This week, I’m leading with a story that highlights the danger within the conservative movement when good people become yesmen to a leader, Donald Trump and his political endorsement power, rather than doing the tough work of analyzing and judging a leader’s action based upon principles of right and wrong. Yes, the issues of the war on Iran are complex and mired in a myriad of verbal false justifications that require real thinking to sort out. But after the defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie in Republican primary in a very conservative Kentucky district this week, it has become obvious [unless there was vote fraud] that more than half of conservatives having become unthinking supporters of Donald Trump and the Israeli lobby, no matter how bad their mistakes. Thomas Massie was the most principled representative in the US House, and became “enemy No. 1" to Donald Trump for forcing Trump to release more of the Epstein files (albeit highly redacted to protect Trump and other perpetrators), voting against Trump’s Big Beautiful deficit bill, and opposing the war on Iran. I thought, if anyone had the ability to withstand Trump’s endorsement of an opponent, it was Massie. But Trump and his Israeli lobbyist donors mounted a $30 million dollar campaign fund to defeat Massie, the most expensive in House primary in history. Trump and big money appeared to win, though I’m skeptical. In any case, American conservatives lost one their finest. To receive a one-time copy of this brief, click on Request a Sample on the left
Hours ahead of Russia's huge attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used social media to warn that an Oreshnik assault was in the works, citing intelligence received from American and European partners. He also said the use of such formidable weapons shouldn't be tolerated by other countries:
Russia fires Oreshnik missile for third time in conflict Bombardment of Kyiv one of the heaviest since war began Zelenskiy says there must be consequences for Russia European leaders condemn 'escalation'
"[Macron] highlighted the risks Belarus will face if dragged into the war in Ukraine. He also called on Lukashenko to take necessary measures to improve relations between Belarus and Europe," a source told AFP. Lukashenko let Russia use Belarus as a staging area for the 2022 invasion, and has continued to let Russia launch missile and drone strikes from Belarus over the more than three years of war.
Israel launches significant new attacks on the Gaza Strip just as word of a tentative US-Iran peace deal is driving international headlines. Trump says an Iran peace agreement has been “largely negotiated” and will be announced “shortly,” with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz included among the deal’s key elements. Mediators believe they are edging closer to a deal to extend the US ceasefire with Iran by 60 days Waiting game in Tehran, via Iran Foreign Ministry: "We need to wait and see what happens over the next three to four days." Trump, officials have canceled prior travel plans: Trump says "Circumstances pertaining to Government" are keeping him from attending his son Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding this weekend.
"I didn't want what happened to me to happen to other vulnerable girls and women," she said. Her lawsuit alleged professional malpractice, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraud, each rooted in the same core allegation: that she was neither properly evaluated nor genuinely informed before she consented to an irreversible procedure. "And I wasn't given true informed consent. And that's something that everyone deserves to have for any medical procedure," she said.
The US has lost around $1bn to Reaper drones destroyed by Iran, compounding the cost of war
According to a newly declassified U.S. defense intelligence assessment first reported by Bloomberg, Moscow’s frontline command-and-control structures suffered a catastrophic blackout earlier this year due largely to coordinated crackdown that disabled thousands of black market Russian Starlink terminals.
Ukrainian forces have borrowed a page from China's hypersonic glide-weapon testing and applied it to the Eastern European theater, using one-way attack drones against Russia. Instead of launching the Hornet strike drone from a ground-based catapult, Ukrainian operators tethered it to a high-altitude balloon, extending its range.
The imbalance occurs because Washington and Tel Aviv developed a strategy for the defense of Israel, where the US advanced interceptors handled the bulk of the Iranian missiles. The official said that the policy resulted in a significant “drawdown” of the US interceptor stockpile.
HR departments were originally created as a means of monitoring compliance with state and federal laws to avoid liability. In many cases this revolved around "sexual harassment" or "discrimination" in the workplace, but it ended up becoming a progressive crusade to make women, LGBT and minority groups a protected class of workers that are difficult to fire because HR is more concerned with lawsuits.
The US blockade of the Iranian blockade is looking increasingly more porous. Iran said 35 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian state broadcaster reported on Friday. The navy had already reported on Wednesday that 26 ships had passed through the strait within 24 hours. On Friday, the data provider Kpler confirmed only 10 passages on Wednesday. This represented an increase from the four passages recorded the previous day.
Did the Pentagon just back down amid pressure from China? It appears so. As we reported Thursday, China has been actively holding up a proposed visit by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's under-secretary of defense for policy. The move is a transparent effort to pressure President Trump over a looming $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
X owner demands answers after officers handcuffed dying teen who begged for help. This poor boy was running away from someone who stabbed him & stole his phone, but the police in the UK attacked him instead of his murderer!
Is the Iranian regime the immediate barrier to oil tankers seeking to exit the Strait of Hormuz, or is it fear of liability that's keeping shipping companies at bay?
The FDA fired Tracy Beth Høeg, the agency’s top drug regulator and a staunch advocate for vaccine safety. It’s the latest in a string of high-profile exits from the agency, many of which followed the appointment of Chris Klomp as HHS’ No. 2 official, Reuters reported. TrialSite News suggested the departures were “associated” with the “COVID-era dissent class” — and that Klomp may have directed the changes on behalf of the White House. The Defender could not verify that claim.
New White House ballroom will be heavily-fortified with "impenetrable" steel, four-inch thick glass, sniper's nests, etc.
Virginia currently has an independent redistricting committee that drew a congressional map with a Democrat advantage of 6-5. However, voters in April approved a change to the state constitution to allow the partisan redistricting in a narrow referendum last month. The state’s high court determined the state legislature violated the Virginia Constitution in bypassing normal procedures to pass a constitutional amendment.
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from over 1,000 LAUSD employees fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite CDC admitting the shots do not prevent transmission. The ruling relied on the outdated 1905 Jacobson precedent, which dissenters warned grants unchecked government power under the guise of public health.
A controversial test of parenting competency that put many Greenlanders’ kids in foster care was dropped in 2025. But parents and kids remain separated.
The secretary of state said on X that he terminated Adys Morera’s permanent resident status. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
On May 18, Decision Desk HQ said on X, “Per FEC data, anti-Massie outside spending leads pro-Massie spending $15.5 mil to $10.3 mil.”
Iran's parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that Tehran sees signs that the United States is seeking to restart the war Oil tumbles after Pakistan again touts final deal draft text imminent, followed by Trump claiming US in 'final stages' of peace talks with Iran, though Tehran hasn't budged on nuclear issue. Tehran (IRGC) warns next round of war could spread conflict 'beyond the region' - which was cast as a threat. Iran's IRGC Navy says 26 vessels, including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels, transited in the prior 24 hours "in coordination" with Iranian authorities.
The vessels departed the strategic waterway on Wednesday, after being stranded inside the Persian Gulf for over two months, lending hope to an end to the closure of the strait. The crude cargoes were split evenly among three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) heading to Asian refining hubs.
Four years of war in Ukraine have rewritten how warfare is fought, accelerating the urgent need for low-cost aerial unmanned systems and ground robots. It has also prompted Taiwan to emerge as a supplier of low-cost suicide drones. Taiwan's national news agency, the Central News Agency, reported that a Taichung-based Taiwanese drone manufacturer is now focused on producing a domestically made variant of Iran's Shahed one-way attack drone.
With 58% of the vote counted, Gallrein had about 54% to Massie’s 46%, DDHQ reported. Gallrein, 68, is a relative newcomer to politics. He ran a low-key campaign by refusing to debate Massie and generally avoiding the press. His chief selling points were his military service, his endorsement by Trump and his promise to be a reliable vote for the president’s policies.
With the U.S. national average sitting at $4.53 per gallon (according to AAA data) and no resolution yet on a U.S.-Iran peace deal or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, pump prices risk rising even higher into the holiday weekend as the summer driving season begins.
The number of tankers laden with crude but sitting in the Persian Gulf and near the Strait of Hormuz has jumped since the U.S. initiated in the middle of April a naval blockade to prevent Iranian oil exports and force Tehran into a deal, a Financial Times analysis of shipping and satellite imagery data showed on Tuesday.
New York has, in the past, only mandated vaccines approved and recommended by federal health agencies.
The two young alleged gunmen who descended upon a San Diego Islamic facility on Monday -- killing three men and themselves -- have been identified, along with early indications of their motives. Police sources have told multiple outlets that 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Velasquez -- driven by hate -- scrawled racist themes on their weapons and carried a gas can emblazoned with a Nazi SS sticker. One of them left a suicide note emphasizing "racial pride."
In a May 19 post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Paxton has been loyal to him and is a “MAGA Warrior.” The president said that Cornyn “is a good man,” but was not supportive of him “when times were tough” such as being late in endorsing him for president in 2024.