Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has released more than 1,100 pages of "Tony's Diary" — Dr. Anthony Fauci's personal record from the COVID era — ahead of Fauci's testimony Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.Amid entries on virus origins, case counts, and infighting with the Trump White House, the name of one particular "pretty woman" recurs with striking regularity: Julia Roberts. 'She ... said that every time she sees me her throat gets dry and she gets nervous.'Fauci wrote her name at least seven times across the released pages.On May 13, 2020, Fauci wrote up an Instagram Live arranged by the ONE Campaign. Roberts, he said, put her hands over her mouth when he appeared on screen and gasped, "Oh my God. It's Dr. Fauci; he is here," before telling him he was her personal hero.A clip of their conversation shows Roberts describing Fauci as "maybe the coolest man on the planet" and a "true north, I think, for a lot of people."He was a little starstruck himself. "She was absolutely fabulous," Fauci wrote of Roberts.The two went on to discuss COVID-19's toll on the developing world. He described her as "totally down to earth" and closed the entry with, "Great experience!!"RELATED: Diaries expose Fauci obsessing over his own fame during height of COVID as millions died Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesIn an entry dated October 14, 2020, that otherwise concerns a case surge across 30-plus states and a dispute with Dr. Scott Atlas over herd immunity, Fauci wedged in: "A FEW DAYS AGO, Julia Roberts sent me [a] beautiful flower arrangement. I emailed her my thanks."On February 10, 2021, Fauci wrote about Roberts presenting him amfAR's Award of Courage virtually from her California breakfast room. "When my image came up on the screen she gasped and said that every time she sees me her throat gets dry and she gets nervous and excused herself to go into the kitchen and get a glass of water," he wrote.He also called her "charming, natural, fun, and amazingly beautiful."RELATED: Fauci diary bombshells: Glenn Beck dives into wildest lines from his just-released entries Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee obtained Fauci's diary as part of its ongoing investigation into COVID-19 and federally funded gain-of-function research. Fauci declined to testify voluntarily this time, so the committee subpoenaed him for the Wednesday hearing.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
A journalist professing to be a family friend of Sen. Mitch McConnell's wife has called out his latest "proof of life" photo, per The Daily Beast, exposing a detail about her that is "just implausible."McConnell's office has released two photos of the former Senate Majority Leader and his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, since his hospitalization in mid-June, attempting to establish that he is alive and recovering. The lack of transparency about his condition, as well as the lack of video evidence of his condition since then, has left many people unconvinced about his state, leading to numerous conspiracy theories claiming that he is either dead already or close to it.In response to the latest photo, released by his staff this week, journalist and podcaster Jeff Yang spoke out on BlueSky, calling out a questionable detail about Chao's outfit. Yang claims to have been acquainted with two of Chao's "apolitical sisters" since college, and found the detail completely out-of-character."I've known members of the Chao family — specifically, Elaine’s apolitical sisters (Grace and the late Angela) — since our college years," Yang wrote. "I can’t imagine Elaine, one of the most put-together people in existence, releasing a pic wearing a thin shirt over a visible black bra, UNTUCKED. Just implausible."Yang followed up later with another post, after uncovering a further detail about the outfit, claiming that the Chao he knows would rather "die" than be caught wearing such a thing."Most implausible aspect of the image: ELAINE IS DEPICTED WEARING A $12 CHICO’S SHIRT," Yang wrote. "HOLY CRAP SHE WOULD RATHER DIE."The Daily Beast noted in its report that Yang declined to comment further on the matter. He has also not posted anything further about it, including what might be the cause of the discrepancy, though many others have tried to argue that the photos are AI-generated, which could explain such inconsistent details. Others have noted that the photos are short on details and do not definitively rule out the senator still being in poor health.In a different post responding to BlueSky users urging him to reach out to find out more about McConnell's health, Yang stressed that he has not been in touch with the Chao family in years. “This isn’t the kind of thing you lead with for someone you haven’t seen for a while,” Yang wrote. “Also, the family is tight-knit and private, and I doubt she’d want to comment. Regardless everything will unravel soon.”
Vice President JD Vance spoke at the U.S. Capitol funeral service for Sen. Lindsey Graham, remembering their time working together in the Senate and as someone who "loved people from all walks of life."
Rob Schneider, a Hollywood star who has grown controversial in recent years for his ties to the MAGA movement, is publicly opposing the Texas GOP.The bizarre reason is that he believes they have let Islamic law take over the Lone Star State.Schneider, a notorious conspiracy theorist who has long pushed crank medical misinformation and quack cures for illnesses, took to X on Monday to outline his case against senior Republican officials in Texas, including Gov. Greg Abbott, and attorney general turned Senate candidate Ken Paxton."I never thought I would watch the Islamic and Marxist threat seize large parts of our great nation," wrote Schneider. "For years we have seen the damage this alliance has done to Europe, and now we are witnessing the same damage unfolding in the blue states. What I never fully understood until recently is how deeply this threat is already embedded — and how rapidly it is gaining power —inside red states."Schneider then went on to list what he saw as the evidence Texas is under siege by an Islamic takeover."Organizations with terror ties receive nonprofit status and political access while most elected officials either pander or look the other way," wrote Schneider, accusing Texas of being complicit through taxpayer funding of "madrasas." "Does anyone even care what is happening to the children trapped inside these abusive training schools that pump out imams? Your state has Sharia courts, Sharia judges, and Sharia patrols — and not one has been shut down.""I will keep speaking until every Texas politician takes this transformation seriously and understands the threat that every Texas citizen is up against — because this threat is advancing," wrote Schneider, before slamming the GOP for "the protective circle around their most powerful elected leaders — Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott, and Dan Patrick."Conspiracy theories about Islamic takeovers of Texas have propagated for years, spread by pointing to immigrant communities that have taken root in the state. Recently, a moral panic erupted over an Islamic event planned at a water park in North Texas.
A West Michigan father reportedly killed his wife and six children before setting their home ablaze and taking his own life in a gruesome murder-suicide that police described as an “unspeakable tragedy.” On the morning of July 24, deputies assisting the Grand Haven Township Fire Department responded to a house fire near the eastern shore ...
The Federal Reserve typically telegraphs its interest rate moves in advance, then follows through. This week will provide the clearest evidence yet on whether chairman Kevin Warsh is ending the era of the no-surprises Fed.The big picture: Markets are now putting meaningful odds on the Fed delivering an interest rate hike at the conclusion of its two-day meeting this week.If the Federal Open Market Committee were to do so, it would suggest a new era in which the central bank is less predictable — accepting more volatility and surprise as the price to be paid for greater policy nimbleness.State of play: In the final public communications before the Fed entered its pre-meeting blackout period, signs were pointing to the FOMC leaving rates unchanged at this meeting, but holding out the possibility of a future rate hike if inflation doesn't move down.Since then, there has been a re-escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf that sent oil prices and longer-term bond yields upward.That led traders to put greater weight on the possibility of a rate hike — currently about 34% in the CME's FedWatch tool, up from 16% a week ago.Zoom out: Warsh often speaks of not pre-judging the outcome of policy meetings and of officials going in with an open mind and having a "family fight" decide optimal policy.That would imply a wider aperture of potential moves (or non-moves) than has been the norm under his immediate predecessors.Yes, but: The flip side of greater agility in policy is that there is more risk of appearing skittish and overly reactive to the latest headlines.If Fed officials were inclined to be a bit more patient on raising rates 10 days ago, should a $10 move in the price of crude oil (much of which has already reversed itself) really shake those plans?Warsh will face pressure in a post-meeting news conference Wednesday to explain either a move or non-move more clearly than he has been inclined to do in his public comments to date.What they're saying: "Since markets have priced in about a one-third chance at this meeting, there will be some surprise no matter what the FOMC does," Bill English, a former top Fed economist, tells Axios."They should do the right thing, given the information they have," adds English, now a professor at the Yale School of Management. "I don't see a problem with the Committee surprising markets at a particular meeting — that should happen from time to time," he says. "But I do see a problem with not explaining the reasoning behind a move (or lack of move) because that could lead markets to react unexpectedly."Of note: The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged last week, with Warsh's European counterpart Christine Lagarde arguing that policymakers could not overinterpret fast-moving swings in oil prices while the conflict remained unresolved."We have seen so abrupt changes, occurring in a matter of days, not just in terms of the level of the conflict but also the consequences in terms of energy prices," Lagarde told reporters.A brief history of surprise Fed rate movesIn recent decades, the Fed has surprised markets most often when it aims to send a deliberate shock through the system.In the 2008 global financial crisis, and again in the 2020 onset of the pandemic, several emergency meetings resulted in supersized rate cuts, intended to instill confidence that the Fed wouldn't allow an economic collapse.Conversely, supersized interest rate hikes starting in June 2022 hoped to signal the Fed's resolve to contain inflation.The intrigue: Those were undertaken in extreme circumstances — not just routine adjustments to try to recalibrate rates based on the state of the economy, but rather moments when the surprise itself was part of the goal.And even in those cases, the moves weren't complete shocks on the day of the meeting. In June 2022, a last-minute pivot to a supersized 0.75-point rate increase was preceded by press reports foreshadowing the decision.Flashback: When the FOMC met in September 2008, two days after Lehman Brothers failed, it elected not to adjust interest rates. Many officials spoke of the need to wait to see how the event rippled through the economy before taking action."In uncertain circumstances like these, I think it would be unwise to react too hastily to a fluid situation," said then-St. Louis Fed president James Bullard.Zoom in: The downside of surprising markets was evident with the "taper tantrum" in May 2013, when chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could soon begin slowing its quantitative easing policies.That took bond markets by surprise and fueled a sell-off, driving longer-term interest rates sharply higher at a time when the U.S. economic recovery was tenuous — which hadn't been Bernanke's intention.The episode weighed on then-governor Jerome Powell, who said in a September 2015 policy meeting that he didn't want to raise interest rates until market odds were "way north of 50 percent.
Why is the senator floating the idea of leaving the Democratic Party? Well, Israel, of course. Though he sure loves the media coverage.
The post Fetterman Might Leave Democratic Party Because the Only Thing He Loves More Than Israel Is Attention appeared first on The Intercept.
