News From Around the Web
#1 Dan Crenshaw Loses Primary in Major Upset for One of Texas’s Most Recognizable Republican Congressmen - James Osborne and Jeremy Wallace for The Houston Chronicle, Michelle, K Tully-McManus, BSMeter, Resist the Mainstream, and KRS on X
In a surprise upset, state Rep. Steve Toth defeated U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, in Tuesday’s GOP primary election, ousting one of the state’s most recognizable GOP congressmen. Toth, the owner of a local pool cleaning company who is considered one of the most conservative members of the Texas Legislature, carried a wide margin of the vote. The already Republican-leaning district, which includes Montgomery and Harris counties, was redrawn last year to be more conservative...
#2 Talarico Defeats Crockett in Texas Senate Democratic Primary - Liz Crampton for POLITICO, Mark, SaltyGoat, Christopher Bouzy (spoutible.com/cbouzy)/Evan Barker/Fred G Sanford, MAGA Michelle S, and Marshall on X
State Rep. James Talarico won the Texas Senate Democratic primary, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett and giving party leaders the candidate they had quietly seen as the stronger option to flip the ruby-red state. The race was defined by questions of electability and simmering racial tensions, as Talarico and Crockett worked to reassemble the party’s fractured multiracial coalition. That carried over through Tuesday, with both candidates raising concerns that voters had been disenfranchised in Crockett’s home base of Dallas County, which includes a large number of Black voters...
#3 Noem Testifies Before Senate on Immigration - NEWSMAX, Nick Sortor/Lil 501, David Stevens, Frederick Wertz, Comploplo Watch (...in the blue sky too), and Aaron Rupar on X
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified in the Senate on Tuesday in her first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis. Noem's appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes after a weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating conflict in Iran could have repercussions for security in the U.S. Backlash from the left triggered a clash in Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash for the Republican administration's mass deportation policy...
#4 U.S. Braces for Cyberspace Retaliation From Iran - Sam Sabin for Axios, World Source News, CTech, BREAKING NEWZ Alert, Shahriyar Gourgi, and House Homeland GOP on X
Critical infrastructure operators are on high alert for potential Iran-backed cyber retaliation following the weekend's military strikes that killed the country's supreme leader and several other senior officials. Iranian actors — both state-linked and loosely affiliated — have a history of targeting U.S. water and gas systems, even outside the context of an open military conflict. Iran-aligned hackers and self-described hacktivist groups have stepped up activity against entities in the Middle East, the U.S., and parts of Asia following the Feb. 28 airstrikes, according to CrowdStrike... U.S. defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, are expected to remove Anthropic's AI tools from their supply chains days after President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to immediately cease using them. Following this, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth said in a post on X... The staffers were given 24 hours to resign after they were informed that their positions had been terminated, the person familiar with the matter said... House Oversight Committee Republicans are readying to confront Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison at a high-stakes hearing on welfare fraud Wednesday morning. "While Governor Walz hesitated, taxpayers lost billions. Attorney General Ellison has likewise claimed his office was aggressively holding fraudsters accountable, but when his statements were tested against the record, they fell apart," Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will say, according to prepared opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital... Meta's smart glasses have been unknowingly recording people getting undressed, sitting on the toilet, and even having sex - with the resulting footage then reviewed by data workers thousands of miles away. The tech giant boasts that its Ray-Ban glasses, which have built-in camera and microphones, are a product created 'with your privacy in mind' and gives wearers control over what gets shared and when .They also have an AI assistant, which can be activated by saying the phrase 'Hey Meta'. Legislation to allow a handful of state officials to designate domestic or foreign terrorist organizations was approved in the GOP-controlled Florida House on Tuesday, despite complaints by Democrats that the measure lacks guardrails. The vote was 81-26, mostly along party lines. The bill — HB 1471, sponsored by Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach — says the terrorism label could be applied if the state’s chief of domestic security finds that the group “is engaging in terrorist activities that either involve illegal acts dangerous to human life, or that are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping or aircraft piracy.”
#5 Defense Contractors, Like Lockheed, Seen Removing Anthropic’s AI After Trump Ban - Bobins Vayalil Abraham for mint, WJR33X, Greig Murry, Alex-Microsmeta, The Atlantic, and AVA-IRIS on X
#6 Labor Secretary’s Top Two Aides Resign Amid Investigation Into Alleged Department Misconduct - NBC News, CBS 6 Albany - WRGB, Anonymous Scandinavia Assange #NoExtradition, NEWSMAX, Lynn Lee, and SWACCA on X
Two of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s top aides have resigned amid an ongoing probe of possible misconduct by officials in the Labor Department, according to a department official and another source familiar with the matter. Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, Jihun Han, and his deputy, Rebecca Wright, had been placed on administrative leave in mid-January while the Labor Department’s inspector general investigates possible “travel fraud.”
#7 Comer to Say Tim Walz ‘Enabled Fraud,’ Failed Whistleblowers in Bombshell Minnesota Hearing - Elizabeth Elkind for Fox News, Tom, SavageSam, John Solomon,
Alexis McAdams, and KSTP on X
#8 Meta AI Glasses Are Recording You Undressing and Using the Loo... While We Watch From Thousands of Miles Away, Tech Workers Claim - Francine Wolfisz for Daily Mail, J Smith, Artur Sychov/Hedgie/VanilladadMD, IamLegend/AI at META, The Kenya Times and dana on X
#9 The Germ Is The Alibi - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire, UncoverDC
What drives disease? With roots dating back to the mid-19th century, the germs vs. terrain debate often fuels discord. Sure, many have heard the discussion, which centers on whether specific microorganisms or “germs” are the primary cause of disease, and on the terrain theory, which holds that disease arises primarily from an imbalance or poor condition in the body’s internal environment, with germs being secondary or opportunistic. Often, the conversation pits someone wearing a lab coat against someone with a theology degree, and by the time the word evidence’ comes up, the audience has already split into tribes. Del Bigtree knows that. Thus, in a recent episode of The Highwire to discuss the topic, he opens the segment the way you open an honest dispute: by reading the heckling out loud—scripted, circular reasoning, cult followers, controlled opposition—because, Del shares, if people are going to accuse you of running from the argument, you might as well drag the argument into the light yourself...
#10 Bill Allowing State to Designate Domestic Terrorist Organizations Passes in FL House - Mitch Perry for The Florida Phoenix, Anthony Sabatini, ACLU of Florida, Thomas Kennedy, FSView & Florida Flambeau, and A.V.West on X
And Now for Something Special
Animals Loving Replica's of Themselves...
