It’s Thursday…
Shitshow’s public schedule for…
Today’s big event is an Oval Office announcement on what the schedule describes as “Beautiful, Clean Coal,” because apparently we’re dusting off energy policies from the Cold War and pretending it’s innovation.
President Donald Trump is preparing to use Cold War-era authorities to dole hundreds of millions of federal dollars to support coal-fired electricity as well as US exports of the fossil fuel https://t.co/JjNEYfOvg9
— Bloomberg (@business) June 3, 2026
Energy News Beat.co. (06/04/2026) says that Bloomberg (paywalled) said:
President Donald Trump is set to announce a $700 million federal funding initiative to bolster U.S. coal-fired power generation and establish a dedicated American coal export terminal, according to a Bloomberg report published June 3, 2026. The funding will be channeled through the 1950 Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era tool repurposed for domestic energy security. The announcement is expected during an Oval Office event on Thursday, June 5, 2026.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the public reveal, confirmed the plan’s focus on supporting coal-fired electricity and expanding U.S. coal exports. While specific project locations, plant capacities, or recipient details were not disclosed in the Bloomberg report, the initiative aligns with the administration’s broader “Reinvigorate America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry” agenda, which has already included executive orders, emergency grid reliability mandates, and prior investments totaling hundreds of millions.
This latest push comes amid surging electricity demand from AI data centers, manufacturing resurgence, and national security priorities. The Defense Production Act authorization would provide direct federal dollars for new or upgraded coal plants and export infrastructure—potentially accelerating projects that might otherwise face market or regulatory hurdles.
Energy News Beat.co. (06/04/2026).
Executive Time…
Executive time for Puddle started around 12:30 am D.C., time.
If affordability is improving, somebody should probably tell the people still paying for groceries, rent, insurance, utilities, and pretty much everything else.
Last night, Puddle declared that if you add together tax cuts, deregulation, and what he claims are falling prices, then “TRUMP” and Republicans are winning the affordability wars by record numbers.
It’s certainly one way to solve a problem. Instead of making things more affordable, just create a formula where you declare victory first and worry about reality later.
By that standard, I won the lottery this morning. I simply added the value of all the tickets I didn’t buy to the money already in my bank account.
Grocery prices are up since the “Joe Biden years”. Egg prices are down, but beef is far more expensive. Unfortunately, there may be another problem on the horizon for cattle producers.
A case of NWS may have been detected in South Texas. The sample is now at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, lowa for confirmatory testing. We will provide updates the moment results are available.
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) June 3, 2026
We have already activated personnel on the ground…
The rest of the tweet says: We have already activated personnel on the ground and are working with local partners. What you can expect from us is transparency, candor, and most important — action. http://screwworm.gov
USDA (06/03/2026):
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of a New World screwworm (NWS) in a bovine in Zavala County, Texas. NWS is a serious pest that affects livestock, pets, wildlife, and less commonly, people and birds. NWS larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of living animals, causing serious damage to livestock and economic losses.
The affected animal is a 3-week-old calf and larvae were identified in its umbilical area. To date, there have been no further detections.
“All models showed New World Screwworm entering the country in 2025; however, thanks to the hard work across the entire Trump administration and our industry, state, and local partners, we were able to buy time for this moment. Protecting our livestock industry is a national security issue of the utmost importance, and USDA is wasting no time in taking action,” said Dudley Hoskins, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “USDA invested heavily in the tools needed to eliminate NWS ever since cases started increasing in Central America and Mexico. The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again.”
USDA and Texas officials are taking immediate action to contain and eradicate NWS from the United States, following the strategies and actions outlined in the NWS Response Playbook (884.59 KB). This includes:
USDA (06/03/2026).
- Forming a unified Incident Command Team with the Texas Animal Health Commission and deploying response personnel to the area;
- Establishing a 20 km infested zone around the detection and implementing quarantines, movement controls, and surveillance in this area;
- Expediting targeted release of sterile NWS flies (259.21 KB) by immediately deploying ground release chambers in the area, in addition to the 4 million sterile flies per week already being released aerially in the area;
- Increasing trapping for NWS flies along the border and just outside of the dispersal area;
- Implementing NWS surveillance and management strategies in wildlife; and
- Conducting targeted outreach in the local area.
Additionally, USDA’s National Veterinary Stockpile stands ready to assist and will provide resources including treatments, equipment, and logistics support the response as needed.
USDA will continue to work with state departments of agriculture, animal health officials, industry, and producers to mitigate economic impacts of restrictions as much as possible, including negotiating with our trading partners to regionalize any trade restrictions on live animals, limiting them to defined geographic areas.
NWS maggots can infest livestock and other warm-blooded animals, including in rare cases people. They most often enter an animal through an open wound and feed on the animal’s living flesh.
USDA urges residents in the area to check their pets and livestock for signs of NWS. Look for draining or enlarging wounds and signs of discomfort. Also look for screwworm larvae (maggots) and eggs in or around body openings, such as the nose, ears, and genitalia or the navel of newborn animals. If you suspect your animal is infected with screwworm, contact your state animal health official or USDA area veterinarian in charge immediately.
While not common in people, if you notice a suspicious lesion on your body or suspect you may have contracted screwworm, seek immediate medical attention.
The U.S. food supply is safe. Screwworms do not infest meat, fruits, vegetables, or other food sources. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ensures that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe and properly labeled. Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), FSIS inspection personnel must inspect all eligible animal species unless they are exempt or covered by a state inspection program.
Any evidence of screwworm infestation in an animal would be identified during these inspections, and any contaminated product from an affected animal would not be allowed to enter the food supply.
For more than a year, USDA has led a unified response to NWS. As the lead coordinating agency, USDA has deployed advanced surveillance systems and supported robust cross-border response efforts in Mexico and Central America to combat the pest and push NWS away from the United States. These efforts have bought time for USDA to increase domestic preparedness efforts.
USDA (06/03/2026):
Speaking of Texas…
Texas barbecue joints are closing due to skyrocketing beef prices, particularly brisket, which is a staple on the menus. Inflation, tariffs and labor shortages all play a role.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 4, 2026
Even the state's most celebrated restaurants are struggling to remain open. https://t.co/l2lYkI1tg2 pic.twitter.com/lsoj9tM8t8
If the Texas barbecue industry had an alarm, it would be the spreadsheet that Russell Roegels uses to track the price of brisket. On a recent morning, sitting at a quiet table in his suburban restaurant, he pointed to the number at the top of the column: $5.56. That’s the price he pays for a pound of the most important item on any barbecue menu in Texas.
Over the past year, that number has risen 28percent, a reflection of the spiking meat prices that have dented the pocketbooks of average grocery store customers nationwide. Inside the kitchens of Texas’s more than 3,000 barbecue purveyors, whose very existence depends on a plentiful and affordable supply of quality beef, the effect has been close to cataclysmal.
[snip]
“This is as bad as it gets,” he said of escalating beef prices.“Everybody’s at risk these days: You’re one bad week from closing.”
Roegels isn’t exaggerating. The culinary crisis driven by skyrocketing meat prices has contributed to the closures of some of Texas’s beloved barbecue joints: Brett’s BBQ Shop to the west of Houston, known for its barbacoa tacos; Kirby’s BBQ to the north with its signature increasingly expensive oak-smoked brisket; Sabar BBQ, with its Pakistani fusion sausage, in Fort Worth; Wright On Taco & BBQ in East Texas.
The reasons for the spiking prices are various, says Emily Williams Knight, president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association.Inflation, tariffs, meatpackers’ pricing, and a national cattle herd at its smallest in 75 years because of drought, labor shortages, high operational costs and dwindling ranch land have all played a part. And with the threat of screwworm looming just across the border, experts warn that the herd could be even further depleted in years to come.
State and federal officials are investigating the meatpackers, but it will probably take years for the cattle herd to rebound, Williams Knight said. In the meantime, the regional barbecue flavors Texas is known for are disappearing, from saucy East Texas styles to the mesquite-grilled flavors of West Texas, South Texas “Mexicue” and the Hill Country’s sauce-less smoked brisket.
“What is at risk now is losing that community and culture. It’s much bigger than just a business closing,” Williams Knight said. She said she had just received a call from the owner of Sweetie Pie’s Ribeyes outside Fort Worth to say it’s closing this month after unsuccessfully consolidating two locations. “We are going to lose some of these special, culturally significant restaurants.”
Washington Post. 06/04/2026.
Having solved the affordability crisis, Puddle moved on to his next area of expertise: election administration.
He posted twice about California, claiming Democrats are trying to “steal” both the gubernatorial primary and the Los Angeles mayoral primary because ballots are still being counted.
Then, less than twenty minutes later, he was back on Lies Social claiming there was “BIG cheating” because votes were tied up and the count was taking too long.
Apparently every election official in California is expected to finish counting millions of ballots before Puddle finishes his evening social media posting session. Unfortunately for him, that’s not how any of this works.
I googled “how california counts the votes” and surprise my first hit was from the California Secretary of State’s Office.
California has the largest number of registered voters in the nation—more than 23 million registered voters. Ensuring that all votes cast by eligible voters are accurately processed and counted takes time.
On Election Night, county elections officials must begin reporting results to the Secretary of State no more than two hours after they begin tallying votes after the polls close. County elections officials then continue to report results periodically throughout Election Night until all precinct vote totals have been reported.
The first election results are typically ballots received before Election Day, which include vote-by-mail ballots and early voting location ballots. County elections officials may begin opening and processing vote-by-mail ballot envelopes up to 29 days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until all polls close on Election Day.
Election results posted on Election Night are semi-official results based on the in-person ballots cast at voting locations on Election Day, any early voted ballots cast in person prior to Election Day, and any vote-by-mail ballots received and processed prior to Election Day.
The complete tally of votes is never finished on Election Night as vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election, as well as any provisional ballots cast, must still be counted. These ballots are always counted during the official canvass period in the 30 days after Election Day.
While media outlets and others may “call” an election contest, or candidates may “concede” to their opponent, on Election Night or the in days following, these calls and concessions are based on the semi-official results and not the final election results. The election results are never final until the Secretary of State has compiled the official statewide results after all county elections officials have reported their official canvass of the votes.
By law, California county elections officials have 30 days, also known as the canvass period, to count every valid ballot and conduct a required post-election audit. During the official canvass, elections officials are required to conduct a public 1% manual tally of the ballots tabulated by the county’s voting system in order to verify the accuracy of the automated count.
During the 30-day canvass period, county elections officials will process and count provisional ballots, ballots from voters who registered and voted conditionally (Same Day Voter Registration), and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election. This process includes a comparison of signatures on envelopes to the signatures on file. If a signature is missing or does not compare to the signature on file, state law requires county elections officials to reach out to voters to verify their signature to ensure that their ballot can be counted. By law, voters are allowed to verify their signature up to two days before the county certifies their results. These processes ensure that all valid votes cast by eligible voters can be counted.
County elections officials must finalize their official results to the Secretary of State by 30 days after the election (E+30). The Secretary of State will then certify the results 38 days after the election (E+38).
SoS.CA.Gov.
They post a FAQ after their explainer.
He ended his late-night Executive Time by posting a random image of patches.
Because when you’ve spent the evening solving affordability, investigating California elections, and apparently reinventing mathematics, the next logical step is posting pictures of patches on the internet.
After a few hours away from Lies Social, Executive Time resumed around 7:00 a.m. D.C. time.
This time Puddle woke up big mad after learning that some Republicans in Congress had dared to support efforts to end his war of choice with Iran. Nothing ruins a morning quite like discovering members of your own party have started reading the Constitution.
H.Con.Res.86 (06/03/2026):
Summary:
This concurrent resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a congressional authorization for use of military force against Iran.
Elements of the U.S. Armed Forces needed to defend the United States, an ally, or a partner from imminent attack are not covered by this requirement provided the President complies with a specified provision of the War Powers Resolution. (The provision generally requires the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities no more than 60 days after the President notifies or is required to notify Congress of such involvement, unless Congress authorizes such use. For more information on the War Powers Resolution, see CRS In Focus 13134.)
H.Con.Res.86 (06/03/2026).
Having finished yelling at members of Congress, Puddle turned his attention to Fox News.
And that’s where we’ll leave it for today.
Puddle spent his Executive Time declaring victory in the affordability wars, complaining about California counting votes, posting random patches, attacking Republicans for supporting congressional oversight of military action, and demanding Fox News get rid of Karl Rove.
Meanwhile, groceries still cost too much, beef prices are climbing, and Texas is dealing with a screwworm outbreak.
So, a pretty standard Thursday.
This is an Open Thread
