When even Trump thinks Big Oil is “making too much money” off American consumers, you know it’s reached barf-worthy levels of excess profit.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
@whitehouse.senate.gov
U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, the Ocean State. https://linktr.ee/senwhitehouse
Republicans set their health care grenade to go off after the election. Don’t be fooled.
Face it. The Court is captured by right-wing billionaire interests, just the way railroad barons used to capture the railroad rate commissions, or mining barons the mine safety commissions. Look up “regulatory capture” or “agency capture.” thehill.com/opinion/judi...
Just admit it: The Supreme Court is political
Let’s face it, the Supreme Court has dug itself into a hole, and it just keeps digging.
thehill.com
Good. Leave them alone. Ban the practice. Pass my OCTOPUS Act.
Nueva Pescanova Scraps Worlds First Commercial Octopus Farm Plan
Nueva Pescanova Scraps Worlds First Commercial Octopus Farm Plan Seafood News
seafoodnews.com
I’m headed to the Senate Floor to ask my colleagues if we can all agree on this one, simple truth: climate change-driven extreme weather events are increasing at the same time that the government is dismantling weather monitoring and alert systems.
What’s clear is the discrepancy between what Trump officials say in places like Fox News where they are not accountable for lying, versus what they say when they get near a courtroom where they are accountable for lying. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | What ruined the Reflecting Pool? Jeanine Pirro had a choice.
Despite Trump’s claims, there was no evidence of vandalism.
washingtonpost.com
🔥 Here's Whitehouse's entire remarkable speech opposing Blanche: "What's left of this committee when we don't demand straight answers? How many times has DOJ been asked what became of the $50k that the FBI reported it handed to Homan? ... our R colleagues see no evil, hear no evil, & speak no evil."
Whitehouse on Blanche: "Today is a sad and embarrassing day"
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
youtu.be
Trump could ask Blanche to revive his corrupt felon fund next week and he would. This "deal" is all smoke and mirrors. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Blanche’s AG nomination back on track after he formally rescinds payout fund
Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) had threatened to vote against Todd Blanche’s nomination if their concerns were not addressed.
washingtonpost.com
It’s a sad day for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Gee, why might those insurance prices be going up? What might explain Oklahoma’s high volume of costly, destructive weather events, including heavy hail, high winds, and numerous tornadoes? Maybe a scientist might know? A CLIMATE scientist?
E&E News: Oklahoma Republicans attack each other over surging insurance prices
The intraparty fight comes weeks ahead of a GOP runoff for governor.
subscriber.politicopro.com
This is how the fossil fuel industry takes away places and activities you love. Who should pay for that?
Fishing closures are becoming routine in Colorado, throughout the West as record heat warms rivers
The restrictions aim to reduce stress on species including highly-prized trout
coloradosun.com
Why did the Reflecting Pool cases blow up? Thank Brady v. Maryland, a Supreme Court case requiring that any exculpatory information the government has be turned over to the defense. A Brady violation is a big deal at DOJ (See Justice Manual 9-5.001). ⬇️
Interestinger and interestinger: Remember the Florida federal court inquiry into whether the crooked slush fund and sleazy Trump family tax fraud amnesty deal was a “fraud on the court”? Major development down there! 🧵
The $1.776 billion Trump “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead! Whoopee!! Wait . . . . how long ‘til we see a $1.9 billion “Trump Justice Fund”? Or a special drive-up window for MAGA Federal Tort Claims Act claimants?
Trump’s illegal war in Iran is a gift to his Big Oil friends who bankrolled his campaign with the promise of raking in profits. Turns out it's the one promise he actually delivered on. Meanwhile, Americans are paying over $4 per gallon at the gas pump and suffering from rising energy costs.
Steve Rattner@steverattner.bsky.social · 3d agoWhile Americans struggle with rising gas prices and inflation, big oil is making billions from the Iran War. Oil industry profits have more than doubled in just a year, reaching their third highest level in history.
This supposed 'deal' doesn't prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future. It doesn't prevent the admin from bringing the slush fund back from the dead next week or using DOJ’s Judgment Fund for the same illicit purpose.
The Great Climate Insurance Collapse is beginning before our eyes. How does it happen? Gradually, and then all at once. Buckle up. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Climate change is turning parts of Europe into an insurance nightmare
The European Central Bank and EU insurance regulators have called on Brussels to set up an EU-level reinsurance scheme and a public natural disaster fund.
subscriber.politicopro.com
I’m no fan of Comey, but as of today a search for “8647” on Amazon shows 923 items. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
The Outlandish Case Against James Comey
The prosecution’s central claim “would be laughable,” one former federal judge noted, if it weren’t intended “to deprive a man of his liberty.”
newyorker.com
A decent industry would say, “this was money we didn’t earn, it’s a windfall we get from our cartel pricing scheme.” Not these corrupt, greedy and grasping rogues. apnews.com/article/oil-...
Major oil companies reap massive profits as US and Iran fighting drives energy prices higher
Major oil companies reported massive profits while fighting between Iran and the U.S. impeded petroleum shipments.
apnews.com
This is what makes Trump’s attacks on EVs so stupid. To salvage a failing industry that happens to include his big crooked donors, he’s sabotaging America’s auto industry in international competition. Everything else aside, EVs are just better vehicles. www.eenews.net/articles/dri...
Drivers flock to EVs amid rising gas prices from Iran war
Global sales of electric cars are expected to grow 10 percent this year, hitting 29 percent of total car sales.
eenews.net
Part brag about all the captured equipment; part exposure of Russia’s often-antiquated technology; part resource for countermeasures research — Ukraine goes open source with Putin’s military hardware. So cool that they do this. trophylab.mod.gov.ua/en/about-us
TrophyLab
Access to aggressor equipment and its analysis — a platform for those working on defense solutions.
trophylab.mod.gov.ua
Then you’d better stand by your CBAM against Trump’s corrupt fossil-fuel-funded attacks! Every remaining pathway to climate safety requires ending fossil fuel’s crooked free-to-pollute business model. CBAM is the best vehicle for that — it’s truly our last lifeboat. www.politico.eu/article/spai...
Spain, France, UK warn megafires show climate change is ‘threatening our way of life’
In joint statements, the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to fighting global warming.
politico.eu
If the guy was deliberately trying to anger Republican senators, he couldn’t do much better than putting his despised slush fund front and center with elections looming for them. www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-...
Trump poses ultimatum on Blanche, will push for "anti-weaponization fund" if AG not confirmed
Todd Blanche previously repeatedly told Congress the "anti-weaponization fund" was "dead."
cbsnews.com
There’s an old-fashioned name for this: corruption. www.canarymedia.com/articles/fos...
The coal industry gave Trump a wish list. He’s checking items off it.
The Trump admin is propping up the aging coal fleet despite the financial and environmental costs — and also making far-fetched plans to build new coal…
canarymedia.com
As climate change takes out the places and activities people love . . . . buckrail.com/in-hot-water...
In hot water: First-ever voluntary fishing closure takes effect on Snake
Editor’s note: This voluntary afternoon closure includes the stretch of Flat Creek on the National Elk Refuge that will open for seasonal fishing on Aug. 1. JACKSON, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish D...
buckrail.com
Subtraction is such a novel concept. Who could have predicted? www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
A shrinking weapons stockpile is testing the Pentagon’s sweeping new strategy
The Defense Department is betting on Silicon Valley start-ups to replenish stockpiles amid the Iran war. Now the firms must prove they can manufacture at military scale.
washingtonpost.com
They don’t want people to see what a wreck they’ve made of the place. Empty, echoing, failed — a mob bust-out gone wrong.* *What do I mean by that? Usually gangsters tried to keep the place going for a while as they looted it. This was a botched job. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service
The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center.
nytimes.com
Florida officials say it’s not climate change but their own citizens’ massive fraud that’s driving the home insurance crisis. Nice, huh? Here’s how many Floridians get zero dollars after an insurance claim:
Trump is more focused on collecting money for his pet projects than he is on governing. Offering donors special access in exchange for tens of millions of dollars isn’t draining the swamp — it’s expanding it.