It is not uncommon for Congress to discreetly insert controversial special-interest provisions into expansive, must-pass legislation when public attention is diverted elsewhere.

However, according to recent claims from Capitol Hill, a new level of subterfuge may be occurring: Congress is allegedly on the cusp of ceding control of the US military to a foreign power, something unprecedented in its history.

The House has passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an extensive bill with a staggering $1.15 trillion budget. Embedded within its pages is a contentious provision purportedly aiming to “merge” the military forces of the United States and Israel.

Section 219 of the bill has become a lightning rod for criticism from an array of political figures known for their contrasting views on Israel. This unexpected coalition of voices, ranging from Marjorie Taylor Greene to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and from Tucker Carlson to Cenk Uygur, has condemned what they perceive as a breach of American integrity.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has expressed strong opposition, stating that the provision poses “an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene has said anyone who voted for the bill “sold out the American people to a foreign country.”

Tucker Carlson wants literal treason trials. 

So, what is the substance of Section 219? Legislation often has obfuscatory titles but this provision is deemed, with admirable clarity, The United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. 

It calls for the secretary of Defense to designate “an executive agent” to coordinate between the US and Israel on “bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.”

The Pentagon will come up with a plan for such cooperation and report back to Congress.

That’s it. There is nothing about merging the general staffs of the US military and the IDF; nothing about creating a joint office where Pete Hegseth and his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, work together; nothing about giving Bibi Netanyahu partial control of CENTCOM.

That the United States would want a close working relationship with Israel on military technology is hardly surprising.

Israel is one of the world’s most innovative societies and, given its precarious security environment, has become a leader in advanced defense technologies.

That a nefarious interpretation of the bill has gotten some traction underlines how any preposterous lie, so long as it’s about Israel, gets a hearing these days. 

Like many conspiracy theories, this one depends on a dark view of American society.

We are allegedly so corrupt that we are handing control of our military to a foreign country without any senior military leaders or officials in an “America First” administration lodging a complaint.

No wonder Tucker Carlson wants the kind of tribunals that attended the end of World War II. 

At the first Nuremberg Trials, Wilhelm Keitel was found guilty of crimes against humanity and hanged; at the second Nuremberg Trials, Mike Johnson will be found guilty of supporting mutually beneficial technology-sharing between allies — means of execution yet to be determined.

One perversity here is that Bibi Netanyahu conceives of the technological cooperation as a substitute for the US military aid that he supports phasing out.

In other words, enemies of Israel oppose US military aid and when a constructive plan is offered for how to go about ending it, they oppose that, too, as an Israeli plot. 

Another perversity is that the United States should want a very close relationship with Israel regarding, say, missile defense, an area where Israel excels and that, as we’ve seen in the Ukraine and Iran wars, is crucial to modern warfare.

And yet, the same people who portray themselves as zealously protective of the US national interest want us to turn our back on a source of technological advance. 

Israel naturally fits in the Western alliance, but nations ultimately pursue their selfish interests.

If we spurn the Jewish state out of irrational animus, it will inevitably look elsewhere and perhaps build a stronger relationship with China. 

Then, we will surely be told by the same people now obsessed with ending the US-Israel relationship that Israel showed its true colors and deserves even more of our scorn.

X: @RichLowry

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci quietly stood as one of Washington’s most respected figures, diligently serving under seven different presidents in his role as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Throughout nearly half a century, Fauci garnered bipartisan appreciation for his pivotal efforts in battling diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and SARS. While known well within presidential circles, earning accolades like the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush and praise from Barack Obama, he remained largely behind the scenes to the general public.

However, in January 2020, the discovery of a ‘novel virus’ in the United States catapulted Fauci into an unforeseen level of fame, morphing him from a renowned yet low-profile expert into a global household name almost overnight.

‘The public admiration has been overwhelming,’ Fauci expressed in his personal diary in March 2020, recounting how individuals ranging from young interns to seasoned White House veterans approached him with gratitude, seeking to congratulate him and even requesting selfies.

This diary entry is just one among more than 1,100 pages that Fauci reportedly documented on US government servers during his time as a pivotal figure in President Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force.

Health and Human Services director Robert F Kennedy said Monday that he gave the material to Senator Rand Paul, who released it this past weekend. These contents will likely serve as the gunpowder for inevitably explosive Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearings, overseen by Chairman Paul, on Wednesday.

As early as September 2020, Paul, a trained medical doctor, established himself as Fauci’s chief antagonist. He challenged Fauci’s vaccine and masks mandates, safe-distancing recommendations and lockdown and school closure proposals.

Perhaps more than anything else, Paul clashed with Fauci over whether COVID was a naturally occurring virus that emerged from the wet markets of Wuhan, China or the result of a laboratory experiment gone wrong.

Paul argued evidence showed the National Institutes of Health, run by Fauci’s boss Dr Francis Collins and with Fauci’s knowledge, funded risky ‘gain-of-function’ research in China that potentially created the disease.

‘We’re saying they are gain-of-function viruses, because they were animal viruses that became more transmissible in humans and you funded it. And you won’t admit the truth,’ Paul told Fauci in a furious July 2021 hearing.

Fauci: ‘You are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individuals… I totally resent that.’

Paul: ‘It could have been. It could have been.’

Fauci: ‘If anybody is lying here, senator it is you.’

The diary only adds more fuel to this raging dispute. 

On January 26, 2020, Fauci wrote: ‘Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier… Having said that, somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans.’

Days later, Fauci noted that scientists called him to say they believed the virus was ‘either accidentally released or deliberately released by a crazy person in the lab, the former being the most likely.’

Expect that to be a flashpoint on Wednesday.

Yet, the diary itself has generated surprisingly little curiosity in establishment quarters, despite its revealing portrait of one of the most influential public officials of the modern era.

Fauci’s old guard media defenders are already preparing their defense. CNN’s Brian Stelter laughably wrote: ‘While MAGA media ridicules Fauci’s ‘obsession’ with fame, the diary entries read more like someone documenting the objectively wild speed at which a government immunologist became internationally famous.’ Stelter, meanwhile, neglected to chronicle the chummy on- and off-air relationship between Fauci and his CNN colleague, Jake Tapper.

The fact that Fauci is no longer in the government may explain the lack of mainstream media coverage. Perhaps there is scant interest because of President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci in the closing days of his presidency largely extinguished the possibility of any criminal prosecution for perjury. More likely to me, it is because the press and popular culture seem to like Fauci more than they like Trump – and because Fauci served as a foil to Trump in the President’s first term.

Late-night hosts competed to book him. The Washington Nationals invited him to throw out the first pitch at Major League baseball’s opening day. Brad Pitt portrayed him admiringly on Saturday Night Live, while Matthew McConaughey told him: ‘Not all heroes wear capes. You are a shining example of that.’

Fauci’s likeness appeared on candles, T-shirts, bobbleheads and coffee mugs. Television anchors thanked him for his service before every interview, not a standard professional greeting. One interviewer called him ‘the coolest man on the planet.’ Another described him as ‘a godsend.’

Here’s the thought experiment I can’t shake. Imagine if White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, not Anthony Fauci, had kept a White House diary filled with giddy entries about television bookings and celebrity admirers, all while serving at Trump’s right hand through national crises.

Does anyone honestly believe the coverage would be, ‘Nothing to see here?’ Every honest editor in America knows that every front page and cable TV panel would be busy diagnosing the breathtaking narcissism. There would be endless thought pieces about vanity, ego and the corrupting effects of fame.

What makes the newly released diary notable is not that famous people admired Fauci. It’s that Fauci himself seems so captivated by their regard. The diaries do not present as the historic record of a public servant trying to navigate a once-in-a-century emergency. Instead, they read as a rapturous catalog of his personal fame, on celebrity encounters, media invitations (Jonathan Karl’s book party and private dinners with Jake Tapper and his wife) and frustrations about not appearing on television often enough.

Even on days when thousands of American citizens died of the disease, Fauci’s entries centered on his private brand success.

None of it, to Fauci’s defenders, yet proves misconduct. The entries do, however, reveal something ignominious and timeless about Washington.

Fame is an intoxicant. Very few people prove immune to it, particularly those who spend decades laboring in obscurity before suddenly finding themselves treated like rock stars.

Wednesday’s hearing will likely hinge on what much of the press will say about it afterward.

To many Democrats, Fauci remains exactly what he has been for decades: an American hero who devoted his life to public service, guided the country through an unprecedented catastrophe and became the target of relentless attacks for simply following the science.

Many Republicans see an almost perfectly inverted picture: an unelected bureaucrat who accumulated extraordinary influence, made flawed decisions, resisted accountability and became the embodiment of an establishment unwilling to admit mistakes.

The hearing won’t settle the lab-leak debate, rewrite the history of lockdowns or change many minds, but it may remind us of something else: how deeply the COVID pandemic divided the nation and how desperately we are still in need of healing.

SAN DIEGO — Get ready for an immersive journey into the “Star Wars” universe, where artifacts and interactive storytelling await fans eager to explore a galaxy far, far away up close.

In an exciting reveal at San Diego Comic Con this past weekend, creators behind the ambitious project “Star Wars: The Experience” offered a tantalizing glimpse into the upcoming exhibition. This historic showcase is a joint effort by Lucasfilm, Disney Consumer Products, the Franklin Institute, and MDSX Creative, commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Star Wars,” which first enchanted audiences in 1977.

“‘Star Wars’ resonates differently with everyone,” stated Matt Martin, Senior Creative Executive at Lucasfilm. “Our focus is on capturing the essence of ‘Star Wars’ storytelling throughout its remarkable 50-year journey.”

Spanning 18,000 square feet, the exhibition comprises galleries that blend personalized interactive experiences with a deep dive into the franchise’s rich history. Among the many treasures, visitors will encounter screen-used artifacts on public display for the first time, including Darth Maul’s iconic lightsaber and Darth Vader’s menacing costume. The showcase features over 70 artifacts ranging from beloved characters such as Grogu, R2-D2, and C-3PO, to legendary vehicles and props like a speeder bike from “Andor.”

“Engaging all your senses is a crucial element when experiencing ‘Star Wars’,” explained Portia Fontes, Lucasfilm’s Manager of Physical Assets. “It’s the combination of touching, listening, and fully immersing oneself in the sights and sounds of ‘Star Wars’ that truly completes the experience. Imagine hearing those iconic sounds while viewing these legendary artifacts—it’s just like being in a movie.”

The exhibit aims to showcase the evolution across the franchise’s five decades, particularly the technical innovations in filmmaking that “Star Wars” helped pioneer. The displays help track years of artistic ingenuity from analog special effects to hyper-realistic digital imaginations.

“One of our goals is we do want to inspire the next generation,” Owner and CCO of MDSX Creative Dan Picard said. “We want to get the superfan and the non-fan alike to really dial into this.”

The exhibition is also full of radio-frequency interaction points that will help customize the experience. Guests will choose whether to follow the light side or the dark side at the beginning of their journey, a decision that will curate how the galleries react.

The panelists also hinted that attendees of this year’s D23: The Ultimate Fan Event in August will receive a sneak peek at the exhibit: a smaller version of the Han Solo carbonite gallery on the Anaheim show floor, teasing the larger experience to come next year.

“That world building that they basically invented in film, we get to help tell that story of how it evolved over the years,” Picard said. “I think it’s going to be really exciting for people to see in this different way.”

“Star Wars: The Experience” opens in February 2027 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Lucasfilm and this ABC station.

Revelations about Nolan Wells’ final moments continue to unfold, adding layers to the mystery surrounding his death. A recently obtained document has surfaced, indicating that Wells’ alcohol consumption was noted as “heavy.” This detail came to light as authorities scoured Horn Island for Wells during the Fourth of July festivities.

The document in question, an email dated July 5 from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Marine Patrol, was directed to the U.S. Coast Guard amid the search efforts for the missing teen.

This email, besides offering a physical description and pinpointing Wells’ last known whereabouts, mentioned “Heavy” alcohol consumption. However, the origin of this information remains unspecified.

A promising freshman at Ole Miss, Wells hailed from Jackson, Mississippi. He vanished while enjoying a boating escapade to Horn Island with his friends. The intensive search operation, joined by multiple agencies, concluded on July 6 when his body was eventually discovered.

Authorities have not publicly identified a cause or manner of death, and the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s autopsy and toxicology results remain pending.

The newly reported details come days after a private autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family concluded his cause and manner of death were “undetermined pending investigation.”

During a July 22 news conference, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said an area of “red discoloration” was found on the back of Wells’ head but said Dr. Roger Mitchell, who performed the independent autopsy, could not determine a cause or manner of death pending further investigation. 

“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” host Nancy Grace later discussed the findings on her show, where she raised additional questions about the investigation.

She pointed to what she described as deep red tissue beneath the skin at the back of Wells’ head and said the independent pathologist did not receive Wells’ lungs or throat when conducting the second autopsy.

Grace also questioned whether those findings could be significant but emphasized that she did not know what caused Wells’ death and noted there were “many accidental possibilities.”

“There is deep, red, subcutaneous tissue” on the back of Wells’ head, Grace said, adding that the discoloration was localized rather than consistent with postmortem blood pooling.

Grace then questioned why the lungs and throat were unavailable during the independent examination.

“When the second autopsy got the body, the lungs and the throat were missing,” Grace said. “I understand why they took the lungs to determine if he had drowned, but why was the neck missing? What about the interior of the throat sparked the initial medical examiner’s concern?”

She stressed that those questions remain speculative until investigators release additional findings.

“I don’t know,” Grace said. “There are many accidental possibilities.”

The Jackson County District Attorney has defended the investigation amid growing public scrutiny, saying authorities are following standard procedures and awaiting forensic testing before drawing conclusions.

Authorities have not announced whether foul play is suspected.

News Media has reached out to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office for comment.

Entering the NBA picture back in 2003, LeBron James has consistently been a game-changer, elevating teams with his presence. Remarkably, this effect is already visible with the Philadelphia 76ers, even though he has yet to step onto the court for them.

After the franchise signed James, there was a notable leap in the Vegas odds regarding their regular-season wins.

FanDuel had initially estimated Philadelphia’s season win total at 46.5 following Jaylen Brown’s contract. However, with James’ recruitment in free agency, expectations soared to 50.5 wins.

This leap places Philly among elite company in the Eastern Conference, where the only other team projected for 50 or more wins is the New York Knicks, eyed at 51.5 wins.

James’ career is a testament to winning, with 14 out of 23 seasons boasting over 50 wins. The 76ers, on the other hand, have achieved this feat just four times during the same period, their most recent triumph being in the 2022-23 season when Joel Embiid was crowned MVP of the league.

With the biggest moves of the offseason seemingly in the rearview mirror, the Sixers have higher expectations than the Celtics, with whom they made one of the biggest trades in recent memory, and the Pistons, who led the East with 60 wins.

The floor may be high for the 76ers, but the ceiling is a bit lower than the rest of the field.

Their odds to win 55 or more games are +280, which are longer than the Celtics (+190) and only slightly better than the Pistons (+290).

Philly’s odds to finish with the No. 1 seed in the conference are +600, which are lower than Boston’s (+400) and just a shade above Detroit’s (+650).

Betting on the NBA?

That’s a sign that sportsbooks are not entirely sold on the Sixers blowing the league out of the water.

The combination of James entering at age 42 this season, Embiid’s unreliability — 96 total games in the past three regular seasons — and the fact that they have to integrate Brown into the starting lineup could make reaching their highest heights difficult.

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.

Kyle Shanahan has taken responsibility for a car accident that left him with several injuries, as he informed reporters recently. The head coach of the San Francisco 49ers opened up about the incident during a conversation with local beat writers.

The crash occurred on July 14 in Northern California, and Shanahan shared details of the event from his office at the team’s facility. He revealed that the unfortunate incident happened near his home in Palo Alto.

At age 46, Shanahan collided with a nearby SUV, resulting in a broken nose, hand, and three ribs. He also required over 40 stitches to his face and suffered a severe concussion from the impact.

After the accident, paramedics transported Shanahan to a local hospital, though he was discharged the same day. ESPN reported that the other driver involved was unharmed, and both drugs and alcohol were ruled out as factors in the crash.

The coach, who is married to Mandy and has three children – son Carter and daughters Stella and Lexi – explained that his cell phone had slipped off his lap, falling between the seats. In reaching for it, he inadvertently steered his vehicle into an adjacent lane, leading to the collision with the SUV.

A clerical error in the local law enforcement’s database had attributed the crash to the female driver of the SUV, prompting Shanahan to clear it up. 

Shanahan added he was driving at 20mph and, at impact, his airbag deployed and broke his nose. He also revealed he remembered the crash clearly and never lost consciousness.

The California Post obtained a short clip of the dispatch audio from the crash and one officer can be heard saying to the first responders that one driver is ‘bleeding from the head.’

On Monday’s episode of Pro Football Talk Live, NFL insider Chris Simms revealed he had seen pictures of Shanahan’s grisly injuries and he was lucky to still have his eyesight.

‘I get a text from Kyle’s wife, Mandy. She texts myself and my wife, and it’s like, “Oh no, Kyle’s been a part of some horrible accident”,’ Simms said.

‘And she sent us some pictures right off the bat, and it was like, “Oh my gosh.” So just to let you know, paint the picture, you’ve seen the injury report, the broken ribs, 40 stitches in the face, the broken nose, broken left hand. Of course, the bad concussion.

‘But when you first see it, and it’s fresh, and some of the cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring. It’s jarring.

‘He was this close to maybe losing his right eye, right? The scar is so big right here. And so all that stuff was just crazy to see. And, of course, I was thinking of my friend, but yeah, it’s tough. And he’s still battling with this concussion. . . . He’s healing.

‘His face looks a whole lot better, but this concussion, of course, being a part of that kind of accident is lingering and it’s giving him issues, and he’s certainly still dealing with that.’

As a result of his injuries, Shanahan will be limited in what he can do during 49ers training camp although he was pictured watching practice on Sunday in a major sign he’s on the road to recovery.

His longtime ally Chris Foerster, who serves as assistant head coach, has taken on a bigger role in training camp with help from new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. 

The 49ers’ general manager, John Lynch, told reporters on Saturday that he expects Shanahan to be healthy enough to coach the team in their opening game against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne on September 10.

‘The timeline kind of takes care of itself. He’s got to meet certain markers,’ Lynch told reporters on Saturday. ‘But I think the expectation is that long before that he’ll be better.’

Shanahan, the son of legendary NFL head coach and two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan, has been in charge of the 49ers since 2017.

He was poached after his Falcons offense led the league in points scored and helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2016, when Atlanta infamously let a 28–3 lead slip to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

The 49ers are once again considered among the contenders to win the NFC and reach the Super Bowl this season with a star-studded roster that includes Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Brock Purdy. 

On a solemn Tuesday, a judge delivered a life sentence without parole to a teenager responsible for the tragic deaths of two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School, located in Georgia. This sentencing marked the culmination of a tragic chapter following the harrowing school shooting.

Sixteen-year-old Colt Gray admitted to a daunting list of 55 charges, including murder, regarding the infamous shooting on September 4, 2024. At the time of the crime, Gray was just 14, committing an act that would forever alter the lives of families and the community 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. Despite his age, Gray was prosecuted as an adult.

During the sentencing, Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm listened intently to the poignant and emotional testimonies from the victims’ loved ones and surviving victims themselves. Contributions also came from legal experts, including a forensic psychologist familiar with Gray, and individuals close to the family such as Gray’s grandmother and a counselor from the juvenile detention center.

In Georgia, the standard punishment for murder begins with life imprisonment, potentially with parole. However, Judge Nicholas Primm faced the heavy burden of deciding if parole might ever be an option for Gray. His judgment was resolute, concluding that parole should not be granted to Gray under any circumstances.

As the courtroom proceedings unfolded, District Attorney Brad Smith staunchly advocated for the protection of society by asserting that Gray poses too substantial a risk to ever rejoin the community outside of prison confines.

“We’ve seen no evidence he has any ability to develop a conscience or any ability ever to fully value human life,” Smith said.

Defense attorney W. Charlton Allen told the judge his client is “not irretrievably broken.” Giving him the possibility of parole would give him “an opportunity of hope,” Allen said, adding that without hope, “that takes away the ability for him to change.”

Teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, died in the shooting. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them hit by gunfire.

Victims of the shooting and family members of those killed conveyed their anger and grief to Primm on Friday, almost all of them asking him to impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Shayna Aspinwall, the wife of math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall, described “a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind.”

Investigators say Colt Gray aspired to be a mass shooter

Investigators testified during the sentencing hearing that Gray idolized other mass shooters, talking about them online with other members of the “true crime community,” a group of young people online who are fascinated with such attacks. Gray had chatted online about gaining notoriety through a school shooting and his admiration for previous mass shooters.

Prosecutors played recordings of phone conversations Gray had with his mother, Marcee Gray, from a youth detention center in the months after the shooting. During those calls, he directed his mother to look up what people were saying about him online. When she described “fan art” drawings depicting him or comments people made about him, he asked her how much engagement those posts were getting and seemed excited when they were getting a lot.

Gray had the “mental wherewithal” to mimic details of other mass killings on the day of the shooting, Smith said. He took steps to place those “Easter eggs,” anticipating that they would be mentioned in court one day and would perpetuate his fame, the prosecutor said.

“The shooting was not the culmination of the plan. The shooting was just one of the steps of the plan. The plan was ultimate and lifelong fame inside of the TCC,” Smith said, referencing the “true crime community.”

Colt Gray’s grandmother says he needed help

“Colt got less stability than he needed, which made him even more vulnerable,” Allen argued, arguing that his client got wrapped up in an online community where he found the acceptance he craved but wasn’t getting at home.

Gray’s maternal grandmother, Debbie Polhamus, testified that the teen had a troubled childhood and that his parents failed him. Her grandson had grown “highly agitated and aggressive” in the weeks before the shooting, she said, adding that she had urged his parents to get him some help but they didn’t follow through.

“I tried to help Colt because nobody else was helping him,” she said.

Polhamus said she visits her grandson once a week at a youth detention center and that he has improved enormously with treatment and medication. She said her grandson has been doing a lot of reading and wants to study to get a GED diploma.

“I’d like to see him have a chance at some point to prove himself,” Polhamus said.

Gray was put in foster care while in detention because his father was in prison and there were concerns about his mother’s contact with him. Candice Broce, director of the state Division of Family & Children Services and commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Services, managed his case.

Broce testified that Gray appeared to show improvement. After Marcee Gray was barred from speaking with her son by a July 2025 no-contact order and he started taking medication, staff at the youth detention center told Broce it “changed him essentially into a different child,” she said.