NEW: Republicans tried to get Missourians to effectively kill direct democracy and ballot initiatives. Last night, Missourians literally laughed in their face — rejecting the measure by a massive 80% to 20%. Here’s what to know:

Missourians Reject Measure That Threatened to Kill Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives - Bolts

Missourians on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted against a measure to restrict direct democracy, while state officials are trying to block even more citizen-led reforms from the November ballot.

boltsmag.org

Wednesday El Niño update - Record warmth continues in the key monitoring region called Niño 3.4, which is due to both the long-term warming of the tropics (climate change) and the developing El Niño. Over the last 7 days, there has been a steady warming across the central Pacific. Data: OISSTv2.1 🌊

NEW: Cyberattacks on U.S. water supply now being reported in 12+ states and 100+ municipalities, though some may be unrelated to wave of suspected Iranian attempts. The nationwide threat follows years of ignored warnings and neglect to water systems. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/u...

Hacks on U.S. Water Supply Follow Years of Warnings and Neglect (Gift Article)

Federal and state officials are racing to address an assault on the nation’s water supply that they believe is the work of Iranian hackers.

nytimes.com

“If you are tasked and paid by a Russian state entity to say something, that is not freedom of expression. That is subversion by an enemy state.” open.substack.com/pub/alexzfin...

France Moves to Expel a Russian Propagandist

Will the move set up a court battle to test the line between freedom of expression and protection of the constitutional order?

open.substack.com

Probably would've been nice to know this before the 2024 election, but sure

@GottaLaff@gottalaff.bsky.social · 2d ago

ABC has picked it up now. "Capital One says it closed hundreds of Trump's bank accounts in 2021 'for anti-money laundering reasons'"

What do you get when you mix climate change, logistics, and fossil fuels, and a war? A Bluesky thread on the convergence between summer drought in Europe, a dam in the Netherlands, Germany's reliance on a single river, and why the US still has to care about climate change. Settle in. (1/11)

EXCLUSIVE: US has used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say reut.rs/4gc28C0

EXCLUSIVE: US has used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say

The U.S. Army has used up much of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military's ​readiness for future conflicts.

reut.rs

Peps/Peppy/Dr Pepper with some birbs

Low flow on the Danube means Romania is about to close its only nuclear power plant (20% of total energy production). Breathless 24/7 coverage of the historical drought and impending energy crises, not one mention of climate change. In fact pundits are angry Romania recently closed a coal plant.

Thanks for the heads up. Donated here: ginafortexas.com

Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor | Official Campaign Website

Gina Hinojosa has spent her life advocating for Texas families and kids. From advocating for workers, challenging the status quo, to taking on corrupt politicians – Gina has always put Texas families ...

ginafortexas.com

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be… The tragic truth is that, as some of us warned a decade ago, mainstream climate science has turned out to be the opposite of alarmist. It has turned out to be complacent and over-optimistic. Truthfulness - and strategic adaptation - are urgent. (Pse repost.)

Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 2d ago

A first year above 2C in the mid-2030s now looks plausible. 0.5C was first passed in 1980, 1.0C in 2010 and 1.5C in 2024. The 15-year trend runs at 0.42C per decade. The 2026 and 2027 points for the current El Nino are estimates. We're not remotely ready!

I keep arguing that Dem leadership (Schumer, Jeffries, etc.) are stuck in the 90s, as are many of the high profile Dem consultants and advisors. They think most voters are de facto moderate. This is why their thinking is outdated:

Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 2d ago

We find that the benefits of moderation found in earlier eras (~1980s-2000s) are gone. Why? Many likely explanations.

July marks the first consecutive twelve month period where wind generated more electricity than gas in the UK...in every single month. In the last decade, wind generation in the UK has more than doubled, pushing first coal and now gas out of the mix.

Sunset on Mars. Photographed on 19 May 2005 by the Spirit rover.

40% of SE European nuclear capacity offline amid drought montelnews.com/news/c65ea15...

40% of SE European nuclear capacity offline amid drought

About 40% (2.44 GW) of southeast Europe’s nuclear capacity is offline as Danube drought forces Paks, Cernavoda reductions; governments urge savings amid heatwave.

montelnews.com

I love Talarico and hope he wins. But he’s already raised $70M On the flipside, control of critical state legislatures will come down to seats where candidates raise 0.1% of that. I’ve researched the highest leverage swing district candidates you should donate to secure.actblue.com/donate/donat...

Donate to the candidates on the front lines of the fight against MAGA gerrymandering

These are anti-MAGA state candidates in *extremely* close races

secure.actblue.com

This guy can’t even handle lettuce and he wants to lecture us about doing too much to save lives at the start of a pandemic that killed over one million Americans.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d ago

BASH: How do you prepare for next pandemic? RFK Jr: We did almost everything wrong B: But what about now? K: We need to protect our rights B: ? K: During covid we dismantled our rights B: But I'm asking what *to* do K: You were part of the problem B: You want to sit here and attack me?

Hungary's new government is tested very early. Paks nuclear plant is about to go offline for the first time in 44 years because the Danube is drying up. That's nearly half the country's electricity. Collapsed supply & gas prices spiking throughout the region. Just brutal. apnews.com/article/hung...

Hungary braces for a full shutdown of the Paks nuclear plant as the Danube River hits record lows

Hungary's only nuclear power plant is shutting down for the first time due to record-low water levels on the Danube River.

apnews.com

Capital One Financial hits back against a lawsuit over its decision to close ‌the Trump Organization's bank accounts years ago with a disclosure that marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to the US president's family business. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Capital One says it closed Trump Organization's accounts after anti-money laundering probe

The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.

reuters.com

THE GUARDIAN: From 400 hives to 35: the Gaza beekeeper refusing to let war end his life’s work www.theguardian.com/artanddesign... @theguardian.com #photojournalism #journalism #photography‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

From 400 hives to 35: the Gaza beekeeper refusing to let war end his life’s work

Ibrahim al-Dabba continues to care for his colonies despite losing his home and most of his hives and equipment

theguardian.com

Which is not to say that coal plants - or other expensive, polluting technologies - will inevitably stay around forever. Just that they won't magically disappear. We need deliberate policy to wind down harmful industries, in addition to economic and regulatory support for helpful industries.

"This is not some kind of a flower-power, tree-hugging exercise. This is core economics. This is core financial stability, core price stability.” --European Central Bank senior official "Duh" --Me www.theguardian.com/business/202...

ECB official warns climate crisis poses growing threat to ‘core financial stability’

Exclusive: As wildfires rage across Europe, Frank Elderson tells the Guardian nature loss poses a growing risk to the global economy

theguardian.com

A shakedown www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

This ... doesn't sound good. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/m...

BIG DEAL on voting rights this morning: Governor Spanberger just restored the voting rights of some 60,000+ Virginians. Her move reverses Youngkin's abrupt decision in 2023 to end automatic voting rights restoration, which brought Virginia back to a system of default lifetime disenfranchisement.

Virginia Governor Restores Voting Rights for Thousands With Past Felony Convictions - Bolts

This is the only state that, absent action by the governor, bans people convicted of any felony from voting for life. Virginians have an opportunity to end that system for good in November.

boltsmag.org

"Solar panels produced 51% of California’s electricity in May, the first time the clean energy source surpassed the halfway mark for an entire month." The globe’s first major economy to cross the 50% threshold: www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol... via @ember-energy.org and @danmccarthy.bsky.social 🔌💡

California was mostly solar-powered in May — a global first

No major economy had previously received over half its electricity from solar across an entire month. Thank the mild, sunny spring weather, and batteries.

canarymedia.com

Seems very much like AIPAC is against her no?

Reconstructionist@unavaleable.bsky.social · 6d ago

jesus christ

Why is Europe still hosting Russian state propagandists? In France, Bolloré is running a satellite office for Russian influence while Ukraine fights a genocide. We are funding Europe’s defense in Ukraine and letting it be undermined by traitorous oligarchs at the same time

www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

Europe should look to Africa for heatwave solutions

African communities have spent decades developing practical, tested ways to live with extreme heat.

aljazeera.com