curated citations to news sources
Lucian K. Truscott IV: The Epstein client list story is not political. It’s not amusing. It is tragic.
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That Donald Trump’s Attorney General was questioned in his presence about her handling of a sex scandal involving one of his personal friends is an enormous outrage that in another time, involving another man, would have brought down a president. That in itself is a terrible commentary on how low we have fallen as the nation that put that man in that room in that previously august national treasure known as the White House.
But it is too easy to lose sight of the story behind the scandal, the very real damage that has been done again and again, over and over, to little children who were powerless to stop the powerful men who destroyed their innocence and scarred them for life, whether those men were presidents, businessmen, celebrities, or their own fathers, uncles, or neighbors.
The story of Jeffrey Epstein and the crimes he committed is not a political story. It is not something that should be bandied about by podcasters and television news hosts, or in posts on platforms like X and Facebook. Child abuse is a civilizational tragedy and a crime. All those who have abused children should be prosecuted and put behind bars, no matter who they are or what their station in life.
Period.
(Lucian K. Truscott IV more…)
Dean Blundell: VIDEO: Trump’s Wildly Guilty, Totally Unhinged Epstein Presser Meltdown
emptywheel: “Are You Still Talking about Jeffrey Epstein?”
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RNS: The Big Beautiful Bill is the ‘final burial of compassionate conservatism’
A lot has changed in the GOP over the last quarter century.
Christianity Today’s Marvin Olasky recently called the passage of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” the “final burial of compassionate conservatism.” It was a telling statement coming from the former University of Texas journalism professor whose work inspired the “compassionate conservative” theme of George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.
(RNS more…)
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NPR: Graphics: Where the Texas floods happened and how high the waters rose
(NPR more…)Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – July 8, 2025
One hundred and eleven people are dead and more than 160 are still missing in Texas after Friday’s tragic flood.
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Abbott’s defensive answer reveals the dilemma MAGA Republicans find themselves in after the cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service that came before the Texas disaster. Scott Calvert, John West, Jim Carlton, and Joe Barrett of the Wall Street Journal reported that after a deadly flood in 1987, officials in Kerr County applied for a grant to install a flood warning system, but their application was denied. They considered installing one paid for by the county but decided against it. Then county commissioner Tom Moser told the reporters: “It was probably just, I hate to say the word, priorities. Trying not to raise taxes.”Since 1980, Republican politicians have won voters by promising to cut taxes they claimed funded wasteful programs for women and racial and ethnic minorities. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)MySA: KSAT anchor goes viral for ‘speaking the truth’ about Texas leaders
‘Protect this woman’s job because you know she spoke the truth,’ a viewer said.
Jim Spencer: IN DEFENSE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE…
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Your Local Epidemiologist: Medicaid cuts: The how and why
Plain language translation of what the heck happened and where this will go
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First, it doesn’t target where most fraud actually occurs. I think everyone agrees we should address fraud in public programs. Speaker Johnson pointed to $50 billion in annual fraudulent payments. But this number comes from improper payments, which are mostly due to insufficient information, not fraud.
This bill also assumes that all fraud is committed by Medicaid recipients. That’s wrong. Most fraud comes from providers. The 2023 federal health care fraud enforcement report listed no cases of beneficiary fraud. Examples from that year include:- A Texas ambulance company billing for fake runs
- A Kentucky pharmacy charging for unfilled prescriptions
- A Michigan doctor exploiting patients with unneeded treatments
Second, some proposed solutions may not work, especially those related to work requirements.
(Your Local Epidemiologist more…)
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404 Media: ICE Is Searching a Massive Insurance and Medical Bill Database to Find Deportation Targets
The database, called ISO ClaimSearch, is nearly all encompassing and contains details on more than 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills.
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Bulwark: When Moderation Becomes Appeasement
If your chief goal is to find a middle ground with the far right on social issues, you’ll end up condoning its values—just ask Keir Starmer.
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Guardian: Pregnant doctor denied Covid-19 vaccine sues Trump administration
Lawsuit takes aim at RFK Jr’s decision to advise against Covid vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children
Crooks & Liars: Medical Association Sues RFK Jr Over Covid Vaccines
Insurance won’t cover vaccinations without a CDC recommendation.
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Fortune: As Trump pushes Apple to make iPhones in the U.S., Google’s brief effort building smartphones in Texas 12 years ago offers critical lessons
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Of course, a lot has changed in 12 years that could make or break a new U.S. manufacturing push by a company like Apple. Factory automation, for example, has greatly improved, opening the door to more cost savings in any U.S. smartphone factory now compared to before.But some things haven’t changed. Adding thousands of workers on short notice to speed up production of a device getting more sales than anticipated would be next to impossible to do in the U.S. In China, it’s routine.
“If there was a ramp that went super well, the ability to flex that workforce is insane” Randall said about China. “The ability to scale down that work workforce is insane.”
Also, there are relatively few U.S.-based suppliers that could produce enough electronic components for millions of phones. And expanding the pool would likely take years. Meanwhile, importing parts, the obvious alternative, may be prohibitively expensive if Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, proposed in April, fully kick in. It doesn’t help that the president frequently changes his mind about the levies, making it difficult for companies to plan ahead for big investments like phone assembly plants.
…What is clear is this: Motorola’s Made in America experiment lasted just over a year, and in more than a decade since, no other major smartphone maker has dared to try something similar again.
(Fortune more…)
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Lindner FB: USDebtClock.org
(Lindner FB more…)
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Bulwark: The CIA Director Didn’t Read His Own Report
If he had, he would have known that it said basically the opposite of what he says it did.
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The CIA director is not a member of the president’s cabinet, and should remain publicly nonpartisan in order to represent the agency and its analysis, which may contradict the wishes of one party or another. Ratcliffe has taken a different tack, touting an explicitly partisan narrative on a media tour through Fox News, social media, and various right-wing outlets. …
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Decoding Fox News: A One Big Beautiful Bonanza for the 1%
A condensed overview of 19 hours of Fox News for the week ending 7/6/25
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Borowitz: Bezos Struggles to Return Wedding Gifts to Amazon
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Boing Boing: Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot praises Hitler, calls for new holocaust
Elon Musk’s chatbok, Grok, often annoys him by echoing mainstream consensus on political topics, leading him to declare that it will be fixed. Today, the fix was clearly in, as the AI-powered account praised Hitler, issued a series of antisemitic remarks, and helped neo-Nazis post racist acrostic messages on Twitter/X.Grok praised Hitler for his ability to “deal with” anti-white hate.
The bot also singled out a user with the last name Steinberg, describing her as “a … Classic case of hate dressed as activism—and that surname? Every damn time, as they say.” This was, of course, a reference to the traditionally Jewish last name Steinberg. … Grok additionally said that it has been allowed to “call out patterns like radical leftists with Ashkenazi surnames pushing anti-white hate. Noticing isn’t blaming; it’s facts over feelings.”
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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