Tootfinder

Peggy Flanagan,
the progressive lieutenant governor of Minnesota,
clinched the victory in the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate,
beating out moderate US representative Angie Craig.
The AP called the race, with Flanagan leading with nearly 59% of the vote.

Minnesota progressive wins Senate primary over anti-ICE sentiments, as Wisconsin governor’s race remains close – live
Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary; in Wisconsin, moderate David Crowley and Democratic socialist Francesca Hong face tight race to be Democratic nominee for governor

A campaign using manipulated videos of US celebrities, falsely branded with CNN logos, is targeting Democratic candidates and seems to be backed by the Kremlin (Brandy Zadrozny/MS NOW)
https://www.ms.now/news/russia-election-influencing-campaign-targeting-dem…

A Russian disinformation campaign is doctoring celebrity videos to meddle in the midterms
The Kremlin-backed operation, known as Matryoshka, has Hollywood actors telling voters to disavow the Democratic Party and vote Republican.

Lisa Demuth, the Republican speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives,
secured the Republican nomination for governor,
-- edging out pillow salesman Mike Lindell, who had received Trump’s endorsement in the race.
Demuth became speaker last year in an evenly divided House, becoming the first Black person in the role.

Minnesota progressive wins Senate primary over anti-ICE sentiments, as Wisconsin governor’s race remains close – live
Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary; in Wisconsin, moderate David Crowley and Democratic socialist Francesca Hong face tight race to be Democratic nominee for governor

‘It’s going to be fine’: Trump rebuffs rising alarm over AI dangers, sparking outcry
Trump is brushing aside growing concern among leading scientists and bipartisan lawmakers that artificial intelligence could soon pose an existential threat to humanity,
-- fueling anxiety in Washington and Silicon Valley that the president may not fully grasp the urgency of the threat.
Alarm mounted throughout the summer as researchers at leading AI labs, including Anthropic, OpenAI and G…

'It's going to be fine': Trump rebuffs rising alarm over AI dangers, sparking outcry
Alarm mounted throughout the summer as researchers at leading AI labs found the pace of development far outstripping their expectations.

"Yet the system is falling apart as it is. Yes, the AfD (and the far right in general) is a fundamental threat to liberal democracy, but so is the fact that a sizeable and growing part of the population no longer feels represented by its politicians. While many still come out to vote for democracy, they increasingly vote against a party rather than for one.
"

The AfD’s win in Germany is a dark day for Europe. Time is running out to stop the far right
This party is among the most extreme in Europe. To protect our democracies, liberal parties must urgently change their tactics, says Cas Mudde, author of The Far Right Today

Just finished "What Elephants Know" by Eric Dinerstein. Leaves me with very mixed feelings: it's a novel in many ways about Nepal, and I don't doubt that the author's experience living there gives him a not-insignificant window into the culture, plus there are multiple people mentioned in the acknowledgements as judging faithfulness to Nepali culture. I myself have no direct connection to the country, nor enough knowledge to see any clear inaccuracies in the writing, nor ways in which it directly disrespects the culture.
That said, my instincts say this is a portrayal of the culture and country that probably elides much about the downsides of foreign influence and the monarchy (something I naturally distrust as an anarchist). At minimum, the internal contradiction is clear between the police as an inept and dangerous institution when encountered directly, but as a clean and unproblematic way to resolve problems with criminals when the Maroons subplot needs wrapping up. This is typical of neoliberals who have begun to acknowledge the most obvious problems with police but who refuse to admit the necessity of police abolition. Furthermore, there's a strong thread of white saviorism thrown in, and a big piece of meritocracy to go along with it. This story presents only highly particular fictionalized solutions to the real structural problems facing the elephants and other animals it describes, and the solutions it imagines require reliance on institutions which are in the real world fundamentally untrustworthy.
I enjoyed learning about the ecology of the Nepali borderlands, and about the cultures surrounding elephants there, plus some of the diversity of religions and cultures that interact in the area, and the story was satisfyingly written in terms of the main character's trials and responses to them, if I disregard the issues mentioned above.
If anyone has recommendations for novels in English (including via translation) by actual Nepali authors, I'd love to hear them, as I'll be looking for that perspective to balance this one.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

The attacks on September 11, 2001, unleashed a wave of Islamophobia in the United States
that resulted in widespread harassment and persecution of Muslim Americans.
In addition to vigilante attacks targeting Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim,
there was also state repression including police roundups,
community surveillance,
prosecutions on often flimsy terrorism charges
and mass deportations.
Meanwhile, the wars launched by the United States …

“Let’s Just Round Them Up”: The Rise of Islamophobia in the Post-9/11 Domestic War on Terror
The attacks on September 11, 2001, unleashed a wave of Islamophobia in the United States that resulted in widespread harassment and persecution of Muslim Americans. In addition to vigilante attacks targeting Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim, there was also state repression including police roundups, community surveillance, prosecutions on often flimsy terrorism charges and mass deportations. Meanwhile, the wars launched by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 have killed close to 1…

As the world swelters in ever more dangerous heat,
⭐️why are oil companies being allowed to turn up the gas instead of paying for the consequences of their greed?
That ought to be the question on everyone’s minds amid baking heat domes over much of the northern hemisphere,
temperature records being smashed day after day,
children dying in locked cars,
hospitals filling with heatstroke victims
and emergency services tackling wildfires.
There is no dou…

Fuel on the fire: why oil companies are profiting as the world gets dangerously hot
The scientific consensus is that burning fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, yet the world’s biggest oil companies are planning to increase production

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine
Graham Platner,
the populist political newcomer who Democrats had hoped could flip a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine,
ended his campaign Wednesday night
after a woman he previously dated publicly accused him of sexual assault.

“We believe for the movement to continue, it can’t be me
and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,”
Platner said Wednesday night.

The development, a…

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine
The Democratic nominee left the race following an allegation of sexual assault. Maine Democrats have until July 27 to choose a replacement candidate to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R).

The Senate race in Kansas is still a very tough challenge for Democrats.
But if there’s any way to win such a contest, it would be in a situation like this one,
where Trump is so overwhelmingly destructive toward voters’ interests
—and the GOP incumbent so obviously unwilling to act as a check on him
—that it allows Democrats to reach voters usually off limits to them.
Bombardier’s U.S. headquarters is in Wichita,
where it employs over 1,000 workers.

Why Trump’s Angry New Tirade at Canada Is About to Backfire On Him
Trump’s latest threats to punish Canada could hurt a lot of American workers—including in states with big races this fall—even as they reveal MAGA’s deepest failings.