Aggregator

The Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte for alleged insubordination.

A friend recently told me he was impressed that Gov. Gavin Newsom was standing up to California's public employee unions by requiring state workers to return to the office at least four days a week.

US Treasury Classifies Hezbollah As Arm Of The IRGC, Not A 'Stand-Alone' Group

The new US Treasury sanctions on Hezbollah unveiled Thursday do more than ever before in 'legally' classifying the Lebanese militant group as essentially an arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Treasury action - which is certainly not the first designation against the group - underscored that it operated in "service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

A State Department official characterized the re-designation as specifying that Hezbollah is an "Iranian proxy, not a stand-alone operation as implied by the previous designation."

"This action builds on years of US designations that have repeatedly documented the operational, financial, and logistical integration between Hizballah and the IRGC-QF," the official also stated, calling Hezbollah "an extension" of the IRGC's Quds Force.

"This underscores that Hezbollah operates with little to no regard for Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese people, or the Lebanese state," the US official added, which reflects longstanding Washington policy toward Lebanon.

The Treasury action had additionally targeted ten individuals accused of being part of a network that transfers cash to the Shia group.

Hezbollah has responded Friday by stating that this action "will not deter" its fighting against Israel.

"All these unjust sanctions and classifications will not deter us from adhering to the path of resistance and the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese to defend their land, sovereignty and resources," the fresh Hezbollah statement said.

The statement also asserted that the paramilitary group "does not need anyone to vouch for its Lebanese identity and patriotism." However, it boasted that "Our close and fraternal relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran is a relationship we cherish and are proud of."

While long-running cooperation between Iran and Hezbollah is obvious, including in the context of the Syrian proxy war - wherein the two defended Assad - most scholars of Lebanese history tend to see the group as springing out of a legitimately local or regional movement tied to Shia grievances and lack of representation in Lebanon's impoverished south.

It was largely a latecomer in the Lebanese Civil War, but has grown to be the most powerful and well-armed faction among all the different players in Lebanon. 

The group is even more powerful than the small Mediterranean country's national army, and has been in a decades long war with Israel for control of contested border regions, and standing against Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands as well as the Syrian Golan Heights.

But Washington's new action is ultimately tied to the broader economic war towards completely isolating Iran and its proxies - something likely to prove easier said than done, given Russia and China are not going to play along, as well as perhaps much of the Global South and BRICS nations.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 20:30

A jury in Vinton County delivered the new indictments on Friday — two months after police raided their home in Hamden, Ohio, and discovered the inhumane, feces-covered environment.

The Fever have made headlines for various reasons, including on-court incidents, sideline spats, arguing with officials and literal finger-pointing. 

Kyle Tucker’s Dodgers struggles have reached a breaking point, but Dave Roberts, Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández believe one moment could change everything.

Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman was arrested in June following an alleged domestic incident involving the mother of his child.

Let Americans Keep The Savings They Find

Authored by Wendy Barnes via RealClearPolitics,

As candidates spend the coming months telling voters how they would transform American health care, they should not overlook reforms that could make care more accessible and affordable without requiring complex new government programs.

Millions of Americans are already trying to make their health care dollars go further. They compare prices, explore alternatives to insurance, and choose lower-cost ways to obtain prescriptions and routine care. Yet federal policies often penalize them for doing exactly what policymakers say they want consumers to do: shop carefully and choose the best value option.

A practical health care affordability agenda should begin with a simple principle: When Americans use their own money to pay for legitimate health care, government rules should help that money go further.

Policymakers can put that principle into practice in two ways.

First, consumers should receive credit for the money they actually spend on prescriptions.

Consider a consumer whose insurance requires an $80 out-of-pocket payment for a prescription. That same drug may be available for $30 through a cash-pay option. Choosing the $30 price should be an easy decision.

But under many health plans, that spending may not count toward the consumer's deductible or annual out-of-pocket maximum because the prescription was purchased outside of traditional insurance. The consumer saves $50 at the pharmacy counter but forfeits credit for the $30 spent.

That is not how a system designed to encourage cost-conscious choices should work.

The Every Dollar Counts Act, introduced this year by Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D., offers a straightforward solution that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should support. It would require out-of-pocket spending on covered prescription drugs to count toward a consumer's deductible and out-of-pocket maximum regardless of where the medication is purchased.

Americans should not have to choose between finding the lowest available price and receiving the full value of their insurance. If enacted, this legislation would help remove that tradeoff.

Second, Congress should modernize flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) to reflect how people receive health care today. These accounts allow consumers to use pre-tax dollars for qualified medical expenses, but health care delivery is evolving more quickly than the rules governing which expenses qualify.

Consumers increasingly use low-cost memberships that provide access to discounted prescriptions, virtual visits, or other health care services. In many cases, a consumer can use FSA or HSA funds for the prescription or appointment itself, but not for the membership that unlocks the lower price.

Congress has already begun to recognize that health care memberships can be legitimate medical expenses. As of this year, certain direct primary care memberships can be paid tax-free from an HSA under a change implemented through IRS guidance. But that change is narrowly limited, leaving out broader memberships that may combine prescription savings, virtual care, and other services.

Lawmakers should extend the same principle to other health care memberships and to HSAs and FSAs. Clear eligibility standards and reasonable monthly limits could prevent abuse while allowing consumers to use their own health care dollars for services specifically designed to reduce the cost of care.

Neither of these proposals would replace insurance or require Washington to construct a new health care system. They would simply update existing policies to reflect how Americans already seek and pay for care.

Candidates will continue debating ambitious plans throughout the election season. But affordability is also shaped by technical rules with very real consequences: whether a consumer's spending counts, whether personal health care funds can be used, and whether someone can confidently choose a lower price.

Washington should give people credit for making responsible health care decisions. When Americans find a legitimate way to pay less for the care they need, public policy should reward that choice.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

Wendy Barnes is president and CEO of GoodRx, the leading platform for prescription access and affordability.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 20:05

Klay Thompson, who had been tied to the Lakers this summer, reached a buyout agreement with the Nuggets on Friday and plans to sign a two-year, $13 million deal with the Heat.  What does that mean for the Purple and Gold?  Thompson was far from the perfect fit for the Lakers, even though the team very...

Faris shares Jack with devoutly religious ex-husband Chris Pratt.

Faris shares Jack with devoutly religious ex-husband Chris Pratt.

Happy wide release weekend toTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

The pledge is about standing for “capitalism, safety, fiscal responsibility, effective government, common purpose, and patriotism” — and it can’t even get a dozen Dem signers?

The influential group – the nation’s largest GOP organization dedicated to representing lesbian, gay and bisexual conservatives and allies – voted to scrap the “T,” after more than a decade of support for transgender issues.

A paraglider came crashing down onto a California cliff Wednesday and got stranded roughly 500 feet below the top, forcing rescuers to pull him out by helicopter. The solo pilot crashed just north of Mussel Rock in Daly City shortly after 4 p.m. and was found trapped on “extremely rough terrain,” according to Daly City...

The Yankees absorbed one more blow Friday in McMahon, who had hoped to avoid the injured list and could not, and acknowledged another blow in Fried could have been far worse.

He is so important and has such a troubling injury history that whenever it looks as if Andrew Thomas tweaks something it's cause for alarm.

Chase Curtis did his best to make sure no one knew his age when he first arrived with the Jets.

Brock Purdy’s wife, Jenna, shared a sweet video about soaking in family time with daughter Millie before the San Francisco 49ers' NFL season begins.

A Northern California family is mourning three deaths, including two young children, after police say their uncle, Sergio Rivera-Vega, set a deadly house fire.