‘Uncharted Territory’: For the First Time, 50% Say America Is Heading in the Right Direction

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A majority of voters say America is headed in the right direction. That has never happened in the nearly 20 years Rasmussen Reports has been posing the question.

A Rasmussen survey taken May 18-May 22 and released Sunday said 48% of Americans say the country is headed in the “right direction,” while 47% say the U.S. is on the “wrong track.” Five percent are “Not Sure.”

Rasmussen’s Mark Mitchell put the numbers in context, saying, “In 20 years, the % of people who say the U.S. is headed in the right direction has never been higher than today.”

The pollster began conducting its right track-wrong track surveys in 2006.

The sharp-eyed and those critical of the administration were quick to note that, technically, 48% is not a majority. For that, you’d need 50%. Indeed, search “Rasmussen Right Direction” on X and you’ll find a run of people quoting Grok saying that same thing.

(Read more from “‘Uncharted Territory’: For the First Time, 50% Say America Is Heading in the Right Direction” HERE)

Thomas Massie Takes Apparent Swipe At Right-Wing Influencers After Angering MAGA

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Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie highlighted people accused of being “paid grifters” in a blisteringly critical Tuesday tweet, calling for disclosure of payments allegedly made for influence.

“If we’re going to have campaign disclosure laws at all, the paid grifters on X and other platforms should be required to disclose who’s paying them to influence elections,” Massie tweeted Tuesday morning.

Tuesday wasn’t the first time Massie called out those he claimed were “paid influencers.”

In January, popular social media creator “Catturd” appeared to threaten Massie with a defamation lawsuit after Massie seemed to call the creator out.

“Who are the most nenarded paid influencers on this platform?” Massie asked in a January tweet.

(Read more from “Thomas Massie Takes Apparent Swipe At Right-Wing Influencers After Angering MAGA” HERE)

HHS Scraps COVID Vaccine Schedule for Children and Pregnant Women: ‘It’s Common Sense, and It’s Good Science’

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The Health and Human Services Department announced Tuesday that the COVID vaccine will be dropped from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended vaccine schedule for healthy pregnant women and children.

By amending the vaccine schedule, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is combatting the residual COVID hysteria from former President Joe Biden’s administration. Kennedy made the highly anticipated announcement alongside Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Martin Makary, who serves as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said.

“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data, to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said.

“That ends today,” Bhattacharya added. “It’s common sense, and it’s good science.”

Prior to the announcement, the CDC recommended the COVID vaccine to any person over 6 months old, particularly people over the age of 65, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and women planning to conceive. (Read more from “HHS Scraps COVID Vaccine Schedule for Children and Pregnant Women: ‘It’s Common Sense, and It’s Good Science’” HERE)

Musk ‘Disappointed’ by Trump-Backed Spending Bill Amid $36 Trillion Debt Crisis

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Elon Musk said he is “disappointed” by the costs of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” passed by Republicans in the House last week.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” in an exclusive broadcast interview.

The remarks by Musk, who recently stepped back from running the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are in contrast to Trump, who backed the legislation, which still needs Senate approval.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed 215 to 214 in the House. All Democrats and two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, voted against the bill. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., voted “present.”

The bill is a victory for Trump and House Republicans, who overcame policy disagreements to deliver on Trump’s key campaign promises, including an extension of his 2017 tax cuts and no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security. (Read more from “Musk ‘Disappointed’ by Trump-Backed Spending Bill Amid $36 Trillion Debt Crisis” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

New Chinese COVID Strain Has Landed in the U.S., Affecting NYC

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A new, highly infectious COVID-19 strain that has led to a spike in hospitalizations in China has now been detected in the US, including cases in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new NB.1.81 variant was first detected in the US in late March and early April among international travelers arriving at airports in California, Washington State, Virginia and New York City, with additional cases reported in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii.

The CDC has said there are too few cases in the US to be properly tracked in the agency’s variant estimates, but experts are warning that the virus’ run in China shows it spreads more quickly than other dominant strains of the respiratory infection.

Experts have been closely tracking the NB.1.8.1 variant after it became the dominant strain in China this year, with cases surging all across Asia.

Hong Kong authorities say COVID-19 cases have spiked to the worst levels in at least a year after officials announced a “significant increase” in emergency room visits and hospitalizations in the last month due to the variant. (Read more from “New Chinese COVID Strain Has Landed in the U.S., Affecting NYC” HERE)

Trump Team Pauses New Student Visa Interviews as It Weighs Expanding Social Media Vetting

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A transgender TikToker, dressed in a blue leotard and pink Minnie Mouse ears, went on an angry rant after a waiter at a Disney World restaurant referred to him as “sir.” In response, the individual, who presents as a teenage girl, claimed the experience made him feel unsafe at Disney, a place often described as “the happiest place on Earth.”

“It makes me want to immediately, like, leave, because I no longer feel, like, safe here,” trans TikToker Lilly Contino said in a video posted to social media.

Contino was dining at Tiffins Restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park when the waiter, while explaining the first course, addressed him as “sir.”

“Coconut bread from Thailand?” Contino asked, to which the server replied, “Yes, sir.”

(Read more from “Trump Team Pauses New Student Visa Interviews as It Weighs Expanding Social Media Vetting” HERE)

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New Student Visa Interviews on Hold as Trump’s Team Considers Broader Social Media Investigation

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The Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting — a significant expansion of previous such efforts, according to a cable obtained by POLITICO.

In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering U.S. Embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, according to the cable, dated Tuesday and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If the administration carries out the plan, it could severely slow down student visa processing. It also could hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their financial coffers.

“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable states. (“Septel” is State Department shorthand for “separate telegram.”) (Read more from “New Student Visa Interviews on Hold as Trump’s Team Considers Broader Social Media Investigation” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

OpenAI CEO Whines to Congress About Pesky Regulations, Once More Insists the Tech’s Impact Will Be ‘As Big as the Internet, Maybe Bigger’

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OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told senators that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom “will be at least as big as the internet, maybe bigger,” pressing Congress to clear bottlenecks in energy, chips, and regulation as the United States jockeys for global dominance in the technology race.

The testimony was extensive, but there was a consistent theme: AI is incredibly advanced, helping hundreds of millions, and it’s vital that America leads the AI race. “ChatGPT is used by more than 500 million people a week,” Altman said. He continued, “It’s now the fifth biggest website on the internet globally growing very quickly.” Given the sweeping and global nature of OpenAI’s products, it’s more than clear he is on to something with his bold prediction.

According to Altman, America is leading the AI race and he is proud of how his country is supporting those efforts. But in order for America to stay ahead, “investment in infrastructure is critical. I believe the next decade will be about abundant intelligence and abundant energy.”

At a three‑hour Senate Commerce Committee hearing on May 8, Altman appeared alongside Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su, Microsoft (MSFT) vice‑chair Brad Smith, and CoreWeave (CRWV) co‑founder Michael Intrator. All four executives urged lawmakers to craft a single, “light‑touch” federal rulebook and accelerate permitting for power‑hungry data‑center projects.

Altman highlighted OpenAI’s Stargate super‑computing campus rising outside Abilene, Texas — a joint venture with Oracle (ORCL) expected to house 64,000 Nvidia (NVDA) GB200 GPUs by 2026 and draw roughly 200 megawatts in its first phase. But financing for the wider $100 billion national build‑out has slowed after fresh Trump‑era tariffs threatened to lift steel and server costs by up to 15%, according to investors briefed on the deal. (Read more from “OpenAI CEO Whines to Congress About Pesky Regulations, Once More Insists the Tech’s Impact Will Be ‘As Big as the Internet, Maybe Bigger’” HERE)

Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Star Mark Hamill Calls Trump ‘Dictator, Presi-Dementia’ in Unhinged Bluesky Screed

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Disney’s Star Wars star Mark Hamill has had enough of President Donald Trump and let fly Sunday with a string of epithets on social media to signal his displeasure.

Taking to his Bluesky account, Hamill laid out the following (all in capitals, as you would expect) veering from calling Trump a “dictator” through to describing him as “presi-dementia.”

PRESI-DEMENTIA/CON-MANDER-IN-CHIEF/FATTY SHACK/AYATOLLAH COMPLAINI/TANNIBAL LECTER/SCAMMY DAVIS JR./RICH LITTLE HANDS/HIPPOPOTUS/OUR FONDLING FARTER/TRUMPELSTILTSKIN/HUNGRY HUNGRY HYPOCRITE/DICTATOR TOT/UNCLE SCAM/QUID PRO COMBOVER/MANGO MUSSOLINI/FRANCIS FORD GROPE-ALA/ALEXANDER SCAMILTON <the end>

[image or embed]

— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) May 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM

Sneering and scorning Trump is nothing new for Hamill.

Last month he took it upon himself to apologize to Canada just as that country’s election saw Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party claim a massive federal election victory, as Breitbart News reported.

“Dear Canada. Please accept our deepest apologies from all decent Americans embarrassed by the obnoxious trolling from our man-baby-in-chief who is lacking in both intelligence & any impulse-control whatsoever,” Hamill wrote on Bluesky. (Read more from “Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Star Mark Hamill Calls Trump ‘Dictator, Presi-Dementia’ in Unhinged Bluesky Screed” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

‘How Does This Happen?’: Power Outages Hit Blue City On Holiday Weekend After Months Of Warnings

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New Orleans was plunged into darkness on Sunday afternoon when the region’s grid operator cut off power to reduce usage, a “last resort” measure to prevent a large-scale blackout, according to Nola.com, a local news outlet.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), a major electrical grid operator, directed the energy company Entergy to reduce power with only three minutes’ notice to prevent a blackout, affecting nearly 100,000 customers, according to Nola.com. Power was fully restored after several hours, though concerns about the power grid’s reliability remain as President Donald Trump’s administration, energy policy experts and multiple North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reports have signaled that MISO is at an elevated risk for blackouts due in part to phasing out coal-fired power plants.

“The forced outages were directed by MISO as a last resort, and done in order to prevent a more extensive, prolonged power outage that could severely affect the reliability of the power grid,” Entergy said in a Sunday statement.

“How does this happen?” New Orleans City Council member Joe Giarrusso told Nola.com. “There are lots of questions that need answering.”

Giarrusso and fellow New Orleans City Council member Helena Moreno said MISO warned Entergy of the outage just three minutes before turning off the power, though the reason for the short notice was unclear, according to Nola.com. The blackouts affected approximately 100,000 customers in and around New Orleans, according to 4WWL, a local CBS affiliate. (Read more from “‘How Does This Happen?’: Power Outages Hit Blue City On Holiday Weekend After Months Of Warnings” HERE)

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