Real personal consumption began slowing well before the war. (via @mtkonczal.bsky.social)

Marco Rubio on why Trump's son in law, Michael Boulos, who has no government role, was in his official meetings in Kuwait: "He was just here because his brother lives here and I'm a good friend of Michael's, so we had a chance to catch up"

oh my god

With my apologies to my DC friends: please god let this happen it would be so fucking funny

Someone has been projecting images all over D.C. “It’s swampier than ever.” The Kennedy Center one is pretty hilarious. 😂😂😂

Credit where credit is due. We see the work of activist Vijay Bombs all over Los Angeles. Glad to see they took their brilliant work to DC. 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽

BREAKING: New footage emerged of VANDALS driving their SUVs on the newly finished pond sealant, effectively ruining it. Drop a follow if you too have found the vandal tribe

stay frosty fellas

Very well-reported article. What would be as fascinating is the ideology and politics of those getting promoted and those passed over. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...

Today I’m remembering the very last people in America to be freed from chattel slavery, who were not the Texans who learned of the Emancipation Proclamation on this day in 1865, but thousands of people in Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey, who were freed by the 13th six months later.

Best thread of the entire week.

The scum pond is delaminating well ahead of schedule. This is a good hypothesis for why. They're dumping peroxide in at the edges, where the polyurea attachment will be patchy thanks to shrinkage during curing. O2 will be produced at the concrete surface, mechanically lifting the membrane.

This shit shrinks 1-3% when curing, which in a pipe is exactly what you want. On a big slab, uh, no it will pull towards the center and delaminate from the substrate at the edges. Plus, applying directly to concrete is a problem. Long story short: Swiss cheese pinhole effect. Already flagged.

This guy warned a month ago about what was about to happen in the reflecting pool. Ignoring professionals and steering no bid contracts to donors is not how we are supposed to do things in this country...

It sure is. It’s Trump’s unconditional surrender

Shift drink: Reflecting Pool 1oz rum 1oz mezcal .75oz lime .75oz honey barspoon matcha muddled mint

WSJ says “the candy maker is trying to re-create M&M’s without artificial colors, but blue’s natural algae substitute is complex and costly.” Wonder if there might be a new source of algae in a certain pool in Washington. www.wsj.com/business/mar...

NEW: We obtained an advance copy of the new Haberman/Swan book, which has some wild details about Trump mocking Zuckerberg and Bezos by mockingly showing their obsequious texts—including a photo of a letter from one of Zuck's kids—to his cronies. @hugolowell.bsky.social has the scoop!

RFK Jr. says that HPV vaccine is “dangerous and defective”. A new study from England shows that HPV vaccines have reduced deaths from cervical cancer to ZERO for women aged 20-24. Significant reductions in older age groups were observed as well, though the latter have lower vaccination coverage.

David Sanger at the NYT is doing great work. And the headlines are on point in a way other hedlines emanating from White House reporters fail. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/u...

I feel a great disturbance in the force, as if thousands of US security policy professionals and foreign policy analysts and military planners slammed their heads against their desks at the same time and then suddenly fell silent.

SCOOP from @by-cjewett.bsky.social & me: Markwayne Mullin urged the Department of Health and Human Service to remove warnings from the FDA website about the health risks of the gas station drug kratom. Mullin owns equity in a leading kratom company called Botanic Tonics that could have benefited.

I just loved working on this, and learning new things about D.C. as a resident: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

New records reveal Trump’s ballroom is far more expensive than originally promised, jumping from $400M to $600M. Half of it will be paid for by taxpayers, despite Trump saying it would be fully privately funded. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Now do Butler. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"Two Dudes With A Pool Vacuum On A Stick LLC" charging the gov a 30% markup over retail for a job that's going to need enough bottles of HP to fill a gasoline tanker. The smartest business men on the planet right now.

But of course Trump lied. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Previously on this topic: -21+ yrs ago, I did "war-game" story on why attack on Iran would end the way this one seems to: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc... -Two months ago, 3-part series on why this would end badly.(Have removed paywall.) Part 1: fallows.substack.com/p/what-we-do... [cont...]

THANK you, KTLA

I'm sometimes critical of cable news TV but this is programming I can get behind www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAhm...

Swedish man on way to carry out contract killing in Limerick instead kills himself bc he fucks up driving on the left. 🤣 www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

New from me: The cops who AI-enhance blurry photos to try to catch suspects are actually just tampering with evidence, lying to the public and raising the risk of wrongful arrests

Remember, with Trump, every accusation is a confession.

Here we go again.

At least 12 pregnant women have had measles in Utah, but I don't know further details. In West Texas, 2 pregnant women hospitalized with measles, delivered infants with measles. One of those infants had brain swelling and was hospitalized for several weeks after birth. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

For those old enough to remember

Riley O’Neil — who helped redesign roads to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists in CDOT’s Complete Streets program — was killed on a part of Halsted lacking proper bike infrastructure, friends, advocates and a witness say. "Painted bike lanes don't stop anything" w/ @kwashburn.bsky.social

Go ahead, White House Correspondents Association. Invite this guy to your dinner next month. The one honoring the press and the First Amendment. See how far that gets you.

listen, obviously Trump is the asshole here, but really, "all the way to Wisconsin?" It's not like you tracked Pol Pot down in the Cambodian jungle, it's just the midwest.

Evening on Main Street. Dubuque, Iowa

Because Trump Eliminated The Restitution Requirement, The Defrauded Investors Lost Their Avenue To Collect The $Millions She Owed ! Trump's A Freakin CROOK, AND A PEDOPHILE.......

Elephant, camel, duck.

Dum.

Trump: "They came in and they said, 'affordability.' They made up the word."

What Trump’s 250-Foot Triumphal Arch in D.C. Would Look Like - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NYT headline when the economy added 266,000 jobs under Biden vs. NYT headline when BLS says the economy added 172,000 jobs under Trump.

One would hope Donald Trump reads this and absorbs the lessons of history. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...