The prospect of "taking the oil" may ultimately be what convinced Trump to launch the Maduro raid. Of course, pillage is a war crime.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 8h ago

Trump: "We're taking a lot of oil from Venezuela -- billions and billions of barrels of oil. To the victor belong the spoils."

JD Vance calls for Trump to be imprisoned

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6h ago

JD Vance: "If you are committing fraud against the American people, all of us in public leadership should be trying to stop it and throw you in prison for enriching yourself off the American taxpayer"

Guest Post: Make the Forced Labor 301 Tariffs a Win for Workers

Carney says tone with U.S. already 'quite firm' as trade talks continue

Carney says tone with U.S. already 'quite firm' as trade talks continue

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada’s tone toward the United States is already 'quite firm' and insisted trade negotiations with Washington remain 'constructive' as an Aug. 19 deadline for new U.S. tariffs draws near.

ctvnews.ca

"We'll see. We're in the middle of negotiations," says PM Mark Carney when asked if his govt will be able to fend off the latest 50% U.S. tariff threats against Canada. This comes as Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is back in Washington for CUSMA trade talks. #cdnpoli

Just as a heads up, passwords are protected in legal situations, like when police or customs wants to “just see” your phone, but biometrics are not.

I read all the same sci-fi books Musk et al. did while growing up, and while this kind of thing is fun to think about, it's not going to happen any time soon.

FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 17h ago

$SPCX - SPACEX PLANS MOON FACTORIES POWERED BY HUMANOID ROBOTS

Spoiler: no they don't. But lockup expiry is imminent, so pump pump pump. $SPCX

FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 17h ago

$SPCX - SPACEX PLANS MOON FACTORIES POWERED BY HUMANOID ROBOTS

if you make the mistake of talking with your kids now you might be stuck talking with them your WHOLE LIFE www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Now, Thanks to Sam Altman, You Never Have to Speak to Your Kids Again

AI can handle these kinds of pointless interactions.

theatlantic.com

"Dan Sullivan doesn’t want Dan Sullivan to be the senator for Alaska. Dan Sullivan is already the senator for Alaska and wants to keep it that way. He thinks that Dan Sullivan is trying to trick voters into thinking that he is Dan Sullivan, as part of a plot to oust Dan Sullivan."

Battle of the Dans

Dan J. Sullivan and Dan S. Sullivan are both vying for a Senate seat in Alaska. Who will take the Last Frontier?

newyorker.com

Update: group chats can now host up to 100 members.

Bluesky@bsky.app · 2mo ago

What's up, chat! Group chats are rolling out today in the new v1.124 update. This is our first feature built for communities, and there's more to come.

FWIW, Bluesky doesn't feel like a leftist bubble to me. Lots of different perspectives on here.

Paul Bernal@paulbernal.bsky.social · 2d ago

The new CEO of Bluesky wants to change Bluesky from being a leftist bubble. The thing is, there’s nothing wrong with being a leftist bubble: the idea that everything has to be all-encompassing and suitable for everyone is a trap. 🧵 1/4

LeBlanc, Charette back in Washington amid protracted trade war, new tensions with U.S.

LeBlanc, Charette back in Washington amid protracted trade war, new tensions with U.S.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is back in Washington, his second trip to D.C. in as many weeks, amid a protracted trade war with the United States and renewed tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

ctvnews.ca

If Thanksgiving does get cancelled, I'll be fleeing to Canada every October to take advantage of their version.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d ago

Francesca Hong was asked last night by Kaitlin Collins if she still believes Thanksgiving should be canceled. Her answer was not 'no.'

Good point here by Aaron. "Free trade agreements" cover a wide of policies. Very unclear what people have in mind when they hear this term.

Aaron Ross Powell@aaronrosspowell.com · 2d ago

One question is what the people polled think a "free-trade agreement" is, because my guess is the answer varies quite a lot.

One question is what the people polled think a "free-trade agreement" is, because my guess is the answer varies quite a lot.

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈@josephpolitano.bsky.social · 2d ago

DSA-aligned Democrats are now the most pro-free-trade voting bloc in the United States, in an incredible turn of events www.theargumentmag.com/p/who-suppor...

i'm a subscriber to the verge but i think the written excerpt posted here is a little unfair here. "we have an open protocol we want anyone to be able to build on" isn't really the same as saying "we want nazis on here". most of his response is actually about their work on live events like sports

"In a new poll from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research Center at Texas Southern University (TSU), state Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) held a narrow 2 percent lead over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the race for U.S. Senate"

New Poll of Texas Statewide Races Shows Talarico Leads Paxton by 2 Percent

Abbott and other Republicans led Democrats by at least 3 percentage points.

thetexan.news

If tariffs on aluminum were going to spur more domestic production, wouldn't that have happened by now? How many more ways does this policy have to be tried before it can be considered a failure?

Trump said tariffs on aluminum would boost domestic production. The White House now admits that didn't happen.

It's been more than eight years since Trump's first aluminum tariffs were imposed. How long do we have to wait before calling this a failure?

reason.com

Today, 25 states led by Oregon (which also led state litigation against previous Trump tariffs) filed lawsuit challenging Trump's massive new Section 301 tariffs. This is 3rd case against Section 301 tariffs. See my discussion here for more: reason.com/volokh/2026/...

Twenty-five States, Led by Oregon, File Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Section 301 Tariffs

NA Today, twenty-five largely Democratic-controlled state governments filed a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump's massive new Section 301 tariffs. The complaint,…

reason.com

The complaint is available here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

PBS News@pbsnews.org · 2d ago

Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. https://to.pbs.org/450C3j8

Twenty five states sue Trump administration over latest global tariffs www.cnbc.com/2026/08/03/t...

Twenty five states sue Trump administration over latest global tariffs

Twenty five states sued the Trump administration, arguing its latest global tariffs unlawfully replace duties already struck down by courts.

cnbc.com

I don't care if Blueksy is any kind of bubble because we are here for ATproto 👀

Canadians spent $3.3bn less on travel to US in 2025 after Trump’s return to office Data shows Canadians have replaced US vacations with other international trips in apparent rebuke to Trump #Boycott www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Canadians spent $3.3bn less on travel to US in 2025 after Trump’s return to office

Data shows Canadians have replaced US vacations with other international trips in apparent rebuke to Trump

theguardian.com

CEO Toni Schneider on protocols, community, and control. www.theverge.com/podcast/9743...

Bluesky’s new CEO wants to grow it all

Bluesky is many different things in a trenchcoat.

theverge.com

I am excited to join @piie.com, where I will continue to advance my research on U.S. trade policy alongside a leading group of experts committed to advancing global prosperity and developing practical policy solutions to contemporary economic challenges.

Peterson Institute for International Economics@piie.com · 3d ago

We're thrilled to announce @inumanak.bsky.social is joining PIIE as a senior fellow! Welcome, Inu! 🎉

The Trump administration is so opposed to socialism that it has acquired — sometimes by coercion — equity stakes in 30 companies so far. www.cato.org/blog/governm...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d ago

Hassett: "After World War 2, bc we had centralized production to defeat the Nazis, there were a whole bunch of socialists in the UK and US that wanted to take over the economy bc they said, 'Look, we've already centralized production, so let's just be socialist.' That's why the CEA was created ... "

I feel like the tale of Chinese AI is going to play out more or less like the tale of Chinese electric vehicles. The U.S. is going to hold onto a model that doesn’t actually make sense anymore, and attempt to limit the better product instead of taking the necessary steps required to adapt.

Jeff Young@jefftheyoung.bsky.social · 3d ago

"'The way I’d put it,' the auto journalist Martin Padgett told me recently, 'is that we pulled a U-turn while the rest of the world was pushing forward.'” Look at global EV trends, then look at the US auto market. The US is heading for a Thelma & Louise style cliff. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/m...

Congrats to my great friend @inumanak.bsky.social on her new position!

Peterson Institute for International Economics@piie.com · 3d ago

We're thrilled to announce @inumanak.bsky.social is joining PIIE as a senior fellow! Welcome, Inu! 🎉

"Most businesses and rival governments have concluded that it is better to go along and get along than to stand up for themselves. But Trump is just like any other authoritarian leader: he needs to be feared. The longer the world gives him what he needs, the greater the disaster that awaits us all."

Trump’s hypocritical new tariffs are a chance for the world to fight back | Joseph Stiglitz

The president’s pretext of stopping forced labour is only a ruse – he is trying to grab a share of global trade for the US

theguardian.com