8 wins that ruined the regime’s week—and Trump felt every one
One of the most intriguing players heading into the trade deadline made his long-awaited return to the lineup on Friday. Catcher Ryan Jeffers was back behind the plate for the Twins after missing nearly two months with a fractured hamate bone. The backstop needed just five rehab games to get up to speed. Jeffers will […]
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Let's keep rallying for the Maine Democrats today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's keep rallying for the Maine Dems everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A leaked group chat shows what’s been bubbling not so far beneath the surface of the wing-nut Right. Let’s pray it doesn’t boil over.
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GAVARNIE-GÉDRE, France — Millions of people travel to the Tour de France every year, almost all of them on purpose. This is the story of three people who did so by accident.
While waiting for the riders to make their way up to Gavarnie-Gédre for the finish of Stage 6, I took a little stroll out to see the Cirque du Gavarnie. The beautiful glacial amphitheater houses the tallest waterfall in mainland France, and the final climb of Thursday's racing made up for its unselective profile by at least finishing in an incredible atmosphere. After taking a little cool-off dip in a crisp stream made pearlescent by eroded minerals, I spotted three people who definitely didn't belong. Antonio, Teresana, and Federico were decked out in backpacking gear, talking to a local official, and displaying the universal body language of people who have found themselves in a Bit Of A Situation.
I knew I had to talk to these guys. They seemed fun, and like they had a story. Both turned out to be correct.
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The Trump White House joins the gun activists petitioning the Supreme Court to continue its rewrite of the Second Amendment.
The post The Supreme Court Is Coming For Assault Weapons Bans Next appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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Plus: Planned Parenthood's clinics outlasted the regime’s Medicaid ban
The Royals have been one of the more disappointing teams in MLB. They’re alongside the Angels as the two worst teams in the American League, the only AL clubs completely buried in the playoff picture. That theoretically positions them as deadline sellers. However, as explored on the MLBTR podcast this week, Kansas City doesn’t have […]
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Lots to talk about this week!
Judge James Boasberg heard arguments on Thursday afternoon in D.C.
Every time someone like Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is killed by one of the president’s amped-up goons, I lose my faith in our country all over again.
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Republicans are really into strange disappearances lately.
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Some states have found a novel way to help anyone detained or harassed by these violent goons.
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Agents shot a man dead in Houston, and go figure, the organization doesn’t have any evidence to back up its actions.
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The conservative justices have spent years developing rules for campaign finance regulation that tilt in favor of billionaires every time.
The post “End Citizens United” Is Meaningless Without Supreme Court Reform appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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Plus: A Trump judge freed Florida’s professors, his World Cup call backfires, and Yale’s dean defied the regime
More than three years after a jury's verdict, Trump is running out of options to avoid paying the woman who, a jury found in 2023, he had sexually abused and defamed.
Yes I believe we can still win flip this seat this November!
Welcome to our new subscribers, and yes do we have a lot to talk about tonight!!!!!
Hopium paid subscribers gather tonight at 7pm ET to talk about this and more!
Raw link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crp2e5D_Q78
This Sunday I am meeting again with Christian Arzu from the @linkarzu
YouTube channel. We will look into the basics of Org mode. How to use
it to write documents and organise your life.
Our previous meeting about getting started with Emacs is here:
https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2026-07-05-emacs-live-with-linkarzu/.
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Just when we think Trump can’t go any lower, he finds a way to play politics with disaster aid.
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The president found a way to insult damn near every one of our allies.
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Welcome back to Minor Dilemmas, where a member of Defector's Parents Council will answer your questions on surviving family life. Have a question? Email us at minordilemmas@defector.com.
This week, Billy dives into the tricky question of screen time.
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The Supreme Court is not only transferring political power from Congress to the executive branch. It is also reserving a ton of political power for itself.
The post The Conservative Justices Attached Some Major Strings to the Latest Decision On Presidential Power appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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Turns out they’re beatable
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts. This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of […]
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The Democratic Party simply can’t go back to status-quo candidates if it wants to swing the Senate.
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We need more government officials to stand up to the president’s delusions about the 2020 election.
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And here I thought the president was supposed to be good at making deals, not breaking them.
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The Royals have signed right-hander Justin Topa to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Omaha. The Blue Jays released him from a minor league deal a couple of days ago. Topa, 35, has some major league success but is not having a good year. […]
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This week at SCOTUS, a student previously diagnosed with schizophrenia has been detained for 13 months. Also: An appellate academic freedom win. And, for paid subscribers: Closing my tabs.
On Sunday, June 7, LeeAnne Hutchison was at the Tony Awards, watching her Broadway debut Liberation win for Best Play. The next morning, she woke up and clocked in at Defenders Academy, a week-long trial skills program for public defenders from across the country. She’s spent the last two decades using her acting skills to teach lawyers how to be more compelling in court.
Hutchison and I met over Zoom to talk about what a courtroom has in common with a theater, and what keeps bringing her back to share her talents with public defenders. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
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The list of reasons Trump’s former lawyer is unfit to hold judicial office just got longer and weirder.
The post Emil Bove’s Trump iPhone Wallpaper Might Be the Most Deranged Thing About Him appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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Four times, they reached for something that wasn’t theirs. Four times, they lost.
Let's focus on making tomorrow a better day.......
We last heard from the New York City duo, Ill Al Skratch, in 1994 with their debut album, Creep Wit’ Me. The album spawned two moderately successful singles, but neither racked up any hardware (aka RIAA gold or platinum plaques), … Continue reading →
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Finally, a shadow docket decision that is good for the United States.
The post FIFA Is Only the Latest Corrupt Institution to Grant Donald Trump’s Emergency Request appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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The Fifth Circuit is already the federal judiciary’s most aggressive incubator of MAGA legal activism. Kurt Engelhardt’s retirement has given President Donald Trump another opportunity to make it worse.
The post Kurt Englehardt’s Retirement Is Going to Make the Fifth Circuit Even Trumpier appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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The Giants have claimed right-hander Eric Cerantola off waivers from the Royals, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Royals designated him for assignment last week. Cerantola has been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, so they don’t need a corresponding move to open an active roster spot. San Francisco also outrighted reliever Gregory Santos off the […]
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Now we just need someone to look into his crypto earnings.
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By pulling strings to ensure Folarin Balogun plays in the next game for the U.S. national team, the president may have accidentally undermined part of his agenda.
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Not only did the president try and fail spectacularly to quote the Declaration of Independence; he also tried to make McCarthyism great again.
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Breaking News - After new accusations of sexual assault Graham Platner is "taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” for his candidacy
Stuart Stevens joins us live today at 12pm ET/The US Men play tonight at 8pm ET!
Stuart Stevens joins us live today at 1pm ET/The US Men play tonight at 8pm ET!
Proof the momentum is ours heading into the midterms
The Rangers had some interest in signing Lane Thomas last offseason, the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant reports. The outfielder instead joined the Royals on a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal that was “too rich for the Rangers’ blood,” as Grant puts it, but Thomas could be a possibility for Texas as the trade deadline […]
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Stuart Stevens joins us live tomorrow at 2pm ET/Team USA plays tmr night at 8pm ET!!!!!
Trump wanted a monument. He got a bad week.
Raw link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozszlnEU_3I
[ The video will be recorded. ]
I will do a live stream together with Christian Arzu, a NeoVim user,
who is now trying out Emacs. In this meeting we will go over the
basics. The idea is that I will do some handholding at this early
stage to set Christian up with a basic configuration. We will also
take any comments from the chat.
For some background, read my comments on an article that Christian
posted the other day about his expectations:
https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2026-07-04-emacs-for-beginners-with-linkarzu/.
My article also includes commentary on some of the feedback Christian
gets for his premium offerings.
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The United States needs leaders willing to speak forthrightly about our past and ambitiously about our future in order to make it through the treacherous present.
A bad time to be a wannabe king
Let's spend some time today with the Declaration of Independence itself.....
O'Connor has been very receptive to the Trump admin and its anti-trans efforts, but an FTC request to him is now on hold after "consultation" with Judge James Boasberg in D.C.
Royals left-hander Kris Bubic is still not close to rejoining the team. He has been on a rehab assignment but, per the MLB.com injury tracker, was scratched from his next scheduled game. He received a cortisone shot and will be shut down for another seven to ten days before attempting to ramp up again. It’s […]
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Perhaps it is too fucking hot where you are to do anything outside this weekend. Perhaps you prefer to be locked inside watching World Cup matches while eating popsicles. While you do that, feel free to hang out here and chat in the open thread.
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Morning all.
We read all 927 pages so you didn’t have to. Here’s what they buried.
We will get together next Friday at 1pm ET/Happy July 4th All!
Judge Pitts issued the preliminary injunction covering a subpoena directed at Stanford. Also: About the dismissed charges in the "judge shopping" case. And: The SCOTUS shadow docket is still going.
The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Luke Maile. Outfielder John Rave has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha as the corresponding active roster move. The Royals opened a 40-man spot by designating right-hander Eric Cerantola for assignment. Maile, 35, is a journeyman depth catcher. Over the years, he has suited up […]
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The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve signed veteran righty Scott Barlow to a minor league deal. The Warner Sports Management client was released by the A’s earlier in the week. He now returns to the organization with which he made his major league debut in 2018. Barlow didn’t just debut with the Royals but rather […]
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The state’s board of education also plans to “significantly expand lessons on communism,” whatever the hell that means.
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Whether you remember his name or not, you've probably been reading about Judge Reed O'Connor and his judicial malevolence for years. O'Connor is making headlines again for being one of two judges to sentence 15 ICE protestors to a combined 547 years in prison. As the writer Lauren Fadiman pointed out in The Baffler, the media often uses "Prairieland ICE shooting" as a misleading shorthand for the protest. What actually happened is hard to capture in three words.
On the night of July 4, 2025, about a dozen people held a noise demonstration outside of the ICE Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. A few of them vandalized vehicles and guard structures, which cost the detention center around $2,200 to repair. Some set off fireworks in hopes of catching the attention of detainees, c…
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Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion emphasized that sports are “different.” But conservative activists are already celebrating what the case will allow them to do next.
The post Conservative Activists Know the Trans Sports Ban Case Isn’t Just About Sports appeared first on Balls and Strikes.
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Plus: Hochul just cut checks to the farmers Trump’s tariffs broke
The Supreme Court had numerous opportunities during OT2025 to act (and appear to be acting) above politics. One key theme of the term is how many it squandered.
The 5-4 decision was the least the court could do to keep the United States of America on a constitutional path.