"The litigation has revealed a clear pattern: Uber’s lawyers scour women’s private communications, medical records, therapy notes …They grill the women about those issues, their sex lives and their behavior on the night of the incident." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/b...

Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’

The ride-hailing giant promised to handle legal claims “in a way that is best for the survivor.” Its lawyers are pursuing a far more aggressive strategy.

nytimes.com

This is a very nuanced piece about veterans, military service and war. Gets at serious issues without being cliche about them. www.newyorker.com/news/the-pol...

The Complications of Graham Platner’s Veteran Identity

How much of Graham Platner’s behavior should be read through the lens of what combat did to him, and how much of it is simply who he is, independent of war?

newyorker.com

I just have zero patience for a public intellectual IN THIS DECADE, pretending that environmental policy isn’t going to involve politics. Look around. Pay any attention at all. Yes, the 60-second ads will lack the nuance of a white paper. Industry ignores your white papers though.

I did not know this.

Heather Burns@heatherburnstech.bsky.social · yesterday

The most terrifying enshittification I've discovered has been learning that Microsoft Word documents no longer auto-save if you are not saving them to one of their own proprietary cloud services. I'm slapping control-S like it's 1999.

DC cabs have an app. The drivers are great. DC also has a great public transport system. Nobody needs these in DC and I will absolutely judge you for using one.

Prism@prismreports.org · yesterday

“To me that would be even less opportunity.” Washington, D.C. lawmakers want to bring autonomous vehicles to the capital, a move that ride-share drivers & other workers say would inhibit their ability to provide for their families during troubling economic times, @evelazquez.bsky.social reports.

One of the beautiful things about Mamdani’s renewal of NYC government is that it shows how deeply business interests are usually baked into state capacity. Why should private equity, banks and real estate interests advise a mayor on what to spend?

from Gil Duran gift post www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...

Opinion | Want to Fight Back Against Big Tech? Start Here. (Gift Article)

A.I. is a political theory. And it is gobbling up our democracy.

nytimes.com

In the past two years, nearly 3 in 10 investors said they slashed what they contribute to their 401(k) - 7 in 10 investors said their biggest stumbling block when it comes to savings is the cost of essential expenses including healthcare, utility bills, insurance, and housing.

One-third of investors have more credit card debt than retirement savings: Survey

Americans who currently contribute to a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k), believe they will need $1.2 million in savings to retire comfortably, yet many won't make that target, according to ...

finance.yahoo.com

Janis makes a key point here: "It is puzzling that Russian propaganda makes two claims (a largely constant troop strength and enormous recruitment) that, taken together, imply something catastrophic for Russia (huge losses)." He estimates they lose 43-45% of their troops in Ukraine EACH YEAR.

Janis Kluge@jakluge.de · 2d ago

Attention: new original data source unlocked! Based on federal budget reports, I estimated the number of Russian troops in Ukraine, both mobilized and contract soldiers. The numbers are based on different salary top-ups that Russian troops in Ukraine receive. janiskluge.substack.com/p/the-compos...

We’re also funding death squads but what’s really offensive is that somewhere out there a poor person might be able to eat

USA TODAY Opinion@usatodayopinion.usatoday.com · 2d ago

Opinion: Mamdani's idea may sound appealing, but it's NYC taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.

Pam and Latisha are two of ten complainants that have lodged this case before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, to declare it is unlawful for Australia to continue approving coal and gas exports, without a plan to prevent dangerous climate harm and keep people safe. Please watch this video:

Hard Truths: the Australian coal + gas exports case | Launch

YouTube video by Hard Truths Case

youtube.com

(1/2) The Iran war is a redistribution machine: Big oil profits have shot up to historic highs. Our research shows that 50% of fossil fuel profits go to the richest 1% in the U.S. The rich are the ultimate beneficiaries of the war windfalls.

Current political state in Germany: the federal government is developing backup plans on how to move NATO troops quickly if one or more of the eastern Bundesländer elects the right extremist AfD into power. Sachsen Anhalt may see the AfD as the ruling party as soon as this September.

Konflikte & Sicherheit@konflikt-sicher.bsky.social · 4d ago

Die #Bundesregierung entwickelt Notfallpläne, um #NATO -Truppen auch bei fehlender Kooperation eines Bundeslandes rasch durch #Deutschland verlegen zu können. Hintergrund hierfür sind Sorgen vor Verzögerungen durch eine mögliche #AfD -Alleinregierung in Sachsen-Anhalt. www.welt.de/politik/ausl...

“The diarrhea lettuce company, Taylor Farms…” This is the type of rhetorical swordsmanship that I demand as reparations for the Taco Bell SLANDER that the Feds & cable news was trying to push on folks! And now we learn of forced labor?? 🤬🤬

Chad Loder@chadloder.dev · 4d ago

The diarrhea lettuce company, Taylor Farms, uses slave labor contracted from the Arizona Dept. of Corrections. The backbreaking labor is often performed by imprisoned Mexican nationals who would be otherwise ineligble to work in the US. They are paid $1.50 an hour.

The reason Israel blew up the 900 year old Beaufort Castle in Lebanon is (1) they have to fake their nationalist archaeological ancestry and can't bear any other regional history; (2) they were ignominiously defeated at Beaufort by PLO in their 1980s invasion of Lebanon & want to erase the memory.

Fuck all the way off with this. Howard has never liked multiculturalism. Not because it denotes ‘different tribes’ but because he can’t imagine anyone but someone who looks and thinks like him as ‘Australian’.

Bumping for the Sunday evening crowd: this newsletter is a bit of a catch-up, with links to pieces about energy, matter, data centres, wooden Pacific halibuts and more, for Dezeen, the Design Museum London, to accompany a solo exhibition by lens-based artists Kaya+Blank, and other outlets.

Deb Chachra@debcha.bsky.social · 4d ago

As of this weekend, I've been based in Vancouver, BC for a year. To celebrate, I wrote a newsletter about @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social's THE PACIFIC CIRCUIT, having a garden, and some of the things I've been up to this past while: buttondown.com/metafoundry/...

As a desi mom who thinks constantly about the fact that anti-Indian hate is as bad as I remember post 9/11: thank you for saying this and Usha is a monster for subjecting her children to constant hate from their DAD.

neuse river hag@neuseriverhag.bsky.social · 5d ago

i honestly want to talk to someone who thinks this is a bad thing to say

That is truly so wild.

Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5d ago

LAPD officer who recorded colleagues' racist comments to be charged with felony eavesdropping, because what he uncovered is just plain embarrassing to the force. www.latimes.com/california/s...

An interesting thing about this is: If we are serious about the principle that "some things are too important to sell", what else might it apply to? www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews...

A bunch of new readers put their names in for solidarity copies of HERE WHERE WE LIVE IS OUR COUNTRY. If you'd like to share the Bund's history with a passionate reader who couldn't afford a copy otherwise, you can but them a book for $37 here www.mollycrabapple.com/shop/p/nnkuy...

Buy a Stranger a copy of "Here Where We Live is Our Country" — Molly Crabapple

So many broke young people want copies of HERE WHERE WE LIVE IS OUR COUNTRY . When Molly does signings, there are a lways many trios and quartets of friends pitching in to buy a single copy to...

mollycrabapple.com

Healthcare is in a crisis state in the Torres Strait. We are hearing the Torres Model of Care was dismantled because it worked. It was replaced with an model based on emergency medicine. At the terminal stage, health care comes too late. The system is set out to let our people die.

gorgeous review in The New Republic newrepublic.com/article/2121...

The Jewish Radicals Who Wanted Equality for All

In her history of the Jewish Labor Bund, Molly Crabapple tells the story of workers who opposed prejudice, tyranny, and nationalism.

newrepublic.com

This weeks racism inquiry hearings conclude with a day in the Torres Strait. Tune in here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-lm...

Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs | 31/07/2026

YouTube video by Australian Parliament House Streaming Portal

youtube.com

Grocery margins are low is a frequently rehashed point to argue against Mamdani’s public grocery stores. Grocery is indeed a low margin business. But its median return on invested capital is above that for all firms, so it is NOT a low profitability business. Let me explain. 🧵

"As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. futurism.com/artificial-i...

AI Companies Are Trying to Hide a Staggering Amount of Debt

AI companies are pouring tens of billions of dollars into enormous data centers. They're being built on top of a mountain of hidden debt.

futurism.com

Friends we raised 1,172 on here yesterday, im so grateful to you all, plus about 1400 offline. That’s 2,572. If we can get it to 3k for today that’d be amazing. Every bit counts!

Heba Gowayed هبة جويد@hebagowayed.bsky.social · last wk.

Hey friends Im collecting money for my Haitian friend. Im hoping to raise enough where he doesn’t have to think about rent/ daily expenses for 2 months, so our goal is $5,000 between here & offline networks. If you want to support (lmk if you prefer paypal or zelle): venmo.com/u/Heba-Gowayed

If you have extra $$$ and would like to buy a copy of HERE WHERE WE LIVE IS OUR COUNTRY for a stranger who could not otherwise afford it, you can do so here www.mollycrabapple.com/shop/p/nnkuy...

Buy a Stranger a copy of "Here Where We Live is Our Country" — Molly Crabapple

So many broke young people want copies of HERE WHERE WE LIVE IS OUR COUNTRY . When Molly does signings, there are a lways many trios and quartets of friends pitching in to buy a single copy to...

mollycrabapple.com

Well over 1,000 interceptors. Could have helped defend Kyiv from cold and darkness this coming winter.

Stars and Stripes@starsandstripes.bsky.social · 6d ago

Iran war has consumed nearly 67% of US Patriot interceptor stockpile, report says

My own big concern is that the operation will be subcontracted out to some existing retailer. In the short run that’s obviously the easier and safer option, but it loses what to my mind is one of the biggest benefits, the development of knowledge and capabilities in the public sector.