| It's a big primary day for House and Senate races in Arizona and Florida. The votes cast today could have a huge impact on the general election, especially in these two states where growing Latino populations are posed to have an unprecedented electoral effect. Notable races include Marco Rubio, who is staging a comeback to keep his job in the Senate, after his lil' hard drive went haywire in the Republican presidential primary. Note: he's still supporting Donald Trump for president. If he beats businessman Carlos Beruff in the primary, he'll go on to face either Rep. Patrick Murphy or Rep. Alan Grayson for the Senate seat in Florida, where Puerto Rican voters in particular are expected to have a huge impact. If Marco Rubio's plans for the Senate are anything like his now defunct plans for the White House, we can expect backtracking on comprehensive immigration reform and a subpar Child Tax Credit that would provide little additional help for working families. | | Also on the ballot today is John McCain in Arizona. The trend in Arizona, a past deep red state, toward tighter and tighter races, especially for conservatives, shows to some extent the increasing electoral power of the state's Latino population. | | Hackers. And not the type that gets you cheap airline fares. Yesterday, it was reported that the FBI has detected foreign breaches in the voter databases of Illinois and Arizona. In Illinois, the hackers compromised the personal data of nearly 200,000 voters. And the Arizona breach, which may have been more limited, looks like it has Russian fingerprints all over it. Details on the scope of the attacks remain TBD. But the timing is concerning. With the presidential election a mere 70 days away, the Russians have made it increasingly clear that they have a growing interest in who wins on November 8th (hint: it's a Russian/American bromance). Just earlier this summer, Russia was widely believed to behind a high-profile attack on DNC databases, which the Donald loved. | | Spooked yet? There's more. Defense One just reported that the same hackers behind the DNC breach have just targeted several Russia-focused think tanks in Washington D.C. | | Not the answer. California lawmakers are responding to national outrage over former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who will be released from prison after serving 3 months, by approving AB 2888, a bill that would establish mandatory minimums for more sexual assault crimes. Though the legislation's well-meaning supporters hope this bill will help change societal norms around sexual assault, mandatory minimums are not the answer—instead they are "pursuing the same policies that fed thousands of people into a broken incarceration system, and will do little to fix the problem of rape," as ThinkProgress's Tara Culp-Ressler writes. | | Also not the answer. Possibly also in response to Brock Turner, Stanford University is banning large containers of hard alcohol from campus… and also warning women to be careful how they might be "perceived" by men if they drink. Take some deep breaths and read more here. | | The hit that keeps on hitting. The Department of Education's blow to ITT Tech. Last week, the department banned ITT Education Services, ITT Tech's parent company, from enrolling students using federal financial aid. Turns out that was a lot of ITT Tech students. And now the school announced—in an ominous message on their website—that they are no longer enrolling new students. Last year, Corinthian College—another major for-profit college—filed for Chapter 11 protection after coming under fire for predatory lending practices and now it looks like ITT Tech's book might end in Chapter 11 too. That would be a huge blow to the for-profit college industry, which rakes in billions of dollars in government funds. | | A new era. Literally. Earth has been so impacted by the presence of human beings that it has entered a "functionally and stratigraphically distinct" period of geologic time. This new period—called Anthropocene—started sometime in the 1950s as evidenced by unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide, plastic pollution, nuclear tests, and deforestation. Not good. Also not good? More than six in ten Americans are represented by someone in Congress who denies climate change. | | Free idea. Former Texas Governor and former presidential candidate Rick Perry could repurpose his 2012 economics plan—"Cut, Balance, and Grow"—for his appearance on season 23 of Dancing With the Stars: "Cut out the competition, Balance flawlessly on the floor, and Grow your following." | |
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