DOD CIO Kirsten Davies is at Black Hat talking about, among other things, the Pentagon's decision to pause phase 2 of CMMC, which would have required third-party assessments of defense contractors' cybersecurity starting this fall.

jesusfuckingchrist

Oregon senators warn prediction markets allowing betting on wildfires could incentivize arson

A public report urges the CFTC to ban prediction market contracts on destructive wildfires, raising concerns over public safety and potential arson.

kptv.com

Trump: "And as illegal aliens go home, the cost of rent, groceries, and other staples is coming down very fast ... it was a word they devised -- 'affordability'"

Donald Trump has recently shown a newfound ability to be embarrassed—and is willing to use the levers of government to menace those he blames for his humiliation, @jonlemire.bsky.social argues: theatln.tc/Fi5fnLFT 📸: Anna Moneymaker / Getty

“.. In April, Mr. Trump fired his Navy secretary for not moving quickly enough on building the battleship of his dreams.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/u...

Trump on gas prices: "We may have to send it up again. You know what happens when we send it up, but we hope we don't have to"

1) Donald Trump began releasing millions of barrels of oil from the nation’s strategic reserve to combat skyrocketing gas prices. But instead of selling the reserve’s crude oil on the market, as presidents normally do,

🚨 SCCOP: Trump’s Iran war sent gas prices soaring — then his administration handed 133 million barrels of publicly owned oil to private companies, most with political ties to him, letting those firms, rather than taxpayers, potentially make billions from the price swings he helped create.

Mike Johnson has been reluctant to speak on domestic-abuse allegations against one of his members—raising the question of what he thinks a House speaker’s basic duties are, @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily:

What Does Mike Johnson Think His Job Is?

The House speaker doesn’t want to get involved in the Max Miller scandal—or anything else that might seem like part of his basic duties as a leader.

bit.ly

Trump inherited one of the strongest economies in the world, yet 33% of Americans still think he inherited a disaster. The power of right wing propaganda. #BlueWaveIn90Days

Trump: "We will pass the Great Healthcare Plan. It's called the Great Healthcare Plan."

Trump: "I don't get credit for anything. Even prescription drug prices, where they're down 600 percent."

Lombardo on Trump: "When the press and media runs him down, they think about 'he's taking care of his billionaire friends.' But those billionaire friends provide jobs. And unless you take care of them, those jobs are absent."

Judge Wise finds that ICE coerced a 20-year-old Tongan man — admitted legally to the country three years ago — to sign a document accepting deportation, despite no criminal record or immigration proceedings against him. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Alright here's my syllabus for this year's American Legal History course. I might make a few tweaks but it's basically done. It also doubles as a great readings list if you're doing a PhD field in American Legal History

Noah Rosenblum@narosenblum.bsky.social · 3w ago

Share your syllabus??

This is the guy in charge of overhauling the Pentagon's security clearance program. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Oh look, another far-right extremist at the Pentagon

He oversees defense intelligence and security agencies and helps shape military operations.

motherjones.com

🚨 Rep. Max Miller again alludes to blackmail material he has on Sen. Bernie Moreno: "He felt the political pressure because some of the rumors that were circulating about him that he doesn't want to get out. I have no intention of sharing what will eventually become public."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee endorsed against Trump-backed Rep. Andy Ogles, a fellow Republican, ahead of the Thursday election. Lee said that he was endorsing Charlie Hatcher, Ogles’s Republican challenger who served as Tennessee’s agriculture commissioner.

Tennessee’s Republican governor endorses challenge to sitting GOP congressman

Gov. Bill Lee just endorsed against Trump-backed Rep. Andy Ogles, a fellow Republican, ahead of the Thursday election.

washingtonpost.com

In addition to having no experience in immigration, their website shows Ilya Shapiro (!) and disgraced former law prof Joshua Wright (!) as Senior Counsel. I don't think this massive contract was awarded to give immigrant children effective, zealous advocacy. burkegroup.law/our-team/

Our Team - BURKE LAW GROUP, PLLC

Our Team

burkegroup.law

Politico@politico.com · yesterday

26-employee Texas law firm gets $150M to represent 24,000 children in immigration court

Yesterday, Missourians had the final say on one of the most important state policy debates this year: whether to eliminate their personal income tax, which funds two-thirds of their budget, while raising taxes on many working people. They voted it down. missouriindependent.com/2026/08/04/m...

Missouri voters reject income tax phaseout, initiative petition changes • Missouri Independent

Missouri voters resoundingly rejected major Republican priorities on Tuesday as proposals to eliminate the income tax and change the way majorities are counted lost by large margins across the state.

missouriindependent.com

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

Max Miller on why he's staying in the race: "When we go back to 2015 and 2016, & people in the media looked at President Trump, & everyone came out with allegations. Dozens of women, dozens of crazy allegations, dozens of nasty criminal misconduct. And you know what he did? He stayed in the fight."

Something to understand about elite reactionaries who formed their politics in the 1980s and 1990s is that the material conditions for most of society were much worse back then, but the difference in material conditions between the top and bottom of society was larger. Being on top felt better then.

As of last night, there are now *7* pastors, former pastors and seminarians who've become Democratic nominees running for Congress. Some have already won safe Dem seats, and several are in hotly contested races. In multiple cases, the GOP has attacked their faith. religionnews.com/2026/08/04/p...

'They're not real pastors': As clergy run as Democrats, Republicans question their faith

(RNS) — 'It's a sign that they are really scared they're gonna lose this seat,' the Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran pastor running for Congress in Iowa, said. She is part of a wave of religious ...

religionnews.com

Wait, is it possible that political consultants--who often get paid a percentage of what a candidate spends-- are overstating the value of campaign spending? Shocked. Shocked.

Accounts held in the name of President Donald Trump began buying Intel shares in March, months after the announcement of the stake sent the stock soaring, ethics filings showed separately, Fortune reported. stocktwits.com/news-article...

Washington Has Quietly Built A Stock Portfolio That Nobody Can Size: Report

Ethics filings cited by the report showed Trump’s personal accounts started buying Intel shares in March, after the stake announcement boosted the stock.

stocktwits.com

Rogers is also for you paying higher gas prices so Trump can lose a war over nothing in Iran.

Michigan Democrats bash Mike Rogers for downplaying Iran war’s effect on gas prices • Michigan Advance

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers reportedly told a potential voter at a Michigan campaign stop that “we’re gonna be fine” as oil prices spike due to the Iran war. The interaction between R...

michiganadvance.com

🗽LOLGOP🗽@thefarce.org · 14h ago

Mike Rogers is for Medicaid cuts that will close our hospitals, for total abortion bans and for ICE ripping our neighbors out of their homes. But at least he lives in Florida.

It is an ongoing violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution to expose incarcerated people to heat death and Texas should fix this injustice.

Mother Jones@motherjones.com · 10h ago

Heat is killing Texas prisoners, and state leaders won't shell out for AC [via @slate.com]

Wow guys maybe spending months gleefully tormenting brown people isn't gonna shake out so good in the states with lots of brown people??? Huge if true

ashley 🌹@clearlyashley.bsky.social · yesterday

yall remember the Texas Fox News poll? yeah it’s real. they’re on the money