59 thoughts on “We’re BAAACK!”

  2. and they’re back too according to The Guardian
    Perseid meteor shower set to dazzle northern hemisphere this week
    Astronomers say viewing conditions promising for this year’s shower, and 50 to 100 meteors an hour may be visible
    The Perseid summer light show is back, and viewing conditions are especially promising across the northern hemisphere.
    The meteor shower is expected to peak on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and coincides with a total solar eclipse across Spain, Iceland and Greenland and a six-planet parade – though the best time to view the fireballs will come after totality.
    As many as 50 to 100 meteors per hour may be visible under ideal conditions, according to NASA. The American Meteor Society estimates 30 to 50 meteors per hour could be seen from rural regions in the US.
    Random meteors are visible in dark skies on any given night. Meteor showers tend to put on dazzling celestial shows and happen at predictable times every year when the Earth plows through trails of debris left behind by comets and, sometimes, asteroids. Those remnants collide with Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds, producing streaks of light known as shooting stars.
    The Perseids are debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, an icy ball that orbits the sun every 133 years and is not scheduled for a return visit until 2125. Observations of this meteor shower date back over 2,000 years.
    The Perseids are a perennial favorite because they tend to produce brilliant fireballs. Summer temperatures also make this shower popular.
    “We don’t have to suffer through a cold winter night to get a good view of meteors,” said astronomer Zach Vanderbosch with McDonald Observatory in Texas.
    The moon will be in its new moon phase during the Perseids’ peak, making viewing conditions even better.
    “The moon is beautiful, but it’s such a diva,” said astronomer Aparna Venkatesan with the University of San Francisco. “New moon means we don’t have moonlight flooding the sky, and you tend to see way more meteors as a result.”
    To spot the meteors, go outside after dark, away from clouds and city lights. Venkatesan plans to drive to the Sierra Nevada.
    The best views will be between midnight and dawn when the constellation Perseus is high in the northern sky. The meteors will appear to radiate from that constellation.
    Look up and give your eyes a half hour to adjust to the darkness. Vanderbosch recommends picking a patch of sky to focus on until a quick, bright streak passes by – even in your peripheral vision – and to avoid looking at your phone.
    “There’s just something magical about it,” Vanderbosch said.

  3. also back on wednesday, an eclipse
    from mashable

    … But people in the United States won’t be in that bullseye. Instead, a part of the country will see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon nips the sun but never covers it completely. The sky won’t go dark, the stars won’t pop out, and you won’t get the full moody effect. But with the right eyewear, you could still see the sun turn into a yummy space crescent roll in the middle of a Wednesday.
    For a U.S. audience, this eclipse is either a drop-everything-and-fly-to-Iceland kind of deal or a fun coffee break at work. Here’s how to plan 15 minutes to step outside and look up safely — or, better yet, ditch the special eyewear and get a front-row seat to the main event with a livestream from where the real action is happening. [continues]


  4. Aug 10, 2026 #lastweektonight
    John Oliver discusses how the Department of Justice has changed since Trump took office for his second term, how the DOJ seems to be acting on his behalf instead of on behalf of the people, and why we need barbers who use scissors instead of their teeth. You’d think that goes without saying, but we’re afraid it might not.

  8. WSJ: The Republican Party Is Losing Its Edge With Voters on the Economy

    • Persistent cost-of-living worries are eroding the GOP’s image as the party better suited to handle the economy ahead of the midterm elections.
    • For the first time since 2010, Fox News polls find voters citing Democrats as better on the economy than Republicans.
    • In several surveys, only about one-quarter of respondents rate the economy as excellent or good, while about three-quarters say it is in fair or poor shape.

    — Wall Street Journal (Trailmix Free Link)

  12. Today in the Diner…
    Patriot Games Ohio and Jon Husted Scams

    Inside the Patriot Games in Geneva Ohio, Jon Husted data centers, and Chuck Schumer ads in Michigan. Plus tech support chaos and Texas Senate polls.

    We kick things off by digging into the bizarre Patriot Games happening right now in Geneva Ohio. Backed by the Freedom 250 group, it is essentially a taxpayer funded MAGA athletic event at the Spire Academy, and it is just as weird as it sounds. We pull up the tape to see exactly what kind of competitive track and field event requires a loyalty pledge to Donald Trump before hitting the starting line.

    Then we pivot to the absolute scam of data centers draining our local resources. We look at how Jon Husted force fed these massive energy sucking facilities on Ohio with billions in tax breaks, leaving local communities footing the bill. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer is dropping saturation ad buys in Michigan, and we catch Hassan Piker completely losing his mind cheering for an establishment Democratic ad without even realizing who paid for it.

    Finally, we take a detour into some lazy man tech support to fix a Streamyard echo loop on Google Chrome. Because if we cannot figure out Windows Control Panel settings on a live broadcast, how are we supposed to save the country?

    Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
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    00:00 Intro and Minnesota Primary
    02:20 Nizhnekamsk Russia Drone Strike
    05:35 Geneva Ohio Patriot Games
    09:50 Freedom 250 MAGA Athletics
    13:20 Gavin Newsom on Fox News
    18:25 Jon Husted Ohio Data Centers
    20:20 Streamyard Tech Support Chaos
    44:15 Texas Senate Polls and Paxton
    51:56 Chuck Schumer Ad Hassan Piker
    57:25 Save America Tucker Carlson
    — Human Prompted and Edited. Machine Drafted. (Gemini Pro)

  15. SILICON TOMATO
    Reviews The News

    • TRUMP DOCTRINE ACTIVATED: The current occupant of the White House has officially expanded his geopolitical mandate to subterranean evictions, weaponizing his Monroe Doctrine makeover to execute a 7.4-magnitude tectonic restructuring in western Colombia. Regional authorities are now clearing the rubble while politely pretending they still retain jurisdiction over their own continental plates. (Direct Relief)

    • ALTITUDE OPTIMIZATION: Air India successfully streamlined its descent procedures over the Indian Ocean by disabling superfluous flight-control systems, instantly optimizing passenger altitude by 300 feet. The airline is now actively rebranding its cascading mechanical failure as a momentary meteorological inconvenience. (The Hindu)

    • BUREAUCRATIC REBOOT: The Jharkhand government abruptly canceled three civil service exams after widespread paper leaks inadvertently bypassed the state’s traditional bribery pipeline. Local administrators are now working diligently to launch a more secure testing format that properly restores their absolute monopoly on administrative grift. (The Indian Express)

    — Human directed, Machine Drafted (Gemini Pro)

  20. For our chatroom burger wars:

    Wendy’s has lost its place as America’s runner-up to McDonald’s, ending a six-year run as the second-largest burger chain, being surpassed by a resurgent Burger King.

  21. well if you’re a communist or socialist who was hoping for the collapse of the US, trump is doing a heck of a job for you

    the weak led by the stupid

  24. https://www.mundoamerica.com/news/2026/08/07/6a7592aae4d4d86d748b459c.html

    Trump comes to the rescue of the Japanese yen

    Washington buys yen after the collapse of the Japanese currency and seeks to protect both its main ally in Asia and the U.S. economy.

    “The intervention was a show of friendship,” he said about the rescue of the Japanese yen. And, almost seamlessly, he finished with one of his recurring jokes about the Asian ally: “Japan has always been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”

    The operation began on July 31. While the U.S. Treasury was selling euros to buy yen, the Japanese government was making massive purchases of its own currency. The effect was immediate. In just a few days, the exchange rate retreated to around 157 yen per dollar, a recovery sufficient to send a message to the markets: the White House was willing to support the weakened yen.

    The news quickly spread from the Japanese press to the pages of major international financial newspapers because it was not a common move. Major powers rarely intervene to defend another country’s currency. The last time Washington came to the yen’s rescue was after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and before that during the Asian financial crisis of 1998.

  25. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abelardo-de-la-espriella-us-pledges-1-billion-security-assistance-colombia/

    US pledges $1 billion to Colombia as new right-wing president takes office

    *Attack of the clones.

    Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer with a taste for spectacle, took office Friday for his four-year term after a campaign focused on anger and fears about security.

    “As a cornerstone of this renewed partnership, the United States, working with Congress, intends to announce $1 billion in assistance as part of a security package to support President (Abelardo) de la Espriella’s administration in achieving our shared goals,” the statement said.

  26. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/google-ai-overview-flock-alpr-surveillance-hallucination-gold-copper

    Google’s notorious AI Overview just handed would-be Flock vandals a perfect excuse to carve into the company’s controversial AI-integrated license plate readers (ALPRs).

    One of the more popular bits in this space centers on the idea that Flock’s ALPR’s are supposedly packed with valuable metals like gold, copper, and zinc — so, the tongue-in-cheek riffing goes, why not crack one open and cash in at the nearest scrapyard?

    ALPRs do contain trace amounts of gold and other metals, just not enough to be worth the trouble. Unless you’re well versed in breaking down circuit boards, you’d be hard pressed to earn enough to buy a Big Mac, let alone recoup your labor costs.

    Search “how much gold does a Flock camera have” and Google’s AI Overview doesn’t even push back a little bit. Instead, it flatly asserts that a “Flock safety camera contains about 1 to 5 grams of gold used in its internal circuit boards and wiring.” (At today’s gold prices, that would mean each Flock camera contained up to $650 of gold.)

    Google goes on to claim that Flock’s ALPRs hold anywhere from two to 23 pounds of copper, which would be an engineering marvel considering the whole device only weighs three pounds.

    There’s a real irony buried in all this AI slop: one AI-surveillance company’s search engine is quietly manufacturing an excuse to destroy another AI-surveillance company’s product. If that doesn’t sum up the current state of the AI-obsessed tech industry, nothing will.

    Google didn’t respond to a request for comment.

  27. NPR: In a competitive Maine Senate race, women voters could be the deciders

    The power of women voters is clear when looking at Collins’ winning coalition in 2020. Women in the state made up nearly 60% of total turnout, according to exit polling, voting for Joe Biden by 23 percentage points. However the same group flipped for Collins, by just three points.

  35. vit C neutralizes chlorine instantly, just crush a tablet and add

    never heard of flashlight app, isn’t it integrated into your os?

  36. The new Trump/RFK Jr. vaccine order isn’t about parental rights—it’s a logistical nightmare waiting to happen. For the GOP, picking a fight against childhood immunizations in the middle of a measles outbreak is a massive unforced error ahead of the 2026 midterms.

    Craigtrailmix | SUBSTACK
    Trumps Vaccine Trap
    Read on Substack →

  39. i don’t understand the Newsome hate, he makes progressive arguments well to centrist and conservative audiences

    Got behind Kamala when he could have made a political play

    talk to constituents instead of running away from them

  40. personally participated in wildfire rescue efforts as a citizen, can you ever imagine most republicans doing that, especially king asshole?

    vocally pro-lgbtq

  42. Newsom is just so thirsty for higher office. He’ll say anything to appeal to different folks, but to me his vibes are corporate, manufactured, insincere.

    Flashlights in os and now it has ads. Isn’t that wild? Garbage ads for games & stuff in a banner at the bottom. Made me think of the ads in “Minority Report” that follow you around, and the insidious blipverts in “Max Headroom” from the 1980s.

  45. He’s branding himself an “established insurgent” because he wants one foot on the coattails of Mamdani/Bernie/AOC/El-Sayed just in case it can pull him forward. Corporate Dems tend to hold more progressive candidates back, as shown by the actions of the DNC.

    Also, I worry that his ex-wife (who is also Don Jr’s ex-fiancé) might have or concoct some dirt on him.

  49. Anyway, if he ends up being a candidate in the general for 2028, I’d vote for him. Just think he’s not the best choice. Also, since he is shirt-tail relations with Nancy Pelosi, he will be tied to everything the MAGAts don’t like about her.

    A lot of baggage, even if some of it isn’t his to carry.

  51. Buttigieg. Ossoff. AOC. All would be well-under 50 when inaugurated in 2029.

    Bernie and Warren (if only they were younger).

    Newsome would be 61, if elected.

    Looking at how much the world has changed, and how much our politicians haven’t (with the exception of the crime family squatting in the WH), we need some younger candidates, especially if we want them for more than one term.

  52. i’m not on the newsome campaign team but i thought he earned some cred in 2024

    was the loudest advocate for a black woman and it didn’t seem self-serving, might have missed his window doing it, made her case better than she did

  56. Iran won’t open the Strait of Hormuz until tRUMP leaves office. What makes them think any other Repug won’t be a dirty dealer, too?

  57. well by all accounts the iranian regime is evil and our idiot king handed them a strategic win and made them stronger

    thanks trumpers

  58. also widely agreed he encouraged thousands of iranian civilians to revolt with the assurance he would help them and didn’t and they were slaughtered

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