Michael Hudson

Perhaps unpopular opinion — if you’ve been covering business and the economy for 25 years, you don’t have to cite “economists say” to state the truth — that firing the commissioner of the BLS is a bad thing.

The Invention of “Sesame Street” Renata Adler’s 1972 review of the program that revolutionized children’s television.

“Sesame Street” and its sequel, “The Electric Company,” were, “with lapses, the most intelligent and important programs in television,” Renata Adler wrote, in 1972.

ICE Agents Invade a Manhattan Little League Field Youman Wilder has coached local kids for twenty-one years—including four who have gone pro. When masked agents tried to interrogate his players, he told them, “You don’t have more rights than they do....

When ICE agents questioned a group of 11- to 14-year-olds who’d just finished batting practice, their coach, Youman Wilder, stepped in. “I’m willing to die to make sure these kids can get home,” he recounted afterward.

Think outside the car!

In Europe, incomes are lower than the US and gas is €€€. But Europeans spend much less of their income on transportation. (source: itdp.org/2024/01/24/h...)

Why? Europe has:
🔹 Denser cities with closer destinations
🔹 Much better transit
🔹 More trips taken on foot or a bike

The High Cost of Transportation in the United States What does the average American pay to get around every day in 2024? What portion of their income is devoted to transportation? Is that cost typical across developed countries? Unfortunately, the porti...

Cars are expensive. Really expensive.

And we usually don’t fully account for all the costs, let alone the externalities. Including the cost of parking all our cars at home.

In 2021, while 90% of Americans had at least one car, nearly a quarter of the US population had three or more vehicles.

Video from Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, 18, puts fresh scrutiny on the harsh tactics used to reach the Trump administration’s ambitious enforcement targets.

Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest Video from Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, 18, puts fresh scrutiny on the harsh tactics used to reach the Trump administration’s ambitious enforcement targets

Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

AI data centers are using more power. Regular customers are footing the bill. • Kentucky Lantern Regular energy consumers, not corporations, will bear increased costs of an AI boom fueling growth in data centers and power demand.

AI data centers are using more power. Regular customers are footing the bill. kentuckylantern.com/2025/07/18/r...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

Globally, roughly a third more power is being generated from the sun this spring than last. If this exponential rate of growth can continue, we will soon live in a very different world, @billmckibben.bsky.social‬ writes.

Attorney General Bondi expected to seek release of Epstein grand jury testimony The attorney general said she would ask a court Friday to unseal pertinent grand jury records. That’s a portion of what would be included in the Justice Department’s broader investigative file.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she will ask a federal court to unseal more grand jury testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

But those transcripts, which could take weeks to release, would constitute only a fraction of the evidence the FBI has. wapo.st/40TzAVW

#BookSky

@laurahazardowen.bsky.social @sarahscire.com @joshuabenton.com edits elevated this story. Not lost on me, thinking abt impact / audience / cadence, that I'm lucky to work somewhere that gave me the time to dive deep.

Special s/o to Josh for design magic (don't miss the Texas storybreaks!!) (3/3)

The factors leading to the Landing’s closure may be unique. But its challenges — how to balance the pursuit of impact with building an audience; how to carve out a niche among more established local outlets; how ample seed funding can become a liability — are relevant to other news nonprofits. (2/3)

What went wrong at the Houston Landing? “We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”

If you are involved in trying to make nonprofit news sustainable, I wrote and reported this story for you!

So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...

Maurene Comey, daughter of James Comey, is fired from her job as a federal prosecutor Comey, who had worked in the U.S. attorney’s office for nearly a decade, prosecuted both Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, was fired Wednesday from her job as a prosecutor in the Manhattan US Attorney’s office.

Experts question the legality of deploying National Guard officials as immigration judges "The use of military courts to hear civilian cases is the essential component of martial law."

“There is no clear precedent for what DeSantis and the president are doing."

Experts question the legality of deploying National Guard officials as immigration judges.

👇🏻

Majority of Houston police calls to ICE have come on traffic stops An expert says the spike concerns her because that's when Houston police should have the most discretion.

“Majority of Houston police calls to ICE have come on traffic stops.” www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

An aerial view of a flooded, muddy river strewn with fallen and battered trees. A bulldozer is seen on a road above the river. Photo by Carter Johnston for The New York Times.

The death toll in Central Texas climbed to at least 70 as of midday Sunday, as rescuers searched for people swept away by devastating floods and forecasters warned that downpours would continue in already hard-hit areas. Follow live updates. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07...

At George Washington’s home, dozens become citizens on July 4th The U.S. naturalization ceremony at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate included remarks by Arnold Schwarzenegger

More than 100 immigrants from 95 countries became U.S. citizens at the home of George Washington on the Fourth of July.

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

The United States government is no longer able to protect us from real hazards, such as flash floods, because it’s shifting funds to fake hazards, such as a non-existent immigrant crime wave. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...

Texas flooding live updates: Rescue effort enters a third day as dozens remain missing Flash-flood warnings and watches remained in effect for parts of Central Texas, dimming hopes that more survivors would be found.

At least 51 people have been confirmed dead by the floods that swept through a region of Central Texas as a frantic search-and-rescue operation continues for those missing, including 27 girls from a beloved summer camp.

Follow updates here:

Texas forbids law that keeps guns away from unhinged people Despite recent massacres in the state, GOP leaders ban a proven tool to help stop them.

Texas forbids law that keeps guns away from unhinged people www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Doctors By Nature: How Ants, Apes, & Other Animals Heal Themselves Science on Tap is a science lecture series where you can sit back, enjoy a pint, and laugh while you learn. Listen to experts talk about the science in your neighborhood and around the world. You don’...

Portland friends: I will be giving a #scienceontap public lecture on my book Doctors by Nature at the Alberta Rose Theatre on July 23rd. Beer, books and science! Good combo. 🧪 @princetonupress.bsky.social

www.scienceontaporwa.org/events/alber...

Entangled fates—the rally effect around Europe due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Entangled fates—the rally effect around Europe due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

⚔️ Rallying around Europe

A new study finds that support for the EU surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine - not from identity, but from a belief in collective security.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm #EU #UkraineWar 🧪

...Not all of the defendants were in court today for the exoneration. Rodriguez died of muscular sclerosis in 2019 while in prison serving a life sentence in the case. His son, Daniel, wore a shirt with his father’s picture on it to court to hear his father’s name be cleared.

Some of the statements implicated a man named “Pee Wee” Torres. But when detectives learned Torres had an airtight alibi – he was in police custody at the time of the murder – detectives found another man with the nickname “Pee Wee”, in this case, Gomez, to take Torres’s place in the investigation.

Six Chicago men exonerated in 1987 stabbing death of government official Convictions overturned after DNA proof and misconduct allegations against now retired detective Reynaldo Guevara

Six Chicago men exonerated in 1987 stabbing death
Convictions overturned after DNA proof and police misconduct allegations

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

65 Percent of People Taken by ICE Had No Convictions, 93 Percent No Violent Convictions ICE’s deportation agenda is not what is being advertised to the American public. ICE is not interested in prioritizing public safety, yet it constantly pretends that anyone who objects to its tactics ...

CATO INSTITUTE: 65 Percent of People Taken by ICE Had No Convictions, 93 Percent No Violent Convictions
www.cato.org/blog/65-peop...

‘The reality we live in:’ Lawmakers consider what they’d sacrifice for safety As threats to lawmakers and their families persist and intensify, members of Congress are grappling with what steps they’re willing to take to ensure their safety.

new - Congressional lawmakers are once again grappling with the reality of persistent and escalating political violence — and facing a dilemma about whether to pour more tax dollars into their own protection.

w/ @ktullymcmanus.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/06...