In other Michigan news, the state looks set to elect it's first transgender lawmaker. Joanna Whaley won her Democratic primary and will compete in November for a state house seat, beating a primary opponent who tried and failed to disqualify her for not running under her deadname

If you love music in any capacity it is imperative that you voice your hatred for Live Nation whenever given the opportunity.

Leor Galil@imleor.bsky.social · 5h ago

“Music publications BrooklynVegan, Alternative Press, Revolver, and Goldmine have been gutted by parent company Veeps... Nearly all the staff at each publication appear to have been laid off yesterday. Veeps, which is now owned by Live Nation, acquired the publications in 2024 or 2025”

Well, the FCC Commissioner has made the decision, first announced in an op-ed in Breitbart, stating that a regulatory body does not have to observe laws made by Congress if they don't feel like it. Every month is new and unprecedented territory. docs.fcc.gov/public/attac...

Fellow academics: I know a Haitian PhD student who due to TPS termination needs another institutional affiliation not in the USA. Do you or someone you know have an avenue for them? If so, DM me.

Did someone finally top Apple’s U2 on everyone’s iTunes?

BMW Is Playing a Spider-Man Ad on Its Dashboard Displays, and People Are Pissed

The automaker is framing it as an 'exclusive' animation tied to a broader brand partnership with the new Spider-Man movie.

gizmodo.com

These are some of the people who have been "moved" off of food assistance in the wake of the Republican reconciliation law's unprecedented SNAP cuts. The immense hardship these families are now facing is not, in fact, "a pretty big win." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/u...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday

Rollins: "For those who love work and celebrate work and want people to work and not be on food stamps, it's a pretty big win when we've moved 5 million people off food stamps, y'all."

came out as non-binary in my early 30s, had top surgery at 40, started hrt at 43, i’m 47 and here’s me today, with more peace and self-worth than i’ve ever had

Hannah Who@notablyuncool.bsky.social · 8mo ago

To all the late transitioners out there: Thank you for helping to normalize late-in-life transition. Your openness took away so much of my fear, allowing me to finally see my own transition as a valid and hopeful possibility.

This week on the @wired.com podcast, I had a fascinating conversation with Puck's @mattbelloni.bsky.social about tech and Hollywood. From the open secret of AI use, to Ben Affleck's $587M startup sale, to Amazon MGM dropping that OpenAI biopic...we covered a lot. Read and listen here:

‘Everyone Is Doing It’: The Truth About AI in Hollywood

Puck’s Matthew Belloni says AI has quietly become part of everyday filmmaking. The battle now isn’t whether Hollywood will use the technology—it’s who controls what’ll come next.

wired.com

ICE agents harassing a child and her family in Bushwick. Macing a woman in Inwood. Threatening a witness in a Lower Manhattan ER. These are just 3 examples of ICE agents targeting New Yorkers the past days, in what advocates are calling an uptick in ICE activity the past week.

if there is a maximum amount of peaches you’re supposed to eat in one sitting it is simply none of my business

Exclusive: We obtained a leaked playbook that Flock gives to cops to coach them on "how to speak to city council" to avoid getting their contracts canceled. Includes strategies like "own the narrative" by talking to mayor "before public comment periods" www.404media.co/own-the-narr...

‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech

"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...

404media.co

A 39-year-old El Salvadoran man, who was being held at Delaney Hall, has died, the man's family says. He's the father of a 12-year-old US citizen daughter and has lived in the country for nearly 20 years. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/08/03/s...

El Salvadoran Man Held by ICE at Delaney Hall Dies, Family Says

The detainee had an extensive medical history, including epilepsy, according to a lawsuit. He had complained about his face and hand going numb just before his death, his mother said.

thecityreporter.nyc

The end result of decades of hollowing out mechanisms for popular control of warmaking is on display in Trump’s market manipulations over Iran.

The Markets Matter For War—You Don't

Not only has Iran controlled the escalatory ladder, it's exposed another symptom of American decline

forever-wars.com

Resistance is one thing; now the real test begins for #football, because the problem is not just one person. A piece in @jensweinreich.bsky.social www.sportandpolitics.de/after-fifa-f... #FIFA #FIFAcomedy

After FIFA Forward Enterprise, the real test begins

By scrapping FFE, Gianni Infantino is trying to save his own skin. The reaction to his plans has been overwhelmingly negative worldwide, and within FIFA itself, a key figure – COO Kevin Lamour – has s...

sportandpolitics.de

He’s 💯 right here. Easy to focus on the horse race of who could be the next one, but the real fix is breaking apart the system that allows these guys to rise in the first place

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2d ago

Infantino is not the problem ft.trib.al/5qdaL5k

Great reporting from @emilybregel.bsky.social about a gay man who’s been in the US since he was four, imprisoned in a “hotel” in Equatorial Guinea since April. He says he’s being denied soap and toilet paper in retaliation for filing a complaint w African Commission. 1/ tucson.com/news/local/b...

Arizona man languishes in African hotel after third-country deportation

A 30-year-old man, Ahmed Soliman, is confined in a decommissioned hotel in Equatorial Guinea after being deported there by ICE without warning. He faces the threat of return to Egypt, where he may fac...

tucson.com

Infantino out Ange in

The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4d ago

UEFA says it has lost confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino and that “no option should be off the table” as it will pursue a full review of his now abandoned plan to sell stakes of the World Cup to private equity investors.

That was fast. Google sent me a statement saying it is now “rolling back“ this AI feature after our demonstration and others from OSINT researchers www.404media.co/google-earth...

This is an important story, beyond the world of sports. There were BIG MONEY interests at stake here. But *organized opposition* to a cartoonishly corrupt sell-off torpedoed the plan. Almost immediately. There is a lesson here.

Infantino scraps FIFA World Cup sell-off plan after backlash

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has scrapped his proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup after widespread backlash, including from within global soccer's governing body, and a threatened boycott by European Nations.

espn.com

linkedin adding a Report AI Slop button is extremely funny as the platform that pioneered human slop (7,000 word essays from gary in marketing about teamwork and b2b sales)

NEW: Concacaf joins UEFA in rejecting FFE, instead imploring FIFA to find ways to increase funding for FIFA Forward through its current means and asking that "any matter follows the proper governance processes" in future full statement: www.concacaf.com/competitions...

A Minnesota state fusion center report ties the cyberattacks on 30+ Minnesota water utilities to Iranian-affiliated hackers, according to a water utility information sharing group's memo I obtained. www.wired.com/story/a-leak...

A Leaked Memo Ties Cyberattacks on Minnesota Water Utilities to Iran

A memo obtained by WIRED, issued by the water utilities information sharing group WaterISAC, links dozens of cyberattacks against Minnesota water utilities to Tehran.

wired.com

This week ICE awarded new contracts to its largest for-profit jail providers: • $3M to GEO Group to turn Rivers Correctional in Winton, NC into a processing site • $9.4M to Akima at Buffalo, NY's federal detention center • $458M to GEO for a nationwide indefinite-delivery incarceration contract

NEW: Nate Schatzline is a voting fraud conspiracy theorist who believes he is at war with demonic forces and has close ties to a movement of "prophets" that helped spark Jan 6. So why did Gov. Greg Abbott just give him a $275,000 job as a senior advisor on "election integrity" issues? (Gift link).

He Sees Politics as a Spiritual Battle Against Demonic Forces. Now He’s Advising the Governor.

Meet Nate Schatzline, the Christian nationalist and former state representative who is helping Greg Abbott manage “election integrity.”

texasmonthly.com

Is that a lot. www.businessinsider.com/flock-camera...

The loss of TPS has impacted thousands of Haitians in New York City, sparking outrage among many elected officials and advocates who say Haiti remains a dangerous place to return to.

And a Friday news dump for Chelsea’s two window ban for a decade of cheating during the Abramovich era. Swerved points deductions again. Well done everyone

I wrote about how immigration arrests are at all-time highs, even as ICE is trying to assume a lower public profile. How are they doing this? Look to your local police.

ICE’s Secret Weapon Is in Your Community

While attempting to maintain a relatively lower profile, ICE is managing to arrest record numbers of people. Here’s how it’s doing that.

newrepublic.com

NEW FROM ME: A frenzy of cruel and unusual ICE flights over the last few days suggests the Trump admin is ratcheting up its ethnic cleansing campaign. And it may be increasingly desperate to find willing collaborators. My breakdown: gillianbrockell.com/frenzy-of-cr...

Frenzy of cruel and unusual ICE flights shows Trump’s ethnic cleansing campaign is escalating – again

Seven apparent ICE removal flights in the last few days – including third-country removals, prolonged shackling, and failed deportations – reveal an agency ratcheting up.

gillianbrockell.com

just felt very strongly that everyone needed to see this up close

Eric Geller@ericjgeller.com · 6d ago

"A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online."