thought Western capitals were finally losing patience with Israel’s engineering of a famine in Gaza nearly two years into the genocide, you may be disappointed.

As ever, events have moved on – even if the extreme hunger and malnourishment of the two million people of Gaza have not abated.

Western leaders are now expressing “outrage”, as the media call it, at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to “take full control” of Gaza and “occupy” it. At some point in the future, Israel is apparently ready to hand the enclave over to outside forces unconnected to the Palestinian people.

The Israeli cabinet agreed last Friday on the first step: a takeover of Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are huddled in the ruins, being starved to death. The city will be encircled, systematically depopulated and destroyed, with survivors presumably herded southwards to a “humanitarian city” – Israel’s new term for a concentration camp – where they will be penned up, awaiting death or expulsion.

At the weekend, foreign ministers from the UK, Germany, Italy, Australia and other Western nations issued a joint statement decrying the move, warning it would “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians”.

Germany, Israel’s most fervent backer in Europe and its second-biggest arms supplier, is apparently so dismayed that it has vowed to “suspend” – that is, delay – weapons shipments that have helped Israel to murder and maim hundreds of thousands of Palestinians over the past 22 months.

Netanyahu is not likely to be too perturbed. Doubtless, Washington will step in and pick up any slack for its main client state in the oil-rich Middle East.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has once again shifted the West’s all-too-belated focus on the indisputable proof of Israel’s ongoing genocidal actions – evidenced by Gaza’s skeletal children – to an entirely different story.

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Supreme Court Allows Mississippi Age Verification Law to Take Effect, Advancing Online Digital ID Push

The Supreme Court’s choice to let Mississippi enforce its new age verification law is part of a growing shift toward digital ID requirements across the internet, raising urgent concerns about privacy and censorship.

By declining to block the law while legal challenges continue, the Court has effectively allowed states to begin tying online activity to users’ real-world identities, a move that could reshape how people access information and speak freely online.

We obtained a copy of the ruling for you here.

Mississippi’s HB 1126 requires social media platforms to verify a user’s age before allowing them to create an account. Those under 18 must obtain parental permission. Platforms are also required to restrict access to what the state broadly labels as “harmful” content. For companies to comply, identity checks will be necessary, meaning users may soon need to provide government IDs or other personal documents just to post or view content on public platforms.

The Supreme Court has already allowed a similar Texas law to be enforced.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing separately from the Court’s unsigned order, stated that the law is “likely unconstitutional” and said NetChoice had “likely” shown that enforcement would violate the First Amendment. Still, the Court allowed the law to take effect, saying the trade group had not shown a strong enough risk of harm to justify emergency relief.

NetChoice, which includes companies such as Meta, Google, Amazon, Reddit, and Discord, argues that mandatory age checks for general-purpose platforms violate free speech protections. The group had previously won a ruling to block the law, but that decision was overturned in April by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the ruling was a delay, not a defeat. “Although we’re disappointed with the Court’s decision, Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment — not just in this case but across all NetChoice’s ID-for-Speech lawsuits,” he said.

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Man ‘given no choice’ over trowel arrest caution

A man who was cautioned for carrying a bladed trowel in public has said he was given no choice but to accept the reprimand because police were unable to contact a solicitor for him.

Armed police were sent to challenge Samuel Rowe as he walked home from his allotment in Chorlton, Manchester, carrying the tool, a peeling knife and a sickle.

The 35-year-old theatre manager said he was held for 12 hours, before being told he had to accept the caution without representation or face longer in custody.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said Mr Rowe had admitted possessing a “dagger” and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice about the law on the carrying of bladed weapons in public.

The keen gardener said he was terrified when the armed officers, who did not draw their weapons, arrived outside his home on 3 July.

He said the officers were shouting at him to “drop the knife”.

“I said I didn’t have a knife and they told me to drop the knife again,” he said.

“So I dropped my Japanese hand gardening sickle and a handful of privet that I just cut off the hedge.

“They turned me around, pushed me up against my house, handcuffed me, then put me in the back of a van.”

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Exposed: How Hillary Planned to Reward Schiff for Undermining Trump

The real scandal at the heart of the Russiagate saga is the intimate and troubling connection between Adam Schiff and Hillary Clinton. This connection reveals how classified intelligence was weaponized to target Donald Trump. We’ve already talked about how recently declassified documents confirm the Trump-Russia collusion hoax was a deliberate political hit job, which Barack Obama approved in coordination with Clinton’s 2016 campaign. But things are so much worse.

As PJ Media previously reported, then-congressman Schiff was the architect behind the deliberate leaking of classified information aimed at smearing Trump and pushing a narrative against him designed to ensure his prosecution.

Back in 2017, a veteran career intelligence officer working for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee warned the FBI that Schiff had not only approved but actively orchestrated the leaking of sensitive classified intelligence. According to whistleblower testimony from 2023 interviews, Schiff convened a staff meeting where he explicitly declared that the group would leak damaging classified information about President Trump. His goal was to use this information to secure an indictment against Trump. 

The whistleblower, who was close to Schiff and other intelligence figures on both sides of the aisle, described these actions as “unethical,” “illegal,” and “treasonous.” 

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