The Trump administration wants to soften one of the strongest legal protections American workers have over their retirement. “What they have done is lower the standard for everything,” said one former senior official at the Department of Labor.

The news is always "This absolute fool was dismantled in hearings today. He is manifestly unqualified for the position and would be an existential danger if confirmed. Disaster. He is set to be confirmed immediately." When you ask why everyone is furious and exhausted all the time, this is why.

what exactly is the theory of victory here, exactly www.wsj.com/world/middle...

We saw something similar in the United States. RFK Jr. warned about an autism “epidemic” when really the CDC showed improved recognition was behind the rise in autism diagnoses

I think this is an important dynamic: Trump has shifted his war aims almost daily, but they've all been maximalist. Regime change, no nuclear anything, no Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz--these are very big things that Iran will not concede or negotiate away.

Any argument about people coming to the United States and having *children, born citizens* here who are unfit or unwilling to make “liberal democracy and constitutional government possible” is just straight up gutter racism. That echoes what the Wong Kim Ark dissenters and the Insular Cases said.

EXCLUSIVE: By pushing for ever-tougher AI safety laws, Anthropic is drawing a distinction between its state lobbying strategy and OpenAI’s campaign to streamline a set of rules across the country. Inside Anthropic’s state-by-state plan to ratchet up AI rules👇

Wurman: The English didn’t *demand* assimilation in 1215 but *needed* it for 800 years for liberalism to work. Then, responding to @jdmortenson.bsky.social, Ilan goes ethnonationalist, talking about “importing millions of people [babies]” who are unfit for liberal democracy. How’s that better?

This is incredible: “Total insect abundance tripled, while native bees showed a 20-fold increase in numbers.”

“.. Tariff refunds are squeezing the federal budget. The US paid out $26 billion more in refunds than it collected in June ..!contributing to a widening $120 billion monthly deficit.” @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/07/1...

It’s so important to remind people that we can do good smart things that help and don’t hurt.

Back with a substantially revised version of our Information Limits paper ahead of #PolMeth Huge thanks to everyone whose comments and feedback have already helped improve the paper We’d love to hear what you think: osf.io/preprints/so...

China now makes 75 percent of all E.V.s sold anywhere on earth. The United States makes around 5 percent. It is not just that China has lapped the US on E.V.s The US does not seem to have a plan to catch up.

the thing is that the racism isn't even the terminal goal. the terminal goal is to produce a military willing to murder american cilvilians en masse.

They make less than you can make working at Lidl stocking shelves.

Paraprofessionals earn $32k a year in NYC, work extremely hard jobs, and are absolutely vital for providing legally mandated services to children with disabilities. The city can't recruit or retain them under the status quo.

People are gonna fucking hate this if it actually happens. Enjoy all these post 8am sunrises

A visual stunner from Nozomi Naoi, THE LAND OF HAPPINESS, coming out in August from @mitpress.bsky.social, on the art history of Japanese department stores with 100+ color illustrations (!!!) Can’t wait to assign parts to my #Tokyo lecture! #デパート mitpress.mit.edu/978026205442...

“If we find that civilized nations don’t put their captives to death, don’t destroy city and countryside, it is so because the intellect is more mixed into their practice of war, and has taught them more potent means of applying violence than these raw expressions of instinct.”

It is a small amount of money, for now, but it will be interesting to see which organizations will receive the money. Moreover, it is yet another step in the active attack on liberal democracy by the U.S. as was announced in its National Security Strategy.

not 100% of the cause, but among the reasons— intensive animal farming in the US has caused more manure than ever

The CO Supreme Court looked to the state constitution's natural rights guarantee to find a public policy exception to at-will employment. @ijsanders.bsky.social explores the possible unintended consequences of the decisions.

I commented a year ago that I was shocked the genAI companies hadn't already done this. Tech companies have always generated long-term success by giving K-12 teachers and students free access to generate a long-term user base. In this case, I hope teachers resist.

Trump ballroom donor to lead state department’s $200m Armenia fund Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade project www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

"no you see the chinese exclusion act wasn't really racially motivated they just are shaming white christian males for being so manly and tough and trying to control the borders."

JUST POSTED: Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...

stuff like this is why one important avenue for court reform is just nixing the shadow docket altogether and forcing these people to explain themselves to the public when they issue orders. also, making their records property of the united states and subject to publication when they leave the bench.

How does one impose taxation without congressional authorization by statute or a treaty anyway? Curious. Iran War Live Updates: Trump Drops Plan to Tax Ships but Will Restore Blockade in Strait www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...

Meyer said there's a lot of solidarity from major leaguers for amateurs being drafted by the league and that players are very adamant about making sure that the league remains in a good shape for future ballplayers

On the dismantling of NSC, www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

"President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have amassed a portfolio of defense technology start-ups that are benefiting from new Pentagon priorities and spending" giving the family a direct interest in US security policy new reporting from @washingtonpost.com wapo.st/3R5InT7

the International Criminal Court was created to ensure that no one is above the law: no president, no prime minister, no general. It draws from one of the core lessons of the Second World War, as formulated in Nuremberg: Crimes are committed by men, not by abstract entities (states). Think about it

It’s not (just) the club fees, it’s private trainings and tournaments and invite-only camps, and above all else the travel to attend all these things. Which, for families that struggle to be there, puts a lot of pressure on the performance once you’re there www.cnn.com/2026/07/12/s...

If you can make words mean whatever you want them to mean, there is no law and no constitution.

I am struggling a little to see how this improves lethality or whatever www.stripes.com/branches/nav...

Justice Brown Jackson's argument for birthright citizenship is very moving. I recommend reading it in full. An excerpt with alt-text below. “The Reconstruction Amendments were an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery.” — KBJ

Drugs aren’t military arms. Drug dealers aren’t terrorists. The US wasn’t attacked and isn’t under threat. Someone people the U.S. killed in the Caribbean or E Pacific had nothing to do with drug trafficking, and even if they did, why would killing some low level operatives stop the organizations?

"the American Astronomical Society said the endeavor cannot be considered to serve the public interest and would waste taxpayer $ by wrecking the work of federally funded astronomical facilities even as it brought untold risks to people and wildlife" Gift article. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/c...

A values system that views Pete Buttigieg’s time at McKinsey as disqualifying, but Graham Platner’s time at Blackwater as not, has beclowned itself regardless of the subsequent scandals.

Trump's Justice Dept has deprioritized foreign corruption cases like those that brought down FIFA bigwigs. So why, amid World Cup, a heated FBI probe into Argentina soccer? www.politico.com/live-updates... #FCPA

The Secret Service had safety concerns over Trump’s shiny new foreign gift plane and forced a switch for protection of the presidential entourage. The NYT reporters who covered that story are now being persecuted by Trump’s so-called Dept of Justice.

“Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble... Don’t fret because of evildoers; don’t envy the wicked. For evil people have no future; the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭24‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬ bible.com/bible/116/pr...

I mean, I think people kind of forget a little what he said then

My lasting image of Lindsey Graham will always be when he theatrically declared “Count me out. Enough is enough!” after January 6th — and then got back in with Trump more than ever before for Trump 2.0

A small but important part of Lindsey Graham's legacy we shouldn't lose sight of today: In 2010, he walked away from cap-and-trade climate legislation, essentially killing bipartisan action on the issue after prolonged, ultimately bad faith negotiations.

I wrote about the Denver Post’s lack of a Rockies beat writer. www.purplerow.com/colorado-roc...

“It’s going to pay off, so that’s why I do it...That’s why I’ll pay soccer before I pay a bill.” Everyone knows youth sports, like soccer, are expensive. I wanted to write about how those costs *feel* to families of young athletes who are weighing how much to spend. www.cnn.com/2026/07/12/s...

Kylian Mbappé #WorldCup