In May 2026, a federal employee who conducted background checks for Department of Homeland Security agents during the Twin Cities ICE crackdown was sentenced for solicitation of prostitution involving a minor.

"We hired this fox to guard the henhouse. I know what you're thinking but based on his own report, he's doing an outstanding job."

Sure thing! For some more info: the reason they're more confident about overturning that ruling now is that the 2023 ruling on the capital gains tax said that it's an excise tax on a transaction, not a tax on property.

There's technically no constitutional restriction on income tax, per se. The 1933 ruling in Culliton v Chase held that income is property, and the state constitution doesn't allow graduated taxes on property. Meaning any income tax would have to be a flat rate (regressive). We're trying to get around that, and the ruling that income is property could be overturned.

It would be nice if we could have a tax system in this state that doesn't punish poor people for being poor.

See, I just go look at all the places that have experimented with or, in some cases, fully embraced UBI. And what they find is that people who get the money can afford to do things like:

• Take a lower income job and live nearby in a place they otherwise couldn't afford.
• Work fewer hours (or fewer jobs) so they can take care of their family or take classes to improve their skill set
• Eat more nutritious meals, improving their overall health, reducing their need for healthcare
• Etc.

Essentially, it just makes peoples' lives better and less stressful, and opens up new opportunities which improves society overall.

Sources:
https://www.givedirectly.org/2023-ubi-results
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/08/19/universal-guaranteed-income-experiment-economy
https://www.pilotprojekt-grundeinkommen.de/en

Tampering with equipment (intentionally altering or interfering with operation) generally falls under the same statutes as vandalism.

Likely vandalism.

In response to our questions, officials with the OALC church have said they do not believe sexual abuse is more prevalent within the church than in society at large, describing it as a serious and persistent problem that exists everywhere.

They're not wrong. But that doesn't excuse the fact that it was reported to church leaders and they did nothing to stop it. Abuse doesn't just go away when you tell victims to "forgive and forget".

That’s not entirely strange. Commenting on the health of a patient is really restricted.

Yes, but presumably, since it was part of the press release from McConnell's office, it was fully authorized. So hiding the identity of who was sharing the information is weird.

Crucially, the court accepted the USPS's warning that delaying the policy would inflict lasting damage. Once the November vote has come and gone, the judges wrote, 'there can be no do over', adopting the agency's argument that it would be locked into an election cycle under rules it believes are inadequate.

What about the lasting damage to legitimate voters who won't be able to vote in the election? That seems far more certain and relevant than any potential damage the USPS might suffer. I'm not even sure I understand what damage that would be.

You're looking at the wrong side of the issue. There are several states (mine included) where mail delivery is the primary method of distributing ballots to voters. If the USPS refuses to deliver them, then those states need to scramble to get ballots distributed another way. This will assuredly reduce voter turnout.

A health professional quoted in McConnell's update said the senator developed pneumonia early in his hospitalization, though he was able to recover from it "quickly" with antibiotic treatment.

It's interesting. They identify the quote in the press release as coming from "a health professional". The release itself just says "from the office of the attending physician", without any further identification of who was providing the information. Was it a doctor? A nurse? A PA? Receptionist? Janitor? Who the hell knows?

It's not weird. It's exactly what people warned was going to happen when DOGE and RFK Jr started slashing staff at the CDC and FDA and shutting down inspection and response teams.