The Anti-Trump: Maine’s influential Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced in an opinion piece in The Washington Post that she will not vote for Donald Trump. She wrote, “With the passage of time, I have become increasingly dismayed by his constant stream of cruel comments and his inability to admit error or apologize.”

The defections are cascading. Fifty prominent Republicans who have held national security positions signed an open letter saying Donald Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.” They say Trump “would be the most reckless president in American history.”

The signatories are a stunning list of loyal, bedrock Republicans. Among them are Michael V. Hayden, a former director of both the CIA and the National Security Agency; John D. Negroponte, who has been both the director of national intelligence and deputy secretary of state; as well as former secretaries of homeland security, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff.

New Tack: Trump delivered a major economic policy speech in Detroit yesterday in an effort to refocus his campaign on actual issues. Promising to produce jobs and prosperity, Trump said, “It will be American hands that rebuild this country,” he said to the Detroit Economic Club. “It will be American workers who are hired to do the job.”

The Republican candidate appears to have adopted most of his party’s basic economic plan. Trump said he wants to get rid of the estate tax — what Republicans call the “Death Tax” — and lower corporate income taxes. He said he wants to make the cost of childcare fully deductible on tax returns and simplify income tax brackets.

The NY Times coverage points out that many of Trump’s proposals favor people with more money. Mostly only the rich pay inheritance tax. Corporate profits have risen while worker income has dropped and the childcare deduction favors taxpayers who can pay many thousands for childcare.

Hillary Clinton dismissed Trump’s plans, saying his economic advisors are a bunch of white men, most of them named Steve.

The Games: US swimmer Ryan Murphy won the men’s 100-meter backstroke in Rio, teammate David Plummer took the bronze — Lilly King of the United States won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke — Japan won the men’s all-around gymnastics with the US in 5^th place — Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American woman to compete wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf, was eliminated in the round of 16 the sabre fencing competition, ending her hopes of an individual medal.

Seeing Spots: Olympic swimmers, particularly Michael Phelps, have been appearing at the pool sporting perfectly round bruises on their bodies. The rage among athletes is “cupping,” the ancient practice of attaching suction cups to the body to pull skin and blood away from muscle tissue to promote healing. The mark looks painful but the athletes say it isn’t. It’s not so much a bruise as a hickey.

Nation: The family of a Muslim boy arrested in his Irving, Texas school when he brought a homemade digital clock to school is suing the school district. School authorities have claimed they did nothing wrong. Ahmed Mohamed, 14, who has since moved to Qatar with his family, said at a press conference, “The only way to get justice is through money.”

>Delta Airlines blames yesterday’s catastrophic computer failure on a power outage in Atlanta. The failure points out the weakness of old airline computer systems under the demand of communicating 24 hours a day with customer computers, smartphones and handheld devices. Grounded flights left Delta passengers stranded all over the world.

>Three girls are in serious condition after falling from a Ferris wheel outside Knoxville, Tenn. Over the weekend a 10-year-old Kansas boy was killed when he fell from the world’s tallest water slide.

Early Retirement: The rapper Bow Wow, just 29, announced that he’s retiring soon because he just can’t see himself rapping at age 30.

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