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Trump wants to pardon 250 people for America's 250th birthday

(The Independent) Donald Trump is considering issuing 250 presidential pardons to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America, according to a new report. The president may make the announcement on June 14, his own birthday, or on July 4, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. Trump has already faced criticism for issuing an historic number of pardons since returning to office for his second term, despite vowing to end what he described as the “politicization” of the Justice Department during his campaign.

In It to Win It

Grocery prices in the U.S. soared faster in April than any month in nearly four years

(ABC News) Grocery prices in the U.S. soared faster in April than any month in nearly four years, driving up the cost of everything from frankfurters to tomatoes to cupcakes, government data this week showed. Fresh vegetables cost 11.5% more than they did a year ago. Seafood prices are up 6.2% over that time, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The jump in food prices stems in part from a historic oil shock set off by the Iran war, which increased diesel costs, some analysts told ABC News. Diesel is the lifeblood of the food supply chain, fueling trucks and ships.

BumRushDaShow

Vance says $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California will be deferred over fraud concerns

(LA Times) Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the Trump administration is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California over concerns the state is allowing “fraudsters” to drive up costs to taxpayers, including by pushing unnecessary medications on unsuspecting patients. “There are California taxpayers and American taxpayers who are being defrauded because California isn’t taking its program seriously. But also, you have people who’ve been prescribed medications that they don’t even need,” Vance said.

FakeNoose

The Most Important Thing You Should Know About the CEOs Traveling to China with Trump

(Robert Reich) Trump calls the entourage of 12 CEOs accompanying him to China an “incredible gathering” of America’s “Greatest Businessmen/women.” Well, it may be an incredible gathering. But to characterize them as America’s greatest business leaders — who are assumed to be leading America’s competitive charge against China — is misleading. The American CEOs traveling with Trump to China don’t think of themselves as being in competition with China. In fact, they’d like nothing better than to make more money for themselves and their shareholders by setting up more lower-cost, highly productive factories and research facilities in China and hiring more Chinese talent.

RandySF

House Democrats prep for years of redistricting hardball after court losses

(Politico) House Democrats say they tried playing nice. Now the gloves are off. After spending more than a decade pushing for anti-gerrymandering measures and other good-government initiatives, Democratic lawmakers said this week they are gearing up to play political hardball in the wake of stunning court losses on redistricting — potentially for years to come. "We will beat the far-right extremists," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday.

KS Toronado

Thursday's Condensed News Cartoons

BumRushDaShow

'Trump Needs Medical Attention': Congressman Says President's Family Should Stage 'Intervention'

(Mediaite) Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) said President Donald Trump’s call to arrest former President Barack Obama should trigger a medical "intervention." On Wednesday, Pablo Manríquez of MeidasTouch caught up with McGovern at the Capitol. "Is Donald Trump’s ballroom a national emergency?" Manríquez asked. "You gotta be kidding me," McGovern responded. "It’s a vanity project that’s gonna cost the American taxpayers over a billion dollars at a time when people can’t afford their healthcare, they can’t afford their groceries, they cannot afford their fill up their gas tanks."

muriel_volestrangler

Cuba has run out of diesel and oil, energy minister says

(BBC News) Cuba has completely run out of diesel and fuel oil, the country's Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy has said. In an interview with state-run media, de la O Levy said there were limited amounts of gas available, but that Cuba's energy system was in a "critical" state as a US-led blockade of oil to the country squeezed supply. The US this week reiterated its offer of sending $100m (£74m) in aid to the country in exchange for "meaningful reforms to Cuba's communist system".

BumRushDaShow

Fulton County DA Fani Willis threatens lawsuit over Georgia law stripping party labels from Atlanta-area elections

(CBS News) Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law requiring nonpartisan elections for most local officials in the five most populous counties in the Atlanta area, leading Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and another Democratic prosecutor to threaten to sue over the bill's constitutionality. Kemp signed the bill privately Tuesday, the final day after Georgia's 2026 legislative session for the governor to sign or veto bills. Republicans have repeatedly targeted Willis because of her prosecution of Republican President Donald Trump after he pushed to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's win in Georgia in 2020.

demmiblue

White House planned to start Triumphal Arch work under unrelated contract

(Washington Post) The Trump administration planned to start work at the site of the president’s proposed Triumphal Arch by piggybacking on an existing, unrelated contract for engineering services at the White House grounds more than a mile away, emails obtained by The Washington Post show. The move would allow the administration to bypass a potentially lengthy public bidding process, and experts said it was unusual because the arch site is on National Park Service land across the Potomac River and is not part of the White House complex.

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Your doctor's AI notetaker may be making things up, Ontario audit finds

8 min ago - In recent years, many overworked doctors have turned to so-called AI medical scribes to help automatically summarize patient conversations, diagnoses, and care decisions into structured notes for health record logging. But a recent audit by the audit ... (Ars Technica)

Ex-DOJ official goes public with blistering criticism of his former bosses

24 min ago - May 14, 2026 5:00 AM ET A former political appointee at the Trump Justice Department has emerged as one of its most outspoken critics, accusing his former bosses, particularly acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, of "very sloppy" work, "sabotage," c ... (NPR)

Israel says it will sue New York Times over article on sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners

30 min ago - Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Nethanyahu, and foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, have threatened to sue the New York Times for defamation over the publication of an essay by Nicholas Kristof detailing allegations that Palestinian women, me ... (Guardian)

Burgum touts new DC-area golf course design: Fazio's 'championship quality' but 'affordable'

33 min ago - ADMINISTRATION Burgum touts new DC-area golf course design: Fazio's 'championship quality' but 'affordable' Comments: BY MAX REGO - 05/14/26 2:22 PM ET Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday revealed a rendering of the renovated East Potomac Golf ... (The Hill)

OpenAI Accused of Handing Over Your Intimate Personal Information to Meta and Google

48 min ago - A new class action lawsuit accuses OpenAI of sharing data including user chat queries and personal identifying information like emails and user IDs with the tech giants — and targeted advertising behemoths — Meta and Google, without obtaini ... (Futurism)

Gabbard spokesperson pushes back on reported federal raid on office

52 min ago - 05/14/26 10:01 AM ET The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is pushing back on reporting of a CIA raid on the office. “This is false,” Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, wrote o ... (The Hill)

AFSCME members call off historic strike at University of California system after winning last-minute deal

55 min ago - By AFSCME Staff · Thursday, May 14, 2026 LOS ANGELES – Members of AFSCME Local 3299 have called off their historic, open-ended strike at University of California campuses that was scheduled to begin Thursday. That’s because Local 329 ... (AFSCME)

DOJ lawsuit escalates fight over discipline for Trump administration attorneys

1 hr ago - The Trump administration is suing D.C.’s attorney discipline authorities over a recommendation to disbar Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who was found to have violated legal ethics in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presiden ... (Washington Post)

Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel's Hawaii trip included 'VIP snorkel' at a Pearl Harbor memorial

1 hr ago - Updated Thu, May 14, 2026 at 2:52 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau's Honolulu field office and meetings ... (Yahoo! News/AP)

Zelensky instructs military to prepare response to Russia's deadly Kyiv attack

1 hr ago - President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 14 said he had instructed Ukraine's military to prepare "possible formats for our response" to a deadly Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv that killed at least 13 people and injured at least 45 others. Explos ... (Kyiv Independent)

US Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is resigning, in latest DHS leadership change

1 hr ago - Updated 2:00 PM EDT, May 14, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of U.S. Border Patrol, the agency tasked with securing the nation’s frontiers and increasingly tapped by the Trump administration for immigration operations in American cities, an ... (AP)

Court Rules U.S. Government Failed to Protect More Than 1,500 Endangered Species From Malathion Exposure

2 hrs ago - May 14, 2026 WASHINGTON — A U.S. federal court has ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately protect more than 1,500 endangered species from the harmful effects of the pesticide malathion, marking a significant legal set ... (Wire Service Canada)

Trump admin wants to seize Catholic shrine featuring 29ft statue of Jesus for Mexico border wall construction: report

2 hrs ago - The Trump administration is suing a Catholic diocese in New Mexico to seize land for border wall construction, a move that has led to a federal court case over religious freedom at a landmark pilgrimage site. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit ... (Independent)

Trump's Law Firm Targeting Over Security Queried by Judges (1)

2 hrs ago - Trump's Law Firm Targeting Over Security Queried by Judges (1) May 14, 2026, 12:24 PM EDT; Updated: May 14, 2026, 1:19 PM EDT Justin Henry, Reporter Meghan Tribe, Reporter Tatyana Monnay, Reporter President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the ... (Bloomberg Law News)

Explict: DOJ Epstein Interview Files

2 hrs ago - EFTA01660651.pdf • Complainant reported his ex-girlfriend's daughters were victims of Epstein's and one was murdered. While working as a limousine driver, complainant recalled picking up Donald Trump in 1995 to take him to Dallas Fort Worth Airp ... (Justice.gov)

U.S., EU lawmakers pledge European scrutiny of Paramount's WBD deal

2 hrs ago - Published Thu, May 14 2026 7:28 AM EDT Updated 2 Hours Ago A group of U.S. and European lawmakers told Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that the company’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will be subject to careful scrutiny by ... (CNBC)

Senate Fetterman: Trump affordability remark was 'clipped'

3 hrs ago - Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Wednesday defended President Trump’s comment that he is not focused on the financial situations of Americans while negotiating with the Iranian government. “He said something that got clipped … saying, & ... (The Hill)

Neo-Nazi leader gets 15 years for recruiting violent attacks, including a Santa poison plot

3 hrs ago - The leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for trying to recruit others to commit violent attacks against Jews and racial minorities, including one plot that would have involved dressing as Santa Claus t ... (Los Angeles Times)

Senators vote to withhold their own pay during future government shutdowns

3 hrs ago - Updated 12:22 PM EDT, May 14, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to withhold their pay during government shutdowns, an attempt to make federal closures financially painful for lawmakers after a string of r ... (AP)

Livestreamer known for posting racist content faces attempted murder charge after shooting outside courthouse

4 hrs ago - Other videos Eatherly posted on social media outline a history of using racial slurs and at least one instance of using force against a Black person. Eatherly's conduct has been met with criticism, including from right-wing personalities like Nick Fu ... (CNN)