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- Women’s transfer rankings: No. 1 Audi Crooks commits to Oklahoma State
Audi Crooks is headed to Oklahoma St., Jordan Lee is bound for South Carolina and Kymora Johnson is staying at U.Va. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago - A New Front in an Old Gerrymandering War
When President Trump last summer implored Republicans to launch a nationwide gerrymandering blitz to pad their narrow House majority, the fight he started did not seem fair. GOP lawmakers had both the will and the power to draw their party new seats, while Democrats were hamstrung by limits of their own making. The question was not whether Republicans could expand their edge in Congress, but by how much.This morning the landscape looks a lot different, after Virginia voters yesterday approved a lopsided new House map that could hand Democrats an additional four seats that Republicans currently hold. The Democratic redistricting victory is the party’s second in a statewide referendum. When combined with new lines that California voters endorsed in November, Democrats have now succeeded in drawing districts that will likely yield them nine more seats this fall, at least matching what Republicans have been able to achieve in states that they control. By some measures, Democrats have jumped into the redistricting lead, bolstering their chances of winning back the House majority in the midterm elections.The battle is not over. The GOP-dominated Florida legislature will hold a special session next week to consider redistricting, and the Democratic victory in Virginia could help Governor Ron DeSantis win over lawmakers who are reluctant to press the Republican advantage too far. Officials in both parties expect the Supreme Court to issue a ruling in the coming months that will weaken if not eviscerate a key part of the Voting Rights Act, which would allow states such as Louisiana and Alabama to carve up districts now held by Black Democrats. (Such a decision would have an even larger impact in southern states come 2028.)But for now, Trump’s move to open this new front in a centuries-old gerrymandering war between the parties looks like an enormous tactical blunder. Republicans have appeared taken aback by the ferocity with which Democrats have responded—and the speed with which they’ve set aside their drive to ban gerrymandering in the name of good government. In both California and Virginia, Democrats swamped the opposition in campaign spending, using the redistricting referenda to rile up a party base seeking any opportunity to push back against an unpopular administration. The margin of victory was much narrower in Virginia, where Republicans accused Democrats—wishfully, it turned out—of overreaching with a push to take 10 out of 11 seats in a state that had a GOP governor… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago - Fuel Prices Decline as Diesel and Gasoline Markets Ease After Volatility
Diesel and Gas Prices Drop, but Costs Remain High Compared to Last Year After weeks of sharp increases driven by global instability, fuel prices across the U.S. are finally showing signs of relief. Diesel and gasoline prices both declined week over week, offering some short-term relief for drivers and carriers. However, despite these recent drops, prices remain significantly higher than they were a year ago. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the national average diesel price fell by 21 cents to $5.403 per gallon. Meanwhile, gasoline prices dropped by 8 cents, bringing the national average to $4.044 per gallon. Therefore, while prices are easing, they are still elevated compared to historical levels. Diesel Prices Drop Across Most Regions Diesel prices declined in nearly every region of the country, although the size of the drop varied. The Gulf Coast saw the largest decrease, while the Rocky Mountain region experienced only a slight decline. Regional diesel price highlights include: Gulf Coast: Down 24 cents to $5.069 Midwest: Down 22 cents to $5.165 West Coast: Down 20 cents to $6.620 West Coast (excluding California): Down 17 cents to $6.010 East Coast: Down 18 cents to $5.494 Rocky Mountain: Down 4 cents to $5.213 In addition, data from AAA shows a slightly higher national diesel average at $5.511 per gallon. This is nearly $2 higher than prices at the same time last year. As a result, trucking companies are still dealing with elevated fuel costs despite the recent decline. Gasoline Prices Also Show Improvement Gasoline prices followed a similar trend, decreasing across most regions. This provides some relief for everyday drivers, although prices remain above last year’s levels. Regional gasoline price changes include: Gulf Coast: Down 12 cents to $3.617 Midwest: Down 10 cents to $3.789 East Coast: Down 7 cents to $3.888 West Coast: Down 6 cents to $5.320 West Coast (excluding California): Down 3 cents to $4.929 Rocky Mountain: Up 4 cents to $3.936 Meanwhile, AAA reports a national gasoline average of $4.022 per gallon. This is about 87 cents higher than the same period last year. Therefore, even with recent decreases, fuel costs remain a concern for consumers. Market Conditions Begin to Stabilize The recent drop in fuel prices suggests that markets may be stabilizing after weeks of volatility. However, several factors continue to influence pricing trends, including global supply disruptions and regional… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago - How Democrats Can Lose Michigan, AgainOver the past 15 years or so, Democrats have won a lot of races because the opposing party’s primary voters decided to nominate right-wing ideologues (Christine O’Donnell, Todd Akin, Kari Lake) rather than normal Republicans. In all of these races, the Republican establishment warned that nominating an archconservative would undermine their chances of victory, and was proved completely correct.Now Democrats finally have the chance to do the same thing. In Michigan, a purple state that Donald Trump won twice, the physician Abdul El-Sayed is running a competitive race for the party’s Senate nomination. If successful, he would turn a very likely Democratic win into a jump ball.El-Sayed has followed the classic strategy of adopting positions that appeal to a majority of his party’s voters—thus giving him an advantage over more cautious rivals—but that do not appeal to a majority of the general electorate. In El-Sayed’s case, those stances include supporting single-payer health insurance, abolishing ICE, and intensely criticizing Israel; at the same time, he positions himself as the most doctrinal left-wing candidate in the race.[Jonathan Chait: Israel moderates are losing the Democratic Party]The Middle East has become a special point of emphasis for El-Sayed, which makes sense: Israel is highly unpopular, especially among Democrats. The trouble with this issue is that it tends to divide the party’s base, especially in Michigan, which has large Arab and Jewish populations. The prominence of Israel as a campaign issue in 2024 cost Kamala Harris support from many Arab Americans (who blamed the Biden administration for supporting Israel’s war in Gaza) and many Jewish Americans (who blamed President Biden for attempting to restrain Israel).The Democratic Party’s interest is to tamp down the importance of Israel. But El-Sayed’s best strategy to win the nomination is to play up the issue, which drives apart the party’s base and allows him to claim the biggest slice.El-Sayed’s method of picking fights over the Middle East has included campaigning alongside the livestreamer Hasan Piker—a defender of Hamas, Hezbollah, and various Communist regimes. He has also campaigned with Amir Makled, a candidate for the University of Michigan’s board of regents who has shared pro-Hezbollah and anti-Semitic messages on social media. (El-Sayed has dismissed complaints about these comments as cancel culture, which is a very strange defense; nobody is saying that Piker or Makled should lose their jobs or platforms, only that El-Sayed shouldn’t tout their support.)A candidate could potentially win… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago
- May 2026
The May 2026 issue of Rider magazine has arrived! On the cover: Slicing through the coastal fog in Oceanside, California on the Triumph Bonneville Bobber. Photo by Brian J. Nelson Subscribe Now Additional stories in the May 2026 issue of Rider. Old School Cool | First Ride2026 Triumph Bonnevilles Little Thunder | First Ride2026 Aprilia Tuono 457 Dipping into Dirt | Moto SkillsLearning to Ride Off-Road at MSF DirtBike School North by Northeast | On the RoadRiding Minnesota’s North Shore & North Woods Top 5 Motorcycle Roads in Minnesota | Favorite RideThe Best Scenic Byways in the Land of 10,000 Lakes And more! The post May 2026 appeared first on Rider Magazine. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago - Elon Musk Is Taking the X Playbook to StarlinkIf Elon Musk gets his way, space will soon look very different. Through his ownership of SpaceX, the world’s richest man already operates most of the roughly 14,000 active satellites that are orbiting Earth. Now his rocket company is asking the government for permission to launch up to 1 million more. It’s part of Musk’s plan to build data centers in space that can harness the power of the sun for AI. “You’re power-constrained on Earth,” Musk said last month. “Space has the advantage that it’s always sunny.”Musk has a lot riding on these orbital data centers. To help finance them, he is set to take SpaceX public as early as June, at a reported valuation of $2 trillion. Musk has claimed that data centers in space can “enable self-growing bases on the moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the universe.” It’s all classic Musk, who has a habit of making big promises that he can’t always keep. Data centers in space are an untested technology, and it’s not clear if they’d actually work. (Neither Musk nor SpaceX responded to a request for comment.)Even if Musk falls short of his lofty space dreams, his venture may still pay him considerable dividends. That’s because it could help him secure regulatory approval to accelerate a land grab in space. There are only so many satellites that can circle Earth’s low orbit before the risk of collision becomes unacceptably high. By flooding space with his own satellites, Musk can make it impossible for other companies to gain entry while dramatically expanding one of the most important and valuable parts of his empire: Starlink.The world’s largest satellite-internet provider, Starlink already boasts more than 10 million active customers in at least 150 countries. Subscribers set up a flat antenna that looks a bit like a pizza box to connect their devices to the internet anywhere they are in the world. (Even if you aren’t someone who pays for Starlink, you might have used the service without knowing it. The company’s satellites now power in-plane Wi-Fi for several airlines, including United Airlines and Qatar Airways.)Musk’s control over Starlink has vested him with a degree of power traditionally reserved for a head of state. He has restricted access for both Ukrainian and Russian forces at various points during the ongoing conflict between the two countries, potentially altering the course of the war. In… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 week ago
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