Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Chinese invasion of Taiwan may come sooner than expected
Axios | Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian | 07/29/22

The timeline for a potential Chinese attempt to take Taiwan by force seems to be getting shorter.

Driving the news: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Biden not to "play with fire" over Taiwan on Thursday, according to the Chinese readout of a call between the two leaders.

That contentious exchange comes with Beijing threatening "serious consequences" if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follows through on a planned visit to the self-governing island. ... Read more

Manchin, Schumer Reveal Washington's Best Kept Secret | Stephen Colbert | 07/28/22 | 10:04

Plan G or Plan N Medicare Supplement? This new data is IMPORTANT | Christopher Westfall | 07/23/21 | 26:44

Mediterranean ecosystem suffering 'marine wildfire' as temperatures peak | 07/29/22 | article

U.S. economy shrinks for second straight quarter, igniting recession fears
Axios | Courtenay Brown | 07/28/22

The U.S. economy contracted for the second straight quarter, with growth falling at a 0.9% annual rate in the April-June period.

Why it matters: The highly anticipated report is likely to fan new debate about the faltering economy and adds to the Biden administration's mounting political headaches. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is moving to slow economic growth in a bid to contain sky-high inflation.

Economists expected the economy to grow at a 0.4% annualized pace.

State of play: The data comes after GDP fell at a 1.6% annualized rate in the first three months of the year, as trade weighed on headline growth.

To be sure, an independent group of economists officially decide whether or not the U.S. is officially in a recession - and they haven't called it yet. ... Read more

Senate passes major chip funding bill
Axios | Margaret Harding McGill | 07/28/22

The Senate voted 64-33 Wednesday to approve a $280 billion package meant to spur U.S. chip manufacturing, a major victory for the Biden administration and chip-makers.

Why it matters: The bill aims to reverse a long-term decline in domestic manufacturing of the computer chips that go into cars, computers, appliances and a range of other everyday items, after the pandemic exposed the fragility of the international supply chain.

Driving the news: The bill, which has gone through many names (most recently the Chips and Science bill), includes $52 billion in funding for domestic production of semiconductors. ... Read more

What's in the Democrats' climate and energy legislation
Politico | Kelsey Tamborrino | 07/28/22

The bill, dubbed the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," would spend nearly $370 billion on a raft of tax credits to help stimulate adoption of clean energy technologies.

Senate Democrats struck a deal with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Thursday for an expansive bill that includes the biggest package in U.S. history to address climate change.

The bill, H.R. 5376 (117), dubbed the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," would spend nearly $370 billion on a raft of tax credits to help stimulate adoption of clean energy technologies, as well as spending for low-income and minority communities that suffer disproportionately from pollution. ... Read more

The power of knowing your neighbors
Axios | Erica Pandey | 07/27/22

A majority of Americans don't know most of their neighbors - and they barely talk to the ones they do know.

Why it matters: Strong neighborhoods boost the health, happiness, and longevity of their residents. But over the last several decades, our connections with our neighbors have been fraying.

What's happening: We're leaving our homes with our screens in our hands. The pandemic made us even less likely than we were before to stop and chat with new folks.

By the numbers:

57% of Americans say they know only some or none of their neighbors, according to a Pew Research Center survey. That share climbs up to 72% among 30- to 49-year-olds and 78% among 18- to 29-year-olds.

58% say they know their neighbors but don't spend time chatting or hanging out with them. ... Read more

Bernie Sanders Shreds 'Chips Act' In Incredible Speech | The Rational National | 07/26/22 | 21:56

Humanity can't equivocate any longer. This is a climate emergency
TheGuradian | Rebecca Solnit & Terry Tempest Williams | 07/28/22

We are declaring a climate emergency. Everyone can, in whatever place on Earth they call home. No one needs to wait for politicians any more - we have been waiting for them for decades. What history shows us is that when people lead, governments follow. Our power resides in what we are witnessing. We cannot deny that Great Salt Lake is vanishing before our eyes into a sun-cracked playa of salt and toxic chemicals. Nor can we deny that Lake Mead is reduced to a puddle. In New Mexico a wildfire that began in early April is still burning in late July. Last August, the eye of Hurricane Ida split in two - there was no calm - only 190mph winds ripping towns in the bayous of Louisiana to shreds; and 7m acres in the American west burned in 2021. The future the scientists warned us about is where we live now.

The climate emergency has been declared over and over by Nature and by human suffering and upheaval in response to its catastrophes. The 2,000 individuals who recently died of heat in Portugal and Spain are not here to bear witness, but many of the residents of Jacobabad in Pakistan, where Amnesty International declared the temperatures "unlivable for humans", are. The heat-warped rails of the British train system, the buckled roads, cry out that this is unprecedented. The estimated billion sea creatures who died on the Pacific north-west's coast from last summer's heatwave announced a climate emergency. The heat-devastated populations of southern Asia, the current grain crop failures in China, India, across Europe and the American midwest, the starving in the Horn of Africa because of climate-caused drought, the bleached and dying coral reefs of Australia, the rivers of meltwater gushing from the Greenland ice sheet, the melting permafrost of Siberia and Alaska: all bear witness that this is a climate emergency. So do we. Yet the anxiety we feel, the grief that is ours, pales in comparison to the ferocity of our resolve. ... Read more

Mass confusion impedes Fed attempts to prevent recession
Politico | Vicyoria Guida | 07/25/22

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers are making crucial decisions based on data that lately has been so confusing and contradictory that it's hard for them to know where the economy actually stands.

Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell has vowed to follow the data in deciding how high to crank up interest rates to crush the worst inflation surge in four decades.

But Powell and other Fed policymakers are making that crucial decision based on data that lately has been so confusing and contradictory that it's hard for them to know where the economy actually stands.

Economic growth is projected by some analysts to have been negative in the second quarter of the year, but hiring is strong and the jobless rate sits near historic lows. Consumers say they're unhappy about the economy but are still spending even amid the aggressive price spikes. Supply chains are improving, but manufacturing output is slowing. And Covid cases are skyrocketing again even as America fully reopens for business. ... Read more

Inflation: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | 07/25/22 | 24:23

U.S., China gear up for chipmaking race
Axios | Scott Rosenberg | 07/23/22

As the Senate finally moves this week toward a likely vote on funding domestic chip manufacturing in the U.S., the rest of the semiconductor world is charging ahead with big new deals and initiatives.

Driving the news: Monday Intel said that it has a deal to manufacture chips for Taiwanese smartphone-chip designer MediaTek. That marks Intel's first big customer for its effort to open up its factories to make chips based on others' designs.

Meanwhile, China is moving forward with plans to build 31 new chip factories by 2024, per the Wall Street Journal.

The big picture: Both China and the U.S. seek more supply chain resilience and less dependence on overseas sources that could be disrupted in the event of pandemic-style distribution snafus, international tensions or war. ... Read more

5 takeaways from Steve Bannon's trial
Politico | Gosh Gerstein | 07/22/22

Jurors made short work Friday of former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon's defense on contempt of Congress charges, returning two guilty verdicts against him after less than three hours of deliberation, including a lunch break.

The pair of guilty verdicts from a D.C. jury for Bannon over his defiance of a subpoena from the House committee probing the Jan. 6 attacks and former President Donald Trump's campaign to overturn the 2020 election results are sure to grab the attention of other witnesses still resisting the panel's requests or who may have given less-than-forthcoming testimony up to this point.

However, any actual jail time for Bannon in the case could be modest and may be years away. ... Read more

How Do We Stop The 27 Oligarchs Who Run America? | DN | 07/21/22 | 7:06

How Do We Stop The 27 Oligarchs Who Run America?
Thom Hartman | same | 07/20/22

Now it's official. Twenty-seven men run this country.

In 1776 we declared independence from the world's richest man and the planet's largest corporation. Today, we again confront a similar challenge...

Pundits are fond of saying, "The President of the United States is the most powerful person in America."

He's not and hasn't been for over a decade. Political power in this country, since five Republicans on the Supreme Court fully legalized both overt and secret political bribery in their 2010 Citizens United decision, is now centered in the money bins of the morbidly rich.

It's still possible, if Democrats take a large enough majority this fall, to pass that legislation or something like it and begin the process of reclaiming our democracy from this corrupt Supreme Court and the billionaires it has handed our country over to.

If we fail, America will almost certainly devolve into a full-blown oligarchy like Fox's beloved Hungary, and our democratic experiment will be suspended for another generation and perhaps irretrievably.

The stakes have never been higher. If ever there was a time to engage in politics, this is it. ... Read more

"Truth Has Nothing to Do With Who Wins the Argument" | The Power of Big Oil | FrontLine | 04/19/22 | 8:23

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial | FrontLine | 04/19/22 | 1:24:18

The Power of Big Oil Part Two: Doubt | FrontLine | 04/26/22 | 54:17

Greenland ice melt kicks into high gear
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/25/22

The Greenland Ice Sheet saw a sharp spike in the rate and extent of melting last week, with 18 billion tons of water running into the North Atlantic in just three days. Satellite photos reveal melt ponds dotting the ice cover, particularly near the coasts.

Why it matters: Greenland's melting ice is the top annual contributor to global sea level rise. How much of and how quickly the ice sheet is lost will determine the fate of coastal cities from Hong Kong to Miami.

Driving the news: An uptick in ice loss that occurred during the July 15-17 period sent enough water careening off the ice sheet to fill 2.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, said Ted Scambos, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in an interview. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, July 25 [11:01]

"Immense Frustration": Monkeypox Spreads Amid Slow U.S. Response; WHO Declares Emergency | DN | 07/25/22 | 15:32

How Do We Stop The 27 Oligarchs Who Run America? | DN | 07/21/22 | 7:06

Why the Republicans Will Only Talk About "Big Lies" & Culture Wars
Medium.com | Thom Hartman | 03/07/21

... This sort of faux outrage has worked for Republicans for almost 40 years, from their persistent efforts to twist any little thing Democrats or progressives say or do into a scandal, to their hysterical outrage over Hillary Clinton pointing out in 2016 that Donald Trump had "lifted up" a part of the Republican base that is "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic - you name it," and that those people represented a "basket of deplorables."

Republicans are falling back on outrage almost exclusively because the rest of America has figured out their scam.

Forty years of massive tax cuts - equaling well over $20 trillion shifted out of government and into the pockets of the ultra-rich- have not increased the wages or wealth of the working class, but have exploded the wealth of the top 1%.

Cutting the social safety net through making it harder to get unemployment or even food stamps and housing support have not increase the ranks of working people, but have given America the developed world's worst poverty rate and the highest levels of child malnutrition and maternal death.

Keeping the minimum wage at a level where full-time workers qualify for food stamps and housing support has not helped the economy, gotten more people into the workforce, or done anything other than keeping around 30 million full-time working people in poverty. ...

Heat waves around the world are connected, scientists say
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/22/22

Two heat waves an ocean apart are inextricably linked. Why it matters: These kinds of interconnected heat waves could become even more extreme in the future, as human-caused climate change affects the jet stream winds responsible for them.

Those topsy turvy undulations helped to cause both the 115-degree high temperature in Mangum, Oklahoma, on Tuesday and the U.K.'s breaking of its all-time record high temperature, with 104.36F recorded in Coningsby, England, the same day, scientists tell Axios.

Driving the news: The jet stream has come under particular scrutiny by climate scientists in recent years due to the hypothesis that the changing temperature difference between the equator and the North Pole could slow down this key weather maker, especially during the summer. ... Read more

A radical plan for Trump's second term
Axios | Jonathan Swan | 07/22/22

Former President Trump's top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his "America First” ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios.

The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say.

During his presidency, Trump often complained about what he called “the deep state."

The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as "Schedule F," developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump’s term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election. ... Read more

Europe heat wave's scorched lessons
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/20/22

The heat wave in Europe should best be viewed as another deadly and startling warning regarding how far we've pushed the planet's climate into less hospitable territory, and how unprepared we are for what's coming.

Catch up fast: In the past week, temperature records dating back centuries have been obliterated, particularly on Tuesday in the U.K. The heat is shifting east, into a swath of Europe extending from Germany to Sweden.

Why it matters: The heat wave upended life in several major industrialized nations and killed more than 1,000 people, a toll likely to increase. Many of the wildfires it breathed life into are still burning out of control.

By the numbers: A staggering 34 weather observing stations in the U.K. provisionally broke the country's all-time high temperature record on Tuesday. ... Read more

EU asks member states to start rationing gas due to Russia "blackmail"
Axios | Ben Geman | 07/20/22

European Union leaders, citing risks from "the Kremlin's weaponization of gas exports," proposed plans Wednesday for all member states to reduce natural gas consumption by 15% until spring.

Why it matters: The plan reflects growing concern that Russia, the EU's top supplier, could cut exports of the key industrial, electric and residential fuel well beyond already reduced levels. "Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Driving the news: The plan calls for member states to voluntary cut demand by 15% from August until the end of next March. ... Read more

House passes bill to protect birth control access
Axios | Oriana Gonzalez | 07/21/22

The House on Thursday passed a bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives in a 228-195 vote.

The big picture: Lawmakers have been introducing legislation in response to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade saying that the court should reconsider "all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents," including those guaranteeing birth control access and marriage equality.

Details: The bill, known as the Right to Contraception Act and introduced by Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), is focused on guaranteeing access to different birth control measures, and protecting health care providers' ability to provide them. ... Read more

U.K. eclipses record-breaking 40 degrees Celsius as heat wave intensifies
Axios | Ivana Saric & Andrew Freedman | 07/19/22

In the midst of an unprecedented heat wave, the U.K. on Tuesday broke its national record for the highest temperature ever registered, with a provisional reading of 104.36 degrees Fahrenheit (40.2 degrees Celsius) at London's Heathrow Airport, according to the country's weather service.

Why it matters: This is the first time the U.K. has breached this temperature that is more common in tropical and desert climates, and studies point to climate change as a key factor behind the scorchingly hot temperatures.

Heat waves of this magnitude and duration can be deadly, and pose particular health risks to vulnerable groups like the elderly, those with preexisting medical conditions and anyone without access to cooling.

Only about 3% of homes in the U.K. have air conditioning. ... Read more

THE JANUARY 6 REPORT: Findings From the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol With Reporting, Analysis and Visuals by The New York Times

We don't yet know when the House Jan. 6 committee will issue its report. But when it does, it'll get the treatment seen in the past for the Watergate and 9/11 reports.

Driving the news: Twelve Books, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, will announce Tuesday that it plans to publish "The January 6 Report" in partnership with the New York Times.

The edition will include "exclusive reporting, eyewitness accounts and analysis ... from New York Times reporters who’ve covered the story from the beginning."

Because the report is in the public domain, expect versions from multiple publishers.

The Times edition includes a timeline ... cast of characters ... maps of paths taken to breach the Capitol ... and interviews, transcripts and documents that complement the investigation.

Unity Ziva Dynamics vs Unreal MetaHumans | Side by Side Comparison | Unity | 01/25/22 | 1:26

"Why We Did It:" Fmr. RNC Spokesman on GOP's Descent Into Trumpism | Amanpour and Company | 07/12/22 | 18:23

Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell by Tim Miller

Former Republican political operative Tim Miller answers the question no one else has fully grappled with: Why did normal people go along with the worst of Trumpism?

As one of the strategists behind the famous 2012 RNC “autopsy,” Miller conducts his own forensic study on the pungent carcass of the party he used to love, cutting into all the hubris, ambition, idiocy, desperation, and self-deception for everyone to see. In a bracingly honest reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment, Miller draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class's Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th.

From ruminations on the mental jujitsu that allowed him as a gay man to justify becoming a hitman for homophobes, to astonishingly raw interviews with former colleagues who jumped on the Trump Train, Miller diagrams the flattering and delusional stories GOP operatives tell themselves so they can sleep at night. With a humorous touch he reveals Reince Priebus' neediness, Sean Spicer's desperation, Elise Stefanik and Chris Christie’s raw ambition, and his close friends’ submission to a MAGA psychosis.

Why We Did It is a vital, darkly satirical warning that all the narcissistic justifications that got us to this place still thrive within the Republican party, which means they will continue to make the same mistakes and political calculations that got us here, with disastrous consequences for the nation.

Seeing The Universe Like We've Never Seen It Before | Bloomberg Quicktake: Originals | 07/12/22 | 39:00

10 Most Advanced AI Robots in the World | Motech | 03/14/22 | 15:17

Biden Threatens WAR With Iran Instead Of Starting Peaceful Negotiations | TYT | 07/14/22 | 11:32

How The Pentagon Uses a Secetive Program to Wage Proxy Wars
The Intercept | Nick Turse, Alice Speri | 07/01/22

SMALL TEAMS OF U.S. Special Operations forces are involved in a low-profile proxy war program on a far greater scale than previously known, according to exclusive documents and interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials.

While The Intercept and other outlets have previously reported on the Pentagon's use of the secretive 127e authority in multiple African countries, a new document obtained through the Freedom of Information Act offers the first official confirmation that at least 14 127e programs were also active in the greater Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region as recently as 2020. In total, between 2017 and 2020, U.S. commandos conducted at least 23 separate 127e programs across the world.

Separately, Joseph Votel, a retired four-star Army general who headed both Special Operations Command and Central Command, which oversees U.S. military efforts in the Middle East, confirmed the existence of previously unrevealed 127e "counterterrorism" efforts in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Friday, July 15 [10:18]

A Look Back in Time: How NASA's Webb Telescope Gives Humanity a Revolutionary New View of Cosmos | DN | 07/15/22 | 12:41

'Putin's oldest enemy' has advice for Western leaders | 07/10/22 | 9:05

Inland cities face water supply problems as lakes evaporate due to climate change
Salon | Matthew Rozsa | 07/15/22

As sea levels continue to rise as climate change accelerates, experts in coastal cities are planning accordingly. From New York City to New Orleans, policymakers who live near the ocean seem to be gradually recognizing their "The Day After Tomorrow"-esque peril. Yet according to a new study in the scientific journal Nature Communications - one that an outside scientist praised for looking "at the impacts of evaporative loss in an entirely new way" - people who live near lakes may have just as much cause for climate change-related water concerns as those who dwell near the sea.

That, in turn, means everyone else will also need to worry.

In research led by a team of scientists at Texas A & M University, the scholars accumulated data from more than 1.42 million natural lakes and reservoirs all over the planet. Their goal was to assess whether lakes have lost water over a one-third-of-a-century period stretching from 1985 to 2018. As it turned out, long-term average lake evaporation has increased at a rate of 3.12 cubic kilometers per year, including increases in the evaporation rate (58%), a decline in lake ice coverage (23%) and an increase of lake surface area (19%). ... Read more

Watch: Full Jan. 6 Committee Hearing - Day 7 | MSNBC | 07/13/22 | 2:55:23

Why Europe is facing a record-breaking heat wave and drought across the continent | DW News | 07/06/22 | 7:43

From the 60 Minutes archive: Letting future generations speak with Holocaust survivors | 01/27/21 | 25:58

Conversa is StoryFIle's patent-protected platform that powers conversational video AI | 04/04/22 | 2:18

Integrated AI - The sky is bigger than we imagine (mid-2022 AI retrospective) | Dr Alan D. Thompson | 06/22/22 | 47:08

The Democratic electorate's seismic shift
Axios | Josh Kraushaar | 07/13/22

Democrats now have a bigger advantage among white college graduates than they do with nonwhite voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. Why it matters: We're seeing a political realignment in real time.

Democrats are becoming the party of upscale voters concerned more about issues like gun control and abortion rights.

Republicans are quietly building a multiracial coalition of working-class voters, with inflation as an accelerant. ... Read more

Jan. 6 hearing to focus on Trump allies and extremist groups
Axios | Erin Doherty | 07/12/22

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on Tuesday will zero in on the far-right militant groups that breached the Capitol that day - and former President Trump and his allies' ties to those groups.

Why it matters: The committee will present evidence on the linkage between extremist groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and top Trump allies to examine the former president's culpability in the violence of that day.

Driving the news: "We'll show how some of these right-wing extremist groups who came to D.C. and led the attack on the Capitol had ties to Trump associates, including Roger Stone and General [Michael] Flynn," a committee aide said Monday

The seventh public hearing, set to be led by Reps. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), will also zero in on Trump's Dec. 19 tweet - "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th ... Be there, will be wild!" - which became a "pivotal moment" in the planning of Jan. 6, an aide said. ... Read more

Trump Team Implicated In 'Clear Tampering' of Jan 6th Committee Witness Cassidy Hutchinson | 07/12/22 | 9:46

Half of Republicans wouldn't vote for Trump in primary, poll finds
Axios | Ivana Saric | 07/12/22

Roughly half of Republicans say they would not vote for Former President Trump if he were a candidate in the 2024 presidential primary, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll published Tuesday.

Why it matters: While Trump has been holding rallies around the country and publicly mulling a re-election campaign, he faces a crowded field of potential opponents, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The big picture: About 49% of Republican voters surveyed said they would vote for Trump if he were on the ballot in the presidential primary. ... Read more

Japan's former leader Shinzo Abe assassinated
magazine | author | date

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being shot while giving a campaign speech, officials said. He was 67.

The big picture: Abe, who was most recently in office from December 2012 to September 2020, was Japan's longest-serving prime minister. He resigned in 2020 for health reasons but remained influential in politics.

What happened: Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara ahead of Sunday's elections for the parliament's upper house, NHK reported. ... Read more

The Southwest is bone dry. Now, a key water source is at risk.
Politico | Lara Korte | 07/06/22

SACRAMENTO - California and six other Western states have less than 60 days to pull off a seemingly impossible feat: Cut a multi-way deal to dramatically reduce their consumption of water from the dangerously low Colorado River.

If they don't, the federal government will do it for them.

A federal Bureau of Reclamation ultimatum last month, prompted by an extreme climate-change-induced drop in water levels at the nation's largest reservoirs, reopens years of complicated agreements and political feuds among the communities whose livelihoods depend on the river. The deadline represents a crucial moment for the arid Southwest, which must now swiftly reckon with a problem that has been decades in the making.

Despite the oppressive dryness that has plagued the region for more than 20 years, California has, in large part, avoided reductions to its usage of the Colorado River. But now that reservoir levels have fallen drastically, the Golden State may be forced to use less water, a prospect that would only further strain a state that is already asking residents in some regions to stop watering lawns and take shorter showers. ... Read more

Boris Johnson announces resignation: "When the herd moves, it moves"
Axios | Dave Lawler | 07/07/22

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Thursday that he will resign as leader of the Conservative Party and step down as prime minister once a replacement is selected.

How it happened: Dozens of ministers in Johnson's government resigned over the past 24 hours as a cascade of scandals finally caught up to the prime minister. In remarks outside 10 Downing Street, Johnson said this was a "painful" moment, and noted that he'd fought hard to avoid it.

What he's saying: "It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader ... and therefore a new prime minister," Johnson said. ... Read more

Deep Learning Explained by Barack Obama | | 1:20

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Republicans plot vengeance on Jan. 6 committee
Axios | Alayna Treene & Jonathan Swan | 07/06/22

Key House Republicans are threatening to subpoena records of the Jan. 6 committee if the GOP retakes the majority next year - an escalation of the party's effort to undercut the investigation's findings.

Why it matters: Fresh talk of 2023 subpoenas, following last week's vivid testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, means the committee's "final report" expected this fall may be far from the last word on the Capitol attack.

Between the lines: Ever since the Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed GOP members of Congress - including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) - Republicans have been threatening unspecified subpoenas in retaliation. ... Read more

How Murdoch's Fox News allowed Trump's propaganda to destabilise democracy | Four Corners | 08/23/21 | 45:40

Inside the American Redoubt: Trump voters building a new state | Times Documentaries | 11/01/21 | 56:54

There Are 11 Types of Donald Trump Enablers. Which One Are You?
Politico | Tim Miller | 07/01/22

This week, Cassidy Hutchinson demonstrated in front of the whole world how a political staffer can break free from the rationalizations that lead dwellers of the swamp to enable behaviors we know are evil.

I might be a Cassidy sympathizing Enemy of the People. But as a gay man who contorted himself into defending homophobes and a Trump abhorrer who didn't hesitate when asked to spin for Trump's EPA toady Scott Pruitt, I still know a thing or two about being an enabler.

I have had more drinks where reluctant-MAGA and MAGA-adjacent professional Republicans spilled their guts than I would care to count. I've heard the lengthy laments from members of the 2 percent about how they've got bills to pay, a college fund to fill. Regiments of the "privately concerned" have shared their worries, as have the professionally depressed.

I've listened to men bemoan the fact that they can no longer talk politics with their wives; they feel judged by their friends. Been shaken down by the guilt-ridden who wanted to see how they could help our efforts to take down Trump behind the scenes - but were never quite willing to put their name on anything. ... Read more

Documents reveal McKinsey's role increasing opioid sales until 2019
Axios | Arielle Dreher | 07/01/22

McKinsey & Company found opportunities to boost opioid manufacturers' sales amid the addiction crisis from 2004 to 2019, new documents published by the University of California at San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University show.

Why it matters: When one opioid fell out of favor with federal regulators, drugmakers created and marketed another, further stoking the crisis.

The more than 114,000 pages of documents show how McKinsey had a much broader role advising the companies than was previously documented, providing growth and turnaround plans to combat the loss of revenue from opioid lawsuits, advice on how to deal with regulators and strategies to boost sales while concern about the addictive properties of the painkillers grew. ... Read more