Trump regime blocks some journalists from major meeting

AP  - The U.S. Treasury Department is preventing certain journalists from covering a finance meeting among the world's most powerful countries, the latest example of how President Donald Trump's administration has restricted media access.

Individual reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News were not granted credentials to the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, the Times reported.

The Treasury has not explained the decision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday that “it has nothing to do with point of view.”

….The Times said in a statement that denying American journalists access to an event in the U.S. is “not just another disturbing effort by the administration to undermine independent journalism, but a blatant attempt to evade public scrutiny.”

“With the war in Iran, sanctions, the bond markets, and inflation on the agenda for the G20 finance ministers, the stakes of this gathering are significant for the global economy and the American people,” the Times said. "Excluding specific reporters and entire news organizations is a disservice to the public and an assault on press freedoms that we strongly condemn.”

Bloomberg News, in a story published Sunday evening, said “numerous” journalists from the news agency, including some based in Europe and Asia, had their accreditation requests rejected. It said denying the agency access to the meeting “undermines media freedom and public accountability.”

Polls

NPR  - Almost half of traders, portfolio managers and strategists in a recent Bloomberg poll support wearing shorts to work, but men in Silicon Valley are turning away from the look of the scruffy tech genius in shorts and flip-flops.

NY Times - Three in four Americans said they’d oppose the construction of a data center in their communities, according to a recent poll from Heatmap Pro and Embold Research. Local data centers were opposed by two-thirds of Republicans, whose party is warning that recent support for such projects could destroy its chances in key Senate races. And though political causes rarely transcend partisanship, this one appears to: Nearly 80 percent of independents opposed local data center projects, along with 83 percent of Democrats.

Middle East

The Hill - The Pentagon is seething over a Washington Post report that top military leaders recently warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against extending large-scale Iran war operations.

People familiar with a classified assessment prepared for Hegseth told the Post that several combatant commanders have advised the Defense chief that prolonging operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening the U.S.’s ability to address threats elsewhere, including on U.S. soil.

The warnings appear in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), detailed by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, the Post reported Sunday.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell lambasted the report in a post on the social platform X.

The Hill- Iran on Monday struck back at the U.S., carrying out attacks on American military assets at bases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan after U.S. forces fired at two Iranian rocket launchers over the weekend.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched drones and missiles at the King Hussein and Azraq military bases in Jordan, according to the Iranian state-run news outlet Fars News Agency. The outlet also reported that the IRGC targeted U.S. forces and helicopters at Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE hours later.

The Iranian military described its attack in Jordan as a “necessary and lawful answer” to the U.S. attack on Larak Island, the outlet reported. “Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses,” the IRGC said in a statement to Fars. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned the U.S. that his country will “not remain silent in the face of assault.”

“We are not seeking war, and this is a clear message that we have repeatedly communicated to the world,” he said, according to Fars.

Donald Trump

The Guardian - Donald Trump said NBC’s Kristen Welker should face “rebuke or punishment” from the FCC after she described the success record of political candidates whom the president had endorsed as “mixed”.

The left is center

Matt Kerbel -   All of these positions are supported by large majorities of the electorate:

• Taxing corporations and billionaires: Polling shows close to two-thirds of Americans want to raise taxes on large corporations. A similar percentage supports raising taxes on billionaires. Even four in ten Republicans think it’s a good idea.
• Medicare for All: when described as a “national health insurance program … that would cover all Americans and replace most private health insurance plans,” Medicare for All earns the support of 65% of voters, including a plurality of Republicans. Majorities continue to support the policy even when they’re told it will involve raising taxes.
• Universal Pre-K and free community college: Seven in ten Americans support universal Pre-K, while 55% support tuition-free community college.
• Expanding access to affordable housing: A bipartisan consensus approaching 90% urged the parties to work together to make housing more affordable. This may be why Congress passed the ROAD to Housing Act (which became law without Donald Trump’s signature).
• Higher federal minimum wage: When three-quarters of Republicans want to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, you have as close to a consensus as you are going to find in politics.
• Paid Family Leave: A recent poll found seven in ten Americans support paid family leave, including 59% of Republicans.
• Renewable Energy: Most Americans support renewable energy and strongly supported the Green New Deal before it became a favorite punching bag for the right

A 15 year old running for Vermont governor

NY Times - Dean Roy is not eligible to vote, not even close. He cannot legally drink alcohol, and on looks alone, is at risk of being booted from an R-rated movie theater. He must drive with an adult in the passenger seat.  He is, however, running for governor in his home state of Vermont — at age 15.

“The goal here,” said Dean, who sits at the edge of Generation Z and the still-inchoate Gen Alpha, “is to make enough of an impact that the leaders have to start paying attention to the youth voice.”

Older Gen Z politicians have been making waves this political season, challenging the gerontocracy and getting footholds in state legislatures and even Congress, but the next wave is not far behind, raised amid political polarization and extremism, congressional gridlock and weakened public trust in institutions.

“Young people see that we cannot afford a home, we can’t start a family, our work treats us like crap, climate change is destroying our home,” said Aiden Otterman, 17, who won the Democratic primary for state representative in his rural northeastern Vermont district this month. “It’s hopeless.”

Canada's reaction

Guardian 

Trump digs up some old laws to grab more power

Alternet - Critics of President Donald Trump often accuse him of blatantly violating federal and state laws in an effort to increase his power. But according to The New Republic's Matt Ford, a major part of Trump's ongoing power grab is using a different tactic: unearthing "moribund" laws and looking for ways to weaponize them.

The "moribund" laws that Trump and his legal team are digging up, Ford reports in The New Republic, are still on the books — and they are finding ways to exploit them.

"Congress has spent the last two centuries passing laws," Ford explains. "These laws often remain on the books, so to speak, long after their purpose has been fulfilled until lawmakers repeal them. Occasionally, the Trump administration finds something buried within this back catalogue that it can wield for its own purposes — and to no good end."

Trump's farm issue

 Alternet- Many Republican insiders, interviewed anonymously in major publications, are acknowledging that Democrats have a very good shot at flipping the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms. They are hoping to at least hold the U.S. Senate, where Democrats will need to flip four or more GOP-held seats in order to obtain a majority. But according to Politico's Jonathan Martin, the American Farm Belt could doom Republicans' hopes of controlling the Senate in 2027.

"The Senate map is less complicated than it appears," Martin reports in Politico. "As with every modern presidential campaign, it runs through the Midwest. If Democrats flip Republican-held seats in Ohio and Iowa while retaining Michigan, they will almost certainly net the four seats total needed to take control of the Senate for President Donald Trump's final two years. As the traditional start of the campaign season draws near, though, Republicans are increasingly worried they may be consumed by a worsening prairie fire…. The triple-whammy of tariffs, expensive diesel and fertilizer and now imported beef has created a crisis for agriculture-state Republicans."

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) is acknowledging that President Donald Trump has a problem in the Farm Belt.

Cramer told Politico, "He's in serious trouble in farm country. He being Trump — and Trump is us. I'm not very optimistic."

Adam Hamilton, the Methodist pastor running against GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, told Politico, "Now, some of those people are still not willing to say, 'Hey, we don't like Trump,' but they do expect their senator is going to speak up for them. What I'm hearing when I go across the state is people saying — and these are Republicans, not Democrats — we can't have six more years of this, or even two more years of this…. How many farms are going to go bankrupt?"

New Republic: Trump’s biggest liability isn't his lies

Alternet - President Donald Trump’s greatest political liability is not simply his dishonesty or stubbornness, but his delusion, writes The New Republic's Michael Tomasky.

In a Monday column, Tomasky describes Trump's inability to recognize reality when it conflicts with his preferred one. Recent examples include Trump's belief that the affordability crisis is a "Democrat hoax." The other is Trump's delusion that he can make gas prices better and bypass the necessity for Iranian oil by using Venezuelan oil. Trump captured the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro just after the first of the year. In his absence, the remainder of his government has been largely cooperative with the U.S.

This all mixes in with Trump ignoring public polling about his failing popularity and the consequences of his policies.

MS NOW's take on Troy Jackson

MS NOW - Democrats in Maine, committed to unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins, are rallying around Jackson, the former state senator and logger who looks most times like he just emerged from a job site in Maine’s northern woods.

But a month into Jackson’s candidacy, voters are still adjusting to a candidate who offers a strikingly different profile from his predecessor on the ticket, Graham Platner, who for nearly a year charmed Democrats with an inspiring message about progressive change before crashing out of the race in July amid scandal.

Jackson doesn’t speak rousingly. His speech, defined by a northern Maine accent where every vowel sounds heavy, is littered with countless “you knows,” and at one point, a campaign aide called an MS NOW reporter to clarify the point Jackson had made in an interview.

Handed only 100 or so days to win over Mainers, Jackson has had limited time to ensure voters know his story. And his demure demeanor is at odds with his race against the clock.

Mail In Ballot Rule

MS Now - As President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict mail-in voting has bounced between the courts this week, the result has been whiplash among voters and officials. State and local election officials have been watching closely as provisions that govern mail ballots become unlawful and then lawful and then unlawful again in a matter of days. Now, they are trying to figure out how to comply with a law that has become a bit of a moving target.

For about a day, the mail-in ballot restrictions remained in effect after the Supreme Court cleared a key hurdle to Trump’s mail ballot executive order on Monday. Then on Wednesday, a federal judge who had issued a similar injunction was pressured to remove a separate block on the order.

Those moves prompted two new legal challenges Wednesday from a coalition of Democratic states and voting rights groups, respectively. The new lawsuits specifically target the new United States Postal Service rule, issued last Friday, that governs who may receive mail ballots. Late Thursday night, a federal judge again granted their request and again blocked a key provision of Trump’s plan until at least Sept. 10.

With that court ruling, it’s back to business as usual — but even that could change again as soon as the clock continues to tick on state deadlines. North Carolina sends its first wave of absentee ballots Sept. 4. Officials there are in crunch mode, working to meet that deadline as they do every election.

Donnald Trump

New Republic- President Trump has his sights on taking over two Pacific island countries: Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.  The president posted a picture to his Truth Social account Thursday night labeled “U.S. Territories,” showing the flags of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands along with multiple U.S. territories. The image also included a map of the Strait of Hormuz, labeled “new.”

The Marshall Islands were occupied and administered by the U.S. during World War II, and Congress granted the islands their independence in 1979. Micronesia also was occupied by the U.S. during the war, gaining its independence in 1990. Both have a Compact of Free Association with the U.S., which means they get financial assistance and access to certain U.S. government programs, such as the U.S. Postal Service and National Weather Service.

Meanwhile. . .

Politvid Channel - Rep. Thomas Massie says he will read an Epstein “client list” live on the House floor — and Trump and House Republicans can’t stop him, because floor speech is protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

Immigration

MS NOW - Trump once indicated he would protect undocumented minors from his hard-line immigration policies. But over two hours on a recent day, more than a dozen children, some as young as 12, filed into a Chicago courtroom for immigration hearings, writes Nnamdi Egwuonwu, who watched the hearings. The deportations have sped up after the Trump administration rescinded a policy that delayed them for young victims of abuse, abandonment or parental neglect who would be at risk if returned to their country of origin. Minors who would have typically appeared in court three or four times a year are returning every two weeks.

Wildfires

The Guardian - A fire in California’s Big Sur region doubled in size overnight, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, in a coastal region where firefighters have battled another blaze for weeks.  The Plaskett fire, which sparked on Tuesday, had swept through more than 5,900 acres (2,400 hectares) in Monterey county as of Friday, and remained un-contained, according to Cal Fire. Its cause is under investigation.

Fire authorities have deployed helicopters and air tankers to suppress the flames with targeted water drops, but the remote area’s steep terrain and scarce roads have hindered ground crews’ ability to access the fire.

Meanwhile, to the north, the Timber fire continues to burn through more than 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares), as authorities have it under 21% containment. The blaze broke past certain containment lines. 

The America major media ignores

Sam Smith – During more than four decades of covering the capital, one of the things that fascinated me was how the national media ignored local stories. As Wikipedia notes, “Washington, D.C. has had several notable Black mayors, with Marion Barry being one of the most prominent, serving multiple terms from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999. The current mayor is Muriel Bowser, who has been in office since 2015.”

Although mostly ignored by the national media, ethnic relations were notably different in DC. One cause were matters that joined  ethnic groups together such as home rule and freeways.  For a native Washingtonian like me, there was nothing unusual in this. For example, in the 1960s I was helping black activist Marion Barry handle media issues.

Lately, I’ve been struck by current matters being poorly defined by the mass media, namely those in which local positions and problems are ignored in favor of those preferred by major political personnel. Thus, for example, the cost of gas is considered far less important than what Trump has to say today.

In part, thanks to my long experience with local and national Washington, I am struck by how matters that affect humans on a daily basis are so frequently ignored by the media. For example, when I scan the news  I look for stories that will directly affect ordinary Americans and, on a daily basis, I am repeatedly disappointed.

I have come to think that there are two Americas: one belonging to the powerful, the rest to just plain people. I try to find what is happening to ordinary Americans but find little news assistance.

One of the things I learned in Washington was to search out the local because the reality of life doesn’t only belong to newsworthy but to far less covered aspects of being such as what churches, schools, communities, and local organizations are up to.  Now living in small town Maine, I see this daily. I haven's met anyone as rotten as Donald Trump.

Unfortunately, us small times aren’t going to find a lot of the real because our society has chosen to let itself be defined by television, the internet, and mass promotion. But if you want to help save a decent America take another look at things that did work, like the 1960s,  and don’t define life only by what the bigshots say today.

Trump may hate Canada, but not all his backers do

New Republic  - Whether we “need” Canada or not, the fact remains that a lot of trade currently takes place between the two countries. You know who actually can’t afford for all this to be upended right now? Republican incumbents and candidates in the Midwest, that’s who. So “we” may not “need” Canada, but Republicans in the region really “need” Trump to not rupture trade relations with our ally for the next two months.

….These areas will very likely feel the political impact of Trump’s new trade war. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are expected to hit American exports of agricultural machinery, and that could hit Iowa manufacturers. The state’s very competitive 2nd congressional district, for instance, includes facilities run by John Deere, Altorfer (which deals in Caterpillar products), and other farm equipment concerns.

“Tariffs don’t just hurt our farmers, they hurt our manufacturers, as well,” Lindsay James, the Democratic candidate in that district, told me. She added that her GOP opponent, businessman Joe Mitchell, will be a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s trade wars, which she labeled “impulsive.”

Such messages could land disproportionately in Iowa because Trump’s trade wars have already given the state’s agricultural economy a thorough pounding.

Since Trump took over

Via Jamison Daniel

Religion in schools

Patriotwise -   A new federal lawsuit says a public high school’s “social justice” field trip turned into a religious event inside a mosque, raising church–state and student privacy alarms. Parents from multiple faiths sued Palo Alto Unified over a 2025 mosque visit tied to a school program.

The complaint says students were encouraged to wear Islamic attire, given Qurans, and observed prayer. Plaintiffs argue the school promoted one faith and posted student photos without consent.

The superintendent says instruction must be academic, not devotional, and the district is reviewing practices.

Parents and students from Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian backgrounds filed a federal complaint against Palo Alto Unified School District. They say a fall 2025 field trip to the Muslim Community Association mosque went beyond teaching about religion. The complaint says students were encouraged to wear Islamic clothing, were given Qurans, observed prayer, and heard messaging that linked Islam with social justice goals. Plaintiffs also say student photos from inside the mosque later appeared online without parental consent.

Word

“Arresting journalists. Fatally shooting protestors. Turning the military on citizens. Attempting to rig elections. Toying with the idea of declaring martial law. If this were happening in another country, what would you call it?” ‑Robert Reich

Renaming Lake Ontario violates 225 year old treaty

The Hill - Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called Friday for President Trump to rescind his order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” citing a 225-year-old treaty between Native Americans and the U.S. government. 

Seneca said in a statement that this name change, which President Trump authorized in a Thursday executive order, violated the terms of the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.  “The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action,” he said in a statement. 

Black farming

New Republic – [There are] roughly 46,000 Black farmers in the United States today—just 1.4 percent of all American farmers, down from 14 percent in 1920 (Black farmers themselves contend that even the 1.4 percent figure is inflated). There are today just barely 30,000 Black-owned farms, mostly in the Deep South—with more than 11,000 Black farmers in Texas alone—covering roughly three million acres.

…The first great post-emancipation betrayal of Black Americans was, of course, over land. At the end of the Civil War, the federal government had its earliest chance—of what would later be many—to make a good-faith attempt at recompense for nearly 250 years of brutal chattel slavery by creating a Black landowning class. Instead, it restored the very white planter class that had waged war against the United States to preserve slavery. Thus, the famous promise of “40 acres and mule” to the formerly enslaved went unfulfilled. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman gave the order, and 400,000 confiscated coastal acres were given to freed families….

The famous promise of “40 acres and mule” to the formerly enslaved went unfulfilled. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman gave the order, but within a few months, President Andrew Johnson rescinded it and forced Black families off the land.

That remains this country’s most infamous Black land betrayal, but even that was hardly the first. The 1850 Donation Land Act offered parcels of Oregon Territory land to “every white settler,” but excluded Black people. The citizenship requirement for the 1862 Homestead Act—signed days after Congress created the USDA—implicitly excluded both free and enslaved Black folks, whom the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision had declared incapable of citizenship. An estimated 93 million living Americans descend from those original homesteaders. As sociologist Thomas Shapiro has argued, that means roughly one-quarter of the country’s current population “potentially traces its legacy of property ownership, upward mobility, economic stability, class status, and wealth directly to one national policy—a policy that in practice essentially excluded African Americans.”

Meanwhile. . .

Pew Research - This week, Meta agreed to change its policies for teens as part of a settlement with nearly every state and Washington, D.C. In our recent survey, 56% of U.S. adults said they would favor banning anyone under the age of 16 from using social media. Large majorities also favored parental consent, age verification and time limits.

Pew Research - Today, 42% of U.S. adults say they don’t use cash for any purchases in a typical week. This is up from 24% in 2015.  Fewer – 12% – say they use cash to pay for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week. Another 46% say they use cash sometimes, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from May 26 to June 1, 2026.

Trump announces big oil plan with Venezuela

NBC News -  President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had reached an agreement with Venezuela to take control of the country’s 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, a move he said would more than double America’s reserves.  The announcement comes months after the U.S. military carried out an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump is also facing increasing pressure ahead of the midterm elections, as gas prices remain high and the war in Iran approaches its six-month mark.

The uncertain role of Kamala Harris

The Hill -  Democratic candidates in competitive election races are taking different tacks this cycle over how close to affiliate themselves with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s lent her support to many of them but whose loss in the 2024 election has made her a more polarizing figure.

Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek (D) told reporters this week he didn’t want Harris to campaign for him as he pursues a Senate seat this cycle — a sentiment Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, the state’s auditor, also shared about Harris and former President Biden.

Former Rep. Mary Peltola’s (D-Alaska) Senate campaign also voiced frustration after Harris’s PAC issued a fundraising email for the red-state Democrat earlier this month.

But not all Democrats are keeping Harris at arm’s length.

The former vice president joined a Women for Ossoff call set up by Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-Ga.) reelection campaign. She also made a fundraising appeal on his Facebook page.

And Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said he was “grateful” to have Harris’s support after she endorsed him following his primary.

While the different tactics likely reflect the political realities of red and purple states, they’ve also raised questions about Harris’s political viability as she mulls a second presidential run.

Trump’s DHS is using an obscure law to secretly snoop on journalists, non-profits and unions

Just a spam

Just a spam - If you got a confusing invitation to a Sam Smith event, ignore it. It's a spam.

Meanwhile....

ABC -  A Florida grand jury found that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer money it diverted to a charity run by his wife and was later used for political purposes.

ABC News - A Florida grand jury found that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer money it diverted to a charity run by his wife and was later used for political purposes.

Mail in voting

The Hill - A federal judge has again blocked the Trump administration from going forward with its new mail-in voting restrictions from the president’s executive order, pausing the move for at least two weeks. That would extend beyond when the first states start sending out mail-in ballots for the midterms.