“So much for the prophecies of Trumponomics doom: Not only did the US economy grow at a 3% rate in the second quarter, the growth was all in the private sector as the government portion shrank. Meanwhile, ADP reports that private-sector employment rose by 104,000 jobs in July, with annual wages jumping 4.4% — well above the rate of inflation, which also remains markedly lower than the conventional-wisdom crew predicted. That is, growth was half again the consensus forecast for April-June, while July looks like a huge boon for American workers — all as many of President Donald Trump’s policies have only begun to kick in. Trump’s tariffs have neither crashed the economy nor kicked off fresh inflation — though of course those predictions largely came from ‘experts’ who never expected the bane of Bidenflation.” (07/30/25)
“When I was a cub reporter at the New Yorker in the early 1980s, New York City was actually a somewhat seedy and dangerous (if fascinating) place (sort of fitting the image currently assigned it by MAGA ideologues who have ignored its almost complete makeover into a remarkably safe enclave). In those days, anyone wandering the Times Square neighborhood where I worked could count on seeing a three-card monte game on every block, with fast-talking card sharps hustling the tourists. It wasn’t very sophisticated, but it must have worked because they were out there every day. The grift playing out this week in the federal government around climate is no more complicated, but it too relies on speed and distraction.” (07/31/25)
“The European Union is working on the assumption that the United States will impose a 15% tariff on most EU exports from Friday, even though the two sides have yet to complete a key document clarifying how the agreement will operate. Last weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement that would see 15% duties imposed on around two-thirds of EU produce, worth around 380 billion euros ($434 billion). The tariffs are set to enter force on Friday, but as of Thursday the two sides were still working on a joint statement that would lay out the terms of their understanding, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said. The document wouldn’t be legally binding.” (07/31/25)
“If Donald Trump’s goal is to strain the immigration system to such a point that it merely serves as an avenue for the fast-tracking of deportations, he is certainly making headway. The barriers have been piling up: ending bond hearings for undocumented immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally, kidnapping people at their immigration court hearings and places of work, entrapping new arrivals who fail to register with the government, and imposing significant penalties on those who do not comply with removal orders. In an added twist, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which unlocks unprecedented levels of funding for immigration enforcement and border security, creates a fiscal minefield of onerous processing fees and penalties. Most of these fees are new and cannot be waived, and the goal is not necessarily to mitigate the government’s giant budget deficit, but to price migrants out of entering or staying in the country, even legally.” (07/31/25)
“At the core of The Atlantic’s unnecessarily long profile on loud Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett is the argument that ‘when the Republicans go low, the Democrats should meet them there.’ As Rachel Jeantel so famously put it, ‘That’s real retarded, sir.’ The notion that Democrats have for too long shown excessive restraint or pitched themselves to voters with a naive intellectualism while being punched in the mouth by brute Republicans is a hysterical myth, one that only persists because the media that helped create it continue to perpetuate it. Going back as far as 2015, you undoubtedly heard both Democrat leaders and prominent dorks in the Washington news media call President Trump a ‘bully.'” (07/30/25)
“With a new academic year due to start in the United States, states and districts are seeking to manage students’ cellphone use during the school day. Proposals range from developing usage guidelines to implementing outright bans. Amid the discussion over what adults – educators, parents, policymakers – should do, students are signaling their ability to exercise individual agency. And they want nuanced and flexible approaches to help balance use and manage screen time. In a 2025 Pew survey in the U.S., 44% of teens reported cutting back on both social media and smartphone use. In 2023, that share was 39% (social media) and 36% (smartphones). A wider survey of 20,000 children ages 12 to 15 and parents across 18 countries found 40% of students taking deliberate breaks from their screens, up 18 percentage points from 2022. (07/29/25)
“The most recent Wall Street Journal political poll shows that Democrats have swerved into a deep ditch. Only three of 10 voters have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, and that is the lowest this number has been for Democrats since Bill Clinton’s first term in office. Republicans aren’t very popular either — but they have a big lead over the donkeys. I’m not a cheerleader for the Republicans, and it’s clear the GOP is not the solution to all our nation’s problems. Republicans have been coconspirators in the runaway spending and debt crisis in Washington. What is concerning is that the Democrats have become what might be called a donut party: They have no middle. (07/30/25)
“More than three decades after Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills avoided releasing approximately 6,000 pages of case files pertaining to the federal investigation into her alleged cocaine use, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is seeking those very documents. The NRSC submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in April 2025, attempting to release the files relating to her suspected cocaine use trial amid suspicion that Democrats were recruiting her to jump into the state’s Senate race. While NARA initially told the NRSC they would review the request, they later claimed 3,000 pages of the files were under FOIA exemption, which preserves the secrecy of grand jury testimony.” (07/30/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“A liberal Israel apologist named Brianna Wu has made a mealy-mouthed tweet acknowledging the reality of what’s happening in Gaza that is so obnoxious I need to have a quick rant about it. Wu, who has managed to translate her public attention from the 2014 Gamergate harassment scandal into a role as a pro-Israel spinmeister, tweeted a screenshot from a New York Times headline titled ‘Total Failure: Israel’s Return to War Heaped Ruin on Gaza and Did Little for Israelis.’ … This enrages me in ways I’m struggling to fully articulate. ‘After countless exaggeration, the cries of wolf are actually true?’ So it wasn’t exaggeration or crying wolf then was it, you fucking asshole? Almost like you’ve spent two years defending A FUCKING GENOCIDE and attacking anyone who opposed it?” (07/30/25)
“FBI Director Kash Patel found a trove of sensitive documents related to the origins of the Trump–Russia probe buried in multiple ‘burn bags’ in a secret room inside the bureau, sources told Fox News Digital. Sources told Fox News Digital that the ‘burn bag’ system is used to destroy documents designated as classified or higher. Sources told Fox News Digital that multiple burn bags were found and filled with thousands of documents.” (07/30/25)
