Over a century before Columbus arrived in the Americas, followers of a now-extinct faith carved the likeness of their prophet into a large boulder on a mountainside in China’s southeastern Fujian province. The figure in stone: Mani, an Iranian man who founded Manichaeism, an early rival to Christianity. Mani’s religion suffered extensive persecution during its tenure, at the hands of Roman, Persian and Chinese leaders, and by the 14th century, the religion had fallen by the wayside.
Despite once counting followers from France to the Pacific Ocean, in 2020, there isn’t much left of Manichaeism in terms of physical ruins. Surprisingly, the last extant Manichaean temple exists not in the modern-day countries that compose what was once Persia and Mesopotamia, but in Jinjiang, an industrial settlement of over two million people that is part of the southern Chinese city of Quanzhou.
In mid-2018, a close friend relayed the story of Jinjiang’s unique shrine to the largely forgotten Persian prophet Mani. A quick and always questionable Wikipedia search offered insight — and questions. According to the popular free online encyclopedia: “In modern China, Manichaean groups are still active in southern provinces, especially in Quanzhou and around Cao’an, the only Manichaean temple that has survived until today.”
This poorly cited Wikipedia entry led to more questions: How did Manichaeism get to China in the first place? Are there still Mani followers in the officially atheist People’s Republic of China, and is the temple at Jinjiang the last Manichaean temple in the world? …
Besides the fact that nobody showed up to Trump’s event, it’s worthy of note that there’s an Israeli flag hanging next to ours. What the fuck.
[Photo: White triangular tent, white floor, white chairs bisected by an aisle, leading to a stage with a guitarist, flanked by hanging flags]
[Photo: “A baptism pool was not on my Great American State Fair bingo card”]
Rando: “I would say this fair looks like one of those creepy, horror-movie sets, but those at least look like someone used them at some point. This looks like a ghost town. Like… why is everything so sterile looking? This is weird in the opposite direction.”
Everyone is talking about Trump’s mock up arch at the Great American State Fair, so I filmed it from top to bottom and front to back for everyone who can’t see it in person. [Video]
Reginald Selkirksays
Archaeological evidence indicates 10th-century Persian settlement in Madagascar
The mysterious archaeological site of Teniky, hidden within the remote rainforests and canyons of Madagascar’s Isalo National Park, has long puzzled scientists with its unique rock-cut niches and stone walls.
A groundbreaking new study now challenges the established narrative that these structures were built by shipwrecked 16th-century Portuguese sailors. Instead, the research posits a far more ancient and extraordinary origin: Teniky was likely constructed between the 10th and 12th centuries by Zoroastrian exiles fleeing persecution in Persia, who sought to establish an isolated religious refuge on this semi-legendary island.
The core evidence for this revised theory lies in the site’s distinctive architecture. Dozens of niches carved into the sandstone cliffs bear a striking resemblance to the astodans used in Zoroastrian funerary practices in the Fars region of Iran. In Zoroastrian tradition, burial was seen as a desecration of the earth; bodies were exposed until only bones remained, which were then interred in such rock niches.
This architectural parallel is unique in Madagascar and East Africa but finds a direct correlate in Persian Zoroastrian sites. Furthermore, carbon-14 dating of charcoal from the settlement confirms occupation centuries before Portuguese explorers arrived in the Indian Ocean, aligning with the period when Zoroastrians faced increasing pressure following the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century…
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
chigau @1: I’d guess OP is a screenshot of the video game No Man’s Sky, but there’s no interface or player character. PZ played that years ago.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
StevoR in the previous thread: That YouTuber’s description cites a documentary he was summarizing.
The inspiration behind the so-called “Acali Experiment” derived from two sources. Genovés had been an earlier participant on the Ra (1969) and Ra II (1970) expeditions, Thor Heyerdahl’s ethnohistorical attempts to prove that prehistoric civilizations could have crossed the Atlantic by means of papyrus-constructed boats. As a secondary goal, Heyerdahl had assembled a multinational seven-man crew to demonstrate how a disparate group could congenially live and work together under challenging conditions. Based on his firsthand experience aboard the Ra expeditions, however, Genovés was more intrigued with the incidents of friction that he had witnessed. Most of these, he believed, arose due to differences in personal characteristics and temperament. […]
It was an incident in November 1972 that definitively moved the Acali experiment forward. In circumstances that only Genovés would view as “too good to be true,” he was a passenger on a plane that was hijacked to Cuba. After observing how the behaviours of the other passengers differed dramatically during the hijacking versus afterwards, Genovés was now convinced that moments of crisis and serious danger were needed for individuals to reveal their authentic selves (as opposed to the roles they assumed in everyday life).
[…]
Swedish filmmaker Marcus Lindeen has now re-examined the Acali experiment in an award-winning documentary titled The Raft. Two interweaving narratives—one historical, one contemporary—define the film. The conventional strand relies on 16mm film footage shot on board the raft. These archival clips provide an introduction to Genovés (who passed away in 2013) as well as a clear linear account of the voyage itself. An accompanying voiceover is largely drawn from Genovés’s diary of the journey […] adds an unexpected urgency and desperation to the scientific storyline. […] The innovative strand of the film is the contemporary re-enactment.
[…]
it’s now hard to know which contravention of ethical norms was most egregious. As one appalling example, Genovés acknowledged having continuous sexual interactions with at least one of the other participants. […] There were alarming and consistent breaches of confidentiality and privacy. There was the lack of informed consent. Maria, for instance, participated despite refusing to sign what her boyfriend labelled the “slave contract,” an apparent reference to what served as the experiment’s consent form. As a final glaring example, there was the blatant disregard for participants’ physical and emotional well-being. Indeed, it’s clear that Genovés deliberately underplayed the extent of the risks involved. Numerous research studies are appropriately and abruptly stopped when previously calculated risks escalate or unexpected adverse effects occur. Yet Genovés welcomed such risks, most noticeably and recklessly when the Acali entered the Caribbean at the start of the hurricane season.
When challenged about the ethics […] Genovés was indignant and dismissive. “The most anti-ethical thing I know,” he replied, “is the fact that a man dies every twenty seconds […] in an act of violence. […] it is necessary to be more flexible concerning our concepts of what professional ethics are. The problem concerns our survival.”
* Wikipedia on predecessor Thor Heyerdahl says, “His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the [Ra] expedition.”
In some subfields of criminology, psychology, and sociology, intergroup contact has been described as one of the best ways to improve relations among groups in conflict. Nonetheless, the effects of intergroup contact vary widely from context to context, and empirical inquiry continues
[…]
four conditions under which intergroup contact will reduce prejudice are: [Equal status. Common goals. Intergroup cooperation. Support of authorities, law, or customs.] […] However, contact fails to cure conflict when contact situations create anxiety […] the situation must include positive contact.
[…]
social scientific reviews of the literature frequently voice skepticism about the likelihood of contact’s optimal conditions occurring in concert, and by extension, about the generalizability of correlational research and lab studies on contact.
Is uniformity of opinion desirable? No more than face or stature … Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advance one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
‘The BEAD program was supposed to bring permanent high-speed fiber internet to rural America, but Trump’s Commerce Department rewrote the rules in a way that could steer billions toward Elon Musk’s Starlink instead. The old plan prioritized long-term infrastructure and affordable service, while the new “tech-neutral” version favors the cheapest upfront option, even if rural families end up with slower, spottier, more expensive internet than they were promised. Musk spent hundreds of millions helping Trump win, trashed the broadband program as waste, and now may profit from the very taxpayer money meant to connect communities cable companies ignored for decades. Ring of Fire’s Josh G. explains.’
The federal government intervened Monday in a Clean Air Act lawsuit in which people in Memphis, Tennessee, and Southaven, Mississippi, are suing Elon Musk’s xAI over the health risks posed by the company’s unpermitted gas turbines. […] it submitted an unprecedented motion backing xAI.
The suit, filed by NAACP lawyers, contends that xAI should owe over $100,000 a day in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act. DOJ is pushing for the suit to be thrown out—not on the facts of the case, but because, the agency claims, Americans need Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot for our continued safety.
xAI’s massive Colossus 2 data center […] constitutes one of the largest industrial sources of smog-forming nitrogen oxides in the nation
[…] “Grok’s continued operation and availability is a matter of paramount national security,” the filing said, especially “in the event of armed conflict”—adding that the Department of War used Grok to “deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury.”
[…]
If the White House succeeds, […] The administration would have every incentive to intervene in any citizen case against a Trump-aligned polluter and dismiss it. “This is a blatant attempt to let well-connected corporations like xAI unlawfully pollute without any consequences,”
The US needs MechaHitler in particular, to accurately target girls’ schools, defensively.
Currently, upper-grade students [10th/11th] receive instructions in drill formations, wartime first aid, grenade handling and group tactics, while schools across Russia have been directed to install shooting ranges, alongside radiation and chemical reconnaissance labs.
Children as young as seven participate in the military-patriotic game “Zarnitsa 2.0,” where they are trained in roles including drone operator, assault trooper, combat medic and political officer. Reportedly, they practice escaping captivity, countering enemy hackers and storming positions, as well as train with injury simulation mannequins.
Not a video game. One of those events where schools send teams to compete.
programs that physically remove Ukrainian youth from occupied territories, exposing them to Russification programs within Russia. […] A Yale University report found that Russia is holding abducted Ukrainian children in over 200 locations where they are subjected to military training and “re-education.” Ukrainian authorities estimate the number of deported children at almost 20,000, of which only a small portion has been returned.
such individuals are being detained en masse and pressured into signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces. […] authorities use threats of new criminal cases […] According to locals, military enlistment officers drive around at night in black minibuses, waiting near liquor stores to “pick up drunks who are easy to force to sign something.”
[…]
In late May, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) argued that even forced mobilization would not significantly improve Russia’s battlefield position. […] recruitment continues to decline.
he found a job as a cook […] He had joined the ranks of hundreds of Peruvian men allegedly lured into the Russian military by local recruiters and social media ads with promises of lucrative employment in Russia, only to find themselves fighting […] Shortly after Norma’s son joined, he sent his mother images of himself in battle gear, digging trenches
[…]
In February, CNN reported that numerous men from African countries had been pressed into military service in Russia after being offered high-paying civilian jobs as drivers or security guards. […] soon after arriving in Russia, they were forced to sign Russian-language contracts, given minimal training and sent into combat.
[…]
After thousands of Nepalese citizens volunteered to fight for Russia, Nepal banned any travel to Ukraine or Russia for work.
[…]
a lawyer representing the families of recruits, estimates that there are at least 800 Peruvians fighting for Russia right now […] “$20,000 bonus once you signed the contract and very flashy salaries of $3,000 or $4,000.” Most never receive the money promised, the lawyer said. Numerous family members told CNN that their relatives in the Russian army were unable to wire money to them even after they’d started earning a paycheck. […] “This falls under the category of human trafficking[“]
birgerjohanssonsays
John Oliver ; S13 E17: “Trump’s Reflecting Pool, Redistricting & Soaps: 6/28/26: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (39 minutes)
I read it was a Persian, An Shigao, who introduced Buddhism to China. In light of that, it doesn’t seem so strange that Manichaeism was introduced there.
StevoRsays
Hellbenders are special creatures. They are the largest amphibians in all of North America. They live entirely in cold, fast-moving creeks and streams in eastern states. They have unusual loose, folded skin, which allows them to breathe directly from the streams they inhabit. This skin allows them to absorb oxygen. What that means is that their skin is critical to their survival. Contaminating it or disrupting it directly impacts their health.
Most of a hellbender’s respiration happens through this skin. Oxygen diffuses across its surface into the body, while the mucus layer also helps protect the animal from infection and pathogens. For an animal designed in this particular way, contact matters.
… (Snip)…
A single wildlife video can reach hundreds of thousands of people. Among those people will be anglers, hikers, and kids exploring creeks. Any of them may one day turn over a rock and find a hellbender sitting quietly beneath it. They will remember your video and assume that picking the animal up for a quick look — or, more likely these days, for their own social media moment — must be harmless.
Now imagine that decision repeated across thousands of streams by thousands of curious people.
That is why wildlife biologists tend to emphasize a very simple guideline: observe, don’t handle.
#9: I’m a beneficiary of that program — I live in remote, rural Minnesota, but have a fiber optic line straight to my house. It’s hassle-free and reliable, everyone should have that kind of service.
I received a copy of Patrick Moore’s book, Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom from a friend who went down the anti-climate change denialist rabbithole. In this concise work, Moore uses internet news headlines to propagate a series of misleading assertions and flat-out disinformation concerning climate change and related environmental matters. His content is tailored for easy consumption but contains inaccurate information that aims to undermine established scientific principles, particularly when reaching an audience with limited exposure to sound scientific education.
Before we review the book itself, let’s look at the author of this self-published book, and ask ourselves: is this the character of someone who is out to honestly report on complex science subjects?
Patrick Moore Credibility
…(Snip)..
On a French television show, Patrick Moore claimed that Roundup was safe to drink, despite being toxic to humans.
During the interview, Moore dismissed the safety concerns associated with the herbicide, and went through his routine of false claims about glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.
But the host of the show surprised Moore and offered him a glass of Roundup to drink. Moore, cornered, refused the glass of Roundup and said, “I’m not an idiot.”
Drinking glyphosate, of course, can be deadly, and there is evidence that Roundup causes cancer.
Moore often makes reckless claims and statements, but rarely was he caught as openly as in this televised story, which has been shared around the world.
… (snip)..
Patrick Moore has long claimed that he is a co-founder or founder of Greenpeace. But this false assertion has been repeatedly dismissed by Greenpeace and its original members. Even in 2023, in his new book, “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom”, Moore rehashes this false narrative, by opening the back cover with a quote that begins, “Patrick Moore, Cofounder of Greenpeace…”
In reality, Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, Canada, as the Don’t Make a Wave Committee in 1970 by a group of dedicated activists, including Irving Stowe, Dorothy Stowe, Ben Metcalfe, Marie Bohlen, Paul Cote, and Bob Hunter. Patrick Moore did join Greenpeace around 1971, and he played a role as a member of the crew on one of their early protest voyages, but he was not a founding member.
Moore uses the claim that he founded Greenpeace as a way to bolster his credibility—leading many who follow him to see that as a sort of credential for his extremist views. Moore’s association with Greenpeace was relatively brief, and he later distanced himself from the organization, evolving into a vocal advocate for industries and positions that were almost always directly at odds with Greenpeace’s original environmental mission.
..(snip)..
..Without bothering to supply evidence or make a case for it, Patrick Moore explains why he thinks scientists lie about the threats that climate change and other manmade influences exact on coral reefs. He says, “Unfortunately, the answer is: for academic status and money.”
I have been grateful to have a life of professional experiences that discounts this insane claim.
This video, captured by Registered Maine Guide Tallie Martin of the New England Outdoor Center, showcases an American bittern making its distinctive booming call — a sound that has earned the bird nicknames such as “stake-driver,” “thunder-pumper,” “water-belcher” and “mire-drum.” …
The US Supreme Court will not hear an appeal requested by President Donald Trump to review the civil case that found he defamed and sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll.
…
A federal appeals court agreed with the jury’s verdict last year and said a new trial was not warranted. Trump then asked the highest court to intervene.
A federal appeals court declined to rehear Trump’s challenge to it last June.
The US president has yet to comment on Monday’s decision, which was his final hope of overturning the jury’s unanimous verdict. It means he will have to pay Carroll the damages she had been awarded.
…
Rejecting a Republican National Committee challenge, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that elections officials may count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day if they were postmarked beforehand.
The court, divided 5-4, held that the Mississippi law challenged by the RNC does not unlawfully conflict with the federal law that sets Election Day in early November…
The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a setback to President Donald Trump, rejecting his attempt to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, while in a separate case giving him a freer hand to exert control over other hitherto independent federal agencies.
The two decisions, issued at the same time and both authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, together marked another example of the conservative-majority court pushing back on one aspect of Trump’s broad exertion of executive power while giving him the green light on another.
Though Trump may not fire Cook for now, the court allowed him to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. In the latter case, the court overturned a key 1935 Supreme Court ruling called Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld restrictions on the president’s power to fire FTC members.
The court was divided differently in each case. In Cook, the vote was 5-4 with the court’s liberals joining the majority, while they dissented in Slaughter, which was 6-3 on ideological lines. Only Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh were in the majority in both cases.
In the Cook case, Roberts rejected the Trump administration’s contention that the president’s firing of Cook could not be reviewed in court and that she could not stay in office while contesting the decision…
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s case alleging CNN defamed him with its coverage of remarks made during President Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial.
…
In rejecting Dershowitz’s appeal, the Supreme Court left untouched a lower court decision in favor of CNN…
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna believes that Ukrainian drones going off course and falling on NATO member states’ territory is an acceptable price for the destruction of Russian oil refineries and military bases.
Source: Tsahkna in an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda
Details: As Tsahkna noted, Estonia, which has faced a number of such incidents, is “not happy” about what is happening.
“But we are not saying to Ukraine to stop it. This is hitting the lifeline of Putin,” he added.
The Estonian foreign minister also commented on Russian accusations that the Baltic states were directly involved in the strikes and allowed Ukraine to use their airspace to carry them out.
He said that these claims are “ridiculous” and reflect the Kremlin’s desperation. ..
Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron were sued on June 25th in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where 17 plaintiffs accuse the three memory makers of illegally coordinating to restrict DRAM supply and inflate prices that the complaint says have risen roughly 700% over four years. The class action, filed as Garciaguirre v. Samsung Electronics and assigned to Judge Noel Wise, invokes Section 1 of the Sherman Act and targets companies that together hold around 90% of the global DRAM market. Samsung and SK hynix have pleaded guilty to criminal DRAM price fixing once before, with the latter paying a $185 million fine in April 2005.
The complaint argues that the three companies used a coordinated shift toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the stacked DRAM that feeds AI accelerators, as a cover to curtail production of older DDR3 and DDR4 modules. That contraction in commodity DRAM, the plaintiffs argue, pushed prices to record highs while no rival could step in: building a new DRAM fab costs tens of billions and takes years, leaving the incumbents free to cut output without fear of being undercut…
It is natural that production of older technologies would tail off.
“The president is prepared to possibly seize control of the nation’s capital if local voters dare to elect someone he deems offensive.”
Donald Trump’s ongoing fixation with renovation projects in and around Washington is ongoing, as evidenced by the president taking a tour on Sunday morning of his assorted construction projects around the nation’s capital. When he returned to the White House, the Republican was apparently inspired to send an unsubtle message to the city’s likely next mayor.
In a midday message published to his social media platform, Trump tried to smear Janeese Lewis George, the democratic socialist who recently won Washington’s Democratic mayoral primary, as a “Communist” who, among other things, “wants to empty the prisons.” That wasn’t even close to being an accurate reflection of George’s beliefs, but the president didn’t stop there.
The mayoral candidate’s agenda, Trump wrote, “will never work out, nor will I let it even have a chance.”
The president made all of this rather personal, insisting that he’s “worked too hard” to improve the city, so he won’t “let it be destroyed by a Communist adherent.”
Nearly all of the harangue was absurd — Lewis George, for example, is not a communist, no matter how many times Trump uses the word — but of particular interest was Trump’s use of the word “let,” as in, what the president is and is not willing to allow to happen in a major American city.
Earlier this month, before Washington voters backed Lewis George in a Democratic primary, a reporter asked Trump how he would feel if she were poised to become the city’s next mayor. [social media post, with video]
“Maybe we’ll take back Washington, run it on a federal basis,” he replied. “We won’t put up with it.”
In other words, the president is prepared to possibly seize control of the nation’s capital if local voters dare to elect someone he deems offensive.
“We are not going to get ICE off our streets or protect Home Rule by fearing this President. Threatening DC because you do not like how our residents vote is an attack on democracy itself,” Lewis George responded online. “The people of DC elect the Mayor of DC. And they want someone who will stand up to Trump.”
As for recent history, the president likely feels emboldened because he has already gotten away with so much. As my colleague Ja’han Jones recently explained, “Arguably nowhere in the United States have Americans been more vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s authoritarian whims than in Washington, D.C., where a submissive, Republican-led Congress has given the president broad latitude to impose his will.”
Will his ambitions take an even more radical turn after voters have their say in November?
“The gap between the president’s claims and the truth matters, but it’s not the only problem with the use of NPS resources.”
Donald Trump’s fixation on his White House ballroom endeavor is notorious for a great many reasons, but among the most prominent is the president’s broken promise: He repeatedly boasted that the public wouldn’t have to pay for the vanity project, and there’s ample evidence that those assurances weren’t true.
Unfortunately, this is apparently not the only example of its kind. The Atlantic reported:
The pathway that connects the White House residence to the Oval Office has long been paved in Tennessee flagstone. Every president since Harry Truman made the 45-second commute, and made it without complaint, until Donald Trump. The dun rock would not do. Instead, Trump wanted polished African granite, carved in Italy, with a flamed-finish stripe — slightly raised, to prevent slips — running down the middle. As workers tore up the flagstone in March, a reporter asked Trump who was paying for the enhancements. “Paid for by me,” he replied.
But that wasn’t true.
[…] budget documents from the National Park Service [show] that the walkway replacement cost taxpayers nearly $700,000. [!] The same report added that this is now also “part of a $1.3 million project that included repairing adjacent stone and masonry and providing new hardware for nearby doors.”
It dovetails with the park service spending nearly $350,000 to, as The Atlantic put it, “remove and replace the stucco on the colonnade wall, a project that cleared the way for Trump to affix gold frames and plaques mocking some of his predecessors.”
Broadly speaking, there are two main elements to this story. The first, obviously, is the importance of the gap between Trump’s claims and the truth: The more Trump assures the public that they won’t be on the hook for his assorted fixations, the more we learn that Americans are in fact paying for many of his projects.
The second angle of note is the degree to which the White House is, for all intents and purposes, plundering the National Park Service.
About a month ago, The New York Times, relying on a federal contracting database, reported that the administration had redirected at least $67 million worth of park entrance fees to help fund Trump’s renovation projects in and around the nation’s capital. A related report from The Washington Post, published two weeks later, put the total at nearly $78 million.
That’s not illegal, but it’s a real problem for the parks that hoped to use those funds for repairs to deteriorating roads and infrastructure, among other things.
The Atlantic’s article advances this reporting, adding, “In order to pay for the president’s projects, the parks have had to cancel needed repairs, slash their budgets, and operate with fewer employees.” [!]
Earlier this month, 11 senators sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum demanding answers from the administration on the use of national park entry fees for the president’s “vanity projects.”
“The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands,” the letter said.
There were no Republican senators among the 11 signatories.
“Why the new book by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, ‘On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear,’ is perfectly timed and perfectly tuned.”
Video, featuring Rachel Maddow, is available at the link.
As Americans, we tend to think of dissidents as heroic, saintly figures in faraway, repressive foreign countries, or maybe from sometime in the distant past. But in our time, in this political moment, Americans are finding that the idea of being a dissident is local to us, and contemporary to our time.
But what does that mean in practical terms? What do we actually do? How can we stay safe while doing it? And how effective are today’s American dissidents likely to be?
Last spring, The New Yorker published an article titled “So You Want to Be a Dissident?” by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Julia Angwin and a former senior policy adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, Ami Fields-Meyer. The article was billed as “a practical guide to courage in Trump’s age of fear.” Angwin and Fields-Meyer have now expanded that reporting and research into a new book, “On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear.”
Their methodology is simple and pragmatic — and surprisingly revelatory. Angwin and Fields-Meyer simply interviewed “people who had bravely stood up to authoritarianism around the world [to] see if they had any advice for staying safe and preserving democracy.”
I’m not in the business of doing book reviews, but suffice to say, I’m so impressed by their work, I volunteered to record the audio version of the book.
“On Courage” helped me think about my own prejudice — my own sort of self-defeating assumption that the most effective dissidents aren’t made from the same stuff as us normal, flawed concerned citizens — that somehow they were born superheroically brave and insightful, and because they know they are superheroically brave and insightful, they have innate confidence that their own destiny is to go out and slay Goliath.
What Angwin and Fields-Meyer discover — and what international dissidents explain to them in their own words — is quite the opposite. Most people whose stories get told in this book found themselves becoming dissidents simply because they insisted on paying attention to their own quiet internal moral compass. It didn’t mean they didn’t have fear or conflicting emotions, only that they trusted the personal, moral tug that guided them to say no, and then to take action.
Angwin and Fields-Meyer describe “a conflict often faced by people in authoritarian societies: a collision between the head and the heart, between values deeply held and an outside world unfolding in dramatic divergence. It can happen over decades, or in an instant. It comes of morality, or it arises out of necessity.”
“Dissidents don’t choose to be dissidents. They simply choose to be who they are,” Angwin and Fields-Meyer write.
Holding closely to your deepest values; listening to the internal voice that is uncomfortable with what is going on around you: these are the individual starting points for how a people, a nation, can become collectively stubborn against a dictator — how they can find the courage to inconvenience, annoy, slow down, mock and ultimately topple an authoritarian government.
They write, “Beginning with small acts like showing up, telling the truth, searching for our options, and bearing witness to injustice can embolden us to do more.”
Angwin and Fields-Meyer tell the story of Kathy O’Leary, a suburban mom who helps keep watch outside the Delaney Hall immigrant prison in Newark, New Jersey. She and the other volunteers offer human-level practical help to the families being hurt there — everything from blankets on cold days and sunscreen on hot, sunny ones, to phone calls and rides. That practical work is an important form of resistance to a government that tells us to hate and fear each other. O’Leary and her fellow volunteers have also done everything they can to document what’s happening at Delaney Hall, making sure there’s a record — often a video record — of everything they can see that happens there. That’s important resistance work too.
Angwin and Fields-Meyer point out that historically — in the Soviet Union, for instance — getting the truth out about what was happening inside their country was the job of journalists, writers and artists, smuggling illegal newsletters — physical paper — to the wider world. Today, when almost everyone has a smartphone, the work of witness and documentation and spreading the word is shared among everyone.
The work of witness is crucial, because victims and perpetrators need to know that justice will come one day. This is what one human rights statistician tells Angwin and Fields-Meyer:
“We will know who you are,” says [Patrick] Ball, who has spent his career cataloging perpetrators of state violence. “You are not going to be anonymous,” he says. “You can wear cute little balaclavas. It may protect you from a few minutes of social media shame, but people are never going to give up their pursuit of you because you’ve destroyed their lives.” … “The things you’re doing now will haunt you for the rest of your life,” he says. “Your children will be ashamed.”
Angwin and Fields-Meyer say another key to finding courage in a repressive regime is finding a political home — a group of like-minded people to keep you grounded and sane and supported: “None of us can be expected to absorb the shocks of authoritarianism on our own, or to face rapid-fire changes in laws, norms, and institutions alone.”
For that, they point out that you need not start from scratch: “Campaigns, movements, and political efforts … are built on the foundations of existing relationships, out of groups of people who have known each other in a different context and who decide to repurpose their relationships for a new, higher purpose. Any network will do.”
It could be your colleagues, your book club, your theater troupe, your neighborhood association or your quilting bee.
When I spoke with the authors of “On Courage,” Angwin told me that the American response to the authoritarianism of Donald Trump is giving her a lot of hope:
“What I felt when I was hearing all these stories from dissidents around the world, and studying all the literature, was that in the United States … we are doing the things fairly textbook,” she said. “The most important things are to keep throwing sand in the gears [of the regime] and to do that nonviolently.”
She added, “I’ve been impressed. The Minneapolis nonviolent movement drove ICE out of their town. Boycotts are really effective — we’ve had the Avelo boycott, which basically caused this airline to cancel its ICE deportation contract. We have been seeing effective movements. The Tesla boycott also cut their stock price in half and probably led to Elon Musk having to leave government to take care of that company. So what we’re seeing is people organizing, doing things together that are textbook what you want to see in a resistance.”
In the same interview, Fields-Meyer cautioned that “most Americans — and even most Americans of conscience — still don’t quite understand where it is that we are.”
He explained, “Authoritarianism looks different now than it used to. It’s not your grandmother’s authoritarianism. It comes in through elections. It doesn’t come in through the back of a coup in the way it has in the past.”
But Fields-Meyer said that’s not all bad news. “Because of the gradual nature of the way authoritarianism now comes in,” he said, “that means we have off-ramps.” He added, “The United States has the opportunity to go down an off-ramp. The question is whether we’ll continue to do the things that we need to do in order to get there.”
I’ve read a lot of books about authoritarianism, and about fighting fascism, and about activism. This is one that’s really worth spending some time with. “On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear” will make you think and feel differently about what it means to live in this country at this moment. (And if you feel like you don’t have time to read it, get the audiobook and I’ll happily read it to you!)
This is one of those books that will make you feel less alone in the world, and less alone in history. It will make you feel more equipped for whatever is coming next.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Claiming that it “has to be some kind of record,” on Monday Donald J. Trump boasted about the “enormous” crowd size at his medical appointments.
“There were so many doctors at my last physical, there wasn’t room for them all,” he bragged. “They never turned out like that for Obama.”
He said that he was considering demolishing Walter Reed National Military Medical Center because “I’m going to need a bigger hospital.”
Basking in his ability to draw such a huge crowd, Trump noted, “I haven’t had so many people touching me since Epstein’s island.”
According to estimates, the turnout at Trump’s most recent physical was far bigger than at his Great American State Fair.
For the convenience of readers, here are some links back to the previous set of 163 comments on The Infinite Thread. (The Infinite Thread is usually limited to 500 comments per “chapter,” but the thread is also limited in time. When it reaches the time cutoff point, PZ has to manually renew it.)
[…] 20 out of the 23 foundations most active in the pluralism and depolarization space also fund conservative policy networks or pro-Israel organizations. … The group mapped civil centers and discourse initiatives that were launched across more than 100 campuses, and found that 70% of them had been accused of suppressing pro-Palestine activism. The researchers argue that while presented as politically neutral, many of these initiatives offer a backdoor way for conservatives to push universities to the right. […]
Swamp. Vomit. Mountain Dew. These are just a few of the comparisons Washingtonians and tourists have drawn to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which filled with algae last week after Trump’s multimillion-dollar renovation project went awry. […] experts say the Trump administration’s renovation likely worsened the problem.
Dr. Peter May, an algae expert and ecologist at the University of Maryland, specifically pointed to three mistakes made by the administration during the overhaul […]
President Donald Trump in recent months has cultivated a side project: counting the number of trees in a public park across the street from the White House.
Under Trump’s plans for Lafayette Square, which he has previously described as “the entrance to the White House,” the public park would feature 47 trees, matching his status as the nation’s 47th president, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the administration’s plans for the park. The trees would all be maples, a favorite of the president’s.
According to the Post’s report […] the president “personally inspected Lafayette Square’s renovations Sunday morning.” (The park is literally across the street from the White House, on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue.)
As a rule, when we think about Trump and Lafayette Square, we tend to focus on the anti-protester violence that unfolded there six years ago this month, or perhaps the president’s more recent focus on no-bid contracts for ornamental fountain repairs in the park.
Now, evidently, his interest in Lafayette Square has taken a rather personal turn.
As for the scope of the increasingly weird Trump glorification campaign, this seems like a good time to update the broader list:
U.S. currency: Trump recently announced plans to add his signature to U.S. dollars — a first for a sitting American president — which is not to be confused with plans for a massive 3-inch commemorative gold coin featuring Trump’s face.
Renaming buildings: The president’s allies tried to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center and successfully added his name to the Institute of Peace. By some accounts, the president expects the proposed White House ballroom to bear his name too.
U.S. militaryPlans to construct “Trump-class” battleships are underway, and the nation’s next-generation fighter jet is set to have an “F-47” designation in honor of him. (Trump is the nation’s 47th president.)
Passports: The State Department is printing 40,000 commemorative Trump-branded passports that will be available starting on July 6.
Training and standards: Training for incoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was reduced from 50 days to 47 days in honor of Trump. (The accelerated training schedule was later tweaked.)
The airport in Florida: In April, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Trump. (The president wanted to change the name of Dulles International Airport, just outside Washington, D.C., to honor himself, and he was even prepared to execute an extortion scheme with Democratic officials to get his way. He had to settle for a much smaller airport.)
Banners: Giant fascistic banners featuring Trump’s face are currently covering the front of several government buildings, including the headquarters of the Labor, Agriculture and Justice departments. They were followed by the administration unveiling different banners around the nation’s capital that show the president in a hard hat alongside text that reads, “Thank you, President Trump.”
Accouterments: The administration also launched “Trump Gold Cards,” “Trump Accounts,” “TrumpRx” and TrumpIRA.gov, while the National Park Service added Trump’s face to its park passes.
Domestic ambitions: Trump wants a new football stadium in Washington to be named after him, as well as New York City’s Penn Station.
International ambitions: Trump recently indicated that he wants and expects a statue to honor him in Venezuela. The Republican also said in January that it was “not too late” to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico (which he attempted to rename once already) to the “Gulf of Trump,” and he recently suggested the Strait of Hormuz should also be called the “Strait of Trump.”
Don Colossus: The president has extended his enthusiastic blessing to a 22-foot golden statue of himself, which has been given a prominent home at one of his golf clubs.
An international team of researchers conducted an exhaustive genetic survey of insects in Costa Rica to come up with the figure. At minimum, they estimate, there are likely somewhere between 14 and 20 million insect species in the world. These numbers are well above most current estimates and suggest scientists need to do a much better job at cataloging the vast diversity of insects that roam the Earth, the researchers say…
Uh, maybe Costa Rica is not representative.
Reginald Selkirksays
@25:
… and he recently suggested the Strait of Hormuz should also be called the “Strait of Trump.”
Atlatls are handheld, rod-shaped devices used to throw flexible spears and darts. For a long time, archaeologists believed that Clovis culture, who occupied the Americas around 13,340 to 12,710 years ago, primarily used atlatls to hunt a variety of species, including large mammals. However, a statistical analysis using 66 radiocarbon dates for known atlatls strongly suggests that this hypothesis is poorly supported.
“Well, we’ve never found a Clovis atlatl—ever, in the archaeological record,” Metin I. Eren, the study’s first author and an archaeologist at Kent State University, told Gizmodo during a video call. “What our data shows is that the likelihood of finding an atlatl [from that era] is low, and there’s a 3,000-year gap between the projected earliest use of the atlatl and Clovis people.”
…
“But you know, it’s funny,” Eren said. “We’ve never found—as we say in the paper—preserved specimens of the atlatl in Asia, nor Stone Age Australia and Africa.
…
[…] Trump has taken his whitewashed historical account of U.S. history on the road.
Across the nation, six […] federally funded “Freedom Trucks” are making stops at schools, public events, and elsewhere to share a Trump administration-approved version of history. The trucks are fitted with a “Wall of Heroes” and intertwined with Christian sentiment. The trucks have already made their way across 28 states and intend to hit nearly all 50 states […]
Looking toward George Washington, text recalls the president saying that “our rights are a gift from God, not a favor from kings or courts.”
“I was looking for how whitewashed our story would be,” Erika Berg, who visited one of the trucks, told the Washington Post.
And whitewashing seems to be a consistent theme. On the walls, the display—created by the Hillsdale College’s Matthew Spalding with conservative nonprofit Prager University [disgraceful source]—made little mention of Native Americans, but did manage to include this passage from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: “The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent.”
Slavery is also painted in a different light, echoing the MAGA-backed sentiment that, while slavery is bad, they choose to focus on the positive impacts of patriotism brought over by white Europeans. [yuck]
Of course, this type of narrative wipes the slate clean rather than discussing the oppression and slaughter of both natives and people brought over in chains. [True]
[…] “The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE.’ The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL…” Trump wrote in a long-winded Truth Social post in August 2025.
Along with it came the White House’s decision to rename military bases after Confederate military generals and the reinstallation of statues tied to slavery.
But for the trucks, Spalding defended this approach. “What do we want to teach people who go through a museum like this? That it’s a country that is so problematic that it’s not worth celebrating?” Spalding told the Washington Post. “It was the overcoming of slavery. That’s the powerful story here and that’s what is emphasized in these trucks.”
But this whitewashing of history, while enraging to those aware of the long tattered past of the U.S., has a long-term impact on those unaware, particularly young learners, who may not ever be told of what happened. This kind of approach to learning and framing the future culture of the U.S. can already be seen in red states who are ditching history books for the Bible. [Like, for example, Texas.]
As for the “Freedom Trucks,” this alternative history book on wheels—which will hit schools on the public’s dime as well—just adds to the narrative.
There’s really no better way to put it than that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants people who use drugs to die.
Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped new guidance on health programs at state, local, and tribal levels, demanding they agree to a list of “priorities” by July 1. One of those will lead us to abandon efforts we know can help increase the safety and flourishing of people who struggle with substance use, replacing the guidance with, well, nothing really.
Yes, states and local programs, already battered by the administration’s war on health and science, have just a few days to turn on a dime and adopt the personal preferences of the worst people.
[…] Per the CDC’s vagueness, public health programs are supposed to move away from harm-reduction efforts proven to work. That may include needle exchanges and access to naloxone for overdose prevention, drug testing strips, and medication to treat addiction. […]
[…] Kennedy has been messing with this area of funding for a while. Last year, he announced he would dissolve the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and cut billions in grants, including those that went to addiction services. [!!]
But then SAMHSA came back, sort of, and as recently as April of this year, the agency was telling programs they could spend funding on things like naloxone, so no one really knows what is happening.
It’s not just those who struggle with substance use disorder that HHS wants to kick in the teeth. It stripped funding from HIV programs over a year ago, cutting support for PrEP research and availability, despite PrEP, which can prevent HIV infections [!]
Oh, and if you enjoy your children attending a school that requires vaccines, you may need to lower your expectations: The Trump administration plans to prioritize “parental authority” over state and local vaccine mandates, which sounds a lot like getting rid of vaccine mandates. […]
This is an administration so far past the baseline evil of the GOP that earlier this year, even Republican members of Congress declined to pass the level of catastrophic cuts that Trump and Kennedy had demanded. Not that it really matters for Congress to refuse Trump anything these days, since he slashes public health funding to disfavored states whenever he feels like it.
Trump, Kennedy, and their ilk are making us so much less safe, and they’re going to kill so many people—and they don’t care at all.
A year and a half after going into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, José is still experiencing rectal bleeding.
An immigrant from Guatemala who lived in Los Angeles for more than two decades, José has been fighting to get medical attention for his condition the entire time he’s been locked up. After pressure from news media and attorneys, including two articles from Capital & Main, he received a colonoscopy last August and later surgery, but he said conditions at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego have meant that he is not recovering properly.
“The trauma is getting worse,” José said in Spanish. “Lately, I can’t sleep.”
Capital & Main is not fully identifying José due to retaliation concerns.
[I snipped a sort of non-response from ICE: “[…] all known medical issues are being addressed, etc.]
[I snipped a similar non-response from CoreCivic, the private prison company that runs Otay Mesa Detention Center.]
In April 2024, shortly before his arrest, José visited a Kaiser Permanente emergency room because he was experiencing pain and rectal bleeding, according to medical records. Doctors instructed him then to get a colonoscopy as soon as possible because he might have cancer.
Border Patrol agents initially detained José in May of that year near Tecate, California, after he picked up a man from Guatemala who had crossed the border and didn’t have permission to be in the U.S., according to court records. José first had a criminal case in federal court, where he pleaded guilty to one felony count of “transportation of certain aliens.”
Then, the U.S. Marshals Service transferred him to ICE custody. According to his medical records, he told medical staff during his intake in January 2025 that he was concerned he might have colon cancer.
But for months, he pushed for a colonoscopy without success.
In June, he told an immigration judge that he was worried that he was dying. He showed the judge a jar of blood that he had collected that day from his rectum. The judge asked the attorney representing ICE what was causing the delay in his medical care. That attorney said the facility was assessing whether it was able to provide the level of care he needed or whether he needed to be transferred.
The judge said he could not release José because of his criminal record. Under immigration law, transporting an undocumented person is considered an aggravated felony, a category of offense — made up of felonies and misdemeanors — that carries particularly severe immigration consequences, including mandatory detention.
In early July, according to medical records, CoreCivic staff took José to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center emergency room because of his rectal bleeding. Medical staff performed a CT scan and did not find evidence of extensive bleeding inside his colon. His written instructions from the doctor say to get a colonoscopy within a week.
José returned to Otay Mesa Detention Center, where he waited roughly six more weeks for the screening.
For several weeks starting in late July, according to CoreCivic medical records for José, medical staff kept him in isolation to monitor him. […] “I’m just lying down, and I’m getting sicker. Sometimes I think they want to kill me here,” José said. […]”
In late August 2025, after Capital & Main wrote two news articles about José and a set of pro bono attorneys stepped in to try to get him released from custody due to lack of medical care, he finally went to a University of California, San Diego, doctor for a colonoscopy.
During the colonoscopy, a doctor removed a small polyp that turned out to be benign, according to José’s medical records. The doctor also found internal hemorrhoids that could be causing his bleeding and recommended suppositories to treat the inflammation they were causing.
In September, José returned to the UC San Diego hospital because he was still experiencing rectal pain and bleeding, according to medical records. The doctor referred him for colorectal surgery for his hemorrhoids […]
Months later, he had surgery and hoped that at last he would have some relief from the pain and bleeding.
But, he said, he is still experiencing pain and bleeding. He said that the detention center staff have not followed the instructions for his care post-surgery.
“They denied me the medications they prescribed me in the hospital,” he said. […]
He said medical staff at the facility told him that ICE wouldn’t approve the medication that he was prescribed.
[…] At the end of the month, he wrote two more grievances. “I am not healing well from my surgery,” he wrote.
[…] He had a court hearing in March, where Immigration Judge Guy Grande denied his requests for protection and ordered him deported to Guatemala. José believes that his ex-wife’s new partner, whom he has described as a hitman and corrupt police officer, will kill him if he returns.
[…] He found attorneys to help him appeal the decision.
But while he is waiting for his case to make it to the Board of Immigration Appeals and potentially to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he is stuck in custody. He said he thinks the government is hoping he will give up and agree to be deported. […] His lawyers recently filed a new habeas corpus case to try to get him released.
Millions of student borrowers will see their bills significantly increase on July 1 as new regulations put in place by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans go into effect.
On that day, the Trump administration’s Repayment Assistance Plan will go into effect, replacing the Saving on a Valuable Education plan put in place in 2023 under former President Joe Biden. While Biden’s plan was designed to give breathing room to families owing student loans, the Republican plan will push many borrowers—including those making less than $10,000—to pay more.
Lori Correa, a single mother based in North Carolina, told NBC News that she estimates her monthly student loan bill will skyrocket from its current monthly cost of $150 to $713. “It feels like now, if you are a normal, average person just trying to make it, you’re not going to,” she told the outlet.
The increase in costs for struggling families is occurring thanks to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” legislation that Trump signed into law after a party-line vote in Congress that saw unified Democratic opposition. The legislation includes massive tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, while it has cut vital safety-net programs, like Medicaid, and will now hurt student borrowers.
Democrats have long supported help for student borrowers, and Biden proposed a more expansive program during his administration. But that plan was opposed by Republicans, and the conservative majority on the Supreme Court ruled against it. Now, the scaled-down program put in place by Biden is being torn apart by the right.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, then-Vice President Kamala Harris warned that student borrowers would be directly in the crosshairs of Republicans and Trump—and her dire prediction is unfortunately proving to be accurate.
In December, Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the Biden team’s attempts to help struggling families “egregious federal overreach,” and endorsed harsh measures that would cause bills to increase.
Student loans are part of a wide array of factors that have created an affordability crisis across America. […]
One of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s principal goals for the 2026 midterm elections is trying to tell voters that Democrats — or more to the point, candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America — are somehow further from the American mainstream than Republicans.
To that end, the Louisianan brought his pitch to the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference late last week, where he started reading portions of the DSA platform. [social media post, with video]
Mike Johnson wanted conservative activists to know, for example, that some DSA candidates hope to “establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people.”
Johnson delivered the comments with a tone that suggested he found the idea to be sinister, if not utterly absurd.
The trouble is, I can think of another politician who hasn’t just talked about public ownership stakes in large corporations and essential industries, but who’s actually taken concrete steps to implement the idea.
His name is Donald Trump.
Indeed, it was earlier this month when Trump told reporters about his plans to create government ownership stakes in artificial intelligence companies, adding that he envisions “the American public essentially becomes a partner” in the growth of AI.
Asked which private AI companies he was eyeing, the president replied, “All of them.”
[…] Late last year, after the government became the largest shareholder in a company developing extreme ultraviolet lithography tools that are seen as key to the development of semiconductors, my MS NOW colleague Ja’han Jones noted that this extended the Republican administration’s “socialist — if not blatantly authoritarian — trend of making the government a stakeholder in supposed ‘free market’ enterprises.” [Accurate]
[Trump] by his own admission, isn’t just eyeing stakes in AI companies; he and his team have also raised the prospect of seeking ownership stakes in oil companies, pharmaceutical companies and, in one recent instance, the rare-earth metals industry.
[…] The question for the House speaker is simple: If the public should be scared of DSA candidates who envision public ownership stakes in private enterprises, why is it fine when Trump pursues the same vision?
[…] Monday was one of those days. And the big SCOTUS decision was a doozy. In the usual 6-3 partisan split, the Court overturned a 90-year-old precedent that had kept presidents from firing heads of independent agencies and replacing them with their own cronies and lickspittles. UNLESS — and this was a separate 5-4 decision — unless the person the president wants to fire is a member of the Federal Reserve.
They may be brain-fried Fox News zombies, but the justices don’t want to see their retirement funds get vaporized any more than the rest of us. […]
The 6-3 decision, Trump v. Slaughter, overturns the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision that, in the words of Slate legal writer Mark Joseph Stern, established a “precedent that facilitated much of modern governance by granting many agencies meaningful independence from the president.” In other words, this is another step in the Court’s ongoing efforts to overturn most of the 20th century.
[…] In this particular case, Trump had fired a Democratic appointee to the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, just days after he took office last year. Slaughter sued on the grounds that congressional statute forbade his legal authority to do that. In other words, he needed a reason beyond ‘cause I wanna.
[…] The Federal Reserve board, which sets interest rates and is key to the international view that the United States has a stable banking system where investors can park their money. Destabilize that, and financial markets might collapse, bringing down the world economy.
The justices are at least smart enough to know that is too much of a risk to put in Donald Trump’s hands. […] So they declared the Fed special and off-limits, based on history and tradition that they made up.
[…] By a 5-4 vote, the justices shocked the hell out of us in Watson v. RNC. In that case, SCOTUS determined that when counting votes cast in an election, states can include mail-in ballots that were postmarked before but received after Election Day. John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberals in the majority on this one: [social media post]
[…] The decision predictably sent President Boss Baby into a fury: [social media post from Trump]
In fact, if you are looking for silver linings from SCOTUS Monday, know that Trump is also furious because the court declined to hear his appeal in the lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll over his sexual abuse of her. So that $5 million judgment still stands. Though if we were Carroll, we wouldn’t count on seeing a check anytime soon.
Naturally, Trump is promising to “continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me.” How, we don’t know, but it will probably involve impotent yelling. […]
“The U.K. is learning from Ukraine’s war against Russia to build its own armed forces to prepare for a similar conflict this decade.”
Britain is announcing one of the biggest shake-ups of its armed forces in decades, and it’s using the experience of the war in Ukraine as a model.
The Defence Investment Plan, set to be published on Tuesday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in one of his last acts before stepping down, shows the U.K. is copying Ukraine’s successful playbook to focus on “cheap systems destroying high-value targets and innovation cycles measured in weeks, not years,” the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.
The move indicates how the government intends to meet the goals of last year’s Strategic Defence Review, which warned that “state conflict has returned to Europe,” after a funding crunch that prompted former Defence Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit earlier this month.
For decades, much of the U.K.’s military strength has rested on sea power, with large, expensive warships like aircraft carriers and submarines able to launch nuclear missiles forming a central part of what Britain can bring to bear in peace and war.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the old model for European defense. It exposed the vulnerability of expensive systems, underlined the need for large supplies of cheap drones and munitions, and accelerated the shift toward autonomous systems, AI-enabled targeting and quick battlefield innovation.
One of the most eye-catching policies in the DIP is an announcement that there will be no new money for up to eight Type 83 guided missile destroyers and Type 32 frigates — projects that had been a key part of rebuilding the size of the Royal Navy in the 2030s.
Instead, the U.K. will invest in at least six new Common Combat Vessels which will act as control ships for uncrewed systems which include Type 93 underwater anti-submarine vessels, Type 91 uncrewed missile platforms and Type 92 and Type 94 unmanned sensor platforms for the sky and sea — notable because, despite having no navy, Ukraine defeated Russia’s Black Sea Fleet with a combination of sea and air drones and missiles.
The unmanned shift extends to Britain’s Royal Air Force, with officials on Monday night teasing the investment of a “national Collaborative Combat Air program” which will produce autonomous jets to fly alongside their crewed counterparts — something that is part of the British-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet. […]
Steve Benen’s summaries of recent court decisions:
* The importance of the Trump v. Slaughter ruling will resonate for a long while: “The Supreme Court on Monday backed President Donald Trump’s power to fire members of independent federal agencies and overturned a 1935 precedent that had protected agency independence. At the same time, in a separate case, the court stopped Trump from immediately firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.” [Source: MS NOW]
* A surprising outcome in Watson v. Republican National Committee: “The Supreme Court sided against Republicans on Monday to allow mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion for a 5-4 court, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the three Democratic appointees, over dissent from Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.” [Source: MS NOW]
* The E. Jean Carroll case: “The Supreme Court declined to review President Donald Trump’s appeal in one of the cases in which writer E. Jean Carroll won a multimillion-dollar jury award against him.” [Source: MS NOW]
* An unusual ideological breakdown on this one: “The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that law enforcement conducted a Fourth Amendment search when it got a ‘geofence’ warrant for Google location data to help solve an armed robbery.” [Source: MS NOW]
Local and international rescue teams raced against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble in Venezuela on Sunday, four days after two powerful earthquakes shook the northern state of La Guaira.
The official death toll is now 1,450. Many people are still missing.
President Trump threatened to scrap a just-finalized trade deal with the European Union on Friday, saying that any country that levies a digital services tax would be hit immediately with a 100 percent tariff on all exports to the United States.
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In what was widely regarded as the ultimate humiliation of Donald J. Trump, on Monday workmen in midtown Manhattan began putting writer E. Jean Carroll’s name on Trump Tower.
The name-change was mandated after Carroll rejected Trump’s attempt to pay the millions he owes her in Trumpcoin, sources said.
In a desperate bid to keep his name on his signature building, he offered Carroll the naming rights to Eric Trump, which she immediately refused.
Although Carroll has yet to decide how to spend Trump’s millions, she reportedly is mulling large donations to the World Windmill Foundation, Save the Algae, and the Obama Presidential Center.
Trump has a years-long, well-documented pattern of incitement, violence, and persecution within his own country, one that stands in direct opposition to the basic principles of democratic governance and public safety. The record is visible in real injuries, real deaths, and a sustained erosion of norms that once constrained political violence.
Trump’s rhetoric has emboldened extremists, fueled hate crimes, and inspired domestic terror, while his administration’s policies inflicted state-sanctioned harm on immigrants, minorities, and LGBTQ Americans. Notes from the Road documents this history in a new regularly updated list below, maintaining the most exhaustive and fact-checked record of Trump-inspired violence…both acts carried out by his followers and policies enacted under his leadership…so that history cannot be rewritten or forgotten.
Trump has now incited more deaths of Americans than were killed across multiple U.S. wars combined, including Vietnam.. (snip)..
Notes from the Road crushes Patrick Moore’s claims about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from Chapter 6 of his book, highlighting scientific evidence and environmental impacts of oceanic plastic pollution.
Over the course of two years and eight months, from 7 October 2023 to 7 June 2026, Israeli forces killed 235 Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank. Five others were killed by settlers. In 2025 alone, the year that is the focus of this investigation, Israeli forces killed 54 Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank.
Then there are the children killed in Gaza which I have heard someone is at least one every day.
StevoRsays
@ ^ ” ” ” ” ” ” have heard somewhere ..
That is. Probly news coverage on TV.
StevoRsays
Aussie late night radio – Nightlife program segment on the USA here – 25 mins long :
A significant weekend is coming for the United States of America, as July the 4th comes around, the USA hits 250 years since the signing of the declaration of independence.
The state of the US was highlighted in a speech given by former President Joe Biden over the weekend and it seems that relatively few really feel like celebrating at this time.
Nightlife takes a deeper perspective than just the news on what is happening in America with Philip Clark joined by Bill Wyman, former assistant managing editor of National Public Radio in Washington, and columnist for SMH and the AGE.
The display, featuring 50 times the typical number of fireworks that light up D.C.’s sky, will last about 40 minutes, double the usual time.
[…]
The company in charge of the fireworks on the National Mall for this year’s Fourth of July celebration says it will launch more than 860,000 shells in an attempt to set a Guinness world record for largest fireworks display. That number dwarfs previous Fourth of July firework shows in Washington, where typically 17,000 to 20,000 shells are launched.
[…]
The current record […] is about 809,000 fireworks […] at a New Year’s Eve event in Manila in 2016 […] That display lasted a little over an hour
[…]
Fireworks will launch from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, West Potomac Park and eight barges on the Potomac River.
Concerns have been raised in the past about the sheer number of fireworks and how they could affect air quality in the District. Weather can often be a factor in trapping smoke and limiting the spectacle. That was the case […] in Washington in 2019 […] Many people who went to the Mall to watch the fireworks reported experiencing burning eyes and coughing.
Fireworks are being set up behind the fence around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. [Photo]
Fireworks are always set off by the pool. The fencing happens every year. What is different is that last year was less than 8,000 fireworks and this year is supposed to be 851,000.
I just realized that the world record number of fireworks Trump is trying to beat was done across the entire city of Manila, not from a pool and a barge. lmao. [YouTube footage]
* Amanda Moore: “I am going based off of what came out of the mouth of the NPS guy who gave the announcement with Doug Burgum and cited last year specifically. [He said 7k.] Maybe he meant to say 17k?” https://xcancel.com/matthewfoldi/status/2066577784969867670
* The Guardian in 2016 on Manila’s razings and fatalities in the aftermath.
Commentary
WTF??! Disney uses 1 million in a YEAR.
They absolutely went “@grok what the most firework ever” and then, since they don’t know anything, just said let’s order more than that.
It feels very storybook-foreshadowing that the guy demonstrably just fucking hates dogs.
Just when you thought Trump couldn’t f*ck up the pool anymore.
All the soot should really help things.
A million commercial fireworks spewing fixed nitrogen and phosphorus into the pool to feed the algae.
Cool to live in age where you can legally bet on whether or not the president will blow up the Lincoln Memorial.
Back of an envelope maths so take it with a pinch of salt but I think this is roughly equivalent to 100 TONS of TNT.
I don’t pretend to be a military expert, but how is this not turning the center of DC into the largest unsecured munitions depot in the history of the world?
Are you familiar with the Wanggonchang incident of 1626? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanggongchang_Explosion
Are we sure this is not actually an attempted coup.
So, for comparison, in 2012 when San Diego accidentally set all their fireworks off at once, that was 7,000 fireworks originally meant for a 17 minute show going off simultaneously. These 851,000 fireworks are supposedly for a 40 minute show. [YouTube footage (loud)]
Do the math. 851,000 at one per second would be almost 10 days. At 10 per second, almost one full day. Sydney, Australia, has the most spectacular fireworks display I’ve ever seen each New Year’s. They launch only about 65,000 in two separate displays (one early for kids, one at midnight).
Day 32. The glow from the DC crater is still visible at night from Philadelphia. Rumors that Trump was underground when it happened persist, but almost no one believes he could be quiet for this long.
Setting aside the amount of smoke this will create if everything goes well, this is a very complex operation for guys whose mixture of corruption and incompetence just caused them to fail at “drain and paint a pool”, “plan a carnival,” and “book and promote a show.” Everything this administration does while trying to be patriotic is like something Halloween Town does while trying to be Christmasy.
There’s no way. Someone either embezzled 90% of the firework money assuming no one would notice, or… IDK what the alternative even is.
The same people saying there will be 851,000 fireworks are also saying 50,000,000 will be there—i.e. over 15% of the US population.
• Mixed signals on US-Iran talks: Iran said that no negotiation meetings are scheduled with the US at any level in the coming days. However, President Donald Trump said the US will meet with Iran in Qatar Tuesday, and two US officials said US envoy Steve Witkoff is en route to Doha.
Anybody paying attention was already aware of the constant conflicting information but it’s nice to see a major news agency just directly say it.
• Strait of Hormuz: A growing number of vessels are using a route close to the Omani coast, threatening Tehran’s leverage over the strait. It comes as MarineTraffic data shows a consistent amount of traffic transiting the waterway in recent days, even as shipping continues at a depressed pace.
This is more important. The Strait is such that Iran and Oman have to work together to have legal coverage of it’s entire width. If they don’t work together it’s possible to pass in the territorial water of one side. Previously Oman and Iran had been talking about a joint authority but that isn’t happening now. Many ways a deal between the two states could have failed.
The Strait will still be within Iran firing range for long range drones but it will be harder and they will have much less basis for a claim of control.
That race may be over, however, even before it began. IBM unveiled what it says is the world’s first sub-1-nanometer chip technology based on a new 3D NanoStack transistor architecture at the 0.7 nm — or 7 angstrom — node.
The research device, introduced ahead of VLSI 2026, is designed to pack nearly 100 billion transistors on a fingernail‑size die, roughly doubling the density of IBM’s earlier 2-nm test chip, first shown in 2021. Today, the smallest, most powerful chips top out at about 80 billion transistors.
There is a big gap between technology demo and actual production. The chip foundries are still rolling out IBM’s last generation of technology in the 2-3 nanometer range. So actual chips based on this are years down the road if it works in practice. The method that makes this work is packing two elements in a vertical stack that lets the stack be smaller then twice the size of independent elements..
after a two-month halt on mandatory flu shots […] The flu vaccines now being deployed across military basic training camps are set to expire on 30 June, and new doses will not arrive until August or later […] as manufacturers switch to making the next season’s doses.
[…]
Military leaders have reportedly been working for weeks to reestablish the vaccine mandate, even before the Lackland outbreak sickened at least 275 people and hospitalized four. One recruit, Keon McDaniel, died earlier this month after experiencing a medical emergency. His death is still under investigation, and it’s not yet clear whether it’s linked
[…]
The army is also planning to mandate vaccines for overseas troops, first responders, childcare workers, healthcare personnel, prison staff and soldiers in large-scale training exercises
Militant Agnosticsays
Torture Enthusiast and all round POS John Yoo will be an advisor to Trump’s hunt for his perceived enemies.
A law professor known for his expansive views of presidential power and for decades-old memos that justified harsh interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks says he will be advising a team of prosecutors investigating whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump.
John Yoo confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that he would be assisting Joe diGenova in an ongoing investigation into whether officials who over the last decade scrutinized Trump participated in a criminal conspiracy against the Republican president.
All the white tent exteriors are covered in a combination of vinyl tarp with wood and plaster columns. The tarps have fake, painted windows. Some of the plaster corners are already popping out, and are hastily held together with industrial adhesives and tape.
[…]
All the workers dress like uniformed attendants at some desperate, struggling country club.
[…]
Attendees have wrapped themselves in red white and blue clothing. They trumpet and deify the long-dead men who fought against religious bigotry and dynastic, monarchial rule unbound by laws. There’s something sad and ironic about seeing a mass of walking, talking violations of US Flag Codes in a hat that says Trump 2028.
[…]
The whole thing is like a walkable commercial. […] So many companies [sponsored] with questionable business practices, government contracts, or had been (but no longer are) facing some kind of regulation. One company, Biz2Credit, settled charges from the FTC over PPP loan fuckery in 2024 to the tune of $33 million. Another, Micron Technologies, was fined in 2023 for violating employment and immigration laws, and is currently facing a class-action lawsuit for misleading investors. But their plinko board was popular.
John Deere had a big tractor […] in April 2026, John Deere agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $99 million.
[…]
There was an exhibit from Fox News. It offered face painting, a cheap bandana, and a mock-up of the iconic Fox & Friends curvy couch. […] There is a booth from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. And a booth for the Americanized Tik-Tok. Truth Social had a booth. I couldn’t tell you where because nothing is labeled.
[…]
In 2019, Trump tried to take over the Fourth of July with a rainy, poorly organized rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Last year, he tried to take over the Fourth with a limp parade of aging military hardware down Constitution Ave. A week ago, a bunch of oiled up, half-naked men in leather panties were slapping each other on the South Lawn of the White House.
The Great American State Fair is exactly what you’d expect
Thinking asteroids, coming up next month and looking forward to here :
The year 2026 is expected to bring humanity’s first close-up views of two Solar system objects, the near-Earth asteroids Kamoʻoalewa (Tianwen-2 orbit insertion in June; and subsequent sample collection in July) and Torifune (Hayabusa2 flyby in July).[30][31]
Over the weekend, China’s second deep-space mission, Tianwen-2, quietly performed a crucial engine burn to rendezvous with a mysterious tiny world in a quasi-Earth orbit. Although China’s space administration has yet to acknowledge the milestone, amateur radio observers using telescopes in Germany and the Netherlands tracked the maneuver, observing Tianwen-2 to now be in the vicinity of the near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa. Over the next four weeks, the spacecraft will approach the rapidly spinning asteroid to begin studying and mapping its surface, lining up future sampling attempts.
Kamoʻoalewa is a space rock between about 40 to 100 meters in size that rotates once every 28 minutes. It’s also one of seven known quasi-moons of Earth, bodies that orbit the sun in tune with our planet, making slow retrograde loops around us. But at least until Tianwen-2 gets close enough to see it in more detail, scientists can’t say much more about the enigmatic, smaller than soccer-pitch-size object.
“Every new image of an asteroid has been a surprise,” says Patrick Michel, director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research and principal investigator of the European Space Agency’s Hera mission, who has studied Kamoʻoalewa extensively. “We have everything to learn.”
Plus :
On 5 July 2026, Hayabusa2 will conduct a flyby observation of the asteroid Torifune. The spacecraft is currently approaching Torifune, and we have now successfully detected the asteroid from Hayabusa2 for the first time (Figure 1).
..(Snip)..
Torifune has a brightness of about magnitude 12.5. Torifune appears in the direction of the constellation Libra as seen from Hayabusa2. The distance from the spacecraft is approximately 7 million km. (Figure 2 shows the original image, and Figure 3 shows a video.)
Would’ve been nice and apt had the fly-by been today but still, close and keen to see Torifune and learn more on it as well as that quasi-moonlet of ours too.
birgerjohanssonsays
“The European media group Axel Springer has completed its £575m takeover of the [British right-wing newspaper] Telegraph”
It figures. The Telegraph belongs to the newspapers collectively known as “the gutter press”.
And Axel Springer was a German conservative whose “Bild-Zeitung” was (and is) a paper analog to Fox News.
birgerjohanssonsays
Owen Jones Talks
“The Iran War Broke The American Empire – Prof. Paul Rogers’ Fascinating Interview”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=L_ucoGhwxCs
Myself, I would argue the process began with the guy from Texas the supreme court made president 26 years ago. You know, the one who twice ignored NSA warnings about a group called “Al-Quaeda.
Reginald Selkirksays
@57
Fireworks will launch from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool…
I think the natural outcome here is that he is going to set the reflecting pool on fire.
StevoRsays
@ ^ Reginald Selkirk : Doe salgae burn? Wouldn’t have thought so but.. well,
In a recent statement, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reported the discovery of a lost Maya city hidden deep within the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in southern Mexico. Archaeologists behind the findings named the place “Minanbé,” which means “there is no path” in Yucatec Maya. Indeed, the team had to hack through thick vegetation to reach the site, and its remoteness kept it surprisingly intact and safe from looters…
A new state law limits Florida communities’ aims to offset greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the global climate and intensifying disasters such as hurricanes.
Specifically, HB 1217 prohibits local governments from pursuing net-zero emissions goals. At least 10 cities and counties have implemented such policies, including Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, and Leon County, where Tallahassee, the state capital, is located. But the new law will not necessarily upend these policies, said Bradley Marshall, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an advocacy group…
The launch of Katalyst Space’s robotic servicing spacecraft LINK, designed to boost the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, was postponed Tuesday due to unfavorable weather conditions. The next launch attempt is targeted for no earlier than Wednesday, July 1, at 9:43 p.m. UTC+12 (5:43 a.m. EDT)
In a 6-3 decision, the justices upheld a 150-year-old precedent giving automatic American citizenship to babies born in the US…
The USA is in a sad state when three Supreme Court justices side with a bigot against the clear text of the constitution which they have sworn to defend.
Delivering another major blow to LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws that ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
The court, largely divided 6-3, ruled against two transgender students, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who had challenged restrictive laws in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively.
The court in an opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh concluded that the laws do not violate either the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that the law apply evenly to everyone, or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars sex discrimination in education…
The Supreme Court yet again loosened campaign finance restrictions on Tuesday by striking down limits on how much political parties may raise and spend on candidates.
By a 6-to-3 vote along ideological lines, the court ruled the law, which had been enacted in 1974, violates political parties’ First Amendment rights. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion.
At issue in the case was a post-Watergate law that Congress passed to limit the amount of money individuals can give to political parties. The law, the Federal Election Campaign Act, also limited how much money political parties can spend on their candidates. Other types of organizations, like political action committees and Super PACs, have no limits on the amount of money they can raise and spend on elections. But unlike parties, they cannot coordinate with candidates.
Tuesday’s decision means that parties get the best of both worlds. They can both coordinate with candidates and raise unlimited funds…
Reginald Selkirksays
@43 Lynna, OM
Speaker Johnson’s warnings about DSA agenda take an unintentionally amusing turn
…
Mike Johnson wanted conservative activists to know, for example, that some DSA candidates hope to “establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people.”
Johnson delivered the comments with a tone that suggested he found the idea to be sinister, if not utterly absurd…
If the Supreme Court needed an illustration of why not to expand Donald Trump’s presidential power to fire agency employees and fill them with loyalists, the billionaires in Trump’s orbit should have made it clear. Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya talks with Rachel Maddow about who gets hurt by a government full of Trump loyalists.
Rachel Maddow describes how the Supreme Court conservatives radically expanded presidential power with a single ruling, even in the face of Donald Trump’s unbridled corruption and abuse of the power he already had.
whheydt @50, thanks for the update. The number of missing or dead people in Venezuela will, unfortunately increase over the coming days. 1,719 is already a lot. Hard to get one’s head around.
Sky Captain @57, quoting other sources:
Do the math. 851,000 at one per second would be almost 10 days. At 10 per second, almost one full day. […] These 851,000 fireworks are supposedly for a 40 minute show […]
Sounds like the Trump administration is setting itself up for another fiasco. We also have to take into account that Trump may claim that 851,000 fireworks were set off in D.C., but that may be bluster and lies.
In my neighborhood, my neighbors regularly set off enough fireworks for the smoke to bother me. I imagine the smoke in D.C. will be a health hazard.
Related video, hosted by Nicole Wallace, is available at the link. The video includes much laughter from the host and her guests. Video is 12:36 minutes, and includes hilarious clips from Fox News, which broadcast from the fair site.
As this week got underway, Donald Trump published an item to his social media platform suggesting that he was looking for gratitude. “Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it?” the president wrote. “Ask yourself this simple question, ‘DO YOU THINK THAT OBUMA OR SLEEPY JOE BIDEN COULD HAVE DONE IT?’ THE ANSWER IS NO!”
Even by Trump standards, the whining was unfortunate, not just because it’s very easy to imagine recent Democratic presidents organizing successful events, but also because the Republican wants the public to appreciate him for putting together an event that’s become a rather embarrassing flop.
Even before the fair kicked off, there were signs of serious trouble. Not only did musical acts withdraw from the gathering, but roughly a fifth of the nation’s states decided not to send official delegations or spend public money on participating in the fair.
When Trump headlined his own event last week to kick off the festivities, turnout was abysmal, and many attendees were seen leaving in the middle of the president’s campaign-style speech.
In the days that followed, the troubles intensified. NOTUS reported:
The 110-foot-tall Ferris wheel, a main attraction at the Great American State Fair for the country’s 250th anniversary, shut down for a couple of hours due to lack of power. The ice cream melted, but Iowa’s butter cow survived. And a display of the Confederate flag was removed from North Carolina’s booth after Gov. Josh Stein condemned the vendor for putting it up.
The same report referred to “power outages” and “almost-empty or understaffed booths” before adding, “Rodeos and baby farm animals drew crowds but the fair appeared sparsely attended; there were no lines to get in, the lawn was fairly void of people and entertainers outnumbered guests at points.”
[…] Fox News has done its part to try to promote the gathering, even broadcasting live from the fair, but that apparently hasn’t helped. It’s easy to see the absence of attendees behind the on-air hosts and guests. [Social media post, with video. Aaron Rupar posted a supercut.]
The Supreme Court preserved one of the most important tenets of the Constitution Tuesday, upholding birthright citizenship despite the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to shred it. [Good news … sort of. See the commentary below for caveats.]
[…] “Arguments for limiting birthright citizenship to those domiciled in the United States fail,” wrote Roberts [Chief Justice John Roberts ]. “These arguments err in their definition of ‘allegiance,’ contending that natural allegiance was no longer sufficient for citizenship and that some greater quantum of allegiance (based on domicile) was required. There is scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view…”
The Trump administration had argued that the Citizenship Clause only applied to people “domiciled” in the United States, who have allegiance to no other country. Even at oral argument, Solicitor General John Sauer struggled with logistical questions about how to determine when someone is sufficiently “domiciled.”
Roberts also pointed out the more uncomfortable ramifications of that argument, echoed in Thomas’, and to a lesser extent, Alito’s dissent: If the test for citizenship is whether a person is “loyal” to the laws of two governments at once, every child of foreign parents does not qualify. Roberts observed that even Thomas “cannot stomach” such a result, and that Alito tried to craft an “ad hoc exception” for parents who have tried hard to become Americans.
Most legal experts thought that this Trump order to take birthright citizenship away from undocumented immigrants was too radical for even this Court. But the margin was ultimately very thin. Kavanaugh concurred with the judgment only insofar as he thinks the executive order violates a law (that Congress could change). He wrote that the order did not violate the 14th Amendment. So the split in terms of the finding that curtailing birthright citizenship violates the Constitution is a bare 5-4.
Kavanaugh wrote that the Constitution is an “enduring document” and that new exceptions to the Citizenship Clause can be added, an argument pushed by the Trump administration. “Here, that interpretive principle would support additional exceptions for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country,” he wrote.
Thomas, always occupying the Court’s rightmost flank, argued that the Citizenship Clause was meant to apply narrowly to Black Americans and not to immigrants. [Sheesh. Not true.]
Jackson’s concurrence squarely rebutted Thomas’ myopic reading. She traced the history of advocacy leading to the Reconstruction Amendments as “an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery.” [Excellent explanation from Jackson.]
Freed Blacks, she wrote, did not “seek to advance their own position relative to, or at the expense and exclusion of, other marginalized groups,” but saw commonality with other minorities whose status as Americans was questioned and fought. […]
Alito, the Court’s most reliable repository of right-wing conspiracy theories, arrived at laments about “birth tourism” in the second sentence of his dissent, a ginned up moral panic about an alternate reality in which millions of pregnant immigrants travel to the United States to give birth, then depart. [Typical … and wrong.]
And, later, on Texas’ valiant efforts to keep immigrants out with razor wire, Alito wrote: “Then, from the comfort of chambers more than 1,000 miles from the southern border, this Court sided with the Federal Government, allowing immigrants to pour into the State.” [bullshit combined with fear-mongering]
The Trump administration ultimately did not get its biggest ask from the Court, which was not prepared to upend U.S. society. But the celebration must be somewhat muted; only two Republican appointees agreed that birthright citizenship given to all born on American soil is a constitutional guarantee. [!]
Another issue related to the Venezuelan earthquake:
A deportation flight from the United States arrived in Venezuela last Wednesday, reportedly carrying 146 Venezuelans, including seven children, deported under President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration efforts. But just hours after their arrival at a hotel in La Guaira, twin earthquakes struck the area, leaving the number of surviving deportees currently unknown.
[…] The leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly estimated on Sunday that over 770 buildings have been damaged or fully destroyed. Among one of those buildings was the Hotel Santuario La Llanada, where Venezuelans deported from the U.S. have been routinely kept and screened before being released.
But as the ground quaked, the deportees were allegedly not allowed to leave the hotel, according to one of the survivors who spoke to El País.
The mother of another survivor told Daily Kos that her son is now in critical care.
“My son… they amputated both of his legs and he is intubated,” Yulis Salcedo, mother to 21-year-old Anderson Daniel Salcedo Lozano, told Daily Kos in a message originally written in Spanish.
[…] Despite the earthquakes’ devastation, Trump has not called for a pause on deportations targeting Venezuelans. That has led multiple nonprofits and people in the U.S.-based Venezuelan community to publicly demand the administration defer deportations until the country is more stable following the disaster.
Daily Kos reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about the flight and the destruction of the hotel. It replied in a statement saying, “This flight safely reached Venezuela and all illegal aliens on board were returned home. When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them.”
However, Trump’s public statements suggest he might not let an earthquake halt deportations.
“Outside of it [the earthquake], it’s a happy country again,” Trump said in a press conference last Friday. “The people are happy, they’re dancing in the streets.” […]
I recommend that people visit this comic often. It is one of my very favorites. I visit it and consider it as coming up from doom-scrolling for a breath of fresh air. https://existentialcomics.com/comic/661
There are many aspects of these comics that are so educational and clever.
The writing is always informative and clever and funny.
If you hover over the heading, a daily witty remark will show.
There is a link to info about the particular philosopher near the bottom of the page.
The author has a very enlightened mind: open, caring, honest.
Reginald Selkirksays
@86
The Trump administration had argued that the Citizenship Clause only applied to people “domiciled” in the United States…
The European Commission fired back Monday at Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threats against Europe’s tech rules, just as EU and U.S. officials opened talks in Washington meant to repair their increasingly strained digital relationship.
A delegation led by the EU’s top tech official, Roberto Viola, is in Washington until Wednesday […]
The visit comes after the U.S. president threatened new tariffs on EU countries that impose digital service taxes on American tech companies in a post on his social media platform Friday. The U.S. State Department also called recent EU initiatives to boost tech sovereignty “protectionist,” in a comment to POLITICO on Sunday.
“Our position is very clear,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters on Monday. “The EU and its member states have the sovereign right to regulate any economic activities on their territory.”
“The EU will respond swiftly and decisively,” Regnier added, should Washington follow through with “unilateral measures targeting such legitimate policies.”
[…] Trump’s top envoy in Brussels, Andrew Puzder, told POLITICO in March that Washington wants the tech dialogue to include the EU’s tech rules, which U.S. companies say are too burdensome.
The EU executive recently unveiled a long-awaited legislative package designed to reduce Europe’s years-long reliance on U.S. technology, which is increasingly seen as a strategic vulnerability. The plan is a long game: boosting European tech champions while giving governments new ways to shut U.S. players out of the most sensitive parts of the public-sector market.
[…] The comment came just after the U.S. moved to partially lift export restrictions on Anthropic’s latest superhacking AI models, sparking an uproar in Europe and further fueling fears of a so-called tech kill switch at Trump’s fingertips.
[…] An internal preparatory document seen by POLITICO shows that the talks will involve artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the online protection of minors, connectivity, chips and digital trade. “The discussion is currently ongoing, which shows that both sides definitely want this,” Regnier said.
whheydtsays
A general comment on the results of the Venezuealan earthquakes… Bulding to withstand a R7.5 ‘quake isn’t easy, but it is certainly possible to build in such a way that complete collapse can be avoided. The results seen in pictures from Venezuela suggest–to me at least–that either their building codes are inadequate to local conditions, or that the building codes they have are insufficiently enforced…or both.
Reginald Selkirksays
@92
Three is a distinction between what is necessary for the building to be unharmed, vs for its occupants to be unharmed.
What a fucking idiot. His executive order was overturned on constitutional grounds. Any legislation would be as well. If you want to overturn what is in the constitution, you need to pass a constitutional amendment. The rules for doing that are spelled out in the constitution, which apparently Trump has never read, even though he twice took an oath to protect and defend it.
whheydtsays
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #93…
I’m well aware of that. There was a county office building in Imperial County, CA many years ago that was severely damaged in a ‘quake. While the building had to be torn down and replaced, everyone in the building survived without (IIRC) any significant injuries. That, to my mind, is an example of a successful building design. It’s almost the definition of the difference between “earthquake resistant” and “earthquake proof”.
Ukraine struck a satellite communications center in the Moscow region in an aerial attack on Tuesday, Kyiv said, as Moscow claimed to have shot down hundreds of drones launched into its territory overnight.
Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelenskyy said Ukraine struck the site, the “Dubna” space communications center, for the second time.
“This is a specialized satellite communications facility used, among other things, for intelligence gathering and coordinating the activities of Russia’s occupying forces in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on social media on Tuesday…
A Republican congressman who missed dozens of votes while on unexplained medical leave has said he was in hospital for depression during his 142-day absence.
“I was given the diagnosis of depression,” New Jersey’s Tom Kean said in remarks on the House floor after returning to work on Tuesday. “It is physical, it is emotional and, until you’ve experienced it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”
Kean, 57, is running for a third term in a district that Republican leadership is increasingly concerned could go to a Democrat in November’s midterm elections…
I hope he gets the help he needs… but – despite this, he’s running for reelection again?
“Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom”
“The secret agreement was routed through a White House office that typically handles repairs and furnishings and is exempt from competitive bidding requirements.”
White House officials last year secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an unusual arrangement that sidestepped typical contracting procedures designed to control costs, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post.
The White House routed the contract through the Executive Residence, the document shows, an office that is exempt from rules that require federal agencies to solicit competitive bids and disclose details to the public. The office is typically responsible for routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of furniture, art and other items for the executive mansion.
The confidential contract with Clark Construction, along with related correspondence and records obtained by The Post, reveal for the first time how the Trump administration bypassed norms last summer as it set the ballroom project in motion.
Records also show that President Donald Trump was directly involved in negotiating some costs for the project.
[…] Competitive bidding is generally required at most federal agencies. Experts said the Executive Residence is exempt from those rules, and the president has legal authority to hire companies of his choosing to make changes to the executive mansion and the surrounding grounds. The experts said soliciting bids would have ensured the best price for taxpayers, especially given the size and cost of the East Wing project.
The estimated East Wing construction cost has tripled since July, when the project was first announced, with half expected to come from taxpayers, The Post previously reported.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the ballroom would be paid for by private donors and once said that Clark executives offered to build it for free.
“They said: ‘Sir, we’ll do it for nothing. This is the greatest honor,” Trump told the New York Times in January. [What a load of bullshit.]
[…] Clark charged a 3 percent profit for its early work on the East Wing, records show, a rate that experts said was typical for large government construction projects
.
The records reviewed by The Post do not break out Clark’s estimated profit margin for the entire project, but a March document shows the company projected it would receive a total of $65 million [!] in combined profit, overhead and daily rates for on-site staff and other costs.
[…] Experts told The Post that the GSA or the National Park Service is better equipped to handle contracting for large construction projects at the White House, and an internal White House document shows that is the norm.
Major repairs and structural changes to the White House’s East Wing and East Colonnade are the responsibility of the GSA and the Park Service, according to the document, a 2024 memorandum of understanding for the maintenance and operations of the White House obtained by The Post.
The role of the Executive Residence “does not include maintenance or repair involving structural building elements or major utility systems for those areas, which are handled by GSA or NPS,” according to the memorandum, which expires in 2029. […]
President Donald Trump’s plan to “fill the digital potholes” and use AI to quickly redesign every government website isn’t going very well.
Last August, Trump created the National Design Studio, or NDS, by executive order. A temporary DOGE-like entity that answers only to the president, NDS was tasked with creating new standards to update the US Web Design System (USWDS) and overhaul 27,000 dot-gov websites in just three years. At the end of this so-called “America by Design” initiative, the government’s “design language” would supposedly be more usable and beautiful, Trump expected.
However, that monumental task—assigned to a small team under a short timeframe—was seemingly made harder by DOGE’s deep cuts to agencies previously responsible for improving government websites, including dismantling the 18F technology unit and restructuring the US Digital Service into DOGE.
Those teams knew exactly how hard it can be to get every government agency to adopt new web standards. They had spent years trying to push agencies to update their sites to comply with USWDS standards, yet “only 30 percent of government websites used them as of mid-2023,” NextGov reported. Notably, the USWDS team—which was created in 2015 to ensure government websites were accessible and mobile-friendly—was reduced to one full-time employee after Trump took office.
Most people agree that updating government websites is a worthwhile and necessary endeavor. But about a year into NDS’s existence, the team hasn’t accomplished much.
Its biggest achievement has been modernizing the federal retirement system. However, former government workers have accused the Trump administration of claiming “false victories and overstated credit,” noting that the project was underway before NDS was created…
The Supreme Court approved state bans on transgender women and girls in sports, siding with Idaho and West Virginia in cases that affect bans in more than half the states across the country.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia faced a fresh round of pressure on Tuesday as Ukraine launched another attack on the Russian capital, continued to disrupt Russian fuel supplies and pressed its campaign to cut off Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, reported several waves of drones, starting Monday night, less than two weeks after Ukraine launched the biggest drone assault on the Russian capital since the start of the war.
The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly.
One of the killed firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, established this year without customary congressional approval by drawing personnel from four agencies within the Interior Department. The victims were part of an elite, helicopter-based crew that got trapped Saturday in a fast-growing wildfire near the Utah border as they attacked the blaze on the ground.
Five firefighters including the ones who died tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike emergency shelters as flames overran their position. The two survivors were hospitalized with burn injuries.
The consolidation of thousands of personnel into the fire service has sown confusion among some firefighters about who their bosses are and what their responsibilities should be, according to former government officials. [While you are fighting a wildfire is not a good time to find out, once again, that the Trump administration is incompetent and disorganized.]
And the administration’s focus on “full suppression” of new fires marks a sharp reversal from a decades-long trend toward embracing flames as a tool — to burn off old vegetation and growth that acts like fuel and lessen the risk of catastrophic blazes being stoked by a warming planet.
The changes benefit private fire aviation companies that are key to hitting blazes fast.
Federal officials have not released details on the circumstances preceding the weekend deaths, including the firefighters’ objective at the site where they were overrun.
“The question is, why were they attacking that fire in the first place?” asked Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and cofounder of the advocacy group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology. “What was actually at risk? If it was a bunch of shrubs on remote mountaintops, what was the real risk that justified putting those firefighters at risk?”
[…] Acting under an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Wildland Fire Service will use full suppression “for every wildfire under its management,” federal officials said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“Any wildfire that represents a threat to life, property, infrastructure or the environment should be extinguished as quickly as possible,” the statement said. “Our experienced fire managers retain the authority to select the safest and most effective tactics based on conditions on the ground.”
But critics say the administration is trying to fix something that isn’t broken: The four agencies the firefighters were drawn from — the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Park Service — have a record of extinguishing 98% of the fires they handle.
The new agency and policy won’t eliminate catastrophic wildfires that occur due to dense forests where people are increasingly moving and extreme weather caused by climate change, said Steve Ellis, who retired as a Bureau of Land Management deputy director. Land managers must be a part of the solution, he said.
[…] “Anyone that has an air tanker benefits from this more aggressive contracting activity,” Moeller said.
A chief beneficiary is Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based company founded by U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy. Before his 2024 election, Sheehy hired lobbyists in a failed attempt to persuade the Montana Legislature to create a statewide fire service analogous to the one just created at the federal level. Within a month of taking federal office, he sponsored a bill to codify the consolidation of federal firefighters into one agency.
[…] Scientists who study wildfires say trying to stop all fires is unrealistic since some of the most destructive blazes in recent years have evaded efforts to put them out. Some fires simply grow too fast, are too remote, or result from multiple ignitions that makes them impossible to stop.
“The narrative that if we just try harder, we’re gonna make these fires go away isn’t true,” said former Forest Service wildfire researcher David Calkin. “The fire paradox is not beatable: The more you make fire go away, the more fuel accumulates. The more fuel accumulates, the harder it is to make fires go away.” […]
Steve Benen’s summary of court case on which the New York Times reported:
The judge’s use of the word “flagrantly” in this case certainly stood out: “A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to permanently abandon its efforts to suspend funding for a $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River, describing those attempts as ‘flagrantly’ illegal.”
In a bit of news that we all should have seen coming, President Donald Trump is using a secret no-bid contract—that means taxpayer dollars, y’all—to build his big, dumb ballroom.
How much, you ask? Just a wee bit, hardly worth mentioning, really: $500 million.
Honestly, this whole thing is like a greatest hits of how Trump has utterly corrupted the government.
First, the contract was routed through the office of the Executive Residence, which is exempt from competitive bidding and disclosure rules. It’s meant for things like repairing the HVAC and buying new drapes, not tearing down the East Wing to build a monument to mammon.
Indeed, a court already ruled months ago that, no, the scope of the law allowing the Executive Residence to have no-bid contracts for minor repairs does not mean that Trump can destroy the White House and call it maintenance.
By comparison, in federal fiscal year 2022, the Executive Office of the President under the Biden administration spent about $16 million in total—an amount that was reviewed top to bottom by the Government Accountability Office. How quaint.
[…] The ballroom with the snipers and the drone turret and laser beams and bulletproof glass and a top-secret military facility and a bunker and an airplane hanger and an American Doll factory is going to be run by the office that does things like buy new drapes for the Oval Office?
We had already learned earlier this month that we lucky taxpayers were on the hook for $155 million in Secret Service funds, $149 million from the White House Military Office, and $3 million from the Executive Residence being diverted to the ballroom.
But somehow, the office that paid the least toward this project also got to control the biggest secret contract and will also somehow run the facility.
Do we know if this $500 million is in addition to all of that? NO WE DO NOT!
The contract is with Clark Construction, which we already knew was getting $200 million to build the ballroom, but that was back when we were pretending that $200 million came from donors.
Clark also got a sweet no-bid side hustle for an additional $17.4 million to repair two fountains in Lafayette Park, which was estimated to cost $3.3 million but somehow turned into five times more [!] because it was “an unusual and compelling urgency.”
[…] you probably knew everything about the ballroom was wrong from the jump—and also that it being funded by bribes from people seeking the favor of the president didn’t really make it any better.
But for a while, a lot of other people were able to self-soothe about how at least we weren’t paying for it.
In fact, that’s what the White House has been insisting in every court filing, with such Trumpian flourishes as: “This project is a gift to our Country from President Trump, and other Donors. It is free of charge to the American Taxpayer. Who could ever object to that?”
And who could forget this: “Private donors and American Patriots singlehandedly funded the 300 to 400 Million Dollar project (depending on finishes), which is on budget and ahead of schedule. No taxpayer dollars are being used for the funding of this beautiful, desperately needed, and completely secure (for national security purposes) ballroom.” [tons of bullshit]
And what was the White House response to the news that the free ballroom is actually costing taxpayers $500 million? Well, it’s that the Executive Residence “consistently executes contracts following the law.”
Even if that were technically true—which it very much is not—that still doesn’t explain away the whole $500 million from taxpayers, now does it? […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which owns Starlink satellite internet service, is offering 50% off internet plans around Memphis, Tennessee, according to a statement the company posted online Tuesday.
The company didn’t specifically explain why it’s offering the discount, but it might have something to do with community anger over data centers owned by xAI, which SpaceX purchased earlier this year. The company did note that it owns data centers in Memphis and nearby Southhaven, Mississippi, likely part of the PR push to associate something positive with the company that’s getting so much pushback in the area.
“Starlink is applying a service discount for our neighbors in the Memphis area,” the company said in its announcement. “Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired xAI (now SpaceXAI), which operates the Colossus data centers in Memphis and Southaven. As SpaceX continues to invest in the Memphis area, we’re applying a discount to eligible monthly Starlink service plans.”
…
President Donald Trump’s “Great American State Fair” just gets weirder and weirder.
The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles stopped by the fair Monday to play the “Yes or No Game,” the conservative commentator’s weirdly political alternative to Cards Against Humanity.
A video appeared to show Knowles onstage lecturing a young girl about the Salem witch trials—and revealing his own outrageous opinions.
“The one area where the Salem witch trials went a little far is, I would say, they weren’t organized enough,” Knowles said. “So, you had these, like, random judges who were, you know, kind of, burning these ladies.
“I don’t know if they were guilty or not,” he continued. “But I think more—if it were more formalized, built up a little bit more, maybe with like a grand inquisitor or something, that would’ve been the way to do it.”
What’s worse: that Knowles thinks the problem with the Salem witch trials was that they were too disorganized, or that he can’t say whether the women were actually guilty of witchcraft? Actually, never mind. The second one is definitely worse…
Militant Agnosticsays
The Far Right dufus quoted by Reginald Selkirk @107
So, you had these, like, random judges who were, you know, kind of, burning these ladies.!
No one was burned at Salem. 14 women and 5 men were hanged. One man was pressed to death because he would not enter a plea.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 107
No one was burned at Salem. Most of the victims were hung. Some died in jail. One was famously crushed to death with rocks. No one was burned at the stake.
What’s worse: that Knowles thinks the problem with the Salem witch trials was that they were too disorganized, or that he can’t say whether the women were actually guilty of witchcraft? Actually, never mind. The second one is definitely worse…
Once upon a time, most people would have laughed at anyone who thought the victims of Salem’s witch panic actually practiced magic. Witchcraft? Don’t be absurd! That was before the Bible-thumpers came into cultural power, giving us the Satanic Panic, “Spiritual Warfare,” and generally helped dumb-down our country with their supersticious prattle.
Of course, it doesn’t help that there actually are New Age loons who claim to practice witchcraft. Hard to call the Jesus-freaks paranoid when Zoe Moonbeam and her “coven” are casting “hexes” on right-wing politicians.
birgerjohanssonsays
Congratulations, Deborah Harry (Blondie) 81 years today!
Deep oceans of magma once sloshed about inside the crust of Mars, seismic measurements taken by NASA’s InSight mission suggest.
The marsquakes detected by InSight show a boundary 15 miles (24 kilometers) deep between two different types of rock that were formed by enormous pools of magma. The presence of these magma pools could completely change what we thought we knew about the early development of Mars.
Already, scientists say the discovery could change what we know about the history of Mars. “One of the big questions in planetary science is whether Earth is unique,” said the University of Oxford’s Jon Wade in a statement. “If Mars could develop this kind of complex crust without plate tectonics, then maybe the conditions needed for habitability can emerge on more planets than we realized, including those previously dismissed based on size or their apparent lack of tectonic activity.”
Another large study has found no link between autism and Tylenol use during pregnancy, refuting claims by President Trump and anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
…
In the new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed electronic health records from 2001 to 2023 for more than 700,000 pairs of mothers and children in Hong Kong. Of those pairs, about 43 percent of children had exposure to acetaminophen in utero.
The researchers then performed a sibling-matched analysis, comparing autism and ADHD cases among siblings, some of whom were exposed to acetaminophen in utero and some who weren’t. This study design helps account for unmeasured family factors that influence the likelihood of the conditions, particularly genetics and shared environmental conditions. The autism analysis included over 124,000 sibling-matched children, and an analysis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) included a cohort of over 97,000 sibling-matched children.
The researchers saw no link between prenatal acetaminophen use and either condition. It didn’t matter what dosage of acetaminophen was taken, when it was taken during the pregnancy (which trimester), how often it was taken, or how old the mother was at the time. There was simply no link between acetaminophen and autism or ADHD.
Interestingly, there was a link when the researchers dropped the sibling-matched design and instead compared acetaminophen-exposed with unexposed children, which is a finding that has come up in other studies…
Democratic socialists continued their string of successes in cities on June 30, when Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate, defeated veteran Rep. Diana DeGette in the Colorado Democratic primary. Decision Desk HQ and NBC News called the race for the 29-year-old, who was leading 49% to 44%, with 78% of the votes counted in the overwhelmingly Democratic, Denver-based district…
“I really struggle to accurately convey just how extreme, how unhinged, how frankly racist that position is. But let me try,” says Chris Hayes on the Trump administration’s case against birthright citizenship. Constitutional scholar and advocate Sherrilyn Ifill joins to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision.
A first-of-its-kind study measured the extent to which bright constellations affect astronomers’ view of the night sky, setting a proposed limit to how many satellites should be in Earth’s orbit.
There are currently over 14,000 satellites orbiting Earth, but that number is set to increase dramatically over the next few years. Companies like SpaceX and Reflect Orbital are proposing launching a combined total of 1.7 million satellites, which would have devastating consequences for astronomy, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
By measuring the impact of large satellite constellations, researchers at ESO suggest limiting the total number of existing and future satellites to 100,00 that are faint enough not to be seen with the naked eye from a dark site…
“Last week, GOP leaders in the chamber lost control of the floor and failed to advance their legislative priorities. Now it’s worse.”
After Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill last week to meet with congressional Republicans, the president tried to downplay increasingly obvious intraparty divisions.
“For the most part,” he told reporters, “we have a really well-unified party.”
As it turned out, “for the most part” was doing a lot of work in that sentence. Within a day of the president’s comment, the Republican-led Senate gave up on its plans for the week and went home. Meanwhile, in the Republican-led House, GOP leaders couldn’t advance any of their priorities because of opposition from many of their own members.
This week, conditions on Capitol Hill managed to go from bad to worse. The New York Times reported:
Far-right House Republicans blocked consideration of the annual defense policy bill on Tuesday, solidifying a legislative blockade and forcing an early holiday recess as they agitated for action on a voting restriction bill President Trump has championed.
The rebellion paralyzed the House for a second consecutive week and dealt yet another blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, who has struggled to corral his fractious majority to act on legislation on the Pentagon, spending and other matters.
GOP leaders intended to focus this week on advancing an annual must-pass defense policy bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and a key spending bill that funds the State Department, among other things.
More than a dozen House Republicans, however, decided they didn’t care for that plan, with some arguing the chamber should do nothing but focus on Trump’s voter-suppression proposal, which the White House has labeled the SAVE America Act, as others pointed to party leaders’ promise of a vote on an anti-immigration bill before the July 4 recess.
The House speaker tried to legislate anyway, hoping enough of his members would stick together and follow his lead. That didn’t go well: 13 GOP members revolted and voted with Democrats on a key procedural vote, making Johnson look weak and leaving him with little choice but to start the chamber’s holiday break early.
(In the House, before a bill can be voted on, members approve a measure to establish ground rules for how the legislation will be considered. It’s known as adopting a rule, and the vast majority of the time it’s little more than a procedural speed bump, because members vote with their parties to begin the process. During their respective tenures, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and Paul Ryan never lost a rules vote. Johnson has now lost nine rules votes, which is both humiliating and unheard of in modern American history.)
For his part, Trump has made at least tacit efforts to curb these GOP rebellions, declaring by way of his social media platform last week, “House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or, threatening to do so. … No more grandstanding, please!”
The trouble is, the far-right members ignoring the speaker’s wishes (and the president’s rhetorical sops) are doing so in order to do the president’s bidding and champion his legislative priority.
But the underlying problem is the unavoidable fact that Johnson is simply too weak to legislate with such a small majority. Bipartisan majorities have already gone around him with more successful discharge petitions than anyone has seen in generations, and the Louisiana Republican’s latest failures this week reinforce perceptions that he just isn’t in control of the House floor he ostensibly leads.
Taking stock of the broader conditions, Punchbowl News noted that the House GOP majority “is getting worse,” adding, “What good is a House majority if you can’t use it?”
“How exactly would U.S. officials go about determining whether someone entering the country is pregnant?”
[…] in Trump v. Barbara, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the idea that a president can override the 14th Amendment to the Constitution with an executive order. Although the 5-4 ruling left in place a status quo that had existed for generations, much of the right did not respond well to the news.
[…] one element of the pushback to the high court’s ruling stood out, for unfortunate reasons.
A couple of hours after the decision was issued, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado argued by way of social media that the State Department “should immediately cease to give out visas to pregnant applicants.” Soon after, one of her colleagues went a step further by announcing plans for a legislative solution.
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said Tuesday he’s moving forward with plans for legislation that he’s calling the Anchors Away Act, which would ban certain pregnant foreign women from entering the United States.
“So, I have a bill; it will be called ‘Anchors Away,’ which, look, if you’re not a U.S. citizen, if you’re not a green card holder and you have a child on U.S. soil, today, that child will be a U.S. citizen,” Ogles said in a video posted to social media. “Under my bill, under my legislation, we fix that. … So in short, what this bill does is, if you are a pregnant woman, you can’t come into this country. You got to be a citizen, be here, you have to be a green card holder. So if you’re pregnant and you don’t have one of those statuses, no admittance allowed,” he continued.
As HuffPost noted, “The ‘anchor’ part of Ogles’ bill refers to the pejorative term, ‘anchor babies,’ used by many conservatives to describe children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants.”
The Tennessee Republican also took his pitch to Fox News. “Look, if you’re pregnant and you’re from a foreign nation, you know what?” Ogles said. “It’s time for Congress to pass a law saying you can’t come here.” […]
As the day progressed, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller also appeared on Fox News, and when asked whether the U.S. is prepared to start “banning pregnant women,” Miller didn’t say no, replying instead that there are “a lot of things” the Trump administration will take “a hard look” at. [video]
On Wednesday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also said the administration is prepared to “look at” restrictions on pregnant travelers to the U.S.
[…] How exactly would U.S. officials go about determining whether someone entering the country is pregnant?
[…] “The idea that you could have a cruise ship filled with foreigners and they just dock at a port for an hour, and someone has a baby, Jesse, the baby’s an American citizen!” an increasingly hysterical Stephen Miller said to Fox News’ Jesse Watters. “They can vote in every election for the rest of their lives! They could be living in a foreign country and be cashing welfare checks for American citizens!”
And trumping the rest is Federalist CEO Sean Davis, who retweeted such invective as “Our primary target for removal should no longer be ‘the worst criminals.’ It should be women. All of them. There’s not a moment too soon. If they’re actively giving birth, hurl them into Mexico.”
His original work is just as horrifying: he produced a list of remedies to the Supreme Court decision including “deny entry to all pregnant foreigners,” “deny entry to all female foreigners” and “require sterilization of all foreign visitors prior to entry.”
Two federal judges on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from implementing new restrictions on a student loan forgiveness program that would have barred public service workers from receiving debt relief if their employers are deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.”
[…] The Trump administration had sought to add new rules to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) […]
More than 20 states, along with a coalition of nonprofit groups, challenged the rule in a pair of lawsuits, arguing it would allow the Department of Education to target organizations that support causes considered disfavorable to the administration, including transgender healthcare and immigration advocacy. [True]
In Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun struck down the changes, finding the agency lacked legal authority and could potentially violate the First Amendment, as well as threaten to force the administration’s viewpoints on employers.
“The Department cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking,” Joun wrote in his opinion, adding: “Indeed, the record further demonstrates that the Final Rule has already chilled protected speech.”
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., separately struck down the rule in a case brought on by four nonprofits that advocate for immigration rights, among other issues.
[…] Congress established the PSLF in 2007 to encourage college graduates to pursue careers in public service by forgiving their federal student loans after 10 years of qualifying employment in the field. More than 1 million Americans have had their loans canceled as a result.
The Trump administration has argued the program is being exploited by organizations to undermine American values and national security.
The Education Department’s final rule defined those activities to include aiding illegal immigration, supporting terrorism and trafficking, and facilitating the “chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children.”
The rulings leave the existing PSLF program intact for now and mark more legal setbacks for the Trump administration as it seeks to reshape federal student loan policy.
“I, Vladimir Putin, Am Blowing Up Own Oil Refineries For Russian People’s Amusement. Yes, That Is Ticket!”
“Is not Ukrainian attacks! Do not say it is Ukrainian attacks!”
Greetings, human-sized fleshy cysts of Wonkette! It is I, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and yes, I am here to once again make the speaking with you! It is busy summer here in Moscow. The sun is high, the birds are out, and we have been entertaining our people by setting city’s many glorious oil refineries on fire. [Link to photos and reports of fires.]
Yes, we set fires! Not drones from phony nation of Ukraine, no matter what decadent Western press reports. Was entirely Russia’s choice to blow up fuel supplies. Look at spectacular fires and smoke! Is beautiful in eerie way, da? Like Georgia O’Keefe painting, if Georgia O’Keefe had ever decided to paint refinery fires instead of vulvas.
But Vladimir, you are asking, are not Russian people upset they cannot find gas for their Western cars and their secondhand Ladas? Bah! Russian people are tough and hardy, like Russian bear. Not weak and cowering like Western people when gas gets expensive. Russians are perfectly happy to walk everywhere. They will walk from Gorky Park to the Kremlin. They will walk from Saint Basil’s Cathedral to the Bolshoi. They will walk from homes all the way to Siberian labor camps if they keep complaining.
Is very sad time in Moscow as well. Dear friend of Vladimir and hero of the Soviet Union … ha ha ha, whoops, Mother Russia, sorry, grief has clouded Vladimir’s mind — dear friend Sergei Ivanov has died. [Link to source.] Sergei was once Russian Defense Minister. Many people thought he might one day take over for me when I step down as president. Which is very funny! Vladimir step down? Would you ask hawk to stop soaring over magnificent Siberian taiga? You can try, but hawk does not care what you want.
I bring up dear friend Sergei only because there has been much speculation that he died falling out of window like so many Russians before him. Is not true! Perhaps you have not noticed, but Russian government instituted extensive safety campaign educating people about dangers of open windows. As you know, this is longtime, what is word, hobbyhorse of Vladimir’s. So many people falling needlessly to deaths from great heights while screaming in terror.
So we began program of window safety. Do not go near open windows, campaign warned, if you suffer from any of the following conditions: drunkenness, heart problems, vertigo, depression and suicidal thoughts, acrophobia, employment at independent media company, or presence on any list of enemies of Russian state. Was very effective! Next we will move on to not getting on planes with live grenades after almost pulling off coup of Russian president.
No, Sergei Ivanov did not die from falling out of window. He died from some other reason that has not been publicly reported and is being kept secret for some reason. As Principal Skinner once said, let’s have no more curiosity about this bizarre coverup!
Ah, season 7, the golden age of The Simpsons! Before it got hacky. Did you know Vladimir became president of Russia a couple of years after that? I am not saying Vladimir got bored and started looking for other hobbies after Simpsons got less funny. I am also not not saying that!
Vladimir also must address reports of Russians fleeing Crimea because of fuel crisis and fear of puny military of phony nation of Ukraine. There is no fuel crisis. There is no extensive bombing campaign and constant terror! No one is fleeing Crimea because of effective and nonstop warfare!
This traffic jam? Everyone knows to leave Crimea in summer months when weather is warm and sunny and pleasant. As you can see, Crimeans can’t get away from such horrible climate fast enough. Is long Russian tradition! Peter the Great also hated Crimea in summer, which is why he chose to fail to conquer it.
Bah. Such complaining. Everyone is upset that new Russian military recruit’s average lifespan is three weeks [Link to source], from the first day they set foot at training ground to when they get blown up by phony Ukrainians in glorious battle. They are upset because new recruits live average of 20 to 35 minutes on frontlines.
Vladimir says bah, again! Three weeks is eternity! At least they are not mayflies. Those only live one day! Russian soldiers should be grateful for three weeks. It is three weeks of learning to fire gun and crawl on ground and other super-cool stuff. The sheer terror that comes on battlefield then only lasts 20 minutes or so. People talk like the sheer terror lasts three weeks. Is not true!
Next person who says it, Vladimir will have shot. Then we will see who is doing the complaining.
Links to sources from news that forms the basis for this satirical piece are available at the main link.
Ukraine believes it has wrested back the initiative on the battlefield by striking Russian troops, logistics hubs and oil infrastructure. Now it is racing to secure billions more in Western military aid before Moscow adapts.
Kyiv is asking its allies to seize what officials describe as a fleeting opportunity: fund a new wave of drones, missiles and military technology that could keep Russia off balance and deepen Ukraine’s recent gains. The goal is to force Vladimir Putin to realize he can’t win
.
“We need the next level of aid to be able to finish the job,” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told POLITICO. “If we have enough resources to launch a new cycle of war innovations before Russia adapts to the current one, we will get another six months.”
The 35-year-old minister has overseen a sweeping overhaul of Ukraine’s war effort.
He took over in January as the fourth defense minister since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He’s brought his background in tech and private business to shake up the defense sector, accelerating innovation and mass production of drones and missiles that have helped put Russia on the back foot.
He’s also working to improve air defenses and fix the country’s ailing military recruitment system, which has seen thousands fleeing the draft while underpaid soldiers hold the line against Russian attacks.
[…] “In a war of technology, you can see how quickly you can turn the tide. It all depends on the speed of financing and our actions,” Fedorov said, adding “Ukraine is protecting the entirety of Europe from Russians.”
Last week, Ukraine sent an urgent request to EU countries to get the entire €6.6 billion recently freed up in the European Peace Fund. The EPF was blocked for years by the former Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán; the money is supposed to partially reimburse EU countries for military aid sent to Ukraine. However, rather than going back into national treasuries, Fedorov wants the money sent to Kyiv.
“EPF could become a game-changer for us, an accelerator of our current success on the battlefield. So, I think we need to launch consultations with every country that will be hesitating,” said Fedorov […]
He credited the EU with being much faster in processing aid for Ukraine, calling it “the EU 2.0.”
Brussels is not the only source of funds.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be on the sidelines of next week’s summit of NATO leaders in Ankara, where the expectation is that allies will agree on another aid package.
Kyiv says its military spending needs this year will be €136 billion, of which it can only cover €53 billion from its own resources. The EU’s newly agreed Ukraine Support Loan promises about €28.3 billion in military aid this year — part of an overall two-year €90 billion loan. There are also additional bilateral military aid packages, as well as the NATO-led Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, where allies buy U.S. weapons for Kyiv.
But that’s still not enough, said Fedorov. The country needs billions more in targeted aid, “and we need it tomorrow.” […]
More at the link, including plans on how to spend the funds.
Steve Benen’s summary of the Supreme Court ruling that affects campaign finance laws:
When it comes to campaign finance laws, both parties’ campaign committees have faced restrictions on how much money they could spend in coordination with candidates’ campaigns. Those limits are now effectively gone.
As MS NOW’s Jordan Rubin explained, “The Supreme Court’s GOP-appointed majority ruled for Republicans in their campaign finance challenge to restrictions on political parties spending on ads with input from the party’s candidate.”
A Punchbowl News report added that the ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “handed Republicans a massive win” and is likely to “usher in the biggest change to campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.” [yikes … not good news]
The same report went on to note that Tuesday’s high court ruling “allows for unrestricted coordination between candidates and party committees. That means committees, like the NRSC or the DCCC, can run unlimited TV ads with allied candidates. More importantly, they can also buy those ads at the much cheaper rate offered to candidates. … Tuesday’s SCOTUS ruling will also eradicate the need for independent expenditure arms at party committees.”
Republicans already enjoyed a significant financial advantage over Democrats. The Republican-appointed justices just made it easier for the GOP to capitalize on that advantage.
Nature’s oven was on high Tuesday for millions of people in the Midwest and Great Lakes states as intense heat and humidity baked the regions with no immediate relief […]
The National Weather Service was blunt: Conditions were “dangerous” as the heat index, a combination of air temperature and humidity, exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) in some areas.
[…] Big chunks of Michigan—as well as Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and much of Iowa—were under an extreme heat warning.
The Northeast, including New York City and Boston, will next feel major heat through the Fourth of July holiday.
Norristown, Pennsylvania—20 miles (32 kilometers) from Philadelphia—canceled a Saturday parade because of the weather.
The Chicago History Museum offered free admission to state residents who wanted a cool space Tuesday. Roads in a few places in Illinois buckled under the heat. When the surface has no room to expand in the heat, it can rise and crack.
Two people climbed to the top of New York’s Empire State Building on Wednesday and unfurled a large banner appearing to say: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace”.
After standing at the very top of the famous building’s spire together, they climbed down to a small platform, where one appeared to get down on one knee and propose marriage to the other. They then kissed before continuing to descend.
They were atop the 1,454 ft (443 m)building for at least ten minutes.
The New York Police Department told the BBC the two individuals have been taken into custody.
ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details…
In an unexpected move, Russia announced several railway border crossings with Finland, Estonia and Latvia to be “temporarily” shut down. Could this indicate an upcoming mobilisation in Russia as Moscow lacks troops for its ongoing all-out war against Ukraine? …
Two Ukrainian defense companies have unveiled an interceptor drone built specifically to neutralize Russian Shahed drones, offering automatic target detection and terminal guidance at what developers say is the lowest price on the market.
According to Babel, Vyriy Industries announced the ZIRKA interceptor on Tuesday, June 3, saying the drone was jointly developed with NOCTIS, incorporating battlefield experience from the Darknode anti-Shahed battalion. Each unit costs up to $2,000.
…
Reportedly, ZIRKA can reach speeds above 340 km/h (211.27 mph), operate at altitudes of up to 6 kilometers (approximately 3.7 miles) and cover an operational radius of 30 kilometers (roughly 18.6 miles) from its launch point, staying airborne for up to 20 minutes.
The drone can automatically detect, track and neutralize high-speed aerial threats without requiring continuous operator input, a capability that sets the interceptor drone apart from cheaper but manually guided alternatives.
…
The companies are already working on a follow-up version of the ZIRKA drone.
According to NOCTIS Development Director Oleksii Komlichenko, ZIRKA 2.0 will feature an automated system that guides the interceptor directly into the target detection zone, along with upgraded thermal imaging optics capable of tracking enemy drones at a distance of 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles).
The new version is also expected to integrate refined target acquisition and guidance algorithms, advanced communication systems and an automatic proximity fuse to detonate the warhead near the target – making the interception process more autonomous and safer for troops on the ground.
…
ZIRKA isn’t the only Ukrainian interceptor drone moving toward wider deployment. According to United24Media, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry recently codified the LITAVR interceptor drone, developed by Ukrainian company F-Drones.
Reportedly, the LITAVR can reach speeds of up to 350 km/h (roughly 215.5 mph) and operate at altitudes of up to 9 kilometers (about 5.6 miles). It uses an automatic terminal guidance system that tracks targets independently once an operator locks them for engagement…
lumipunasays
Hello.
Russian state media outlets announced earlier this week that some of the border crossings to Latvia, Estonia and Finland would be closed today. This seems to cover mainly or only railroad crossings, and the reason for closure is not clear. There is speculation that Russia plans to institute a new draft for the war in Ukraine (likely after the Duma election in autumn), and seeks to limit people opportunities of fleeing abroad.
Then again, the rail traffic to Finland is only transporting cargo, such as fertilizers, since we closed the border to passenger traffic in 2023. The “temporary” closure remains in effect because the Finnish government deems that Russia is still prepared to shuttle asylum seekers as a harassment tactic if given opportunity. Estonia and Latvia kept their borders open only because they chose to simply turn away asylum seekers instead. Russians haven’t been able to get tourist visas into these countries in years, so passenger traffic is greatly reduced compared to several years ago.
@106 Reginald Selkirk reported: ‘Starlink Offers 50% Off Internet for Residents of City Fed Up With Elon’s Data Center’
I reply: Are there a lot of suckers in Memphis? He ruins their lives and then offers them a discount on his crap. starlink is a huge disaster. Even at 50% off it is WAAY too expensive for the quality, reliability and speed they offer. And, all the expense and hassle of a single setup in a single fixed location is absurd. E.M.T.I.C. – Everything Musk Touches Is Crap!
On the side of the Main Street of Tonopah in Nevada lies Clown Motel right next to the Old Tonopah Cemetery. This hotel owes its name to the central theme of the hotel – clowns. Leona and Leroy David built this hotel in 1985…
lumipunasays
Re: my 135, see also Reginald’s link in English at 133.
The illustration at the link is a photo from Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing, which is for car passenger traffic and not affected by the current Russian decision, since it¨s been already closed for years. Prior to 2022, it was the most heavily used border crossing between Russia and Finland.
In total, we have more than 150 Ukrainian companies who are producing interceptors. And these are interceptors of different architecture. Some are small rocket type first-person view (FPV) drones. In some cases, they resemble small planes. In some cases, they resemble big planes. Some of them are X wings, like a combination between FPV and fixed wing. We use different varieties in different regions and different conditions.
Preparing skeletal specimens for display in museums or for forensic studies requires the bones to be thoroughly cleaned to remove any remaining flesh or soft tissue. However, the need for thorough cleaning must be balanced against the risk of damaging the actual bones. According to a new paper published in the journal PLoS One, the larvae of so-called “superworms” (Zophobas morio)—a common pet food—offer a practical alternative.
There are existing methods for cleaning skeletal remains, such as burial, digestive enzymes, or chemical treatments. But most have drawbacks, including damaging bones, taking a long time to process, having expensive operational costs, or the use of environmentally hazardous substances. Using dermestid beetles has become the preferred method for skeletal cleaning since they can efficiently remove soft tissue without damaging the bone. The downside is that without strict containment practices, the beetles can escape and lay eggs that hatch, leading to infestations that threaten museum collections.
Fatemah Rastekar of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran and co-authors thought superworms might bring the same benefits as the beetles without the risk of infestation. For one thing, beetle colonies span all life stages and hence require complex containment; superworm cleaning only requires the larval stage, which lasts 10–12 weeks compared to just five to seven weeks for the beetles. And the larvae don’t pupate in crowded conditions, so it’s easier to manage the colonies while reducing the risk of escape. But could superworms match the cleaning efficiency of their rival beetles?
…
coffeepottsays
superworms are… also beetles.
birgerjohanssonsays
This Orbit is the WORST
…And the worst orbit compared to Low-Earth Orbit is very close to a 24 hour orbit, where comm satellites need to be.
Sometimes it makes sense to use a bi-elliptical transfer orbit.
German prosecutors have filed charges against a Ukrainian national over the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea in 2022.
The suspect, named only as Serhii K under German privacy laws, is alleged to have led and co-ordinated the attack on the pipelines that transported natural gas from Russia to Germany, German media reports say.
They say he is the same person arrested in Italy last summer and extradited to Germany in November. He has denied involvement…
Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese American in California history with an annual namesake day.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco…
Across Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia, people looked up and saw a sun that gave little warmth and cast a strange, weak light. Summer brought snow in China. Crops failed virtually everywhere, spreading hunger worse than any plague. Then, only a few years later, an actual plague arrived to top things off.
For historians and climate scientists, 536 has become a leading candidate for the worst year to be alive.
“It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year,” Michael McCormick, a historian and archaeologist at Harvard University, told Science…
Texas Attorney General and GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton was questioned on Monday for allegedly traveling with “some lady who’s not his wife,” in a video shared on social media.
The anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project called out the MAGA candidate in a critical midterm race. Paxton, who was backed by President Donald Trump and beat the president’s adversary Sen. John Cornyn, will face off against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November.
Paxton was caught on video traveling with an alleged mistress from Dulles International Airport to Reykjavik, The Daily Mail reported. She was identified by the outlet as Tracy Duhon, a Christian influencer and mother of seven. He is married to Texas State Senator Angela Paxton, who filed for divorce under ‘biblical’ reasons; however, a state district judge canceled it last month.
In a series of posts on X, The Lincoln Project shared a video of Paxton and criticized the Republican, who has touted “family values” in his campaign. …
The Trump administration on Monday said it would pay Duke Energy $129 million to abandon its plans to build an offshore wind farm off North Carolina.
It was the fourth such deal struck by the administration to throttle the development of offshore wind power, a source of renewable energy that President Trump has disparaged for decades.
Commentary:
The new agreement is regressive but straightforward: The Republican administration will reimburse Duke Energy $129 million, which is roughly what it paid for the lease under the Biden administration, and in exchange, the company will abandon the project and reinvest the money in what the Times described as “other sources of energy favored by the Trump administration.”
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination. In March, the Republican administration announced it had agreed to pay a foreign company almost $1 billion in American taxpayer money to abandon two wind farm projects that would have produced enough electricity to power more than 1.3 million homes and businesses across New York, New Jersey and North Carolina.
At the administration’s insistence, the company will instead proceed with different energy projects that will cost more and pollute more. Or put another way, thanks to a model imposed by Donald Trump, many American consumers will pay for the privilege of paying more to turn on the lights, all while polluting our own air.
Then in April, it happened again, when the Republican administration announced plans to pay energy companies nearly $900 million to abandon plans for two offshore wind farms. Two months later, Team Trump spent $765 million to buy back another group of offshore wind leases.
The combined price tag for these developments is approaching $3 billion. [!]
[…] the president has been on a personal crusade against wind power since he lost a fight a decade ago to block a project visible from one of his golf courses in Scotland. This generated such hysterical hatred for wind power that Trump, in 2019, publicly suggested that the sound generated by wind turbines “causes cancer.” (It does not.)
[…] At a time when the U.S. would benefit from more renewable energy projects, the Trump administration is spending billions to scuttle renewable energy projects.
It’s a detail consumers should keep in mind the next time they’re writing a large check to their utility company.
After the third of the four payouts, Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on House Natural Resources Committee, said in a written statement, “Donald Trump is using your tax dollars to make America more dependent on dirty, volatile fossil fuels. … It is hard to imagine a more backwards use of taxpayer money.” The sentiment continues to resonate […].
…
First, there were two types of readers who seemed absolutely certain about God: fundamentalists and atheists. It was eerie, kind of.
The fundamentalists believed absolutely in the existence of God and the unerring rightness of their doctrines. The other group believed just as devoutly in God’s non-existence. To them, nobody but a fool could think there was some invisible “sky daddy” out there in the cosmos watching over us.
Yet their responses were practically interchangeable. They were two sides of the same coin. They entertained no doubts. They brooked no dissent. They mocked those of other persuasions. They tended to be, for want of a better description, smug — and bellicose.
Second, the great majority of readers weren’t like that. In between the fundamentalists and atheists lived lots of folks who possessed more questions than answers. Their spiritual worldview was made up less of blacks and whites than shades of gray.
They didn’t strike me as wishy washy so much as humble. And humility was a cardinal virtue, I thought, not a damning sin. ..
Meh. Depends on which definition of ‘god’ you are using. There are some definitions which cannot be confidently discarded, but they are not definitions which people are using, or that are being taught in the Texas public schools.
Late last year, Donald Trump announced that he had approved federal disaster aid for Montana, while adding in his online statement, “I LOVE MONTANA!”
[…] Decisions about federal relief are supposed to be made on the merits, not the president’s personal affinity for a state.
The statement nevertheless came on the heels of a related Trump announcement about disaster aid for Missouri, which emphasized the number of times he has won Missouri’s electoral votes — as if there was a connection between his political support in the state and his eagerness to provide federal relief. (In the same statement, he went on to mention the “incredible Patriots” in the GOP stronghold.)
This came to mind anew this week, as Trump published a lengthy series of items online late Tuesday afternoon, announcing his approval of disaster aid. The statements weren’t exactly subtle:
– Florida: The president wrote that he had approved $415.9 million in federal disaster relief, adding, “Much of it is going to one of my favorite places in the entire World, the Panhandle!” Florida’s Panhandle is one of the most politically conservative parts of the state.
– Kansas: Trump wrote that he had approved $5.5 million in federal disaster relief after speaking with Sen. Roger Marshall — a Republican incumbent who just happens to be running for re-election — adding, “I love the incredible people of Kansas, and they will soon have a fantastic Governor in Ty Masterson, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
– Michigan: The president wrote that he had approved $32.1 million in federal disaster aid before adding, “The people of Michigan are in good hands with ‘Trump Endorsed’ Mike Rogers, who is running for U.S. Senate, John James for Governor, and Congressmen Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg, Tom Barrett, and Lisa McClain.”
– Louisiana: Trump wrote that he had approved $8.6 million in federal disaster relief before adding, “Louisiana is truly a special place, with Governor Jeff Landry, Senator John Kennedy, soon to be Senator Julia Letlow, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Congressman Clay Higgins.”
– Wisconsin: The president wrote that he had approved $22.6 million in federal disaster relief after speaking to Rep. Tom Tiffany, “who has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor!” The same statement also said, “The wonderful people of Wisconsin are in good hands with Tom, alongside Senator Ron Johnson, and ‘Trump Endorsed’ Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, and Tony Wied.”
– Idaho: Trump wrote that he had approved $4.5 million in federal disaster aid after speaking with Republican Gov. Brad Little, “who has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election!”
The president, in other words, has simply dropped any pretense of propriety. He stopped hinting about a connection between his election goals and federal disaster assistance, and started making the connection overt.
[…] In American history, no president of either party has ever included campaign endorsements when announcing disaster aid. But making matters worse is the larger context.
Politico reported in March, “President Donald Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” [!!]
The same report, relying entirely on FEMA data, found that the Republican administration’s approval of federal relief for red states inched higher during the first year of Trump’s second term, while approval of aid to blue states collapsed to unprecedented levels.
“Never in my lifetime has a president treated disaster relief as a political cudgel,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in response to the data. “What President Trump has done to politicize disaster relief and hold up support for Americans who need it — including my constituents in Washington state — is frankly unforgivable.”
It would be difficult to miss President Trump’s remarks this week about what a “yawn” fest the bipartisan housing bill that is sitting on his desk is — the one that Republicans members of Congress are begging him to sign so they have something to campaign on for the midterms.
The bill — which may be the only bipartisan success story of his second term — is the single largest overhaul of federal housing policy passed through Congress in decades, designed to encourage new construction by removing restrictions, making it cheaper and easier to build across the country. It includes no new spending, speeds up environmental reviews for new construction and, the sexiest part of the bill that Trump himself has touted, places limits on how many single-family homes private equity firms can snatch up. [That’s sounds like mostly good ideas.]
It won’t solve the housing crisis in America — home prices have increased by more than 50% since the COVID-19 pandemic [!] — but it would give Republicans and Democrats alike something to point to on the campaign trail to show they’re listening to Americans’ affordability concerns, even while Trump’s tariffs and war make everything else more expensive.
But Trump won’t sign it. He’s been holding it hostage to try to get Senate Republicans to pass legislation that will not pass the upper chamber; legislation that would disenfranchise millions ahead of the midterms and fuel Trump’s delusions about the 2020 election.
“It hasn’t been sent to me yet. It’s coming, I understand, and then I’ll make the determine — Look, here’s what I’d like to say,” he said of the housing bill on Monday. “Much more than a bill that — big deal. It’s a yawn … somebody would say, ‘it’s wonderful.’ To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a Big Yawn.”
But it’s not just wildly off-message statements about the housing bill. Trump has made his real feelings about Americans’ financial struggles pretty clear in recent weeks. He’s called “affordability” a “hoax,” confessed he wants to “drive housing prices up” for some reason, declared to reporters “I love inflation” and made it clear that he does not think about Americans’ financial concerns when he has Iran to attack, an extremely unpopular war that he started.
“The only thing that matters, when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
His right-hand man, VP JD Vance, has been killing it in the messaging department as well. In a recent interview with Fox News, Vance accused Democrats of doing nothing to address the nation’s affordability issues.
“I would love it if Democrats were willing — not that they are gonna agree with Republicans all the time — but if they were willing to work with us on lowering housing prices, on lowering gas prices, on actually making the lives of American citizens better, you know, we could have some real bipartisan compromise,” he said.
I’ll state for the record, again, Democrats and Republicans voted to pass the housing bill that everyone is waiting on Trump to sign.
[…] Republicans themselves are not doing a great job of appearing anything other than patently?? tone deaf?? on the issue of affordability.
Here’s Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) today, refusing to answer a reporters questions on affordability and bragging about the lobster tails and steak he’s gonna eat back home in Texas, while defending Trump’s war in Iran and downplaying skyrocketing energy costs as Americans head into a holiday weekend with a brutal heat wave on the horizon.
Reporter: “Do you think the 60% of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck can afford lobster tails and ribeyes and all of that?”
Nehls: “Maybe not, maybe the 60% of America don’t work as hard as I do either, I mean, I don’t know.” [social media post, with video]
If you’re moved to dismiss voters in favor of lobster dinners, don’t let us stand in your way.
The campaign messaging could not be simpler for Democrats. At least one person who runs the DNC’s Twitter account gets it. [social media post, with photo of Paris Hilton wearing a “STOP BEING POOR” T-shirt]
On July 4, 2025, Republicans celebrated Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” with fireworks and fighter jets.
The law unleashed the biggest-ever rollback of federal programs serving the poor [!] while extending trillions of dollars in tax breaks disproportionately benefiting the rich. [!]
[…] As a result, at least 4 million people have lost food stamps so far …
Hospitals have begun laying off workers and closing clinics. And 10 million more people could be left without health insurance by 2034 — enough to fill New York City.
This is an examination of the law’s effects so far. And what’s still to come.
One year after President Donald Trump signed the law he dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” on the South Lawn of the White House, it has begun reshaping the country — altering who gets help from the government and who goes without.
The most consequential legislation of Trump’s second term reaches into nearly every corner of American life. It supercharges immigration enforcement, pouring billions into border security and deportations. It rewrites student loan rules. It dismantles tax incentives for electric vehicles and clean energy. It creates a national school-voucher tax credit.
And at its core is a seismic shift: extending roughly $4.5 trillion in tax cuts disproportionately benefiting corporations and the wealthy over 10 years while cutting about $1.1 trillion from healthcare and food assistance programs serving poor and working-class people.
It ultimately adds a projected $4.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. [graph]
[…] one of the largest transfers of resources from low-income Americans to the rich in U.S. history.
Once all of the law’s major provisions are fully phased in, Congressional Budget Office estimates show, the poorest households will end up with roughly $1,200 less each year on average, while the wealthiest Americans will gain about $13,600. [!!]
“I don’t think it could be much clearer,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that analyzes federal budget and tax policy. “They extended tax cuts for very wealthy people, they expanded tax cuts for very large estates, they put in new tax cuts for quite profitable businesses, and they did that in the same bill that they made millions of people lose food assistance and health coverage.”
The law is also the legislative engine powering Trump’s mass deportation agenda, pairing an unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement funding with cuts to healthcare and food assistance for many immigrants living in the U.S. legally.
[…] The White House pointed to a Treasury Department analysis that found that nearly 70% of filers receiving a tax cut this year earned less than $100,000.
“Tens of millions of Americans have a lower tax bill and are no longer paying taxes on tips, Social Security, or overtime — this policy fulfilled many key promises from the President’s campaign,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. […]
Still, the biggest gains go to the wealthy. For roughly every $1 the law cuts from major programs serving low-income Americans, it delivers $1 in tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% over the next decade, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress based on projections by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office.
Many of the law’s largest program cuts won’t begin to take effect until next year, but the first consequences are already visible: families struggling to afford food, hospitals preparing for shrinking revenues and immigrant communities living in fear of deportation and the loss of basic benefits.
Those early impacts are only a fraction of what’s to come, according to Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank focused on the economic well-being of working people.
The result, she said, will be “the largest short-term rise in inequality in U.S. history.”
[I snipped details about the healthcare safety net and hospitals, which the article includes on a state-by-state basis, with a map]
The law is projected to slash federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over the next decade while tightening eligibility for Obamacare subsidies; 10 million fewer people are expected to have coverage by 2034 as a result. The Trump administration argues the changes are necessary to preserve programs for the most vulnerable by encouraging work, reducing fraud and reining in spending. [Graph]
[…] The average taxpayer got about $350 more in their refund this year because of the changes, an 11% increase compared to last year, according to the IRS. Had the law not extended the 2017 tax cuts that were set to expire last year, many Americans would have seen a tax increase, supporters of the bill have noted.
But those benefits haven’t been shared equally. Economists say the gains have disproportionately gone to higher-income households. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center found that about 60% of the tax savings from the law are projected to go to the top 20% of households, those earning more than $217,000.
It’s too soon to say how the tax changes will affect the wider economy, especially amid other pressures, like tariffs and higher fuel costs. Investment by businesses could take time to translate into new jobs. [Trickle-down economic plans have not worked in the past.]
[…] Unemployment has been relatively unchanged, and while there are indications that hiring picked up over the spring, the number of people out of work for more than six months has risen. Wages have failed to keep up with a recent jump in inflation driven by rising energy costs, and consumer sentiment in May fell to a record low.
[…] The tax breaks for overtime and tipped workers are set to expire at the beginning of 2029, just as Trump is set to leave office. The tax cuts primarily benefiting wealthy households and corporations? Those are permanent.
[…] States are rolling out $187 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the steepest in the food stamp program’s more than 60-year history. […] Since the law was enacted, the number of people receiving food benefits had fallen by more than 4 million as of March, according to the latest data. [graph]
[…] A growing number of people are already going hungry. A February survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that 10% of households nationwide said they had been forced to skip meals because they didn’t have enough food, the highest level in the six years of the survey, including during the height of the pandemic. Among households making less than $50,000 a year, nearly 20% said they didn’t have enough food.
[I snipped a discussion about the increased funding for immigration enforcement and border security, along with other strategies to make it harder for immigrants to build a life in the USA (the law strips healthcare and food assistance from many immigrants living in the country legally while erecting new financial barriers to asylum, work permits and other immigration pathways).]
Sorry, but they are not “traditionalists.” The longest, strongest tradition of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the one that sets it apart from all other Christian sects; is that what the pope says, goes.
Paramedics responded to a report of a “cardiac arrest” for an “unconscious” person at a known address for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the day his office disclosed he had been hospitalized, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.
McConnell’s office, which has not disclosed why he was hospitalized, referred NBC News to a June 22 statement when it was asked about the audio.
More than a half million mosquitos are set to be dropped into the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area this summer. But don’t worry, they’re on our side.
For the first time ever, the Maryland-based company Bee Safe Mosquito Control is deploying male mosquitoes infected with a particular strain of Wolbachia bacteria into the region. These infected, non-biting males are expected to mate with uninfected females and sterilize them, leading to declining population numbers. Similar programs have already been used in other countries to help curb mosquitoes and the diseases they can spread…
The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist society that consecrated bishops without the pope’s consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicating its bishops and priests and warning its faithful they too face the harshest sanctions in the Catholic Church.
The Vatican’s doctrine office went above and beyond the minimal sanctions foreseen by the church’s canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops at the society’s Econe, Switzerland, seminary.
The society, known by its acronym SSPX, celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, which it considers to be rife with heresies and errors and has accused of straying from the Catholic faith…
The unconscious brain appears to be far more capable than scientists once believed. Researchers found that patients under general anesthesia could still process language at a sophisticated level, distinguishing nouns, verbs, and adjectives while listening to stories. Even more remarkably, neural activity showed signs of predicting upcoming words before they were heard. The results challenge traditional ideas about consciousness and hint at new possibilities for brain-computer interfaces…
A new book from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan claims Trump aide Natalie Harp quietly controlled much of the information reaching him while leaving intensely personal notes that even some top allies found unsettling.
Video is 7:11 minutes. The video also covers Trump’s pick of Bill Pulte as “hatchet man” to go after Trump’s critics or supposed enemies. Maggie Haberman talks about how Trump “creates his own reality,” in part by going to Mar-a-Lago where people stand, applaud, and cheer him when he walks in.
“That’s the White House’s message to Americans who are struggling in their daily lives and looking up at this guy and his family swimming like Scrooge McDuck in a sea of corruption and greed that is quite literally unprecedented in American history,” says Chris Hayes.
“The more Donald Trump insists the economy is amazing, the more we are confronted with evidence to the contrary.”
Expectations heading into this week showed projections of about 115,000 new jobs being created in the United States in June. As it turns out, according to the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the totals fell far short of those expectations. CNBC reported:
The U.S. economy saw job creation cool sharply heading into the summer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.
Nonfarm payrolls for June increased by a seasonally adjusted 57,000 for the month, slower than the downwardly revised 129,000 added in May and worse than the 115,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast.
[…] As 2026 reaches the halfway point, the U.S. economy has created 552,000 jobs so far this year — a monthly average of 92,000 — which is an underwhelming total that plainly contradicts Donald Trump’s frequent claims that the domestic economy is now the strongest it’s been in American history. [True]
All told, the U.S. economy has added 668,000 jobs over Trump’s 18-month second term. Over the previous 18 months, the economy added more than 2.4 million jobs. [!] To date, the White House hasn’t even tried to explain why the domestic job market worsened after the Republican president took office. [graph]
To contextualize the data, I put together this chart to show month-to-month totals since the 2020 election. The blue columns point to Biden’s presidency, while the red columns point to Trump’s.
CNN reports that Trump has been “livid” about the sparse turnout at his Great American State Fair, particularly the kick-off speech he decided to give after numerous musical acts backed out. (The musical acts, incidentally, are cited in the Democrats’ report about Freedom 250’s deceptions.
The report charges that Freedom 250 used “middlemen—including businessmen in the entertainment industry with past ties to President Trump—to conduct outreach to the artists and obscure Freedom 250’s political nature.”)
Given Trump’s obsession with the poor turnout, his own staff is mystified about the planning for the Fourth of July, which seems tailor-made for encouraging people to stay home: a maze of street closures, fencing, a late start, possibly 11:00 p.m., for fireworks, and the heat dome that is enveloping Washington, D.C. with oppressive heat and humidity.
Trump’s genius marketing skills were on display yesterday at his speech at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, during which he pledged that on the Fourth he would give a “really long speech,” even though it’s going to be 107 degrees.
Brian Kaylor, who broke the story of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praying for “great vengeance and furious anger” by using a fictitious version of Ezekiel 25:17 used in the Pulp Fiction by Jules Winnfield, the character played by Samuel L. Jackson, finds that another top Trump official finds religious meaning in Jackson’s portrayal of a gangster. In promoting his new book about his religious journey, Vice President JD Vance referenced the film on a podcast this week, describing how a bloody shoot-out scene in the film, which both the characters portrayed by Jackson and John Travolta miraculously survive, was influential to his own faith journey. Referring to the Winnfield character, Vance said, “he has this religious sort of epiphany. And that’s really the entire movie from his perspective, is this ongoing religious journey.” Vance went on to talk about how he, too, “felt the touch of God.” Vance even once called Jackson’s character “one of my favorite theologians.” [JFC]
SCOTUS to Hear Challenges to Assault Weapon Bans
I was already deeply concerned that the Supreme Court will be hearing legal challenges to assault weapons bans in Chicago and Connecticut, given its recent track record in Second Amendment cases. But knowing that the Vice President of the United States sees religious meaning in a lethal, bloody (albeit fictional) shoot-out scene makes the Republican obsession with assault weapons even more chilling. Yesterday the Justice Department also filed new lawsuits against California’s ban on Glock-style guns and Virginia’s ban on assault weapons, arguing they are unconstitutional.
“Oh man, this weekend is going to be humiliating.”
Yesterday, Donald Trump was in North Dakota, having senile babble-chats with AI holograms of Teddy Roosevelt, trying to get it to tell him how upset it is about the Democrats selling the Panama Canal for a dollar. Later, he gave a speech in front of some kind of cohort that was supposed to be dressed up as the Rough Riders, but behind Trump just looked like The Village People. He told the crowd how he was going to give himself the Medal of Freedom and also give it to his older sons, so that they could have a “threesome.”
Yep.
He also told them that this weekend, for the Fourth of July, he’s going to give a speech outside, even though it’s going to be 107 degrees, “a really long speech, just to show that I can do anything!” Won’t everybody be impressed with big and tough and strong Donald Trump? [social media post, with video]
[I snipped a joke]
So there are a lot of headlines right now about the continuing humiliation that is the Great American State Fair, which nobody is attending […]
Here is Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins […] [social media post, with video. One person in audience.]
[…] It also happened to Dr. Oz. [social media post, with video. About a dozen people in audience.]
It also happened to Trump’s glorious arch, which is leaking some sort of caulk […] [photo]
[…] For more on the Bonnaroo/Lollapalooza/Burning Man/Garden of Earthly Delights that is Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair, follow The Federalist on Facebook, they’re posting lots of sad pictures and videos with nobody in them and pretending it’s a fuckfest.
In related news, Donald Trump is reportedly really upset nobody is showing up for his loser parties, and administration officials are worried nobody is going to come on the Fourth either. He was so mad when he saw how tiny the crowd was for the speech he did last week, the thing where he tried to swoop in and save the day after every musical artist on the planet noped out of performing. [Trump] posted lies saying the event was “packed to the brim” with “45,000 people.”
You may have heard that the fireworks this weekend aren’t going to start until bedtime-thirty, because Trump has to, again, babble for hours […]
They’re really worried in the White House that it’s happening so late at night. “I do not understand why we are doing this so late,” said an unnamed official to CNN. “I’m really not sure who thought this was a good idea.”
Uhhhhhh, we have a guess! […]
A “prohibited items list” reviewed by the Daily Beast also shows that backpacks, coolers, and camping chairs are not permitted. Attendees won’t be able to bring in food or water bottles, although these can be purchased inside.
The dramatically delayed fireworks show has left party planners scrambling to rewrite their schedules, while parents are bracing for overtired meltdowns and pet owners are dreading a late-night barrage of explosions.
[…] The White House is already starting to turn on itself over the ongoing failure of the loser fair and the upcoming humiliation of this weekend:
“The mistake here was not driving attendance,” one person close to the White House said of the sparse crowds at the fair. “It was an ‘if you build it, they will come’ mentality that failed.”
Wouldn’t have helped, but bless your heart anyway!
The Daily Beast also reports that there was another humiliation last night, namely that thousands of people actually did show up to the National Mall to watch the United States men’s soccer team beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup. [social media post, with video]
In summary and in conclusion, the Great American State Fair is humiliating, this weekend will be humiliating for Trump and for the whole nation, and White House Sunday School Hire Davis Ingle has a statement to share on all of that:
“President Trump is ensuring that America gets the spectacular 250th birthday it deserves — and Freedom 250 will execute on the president’s historic vision,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement, calling the fair and other events an effort to “feature a renewal of patriotism and national pride under this President’s leadership.”
It makes a lot more sense when you read it passive-aggressive like “have the day you deserve,” like Trump’s White House is saying, “Have the 250th birthday you deserve, America, for electing such a pedophile-protecting Epstein Files-starring crime-fraud-grifting piece of shit like me!”
They don’t mean it like that, though, so we’ll just end this piece by wishing Trump the Fourth of July he deserves.
APOLOGY, yesterday I edited an error into Evan’s post — the very worst thing an editrix can do — but to be fair, this Factcheck story on “birth tourism” is so badly done that the answer to “how prevalent is ’birth tourism’ actually?” didn’t come until the twenty-fifth paragraph. (The answer, after 24 paragraphs talking about “could it be 20,000 a year? how about 30,000 a year?” was “47 birth tourism” births in 2025.) That’s a bad Factcheck article! Obviously, I blame them. (Factcheck) […]
Ah, glad to see that error corrected: “47 birth tourism” babies in 2025. Surprisingly small. Non-problem.
“EXCLUSIVE: Fireworks on Mall likely to cause hazardous air pollution, documents show”
“Internal National Park Service modeling for the July Fourth show predicts dangerous pollution around the Mall and ‘very unhealthy’ conditions across central D.C.”
I can think of even more reasons that Trump is making conditions “very unhealthy.”
Fireworks for this year’s July Fourth celebration are expected to cause hazardous levels of pollution around the National Mall and “very unhealthy” conditions in central D.C., according to internal National Park Service documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
The show, billed by the Trump administration as the largest pyrotechnic display in history, will include some 850,000 fireworks in a roughly 40-minute show expected to start at 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m., according to organizers. President Donald Trump will speak as part of the event, which marks the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
The combustion from large fireworks displays typically causes significant pollution because it generates fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. These small particles can penetrate deep into the heart and lungs, causing irritation and in some cases asthma attacks and other illnesses.
A draft air-quality analysis, based on the National Park Service’s modeling, states that people should “avoid prolonged exposure” to the pollution around the Mall. […]
In downtown D.C., Arlington and the Capitol Hill area, where pollution will be “very unhealthy,” the document says that people should “expect irritation symptoms” and limit their postshow exposure to the pollution. It projects that pollution will remain at elevated levels for three to six hours after the show.
The analysis highlights best, worst and most likely scenarios based on wind conditions, humidity and other factors.
In the “expected” or “most likely” scenario, the fireworks show will generate 600 to 1,200 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter in the Mall area. A worst-case scenario would see more than 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter.
Levels of up to 1,200 micrograms per cubic meter match what have been recorded with other fireworks events but are nevertheless reason to take precautions, said George Thurston, a professor of medicine and population health at New York University. He added that the worst-case scenario would exceed anything he has seen previously recorded from pyrotechnic displays.
“People should use the precautionary principle, which is to minimize exposures,” Thurston said. “An N95 mask would be a good idea.”
Fireworks contain metals, such as copper, that help to create their vibrant colors but are hazardous to breathe when they enter the air, Thurston said.
People with respiratory conditions can stay inside during the fireworks display and wait for the wind to blow away the smoke, he said.
The Park Service, in a separate document, similarly said that people should “wear an n95 mask when outdoors” and “remain indoors as much as possible during and after the show.”
Another internal document designed to take demographics in the area into account advises Park Service staff to “not treat race, ethnicity, income, disability, age, or language as risks by themselves.”
The fireworks are planned to be set off at sites along the Potomac River and the National Mall, not far from areas such as Southeast Washington that are predominantly Black and lower-income.
Thurston said there is a greater prevalence of respiratory and cardiovascular problems, including asthma, in lower-income and minority populations.
“I definitely think that should not be ignored,” he said.
Immigration officials have quietly ramped up arrests in the recent days, taking 10,000 people who they say are illegally in the United States into custody within a five-day space, sources familiar with the figures said Thursday.
…
The new goal for immigration authorities is to arrest at least 2,000 per day going forward, according to sources. Last year, in a meeting with senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, White House and senior Department of Homeland Security officials urged a goal of 3,000 arrests per day, a source familiar told ABC News.
“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
…
If they want to find rapists and pedophiles, I hear there is a concentration around Pennsylvania Avenue. Try the 1600 block.
Tucker Carlson wants to build his own political party, telling the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview he has stopped speaking to President Donald Trump since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran—a public break with the president he has long known and privately lobbied for.
Carlson said he is “going to do everything I can to bring about” a new political party, claiming the U.S. government is “a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken.”
Carlson, who has been highly critical of U.S. foreign intervention, told the Columbia Journalism Review he has not spoken to Trump “since the regime-change war began,” adding, “I’m not interested in talking to him.”
Carlson greatly overestimates his political pull. His only chance of success is if the Republican party breaks up after Trump and there is an opening for unknown new parties to replace it. As the article points out though, a small splinter party can effect elections in the American system even if they have no chance of winning.
“He’s not a man in charge of his own life at this point,” Carlson said about the president, adding, “I feel sorry for anybody who’s enslaved, including him.”
It isn’t clear what Carlson means by that. Since Carlson can be buying into conspiracy theories there are a lot of ways he could be going.
… claiming the U.S. government is “a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken.”
I would say it is already broken.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna@166:
Yesterday, Donald Trump was in North Dakota, having senile babble-chats with AI holograms of Teddy Roosevelt, trying to get it to tell him how upset it is about the Democrats selling the Panama Canal for a dollar.
If Teddy Roosevelt were here today, he would give The Orange Turd a solid thumping and send him back to Mar-a-Lago crying like the baby he is.
Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Justice Department and top Trump administration officials Wednesday, seeking a court order to force the preservation of records in the ongoing federal investigations targeting him.
The lawsuit represents an unusual step for Brennan, a longtime political opponent of President Trump who has been the focus of two Justice Department criminal probes since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second administration.
Bringing a suit like this before even being charged is very unusual but the idea is straightforward. All of the information in a potential government case against Brennan would itself be government documents. It’s important that all of the information is preserved and made available to the defense, particularly those parts that work against the government case. As the Trump administration people are not big fans of keeping records this will require a court order to force them to do something that is a basic matter of principle and law.
Brennan’s legal team argues that any “eventual indictment” against him will be challenged in court as “unconstitutionally vindictive and selective,” and the loss of any relevant records would “impair, perhaps fatally, the ability of the court reviewing Director Brennan’s challenges to do so on the full record of contemporaneous communications and materials that is needed to divine the true intentions behind the prosecutors’ decisions and actions.”
I love that Brennan’s lawyers are saying that any indictment would surely be challenged on the grounds of being vindictive, just outright saying that the Trump DOJ investigation is abusive. I don’t know if they will win, this is a very unusual case to bring, but the Trump DOJ is so abusive it has a chance of working.
Valar Atomics activated its Ward 250 nuclear microreactor on stage during a live event, where it announced its partnership with Nvidia to power an AI factory…
I hope they met all relevant regulations, such as issuing dosimetry for all audience members.
“Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this,” the president said, referring to a jet built by an American company on American soil.
On a daily basis, Donald Trump says all kinds of offensive things, but during remarks at Joint Base Andrews two weeks ago, he said something that nearly everyone could agree with. Unveiling the latest Air Force One, a luxury jet he received from Qatar, Trump said, “A normal president wouldn’t do this.”
Unlike so many of the Republican’s public comments, this had the benefit of being entirely true: A normal president most certainly would not have accepted a luxury jet from Qatar — a Middle Eastern country that Trump used to accuse of supporting terrorism — which he apparently intends to “donate” to his presidential library after leaving the White House. (Since receiving the plane, the president and his administration have cozied up to Qatar to a remarkable degree, even unilaterally extending a NATO-like security guarantee to the nation. [telltale signs of a bribe having been accepted)
On Wednesday, the president took his first flight on the plane, but before boarding, he took a little time to talk to reporters, one of whom asked how much it cost American taxpayers to upgrade the jet.[social media post, with video]
“Well, it cost very little relative to what it would cost if we did it a different way,” Trump responded cryptically. He added, “Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this.”
I’m not sure who counts as “we,” but the jet was built by Boeing, which is an American company that built the plane on American soil.
As for the question the president apparently didn’t want to answer, The New Republic noted, “The jet — one of the largest presidential gifts ever — is valued at $400 million. The Air Force said it spent around $400 million on renovating the plane, changing the cabin layout, communications system, and security upgrades. That doesn’t account for the taxpayer-funded, continued maintenance of the plane, either.” [social media post, with video]
As part of the same Q&A, Trump boasted of the plane, “The country is very proud of it.” It’s not at all clear how he arrived at this conclusion, as there’s no publicly available survey data to suggest this project enjoys broad public support.
As for the near future, MS NOW reported, “The jet is meant to serve as a ‘bridge,’ easing the strain on aging aircraft until two purpose-built planes enter service in 2028, the administration official and the Air Force spokesperson said.”
Every day—like, literally every day by now—we see evidence of some new desecration of the White House. One of the most galling things about this latest indignity is that we don’t actually know what is happening here, because why would we ever know about the workings of our government these days?
All we know for sure is that there was suddenly some mysterious scaffolding up on the North Portico, and President Donald Trump took reporters on a little stroll around the scaffolding […]
The most likely explanation—which is not in any way to say it is the correct explanation, because the American populace is now frequently in the dark about this sort of thing—is that it is the long-awaited replacement of the current Ionic-style columns on the White House with Corinthian ones instead.
What? You’re saying you’ve never heard the American people crying out for Corinthian columns on the White House? That’s probably because it’s really just that Trump likes them better. They’re more manly, or more fascist, or more classic, or something.
Trump even got one of his pets on the Commission of Fine Arts, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., to pretend it was not Trump’s idea at all, but rather an Artistic Choice for the Ages, as he explained in an interview with the Washington Post: “Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and that’s what our other two branches of government have. Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.”
[…] The official White House explanation is that this is just standard restoration, a little bit of repair of the stone, but, again, why would we believe this after all the lies about the ballroom, which has comically ballooned in both scope and cost, or the surprise helipad that popped up a couple of days ago?
Or the, uh, distinctly fascist looking golden eagle, which Trump posted some AI slop rendering of, apparently planning to bolt it onto the Truman Balcony.
So, dear readers: [Online poll]
There are no wrong answers! There are no right answers either, unfortunately, as no matter what, it’s going to be something ugly.
Canadian rock star Bryan Adams dropped a protest song on Canada Day.
And while the powerful rock anthem never mentions Donald Trump by name — it’s abundantly clear who the message is for.
“Let me give you some advice, mister — you might have too much on your plate,” rasps Adams in the chorus of the rough-and-tumble track. “Go’n load us up with tariffs, but we’ll never be the 51st state.”
…
Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s capital overnight into Thursday that killed at least 13 people and injured scores as loud explosions shook Kyiv for hours. The attack with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones damaged buildings and civilian infrastructure across the city.
Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a ‘forceful response,’ again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.
FBI Director Kash Patel failed to properly disclose a six-figure purchase of stock in a bitcoin-fueled business intelligence and mobile software company that has contracted with the Department of Justice, according to federal financial records reviewed by NOTUS.
With massive job cuts, the National Weather Service is eliminating or reducing vital weather balloon launches in eight northern locations, which meteorologists and former agency leaders said will degrade the accuracy of forecasts just as severe weather season kicks in.
Middle East Eye How Israel is quietly occupying Syria and aslso building an AI and drones and physical (?) wall all along its eastern border and more. 5 mins 19 secs long.
Akira MacKenziesays
If the Dems were smart–which they sadly aren’t–they’ll stop picking on the DSA and let Tucker and MTG tear the Republicans apart. Sadly, they’ll likely do the opposite: Continue to alienate the left while “building bridges” to the right.
Gotta vote Blue no matter who! (Unless they’re socialists, then team up with the fascists.)
Representatives from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which starts on Friday, according to Iranian state-linked news broadcaster IRIB.
Khamenei was killed aged 86 in a joint United States-Israeli air strike on his compound on February 28, the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran…
On a Sunday evening in the middle of Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village, hundreds of people gather in front of a giant papier-mâché face of a woman wearing a crown. She’s the backdrop of a play, her body made up of curtains that look like a dress but serve a dual purpose, allowing actors to scurry on and offstage.
I’m here to watch a performance called “Luddite Recreations,” which is a history of the Luddite movement—a group of artisans and textile workers who resisted the adoption of machines during the early years of the Industrial Revolution in England and whose resistance to being displaced from their work was met with violence by the British monarchy.
It’s one of the opening events of the Summer of Ludd, a weeklong series of talks and activities like how to flirt and date offline, mending, and learning to fight against data centers, all focused on getting people off their phones and into community.
Everything is so evidently handcrafted, giving it the energy of a high school production (complimentary). A small orchestra, manned by people dressed in Pride regalia, sits off to one side. Behind them, a table holds 10 different zines covering everything from how to get off Spotify to the role of surveillance technology in schools to “Why GenAI Sucks.”
The events will continue through July 5, with most major parts concentrated in Tompkins Square Park. (There will be a beach day cookout on July 4 as well as events in nearby locations in the East Village.)
…
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “We can do it, but we’re not going to do it with the crew that it’s in Washington right now. We need a political revolution. It’s beginning to happen, and I feel confident about what you’re going to be seeing in the next few months.”
A new report from House Democrats alleges Trump allies cashed in on America’s 250th birthday celebration, turning a national milestone into a vehicle for access, contracts, and political self-promotion. Rep. Jared Huffman joins to discuss.
Video is 8:40 minutes
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Lynna @164, TPM:
Trump’s genius marketing skills were on display yesterday […] he pledged that on the Fourth he would give a “really long speech,” even though it’s going to be 107 degrees.
Announcing dangerous stunts would be genius marketing, just not for the reason he’d want.
Lynna @165, TPM:
the film, which both the characters portrayed by Jackson and John Travolta miraculously survive, was influential to his own faith journey.
Ick, I just imagined Vance converting to Scientology.
Lynna @166, Wonkette:
he tried to swoop in and save the day
Despite a lifetime of experience, Trump can’t conceive of himself failing and brashly sets himself up for more.
Did Trump Pay Taxes on His Massive Crypto Haul?
Tax experts tell CBS News that Trump could potentially owe half a billion dollars in income tax from his cryptocurrency investments, but their ability to calculate the profit from his ventures is impossible “because of the lack of transparency around the corporate entities holding the income,” and because Trump doesn’t make his tax returns public. Would the White House provide a reporter the answer to this question? Of course not.
“Being president of the United States is by far the most lucrative business venture of Donald Trump’s checkered business career,” writes Timothy Noah at The New Republic. “Trump has turned the American presidency into an extractive industry.” [!!]
Trump’s Sons Are Reaping Huge Profits From the Wars He Promised Not To Start
MSNOW investigates how Eric and Donald Trump Jr.’s investments in defense firms are paying off. Earlier this year, they were the beneficiaries of a “reverse merger” between a golf course company of which they were then part owners and a drone company of which they are now part owners. Now, the Pentagon is placing orders from the drone company. [!] And that’s just one of 10 companies in which the Trump sons have stakes, and which together have received over $3.7 billion in federal contracts since Trump returned to the presidency last year.
Trump Deploys More Federal Resources For Disproved “Rigged Election” Obsessions
The FBI is “surging” agents to Fulton County, Georgia [!], “an extraordinary effort by the nation’s most prominent law enforcement agency to find evidence supporting President Donald Trump’s darkest election fraud conspiracy theories,” MSNOW reports. Also yesterday, House Democrats warned Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, not to declassify intelligence on any election-related matters, after Trump said he told Pulte he could “declassify whatever you want.” Pulte’s predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, notoriously attended the FBI’s January raid on Fulton County’s election offices, and Trump has said he tapped Pulte to investigate “rigged elections.” [WTF]
Characteristically Weird and Twisted Trumpland Story
Influencer Laura Loomer has held up the appointment of a former DOGE operative, now at the State Department, to the White House National Security Council because the operative, Jeremy Lewin, has what Loomer considers to be an unacceptably liberal past. That seems, at first glance, to be the most important feature of this story, and, truth be told, Loomer’s ability to control administration personnel matters is certainly noteworthy. But what is probably more significant in this Politico report is that while at DOGE, Lewin “oversaw the gutting of USAID,” and in his current post at the State Department, as undersecretary of State for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, he is “assisting” with earthquake relief in Venezuela. [!}
The Christian Right Has New Goal: Anti-Trans Laws in Blue States
Kristen Waggoner, president of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which successfully litigated the anti-trans sports ban case the Supreme Court decided this week, warned “blue states with boys on podiums” that “you’re next.”
Well-Oiled Machine
Federal prosecutors in Miami accidentally turned over a volume of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigations of Trump’s criminal activity, which is the subject of a gag order they assiduously sought from Trump’s favorite judge, Aileen Cannon. They inadvertently sent the document to a defendant in a separate criminal case: a former federal prosecutor charged with violating Cannon’s order by emailing herself a copy of the Smith report. [smiles, moment of schadenfreude]
Babies Born in the Second Half of 2026 Will Get a Social Security Card Commemorating Freedom250
The Social Security Administration has announced that babies born between July 2 and December 31 this year, whose parents request a Social Security card for them, will receive a card embossed with the Freedom250 logo. Fox News describes it as a “once-in-a-generation keepsake tied to the nation’s 250th birthday.” It’s great, I suppose, for anyone wanting a memento of Trump’s massive corruption for their child.
[…] Comics can be a great way to bring history alive, as the medium packs a huge amount of visual and textual information in an easily accessible, storytelling form. But the America250 Comics Pack, like the displays on Trump’s “Freedom Trucks,” has a single-minded and deeply polarizing agenda.
The comics — […]bbearing the America250 logo — were produced by Kingstone, a Christian publisher best known for its 2000-page, 10,000 panel graphic interpretation of the Bible. The overarching message is that America was founded under the auspices of the Christian God and built by those faithful to him with frequent miraculous assists from on high. We’re a Christian country, it argues on nearly every page, that only exists because the Lord wished it to. Anything in our history that complicates that story has simply been omitted. It’s a cherry-picking expedition par excellence conducted under the auspices of a federal government that’s supposed to stand apart from religion.
The series — drawn by a world-class Brazilian artist who lost his gig with Marvel comics over antisemitic imagery in cartoons championing Jair Bolsonaro — devotes five volumes to the colonial era, its characters, themes and settings carefully curated to depict the eventual creation of the United States as an outgrowth of divine will and intervention. They all take place north of the Mason-Dixon line, with the action rarely leaving the confines of New England, the only part of colonial North America where Calvinists were the dominant political and cultural force. There are separate titles, appropriately enough, for the Mayflower Pilgrims and John Winthrop’s Puritans, the founders of a regional ideological tradition that argued, as today’s Christian Nationalists do, that America’s founding was divinely directed.
The Puritans indeed believed they were in a covenant with God, like the Biblical Hebrews, and tasked with creating a more holy society in the New England wilderness, a theme amply illustrated in the second volume of the series, “A New England,” whose cover depicts settlers facing off against a pack of Satanic wolves. Eleven frames on three pages are devoted to a 1645 court case so as to allow Winthrop to hold forth on why personal liberty — “to do whatever is good in your own eyes” — is evil and the moral liberty of the authorities is “good, just and honest.”
The Puritans, we’re told in the epilogue, were full of “love, justice and mercy” but are associated with bigotry and intolerance because of “attacks” in the late 19th and early 20th century. This would come as a surprise to the many Quakers who were whipped, imprisoned, disfigured, or executed under a 1658 Massachusetts law banning their denomination and to the war refugees from Maine and others tortured or hanged in Salem for “witchcraft.” […]
More glaring is the omission of the origin stories of all of the colonies south of New England — home to most of colonial America’s inhabitants — which don’t fit so well into Kingstone’s narrative. New York, for example, started as Dutch New Netherland, a multicultural, multireligious corporate colony that emphasized tolerance of diversity and had Muslim, Sephardi, and Catholic founders, not just Protestants. William Penn’s Quakers, believing people had an “inner light,” also put no particular onus on religious or cultural conformity and presided over a culturally pluralistic colony where no ethnic group or religious tradition held sway. The Chesapeake country and Deep South were slave states where liberty was a privilege held by an aristocratic elite and most of the white population was unchurched. The leading figures of 17th and early 18th century Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas didn’t declare that they were in a covenant with God to create a more holy society in the New World: They were, after all, engaged in furthering a lucrative system to produce and export commodities using slave labor within an imperial system unconcerned with individual liberty, divine missions, or self-government. The series editor, Kelly Ayris, wife of the Baptist pastor who founded Kingstone, has constructed the master narrative such that readers won’t have an inkling of any of this.
Miracles abound in the story. Among those explicitly called out in the comics: a young George Washington surviving a rain of French bullets in a 1755 raid; Jefferson writing “all men are created equal” even though he was a slaveowner; the dense fog that fell to protect Washington’s army’s retreat across the East River during the Battle of Long Island; the reversal of fortune allowing Washington’s victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777; the early start to the 1781 hurricane season and the bad decisions made by British generals that facilitated the final British defeat at Yorktown; Franklin’s suggestion that delegates pray to find a compromise solution on legislative representation at the Constitutional Convention; and the Constitution itself, because of its alleged brilliance.
The Constitution, the series asserts, was predicated on Biblical morality. […]
President Donald Trump has trundled his way—in pathetic fits and starts—through a caricature of America, one with his own extremely limited personal soundtrack.
It’s filled with Lee Greenwood, Italian classics from the weird conservative guy who wrecks opera songs, and Kash Patel’s girlfriend bellowing a pitchy “Star-Spangled Banner.”
But what about the real soundtrack of America? The one that celebrates our highs and lows, shows both the dignity and the shamefulness of our shared past, and demands us to carve a better—more noble, free, and fair—path forward?
Here’s a soundtrack that does just that, as well as a Spotify playlist including 30 additional songs. […]
Lots of musical history and videos are available at the link.
Videos include, but are not limited to:
Jackson Browne
Whitney Houston
Beyoncé
Resistance Revival Corus with Rhiannon Giddens
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
Nina Simone
Tyler Childers
Well, we don’t have to play the will-he-or-won’t-he game about President Donald Trump’s attendance at the World Cup round of 16 in Seattle, where the United States will face off against Belgium.
It turns out that both Trump and Vice President JD Vance are too chickenshit to travel to the terrifying no-go zone of Seattle to watch the game.
[…] weird for the recipient of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize and head of the host country to skip the games, especially when Trump bragged that he would be attending several of them.
But sure, blow off the United States getting to the round of 16. It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything.
Maybe Trump and Vance are giving it a pass because Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got booed mightily on June 19, when he attended the matchup between the United States and Australia.
In part, apparently, this is because he is reviled in Australia for his COVID-19 anti-lockdown and anti-vaxx efforts—because Australia is not a country in thrall to weirdo eugenicist freaks like Kennedy.
Seattle residents are probably extremely hyped to have this match in their backyard, what with nearly 150,000 people coming to Pioneer Square for the U.S.-Australia match, and they’re probably even more hyped not to have Trump poison the experience.
Also, the upcoming match against Belgium is the last one to be played in Seattle, so it’s no doubt going to be big.
The administration has tried mightily to wreck the World Cup, but Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s hateful and dangerous rhetoric about the Iranian national team didn’t ruin it. Nor did his claim that World Cup crowds would lead to criminal activity and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be “out there every day fighting against the counterfeit tickets, human trafficking, drug smuggling.”
The administration also failed to frame the U.S. team as some sort of white supremacist extravaganza, posting gross stuff like “DEFEND THE HOMELAND” and “OUR SOIL” over a picture of non-white players.
And then there was the administration’s effort to punish other countries by refusing to allow referees and fans into the country.
But none of it worked.
Unlike Trump and Vance, Americans are thrilled to see the World Cup—attending in record numbers, watching broadcasts in record numbers, and celebrating the multi-racial, multi-country joy that is the World Cup.
[…] No matter what, Monday’s U.S-Belgium game is going to be so, so much better without Trump or Vance there to wreck the vibe.
The families and survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are finally receiving some of the money owed to them by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The satirical publication The Onion, which recently took control of Jones’ InfoWars brand, paid out $100,000 to the Sandy Hook families during the relaunch of the InfoWars website.
Jones owes the families about $1.4 billion after losing multiple court cases that were brought against him alleging defamation.
On his show, Jones repeatedly claimed that the mass shooting, which killed 20 children and six adults, was a “false flag” operation meant to whip up support for gun control. Jones called the victims “crisis actors” and inspired his listeners to harass the families and survivors.
Jones’ company was forced into bankruptcy by the massive judgments against him, leading to the sale of InfoWars to The Onion. Jones has been attempting to prevent the sale through court proceedings.
Chris Mattei, an attorney for nine of the families, summed up the state of Jones’ conspiracy empire to The Associated Press: “All he’s been left with is an iPhone and a fancy microphone.”
The new InfoWars site launched on Thursday with the release of a video featuring the “InfoWars elf.” [video]
[…] Jones’ media brand now being used to mock him.
The Great American State Fair on the National Mall has closed for the afternoon, as the mercury climbed to 99 degrees with a heat index above 110.
Social media videos broadcast the announcement of the Freedom 250 event’s postponement. The organization explained moments later in a statement that it was due to the heat.
[…] Conditions are expected to improve later this afternoon, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back at 5:00 p.m. as preparations continue for this evening’s festivities,” Freedom 250 said in a post on social platform X.
[…] as event organizers scramble to deal with the extreme heat. A parade planned for Friday in Philadelphia was canceled hours before it was set to start due to the heat.
President Trump is headed to South Dakota late Friday, where he’s expected to make remarks at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and ahead of the landmark’s fireworks show in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. […]
Hours before a deadline to turn over the materials, Associate U.S. Attorney General Stanley Woodward asked the judge to delay the deadline for another two months, or to dissolve the order entirely by accepting the Justice Department’s explanation for withholding those documents.
Standard Trump lawyer move. Wait until hours before the deadline and then ask for an extension. Not an extension to produce the documents, an extension while the DOJ decides if they want to appeal the judge’s ruling or not. Which of course they do but they want to take as much time as possible doing it.
I expect if the judge rule’s against them an already prepared appeal will be dropped on the appeal court. And they will ask for a stay during appeal, which they will probably get. Expect this case to wind it’s way up to the Supreme Court before there is an actual action, it will move up as slowly as the DOJ can make it. It would be incredibly bad for Trump (and some other wealthy figures but they are secondary at this point) for the government to lose so they are going to slow roll this as much as possible.
He also said investigators could not find an unredacted version of a 2007 draft indictment from federal prosecutors in Florida, where Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser charges as part of a controversial deal to avoid more serious criminal penalties.
The DOJ has already begun “losing” documents. They can’t do much here without it being too obvious but a few carefully picked ones can hide some key information.
“Judge Sullivan’s perverse interpretation appears to be focused on driving misleading headlines,” the spokesperson said last month. “This judge is suggesting DOJ violate the law by un-redacting victim names, who as the Department has always explained, sadly became co-conspirators. DOJ has produced all responsive documents and will appeal this decision with confidence.”
Blatant lie. The Judge has ordered them to produce unredacted documents or produce information about why things were redacted. The Epstein document law requires the DOJ produce a document that explains why the various redactions were done and they have not done so.
“Georgia Senate Race: It’s Jon Ossoff Vs. Some Idiot MAGA Troll”
“Maybe don’t go with the dipshit bigot whose announcement video misspelled ‘Georgia’?”
A new Fox News poll this week shows incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) holding a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins. [Yay! Good news.]
The survey of registered Georgia voters showed Ossoff with 56 percent support, and Collins with 43 percent. And here’s an interesting finding from the poll that could make a difference in the race come November:
Ossoff benefits from greater party loyalty, as nearly all Democrats (96%) back him and more than 8 in 10 of his supporters say their vote is for him rather than against Collins.
For Collins, 9 in 10 Republicans back him (89%) but only 56% of his supporters say their vote is for him, while 44% say it is primarily against Ossoff.
On top of that, the poll showed that just under a quarter of “non-MAGA Republicans” say they support Ossoff, which is fairly impressive, although the poll didn’t say what portion of Georgia Republicans are “non-MAGA.”
[…] in the race for Georgia governor, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, has a 5-point edge over Republican Rick Jackson [also good news], a Trumpy billionaire CEO who spent $108 million on his primary campaign […]The Fox poll showed 52 percent support for Lance Bottoms and 47 percent for Jackson, although that narrow lead is within the margin of error.
[…] Ossoff, you may recall, made national headlines in June when he gave a stump speech condemning the amazing corruption of Donald Trump’s and his sons’ Kazakhstan Tungsten threesome, in which he called the Trump family the “Mar-a-Lago Mafia.” Ossoff explained the corrupt scheme in remarkably clear, accurate language: [video]
OSSOFF: Last September, the President of Kazakhstan calls Donald Trump and says he wants to grant tungsten mining rights to an American company. And the very next month, Eric and Don Jr. get a stake in the American company pursuing the mining deal.
Six days later, six days after Prince Eric and Prince Don get their stake, Kazakhstan announces this company will get “The largest known undeveloped tungsten resource in the world.” A few more weeks go by, and then the US government, run by their father, sets aside 1.6 billion of your tax dollars to fund and finance their mining project. In Kazakhstan.
All this while you pay more for gas, for groceries, for health care, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
He then pledged that when Democrats take control of Congress, anyone involved in any of that fuckery will find themselves “raising your right hand and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” before investigatory committees […]
Ossoff is one of the current crop of Democrats Who Get It, who know that voters want someone who’ll actually take up the fight against corruption and fascism and not make sad bleating noises about “bipartisanship” with people who want to loot America.
[…] Collins is also the guy who marked the 2025 anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by saying it was the day when “thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building.” [Unintentionally funny, LOL]
Collins also notoriously tweeted his approval of a 2024 video showing a crowd of counter-demonstrators at the University of Mississippi who mocked a Black woman protesting the genocide in Gaza, including one young man who jumped around and hooted at her like a chimp. Collins thought the video was pretty neat, and retweeted it with the comment “Ole Miss taking care of business.”
Those are among the reasons Ossoff has been calling Collins a “bigot and antisemite” on the campaign trail. Collins is deeply unserious, so of course Trump endorsed him in Georgia’s Republican primary.
But there’s one more crucial similarity to Trump that Dear Leader must love: Collins is facing a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that he created a $10,000 “ghost intern” job on his staff for a woman who was dating his chief of staff, and who never actually worked for Collins. […]
Collins does have one “achievement” that endeared him to MAGA: He was the House sponsor of the Laken Riley Act. That was the racist bloody shirt law that harnessed the horrible murder of a college student by an undocumented immigrant to require federal detention and deportation of any noncitizen arrested for a wide range of petty crimes, even if no charges were brought.
[…] When he launched his Senate campaign last year, his announcement video misspelled “Georgia.” [Image of video title “Georgia, Let’s ride.”]
The very best people, as always.
Hey, if you wanted to throw a few Ameros at Jon Ossoff, here’s his campaign site, too.
For the last few years, the Right has been engaged in a clickbait campaign of “Everything you thought was good is actually bad, and everything you thought was bad is actually good!” They’re going after the sexual revolution, the Civil Rights Act, civil rights in general, the 19th Amendment, same-sex marriage even though it seemed like they had gotten over that shit, birthright citizenship, and the entire concept of empathy. Meanwhile they’re out here lauding Richard Nixon, claiming Watergate was a nothingburger, bringing back scientific racism, demanding women get barefoot and pregnant and back in the kitchen, and forcing religion on public school children.
Another thing they want to bring back? Teen pregnancy!
For years, teen pregnancy was one of the few things that everyone could collectively agree was a problem […] For years, we argued about the best way to combat it — we argued comprehensive sex-ed, they pushed for abstinence-only education, purity balls […] We did it! Teen pregnancy has decreased dramatically in the last 35 years. In the end, I honestly think it was a combination of comprehensive sex-ed in the areas where that was allowed, MTV’s Teen Mom, the internet making information about birth control and medication abortion more widely available, […] that really drove those numbers down.
Either way, we’ve gone down from a rate of teens accounting for 61 out of 1000 births in 1991, to 35 in 2010 (which was still high, as the average for wealthy nations at that point was 20), to 11.7 — an 80 percent reduction. […]
That’s something we should be celebrating! But instead, the Trump administration decided to pull $68 million from the teen pregnancy prevention program […]). The Department of Health and Human Services claims that the reason they were pulled is because they “normalized or promoted sexual activity for minors” [bullshit] — we assume by doing what we know actually works, which is to inform them how to have safe sex, instead of abstinence-only education, which … well, look at the map. [map at the link]
Democrats in both chambers of Congress are not happy, and a group of Democratic senators sent a very strongly worded letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding that he restore the grants.
Patty Murray (D-Washington) led the charge, joined by [other] Senators […]
We write to express our outrage over your recent decision to terminate the vast majority of Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program grants, which will deprive teens across the U.S. of vital resources and threaten to unwind decades of progress made in reducing teen pregnancy. These grants, which were canceled in the middle of their five-year project period, supported evidence-based programs that worked to prevent teen pregnancy and behavioral risk factors underlying teen pregnancy, as is required by law. This decision to cancel 53 of 66 existing grants follows a pattern of actions the Trump Administration has taken to undermine access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and put the health and wellbeing of our young people at risk. We call on you to immediately reinstate funding for these grantees who have a proven track record of working to uphold the goals of the program in accordance with the law.
After citing the impressive decline in teen births in the years since the TPP was established, and the fact that it was “bipartisan law that most recently appropriated funding for the program,” the senators questioned whether the Trump administration wanted to end teen pregnancy at all, given that many “pronatalist” MAGA Republicans have recently been lamenting the lack of teen births as of late.
We know that both Trump Administrations have long sought to destroy the TPP Program. President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposed to eliminate it, as did his prior budgets, and in 2017, the Trump Administration attempted to cancel every TPP Program grant, a decision that was ultimately struck down by the courts. Now, however, allies of the president have increasingly suggested that declining teen birth rates are a “problem.” It appears this administration may agree with that assessment as you cancel funding for these proven programs.
The Trump administration drive to make teenage girls pregnant again is very likely influenced by the influencers pushing for more knocked up teenagers and shotgun weddings. [Unfortunately, that is probably true.] After all, that’s not a demographic they’d want to upset, particularly as it includes Stephen Miller and his wife, Katie Miller, who recently lamented that teenage girls and women in their 20s eschewing their “biological destiny” to have babies was somehow leading to the imminent death of civilization. [!]
As much as these freaks talk about “civilization,” as much as they love to claim that somehow our policies will turn the US into a “third world nation,” they’re the ones out here encouraging teen pregnancy, discouraging college, embracing policies that lead to an extremely high maternal mortality rate, pushing back on gains made by women, LGBTQ+ people, and ethnic minorities, wanting to bring back firing squads and public executions, dismantling the social safety net, and loving their wannabe strongman dictator. All things far more common in developing nations than in wealthy, generally stable, nations. […]
[…] Matthew Whitaker, AKA Meatball McPeenerToilet, the former (acting) attorney general and underdeveloped oaf who once tried to invent a toilet for men with such huge penises they couldn’t shit without flushing their dick down the toilet […] is now the ambassador to NATO. Why? […]
Point is, Meatball is a serious man with a serious job, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time to sit down with Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends and tell him about America […] [social media post, with video]
Talking about all those World Cup fans enjoying the United States, Meatball explained what really makes America great:
MEATBALL: People are enjoying the United States of America because it’s an awesome place and we have extraordinary things like Buc-ee’s, like Chick-Fil-A, you know, just some very convenient to eat in your car as you’re doing, having a phone call.
What?
MEATBALL: It’s an amazing country and I’m glad that people are finally discovering what real America is.
Real America, and what makes it amazing, is sitting in your car on the phone at Buc-ee’s or Chick-Fil-A, eating? […]
More at the link.
birgerjohanssonsays
(Crossposted)
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Space, & communicating with the president.
From the novel ‘When the Moon Hits Your Eye” by John Scalzi
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“I have a briefing with the president in exactly half an hour, and because we all know he doesn’t bother to read the daily intelligence briefing, it will fall to me to explain what the hell is going on.So explain it to me. Use small words so I can use even smaller words on him. Somebody start”.
Nobody wanted to start.
“Park Service Warns Public To Avoid Breathing While Watching DC’s July 4th Fireworks”
Do you live in our nation’s fair capital of Washington DC? If not, were you planning on traveling there this weekend to watch the annual Fourth of July festivities and fireworks on the National Mall? Great! Have fun! Take the usual precautions. Stay hydrated — the District’s heat and humidity in the summer are no joke! Don’t drink and drive. The crowds might be overwhelming, so be kind and patient with others. Particularly the public servants trying to keep things moving — they are giving up their holiday so you can enjoy yours!
Finally, wear a respirator at all times, as if you were spraying your house for termites or mining minerals on an asteroid. Wait, what?
Yes, wear a respirator. Because according to the Washington Post, the massive fireworks display is expected to produce so much air pollution that the National Park Service itself suggests — in internal documents because why actually warn the public of the danger — people “remain indoors as much as possible during and after the show.”
Stay inside during the fireworks? What’s the point of having the largest fireworks display ever if you can’t go outside to watch the goddamn thing?
Yes, the largest fireworks show in history, allegedly. This year’s display will involve firing off somewhere around 850,000 fireworks from various locations around the city. Normally, the July Fourth show features about 20,000. The numbers and timeframe are so ridiculous that a data scientist calculated how many fireworks that is per second (354) and how many you will miss every time you blink. (Between 35 and 142.)
But this is America’s 250th birthday and Donald Trump’s people are in charge of it. So of course it must be so huge that it is dangerous, irresponsible, unnecessary, and indicates our president is overcompensating for something.
[…] The big fear is exposure to PM2.5, which are inhalable particulates 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, small enough that they can settle into the deepest part of the lungs
[…] The Post says the “most likely” scenario is the fireworks will generate 600 to 1,200 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter around the Mall. Worst case calls for as much as 2,000 micrograms of PM2.5. Depending on wind and weather conditions, that concentration may hover in the air for three to six hours after the show ends.
NPS says this level of PM2.5 is enough to cause “irritation symptoms” and people “should avoid prolonged exposure” to the air around the Mall. And by “irritation symptoms,” they mean asthma attacks, among other things. So if you have asthma and you are in the DC area on Saturday, uh, maybe don’t be.
One climate scientist on BlueSky noted that the Fourth is already the worst air pollution day in DC, by very far. And that is during a normal year: [social media post with dramatic graph]
Hilariously, the NPS recommends people wear N95 masks outdoors during and after the show. Considering how badly MAGA freaked out at mask mandates during the COVID pandemic, one can only imagine how upset the cuckoo bonkers dipshits will be if they see people walking around the National Mall wearing N95s […]
To make it all the worse, the display isn’t expected to start until 10:30 or 11 p.m. instead of the usual 9:30. Why so late? Because President Caligula has turned this whole event into a Trump rally. He’s taking the stage at 9 o’clock to give one of his usual incoherent, discombobulated speeches, during which he will likely meander from topic to topic like an escaped nursing home patient. [Yep]
[…] Imagine you normally love the Fourth of July in DC — the fireworks, the outdoor concert by military bands and the National Symphony Orchestra playing patriotic songs, the kids running around having fun. This year, if you go, the temperature will be somewhere around 100 degrees, the fireworks start late after a long, self-aggrandizing and partisan Trump speech and go at least twice as long as normal, and you are risking respiratory failure to be there.
Oh, and rules prohibit you from bringing lawn chairs, coolers, or more than one bottle of water onto the Mall. Sounds like great fun for the whole family. […]
Another internal document designed to take demographics in the area into account advises Park Service staff to “not treat race, ethnicity, income, disability, age, or language as risks by themselves.”
The fireworks are planned to be set off at sites along the Potomac River and the National Mall, not far from areas such as Southeast Washington that are predominantly Black and lower-income.
Trump’s people are so afraid of the dreaded letters DEI that they are even making sure no one worries about the poor and disabled and elderly during an event particularly dangerous to human health.
Of course, as a professor of health noted to the Post, we know that healthcare disparities and disparities in exposure to environmental toxins and power plants and whatnot mean that respiratory and cardiovascular problems are more prevalent in minority neighborhoods. […]
Trump is already leaving so much of the country worse off, and now we can add “exponentially increasing every American’s risk of respiratory system collapse” to the pile. What a country!
A new study by University of Oxford researchers, published in Nature
[…]
When the mitochondria of certain sleep-regulating brain cells (studied in fruit flies) become overcharged, they start to leak electrons, producing potentially damaging byproducts known as reactive oxygen species. […] The researchers found that specialised neurons act like circuit breakers—measuring this mitochondrial electron leak and triggering sleep when a threshold is crossed. By manipulating the energy handling in these cells—either increasing or decreasing electron flow—the scientists could directly control how much the flies slept.
[…]
The findings help explain well-known links between metabolism, sleep, and lifespan. Smaller animals, which consume more oxygen per gram of body weight, tend to sleep more and live shorter lives. Humans with mitochondrial diseases often experience debilitating fatigue even without exertion
We have focused on the past 15-or-so years on a small set of neurons—about 30 or so cells […] that have a specialized role in the induction and maintenance of sleep. […] whatever regulates the electrical activity of these cells most somehow carry a molecular echo of what the function of sleep is.
[…]
They seem to experience this electron leakage damage to an exaggerated extent compared to the rest of the brain, but we think it’s going on all over the brain. And these circuit breakers […] then trip the rest of the brain into sleep before widespread damage occurs. Our next experiment is to test whether this is really true […] if you have a circuit that is rated for a current of 3 amps and you put a 10 amp overrated fuse in there that doesn’t blow, you would expect that that might burn down your house.
[…]
There’s probably many functions of sleep, but what we think we have found is […] why sleep evolved in the first place. […] There’s also some recent evidence that suggests that a similar mechanism also operates in the brains of mice, but it needs to be further fleshed out to be really compelling.
birgerjohanssonsays
Useful German word politicians need to know: Vergangenheitsbewältigung
If there is an embarassing monument, do not remove it, but post an explanatory sign next to it.
Or let trees grow in front of it, as we did with a very fascisty -looking bronze eagle erected to the memory of Swedish pilots in a Stockholm park (the artist Carl Mille was pro-fascist BTW).
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I do not think the conservative minister Carl-Oscar Bohlin who recently held a speech at the site with the eagle in full view of the cameras is a fascist, but the gophers who planned the event clearly knows nothing about the history of art.
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Snafus like this are of no interest to the US administration, who knowlingly and willingly copies fascist tropes (the gilded eage in Washington DC is however a bit too kitsch to have passed muster in Italy or Germany 90 years ago).
Reginald Selkirksays
@203
When he launched his Senate campaign last year, his announcement video misspelled “Georgia.” [Image of video title “Georgia, Let’s ride.”]
Stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş has been placed under arrest by a court in Istanbul after he was held at the city’s main airport over a performance that has attracted 9.4m views on YouTube.
Göktaş is accused of “inciting hatred and hostility” in his stage routine, as well as insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He is the latest performer to be hit by a crackdown on dissent in Turkey that has also targeted campaigners, journalists and other public figures.
In recent weeks, access to the social media accounts of numerous LGBT+ organisations and activists has been blocked, while more than 200 people have been detained ahead of next week’s Nato leaders’ summit in the capital Ankara…
I am officially nominating Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) for the Nobel Peace Prize. No President in History has ended the same war so many times. Our Dear Leader has ended the war with Iran at least 38 times by CNN’s count. . . . And he is nowhere near finished ending it. . . .
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
5:43 PM · Jul 2, 202610.7M Views
An 11-year-old boy crashed a pickup truck into a group of monks on a pilgrimage walk in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, killing nine, officials said.
A total of 35 monks from Mukdahan province, about 600 kilometres northeast of the capital Bangkok, were on the pilgrimage. Five monks were killed at the site, while four others died at a hospital. Thirteen were hospitalized with three in critical condition, according to the provincial administration.
The group started the 260-kilometre walk to Ubon Ratchathani province about 30 minutes before the crash…
I guess in a way that’s better than being killed 30 minutes before the end of the walk…
“U.S. warned Iran about Israel’s aims to assassinate leaders”
“In the spring, U.S. officials suspected that Israel intended to kill Iran’s top negotiators and sent a warning to Tehran to take precautions.”
Senior U.S. officials feared that Israel intended to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators as the Trump administration pursued a high-stakes deal to end the war there and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, current and former officials familiar with the matter said.
Washington’s objection to killing Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the country’s parliamentary speaker, was so acute that this spring it took the extraordinary step of asking intermediaries to warn Iran about Israel’s assassination aims, the officials said.
“You kill those folks and you’re killing the pragmatists,” said a U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. outlook on Israel’s targeted killing campaign.
As far back as March, when the Trump administration began to explore diplomatic options for ending the war, U.S. officials told Israeli counterparts not to continue killing Iran’s political leadership, said a diplomat
[…] U.S. concerns about Israeli assassinations were reported earlier by the New York Times.
More cracks emerged after Israel assassinated Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, in mid-March, officials said.
“The turning point wasn’t the assassination of the supreme leader, it was the assassination of Larijani,” said a Western official. “The U.S. was looking for an Iranian official to deal with and all of a sudden he was gone.”
In recent months, Araghchi and Ghalibaf have been the key contacts for U.S. officials in securing an initial ceasefire in April and then a framework agreement to end the war in June.
Even before that framework deal was reached, Israeli officials and powerful pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington began criticizing the agreement, which closes the door on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of regime change in Iran and paves the way for giving Iran economic sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
In March, President Donald Trump suggested publicly that Israel’s assassination campaign was complicating efforts to negotiate with the regime. “You know it’s a little tough,” he told reporters at the time. “They’ve wiped out everybody. I don’t want them to be killed.’’ […]
…
Capitol Police said in a statement that it “is generally against the law for the public to demonstrate on the House Steps unless they are with a Member of Congress.”
“Yesterday afternoon, a man was escorted to the House Steps by a Member of Congress,” the statement said. “When the Member of Congress left the area, our officers gave the man lawful orders to stop the illegal demonstration or he would be arrested. The man refused our lawful orders.”
Capitol Police identified the man as Watson, adding that he was arrested on charges of “Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding” and that it is legal to protest in other spots on the Capitol grounds.
Watson is currently being held in custody at an air force base, according to Jessica Denson, the founder of the Removal Coalition. Denson said she expects significant charges to be filed against Watson; she added that was also Watson’s own expectation going into Wednesday’s protest.
Service members are subject to stricter laws than the average citizen when it comes to protesting. The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits officers from “using contemptuous language towards the President, Vice president, the Secretaries of War and of a military department, Congress, and certain other officials,” according to an Air Force memo last year.
…
All service members, not just members of the Air Force, are prohibited from participating in “political activities” in uniform…
1) He was with a member of Congress, who then left. That seems pretty nitpicky.
2) He was in uniform. That’s a violation, but I don’t know how serious.
Most people give couples wedding gifts, but Dolly Parton is asking for one from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce ahead of their upcoming nuptials.
The “Jolene” singer asked Swift and Kelce if she could have their firstborn child, presumably to raise as her own, in a video message thanking the couple for their generous $2 million donation to her Imagination Library in advance of their big day.
“Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly,” Parton said in an Instagram video on Friday. “I was just told that you two are making a donation of $2 million to my Imagination Library. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude.”
The 11-time Grammy winner then made her parenting pitch.
“Now it’s evident that you two have made giving back a key part of your lives. So hey, when you have your firstborn, can I have it?” she asked. “Because that is gonna be one special baby.” …
… And this week, the Seattle dog was named the best regional hot dog in the country in a New York Times taste test.
NYT’s Wirecutter team made eight regional dogs for a bracket-style taste test video published Monday, with every type of bun, sausage and topping imaginable.
The roster included the signature cream cheese-topped Seattle dog, with its heap of caramelized onions, invented in the 1980s by Pioneer Square vendor Hadley Long. The New York Times constructed the deluxe version of the dog with sriracha, jalapeños and spicy brown mustard…
birgerjohanssonsays
A cartoon made for grown-ups.
“Is Frieren still the best fantasy anime? | featuring Gerald Lilywhite ”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BXXkV01yRN8
-In my opinion, it is about loss, grief, and “carpe diem”.
Also, getting along with your ‘chosen family’ despite the bumps in the road. Occasionally there may be a fierce battle with entities that have slaughtered the local population, but that is not the core of the story. The protagonist is an elf that lierally spent a millennium getting prepared to destroy the entity who had most of her people genocided, and who after the victory has to find a new meaning (like, befriending those mayfly humans who she previously did not bother with as they die off so quickly).
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The villains are not stand-ins for any group, but rather they show a sapient, intelligent species without any empathy whatsoever. This makes them genuinely irredeemable, just like the Myrdraal in Wheel of Time or the goblins in Goblin Slayer.
Spoiler: In some cases it is infrasound, which is the likely source source of a feeling a hostile presence is in a ‘haunted house’. But in most cases, it is a low-frequency version of tinnitus.
birgerjohanssonsays
July 4th has begun in Europe.
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House of El: “The AI Layoff Payback Has Begun”
An Indian oil firm, Nayara Energy, has reportedly sold petroleum to Russia as Ukrainian attacks continue to target oil refineries across the country, triggering a fuel crisis.
On Wednesday, industry sources told Reuters that at least 60,000 metric tonnes of petrol had been dispatched from India to Russia and that two oil tankers, with loads of 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes each, had been sent.
Two separate sources told the news agency on Thursday that the gasoline was produced by Nayara Energy and sold to Russia via traders.
This is a rumor but reported in multiple places. This is a terrible sign for Russia, as they are one of the largest oil producing countries. If they can’t meet their internal needs they are are having serious problems and will have trouble selling oil.
Indian law precludes selling directly to Russia but Nayara Energy is largely owned by Russians. They could be working around the law using international traders willing to ignore sanctions. It isn’t clear exactly what is happening but the end result is Nayara sending processed oil to Russia. Russia could be sending raw petroleum to Nayara and importing the processed oil back into Russia. An awkward setup that would cost Russia money because they have to launder the oil through various steps to bypass sanctions. It would be even more expensive if they have to buy it on international markets but might be easier to do because it requires fewer steps to avoid sanctions.
President Trump on Friday announced pardons for six people whom he said had been wrongfully prosecuted for “fixing their car” in what he called an act of “weaponization and stupidity” by federal prosecutors.
…
Earlier on Friday, CBS News was the first to report that Mr. Trump planned to pardon defendants who were prosecuted for tampering with air pollution control equipment in vehicles, in violation of the Clean Air Act.
The pardons come after Mr. Trump last fall granted clemency to Troy Lake, a Wyoming mechanic who served seven months in prison for violating federal emissions laws for disabling air pollution-control equipment on diesel engines.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop all pending prosecutions and investigations related to so-called aftermarket defeat devices, which are used to disable emission controls.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo to X on Wednesday from the new Air Force One, a plane gifted to President Donald Trump from the government of Qatar, despite anti-bribery rules intended to stop that kind of transaction.
Blatant corruption aside, users on social media noticed something weird in the background of the photos of the newly refurbished plane.
Take a close look at the books behind Leavitt. They might be difficult to see, so we’ve blown up part of the image below.
It’s a bit pixelated since we’ve enlarged the photo. But, yes, that really says “Library” on the spines of several books.
Or take a look at this one:
Who doesn’t love that classic book title, “Arts?” Such a great novel.
How about the books on the other side of the shelf?
Yes, that says “Architecture” several times. They appear to be completely fake books with generic titles on the outside.
Many people wondered whether the image was AI-generated. The short answer: It’s complicated…
The magazine New Scientist has a paywall for the full content but “Letters to the Editor” gives a path into comments made by nerds around the world. Some insightful, some humoristic but usually interesting.
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And if you have a well-stocked library subscribing to New Scientist, you can go there to explore issues with interesting articles the letters are referencing to.
birgerjohanssonsays
Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT)
“Midjourney’s Move Into Medicine Is A Bet On Data, Not Doctors”
.https://share.google/EHmD5i4mi5ioIi0Ho
When the technology has matured, it might become a useful complement to other scanning technologies. USCT is a mature comcept, but the scale of this device is audacious.
It may however generate a lot of “false positives” and create much anxiety.
@225 Reginald Selkirk: Depending on who he pardons this could be reasonable. Some of the people defeating emission controls are doing it so they can repair their vehicles without going through dealers, where you pay inflated prices and is often slow.
The other end of the group are people bypassing their emission controls so they can intentionally make their vehicle dump more smoke into the air. The exact reason varies but a lot just have a belief that diesel trucks are more impressive if they churn out lots of black smoke and they don’t care what it does to other people. Those people should be paying fines and possibly serving a little time.
The Justice Department on Friday urged state attorneys general to investigate whether unlawful conduct is keeping gasoline prices high even as crude oil prices fall.
In a letter obtained by POLITICO, DOJ urged the state attorneys general to “use all tools available” under state law to investigate and prosecute any misconduct that may be contributing to high prices at the pump.
Straight up government pressure to try and get oil companies to lower prices. It isn’t clear if this is because Trump doesn’t understand what is going on or because he does and wants to use power to force the prices down. Either way it won’t work well.
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is not stable, the flow of oil is still very low and the whole region could blow up into a war at any moment. Even once that is taken care of the price for gas will come down far more slowly then it went up. In an emergency the price can jump in a day, when the emergency passes it takes days or weeks to come back down.
Oman has agreed to work with the U.K. and France to ensure the Gulf country’s territorial waters are safe for navigation, the U.K. said on Saturday, as oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz pick up since the U.S. and Iran signed an agreement last month to reopen the crucial sea lane.
“The U.K. and France also stand ready to deploy the wider Multinational Military Mission to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron.
A new player has entered the game. The is really significant because Oman is not only working against Iran to keep a path open but they are doing with European powers. The most important point is that this can’t be portrayed as a US vs Iran situation any more, there are now a lot of different players with different political and military interests.
At the same time Oman is apparently still in talks with Iran about joint control of the Strait. I would guess that Oman just wants to charge a little fee to everybody going through but doesn’t want to get into power games trying to control who uses the Strait.
“The U.S. is marking Independence Day with coast-to-coast festivities celebrating America at 250 years old.”
[…] New York Harbor hosts one of the day’s marquee events as dozens of tall ships from around the world sail alongside U.S. and allied naval vessels in a massive International Parade of Sail, followed by an aerial review led by the Blue Angels.
[…] While President Donald Trump is expected to headline Washington’s “Salute to America 250” festivities, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is delivering a major Independence Day speech from Annapolis as Democratic counterprogramming.
n his Annapolis speech, the Maryland governor said, “Too many watch as military conflict starts to feel like a conquest, where those who wear the uniform are asked to do the impossible, and those back home are asked to pay for the unnecessary.”
The governor did not mention the Iran war by name but said: “Starting war without a purpose is not patriotic. Ending a war without achievement is not victory. And telling soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines otherwise is not leadership.”
Moore added that starting wars like this is what can “make people increasingly skeptical, and that skepticism is not unfounded. That skepticism is not unpatriotic.”
In his Independence Day speech, Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., acknowledged the need to celebrate, but also called for a “day of reflection” and spoke about his grandfather fleeing South Carolina as a boy due to the violence of the Ku Klux Klan.
“What does the work of patriotism require of us, this is a day of reverence, but it also must be a day of reflection, because the Founding Fathers knew this country was unfinished,” Moore said.
He added later: “I want to be clear, America would be incomplete without all of us. That is the patriotism that my grandfather instilled in me. Yet today, the very premise of patriotism is under attack. Its meaning is being narrowed, its purpose is being distorted, and we cannot let that happen.” […]
[JD Vance gave a stupid speech. I snipped all of it.]
AI security researchers have uncovered a structural security flaw dubbed GuardFall that allows decades-old Bash shell tricks to bypass safeguards in most open source AI coding agents. By exploiting shell behaviors such as quote removal and variable expansion, attackers can hide malicious commands in repositories, README files, Makefiles, or other content consumed by AI agents. If executed — particularly in auto-approve or CI environments—the commands can steal credentials, compromise developer systems, or enable software supply chain attacks. According to researchers at Adversa AI, the 11 popular open source AI coding agents tested, only one successfully blocked all of the Bash trick techniques.
What are we celebrating? I have answers, some very dark, that flag waving pseudo-patriots won’t like and they are not as the magat-in-chief said ‘communist’. I’m not going to put them here for it should be the responsibility of each individual to find something of caring, honest value to celebrate. Our Hopi friends express great cognitive dissonance in pondering this holiday.
This is a quote from DW in 2016, not Upton Sinclair: ‘Fascism will conquer america wrapped in the flag, carrying the bible and threatening all opponents with a gun’
Why AI Doesn’t Think, Cannot Reason, Isn’t Intelligent and Will Never Achieve Consciousness https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/why-ai-doesnt-think-cannot-reason-isnt-intelligent-and-will-never-achieve-consciousness.html
NOTE: For over a year, I have been compelled to conclude that training ai on human works (some very good, some drivel) and making, often inane, human thinking and consciousness the goal of ai dooms it to mostly pretending to be your social media BFF and parroting human behavior. But, I will admit that, with obscene cost in money, energy, injury and environmental damage, ai does sometimes dig up and anylize a massive amount of data for medical purposes.
Energy Secretary Applauds The End Of Federal Wind And Solar Subsidies
“I’m thrilled to report that after 35 years, on July 4th, we will end the subsidies for new wind and solar projects, thanks to President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut,” said Chris Wright. https://crooksandliars.com/2026/07/us-energy-sec-applauds-end-federal-wind
I hope he gets heat stroke and chokes to death on the climate altering toxic air polluted by all the increased fossil fuels, especially coal. He is a brown-nose owned by the crapitallist magat plutocrats.
“Nearly a Million Investors Lost a Total of $3.8 Billion on Trump Crypto Coin”
An up-to-date tally of Trump followers turned crypto investors is in. And for them, the overall results are remarkably bad.
Nearly 1 million people who bought President Trump’s memecoin have lost money through the end of June, according to a report by the cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen. Their losses total $3.81 billion.
The analytics firm’s assessment was calculated this week after Mr. Trump signed an annual financial disclosure showing that he walked away with a $636 million payout on the same crypto bet, part of a haul of at least $2.2 billion from all of his business ventures in 2025.
The odds were always in his favor. Mr. Trump profited whether the price of his memecoin went up or down. He collected returns whenever anyone traded the tokens, as he repeatedly pushed his followers to do, using his Truth Social account to promote the coin. [!]
[…] Mr. Trump embraced the profit-making opportunity of digital currencies in 2024, while he was running for president. He and his sons founded a crypto start-up called World Liberty Financial, which soon began selling a coin called $WLFI that has also declined sharply.
Three days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump unveiled a second Trump-branded investment — the $TRUMP memecoin, a type of novelty currency with little practical value.
“It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media. “Join my very special Trump community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW!” But that turned out to be bad advice.
Most crypto transactions are publicly visible, recorded on a digital ledger called the blockchain. That allows analysts to trace purchases of digital coins from individual crypto accounts, known as wallets. Nansen’s data shows that, as of the end of June, 988,905 buyers of the $TRUMP memecoin have lost money, representing roughly two out of every three buyers.
Cumulatively, these 988,905 wallets have lost a total of $3.81 billion, including buyers who have held on to their stash and recorded paper losses, according to Nansen. The coin was trading at $1.76 as of Friday, down 97 percent from its peak price of $75.35.
Nicholas Pinto is among the losers. A frequent crypto trader who voted for Mr. Trump in 2024, Mr. Pinto said he invested a total of roughly $500,000 in the $TRUMP coin, and has now lost about half that investment.
“He is leveraging the power of being president to launch currencies, when he seems trustworthy in the public’s eye,” Mr. Pinto said in an interview. “It is kind of incredible. It is almost a legal scam.”
The White House this past week rejected any suggestion that Mr. Trump has cashed in at the expense of his followers. [However] Mr. Trump and appointees have curtailed regulatory oversight of the industry, including policies related to memecoins. […]
Mr. Trump’s total profits from World Liberty reached $799 million last year, according to his financial disclosure, including hundreds of millions from the United Arab Emirates, which secretly moved in early 2025 to buy nearly half the company. A Trump business entity also collected a 75 percent cut of sales of $WLFI, after the deduction of certain expenses, guaranteeing that Mr. Trump would profit, even if the coin’s price ultimately crashed [!] […]
Stephen Gillers, a New York University law and legal ethics professor, said he would not be surprised if Mr. Trump and his partners eventually face a class-action lawsuit from followers who lost money — even though the Securities and Exchange Commission announced in February 2025 that it will no longer scrutinize memecoin deals. […]
“Trump back when he was a real estate developer boasted that he plays ‘to people’s fantasies,’” Mr. Gillers said. “Here he seems to have encouraged supporters to invest with the expectation they could anticipate riches — even as he himself was cashing out.”
shermanji @237: “I hope he gets heat stroke and chokes to death on the climate altering toxic air polluted by all the increased fossil fuels, especially coal.”
Shermanji, on The Infinite thread do not post about wishing death or harm on other human beings.
Here is the general guideline: You should not fantasize about violence (or the death of other human beings) when posting here, nor should you propose that others do violence. The rule holds even if you are speaking metaphorically or jokingly.
Please also refrain from wallowing in, fantasizing about, or enjoying the prospect of other human beings dying, no matter who those humans are.
How to bring dishonorable people to justice is a discussion better suited to The Infinite Thread.
Those ideals upon which our nation was built — they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them.
johnson catmansays
re shermanj@237:
“I’m thrilled to report that after 35 years, on July 4th, we will end the subsidies for new wind and solar projects, thanks to President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut,” said Chris Wright.
China is celebrating this because they are the clear winner, and it means the US will continue to fall further and further behind. With The Orange Turd and his administration, the US has become a second-rate state. And with the way they have burned through military hardware in Iran, the US may soon find itself without the means to defend anything.
@239 Lynna, OM admonished me not to wish for the death of someone. I apologize. I will try to remember that. As an explanation, not an excuse, it is sometimes difficult for me to not express those thoughts when the person in question threatens and or actually destroys the lives of so many others. And, your wish for bringing miscreants to justice is correct. Yet, I fear that we are seeing too many mass murders who will never taste justice.
Militant Agnosticsays
shermanj @237
This is a quote from DW in 2016, not Upton Sinclair: ‘Fascism will conquer america wrapped in the flag, carrying the bible and threatening all opponents with a gun’
[…] The Trump administration protects the only right it believes in.
The right to own unlimited guns, that is. The Department of Justice is suing California over a ban on Glock-style handguns that can be readily switched over to function as fully automatic weapons. Much to the administration’s chagrin, fully automatic weapons themselves remain illegal.
The administration’s logic in this lawsuit is that it’s totally unlegal and unfair to ban something legal that could be made into something illegal. This is, of course, rather the opposite of how the administration feels about anything else, like puberty blockers or medication abortion, which it rushes to curtail access to.
Just to round things out, the DOJ is also suing Virginia for daring to ban semiautomatic assault rifles. […]
Unlike the infinitely pliable conservatives on the United States Supreme Court, state supreme courts often work to hold the line. And this week, the Arizona Supreme Court just upheld an anti-dark-money law that was passed by voter referendum.
[…] It’s nice to see a court acknowledge that the will of the people actually, well, matters. […]
@244 Militant Agnostic asked ‘Who or what is DW?’
I reply, DW are the initials of the founder of our organizations. He was amplifying the concept proposed by many others. I refrain from posting too much info on us on a public forum such as this as inappropriate. Some would mistakenly consider it as propagandizing or would exercise malice.
Pierce R. Butlersays
A thought on tonight’s, ahem, celebration, starting from Sky Cap’s comment @ # 57:
WaPo – Record-breaking 860,000 fireworks planned for Trump’s July Fourth show
The display, featuring 50 times the typical number of fireworks that light up D.C.’s sky, …
… last year was less than 8,000 fireworks and this year is supposed to be 851,000. …
… Disney uses 1 million in a YEAR.
I just looked online for “fireworks shortage” and found nothing current except complaints about adverse effects of Trump’s tariffs. Seems odd that that much of a surge in consumption would have no reportable market effects.
Some reports have it the expected smoke will render most of the actual pyrotechnics invisible. At least that should reduce likely pulmonary effects, if nobody emits a lot of deep-breath “oohs” and/or “aahs”.
I propose we call off 99% of the Trump show and donate the materiel to Ukraine for anti-drone artillery.
[…] New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will give a speech on July 4th. Ahead of it, the Times interviewed him about his thoughts on the 4th and America’s 250th anniversary, and he had this to say: “Patriotism is not pretending our country has no flaws. It is loving our country enough to fight for the fulfillment of its ideals. The freedoms we enjoy were not handed down; they were won. And we have many more to win.”
I’m a fan of any effort to reclaim patriotism from the reactionaries. The story of our country is one of an experiment that’s never been completed. It was born imperfect and remains imperfect. Still, we now have 250 years of attempts to improve it, which feels worthy of acknowledgement and reflection.
I wrote a year ago about my time working for political aide-turned-muckraking journalist Bill Moyers, who had recently passed away. He did a lot to shape my idea of our project here in America. So as we go into this holiday weekend, I’ll end with some words from him.
“The eight-hour day, the minimum wage, the conservation of natural resources and the protection of our air, water, and land, women’s rights and civil rights, free trade unions, Social Security and a civil service based on merit — all these were launched as citizen’s movements and won the endorsement of the political class only after long struggles and in the face of bitter opposition and sneering attacks.”
“Civilization happens because we don’t leave things to other people. What’s right and good doesn’t come naturally. You have to stand up and fight for it — as if the cause depends on you, because it does.”
The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country.
The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani asking New Yorkers to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their AC to 78 degrees. Republicans like Ted Cruz (who has famously fled severe weather in his home state), Nikki Haley, and Representative Nancy Mace (South Carolina) quickly pounced, framing the request as socialism and an act of war on women in menopause (the Republican Party is notoriously concerned about women’s health)….
“[…] they chanted phrases including “Life, liberty, victory!” and “Reclaim America!” — slogans regularly used by the Patriot Front white supremacist group.
Demonstrators donning the logo and insignia of Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, were seen protesting in the Eastern Market neighborhood and on Capitol Hill on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Sporting white masks, sunglasses and Patriot Front’s signature tan caps, the protesters carried Confederate, Patriot Front and upside-down U.S. flags as they marched through Capitol Hill. The group was also photographed riding public transit on Saturday morning.
[…] Patriot Front’s website describes the group as a “fraternal, nationalist, activist organization” and writes that “Our people, born to this nation of our European race, must reforge themselves as a new collective capable of asserting our right to cultural independence.”
[…] “The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is tracking First Amendment activities that occurred this morning in the Eastern Market neighborhood,” the department said in a statement Saturday.
“MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for DC residents and visitors.”
Those guys do not look like they are dressed for the extreme heat.
A Grand Canyon river rafting guide who aimed to become the first American woman to row across the mid-Pacific solo has completed a record-breaking journey from California to Hawaii.
Hundreds gathered to cheer on Kelsey Pfendler as she pulled into a Honolulu harbor Friday night on her 21-foot row boat, Lily, after nearly a month and a half at sea, local media reported.
Pfendler, who launched from Monterey, California, in May, set out to become the first American woman, youngest woman and fastest woman to make the more than 2,400-mile journey solo, according to her website…
(the Republican Party is notoriously concerned about women’s health)
LOL
I spoke to a friend in New York City today. Her family is conserving energy by setting their air-conditioning controls at 78 degrees, as Mayor Mamdani requested. Nobody wants to see a brown-out, or worse yet, a blackout.
Quakers are joining with national advocacy groups on July 4 in Philadelphia to protest what they say are unjust policies by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The faith group, formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, gathered signatures online and in person for a “Declaration of Resistance Banner” that they will display during their “People’s Parade” on the 250th birthday of the United States, according to Quaker officials.
The proclamation — created by the Quakers’ advocacy arm, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) — includes condemnations of mass arrests and deportations of immigrants, acts of war on sovereign nations and the dismantling of slavery exhibits in national parks, including Philadelphia’s President’s House — the site of George Washington’s executive mansion…
The rowing society’s online records showed Saturday morning that Pfendler finished in just under 44 days, faster than the previous comparable female record holder’s 86 days or the male record holder’s 52 days as recorded by both the society and Guinness World Records.
Microsoft was most likely the first major U.S. technology company to make a so-called country by country report of its finances to comply with a new European Union directive. Like other big companies, Microsoft uses transactions between subsidiaries to shift profits around to reduce its tax bill. The report revealed a consistent pattern: high returns in low-tax jurisdictions and slim margins in higher-tax ones.
Important to note, there is nothing unusual or unexpected about what Microsoft is doing here. They are just getting a lot of reviews because they are the first major US company to complete the report. It does make for an interesting view of how much companies move money around just to evade taxes.
Microsoft said it had generated almost 40 percent of its pretax income in tax-friendly Ireland, where it employed about 3 percent of its global work force. In higher-tax Germany, the largest economy in Europe, Microsoft earned barely half of 1 percent of its global profits, it said.
In Luxembourg, Microsoft claimed profit margins of 142 percent and a tax rate of just 3 percent. The company said it had $283 million in pretax income and only 34 employees in the tiny country.
The Ireland game is well known. You can avoid a lot of taxes by organizing your company so employees are technically paid from a branch in Ireland. The Luxembourg bit is just funny.
This sort of tax dodges are a big issue. Not only is it robbing governments of money but because bigger companies can do this more it creates an economic environment that favors big companies.
Attendees gathered at the National Mall to celebrate America’s 250th birthday have been ordered to evacuate the event and seek shelter as “severe storms” roll into the area, organizers said.
“A severe thunderstorm is occurring near the National Mall. Seek shelter immediately. Do not wait. Follow instructions from event staff and public safety officials on site,” DC Homeland Security & Emergency Management said in a social media post Saturday evening.
Organizers of Freedom 250 also instructed attendees to seek shelter.
“The safety of our guests, performers, and staff is our top priority. Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, United States Secret Service, United States Park Police, National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building,” organizers said in a social media post.
Secret Service officials said the event’s security checkpoints were now closed.
The evacuations came as people were waiting to hear President Trump deliver a speech, followed by a fireworks show. Trump said he would speak at about 10 p.m. ET…
Lawyers for Donald Trump have requested more time to pay a $5m civil judgment to magazine columnist E Jean Carroll from 2023, days after the US supreme court declined to hear an appeal.
In a new filing, the president’s attorney said that since his former lead counsel, Justin Smith, took up a position as a federal judge last month (a post he was nominated to by Trump), his new lead counsel, Josh Halpern, needed more time “to become completely familiar with the facts and procedural circumstances” of the case.
Trump had time to get ready for this and all immediate appeals have already been exhausted, there is nothing to do but pay. The only thing Trump could do now is some exotic legal game to find some new way to appeal. This is actually the second time they have tried to delaying paying, their first try was asking E Jean Carroll’s lawyers to just give them some time out of the generosity in their hearts.
Trump has a new, and he thinks scarier hobby horse to ride: communism.
From NBC New’s report on Trump’s speech (he spoke after a weather-induced delay caused by approaching storms):
Trump said that he will give his July 4 remarks tonight “no matter what” as thousands of attendees in Washington, D.C., continue to shelter in place due to approaching severe storms in the area.
“Storms bring luck to whatever the occasion. They also make events a little bit more exciting!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We will wait it out, I don’t care if it’s 2:00 o’clock in the morning, or in one hour from now.”
“It’s Saturday night, LETS HAVE SOME FUN, even if we are out late tonight. They say 11:00 o’clock for the speech. Who cares???” Trump wrote.
Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that the gates to the event will reopen at 9:45 pm ET “at President Donald J. Trump’s direction,” about two hours after thousands of attendees were directed to take shelter in nearby buildings.
“America, it’s time to celebrate!” Alvarez said in the statement. “The Salute to America celebration will move forward, the President will deliver remarks at 11:00 PM, and the fireworks spectacular will follow.”
Trump wrote that he would be “leaving the White House soon” in the post at 9:05 pm.
“Our great veterans, especially the old timers, many of whom are there, went through hellfire, and it didn’t stop them,” the president wrote. “It’s not going to stop us either! I’m not going to let some rain stop our 250th.” [photos]
Trump tonight condemned communism in his speech, contrasting the “freedoms” of America to the “talks from communists” that he said threaten them.
“Communism is a loser, and it always will be. The communist system is the opposite of the American system, and the communist system has never worked,” Trump said. “We like to stop a threat like that immediately, and before it begins, it’s like a cancer, you got to cut it out, you got to cut it out fast.”
The president said that America’s history showed that it would “never let anyone take our freedom away.”
“Won’t happen, and all these talks from the communists, they haven’t got a chance, not even a chance. We don’t want communists in our country — never worked, and it never will work,” Trump said.
The president then listed a number of freedoms promised under the Constitution.
“Unlike so many others in the world, in this country we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal justice under the law,” Trump said.
“You showed that tonight with one flag, and as our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty God, and a communist will never say that, that’s for sure,” he continued.
Trump’s comments came after he warned during his address at Mount Rushmore last night that the U.S. is under threat from a “communist menace.”
While he did not name any particular political figures so far tonight or last night, the president has taken aim at a number of democratic socialists who won primary races in New York last month.
[…] “I want to thank everybody, because they did the right thing. They saw lightning, and I said, ‘There’s no way. If we have to speak in front of one person at 4 o’clock in the morning, I’m going to be here. There’s no way we can be deterred,'” Trump said.
[…] “I’M HERE!!!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post at 10:16 p.m. ET, an hour after he said in a separate post that he would give his speech tonight “no matter what.”
[Trump started his speech at about 11 p.m.]
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Aishvarya Kavi (NYT): “It is a chaotic scene on the National Mall. Several hundred people have refused to leave despite an order to evacuate […] Some are even arguing with Secret Service agents. At one point, a crowd of people began running back toward the stage. An officer is sternly repeating the order over a bullhorn and the crowd is booing. Many have begun chanting ‘USA, USA.’ A federal law officer is trying to assure people that the event has not been canceled. Many are not convinced. One man walking by blamed the situation on ‘liberals in the weather service,’ adding, ‘I think this is baloney.'”
Dean Twilly, dressed in a red Make America Great Again shirt, said she was frightened when she saw a Secret Service officer throwing chairs in an effort to get people to leave. “They were mad because people weren’t moving out fast enough,” said Twilly, who had waited six hours to get into the event after traveling 700 miles from Cullman, Alabama.
Great American State Fair evacuation was a disaster and took over an hour. There is no structure or order outside the venue, even as people crowd and try to line back up. People are upset and saying they’re going home. No matter what happens now, today is ruined for a lot of families who came here. [Photo: Event Delayed sign, Go to FREEDOM250 social media]
Rando 1: “They fixed the extra ‘e’.”
Aishvarya Kavi: “Hundreds of people have followed evacuation orders and headed to the designated federal buildings, but two of the buildings are full. At a third, the Departmant of Commerce, none of the doors are open. People are standing clumped around the entrances. When asked by some of them how to get in, a Secret Service officer shrugs.”
Jessica Pishko (Journalist): When I went to Trump rallies I was always struck by how much the people who came were treated with contempt. Heat, lack of toilets, etc. This seems like the sane thing.
Rando 2: “No amount of explaining could ever convince these angry rubes that the event was never *for* them. It’s for Trump and they’re his props.”
Rando 3: “MAGA taking shelter in the National Museum of African-American History And Culture! [Video clip]”
Campbell Robertson (NYT): “Trump said he would wait out the weather and still deliver his speech: ‘I don’t care if it’s 2:00 O’Clock in the morning, or in one hour from now.'”
Amanda Moore: “The residents of DC and Arlington will love the 2 am fireworks show, I’m sure.”
Aishvarya Kavi: The effort to shepherd crowds back onto the National Mall began about an hour ago. But it took many hours to shuffle people through security earlier in the day. Now, with Trump about to speak, there are still long lines of people, tired and damp, pressing up against pedestrian barricades and trying to get inside.
Amanda Moore: “Had to jump over a bike rack to get the hell out of the line I was accidentally in for re-entry to the Great American State Fair, after accidentally being in a mosh pit. I’m in hell!!!!!”
Aishvarya Kavi: “More than half the seats in the ‘special guest’ section at the front of the stage are empty. But hundreds of people are clumped in the aisles and as close to the stage as they can get […] standing on chairs with phones out to record Trump’s remarks. They’re cheering and applauding almost every line.”
Adam Sella (NYT): “The ‘very long’ speech Trump promised is over after about 35 minutes. Now on to the fireworks. They are loud, large—and red, white and blue. It’s just after midnight on July 5.”
Adam Sella (NYT): “Trump’s favorite, ‘Y.M.C.A,’ is now playing. Many in the crowd appear to have paused filming the fireworks to dance along. The lightning alongside the fireworks is starting to appear more frequently and distinctly, but unlike earlier in the day there has been no call yet to evacuate. The fireworks have been going steady for more than 30 minutes now.”
fairgoers have been expelled by force. They have been told to shelter in nearby buildings, but all the buildings are locked because it is the Fourth of July.
People are clustering at the entrance points and blocking traffic for blocks […] You’ve seen pictures of the empty fairground, which was real. But this is July 4th, and the fairgrounds were packed.
[…]
The crowd surges forward with a cheer! Is the fair open again? Who knows!
As crowded as it was before, it is now worse. We squeeze like sardines to allow the ambulance to pass. Then, people surge behind the ambulance, cheering. […] Another surge forward, and this one works! The gates are open! The assholes—the ones who blocked the street, who followed the ambulance, who refused to leave—we are the ones getting in first. They are singing God Bless America whilst shuffling forward in a suffocating crowd.
[…]
A fight breaks out!! Behind me in line, two men get physical. The line screams for the police. “They’re grabbing women, they’re peeing in public!” someone shouts. National Guard wades in to grab him (them?) as the crowd chants “fuck him up!!”
[…]
A woman behind me collapsed as Bohemian Rhapsody began to play. National Guard rushed forward and she eventually got up
[…]
A national guardsman addresses the crowd. “The only gate that’s open is way the shit down there!!” he says. We are near the main entrance, and we can all see that it’s dark and barred. Chants of “let us in!!” People are furious.
[…]
And then Trump starts to speak! Scattered cheers. But there’s a problem. The reverb is too much. We can hear him, but not what he is saying. And friends, the BOOOOOOOO that arose from the throats of this crowd can hardly be believed.
“LET US IN!!”the crowd screamed […] “Open the gates, r——d!” someone yells. And then… nothing. The silence of people who cannot be mad at Trump and therefore feel nothing.
[…]
the fireworks began after midnight. There were no fireworks in Washington DC for our 250th Independence Day. There is exactly one thing that needs to happen on Independence Day. One tradition. The only thing that absolutely had to happen was fireworks, and Trump fucked it up because he couldn’t stop talking.
[…]
What if I told you that after waiting for HOURS—miserable, soaking wet, desperate and disappointing hours—our view of the fireworks was… this. [Video clips]
What if I told you they are STILL GOING OFF, now, at 12:38 AM, and the smoke is so thick you can’t even see them?
Rando 1: “OMG. They never reopened the main entrance.”
DrSkySkull: “Gotta admit, a spectacle hyped up to be the greatest in history turning out to be an incoherent blob really does capture the United States in 2026.”
Rando 2: “Ngl these two photos of the finale might be my favorite. [Photos]”
/I moved the “one tradition” paragraph to fit the chronology.
@ ^ For those unfamiliar with Lelande who has the (relatively VERY nearby star Lalande 21185 named – or perhaps catalogued would be a better word – after him :
@ ^ Okay “Lee” / “La” & “Land” / “~lande”, close enough, same diff! ;-)
In unrelated local news :
It is two days before the South Australian election, and Labor MP Nat Cook is being chased around her pre-poll booth by someone you may have never heard of.
The woman is a fast-rising figure in the anti-abortion movement, and her platform has the backing of some of Australia’s most powerful right-wing political figures.
Joanna Howe is determined to see abortion banned across the country, and is leveraging MAGA-style campaigning tactics to try to influence political outcomes. This pre-poll booth during the SA election is ground zero for her street-brawler approach.
…(Snip)…
…The ABC has tracked her Meta ad spend over the election’s nine-month disclosure period and found Professor Howe spent more than $219,000, including almost $34,000 directly targeting voters and MPs in the SA election. But Professor Howe declared $0 in political campaign expenditure to the electoral commission.
Nat Cook’s brush with Professor Howe at the polling booth set off what she describes as a chain of abuse that left her rattled. Ms Cook is now the Speaker of the House of Assembly in the South Australian parliament and has made a rare move in speaking out.
She is doing so because she believes Professor Howe’s style of political campaigning has become harmful, and there needs to be greater transparency around how it has been funded.
“My own social media was the subject of hundreds and hundreds of comments, really nasty, awful personal attacks about me, my views, my family, my deceased son,” she told the ABC.
“In a 20-page concurring opinion, Jackson systematically ripped Thomas and his weirdly narrow reading of the 14th Amendment to shreds.”
Related video at the link.
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause does, in fact, apply to all people born in the United States. Only five justices reached that conclusion — a much closer decision than it should have been. (The sixth, Brett Kavanaugh, joined the majority on purely statutory grounds.) The primary dissent from Justice Clarence Thomas accused his colleagues of expanding the meaning of a clause narrowly tailored to help newly emancipated Black Americans.
The dissent was yet another bit of ahistorical storytelling from Thomas, which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was simply not willing to abide. Though Jackson joined Chief Justice John Robert’s majority opinion defending the constitutionality of universal birthright citizenship, she also filed her own concurring opinion on the case. In 20 pages, the most junior justice on the bench provided a tour de force of narrative history to counter her oldest colleague’s claims.
Jackson has long used the history and context behind the drafting of the Constitution and its amendments as an intellectual counterweight to so-called “originalist” legal scholars. […]
Soon after her confirmation in 2022, Jackson explained during a hearing on a case involving the Voting Rights Act that, counter to her conservative colleagues’ claims, there was no justification for reading the Reconstruction Amendments, ratified after the Civil War, as being blind to race. As she explained at the time: “[W]hen I drilled down to that level of analysis, it became clear to me that the framers themselves adopted the equal protection clause, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment, in a race-conscious way.”
Jackson has continued to press that viewpoint even as Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito have worked to tear down many of the protections Congress passed over the years to prevent discrimination against minorities. The two men have crafted an informal doctrine that, in essence, says any law passed specifically addressing race is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. In a case last month on the so-called “shadow docket” of emergency petitions, the court’s conservatives gave a nod to “our colorblind Constitution” in allowing Alabama to eliminate a congressional district held by a Black representative. [Important points]
With the birthright citizenship clause, though, Thomas found the rare exception. He wrote that the court’s ruling “adds to the sad history of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was designed and understood to secure equal rights for the freed blacks but has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support.” In other words, the 14th Amendment was only meant to deal with making sure formerly enslaved Blacks were granted citizenship and nobody else. Anyone who is not “domiciled” in the U.S., including undocumented immigrants, doesn’t fall under that aegis in Thomas’ view.
In her concurrence, Jackson wiped the floor with Thomas’ blatant cherry-picking of history. “The Court’s conception of a color-blind Constitution and the Government’s (and principal dissent’s) cramped, group-specific reading of the Citizenship Clause are two sides of the same coin, stemming from a basic misunderstanding of the relevant history,” she wrote.
Meetings of freed Blacks before and during the Civil War came together to produce the “political and intellectual scaffolding” that would be incorporated into the 14th Amendment and, much later, the Black Civil Rights Movement, Jackson noted. In the attendees’ discussions, there was little doubt that they were already Americans, albeit ones deprived of their rights.
“The citizenship thesis of the Colored Conventions was thus not that some new status should be created and conferred on freed Blacks,” Jackson wrote. “It was instead that freed Blacks already had a rightful claim to citizenship because they had been born on American soil.”
The overwhelming sentiment from those gatherings and the subsequent debates in Congress completely rejected Thomas’ argument for a narrow scope for birthright citizenship. [True]
“That bears repeating,” Jackson wrote, “Freed Blacks did not advocate for a unique set of rules that catered only to their situation. Nor did they seek to advance their own position relative to, or at the expense and exclusion of, other marginalized groups. Instead, those whose gatherings helped galvanize the push for full equality understood that ‘[a] diverse origin does not disprove a common nature, nor does it disprove a united destiny.’” [!]
Jackson also noted that during debates over the amendment in the Reconstruction Congress, there were arguments made toward limiting the 14th Amendment’s scope. Chinese and Roma immigrants were held up as potential exceptions that should be made to allowing anyone born here to be citizens. [Yep] Those concerns were rejected [!] and, as Jackson put it, “the Citizenship Clause thus vindicated the universalist vision of the delegates at the Colored Conventions and their allies in Congress.”
[…] Jackson has effectively become the chief historian of the court’s liberal wing, and her concurrence in this case showcases the importance of that role. Her clear-eyed reading of the thinking behind Reconstruction, America’s second founding, is vital to keeping the Supreme Court honest about the actual intent of those radical Republicans, who gave us the blueprint for a country free from antebellum America’s worst sins.
<a href=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/07/05/pacific-ocean-is-running-fever-why-thats-an-ominous-sign/>Washington Post link
“The Pacific Ocean is running a fever. Why that’s an ominous sign.”
“A marine heat wave covering an area eight times the size of the United States could soon fuel serious storms and extreme heat.” [Map at the link]
Across the Pacific Ocean, there’s a massive marine heat wave covering an area more than eight times the size of the contiguous United States — and it could have profound ripple effects for weather events around the globe in the coming weeks and months.
This area makes up about 13.5 percent of Earth’s total surface, stretching from the Philippines to Peru […] and northward to the coasts of Hawaii and California.
Marine heat waves are a strong, sprawling and sustained warming in the ocean, sometimes near the surface and other times extending deep. They are ranked on a scale from 1 (moderate) to 5 (beyond extreme), reflecting both their intensity and duration.
The enormous Pacific marine heat wave formed as two separate marine heat waves combined: one in the North Pacific and another associated with a developing super El Niño along the equator.
[…] “Months and months of warmth could mean stark impacts this winter and next spring,” said climate scientist Dillon Amaya, who has been closely monitoring the warmth near California.
[…] Two significant weather events in the next two weeks are connected to this marine heat wave: a super typhoon in the western Pacific Ocean and the potential for a profound heat dome in the western United States during mid-July.
The typhoon, named Bavi, will be powered by the bathtub-like warmth of the western Pacific. This dangerous storm will pass near the Northern Mariana Islands, north of Guam, on Monday local time and could also bring destructive impacts to Taiwan and China late in the week.
Meanwhile, thunderstorms bubbling over the marine heat wave could promote the formation of a powerful heat dome thousands of miles away in the western U.S. during mid-July, sending temperatures soaring there.
Defense Department meteorologist Eric Webb said in an X post that this pattern could “greatly increase heat/wildfire risks north of New Mexico and Arizona.” That’s an area where wildfires have recently been raging.
But there may be much more extreme weather after that.
In a recent live stream, climate scientist Daniel Swain said the very warm Pacific seas are expected to drive sea levels 6 inches to 2 feet higher near California.
Winds from storms this fall and winter will elevate the sea even more, potentially resulting in dangerous rises of 2 to 3 feet or more near the California coast.
“This is the time for local governments, for county governments and for the state government to start to prepare for a significant likelihood of much higher than average sea levels, more disruptive coastal flooding and potentially record-breaking coastal water levels during winter storm events and king tide events,” Swain said.
“This coming winter, right now, does look like one where there’s an increased likelihood of historically unusual to unprecedented rain and storm events,” Swain said.
But he stressed that while the odds for such scenarios are higher, they are not guaranteed. […]
More at the link.
birgerjohanssonsays
Stevo R @ 264
I learned about Lalande 21184 in the book. “Fasan, E. , Relations with Alien Intelligences (ca 1970)”.
It had a list of the 100 closest stars. Also, I think Carl Sagan mentioned it in a book he wrote in the mid-seventies.
I looked up the list of stars to locate Ross 614 B, a system that featured in the German TV series “Raumpatrouille”
.
(Fun fact: that series was conceived independently of Star Trek, and debuted just a month after the first Star Trek episode. The sixties were dynamic(.
“At least 18 record highs were set on July Fourth as celebrations kicked off in mid-Atlantic cities including Washington and Baltimore.”
A weeklong heat wave that officials believe has killed at least 25 people continued Sunday, with 40 million people under heat alerts across the East Coast, Southeast and Southwest.
On Sunday, alerts will continue into the evening on the East Coast as heat index values reach 100 to 105 in cities including Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Raleigh, as well as Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. Heat index values reflect what the temperature feels like to the human body.
Temperatures will finally start to drop this week, with highs generally in the 70s to low 90s throughout the East Coast.
In the Southwest, extreme heat watches cover parts of Arizona and California, including Phoenix and Tucson, and go into effect Tuesday through Thursday. Dangerously hot conditions are expected through midweek, with daytime highs reaching as high as 114 degrees.
At least 25 people have reportedly died in the ongoing heat wave, with most of the suspected deaths in New Jersey, where 22 people have died across 10 counties, according to the state’s Department of Health.
Two deaths have been reported in Hinds County, Mississippi, and one in Cook County, Illinois, officials said.
In New York City, more than 378 people have visited emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses, according to the city’s Health Department.
Saturday’s storms produced more than 540 damaging wind gust reports across the central and eastern United States. Some of the strongest gusts reported include 92 mph in Norman, Oklahoma, and 87 mph in Suffolk County, New York, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
Sunday’s forecast calls for widely scattered showers and thunderstorms across parts of the Plains, Southeast and mid-Atlantic, where 25 million people are under storm alerts. This risk area includes Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Arlington, Virginia, where conditions are favorable for storms to produce damaging wind gusts over 70 mph and quarter-sized hail. Tornado risk remains relatively low nationwide.
[…] Slow-moving storms carrying ample moisture will raise the risk of localized flash flooding, especially across the mid-Atlantic.
Storms could bring rainfall rates of 2 inches per hour, raising the risk of urban flash flooding in cities including Philadelphia, New York and Hartford, Connecticut. In total, 2 to 8 inches of rain is possible through Monday.
“Even larger crowds are expected Monday, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s casket will be taken on a procession through the streets of Tehran.”
Video at the link.
NBC now requires a subscription to view this and other news reports.
birgerjohanssonsays
Erratum: I meant Lalande 21185!
.
Btw most close stars are useless red dwarf stars. They either have extreme flares today, or had it during their youth. This will have eroded any atmospheres on terrestrial planets.
And since strength of tidal effects relate to one divided by the fourth power of distance, and since red dwarf stars are very faint, a world close enough to be lukewarm will have locked rotation. Either like the moon, or (if it has a very elliptic orbit) like Mercury.
Seriously, screw red dwarf stars. The news about planet discoveries are 98 % about red dwarf systems. It’s very disappointing every time you read the details.
birgerjohanssonsays
Welcome to a reality Svante Arrhenius predicted in an article 1898. It is one of the oldest scientific articles being referenced to.
The human race only had 128 years of warning.
.
We have failed as a species, and deserve any asteroid the cosmos throws at us.
NORTH KARELIA, Finland — Bears, wolves and moose still cross the frontier freely, but for the border guards patrolling this stretch of fields and forest, this is where NATO ends.
A line of wooden poles and painted markers cuts through the light green grass, separating Finland from Russia along the alliance’s longest border with Moscow — 1,343 kilometers (835 miles) of increasingly militarized territory. The crossing has been closed since 2023, the year after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On the other side lies land Finland lost to the Soviet Union when it was left to fight largely on its own in the early months of World War II.
Reporters from Axel Springer’s Global Reporters Network traveled to three exposed stretches of Europe’s eastern frontier — Finland’s forested border with Russia, Poland’s fortified line with Kaliningrad and Belarus and Lithuania’s vulnerable edge near the Suwałki Gap — to see how ready NATO’s frontline states are for the possibility that Moscow will attack the alliance.
What we observed was a continent racing to harden its eastern edge against a threat it can no longer assume Washington will handle. As U.S. President Donald Trump questions old security guarantees and looks to reduce America’s military footprint in Europe, the countries closest to Russia are building fortifications, expanding reserves, buying tanks and drones and preparing for the possibility that the first days of any conflict may be theirs to fight largely alone.
Since his reelection in 2024, Trump has repeatedly called into question Washington’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5, the foundational clause under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The uncertainty only deepened after the war in Iran, when the president and his team threatened to reassess U.S. membership in NATO in response to European allies’ refusal to join the conflict.
Meanwhile, satellite imagery shows that Russia has built up its armed presence along its border with Finland and other EU countries, building barracks and staging military vehicles in what the head of Swedish military intelligence has described as preparation for a possible confrontation with NATO.
“Russia is a superpower, and we’re a small country,” said Col. Matti Pitkäniitty, commander of Finland’s North Karelia Border Guard District, while driving to the border. “You have to be careful when you sleep next to a bear.”
Finland never forgot the lessons of what it calls its Winter War, when it halted an unprovoked attack in 1939 by the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin but lost roughly a tenth of its territory. While much of the rest of Europe spent the decades after the Cold War cutting armies and cashing in the peace dividend, Helsinki kept conscription, maintained vast reserves and built its defenses around the assumption that Russia might one day come back.
[…] A dozen Finnish defense officials, military officers, lawmakers and analysts interviewed for this article described their nation as unsurprised by Russia’s 2022 assault on Ukraine. And even after Finland joined NATO in 2023, Helsinki has continued to view the alliance as a reinforcement of its own defense, rather than a substitute for it.
“We’re happy to be in an alliance, but we still understand that we will take the first blow alone, before NATO’s Article 5 is activated,” said Jukka Kopra, a Finnish lawmaker who chaired the parliament’s defense committee, referring to the mutual defense clause that underpins the alliance.
Over decades, Finland built its preparedness around the concept of “total defense” — a mobilizable population, civil resilience, shelters and a military designed to keep fighting with or without allies. The country can mobilize nearly 870,000 reservists out of a population of 5.6 million, a figure set to reach one million by 2031.
“It’s fair to say Finland is more ready to fight alone than other frontline countries. The U.S. wind-down doesn’t impact its readiness,” said Eoin Micheál McNamara, a postdoctoral fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Finland spends nearly 3 percent of its GDP on defense and, in line with its commitments to NATO, it intends to raise that figure to 5 percent by 2035. Its air force expects to receive U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets in the coming months. Like most European militaries, the Finnish armed forces are still catching up on drone warfare, but on land they have one of Europe’s largest artillery arsenals.
[…] Even without the U.S., it’s unlikely Finland would have to fight entirely on its own. Several European countries have an interest in keeping Russia off NATO’s northern flank, according to Charly Salonius-Pasternak of the Helsinki-based Nordic West Office think tank, referring specifically to Norway, Sweden and the U.K.
Still, Finland would face a Russian army with more manpower and a willingness to use sheer numbers in ways the alliance cannot easily match. “Since the Winter War, the very basics haven’t changed,” said Pitkäniitty, the border guard commander. “We have to be able to use the terrain, operate the environment better than anyone else […]
Finland is now trying to teach its NATO allies how to fight on that ground. In May, two multinational exercises in southeastern Finland — Northern Star 26 and Karelian Sword 26 — were designed in part to show troops from countries including France and the United Kingdom how to operate in Northern Europe’s forests, lakes and swamps. U.S. soldiers from the Virginia National Guard also took part.
[…] The Nordic country is also preparing to add another obstacle. Alongside Poland and the three Baltic states, Helsinki withdrew last year from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, arguing that Russia never joined the treaty and is already using the weapons in Ukraine.
[…] Poland is preparing not for a distant theoretical threat, but for the possibility that war could come sooner than many Western capitals assume. Yet along parts of the very frontier where that deterrent is supposed to take shape, the gap between Poland’s military ambition and the physical reality on the ground remains visible: fortifications appear, then stop; materials sit in warehouses; and local residents say the building frenzy has given way to quiet.
[…] Poland is the largest country on NATO’s eastern flank and the alliance’s biggest defense spender by share of GDP. Warsaw had already exceeded NATO’s 2 percent target before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; this year, it is set to spend 4.8 percent of GDP on defense even as its economy continues to grow.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Poland sent more than 300 tanks from its own stocks to Ukraine, then moved to replace and expand its arsenal with off-the-shelf tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, support vehicles and rocket artillery from the United States and South Korea. Its army is NATO’s third largest, behind the U.S. and Turkey.
[…] But if Finland is preparing to fight alone if it has to and Poland is building an army capable of doing the same, the Baltic countries do not have that luxury. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are too small, too exposed and too close to Russia and Belarus to trade territory for time. […]
Their defense rests on a narrower calculation: Make sure that NATO comes to their rescue. That makes them the most vulnerable to the Trump administration’s unpredictability. And so the Baltic states have set out to bind their security as tightly as possible to the rest of the continent — through border fortifications, pre-positioned obstacles, allied troops on their soil and, above all, a German brigade meant to ensure that any Russian attack would immediately become a European war.
[…] There are already about 3,000 soldiers from other NATO countries in Lithuania, he said in February, including German, Norwegian, Dutch and American troops. Since then, however, the rotational deployment of more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers has ended. Unlike previous rotations, no follow-on force has yet arrived, as Washington reviews its military posture in Europe. […]
More at the link.
lumipunasays
Hello, and happy 5th of July (Earth’s aphelion), everyone.
I previously noted comment 57 upthread – That amount of fireworks would be a truly amazing excess and waste. Also a major health hazard and possible safety risk.
Now I’ve seen a video clip of it on Twitter, and it did go pretty much like various commenters had predicted. Looked something like a munition depot fire (not only my own impression). Too tightly packed for any choreography. Much of the flashing was obscured by its own smoke. I can only imagine the amount of rocket debris trash that had to be collected from the area afterwards – presumably by low-paid park maintenance workers in the early morning hours while toxic smoke still lingered in the air.
lumipunasays
Re: 274
I occasionally see news and other discussion about the new nuclear weapon legislation here in Finland, but don’t want to really look into it. Don’t know what to think about it.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on the latest Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia, this time prominently at Vysotsk port near Primorsk and St. Petersburg:
(The distance from the big city should be about 105 km, not 170 km/105 miles as stated in the story. 170 km would be already in Finland.)
Vysotsk (formerly Finnish Uuraa) is less important as an oil port compared to Primorsk (Koivisto) and Ust-Luga, both of which have been repeatedly attacked in recent months. The Finnish public broadcaster Yle just interviewed some locals in the small town of Primorsk, which is dwarfed by the adjacent huge oil port. The local civilians were not overly concerned about their safety, as Ukraine has consistently abstained from attacking people’s homes and local service infrastructure. Some countries currently involved in wars could take a hint.
A new spray-on powder developed by KAIST can stop life-threatening bleeding in about one second by instantly forming a strong gel over a wound. It works on deep and irregular injuries where conventional hemostatic products often struggle and remains effective even after years of storage in harsh conditions. Originally created for the battlefield, the technology could also transform emergency care in disasters, ambulances, and hospitals…
A Delta Air Lines plane carrying 52 passengers and six crew members was hit by fireworks as it prepared to land at a Chicago airport on Saturday night.
The flight from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to Midway International Airport “reportedly made contact with a firework while on descent,” a spokesperson for the airline told the BBC.
“The flight safely landed and taxied to the gate,” they added. There were no injuries and the incident was reported to aviation authorities…
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow has suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, setting up a high-stakes, two-way clash between the party’s center and its progressive left flank.
“I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight,” McMorrow said Sunday in a statement posted to X and accompanied by a video.
McMorrow did not endorse either of the remaining candidates, Rep. Haley Stevens or former public health official Abdul El-Sayed. The winner of the Aug. 4 primary will face former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is backed by President Donald Trump and unopposed for the Republican nomination.
The seat is open this fall because Democratic incumbent Gary Peters is not seeking re-election — and the race for it stands to be a critical battleground for partisan control of the Senate…
StevoRsays
@272. birgerjohansson : Mostly ageeed re Red dwarfs (aka M V type stars) although its a little more complicated than that and there’s still a lot we don’t know given potential atmospheres, magnetic fields and other things. Probly safe to say most exoplanets around red dwarfs are just lifeless rocks but not 100% certain. Science and individual worlds can still surprise us as we’ve found in our solar system and with exoplanets too. Remember before we saw them up close people expected the jovian moons and Pluto to be just boring cratered rocks too. But , yeah, probly, mostly.
.***
Japan’s space probe Hayabusa2 has completed a flyby observation of an asteroid as it heads for its next destination in space. The probe delivered a capsule of samples to Earth from another asteroid six years ago.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, says Hayabusa2 made the flyby of the Torifune asteroid without incident at around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Japan time, as scheduled. The agency said data sent by the probe confirmed that the mission had been completed.
..(Snip)..
.. JAXA will explain the results of the operation in detail at a news conference on Monday. If the probe successfully captured images of Torifune, the agency plans to release them on Monday or later.
The agency hopes to acquire the technology to control the probe precisely and maneuver it close to asteroids at high speed. The aim is to contribute to “planetary defense” efforts, which involve using probes to alter the trajectory of asteroids that may potentially collide with Earth in the future.
“Haaland delivered both goals as Norway defeated five-time champion Brazil on Sunday and advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in its history.”
For much of Sunday afternoon, Norway’s 6-foot-5 superstar Erling Haaland stalked the field, biding his time against Brazil, waiting for his moment to strike. He stood about a half-foot taller than most of the Brazilians. But they swarmed and bottled him up until the 79th minute, when his chance came in an instant.
Norway’s Andreas Schjelderup chipped the ball toward the goal from the left side, and Haaland leaped, swung his neck and headed it into the net, outjumping Brazil’s 6-foot-3 defender Gabriel Magalhães, his Premier League nemesis. […]
The Trump administration is scrapping more than three dozen firearms regulations, abandoning a crackdown on illegal sales, restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness and loosening oversight of private weapons transactions.
The drastic retrenchment at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, was not entirely unexpected: President Trump campaigned as a champion of gun rights.
In the view of critics and even some A.T.F. veterans, the agency, in closely mirroring the demands made by gun owners and manufacturers to lighten their regulatory burden, is enacting changes at the expense of public safety. The moves, they worry, come as the bureau has already been weakened, with hundreds of its officials diverted to immigration enforcement.
Proponents of the changes point out that some of the reversals would return regulations to what they were only a few years ago, before President Joseph R. Biden took office. After a series of deadly mass shootings, Mr. Biden signed into law gun control measures, ending nearly three decades of gridlock over whether and how to regulate firearms.
[…] “With the Biden regulations that we got and put in place, we advanced the ball,” said Kris Brown, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the country’s biggest gun control organizations.
But the Trump administration’s approach “takes us back 100 years,” she said. “It’s really decimating A.T.F.’s ability to regulate this industry.”
A White House official said the administration’s policies reflected Mr. Trump’s commitment to ensuring that Americans could exercise their Second Amendment rights, accusing the Biden administration of bypassing Congress and using the regulatory process to restrict gun rights. […]
The administration is now targeting gun regulations that Democrats have passed at the state and local levels. It has challenged bans on semiautomatic rifles in Colorado, the District of Columbia and Virginia. On Wednesday, it sued California for its restrictions on the sale of Glock and Glock-style handguns, and Virginia for limits on the sale of semiautomatic rifles, hours after both laws went into effect.
[…] The agency is also proposing a higher bar to revoke a federal gun dealer’s license, instead requiring evidence that the dealer knew that it was violating the law. The agency said in its analysis that it expected the number of federal firearms licenses it revoked to drop “considerably” both under the new rule and “shifting enforcement priorities.”
Another rule would reinstate the so-called gun show loophole, which required background checks for gun shows and certain private sales as a way to crack down on straw purchasers, or people who illegally buy guns on behalf of another. […]
Police say officers were responding to calls of shots fired in downtown Memphis just before 4 am local time when they saw “an armed male carrying a handgun.” The man—identified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson—fled on foot, pursued by Memphis police officers along with Tennessee National Guard soldiers who are assigned to the area. What happened next was not immediately clear. […] The TBI says it is investigating the incident
[…]
The National Guard has been patrolling in Memphis since October of last year as part of a federal task force, established by President Trump, to combat crime in Memphis. Memphis has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, according to data from the FBI. But Memphis police say overall crime and violent crime were falling in 2025 even before the National Guard deployment began.
[…]
Democratic state and local officials sued to block the deployment of the troops, who are operating under the command of Republican Gov. Bill Lee. […] A judge in Tennessee […] blocked the deployment. But a state appeals court overturned that injunction in April, allowing the operation to continue.
Brad Moss (Security clearance attorney): “Tennessee is a permitless carry state.”
Greg Greene (Democratic National Committee circa Obama):
Republicans in Tennessee have taken control over the Memphis airport, taken its control over its schools, taken its control over its police [nullifying local reforms], sicced the military on Memphians, taken its representative in Congress [via redistricting], [meddled in the board membership of its public utilities,] and taken its state lawmakers’ committee seats. [Article] This is the result.
The First American Revolution? – The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
“The first American revolution isn’t the one you’re familiar with – the first one actually happened in 1680 when the Puebloan and Hopi worked together to overthrow the authoritarian yoke of Spanish colonization and forced religious conversion.”
‘Stinkster_Reborn’:
“A debate over “Arabic numerals” has social media in absolute chaos—and the wildest part is that Arabic numerals are the number system we all use every single day. In this video, I break down the viral controversy surrounding Zohran Mamdani, explain why this misunderstanding says more about the state of education than anything else, and react to Asmond Gold’s response after hearing the claim.”
Data on more than 2.3 million people associated with Moody Bible Institute (MBI) has been exposed online after the Christian college was targeted by ShinyHunters.
The attack was first disclosed by MBI in June, and the extortion crew later leaked the stolen data. Have I Been Pwned has since added the cache to its breach notification database, putting a figure on the number of exposed accounts.
MBI is one of many victims of ShinyHunters’ pay-or-leak attacks in 2026, and while the organization has not explicitly commented on whether it negotiated with the criminals, the leak suggests that the group’s extortion demands were not met…
SpaceX has confirmed in a semi-annual report submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this month that it disposed of 260 Starlink satellites between December 2025 and May 2026, intentionally vaporizing them via re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. According to the report, 176 of these satellites belonged to the first-generation Starlink constellation, with the rest belonging to the second generation. An additional 349 satellites were decommissioned within that 6-month period and will be disposed of in the coming months.
SpaceX’s Starlink operates a huge constellation of over 10,000 satellites as of the time of this report, even as the company plans for Starlink Mobile, which will provide satellite internet directly to mobile phones. However, each of these satellites has a lifespan of about 5 years, a somewhat intentional setup to allow swapping for newer versions, after which their fuel depletes. When this happens, the satellite is programmed to use its remaining fuel to perform a controlled de-orbit. It lowers its altitude and plunges into Earth’s atmosphere, where extreme friction completely incinerates 100% of the spacecraft…
One of the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons, nicknamed “Gus,” was showcased Wednesday at Sotheby’s auction house in New York ahead of its sale later this month.
Valued at between $20 million and $30 million—the highest price estimate ever for a dinosaur—the giant fossil was discovered on a cattle ranch in South Dakota in 2021.
“Gus” lived during the Maastrichtian period, some 72 million to 66 million years ago, which was characterized by a warm climate, high sea levels and vast floodable coastal plains.
The skeleton measures 11.6 meters (38 feet) in body length, making it one of the largest T. rexes ever discovered. It has 183 fossilized bones and is roughly 63% complete.
“Gus” is on view in New York until July 14, when the auction will take place.
… Several San Francisco residents posted footage Saturday night of Waymo vehicles either malfunctioning, stalling, or being towed away during the chaos of Fourth of July celebrations.
“We’re being told it could take 3-4 hours to tow the disabled vehicles before traffic can move again,” an X user who goes by Marco Gutierrez wrote beneath a video of a Waymo being towed.
Other X users posted footage of stalled cars, traffic jams, and in one instance, a Waymo driving straight through an erupting box of fireworks…
The Instagram Close Friends Story for @miles.sumrall shows an affable-looking guy with curly dark hair and an expertly groomed mustache beaming as he floats on the water. “You’re receiving this because you’re exactly the type of person we’re building this for,” the caption reads, accompanied by a code for an invite to a “members only community.”
The link leads to a login for Goose, a dating and friendship app for gay men with the slogan “for the boys,” which allows users to “meet guys through the life you already have,” according to its website.
The problem is that @miles.sumrall does not appear to be real. Neither does @danielmmulugeta, the cute dark-haired influencer who shared the above caption, with the exact same verbiage, on his Close Friends’ Stories. Both accounts were created in May 2026 and have fewer than 10 posts as well as a high following-to-follower ratio. And both of their Instagram avatars were determined with greater than 90 percent confidence to be AI-generated, according to the AI Image Detector software. A SynthID check on Google Gemini, which can help identify AI-generated images, also found that “most or all of” Miles’ and Daniel’s profile photos were created using Google AI.
Created by the model-influencer Derek Chadwick, as well as former BeReal growth and community manager David Aliagas, Goose positions itself as a Grindr alternative for gay men who want to build lasting relationships. At the time that it was announced, many scoffed at the idea that the app would be used for anything other than finding casual hookups. “Goose is basically Pokémon Ho,” one X user joked…
“When the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff starts issuing public warnings about the politicization of the armed forces, it’s wise to heed his concerns.”
As Donald Trump’s second term got underway, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. knew that his job was on the line, but he hoped to continue serving as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. To that end, he attended Trump’s inauguration ceremony as an apparent sign of support, and after the event, the general told reporters that he planned to remain at his post.
The president had a different plan. At the start of a broader military purge that’s still ongoing, Trump fired the country’s highest-ranking military officer about a month after the Republican returned to the White House.
More than a year later, Brown has had an opportunity to make new assessments from the outside looking in, and he apparently has some serious concerns. The Wall Street Journal reported:
CQ Brown, the retired general forced out of his post as the nation’s top military officer last year, has provided his most direct critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the U.S. military, questioning the deployment of troops in U.S. cities and warning against tainting the armed forces’ service with politics.
In an essay published Friday with two co-authors, Brown cautioned that sending the military into American cities for “politically contentious missions” like fighting crime risked compromising its traditionally apolitical role and diverting it from its combat mission.
The essay in Foreign Affairs magazine that Brown co-authored was striking on its own terms. “[W]hen presidents use the armed forces for more politically contentious missions, such as addressing domestic crime in cities, the work of the military becomes more fraught,” it read. “Resorting to a military solution rather than fixing the underlying incapacity or dysfunction in civilian institutions diverts the military from focusing on its primary combat mission. And, as [George] Washington knew, it is not the military’s job to save the republic from political impasses. Indeed, if you ask too much of the military, you risk the entire enterprise.”
[…] the Foreign Affairs piece also roughly coincided with Brown raising public concerns about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to strike officers from military promotion lists and push out high-ranking personnel.
“What is starting to happen now, it is not about merit,” Brown said at a discussion of civil-military relations hosted by the Aspen Institute. “All of these people who are being removed are very well experienced.” (He did not reference Hegseth or Trump by name.)
Part of what makes these developments notable is the retired general’s title: Brown isn’t just another voice, he’s the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a highly decorated and broadly respected military leader who spent more than four decades serving in uniform. [True. Good points.]
What’s more, the retired general has a reputation for restraint, not political broadsides. When he starts issuing public warnings about the politicization of the armed forces, it’s wise to heed his concerns.
But just as notable is the body of evidence bolstering Brown’s concerns. It was just last week, for example, that JD Vance delivered remarks to active-duty troops at Naval Air Station Oceana, where the vice president made little effort to suppress his partisan political instincts. [video]
Harper Magazine’s Scott Horton noted shortly after Vance’s remarks, “The use of an address to troops to make political speeches openly attacking a former commander in chief is scandalous, and to their credit the troops are reacting just as they should.”
Vance, however, was following his boss’ lead: Trump has spent much of his second term treating active-duty American troops as if they were just another MAGA constituency, deserving of red-meat partisanship.
Last fall, The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols highlighted what he described as an ongoing “civil-military crisis,” arguing, “Trump and his valet at the Defense Department, Secretary of Physical Training Pete Hegseth, are now making a dedicated run at turning the men and women of the armed forces into Trump’s personal and partisan army.”
Is it any wonder that the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appears worried?
These days, the Department of Justice is, to put it extremely mildly, in absolute disarray. The whole agency has been reduced to essentially two missions and two missions only. First, they are the blunt objects President Donald Trump regularly deploys to persecute his enemies. Second, they are the stooges tasked with handling the massive amount of immigration cases that have resulted from all the illegal detentions and violence caused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
This state of affairs means that when it comes to handling the boring workday parts of cases, the collection of cronies and babies currently staffing the place is completely outclassed and outmatched. And, of course, managing to screw up cases in front of grand juries and at trial, which is quite the feat.
In the most recent bout of incompetence, the DOJ inadvertently released Volume Two of the Jack Smith report to the very person they are prosecuting for allegedly downloading the report. The agency has been going after now-former Florida Assistant United States Attorney Carmen Mercedes Lineberger with all it has got over her allegedly sending herself the report and disguising the whole enterprise by renaming the file after some baked goods recipes.
But now, thanks to their own stupidity, the DOJ had to file a joint notice of inadvertent discovery disclosure. This is where you have to explain to the court that yes, you are a passel of toddlers who can’t even manage the basics of discovery in your own case, and yes, you accidentally sent over a copy of the same report that you are prosecuting the defendant for releasing.
The defense attorneys—probably because they are actual, experienced attorneys—did what they were ethically required to do here, which is to immediately notify the dumbasses at the DOJ that they sent over three documents that they probably did not intend to, including the Smith report. Then they promptly ceased looking at it and deleted all digital copies of it and helped the government get their flash drives back the same day. [Really?]
The problem for the DOJ is that Trump superfan Judge Aileen Cannon’s court order barring the release of the report also bars everyone from releasing it. Cannon has worked mightily to make sure Trump’s crimes never see the light of day because she understands the assignment.
Moreover, this entire case is a perfect example of the DOJ’s reach exceeding its grasp. After Cannon ruled that Smith’s report couldn’t be released, the DOJ ran to her and tattled about how Lineberger may have emailed herself the report, and by gosh, she had to be prosecuted to the fullest extent, blah blah blah, but in doing so, they managed to also violate Cannon’s order by releasing the report. [LOL]
That would have been a violation in any event, but it’s a hilarious violation that it was sent to the very person they’re prosecuting for the same thing.
But don’t expect the DOJ to investigate or charge anyone in their office with violating Cannon’s order, because that place is a lawless hellhole these days. A lawless, incompetent hellhole.
“Even some Trump-appointed judges have agreed that indefinite detention is unconstitutional.”
Gilberto Pacheco was driving to work for a construction job in California when he was pulled over in what court papers called a “traffic stop” in January. He was not accused of any crime, not even a traffic infraction, but he was imprisoned without bond for months because he arrived illegally in the United States more than 30 years ago from Mexico.
Cases like that of Pacheco, who has applied for legal status through three U.S. citizen children, are what the Supreme Court has to consider when it rules next year on the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy.
Justices are expected to hear the case as soon as October after the U.S. solicitor general requested the court to resolve conflicting rulings on the matter from appeals courts.
The Trump administration’s policy requires detention without bond for anyone who crossed a border illegally, and has been used to pressure immigrants into voluntary departure to escape sometimes squalid conditions [in detention facilities].
For now, plenty of U.S. district judges are questioning the idea that immigrants should be incarcerated indefinitely at the whim of the executive branch. [Duh]
Stateline reviewed every immigrant habeas petition case decided in a single day — June 16 — across the country, in order to sample judicial opinion. A habeas case is a request from an immigration prisoner for a judge to review the legality of his imprisonment and order a bond hearing or release.
Of the cases that were decided that day, judges released detainees immediately or ordered bond hearings 142 times, and denied them only 36 times. [Wow. That is impressive.] Many of the judges, even Republican appointees, argued that unlimited detention was unconstitutional.
One of those judges was U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, who heard Pacheco’s case.
After being picked up in California, Pacheco was held in Houston, and filed a habeas case in Texas. Ellison ruled that it was a violation of Pacheco’s civil rights to detain him for months. He ordered Pacheco to be freed immediately.
[…] He wrote that he recognized that the Trump policy applied to Pacheco, and that it was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs Texas, but said that he was releasing the man anyway.
“The Due Process clause does not permit the government to ‘detain any noncitizen, no matter how long they have actually lived in the United States, for any length of time, without any individualized justification [merely because] that person initially entered the country without lawful admission,’” Ellison wrote, partially quoting a 2003 Supreme Court ruling. [Smart]
[…] Many judges are going beyond bond hearings and ordering release directly, as Ellison did. In some situations the judges are holding the legal cases open to make sure releases are made or bond hearings are fair.
Few immigrants get bond hearings because of the policy, making court challenges their only recourse, said Xin Tian, an attorney representing an immigrant who was released June 16 in a California case. His client’s case was among those reviewed by Stateline.
“The individual’s only recourse for release is to seek a writ of habeas corpus,” Tian wrote in an email to Stateline. “Fortunately, federal judges uphold the Constitution and will grant such a writ, leading to direct release. Aside from this, there are virtually no other ways to obtain release.”
[…] relatively few judges in the Stateline review considered the mandatory detention policy valid: Four of the other six cases for the day that did so, other than the Utah case, were denied by a single judge, Trump appointee Judge John L. Sinatra in New York’s Western District court.
Sinatra wrote in one of the cases, for a Venezuelan man who had been allowed into the country in 2024 on parole, that such people should be treated as if they were still at the border “seeking admission,” and face mandatory detention, and should not get the constitutional rights of someone already in the United States with legal status. [Sheesh. Sounds like Sinatra should not be a judge.]
Every element has a unique set of absorption and emission lines that create spectral signatures. These signals are key information for astronomers studying faraway objects—but what happens when there’s no good match for a particular signature?
While studying Pluto and Saturn’s largest moon Titan, researchers spotted a missing band of light in their spectral signatures, specifically at the 5.11-micrometer line. However, after searching past datasets and literature, they weren’t able to find any suitable matches for whatever molecule was responsible for this phenomenon. In other words, Pluto’s and Titan’s surfaces may harbor an unknown molecule—a substance that we’ve never seen anywhere else in our solar system and beyond…
* A Democrat hasn’t won a U.S. Senate race in Iowa in almost two decades, but the latest Fox News poll found Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek ahead of Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, 50% to 46%. Among those who consider themselves “extremely” motivated to vote, Turek’s advantage is 15 points.
* Speaking of Iowa, the same Fox News poll found Democratic state auditor Rob Sand ahead of Republican Zach Lahn, 53% to 44%, in the Hawkeye State’s gubernatorial race.
Georgia campaign news, as summarized b Steve Benen from a Fox News source:
* In Georgia’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, a separate Fox News poll offered Sen. Jon Ossoff some good news: The Democratic incumbent led Republican Rep. Mike Collins, 56% to 43%.
Planned Parenthood has regained access to federal funding, enraging anti-abortion conservatives one year after Republicans were able to cut its clinics off from Medicaid.
Beginning July 5, clinics were once again able to bill Medicaid for reimbursement for non-abortion care, like contraception and screenings for sexually transmitted infections.
The new funding will be a lifeline for the organization’s network of clinics and their patients. Medicaid is a significant revenue stream for Planned Parenthood, accounting for more than $800 million. In addition, more than half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid for their health coverage, the organization said.
Last year, Republicans were successful in using the party-line One Big Beautiful Bill Act to achieve their long sought-after goal of defunding Planned Parenthood, though the complicated Senate rules involved in passing the legislation meant the ban only lasted a year. [Important caveat.]
Now, anti-abortion leaders are furious that congressional Republicans focused on other issues like defense and immigration without extending the ban before it expired. They view it as a reversal of progress and are demanding GOP leaders include an extension in a third party-line reconciliation bill that they want to pass before the end of the year.
“President Trump and Congress must act as fast as possible to restore and extend the defunding of Planned Parenthood and every organization that commits abortion,” Rose [Lila Rose, president of the anti-abortion group LiveAction] said in a statement.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wants to start working on a third reconciliation bill soon, and hard-line conservatives of the House Freedom Caucus are demanding an extension of the Planned Parenthood defunding provision.
But Senate Republicans are cooler to the idea of a third reconciliation bill, and don’t think it’s realistic given the narrow margins Republicans hold and the general reluctance of some lawmakers to start an abortion fight so close to the midterms.
[…] While the ban did not completely devastate Planned Parenthood’s finances and drive it to financial ruin like many GOP lawmakers had hoped, its health centers suffered; nearly 30 closed nationwide.
Planned Parenthood clinics across the country have been getting word out that they are able to accept Medicaid patients once again.
[…] Because all the musical acts dropped out after Trump took over the 250th celebration, the only music I heard seemed to be the standard Trump rally playlist. Think Kid Rock, “Ave Maria,” Abba. There was a terrible cover band playing dad-friendly butt rock, but nobody seemed to be paying attention. They were all paying attention to the flyovers and air shows drowning them out.
I couldn’t figure out what bugged me about the flyovers. I loved going to the annual air show at Andrews Air Force Base every year as a kid. And I’ve half-jokingly told friends and colleagues that I do, in fact, love jet noise.
Then I realized that Americans are the only ones who enjoy seeing these giant beasts tearing up the sky. For the rest of the world, the sight and sound of American jet fighters, bombers, or rotary aircraft is the sound of death. And while that may be appealing to some Americans who are as isolated in their geography as they are their politics, much of the world doesn’t see a sprawling military machine as hallmark of achievement the way they do, say, a functioning public healthcare system. Or a basic public transit system. […]
Today is the only day it’s been busy. But it’s also the fourth of July. DC is always busy on the Fourth. I know this because I grew up here. When I was a kid, we brought coolers full of food, soda and beer onto the Mall. We’d sit in front of the Washington Monument all day, and watch the fireworks at night. It was free, fun and devoid of partisan politics.
Now the only fun you can have must be approved by the Trump administration.
When the all-clear was finally given to reenter the GASF [Great American State Fair], it was around 10:00 p.m. Citing an unnamed White House official, the Washington Post reported that the remainder of the celebration would have been canceled following the storms, but Trump overrode them.
The Trump team claims it had planned for the weather, but the slapdash look and feel of the tents, the free-for-all of water distribution from pallets, and the general lack of common sense and guidance in dealing with (increasingly) extreme weather suggests otherwise. [understatement]
Festivities in cities across the country were either canceled or delayed to protect people from the dangerous heat. But Trump insisted on going ahead despite the very real and very obvious threats to public safety.
In order to “see the fireworks,” a staffer told me, one would have had to exit the Mall/GASF, walk several blocks around the security perimeter, and then renter a different, security zone controlled by the Secret Service. Another staffer told me that, because it was already almost 11:00, the entrance might be shut down. And Lee Greenwood was already on an even bigger stage in front of the Washington Monument doing the only thing Lee Greenwood does these days: introduce Donald Trump with the same, 40 year-old mediocre song.
When Trump was finally able to give the big speech just he impatiently waited all night for, he yelled at his captive audience. People who’d just suffered through one of the hottest days in DC’s recorded history were told by their president that he’d have waited until 4:00 a.m., and yelled at the empty field. As Trump claimed to have around 150,000 people in attendance, I turned around and began walking away.
I quietly muttered to myself, “One-hundred forty-nine thousand, nine-hundred ninety-nine.”
Lots of photos and more details are available at the link.
“I Am Theodore Roosevelt And I Will Not Allow The Vulgarian Donald Trump To Speak For Me”
“That pigeon-livered hornswoggler!”
All right, whose idea was it to bring this fatuous saddle-goose to my library? Who thought it would be an inspiring moment for the American people to watch this churl admire my accomplishments? Who thought it would be the bee’s knees to see men dressed as my Rough Riders escorting his ridiculous limousine auto-mobile through the streets?
I am livid at this spectacle. I am livid that this — what do they call it, this artificial intelligence pretending to be me — did not peel the skin off this man’s bones with a volley of cutting verbal horseplay. This coarsened fopdoodle! This dunderheaded coxcomb!
[…] [video]
[…] I shall need to have a chat with the people responsible for my museum about this grotesquerie. This should be an educational space for people who want to learn about the life of Theodore Roosevelt, the Colonel, the Trust Buster, the Hero of San Juan Hill. This noodle head [Trump] does not care for education! He scoffs at it! He would not be able to sit through even a minute of conversation with Edmund Morris before he started talking about all the wonderful gold he’s glued to the walls of the Oval Office.
Which looks hideous, by the way. It makes all the tsars of Russia look tasteful.
And don’t even get me started on what he has done to the beloved East Wing of the White House that I built during my presidency, and which my cousin Franklin, God rest him, expanded so greatly. Franklin, who guided this great nation through World War II and set the stage for the rules-based Western order that resulted, which Trump also destroyed. Franklin deserved better, even if he was unfaithful to my niece on occasion.
“Those words are fantastic.” The man has the vocabulary of a street urchin. This is who the American people want as president? This orange-faced buffoon?
Look at this man! He has obviously never spent a day in the boxing gym in his life! He has clearly never hunted buffalo across the prairie, carrying only his rifle, some extra shot, and a bit of hardtack to satiate his hunger! He has clearly never engaged in the sort of physical combat by which a man proves his own worth!
In fact, he begged out of his chance at combat with his “bone spurs.” […]
To ask me if the Panama Canal is my greatest achievement, and then have this simulacrum of me tell him that “I measure my greatest work by the lives improved, parks set aside, the square deal given to all, not just a few.” What about this man makes anyone, let alone my own ghostly doppelganger, think such words would make a mark on a man such as Donald Trump? He who is selling off the federal lands I championed so that oil men may increase their already ungodly profits. He who could not care less if everyone in America gets a square deal, or if food is safe, or if monopolies rule our economy.
I might be dead, but even I know what the Ellisons are up to, and how this frivolous gump is helping them along.
No, as we found out in his speech later, he just wanted me to say that I hate Jimmy Carter for selling the canal back to Panama for a dollar. Preposterous! Carter did no such thing. Even in 1912 you could not have bought the Canal for a dollar. A sloop you could sail through it, possibly. But not the entire Canal.
[…] All of this as we approach the 250th birthday of this grand experiment in democracy called America. This nation has been led by much greater men than this. George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. Abraham Lincoln. There is a reason our faces are carved into a mountain for all time, even if we had to steal the mountain from the Indians to do it.
What do you mean, this mountebank wants his own face carved next to mine on Rushmore? […]
[…] Laura Ingraham is apparently so humiliated by her own side, full as it is of Klan members and Nazis marching through the streets of DC on America’s 250th birthday, that she’s shamelessly lying like the integrity-free skin tag she is and saying they were antifa in disguise. [Independent]
Shame how somebody with Trump Derangement Syndrome — or maybe the disease itself! — geoengineered the weather to ruin Trump’s we mean America’s birthday. [JoeMyGod]
“$20 for tampons: Here’s how much ICE detainees pay for 5 everyday items”
“Detainees at a California facility say they are overcharged for commonly used items, including soda, coffee and feminine hygiene products.”
A container of instant coffee, which can be found at the closest Walmart for $9.42, costs $18.80. Tampons cost more than $20, about 33 percent more than at Walmart.
While people held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention get three meals a day and basic hygiene supplies, they often turn to the commissary for additional supplies.
This month, detainees at two ICE facilities in central California are boycotting the shops, claiming the private companies overseeing them charge exorbitant prices for items many detainees say are necessary for their well-being.
Data released by the advocacy group California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice show significant price differences. [graph]
“The Department of Government Efficiency was hyped as a governmental game changer. Its doors are now closing as a pitiful failure.”
It was almost two years ago when candidate Donald Trump delivered a new campaign pledge: If elected to a second term, the Republican said, he would appoint Elon Musk to lead some kind of government “efficiency” panel.
To hear Trump tell it, the endeavor was going to work miracles. The Musk-led commission, he boasted, would save taxpayers “trillions of dollars” and implement “an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months.”
For a variety of reasons, none of this made any sense, but in early 2025, the Republican White House followed through and launched the Department of Government Efficiency, though the charter came with an expiration date of sorts: DOGE would cease to be on July 4, 2026.
In other words, in the wake of Independence Day, DOGE is no more.
[…] For now, let’s not dwell on the chasm between $215 billion and the “trillions of dollars” in savings Trump promised. Let’s instead emphasize the separate fact that cutting $215 billion in federal spending isn’t an inherently good thing, since much of that spending was worthwhile and beneficial to the public.
As The New Republic recently summarized, “DOGE’s legacy is both very stupid and very sad: It decimated the federal workforce, including Social Security personnel at local offices, and made it easier for hackers to access your data. The agency tore apart USAID, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives lost globally.”
Indeed, the damage DOGE did made people’s lives worse, both in the United States and abroad.
But as observers assess DOGE’s legacy, it’s worth recognizing what this endeavor was at its core: a failed experiment.
The president told Americans that he would bring in the planet’s wealthiest billionaire, who would apply his unique private sector perspective to overhaul the executive branch. The result would be trillions of dollars in savings and the total elimination of waste and fraud in federal spending. The whole endeavor, we were assured, would be awesome.
Except it wasn’t. Amid all the hype and tumult, it’s easy to lose sight of DOGE’s original remit: Trump tasked Musk and his team with leading an effort to cut spending and make the federal government more efficient. As the department expires, the facts show that government spending went up, not down, during Musk’s tenure, and that the DOGE endeavor made the government less efficient, not more.
Even the “savings” that the office touted proved illusory, misleading or both.
DOGE’s goals went unmet. Its promises went unfulfilled. It envisioned one set of results but delivered the opposite.
It’s been weird enough, absolutely reality-warping, to have President Donald Trump insist that the Reflecting Pool’s swift collapse into nothing but an algae breeding ground with a crumbling vinyl lining was the fault of felonious vandals. But let’s face it: we underestimated this administration’s commitment to malicious grift. So, things are getting much, much stupider.
To solve the problem created by Trump’s original idiocy here […] they’re just going to use the same company all over again, with no pesky bids from other contractors needed.
Here’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on the Sunday shows, making an absolute ass of himself as he bows down to Dear Leader: “We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job.”
Wait, what?
Even if we pretend that the whole “vandals smuggled algae in and also cut the beautiful perfect liner installed by the pool boy” thing is true, wouldn’t it also therefore be true that the “fantastic job” can be easily and immediately wrecked, just as it was before? Shouldn’t they at least be required to vandal-proof the pool or something?
Burgum also slipped up, hilariously stomping right over the party line that the vandalism to the Reflecting Pool was the most serious attack on the dignity of our nation since 9/11:
Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony … just like damaging any other government property could. But the job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well.
You can almost see in real time Burgum realizing that saying the vandalism was minor was a huge mistake, so he had to recover with the vague “well, it’s a felony to hurt government property’s fee-fees” to save face.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is somehow managing to snag felony indictments against black bloc antifa, those dastardly wreckers.
Oh, sorry, that’s not quite right. They’re indicting people like former Olympian David Hearn for touching the precious pool.
As grim as this all is, let’s take a moment to extend our congrats to U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro, for finally managing to land indictments, a thing that she has previously found rather, um, challenging.
We should probably hold our applause for a moment, as we’ve learned that when this DOJ does manage to snag felony indictments, they fall apart when the grand jury proceedings are subjected to the very slightest scrutiny.
So you can now enjoy the privilege of your tax dollars paying for more criminal cases that will collapse in the light of day, and for […] Atlantic Industrial Coatings, to get another $13 million or so to slap on another pool liner, one that will no doubt disintegrate within a few days again.
No word on whether the company that got the no-bid contract for nanobubblers, Greenwater Services, who landed the gig because they know Trump’s general manager from his golf club, will also get a bunch of new money, or if we’re pretending their work is just fine.
An extremely weird thing—even by the standards of this administration—happened with the original install. After paying Greenwater to lickety-split install the nanobubblers so the pool could be all shiny and perfect for Trump’s big special birthday bash, the National Park Service then demanded they be removed. This was presumably because their use would have been unseemly and unsightly during the beautiful, solemn celebration of Trump. By the time they were reinstalled three days later, it was algae city.
[…] Look, there’s only one vandal here, and he’s sitting in the White House. Arrest the president already. [social media post with photo of alarming Firework’s garbage and residue next to the Lincoln Memorial Relecting Pool]
[A]ir over parts of D.C. was deemed “unhealthy” until around 11 a.m., and “unhealthy for sensitive group” until around 1 p.m.”
That was the result of the event organizers trying to set a world record for number of fireworks shot off in one show. The air pollution over the capital was dangerously high.
A woman who dated […] Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.
The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident […] POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran for office.
Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner, who is now the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her […] she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.
[…]
“These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” he said in a statement.
Racicot previously described “reckless” and “unsettling” behavior by Platner to The New York Times, but says she didn’t go public with the specific assault claim because she didn’t want to be known as a rape victim.
Racicot said she later felt compelled to go public about her experience because the reaction to the Times story was dominated by controversy about another woman, Lyndsey Fifield, who alleged Platner mistreated her and faced attacks because of her ties to the Republican Party.
[…]
“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,”
[…]
In a statement, the Platner campaign reiterated […] “These allegations are […] coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives. […] It is not a coincidence that this story comes a week before the ballot deadline, just as the previous false allegations came a week before the primary. […]”
[…]
In the weeks after the alleged assault, Racicot said she considered going to the police but struggled with shock and confusion […] and did not file a police report. Even as time passed, she said she felt uncomfortable potentially telling a police officer about such a personal experience, and feared retaliation from Platner. At first, she confided only in her therapist
[…]
Racicot shared with POLITICO a series of private Facebook messages she exchanged with an acquaintance in 2023, about a year and a half after the alleged assault and well before Platner launched his political career, in which she cautioned the acquaintance against getting involved with Platner. In the messages, Racicot said she had “ended up in a bad situation with him,” describing Platner as “consensually careless” and saying he “doesn’t listen to you when drunk.”
The incident is detailed further at the link.
Also a photo of him with his mouth hanging open.
Marisa Kabas (The Handbasket):
Just bookmarking this [from a month ago].
Chris Hayes (MSNOW): Are there texts, photos, floating around that will hurt the campaign in October? Are you worried about that?
Platner: I’m not worried about it. There may be things out there but they’re from before I was public figure and got into politics. My journey is one of transformation.
Rando: “if true, fuck you for screwing the party if you KNEW this would come up in opposition research.”
Ron Hogan (Journalist): “Equally frustrating / heartbreaking: This woman genuinely felt a need to consider the future strategic chances for a political agenda before deciding whether or not to publicly identify her rapist. Not least of all because people had been saying with their whole chests it didn’t matter if he was one.”
Marisa Kabas: “This dynamic described by Jenny Racicot is, as I understand it, very common among progressive women in Maine. they’ve been put in an impossible position and feel like they’re tanking platner’s campaign when in reality he did that on his own by being a violent and reckless person.”
I keep thinking about how Al Franken was a pretty good senator but when some of his behavior with women came to light, he resigned because a lot of people in the party said we should no longer overlook this sort of thing. […]
[Screenshot] It’s really funny that this is [journalist Ryan Grim’s dismissive reaction last month] and not more along the lines of “He dated Lyndsey Fifield? Well, now I really question his judgement.”
“I could live with the Nazi tattoo, but dating one of Bethany Mandel’s friends? Grim out!”
[If] he beats Collins, fine, I’m not in Maine, I don’t get a say, but he’s also a huge shitbag, and his most vocal supporters could and should own that
[Bangor Daily News]: “Graham Platner has postponed a string of events Sunday and Monday […]”
[…]
New Platner video: “So regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
Under Maine law, Platner would have until 5 PM ET on July 13—a week from today—to withdraw his name and still allow his party to nominate a replacement. Democrats would then have to do so by July 27.
Elizabeth Picciuto (Philosopher): “He’s dropping out, and still has to injure her further and ensure a bunch of misogynists make her life a misery. Just cuz.”
David Packman Show: EXCLUSIVE: Sources reveal SHOCKING Mitch McConnell update
Packmain says he has been leaked information that McConnell has been unconscious for 3 weeks. This would contradict claims by others to have talked to McConnell by phone. This is all rumor at this point but it is a serious matter. The split in the Senate is so small that even one person being gone would matter.
It also raises the question of how long do you let a person in Congress who appears permanently unconscious remain in office (ignore obvious joke)? There is no law that handles this matter at all. At some point the Senate could eject him but there is a good chance he would simply be absent till the next election.
Explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early on Monday, the eve of a NATO summit, as Russia mounted its second major attack on the city in days. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who is expected to attend the NATO summit, in Turkey, said in a social media post that 12 people had been killed in the attack and 64 others [aiyiyiyi] wounded, including two children.
NBC News:
President Donald Trump, speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin by telephone for nearly 90 minutes [oh FFS], offered to help find a solution to the Ukraine war, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in comments made public early on Sunday.
Washington Post:
Fresh off a week of star-spangled celebrations of America’s 250th, President Donald Trump departs for Turkey on Monday to meet with fellow leaders of NATO. They hope he wouldn’t declare independence from them.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was planning to head to Brussels last month to deliver what would be a bombshell announcement in a meeting with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top military chiefs. The U.S., he planned to say, was preparing additional cuts to its forces in Europe that would go beyond the canceled deployment of an armored brigade to Poland and the earlier withdrawal of an infantry brigade from Romania, people familiar with the matter said. But Hegseth’s proposal was nixed after it was shared with Marco Rubio — President Trump’s national-security adviser — and other senior officials, the people said.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has been one of the most successful sycophants of Trump II thus far, as he increasingly finds ways to use his post as head of the communications commission to clamp down on free speech and punish and threaten those in the media whose coverage and commentary President Trump does not like. It’s a story TPM has been covering for months, since Carr’s first attempts to try to get comedian Jimmy Kimmel fired in September of last year.
We’ve got a new datapoint that feeds that hypothesis, courtesy of new reporting from Semafor today.
The daytime talk show “The View” reportedly turned down an offer from the office of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to have two of the Democratic socialist candidates he endorsed ahead of the Democratic primaries on the show for an interview, alongside the mayor.
Show bookers were reportedly open to having Mamdani himself on the show for a discussion, but turned down an opportunity to interview candidates Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who both went on to win the Dem nomination in their respective races. The reason they declined to have the candidates on was related to the threats that Carr has made against the program, per Semafor:
Among other reasons, the show’s staff noted that it was proceeding cautiously with political candidate bookings while the FCC’s equal time inquiry was progressing.
Back in February, Carr announced that his agency was investigating whether “The View” violated a 1930s era FCC regulation, the “equal time” rule that requires broadcast shows to provide equal airtime to a candidate’s opponent if the program decides to have one candidate on for an interview on public airwaves. Historically, though, daytime and evening talk shows, like “The View” or “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” have been exempt from these regulations.
Ever since Carr threatened “The View” with an investigation, it has not had “a single political candidate running in a competitive midterm race,” according to Semafor. You’ll recall, Carr went after the view right after it had Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on the show for a discussion. [Yep, that is evidence of partisan, pro-Trump, pro-Republican action by Carr, along with anti Democratic Party action. Scary authoritarian control of the media.]
As TPM documented in real time, it was right after this that lawyers for CBS, which had broadcast Colbert’s show, advised the comedian and now, former, late night host against broadcasting a live interview with Talarico. So Colbert defied the network and did the interview with the Democratic candidate — who will face Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November for Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) seat — anyway, and streamed it on YouTube, raking in millions of views.
Colbert also called out the Trump administration and Trump’s efforts to crack down on dissent live during the broadcast version of the show. Colbert’s show was already canceled at this point, and he had been spending the last few months of its run hosting politicians and guests who spoke directly to Trump’s power grabs.
[…] one fellow member of the FCC, commissioner Anna Gomez, has called out chairman Carr for his various attempts to intimidate the media into capitulating to the Trump administration’s agenda.
“Let’s be clear on what this is. This is government intimidation, not a legitimate investigation. Like many other so-called ‘investigations’ before it, the FCC will announce an investigation but never carry one out, reach a conclusion, or take any meaningful action,” Gomez told Mediaite when “The View” investigation was announced. [I think Gomez is correct.]
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump boasted on Monday that his funeral will draw a “much bigger crowd” than that of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The so-called Ayatollah, who was a loser and a terrible person, got a pathetic turnout for his funeral,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “My funeral will draw MILLIONS!”
Claiming that “nobody cares” about Khanenei’s funeral, Trump said he expects the turnout at his funeral to set records, noting, “Every day, people say to me, ‘Sir, I can’t wait for that day to come.’”
Over the weekend, Trump’s July 4 festivities in the nation’s capital drew billions of algae.
Bryan Johnson, the life extension guru who chronicles his efforts to reduce his “biological age,” says he has Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG), an incurable disease that he only discovered he had in May. Johnson wrote on X that he doesn’t know how long he’s actually had AIG, which causes B12 and iron deficiency, leading to anemia. But he’s vowing to work on “experimental approaches” to find a cure and has asked anyone working on the disease to reach out.
Johnson, who’s 48 years old and constantly chronicling his efforts to maximize his health online, blamed his AIG on unhealthy foods he ate in his youth, along with the stress that came with being a father.
…
Johnson takes dozens of pills per day and was featured in a 2024 Netflix documentary called Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever…
Elaine Chao, 73, who has been married to the 84-year-old Republican lawmaker since 1993 and formerly served as transportation secretary in the first Trump administration, traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng just [three] days after McConnell’s hospitalization […] reportedly discussing efforts to strengthen China–U.S. relations [despite holding no official US government position].
[…]
The Republican senator’s team has confirmed he is in the hospital but has offered no further details about his condition, including whether he is conscious or who is currently running his office. “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” an emailed statement from his office reads. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Yet Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician […] has warned […] that most patients who survive CPR after a heart attack are not able to “take care of their bodily needs.” “If it does work and we can restart their heart and their heart is beating spontaneously, that begins a long road to recovery, even for the healthiest of patients,”
A 74-year-old California man’s insect bite led to something much more horrifying than an annoying itch: a parasitic worm infestation of his eyelid.
Doctors at the University of California Los Angeles and others detailed the upsetting turn of events in a recent case report. To make things weirder, the man contracted a species of parasite that’s never been documented in the United States before. Fortunately, upon its discovery, the worm was safely removed, and the man recovered with no issues.
…
According to the report, the man was bitten by an unknown insect on his lower left eyelid.
At first, he experienced some fleeting pain, swelling, and fluid seeping from the bite. Six weeks later, however, his dermatologist noticed a firm but nontender eight millimeter-long “nodule” in the same spot.
…
Chalazions typically go away on their own after a few weeks, but five months later, the man’s lump was still there, so his doctors decided to remove and biopsy it. The surgery went off without a hitch, and the cyst was sent to a lab for further testing. It was then that doctors discovered the actual culprit: a nematode, or roundworm.
Physically, the parasite resembled a group of nematodes known as Dirofilaria; further genetic analysis confirmed that it was the species Dirofilaria repens. Like many parasites, Dirofilaria worms have a complicated life cycle, one that involves transmission between mosquitoes and their natural hosts like dogs or raccoons. Humans are accidental dead-end hosts, since the worms can’t become fully mature adults and mate inside our bodies…
birgerjohanssonsays
Australia…
“South Australian algal bloom species the world’s most toxic harmful microalga yet recorded”
.https://phys.org/news/2026-07-south-australian-algal-bloom-species.html
.
Also, I have just been told that Mitch Mc Connell has been unconscious the whole time since June 14th.
This creates a dilemma. He can be replaced by a special election, but first he must either resign (requires him to be conscious) or the senate must vote with a two-thirds majority to vacate his seat (good luck getting them to cooperate).
.
Furthermore, the senate is a gerontocracy.
Bernie Sanders is still going strong, but many of the others have a “Weekend at Bernie’s” vibe.
Elizabeth Warren calls on Platner to drop out: “There can be no tolerance for sexual assault… With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.” [Screenshot]
Rando 1: “So her line is somewhere between ‘violent domestic abuse’ and ‘rape’. I guess that’s better than no line at all, but, Jesus.”
Rando 2: “I was crushed when she endorsed him. Damage was done.”
Schumer/Gillibrand: […] “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw… The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.” [Screenshot]
Martin Heinrich (Sen D-NM): “I endorsed Graham Platner […] I can no longer support Graham Platner’s candidacy. He should step aside. [Screenshot]” https://bsky.app/profile/martinheinrich.bsky.social/post/3mpzaube5r22q
Platner has not made a decision on whether to drop out, according to a person familiar with the campaign’s internal discussions, who added there was no guarantee he would drop out even as Democrats abandoned his campaign on Monday.
“If he was to step down it would only be with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for,” said the person
Rando 4: “My dude, if you actually believe any of the values you say you do, you simply do not get to hold your party’s senate hopes hostage in order to dictate terms here.”
Rando 5: “This is like getting fired for cause but insisting you get to chair the interview committee for your replacement.”
Rando 6: “Rapist refuses to understand being told to fuck off, very on brand.”
Rando 7: “it means whoever could conceivably take his spot will now be able to be hit with ‘this candidate deemed acceptable by rapist Nazi’ by the Collins campaign.”
@320. birgerjohansson : ““South Australian algal bloom species the world’s most toxic harmful microalga yet recorded”
Thanks for that.
StevoRsays
Yes! We have our first images of Near Earth Asteroid Torifune :
Rare images taken by a Japanese space probe during a fly-by of a near-Earth asteroid have revealed that the space rock resembled a snowman, scientists said on July 6.
The fridge-sized Hayabusa2 skimmed asteroid Torifune on July 5 in a mission that demonstrated the ability to deflect a potentially dangerous space rock away from Earth.
A new image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on July 6 could aid such efforts, as researchers say near-Earth asteroids vary in their size, shape and surface characteristics.
“The moment I actually saw this image and the scientific data – it really gave me goosebumps,” JAXA scientist Yuya Mimasu told reporters, adding the asteroid “personally looked like a snowman”
Plus although nowhere near as clear of our planet’s quasi-moonlet Kamoʻoalewa :
China’s Tianwen-2 sample return spacecraft has arrived at Kamoʻoalewa, revealing the near Earth asteroid to be a small, elongated rocky body.
Tianwen-2 launched May 29, 2025, and traveled around 1 billion kilometers across 400 days to arrive at a distance of 20 km from the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3). The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced the spacecraft’s arrival July 6, providing a first close up image of the asteroid.
Ukraine struck Russia’s largest oil refinery, located in the city of Omsk, on Monday, marking what its forces say was its furthest-ever drone attack in the war.
The Omsk facility, which processes about 21 million tons of oil a year, is in Western Siberia and about 1,700 miles from Ukrainian territory — roughly the distance between Los Angeles and Houston…
A diarrhea-causing parasite known as cyclospora that causes “explosive diarrhea” is rapidly spreading across the nation – with Michigan being hit the hardest.
Exposure to the parasite by eating or drinking contaminated produce or water causes cyclosporiasis, an explosive stomach bug that can leave people feeling ill for more than a month.
Cyclosporiasis cases have nearly doubled in Michigan over the last week, the state’s health department announced over the weekend. There are now 572 cases, up from just 170 last Tuesday.
The parasite is also infecting residents in Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin Texas and a dozen other states, according to recent federal data. Ohio has reportedly seen 177 cases as of July 2 and there have been 110 in North Carolina, WRAL says…
British racist scumbag & Regress not sorry “Reform” party leader Farage is in huge trouble – & had to resign but will recontest a by-election :
Nigel Farage, the far-right political leader riding a surge of support in Britain, has announced he will stand down as an MP and recontest his parliamentary seat. It is major gamble that could end his political career and comes amid intensifying scrutiny of the 62-year-old Donald Trump-ally’s finances and donations.
Speaking in London on Tuesday, local time, he said he would be triggering a by-election in his Clacton-on-Sea constituency. It’s an unusual move which could serve as a circuit breaker for Mr Farage, who, facing the biggest crisis of his decades-long career, is attempting to shore up his position in Westminster and silence his critics. He has been accused of failing to declare donations and other benefits in the months before he was elected to the Commons in 2024.
Honestly kinda surprised this is the first one at least for commercial satellites. Not really the best idea in my view :
The world’s first commercially built nuclear-powered satellite has reached orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The BOHR (Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability) satellite, built by Florida-based company City Labs, launched to space early this morning (July 7) on SpaceX’s Transporter-17 rideshare mission.
..(Snip)..
BOHR is a novel cubesat demonstration mission from City Labs, which is testing out its proprietary “NanoTritium” betavoltaic micropower source in space for the first time. Similar to how spacecraft like NASA’s Voyager probes’ radioisotope thermoelectric generators produce power from the heat emitted from their plutonium cores, City Lab’s NanoTritium device harnesses the beta particles emitted from the radioactive decay of tritium, which can be converted directly to electricity using a semiconductor.
..(Snip)..
BOHR is designed as a pathfinder mission to test the feasibility of City Labs’ new technology, which is meant to provide continuous power to spacecraft without a reliance on solar energy. Though its tritium core isn’t actually BOHR’s power source — the cubesat is still dependent on solar power for general operations — City Labs’ technology could help introduce new vehicles capable of exploring places that current spacecraft can’t operate for long periods of time, like permanently shadowed regions at the moon’s poles.
For reasons that are hard to fathom, included among Biden era gun rules that Donald Trump has rolled back are restrictions on people who have been adjudicated mentally ill, making it easier for them to get access to guns and ammunition. Mirianna Mitchem, former associate assistant director at the ATF, talks with Rachel Maddow about the danger Trump is courting with his recklessness.
Rachel Maddow looks back at how past national milestone anniversaries were celebrated and considers how history will view the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth, marked primarily by narcissistic celebrations of Donald Trump.
Rachel Maddow discusses the Maine Senate race in the wake of new allegations against candidate Graham Platner.
Video is 5:26 minutes
StevoRsays
Unfortuinatekly whilst the British racist gets bad news it seems its good news for teh French fascist Le Pen :
French far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen was holding a meeting Tuesday at her National Rally (RN) party headquarters following a Paris court ruling that upheld her embezzlement conviction but shortened her ban on running for elected office, potentially enabling her to run in the 2027 presidential race. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.
“[Trump] confirmed reporting on his latest construction project, though his comments arguably made the controversy worse, not better.”
There was already a serious controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s plans for a massive “triumphal” arch just across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, in front of Arlington National Cemetery. The story grew more serious last month amid reports that the president wants the arch to be built quickly. National Park Service documents suggested the administration expects 20 hours per day of construction, year round, in the hopes that it can be completed before the end of Trump’s second term.
The schedule on his White House helipad is, believe it or not, even more aggressive. The Washington Post reported:
The White House sped up construction of a new helipad and related work in anticipation of an “upcoming state visit,” requiring crews to work around-the-clock and driving the cost up by $875,000, according to a contractor’s records obtained by The Washington Post.
The $13 million project also includes work on the nearby South Portico and an adjacent portion of the White House driveway, which will be retopped with white stone, the contracting records show.
Construction of the helipad apparently started early last week, though White House officials were reluctant to acknowledge or provide details about the project. That changed this week as the president boasted about the endeavor during an unrelated event in the Oval Office. [Video]
“We’re building a helipad, beautiful helipad, and it’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” the Republican told reporters, confirming the project for the first time. He added that the price tag would run between $5 million and $6 million, and the costs would be covered by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary that builds Marine One helicopters.
He didn’t mention the ambitious construction schedule or that he apparently wants this done before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in September.
What’s more, keen readers might notice the gap between the contracting records pointing to a $13 million project and Trump’s assurances about a helipad that costs $5 million to $6 million. That’s because the helipad construction isn’t the only related expense: It will also cost millions of dollars to cover planned work on the South Portico and the White House driveway. [And no doubt, costs will balloon again before all is said and done.]
Who will cover the difference? The White House hasn’t said, though if the recent ballroom revelations are any indication, it’s a safe bet that taxpayers will be on the hook. [Yep]
As for the president’s enthusiasm for the project, the Post’s report added:
In the latest example of Trump’s deep involvement in efforts to reshape the White House and its grounds, the president was personally engaged in several aspects of the helipad project, from price negotiations to design minutiae, according to emails exchanged between Clark [Construction] and the White House in December.
Trump offered input on how far to extend the driveway and requested adding a slight slope to the pavers to facilitate better drainage, according to emailed notes from a Dec. 19 meeting with the president.
“POTUS wants to look at the option of a curved curb for the drive,” one email noted.
When it comes to governing and substantive policy work, Trump is easily bored and distracted. But when it comes time to settle on granular design details for his assorted renovations and ostensible beautification projects, the president is fully engaged.
[…] Ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Turkey, Donald Trump prepared for the gathering by needlessly extending his weird offensive against an allied leader for no good reason. Time magazine reported:
United States President Donald Trump on Sunday evening shared a social media post featuring Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, reopening a recent dispute between the two leaders ahead of this week’s NATO Summit in Turkey.
Trump posted an image on Truth Social that shows Meloni looking up at the American President, with the words “restraining order needed” printed across the top.
The irony is that Meloni was supposed to be the one leader in Western Europe with whom Trump could get along. Indeed, for months, the American president singled out Meloni, one of the region’s most conservative figures, for praise, celebrating her as a “beautiful young woman” who took Europe “by storm.”
The Italian prime minister was the only European leader to attend his second inauguration, which came on the heels of a Mar-a-Lago visit. […]
In April, however, the relationship started to deteriorate. After Trump picked a bizarre fight with Pope Leo XIV, Meloni defended the pontiff. The presidential whine was almost immediate: Trump complained that Meloni was “very different from what I thought,” adding, “I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage. I was wrong.” He added, “She is the one who is unacceptable.”
In June, for reasons unknown, Trump renewed the offensive, telling an Italian journalist that Meloni had “begged” him to take a photo with her at the recent G7 summit in France.
The prime minister said she was “appalled” by the Republican’s “fabricated” claims.
“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this with his own allies,” Meloni added.
True to form, the American president responded by sticking to his usual strategy: He doubled and tripled down on the dubious claim that had generated the international incident in the first place.
It was around this time that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled a planned visit to the United States, and other Italian officials reportedly scrapped plans to attend U.S. Independence Day celebrations scheduled in Rome.
“It is unclear whether out of intent or ineptitude [Trump] is wrecking the historic relations between the United States and Europe,” Giovanbattista Fazzolari, undersecretary to the prime minister’s office, said in a statement last month. […]
This week, after the story had faded from view and as Trump prepared for an important international gathering, there was no reason to renew his offensive against his Italian counterpart. Apparently unable to help himself, he did it anyway.
Soon after, the Italian foreign minister told La Stampa newspaper that the country would no longer officially respond to the president’s nonsense. […]
As the NATO summit got underway on Tuesday morning, a reporter asked Trump why he suggested the Italian prime minister might be some kind of stalker. He replied, “Oh, I don’t know. I think she’s a nice person, actually. … I didn’t put a heavy press on her.”
Yep. This has all of the usual red flags that indicate a refusal of some kind of an unwanted approach from Trump. And now he is engaged in revenge. Why did Trump say, “I didn’t put a heavy press on her”? And why is he focusing on a “restraining order” in his social media? Trump also previously characterized Meloni as a “beautiful young woman.”
Drawing on the work of Mark Warren, Henry Farrell has an important new piece that argues for a more expansive understanding of corruption in a democracy …
To understand corruption properly, we shouldn’t think of it as an individual level phenomenon. […]
… and applies it to the Roberts Court:
Across an apparently unrelated range of issues – campaign finance, executive immunity, political corruption and gerrymandering – the Roberts Court’s decisions have persistently corrupted the workings of democracy, so as to undermine equality in decision making and voice in favor of processes that are both duplicitous and exclusive.
The point is that individual level quid pro quo corruption is too narrow and cramped a way of thinking about the corruption of democracies — and the corruption of the Roberts Court, which has been a driving force in the deeper, systemic American corruption that has become so insidious over the past two decades
NYT: “The number of students admitted to Ph.D. programs this fall dropped 15 percent from the previous year, according to data from over 50 top research universities, raising fears that the nation’s capacity to produce new science could be diminished.”
[…] When the two-week-long event kicked off, it was already wrought with power outages and a nonfunctional Ferris wheel, as well as lackluster vendor booths and food options.
But by the time the festivities came to its Fourth of July crux this past week, more close calls and even an investigation had already surfaced.
Part of why these state booths might have been so underwhelming is that, according to emails reviewed by NOTUS, many were caught off guard by exorbitant costs while swimming in confusion. [!]
“Your email earlier this evening states that exhibiting States who are assisting Freedom 250 as the permit holder in executing a possible amazing Great American State Fair are now responsible (?!) for insuring the Government of the United States of America (?!) who happens to be and is the permit holder for the event as I understand it,” a Michigan official said in an email obtained by the outlet. “Seems like this is a bit upside down and that it should be Freedom 250 insuring the participating exhibitors.”
Insurance, securing vendors, and overall preparation for the event seemed to come together with many left confused and unprepared to cough up extra funds. [!]
The outlet even alleged that a Trump-linked company—Freeman—was designated as the main provider for states to use for things like furnishing, shipping, and logistics. The company has never previously held any other government contract. [!]
House Democrats caught wind of suspicious behavior within the loosely planned event, claiming this past week that the event planners misled donors and, ultimately, rerouted their payments to a separate party.
[…] inside there were panels falling on dancers preparing to perform.
And more safety concerns were shrugged off by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman. Despite being rejected by the FAA, Isaacman cleared four 1970s-built jets to fly in Saturday’s festivities. Isaacman, a billionaire commercial astronaut and pilot appointed by Trump, defied the orders despite claims that it was too “high risk” to carry out.
With everything combined, the Trump administration’s rushed event seems indicative of the administration as a whole: expensive, cheaply made, and dangerous to everyone except those in the White House itself.
Over a year ago, Idaho resident Andrea Shaw, 23, publicly blamed vaccines for the deaths of her two fraternal toddler twins. Local authorities are now instead pointing the finger at another culprit: Shaw herself.
On June 30, the Payette Police Department announced that Shaw was charged and arrested for the alleged first-degree murders of her 18-month-old son and daughter, following an indictment from a Payette County grand jury. Last year, on a podcast from a non-profit anti-vaccination organization formerly run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Shaw claimed vaccines had contributed to their deaths.
…
Dallas and Tyson Shaw were found dead on May 1, 2025, in a shared bed at the family’s residence in Payette, according to the Payette Police Department. At the time, police stated they were investigating the deaths as a potential homicide.
…
According to documents viewed by local media outlet KTVB, the indictment against Shaw alleges her twins died of suffocation. For the time being, however, Shaw and her legal representation appear to be sticking to their original story that vaccines killed her children…/
Several metallic objects washed up on a beach in Australia after possibly falling from the skies. But don’t worry, we’re pretty sure it’s not aliens.
The Australian Space Agency has identified the metal spheres as potential space debris following a recent rocket reentry. “The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle,” the space agency wrote on X. “The objects’ location and characteristics are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere from orbit.”
…
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
StevoR @336: An ominous line from that interview.
Margaret Atwood: Sometimes my views do not accord with [others], and then they get upset because they think that I believed what they believed, whereas in fact I never did. […] Somebody says, “Are you a feminist?” You have to say which kind?
a transphobic article that “The Handmaid’s Tale” author recently shared [Twitter]. “Why can’t we say ‘woman’ anymore?” the article headline reads […] Now, concerns linger whether Atwood may head the way of other famous writers who express an inkling of transphobia. (Atwood has doubled down on her defense of the writer, who has raised eyebrows writing about the community in the past.) […]
“This tends to happen a lot, where we see a famous person drop some small hint that maybe they’ve been consuming anti-trans content online, and then immediately upon the backlash, drum a whole lot more,” [Erin Reed] says.
[…]
Still, Atwood has time to extinguish the fire she started. She could rectify some of the damage by engaging with transmasculine and nonbinary people who are directly affected on topics like reproductive rights. And an apology wouldn’t hurt.
Nobody is saying you can’t say women. But inclusive language is IMPORTANT. Trans men get turned away from gynecological care because our very language assumes they don’t have vaginas.
[…]
To add insult to injury, she claims the reporter isn’t a TERF even though many in the thread dig up old TERF articles. […] the reporter Atwood shared is VERY much a TERF.
[…]
Just a reminder for those who are surprised at all of this: Margaret Atwood signed the open letter against cancel culture with JK Rowling. This letter has been a pretty great predictor so far of “who will come out as a TERF/Transphobe next”: [Article]
this isn’t the first time she’s abandoned her feminist values
[…]
Back in 2018, Maggie A. wrote a Globe and Mail op-ed gleefully explaining why she’s a “bad” feminist. This was, in her mind, an intellectually superior position to the “Good Feminists” who criticized her for vociferously supporting Stephen Galloway, the novelist and then-professor at UBC who had been accused of sexual assault, assault and sexual harassment by a student. At the time, I wrote a reaction […] starting with her refusal to consider how “her decision to sign an open letter supporting a man accused of predatory behaviour could hurt survivors of sexual violence and deter other young women from coming forward.” But what I found almost worse was her reaction to criticism. Then, as now, Atwood would prefer to (unsuccessfully) dunk on the people who disagree with her rather than actually engaging
[…]
Writer (and my friend) Niko Stratis explained it [“]She has supported the idea of supporting trans women in the past, but a glance at her feed sees little to no instance of her uplifting, supporting or even listening to trans people.[“]
[…]
Her callousness was also, I’m sorry to say, on display when she wrote an entire novel based on the way Black women were subjugated and abused during slavery—but didn’t actually include any Black characters. […] As Angelica Jade Bastién wrote in Vulture [“]In Atwood’s [The Handmaid’s Tale] novel, Black people are mentioned in only a few sentences to alert readers that they’ve been rounded up and sent to some colony in the Midwest […] the mark of a writer unable to reckon with how race would compound the horrors of a hyper-Evangelical-ruled culture.”
And frankly, this is classic. The defining characteristic of White Feminism is the denial of privilege. This strain of feminist believes the problems that affect white, able-bodied, cisgender women are paramount. […] When people with less privilege ask for their needs to be considered, these feminists react as if they’re being replaced or, in this case, erased.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Working YouTube link for that Great American State Fair stage crash @343.
Just the crash. The Reddit link had some extra seconds from when dancers started practicing before the crash.
KGsays
StevoR@332,
Farage is under investigation by the Parliamentaery Standards Commissioner into his failure to declare funding from a Thai-based crypto billionaire, and a convicted fraudster; if he is found to have broken the rules badly enough, he could be suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days, which in turn would make possible a recall petition signed by some proportion of his constituents (10%?) leading to a byelection. He has seized the initiative by his announcement of his resignation as an MP before the investigation is completed, and contestation of the resulting byelection. But I think he may have miscalculated – his dubious funding sources are bound to come under even greater scrutiny during the campaign; I have a hunch the Clacton electorate may have tired of Farage’s egotistic grandstanding, and absence from both the constituency and the Commons; and I think he could even lose the vote, despite his big majority in 2024. Reform has not done well in recent byelections, when their candidates came under the media spotlight and anti-Farage voters have proved adept at identifying the candidate to beat Reform. Several other parties (Labour, Tory, LibDem, and Farage’s more openly fascist rival Restore Britain) have now said they will not stand, although last I heard, the Greens have said they will – it’s far from a promising seat for them, but Farage did not get a majority of the vote in 2024, and I think it’s possible many of the people of Clacton will decide it’s time to get rid of the odious chancer and they should vote for whoever else stands. If the Greens stand down, that would leave the way clear for Count Binface. It would be hilarious if Farage was beaten by a joke candidate, but I’m inclined to think the Greens should persist, and run primarily on “Give the voters a choice” and “Keep foreign money out of UK politics”. Even if they lose, as is probable, they would have put down a marker for the second byelection – if it happens – and shown that they have a distinctive approach.
The heatwave that put the triple‑digit sizzle on the central and eastern United States and canceled numerous July 4 public events over the three-day weekend moved to the Southwest and West Monday. Extreme temperatures remained high in the Southeast, especially Florida and the other southern coastal states. Texas, Southern California and Arizona saw above-normal temperatures for this time of year. The National Weather Service warned of extreme heat for millions of people in those regions with Phoenix hitting 107 °F (42°C) at Monday noon.While the Northeast and Midwest are seeing cooler temperatures after the blistering previous few days, flood threats are on the rise there because of wetter conditions.
That, of course, is weather. Before long, the record-smashing temperatures of this summer’s weather will be overtaken by another summer’s records. Then another and another. That’s climate.
Now, there are still stubborn folks who just can’t pry themselves out of their dogma who will tell you we’ve always had hot days. Soooo, nothing to see here. Yadda-yadda-know-nada. In a study by the World Weather Attribution, scientists concluded that the July 4 event would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change. The researchers concluded that what would once have been roughly a 1-in-200-year event has become far more likely because the planet has already warmed about 1.4°C (2.5°F) from greenhouse gas emissions. The heatwave was, they asserted, substantially hotter than it would have been in a world without human-caused warming. [Truth, facts]
According to a Nature Reviews study:
Many climate variables have witnessed changes in their record-breaking frequency. For example, all-time daily hot records on land are more than four times higher in 2016–2024 than expected without climate change, and all-time cold records two times lower; similarly, daily maximum precipitation records and monthly dryness records are more than 40% and 10% higher, respectively. [graph]
Climatologist Katharine Hayhoe urged her readers to use the heatwave as an opener to discuss the climate crisis with friends, workmates, and family:
Heatwaves aren’t new. But I’m a climate scientist, and I can tell you heatwaves like this are virtually impossible without fossil fuel pollution. Not only that, but when extreme weather hits, research shows that connecting it to climate change helps people understand why it matters. And you know who the most trusted people to do that are? Not scientists. You! Yes, people we know are the most effective messengers to have these conversations. So if you’re worried about what’s happening and how extreme heat puts us at risk—talk about it!
At Bloomberg, Eric Roston and Hayley Warren reported:
“We could call them super-extremes or mega-extremes,” said Tim Lenton, chair in climate change and Earth system science at the University of Exeter. “We’re starting to see extremes on a spatial scale and a magnitude that’s really surprising.”[…]
“Extreme events are so far outside anything we have expected,” said Friederike Otto, an Imperial College London climate scientist and co-founder of World Weather Attribution. “It’s not so important whether it’s what we expected as experts. It’s whether it’s what we expect as people on the ground.
“Climate change is here, it’s already impacting the things we enjoy in our everyday lives, and it will continue to get worse the longer we drag out the inevitable transition to net zero emissions.”
What’s increasingly unsettling — even to scientists who have spent decades sounding the alert about climate change — is how the records are falling. They are not merely inching past previous highs as in the past. Increasingly, they are vaulting over them. […] The concern is echoed across the scientific literature and by organizations including the World Meteorological Organization, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, as well as the World Weather Attribution consortium. Their message is remarkably consistent: Today’s extremes are becoming tomorrow’s normal, and yesterday’s “unprecedented” is becoming disturbingly our new reality.
For years, climate scientists warned us that global warming would “load the dice,” making heatwaves more frequent. That metaphor remains useful, but it no longer tells the whole story. It’s one thing when a river overtops its banks once in a century. It’s another when each successive flood occurring once-in-20 years or once-in-five years reaches farther inland, erasing what everyone thought was safe ground.
Climate scientists are increasingly confronting a similar reality. Records are not merely being broken. They are being broken by jaw-dropping margins. […] Such temperatures are still well within their long-term predictions. But not expected so soon. […]
Heat harm possesses a political invisibility that hurricanes, floods, and wildfires do not. [Cameras] cannot easily capture the elderly woman whose apartment never cools below 90 degrees overnight, the farmworker whose kidneys slowly fail after years of dangerous heat exposure, or the warehouse employee whose body simply reaches its limit. Heat kills quietly.
That quietness allows governments to underestimate it, news organizations to underplay it, and voters to treat it as little more than an unpleasant inconvenience. […] Yet extreme heat has become one of the deadliest weather hazards on Earth. The latest Lancet Countdown estimates that heat now claims about 546,000 lives worldwide each year — roughly one person every minute. Recent European heat waves alone have been linked to thousands of excess deaths, while July’s North American heat dome has already produced dozens of confirmed fatalities and placed millions under dangerous heat alerts.
[…] Wealth buys insulation, efficient air conditioning, backup generators, shaded neighborhoods, vacation homes, and the freedom to avoid outdoor labor during dangerous afternoons. Poverty buys asphalt, aging apartments, thin tree canopies, crowded housing, and jobs that often cannot be performed from the comfort of a climate-controlled office.
A warming planet is amplifying old injustices. […] American neighborhoods redlined by racism generations ago often remain several degrees hotter than wealthier communities because they have fewer parks and trees. Agricultural workers, construction crews and delivery drivers face escalating health risks while performing work that keeps everyone else’s lives functioning. Schools without modern cooling systems become dangerous learning environments precisely for children least able to escape them. […]
The wizards running Florida state government passed legislation forbidding local jurisdictions from passing worker-protecting heat ordinances.
The World Meteorological Organization warns that the currently developing El Niño, layered atop long-term greenhouse warming, raises the likelihood of global temperature records growing even faster over the next few years. Copernicus reports that ocean temperatures remain extraordinarily high, storing immense quantities of heat that will continue influencing weather around the globe. [graph]
[…] Unfortunately, we have a wrecking crew running the federal executive branch. Olivia Rosane at Common Dreams noted that on July 2, Energy Secretary and former fracking CEO Chris Wright was slumming around on social media to say the Trump regime would end subsidies for new wind and solar on July 4. There was talk the same day from Donald Trump himself about how much he’s doing to speed the way for more oil and gas development even as the United States is the world’s largest producer of both.
Climate scientist Rebekah Jones responded: “During a record heatwave, no less. Fossil fuel industries have received $549 BILLION in direct subsidies, and $7 TRILLION in tax benefits. They average $30 billion per year in upfront taxpayer money. All of renewable energy received $400 million per year from 1994-2009.” [graph]
Adaptation is not an option. It’s essential to survival. There are concrete solutions to the growing heat. Some are cheap and easy and can be done instantly. Some are expensive and tough and will take years, even decades to achieve. Here’s an incomplete list: [List is available at the link.]
[…] You think this heatwave was bad? Just wait. This isn’t just another climate story. It’s a labor story. A housing story. A public health story. A civil rights story. […] We need to keep talking about this. And act.
TMZ DC with perhaps the most brutal video from Trump’s Great American State Fair, showing Dr. Oz on stage bragging to Dean Cain about how big the crowd is, only for the reporter to pan around and show absolutely nobody is there. [Video clip]
Commentary
The entire Dean Cain fan club showed up.
Dean Cain is the Scott Baio of Kevin Sorbos.
There are more Kryptonians who survived their planet’s explosion than there are people in this video.
It’s even more pathetic because entry is free.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Elizabeth Jacobs (Epidemiologist): “A least one ICE detention facility in Arizona is ‘closed for measles’. It is not clear how many people are infected or have been exposed, and it seems that there may be outbreaks in two facilities.”
hospitalizing well over a hundred people in Galveston alone […] Flea-borne typhus, also called murine typhus, is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia typhi and is spread to humans through fleas that have been infected. Symptoms usually appear six to 14 days after exposure and include fever, headache, chills, rash, backache, joint pain and nausea. Most cases are mild, but, if untreated, the bacterial illness can escalate into a hospitalization, or worse.
[…]
Out of 167 cats sampled, fleas from six of them tested positive for the bacterium. That may sound like a small fraction, but the region has reported more than 6,700 cases of flea-borne typhus between 2008 and 2023, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
[…]
Keeping fleas at bay on pets through veterinary treatments remains one of the simplest ways to protect the humans
[…]
Reviewing the college’s microbiology records from April 2019 through October 2023, researchers identified 149 adults with murine typhus. Of those, 119—nearly 80 percent—required hospitalization, and 33 needed intensive care. […] A different, 2023 study of Galveston County residents […] found that antibody evidence of past R. typhi infection had climbed from just 1.2 percent of the population in 2013 to 7.8 percent in 2021 […] that hints at how much more common exposure has quietly become.
[…]
“The increased abundance of pet cats and stray or feral cats, socioeconomic conditions that prevent access to affordable flea protection on cats, and warming temperatures likely all promote flea infestation of cats and transmission of the bacteria that causes typhus.”
[…]
Murine typhus was once a nationwide problem, but aggressive vector-control campaigns in the 1940s decimated rat flea populations and all but erased the disease from the U.S. In Galveston, it appeared to have disappeared for decades. But its return has been documented in a troubling progression
Columns buckled, and bricks tumbled into the street from an under-construction high-rise in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday morning. The former Pfizer building remained unstable and continued to move hours later, forcing nearby buildings to evacuate, officials said.
A structural column buckled on the 21st floor, and additional structural issues were subsequently discovered, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
…
The high-rise at 235 E. 42nd St., on the corner of East 42nd Street and Second Avenue, is a 1970s-era office building being converted into luxury apartments….
… Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist who wants to repeal a woman’s right to vote, has defended slavery and believes homosexuality should be a crime.
His beliefs are extreme, and not long ago they were considered fringe. But today, Wilson’s teachings are entering the mainstream, according to religion and history scholars, including Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne.
That’s why Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel sat down with Wilson at his Moscow, Idaho, church for NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast.
In a wide-ranging interview, Wilson said he opened a D.C. “church service” because of the number of Christians who adhere to his church’s teachings within the Trump administration. One of the most prominent followers is Hegseth, who attends the newly opened D.C. congregation.
“If Kamala [Harris] had won the presidency, there would have been basically zero evangelicals in the White House administration,” Wilson said. “And although Donald Trump is not an evangelical by any stretch … his administration is full of them.”
…
“The first settlement with the former White House official was described as ‘a miscarriage of justice.’ The second settlement adds insult to injury.”
Of all the White House allies who have received lucrative settlements from the Trump Justice Department in response to highly dubious civil lawsuits, the DOJ’s deal with former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn is among the most outrageous.
It also has a sequel. Bloomberg News reported:
The US Justice Department settled a second lawsuit against the government brought by Michael Flynn, agreeing to pay the conservative activist and ally of President Donald Trump to resolve his claim that the US Army wrongly withheld approximately $38,000 from his retirement pay several years ago.
The settlement was finalized and “executed” in recent weeks, according to a public court filing in late June, but it did not specify the terms. The agreement included paying Flynn a sum below $75,000, according to a person familiar who asked for anonymity to discuss a matter that’s not yet public.
Court documents filed in April said the DOJ and Flynn had “agreed to a settlement in principle,” though they’d “need more time to finalize and implement the agreed-upon settlement.” […] that work is apparently now complete.
These developments come on the heels of an earlier settlement agreement worth $1.25 million, and the fact that Flynn is walking away with any taxpayer money at all is awfully tough to defend under the circumstances. [So true!]
[…] After Flynn was first charged by federal prosecutors — he was accused of lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian government, lying to investigators about being a paid foreign agent and acting illegally as an unregistered foreign agent while working on Trump’s 2016 campaign — he admitted he lied, pleaded guilty twice in open court and became a cooperating witness with then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. [Yep. Those are the facts.]
Flynn later changed lawyers, however, at which point he stopped helping the Mueller probe and decided he was no longer guilty of the crimes to which he had already pleaded guilty. Soon after, then-Attorney General Bill Barr took an interest in the case, and the DOJ announced it was dropping all of the charges against Trump’s former aide.
As difficult as it was to believe, Barr’s DOJ concluded it could not prove Flynn was guilty of crimes to which Flynn himself had already pleaded guilty. [!] (A retired judge examined what transpired and ultimately accused the DOJ of exercising a “gross abuse of prosecutorial power.” [!])
Late on a Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving 2020, Trump quietly pardoned Flynn. It was among the most corrupt moves the president made in his first term.
The pardon, however, apparently wasn’t enough. Flynn also wanted a payout, claiming that federal law enforcement had subjected him to malicious prosecution when it charged him with crimes — and I can’t emphasize this enough — he had twice pleaded guilty to. Trump’s hyperpoliticized Justice Department agreed in a development that Mary B. McCord, an MS NOW legal and national security contributor, described as “a miscarriage of justice.”
The second settlement in a separate but related case now adds insult to injury.
There was a point between Trump’s first and second terms when he suggested that, should he return to power, he might very well bring Flynn back to the White House. It increasingly appears, however, that Flynn doesn’t need a job, since the president’s team keeps agreeing to send him taxpayer money.
Donald Trump uses his social media platform to advance all kinds of ideas, but the president published an item last week that stood out for an entirely different reason.
“How about this?” Trump wrote. “Micron, a GREAT American Company, announced that they are putting in 250 Million Dollars into the Trump Accounts for the future benefit of children, and their stock went up 9 points today. Thank you Micron!”
It’s not at all common for a sitting American president to publicly tout the stock performance of an individual company, but that wasn’t the only problem with Trump’s missive. Complicating matters, he neglected to mention that earlier this year he bought stock in Micron, a domestic semiconductor company.
In fact, the day after Trump bought the stock, he called into a Fox News program and said, “I just left [a meeting with] the head of Micron. It’s one of the hottest companies.”
The same month, Trump toured a Thermo Fisher Scientific manufacturing facility in Ohio, where he touted the company. He failed to mention that he’d bought Thermo Fisher Scientific stock, too.
In May, Trump published an online item celebrating Palantir Technologies — in an especially brazen move, he literally included the company’s stock market ticker symbol in the post — again after buying the company’s stock.
All of this came to mind again this week when the president hosted a White House event at which he encouraged the public to “go out and buy a Dell computer.” [Video]
If you’re thinking that I’m about to tell you that Trump bought stock in Dell in recent months, you’re right.
As The New Republic noted, “In December, Dell pledged a $6.2 billion commitment to the [Trump] accounts. A few months later, Trump purchased at least $1 million in Dell stock, and then went on a rant about buying Dell computers.”
What’s more, The Washington Post reported in May that Dell was granted a $9.7 billion government contract on the heels of Trump buying stock in Dell. [!!] […]
“If Trump wanted to legally remove himself from investment decisions he could do so by creating a qualified blind trust,” Judd Legum recently explained in a piece for Mother Jones. “Instead, before returning to the White House, Trump transferred his assets in a trust that is managed by his son Donald Trump Jr.”
Legum added, “There are no legal or practical barriers preventing Trump from being involved in the management of his assets. But it’s a whopper of an ethical conflict.”
Dozens of people linked to three prominent gangs, including the leader of the Bishnoi gang, have been criminally charged in a cross-border (Canada and USA) crackdown on organized crime.
Newly unsealed indictments show 37 people have been charged in the United States with crimes ranging from extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping and shootings.
The imprisoned leader of the Bishnoi gang is one of two men now charged in the United States with ordering the assassination of a prominent Sikh separatist in British Columbia three years ago.
Three Canadian defendants, all in B.C., are appearing in court this afternoon.
…
A federal judge blocked a grand jury subpoena for information about 2020 election workers in Georgia, a rebuff to the Justice Department’s investigation into how the election was handled in the Atlanta area.
[…] US District Judge William Ray called the breadth of the subpoena seeking information about Fulton County election workers “staggering.” He said that the use of the subpoena power to investigate the 2020 election was not legitimate, given the statute of limitations for any potential crime. […]
The federal court proceeding revealed two reasons the Justice Department wanted to re-examine the 2020 election result in Fulton County.
Federal investigators alleged Fulton County had potentially failed to preserve its images of 2020 ballots “for the time required by law,” the judge said in the order Tuesday.
The Justice Department also “alleges that a certain number of the actual 2020 ballots that it seized pursuant to a search warrant look suspicious,” the judge noted.
The judge said it was possible the Justice Department wasn’t using a valid grand jury action in asking for 2020 election workers’ personal data.
“No evidence has been presented to the Court that the actual Grand Jury in the Northern District of Georgia seeks this information [!], as opposed to the out-of-district prosecutors who the DOJ has appointed to lead this inquiry who have served this Subpoena in the name of the Grand Jury,” the judge wrote.
The Trump administration’s loss Tuesday is one of several court defeats it has suffered as the president remains fixated on his claim of mass election fraud in 2020. In the wake of the losses, the Justice Department this week has made new attempts to insert itself in election administration.
A letter from the Justice Department Civil Rights Division sent to a state elections office and obtained by CNN threatened criminal punishments for election officials who send mail ballots to non-citizens. […]
Michigan’s secretary of state and attorney general said Monday that three cities also received letters from Dhillon, which they say requested “various documents” from the cities and state the department’s intention to send federal election monitors to polling locations during the August primary election. The cities — Lansing, East Lansing and Detroit — are all Democratic strongholds. […]
A U.S. federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit accusing the newly married pop megastar Taylor Swift of plagiarizing phrases from a Florida woman’s poems for more than a dozen songs.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said the plaintiff, Kimberly Marasco, failed to show that her poems constituted protectable expression, or that Swift had seen the poems and an average person would deem her songs substantially similar.
Marasco represented herself. Reached by email, she said she disagreed with the decision and will appeal.
Lawyers for Swift and the other defendants, including Republic Records and Universal Music Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Swift, 36, was accused of copying details from Marasco’s poetry books for songs including Down Bad and I Can Do It with a Broken Heart, both from Swift’s 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department.
But the judge said any commonality between Marasco’s poems and Swift’s songs consisted only of “unprotectable ideas, themes, metaphors, and isolated words.”
Cannon gave many illustrations, including confronting adversity, being “gaslighted” and being “submerged” under water.
The judge dismissed an earlier version of Marasco’s lawsuit last September.
She said that where Marasco made new allegations, “the works are not even substantially similar — a point plaintiff effectively concedes by characterizing the alleged copying as ‘paraphrase,’ ‘rephrase,’ and copying with ‘minor word substitutions.'” …
This is the first time I have heard of Cannon doing anything that wasn’t wacky or corrupt.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has been hospitalized since June 14, spoke to Senate Republican leaders on Monday and Tuesday amid growing speculation about whether he will return to the Senate before the end of the year.
McConnell had a “lengthy and substantive conversation” with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday, undercutting the rumors that McConnell’s health condition may be substantially worse than his staff has acknowledged.
Then McConnell, who is 84, spoke on Tuesday with Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (Wyo.).
“Senator Barrasso and Senator McConnell had a lengthy conversation early this afternoon. Their phone call lasted roughly 20 minutes. They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits,” said Kate Noyes, a spokesperson for Barrasso.
The aide said McConnell and Barrasso also discussed the Senate’s upcoming July work period and the need to pass the National Defense Authorization Act and confirm Jay Clayton to serve as director of national intelligence.
“Sen. McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” the aide said.
A spokesperson for McConnell reiterated a statement from last week that McConnell “continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.” […]
The Trump administration on Tuesday revoked a sanctions waiver that had allowed the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.
The revocation comes after Iran reportedly struck three ships near the Strait of Hormuz […]
The new document from the Treasury Department says that transactions that were authorized under its previous sanctions waiver would have to wind down by July 17. The waiver it previously issued would have allowed sales of Iranian oil through Aug. 21.
The original sanctions waiver was part of a ceasefire memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran after months of war.
Asked about the decision, a U.S. official told The Hill that the MOU is “performance-based” and that Iran would only benefit if it shows good behavior. The official said that Tehran’s actions were unacceptable, and that reimposing sanctions was the consequence.
However, they added that negotiators are continuing to work toward a final agreement. […]
The Treasury Department has scrapped plans for Harriet Tubman to be on the $20 bill, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday.
In response to a question about the status of the bill from Spectrum News, Bessent said the Trump administration was “not at present” planning to place Tubman’s likeness on it.
[…] The Biden administration attempted to speed up the release of $20 bills with the famous abolitionist after the first Trump administration shelved the move first kicked off by the Obama administration.
[…] Ten years ago, the push to swap former President Jackson with Tubman on the front of the bill began under former President Obama. The bill was originally set to be unveiled in 2020, in line with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment […]
A federal judge in Ohio ruled against the Trump administration Monday, citing bigoted comments President Trump and Vice President JD Vance made about immigrants.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley ordered the White House to unfreeze immigrants’ benefit applications, citing Trump and Vance’s “outright hostility towards immigrants, both before and after the 2024 presidential election.” These applications include filings for work authorization and green cards from people in the U.S. from countries including Burma, Canada, Iran, Nigeria, Syria, Tanzania, and Venezuela.
“Their ire appears focused on immigrants from countries in the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and Asia,” Marbley, nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1997, wrote.
The judge quoted many of Trump’s comments against immigrants of color, including the time he railed against people coming to the U.S. from “shithole countries” or when he claimed Haitians are “poisoning the blood” of our country. In his second term as president, Trump attacked Somali Americans and accused them of adding “nothing” to the country, and oversaw violent immigration crackdowns across the country, particularly in Minnesota.
Marbley also highlighted Trump and Vance’s made-up accusation that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pet cats and dogs. […]
“Administration Demands States Change Voting Rules or Lose Antiterrorism Funds”
“Federal officials said they would withhold some money unless states pursue paper ballot systems, verify citizenship and conduct costly audits.”
The Trump administration is requiring states to change the way they conduct elections or risk losing tens of millions of federal terrorism-prevention funds, in its latest move that would make voting harder and undermine trust in results that don’t go President Trump’s way.
The effort would force states to transition to paper ballots, verify citizenship of voters and make other changes to election procedures, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency documents.
FEMA, part of the Homeland Security Department, has told states that it would withhold 20 percent of some terrorism-preparedness grants unless they provide “proof of compliance” with the election security measures, the documents show. The grants, which total $1 billion each year, help pay for physical barriers and other security measures as well as planning and drill exercises and cybersecurity protections.
Courts have already blocked similar efforts by the administration to require changes to voting, saying the Constitution grants power over elections to states and not the executive branch.
Mr. Trump and his allies have made false claims of voter fraud for years, which have been investigated and debunked. But since he returned to power last year, he has tried to use the levers of the federal government, along with his influence over state and local lawmakers, to reshape American elections, though with little success. Mr. Trump has pushed new policies through cabinet agencies, including the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department, and drafted two executive orders seeking to make extensive changes to how elections are run. Both of those executive orders have largely been blocked by courts.
[…] The policies align closely with some of the goals pushed by right-wing activists that are rooted in false conspiracy theories about election machines and voting by noncitizens during the 2020 election.
[…] A notice warned recipients that 20 percent of any award could be withheld until the Homeland Security Department verifies compliance with the new rules.
The rules do not apply to federal disaster aid, which FEMA also manages.
CNN previously reported on the administration’s plans to tie election security rules to the homeland security grants.
The grants go largely to populous states with large urban areas, including New York, California and Texas. New York is set to receive about $204 million in fiscal year 2026, according to the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“After denying disaster relief funding and stripping millions from counterterrorism programs, the Trump administration is once again putting New Yorkers’ lives at risk to forward their political agenda,” Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement about the new requirements. “Unlike the President, my number one priority is New Yorkers’ safety, and I will fight to ensure our state has every resource available to keep us secure.”
[…] the executive branch does not have constitutional authority to regulate elections, which states administer and Congress broadly oversees.
Last month, a judge barred an effort by the Trump administration to force states to use a centralized national database of citizens built for checking immigration status, known as the SAVE system, to verify voters on their rolls, saying the move violated at least three laws. Two provisions in the FEMA grants would require the same process, according to internal FEMA documents obtained by The New York Times.
[…] Switching to hand-marked paper ballots would very likely cost states hundreds of millions of dollars, as they would be required to buy new tabulation machines and other election equipment. […]
Manual audits of 5 percent of ballots would also quite likely to cause significant delays in counting, cost millions of dollars and, in some cases, fall far short of what would be considered an adequate audit for races with narrow margins, as is often the case in some congressional districts and local elections […] Currently, every state has a post-election audit process to check for accuracy, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.
“Bernie Sanders Calls on Platner to Drop Out After Rape Allegation”
“Mr. Sanders was one of the last remaining prominent allies of Graham Platner, the Maine Senate Democratic nominee, to call for him to drop out after a rape allegation.”
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont urged Graham Platner on Tuesday to withdraw from the Maine Senate race, becoming the most prominent early supporter of the Democratic nominee to push for his departure after a rape accusation.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.” […]
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.— Woody Guthrie, “This Land Is Your Land”
Our country is built on written documents — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, to name the most important. So to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, my wife, Ann, hosted a special event at Planet Word, the immersive language museum she founded in Washington to promote literacy. The singer-composer Nolan Williams Jr. led a singalong featuring classic American songs, including, of course, Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
Despite 100-degree heat, a remarkably diverse crowd of 300 people packed the museum’s main hall, and young and old sang together with gusto. There was so much joy and camaraderie in the room — and so many leaving attendees saying to one another how much they wished the entire country could reflect that same harmony every day. So many people asked afterward, “Why aren’t we singing these songs together on the National Mall?”
Which leads — I am sorry to say — to a quite different variation on “This Land Is Your Land” […] In my mind, it was the Trump variation, with lyrics that went, “This land is my land, this land is my land / From California to the New York island / From my cryptocurrency to the Qatari 747 / This land belongs to me and mine.”
One thing about President Trump: He is consistent. He never surprises you on the upside. He has never been remotely interested in being the president of all the people, only his base. He never tries to win by addition, only by division — only by us versus them. […]
The U.S. military launched new attacks on Iran Tuesday in retaliation for Iranian attacks against commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X. […]
Oil prices jumped to their highest level since June 25 Tuesday, after the U.S. revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that had allowed for the sale of Iranian oil on the global market. The Trump administration’s decision came after multiple tankers near the Strait of Hormuz had been hit by unknown projectiles.
Florida’s anti-woke law restricting how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities — policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis — violates the free speech rights of professors, a panel of appeals court judges ruled Tuesday. The decision from a divided 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit is a devastating, possibly final blow to the so-called Stop WOKE Act touted by the DeSantis administration.
“We the people — not Trump — get to decide how we want our generation to be remembered 50, 100 or even 250 years down the road.”
Related video at the link.
As we headed toward America’s 250th anniversary, there was a lot of looking back at what we had done for previous big-number anniversaries of the country’s founding.
There was a lot of looking back, for example, at all the groovy ways we celebrated the country’s bicentennial, its 200th anniversary, in 1976. And if you look back at the press that year, you’ll find that 50 years ago, they were also looking back at previous big celebrations, like the 100-year celebration — the centennial — in 1876, when we had a big world’s fair in Philadelphia.
We haven’t always done a great job at these celebrations. In 1926, for example, they tried to give the Ku Klux Klan a permit for a “klonvocation,” a big KKK parade, at the sesquicentennial, before someone finally thought better of the idea.
Now we just had our big celebration. When future Americans look back at this year’s anniversary, what will they be able to say we did?
On Saturday, President Donald Trump marked the occasion with a speech in Washington, where his followers reportedly argued with the Secret Service and police, refusing orders to evacuate the area due to a lightning storm. One supporter told a New York Times reporter they didn’t want to leave because they thought it was “liberals in the weather service” conspiring against them.
The president also threw a fair, his underwhelming 16-day Great American State Fair, which is set to come to a close on July 10. Last week, a group of dancers performing on the National Mall was nearly struck by a big, gold piece of the stage falling down.
There was also a military flyover of the National Mall. But was that kind of … everything? Was that all the federal government of the United States was capable of doing? For its 250th birthday?
For the kind of leader we have in the White House now, this anniversary was always going to be too much about the country and not enough about him. So really the only things he even tried to do for the anniversary were about him.
Here’s a federal government that spent the 250th anniversary of its founding rolling out a passport with Trump’s face on it, a Trump commemorative gold coin and Trump-signed $100 bills. It also wants to put Trump’s portrait on a $250 bill.
At Trump’s state fair, attendees were met with what looked like a staple-gunned wooden model of the arch he wants to build for himself in the nation’s capital.
The president also paid a visit to Mount Rushmore, after years of suggesting that his face be added to the monument.
None of these things are even about the country, let alone for it.
In 49 years and 362 days from now (if and when we hit our 300th anniversary), the way this government marked the country’s 250th anniversary will be looked back on as feckless and failed, a truly laughable effort by the cult of personality for a would-be dictator who is more unpopular than just about any other president in the history of the presidency — but who is nevertheless trying to turn the country into Trumpistan.
The one real national story we can happily tell about this anniversary will be that, by a coincidence of the calendar, one of the really great things happening all over the country on this 250th birthday was that people from all over the world came to the United States to celebrate the World Cup.
It was something Trump hadn’t really acknowledged at all — and maybe didn’t even know was happening, because it wasn’t about him. That was until Sunday, when we learned that Trump had decided to foul that up, too. He has admitted he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino about a U.S. player who was given a one-game suspension. (That suspension was later lifted, a decision Infantino said had nothing to do with Trump’s call.)
So now, the triumph of good vibes unfolding from the World Cup despite everything else our government is screwing up under Trump instead became an instant global outrage about Trump corrupting the World Cup.
It should be noted that Trump commemorated the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding this weekend by posting a racist, fake image of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a fake Air Force One that was covered in graffiti. [Oh FFS!] As The Associated Press delicately noted, “The use of graffiti is a coded message to remind people of crime and urban decay and has been used in racist messaging against Black people in the past.” […]
Happy 250th anniversary, America. How far we’ve come.
[…] The country is a heck of a lot more than whoever’s botching things and disgracing themselves in the White House.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the local chapter of Indivisible marked Independence Day by using their bodies to spell out “2547,” as in, use the 25th Amendment to declare Trump unfit and incompetent and remove him from office. They did that in Tulsa’s 96-degree heat.
It felt that hot in Minneapolis on Independence Day, as people held a mock funeral in the streets to commemorate those who have died in Trump’s immigrant prisons since he’s been back in office.
Even though the president and his top campaign donor, Elon Musk, looted all the money Congress set aside for small towns and local communities to mark the 250th anniversary, people are still doing cool stuff all over the country to mark the occasion.
Remember, this celebration goes all year long. The anniversary we just celebrated was for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which took place on July 4, 1776. But the Declaration was not actually read out loud to the people until 6 p.m. on July 8, 1776.
At 6 p.m. ET on July 8 this week, people all over the country are going to simultaneously read the words of the declaration to commemorate the first time that we the people heard it. [Nice.]
So, despite Trump’s attempts to make this all about him, this anniversary is really for all of us to celebrate the way we see fit. The way we’ll want to be proud of, and the way we’ll want our generation to be remembered 50 years from now, 100 years from now and, […] 250 more years down the road.
Welcome to the latest installment in our informal series about how everyone [does not respect or like] acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom President Donald Trump has nominated to be his next head of the Department of Justice.
From the posh folks at Washington’s Metropolitan Club trying to block him from joining their ranks to the 101 former federal and state judges filing a bar complaint against him, people are lining up to tell everyone how much Blanche sucks.
This time around, over 10 times as many people have signed their government names to a letter, obtained by Politico, saying the Senate should not, under any circumstances, confirm Blanche as attorney general.
[…] In their letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, these 1,200-plus folks wrote that the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution “now compels us to speak out against the nomination of Todd Blanche for Attorney General—someone who took the same oath, but has utterly failed to abide by it.”
If you’re wondering how he failed to abide by it, this letter is a one-stop shop for that information.
“Under Blanche’s leadership, approximately 16,000 employees have left, and departures aren’t slowing down,” the letter says. “They include FBI agents and analysts in field offices across the country, and more than a quarter of the department’s attorneys.”
The only thing that seems incredible about that statement is that there are any people left in the DOJ to continue departing.
The letter takes pains to point out that this isn’t just a case of people leaving on their own or even of rats deserting a sinking ship
Blanche has fired or overseen the firings of hundreds of these employees—usually without notice, and for improper, unlawful reasons. Some were terminated for having worked on cases the President didn’t like; for being relatives of the President’s foes; for adjudicating immigration cases in accordance with due process; for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions; or for refusing to lie in court. These terminations violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges.
Well, gosh, when you put it that way …
Also, these former DOJ folks understand how Blanche’s willingness to turn the Justice Department into one part Trump personal law firm and one part brutal immigration crackdown machine is leaving us, well, less than safe. They remind us that the chaos at the FBI flows downstream from the DOJ: “A quarter of FBI staff were reassigned to civil immigration enforcement in the first year. FBI, DEA, and ATF agents have been diverted from their investigations into terrorism, drug trafficking, and organized crime so they could patrol the streets of Washington, D.C.”
Also a problem for Todd? The DOJ keeps having to surge attorneys to wherever Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement thugs are operating, to handle what the letter politely called “an avalanche of immigration-related habeas cases.” That avalanche has buried United States attorney offices so thoroughly that they aren’t able to do their real jobs of charging and convicting actual criminals. […]
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
The next prez can make up for it with the 253rd anniversary.
whheydtsays
Re: CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ #372…
There are some important anniversaries still to come. 2033, 250th anniversary of the treaty ending the US Revolution (i.e. when Britain agreed that we were, in fact, independent). 2037, 250th anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution, the REAL start of our government as we know it. 2039, 250th anniversary of the start of the first Congress under the Constitution and the inauguration of the first president under it.
Levels of particulate matter peaked at 4am on Sunday, approximately five hours after the display concluded […] It remained elevated for approximately five hours after reaching its peak […] with city officials issuing a Code Red alert.
“Outdoor air quality is unhealthy for seniors, kids, people with medical conditions,” the alert said. “General public may experience health issues. Limit time outside.”
The south-west region of DC experienced the highest pollution levels […] because of its proximity to one of the fireworks launch sites in West Potomac park, as well as overnight meteorological conditions that trapped smoke over the area. That highly polluted air probably drifted into Arlington, Virginia […]
The air quality across the city could have been even worse in the aftermath of the display if it were not for thunderstorms that struck the city on Sunday evening.
[…]
the city recorded the worst air quality of any major city in the world, according to AirNow, the Environmental Protection Agency website that reports air quality measurements from its monitoring stations.
birgerjohanssonsays
The small asteroid Kamo’oalewa (“The Fragment Which Oscillates”) is being visited by a Chinese space probe right now, and we will hopefully get back a sample of material. The space rock is a ‘pseudo-moon’ of Earth.
Two Democratic senators who had previously endorsed Platner, Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) condemned him and withdrew their endorsements, but did not explicitly call for him to drop out of the race in social media posts.
[Tracker: 37 said drop out; 2 condemned; 0 support; 8 silent]
Modern birds are unique among vertebrates in having a short tail capped by a fused clump of bone called the pygostyle, which anchors their fan of tail feathers and is essential to flight.
Their dinosaur ancestors, by contrast, had long, bony tails with dozens of vertebrae.
How and when that transition happened has been difficult to pin down, largely because so few fossils capture birds in an intermediate stage.
The newly-identified bird species, Zhengheornis buyu, appears to be one of those missing pieces.
“Because long-tailed and short-tailed birds appeared nearly simultaneously in the early fossil record without clear intermediates, evolutionary biologists have long argued that a transitional species having an abbreviated but entirely unfused bony tail was biologically improbable and unlikely to have ever existed,” said Dr. Zhonghe Zhou, a paleontologist with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The holotype specimen of Zhengheornis buyu was found in 2024 in the Nanyuan Formation near Yangyuan village in Zhenghe country in China’s Fujian province.
The fossil dates 148-150 million years back to the end of the Jurassic period, when some of the earliest birds were beginning to diversify…
Please remind me; was it April or May when the president of the United States of America assured Congress that hostilities with Iran had ended?
StevoRsays
Dunno how many others reading this are in Adelaide or close enough to attend tonight but the Women* in Black group is holding a Vigil tonight on the steps of South Australia’s Parlt house to mark a thousand days of the genocide in Gaza. Starts 5 pm and goes for an hour. Bring electronic candles if you have any.
.* Not necessarily all women and not exclusively so – open and welcoming to all genders.
For at least a decade we have been told that this and that and the other thing must be tolerated in pursuit of the elusive vote of the working class […] On the one hand most of those in the USA who could be described as working class are neither white nor male, and on the other those who are telling us that the Hunt for the Working Class must take priority over all else tend to be middle-class white men when they’re telling us we must give up our commitment to other issues—women’s rights, racial justice, immigrant rights, climate action. […]
As sociologist […] Tressie McMillan Cottom put it last October, “[…] The conceit at the heart of that belief is that poor white people are too racist, and too uniquely ignorant of their racism, to vote in their best interests. Therefore, Democrats have to accept a little racism to win the working class.” Cottam is a Black woman; Black women are the single most loyal constituency of the party, the ones who vote for it in the highest numbers, but I have never heard similar arguments about how we must bend to their needs no matter what.
[…]
Essentially the message was “pander to toxic masculinity, machismo, to a white male fantasy of manhood.” […] It was really about white men mattering more than others. In a way they do—they hold disproportionate power in this country, in terms of money and position, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to electoral politics. But if the Democratic Party is committed to democracy, it has to be committed to equality regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and committed to universal human rights.
[…]
We were told the charisma mattered a lot and that the past was justified by PTSD and alcoholism and it had been redeemed, by some means that did not seem to involve much of anything except the declarations of the candidate and his supporters. Even Platner’s working class status seemed dependent on his own rhetoric, wardrobe, and the manual labor he performs as an oyster farmer (whose main buyer is his mother’s restaurant, while he lives in a house his lawyer father financed; his background is a fairly posh version of middle-class and he seems, in his forties, to be still propped up by his parents).
[…]
I wrote about that in the context of the Epstein case last year: “Rape is a crime against democracy in the most immediate sense of equality between individuals [with] inalienable rights. Most rapists operate on the premise that they can not only overpower the victim physically, but can do so socially and legally. They count on a system that discounts the voices of victims and only too often cooperates in silencing them, through shame, intimidation, threats, discrediting, the obscene legal instrument known as a nondisclosure agreement and a system too often run by men for men at the expense of women and children. That is to say, rapists count on […] profound inequality. […]
PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder—has been cited, including by Platner, as a justification for his post-military conduct. […] another Marine who served in Iraq, David J. Morris, who wrote a powerful book, The Evil Hours, about PTSD, wrote me some years ago, “The science on the subject is pretty clear: according to the New England Journal of Medicine, rape is about four times more likely to result in diagnosable PTSD than combat. Think about that for a moment—being raped is four times more psychologically disturbing than going off to a war and being shot at and blown up. And because there are currently no enduring cultural narratives that allow women to look upon their survival as somehow heroic or honorable, the potential for enduring damage is even greater.” A significant percentage of American women are survivors of male violence, including intimate partner violence and rape, yet I rarely hear PTSD invoked to justify or excuse their—our—behavior, and I’ve never heard it invoked to justify violence by women.
[…]
I’ve often joked, bitterly, that women’s rights are very important to progressive men, just not as important as anything else. […] We need more men to articulate how they benefit from feminism, aka from living in a world of equality rather than inequality, and to move the conversation forward into how men are oppressed and distorted by patriarchy—granted unequal power, but at what cost to their psyches?
KGsays
Meanwhile back in the UK, the Farage farrago continues. The Green Party of England and Wales have now joined the other significant parties who might have stood against Farage in the byelection in Clacton which he intends to bring about by resigning as an MP, in saying they will not put up a candidate. I’m a bit torn about whether this was the right decision – it goes very much against the grain to say a chance, however remote, to throw a fascist grifter out of Parliament should not be taken. But there may be an opportunity to make Farage look a complete upper-class twit, as there will only be fringe and joke candidates standing against him. I think there should be a rally around Count Binface, the best-known of the perennial joke candidates who contest multiple elections (he’s a professional comedian who gets off some good lines), and force Farage to fight the campaign against him. I see the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch (a bit of a joke herself) has hinted at that. Formal endorsements from serious parties wouldn’t be helpful, but a few nudges and winks, and tacit approval for party members to help the Binface campaign, might.
However, a(nother) weird wrinkle in the UK’s constitution (it’s a myth that it doesn’t have one, it’s just scattered about and vague around the edges) means the byelection may not take place. The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey (another bit-of-a-joke party leader) has called on the government to block Farage’s resignation until the Parliamentary Standards Commission enquiry into Farage’s funding concludes. How, you may ask, do you stop a politician resigning? The weird wrinkle is that an MP cannot, as such, resign their seat. They have to apply for an “office of profit under the crown”, the most commmon being “Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds” (the steward has no duties and I think no actual salary, maybe a nominal guinea a year or something). Once they are granted such an office, they are no longer an MP – this is the British version of the distinction between the executive and legislative branches of government. But in principle, their application may not be granted, in which case they remain an MP and no byelection occurs; this was last done, apparently, in 1842.
KGsays
Please remind me; was it April or May when the president of the United States of America assured Congress that hostilities with Iran had ended? – Reginald Selkirk@378
Come now – this is obviously a completely new war, nothing to do with the one that ended in April (or May)! So the 60-day count until the war needs congressional approval starts again from 0.
KGsays
The anniversary we just celebrated was for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which took place on July 4, 1776. – Lynna, OM@370 quoting Rachel Maddow
Not so, according to Heather Cox Richardson (I don’t have a link handy, but it’s in her podcast for July 4th). The wording was agreed on July 4th, but the signing had to wait until copies were made and distributed, and that took until sometime in early August.
Reginald Selkirksays
@383
… but the signing had to wait until copies were made and distributed, and that took until sometime in early August.
New Zealand company Zenno Astronautics has tested the first of its kind thruster based on superconducting magnets to maintain the position of a satellite in space.
Superconducting magnets can convert solar energy directly into momentum in space and provide a source of acceleration that needs no fuel, but until recently, the technology was too large and complex to fit on a satellite. That’s no longer the case.
…
“It’s a technology that allows a spacecraft to not tumble violently in space and point in the right direction,” Arshavsky said. “The unit has multiple super-conducting magnets that are positioned in different axes. When we power up the magnets, they generate a magnetic field, which interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, and because we can control the magnetic field on the satellite, we can control the way in which it turns with respect to Earth.”
…
The magnets need to operate at minus 200 degrees Celsius [-328 degrees Fahrenheit],” Arshavsky said. “But even though space is cold, the satellite is actually not. It’s about 20 degrees C, pretty warm, because we are pointing at the sun.”*
The unit housing the superconducting magnets is wrapped in layers of insulation and fitted with a heat pump that removes all the excess heat from the system. Every time the satellite needs a push, the superconducting coils power up, drawing energy from a battery charged by the satellite’s solar panels…
* An important point for any of you who might be dreaming of petawatt data centers in spa-a-a-a-a-ace.
KGsays
Reginald Selkirk@384,
And the British had captured the web-servers along with the airports.
“Everything Donald Trump touches is worse off for it. And he wants to put his touch on everything—especially America’s most talented and popular athletes,” says Chris Hayes.
It has been more than three weeks since Mitch McConnell was hospitalized after paramedics responded to a cardiac arrest call at his home. Since then, the 84-year-old senator has not been seen or heard from publicly.
Chris Hayes discusses how Republicans have planned to keep Mconnell’s senate seat no matter what happens.
Video is 7:33 minutes.
“The demise of the president’s latest case against a media company is a demonstration of the benefits of fighting back — and of the folly of appeasement.”
It can be challenging to keep up with the many lawsuits Donald Trump and his team have filed against assorted news organizations, but the president’s media company sued The Washington Post over a 2023 article, accusing the newspaper of a “years-long crusade” and being part of a “conspiracy” to harm the company. As part of its defamation suit, the Trump Media and Technology Group sought $3.8 billion in damages. [Ridiculous]
That didn’t go well. The Post reported:
A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of The Washington Post, throwing out a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed in 2023 by President Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group. [Good news]
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber, who is based in Tampa, wrote in a summary docket entry — known as a minute order — that Trump Media “failed to present evidence that would allow a jury to find by clear and convincing evidence” that The Post “published the allegedly defamatory statements with actual malice.”
Time will tell what becomes of the litigation — an appeal seems likely — though recent history suggests the plaintiffs should keep their expectations low. Indeed, recent history is highly relevant.
The Trump campaign’s 2020 case against CNN failed. Trump’s 2021 case against The New York Times failed. Trump’s 2023 case against journalist Bob Woodward failed. The Trump campaign’s case against the Post failed. Trump’s class-action lawsuit against social media giants also failed. [!]
Last year, Trump filed a $15 billion civil suit against The New York Times, which was thrown out four days later, not because it lacked merit, but because a federal judge found that the president’s lawyers’ court filing was simply too ridiculous. [LOL. That is a lot of defeats in court for Trump.]
Two months later, Trump’s media company also lost a defamation suit against The Guardian. [!]
As recently as April, Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal was also thrown out [!] of court, though he and his lawyers refiled the case a month later.
[…] When Trump filed a dubious case against ABC News, the network and its corporate parent agreed to a $16 million settlement. When he filed an even weaker case against CBS News, its owner, Paramount, also struck a $16 million deal.
In the weeks and months that followed, Trump repeatedly pointed to these controversial settlement agreements as evidence of his targets’ guilt, even as those networks denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, news organizations that stood up for themselves and resisted the ridiculous attempts at intimidation have prevailed.
Let this be a lesson to the larger political world: Resistance is far more successful than appeasement. It’s true when it comes to law firms, it’s true when it comes to higher education and it’s true in his court fights against news organizations.
“For Trump to renew this crusade for no reason does fresh harm to his own country in exchange for nothing.”
As 2026 got underway, there was reason for cautious optimism about Donald Trump’s obsession with acquiring Greenland. On Jan. 21, the American president announced he had agreed to “a framework” with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on the future of Greenland, which was apparently designed to satisfy the Republican’s demands.
A day later, in an interview with Fox Business, Trump suggested it was unlikely the United States would actually take ownership of the Arctic island — a priority that he had said in recent days was paramount — though he emphasized that he expected the deal to provide U.S. officials with greater “access” to Greenland. (The fact that we already had ample access was a detail that apparently eluded him.)
[…] Nearly six months later, Trump has reversed course and renewed his crusade to annex the island. CNBC reported:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday resurrected his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, and suggested the U.S. could pull all of its armed services members out of Europe in response to the Continent’s continued pushback on the issue.
The island territory “should be controlled by the United States,” Trump said shortly after he arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for a NATO summit.
As part of his comments on Tuesday, the American president not only said the U.S. should control Greenland, he added that NATO’s reluctance to simply give him the island he wants “hurt” his relationship with the alliance. [Video]
A day later, Trump kept going, insisting that he considered it “a big problem” that he had not been able to acquire Greenland, followed by a fresh round of whining about NATO members not giving him what he wants.
For good measure, Trump added, “We took Greenland and then, stupidly, we gave it back. We shouldn’t have given it back to them, because we’re the ones that need it. We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States. And it’s very important.” [Video]
Why does all of this matter? For one thing, Trump’s nonsense suggests the “framework” announced in January is effectively meaningless. For another, it set off a new international incident of sorts, as European leaders scrambled to make clear that the U.S. needs to leave Greenland alone. [!]
“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters. “One of the reasons why we built NATO many, many years ago is if anything happens to one of us then everybody should stand up for each other.”
Just as notable is that Trump’s focus on Greenland had already done significant harm to U.S. diplomacy and our international standing. For Trump to renew his obsession for no reason does fresh harm to his own country in exchange for … nothing.
lotharloosays
Ryan Grim has a new dumb video on the breaking points YT channel defending Graham Platner. I was not subbed to unsub but the channel went to the “don’t recommend” pile. Never liked the guy, and too bad for BP but fuck them.
As The Register has explained many, many, times since this matter first went to court in 2003, the roots of the case are the 1998 alliance between IBM and a company called the Santa Cruz Operation which sold a version of UNIX for x86 CPUs. Those two companies, plus Intel and Sequent, created “Project Monterey” – an effort to create a unified version of UNIX that could run on multiple processors.
The case and its successors ended in 2021, with a settlement that saw litigants agree to end the matter without IBM admitting fault.
But by then, SCO had sold its software to a biz called Xinuos that decided to fight on.
The Xinuos case has burbled along quietly since, and on June 22nd reached the milestone of a hearing.
Case of the living dead is back. Xinous can probably never win in court, SCO never had a good case to begin with and banked on making the case so complex and take so long that IBM was willing to settle. Xinous is yet enough level of contracts removed from the original problem.
In the latest desperate bid to attract visitors, organizers have started livestreaming a bizarre new game show hosted by Meghan McCain, the outspoken daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
[…]
On the [stage’s] two side screens, the aspect ratio is off, so [the trivia question] doesn’t fit on the monitors. Nine empty chairs are dotted around a seemingly empty field […] The question on the screen asks what material the U.S. Capitol’s dome is made of. […] the latest in a long list of flops
A bitter feud—which began in 2015 when Donald Trump said of former POW John McCain “I like people who weren’t captured”—is over […] Sen. McCain’s daughter […] had been particularly furious about the stunning digs, defending her father and calling Trump “a piece of sh*t, election-denying huckster.”
[…]
But Beltway insiders tell us that the process of confirming Trump’s intel pick Tulsi Gabbard has ended the standoff. Gabbard is a close friend […] (she’s even Godmother to one of Meghan’s kids)—and Meghan went to bat to get the former Democrat rubber stamped as the Director of National Intelligence. “She called around senators and talked to holdouts,” said an insider, “she went on Hannity to defend her and wrote an op-ed for the Spectator.” […] she even got a personal message of thanks from Trump via an aide.
[…]
said a source, “Meghan been supportive of MAGA in many ways besides [supporting] Trump himself because of the way he talked about her dad.”
“The world now confronts a difficult new question: Does the ‘deal’ between the United States and Iran still exist?”
Related video at the link.
In the three weeks since Donald Trump declared that a “deal” between the United States and Iran was “complete,” the president and his team have been dogged by a series of difficult questions. Why does Iran have to make so few concessions under the memorandum of understanding? Why have prominent members of both parties slammed the agreement as inadequate? Why is Trump’s deal so much worse than the Obama-era Iran deal?
Now, however, the world is confronting a qualitatively different kind of question: Does Trump’s deal still exist?
On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command announced a new round of strikes against Iran, following reports of attacks on merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration simultaneously said it was reinstating sanctions on Tehran, which had been eased as part of last month’s MOU.
Soon after, Iran’s military said it had fired missiles and drones targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for the strikes confirmed by CENTCOM hours earlier.
As for the tenuous ceasefire and peace process, it’s increasingly difficult to be optimistic. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday from the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump called Iranians “scum” and “evil people.” He added, “Frankly, we’ve wasted a lot of time with them. I think we should just do our business.”
Trump didn’t elaborate as to what that “business” entails, but in context, he appeared to be referring to additional military strikes.
And then he kept going. [Video]
Asked specifically whether the ceasefire is over and the peace framework is dead, the American president told reporters, “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. … They’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people. … As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. … As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. … They’re liars. … There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo.” [Trump is such an annoying asshole. He touches the “ceasefire” or the diplomatic efforts to maintain a ceasefire … and it all turns to shit.]
Right on cue, oil prices jumped [I can’t afford the higher gas prices.] and stock market indexes started falling. There’s no great mystery as to why: If the ceasefire is over and the peace framework is dead, then we’re right back to where we were when the hot war was still underway.
The trouble, however, is that Trump is erratic and easily confused. It’s effectively impossible to know whether he’ll take the opposite position at any given moment, opening the door to new diplomatic talks or making matters vastly worse.
“We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” the president said. It’s not nearly that simple.
It’s never been altogether clear why Donald Trump harbors so much animosity toward Spain […] Just days into the president’s second term, he tried to deride the international BRICS coalition, which he occasionally pretends to understand.
“They’re a BRICS nation, Spain,” the president told reporters. “You know what a BRICS nation is? You’ll figure it out.”
Spain is not, in reality, a part of BRICS — and Trump’s screw-up did not go unnoticed in Madrid. [Trump humiliates himself again.]
In the months that followed, Trump continued to complain publicly about Spain, threatening the country with tariffs, threatening to withdraw U.S. troops from Spain and, at one point, even suggesting Spain be kicked out of the NATO alliance.
But perhaps most importantly, Trump has talked more than once in recent months about ending all trade between the United States and Spain. He brought it up unprompted at multiple White House events shortly after the war with Iran began, following a dispute over the U.S. military’s use of Spanish air bases.
This week, he did it again during the NATO summit in Turkey. [video] “Spain is a wasted cause,” the Republican said Wednesday. “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I’d like to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. … I don’t want anything to do with Spain.” [Trump also said: “Cut off all trade with Spain, please. Including visits. We don’t want any thing to do. They’re hopeless. Bad people.”]
[…] Whether the American president fully understands this or not, there’s a reason he hasn’t been able to follow through on similar threats in recent months. As The New York Times reported, “As part of the European Union, Spain’s foreign trade is governed by the bloc’s deals.”
In other words, the White House can’t single out Spain for some kind of trade embargo without affecting the rest of the European Union, which is a fight the administration has been reluctant to pick.
As for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who shrugged off the American president’s latest threat, there’s a broader dynamic the White House might not fully appreciate. Trump is wildly unpopular in Spain, and every time the Republican lashes out at the country, Sánchez reaps the political benefits.
All things considered, the Spanish prime minister probably hopes that Trump will keep making threats.
While Congress is out of session this week, a House Republican encountered a hostile crowd at a heated town hall meeting in Bellevue, Nebraska, Tuesday night – a sour reception that may preview the tenor other lawmakers could face heading into the midterm elections.
Rep. Mike Flood faced repeated boos and shouts from audience members as they pressed him on the SAVE America Act, Israel, NATO, the bipartisan housing bill, the Trump administration’s policies and more, as seen on video of the town hall recorded by ABC affiliate KETV in Omaha…
Two weeks before this year’s primary elections, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the creation of a tip line for the public to report people or groups suspected of voter fraud.
…
“You must register to vote using the address where you reside,” the attorney general’s guidance stated.
Despite his own warnings, Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
State Sen. Angela Paxton said in a 2025 divorce filing that Paxton, whom she accused of adultery, moved out of their Collin County home a year earlier. But Paxton continues to list the home’s address in the northern Dallas suburb on his voter registration. Angela Paxton declined to be interviewed. A source close to the Paxtons said the attorney general has not moved back into the home since leaving.
It is unclear where Paxton has lived for the past two years, but reporting by ProPublica and the Tribune has linked him to a home in neighboring Denton County since February.
Three election lawyers told the news organizations that Paxton may have violated the same Texas laws his office cautioned about in its news release…
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Trump officials and 200 of the national guard at a DC park on July 2nd, touting new grass and fixed fountains. With follow-up comments now-ish.
OMG. Todd Blanche, Stephen Miller, and Pete Hegseth thought it would be a good idea to hold an event at Malcom X Park (officially Meridian Hill Park on maps) just up the street from me. The neighborhood has one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations in DC.
Acting AG Todd Blanche struggles to deliver a speech to National Guard members in DC over the noise being made by protesters. [Video clip]
What genius planned this event? Give them an award.
Pete Hegseth: “This background noise is perfect. It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them.” [Video clip]
[…] This park is just across the street from where the Mount Pleasant riots galvanized the DC Latino community in 1991 and transformed the city. It is the historic heart of the Salvadoran community here. There is no way Stephen Miller is taking it back. None.
[…]
“‘Guard, go home!’ and ‘Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here!’ members of the crowd shouted as they blew whistles and banged on drums.” [Article]
–
Less than week after gloating about fixing the fountains at Malcom X Park (maintained by the National Park Service), the water turns brown. You can’t make this stuff up! I know it’s hard to believe, but the Trump administration has screwed up another body of water in DC. [Articles]
Ron Filipkowski (Meidas): “Hegseth showed up late, making troops in uniform wait in 93 degree heat”
Brian Finucane (JustSecurity): “‘law and order’ says the Secretary of Lawless Boat Strikes.”
Rando 1: “Since when does the AG give a speech to the military?”
I still can’t get over how this press stunt was, at least in part, ostensibly supposed to be about championing the new grass in this park.
And yet it took community members to remind the Park Police about this when they drove their vehicles and parked on the grass. [Photo/Video clip] Perhaps they weren’t serious when they said it was about beautification of the park.
–
Just a few days post-press-conference, the grass at this park is fenced off again [Photo]
A flight instructor conducting a training flight with a student in a small plane left the aircraft mid-flight and jumped to his death, leaving the trainee to land the Cessna on her own.
CNN reported that instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo jumped from the aircraft on Saturday while it was flying over Toledo, Argentina.
The student told officials that Bertazzo told her, “You know what you have to do, carry on.” He then removed his headset, unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and jumped…
President Donald Trump referred to the social media platform TikTok as “Tic Tac” on Wednesday, at least the third time he’s done that in the past week. The president’s verbal slips appear to be more frequent these days. Appearing at a NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday, Trump also talked about the “Islamic Republic of Japan,” mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin,” and called Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin “Len-een.”
It’s unclear whether all of this is a result of Trump’s advanced age, his international travel schedule, or the fact that he’s always been rather dim…
Kalshi lost an attempt to override New York’s state gambling laws yesterday, with a federal judge rejecting the prediction market operator’s request to prevent enforcement of the rules.
Kalshi is appealing the decision to a higher court. This is one of numerous cases in which judges must decide whether state laws are preempted by federal regulation of prediction markets…
“Trump praises Zelensky, will let Ukraine build Patriot missiles”
“It was a dramatic departure from Trump’s more acerbic tone toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he once derided as ungrateful.”
I advise taking Trump’s comments with a grain of salt. He could easily change his mind again … or simply fail to follow through.
[…] Zelensky has “done an amazing job,” Trump told reporters before the pair’s bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit. “Look, he’s been very effective, and he’s had the best equipment because he’s had our equipment.”
Trump went beyond warm praise. He said the United States will allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles, the interceptors used to knock Russian missiles and drones out of the sky before they can strike cities, power plants and other civilian infrastructure.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriot missiles,” Trump said. “That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I said, ‘Make them yourself.’ We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right.” [To me that sounds like far from a done deal.]
[…] Kyiv has repeatedly pressed allies for more batteries and interceptors, warning that every shortage gives Moscow more room to terrorize apartment blocks, energy facilities and other civilian targets.
“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles” instead of being handed to Ukraine, Zelensky said in a statement Monday, “Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings.”
Being able to manufacture Patriot missiles in Ukraine could eventually bolster the country’s defenses. The immediate impact may be small: setting up factories will take time, and any such facility would immediately become a top target for Russian airstrikes.
[…] The U.S. move is likely to be interpreted as an aggressive action by the Kremlin […]
Asked by Trump whether he would go to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said that “it’s difficult.”
“There are a lot of Ukrainian drones there. It’s dangerous,” he said, drawing laughter from the room.
[…] Putin has often sought to shape Trump’s attitudes in phone calls ahead of his meetings with other leaders, and the Kremlin described Saturday’s conversation as nearly 90 minutes long and businesslike. Trump plans to speak to Putin again after Wednesday’s meeting, a U.S. official said ahead of the summit.
The extended conversation with Putin does not seem to have averted Trump’s boost to Zelensky on Wednesday.
[…] Ukraine estimates that Russia is losing 30,000 troops a month while making nearly no territorial gains […]
[…] Trump’s head-spinning appearance at the NATO Summit in Ankara on Wednesday began with him insulting vast swaths of Europe during the morning sessions and finished just hours later with him declaring that the whole thing had been one big kumbaya session.
“I just want to say there was tremendous love in that room,” he said at a news conference not long after he had said repeatedly that “I’m not happy with NATO.”
Describing his meetings behind closed doors, he boasted: “They said, ‘Sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that. Isn’t that nice?”
“Maybe they’re trying to get to me, and in a way, they did,” he said. “Because there was tremendous unity in that room.” […]
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid $5 million plus interest in damages stemming from a judgment in one of her two civil cases against President Donald Trump. Trump had made a last-ditch effort late on Tuesday to stop Carroll from collecting the money.
“A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restore his name to the Kennedy Center as he challenges a lower court’s order that stripped his name from the Washington performing arts landmark in June. A three-judge panel said Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board, in their motion to stay the lower court’s order, failed to show they would be ‘irreparably injured’ without his name being restored.
It could be shown that adding Trump’s name caused harm to the Kennedy Center.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna@402:
Describing his meetings behind closed doors, he boasted: “They said, ‘Sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that. Isn’t that nice?”
Another fucking made-up “Sir” story. I am sure that not one single person came close to saying any such thing.
Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant through her jury room door as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sought to arrest him in a courthouse hallway. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman fined her $5,000, describing the case as a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.
johnson catman @405, yes, I think you are correct. When Trump includes people calling him “Sir” in one of his made-up stories that’s a tell. Trump is telling a lie. In this case, Trump piled on another lie, namely that people told him, “we love you.”
However, I will note that Politico reported that people were collaborating on tactics to assuage Trump.
[…] European leaders have gone out of their way to praise the U.S. president during the summit. NATO chief Mark Rutte even told POLITICO that Trump’s push to boost defense spending is “great news” for allies.
But the tension is far from settled. Hanging over the remainder of the conference is the renewed hostilities with Iran and the issue of Greenland, which Trump has insisted needs to be “controlled” by the U.S.
Shortly after Trump’s earlier bombastic remarks about Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the island was not for sale, a position shared by her alliance colleagues.
“It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland,” Frederiksen said. “I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen.” […]
From the New Yorker, a humorous piece written by Patricia Marx:
He called me. I want to be clear about that. I didn’t call Him. He invited me up personally. Very selective crowd. Very hard ticket. I’ve met with many world leaders—Putin, Kim Jong Un, Jared—and I would say God’s in that tier. In terms of money, probably higher than most of them. We had a great table. God has tremendous clout.
Incredible gates. Strong. A lot of harp people hovering. Maybe too many, if we’re being honest. And the little fat bellhops—cherubs, they call them—wings too small for the body. Slow with luggage. I didn’t tip. The show! Better than Vegas. Volcanoes lighting up the sky, or whatever you call it. World-class earthquakes. I said, “God, I’m ashamed to admit it, but the earthquakes we have on Earth don’t compare.”
He was very complimentary. He said, “They call them Acts of God, but, after what you’ve accomplished, maybe we should start calling them Acts of President.” Which was nice. Somebody asked me before I came out here, “Was He taller than you expected?” I said, “About what I expected.”
Then God let me smite a guy trying to parallel park. Which was a very small part of the meeting, by the way. People are asking why we didn’t discuss the suffering of innocent children. It came up. I know children. His son was bullied. Good for ratings, by the way. Then we discussed important issues. Very positive discussions about clouds. I want clouds over Washington, but not the poor neighborhoods. Strong clouds. Not wispy. Some of His clouds—and I don’t want this to get beyond this room and Truth Social—were too fluffy. “Another thing, God,” I said. “You got tremendous demand up here, but everybody’s dead. Why not go members only?”
“Frankly, God,” I said, “can I be frank?” I didn’t say “regime change,” but He knew what I meant. He asked me how the Miami Marlins were doing. I think He wanted tickets. “Look,” I said, “I came here for a reason. Nobody’s saying you did a bad job, but . . .” People tell me, “Mr. President, you put the fear of God in God.” He knew I could back this up militarily. Operation I Mean It. Or, Operation I’m Not Going to Tell You Again. Or, Operation I’ll Give You Something to Cry About!
I haven’t decided yet.
While God did God things, I looked around for the gift shop. You know the thing about that place? Bad signage. I know more than He does about real estate. Don’t know who His lighting guy is, but the sun shouldn’t come down so fast. You’re outside eating dinner, and the next thing you know it’s dark.
Did I get everything? Look, when I walked in, Earth was one way. When I left? Very different conversation. Many, many historians are saying it was the most productive meeting since Zeus met with President McKinley. I can’t share everything, but I will say things are on the table that weren’t even on the floor. I can say we’re very close to getting my parking ticket validated.
His last words to me were “You know, of everyone I’ve ever created, you might be the one I’m proudest of.” I probably shouldn’t say this, but when I left He cried a little.
Update: Unnamed sources say that the Commander-in-Chief is evaluating a potential 2028 bid for God.
“Military allies hope money, rearmament and a gesture on Iran will keep the U.S. president happy.”
After a bruising year of infighting, crises and recriminations, NATO countries are opting for a by-now-familiar playbook at the Ankara summit: Placate Donald Trump, and pray for no surprises.
NATO leaders gather[ed] in Turkey hoping for a show of unity after a year of unprecedented strain on the alliance, largely thanks to the U.S. president. After threatening to annex Greenland, Trump repeatedly bludgeoned allies for not helping Washington’s war effort in Iran — while his administration vowed reprisals for those not spending enough on defense.
European NATO allies are pulling out the stops to prevent a Trump blow-up. That means promoting the big bucks being spent on defense, keeping the focus on the less divisive topic of industry, pledging further efforts to rearm and signaling their support on Iran.“There’s no alternative how to approach him but to be diplomatic and not to extremely offend him and saying that we’re stepping up,” Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken told POLITICO. “That’s what we need to do and that’s what we’re doing.”
The aim is to “keep one person happy and satisfied,” added one senior NATO diplomat, who like others for this story was granted anonymity to speak freely on the sensitive matter. “It’s all about Trump management.” [!]
[…] Going into the summit, a senior White House official described Trump’s mood as “a combination of optimism but also a level of being perturbed” over Iran.
No expense spared
NATO allies have gone to great lengths to keep Trump onside.
First, that means framing the summit in terms the U.S. president cares about, said a second senior NATO diplomat: “Money.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte has sought to make the case that allies are unleashing a tidal wave of cash since they committed last year to spending 3.5 percent of their GDP on defense by 2035. On a visit to Washington last month, he unveiled a chart with the headline “The Trump trillion.” Since 2025, Rutte told him, allies have spent an extra $139 billion on defense.
At an industry side event in Ankara, allies will also pledge “double digit” billions in procurement deals, said a person familiar with the matter.
“This will be the biggest defense industry forum ever — in terms of projects … to be announced,” Turkey’s envoy to NATO Basat Öztürk said.
Next, Rutte has sought to center the summit around scaling up defense production.
In part, that reflects a genuine challenge Europe faces in transforming its newfound spending into real battlefield kit. But it’s also a deliberate effort to keep the discussion on an agreeable topic, said two other NATO diplomats — and entice Trump with promises of further arms deals and joint ventures that benefit U.S. industry.
Allies are seeking reconciliation on Iran, too. Despite it being far outside NATO’s core task of defending Europe, allies have agreed to allude to the U.S. war in Iran as part of the summit declaration, according to details of the draft shared with POLITICO — demanding the Strait of Hormuz remain open and that Tehran never acquires nuclear weapons.
That’s a clear olive branch to Trump, two NATO diplomats said, given the alliance divisions over the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.
[…] In Berlin, there are also fears that Trump could derail the summit by demanding Europe contribute to a purported €300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, according to two German officials.
[…] “We need the Americans, [we will] be diplomatic, listen to what they say, try to be gentle,” said Francken. But “we need to be more pragmatic and always think what is in our interests.”
The U.S. Department of Education posted a historic photo to Facebook on Wednesday proclaiming, “American history is worth learning.” The image shows women in clothes from the early 20th century demanding the right to vote. It’s an inspiring thing to behold. But it’s not American history. The photo is from the United Kingdom…
A Tennessee transit agency apologized and fired a part-time railway conductor after video spread online showing him celebrating Independence Day by calling the United States “the greatest country on the face of the planet” and telling anyone who disagreed they could leave.
Local ABC affiliate WTVC NewsChannel 9 reported Monday that the part-time conductor was fired after a TikTok video posted by Nathan Scherer captured him saying, “To the very, very few Americans in here, happy Independence Day. To the rest of you, welcome to the greatest country on the face of the planet, and if you disagree, you can leave.”
In the video, a person can be heard responding, “Shut up.” The part-time conductor was identified as Jack Peterson.
The Incline Railway, which first opened in 1887, is owned and operated by the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) and is a part of Lookout Mountain Attractions, was given the video and News 9 reported that a director at the Incline Railway “met with the employee that day and immediately fired him.”
In a statement shared by News 9, the company confirmed Peterson’s dismissal.
…
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Peterson said, “I think that CARTA as a company has a lot of thinking to do when it comes to supporting this country. I do not believe my firing was a correct or just one. My personal thought is, what has this country come to when someone can get fired on Independence Day for a patriotic statement.”
Peterson said he started a GoFundMe due to the support he has received since the incident went viral…
Already trying to cash in! His remark was wildly inappropriate and I am glad CARTA thinks so too. He was on the fucking job; not the time to be spreading his hateful and divisive personal views.
Russia bans diesel exports until July 31
Move follows fuel shortages after Ukrainian attacks
Novak said Russia will begin importing fuel in July
I have not seen any sources mention it but I would guess that the export ban doesn’t cover China. This is cutting off the shadow fleet. This puts Russia in a real squeeze because they need diesel to keep their military and economy running but they need to sell also to get money to buy supplies off the black market.
Russia also admits that Russia will be importing oil to help maintain internal supply.
Russia is clearly in an economic decay that will eventually destroy Russia. However, it is a country well positioned to keep going past the point of other countries. Strong internal controls, large reserves of hard cash, resources they can sell, a large population, they produce enough food, their own industry for most things they need for the military and economy. They will last longer then other countries, how long that is covering military expenses I have no idea.
Pierce R. Butlersays
Lynna @ # 394, quoting ms.now: It’s never been altogether clear why Donald Trump harbors so much animosity toward Spain …
Seems obvious to me: They speak Spanish.
That in itself makes anyone a justified target for ICE interrogation and a Kavanaugh stop. Real Americans™ don’t even want to hear it!
What is that?
Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: What does an atheist do if they witness a miracle?
It’s too bad we will never know. Desperate believers are reduced to calling sportsball outcomes ‘miracles.’
China’s Forgotten Faith: How Did a 3rd Century Religion from Iran Make it to China’s Southeast Coast?
Randos:
https://bsky.app/profile/00kjg.bsky.social/post/3mpevxuj26s2bRando: “I would say this fair looks like one of those creepy, horror-movie sets, but those at least look like someone used them at some point. This looks like a ghost town. Like… why is everything so sterile looking? This is weird in the opposite direction.”
Amanda Moore (Journalist):
Commentary
The fair’s Twitter account announced it was closed then open again two hours later.
Amanda Moore
https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/shaka-zuluhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_IndiansAmanda Moore:
Archaeological evidence indicates 10th-century Persian settlement in Madagascar
chigau @1: I’d guess OP is a screenshot of the video game No Man’s Sky, but there’s no interface or player character. PZ played that years ago.
StevoR in the previous thread: That YouTuber’s description cites a documentary he was summarizing.
Rethinking ‘One of the strangest group experiments of all time’
* Wikipedia on predecessor Thor Heyerdahl says, “His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the [Ra] expedition.”
Wikipedia – Contact hypothesis
Extract from Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia
“Trump Just SOLD Rural America’s Future To Pay Musk Billions”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=CNaoqgB5Owk
‘The BEAD program was supposed to bring permanent high-speed fiber internet to rural America, but Trump’s Commerce Department rewrote the rules in a way that could steer billions toward Elon Musk’s Starlink instead. The old plan prioritized long-term infrastructure and affordable service, while the new “tech-neutral” version favors the cheapest upfront option, even if rural families end up with slower, spottier, more expensive internet than they were promised. Musk spent hundreds of millions helping Trump win, trashed the broadband program as waste, and now may profit from the very taxpayer money meant to connect communities cable companies ignored for decades. Ring of Fire’s Josh G. explains.’
Mother Jones – Grok is more important than clean air, DOJ says
The US needs MechaHitler in particular, to accurately target girls’ schools, defensively.
Trump accuses oil companies of gas price ‘gouging,’ calls for DOJ probe
If only they could find the person responsible for rising gas prices. I suggest John Barron and David Dennison should be on the suspect list.
Noah Kahan urges fans to use the bathroom after concertgoer poops on floor during show
Kyiv Post – Russian lawmaker calls for military training starting age 11 (fifth grade) to prepare for war with NATO
Not a video game. One of those events where schools send teams to compete.
* Ukrainian National News – “Zarnitsa 2.0”: Russia deports Ukrainian children under the guise of military-patriotic programs (2025-09)
Kyiv Post – Kremlin detains ex-cons, debtors in raids, impressing vulnerable into war service
CNN – Peruvians say they were promised jobs in Russia, but landed on the front lines in Ukraine
John Oliver ; S13 E17: “Trump’s Reflecting Pool, Redistricting & Soaps: 6/28/26: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (39 minutes)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=UGRLw4DSCyk
The $1 Trillion Problem Diamonds Can Solve: Cooling computer chips with synthetic polychrystalline diamond layers created by vapor deposition.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=HKJC84RLhyU
Reginald Selkirk #3
I read it was a Persian, An Shigao, who introduced Buddhism to China. In light of that, it doesn’t seem so strange that Manichaeism was introduced there.
Source : https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/bob-and-the-hellbender.html
Emphasis added.
#9: I’m a beneficiary of that program — I live in remote, rural Minnesota, but have a fiber optic line straight to my house. It’s hassle-free and reliable, everyone should have that kind of service.
First dinosaur bone from Antarctica found in a drawer
Mislabeled saber-toothed cat fossil spent over 50 years hidden in a drawer
Rediscovery of once-lost super-sized Megalodon vertebrae
This seems to happen often.
Source : https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/patrick-moore.html
Plus so very much more there incl on the Baobabs and their leaves and lossses.
No Man’s Sky?
Most people hear this elusive Maine bird but never see it
US Supreme Court rejects Trump’s appeal of E Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse case
Supreme Court allows states to count mail-in ballots that arrive late, rejecting RNC challenge
Supreme Court rules Trump cannot fire Fed member Lisa Cook; grants him more power over other independent agencies
Supreme Court turns away Alan Dershowitz’s defamation case against CNN
Estonia has no objection to Ukrainian drones falling on NATO territory while targeting Russia
Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron sued over alleged DRAM price fixing amid record memory costs — lawsuit claims coordinated HBM shift was cover to curtail DDR3 and DDR4 production
It is natural that production of older technologies would tail off.
Trump inches closer to D.C. takeover in response to city’s likely next mayor
“The president is prepared to possibly seize control of the nation’s capital if local voters dare to elect someone he deems offensive.”
Trump plunders National Park Service, redirects money to his many pet projects
“The gap between the president’s claims and the truth matters, but it’s not the only problem with the use of NPS resources.”
Maddow: Finding ways to express your defiance in the age of Trump
“Why the new book by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, ‘On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear,’ is perfectly timed and perfectly tuned.”
Video, featuring Rachel Maddow, is available at the link.
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-boasts-about-crowd-size-at
For the convenience of readers, here are some links back to the previous set of 163 comments on The Infinite Thread. (The Infinite Thread is usually limited to 500 comments per “chapter,” but the thread is also limited in time. When it reaches the time cutoff point, PZ has to manually renew it.)
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-7/#comment-2304869
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-7/#comment-2304862
“Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal [with Kazakhstan]. His Sons Stand to Profit.”
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-7/#comment-2304854
Beyond denial: How oil execs shaped a landmark climate study, by ProPublica
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-7/#comment-2304845
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-7/#comment-2304832
Scott Manley here on NASA’s Project Hail Mary – Last Minute, High Risk, High Reward Rescue Mission for the Neil Gehrels Swift Gamma-Ray Observatory.
Link
Holy Crap, We Were Way Off About How Many Insect Species Live on Earth
Uh, maybe Costa Rica is not representative.
@25:
OK, maybe I would approve of that one.
Archaeologists Can’t Find Evidence for a Weapon Long Linked to America’s Earliest Hunters
Trump’s propaganda history trucks may soon visit your neighborhood
Link
18 months in detention and still fighting for medical help
Link
Speaker Johnson’s warnings about DSA agenda take an unintentionally amusing turn
https://www.wonkette.com/p/scotus-grants-special-baby-president
Britain unveils its new Ukraine-modeled armed forces
“The U.K. is learning from Ukraine’s war against Russia to build its own armed forces to prepare for a similar conflict this decade.”
More at the link.
Steve Benen’s summaries of recent court decisions:
NBC News:
The official death toll is now 1,450. Many people are still missing.
New York Times:
FFS
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/workmen-begin-putting-e-jean-carrolls
Satire
Re: Lynna, OM @ #47…
Venezuela death toll is now 1719. A UN agency has ordered 10,000 body bags for use in Venezuela.
Owen Jones Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Children With IMPUNITY – Israeli Activists’ New Report – 20 minutes long.
Source : https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/trump-violence.html
Emphasis original
Source : https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/roam/great-pacific-garbage-patch.html
@53 That B’Tselem report itself can be read here :
https://www.btselem.org/video/20260629_unshielded_childhood_palestinian_children_and_teenagers_killed_by_israel_in_the_west_bank_in_2025
Then there are the children killed in Gaza which I have heard someone is at least one every day.
@ ^ ” ” ” ” ” ” have heard somewhere ..
That is. Probly news coverage on TV.
Aussie late night radio – Nightlife program segment on the USA here – 25 mins long :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/nightlife/american-insight-with-bill-wyman/106858076
WaPo – Record-breaking 860,000 fireworks planned for Trump’s July Fourth show
Amanda Moore:
* Amanda Moore: “I am going based off of what came out of the mouth of the NPS guy who gave the announcement with Doug Burgum and cited last year specifically. [He said 7k.] Maybe he meant to say 17k?”
https://xcancel.com/matthewfoldi/status/2066577784969867670* The Guardian in 2016 on Manila’s razings and fatalities in the aftermath.
Commentary
CNN: Trump and Iran issue conflicting statements about new talks
Anybody paying attention was already aware of the constant conflicting information but it’s nice to see a major news agency just directly say it.
This is more important. The Strait is such that Iran and Oman have to work together to have legal coverage of it’s entire width. If they don’t work together it’s possible to pass in the territorial water of one side. Previously Oman and Iran had been talking about a joint authority but that isn’t happening now. Many ways a deal between the two states could have failed.
The Strait will still be within Iran firing range for long range drones but it will be harder and they will have much less basis for a claim of control.
ZDNet: IBM says it can fit nearly 100 billion transistors on a chip – why the milestone matters
There is a big gap between technology demo and actual production. The chip foundries are still rolling out IBM’s last generation of technology in the 2-3 nanometer range. So actual chips based on this are years down the road if it works in practice. The method that makes this work is packing two elements in a vertical stack that lets the stack be smaller then twice the size of independent elements..
The Guardian – US military races to vaccinate new recruits before flu shots expire
Torture Enthusiast and all round POS John Yoo will be an advisor to Trump’s hunt for his perceived enemies.
Professor known for ‘torture memos’ will advise conspiracy probe focused on perceived Trump foes
Wonkette – Trump turns National Mall into sh*tty theme park for July Fourth
The actress Penelope Keith.
1940-2026.
Newborn Goat Hector Makes Friends with Barn Kittens
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=E3M2zN8KnI0
Water scientist explains reflecting pool fail
“$16 Million, Dead Ducks, and Algae: The Reflecting Pool Explained by a Scientist:
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7PrT4p8SMAU
Asteroid Day today.
See website here : https://asteroidfoundation.org/asteroid-day/
Plus its wikipage : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_Day
As well as this short yt video – Intro to Scientists Rock – an Asteroid Day series (3 mins long) which,as title notes, is the first in a series.
NASA JPL All Known Asteroids in the Solar System (1999-2018)
Thinking asteroids, coming up next month and looking forward to here :
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_spaceflight
See also : https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chinas-tianwen-2-spacecraft-arrives-at-one-of-earths-mysterious-quasi-moons/
Plus :
Source : https://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/20260624_torifune_e/
Would’ve been nice and apt had the fly-by been today but still, close and keen to see Torifune and learn more on it as well as that quasi-moonlet of ours too.
“The European media group Axel Springer has completed its £575m takeover of the [British right-wing newspaper] Telegraph”
It figures. The Telegraph belongs to the newspapers collectively known as “the gutter press”.
And Axel Springer was a German conservative whose “Bild-Zeitung” was (and is) a paper analog to Fox News.
Owen Jones Talks
“The Iran War Broke The American Empire – Prof. Paul Rogers’ Fascinating Interview”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=L_ucoGhwxCs
Myself, I would argue the process began with the guy from Texas the supreme court made president 26 years ago. You know, the one who twice ignored NSA warnings about a group called “Al-Quaeda.
@57
I think the natural outcome here is that he is going to set the reflecting pool on fire.
@ ^ Reginald Selkirk : Doe salgae burn? Wouldn’t have thought so but.. well,
Archaeologists Hacked Through Miles of Jungle and Found an Intact Lost Maya City
Happy 100th birthday, Mel Brooks!
@72
Have you ever been to Cleveland?
Cuyahoga River Fire
Florida bans local governments from pursuing net-zero emissions goals
@68 Anton Petrov on one of those asteroids – here – Asteroid Kamo’oalewa May Actually Be A Lost Moon Fragment – 11 mins long.
Source : https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/06/30/launch-of-mission-to-boost-nasas-swift-scrubs-due-to-weather/
Trump loses Supreme Court battle to end birthright citizenship
The USA is in a sad state when three Supreme Court justices side with a bigot against the clear text of the constitution which they have sworn to defend.
Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports
Supreme Court strikes down limits on political party spending
@43 Lynna, OM
Trump asked Musk for SpaceX stock to seed US kids’ savings accounts, report says
RACHEL MADDOW: How Trump’s billionaires show the danger of his corruption
Video is 6:49 minutes
RACHEL MADDOW: Supreme Court greenlights expansion of Trump’s corruption machine
Video is 9:19 minutes
whheydt @50, thanks for the update. The number of missing or dead people in Venezuela will, unfortunately increase over the coming days. 1,719 is already a lot. Hard to get one’s head around.
Sky Captain @57, quoting other sources:
Sounds like the Trump administration is setting itself up for another fiasco. We also have to take into account that Trump may claim that 851,000 fireworks were set off in D.C., but that may be bluster and lies.
In my neighborhood, my neighbors regularly set off enough fireworks for the smoke to bother me. I imagine the smoke in D.C. will be a health hazard.
Trump wants people to ‘appreciate’ his Great American State Fair flop
Related video, hosted by Nicole Wallace, is available at the link. The video includes much laughter from the host and her guests. Video is 12:36 minutes, and includes hilarious clips from Fox News, which broadcast from the fair site.
Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship
The ruling is available as a PDF at the link.
Another issue related to the Venezuelan earthquake:
Link
I recommend that people visit this comic often. It is one of my very favorites. I visit it and consider it as coming up from doom-scrolling for a breath of fresh air.
https://existentialcomics.com/comic/661
There are many aspects of these comics that are so educational and clever.
The writing is always informative and clever and funny.
If you hover over the heading, a daily witty remark will show.
There is a link to info about the particular philosopher near the bottom of the page.
The author has a very enlightened mind: open, caring, honest.
@86
Here is full text of the U.S Constitution including amendments. I searched for the word “domicile” and came up dry.
NPR Retracts Article That Mistakenly Said Justice Alito Would Retire
Followup to comment 48.
Brussels claps back at Trump’s tech threats
A general comment on the results of the Venezuealan earthquakes… Bulding to withstand a R7.5 ‘quake isn’t easy, but it is certainly possible to build in such a way that complete collapse can be avoided. The results seen in pictures from Venezuela suggest–to me at least–that either their building codes are inadequate to local conditions, or that the building codes they have are insufficiently enforced…or both.
@92
Three is a distinction between what is necessary for the building to be unharmed, vs for its occupants to be unharmed.
Trump says ‘too bad’ SCOTUS upheld birthright citizenship, pushes legislation to end it
What a fucking idiot. His executive order was overturned on constitutional grounds. Any legislation would be as well. If you want to overturn what is in the constitution, you need to pass a constitutional amendment. The rules for doing that are spelled out in the constitution, which apparently Trump has never read, even though he twice took an oath to protect and defend it.
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #93…
I’m well aware of that. There was a county office building in Imperial County, CA many years ago that was severely damaged in a ‘quake. While the building had to be torn down and replaced, everyone in the building survived without (IIRC) any significant injuries. That, to my mind, is an example of a successful building design. It’s almost the definition of the difference between “earthquake resistant” and “earthquake proof”.
Ukraine hits Moscow satellite center in large overnight drone attack
Missing US congressman explains mysterious four-month absence
I hope he gets the help he needs… but – despite this, he’s running for reelection again?
Washington Post EXCLUSIVE
“Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom”
“The secret agreement was routed through a White House office that typically handles repairs and furnishings and is exempt from competitive bidding requirements.”
Trump’s plan to redesign every .gov website leads to AI-designed horrors
Cartoon: Happy happy joy joy, by Clay Jones
MS NOW:
New York Times:
Trump administration seeks to stomp out all fires quickly, reviving policy that has been discredited
Steve Benen’s summary of court case on which the New York Times reported:
Followup to comment 98.
We’re sure paying a lot for the ballroom we’re not paying for
Starlink Offers 50% Off Internet for Residents of City Fed Up With Elon’s Data Center
Far-Right Host at Trump State Fair Lectures Kid on Salem Witch Trials
The Far Right dufus quoted by Reginald Selkirk @107
No one was burned at Salem. 14 women and 5 men were hanged. One man was pressed to death because he would not enter a plea.
@ 107
No one was burned at Salem. Most of the victims were hung. Some died in jail. One was famously crushed to death with rocks. No one was burned at the stake.
Once upon a time, most people would have laughed at anyone who thought the victims of Salem’s witch panic actually practiced magic. Witchcraft? Don’t be absurd! That was before the Bible-thumpers came into cultural power, giving us the Satanic Panic, “Spiritual Warfare,” and generally helped dumb-down our country with their supersticious prattle.
Of course, it doesn’t help that there actually are New Age loons who claim to practice witchcraft. Hard to call the Jesus-freaks paranoid when Zoe Moonbeam and her “coven” are casting “hexes” on right-wing politicians.
Congratulations, Deborah Harry (Blondie) 81 years today!
two of my fave youtubers in the one clip Owen Jiones interviews Dr Gilbz here – We Are In SO MUCH Trouble As Heatwave Returns. 15 mins long.
Real LIfe Lore Why Russia is Suddenly Losing in Ukraine just over 25 mins long.
Plus Real Life Lore on What Will Happen After The Caspian Sea Dies? 20 mins long.
Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/mars-may-have-once-been-filled-with-seas-of-magma-that-made-the-red-planet-habitable
Good Kyle Kulinski y video here on Trump’s Gaza Bored of peace scam and massive level corruption 15 mins long.
Gee not voting for Kamala over Gaza sure helpe the people there didn’t it? Not.
Scientists find no link between Tylenol and autism, again, after Trump warning
Kiros tops DeGette, Hickenlooper holds on. Colorado primary results
File under ‘What could possibly go wrong?’
Wagering on Wildfires? There’s a New Prediction Market for That?
Victor Willis, Village People lead singer, dies at 74
They should hold the wake at the
Y.M.C.A.
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES:‘Unhinged and racist’: Hayes eviscerates Trump’s birthright argument
Video is 15:35 minutes
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Sunglasses accidentally reveal truth about Trump’s 250 party
Video is 9:31 minutes
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: ‘Tremendous loss’: MAGA meltdown after Supreme Court hands Trump mail-in ballot defeat
Video is 5:13 minutes
ESO Study Finds That No More Than 100,000 Satellites Should Orbit Earth
House paralyzed as Speaker Johnson confronts another revolt from his own members
“Last week, GOP leaders in the chamber lost control of the floor and failed to advance their legislative priorities. Now it’s worse.”
GOP officials eye restrictions on pregnant travelers following Supreme Court ruling [on birthright citizenship]
“How exactly would U.S. officials go about determining whether someone entering the country is pregnant?”
Followup to comment 123.
Link
Judges strike down Trump administration student loan forgiveness overhaul
Good news … for now.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/i-vladimir-putin-am-blowing-up-own
“I, Vladimir Putin, Am Blowing Up Own Oil Refineries For Russian People’s Amusement. Yes, That Is Ticket!”
“Is not Ukrainian attacks! Do not say it is Ukrainian attacks!”
Links to sources from news that forms the basis for this satirical piece are available at the main link.
Ukraine needs cash to keep Russia on the run, defense minister tells POLITICO
More at the link, including plans on how to spend the funds.
Steve Benen’s summary of the Supreme Court ruling that affects campaign finance laws:
Link
Forecasters warn of ‘dangerous’ heat conditions across US, by Associated Press
Two people climb to top of NYC’s Empire State Building
@130
Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Beerkus, 32
Ship runs aground in Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media says
Russia closes railway border crossings with Finland, Estonia and Latvia
Ukraine Unveils ZIRKA Interceptor Drone Built to Down Shaheds
Hello.
Russian state media outlets announced earlier this week that some of the border crossings to Latvia, Estonia and Finland would be closed today. This seems to cover mainly or only railroad crossings, and the reason for closure is not clear. There is speculation that Russia plans to institute a new draft for the war in Ukraine (likely after the Duma election in autumn), and seeks to limit people opportunities of fleeing abroad.
Then again, the rail traffic to Finland is only transporting cargo, such as fertilizers, since we closed the border to passenger traffic in 2023. The “temporary” closure remains in effect because the Finnish government deems that Russia is still prepared to shuttle asylum seekers as a harassment tactic if given opportunity. Estonia and Latvia kept their borders open only because they chose to simply turn away asylum seekers instead. Russians haven’t been able to get tourist visas into these countries in years, so passenger traffic is greatly reduced compared to several years ago.
@106 Reginald Selkirk reported: ‘Starlink Offers 50% Off Internet for Residents of City Fed Up With Elon’s Data Center’
I reply: Are there a lot of suckers in Memphis? He ruins their lives and then offers them a discount on his crap. starlink is a huge disaster. Even at 50% off it is WAAY too expensive for the quality, reliability and speed they offer. And, all the expense and hassle of a single setup in a single fixed location is absurd. E.M.T.I.C. – Everything Musk Touches Is Crap!
The Clown Motel – USA’s Most Terrifying Accommodation
Re: my 135, see also Reginald’s link in English at 133.
The illustration at the link is a photo from Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing, which is for car passenger traffic and not affected by the current Russian decision, since it¨s been already closed for years. Prior to 2022, it was the most heavily used border crossing between Russia and Finland.
‘Die Together’: Ukraine’s LGBTQ Soldiers Fighting Russia – and for Their Rights
@134
Inside Ukraine’s Interceptor Drone Innovations Swatting Down Thousands Of Russian Shaheds
Superworms could replace beetles for cleaning skeletal remains
superworms are… also beetles.
This Orbit is the WORST
…And the worst orbit compared to Low-Earth Orbit is very close to a 24 hour orbit, where comm satellites need to be.
Sometimes it makes sense to use a bi-elliptical transfer orbit.
Dang. I forgot. Sorry.
Thanks to Reginald 133 for bringing to our attention the border crossings between Russia and three other countries: Finland, Estonia, and Latvia.
lumipuna @135 and 138, thanks for the analysis of the situation. I’ll keep an eye out for more information.
Ukrainian charged in Germany over Nord Stream blasts
California to institute Bruce Lee Day, first for Chinese American in state’s history
The Year 536 AD Was So Bad It May Have Been the Worst Time in Human History to Be Alive
MAGA Senate candidate called out for visiting Iceland with ‘some lady who’s not his wife’
The New York Times reported this week:
Commentary:
Link
Most Of Us Are Agnostics. That Even Goes For Preachers.
Meh. Depends on which definition of ‘god’ you are using. There are some definitions which cannot be confidently discarded, but they are not definitions which people are using, or that are being taught in the Texas public schools.
Trump stopped hinting about a connection between his election goals and federal disaster assistance, and started making the connection overt.
Clueless and tone deaf:
Link
NBC News link to a special report on the inaptly named “Big Beautiful Bill.”
More art the link.
Japanese Words that every ANIME FAN should know
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=izNwEt4-vNQ
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #151…
Militant Agnostic… I’m don’t know, and you don’t either.
Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland
Sorry, but they are not “traditionalists.” The longest, strongest tradition of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the one that sets it apart from all other Christian sects; is that what the pope says, goes.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/paramedics-responded-cardiac-arrest-mcconnells-home-day-hospitalizatio-rcna352660
Company Plans to Drop 600,000 Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes into DC This Summer
@157
Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops
Brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Trump insists on carpet in his White House bathroom, new book reveals
Video is 7:11 minutes. The video also covers Trump’s pick of Bill Pulte as “hatchet man” to go after Trump’s critics or supposed enemies. Maggie Haberman talks about how Trump “creates his own reality,” in part by going to Mar-a-Lago where people stand, applaud, and cheer him when he walks in.
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Trump shrugs off corruption scandals from Qatari jet to crypto windfall
Video is 8:25 minutes, excellent
Job numbers disappoint again as 2026 reaches halfway point
“The more Donald Trump insists the economy is amazing, the more we are confronted with evidence to the contrary.”
As Trump Fumes About His Great State Fair Fail, His Staff Question July 4 Plans
Link
Trump Having The Great American State Fair/4th Of July/America’s 250th Birthday He Deserves
“Oh man, this weekend is going to be humiliating.”
Ah, glad to see that error corrected: “47 birth tourism” babies in 2025. Surprisingly small. Non-problem.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/we-regret-the-error-tabs-thurs-july
Followup to Sky Captain @54, and me @84.
Washington Post link
“EXCLUSIVE: Fireworks on Mall likely to cause hazardous air pollution, documents show”
“Internal National Park Service modeling for the July Fourth show predicts dangerous pollution around the Mall and ‘very unhealthy’ conditions across central D.C.”
I can think of even more reasons that Trump is making conditions “very unhealthy.”
ICE arrests 10,000 illegally in US in 5-day span
If they want to find rapists and pedophiles, I hear there is a concentration around Pennsylvania Avenue. Try the 1600 block.
Forbes: Tucker Carlson Says Trump Is ‘Not A Man In Charge Of His Own Life’—Wants To Build New Third Party
Carlson greatly overestimates his political pull. His only chance of success is if the Republican party breaks up after Trump and there is an opening for unknown new parties to replace it. As the article points out though, a small splinter party can effect elections in the American system even if they have no chance of winning.
It isn’t clear what Carlson means by that. Since Carlson can be buying into conspiracy theories there are a lot of ways he could be going.
Unprecedented European Heatwave Has Killed More Than 20,000, New Study Claims
@170
I would say it is already broken.
re Lynna@166:
If Teddy Roosevelt were here today, he would give The Orange Turd a solid thumping and send him back to Mar-a-Lago crying like the baby he is.
CBS News: Former CIA Director John Brennan sues Justice Dept., Trump officials over criminal probes
Bringing a suit like this before even being charged is very unusual but the idea is straightforward. All of the information in a potential government case against Brennan would itself be government documents. It’s important that all of the information is preserved and made available to the defense, particularly those parts that work against the government case. As the Trump administration people are not big fans of keeping records this will require a court order to force them to do something that is a basic matter of principle and law.
I love that Brennan’s lawyers are saying that any indictment would surely be challenged on the grounds of being vindictive, just outright saying that the Trump DOJ investigation is abusive. I don’t know if they will win, this is a very unusual case to bring, but the Trump DOJ is so abusive it has a chance of working.
Startup activates nuclear microreactor live on stage to power an Nvidia RTX Spark desktop PC — firm working with Nvidia to build a 30MW closed loop AI factory that doesn’t use local water
I hope they met all relevant regulations, such as issuing dosimetry for all audience members.
Trump’s rhetoric about the Air Force One gifted by Qatar takes a weird turn
“Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this,” the president said, referring to a jet built by an American company on American soil.
What fresh (construction) hell is this?
Bryan Adams takes aim at Trump with protest song 51st State
MS NOW:
MS NOW:
NOTUS.org:
Associated Press:
US service member arrested at Capitol after calling for Trump’s impeachment
@ ^ That’s a crime now!?
Middle East Eye How Israel is quietly occupying Syria and aslso building an AI and drones and physical (?) wall all along its eastern border and more. 5 mins 19 secs long.
If the Dems were smart–which they sadly aren’t–they’ll stop picking on the DSA and let Tucker and MTG tear the Republicans apart. Sadly, they’ll likely do the opposite: Continue to alienate the left while “building bridges” to the right.
Gotta vote Blue no matter who! (Unless they’re socialists, then team up with the fascists.)
Iran’s Khamenei funeral: Which world leaders are attending?
Whew, I hope they seal the casket tight.
Inside the Luddite festival harnessing Gen Z’s rage against Big Tech
Good doco here I reckon – Dark history of Earth ep of How the Universe works series – almost 45 mins length.
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: ‘We can do it’: Bernie Sanders lays out a plan to take on billionaire power
Video is 8:56 minutes
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: New report alleges Trump allies cashed in on America’s 250th birthday
Video is 8:40 minutes
Lynna @164, TPM:
Announcing dangerous stunts would be genius marketing, just not for the reason he’d want.
Lynna @165, TPM:
Ick, I just imagined Vance converting to Scientology.
Lynna @166, Wonkette:
Despite a lifetime of experience, Trump can’t conceive of himself failing and brashly sets himself up for more.
Short-ish summaries of recent news:
Link
Robert Reich: “The Founding Fathers Were Quite Clear” .https://youtube.com/watch?v=pLoRgPbpKwY
Followup to comment 39.
Link
More at the link, including a YouTube video, and a photo showing the covers of 16 comics. That is some wild propaganda.
The real soundtrack of America
Lots of musical history and videos are available at the link.
Videos include, but are not limited to:
Jackson Browne
Whitney Houston
Beyoncé
Resistance Revival Corus with Rhiannon Giddens
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
Nina Simone
Tyler Childers
Cartoon: Great American State Unfair
Trump’s theme song should be ‘Burning Down the House’.
Ancient grain shows early lab promise against a key Alzheimer’s protein; polyphemols from sorghum show promise.
.https://sciencex.com/news/2026-07-ancient-grain-early-lab-key.html
Trump bails on World Cup
Sky Captain @191: “Announcing dangerous stunts would be genius marketing, just not for the reason he’d want.” LOL
In other news: InfoWars finally forks over cash to Sandy Hook families
Link
Independent: DOJ refuses to hand over Epstein files after judge’s order
Standard Trump lawyer move. Wait until hours before the deadline and then ask for an extension. Not an extension to produce the documents, an extension while the DOJ decides if they want to appeal the judge’s ruling or not. Which of course they do but they want to take as much time as possible doing it.
I expect if the judge rule’s against them an already prepared appeal will be dropped on the appeal court. And they will ask for a stay during appeal, which they will probably get. Expect this case to wind it’s way up to the Supreme Court before there is an actual action, it will move up as slowly as the DOJ can make it. It would be incredibly bad for Trump (and some other wealthy figures but they are secondary at this point) for the government to lose so they are going to slow roll this as much as possible.
The DOJ has already begun “losing” documents. They can’t do much here without it being too obvious but a few carefully picked ones can hide some key information.
Blatant lie. The Judge has ordered them to produce unredacted documents or produce information about why things were redacted. The Epstein document law requires the DOJ produce a document that explains why the various redactions were done and they have not done so.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/georgia-senate-race-its-jon-ossoff
“Georgia Senate Race: It’s Jon Ossoff Vs. Some Idiot MAGA Troll”
“Maybe don’t go with the dipshit bigot whose announcement video misspelled ‘Georgia’?”
https://www.wonkette.com/p/democrats-would-prefer-trump-not
https://www.wonkette.com/p/meatball-mcpeenertoilet-proud-to
More at the link.
(Crossposted)
.
Space, & communicating with the president.
From the novel ‘When the Moon Hits Your Eye” by John Scalzi
.
“I have a briefing with the president in exactly half an hour, and because we all know he doesn’t bother to read the daily intelligence briefing, it will fall to me to explain what the hell is going on.So explain it to me. Use small words so I can use even smaller words on him. Somebody start”.
Nobody wanted to start.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/park-service-warns-public-to-avoid
“Park Service Warns Public To Avoid Breathing While Watching DC’s July 4th Fireworks”
Why do we need sleep?
Nature Podcast on YT – 2025-07-16, story at 13:11
Useful German word politicians need to know: Vergangenheitsbewältigung
If there is an embarassing monument, do not remove it, but post an explanatory sign next to it.
Or let trees grow in front of it, as we did with a very fascisty -looking bronze eagle erected to the memory of Swedish pilots in a Stockholm park (the artist Carl Mille was pro-fascist BTW).
.
I do not think the conservative minister Carl-Oscar Bohlin who recently held a speech at the site with the eagle in full view of the cameras is a fascist, but the gophers who planned the event clearly knows nothing about the history of art.
.
Snafus like this are of no interest to the US administration, who knowlingly and willingly copies fascist tropes (the gilded eage in Washington DC is however a bit too kitsch to have passed muster in Italy or Germany 90 years ago).
@203
The original was Georiga, Let’s Ride
Don’t touch the water, a cartoon by Nick Anderson.
Stand-up comic held for jokes about Erdogan and Islam in Turkey crackdown
Link
9 monks struck and killed in Thailand by 11-year-old driver
I guess in a way that’s better than being killed 30 minutes before the end of the walk…
Washington Post link
“U.S. warned Iran about Israel’s aims to assassinate leaders”
“In the spring, U.S. officials suspected that Israel intended to kill Iran’s top negotiators and sent a warning to Tehran to take precautions.”
@183, 184
Air Force officer arrested at Capitol after calling for Trump’s impeachment
1) He was with a member of Congress, who then left. That seems pretty nitpicky.
2) He was in uniform. That’s a violation, but I don’t know how serious.
Dolly Parton asks Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for their firstborn child in thank-you video: ‘One special baby’
Seattle dog, cream cheese and all, named country’s best hot dog by NYT
A cartoon made for grown-ups.
“Is Frieren still the best fantasy anime? | featuring Gerald Lilywhite ”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BXXkV01yRN8
-In my opinion, it is about loss, grief, and “carpe diem”.
Also, getting along with your ‘chosen family’ despite the bumps in the road. Occasionally there may be a fierce battle with entities that have slaughtered the local population, but that is not the core of the story. The protagonist is an elf that lierally spent a millennium getting prepared to destroy the entity who had most of her people genocided, and who after the victory has to find a new meaning (like, befriending those mayfly humans who she previously did not bother with as they die off so quickly).
.
The villains are not stand-ins for any group, but rather they show a sapient, intelligent species without any empathy whatsoever. This makes them genuinely irredeemable, just like the Myrdraal in Wheel of Time or the goblins in Goblin Slayer.
Hossenfelder alert.
“The Hum” has been reported all over the globe We might finally know what it is.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=b52DZGBp1lo
Spoiler: In some cases it is infrasound, which is the likely source source of a feeling a hostile presence is in a ‘haunted house’. But in most cases, it is a low-frequency version of tinnitus.
July 4th has begun in Europe.
.
House of El: “The AI Layoff Payback Has Begun”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=QorWpn2O_sI
Overconfident managers firing experts and discovering AI does not work.
Heh, never tried a Seattle dog. I did treat myself to a Chicago dog for lunch today. I love those sport peppers.
Aljazeera: What is Nayara, the Indian firm Russia is reportedly importing oil from?
This is a rumor but reported in multiple places. This is a terrible sign for Russia, as they are one of the largest oil producing countries. If they can’t meet their internal needs they are are having serious problems and will have trouble selling oil.
Indian law precludes selling directly to Russia but Nayara Energy is largely owned by Russians. They could be working around the law using international traders willing to ignore sanctions. It isn’t clear exactly what is happening but the end result is Nayara sending processed oil to Russia. Russia could be sending raw petroleum to Nayara and importing the processed oil back into Russia. An awkward setup that would cost Russia money because they have to launder the oil through various steps to bypass sanctions. It would be even more expensive if they have to buy it on international markets but might be easier to do because it requires fewer steps to avoid sanctions.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married in ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler
I admit that last part surprised me.
Trump announces pardons for pollution violators prosecuted for “fixing their car”
Are Those Fake Books on the New Air Force One AI-Generated?
A job no one would want
Heaven’s IT Guy
I just discovered this a few days ago – AnswerMan also does skits about Creationism and Intelligent Design
If the heat is too oppressive to go outside or it is raining, here is a useful link for fellow nerds.
“Letters Archive | New Scientist” .https://share.google/WKbpgKOlS53bOkUi3
The magazine New Scientist has a paywall for the full content but “Letters to the Editor” gives a path into comments made by nerds around the world. Some insightful, some humoristic but usually interesting.
.
And if you have a well-stocked library subscribing to New Scientist, you can go there to explore issues with interesting articles the letters are referencing to.
Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT)
“Midjourney’s Move Into Medicine Is A Bet On Data, Not Doctors”
.https://share.google/EHmD5i4mi5ioIi0Ho
When the technology has matured, it might become a useful complement to other scanning technologies. USCT is a mature comcept, but the scale of this device is audacious.
It may however generate a lot of “false positives” and create much anxiety.
Trump warns of “communist menace” in July Fourth speech at Mount Rushmore
How horrible! Communism, where the state controls the means of production.
OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake
@225 Reginald Selkirk: Depending on who he pardons this could be reasonable. Some of the people defeating emission controls are doing it so they can repair their vehicles without going through dealers, where you pay inflated prices and is often slow.
The other end of the group are people bypassing their emission controls so they can intentionally make their vehicle dump more smoke into the air. The exact reason varies but a lot just have a belief that diesel trucks are more impressive if they churn out lots of black smoke and they don’t care what it does to other people. Those people should be paying fines and possibly serving a little time.
Politico: Justice Department calls on states to join investigation into oil companies
Straight up government pressure to try and get oil companies to lower prices. It isn’t clear if this is because Trump doesn’t understand what is going on or because he does and wants to use power to force the prices down. Either way it won’t work well.
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is not stable, the flow of oil is still very low and the whole region could blow up into a war at any moment. Even once that is taken care of the price for gas will come down far more slowly then it went up. In an emergency the price can jump in a day, when the emergency passes it takes days or weeks to come back down.
CNBC: UK and France agree with Oman to ensure safety of its territorial waters
A new player has entered the game. The is really significant because Oman is not only working against Iran to keep a path open but they are doing with European powers. The most important point is that this can’t be portrayed as a US vs Iran situation any more, there are now a lot of different players with different political and military interests.
At the same time Oman is apparently still in talks with Iran about joint control of the Strait. I would guess that Oman just wants to charge a little fee to everybody going through but doesn’t want to get into power games trying to control who uses the Strait.
America’s 250th: July Fourth events unfold as Trump to give D.C. speech near Freedom 250 ‘state fair’
“The U.S. is marking Independence Day with coast-to-coast festivities celebrating America at 250 years old.”
Decades-Old Bash Tricks Expose AI Coding Agents To Supply Chain Attacks
Link
Embedded links are available at the main link.
What are we celebrating? I have answers, some very dark, that flag waving pseudo-patriots won’t like and they are not as the magat-in-chief said ‘communist’. I’m not going to put them here for it should be the responsibility of each individual to find something of caring, honest value to celebrate. Our Hopi friends express great cognitive dissonance in pondering this holiday.
This is a quote from DW in 2016, not Upton Sinclair: ‘Fascism will conquer america wrapped in the flag, carrying the bible and threatening all opponents with a gun’
Why AI Doesn’t Think, Cannot Reason, Isn’t Intelligent and Will Never Achieve Consciousness
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/why-ai-doesnt-think-cannot-reason-isnt-intelligent-and-will-never-achieve-consciousness.html
NOTE: For over a year, I have been compelled to conclude that training ai on human works (some very good, some drivel) and making, often inane, human thinking and consciousness the goal of ai dooms it to mostly pretending to be your social media BFF and parroting human behavior. But, I will admit that, with obscene cost in money, energy, injury and environmental damage, ai does sometimes dig up and anylize a massive amount of data for medical purposes.
Energy Secretary Applauds The End Of Federal Wind And Solar Subsidies
“I’m thrilled to report that after 35 years, on July 4th, we will end the subsidies for new wind and solar projects, thanks to President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut,” said Chris Wright.
https://crooksandliars.com/2026/07/us-energy-sec-applauds-end-federal-wind
I hope he gets heat stroke and chokes to death on the climate altering toxic air polluted by all the increased fossil fuels, especially coal. He is a brown-nose owned by the crapitallist magat plutocrats.
New York Times link
“Nearly a Million Investors Lost a Total of $3.8 Billion on Trump Crypto Coin”
More at the link.
shermanji @237: “I hope he gets heat stroke and chokes to death on the climate altering toxic air polluted by all the increased fossil fuels, especially coal.”
Shermanji, on The Infinite thread do not post about wishing death or harm on other human beings.
Here is the general guideline: You should not fantasize about violence (or the death of other human beings) when posting here, nor should you propose that others do violence. The rule holds even if you are speaking metaphorically or jokingly.
Please also refrain from wallowing in, fantasizing about, or enjoying the prospect of other human beings dying, no matter who those humans are.
How to bring dishonorable people to justice is a discussion better suited to The Infinite Thread.
Researchers Built a Scuba Suit for Cyborg Cockroaches
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani:
re shermanj@237:
China is celebrating this because they are the clear winner, and it means the US will continue to fall further and further behind. With The Orange Turd and his administration, the US has become a second-rate state. And with the way they have burned through military hardware in Iran, the US may soon find itself without the means to defend anything.
@239 Lynna, OM admonished me not to wish for the death of someone.
I apologize. I will try to remember that. As an explanation, not an excuse, it is sometimes difficult for me to not express those thoughts when the person in question threatens and or actually destroys the lives of so many others. And, your wish for bringing miscreants to justice is correct. Yet, I fear that we are seeing too many mass murders who will never taste justice.
shermanj @237
Who or what is DW?
Link
@244 Militant Agnostic asked ‘Who or what is DW?’
I reply, DW are the initials of the founder of our organizations. He was amplifying the concept proposed by many others. I refrain from posting too much info on us on a public forum such as this as inappropriate. Some would mistakenly consider it as propagandizing or would exercise malice.
A thought on tonight’s, ahem, celebration, starting from Sky Cap’s comment @ # 57:
I just looked online for “fireworks shortage” and found nothing current except complaints about adverse effects of Trump’s tariffs. Seems odd that that much of a surge in consumption would have no reportable market effects.
Some reports have it the expected smoke will render most of the actual pyrotechnics invisible. At least that should reduce likely pulmonary effects, if nobody emits a lot of deep-breath “oohs” and/or “aahs”.
I propose we call off 99% of the Trump show and donate the materiel to Ukraine for anti-drone artillery.
Link
White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US
Demonstrators in white supremacist attire protest on Capitol Hill
“[…] they chanted phrases including “Life, liberty, victory!” and “Reclaim America!” — slogans regularly used by the Patriot Front white supremacist group.
Those guys do not look like they are dressed for the extreme heat.
Female American rower completes record-breaking solo journey
Reginald, quoting The Verge in comment 249:
LOL
I spoke to a friend in New York City today. Her family is conserving energy by setting their air-conditioning controls at 78 degrees, as Mayor Mamdani requested. Nobody wants to see a brown-out, or worse yet, a blackout.
Quakers, one of the 1st abolitionists, renew their call for resistance as America turns 250
Reginald @251, that is an amazing accomplishment.
From the ABC News source:
The ‘Parasite of Parasites’ Has Been Discovered in the Tropical Forests of Borneo
NY Times: Microsoft Disclosure Provides Rare Glimpse of Tax Haven Tactics
Important to note, there is nothing unusual or unexpected about what Microsoft is doing here. They are just getting a lot of reviews because they are the first major US company to complete the report. It does make for an interesting view of how much companies move money around just to evade taxes.
The Ireland game is well known. You can avoid a lot of taxes by organizing your company so employees are technically paid from a branch in Ireland. The Luxembourg bit is just funny.
This sort of tax dodges are a big issue. Not only is it robbing governments of money but because bigger companies can do this more it creates an economic environment that favors big companies.
Storms prompt National Mall evacuations ahead of Trump’s July 4th speech
The Guardian: Trump tries again to delay $5m sexual abuse payout to E Jean Carroll
Trump had time to get ready for this and all immediate appeals have already been exhausted, there is nothing to do but pay. The only thing Trump could do now is some exotic legal game to find some new way to appeal. This is actually the second time they have tried to delaying paying, their first try was asking E Jean Carroll’s lawyers to just give them some time out of the generosity in their hearts.
Trump has a new, and he thinks scarier hobby horse to ride: communism.
From NBC New’s report on Trump’s speech (he spoke after a weather-induced delay caused by approaching storms):
Aishvarya Kavi (NYT): “It is a chaotic scene on the National Mall. Several hundred people have refused to leave despite an order to evacuate […] Some are even arguing with Secret Service agents. At one point, a crowd of people began running back toward the stage. An officer is sternly repeating the order over a bullhorn and the crowd is booing. Many have begun chanting ‘USA, USA.’ A federal law officer is trying to assure people that the event has not been canceled. Many are not convinced. One man walking by blamed the situation on ‘liberals in the weather service,’ adding, ‘I think this is baloney.'”
WaPo – America’s 250th celebrations marked by severe weather
Amanda Moore (Journalist):
Rando 1: “They fixed the extra ‘e’.”
Aishvarya Kavi: “Hundreds of people have followed evacuation orders and headed to the designated federal buildings, but two of the buildings are full. At a third, the Departmant of Commerce, none of the doors are open. People are standing clumped around the entrances. When asked by some of them how to get in, a Secret Service officer shrugs.”
Jessica Pishko (Journalist): When I went to Trump rallies I was always struck by how much the people who came were treated with contempt. Heat, lack of toilets, etc. This seems like the sane thing.
Rando 2: “No amount of explaining could ever convince these angry rubes that the event was never *for* them. It’s for Trump and they’re his props.”
Rando 3: “MAGA taking shelter in the National Museum of African-American History And Culture! [Video clip]”
Campbell Robertson (NYT): “Trump said he would wait out the weather and still deliver his speech: ‘I don’t care if it’s 2:00 O’Clock in the morning, or in one hour from now.'”
Amanda Moore: “The residents of DC and Arlington will love the 2 am fireworks show, I’m sure.”
Aishvarya Kavi: The effort to shepherd crowds back onto the National Mall began about an hour ago. But it took many hours to shuffle people through security earlier in the day. Now, with Trump about to speak, there are still long lines of people, tired and damp, pressing up against pedestrian barricades and trying to get inside.
Amanda Moore: “Had to jump over a bike rack to get the hell out of the line I was accidentally in for re-entry to the Great American State Fair, after accidentally being in a mosh pit. I’m in hell!!!!!”
Aishvarya Kavi: “More than half the seats in the ‘special guest’ section at the front of the stage are empty. But hundreds of people are clumped in the aisles and as close to the stage as they can get […] standing on chairs with phones out to record Trump’s remarks. They’re cheering and applauding almost every line.”
Adam Sella (NYT): “The ‘very long’ speech Trump promised is over after about 35 minutes. Now on to the fireworks. They are loud, large—and red, white and blue. It’s just after midnight on July 5.”
/Some of these were from NYT live posts.
Adam Sella (NYT): “Trump’s favorite, ‘Y.M.C.A,’ is now playing. Many in the crowd appear to have paused filming the fireworks to dance along. The lightning alongside the fireworks is starting to appear more frequently and distinctly, but unlike earlier in the day there has been no call yet to evacuate. The fireworks have been going steady for more than 30 minutes now.”
Laura Jedeed (Journalist):
Rando 1: “OMG. They never reopened the main entrance.”
DrSkySkull: “Gotta admit, a spectacle hyped up to be the greatest in history turning out to be an incoherent blob really does capture the United States in 2026.”
Rando 2: “Ngl these two photos of the finale might be my favorite. [Photos]”
/I moved the “one tradition” paragraph to fit the chronology.
LeeLand (not the astronomer Lelande!) starts off quoting that douche Joe Rogan here but then nicely debunks the vulgar reichwing bullshit saying that “Strong Men Create Good Times, Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.” invented by ex-marine and post apocalpyse SF author G. Michael Hopf – 15 mins long & stumbled on this today.
@ ^ For those unfamiliar with Lelande who has the (relatively VERY nearby star Lalande 21185 named – or perhaps catalogued would be a better word – after him :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_Lalande
@ ^ Okay “Lee” / “La” & “Land” / “~lande”, close enough, same diff! ;-)
In unrelated local news :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-03/anti-abortion-activist-joanna-howe-political-ads/106835816
The Swiftboost mission has launched successfully – here’s hoping it jkeeps going as planned :
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/swift/swift-boost-mission/
Ketanji Brown Jackson eviscerated Clarence Thomas’ ‘colorblind Constitution’ fantasy
“In a 20-page concurring opinion, Jackson systematically ripped Thomas and his weirdly narrow reading of the 14th Amendment to shreds.”
Related video at the link.
<a href=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/07/05/pacific-ocean-is-running-fever-why-thats-an-ominous-sign/>Washington Post link
“The Pacific Ocean is running a fever. Why that’s an ominous sign.”
“A marine heat wave covering an area eight times the size of the United States could soon fuel serious storms and extreme heat.” [Map at the link]
More at the link.
Stevo R @ 264
I learned about Lalande 21184 in the book. “Fasan, E. , Relations with Alien Intelligences (ca 1970)”.
It had a list of the 100 closest stars. Also, I think Carl Sagan mentioned it in a book he wrote in the mid-seventies.
I looked up the list of stars to locate Ross 614 B, a system that featured in the German TV series “Raumpatrouille”
.
(Fun fact: that series was conceived independently of Star Trek, and debuted just a month after the first Star Trek episode. The sixties were dynamic(.
25 dead in ongoing heat wave as storms bring flood, wind threats to East Coast
“At least 18 record highs were set on July Fourth as celebrations kicked off in mid-Atlantic cities including Washington and Baltimore.”
Iran mourns supreme leader for a second day as millions flood streets, some calling for revenge
“Even larger crowds are expected Monday, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s casket will be taken on a procession through the streets of Tehran.”
Video at the link.
NBC now requires a subscription to view this and other news reports.
Erratum: I meant Lalande 21185!
.
Btw most close stars are useless red dwarf stars. They either have extreme flares today, or had it during their youth. This will have eroded any atmospheres on terrestrial planets.
And since strength of tidal effects relate to one divided by the fourth power of distance, and since red dwarf stars are very faint, a world close enough to be lukewarm will have locked rotation. Either like the moon, or (if it has a very elliptic orbit) like Mercury.
Seriously, screw red dwarf stars. The news about planet discoveries are 98 % about red dwarf systems. It’s very disappointing every time you read the details.
Welcome to a reality Svante Arrhenius predicted in an article 1898. It is one of the oldest scientific articles being referenced to.
The human race only had 128 years of warning.
.
We have failed as a species, and deserve any asteroid the cosmos throws at us.
On the Ground Along NATO’s Eastern Flank — as Russia Threatens
More at the link.
Hello, and happy 5th of July (Earth’s aphelion), everyone.
I previously noted comment 57 upthread – That amount of fireworks would be a truly amazing excess and waste. Also a major health hazard and possible safety risk.
Now I’ve seen a video clip of it on Twitter, and it did go pretty much like various commenters had predicted. Looked something like a munition depot fire (not only my own impression). Too tightly packed for any choreography. Much of the flashing was obscured by its own smoke. I can only imagine the amount of rocket debris trash that had to be collected from the area afterwards – presumably by low-paid park maintenance workers in the early morning hours while toxic smoke still lingered in the air.
Re: 274
I occasionally see news and other discussion about the new nuclear weapon legislation here in Finland, but don’t want to really look into it. Don’t know what to think about it.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on the latest Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia, this time prominently at Vysotsk port near Primorsk and St. Petersburg:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/04/ukrainian-drones-hit-st-petersburg-oil-terminal-and-nearby-port
(The distance from the big city should be about 105 km, not 170 km/105 miles as stated in the story. 170 km would be already in Finland.)
Vysotsk (formerly Finnish Uuraa) is less important as an oil port compared to Primorsk (Koivisto) and Ust-Luga, both of which have been repeatedly attacked in recent months. The Finnish public broadcaster Yle just interviewed some locals in the small town of Primorsk, which is dwarfed by the adjacent huge oil port. The local civilians were not overly concerned about their safety, as Ukraine has consistently abstained from attacking people’s homes and local service infrastructure. Some countries currently involved in wars could take a hint.
This spray-on powder can stop life-threatening bleeding in 1 second
‘Definitely felt a big bang’: Delta plane hit by firework while landing in Chicago
Trump touts America’s ‘
goldengilded age’ and his political agenda in a July Fourth speech roiled by severe weatherFTFY
Mallory McMorrow ends bid for Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan
@272. birgerjohansson : Mostly ageeed re Red dwarfs (aka M V type stars) although its a little more complicated than that and there’s still a lot we don’t know given potential atmospheres, magnetic fields and other things. Probly safe to say most exoplanets around red dwarfs are just lifeless rocks but not 100% certain. Science and individual worlds can still surprise us as we’ve found in our solar system and with exoplanets too. Remember before we saw them up close people expected the jovian moons and Pluto to be just boring cratered rocks too. But , yeah, probly, mostly.
.***
Source : https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260705_01/
World Cup quarterfinals news: Erling Haaland cements superstar status, scores twice in Norway’s 2-1 win over Brazil
“Haaland delivered both goals as Norway defeated five-time champion Brazil on Sunday and advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in its history.”
More at the link.
New York Times link
NPR – National Guard troops fatally shoot a man in downtown Memphis
Brad Moss (Security clearance attorney): “Tennessee is a permitless carry state.”
Greg Greene (Democratic National Committee circa Obama):
Cute video.
Orphaned Rhinos Run to Their Human Like Giant Puppies
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=1AQgZun_y2o
The First American Revolution? – The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
“The first American revolution isn’t the one you’re familiar with – the first one actually happened in 1680 when the Puebloan and Hopi worked together to overthrow the authoritarian yoke of Spanish colonization and forced religious conversion.”
MAGA Loses It Over Arabic Numerals… Without Realizing We All Use Them Every Day
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=1r93bM_atVY
‘Stinkster_Reborn’:
“A debate over “Arabic numerals” has social media in absolute chaos—and the wildest part is that Arabic numerals are the number system we all use every single day. In this video, I break down the viral controversy surrounding Zohran Mamdani, explain why this misunderstanding says more about the state of education than anything else, and react to Asmond Gold’s response after hearing the claim.”
Moody Bible Institute breach leaves 2.3M accounts needing salvation, says cyber expert
SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth’s atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to exempt satellites from regulations
Gus’ the T. rex presented in New York ahead of auction
Mike Johnson HATES this Southern Comic
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=9-TqGN0FROc
“I call him Little Johnson”
Waymo says some of its robotaxis ran out of power during San Francisco’s July 4 gridlock and had to be towed
Stompy the emu takes a swim in his new pool.
.https://youtube.com/shorts/WqcGx0J7O6Q
Goose, a New Gay Dating App, Appears to Be a Psyop
Retired Gen. CQ Brown raises alarm about increasingly politicized military
“When the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff starts issuing public warnings about the politicization of the armed forces, it’s wise to heed his concerns.”
The DOJ’s descent into total clowndom continues
Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention
“Even some Trump-appointed judges have agreed that indefinite detention is unconstitutional.”
More details at the link.
Cartoon: The visitor, by Tom Tomorrow
Both Pluto and Titan Share a Mystery Molecule That’s Never Been Seen Before
Iowa campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:
Good news.
Source: Fox News
Georgia campaign news, as summarized b Steve Benen from a Fox News source:
Good news.
Link
https://www.wonkette.com/p/donald-trump-throws-miserable-tribute
Lots of photos and more details are available at the link.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/i-am-theodore-roosevelt-and-i-will
“I Am Theodore Roosevelt And I Will Not Allow The Vulgarian Donald Trump To Speak For Me”
“That pigeon-livered hornswoggler!”
https://www.wonkette.com/p/abejas-tabs-monday-july-6-2026
Washington Post link
“$20 for tampons: Here’s how much ICE detainees pay for 5 everyday items”
“Detainees at a California facility say they are overcharged for commonly used items, including soda, coffee and feminine hygiene products.”
The White House’s failed DOGE experiment comes to an official and overdue end
“The Department of Government Efficiency was hyped as a governmental game changer. Its doors are now closing as a pitiful failure.”
Trump’s incompetent pool guy is set to reap more taxpayer money
Washington Post:
That was the result of the event organizers trying to set a world record for number of fireworks shot off in one show. The air pollution over the capital was dangerously high.
Another story adding to the Graham Platner baggage.
Politico – Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her
The incident is detailed further at the link.
Also a photo of him with his mouth hanging open.
Marisa Kabas (The Handbasket):
Rando: “if true, fuck you for screwing the party if you KNEW this would come up in opposition research.”
Ron Hogan (Journalist): “Equally frustrating / heartbreaking: This woman genuinely felt a need to consider the future strategic chances for a political agenda before deciding whether or not to publicly identify her rapist. Not least of all because people had been saying with their whole chests it didn’t matter if he was one.”
Marisa Kabas: “This dynamic described by Jenny Racicot is, as I understand it, very common among progressive women in Maine. they’ve been put in an impossible position and feel like they’re tanking platner’s campaign when in reality he did that on his own by being a violent and reckless person.”
Gary Legum (Writer):
The Downballot:
Elizabeth Picciuto (Philosopher): “He’s dropping out, and still has to injure her further and ensure a bunch of misogynists make her life a misery. Just cuz.”
* @310: Sorry, the mouth hanging open photo is in a different article about Platner’s cancelled events.
David Packman Show: EXCLUSIVE: Sources reveal SHOCKING Mitch McConnell update
Packmain says he has been leaked information that McConnell has been unconscious for 3 weeks. This would contradict claims by others to have talked to McConnell by phone. This is all rumor at this point but it is a serious matter. The split in the Senate is so small that even one person being gone would matter.
It also raises the question of how long do you let a person in Congress who appears permanently unconscious remain in office (ignore obvious joke)? There is no law that handles this matter at all. At some point the Senate could eject him but there is a good chance he would simply be absent till the next election.
New York Times:
NBC News:
Washington Post:
Wall Street Journal:
Hegseth causes harm to the USA.
Link
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-says-his-funeral-will-draw
‘Don’t Die’ Guy Bryan Johnson Says He Has Serious Autoimmune Disease
Packman mentioned this story in JM @312.
DailyBeast – Mitch McConnell’s wife’s bizarre move after CPR drama (Jul 4)
California Man’s Eyelid Bump Turned Out To Be a Worm Never Before Seen in the US
Australia…
“South Australian algal bloom species the world’s most toxic harmful microalga yet recorded”
.https://phys.org/news/2026-07-south-australian-algal-bloom-species.html
.
Also, I have just been told that Mitch Mc Connell has been unconscious the whole time since June 14th.
This creates a dilemma. He can be replaced by a special election, but first he must either resign (requires him to be conscious) or the senate must vote with a two-thirds majority to vacate his seat (good luck getting them to cooperate).
.
Furthermore, the senate is a gerontocracy.
Bernie Sanders is still going strong, but many of the others have a “Weekend at Bernie’s” vibe.
Allegations against Platner in Maine.
Is this a new “Swiftboating”?
xAI Is Dead. Long Live SpaceXAI
birgerjohansson @321: Wikipedia – Swiftboating: “a pejorative American neologism used to describe an unfair or untrue political attack.”
The new allegations were corroborated @310.
Sahil Kapur (NBC):
Rando 1: “So her line is somewhere between ‘violent domestic abuse’ and ‘rape’. I guess that’s better than no line at all, but, Jesus.”
Rando 2: “I was crushed when she endorsed him. Damage was done.”
Rando 3: “Remember: Just 1 month ago, Platner met with a half dozen Senate Democrats—including a one-on-one with Chuck Schumer—to tell them the worst of the rumors weren’t true.”
[WSJ – Senators privately ask Platner whether new allegations will emerge (Jun 3)]
Sahil Kapur:
Martin Heinrich (Sen D-NM): “I endorsed Graham Platner […] I can no longer support Graham Platner’s candidacy. He should step aside. [Screenshot]”
https://bsky.app/profile/martinheinrich.bsky.social/post/3mpzaube5r22qShane Goldmacher (NYT live post):
Rando 4: “My dude, if you actually believe any of the values you say you do, you simply do not get to hold your party’s senate hopes hostage in order to dictate terms here.”
Rando 5: “This is like getting fired for cause but insisting you get to chair the interview committee for your replacement.”
Rando 6: “Rapist refuses to understand being told to fuck off, very on brand.”
Rando 7: “it means whoever could conceivably take his spot will now be able to be hit with ‘this candidate deemed acceptable by rapist Nazi’ by the Collins campaign.”
Rando 8: “Waiting for Bernie.”
Top Democrats call on Graham Platner to drop out as sexual assault allegation emerges
The accompanying video shows a photo of Platner at a podium with a sign that reads “They don’t know Maine.” I have to say that I have read The Beans of Egypt, Maine and it seems to be a pretty accurate portrayal.
@320. birgerjohansson : ““South Australian algal bloom species the world’s most toxic harmful microalga yet recorded”
Thanks for that.
Yes! We have our first images of Near Earth Asteroid Torifune :
Source : https://www.straitstimes.com/world/japan-releases-snowman-like-asteroid-image-after-flyby?ref=latest-headlines.
Plus although nowhere near as clear of our planet’s quasi-moonlet Kamoʻoalewa :
Source : https://spacenews.com/tianwen-2-arrives-at-asteroid-kamooalewa-first-image-revealed/
Oh and also Scinews on yt has
Asteroid Torifune imaged by Hayabusa2 plus
Asteroid 2016 HO3 imaged by Tianwen-2 each about a minute and a half long.
Incidnetally a forgotten achievement here and how abou the shape of this one? :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9969_Braille
Ukrainian drones flew all the way to Siberia to strike Russia’s largest oil refinery
Parasite that causes ‘explosive diarrhea’ continues to spread across the US – these states are being hit hardest
Celebrate World Chocolate Day!
British racist scumbag & Regress not sorry “Reform” party leader Farage is in huge trouble – & had to resign but will recontest a by-election :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-08/nigel-farage-announces-plans-to-resign-and-recontest-seat/106890714
Honestly kinda surprised this is the first one at least for commercial satellites. Not really the best idea in my view :
Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-just-launched-the-1st-ever-nuclear-powered-commercial-satellite
RACHEL MADDOW: Trump restores gun rights for the mentally ill (seriously)
Video is 7:13 minutes
RACHEL MADDOW: Trump secures status as historic laughing stock after hogging America 250 spotlight
Video is 6:13 minutes
RACHEL MADDOW: Democrats call for Platner to drop out after new allegations
Video is 5:26 minutes
Unfortuinatekly whilst the British racist gets bad news it seems its good news for teh French fascist Le Pen :
Source : https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260707-live-french-far-right-leader-marine-le-pen-faces-key-ruling-in-race-for-president
Also via France 24 english thsi new interview w Literary icon Margaret Atwood – on why The Handmaid’s Tale no longer feels like fiction – just over 12 mins long.
They also interviewed Salman Rushdie t’other night too See Salman Rushdie on survival, censorship and the power of fiction – over 12 mins long.
Plus Red goshawk chick I rescued a few weeks ago is nearly ready to be released Palate Cleanser there – 30 secs long.
Trump eyes around-the-clock construction of new White House helipad
“[Trump] confirmed reporting on his latest construction project, though his comments arguably made the controversy worse, not better.”
Link
Yep. This has all of the usual red flags that indicate a refusal of some kind of an unwanted approach from Trump. And now he is engaged in revenge. Why did Trump say, “I didn’t put a heavy press on her”? And why is he focusing on a “restraining order” in his social media? Trump also previously characterized Meloni as a “beautiful young woman.”
The Roberts Court’s Corrupting Power
Trump’s Attack on Higher Ed: Ph.D Edition
More “Great American State Fair” details:
Link
See also this video hosted on reddit: Stage falling apart at Great American State Fair
Or on YouTube: Link
Idaho Mom Who Says Vaccines Killed Her Toddler Twins Charged With Murder
Mysterious Metal Spheres Found on Australian Beach May Have Come From Space
StevoR @336: An ominous line from that interview.
USA Today – ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ author Atwood sparks controversy: The danger of passive transphobia (2021)
Erin Reed:
I truly could not be more over Margaret Atwood (2021)
Working YouTube link for that Great American State Fair stage crash @343.
Just the crash. The Reddit link had some extra seconds from when dancers started practicing before the crash.
StevoR@332,
Farage is under investigation by the Parliamentaery Standards Commissioner into his failure to declare funding from a Thai-based crypto billionaire, and a convicted fraudster; if he is found to have broken the rules badly enough, he could be suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days, which in turn would make possible a recall petition signed by some proportion of his constituents (10%?) leading to a byelection. He has seized the initiative by his announcement of his resignation as an MP before the investigation is completed, and contestation of the resulting byelection. But I think he may have miscalculated – his dubious funding sources are bound to come under even greater scrutiny during the campaign; I have a hunch the Clacton electorate may have tired of Farage’s egotistic grandstanding, and absence from both the constituency and the Commons; and I think he could even lose the vote, despite his big majority in 2024. Reform has not done well in recent byelections, when their candidates came under the media spotlight and anti-Farage voters have proved adept at identifying the candidate to beat Reform. Several other parties (Labour, Tory, LibDem, and Farage’s more openly fascist rival Restore Britain) have now said they will not stand, although last I heard, the Greens have said they will – it’s far from a promising seat for them, but Farage did not get a majority of the vote in 2024, and I think it’s possible many of the people of Clacton will decide it’s time to get rid of the odious chancer and they should vote for whoever else stands. If the Greens stand down, that would leave the way clear for Count Binface. It would be hilarious if Farage was beaten by a joke candidate, but I’m inclined to think the Greens should persist, and run primarily on “Give the voters a choice” and “Keep foreign money out of UK politics”. Even if they lose, as is probable, they would have put down a marker for the second byelection – if it happens – and shown that they have a distinctive approach.
Sky Captain @347, thank you.
Climate news from Meteor Blades:
Link
Justin Baragona (Zeteo) on Jun 29:
Commentary
Elizabeth Jacobs (Epidemiologist): “A least one ICE detention facility in Arizona is ‘closed for measles’. It is not clear how many people are infected or have been exposed, and it seems that there may be outbreaks in two facilities.”
Several people quarantined for measles exposure at Arizona ICE center
Newsweek – Cat fleas linked to fatal human disease in Texas
Midtown Manhattan buildings evacuated after columns found buckling at high-rise construction site
The pastor who wants to repeal voting rights for women is becoming more mainstream
Trump’s Justice Department finalizes second settlement with Michael Flynn
“The first settlement with the former White House official was described as ‘a miscarriage of justice.’ The second settlement adds insult to injury.”
Bad, and disturbing news. That is not justice.
Trump brushes off conflicts of interest, touts companies whose stock he owns
Related video at the link.
Dozens charged with murder, extortion and more in crackdown on India-based organized crime groups
Judge quashes Justice Department subpoena for information about 2020 election workers in Georgia
Judge sides with Taylor Swift in Florida poet’s plagiarism lawsuit
This is the first time I have heard of Cannon doing anything that wasn’t wacky or corrupt.
McConnell spoke to GOP leaders amid uncertainty about his Senate return
US revokes Iran oil sanctions waiver after Strait of Hormuz strikes
Link
Link
New York Times link
“Administration Demands States Change Voting Rules or Lose Antiterrorism Funds”
“Federal officials said they would withhold some money unless states pursue paper ballot systems, verify citizenship and conduct costly audits.”
New York Times link
“Bernie Sanders Calls on Platner to Drop Out After Rape Allegation”
“Mr. Sanders was one of the last remaining prominent allies of Graham Platner, the Maine Senate Democratic nominee, to call for him to drop out after a rape allegation.”
More at the link.
Followup to comment 361.
U.S. launches new attacks on Iran in retaliation for attacks on commercial ships, U.S. military says
Followup to comments 361 and 367.
NBC News:
Politico:
Good news.
The story of America’s 250th anniversary is still ours to write, by Rachel Maddow
“We the people — not Trump — get to decide how we want our generation to be remembered 50, 100 or even 250 years down the road.”
Related video at the link.
Over 1,200 DOJ alums say Todd Blanche shouldn’t be attorney general
The next prez can make up for it with the 253rd anniversary.
Re: CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ #372…
There are some important anniversaries still to come. 2033, 250th anniversary of the treaty ending the US Revolution (i.e. when Britain agreed that we were, in fact, independent). 2037, 250th anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution, the REAL start of our government as we know it. 2039, 250th anniversary of the start of the first Congress under the Constitution and the inauguration of the first president under it.
The Guardian – Washington DC records world’s worst air quality after fireworks
The small asteroid Kamo’oalewa (“The Fragment Which Oscillates”) is being visited by a Chinese space probe right now, and we will hopefully get back a sample of material. The space rock is a ‘pseudo-moon’ of Earth.
“Once around Kamo’oalewa”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y3xnBHMMkI8
Politico – Most Senate Dems say Platner should drop out
New Jurassic Fossil Reveals How Birds Lost Their Dinosaur Tails
US launches strikes on Iran after tankers hit in Strait of Hormuz
Please remind me; was it April or May when the president of the United States of America assured Congress that hostilities with Iran had ended?
Dunno how many others reading this are in Adelaide or close enough to attend tonight but the Women* in Black group is holding a Vigil tonight on the steps of South Australia’s Parlt house to mark a thousand days of the genocide in Gaza. Starts 5 pm and goes for an hour. Bring electronic candles if you have any.
.* Not necessarily all women and not exclusively so – open and welcoming to all genders.
See fb page here : https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0aTG51AtrVAC85mLkLbgayAxWBnxKeRKemBS6fQNBz91w28bn7iTqo12eFGtSY6Vml&id=61559946750150
Rebecca Solnit – Pod Save Patriarchy (or whatever that sorry Platner spectacle was)
Meanwhile back in the UK, the Farage farrago continues. The Green Party of England and Wales have now joined the other significant parties who might have stood against Farage in the byelection in Clacton which he intends to bring about by resigning as an MP, in saying they will not put up a candidate. I’m a bit torn about whether this was the right decision – it goes very much against the grain to say a chance, however remote, to throw a fascist grifter out of Parliament should not be taken. But there may be an opportunity to make Farage look a complete upper-class twit, as there will only be fringe and joke candidates standing against him. I think there should be a rally around Count Binface, the best-known of the perennial joke candidates who contest multiple elections (he’s a professional comedian who gets off some good lines), and force Farage to fight the campaign against him. I see the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch (a bit of a joke herself) has hinted at that. Formal endorsements from serious parties wouldn’t be helpful, but a few nudges and winks, and tacit approval for party members to help the Binface campaign, might.
However, a(nother) weird wrinkle in the UK’s constitution (it’s a myth that it doesn’t have one, it’s just scattered about and vague around the edges) means the byelection may not take place. The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey (another bit-of-a-joke party leader) has called on the government to block Farage’s resignation until the Parliamentary Standards Commission enquiry into Farage’s funding concludes. How, you may ask, do you stop a politician resigning? The weird wrinkle is that an MP cannot, as such, resign their seat. They have to apply for an “office of profit under the crown”, the most commmon being “Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds” (the steward has no duties and I think no actual salary, maybe a nominal guinea a year or something). Once they are granted such an office, they are no longer an MP – this is the British version of the distinction between the executive and legislative branches of government. But in principle, their application may not be granted, in which case they remain an MP and no byelection occurs; this was last done, apparently, in 1842.
Come now – this is obviously a completely new war, nothing to do with the one that ended in April (or May)! So the 60-day count until the war needs congressional approval starts again from 0.
Not so, according to Heather Cox Richardson (I don’t have a link handy, but it’s in her podcast for July 4th). The wording was agreed on July 4th, but the signing had to wait until copies were made and distributed, and that took until sometime in early August.
@383
Because Kinko’s was closed for the holiday.
‘Acceleration without fuel:’ Revolutionary superconducting thruster harnesses Earth’s magnetic field in 1st orbital test
* An important point for any of you who might be dreaming of petawatt data centers in spa-a-a-a-a-ace.
Reginald Selkirk@384,
And the British had captured the web-servers along with the airports.
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Trump curse? U.S. World Cup exit blamed on ‘reverse Midas touch’
Video is 4:31 minutes.
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: ‘Rumors are flying’: Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized as questions swirl
Chris Hayes discusses how Republicans have planned to keep Mconnell’s senate seat no matter what happens.
Video is 7:33 minutes.
Judge rejects Team Trump’s $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post
“The demise of the president’s latest case against a media company is a demonstration of the benefits of fighting back — and of the folly of appeasement.”
KG @383, thank you for the correction.
In other news: Trump needlessly renews his Greenland obsession, sparking fresh pushback from U.S. allies
“For Trump to renew this crusade for no reason does fresh harm to his own country in exchange for nothing.”
Ryan Grim has a new dumb video on the breaking points YT channel defending Graham Platner. I was not subbed to unsub but the channel went to the “don’t recommend” pile. Never liked the guy, and too bad for BP but fuck them.
The Register: Zombie ‘who owns Unix?’ lawsuit comes alive again
Case of the living dead is back. Xinous can probably never win in court, SCO never had a good case to begin with and banked on making the case so complex and take so long that IBM was willing to settle. Xinous is yet enough level of contracts removed from the original problem.
Daily Beast – Trump’s failing fair reduced to showing livestreams to nobody
Didn’t she hate… oh.
The decade-long Trump-McCain feud is over (2025)
‘I think it’s over’: Trump puts future of Iran ceasefire in doubt amid new strikes
“The world now confronts a difficult new question: Does the ‘deal’ between the United States and Iran still exist?”
Related video at the link.
Trump keeps threatening to cut off trade with Spain, but he can’t follow through
“We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore,” the president said. It’s not nearly that simple.
Angry crowd confronts Republican Rep. Mike Flood at Nebraska town hall over Trump policies
Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law.
Trump officials and 200 of the national guard at a DC park on July 2nd, touting new grass and fixed fountains. With follow-up comments now-ish.
Sanho Tree (Institute for Policy Studies):
Ron Filipkowski (Meidas): “Hegseth showed up late, making troops in uniform wait in 93 degree heat”
Brian Finucane (JustSecurity): “‘law and order’ says the Secretary of Lawless Boat Strikes.”
Rando 1: “Since when does the AG give a speech to the military?”
Rando 2:
Flight instructor jumps to his death mid-flight, leaving student to land plane
Why Does Donald Trump Keep Talking About ‘Tic Tac’?
Judge rejects Kalshi attempt to override New York state gambling laws
Washington Post link
“Trump praises Zelensky, will let Ukraine build Patriot missiles”
“It was a dramatic departure from Trump’s more acerbic tone toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he once derided as ungrateful.”
I advise taking Trump’s comments with a grain of salt. He could easily change his mind again … or simply fail to follow through.
New York Times link
MS NOW:
CNBC:
It could be shown that adding Trump’s name caused harm to the Kennedy Center.
re Lynna@402:
Another fucking made-up “Sir” story. I am sure that not one single person came close to saying any such thing.
Associated Press:
johnson catman @405, yes, I think you are correct. When Trump includes people calling him “Sir” in one of his made-up stories that’s a tell. Trump is telling a lie. In this case, Trump piled on another lie, namely that people told him, “we love you.”
However, I will note that Politico reported that people were collaborating on tactics to assuage Trump.
Link
There was more reporting earlier on this discussion among European leaders concerning how to handle Trump, but now I can’t find the source.
Dan MacClellan:
“More reasons we know Moses didn’t write the Torah” #maklelan3363
.https://youtube.com/shorts/0OYitH0aIQQ
Followup to comments 405 and 407.
From the New Yorker, a humorous piece written by Patricia Marx:
Followup to comment 407.
Here is that source I was looking for earlier. It describes leaders at the NATO summit trying to manage Trump.
Trump management’: Everyone else has a plan to keep NATO summit on the rails
“Military allies hope money, rearmament and a gesture on Iran will keep the U.S. president happy.”
More at the link.
Trump’s Department of Education Celebrates ‘American History’ With Old Photo From U.K.
Tennessee conductor fired after telling July 4 passengers America is greatest country, critics should ‘leave’
Already trying to cash in! His remark was wildly inappropriate and I am glad CARTA thinks so too. He was on the fucking job; not the time to be spreading his hateful and divisive personal views.
Farron Cousins:
“Republicans Freak Out As Trump Hoards All Their Campaign Cash”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=FEOEXjYRPjg
Reuters: Russia bans diesel exports to ensure domestic supply after targeted Ukrainian drone strikes
I have not seen any sources mention it but I would guess that the export ban doesn’t cover China. This is cutting off the shadow fleet. This puts Russia in a real squeeze because they need diesel to keep their military and economy running but they need to sell also to get money to buy supplies off the black market.
Russia also admits that Russia will be importing oil to help maintain internal supply.
Russia is clearly in an economic decay that will eventually destroy Russia. However, it is a country well positioned to keep going past the point of other countries. Strong internal controls, large reserves of hard cash, resources they can sell, a large population, they produce enough food, their own industry for most things they need for the military and economy. They will last longer then other countries, how long that is covering military expenses I have no idea.
Lynna @ # 394, quoting ms.now: It’s never been altogether clear why Donald Trump harbors so much animosity toward Spain …
Seems obvious to me: They speak Spanish.
That in itself makes anyone a justified target for ICE interrogation and a Kavanaugh stop. Real Americans™ don’t even want to hear it!
He’s gone
Platner Drops Out