Stephen J Read
@steveread.bsky.social
Professor of Social Psychology, University of Southern California. Interested in Computational modeling of personality, decision-making, social reasoning, and social behavior. Also interested in relating this to Neuroscience
Y'all don't need me to tell you this but @nicktimiraos.bsky.social is an excellent reporter and does excellent economic and monetary policy analysis *in addition to* his very good sourcing inside the Federal Reserve.
Michael Derby@michaelsderby.bsky.social · 4h agoAs evidence for Warsh’s rough start as Fed chair, the Treasury secretary is now going after reporters for their coverage of the central bank.
A year after declaring Texas the “epicenter of AI development,” Governor Greg Abbott has declared a moratorium on all new power grid connections for data centers—at least until developers provide more information.
Texas halts data center connections to power grid amid overwhelming demand
Governor who touted Texas as AI “epicenter” pauses data center grid connections.
arstechnica.com
we live in a world in which there are Dem-voting parents who'll be mad abt this
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4h agoEl-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
Similarly, I've created a model that predicts court of appeals decisions with an over 90% accuracy. But that's only a 1% gain over the baseline of assuming every opinion in the dataset is affirmed. Hence, it's still a work in progress.
FUCK DOJ has, in general, not relied on Trump v. US, even in all its most expansive claims to be able to do what they want. But in Broadview--where defendants suspect that Todd Blanche's enforcer Akash Singh was involved--DOJ went there. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
![Separately, as the Supreme Court recently held, “[i]nvestigative and prosecutorial
decisionmaking is ‘the special province of the Executive Branch,’” and so even the “President may
discuss potential investigations and prosecutions with his Attorney General and other Justice
Department officials to carry out his constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully
executed.” Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, 620 (2024) (quotations and citations omitted).
Thus, members of the Executive Branch are constitutionally required to “take Care that the Laws
be faithfully executed,” and it is entirely appropriate for them to “decide which crimes to
investigate and prosecute.” Id. (quoting U.S. Const. Art. II, § 3). Although the Supreme Court in
2024 made clear that the law permits such interactions, as already noted and consistent with
Department policy, in this matter, the United States Attorney reported the Office’s charging
decision to Main Justice shortly before the first grand jury presentation in this case. R. 110 at 4,
n.2.15 Former Defendants are not entitled to any communications relating to charging decisions or](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreihyyexcusmlv2qq5dhiupo44u6dxuggoidlrpfdkddmsuesirnp2q)
Republican leaders are growing increasingly worried that allegations against two GOP House lawmakers may end up costing them in the midterm elections, Punchbowl News reported Wednesday.
GOP leaders scramble as ‘national spectacle’ risks handing Dems major victories: report
Republican leaders are growing increasingly worried that allegations against two GOP House lawmakers may end up costing them in the midterm elections, Punchbowl News reported Wednesday.Those two House GOP lawmakers are Reps. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) and Max Miller (R-OH), both of whom have faced serious...
bit.ly
President Trump and his allies have repeatedly blasted individual federal judges as rogue actors and political activists whose rulings are illegitimate. U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s experience is emblematic of the climate facing jurists.
This federal judge ruled against Trump. Then the threats began.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s experience is emblematic of the climate facing jurists, whether nominated by Democratic or Republican presidents.
washingtonpost.com
California's Eaton Fire cause by electrical discharge from utility company - UPI.com
California's Eaton Fire cause by electrical discharge from utility company - UPI.com
Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The deadly Eaton Fire that devastated Southern California last year was caused by equipment from the local utility company, investigators said Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Fire Department released the conclusion of its 18-month investigation into the origins of the fire, saying the cause of the wildfire was due to electrical arcing on an out-of-service Southern California Edison tower. The electrical discharge fell on dry vegetation at the foot of the utility company's Eaton Canyon transmission tower. "The fuel bed ignited approximately 12 seconds after the burning material was seen falling from the arcing event," the report said. "The Eaton Fire rapidly developed into a conflagration engulfing the areas of the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and La Canada Flintridge." The blaze burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed some 9,400 structures and killed 19 people. The Eaton Fire started on Jan. 7, 2025, and took fire officials 24 days to put out. "I recognize that no report or investigation into the Eaton Fire can ease the deep pain and tragedy our residents have endured," Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a statement. "While the cause has been determined, our focus remains on assisting our residents to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and ensuring lessons learned drive meaningful and impactful change in memory of the 19 lives lost," he added. In October, South California Edison launched a compensation fund for survivors of the fire. The company said it has paid more than $314 million to victims, CBS News reported. One of the many homes destroyed by five southern California wildfires in Los Angeles County on January 8, 2025. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo Read More
upi.com
As ugly as the Michigan race for Senate has been, it’s going to get even uglier.
Deploying troops or armed federal agents to election sites is illegal under federal law. And voters have the right to vote free from fear and intimidation. Here is what you can do to protect your vote if federal agents show up at your polling place. bit.ly/4wpSGAH
Vote Safely in 2026
Sending troops or ICE officers to the polls is illegal. Here’s how you can protect your vote and your community’s voice, even if federal agents unlawfully show up.
bit.ly
Read more here: www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
Dear Leader dissatisfied with the fealty of his corporate subjects
Trump went on his personal for-profit social media network to yell about how Chevron’s CEO, Mike Wirth, didn’t call out how amazing and precious and perfect Trump’s policies are when Wirth appeared…
dailykos.com
Jeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.
4 of Google’s Top AI Brains Are Leaving—and Launching Their Own AI Startup
Jeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.
wrd.cm
A healthy economy depends on a lot more than corporate profits — it depends on trust, transparency, and a shared responsibility between businesses and the people they serve. Not price gouging and profiteering. Illinois is stepping in and imposing fairness.
GM Brenda @jaybird54.bsky.social & #BreakfastCrew! ☕️🌞💙☮️ 📋Plan📋 ✅ Drink coffee ✅ Spread positivity ✅ Pretend we know what's going on ✅ Repeat as necessary Find hope in the chaos, laugh at the nonsense, and have enough coffee to fake adulthood another day. #MindYourWile Smile😁 Laugh😂 Love❤️ Live🤪
Mike from Florida (he’s not) is an amazing cheap shot and I love it very much. welcome to Detroit motherfucker
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4h agoEl-Sayed: "If all Mike Rogers got is that 'his name is Abdul, and my name is Mike,' you're gonna be surprised how many people are like, 'Yeah, but that's the Abdul who wants to bring down the price of my groceries and make sure I got healthcare. So yeah, I like Abdul over your Mike from Florida.'"
El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
way closer than expected, but an Arab leftist besting 70 million in outside spending is an Arab leftist besting 70 million in outside spending: a political earthquake and a new dawn 25 years after 9/11
Who knew ridiculously long deployments and demanding op tempos run a ship and crew into the ground!
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec.bsky.social · 3h agoKeeping people constantly deployed has a mounting cost. www.ms.now/news/conditi...
Via Kelcie Moseley-Morris: In a conference call hosted by the White House Faith Office on July 30, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said he was committed to working to ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision “becomes permanent in every single state.” https://ow.ly/5oes50ZwAkz
The #1 reason I wanted her to lose. Not because she was "AIPAC" but because there was no way those taps were going to keep flowing against Rogers
#StupidSuez@diplomatofnight.com · 13h agoNo matter the margin the story is that Haley Stevens got $70M of support, more than $30M of it from a single organization, and still lost.
“If built as planned, the gas burning plants — scattered across states including Texas, Ohio and Wyoming — could release as much planet-warming pollution in a year as roughly half of all the passenger vehicles in the United States”
hilzoy@hilzoy.bsky.social · 4h agoGift link. 😬 www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/c...
Klobuchar responds: "None of my opponents on this stage condemned what ICE did. Not a word. Two innocent people were killed, shot in the back. We had many people arrested when they weren't supposed to be arrested, and we need reform to ICE."
How do they do it? Look at the little flotillas of right-wing dark money groups that file choreographed “amicus briefs” in cases the billionaire clique cares about. Look at the 100% success rate of the billionaire front groups in those cases.
Your little oopsie "mistakes" had me worrying for a year of my life about my partner going to jail for up to a decade based on lies likely fed to you by the top of the federal government. Show everyone what you're covering up in these emails and texts. There's a reason you don't want them released.
Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed
Chicago's top federal prosecutor noted in a court filing that his office has already dropped charges in the case, implemented “robust root-cause changes” and started the process of reviewing over 1,00...
chicago.suntimes.com
Just to make the point abundantly clear, Chris Wallace is now a paid advisor to an investment firm that has a large stake in Paramount and a vested interest in getting the Warner Bros. merger over the line. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Chris Wallace: States Are Playing Politics With the Law to Block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal
"I don’t believe government should use its powers to determine who owns a news platform or to control how that outlet reports the news," writes the former Fox and CNN anchor, who is now a paid advisor...
hollywoodreporter.com
We got some quotes from @wyden.senate.gov about his wild report yesterday about banks withholding suspicious activity reports about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking empire because they wanted to keep the lucrative relationship. Crazy conduct and Wyden has some good solutions for it.
Sen. Wyden Report: Banks Systematically Ignored Jeffrey Epstein’s Crimes - The American Prospect
The report shows how employees at Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan helped to hide Epstein’s activities because he was a load-bearing part of their ‘wall of cash.’
prospect.org
🎥 NEW: The DOJ is now 0-20 in its voter roll cases. Marc Elias breaks down why federal judges have unanimously rejected the department's demands and why today's 90-day "quiet period" deadline may have shut the door on Trump's scheme just in time for the midterms👇
This Just Killed Trump's National Voter Database
YouTube video by Democracy Docket
youtube.com
Holy shit How do you find an outfit in your collection that matches the damaged reflecting pool? Seriously
David Kurtz@davidkurtz.bsky.social · 4h agoBeyond the reality-TV-style palace intrigue among the ridiculous personas of Donald Trump, Jeanine Pirro, and Doug Burgum is how hard the former defendants in the now-dismissed “vandalism” cases push for court-ordered consequences for the bogus prosecutions. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
