"As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. futurism.com/artificial-i...

AI Companies Are Trying to Hide a Staggering Amount of Debt

AI companies are pouring tens of billions of dollars into enormous data centers. They're being built on top of a mountain of hidden debt.

futurism.com

Ding ding motherfucking ding.

Sarah Taber@sarahtaber.bsky.social · 6d ago

Most of the land in most farm counties is owned by 1-5 families. They run the place like their own personal kingdoms. There is SO much resentment and straight-up fury about this in rural areas. The fact that no political party's even really trying to speak to it is wild.

UPDATE: The dam is breaking. Six federal appeals courts in a row — including two *today* have now shot down ICE's mass detention policy, along with a 469-54 split against the administration among district judges. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...

5th federal appeals court rejects ICE mass detention policy

politico.com

"In one case, the government included documentation claiming a detainee had been convicted of marijuana possession in 2009. That detainee, the judge noted, citing what she called the government’s persistent 'sloppiness,' would have been 4 years old."

ProPublica@propublica.org · last wk.

NEW: ProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of Justice Department lawyers. We found judges nominated by both parties who are frustrated that they can no longer take the government at its word.

Nothing says "hard news" like hiring a guy who's exclusively written right-wing op-eds for the last 20 years.

The prosecution in the Lindsay Clancy trial has been so beyond triggering, because they're trying to argue, "Look at all the normal mom things she was doing. How could she be struggling mentally?"

Exclusive from me — Daniel Moraff, one of the political operatives behind Graham Platner's rise and fall, has been accused of sexual assault. Full story here:

Exclusive: Political operative behind Graham Platner's rise accused of sexual assault

A spokesperson for Daniel Moraff said: “Any suggestion that he committed a criminal offence is false and without foundation."

thehandbasket.co

Our guest room closet is where I keep my Bath & Body Works candle stash, and my dad loves hanging his clothes and towels in there because it makes them smell like they were bombed by a pumpkin spiced apple coconut snowball.

I've been slogging through this book for a month and can't decide whether to give up or not. I loved the first book in the series, but I'm currently at 37% of the way through the book and nothing has happened.

Texas created an outcomes-based funding model for community colleges. Students and colleges outperformed expectations, so now the state wants to change the rules so they don't have to pay what they promised. www.texastribune.org/2026/07/22/t...

Texas may limit community college's incentive funding

A formula designed to reward colleges for student success generated larger payouts than budgeted. Now, Texas’ higher education agency may limit how schools receive such funding.

texastribune.org

Interesting timing, given we are in the midst of the largest measles outbreak in 35 years and the largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in US history, both as a direct result of MAHA policy.

Walker Bragman@walkerbragman.bsky.social · 2w ago

Absolutely fucking not

My main concern with journalism today is the extent to which they don't speak truth to power, but try to schmooze their way in with powerful people by not telling the truth in the papers so they can publish a best seller with some bombshells that should have been published immediately 2 years later.

What I'm getting from this is that "prominent media figures" are fine hanging out with Nazis, but not fine with anyone who asks why they're fine hanging out with Nazis.

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2w ago

A lot of criticism of the White House press corps on Bluesky tonight, primarily coming from a journalism as fourth estate, truth to power, informing the public, valuing free speech perspective. In case you were wondering why many prominent media figures prefer spending time on X.

One of the most depressing parts about the discussion flaring up around the decision to close a local middle school unexpectedly 3 weeks before school starts is how many people don't understand the city budget and school district budget are separate and different governing bodies oversee them.

The least favorite part of my job is having to explain to people in excruciating detail how to do simple things. Why would I want to give up doing things myself for having to struggle to find the right way to ask an agent to do that thing for me?

The outrage at this is because this is just the most recent in a LONG line of decisions delaying progress in this city. We finally voted in a mayor who’s (largely) doing her best to deliver on promises, and these people keep getting in the way.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Seattle City Council just voted 6-3 to approve Joy Hollingsworth's amendment to delay universal school lunches for kids, replacing them with vouchers for qualifying low-income parents to buy groceries over school breaks and weekends. Eddie Lin, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and Rob Saka voted no.

I'm so tired of AI hype.

Ken Paxton ruined this woman's life over what an appeals court just said was insufficient evidence to shut down her midwifery clinics

Garnet Henderson@garnethenderson.com · 2w ago

This is good, but as Rojas’ attorneys said, it will be next to impossible for her shuttered clinics to reopen. Her midwifery license is still suspended. All because she was doing things midwives do, like treating miscarriages and carrying misoprostol, an essential obstetric medication

the entirety of U.S. telecom history involves dems taking 20 years to implement basic consumer protections only for them to be immediately destroyed by a broad coalition of Republicans, telecom monopolies, and "free market" libertarian think tank guys telling you how wonderful this will all be

ISPs' long nightmare of having to list all the fees they charge is finally over

FCC lets ISPs stop listing all fees after companies complained it was too hard.

arstechnica.com

As a person who likes to look at local home listings every so often, I'm kind of baffled by Austin's housing market right now, because I feel like the prices are up significantly from even a month ago, despite the fact that interest rates are up along with the cost of everything else.

mass layoffs at Pixar despite Toy Story 5 about to cross $1 billion at the box office. there is simply no amount of money that will make corporations happy enough to not upend people’s lives.

Pixar Bears Brunt of Disney Studio Layoffs as Company Axes Several Hundred Staffers

Pixar Animation Studios, despite riding high on the success of summer blockbuster "Toy Story 5," was hit particularly hard in a wave of corporatewide layoffs at Disney.

variety.com

8. As long as trans people have an opposition party standing in unity against anti-trans policies, every ban, remains reversible. But if enough Dems see transphobia as acceptable, then trans rights could be eroded for a generation, with no mechanism left to reverse the losses, similar to UK Labour.

Not only the policy itself but also the muted response and lack of urgency in addressing it as well. bsky.app/profile/lega...

Reuters Legal@legal.reuters.com · 2w ago

Around 77,000 fewer children worldwide received HIV treatment supported by the U.S. in the year to October 2025 than in the previous fiscal year, according to a study that found declines after the Trump administration's cuts and changes to foreign aid.

AWAITING GUIDANCE: With classes starting next month, Louisiana school districts still don’t know how many of them, if any, will be exempt from having to pay $2,000 teacher stipends out of their existing state funds. @jsodonoghue.bsky.social reports

Landry says not all school districts have to give teacher stipends. Local leaders await more info. • Louisiana Illuminator

With classes starting next month, Louisiana school districts still don’t know how many of them, if any, will be exempt from having to pay $2,000 teacher stipends out of their existing state funds.

lailluminator.com

For my newsletter, I wrote about Ohio Dem governor candidate Amy Acton adopting the right wing extremist framing of trans issues. www.burnsnotice.com/amy-acton-tr...

I Guess We're Trying This Again, Huh?

Democratic nominee for Ohio governor is recycling an anti-trans strategy that didn't work two years ago, there's no evidence it will work this year either.

burnsnotice.com

‘Treating them like animals’: Migrant detainees face grim conditions in Florida federal jail

‘Treating them like animals’: Migrant detainees face grim conditions in Florida federal jail

“They’re in their underwear pretty much for the most part because they’re so hot,” the wife of one detainee said.

tampabay.com

New: Late last night, Taylor Farms quietly posted an official recall notice We now know that the parasite-linked iceberg lettuce was shipped to Walmart & food distributors in 27 (!) states It was for some reason still being sent out up until Thursday July 16 www.consumerreports.org/health/food-...

Parasite-Linked Lettuce Was Sent to Walmart Stores and Food Distributors in 27 States - Consumer Reports

Taylor Farms' recalled the parasite-linked lettuce it said was sent to Walmart stores, Sysco, and other food distributors in 27 states.

consumerreports.org

The only thing worse on Reddit than the way men talk about their wives and girlfriends is the way mothers talk about their daughters.

RFK Jr. made Cyclospora tracking optional, gutting a CDC program used to detect outbreaks. Now cyclosporiasis has hit 31 states. That's what happens when you dismantle the systems designed to keep us safe. www.npr.org/2026/07/12/n...

What to know about cyclosporiasis, the intestinal illness hitting the U.S.

A surge of cases of the intestinal illness that causes diarrhea and fatigue has been detected in 34 states. Here's how what to do if you suspect you have it and how to avoid infection.

npr.org

The "Taco Bell diarrhea lettuce" is actually from Taylor Farms, *the largest fresh produce processor in the world*, and you can get it at Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Olive Garden, Wendy's, and IHOP, as well as Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, and Whole Foods. Why are we making this about Taco Bell?