Voters in Kansas saw through a blatant political power grab and sent a message — our courts are not for sale.
Matthew Bunn
@matthew-bunn.bsky.social
Father, husband, citizen, professor, focusing mainly on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy issues. Faculty lead for Harvard's Managing the Atom project: www.belfercenter.org/programs/managing-atom My website: matthewbunn.scholars.harvard.edu
Very exciting news at the @thebulletin.org a wonderful hire. A veteran reporter and editor with real world chops. Watch this space. thebulletin.org/2026/08/the-... Congrats
The Bulletin welcomes Sharon Weinberger as editor-in-chief
The Bulletin’s new editor-in-chief, Sharon Weinberger, has dedicated her career to covering the intersection of science, technology, and national security and will guide the Bulletin’s editorial effor...
thebulletin.org
Thrilled to finally share the great news that Sharon Weinberger is joining the @thebulletin.org as our next Editor-in-Chief! thebulletin.org/2026/08/the-...
The Bulletin welcomes Sharon Weinberger as editor-in-chief
The Bulletin’s new editor-in-chief, Sharon Weinberger, has dedicated her career to covering the intersection of science, technology, and national security and will guide the Bulletin’s editorial effor...
thebulletin.org
The fact that the stated goal of the solicited ideas is to "pressure and punish Iran" further goes to show what I've been saying all along: this admin sees the path to victory purely in attritional and punitive terms. 1/2
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2d agoA senior officer in US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) intelligence branch emailed a broad group of military analysts seeking “new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran.” A second source indicated a similar request went out the prior week.
New analysis from a group of 538 alums puts Dems at above even odds to take both houses of Congress in November. If you hovered on 538's website in past elections, compulsively clicking REFRESH REFRESH REFRESH, 'nuf said
G Elliott Morris@gelliottmorris.com · 2d agoDems strongly favored to take the House in our new election forecast. Senate just better than a tossup: Iowa: 41% Dem Texas: 48 Alaska: 51 Ohio: 53 Maine: 68 Michigan: 69 North Carolina: 84 Georgia: 94 www.gelliottmorris.com/p/democrats-...
Update, it's pulled. Still baffling decision making
Google pauses AI satellite images, after fears of deepfakes in the sky
Journalists, human rights advocates and open source analysts recoiled in horror at the initial decision: "The opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless," said one.
npr.org
Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 5d agoNew 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...
Today in 2019, Trump—as advocated by his National Security Advisor John Bolton—unilaterally and formally withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the first and only treaty to verifiably eliminate an entire class of weaponry (2,692 nuclear-armed missiles in just three years).
Never do anything in China you’d be upset to have the Chinese government know about. And never have anything on a device in China you’d be upset for the Chinese government to have. And don’t expect those devices to be secure when you get home.
How China Keeps Tabs on Foreigners (Gift Article)
An unsecured police dashboard was a rare window into how the authorities track foreigners by collecting and aggregating vast amounts of private data.
nytimes.com
“For U.S. allies and those who rely on the U.S. for security, this is confirmation that you can’t trust the United States.”
In Iran, the U.S. Appears Headed for a Strategic Defeat, Allies Fear (Gift Article)
With none of President Trump’s aims accomplished and the Strait of Hormuz closed, U.S. allies see dysfunction and vulnerability from the war.
nytimes.com
In an age of drones, Iran will always be able to threaten ships in a narrow nearby strait at times of their choosing. Trump’s war has led to a permanent increase in Iranian leverage—which will make it still harder to resolve the threat posed by its nuclear program.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3d agoPresident Trump said late Saturday that he had canceled a series of strikes on Iran because of unspecified progress on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Follow live updates.
Many struggling Americans now find their difficulties compounded by President Trump's cuts in food stamps and health care. On a 1,000 mile road trip, I met people like Trinity Goodman, who survives by selling blood plasma, has $3.78 in her bank account. A gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...
Opinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Hair Cuts or Toilet Paper (Gift Article)
Millions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious.
nytimes.com
Smart take from @progmil.bsky.social "What Jacobsen offers ...is just play-acting. It’s as if someone suddenly woke up to the fact that biological organisms can be deadly and believes that no one else has thought what to do about it. outbreaks." almauroni.substack.com/p/no-one-mak...
No One Makes Good Policy Based on Worst Case Scenarios
It's way past time to stop admiring the advice of doom-sayers
almauroni.substack.com
2 AUGUST 1776, PHILADELPHIA: “The declaration of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed by the members”: Most Signers of the Declaration of Independence sign it today. Benjamin Rush describes the atmosphere as a “pensive and awful silence.”
It's been two and a half months since the Ebola outbreak in the DRC was declared and it is now the biggest the country has ever experienced and the second largest the world has ever seen. Dozens of cases continue to be reported each day across three separate provinces. 🧪 insp.cd/sitrep-n077-...
August is one of the best months of the year to look up. 🌌 The Milky Way shines brightly, the Perseid meteor shower peaks under dark skies, and we'll be treated to two eclipses. Here's your guide to the month's celestial highlights: www.capitalweather.com/augusts-nigh...
"An estimated 26,000 children who entered the U.S. without parents or guardians are expected to be left without independent legal representation as soon as Monday, according to lawyers who help represent them." www.npr.org/2026/08/01/n...
More than 25,000 children lose previous legal protections, as federal contract ends
Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children are set to lose legal representation. The federal contract that pays for legal access expired Friday.
npr.org
Billions for no-bid contracts for twice as many icebreakers as the Coast Guard says it needs, while millions of children go hungry.
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
1.5 million children lost food stamps. 3 million Americans lost health care coverage. Poverty is everywhere in America, in red states and blue.
Opinion | Surviving With $3.78 in Her Bank Account by Selling Blood Plasma (Gift Article)
Millions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious.
nytimes.com
Job alert: The Virginia Tech "Department of Political Science invites applications for a tenure-track position of assistant professor in U.S. politics and political institutions" jobs.apply.vt.edu/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor, U.S. Politics & Political Institutions - Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
Job Description The Department of Political Science invites applications for a tenure-track position of assistant professor in U.S. politics and political institutions with strengths in one or more ...
jobs.apply.vt.edu
We are losing our collective ability to know what's true, and work from the same understanding of what's happening in the world.
Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social · 5d agoseems bad!
@mbudjeryn.bsky.social led a good discussion today in our Ukraine Nuclear Security Working Group with Nikolai Steinberg, founder of Ukraine's nuclear regulatory body, who has a new book on how the Chernobyl disaster happened. Link in this discussion to pre-order the English edition:
SSTC NRS presented Nikolai Steinberg’s book «Our Long Road to April» - Uatom.org
On April 22, the presentation of Nikolai Steinberg’s book «Our Long Road to April», dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, took place in Kyiv. The event gathered industry experts, the author’s colleagues from his time at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP), as well as everyone interested in the history of the […]
uatom.org
Today in 1950—nearly five years after the United States used a single atomic bomb to obliterate Hiroshima, Japan—Collier’s magazine featured renowned painter and illustrator Chesley Bonestell’s (1888-1986) vivid visions of an atomic attack on New York City on its cover and inside pages.
Is the US-Saudi nuclear deal dead? Far from it. Despite Trump's insistence on Israeli normalization first, nonproliferation expert Sharon Squassoni explains in @thebulletin.org why Washington is wading straight into "nonproliferation quicksand." 👇 🧵 1/7
U.S. intelligence assesses the current Iranian leadership is more interested in building a nuclear bomb than the previous leadership. As I’ve said for a year, the strikes have likely increased, not decreased, the chance that Iran will have nuclear weapons 10 years from now now.
Iran’s New Leader Is More Open to Pursuing a Nuclear Weapon, U.S. Intelligence Says (Gift Article)
The previous supreme leader, who was killed early in the war, had renounced nuclear weapons. U.S. spy agencies believe his son is more interested in building a bomb.
nytimes.com
No one person should hold too much power for too long, and that's why we're urging state legislatures to call on Congress to pass Supreme Court term limits. bit.ly/3Tdzl7e
Model State Resolution Urging 18-Year Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices
State lawmakers should call on Congress to enact Supreme Court term limits.
brennancenter.org
So, the Department of War (as it now calls itself) has an "Open Government" page with links to its various strategic-level reports. But since they aren't interested in open government, every one of the links is broken. open.defense.gov/Transparency...
open.defense.gov