This is how it's done. Fight it out in the primary, and then link arms to defeat the common enemy in the general. Great demonstration of post-primary leadership from @mallorymcmorrow.bsky.social.
🚨 @abdulelsayed.bsky.social just secured a game-changing win! Despite the status quo Democratic establishment lining up behind his opponent and special interests flooding millions into this race, Abdul's people-powered campaign won. Being a real Democratic fighter is good policy and good politics!
“To be called out by the most powerful person in the world…. and called a sick, violent vandal when all I had done was pick up a piece of trash was awful.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/08/04/woman-recounts-reflecting-pool-arrest-says-she-was-humiliated/
Arrested at Reflecting Pool, woman details ‘heartbreaking’ toll case has taken
Sophie Dennison-Gibby was one of three defendants charged with a misdemeanor related to Reflecting Pool damage. The charges were all dropped.
washingtonpost.com
Let's not lose sight of how abnormal this is. Trump is demanding prosecutions over Reflecting Pool fiasco even though his own DOJ has shown conclusively it isn't supported by facts or law. On the pod, @barbmcquade.bsky.social is brilliant on the bigger stakes here: newrepublic.com/article/2139...
Trump’s Fury at Reflecting Pool Mess Darkens as Damning New Leaks Hit
As Trump’s effort to jail people over his failed renovation starts looking even worse, a former federal prosecutor explains why this corruption of DOJ is so dangerous—and how to fight back.
newrepublic.com
It's funny that Jeanine Pirro brought a box of evidence to WH to persuade Trump. He wants her to consciously *throw out* exculpatory facts and *knowingly* prosecute innocent people. So facts can't persuade him by definition. Me and @barbmcquade.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/2139...
New York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani Is Shunning New York Business Leaders Who Are Used to Calling the Shots
The mayor fired corporate leaders from a city fund’s advisory board in the latest sign that he is changing the way such power brokers access City Hall.
on.wsj.com
One indeed hopes that his supporters are better winners than losers. We'll see.
Matthew Gertz@mattgertz.bsky.social · 6h agoThis is wise, and hopefully his supporters and the supporters of his opponent will all model his behavior, rally together, and try to win the seat.
The vote will be 48-50 against until John Fetterman wheels in a brain-dead Mitch McConnell on a hospital gurney and presses his hand to the "yes' vote clicker, before he and JD Vance put Blanche over the top, probably
Ukraine's AI-powered "Terminator" drones and robotic amphibious beach landings signal a new global arms race of autonomous weapons. NBC News' Matt Bradley reports.
I’m a little puzzled about the logistics here. Lots of people don’t choose a major until the end of their first year, or go in thinking they’ll pursue one major but change their minds. But obviously you need to get loans sorted before that.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home. n.pr/4wyjw9S
A veteran was detained by the National Guard in her front yard. Now she's suing
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home.
n.pr
The man’s insanity will plague us for decades. (Gift Article) The Coast Guard risks ending up “like a lottery winner who spends all their money buying the mansion, and then goes broke once they realize they don’t have the money to maintain it.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/c...
Trump’s Fixation on Arctic Ships Led to Billions in No-Bid Contracts (Gift Article)
The president decided to buy 11 polar icebreakers after a game of golf with Finland’s president. Experts say it’s far from clear the United States needs so many.
nytimes.com
"Liberal bubble" has only ever meant anywhere where right wing perspectives aren't artificially elevated and forced into everyone's feeds.
Students who open a personal social media account earlier in adolescence appear to perform worse in later standardised tests, says Nature Human Behaviour study. These differences may be attributable to excessive social media engagement and disruptions to attention: spklr.io/63325Euloc 🧪
Longitudinal effect of early social media use on standardized learning outcomes during school career - Nature Human Behaviour
Analysing data from 5,227 students from northern Italy, this article finds causal evidence that early engagement with social media adversely affects learning outcomes.
spklr.io
⚡️ Ukraine will 'never' join NATO, ex-commander Zaluzhnyi says. "It is impossible for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, given their current level of development, to join an organization that is guided by World War II doctrines," Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K., Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said.
Ukraine will 'never' join NATO, ex-commander Zaluzhnyi says
"It is impossible for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, given their current level of development, to join an organization that is guided by World War II doctrines," Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K., Valerii...
kyivindependent.com
I'm a full Professor of Immunology and fully vaccinated. I didn't get vaccinated out of obedience, but after decades of studying the immune system and evaluating all evidence. Calling that "lack of critical thinking" is not an argument. It's ideology masked as pretend intellect.
This deal solidifies the Trump family's immunity from tax audits. Under no circumstances should the American people believe that Trump‘s former personal attorney will stop his schemes to funnel taxpayer dollars to his allies and supporters.
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d agoFLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.
Trump’s justice department can grant him immunity from audits but I see no reasons why a subsequent administration can’t say: that was patently illegal, toss it out, and crawl all the way up his ass.
I know this would be closing the barn door after he horse has been reelected president, but if Democrats win both chambers I'd really like to see a concurrent resolution deeming January 6 an insurrection under 14(3). 1/
I'm just going to keep screaming this until I'm hoarse, but until Trump the norm -- for 50 years -- was that sitting presidents had their taxes audited by the IRS and released to the public to show they were clean. But Trump refused repeatedly, and sued when his return was leaked, and now ... this
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d agoFLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.
I've been a diehard baseball fan since 1968, and the only way to make this work is to know absolutely nothing about the actual players
Razzball@razzball.bsky.social · 2d agoThe whole Mariners' pen believes Babe Ruth didn't exist. Kinda want all MLB players to believe this and make the owners agree to it in next CBA
AWS CEO NOTICING A CHANGE IN AI BUSINESS FOCUS FROM TRAINING TO INFERENCE.
Can't think of a thing that will radicalize a generation faster than "you've gotta let that old man in the corner over there see what's inside those pants before you play Kindergarten volleyball."
Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d agoAn initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play
They already fired all the people whose job it was to have these ideas.
Exclusive: US military asks troops for ‘creative and unconventional’ ideas to punish Iran | CNN Politics
The request from a senior officer at the US military command carrying out President Donald Trump’s war with Iran came in an email: We need ideas.
cnn.com
Coach Finstock@coachfinstock.bsky.social · 2d agoThey're gonna send pizzas to the Ayatollahs house and ring and run at 3am
Michigan reports two deaths in ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak reut.rs/4w4bd4E
Michigan reports two deaths in ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak
Two deaths have been identified as part of a cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting Michigan, the state's health department said on Monday.
reut.rs
Trump's bit only works when the other side is asymmetrically committed to norms.
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 2d agoTRUMP: IRANIAN LEADERSHIP IS UNBELIEVABLY DUPLICITOUS
SF rental occupancy (98%) is the highest anywhere in the country.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoHassett: "One of the metrics of shelter costs that I find most interesting is that they're going down pretty rapidly in places like California because everybody is leaving. Even though there are high prices in California, it puts downward pressure on inflation because everybody is leaving the state"