DawgTalkers.net Forums Active Threads This Week

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrested in Miami, US Marshals Service tells AP

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges.

The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, agency spokesperson Brady McCarron told The Associated Press, placing the United States at the center of an international legal saga that has stretched from Romania to Britain.
Britain is seeking their extradition on rape and trafficking charges

British prosecutors announced Saturday that they were seeking the brothers’ extradition on charges alleging they raped and trafficked women between 2010 and 2017.

The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and flew to Florida on a private jet.

The brothers are expected to appear in Miami’s federal court early next week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations.

The pending charges in the United Kingdom accused the brothers of abusing women in an area north of London, where they grew up. Their lawyers had said they denied the allegations.

Joseph McBride, an attorney representing the Tate brothers, said in a phone interview Saturday evening that he has not been able to speak with his clients but called the new charges out of the U.K. “filth and slander” intended to derail defamation lawsuits filed by the brothers in the U.S.

“They’re pulling out all the stops to make sure these guys never get their day in court,” McBride said.

“We are confident that once a competent judge sees the facts, and once the Department of Justice confronts this egregious abuse of its own authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will walk free. America does not do Britain’s political dirty work.”

Tate has been banned from social media platforms for hate speech

Andrew Tate, 39, first reached a mainstream audience as a contestant on the U.K. reality television show “Big Brother” in 2016. He was removed from the show when a video surfaced that appeared to show Tate assaulting a woman. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Andrew Tate has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines. His most widely condemned rhetoric includes comments that women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for their attacks, graphic descriptions of how he might attack women and criticisms of people who seek treatment for mental illness.

The Tate brothers have consistently denied allegations of abuse and human trafficking, claiming that violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.

In a statement Saturday, the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Services said that in addition to the charges publicly announced against the brothers in 2025, involving alleged crimes against three women, it was bringing a total of 38 new charges related to “four further victims.”

Both brothers are accused of rape and human trafficking. Andrew Tate faces an additional charge of profiting from prostitution, and 19 charges “for offences relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography,” according to U.K. authorities.

“There is no place for male violence against women and girls, and we will continue to work tirelessly to support victims and investigate all reports made to us,” said Karena Thomas, an assistant chief constable of the Bedfordshire Police, which investigated the case.

https://apnews.com/article/tate-brothers-social-influencers-arrest-82b6638219839dcf653c09309da66f16

United Kingdom (2025–2026): In May 2025, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) brought 21 charges against the brothers regarding three victims. On July 18, 2026, following a new evidence file, the CPS authorized 38 additional charges and issued warrants for their arrest in Florida, bringing the total number of alleged victims to seven. They are currently facing extradition from the U.S. to the UK.

Romania (2022–2025): The brothers were initially arrested by Romanian authorities in December 2022 along with two women, leading to formal indictments in June 2023 for rape, human trafficking, and forming an organized crime group. Although they were prohibited from leaving the country for more than two years, a Romanian court lifted their travel restrictions in early 2025.

In addition to just coming off Trump's first term, about 20m ADDITIONAL people voted in 2020 and 2024 vs 2016 and 2012.

I agree 100%. Teams generally refer to it as potential. That's the top upside they can see in a player if everything goes perfect. And as we've seen, the players with the best odds of reaching that potential are generally chosen earlier in the draft. Of course teams do find diamonds in the rough later in the draft but statistics show the later in the draft a player is selected, the less odds of success they have.

I agree with all of you about trading Myles and what the Browns got in return with the trade. The only thing I take issue with, not with you certainly, is how now that he's gone some posters malign him as if he was a part of the problem. He is a generational player and the most talented player we had on this team. I understand the trade and why they felt the need to do so.

Joe Thomas didn't win games for us either but that still didn't make him any less great. I think the same could be said about Myles.

I stopped drinking several years ago myself but as with yourself I still go to Honky Tonks every now and then to listen to local bands. This is my favorite Honky Tonk song.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-hormuz-strait-war-july-18-2026-5adfef67554652580963684d9a663af2



US military says 2 troops are dead and 1 is missing after Iran attacks a base in Jordan



By JON GAMBRELL, TOQA EZZIDIN and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
Updated 2:06 PM EDT, July 18, 2026
Leer en español
Comments 491
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday announced its first troop deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, saying two were killed and another was missing in an attack on a base in Jordan.

They were killed Friday as the U.S. and partner forces defended against ballistic missile and drone attacks, a statement said. Four other service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and later discharged. The dead were not identified.

Since the war began, 16 U.S. service members have been killed and over 430 wounded.

Minutes earlier, Iran’s supreme leader warned of “unforgettable lessons” if the U.S. keeps attacking the Islamic Republic. The remarks read out on state TV and attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, still unseen since the war began, also called President Donald Trump’s signature “worthless and invalid.”

The comments came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed about a month ago and aimed at permanently ending the fighting.


Tehran’s declarations snapped another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight. Now Khamenei warns of “lessons” not only from Iran but its armed proxies in the region, calling them the “Axis of Resistance.”

The battle over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the essential waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. The strikes threaten civilians and infrastructure, including desalination plants for drinking water, while the global economy again is on alert.


The U.S. has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is “no longer implementing them,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.

There was no new word on mediation efforts.

Kuwait sees the most striking damage
The most significant damage from Iranian strikes on Saturday occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.

The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90% of its drinking water.


Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, according to the Kuwait Fire Force. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.

Meanwhile, Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defense systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, according to their governments.

The secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.



US strikes hit infrastructure in Iran
The U.S. Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.”

U.S. airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state TV reported. IRNA said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people, and that a desalination plant on strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait was damaged.

Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting one of the main highways toward Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port that sits near the narrowest part of the strait, according to Iran’s state-run news agency. IRNA said three bridges were hit Saturday, including one on a route to Bandar Abbas.


Iran acknowledged “attacks on power infrastructure” during the U.S. airstrikes for the first time Friday when its Energy Ministry issued a call for people to use less power in southern provinces “experiencing extreme heat.” It did not specify what was hit.

Iranian authorities said at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in U.S. strikes in the past three weeks, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday.



Iran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. That sent the price of oil soaring and has given Tehran significant leverage in negotiations.

Iran has said the strait must be under its sole control and that vessels should pay fees to Tehran, even though the world for decades has considered it an international waterway. It fired on ships on recent days. Crossings through the strait fell to a three-week low, according to an international shipping tracker.

Trump has resumed threats to target power stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold. The U.S. in the past week reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil.


A growing amount of the region’s energy is being shipped through pipelines, but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping.

Before the war began, the U.S. had been in talks with Iran over its nuclear program. Trump now faces political pressure to end the war and avoid the kind of prolonged Middle East conflict he had campaigned against.

If only you had any idea what that meant Joe McCarthy.

Yep. Same with robotics/robots replacing humans. At Amazon, where I work, we know the day will come, sooner or later.

Court blocks ‘arbitrary and capricious’ changes to FEMA grants

FEMA’s “abrupt change in policy is particularly harmful to local emergency management,” the judge stated.

Dive Brief:

The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon blocked the Trump administration from withholding grant money from states for emergency management, disaster relief and homeland security operations, stating that changes to the conditions and timing of the grants were “arbitrary and capricious.”

A coalition of 12 states sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in November after FEMA froze Emergency Management Performance Grant funds until states verified that population counts excluded people removed under federal immigration law — which required data states said they did not have access to. The administration also reduced the grant reimbursement window from three years to one.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in an emailed statement, called the decision “judicial sabotage” that “threatens the safety of our states, counties, towns,” and she said the Trump administration “will fight to restore these critical reforms and protect American lives.”

Dive Insight:

EMPG grants fund approximately 50% of Arizona’s emergency management functions, Hawai‘i’s public information and warning systems and equipment and training for Wisconsin’s SWAT and urban search and rescue teams, according to the Dec. 23 ruling. The funds were used for preparedness and response operations during 2024’s Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina and severe flash flooding in Maryland.

In their lawsuit, Arizona, Colorado, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Wisconsin and the governor of Kentucky said DHS and FEMA “provided no reasoned explanation (or, indeed, any explanation) for why they added this hold, no legal basis for adding the hold, and no guidance for States to use in attempting to comply.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Potter wrote in the Dec. 23 ruling that the rule changes forced states to “face a Hobson’s choice: accept the grant subject to a term they feel is unlawful or decline to accept.”

“This abrupt change in policy is particularly harmful to local emergency management,” Potter wrote.

Potter said that states have “no way of complying with the Population Certification Hold,” and the reimbursement window change would cause funding lapses that risk emergency management and homeland security capacities. “Many states and localities would not be reimbursed for emergency management expenses already incurred,” she wrote.

Therefore, Potter wrote, the grant changes are not “consistent with Congressional intent or FEMA’s mission.”

“The court saw through FEMA’s attempt to break the law and deny money that North Carolina relies on to respond to hurricanes, natural disasters, and other emergencies,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in a statement. “Our state is going to get back the $17 million that Congress promised so that our emergency responders and law enforcement officers are ready to respond to the next crisis.”

https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/FEMA-court-blocks-grant-changes-emergency-management/808824/

🤣 X 2

Trump endorses MyPillow's Mike Lindell in race for Minnesota governor

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/trump-endorses-mypillow-mike-lindell-for-minnesota-governor/

This sounds more like something that belongs in the joke thread but it's actually true.

Cabinet member works solely at the pleasure of the President. Each department has staff and a chain of command. If a cabinet member is not there that department continues to function regardless.

If an elected official is not there, they can not vote on bills or carry out their direct job to "represent the voters who elected them".

Cabinet members answer to the president. Elected officials answer to the voters.

Speaking of brain dead, anyone who can't see the difference and makes up excuses to the contrary fits that description.

Then there's the fact I posted that neither one is right. But you do you.

The Baker draft I studied for months.

I watched more tape than I ever have. I remember writing a long breakdown of each guy Darnold, Baker, Allen, Rosen, and Lamar.

I liked the first three. I did not like Rosen or Lamar. Lamar jumped off the tape as an escape artist but I felt he had a long way to go to be a passer in the NFL. Rosen had great throwing mechanics but I felt something was missing with him. I didn't detect a leader.

I remember thinking Allen was a monster who had the best upside. However, I had concerns with him playing hero ball and decision making.

Baker, I liked him. I could see he could spin it and he had pure leadership. His teammates loved him. My concern was his lack of mobility.

Darnold was the guy I wanted to draft. He was excellent throwing on the move. He had a good arm. He was raw and I felt he would need time.

Looking back I wonder where we would be now if we had drafted Allen.

The 27 draft has a bunch of guys. Right now I am going to let the season play out. See who sticks out.

New Air Force One Lacks Defensive Countermeasures of Previous Model, Officials Say

Experts said the lack of such capabilities poses a potential risk when the president travels overseas. The White House defended the aircraft’s safety.

The new Air Force One, which President Trump flew on earlier this week to Turkey, lacks the same defensive countermeasures that were security features of the old model, including its advanced antimissile capabilities, according to multiple officials who have been briefed on how the jet was retrofitted.

Experts say the absence of those capabilities on the Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which was donated by Qatar, creates potential risk in using the jet abroad, a dynamic underscored by the abrupt decision on Wednesday for Mr. Trump to leave Turkey on the old Air Force One at the urging of the Secret Service.

The episode is intensifying the focus on Mr. Trump’s demands to rapidly retrofit the donated 747 to replace an aging fleet that had served as the official presidential planes.

Lawmakers have called on the administration to disclose whether the overhaul of the Qatari plane, which the Air Force oversaw in the course of the last year, provided sufficient security upgrades. The safety of the aircraft is critical not only for the president, but also for the large entourage of White House staff, Secret Service officials, journalists and guests who fly aboard.

Mr. Trump pushed for the new plane to be put into use as quickly as possible and frequently complained that the old presidential aircraft was not impressive enough to take on international trips.

On Thursday, the White House did not address specific questions about the new plane’s capabilities, but defended its safety.

“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff,” Steven Cheung, the communications director, said in a statement. “As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”

The Air Force has declined to discuss specifics around security systems on the retrofitted Qatari plane, which is being used as a “bridge” aircraft while two Boeing jets that will be part of the permanent presidential fleet are being finished.

But in a statement it made when it announced that the donated jet was ready to transport the president, it acknowledged that the temporary plane did not have all the equipment usually found on an Air Force One.

“No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications,” the Air Force said in a statement on June 19. “But the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”

The Air Force would not say what it meant by “less commonly used mission sets.”

However, officials who have been briefed on the retrofitting of the Qatari jet, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe its security features, said it did not have the same counter-defensive capabilities of the previous model.

Two former Air Force officials, who had both been involved in the effort to replace the older Air Force One planes, said they were surprised to see Mr. Trump fly on the new jet overseas, where there are greater security risks. Turkey, where Mr. Trump attended a NATO summit, borders Iran, which the United States pummeled with renewed strikes this week.

The former officials were not involved with the retrofitting of the Qatari jet, but said the speed of the project meant there would not have been enough time to make all of the security modifications that are traditionally associated with a fully equipped presidential aircraft.

“Time didn’t permit all the normal Air Force One modifications, so some mix of security, communications and support is missing,” said Frank Kendall, the former Air Force secretary who was in charge of the department as it tried to push Boeing to accelerate its long-delayed contract to deliver two new Air Force One planes.

“With the Iran situation, this could be of concern,” Mr. Kendall said. “Frankly, I’m surprised to see this plane used outside the U.S.”

Andrew P. Hunter, the former Air Force assistant secretary who was in charge of the Air Force One program during the Biden administration, also said that a true retrofit of a 747 jet to prepare it to become Air Force One would require more than a year of work.

The day before Mr. Trump left for Turkey, Senate Democrats wrote to the Air Force asking questions about the modifications to the Qatari plane and questioning whether it had all the necessary security upgrades.

“Trump’s own statements — including his celebration of ‘a level of luxury that nobody’s ever seen before’ — make it clear that these decisions prioritized Trump’s personal comfort and tastes over U.S. national security,” they wrote in the letter sent by Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, and 12 other senators.

The older planes that served as Air Force One included a defensive system designed to defeat heat-seeking missiles. That capacity is also planned to be included in the new Boeing planes, according to three former Pentagon officials.

Different parts of the defensive systems are visible on the old Air Force One, under the wing of the plane and on its tail. They are not observable in photographs of the new Qatari plane, according to a third former Air Force official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the security protocols.

Missile defense systems on Air Force One have seen little use in the history of the aircraft, but have nevertheless been considered critical aspects of the plane’s security features.

The Pentagon published specifications for the Boeing aircraft now under construction that indicate the new jets will include a “self-defense system” and “mission communication system,” as these and other upgrades are needed “to enable the president to execute the duties of head of state, chief executive, and commander in chief.”

U.S. officials have said that Iran has been targeting Mr. Trump since he ordered the drone strike that killed Qassim Suleimani, in January 2020. During the 2024 campaign, the Secret Service increased protection for Mr. Trump, even before the attempt on his life in Butler, Pa., because of intelligence about Iran’s plotting against him.

Despite the resumption of intense U.S. strikes on Iran, American policymakers briefed on the current intelligence do not believe that Iran has a current plan to kill Mr. Trump during this period. A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe intelligence assessments, said that Iran had a clear understanding of what kind of deep provocation any attempt on Mr. Trump’s life would be and the intensity of an American response.

Nevertheless, the Secret Service was concerned enough about Mr. Trump’s proximity to the country while in Ankara to force the president to swap planes on the way out of the country, as The New York Times first reported Wednesday.

In announcing the change, Mr. Trump offered a different story: He claimed that he was flying out on the old plane so the new jet could leave early and make stops at U.S. military bases to show it off to the troops because the aircraft is “magnificent.”

One former senior White House official involved in discussions about military aircraft used for presidential travel said that there were frequently points of tension between White House staff and the military advisers and Secret Service over travel plans when security questions emerged.

But when the military experts demanded changes, White House officials generally let them prevail, with “course of action” plans that mitigated potential threats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/us/politics/new-air-force-one-defensive-countermeasures.html

And in response to the NYT exposing their incompetence.........................

DOJ subpoenas NYT journalists over Air Force One report

The Trump administration hit four New York Times journalists with subpoenas on Friday, after the outlet published a story outlining risks involving President Trump’s Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane that recently entered into service.

The Times reported that the refurbished jet lacked some of the advanced security measures of the older aircraft used to transport the president.

The reporters include Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt. They also wrote earlier this week that a security precaution forced Trump to depart to the NATO summit in Turkey on the old Air Force One, were called to testify next week before a federal grand jury in Manhattan “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.” The switch-up also raised red flags around potential threats against the president from Iran after the U.S. launched fresh strikes on the Islamic Republic earlier this week.

The outlet noted that before publication, a senior FBI official contacted it requesting to halt the article for national security reasons but declined to provide details. The subpoenas were reportedly delivered to the journalists at their homes by federal agents.

The Times condemned the move, calling it an act of intimidation and an attack on press freedom.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” Times attorney David McCraw said in a statement.

“Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,” he continued. “This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.”

Press advocates also denounced the Justice Department’s (DOJ) actions, saying the move threatens constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment.

“The Justice Department’s decision to subpoena journalists at The New York Times should alarm every American because it threatens the public’s constitutional right to an independent press,” the National Press Club said in a statement, requesting that DOJ withdraw the subpoenas.

The nonprofit organization Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) called the controversy around the Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 an “embarrassment” for the Trump administration.

“We’ve long said that when the government claims it needs to investigate journalists to protect national security, it really means its own reputational security,” FPF advocacy chief Seth Stern said in a statement.

“The administration’s embarrassment that it reportedly charged taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit a flying bribe that still isn’t secure enough for hostile times does not supersede the need for a free and independent press,” Stern added.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/polit...-times-journalists-air-force-one-report/

At least they didn't try to claim the problem was created by accusing someone of cutting the wiring of the plane with a knife.

I will watch Cavs, especially if LBJ returns and they hold court. Looking for official word.