“Four Oregon Democratic lawmakers, and two hopefuls, are calling for a three-year moratorium on new data centers in the state in response to growing public concern over energy and water demand, farmland loss, tax fairness and community benefits[.]” Reporting from @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social

Democratic lawmakers propose three-year moratorium on new large data centers in Oregon • Oregon Capital Chronicle

Oregon would join 15 other states that have proposed data center pauses in the last year.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Breaking News! Code: Bonkers! El Nino continues to spike towards an all-time record high anomaly, with the Nino 3.4 sea surface temperature more than 2.6°C above the 1991-2020 baseline as of August 4th, and more than 1.0C° above the previous August 4th record set in 1997.

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

In other Michigan news, the state looks set to elect it's first transgender lawmaker. Joanna Whaley won her Democratic primary and will compete in November for a state house seat, beating a primary opponent who tried and failed to disqualify her for not running under her deadname

El-Sayed, Lawrence and McKinney all won progressive campaigns in Michigan last night by talking about climate and clean energy like it was a kitchen-table issue — because skyrocketing energy bills and endless wildfire smoke matter to people.

Nearly eight months after Trump predicted U.S. companies would "rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry" to boost production, no new petroleum deals have been finalized with American firms.

Energy Dept. draws fire for slow pace of Venezuelan oil deals

"We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem," a senior U.S. official said.

axios.com

This is grotesque and fascist.

Ted Hesson@tedhesson.bsky.social · 2d ago

ICE is beginning to outfit Haitian immigrants with ankle monitors after the Trump admin ended their deportation protections www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

NEWS: For nearly 20 years, Epstein moved over $1B through the major banks. The banks looked away. Sen. Wyden’s 3-year probe exposes it all. But most damning? How Trump and the GOP tried to bury it.

Follow the Money: How Wall Street Bankrolled Epstein, and How the Trump Administration and CBS are Blocking The Truth

For nearly two decades, Jeffrey Epstein moved more than a billion dollars through some of the biggest banks in America. He withdrew millions in unexplained

meidasnews.com

After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims. (Published Feb. 2023)

UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.

After a college student finally found a treatment that worked, the insurance giant decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for r...

propublica.org

Will Bunch: There are rings of death in Donald Trump's America. There are the direct attacks that jolt the conscience - the notorious fatal shootings by immigration agents of immigrants such as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero and protesters such as Renee Good

The smell of death surrounds Donald Trump’s regime from Guatemala to Pittsburgh | Will Bunch

In just a year and a half, Donald Trump’s warped agenda is killing innocent people at home and around the world.

inquirer.com

“If you take the deal, you’re going to be exploited. If you don’t take it, you’re going to die,” said attorney Frank Ssekamwa about the U.S. demand to access the health data of millions of Ugandans. “It’s the essence of digital colonialism.”

Exclusive: We obtained a leaked playbook that Flock gives to cops to coach them on "how to speak to city council" to avoid getting their contracts canceled. Includes strategies like "own the narrative" by talking to mayor "before public comment periods" www.404media.co/own-the-narr...

‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech

"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...

404media.co

Chuck Edwards recommended for censure by House Ethics Committee

Chuck Edwards recommended for censure by House Ethics Committee

The panel found evidence that the North Carolina Republican sexually harassed two of his staffers.

dlvr.it

NOTE: The lawyer/law firm that represented Trump in his Capital One money laundering lawsuit is the same lawyer Judge Williams referred to the bar for disciplinary action in the bogus Trump IRS lawsuit that resulted in the slush fund and tax immunity.

🚨Don't fall for it. Todd Blanche didn't rewrite Trump's controversial IRS deal. He released a late-night DOJ memo designed to help secure the votes for his confirmation. We read the fine print. Here's what it actually says. 👇

Todd Blanche's Midnight Confirmation Gambit Doesn't Actually Rewrite Trump's Deal

And the "concerned" senators and much of the media are falling for it.

meidasnews.com

It’s important to understand that when 1.2 million Americans are dying from a disease, any government action is excessive and tyrannical, but if a dozen trans women want to play soccer no government action can go far enough

I made dinner for my abuser a bunch of times. You have to play nice while you're planning your escape so you don't get dead. Max Miller is a textbook abuser.

Greg Barbaccia will “return to Palantir after leading the Trump administration's federal IT, AI, and digital service modernization efforts since January 2025.” 7/31/26 … 1/

Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia to Return to Palantir

Barbaccia will return to Palantir after leading the Trump administration's federal IT, AI, and digital service modernization efforts since January 2025.

meritalk.com

🚨 NEWS: In a new court filing, Capital One says Donald Trump’s accounts were closed in 2021 after months of analysis by its anti-money laundering (AML) professionals, not because of politics, as Trump has long claimed. 1/

Anti-voting lawyer Cleta Mitchell granted just over $72,000 last fiscal year to Heather Honey, an election conspiracy theorist who was hired last year by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for its election integrity division. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Election denier Cleta Mitchell granted DHS elections official Heather Honey a lot of money

Heather Honey, a Dept. of Homeland Security elections official, received nearly $200,00 from an election denier fund for consulting services.

democracydocket.com

Writers, stop using Gen AI products. In addition to the many other reasons it sucks (tech based on theft, tool of fascism, makes your brain soft) if you are found out, companies that might've wanted to republish you internationally, adapt for film/TV, etc., will label you a lawsuit risk & walk away.

Lincoln Michel@thelincoln.bsky.social · 6d ago

More info: "The problem: publishers and movie companies may not be able to register copyright and come away with a clear title chain if there are certain AI elements in the mix. That’s because AI-aided copy is an amalgamation of many other copyrighted works." deadline.com/2026/07/ai-q...

The Trump admin is digging into the IP addresses of individuals who went online to register to vote. The FBI recently obtained the IP address of someone who registered online in South Carolina, according to documents first shared with Axios.

Exclusive: FBI gets voter's IP address in new fraud probe tactic

The move offers a glimpse into how authorities are now digging into voter rolls and registration practices.

axios.com

🚨 WE HAVE A DEAL! After three years, in a major step forward for our members, we have ratified our first contract with @propublica.org’s management. We deeply appreciate everyone who supported us along the way. Here are some of our big wins👇

New from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...

Trump’s ICE raids have reduced the employment rate of US-born male workers, according to a new study. The study also found that employers have not increased wages to attract US workers. Hello? Not only is Trump’s deportation agenda patently cruel, it’s also terrible for the economy. Despicable.

Study Shows How Trump's ICE Raids Cost Americans Jobs | Common Dreams

Trump's aggressive immigration raids are not only tearing families apart, but they're also destroying jobs for both immi

commondreams.org

Google appears to be in an active race to destroy all remaining goodwill the company once had. They've almost entirely destroyed search and now they're screwing with Google Maps.

Faine Greenwood@faineg.bsky.social · 5d ago

I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:

Note which states are not on this list: WI, where he was just referred for prosecution for bribing voters, GA, where he broke election law in 2024, and AZ, where there are several lawsuits against him pending. He's an election criminal, and this should be hung around the GOP.

George Pearkes@peark.es · 6d ago

NYT: Musk preparing 9 figure spending campaign in support of Republicans in "swing" states like Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, and Texas.

I have been called an alarmist and worse by well meaning people who want to think it will just all be ok. The truth is it doesn't always end up ok and we can't pretend it will. Donald Trump is targeting Black voters and women to rig this election. We need to stand up, call it out and take action.

NEW FROM ME: A frenzy of cruel and unusual ICE flights over the last few days suggests the Trump admin is ratcheting up its ethnic cleansing campaign. And it may be increasingly desperate to find willing collaborators. My breakdown: gillianbrockell.com/frenzy-of-cr...

Frenzy of cruel and unusual ICE flights shows Trump’s ethnic cleansing campaign is escalating – again

Seven apparent ICE removal flights in the last few days – including third-country removals, prolonged shackling, and failed deportations – reveal an agency ratcheting up.

gillianbrockell.com