JUST POSTED: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pushed a multibillion oil deal with Russia as part of peace talks that will bring profits to their family business partners. A new front for Trump-era conflicts of interest. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...

U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)

President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...

nytimes.com

New just now in The Atlantic: David Robinson resigned this week. He was among the longest-tenured employees at OpenAI—and oversaw safety reports on 12 frontier launches. He is very worried: “The time for trial and error is over.” You can read his essay here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

I Quit OpenAI Because Its Culture Is Broken

The industry’s approach to safety guarantees more failures.

theatlantic.com

This corruption must be investigated.

UPDATE: Despite being ordered by Judge Sullivan to produce a certified list of the contents of the Administrative Record by Oct. 1st, Todd Blanche once again has decided he doesn't want to comply. I explain why Blanche would want to avoid producing this court-ordered info: youtu.be/junhrisxRlg?...

🚨AG Blanche IGNORES JUDGE'S ORDERS And TRIES To DELAY MY Epstein LAWSUIT!!

YouTube video by Katie Phang

youtu.be

GOP bill hides brutal cuts until after midterms to shield them from voters. Dec 31: Medicaid work requirements trigger mass disenrollment. Jan 1: Trapped in a double-bind—denied Medicaid? You lose tax credits too. Immigrants lose credits. Jul 1: Student loan relief ends. Millions cascade into

Trump and Republicans Big Beautiful Bill cut Medicaid to states effective January 1, 2027. How well has media informed citizen voters of this and explained the impact? www.newsfromthestates.com/article/stat...

State governors, including Oregon’s, call for more time to implement new Medicaid rules

With just three months left to prepare before complex new Medicaid reporting and eligibility rules take effect, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is again leading a group of governors seeking an extended timelin...

newsfromthestates.com

Good morning! 🪶

Funniest part to me is Jack Smith using 110% of his lawyer brain. He avoids making the connection himself; he doesn't even say "Hawkeyes," he just says "Iowa." He knows it's better to let everyone figure it out on their own. He also knows from Klobuchar's grin that she'll dunk it for him.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d ago

🤡 Schmitt beclowns himself 🤡 Schmitt concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Smith traveled to Atl for a Hawks game and to collude with Fani Willis, & flashed his "evidence" before accusing Smith of perjury. There's just one problem -- his facts were totally wrong. Here's the whole sequence:

It's one thing to be so incredibly incompetent as Eric Schmitt that your dramatic "GOTCHA" moment falls apart in real time. It is quite another thing to be so incredibly dishonest as Eric Schmitt that you then go on a right-wing show and pretend it didn't happen. "My job is to ask the questions."😜

Two Schmitt staffers realizing this might be their last day.

A thing I learned about Meta when I was trying to understand how their statements relate to their actions a few years ago is that *they just tell absolutely indefensible lies* and journalists almost always let them. They believed no one would ever punish them for it in any way that matters.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social · 5d ago

Most state attorneys general released Meta from Cambridge Analytica-related claims as part of the child safety settlement. New Mexico wasn't part of that deal, and a jury there just found 26 of 29 past claims about Cambridge Analytica, hate speech and misinformation willfully deceptive.

Eric Schmitt is on The Charlie Kirk Show (yes it's still called that) -- and believe it or not, hosts are pretending he owned Smith with his embarrassingly botched gotcha "You caught him in this NBA game too in Atlanta" "Yeah," Schmitt says There's no mention that Schmitt had all his facts wrong

Top...men

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d ago

🤡 Schmitt beclowns himself 🤡 Schmitt concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Smith traveled to Atl for a Hawks game and to collude with Fani Willis, & flashed his "evidence" before accusing Smith of perjury. There's just one problem -- his facts were totally wrong. Here's the whole sequence:

Patel's deputy, Andrew Bailey, resigned today, reportedly over frustration with an entirely different FBI scandal. www.ms.now/news/fbis-co...

FBI’s co-deputy director resigns after agents assigned to case on Stephen Miller’s wife demoted

Andrew Bailey was frustrated with the recent demotion of veteran FBI counterterrorism agents, according to sources.

ms.now

Isn't it nice when there's something we can ALL agree on? #ReleaseTheUnredactedEPSTEIN-Files

Calling something “illegal” only matters if the law is actually enforced. Mike Johnson and the Supreme Court need to enforce it. No president should be free to ignore the law to punish enemies, reward allies, and enrich himself.

Beyond the fact that it’s incredibly illegal and corrupt to use taxpayer dollars to run political ads on television, there’s another problem with re-running old ads like this: the messaging only reminds everyone what a fraud you are.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7d ago

absolutely demented. like a scene from a horror movie

They're also working with the Trump administration to remove AI regulation and obtain military contracts.

Rest assured: AI companies say they're investigating tens of thousands of rogue bot incidents

They're also working with the Trump administration to remove AI regulation and obtain military contracts.

motherjones.com

To see measles spread so wildly—so much so that congenital measles has now returned—has long been a dream of RFK Jr, arguably the world’s most extreme & dangerous anti-vaxx activist & eugenicist Now that he runs the US federal health system, RFK is able to make his longstanding dreams come true 😢

Rachel Maddow@maddow.bsky.social · last wk.

"At least six babies in Pennsylvania have been born infected with measles, with two so sick they had to be admitted to intensive care. Congenital measles is a disease that’s rarely, if ever, seen in the U.S..." www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

The DHS falsely claimed there were nearly 16,000 noncitizen residents registered to vote in Nevada, a number that dropped to 185, and eventually to zero, just weeks after Trump cited the claim during a campaign rally in a push to purge several states’ voter rolls.

DHS Claim of 16,000 Noncitizen Voters in Nevada Falls to Zero After State Inquiry

“DHS has still not provided evidence” to back their claims, one state official noted.

buff.ly

Elon Musk is at the White House for the state dinner with Xi (Kevin Dietsch/Getty)

"A brand new CNN poll shows President Trump at an all time low in his approval rating... look at his net approval rating now with pure independents - it's negative 71 points! I mean, these are the deep depths of the ocean. You never see numbers like these. An 86 point shift away from the president!"

The new wild cat species is about the size of a domestic kitten and lives in Bolivia.

New wild cat species is identified for first time in 100 years, researchers say

A type of tiger cat, the animal is smaller than a house cat, slender and spotted. It lives in the Bolivian cloud forest.

nbcnews.to

People laugh and groan, but he is in fact describing his policy. FEMA relief is available only to states that voted for him and other MAGA candidates. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Trump: "We spent more than $2 billion in FEMA funding. You're waiting for some additional funding. I'm gonna get that to you. Now if Michael loses, I'm not sending it." Crowd: *groans*

The US has deployed its first publicly acknowledged space-based weapon, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said. Meink said the weapon is already “on orbit” and is intended for “space control” and to defend US forces against “hostile adversary action.”

US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

The US Air Force Secretary says the weapons are necessary to defend the country against enemy action.

bbc.co.uk

NEW: Remember Don Jr’s wedding ceremony? In the Bahamas… Fireworks, dancers… “Just really close friends,” Don Jr. said. Well, guess who paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars of it? A Russian oligarch who is close to Putin. www.propublica.org/article/dona...

A stroll round the garden -whenever, whatever the season - 🌱is always so relaxing and calming. You forget yourself!

🌱

🌱 Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) hanging in there.

"a stark and baffling increase: Almost 200 women with the condition died from 2020 to 2025, compared with about 100 in the previous six years" some may be attributed to Covid chaos, but notably most deaths are in abortion-restricted states. Again, completely PREVENTABLE MATERNAL DEATHS

ProPublica@propublica.org · 4w ago

NEW: Our analysis found that from 2020 to 2025, the rate of deaths involving ectopic pregnancies nearly doubled compared with the previous six-year period. The uptick was steeper in states with abortion bans.