“‘Summer is nearly over and the American people haven’t seen a single episode of this reality TV show—so what did the corporate sponsors who helped fund this road trip actually pay for?‘ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told Forbes in an email.” Good scoop here from @srkelleher.bsky.social !

Forbes@forbes.com · yesterday

Summer’s almost over and Sean Duffy’s controversial road trip reality series has yet to launch, leaving corporate sponsors out millions of dollars and critics asking what the money was really for.

Don't look now, but the world has now installed 3TW of solar. Took 10 years to get from 100GW to 1TW. Less than 3 years to get to 2TW. Less than 2 years to get to 3TW. Analysts expect *9TW* by 2036.

The World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone. No One Noticed

The next phase of the boom may reveal a shift in who is gaining access to the technology.

bloomberg.com

Personally I would love to see Bluesky expand. It shouldn’t just be the app for leftists who can’t stand Matt Yglesias! It should also be the app for liberals who can’t stand Matt Yglesias. And apolitical folks who can’t stand Yglesias. And, yes, even conservatives who can’t stand Matt Yglesias!

WATCH: Is Don Jr. really a financial wizard? Or is his firm’s stunning success just another example of the Trump family cashing in?

Don Jr.’s 200% returns look LESS 'financial wizard' and MORE corruption, says Hayes

YouTube video by MS NOW

youtube.com

It’s embarrassing that the rabbi of Central Synagogue - one of the most prominent Reform rabbis in the US - is portraying Mamdani’s accurate description of Netanyahu as a war criminal as a sign of antisemitism. This is part of why young people take antisemitism less seriously than they should.

Russian-American private equity investor Konstantin Sokolov — who was recently appointed by the U.S. State Department to chair the TRIPP+ Enterprise Fund — gave $1 million to President Trump's super PAC on June 10th, new FEC docs show docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

Nothing says thank you after a favorable regulatory or enforcement action like massive super PAC contributions. www.levernews.com/the-winklevo...

The Winklevoss Twins Gave Trump $20 Million After Regulatory Win

The crypto investors donated $20 million in bitcoin to Trump's super PAC weeks after his administration moved to abandon a federal enforcement action against their crypto exchange.

levernews.com

The Lever@levernews.com · 2w ago

🚨 SCOOP: The Winklevoss Twins funneled $20 million of bitcoin to a Trump-aligned super PAC just after Trump officials moved to vacate an action against the brothers’ crypto exchange, according to new documents. Details at LeverNews [dot] com - pass it on

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic spent a record $1.97M on lobbying during Q2, new docs show — an average of about $19,500 PER DAY That's more money than in any other quarter since it first hired federal lobbyists in 2024. lda.senate.gov/filings/publ...

In 10 years of covering Trump’s finances, this is his most-blatant attempt to profit off the presidency. And there’s close to 0% chance Trump Media didn’t consult Trump before launching this product.

Bill Kristol@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 2w ago

A must read piece by JVL on Trump’s genuine breakthroughs and innovations in the field of corruption. And why it means he is unlikely to willingly let the presidency easily escape his or his family’s grasp in 2029. www.thebulwark.com/p/truth-soci...

Ossoff: In my view, he's obsessed with Georgia because he can't get over the fact that it was black voters and black political power who were instrumental to his defeat in Georgia and in a number of crucial battleground states.

Schulze: "During her 10-month tenure, Weiss has hired far more MAGA-coded talking heads than journalists. ... There are upwards of 30 new pundits and contributors at CBS News. Most come from conservative media or right wing think tanks and share Weiss’ political ideology. Some are just quacks."

Bari Weiss is hiring more right wing pundits than journalists at CBS News

Most of the new talking heads come from conservative media or right wing think tanks or both! Some are just quacks. All seem to share Weiss’ political ideology.

jenniferschulze.substack.com

The Platner story shows how political consultants should not parachute into a state and pick a candidate. There were a bunch of solid Democratic candidates in the state. Maybe the elites don’t know better than the people who actually live in the state?

I don’t think men, as a category, are fixable

MacFarlane: Welcome back to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has retained its very swampy, green-like color. It’s still fenced off. It’s still inaccessible. It’s still not in its best shape. It is reflecting again, but it’s almost like it’s quarantined in its green-like state.

moonies!

Hunter Walker@hunterw.bsky.social · 4w ago

I was digging around Trump's "Freedom 250" site and found a plan to put a cross on the moon. youtube.com/shorts/9ATX-...

I don't know what to call the specific political tendency represented by Ryan Grim, Ken Klippenstein, Matt Stoller, Michael Tracey, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and Zaid Jilani, mostly because words sort of fail, but it isn't "the Left."

Glad to see him drop out. And of course he drops out in the same way as his campaign has been run: defiantly refusing to admit that he could have ever done something wrong.

The Downballot@the-downballot.com · 4w ago

Graham Platner drops Senate bid, with defiant statement insisting rape allegations are false. Our writeup, along with everything we know so far about the process to replace him:

Same people promoting this are screaming about Mamdani's grocery stores as "communism."

USA TODAY@usatoday.com · 4w ago

The White House launched 25 Freedom Fuel gas stations, all selling fuel at $3.47 a gallon.

Okay, now it’s Republicans’ turn to kick out the most prominent rapist in their party

good news

Rolling Stone@rollingstone.com · 4w ago

Breaking: Graham Platner has dropped out of the Senate race in Maine following an allegation of sexual assault against him. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

I am once again asking people to stop listening to Ryan Grim.

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 4w ago

"she asked for it"

"Now Trump has figured out how to exploit existing government nonprofits as a clearinghouse for cash, letting corporate donors buy their way into his good graces while the public is left guessing who paid for what — and what they got in return." — @lizdye.bsky.social

Trump's 'great' fair limps to its conclusion

But the grift goes on.

publicnotice.co

The technical term for getting beaten soundly by Belgium in soccer is “getting waffle housed.”

FIFA announces that team USA can use their hands “just if they need to”

I haven’t seen so many ineffective crosses in Mexico since Hernán Cortés couldn’t convert the Aztecs in 1519

Genuinely don't remember soccer being as interesting as this game.

Last night during the fireworks. And if this isn't a perfect representation of our current federal government, I have no idea what would be. Fuckin' Sleepy Joe, man...

I think this might be one of the most incredible, unsettling and symbolic photos of today’s America I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop looking at it. From Reuters, published on the Guardian website.

“Nearly a Million Investors Lost a Total of $3.8 Billion on Trump Crypto Coin” 🎁🔗 @ericlipton.nytimes.com, David Yaffe-Bellany for @nytimes.com

Nearly a Million Investors Lost a Total of $3.8 Billion on Trump Crypto Coin

nytimes.com

Democrats are preparing a hostile audit of Trump and his inner circle, intent on exposing — and ultimately ending — the most lucrative presidency in American history. Dems see the presidential gold rush as corruption personified — and plan to bury Trump's orbit in subpoenas if they win the House.

Democrats plot subpoena storm over Trump's $2 billion gold rush

Democrats are preparing a hostile audit of Trump and his inner circle.

axios.com