Watch: Theo Von and Donald Trump Swap Stories Over Family Trauma

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Something you may not know about the 45th president of the United States (and God willing, the 46th) is that he doesn’t drink. In fact, he never has.

On a recent episode of Theo’s Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, the Republican presidential candidate was surprisingly vulnerable regarding his lifelong sobriety.

Dave Rubin plays the clip of the duo’s touching conversation.

“I had a great brother who taught me a lesson: don’t drink,” said Trump, adding that he’s “never had a glass of alcohol — never ever.”

“I admired so much about him. He had so much going — he had the look; he had an unbelievable personality,” Trump said of his brother. “He lived for so long in bad conditions. I was amazed that his body could hold out.” (Read more from “Watch: Theo Von and Donald Trump Swap Stories Over Family Trauma” HERE)

Can RFK Jr.’s Anti-Establishment Coalition Help Swing the Election for Trump?

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The consensus that emerged among pollsters and pundits across the political spectrum after RFK Jr.’s shock endorsement of Donald Trump was that it would have little effect on the outcome. But does that consensus reflect the same groupthink that missed the Trump surprise in 2016?

The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal warned that while Kennedy’s backing could possibly help Trump marginally in battleground states, “the price could be high if it includes putting Mr. Kennedy in a second Trump Administration,” concluding that “Mr. Trump’s best response is to thank RFK Jr. for his support, make no promises about the future, and by all means avoid joint campaign appearances” to avoid the taint of association with his fringe positions.

ABC News’ 538 polling site assured readers that “our analysis of the polling data suggests Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump will have a minimal impact on the race. Kennedy, who has consistently polled around 5 percent since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee, was drawing roughly equally from both Trump and Harris … [T]he effect of his departure on overall support for either candidate will be small.”

The New York Times’ analysis of the move asserts that the endorsement “is unlikely to change the nature of the race … in part because it is hard to know how many of Mr. Kennedy’s supporters will vote in November. They are less likely than others to have voted in 2020, and are also less likely to say they will vote come November.”

What these static, conventional assessments miss is the very dynamic that stunned the political world in 2016 when Trump outperformed polling averages by unprecedented margins to win a victory that virtually no one in the establishment saw coming: The activation of the disaffected, hidden voting blocks bound together only by their common hatred of that establishment. (Read more from “Can RFK Jr.’s Anti-Establishment Coalition Help Swing the Election for Trump?” HERE)

Latest Swing State Polls Suggest Trump Could Score Decisive Victory Against Kamala Harris

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Fresh surveys from seven battleground states show a scenario where Donald Trump could win in November with a decisive 296 electoral votes.

Trafalgar, which polled between Aug. 28-30, sees Trump sweeping 44 electoral votes from the pivotal Blue Wall states in November, eking out narrow wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin inside the polls’ margins of error.

Insider Advantage handled polling in four other battlegrounds between Aug. 29-31, with Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina going to Trump.

To be sure, each of these states remains a statistical dead heat — meaning they could ultimately go either way come election day.

However, the polling is a departure from recent polling that shows Vice President Kamala Harris making gains in the states that will decide the election. (Read more from “Latest Swing State Polls Suggest Trump Could Score Decisive Victory Against Kamala Harris” HERE)

Biden Says His Great-Grandfather Was Accused of Being in a Group of Killer Coal Miners in Long-Winded Anecdote

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President Biden claimed in a long-winded anecdote on Monday that his great-grandfather was rumored to have been part of a group of coal miners that would kill anti-Catholic mine foremen and lay the dead bodies “on the doorstep” of their family’s homes.

Vice President Kamala Harris nodded along as the 81-year-old president spun the strange yarn during his remarks to union workers in Pittsburgh, Pa., joking that he was “disappointed” to learn that his great-grandfather Edward Francis Blewitt was not a member of the “Molly Maguires.”

“I remember when my great grandfather was only the second Catholic elected statewide in the state Senate here in Pennsylvania,” Biden began. “And I remember they talked about – when they’d run against him in 1906 – they said, ‘Guess what? He’s a Molly Maguire.’”

The president explained that “back in the old days” Irish Catholics working in Pennsylvania coal mines were often mistreated by the foremen, and a group of recently arrived Irishmen, known as the Molly Maguires, violently retaliated against their oppressors.

“A lot of the English owned the coal mines,” Biden said. “And what they did was they really beat the hell out of the mostly Catholic population in the mines. Not a joke.” (Read more from “Biden Says His Great-Grandfather Was Accused of Being in a Group of Killer Coal Miners in Long-Winded Anecdote” HERE)

Look Who’s Stirring up Trouble Between Russia and China

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Taiwan’s president is stirring up trouble between allies Russia and China, after he stated on Taiwanese media that China should take back land from Russia if Beijing truly believes Taiwan being in China’s control is about territorial integrity, according to the Straits Times.

During the Quing dynasty, China’s last royal dynasty, China signed the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 which turned over a huge swath of land to Russia – a treaty modern-day China has referred to as “unequal.”

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, who has been labeled a “separatist” by China, mentioned this tidbit during his interview, and dismissed China’s claim it wants control of Taiwan because of “territorial integrity.”

“China’s intention to attack and annex Taiwan is not because of what any one person or political party in Taiwan says or does. It is not for the sake of territorial integrity that China wants to annex Taiwan … If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t it take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the Treaty of Aigun? Russia is now at its weakest right?” Lai said.

Lai said the intentions of China are clear, it wants to change the international order and establish a hegemony.

(Read more from “Look Who’s Stirring up Trouble Between Russia and China” HERE)

U.S. Authorities Seize Foreign President’s Plane: Report

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U.S. authorities seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane and flew the aircraft Monday to Florida, two American officials told CNN.

American authorities seized the plane while it was in the Dominican Republic after they determined that it violated sanctions, the outlet reported.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly “seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for the use of Nicolas Maduro and his cronies,” according to a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The plane had been in the Dominican Republic for months prior to its seizure, CNN reported. American officials cooperated with local authorities to execute their operation, the outlet noted. The Dominican Republic reportedly alerted Venezuela of its seizure. The plane was described as Venezuela’s version of Air Force One, the outlet reported.

“This sends a message all the way up to the top,” a U.S. official told CNN. “Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions.” (Read more from “U.S. Authorities Seize Foreign President’s Plane: Report” HERE)

Harris Honeymoon Shows No Polling Boost After The Convention

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Vice President Kamala Harris held onto her slight polling lead but failed to see a boost after the Democratic National Convention in August, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll from Sunday.

Harris’ lead over former President Donald Trump has remained essentially unchanged at 50% support among registered voters while the Republican nominee brought in 46% support, according to the poll. However, voters still trust Trump over Harris to handle key issues like the economy and immigration going into November.

“The race between them remains close, with no overall bounce in support for Harris out of her nominating convention, albeit with a wider gender gap,” Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates, said in a statement. “Trump, too, was bounce-free after his convention in July, indicating the locked-in nature of their highly polarized contest as it enters its final two months.”

Harris is currently leading Trump nationally by 1.8 points according to RealClearPolling averages. Notably, President Joe Biden was leading Trump at this point in the race by over seven points in 2020 and former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was leading by over four points.

Trump is favored over Harris to handle both the economy and inflation by eight points, according to the poll. Trump is also more trusted to handle immigration and the Israel-Hamas conflict by nine and seven points respectively. (Read more from “Harris Honeymoon Shows No Polling Boost After The Convention” HERE)

Study: Weight Loss Drugs Lowered Coronavirus Deaths by 33 Percent

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People on weight loss drugs — such as Ozempic and Wegovy — have a significantly lower chance of dying or suffering harsh effects from coronavirus, studies that the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) published found.

Subjects who were already on a 2.4 milligram (mg) dose of semaglutide, the active ingredient in drugs that help the pancreas release the right amount of insulin when blood sugar levels are high and may decrease one’s appetite, had “consistently lower rates” of dying of any cause over the trial period, researchers found.

The research was led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and financially backed by Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, according to the Harvard Gazette.

Over the mean trial duration of 3.3 years, 17,604 cardiovascular disease patients 45 years old or older with a BMI (body mass index) of 27 kg/m^2 or more — overweight — were observed by the researchers taking either semaglutide or a placebo.

Although the study started before the coronavirus pandemic, researchers said that “the most severe periods [of the outbreak] were concurrent with the ongoing trial, thus providing the opportunity to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on patients who were at high risk of COVID-19-related complications and death given their underlying comorbidities.” (Read more from “Study: Weight Loss Drugs Lowered Coronavirus Deaths by 33 Percent” HERE)

Transgender Paralympics Runner Fails to Qualify for Women’s 400-Meter Final

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A transgender Italian Paralympics runner failed to qualify for the 400 M sprint in the women’s T-12 category after placing third in a semifinal competition.

Valentina Petrillo, a biological male, qualified for the semi-finals at the Paris Paralympics with a time of 58.35 seconds in the first round. However, during the semi-finals, Petrillo received a time of 57.58 seconds and came in third, according to Fox News.

Hagar Safrarzadeh Ghahderijani, an Iranian Paralympic athlete, finished with a time of 56.07, while Alejandra Paolo Perez Lopez, a Venezuelan Paralympic athlete, finished second with a time of 56.34.

Petrillo began running when he was younger; however, upon finding out he had Stargardt disease at 14, he stopped, and it wasn’t until Petrillo was 41 that he began competing in para-athletic competitions as a male, according to the Athletic.

Symptoms of Stargardt disease include, “slow loss of central vision in both eyes,” as well as “gray, black, or hazy spots in the center of your vision,” “sensitivity to light,” and “color blindness,” according to the National Eye Institute.

(Read more from “Transgender Paralympics Runner Fails to Qualify for Women’s 400-Meter Final” HERE)

Man Claims He Captured Bizarre UFO Image

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A man living just outside of Glasgow, Scotland, says he accidentally captured a photograph Friday of a UFO while trying to snap the Northern Lights.

Gearóid Cearr claims he often heads out with his camera to capture photos of the Aurora Borealis and was shooting pictures at St. Ambrose High School football park around 9:30 p.m. when the lights appeared, according to Glasgow Live. Within the 100 or so photographs Caerr took, one of them contained something … odd.

Images shared by the outlet on social media show a series of red and white dots aligning in a repeated pattern in the middle of the sky.

“I said to myself I don’t remember seeing that when I took the photo. I posted it on a Facebook group to see if anyone knew what it was,” Caerr told the outlet. “Some say it is starlink satellites but it can’t be as they are only white. And when I catch planes in photos they never look like this.” (Read more from “Man Claims He Captured Bizarre UFO Image” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr