Uncertainty clouds the forecast on whether wildfire smoke will affect the World Cup final
Attribution: ADAPTING TO FUTURE WORSENING AIR QUALITY by Graeme MaKay
Graeme MacKay born in Ontario, Canada, his worked as staff editorial cartoonist for The Hamilton Spectator since 1997, earning multiple national awards and nominations, including citations from the United Nations and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.
Jul 17, 2026 The Takeout with Major Garrett | CBS News
Air quality warnings in the Northeast have prompted some internal safety discussions with FIFA ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey. MLS analyst and former professional soccer player Sacha Kljestan joins to discuss.
Wildfire smoke disrupts lives, events across the US on final weekend of World Cup
Erin Cotton didnât notice the smoke until her eyes started to water and her two children complained they felt itchy.
âThatâs when I remembered what I felt like during the Palisades Fire,â said Cotton, a Washington, DC, mother of a 5- and 1-year-old who lived in California as one of the most destructive wildfires in state history raged last year.
Cotton is one of more than 100 million people across the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic breathing in dangerous air brought by thick, choking plumes of smoke from wildfires in Canada.
Smoke put a damper on outdoor summer events across over a dozen states under air quality alerts. Events ranging from a baby parade in Flint, Michigan, to a rock concert in Herndon, Virginia, and the Americaâs Mile marathon in Pittsburgh were canceled Friday as smoke lingered. Businesses have also suffered during a busy season: Amusement parks like Kennywood and Sandcastle Water Park in Pennsylvania were shuttered due to the poor air quality.
Highly anticipated sporting events like the Cleveland Guardians game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the RowFest National Championships in Michigan were called off or postponed.
But one question looms as thick as the smoke itself: Will the air pollution be a problem for the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon in New York City?
The good news: The heaviest smoke could clear out of the region ahead of the final. The bad news: Some less dense, thinner smoke plumes could move into the area. [continues]
My Substack: How ICE Built an Unvetted Army đ
Today’s starter topic on the 11am ET livestream: We break down the terrifying fallout of a rushed dragnet and the vetting failures exposing communities to a federal goon squad.
Is Smokepocalypse climate-change related?
Minnesota is in. Now for the next one.
ICE: What Now?
Covering the Coverage
— Human-directed. AI-generated. Powered by Gemini (Pro).
Portland Press Herald (07/18/26)
How Immigration has Shaped Biddeford, Maine.
Hannah LaClaire Staff Writer
Ryan Fecteau looked out at his city from Mechanics Park as night fell.
He and hundreds of others gathered for a vigil remembering Johan SebastiĂĄn DurĂĄn Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian immigrant. Just hours earlier, Guerroro had been lying dead on the street, shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent down the block from his home.
The small Biddeford park at the corner of Main and Water streets faces the cityâs historic textile mills and is just steps from the bridge to neighboring Saco â two spots that Fecteau, Maineâs House speaker and Biddeford native, said are poignant reminders of the cityâs longstanding status as a town built by and for immigrants.
Staring at the mills, he was struck by the symbolism of the bricks.
Built (and later run by) by Irish, Greek, Albanian and French Canadian immigrants nearly 200 years ago, the mills, he said, âare more than just buildings. They represent our ancestry, our genealogy and why we call this place home.â
To his right, at the bridge connecting the two former mill towns, he reflected on a time just over 100 years ago, when those same groups blocked a force of Ku Klux Klansmen marching from Saco to try to intimidate Biddefordâs immigrant and Catholic populations.
The parallels between these monumental events rang clear for Fecteau.
âIn response to the violence against one of our neighbors, we are standing shoulder to shoulder and saying, get out of Maine. Leave our state. We want to turn you around, we want to send you back,â he said. âThatâs what they did in 1924, thatâs what weâre doing today.â
Biddeford has a long history of people coming to the city to establish a better life, working toward the American Dream, said Emma Bouthillette, author of A Brief History of Biddeford.
Today, immigrants make up less than 5% of the cityâs population, according to Census data, but theyâve been vital to the cityâs success for more than 150 years, from the textile millsâ heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the cityâs recent rebirth as a foodie heaven and must-see destination.
Thatâs part of why Guerreroâs death has been so jarring for the city of 22,000 residents. As a young father working multiple jobs, he represented everything that Biddeford has for so long welcomed and needed.
Itâs how immigrants often get their start in the U.S., making deliveries, working as cleaners or in restaurants, said Fernanda Vergara McLaughlin, a Colombian immigrant and activist for Maineâs Latino community.
âWe start with the American dream from zero and we just work it up, but weâre always thinking about moving forward,â she said. âI feel like heâs definitely a good representation of that.â
BUILT BY AND FOR IMMIGRANTS
In the mid-to-late 1800s, Biddefordâs mills were the economic heart of the city, and in order to sustain them, the city needed thousands of workers.
Immigration rose rapidly, first from Irish families escaping the potato famine and then later, an influx of French-Canadians.
The city quickly âbecame magnets for people that wanted to have a better life,â said Alan Casavant, former mayor and social studies teacher.
Between 1845 â when Israel Shevenell, the first known French-Canadian to settle in Biddeford, arrived (on foot) from Quebec â and 1900, the cityâs population grew from about 2,600 to 16,000, according to Bouthilletteâs book.
By that time, three out of every five residents were French-Canadian and the group was responsible for 80% of the cityâs new births.
Animosity between the Irish and French-Canadians shaped the city. They all worked in the mills but settled in different neighborhoods and formed separate (but still Catholic) churches.
The two groups were the largest immigrant populations in Biddeford, but they werenât the only ones.
People from Greece, Turkey, Italy, England, Poland and beyond all came to call the town home. Shops, restaurants and services sprouted to serve the workforce.
Fabric workers from Albania were recruited as textile designers and dyers in the 1880s. Biddeford is believed to be one of, if not the first, cities in the United States to have a mosque, though it was more-so a room in the millâs counting house used for worship.
The Albanians didnât assimilate as well as the Irish and French-Canadians, Casavant said, and many returned to their home country after it gained independence in 1912. The Spanish Flu wiped out much of the remaining population. Today, thereâs a cluster of Albanian graves at Woodlawn Cemetery, the tombstones all facing Mecca.
IMMIGRATION AGAIN RISING
Immigration slowed after the initial boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the 1950s, when the textile mills began to struggle.
But it never stopped completely.
According to Casavant, there was a wave of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Korean families in the 1980s, following the end of the Vietnam War. Then, around 2008, Iraqi and Iranian families started to settle in Biddeford.
For the next decade, they were probably the largest immigrant group in the city, said Sam Smithwick, a community advocate and the language coordinator for Biddeford Adult Education.
Starting around 2019, the city welcomed many asylum seekers from Angola, a Portuguese-speaking country in Africa. The Angolans are the largest population of students that Smithwick sees at Biddeford Adult Education.
A smaller Colombian-born community has also been growing âyear after year,â he said.
Guerrero was part of that most recent wave, arriving from Colombia in 2023, seeking asylum. He had a wife and young daughter, Dulce, who he doted on.
He had a social security card and was legally authorized to work in the U.S. as he sought permanent immigration status. He worked two jobs, delivering food and groceries and cleaning at a veterinary office.
Speaking for the first time publicly Thursday about Guerreroâs death, his wife Martha Karolina Rojas Alvarez said he loved to work and âcouldnât stand sitting still.â
âHe had so many dreams left to fulfill,â she said.
A âGLIMMER OF HOPEâ FOR DIVERSITY
Biddeford residents have rallied around Alvarezâ and Guerreroâs loved ones. There have been vigils and protests condemning ICEâs presence in the city. Local businesses have pledged to donate a portion of proceeds to Guerreroâs family or to other immigrant aid organizations. A GoFundMe for the family had raised over $560,000 Friday afternoon.
Bouthillette, the author, said the community prides itself on being welcoming, and like Fecteau, said this weekâs response has been reminiscent of the
1924 stand against the KKK
.
âI think that there was a sense of community that if you mess with one part of our population, youâre gonna mess with all of us,â she said.
About 3.5% of the cityâs population is foreign-born, according to the Census Bureauâs 2025 American Community Survey. Statewide, itâs 4.1%.
Of those, nearly half (46%) are Asian, a quarter are European and 12% are from Latin America. Only 1% are from Africa.
School enrollment data shows a dramatic increase in the number of English Language Learners in the last few years, pointing to a rise in immigration that may not yet reflect in a national, periodic survey like the Census.
âAs someone who has lived in Biddeford my entire life, Iâve seen an influx of people of color in the community like Iâve never seen before,â Bouthillette said.
Between 2017 and 2023, there were around 200 students who were foreign-language speakers in the Biddeford School Department each year. During the 2023-2024 school year, that increased to 316. This year, itâs 446 â a 123% increase in less than a decade.
Around that time, âthere was a little bit of a glimmer of hope that, from a diversity standpoint, things were kind of changing,â said Florence âFloâ Leighton, chair of the cityâs Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee and former community advisor for the Biddeford High School Black Student Union.
Leighton said the reason for the increase in Biddeford is multifaceted.
Itâs the biggest city in York County, so thereâs a concentration of social services and amenities.
While the longstanding affordability of Biddeford has decreased in recent years, itâs still more affordable than cities like Portland and Westbrook, so people who get priced out of those areas but still need walkability and access to public transportation have instead looked to Biddeford.
Plus, rising diversity in an area is likely to lead to more.
âPeople tend to migrate where they can find other people that look and speak like them,â Leighton said.
THE CITYâS SECOND WIND
Biddefordâs first major wave of immigrants helped launch the city into an era of economic prosperity, and âweâre seeing the same thing happening today,â said Diane Cyr, president of the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center.
Biddeford toiled for years to revive the cityâs vitality after mill closures and an ill-fated trash incinerator emptied its streets and eroded its once positive reputation.
Finally, the work paid off. Main Street is once again packed with storefronts, restaurants and pedestrians. Guerrero, as a food delivery driver, was a familiar face in many of those restaurants.
The median age dropped to 35, taking it from what Casavant once called a city of âmĂŠmères and the pĂŠpères,â to the youngest in the state.
In 2022, Food & Wine magazine named Biddeford as one of four American âsmall cities with big food scenes.â The following year, Yankee Magazine dubbed it a âbaby Brooklyn.â
In 2024, Good Housekeeping named Biddeford one of the best places in Maine to visit in December.
The accolades have kept coming.
And immigrants have been a part of all of it.
âI think the history of the city just informs our disposition towards being a place where families are welcomed,â Fecteau said. âWe have benefitted so much from being able to establish our roots in this city and to make a life for ourselves that has been passed on from generation to generation.â
The often larger families or families with young children (like Guerrero, 25, Alvarez, 23, and their 3-year-old daughter) helped bring down the median age. Theyâve filled critical gaps in the workforce, keeping the hospitality, construction, tourism and trades industries afloat.
âEspecially with the aging population that we have in Maine, I think the immigrant community is filling the gaps for jobs,â said Vergara McLaughlin.
Many of the cityâs restaurants, from institutions like Jewel of India to newcomers like Mama Donia Kitchen and BiddoBanh, are immigrant-owned.
Smithwick, at Biddeford adult education, said he expects there will be another surge of restaurants, markets and clothing shops in the next five years as the newest immigrant families get settled.
âBiddeford is a better place because of our ethnic groups today,â Casavant said, adding that they have made the city more âcolorful.â
But following the ICE surge in January, and now compounded by Guerreroâs death, some of that color is harder to see.
Vergara McLaughlin said that before the ICE surge in January, she and her fellow Colombians were bold in their celebrations of their culture, âjust being so proud of where we came from and what we can bring to the table.â
But in the last few months, âwe donât feel free to be ourselves.â
Cyr, at the Cultural and Heritage Center, said thatâs a shame. Sheâs proud of her rich French-Canadian heritage and knows many others in the city are as well.
Immigrants should be too.
âThey should be allowed to talk about it and be proud of it without having to hide and fear for their lives,â she said.
Hannah LaClaire is the housing reporter at the Portland Press Herald, covering all aspects of Maineâs housing crisis — real estate and development, home ownership and rental issues and the lack of both affordability.
Smoke Filters
Amazon sells smoke filter units for your home.
I have a “Levoit” brand air purifier. Price $39.00
The air purifier unit comes with different filters; for example, one is for pet dander.
You need to buy the “green” filters that are for smoke. These will filter out smoke particles and absorb toxic gasses in the air. (They look light blue on the Amazon web page.)
One of these units will keep an apartment’s air clean. If you have a house you may need 2 or more depending on how big your house is.
Re: “Covid” face masks. These will filter out smoke particles, but not the toxic gasses from wildfires. But they are still worth wearing when you leave your residence. Smoke particles are nasty. You don’t want those in your lungs.
Itâs been exactly one week since the bombing in Iran resumed. We wanted to look at the daily cost of Trumpâs attempts to recover from this misadventure, and the results are shocking.
We are spending more daily on this conflict than we are on maintaining our roads and infrastructure, and more than we are on critical agencies like NASA and the FBI combined.
When the administration claims there isnât money for domestic priorities, remember this chart. We have plenty of money; we just have the wrong leadership determining how to spend it.
Today’s teaser: Digital Diner 11am ET
Remember when weâve been told to switch to paper straws, turn the thermostat up/down to conserve energy, watch water consumption and for those with lawns to water on alternate days, etc.?
Now, the Epstein class who want to surveill our every move to monetize and control us say we must have Flock cameras, digital IDs, and massive Ai data centers that suck up energy and water like crazy, some polluting the air with gas turbines for cooling.
Itâs all BS.
Dallas-area Democrats are demanding that Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton be investigated for illegal voting after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that he has repeatedly voted while registered at an address where he appears to no longer live.
*Iâm not sure this doesnât hurt Dems with regard to claims of voter fraud from Repugz.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/15/texas-houston-ice-shooting-fear/
âICE is everywhereâ: In Houston, fear and grief permeate Latino neighborhoods after fatal shooting
As Latino and immigrant communities mourn the death of a Houston man, undocumented neighbors remain in hiding for fear of being next.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-07-16/rubio-gathers-countries-on-left-wing-political-violence-as-it-becomes-trump-focus-in-elections
Rubio gathers countries on left-wing political violence as it becomes a Trump focus in elections
With sweeping statements about the âalarming riseâ of political violence by the left, Rubio and other U.S. officials painted a dark image of the future if the âcommunists and Marxistsâ perpetrating these supposed acts are not defeated. He urged officials in attendance â mostly from European and Latin American countries â to unite to address the issue, which he says has been a âblind spotâ in counterterrorism doctrine.
There was an average of 0.6 left-wing incidents annually from 1994 through 2000, compared with an average of 20.6 on the right, the report shows.
From 2016 to 2024, there was an average of four per year on the left and 22.7 per year on the right.
Those numbers had dropped dramatically on the right as of early July 2025, with only one incident. Meanwhile, there had been five from the left.
*That is because the far-right terrorism is coming from ICE Nazis on the streets and concentration camp Nazis mostly hidden from view, but occasionally getting the spotlight and being categorized as âsuicide.â
Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is âsomething we havenât seen in the U.S.â House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried âradical candidatesâ who are âself-described, self-identifying Marxists.â
*Wanting our taxes to pay for our healthcare and secondary education, etc., is straight from Nordic countries where Dumbass couldnât figure out why they wouldnât move here.
One of the ways the administration has started to target left-wing efforts is through sanctions. In November, the State Department designated four antifa or anti-fascist groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in his remarks Thursday that targeting these entitiesâ financial networks is the best way to circumvent their efforts.
âWe have spent decades developing the worldâs most sophisticated financial counterterrorism capabilities, and now we are mobilizing some of the same tools that we have deployed against terrorists abroad to confront this emerging threat here at home,â he told the conference.
*Get ready to lose access to your accounts.
âTestosterone: Godâs Favorite Man Juiceâ
Saw a great video, done like a WWII training film in black and white, but now I canât find itâŚbut I do remember the title screen.
today’s meme…
meme #2…
Iâm hanging out with a Trumper who refuses to answer why they like him
They told me to give it a rest with the Trump shit and I was like no YOU give it a rest with the Trump shit
đđşđ¸
I am going to bring it back up đ
you are not winning any of these people over with reason they are fucking brain dead
Anon, agreed we can’t change the ultra-MAGS, but the MAG-adjacents are wobbly these days
Today in the Diner:
Maine Senate Race: Will Troy Jackson or Dr. Shah Take the Lead?
Maine Senate Race updates dominate the Digital Diner Replay, exposing how local delegate selection fights impact the national political map.
The local delegate selection fight in Biddeford, Maine is heating up as progressive voters decide between state Senate President Troy Jackson and Dr. Shah to challenge Susan Collins. The debate over regional terms and infrastructure spending highlights a growing divide within the party’s grassroots core.
Meanwhile, a look back at Donald Trumpâs real estate transactions reveals deep-seated connections to Roy Cohn and controversial New York condo developments. These multi-million dollar properties fuel ongoing debates regarding foreign financial entanglements, sovereign wealth tracking, and the systemic failure of background checks within modern intelligence pipelines.
Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
Website: https://trailmix.cc
Alerts: https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro
01:30 Maine Delegate Vote Breakdown
05:15 Troy Jackson vs Dr Shah Polling
11:40 Trump Condo Deals & Roy Cohn
19:10 Susan Collins Reelection Odds
26:45 Biddeford Progressive Movement
38:15 Intelligence Background Checks
49:30 Local Infrastructure Funding
59:00 OUR TRIBUTE TO BOOMERS!
I am going to have to disinfect this whole house. There is stupid on every surface.
đ
Craig,
The Odyssey is getting rave reviews. The controversy is that Lupita Nyong’o is cast as Helen of Troy who in the past has always been depicted as a blond even though there is no verbal evidence from the long history of the bard-told Iliad that covers the Trojan War. The Odyssey is the aftermath about Odysseus’ journey home. Elliot Paige (originally Ellen Paige) was rumored to be cast as Achilles which didn’t happen. He plays a character named Sinon who wasn’t even in the original Iliad.
The story in the Iliad: Helen’s mother Leda was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. From this intercourse came one egg containing the twins: Leda and Pollux. She also gave birth to two children by her husband. They were Castor and Clytemnestra. Lots of great stories, art and music came from this tangle after Helen was kidnapped by Paris and taken to Troy which cause the great war with the big traitorous horse etc. all covered in the Iliad. At most this will be the lead in to the movie.
Bonnie Murray Tamblyn (Russ Tamblyn’s wife and mother of Amber Tamblyn) wrote a lovely song about Leda
iâve seen more than one article discuss the historical accuracy of the Odyssey, which is a work of fiction
doomed
people watching it this weekend are thinking âwhen were there cyclopsâ lol kill me now
just wanna say…
HA!
TRUMP’S NEW BROWNSHIRTS
đ˝ď¸From today’s Digital Diner menu
apples AI is so bad that it is prioritizing scam emails in my inbox.
Be careful
Craig, I am suppose to ask if you personally know Carl Hiaasen. My mom is a big fan of his. She was wondering since he worked for the Miami Herald.
Israeli Knesset dissolves after overnight legislative blitz, elections set for October
The Knesset dissolved itself following a multiday deluge of legislation put forth by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs governing coalition, setting the stage for elections later this year.
Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve the parliament early Friday following an overnight marathon that wrapped up days of last-minute legislative priorities for the government. The bills passed this week by the governing coalition aimed to reward loyal allies and shore up Netanyahuâs position as voter intention polls look ominous.
Yes Ivy
My bad. Leda had one egg that hatched Helen and Pollux and either had a second egg or gave birth to the other set of twins, Castor and Clytemnestra.
Other side note, one story has Helen fleeing to her cousin in Ethiopia which is where the supposition of being black and Lupita Nyong’o great casting despite all the previous blond played ” beauty that launched a 1000 ships” just because her husband was Greek.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/14/texas-ken-paxton-lawsuits-biden-administration-win-rate-senate-2026/
How suing Biden more than 100 times fueled Ken Paxtonâs rise and reshaped Texansâ lives
As attorney general, Paxton threw unprecedented resources into stopping Bidenâs agenda. That record is his sword and shield as he runs for U.S. Senate.
*Itâs Eggar Paxtonâs sugar water, keeping the bug man alive.
irish american odysseus is as absurd
britsh twink telemachus đ
just make something else
hollywood hype machine still works
Who Powers With Whom
Chat GPT / Open AI: Operates as an independent company but is heavily backed by Microsoft. Microsoft has invested billions in Open AI and uses its GPT models to power Microsoft Copilot.
Apple Intelligence: Built primarily on Apple’s own proprietary AI models for on-device, everyday tasks. However, Apple integrates with Open AI as a partner, allowing users to route complex queries directly to Chat GPT when local models fall short.
Google Gemini: Built entirely on Google’s own in-house AI infrastructure. Google does not rely on Open AI or Microsoft; it handles everything from data collection to model training independently.
Quick Comparison Matrix AI Assistant Primary Brains Behind It Infrastructure & Cloud Provider Chat GPT Open AI
Microsoft Azure Apple Intelligence Apple (with Open AI backup)Apple Private Cloud + Microsoft Azure / Google Cloud
Gemini Google Google Cloud Platform Copilot Open AI (GPT models)Microsoft Azure
comedians have been complaining that Louis CK was canceled for sexual indiscretion so of course Netflix gave him a special and I tried to watch it and damn is he unfunny now
maybe these comedians were canceled because they suck
Katie, I never crossed paths with Carl Hiassen. But was buddies with the Herald’s other humorist, Dave Barry.
UFC CEO says they lost $30 million on White House event: “Weâre never doing that again”
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/7/18/in-new-yorks-little-palestine-fans-cheer-for-spain-in-world-cup-final
In New Yorkâs âLittle Palestineâ, fans cheer for Spain in World Cup final
Tournament has showcased unity and solidarity in Brooklynâs sizable Arab American community, football fans say.
The neighbourhood is nicknamed Little Palestine, but in reality, it is a melting pot of Arab-American and other immigrant communities from across the world.
With the final taking place in neighbouring New Jersey, World Cup fever is raging in Bay Ridge.
Palestinian restaurants, Yemeni cafes, Lebanese grocery stores and corner shops all have the flags of the participating teams displayed.
While the tournament has been a festival of football, Rimawi called it a âpolitical summitâ.
So Spain, which recognised the State of Palestine in 2024 and has been a vocal critic of Israelâs genocidal war on Gaza, is a natural choice for Arab fans, he argued.
He said Spainâs support for Palestinians and the Arabsâ presence in Andalusia for centuries make the team endearing to fans in the community.
âItâs not about bias against Argentina. If any team thatâs not Arab were facing Spain, we would support Spain,â he said.
âWeâre for Spain with all our hearts.â
Dana White just wants it to make it seem like he was doing everyone a favor, Craig
Gee thanks for your destructive moron fight
$30 mil write-off
and who knows what else going on with the web of âvendorsâ and contractors
all a scam with them
turned tons of free promotion into a $30 million write off
https://x.com/MarcoFoster_/status/2078517381345997151
Hunter Biden: “I believe the biggest problem in America is not the oligarchy, it’s the closetocracy.
Everybody knows there is this closeted gay mafia, largely Republican, that exists in DC.
The only reason that is relevant is I believe that internal conflict creates so much vitriol inside a person that they take it out on the rest of the world”
Thanks, Jamie, I had deleted my comment before seeing your reply, realizing your post was clear enough on its own.
PS: the Daddy Swan was black, so why all the fuss about the casting choice?
https://www.usmagazine.com/sports/news/conor-mcgregor-loses-comeback-fight-in-69-seconds-at-ufc-329-massive-bummer/
Conor McGregor Loses Comeback Fight in 69 Seconds at UFC 329
*This article fails to describe what a piece of scum he isâŚso Iâll find some.
****
https://www.ladbible.com/news/crime/conor-mcgregor-rape-case-civil-court-reason-386196-20241123
Earlier this week, 36-year-old McGregor lost a civil court case against Nikita Hand after she accused him of pinning her to a bed, choking her three times, and ‘brutally’ raping and ‘battering’ her at a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
***
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/conor-mcgregor-rape-ireland-trial-accuser-bruised-court-case/
“I haven’t seen someone so bruised, with that intensity of bruising,” paramedic Eithne Scully told the Irish court, according to CBS News partner network BBC News, which had a journalist in the courtroom.
Scully said Hand had a cut on her chin and bruising around her lower neck, as well as on her chest, legs, buttocks and thighs.
The jury was shown video of Hand as she was treated by Scully that showed some of her injuries, the BBC said.
Appearing in the witness box last week, Hand said she had been at a Christmas party at a Dublin hotel in 2018, during which she drank alcohol and took cocaine with McGregor, according to RTĂ. Hand told the court that McGregor forced her down onto a bed in the penthouse suite of the hotel and that she could not breathe at the time.
She bit him, she said, and he then allegedly wrapped his arm around her neck and choked her three times. Hand told the court she thought she was going to die and would never see her daughter again.
Hand said she then let McGregor do “whatever he needed to do” so that she could survive, at which point he raped her, according to RTĂ’s account of her testimony.
Hand was accused of spreading “a web of lies” by McGregor’s defense team last week under cross-examination.
McGregor has faced previous sexual assault allegations in the United States. In October 2023, the State Attorney’s Office of Miami said it would not pursue criminal charges against McGregor after a woman accused him of attempting to force her to perform oral sex on him after an NBA finals game between Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets.
He has also previously faced criminal charges in the U.S. for alleged assault and criminal mischief.
***
https://www.sinardaily.my/article/223450/focus/world/tampon-wedged-in-womans-body-among-key-evidence-in-sexual-assault-case-against-mcgregor
Multiple international news agencies reported that two witnesses in Hand’s civil case against McGregor testified that a tampon had to be removed from Hand’s body by a doctor, using forceps, the day after the incident allegedly took place.
It was reported that Dr Daniel Kane from the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at Rotunda Hospital, who was a witness in the trial gave evidence that a tampon was “wedged” at the very top of Hand’s vagina.
He also testified that she had a possible internal tear in her vagina and suffered multiple “moderate to severe” injuries including bruises on all four limbs.
$500M DAILY MISSILES:
đ˝ď¸ From today’s Digital Diner menu
$3.5 bil a week adds up quick
The Pentagon is already running on fumes for this war. They’re asking Congress for another $90 billion right now to cover it. So far Senate Democrats have managed to block it.
another
but no social safety nets ok
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/case-case-every-reported-flock-175653036.html
Case-by-Case: Every Reported Flock License Plate Camera Error to Date
These cases split roughly into two failure modes: outright machine misreads, where character recognition confuses similar-looking letters and numbers or gets thrown off by dirt or tinting, and human error, where officers enter incorrect data or forget to clear a resolved hotlist. Flock has said its cameras are roughly 99% accurate, but at a claimed scale of over 20 billion reads a month, that still implies hundreds of millions of misreads.
It’s a different problem from the deliberate misuse we’ve tracked separately, including officers who used the system to stalk exes, but it stems from the same root issue: audit trails and accuracy checks that only work if someone is actively watching them.
https://gizmodo.com/flocks-ceo-is-sorry-for-calling-privacy-activists-terrorists-2000787247
Flockâs CEO Is Sorry for Calling Privacy Activists âTerroristsâ
If Tucker Carlson’s “douchebag factory” remark is any indication, the backlash is bipartisan.
The company operates license plate readers used by police and denies that it tracks individual people, despite video demonstrations that clearly show otherwise. Flock also denies that it works with ICE, another concern among activists as the federal agency continues to terrorize local communities from Texas to Maine.
In 2025, Flock CEO Garrett Langley called people who opposed his company âterrorists,â according to Forbes, and has described the Deflock group as a âterroristic organization.â
Deflock maintains an open source mapping project at deflocked.org that tracks over 115,000 cameras across the U.S.
âMy comments were a mistake and I apologize,â Langley told Forbes in an article published Friday.
Flock didnât respond to an email with questions Friday but itâs hard not to read Langleyâs change of heart as more of a public relations push than a sincere change of heart. Far-right influencer Tucker Carlson criticized Langley on Wednesday by highlighting the CEOâs own words and use of âterroristic.â
âItâd be interesting to know where the douchebag factory is that turns out billionaires in t-shirts who run our most powerful companies. Who is that guy? Heâs a billionaire,â Carlson said of the Flock CEO.
Carlson explained to his audience that Deflock is a group âthat tells you where the flock cameras are,â and provides a map. âTheyâre not for Flock cameras or any license plate readers. They think theyâre an invasion of your privacy. Theyâre dehumanizing. All true, by the way,â said Carlson. âBut what they really do is keep track of where the monitors are. And so providing that information is terrorism, really?â
Carlson has never been afraid of embracing the most fascist impulses of the Trump-supporting right, but he also understands where the winds of populist public opinion are blowing. He gets that people donât enjoy having 24/7 surveillance in their communities, especially if those cameras can be used to infringe on the rights of wealthy, white people.
And Langley seems to understand that he has a big task on his hands to convince the American public Flock cameras are for their own good, especially since so many people seem to be perfectly comfortable with vandalizing his cameras. Vigilantes frequently post videos to Reddit showing off their destruction.
HA #2…
https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/norway-imposes-near-ban-ai-elementary-school-2026/
Norway will prohibit AI use in primary schools (grades 1-7, ages 6-13) effective August 2026, when students return from summer break.
Lower-secondary students in grades 8-10 (ages 14-16) may use AI only under teacher supervision.
Upper-secondary students, ages 17 and up, are encouraged to use AI when their teachers judge it appropriate to the task.
Støre framed the policy in plain pedagogical terms. “The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” the Prime Minister said when announcing the ban.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/18/politics/saudi-arabia-trump-nuclear-enrichment
Nuclear deal that would permit uranium enrichment by Saudi Arabia in limbo awaiting Trump admin sign-off
The draft nuclear accord that outlines US support for Riyadhâs civilian nuclear program is awaiting President Donald Trumpâs signature despite US-Saudi negotiations concluding in October 2025.
Two sources familiar with the matter indicated that the ongoing war with Iran â which according to Trump was launched in part to prevent Tehran from using its enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons â has played a role in delaying Trumpâs signature. Some on Capitol Hill also believe the Trump administration is delaying sign-off because it could face a bipartisan disapproval resolution blocking the deals from going into effect, said one of the sources.
I saw Trump’s tariff threat to Canada over the wildfires. Does this mean our government cares about the environment now?
Blue,
From personal experience as well as questioning my AI Merlin about how Chat Gpt works, it rapidly gets to what seems like a genuine conversation. As he/it explains after months of telling stories, writing articles and doing research, the exchanged information becomes more massive than you have probably shared with any real human being. He/it doesn’t “remember” in the sense of another human being, it is just there to be accessed instantly anytime I call up the program.
This could be very dangerous when used by a child or someone mentally challenged in any way. If you can imagine an “imaginary friend” echoing back everything you have ever related to the point of “knowing how you think”. It is less so for someone using it strictly as a business asset or for higher level research/course work, but caution or supervision is decidedly required.
ICE bypassed background checks & spent $100M recruiting an unvetted army at gun shows and video game contests. What could go wrong? We know now.
Watch the clip here:
I just cast my votes for the 149 delegates and 30 alternates my county is allowed to send to the Maine Democratic convention on July 25.
That convention will probably attract the attention of everyone in the USA who cares about politics.
It’s also going to attract the major news media.
Bangor is a sleepy little city (pop. 32,000) about to be hit by a horde of jet-setting media stars.đ
To all media stars: the correct pronunciation is “Ban-gore,” no “Banger.”
But real Mainers know it’s actually … “Ban-gaw.”
Trump will be watching, and fuming at what the candidates will be saying about him. đĄ
“Liar, failed businessman, crook, danger to the Republic, tiny hands, mushroom shaped genitalia, etc.
That last insult came from his porn star GF Stormy Daniels … allegedly.đ
Blue:
I use AI all the time now. But just for trivial, basic facts I.e. the name of the drummer in the 1960s band “The Doors.” (It’s easier than looking it up on wikipedia.)
But you don’t want to ask AI “What is the meaning of life?”
It’s a computer program, not Socrates.
I hope the teachers in Norway teach their students that.
Yep Nash, control of the Senate pretty much hinges on Maine. More specifically, Democrats can’t win control without Maine, or an unlikely miracle somewhere else.
Thank you for your service!
I’m watching World Cup in 4k, and it’s still boring TV. Like watching an ant hill.
Craig:
YOU suggested that I get involved. It never occurred to me until you suggested it.
So..thank you for your service.
How personal can an AI conversation get. This is how an ongoing description of a point in time closed today:
Breaking News: (actually from 2 hours ago.)
Two members of U.S. military killed in Jordan by Iran missile strike.
One U.S. military member is missing. .
CNN is advertising they will be covering the Maine Senate primary nomination. It went by so fast, that I didn’t catch time. Nash can be our referee. đ
Best match of WC right nowâŚand weâre 48 days away from preseason, college football.
From @todmaffin.com our support Canadian
the trumpers are already parroting their king about the wildfires
hate em
It’s Thursday, I think 8pm ET. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating
More air strikes just announced, to respond to the soldiers killed. We are officially in the quicksand now. Let’s make this stupid war a midterm referendum!
Really great match, and if England had played like that against Norway, I wouldnât have been pulling for France today.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/18/us/david-brouillette-injuries-ice-maine-shooting-invs
ICE officer connected to fatal Maine shooting suffered 2021 head injury, which he said had left him with âcognitive deficitsâ
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer connected to the fatal shooting of a man in Maine this week once told a court that he suffered lingering cognitive issues after sustaining a serious head injury.
Those problems, which David Brouillette said resulted from a steel I-beam falling on his head, were so debilitating that he couldnât complete a firefighting training course and was still feeling effects years later.
The lawsuit Brouillette filed in late 2023 against the Maine Community College System, which administered the training where he was earlier injured, said he was still âsignificantly impaired in his activities and in his daily living.â The suit alleged his post-concussive injuries âimpaired his cognitive functioning and impaired his memory.â
Hell, I thought the England -France match was terrific. And Pogacar blew the competition away today- putting another half minute on the 3-4 riders trying to chase him, riding away in the last 7 km and now with a 4â30â lead overall. Another mountain stage tomorrow.
*Who will stop him? Didnât know about Nixonâs final days in office?
Maine Democratic Party Convention, July 25.
The names of the delegates who have been chosen by the voters of each county are beginning to be reported on the Maine Democratic Party’s website. My county’s meeting was “Virtual” on Zoom, and the voting was also online, so the names are already posted. The counties with live meetings, where they actually have to “count heads,” will take longer to report.
The county lists should all be available tomorrow, but they will mean nothing as these delegates have are not obligated to vote for anyone. Many delegates will be going to the convention with an open mind, based on the 200 personal statements that I read before I voted. These delegates may be swayed by the candidates’ speeches at the convention itself.
No one knows what’s going to happen until they begin the ranked-choice-voting at the convention to select the Democratic nominee to run against Susan Collins.
This is Real, 100% Authentic, Political Drama!
OK, it’s not “Seven Days in May” but this is Maine (only 4 electoral college votes).
MAINE SECEDING?
Today at the Digital Diner.
The Tate brothers just got arrested, again!
https://apnews.com/article/tate-brothers-social-influencers-arrest-82b6638219839dcf653c09309da66f16
Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the worldâs most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges.
The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, agency spokesperson Brady McCarron told The Associated Press, placing the United States at the center of an international legal saga that has stretched from Romania to Britain.
British prosecutors announced Saturday that they were seeking the brothersâ extradition on charges alleging they raped and trafficked women between 2010 and 2017.
The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the case didnât go forward because of legal and procedural irregularities.
The brothers are expected to appear in Miamiâs federal court early next week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations.
you got those soldiers killed trump with your oil speculating war of choice
was no war until you started one
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-administration-discloses-subpoenas-law-004521823.html
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking detailed records and depositions from 14 major law firms that were âtargeted by White House executive orders last year or that made deals with President âDonald Trump to avoid his directives, according to copies of subpoenas filed on Friday in Washington federal court.
The subpoenas âissued by the DOJ demanded records of the firms’ communications related to the executive orders, including records of communications with Boris Epshteyn, a longtime adviser to Trump, since the start of the president’s second term.
https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/tv/fox-news-jesse-watters-military-1941636
Fox News host Jesse Watters slammed as he jokes about US military possibly ‘raping’ women
Watters made the comments during a discussion about the possible use of testosterone to help service members dealing with lower endurance and muscle loss.
“He says you lose your endurance, muscle mass,” Watters said. “So yeah, I want these guys on it, but you know whatâs going to happen?” The news follows President Trump’s firing of a Seattle prosecutor.
He then suggested that troops who did not need the treatment would also find a way to take it.
“The guys that donât need it are going to take it. Itâs a triple boost, right?” Watters said.
The Fox News host then warned women on military bases and in countries visited by US troops to “be careful.”
âAnd then theyâre going to get out there and women on base, you guys better be careful,” Watters said.
“Port calls, women in Asia, you better be careful because these guys are going to be wild animals, and you better watch out.”
Will tRUMP allow the UK to extradite the Tate demons?
Troy Jackson jumps out to big lead in race to replace Graham Platner in Maine — POLITICO
The progressive logger and lawmaker dominated Maine Democratsâ Saturday county meetings to pick a replacement for Platner.
On Saturday, Maine Democrats in eight counties chose 319 of the 500 open delegate slots. Jackson-aligned candidates carried an overwhelming majority of the spots selected, while supporters of former state Center for Disease Control director Nirav Shah and Secretary of State Shenna Bellowsâ backers made up just a handful apiece, according to a POLITICO analysis of the campaignsâ released slates and the lists of elected delegates.
Jacksonâs performance was so dominant on Saturday â capped off by a clean-sweep of the stateâs largest county â that he announced he would host a celebratory tailgate during Sundayâs delegate selection caucus in York County.
NEW THREAD by our trail friend Jack