John Turpin

Stunning! A pigeon doing backflips.

Missing DC. Be safe, look out for your neighbors, protest, pray.

DHS is delaying millions in already approved North Carolina recovery funds, documents show Communities across the region still need to be reimbursed for about a hundred projects including debris removal, waste water treatment repairs, roads and bridges, damaged buildings and parks, as well ...

The Department of Homeland Security is holding up more than $100 million preapproved dollars intended to help hurricane-battered North Carolina clean up storm damage and fix infrastructure, according to documents obtained by The Post.

Yes, AND not returning that $7 rental cart at the airport for a 25 cent refund is a declaration that society is worth having.

In DC, are there any weekday Protestant church services?

I know the Cathedral has noon prayers... Anything else?

YouTube video by UBIVisuals Dolly Parton provided wildfire relief using Basic Income

Did you know...?

Dolly Parton once gave out an emergency basic income due to wildfires in Tennessee.

The result? It was considered by researchers the most effective thing with workers returning to full-time work as soon as they could.
youtu.be/ESwwpd_UH-c?...

In Jordan alone, the total stock of humanitarian aid amounts to:
➡️ 165 trucks of food items
➡️ 744 trucks of non-food items: hygiene supplies, cleaning supplies, clean water kits
➡️ 45 trucks of medicines and medical supplies

Let UNRWA bring this aid into #Gaza and distribute it to the people in need

Jailed by Trump's ICE, Children's Hospital Chaplain Was Thrown Into 'Solitary' Ayman Soliman, a former chaplain at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, was put in "solitary confinement" after being jailed by Donald Trump's ICE.

my latest Cincinnati dateline:

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960s An overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late last year.

1. This week, the FBI released its comprehensive crime report for 2024, which revealed that both VIOLENT CRIME and PROPERTY CRIME reached their LOWEST LEVELS SINCE THE 1960s

This a massive story. But you might not have heard about it, even if you follow the news closely.

Here's why.

Low key one of the worst anbuses of power ever? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Are we about to have WWI again?

You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, revealing Your glory to Your disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Your everlasting Light also shine upon us sinners...

Happy Feast!⚓

It's only been open for a month

Oh, the corruption here can be way more in your face. Sure, it's bad for pastors to promote candidates in church. But imagine the possibilities for someone without scruples to just start a 501c4 but call it a church ☢️

Baby Goose Abandoned by Its Parents Learns to Be a Tall Bird After Finding an 'Unexpected Family' with 3 Cranes A baby Canada goose abandoned as an egg found an 'unexpected family' with a pair of Sandhill cranes, and their colt, in Madison, Wis., in the spring of 2025. Madison-based photographer Alan Ginsberg h...

look at this freakin guy

people.com/crane-family...

If I understand the recent Republican bill correctly, there's a huge amount of money for ICE but no specific congressional requirement. Starting tomorrow we should learn to do justice and reassign ice agents to other work that *helps* the country. No legal reason not to.

'This is domestic terror': Shaken by ICE raids, pastors rethink ministries (RNS) — The fear of raids has pushed some congregations back to pandemic-era worship strategies.

NEW: @rns.org has tracked at least 10 incidents of apparent federal agents conducting immigration enforcement activity on church grounds or in the immediate area, with incidents spread across five states and Puerto Rico.

“This is domestic terror,” one pastor said. religionnews.com/2025/08/04/w...

US immigration authorities detain daughter of Korean Episcopal priest - The Korea Times The daughter of a Korean Episcopal priest has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities in New York, despite holding what legal advocates say is valid immigration status — drawing strong condemnat...

"She accompanied her mother, Rev. Kim, who is widely recognized as the first woman to be ordained as an Anglican priest in the Seoul Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea..."

www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffai...

This is a really, really important story, which is why I provided a gift link. Many people, when they think of higher education, think of elite universities. But most higher education is nonselective (i.e., they admit everyone), and a lot of it is community colleges.

Feel like its a bad sign about the health of the republic that Pritzker has to talk about TX Dems like they’re the Polish government-in-exile in London

The US is an authoritarianism. It's just that now, cut and dry. May this period be short.

Quid pro quo Cryptocurrency companies are reaping the benefits of their contributions to Trump and other pro-crypto politicians. Company Benefit Contribution Justin Sun and Tron SEC enforcement case stayed pending resolution Criminal investigation possibly paused $100 million to purchase $TRUMP memecoins $75 million to purchase WLFI tokens from Trump-owned World Liberty Financial $37.7 million to purchase $TRUMP memecoins (via HTX) Listed USD1 for trading on HTX Cumberland DRW SEC enforcement case dismissed with prejudice $100 million investment into Trump-owned Trump Media & Technology Group $100,000 to crypto-focused super PACs Ripple SEC enforcement case stayed pending resolution Joint request to return $75 million of previous SEC fine to Ripple $73 million to crypto-focused super PACs $5 million to Trump inauguration fund Coinbase SEC enforcement case dismissed with prejudice Relaunched bitcoin borrowing program previously shut down after SEC warnings $75 million to crypto-focused super PACs $1 million to Senate super PACs $1 million to Trump inauguration fund Sponsored Trump birthday military parade Andreessen Horowitz Four Andreessen Horowitz employees installed in formal or informal positions of influence at the White House $70 million to crypto-focused super PACs $5.35 million to Trump super PACs

Crypto.com SEC investigation ended with no action $10 million to Trump PACs Business partnership with Trump-owned Trump Media & Technology Group Gemini SEC enforcement case stayed pending reslution SEC investigation ended with no action $4.9 million to crypto-focused super PACs $2.6 million to Trump super PACs Kraken SEC enforcement case dismissed with prejudice Relaunched staking services which were shut down as part of a February 2023 SEC settlement $1 million to Trump super PACs $1 million to Trump inauguration fund $1 million to crypto-focused super PACs Circle SEC approved IPO Favorable stablecoin regulation $1 million to Trump inauguration fund $1 million to crypto-focused super PACs Robinhood SEC investigation ended with no action $2 million to Trump inauguration fund ConsenSys SEC enforcement case dismissed with prejudice $800,000 to crypto-focused super PACs Binance SEC enforcement case dismissed with prejudice Reported talks with US Treasury Department to remove compliance monitor Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao seeking pardon Listed USD1 for trading $2 billion investment from MGX denominated in USD1 Reported Trump family talks to acquire stake in Binance US

I've been tracking the quid pro quo between Trump and the cryptocurrency industry at www.followthecrypto.org/quidproquo

When the cryptocurrency entrepreneur Eric Schiermeyer heard that President Trump was holding small group dinners with major donors, he saw opportunity. Mr. Schiermeyer reached out to a lobbyist with connections in Mr. Trump’s orbit, who arranged for him to attend a dinner with the president at his private Mar-a-Lago club on March 1 in exchange for donations to a pro-Trump PAC called MAGA Inc. totaling $1 million. The personal and corporate donations were among dozens of seven- and eight-figure contributions to MAGA Inc. from crypto and other interests revealed in a campaign finance filing on Thursday night that hinted at the access Mr. Trump accords those willing to pay. At the dinner, Mr. Schiermeyer, who had never given a federal political donation before, presented an idea for a cryptocurrency called “U.S.A. Token” that would be distributed to every citizen, according to interviews and a flier he distributed to attendees that sets out details of the proposal. He hoped it could be su

Cryptocurrency interests, which have benefited from the Trump administration’s dismantling of a yearslong government crackdown and from the Trump family’s financial interest in the industry, appear to have been the most generous industry, accounting for nearly $45 million in donations to MAGA Inc.An affiliate of the exchange Crypto.com gave $10 million, while the crypto services company Blockchain.com donated $5 million. The venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who are heavily invested in crypto, gave $3 million each. Ondo Finance, which has a partnership with the Trump family’s crypto company, donated $2.1 million to MAGA Inc., on top of $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

The scale of Trump's pay-for-access scheme outlined by the @nytimes.com is mindblowing. Crypto contributions resulting in business deals with the Trump family crypto businesses, oil companies buying influence and later reaping benefits from friendly policies, and a $1 million pardon.

An aerial view of what the Gaza City area looked like this week. Taken from a Jordanian military aircraft, by our colleague Heidi Levine.

To paraphrase a wise man, the First (Things) shall be last (to get it)

congress was contemplating something like pre-clearance in the 1880s! the VRA survived every challenge it faced essentially until a guy with a vendetta against law became chief justice

Trujillo and Chavez are the best analogs.

The country is the pool now

Scientists Say New Government Climate Report Twists Their Work A new Department of Energy report “fundamentally misrepresents” climate research and leaves out key context, multiple scientists cited in the report tell WIRED.

NEW: i spoke to nine (!) scientists across several disciplines whose work was cited in the new Department of Energy report that downplays the severity of climate change. all of them say their work was misrepresented, cherry picked, and/or lacked context —