This story doesn't even mention the next wave of recording glasses that is about to hit: Amazon is rolling out glasses to its drivers.

Totally normal that the Secretary of Defense needs a babysitter.

Michael Derby@michaelsderby.bsky.social · 5h ago

NYT: “One person familiar with Mr. Hegseth’s thinking said that the defense secretary likes his wife to travel with him to keep him out of trouble. Mr. Hegseth, who has a history of heavy drinking, has himself made clear he needs his wife at his side.”

Not uni-level & not full refusal but my faculty has officially endorsed a policy that calls for more slow science, sets out the many ways in which GenAI erodes values of research integrity, and advises "to not use it, unless" [you can uphold those values]. osf.io/preprints/os...

I mean it's not only not wanting to be recorded in public while we just mind our own business, it's also recorded and deep faked doing something we didn't do when really we were just buying groceries or picking up a prescription. Things like that.

A possible romantic relationship between a president and one of his aides isn’t something the public needs to know about. by Ken Starr and Newt Gingrich

How much does turnout also factor in the primary? I think there were ~ 1.5M Dem voters for Gov and ~900K for a close GOP primary. There is a massive enthusiasm gap due to Trump's disapproval & tariffs to the auto-industry. This is a different environment than Slotkin's narrow 2024 win.

91-0!

G Elliott Morris@gelliottmorris.com · 12h ago

Just one poll but "Despite public media reports that El-Sayed is facing a divided Democratic electorate after a bruising and closely contested August 4th primary, he leads Rogers 91%-0% with self-identified Democrats and leads Rogers 46%-24% with Independents and unaffiliated voters."

Bring your wife-mom-boss-conscience-sobriety coach to work forever day....because you are an incapable man-child.

Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · 6h ago

one way to keep him off the bottle maybe ‘It’s Bonkers’: Jennifer Hegseth’s Hands-On Role in Her Husband’s Pentagon www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/s...

#NannyHarp

Bill Kristol@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 11h ago

“The president of the United States has an in-house stalker and he relies on this unhinged woman to an extent that is both hilarious and terrifying…The relationship is like a flashing neon arrow pointing at the Twenty-fifth Amendment.”

At a time people are asking "isn't all this build-out too expensive?" SpaceX asks "what if every gram of it had to be lifted into space?"

I don't need you to like me. I need you to like YOU.

I use the term Ponzi Austerity which derives specifically from that analogy. www.theamericanvandal.com/p/geegordonp...

I was not expecting a bunch of humanities professors to go so hard on the intricacies of obscure financial instruments, but it actually RULED. A truly invigorating listen!

Kind of seems like the editorial staff of Politico has a pro-MAGA agenda and they're repurposing negative stories about Republicans as negative billboards about the Left.

mailman just asked why i'm standing in my yard in a suit pretending to hold a funeral for Spirit Airlines

LA County is a perfect example of the role govt. attorneys play in frustrating accountability& transparency efforts. The Sheriff’s Dept. has bred a vicious constellation of deputy gangs that have murdered + hurt residents in jails and on the street. Everybody knows they exist.

Cerise Castle@cerisecastle.bsky.social · 8h ago

#BREAKING: LA Supervisor Holly Mitchell has written a motion directing the LA County Sheriff's Dept to identify deputy gangs within its ranks. If passed, the names of the gangs could be made public as soon as next year. www.patreon.com/lasdgangs/po...

Every time Trump talks about how much he loves Putin or Kim or Xi, those dictators make a public gesture to humiliate Trump. It's a powerful way to exercise their reflexive control over their American puppet. Trump is an imbecile and a narcissist, and is very easy to manipulate.

Comments already coming up with examples, something to definitely pay attention towards...

Adam Sawyer@adamjst.bsky.social · 13h ago

Have there been instances of on-duty state/local officials operating outside their jurisdictions, esp crossing state lines? Other than the obv example of state national guard deployed DC, I don't know if I can think of another example in this category? Maybe I am missing something.

To me, this is central to DHS strategy. Deputize state/local officials to be front-line enforcement personnel in GOP areas (GA, FL, TN, TX) so that DHS can focus energy and resources in Democratic jurisdictions (LA, CHI, DC, MSP).

Where are these blue "never-AI" people on the graph? They are tucked behind the pre-AI curve because the distributions are identical. All of the action is happening in the red. This is why we've been yelling about this stuff being used for education purposes.

NEW: Flock has said for years that its cameras "cannot track individuals." We found the code for its new AI tool. It's preloaded w/ prompts like "Find me witness" & "find relatives." One tracks visitors of multiple hotels, another if you visit banks after midnight. www.wired.com/story/flock-...

Right-wing media calling a view “far left” is a fairly reliable signal that it isn’t: That it’s a broadly popular position they need to telegraph to their own audience they’re not supposed to agree with.

Media Matters for America@mmfa.bsky.social · 13h ago

Republican leaders who fear that the furious, bipartisan backlash against AI data centers could cost their party in the midterm election are getting help from their loyal propagandists at Fox News.

They intentionally mix in rotten and inedible food with food that is still kind of okay so they can claim a larger tax refund/charitable donation. It is an intentional corporate strategy to benefit from forcing food banks to deal with their garbage

The whole thing is bizarre but Trump attracts bizarre the way some presidents attract talented people. I mean Walt Nauta's relationship with him is pretty iffy as well. And he did make it on to the safe plane with Trump when Rubio got left on the at risk AF1.

"Plagiarism accusations are now a core part of the right-wing harassment toolkit, and knowing that those accusations were made in bad faith or for political reasons does not make them disappear.... if I ever let GenAI near my writing, I’m exposing myself to risk from plagiarism accusations"

Colin Carlson@colincarlson.bsky.social · last wk.

I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...

"(1) to ensure the best legal education possible for our students by equipping them to perform activities constitutive of excellent lawyering, such as mastering primary texts, using legal reasoning to apply legal authorities to novel legal questions, and independently developing creative solutions;"

Leonore (Lee) Carpenter @leecarpenter.bsky.social · 14h ago

In case you are an academic who is currently being gaslit into believing that you're a caveman who wants their students to be jobless if you resist allowing AI in your classrooms... I present to you Berkeley Law's response, which can be summarized as "Fuck off directly into the sun."

The Trump regime’s desire for authoritarian abuse is infinite, but its capacity is not. The lower that capacity, the less repression the regime can try, and the more likely it is to fall. One thing that makes Minnesota protestors heroic is how much they countered and reduced the regime’s capacity.

@jamellebouie.net says it well here. The attention economy is what it is. We can try to improve the information environment, but that’s a longer-term project (and might not work). For now, it’s the playing field, and Democrats or anyone else opposed to Trump/MAGA should play accordingly.

jamelle@jamellebouie.net · yesterday

[seinfeld voice] what is the deal with natalie harp youtu.be/XqpTkbNRAjY

Sen. Ossoff mentions Natalie Harp, it got some social media buzz, then professional media jumped on it. Two theories of politics that are wrong: 1) Do economic policy, act above the fray, media will do the rest on its own 2) Public opinion is static, politicians’ job is to measure then follow it

Oliver Willis@owillis.bsky.social · 17h ago

TMZ is now covering Natalie Harp, reaching normies who don’t care about politics. Why? Because Jon Ossoff just opened his mouth. www.tmz.com/2026/08/18/n...

One somewhat major detail @bostonglobe.com left out of this piece (it gets left out of every piece) is that John Glover’s house he lived in during the revolutionary war still stands today in Marblehead and is historically designated. mass.historicbuildingsct.com?p=2487

Jonathan Berk 🏠@berkie1.bsky.social · 4d ago

Historic preservation matters. But it must have limits. The fact that a famous person once lived somewhere should not justify preserving an architecturally insignificant farmhouse left to rot for decades, especially when it's blocking desperately needed housing. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/16/m...