Opinion | "Never have I witnessed such systematic degradation, disrespect and dismantling of the National Park Service as I see today under the thumb of President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum."

The Trump administration sought phone records for several New York Times journalists – and one reporter’s mother – while trying to identify the sources behind security concerns involving Donald Trump’s new Air Force One, The Times reported.

The FDA could decide whether to loosen rules around peptide production this week. Some telehealth players are already seeing dollar signs. www.wired.com/story/fda-pe...

The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe. But experts say states aren’t equipped for the task. From @stateline.org

“You young conservatives should find a hero other than Trump” Young conservatives:

"The NYT is incorrect that we haven't done any investigative steps before this subpoena, but also please give us two weeks to do that investigation actually"

We reported on UnitedHealth’s push to reduce hospital transfers for nursing homes residents. They sued us. Then we reported on wrongful death allegations stemming from that same UnitedHealth initiative. Today, a judge dismissed UnitedHealth’s lawsuit: www.startribune.com/judge-throws...

Taylor Farms continues to be the subject of an FDA investigation into the growing cyclosporiasis outbreak, despite a false-positive test result, the agency says.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved more than $682,000 to assist North Dakota recover from June 2025 storms, the third round of disaster relief funding this year. via @northdakotamonitor.com

Former U.S. Department of Education officials in Republican and Democratic administrations sounded the alarm Monday over the agency’s efforts to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies. From States Newsroom

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Markwayne Mullin, Donald Trump’s improbable choice to lead DHS, was brought in to restore normalcy to the president’s immigration enforcement—but Mullin is quickly learning that normalcy isn’t what Trump’s base wants, @nickmiroff.bsky.social reports.

An estimated 40,000 Missourians on parole or probation will regain the right to vote, in the latest state-level rollback of felony disenfranchisement. I wrote about it in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/gop-run-miss...

Two tankers carrying Saudi crude make U-turns in Red Sea after Houthi warning reut.rs/4bOflOL

Fewer children got US-backed HIV treatment after aid cuts, study finds reut.rs/44IyVIx

Literal end-times headline

“Absent his willingness to accept congressional supremacy on this front, Vought could — and should — serve as an example for what happens to bureaucrats who try to place themselves above elected lawmakers.” @hayesbrown.bsky.social

Can't get numb to this: The United States is stuck in a war it started, cannot end, and may further escalate to no avail, having dismantled its diplomatic apparatus, depleted its military stockpile, and destroyed its credibility. A historic strategic mistake harming millions in many different ways.

So Trump has to present Spain, a country he's furious at, with the trophy lol

The Trump White House is scrambling to ensure hundreds of aides aren't using inside information to get rich on prediction market bets, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Looooots of favorable calls for Spain in that, but my goodness, just an impenetrable wall of defense. Great match!

WSJ: Iran is able to penetrate U.S. anti-missile defense systems.

Colorado academics worry about future of scientific progress amid fallout from Trump’s research cuts

It’s perfectly OK to not give a hoot about who gets elected in a House district you don’t live in.

If you missed it Friday: this week's Class Notes had a correction I had to run, two errors a reader caught in my school-funding explainer, plus why "we already voted for schools" is only half true. Free, Front Range schools, every Friday: https://cotlns-newsletter-education.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Twenty states and Puerto Rico now offer a form of a digital driver’s license, also known as a mobile driver’s license. https://to.pbs.org/4frplQg

Reading “newspapers” from like the 1700s is funny because one front-page column will just be like, “Ol’ George Smyth weent to bed laste Mundae and nevar awoke agayn.”

The fact that VP JD Vance and Richard Grenell went to Romania—on behalf of the Trump Administration— to advocate for Andrew and Tristan Tate, who by all accounts, were rapists running a coercive sex ring, then permitted them to come to Florida, should be a crazy, crazy scandal.

🇦🇲 Armenian apricots become geopolitical battleground between Russia and EU In Armenia’s Ararat valley, apricots are getting swept into the centre of a geopolitical battle between Russia and the West.

Democrats look to World Cup watch parties to register thousands of voters

Trump administration aims tariffs at a reasonably priced alternative to the beef aisle.

Government-promoted anti-intellectualism is a common feature of fascist states, with “intellectualism” coded as feminine and/or Jewish/leftist.

NEW: Trump administration turns to never-used Alien Terrorist Removal Court, which can order deportation based on evidence the target never sees. And DOJ has already met resistance. w/ @kyledcheney.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/07...

Jamie George promised ‘the strongest of reactions’ if there was a repeat of last year’s racist abuse of black England players by Argentina fans on Saturday

Delayed orders, confusion slowed Venezuelan military's response to quakes, sources say reut.rs/4wH3IRK

⚽ 🏆 🇫🇷 Didier Deschamps is set to bring the curtain down on a remarkable 14-year reign as France coach on Saturday when Les Bleus face England in the World Cup third-place play-off ➡️ u.afp.com/Sr5n

Local, volunteer-run food pantries are trying to bridge the food insecurity gap in Colorado’s farm country, where the poverty rate is triple that of the rest of the state.

I wrote about Texas A&M's fall course-review process @chronicle.com. Some top-line results: Rhetoric and Film? OK, as long as discussion of critical race theory is removed. Contemporary Sociological Theory? Don't advocate while teaching. LGBTQ Literatures? Not allowed. #HigherEd

We can blame DOGE for many things. Diarrhea now included. "The CDC lab that responds to outbreaks of the parasite cyclospora was downsized from 11 people to just three."

Research has shown that signature matching leads to disproportionately high levels of rejected ballots for voters of color, as well as those who are new, young, old, politically unaffiliated or disabled. Sometimes, signature-matching efforts disqualify more legitimate than illegitimate ballots.

Whereabouts of artist imprisoned after 2021 protests had been unknown following end of his prison term in July

Federal employees can download TikTok on government devices, DOJ says reut.rs/4aZvAbC

New details via @katielang.bsky.social: Geo Group employee told cops he acted impulsively after confrontation, "is ‘a better shot’ than demonstrated and that if he had intended to hit someone, he would have.” Yet he did shoot woman in back of foot — then realized “he had done some dumb (expletive)"

I think the most important part of reading political philosophy is when you’re like, “Oh, people have been thinking about this for like 3,000 years.” And that allows you to admit you have massive blind spots.

NEW: Aurora Police say an ICE detention center employee shot a protester last night. She is expected to survive. 42-year-old Brandon Booth, who works for the ICE contractor GEO Group, is being held on suspicion of attempted second degree murder and other charges.

NEW: More drama between the branches. Federal judges say the executive branch's G.S.A. is a bad landlord. They're asking Congress to give them control of their own courthouses, some of which are falling apart... 🎁 >>> www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/u...

The more I see this kind of stuff, the more angry all the "don't worry, Trump can't steal the midterms" posts make me. Elections in the US are very often close. You don't have to do a lot of fuckery around the margins to make a big difference.

Ezra Klein has discovered Friedrich Nietzsche, everyone duck for cover

lol. Lmao. Lmaooooooo.

these words mean nothing??????