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"The projects are intended to provide electricity to the power-starved Permian Basin from other parts of Texas, including the Dallas area, but opponents say the current process favors utilities over landowners," writes Philip Jankowski. #Grid #Greed

Lawmakers want transmission plan halted after Tanya Tucker testimonyA $15 billion power line project to supercharge the Texas oil and gas industry faces derailment after a Senate hearing that included testimony from the country music legend and other opponents.www.dallasnews.com

"The filing was a remarkable and detailed indictment of a project that, until now, the Trump administration had defended as an astounding success," write Madaleine Rubin and David A. Fahrenthold. #TrumpNoBidContract

Charges Dropped Against Ex-Olympian David Hearn Accused of Damaging Reflecting PoolA former Olympian will not face trial after federal prosecutors acknowledged that the Trump administration’s claims of vandalism were false.www.nytimes.com

Judge Donovan Frank rejected X.AI’s call to halt the law before it could take effect on Saturday, but Musk's suit continues, MPR reported. Attorney General Keith Ellison in filing Friday said the law places guardrails on a tool that can cause harm to Minnesotans but doesn't restrict free speech. #AI

Judge denies X.AI effort to halt ban on tech that depicts people nude without permissionElon Musk’s company X.AI sought an emergency injunction blocking the law that bans nudification technology, a tool that can use someone’s likeness to make a realistic photo or video of them that’s fak...www.mprnews.org

“Anyone who attacked law enforcement should still be in prison, not getting a check from the federal government,” said GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, NBC News reported. #J6 #ToddBlanche

Trump defends ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, further complicating Blanche nominationRepublican Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn have been holding up Trump’s pick for attorney general, seeking assurances that the controversial weaponization fund is dead.www.nbcnews.com

Trump gave his arch-enemy Iran pass. “Trump knows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too. This is what modern warfare looks like, and it further illustrates there’s no plan to win a war with Iran,” said Gov. Tim Walz, NBC News reported. #TACOSupreme

Hackers targeted municipal water systems in 7 states this week, FBI saysThe federal warning comes after more than 30 water facilities in Minnesota were breached.www.nbcnews.com

AI-generated satellite images created with a click have the potential to vastly accelerate the AI fakes, Jake Godin, senior researcher with online forensic investigator Bellingcat, told NPR. "It's just streamlining the process, which I think is going to make it proliferate more." #AI #Google

Google pauses AI satellite images, after fears of deepfakes in the skyJournalists, human rights advocates and open source analysts recoiled in horror at the initial decision: "The opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless," said one.www.npr.org

AI and misinformation expert Henk van Ess said Google was allowing "invented" imagery to be "welded to genuine coordinates, drawn on genuine imagery". "The forgery does not have to look convincing on its own. It inherits the credibility of the map it was born on," van Ess told the BBC. #AI #Google

New Google Earth AI tool could fuel misinformation, experts sayExperts tell BBC Verify Google's new feature which lets people generate fake satellite images could be misused.www.bbc.com

Crypto mullah Faryar Shirzad is begging Congress for a government bailout dubbed the CLARITY act. Despite lobbyists handing out millions to politicians, polls show more Americans oppose Cryptocurrency than back it. Voters see crypto as Trump-run Ponzi scheme disguised as a money laundering racket.

'Major transformation': Coinbase exec says crucial Crypto bill must pass | RISINGOPINION: Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase, joins the show for a deep dive on the CLARITY Act, which seeks to establish a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry. #FaryarSh...thehill.com

"But his big bet on AI was built on an astronomical amount of debt in every imaginable form — bonds, letters of credit, asset-backed securities — available in seemingly unlimited quantities, because the more you spent building AI infrastructure, the more you would earn, or so the logic went." -NYT

Larry Ellison Bet It All on the A.I. Boom. Will He Be the Face of the A.I. Bubble?Inside the 81-year-old billionaire’s risky, debt-fueled scramble to transform his data empire into an A.I. juggernaut.www.nytimes.com

“New York’s gambling laws protect children from underage betting and help combat gambling addiction,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a release, Courthouse News reported. “No matter what they call themselves, prediction markets like Kalshi are gambling platforms, plain and simple." #Gambling

New York sues Kalshi, claiming prediction contracts violate state gambling lawsState Attorney General Letitia James is looking to halt all of Kalshi’s contracts “relating to sports, culture, elections and other events.”courthousenews.com

“Data centers in particular have taken their place among the top tier of issues in this year’s cycle,” said Chris Borick, professor of political science at Lehigh University. Borick believes data centers are fused in voters’ minds with the top issue of all: affordability, Marcus Baram noted.

In Pennsylvania, the data center wars hit the ballot boxVoters angry about rising electricity bills have turned the fight over powering AI into the defining issue of the state’s 2026 elections.www.dailykos.com

The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. today is $4.10, AAA reported. The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. two days before Trump and Netanyahu attacked Iran was $2.98. #IranWar #GasPrices #InflationNation

‘Not seeing much of a drop yet;’ Gas prices continue to climb across regionAAA says that the average gas price across Ohio is $4 per gallon.www.whio.com

The longer the war drags on, the more profitable it is likely to be for oil companies, The Times noted. International oil prices, which were around prewar levels of $72 a barrel at the start of July, had rebounded to about $87 by Friday. #IranWar #InflationNation #ConsumersPay

Iran War Drives Oil Profits to Highest Levels in YearsThe world’s biggest oil companies are benefiting from the high commodity prices that have been a drag on the rest of the economy.www.nytimes.com

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil major, has less Middle East production than its peers, allowing it to reap the benefits of higher ​oil prices without the large output disruptions that riled rivals such as ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, Reuters reported. #IranWar #InflationNation #ConsumersPay

Chevron records highest quarterly profit in six years, beating analyst estimatesChevron surpassed analyst estimates for second-quarter earnings on Friday, reporting its highest ​quarterly profit in at least six years as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupts world energy markets...www.reuters.com

Adjusted earnings ‌rose 67% from the first quarter to $14.7 billion -- more than double the amount posted by ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. producer, in the same period of last year, Reuters reported. #IranWar #InflationNation #ConsumersPay

ExxonMobil quarterly profit hits four-year high but misses analyst estimatesExxonMobil missed Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Friday, despite notching its biggest ​quarterly profit in four years amid higher oil prices and improved refining margins driven by...www.reuters.com

Verrus signed a nondisclosure agreement with Salem officials last year and began plans for three large data centers in the city’s southern end, The Oregonian reported. Salem residents complained that city administrators had kept the data center confidential for well over a year. #DataCenters #AI

Oregon governor blocks sale of state land for Salem data centerThe Silicon Valley company said it plans to build its Salem data center anyway.www.oregonlive.com

"Let's use some cowboy logic, governor. Let's put some parameters and guardrails on this industry before it destroys Texas," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a one-on-one interview with KHOU 11. #DataCenters #AI

'Let’s use some cowboy logic' | Miller warns data centers could destroy Texas’ water, grid and farmsYouTube video by KHOU 11youtu.be

The Tax Foundation, an independent think tank, estimated that Trump tariffs reduced GDP by 0.4 percent and were equal to a $900 tax on every American family, Reuters reported. #Tariffs #InflationNation

US economy gets a solid B+ grade in latest GDP reportThe US economy is not in a recession - yet - but the underwhelming report card on the economy's performance in the second quarter gives cause for concern.www.dailymail.com

"The trade deficit swelled 42.2% to a seasonally adjusted $77.6 billion in May, according to Commerce Department data. It was the highest level in nearly a year, as imports of computer accessories, semiconductors, and other products related to the AI boom far outstripped exports," writes Bryan Mena.

US economy’s growth was weaker than expected in the second quarter | CNN BusinessThe world’s largest economy lost steam heading into summer as red-hot demand for AI infrastructure widened the trade deficit, dampening growth. But a look under the hood shows the economy is humming a...www.cnn.com

Count Brad Paisley, Tanya Tucker, Gavin Adcock, and Willie Nelson among those voices, RS reported. “It would be an enormous monstrosity, an absolute eye sore and detract in every way for not only that zoo, but also that area,” Paisley posted, supported by Jack White, Sheryl Crow, and Margo Price.

Country Music Is Coming Out Strong Against Data CentersWillie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Tanya Tucker are among the country artists speaking out against data centers in both rural and urban communities.www.rollingstone.com