Why Germans Were Terrified of American Infantry — But Not British or Other Allied Troops
This is fascinating!
Why German Generals Misjudged American Infantry — Until It Was Too Late
57:02
https://youtu.be/Jr-nca49DZw
Democratic Party Insiders Behind Anchor Baby Hospital Network.
Its Founder Received a Biden Lifetime Achievement Award. His Daughter Sits in a DCCC Leadership Circle.1/2
AUG 15, 2026
Prime Healthcare leaders cultivated ties to Biden, Obama, Harris, Newsom and other top Democrats while their hospitals marketed “Birth Packages in South Texas” to pregnant women abroad.
Prime Healthcare leaders cultivated ties to Biden, Obama, Harris, Newsom and other top Democrats while their hospitals marketed “Birth Packages in South Texas” to pregnant women abroad.
Two Texas hospitals under investigation for allegedly marketing childbirth packages to foreign women belong to a politically connected healthcare empire led by a Biden-honored billionaire and a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s leadership network.
Dr. Prem Reddy founded Prime Healthcare and created the nonprofit Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center, the two hospitals now under investigation.
In 2024, Reddy received the Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award.
His daughter, Dr. Kavitha Bhatia, now serves as president and chair of the $1.8 billion Prime Healthcare Foundation. Prime’s own biography identifies Bhatia as a member of the DCCC Leadership Circle for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Ro Khanna.
Prime also prominently displays Reddy, Bhatia and other company leaders with Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Hillary Clinton, Karen Bass and Judy Chu.
While Prime’s leadership built relationships with some of the Democratic Party’s most powerful figures, its Texas hospitals were promoting discounted childbirth packages abroad through a website called:
HaveMyBabyInTexas.com.
“Are You Pregnant, Living Abroad?”
Texas officials began investigating after uncovering foreign billboards advertising “Birth Packages in South Texas.”
The Spanish-language advertisements promoted natural deliveries for $3,950 and cesarean deliveries for $5,525, directing prospective patients to the Have My Baby in Texas website.
A Mission Regional social-media advertisement reportedly asked:
“Are you pregnant, living abroad, and looking to welcome your baby in South Texas?”
The packages included private delivery and postpartum rooms, prenatal classes, breastfeeding assistance and neonatal intensive care discharge education.
The campaign used an international telephone number and featured testimonials from foreign patients, including a woman from Mexico City.
An archived version of the website identified both Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center as participating hospitals. Texas officials also cited a Mission Regional Instagram post from July 2023, suggesting the campaign operated publicly for years.
Texas Health and Human Services referred the matter to Attorney General Ken Paxton after receiving information that healthcare providers receiving state or federal funding may have been soliciting birth tourism.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Prime’s Democratic Power Network
Prime’s political relationships extend far beyond Reddy’s Biden-branded award.
The company’s own advocacy page showcases Prime leaders with Biden and Jill Biden, Obama, Harris and Doug Emhoff, Newsom, Whitmer, Clinton, Bass and Chu.
While Prime’s leadership built relationships with some of the Democratic Party’s most powerful figures, its Texas hospitals were promoting discounted childbirth packages abroad through a website called:
HaveMyBabyInTexas.com.
“Are You Pregnant, Living Abroad?”
Texas officials began investigating after uncovering foreign billboards advertising “Birth Packages in South Texas.”
The Spanish-language advertisements promoted natural deliveries for $3,950 and cesarean deliveries for $5,525, directing prospective patients to the Have My Baby in Texas website.
https://nataliegwinters.substack.com/p/democratic-party-insiders-behind
==2/2
A Mission Regional social-media advertisement reportedly asked:
“Are you pregnant, living abroad, and looking to welcome your baby in South Texas?”
The packages included private delivery and postpartum rooms, prenatal classes, breastfeeding assistance and neonatal intensive care discharge education.
The campaign used an international telephone number and featured testimonials from foreign patients, including a woman from Mexico City.
An archived version of the website identified both Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center as participating hospitals. Texas officials also cited a Mission Regional Instagram post from July 2023, suggesting the campaign operated publicly for years.
Texas Health and Human Services referred the matter to Attorney General Ken Paxton after receiving information that healthcare providers receiving state or federal funding may have been soliciting birth tourism.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Prime’s Democratic Power Network
Prime’s political relationships extend far beyond Reddy’s Biden-branded award.
The company’s own advocacy page showcases Prime leaders with Biden and Jill Biden, Obama, Harris and Doug Emhoff, Newsom, Whitmer, Clinton, Bass and Chu.
Prime says its executives supported Biden administration healthcare priorities and worked with Newsom on Medicaid access and Covered California.
Reddy has also contributed to Democratic heavyweights including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Al Gore and John Kerry, and was later honored with awards bearing the names of President Joe Biden and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
His daughter, Dr. Kavitha Bhatia’s, ties to the Democratic Party extend well beyond ceremonial photographs. Prime Healthcare’s own executive biography identifies the woman who chairs the foundation controlling both hospitals as a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Leadership Circle for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Ro Khanna.
Kavitha Bhatia shared a personal note from Joe Biden telling her to “Keep the Faith,” while writing that she was “truly grateful to have worked with President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration.”
Bhatia has also put money behind Democratic candidates. Campaign-finance records show she contributed $5,250 to Democrat Brian Goldsmith’s 2026 California state Senate campaign. Goldsmith is campaigning against Trump’s immigration crackdown, denouncing what he calls “unconstitutional ICE raids.” Bhatia has also contributed $3,000 to Democratic California state Sen. Anna Caballero. Federal campaign-finance databases additionally identify Bhatia as a contributor to the Harris Victory Fund and Harris for President in 2023.
Her proximity to Democratic leaders has been personal as well as financial. In 2024, Bhatia described attending an “unforgettable evening” with Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Gavin Newsom, writing that she was “truly grateful to have worked with President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration.” The event she described was Biden’s star-studded Los Angeles reelection fundraiser featuring Obama and Jimmy Kimmel, which raised more than $30 million for Biden’s campaign.
Bhatia further wrote that she had previously spoken with Obama during his presidency about expanding healthcare access and said that work “now continues with Governor Newsom.” Prime has separately boasted that Biden and Jill Biden met with Bhatia and her father, Prem Reddy, in 2022, when the president recognized what the company called Prime’s “invaluable partnership with the Administration.”
https://nataliegwinters.substack.com/p/democratic-party-insiders-behind
Musk’s $100 mn gamble helps mend rift with Trump – WSJ
The tech billionaire is reportedly planning to make a generous contribution to help Republicans in the November midterm elections
Published 15 Aug, 2026 19:07
US-based tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump have rekindled their friendship after falling out last year,with Musk preparing a major donation to Republicans for the midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people who accompanied the two to China.
Relations between the two men soured in mid-2025 when Musk attacked Trump’s signature tax-and-spending package, calling the draft “utterly insane and destructive.”The rift came despite Musk’s outsized role in the 2024 election cycle.After Trump’s victory, the billionaire was appointed to head the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk’s return to Trump’s inner circle became apparent during their flight to Beijing in =•May, when he joined the president, Cabinet officials, business executives and family members aboard Air Force One==. The two appeared friendly, with Musk discussing plans for new US factories, while Trump talked about a space-launch video and asked about one of Musk’s sons, people aboard the plane told the WSJ.
During the flight, Musk also told Trump he planned to spend at least $100 million on a voter-turnout operation to support Republicansin the November midterm elections and help them retain control of Congress, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the strategy.
The rapprochement reportedly followed nearly a year of behind-the-scenes efforts, including private calls, pressure from mutual friends, invitations to Mar-a-Lago and a White House dinner. Trump and Musk briefly spoke at the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who had reportedly sought to reconcile the two.
The WSJ noted that Vice President J.D. Vance, along with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, reached out to Musk after the public rupturewith Trump to ease tensions and later maintained contact with him and his allies.Vance reportedly viewed Musk as too important to ignore, given SpaceX’s extensive defense and NASA contracts. Musk, meanwhile,reportedly dropped plansfor a new political party partly to preserve ties with Vance, seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
The two men are unlikely to return to the close relationship they once had, according to Trump’s aides. Still, they have resumed speaking roughly once a month, discussing artificial intelligence, China, and world events, people familiar with the conversations said.
Musk played a major role in Trump’s 2024 election victory, publicly backing the president and reportedly spending at least $288 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates.
The renewed alliance comes as Democrats hold an edge over Republicans in the latest national polls aheadof the November midterms, while Trump’s net approval rating has fallen close to a record low amid growing public dissatisfaction with his presidency, including over his handling of the Iran conflict.
https://www.rt.com/news/644288-musk-100m-mend-rift-trump/
US and Türkiye opening ‘Pandora’s box’ with Ukraine arms deal – Moscow
Washington is reportedly preparing to authorize the transfer of 70 ATACMS missiles and other weapons worth around $280 million
Published 15 Aug, 2026 16:27 | Upd
The planned transfer of US-made missiles and other weapons from Türkiye to Ukraine will “inevitably undermine mutual trust” with both Washington and Ankara, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned.
The US State Department notified Congress earlier this month that it was prepared to authorize the re-export of weapons from Turkish stocks to Ukraine. The package reportedly includes 70 M39 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles, 12 M270 multiple-launch rocket systems, more than 2,500 M26 rockets with cluster warheads, and 47,000 203mm cluster artillery shells.
The total value of the proposed transfers is estimated at around $280 million.
“Attempts to use peacemaking rhetoric while simultaneously supplying weapons to Ukrainian Nazis inevitably undermine mutual trust,” Zakharova said, noting that Turkish officials had repeatedly maintained that Ankara was avoiding deliveries of “lethal” weapons to Kiev.
The circumstances surrounding the planned transfer remain “extremely contradictory,”according to the spokeswoman, who said it was unclear who had initiated the re-export or how and when the munitions would reach Ukraine.
Zakharova also questioned why Washington and Ankara had decided to open another “Pandora’s box” while both countries claim a special role in efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“The issue is not only the casualties and destruction that the authorities in Kiev seek to increase, but also the serious damage to our bilateral relations with Washington and Ankara,” she said.
Because the weapons were manufactured in the US, their re-export from Turkish stocks requires authorization from Washington. The State Department submitted the relevant documents to Congress on August 6.
Under US law, Congress has 15 calendar days to review the proposed transfer. No separate approval vote is required; unless both chambers adopt a joint resolution blocking it, the administration’s authorization automatically takes effect.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine, arguing that they prolong the hostilities and make the US and other NATO countries direct participants in the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month that Western weapons supplies, military advisers, and satellite intelligence provided to Kiev amounted to “direct participation” in the war against Russia.
Russian officials have also repeatedly accused Kiev of using Western-supplied long-range weapons against civilian targets. Moscow has specifically pointed to a June 2024 ATACMS strike on Sevastopol, in which Russian authorities said four people, including two children, were killed and more than 150 injured. The Kremlin said at the time that the sophistication of the US-made missiles meant Washington was directly involved in their targeting and operation.
Russian Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov has similarly claimed that NATO military specialists provide Kiev with intelligence and help coordinate precision strikes, including attacks that have hit homes, energy facilities, schools, and hospitals.
https://www.rt.com/russia/644287-us-turkiye-arms-transfer-to-ukraine/
New trick found to put Trump’s name on Kennedy Center – media
The arts venue’s board reportedly found a workaround after a federal judge ordered that the president’s name be taken down
Published 14 Aug, 2026 23:41
The board of the Kennedy Center has voted to restore Donald Trump’s name to the Washington arts venue, multiple media outlets report, just two months after it was removed on a federal judge’s orders.
The Trump-aligned board voted to rename the institution after Trump and John F. Kennedy last December, and his name was subsequently added to its facade. However, US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that the board lacked authority to change the name established by Congress and ordered the Trump signage removed. Workers complied in June.
This time, the board is not formally renaming the Kennedy Center after Trump. According to Axios, an inscription below the Kennedy Center sign will -read “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” while the physical site will be named “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.
The new formulation puts Trump’s name back on the building without formally declaring that the Kennedy Center is named after him, apparently to sidestep restriction stipulating that only Congress can change the institution’s name.
The board also voted on Thursday to move forward with a two-year closure of the center’s main venue for renovation. The proposed overhaul would refurbish aging infrastructure, polish the building’s marble facade, and renovate its halls and theaters.
“Under President Trump’s bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Axios.
The naming saga has already inspired legislation in Congress. In January, Senator Bernie Sanders and several Democratic colleagues introduced the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act, which would prohibit federal buildings, land, and other assets from being named after a sitting president. The bill remains at the committee stage.
Huston argued at the time that naming efforts like these reflect policy achievements rather than branding, citing initiatives including the TrumpRx prescription drug website, while noting that both Washington, DC and the Hoover Dam were named after presidents while they were still in office.
https://www.rt.com/news/644270-trump-name-kennedy-center-controversy/
Russian world record holder claims European swimming gold
Evgeniia Chikunova won the 200m breaststroke as Russian athletes continue to compete under neutral status
Published 15 Aug, 2026 10:28
Russian swimmer Evgeniia Chikunova has taken the gold at the European Aquatics Championshipsin Paris despite continuing restrictions on Russian athletes.
The 21-year-old won the 200-meter breaststroke on Friday in 2 minutes 19.32 seconds, setting a new championship record. Chikunova has held the world record in the event since April of 2023, when she broke the previous mark at the Russian National Championships in Kazan.
Chikunova is competing in France as a neutral athlete under European Aquatics rules, which still prevent Russian swimmers from representing their country at the championships.
Russia was banned from some international events starting in the mid-2010s, and the trend sharply accelerated following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Since the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision last month to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and withdraw its recommendations restricting Russian athletes’ participation, various sporting bodies have lifted their bans on athletes from the country.
Athletes have already been allowed to return to international competition with the national Russian flag and anthem in rhythmic gymnastics, boxing, synchronized swimming, wrestling, table tennis, fencing, archery, and other disciplines.
In April, World Aquatics moved to restore full participation rights for Russian and Belarusian swimmers, including the use of national flags and anthems. However, European Aquatics has delayed implementing the change until September 1, meaning Russian competitors in Paris remain neutral.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Western countries of politicizing sport, insisting that competitors should be judged solely on sporting merit.
Chikunova’s victory was one of five medals won by Russian swimmers on Friday, including gold in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay. By the end of the day, Russian athletes had collected 26 medals, including nine golds, at the Paris event.
https://www.rt.com/russia/644273-chikunova-wins-european-swimming-gold/
First pitch of MLB career, home run. Then Josh Baez does it two more times. This is baseball history.
https://youtu.be/bNSISi-tcR0
Bears owner confirms team 'moving forward' with stadium in Indiana. What he said
Where will the Chicago Bears' new stadium end up? Their owner gave some addition insight.
During the Bears vs. Cleveland Browns preseason game on Aug. 15, Chicago's local broadcast announced that Bears controlling owner George McCaskey would join the broadcast booth to discuss his team's stadium situation. McCaskey – who became the Bears' owner last year upon the death of his mother, Virginia – appeared during the third quarter of Chicago's preseason opener.
On Aug. 13, McCaskey held a joint press conference with team president and CEO Kevin Warren. During the press conference, McCaskey confirmed that the Bears' two future stadium options were in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana. But he also made clear the latter choice has remained the priority.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bears-owner-discuss-bears-stadium-183627990.html
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Debanked Polymarket Over Regulatory Concern, FT Says
(Bloomberg) – JPMorgan Chase & Co. terminated its banking relationship with Polymarket last year over regulatory concerns, the Financial Times reported.
JPMorgan notified the prediction-market platform that it needed to find a new bank in October, the paper said, citing people it did not identify. Polymarket is now working with a new lender, the FT said, without identifying it.
A representative for JPMorgan declined to comment. Polymarket, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, said in a statement to the FT that it continues to maintain "a close, active relationship with JPMorgan across multiple entities, operational integrations and material handling of customer fund flows."
The bank retains some ties to Polymarket as it looks to leave the door open for an underwriting role should it attempt to go public, the paper said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Prediction markets have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry by offering financial contracts tied to everything from celebrity news to when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.Wagers on sports dominate prediction market trades and stand at the center of a wide-ranging fight over how to regulate the industry.
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/jpmorgan-debanked-polymarket-over-regulatory-092612351.html
Trump signs proclamations imposing new drone tariffs, orders Navy to allow shipbuilding abroadThe tariff is set to take effect 21 days after signing.
August 13, 2026, 10:45 PM ET
ByEmily Chang andNicholas Kerr
US weapons shortage fuels debate over war with IranMilitary Times editor-in-chief JD Simkinsdiscusses concerns over U.S. munitions supplies and what they could mean for the war with Iran.US Navy
President Donald Trump signed two proclamations on Thursday – one imposing tariffs on drones, and another ordering the Navy to restore older technology on aircraft carriers and allowing for American warships to be built in foreign shipyards on a limited basis.
According to a fact sheet published by the White House, one of thememorandums directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “replace the Advanced Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems and the Advanced Weapons Elevators with traditional steam and hydraulic systems.”
Trump has previously called for the return of steam over electric catapults on American aircraft carriers.
“Pete, we're not letting any more ships be built with the ridiculous – billions of dollars more they spent on, uh, electric catapults and they're not good. They're not nearly as good, too complex,” Trump said last month during a Defense and Innovation Summit at the Army War College.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington sails in the South China Sea, Aug. 11, 2026. US Navy
The memo also directs Hegseth to establish a fifth Naval shipyard and to allow foreign shipbuilders to build American warships.
"As foreign shipbuilders make substantial and durable investments into America’s shipyards and train an all-American workforce for the jobs they create, they will be temporarily permitted to build up to two ships in their parent shipyards that will be delivered to bridge gaps on a quick turnaround, while additional ships will be built in revitalized American shipyards," the White House factsheet read.
In another proclamation, Trump is slapping “ad valorem” tariffs on drones and drone parts, citing the “national security threat” posed by such devices.
The tariff is set to take effect 21 days after signing. The tariffs on drone components that are “not particularly sensitive” will take effect 180 days after signing.
According to a fact sheet released by the White House, this includes a 100% tariff on “particularly sensitive” drones, as well as a 25% tariff on those that are smaller in size with less pressing security concerns. The proclamation also imposes a 15% tariff on drones and components from the European Union, Japan, Liechtenstein, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan, as well as a 10% tariff on some drones from the United Kingdom.
https://abcnews.com/amp/Politics/trump-signs-proclamations-imposing-new-drone-tariffs-orders/story?id=135629301
Birth Tourism Schemes Targeted by State Department Task Force
Aug. 13, 2026, 10:18 AM EDT
The State Department is launching a task force to prevent exploitation of visa programs for birth tourism, a new priority for President Donald Trump in the wake of his US Supreme Court loss on birthright citizenship.
The Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force will analyze data collected by multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, to review travel histories of foreign nationals entering the US, according to a Wednesday announcement. The task force has already revoked the visas of more than 600 individuals, it said.
Schemes facilitating travel by foreign nationals to the US with the sole purpose of giving birth are getting a more intense focus from the Trump administration after the June 30 Supreme Court decision overturning an executive order curbing birthright citizenship. That Trump plan would have restricted citizenship to children with at least one US citizen or legal permanent resident parent.
Individuals who misrepresent the purpose of their travel may be permanently barred from visa approvals or entry to the US, the agency said. The announcement said entities facilitating birth tourism may market services as doulas, midwives, or wellness advocates and sometimes forge medical documents and coach clients to avoid medical bills.
Birth tourism accounts for only small fraction of children born in the US annually. But opponents have cast it as a national security concern and President Trump signed an Aug. 6 executive order directing the departments of State and Homeland Security to prevent the practice. As part of new crackdown efforts, the Justice Department has also directed US attorneys’ offices to prioritize prosecutions of birth tourism schemes.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/birth-tourism-schemes-targeted-by-state-department-task-force
Promethean Action Reviews Current State of the Middle East as it Evolves
August 15, 2026 | sundance |
Within this video from Promethean Action, they look at the latest developments in the Middle East.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. is escalating economic isolation measures against Iran and forecasts the Strait of Hormuz will become “irrelevant” within two years, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright argues shipping continues under escorts and rerouting, citing 8–9 million barrels/day still moving through the strait plus 6 million diverted via expanding pipelines.
The episode frames this as part of a broader strategy since March 2025 targeting Iran’s financial networks while expanding alternative energy supplies, including increased U.S. production, changes in Venezuela, UAE production outside old OPEC quotas, and Iraq pipeline deals to bypass Hormuz, alongside a nuclear power “renaissance.” It highlights remarks at Chatham House by Lebanese adviser Jean Aziz blaming Henry Kissinger’s 1976 actions for decades of conflict and IRGC entanglement, and Qatar’s Majed Al-Ansari describing a regional Gaza “20-point plan” leading to a Washington-based Board of Peace meeting on Feb. 19, 2026.
Kissinger Exposed: How Trump Dismantled 50 Years of British Mideast Policy
3:57
https://youtu.be/OaK8etWekOk
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/15/promethean-action-reviews-current-state-of-the-middle-east-as-it-evolves/