It's not an Electoral Mandate unless it comes from the sparkling oligarch region of the Democratic Party
Laurel
@balancecraft.bsky.social
Democracy, antitrust, psychedelics My views are a personal "special arrangement sanctioned by history" Postwar substack series (how did "grandfather of VC industry" sabotage reconstruction of postwar Germany?): https://balancecraft.substack.com/about
fun hobby: cataloging the securities law violations in batman begins bruce wayne bought up the shares of his company right after the IPO without so much as a 13D, let alone a Form 4?
Per UBS, OpenAI and Anthropic will account for 27% of Google Cloud's 2026 revenue and more than 48% of 2027's. Investors are being sold a story about diverse AI demand that is simply not true - hyperscalers spent a trillion dollars to feed money back to themselves and pretend it's real growth.
Ed Zitron@edzitron.com · 5d agoWas awesome to join Bloomberg to talk about the lie of AI - everyone's buying into the mag7 believing CapEx is going towards diverse AI demand, when all it's really doing is supporting the circular cloud revenues of two unprofitable, unsustainable AI labs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHcZ...
The DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
Democratic Socialists’ bus benches remain, city mum on next steps | Port City Daily
WILMINGTON — The handmade bus benches installed by the Wilmington Democratic Socialists of America have highlighted a problem nearly everyone agrees exists: most Wave bus stops have nowhere for riders...
portcitydaily.com
The Trump administration is asking #SCOTUS to put back into effect its executive order giving the USPS more control over mail-in voting. Today's bonus "One First" explains why this is a purely procedural dispute at this juncture (about standing/ripeness)—albeit one the government should still lose:
Bonus 241: The Mail-In Voting Applications
What the Court was asked to do on Monday is narrower than much of the coverage suggests—and a grant of relief would be far less significant than it may appear.
stevevladeck.com
DOJ/States response/appeal brief was filed tonight in Google search appeal. Here are the remedies topics. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Claude is apparently buying up rare books, first editions, and as yet unpublished fare to scan and destroy to feed their engine without having to worry about copyright? (Have also heard anecdotally about rare book dealers getting unprecedented orders) isbndb.com/blog/print-b...
The Receipt is the New License: Print Books Sourcing for AI Training - ISBNDB Blog
In 2025, a federal judge handed down one of the most consequential copyright rulings in AI history. Anthropic (Claude AI) had purchased and physically
isbndb.com
I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning for just shy of 20 minutes. We talked of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings.
"A single engineer on my team had more experience than the entire reported expertise of those on the DOGE team—at least of those willing to share their names." –former employee, US Digital Service #ResignationBook
"many private-market investors see investments in Musk’s companies as sure bets ...Investors who backed Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter had been underwater ...But they eventually made money after [he] rolled [Twitter] into ... xAI, and later ...SpaceX." Profit via conflict transactions
Exclusive | Elon Musk’s Boring Company Eyes $20 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round
The tunneling startup is in talks to raise around $4 billion from investors
wsj.com
Join us for States of Consciousness (Oct. 14-15, 2026), a conference at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social exploring consciousness through the lens of psychedelics. Register by Aug. 6 to save with early bird pricing: https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/soc-conference/
Fun piece on @theslingutah.bsky.social about a not-so-fun thought experiment: what if Microsoft sold cars the same way it sells software? www.thesling.org/imagine-a-wo... #righttorepair
Imagine a World in Which Microsoft Sold Cars the Way It Sells Software - The Sling
Sure, Henry Ford was ruthless, but even he never dared to retroactively alter an end user license agreement.
thesling.org
New on The Sling: The Labor Harm of the Paramount/WB merger. "Hollywood’s Labor Market Just Lost a Bidder, and Nobody in Washington Noticed" by Ahmad Abid and Devesh Ray Check it out! www.thesling.org/hollywoods-l...
Hollywood’s Labor Market Just Lost a Bidder, and Nobody in Washington Noticed - The Sling
While writers and directors could be harmed indirectly via a reduction of shows, there is a direct pathway to labor harm.
thesling.org
Does White House actually support new hemp bill? (Newsletter: July 24, 2026) NDAA psychedelic amendments pass; CA treasurer's marijuana banking hearing; Alcohol lobby questions cannabis drink tax; Study: CBD for cancer…
Does White House actually support new hemp bill? (Newsletter: July 24, 2026)
NDAA psychedelic amendments pass; CA treasurer's marijuana banking hearing; Alcohol lobby questions cannabis drink tax; Study: CBD for cancer symptoms Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… Free to read (but not free to produce)! We're proud of our newsletter and the reporting we publish at Marijuana Moment, and we're happy to provide it for free. But it takes a lot of work and resources to make this happen.
marijuanamoment.net
("Because reasons" is Old English legal terminology that means "Insert @stevevladeck.bsky.social's Scholarly Erudition Here")
Laurel@balancecraft.bsky.social · 2w agoOur legal system is modeled on England's. Because reasons, England handled civil cases differently depending on what relief plaintiffs asked for. Our 7th Amendment jury trial rights in civil cases are limited based on how England divided things up centuries ago.
FAQ: Why will a judge, not a jury, decide the States & Writers Guild lawsuits against Paramount/WBD merger? A: Because 1) these are civil (not criminal) cases, & 2) the ONLY remedy they seek is injunctive relief (e.g. stopping the merger) not money damages Why does that matter?
Attorney General Bonta Secures Deal Halting Warner Bros./ Paramount Merger Until June 2027 or Court Ruling https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-deal-halting-warner-bros-paramount-merger-until
Attorney General Bonta Secures Deal Halting Warner Bros./ Paramount Merger Until June 2027 or Court Ruling
OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced securing an agreement with Warner Bros. and Paramount that would keep the entertainment titans from merging until June 1, 2027, or until after a decision by the court on the states’ claims, whichever comes first. If the court finds in favor of the states, the merger would be blocked pending appeal.
oag.ca.gov
production of The Muppet Show should not be dependent on petty vulgarities like “ratings” or “revenue.” it should be preserved as a vital function of american culture. it should have a taxpayer-funded budget rivaling the CIA
The US wants ibogaine. Gabon just made iboga national strategic heritage: no research, export, or sale without state approval. A Gabonese official on what the rush looks like from the other side. psychedelicstoday.com/2026/07/13/i...
The Rush for Iboga Looks Different from Gabon
Gabon's new iboga decree puts sovereignty and reciprocity at the center of the ibogaine boom. A view from inside the Gabonese government.
psychedelicstoday.com
Guy tries to make a Monopoly edition around the 250th birthday, wants to source domestically after tariffs, and realizes that America can't make dice. Dice! www.npr.org/2026/07/12/n...
What a Monopoly importer learned when it tried to make things in the U.S.A.
After getting hit with tariffs for the imported board games he sells, Jonathan Silva decided to see if he could produce a version of his Monopoly game in the United States. This is what he learned.
npr.org
I have two pieces out today. First, in @prospect.org, is a look at the ex-Biden officials now lawyering & lobbying on behalf of prediction markets. The only Biden alums NOT working for them are the ex-financial regulators -- the people who actually get their issues. prospect.org/2026/07/07/e...
Economic Hit Men for Gambling Apps - The American Prospect
Former solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar is writing justifications for prediction market gambling apps, joining several Biden administration colleagues defending the industry.
prospect.org
This went viral a few years ago, but with the Bayeux Tapestry back in the news, it's worth remembering that you can make your own Bayeux Tapestry graphic story online:
Once Unimaginable, Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators www.adweek.com/media/publi...
Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search
The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators
adweek.com
Vacation wildlife tally Wood ducks: mom+duckling (pictured) Regular ducks: same Loons: 1 pair ~daily Hummingbird: 1 Red squirrels: a few Wild turkeys: 1 flock Deer: mom+fawn Crayfish: 3 Minnows: a few Mosquitoes: a few/day Spiders: ~dozen Water striders: ~infinite Moose: 0 :( Bald eagle: 1
BREAKING: The Trump White House just ousted all three sitting members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission — hamstringing the bipartisan agency ahead of the midterms. The EAC helps state and local officials run elections, including by certifying election equipment.
Trump ousts remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission ahead of midterms
The dismissals hamstring a key bipartisan agency just months before the midterms.
nbcnews.com