The backlash against Flock, the warrantless surveillance network masquerading as red-light cameras, reached Delaware the other day when a Graylyn Crest man damaged one with a shotgun blast. Kevin Smith, 64, was arrested by county police, who charged him with two felony counts of reckless endangering, which strikes me as prima facie bullshit, along with several lesser gun crimes. The news release said the camera belongs to the Delaware State Police, as opposed to Flock or any of its several competitors, but unless the DSP starts putting up stickers alerting irate citizens “These Aren’t Flocks!”
As for Mr. Smith, I suggest he start a GoFundMe for his legal expenses, because the growing anger over this seems to mirror the bipartisan and widespread antagonism towards data centers and AI … hey, do you notice something? Amanda Marcotte did, and she connects the dots to find a picture of a brewing rebellion against our tech billionaire overlords.
The Natalie Harp story continues to mutate. While Republicans screech hypocritically about misogyny, the paranoia-minded point out that she had no security clearance until Trump intervened, which basically means she shouldn’t have security clearance. More concretely, Harp apparently is Trump’s media gatekeeper, which makes her a kind of puppet master – show him praise to make him happy, show him criticism to get him mad. This might be Trump’s least favorite way yet to keep the Epstein Files out of the news.
Forty isn’t a standout among round numbers, but 40 trillion is round enough for the financial media to take notice if it’s in dollars. That’s the size of the national debt, which under Trump has swelled almost as much as his cankles. It matters because it’s yet another driver of inflation, along with the out-of-control borrowing by AI-obsessed tech companies. Which brings us right back to where today’s Open Thread started.
The floor’s yours.
Anyone questioning whether a Blue Wave is coming should look at this result from Pennsylvania:
https://penncapital-star.com/election-2026/democrats-declare-victory-after-tight-special-election-in-trump18-state-house-district/
“Democrat Brandon Dukes has declared victory after a special election in Butler County’s 12th state House district. Unofficial results have him leading by 97 votes, as of 3:00 p.m on Wednesday.
The Associated Press has yet to call the race. As of Wednesday afternoon, the county elections bureau said they completed their first official signing, and that a five-day period allowing challenges to the results has begun.
No challenge has been filed yet, and if none is, the election will be certified on August 26.
“We want to count every vote, every provisional, every overseas voter, but based on these results, I have nothing but gratitude for the support of my friends, family, staff and volunteers who have supported me through this entire journey,” Dukes said. “We can now do so much more in the State House to deliver real wins for working families.”
“The district, which was previously represented by Stephenie Scialabba before she resigned in March, has not elected a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House in more than 20 years. And voters there elected President Donald Trump by an 18% margin in 2024. “