Steve Middlebrook
@stmdc.bsky.social
FinTech attorney. Principal at Middlebrook LLC. Interests: prepaid cards, payments, earned wage access, civil rights, Native American and Inuit art, old photographs, chipmunks.
Aug. 5, 1926: “Don Juan,” the first feature movie with synchronized sound and music, although no spoken dialogue, premieres in New York. The romantic adventure from Warner Bros. introduces the sound-on-disc Vitaphone system, later to be employed in the better-remembered “The Jazz Singer.” 1/9
Count Binface urged to run for FIFA president as pressure grows on Gianni Infantino. The intergalactic space warrior has emerged as a potential replacement for much-maligned FIFA boss Gianni Infantino after he looked to 'sell off' parts of the World Cup www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-...
Count Binface urged to run for FIFA president as pressure grows on Infantino
The intergalactic space warrior has emerged as a potential replacement for much-maligned FIFA boss Gianni Infantino after he looked to 'sell off' parts of the World Cup
dailystar.co.uk
Breaking News: Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to cyclospora. Both people who had the parasite also had underlying health issues.
Two Deaths Linked to Cyclospora Outbreak in Michigan
The patients had “significant underlying health conditions” that may have contributed to their deaths, health officials said.
nyti.ms
So under this Supreme Court's treatment of U.S. law and presidential power, Joe Biden couldn't forgove my student loans, but perhaps Donald Trump can forgive his own tax debt. Wild.
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d agoFLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.
DOD is not letting trans service members attend their own separation hearings unless they conform with Whiskey Pete's notion of their gender. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
my neighborhood 7-11 closed a couple years ago and tried to reopen but couldn’t get the permit approved because there’s a preschool next door and 7-11s sell alcohol (the previous permit was grandfathered in). i saw a fence going up around the lot recently and looked up what was moving in: a gun shop
It seems relevant that the thing Isaiah is being sent to do in that passage is to deliver a prophecy of doom to his own people for having fallen away from the path of righteousness. So if these guys were like, Isaiah, that would be robustly bad news for...the United States.
Matt Thiessen@mattthiessen.bsky.social · 3d agoAmerican Christianity in one social media post.
And one last time, because the story is updated with a whole bunch of comments: The Trump administration is planning to use the Community Reinvestment Act to target "activist" groups. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...
Trump to Use Anti-Redlining Law to Target ‘Activist’ Groups (1)
Trump administration banking regulators are aiming to use an anti-redlining law to steer funding away from “activist” community advocacy groups.
news.bloomberglaw.com
Archaeologists Find Hundreds of Ancient Geoglyphs in the Amazon. The structures composed of embankments and ditches carved in the earth. Hidden by rainforest. Identified with lidar. They suggest a complex society existed in Amazonia 2000 years ago. NYT Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/w...
Archaeologists Find Hundreds of Ancient Glyphs in the Amazon (Gift Article)
The geometric earthwork structures, carved into the ground with embankments and ditches, are in some cases more than 2,500 years old, researchers said.
nytimes.com
I would never listen to an Andrew Tate podcast or interview, but I am really enjoying his reports from prison. The description of conditions in the Special Housing Unit. The brown water. Lack of sunlight. Horrible food. It is very entertaining and I hope there are many episodes to come. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
EPIC and three individual observers sued Homeland Security claiming it gathered data on observers of ICE enforcement activities and retaliated against them in violation of the First Amendment and federal,law. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DHS Sued for Collecting Data in Order to Target ICE Observers
The Department of Homeland Security gathered data on observers of immigration enforcement activities and retaliated against them in violation of the First Amendment and other federal law, according to...
news.bloomberglaw.com
1. American taxpayers are spending $2 BILLION every year providing Medicaid benefits to hundreds of thousands of employees of Amazon and Walmart, a new analysis by Popular Information reveals.
If Weijia Jiang had any guts at all, during her introductions at tonight’s WHCA dinner, she’d have a guy in uniform walk out and serve a subpoena on her.
This utter muppet of a conservative Canadian politician in New Brunswick forgot to remove the LLM text from his floor speech and read it out loud.
Apparently Trump threw a hissy fit and started screaming "Find me a country I can start a war with where I WIN." Hegseth said "How about Mali?" and Trump said "Why would I want to hurt Molly Ringwald?" and then they explained to him there is a country called Mali. WaPo gift link wapo.st/4pzbquR
Trump administration weighing military options in Mali, officials say
If approved, it would add an eighth nation to the list of countries where President Donald Trump has ordered strikes since the start of his second term.
wapo.st
Elon’s AI generated version of Homer’s Odyssey will premier at the Landmark Cinema on Mars.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w agoElon Musk says Grok Imagine will make ‘historically accurate’ AI adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey
Someone please test this man for low testosterone.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2w agoAn Army veteran was targeting ICE when he set a fire, ignited fireworks and waved an air rifle at passers-by outside a building in Lower Manhattan in an attack targeting federal immigration authorities, law enforcement officials said.
Without saying your age what is your fave movie from the year you turned 18. Probably would be Peter Weir’s Gallipoli. A friend from college turned me on to Australian movies. So cool. Electronic music and Albinoni’s Adagio. “What are your legs?” “Springs. Steel springs.”
Too Big to Fail@toobigtofail.bsky.social · 2w agoWithout saying your age what is your fave movie from the year you turned 18. (Biggest layup in history on this one, to be honest; this is one of the greatest "shut your brain off and enjoy the stupid" movies ever made)
Why is it that the people who do not have a firm grasp on reality are always drawn towards reality TV?
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2w agoFormer congressman George Santos, who pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud and was later pardoned by President Trump, will star in a military-style competition show in September. https://wapo.st/4fd5ODl
High T Follow my cartoons and accompanying written commentary on Substack: nickanderson.substack.com For @rawstory.com
Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out.
The last Republican President to not start a Middle East war was Reagan and that's because he was illegally selling weapons to Iran to fund an illegal war in Central America.
Andrew Lawrence@ndrew.bsky.social · 2w agoi wish there had been some way to know a republican president would start an unwinnable war in the middle east that did nothing more than pad the bank accounts of him and his cronies
It’s not their sacrifice you’re feeling. It’s all that testosterone replacement therapy you’re taking.
