🚨 Last month set a new record for the hottest average global sea surface temperature in the month of June! Graphic using NOAA ERSSTv5 data: psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded... 🌊

Rush hour isn’t what it used to be. As commuting habits have shifted in the post-pandemic era, traffic has become an all-day problem.

Happy Fourth of July, America! 🇺🇸 As we celebrate 250 years of our nation’s independence, we reaffirm our commitment to equality for all and freedom from tyranny. There is still work to do.

Direct hit from Dupont Circle.

Cloud-to-ground lightning, ground-to-cloud fireworks in DC.

Kids are so excited. Like they expect something different to happen each time they see something going into the air.

Happy 250th Birthday, America! 🇺🇸 Two and a half centuries ago, our nation was founded on a bold promise: democracy, freedom, and equal justice under the law.

What they're setting up with this is a precedent that federal statutes can place a ceiling on civil rights for protected groups at the state level. California and NY have protections in their constitutions enacted by popular vote to protect trans people. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Happy 250th Birthday, America. Today we honor the service, unity, and community that have shaped our nation — the same values that power the game and connect us all.

“Transgender Americans are patriots, family members, volunteers, historians, and descendants of Revolutionary War ancestors just like anyone else.”

July 4, 1776: America is independent. The Continental Congress takes its irrevocable step to creating a new nation by adopting the Declaration of Independence two days after it approved the resolution stating the colonies are “free and independent States.” The vote is 12-0, New York abstaining. 1/10

BREAKING: The Trump admin went so far Thursday night that even Judge Reed O'Connor put a case on hold. O'Connor has been very receptive to the Trump admin and its anti-trans efforts, but an FTC request to him is now on hold after "consultation" with Judge James Boasberg in D.C. Now, at Law Dork:

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married at New York City’s Madison Square Garden

Southern California air quality could reach hazardous levels after July 4 fireworks, officials say

2,000 gallons of sewage spill into Laguna Beach waters, prompting closure

🚨 📈 NEW: In a preliminary assessment, I calculate that the June 2026 heat wave caused around 20,000 heat-related deaths in Europe. Increases in heat mortality will continue as long as fossil fuel emissions continue. zenodo.org/records/2108...

Congrats to DC, or something… After a record warm night, We were the hottest city in the nation on the map shown here at 8a: 89 degrees. Headed to a record-challenging high of over 100. Stay cool!

🥵🪡 Dangerous, record-breaking heat will continue across most of the central and eastern U.S through Friday, then focusing across the eastern U.S. through the Independence Day holiday weekend. Peak heat indices of up to 115 degrees are possible.

Expect temperatures in excess of 100ºF across much of the Eastern US. Heat waves are more frequent and lasting longer on average as humans continue to burn fossil fuels, trapping heat in the atmosphere. www.kgou.org/weather-and-...

BREAKING: Federal judge blocks DOJ from requesting or receiving patient information about those who have received gender-affirming medical care as minors at Packard Children's Hospital (Stanford). The is the second order blocking these grand jury subpoenas: www.lawdork.com/p/doj-trans-...

Yes! Term limits & lack the Court!

Citing NBC News reporting, House members raise concerns about a John Solomon effort that "appears to be a transparently partisan political exercise to validate debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election." democrats-intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfile...

I'm happy that my very close personal friend Taylor Swift is getting married tomorrow. 🫶https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jul/02/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-wedding-charity-donation

Some donors who intended to give to the bipartisan, congressionally chartered America250 initiative were instead steered to the partisan, Trump-backed Freedom 250, according to a report from House Dems. The report says that could amount to "potential wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud."

Hearn can sue Parks & Service & the National Guard, false imprisonment.

Yesterday, I attended a Canada Day celebration here in Nova Scotia. Thousands of us moved about as an ocean of red-and-white shirts. One person intrigued me most: somebody wearing a Maine sweater, hanging out and chatting. We didn't judge. Might've been a refugee 🫂 #USDemocracy #MomSky #Canada

NEW: Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn — arrested at the reflecting pool last month — has been indicted in D.C. Superior Court on a destruction of property charge. A warrant has been issued. Jeanine Pirro is set to give a press conference shortly.

U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn has been indicted on a single count of destruction of property following his arrest last month at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

🎉 So nice!

New filings reveal Trump personally outearned every single publicly traded crypto firm in America last year.

Wasting F B I resources! Reported by @ms.now . No rapist & 34-counts convicted felon cares about securing our elections. This is what corruption, millions of taxpayers’ $, & 1000s of government employees gets you at short notice: an expensive, multi-level Disinformation campaign!

The U.S. economy saw job creation cool sharply heading into the summer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

Wage growth has been steadily slowing — and for women, it’s slowing even more.

In sum, 1. Mixed signals today suggest labor market stability. No change => some signals positive (wage accel), others neg (PAEPOP/LFPR decline, bad reasons for UR change) 2. Massive consumer price spike over recent months => extraordinarily fast fall in real wages

Looking at change rates in wages versus consumer prices 3-month annualized, in the most recent data... Wages (red, to June) up at a 3.1% rate but prices up at 8.2% rate (blue, to May). So real hourly wages collapsing at abt -5.1% annualized rate, one of the fastest rates of decline in decades.

Job growth is down as huge amounts of policy uncertainty from POTUS & econ uncertainty reduces businesses’ willingness to invest: +42K/mo over most-recent 12 months +92K/mo over most-recent 6 months +111K/mo over most-recent 3 months +57K this past month

Also labor market has stagnated over the last year. Jobs have been stable for employed but tough for small share unemployed and wage growth has decelerated. Weak hires rate is particularly worrisome, falling since Fed's hikes (figure)

Happy #JobsDay! It's a day early for our 250th birthday! At 8:30 am ET, @usbls.bsky.social delivers what’s usually one of the most-important signals abt how economy is changing Forecasts’ center: +115K jobs Unemployment rate (UR) steady at 4.3%

FIFA is one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (a supposedly non partisan position) says Darializa Chevalier, the fair and square winner of a primary in New York, has "no place to be serving in Congress," and blasts Bernie Sanders as a "socialist communist"

This is the most important lesson for her: "If you need to step away and breathe, please do. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have done more than enough for your community and your country...That's not quitting. That's surviving."

Very thankful for this letter to Becky Pepper-Jackson (the 16 year-old trans girl SCOTUS ruled against yesterday) from James Dale, a gay man whose expulsion from the Boy Scouts was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2000.

This is a pretty clear cut principle:

This is Porter. He's had a long day. Needs a pup cup on the rocks. And make it a double. 13/10 (TT: drunkengolden)

July is disability pride month. It should be a time when we remember things like the american disabilities act, how all of us can become disabled at some point in our lives and the way in which improving society for disabled people often benefits ablebodied people too hr.ucsf.edu/benefits/sta...

Great news everyone! New Jersey finally passed a trans healthcare shield law. It becomes the final blue state left to pass such a law. This will help fight back against out of state subpoenas targeting gender-affirming care providers and patients. Subscribe to support our journalism.

I breathe a sigh of relief that my closest friend officially flew out of TX and landed in GA where they will start a new job. Their belongings left in Pods a while ago headed to the new home. My friend is very relieved to not be in TX anymore, “what a shit hole.”

The Trump administration is planning to cut down DC's oldest cherry tree to make way for a new Trump golf course.

Your paycheck went up. Did you get richer? Inflation doesn’t just raise prices—it distorts how we think about money. It can make a pay cut look like a raise and make it harder to see what's happening. A practical guide to navigating inflation: newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/a-users-gu...