June 22nd
Mark David
1) Italy Called Trump an "A..hole" - Why Won’t America’s Media be Similarly Candid? By Thom Hartmann The Hartman Report
A conservative Italian newspaper used the blunt type of word American journalists keep avoiding, and exposed how far our press will go to normalize the abnormal...
This weekend, the right-wing Italian daily Libero, a major conservative newspaper that shares a fair amount of Donald Trump’s politics, ran a one-word verdict on the President of the United States across its front page. The Italian word is coglione. The polite translation is “idiot.” The translation that George Conway and half of social media reached for, and the one the paper plainly intended, is a good deal blunter than that and more dictionary accurate: “a..hole.”
2) Longtime Exxon CEO Lee Raymond’s legacy of climate denial and misinformation lives on – a psychologist offers ways to counter it
The Conversation June 22nd
By: Joe Árvai Professor of Psychology, Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
When the Exxon Valdez spilled more than 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989, Exxon President Lee Raymond oversaw the cleanup and a US$1 billion federal settlement for the extensive damage to the coastline and wildlife. Afterward, he helped lead a 14-year legal battle that ultimately got courts to cut a $5 billion punitive damages award for business and property owners harmed by the spill to $500 million.
Along the way, Raymond denounced environmentalists as “extremists” and “ideologues,” falsely blaming them for exacerbating a disaster that investigators attributed to errors by the ship’s crew.
3) In deep‑red Idaho, even Republicans break with Trump on farm labor
The Conversation June 22nd
· Lisa Meierotto Associate Professor of Global Studies and Environmental Studies, Boise State University
· Matthew May Research Scholar, Boise State University
· Rebecca Som Castellano Director of Human-Environment Systems and Professor of Sociology, Boise State University
Under the second Trump administration, the United States has seen mass deportations and a sharp escalation in immigration enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security says the crackdown pushed nearly 3 million people out of the country in Trump’s first year back in office.
For the first time since the 1960s, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. is declining; because most farmworkers are foreign born, those losses are already beginning to strain American farms.
We are social scientists who study immigrant communities in Idaho and the challenges farmworkers face. We also run an annual survey exploring public opinion on a range of policy issues, including immigration and economic conditions. Amid the government’s heated rhetoric, our data shows public opinion on immigration in one of the country’s reddest agricultural states is diverging from national politics and may even be at odds with federal policy
4) A Reflection of Failure Trump couldn't even fix a pool Adam Kinzinger
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was never supposed to be about Donald Trump. It was built to reflect Abraham Lincoln’s memorial and the Washington Monument beyond it. A quiet, dignified space that invites Americans to contemplate the country’s highest ideals and its unfinished work. It exists as a backdrop to history. Yet somehow, in the year 2026, the Reflecting Pool has become a perfect symbol of the Trump presidency.
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump proudly unveiled his multimillion-dollar makeover of the iconic pool. He promised crystal-clear water. He promised beauty and efficiency. He painted the bottom what he called “American Flag Blue” and presented the project as proof that only he could solve a problem that had frustrated others for years.
5) Winners & Losers: Not Perfect, but Good We've got it in us to win.
By Sam Osterhout for LINCOLN SQUARE
I was born at the end of the Bicentennial year. Old photographs from that summer show my sun-soaked older brothers and sisters riding their bikes down the street, covered in stars and stripes. Pure American childhood. Ice cream-covered chins. Missing front teeth. Tussled hair. Waving little flags in the grass on the little front lawn. A modest flag waving over the steps where my pregnant mom sits, tanned and glowing and smiling despite having her hands full with all these little kids running around.
The America of that year and that decade was full of challenges. I’ve heard. By the time the decade ended, I had just turned three. But back in ‘76, my father had only been back from Vietnam for 7 or 8 years. Nixon resigned in disgrace only a few years before. Stagflation was turning the screws on families like mine. High inflation plus slow growth and relatively high unemployment meant rising prices at the grocery store and job anxiety across the board.
6) Inside U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland by Barak Ravid for AXIOS
U.S. and Iranian negotiators held marathon talks in Switzerland into Sunday night as they worked to launch a 60-day effort toward a new nuclear agreement.
Why it matters: The nearly nonstop talks at the Lake Lucerne Summit signal both sides remain engaged despite significant differences and may be laying the groundwork for broader discussions on regional security.
- The talks, led by Vice President JD Vance and including White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, continued through Sunday night despite Iran's claim Saturday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon.
7) Axios-Ipsos poll: Health affordability is shaping the midterms
by Adriel Bettelheim, Margaret Talev for AXIOS
Majorities of Americans say they're more likely to vote for candidates in November who support ideas to lower their health costs, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
Why it matters: Their support for ideas across the political spectrum — from renewing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expanding direct sales of prescription drugs — shows the power of voters' demands for relief.
The big picture: Health care policy was pivotal in the 2018 and 2022 midterms. The economy impacts every election.
8) Nvidia says AI's water challenge is largely solved by Amy Harder for AXIOS
A top Nvidia executive says water concerns surrounding data centers could be largely addressed by the company's next generation of AI infrastructure.
Why it matters: It's a bold claim with high stakes by the world's dominant chip maker. Data centers are facing growing scrutiny for their use of energy and water, and Nvidia's chips are helping drive the AI boom behind much of that demand.
Driving the news: Nvidia announced Monday at London Climate Week that its latest AI system can be fully cooled with liquid warm enough to reduce the need for additional chilling equipment.
9) UPDATE: The money behind a network of sham “progressive” super PACs
By Judd Legum for POPULAR INFORMATION
A network of purportedly progressive super PACs, spending millions in Democratic primaries across the country, is funded by a Republican dark money group, the American Prosperity Alliance (APA).
Newly filed FEC documents reveal that three PACs that claim to oppose Trump and Republican policies — Lead Left PAC, Real Change PAC, and California Blue PAC — are wholly funded by Conservative Americans PAC, another super PAC. Conservative Americans PAC, in turn, received all of its funding this cycle, over $30 million, from the APA.
10) Trump Orders Rubio to Distract from Algae by Skinny-Dipping in Reflecting Pool
From Andy Borowitz
Desperate to distract from the algae overwhelming the expensively-renovated Reflecting Pool, on Monday Donald J. Trump ordered Marco Rubio to skinny-dip in the green murk.