A Secular Uprising in Indonesia | Could Mueller's Security Clearance Be Stripped? | The Curious Underground Tunnels of LA

Faced with a rise in Islamism, Indonesia is battling back with policies, politics and the people.

Only 15 months ago, a right-wing Islamist-led uprising helped defeat Jakarta’s ethnically Chinese, Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as “Ahok.” Then, earlier this year, a radicalized Muslim family killed 14 people at churches in Surabaya, sending shock waves through the Islamic world’s most populous nation. But now a secular backlash is brewing, and it’s arming itself against this Islamist threat ahead of next year’s national elections.

The security clearance fight is both a distraction and a serious erosion of norms.

Donald Trump isn’t always careful when selecting enemies. Feuds with Pope Francis and LeBron James, for example, were unwise. Last week’s war with former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman — who arrived to the fight with secretly recorded tapes — was not one the president chose. But just as often, Trump elevates someone he sees as an ideal foil, such as California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.

So it is with John Brennan, Barack Obama’s CIA director turned #resistance figure. Trump’s Aug. 15 decision to revoke Brennan’s security clearance was handed to White House reporters with a July 26 date on it. Trump had been waiting for the ideal moment to strike, and he decided he wanted to watch something on cable news other than Manigault Newman and the fraud trial of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

NFL contracts are so complicated, you need a law degree to understand them — so we went to the experts.

Should the best player in the NFL also be its highest paid? The question isn’t necessarily a fair one. While it’s difficult to define “best,” it’s just as hard in this league to define “highest paid.”

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, entering his 14th NFL season, is the odds-on favorite to win this year’s MVP award. Rodgers has been remarkably consistent, topping 3,800 yards with 28 or more touchdowns in every season, except for two injury-shortened ones, since 2008. But his projected earnings for the upcoming season don’t correlate with his lofty regard.

Rodgers, widely considered the best quarterback in the game, is only the 15th highest-paid player in the NFL this season.