Masks

The Grift: MAGA Anti-Maskers

Jump Back To Reality3 years ago2 years ago01 mins

MAGA Supporters are most often anti-maskers, falsely believing that masks do not work, yet I doubt they would want their surgical team not wearing masks should they need surgery one day. When someone speaks, sneezes or breath, they exhale droplets, masks will minimize the spread of the droplets to others, and reduce inhaling droplets from…

NYT
Politico
AXIOS
BBC

A Democratic Electrician Nabs a State Senate Seat in Republican Florida

With Brian Nathan’s victory certified, Democrats won two of three state legislative races in this month’s special elections, all in Republican-leaning districts. [...]

Justice Dept. Watchdog Has Gone Silent, Lawyers for Whistle-Blower Say

Lawyers for a fired Justice Department lawyer say the agency’s inspector general appears to have ignored at least 20 different requests to scrutinize misconduct. [...]

From Foe to Ally: The S.E.C. Is Now Writing Crypto-Friendly Policies

The embrace of crypto by financial regulators under President Trump has entered a new, cozier phase. [...]

Who’s ‘Safer’ or ‘Riskier’? Maine Democrats Clash Over How to Beat Collins.

Gov. Janet Mills argues that her rival for Senate, Graham Platner, could be doomed by his history of offensive online remarks. But at a time of anti-establishment anger, Mr. Platner [...]

Markwayne Mullin Takes Over DHS With Less Flash but Same Mission

Markwayne Mullin, the incoming D.H.S. secretary, faces a difficult balance: a public reset of the agency while delivering on President Trump’s deportation agenda. [...]

Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order at Supreme Court Splits Conservative Scholars

Before President Trump’s order to limit birthright citizenship, there was widespread agreement that the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship for U.S.-born babies. [...]

How a Civics School With a Conservative Bent Divided Its Supporters

A University of North Carolina program was intended to promote civil discourse and ideological diversity. Some of its early conservative supporters say it is doing the opposite. [...]

NASA Is Launching Astronauts to the Moon, but Americans Aren’t That Excited

Polling has consistently found that most people would prefer NASA spend money on things like monitoring climate change and averting asteroid collisions rather than human spaceflight. [...]

Special Operations Forces Sent to Mideast as Trump Weighs Next Move

The commandos have not been assigned specific roles. But President Trump has expressed concern about the now-closed Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s store of enriched uranium. [...]

New Political Group to Push Trump’s A.I. Agenda in Midterms

The group, Innovation Council Action, says it plans to spend at least $100 million. It will be led by a former administration official. [...]

Army investigating video of Apache helicopter at Kid Rock’s Nashville home

The musician, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video of an Army helicopter flying low outside his residence Saturday. [...]

Iran war makes things personal for veteran candidates

Dozens of military veterans running for Congress across the country have now adapted their campaign messaging to befit a nation at war. [...]

Mark Sanford launches his comeback bid to Congress

The former GOP representative wants to retake his House seat in South Carolina’s Charleston area after losing to a Trump-backed challenger in 2018. [...]

Poll: The battle for MAHA that could sway the midterms

A new POLITICO Poll finds cracks in the coalition that helped put HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump in office. [...]

A month into Iran, the GOP’s political reality sinks in

Republicans in battleground states are largely sticking by the president's war — but they’re finding it harder to brush off the consequences. [...]

Cori Bush wants her seat back — and a rematch over AIPAC

She is back on the campaign trail after a 2024 multimillion-dollar campaign by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee unseated her. [...]

Why some Democrats want to shut off Hasan Piker’s ‘megaphone’

The popular streamer’s rise as a Democratic influencer coincides with the party’s long search for a path out of the wilderness. [...]

‘He’s lied about everything’: Iran war puts Trump on shaky ground with young MAGA men

Their frustrations and anger with the conflict were on full display at CPAC this week. [...]

DHS confirms that Lewandowski left the department along with Noem

Still unexplained is why he accompanied the former secretary to Guyana. [...]

Trump plays Texas hold ’em with Senate endorsement

The president has not endorsed in the Texas Senate GOP runoff. MAGA sees it as a signal. [...]

AI distances itself from adult content that once drove the tech revolution

Tech giants are pulling back from AI-generated pornography over mounting legal, safety and reputational risks, abandoning an industry that has driven technological innovation since before the internet's dawn.Why it matters: [...]

America's less energy-intensive economy braces against Iran war shock

Data: Axios analysis of Energy Information Administration and Bureau of Labor Statistics data; Note: March 2026 measure assumes most recent weekly gasoline price reading ($3.96) and average hourly earnings rising [...]

Powell: Fed yet to decide on whether to "look through" war's impact

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the Fed is not yet at the moment when it needs to decide whether to "look through" the Iran war energy shock.What they're saying: [...]

Trump threatens to "obliterate" Iran's energy and water infrastructure

President Trump threatened on Monday that if a deal with Iran "is not shortly reached" and if the Hormuz Strait isn't open "immediately," the U.S. will "completely obliterate" Iran's power, [...]

Dems' hit list: Subpoena plans if they win House

If Dems win the House in midterms (likely), expect them to target moguls and major corporations for subpoenas, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes in his new newsletter for CEOs.The target [...]

SpaceX's monster IPO is unlike anything we've seen

SpaceX is preparing to launch the largest IPO of all time — with expectations that it could raise more than all U.S. listings in 2024 and 2025.Why it matters: Wall [...]

Exclusive: Wind projects delayed as Trump's Pentagon reviews stall

More than two dozen wind farms across the U.S. are being delayed as the Trump administration sits on military reviews that were once considered routine.Why it matters: The delays are [...]

Oil prices rise as Iran war escalates with Houthi attacks

Oil prices climbed above $116 per barrel after markets opened Sunday, as Iran-backed Houthi militants fired missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend and promised to continue attacks.Why it [...]

Some Dems' 2028 strategy: a straight, white, Christian man

Some top Democrats are quietly debating a fraught question: whether the party's best bet for winning back the presidency in 2028 is to nominate a man — perhaps a straight, [...]

Everyone's worried that AI's newest models are a hacker's dream weapon

Top AI and government officials tell Axios CEO Jim VandeHei that Anthropic, OpenAI and other tech giants will soon release new models that are scary good at hacking sophisticated systems [...]

PM launches Labour's local election campaign with focus on cost of living

Keir Starmer says the 7 May elections take place against an "uncertain" backdrop with wars in Ukraine and Iran. [...]

Remove VAT from energy bills for three years, Tories urge

There has been a renewed focus on energy costs since the outbreak of the war in Iran. [...]

Spirit of Caerphilly by-election could propel Plaid into government, says leader

Plaid Cymru leader launches Senedd election campaign, comparing it to fight to win Caerphilly in October. [...]

Welsh Labour promises NHS will see people within 48 hours in manifesto

Leader Eluned Morgan made her pledge as she launched her party's Senedd election manifesto in Swansea. [...]

Russia expels British diplomat over spying allegations

A UK Foreign Office spokesman accused Russia of an "aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats". [...]

Government must do more to help detained Brits in UAE, advocacy group says

The UK Foreign Office says it is giving consular assistance to "a small number of British nationals" that have been detained there after allegedly taking pictures of Iranian attacks. [...]

Councils pressed to use universal parking app to cut 'unfair' fines