open.substack.com/pub/newsnotn... ~ “El-Sayed is a progressive who supports taxing billionaires and abolishing ICE, but he is not a socialist or a member of DSA. He’s a self-described capitalist who says he wants to make the system “work the way it was supposed to work”and “build a politics that

The Race That Became a Rorschach Test

A Q&A with Brian Derrick about Abdul El-Sayed's victory and the Democratic Party. Plus: GOP scandal season continues. A $30 million fight night. And doing chores at 17,500 miles per hour.

open.substack.com

Mathew is absolutely correct here: Calling El-Sayed “far left” in 2026 is just admitting you haven’t noticed the country changed. His positions poll with majorities because they’re the political center now. The labels are outdated. #USDemocracy

Matthew Dowd@matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 5h ago

Nearly every one of El-Sayed's issue positions is supported by a majority. In fact, his stands are the center of American politics today. Saying he is far left/left wing is just so old. The center of American politics has moved over the last 30 years, and El-Sayed's position are center now.

This is where El-Sayed differed most spectacularly from Stevens, & it may well account for his victory. A "policing" force such as ICE's "gestapo," made up of thugs and rioters and criminals, cannot be rescued or reformed; there's nothing good there to retain.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 9h ago

El-Sayed: "Once a government agency like ICE is told it has impunity to do the worst things and violate the highest law of the land, which is the Constitution itself, I don't think you can reform or retrain. I think we need to start from scratch ... I think we need to abolish it."

Unlawful actions by ICE seem to be a feature, not a bug.

James Myall@jamesxmyall.bsky.social · 5h ago

ICE arrested this Mainer and sent him to Guatemala "accidently" and in defiance of a judicial order. He didn't even have a deportation order issued against him. Susan Collins' body cameras won't fix behavior like this #mepolitics #mepolitics www.pressherald.com/2026/08/05/m...

$1.4B to deploy the National Guard into cities? On top of: -$1.5T for the Pentagon -$240B for ICE and CBP -$1B to refurbish Trump's Qatar jet -$300M for Trump's ballroom -$100M for Trump's golf outings But nothing for working people.

Warren Decries $1.4 Billion Cost of Trump's National Guard Deployment in DC | Common Dreams

Cost of National Guard deployment in DC under Trump projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2029. Sen. Warren criticizes spen

commondreams.org

It is truly truly upsetting that this is where we’re at as a country. Even if trump does order any troops or ICE to the polls and even if DHS doesn’t try to arrest election officials on bullshit charges, so much damage is already done. They’re publicly threatening and dangling it. And because of…

Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social · 2h ago

disturbing the level of resources & time that election officials, elected Dems, & others across the U.S. are devoting to preparing for if Trump tries to sic ICE, troops, or armed feds on their polling sites @justinglawe.bsky.social & I take you behind the scenes on how: zeteo.com/p/inside-dem...

Wildfire smoke continued to blanket much of Oregon on Wednesday, a result of several fires burning across the Pacific Northwest. All but two counties in Oregon were under some sort of air quality advisory as of Wednesday afternoon.

Wildfire smoke becomes a regular occurrence across Oregon, as residents learn to adapt

The past decade has seen a big uptick in the number of days with unhealthy levels of smoke. That includes nearly every part of Oregon.

opb.org

El-Sayed on Vance: Is that Peter Thiel's boy with that Ohio charisma? The last thing that he said that made any sense was Hillbilly Elegy—after he said that Donald Trump had no business being president of anything. And then he decided to suck up to power.

Representative Shirley Chisholm, 1972: "[W]e have looked in vain to the Nixon administration for the courage, the spirit, the character, and the words to lift us, to bring out the best in us, to rekindle in each of us our faith in the American dream."

Shirley Chisholm: Declares Presidential Bid, January 25, 1972

YouTube video by NYC Department of Records and Information Services

youtube.com

With wildfires burning across the Pacific Northwest, thousands of firefighters are called into rural areas to fight massive fires for weeks on end. To support those firefighters, camps are set up within 24 hours to house, feed, shower and supply these 24/7 operations.

i think this fully completes the rotation of the old guard out of Google leadership

SE Gyges@segyges.bsky.social · 11h ago

demis moving from ceo to chief scientist, @jeffdean.bsky.social starting his own company so, uh, complete gdm rotation i think

the City of Boise's increasingly aggressive campaign against the state's repeated attempt to ban pride flags flown by cities is extremely funny

rev. howard arson@theophite.bsky.social · 5d ago

i have never seen a higher density of pride flags than in Boise

This. Computer opponents in video games? Vital. Spell check? Actually great. Autocomplete? Pretty fine. Grammar check? Meh, but harmless. AI Summaries? Die in a fire. Gen AI? Fuck all the way off. Thought-destroying, idea-erasing chatbots that will happily talk you into delusion? Literal evil.

An hour drive just to see a doctor. That’s what “it won’t affect you” actually looks like in IA-03 right now. Sarah Trone Garriott saw through the lie from day one and she’s not letting anyone forget it. This is exactly why we show up and vote. Vote for Sarah, Iowa-03! #BlueWaveIn90Days

The bitcoin treasury firm still holds over 800,000 bitcoin, which it purchased at an average price higher than what the cryptocurrency is currently worth.

Saylor’s Strategy Dumps $100 Million In Bitcoin As Crypto’s Struggles Persist

The bitcoin treasury firm still holds over 800,000 bitcoin, which it purchased at an average price higher than what the cryptocurrency is currently worth.

forbes.com

bsky.app/profile/ones...

Democracy Now!@democracynow.org · 3d ago

Moroccan Dutch anthropologist Miriyam Aouragh says increasing economic inequality in Morocco is a primary reason for the surge of some 60,000 people into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week. According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, nearly all of the migrants returned to Morocco just a day later.

More than half of Americans have cut out eating out just to afford necessities. That’s not belt tightening, that’s an entire country getting sucked dry while corrupt Republicans & their billionaires pretend everythings fine. We don’t fix it by staying quiet. #BlueWaveIn90Days

The economy you live in is on the ballot. #BlueWaveIn90Days @thejenniwren.teamlh.social

$1,300 more on goods because of tariffs. $750 more because of a reckless war. Billions added to the president's net worth. If this were your family budget, you'd call an emergency. We are. Vote for Democrats in 90 days. #BlueWaveIn90Days

🔥🔥🔥🔥Listen to the recording @aaronparnas.bsky.social of Blanche recently stating that his goal is to eradicate abortion rights permanently nationwide!!! Please call your senators, and tell them to VOTE NO on Todd Blanche for AG‼️Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121 open.substack.com/pub/aaronpar...

NEWS: Democrats Sweep GOP-Backed Initiatives, Trump Embarrassed in Michigan, UFC Loses $30 Million on Trump Fight

Good morning everyone.

open.substack.com

No to Todd Blanche - please sign the petition: earthjusticeaction.org/action/tell-...

Tell the Senate: Reject Todd Blanche for Attorney General % - Earthjustice Action

The Senate must oppose the confirmation of a Trump loyalist to lead the Department of Justice.

earthjusticeaction.org

bsky.app/profile/mich... Todd Blanche, who is still Trump’s lawyer, will have his turn too.

@michaelapotter.bsky.social · yesterday

Stop worrying about 2028, if we don't show up and VOTE them out in November, it won't matter.

Instead of meeting with Epstein survivors, what did Todd Blanche do? He rushed to Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison cell, and then she got transferred to a cushier prison camp. This is not justice. It is corruption of a system meant to protect the most vulnerable.

1. Now-deleted audio shows that Acting AG Todd Blanche privately told faith leaders the DOJ is working to make the 2022 Dobbs decision, which revoked federal abortion protections, “permanent in every single state.” Blanche also suggested a crackdown on the mailing of abortion pills.🧵

BREAKING: The New Mexico Department of Justice has sued Acting AG Todd Blanche and the DOJ, requesting the court for access to unredacted Epstein-related investigative files that the DOJ has been withholding.

www.pcmag.com/news/apple-t... But what about META, Google, IG, etc, they are guilty as well ?????

Apple to Face $32.5 Billion Lawsuit Over Facial Recognition in Photos App

Apple is accused of violating Illinois law by collecting users' biometric information without consent. After several efforts to get the case thrown out, a judge ruled that it must go ahead.

pcmag.com

Meta has made it repeatedly clear that one of their growth strategies is sexualizing kids. Mark Zuckerberg and his leadership team deserve to face personal liability for this, and the company deserves sanctions up to and including corporate dissolution

WIRED@wired.com · 12h ago

Over the last nine months, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has run dozens of paid ads that include explicit AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of minors alongside sexually suggestive statements, according to details of the ads shared with WIRED.

Meta is extremely bad.

Matt Burgess (WIRED)@mattburgess1.bsky.social · 12h ago

NEW: Over the last few months, Meta has run dozens of paid ads that included AI-generated CSAM. The ads, some of which were linking out to “nudify” apps, targeted men in the US, UK, and a dozen European countries. Some were running in the last few days

El-Sayed: "Mike Rogers is a guy who wants to put a data center in your backyard so he can make himself feel a little more manly by making an AI video ... he's a guy who went back to Florida so he could lick every single boot Donald Trump owns to bet for his endorsement."

So much for the "rural renaissance" we were promised! New #Florida law has developers poised to build on thousands of acres of farmland. Records show state legislators worked closely with lobbyists for major developers. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/new-law-ha... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social

New law has developers poised to build on thousands of acres of farmland around Florida

Records show state legislators worked closely with lobbyists for major developers on the "agricultural enclave" law, which strips Florida counties of some of their power to control urban sprawl.

jasongarcia.substack.com