independent56.bsky.social
@independent56.bsky.social
Politically unhoused. “Not all those who wander are lost.” -J.R.R. Tolkien I ignore DM’s.
“A rebuild of the aging bowling lanes was proposed in 2014 under President Barack Obama. But the project was swiftly nixed after Republicans criticized any use of public funding for the exclusive lanes.”
White House Plans $250,000 Renovation of 2-Lane Bowling Alley (Gift Article)
A White House spokesman said the alley renovations included fixing broken lights. The project comes as the president has sought a broad overhaul of the White House and its surroundings.
nytimes.com
Trump has been complaining for years that Obama spied on him. Yet, here we are.
The Air Marshals Keeping Watch On Eric Swalwell
The FBI made a highly irregular request to monitor one of Trump’s most visible critics.
theatlantic.com
WATCH: “Isn’t the problem your view of 🇺🇸 goes against the views of the founding fathers?” @mehdirhasan.bsky.social challenges Hegseth’s Christian Nationalist pastor Doug Wilson — who doesn’t think women should vote — on the idea 🇺🇸 is “a Christian nation” Full: www.instagram.com/reel/Dcwek8q...
The bond market is cratering, debt ballooning, Pentagon in chaos, govt gutted, Capitol trashed, and this is one of the many ridiculous, fabricated issues they’re focused on.
Do D.E.I. Bike Paths Exist? The Trump Administration Says Yes.
The administration has revoked funding for bike paths, and encouraged removing some. A cycling advocate said it is playing on the idea of “that dork on a bike.”
nytimes.com
“America’s rising borrowing costs have set off a battle between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent” Bessent has embarked on a fool’s errand. The bond vigilantes always win. And he knows it.
Global Bond Sell-Off Puts Investors on Edge (Gift Article)
Government borrowing costs are hitting multi-decade highs around the world, reflecting anxiety about debt levels, deficits and inflation.
nytimes.com
“The decision to exclude individual reporters is the latest example of the Trump administration restricting access to certain journalists. Last year, the Pentagon imposed a restrictive press policy…and a judge later ruled that it was unconstitutional.”
Treasury Bars Some Reporters From G20 Finance Meeting (Gift Article)
Specific reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg were not granted credentials to cover the meeting of financial leaders next week in Asheville, N.C.
nytimes.com
“Any meaningful new production from Venezuela will take years to materialize. As a result, the effort will have little immediate impact on global commodity prices, which in turn determine what U.S. consumers pay at the pump.” Yet, he paid $B’s to stop alt energy projects in process. 🤡
Trump’s Venezuelan Oil Deal Relies on a Powerful and Divisive Partner (Gift Article)
The administration will work with a private Venezuelan oil company that has close ties to the country’s government.
nytimes.com
Great article on history of US-Qatar relationship and current state of play. #ETTD
The Qataris Gave Trump an Airplane. He Crippled Their Country in Return.
The tiny Gulf state is learning that the U.S. president doesn’t always keep his end of the deal.
theatlantic.com
Donating to this organization has generated the highest return on investment in my life. Their work fills me with joy and hope for humanity. Check it out.
Niall Harbison@niallharbison.bsky.social · 6d agoSir Anthony Hopkins got some very exciting news this week. It’s something the team has been working on for months. ❤️
The report comes as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and 100 other companies signed an open letter Thursday warning of a “limited window to strengthen cyber defenses” as AI-enabled cyber attacks are set to proliferate in the coming months.
Hackers use SpaceX’s Cursor AI agent in cyber break-ins — Semafor
In the latest instance of cybercriminals circumventing AI firms’ safety guardrails, Russian-speaking hackers used Space X’s AI agent in multiple breaches.
stocks.apple.com
The US president wants to name a lake "America", and demolish the Kennedy center. How does the Onion stay in business?
$85M/yr to run a 1,188 bed facility? $80M/yr to run a 1,320 bed facility? Are they 5-star hotels? And the timing of the PAC donations? It’s all out in the open.
Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts (Gift Article)
The GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to the president’s super PAC last month.
nytimes.com
“I am a private person by nature,” Mr. Kean said in his speech. Perhaps he should reconsider a career as a public servant.
We Tried to Cover a Tom Kean Campaign Event. Someone Called the Police. (Gift Article)
Representative Thomas Kean Jr. was joined Friday on the campaign trail by House Speaker Mike Johnson. An aide to Mr. Kean blocked a reporter’s entry. Then the police were called.
nytimes.com
“..so far this year, the U.S. has reported about 10,500 cases of foodborne illness. Between 2021 and 2025, the annual average was about 1,500 cases (including) the largest cyclospora outbreak in U.S. history, spurred by cuts of more than 40% to food safety detection systems.”
August 20, 2026
On Saturday, August 15, the New York Times editorial board published an op-ed noting that the Republicans are trying to hide the cuts they have made to health care in the U.S.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
“There are alternatives to the roundups. For 20 years, the bureau has had access to inexpensive fertility-control drugs delivered by dart gun, and the government’s own experts have repeatedly urged the bureau to use them more widely.”
Under Trump, Protected Wild Horses Are Going to Slaughter
A legal loophole allows the government to sell mustangs on the cheap, stripping them of protections and clearing their path to destruction.
nytimes.com
Exactly. And Bessent questioning hyperscalers using long term debt (vs 5 year debt) to build data centers is like suggesting a 5 year mortgage on your house makes sense. The bond vigilantes are taking him to school.
U.S. bond intervention is like 'paying your mortgage with your credit card,' JPMorgan's Sullivan says
The U.S. government's efforts to manage pressure in the Treasury market risk merely shifting the problem down the road, according to JPMorgan's James Sullivan.
cnbc.com
“This is no ordinary bond-market sell-off. It’s being driven by forces unlike those of the recent past. And if it persists, it could mark the beginning of a structural economic shift more enduring and more globally consequential than most previous episodes of market volatility.”
Opinion | America Is About to Get More Expensive
The impact from the bond market sell-off could prove more enduring, wide-ranging and globally consequential than prior episodes of market volatility.
nytimes.com
No end to the insanity.
Marc Elias@marcelias.bsky.social · 2w agoChick-fil-A isn’t open on Sundays, so polls shouldn’t be either. That was one reason a GOP county board member in North Carolina offered for scaling back weekend voting during a heated North Carolina State Board of Elections meeting Thursday. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
#RichNuzum, Head of OCIO at #FranklinTempleton, says U.S. Treasury Secretary #ScottBessent's move to double debt #buybacks may be insufficient, as Washington continues to run a large #budgetdeficit. He explains that capital market participants youtu.be/IeVaCwR8hkE
Tough for Scott Bessent to win the war against bond vigilantes, says analyst
YouTube video by CNBC International Live
youtu.be
Bond market panic plagues Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent The bond market, that great and grumpy oracle of American finance, has finally shouted its verdict from the rooftops, and the news is not fit for polite company. Long-term Treasury yields on Monday shot to their highest point since 2007, a…
Bond market panic plagues Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
The bond market, that great and grumpy oracle of American finance, has finally shouted its verdict from the rooftops, and the news is not fit for polite company. Long-term Treasury yields on Monday shot to their highest point since 2007, a spike that sent a shudder through every corner of the economy and forced Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to double, to $4 billion, the size of a planned buyback of public debt in an attempt to break the fever.
njtoday.news
Yikes. The 30-year yield has already reversed the decline caused by Bessent's buyback announcement yesterday. And the 10-year yield is now 2-3bps higher than it was before the news. Very bad look: seems like a panic move, and effect hardly lasted 24 hours. Stock futures trading lower too.
“Democratic presidents have reduced deficits by 16.7 percentage points of GDP during their terms in office, while Republican presidents have raised them by 18.9 percentage points. Somehow, many people talk about Republicans as the party of fiscal responsibility.”
$40 Trillion Debt, Oh My!
Let’s cut the crap, Republican tax cuts and mismanagement gave us the debt
deanbaker22.substack.com
“Bessent is a political actor. His interest is purely short term and is organized around the upcoming election and not a return to price stability” Rearranging the deck chairs and then all hell breaks loose after 11/4/26.
Treasury doubles debt buybacks as Bessent moves to steady bond market
The announcement targets the sensitive longer-duration part of the Treasury market.
cnbc.com
