And another day of making more than $1B, warrants to search phones, Uvalde Principal suspended, Manchin and Schumer agreeing, a Neo-Nazi Marine, a ‘promising’ step toward single Covid/cold vaccine, interest rate hikes, and FL cops and loud music comes to a close:
“To be clear, no lawmakers on the ‘far left’ have called to ‘confiscate all guns,’ however, Republicans at-large -- not just the far right -- are trying to eliminate gun laws. This is so disingenuous and a pitiful device to ‘both sides’ an issue that is so clearly one-sided.” -- Shannon Watts
Deaths
US: 1,053,969 (+1034)
World: 6,410,548 (+3339)
Cases
US: 92,761,865 (+267,847)
World: 578,351,573 (+1,328,468)
Gun manufacturers have made more than $1 billion from selling assault-style weapons to civilians in the last decade, with some companies seeing their earnings triple as gun deaths soared, a House panel said Wednesday. -- This is literally blood money. -- The committee said leading gun manufacturers used “disturbing sales tactics,” including targeting the weapons to young men to prove their manliness, while failing to take basic steps to monitor the “violence and destruction their products have unleashed.” Later this week, the House plans to vote on a ban on assault weapons for the first time since 1994, Maloney said. More people died from gunfire in the United States in 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, than at any other time on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were more than 45,000 firearm deaths that year...In addition, active shooter incidents in 2021 surged by more than 50 percent from 2020 and nearly 97 percent from 2017, the FBI said in May.
Federal prosecutors obtain warrant to search lawyer John Eastman’s cell phone in January 6 criminal probe. The warrant includes a so-called filter protocol, according to court records, to ensure that investigators do not accidentally obtain privileged information from Eastman’s device.
Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson cooperating with DOJ probe. The extent of her cooperation was not immediately clear.
Justice Thomas no longer listed as GWU faculty after Roe backlash. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is not listed as an instructor for any courses on the website for George Washington University’s law school, where he’s taught since 2011, a removal that follows the high court’s controversial decision undoing decades of precedent protecting a nationwide right to abortion access.
Texas school principal suspended after Uvalde shooting. The report said Gutierrez and other staff knew that the lock on the door of Room 111 - where the shootings took place - was not working properly, but did not place a work order to get it fixed. That broken lock enabled the gunman to easily enter the classroom, it said. — I kinda feel she’s being made a scapegoat.
In fighting gun crime, Canada has an American problem. The case of the 31-year-old, indicted last month on charges that could see him jailed for years, illustrates the leading role the Lone Star State now plays in the smuggling of guns used for violence in Canada, and how firearms tracing can help combat that trade. Canadian police chiefs say such cases also show the limits of their government's domestically focused policies to fight gun violence, such as a freeze on handgun purchases, when it has the world's largest civilian gun market on its doorstep…Exclusive data obtained by Reuters for Ontario, Canada's most populous province, shows that when handguns involved in crimes were traced in 2021, they were overwhelmingly - 85% of the time - found to have come from the United States. — America exports violence.
Neo-Nazi Marine Plotted Mass Murder, Rape Campaigns with Group, Feds Say. While tasked with protecting the nation, Matthew Belanger was plotting a killing spree against minorities and to rape “white women to increase the production of white children,” according to federal prosecutors. — Seems like the whole raping “white women to increase the production of white children” thing could, you know, actually become a thing now that women in many states are being forced to give birth.
Manchin, Schumer report abrupt deal on health, energy, taxes. In a startling turnabout, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday they had reached an expansive agreement that had eluded them for months on health care, energy and climate issues, taxes on higher earners and corporations and federal debt reduction. The two Democrats said the Senate would vote on the wide-ranging measure next week, setting up President Joe Biden and Democrats for an unexpected victory in the runup to November congressional elections in which their control of Congress is in peril. A House vote would come afterward, perhaps later in August. Unanimous Republican opposition in both chambers seems certain. -- Because Republicans have zero interest in helping the common American.
UK scientists take ‘promising’ step towards single Covid and cold vaccine. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London have discovered that a specific area of the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – is a good target for a pan-coronavirus jab that could offer protection against all the Covid-19 variants and common colds.
Matt Gaetz, under investigation for possible sex trafficking, was among 20 Republicans to vote against reauthorizing a sex-trafficking law. The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 was approved in the House for reauthorization with a massive majority of 401 votes to 20. The act combats human trafficking — particularly sex trafficking — through severe penalties for perpetrators and support services for victims. It first came into law as the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, when it passed the House and Senate with almost no opposition, and has been reauthorized multiple times without significant challenge. Gaetz has been under federal investigation since 2020 over the question of whether he had sex with a minor, and whether he paid for her to cross state lines, as The New York Times first reported. Paying for a minor to travel interstate for sex would count as sex-trafficking.
Hulu to begin accepting political issue ads. Disney on Wednesday confirmed to Axios that it would allow political issue ads — in addition to candidate ads — on Hulu's streaming service, effective immediately, bringing Hulu's ad policies to parity with Disney's cable networks. The change comes amid a controversy over Hulu's decision to reject political issue ads around guns and abortions from Democratic groups.
Fed unleashes another big rate hike in bid to curb inflation. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in more than three decades to tame high inflation. The Fed’s move will raise its key rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, its highest level since 2018.
Florida, however, seems to be sprinting in the opposite direction of progress. On July 1, a new law took effect statewide, giving police new powers to pull people over just for driving a car that an officer thinks is too loud. Under the law, HB 1435, police officers can stop and ticket any car that can be heard past 25 feet, or that is deemed “louder than necessary” when driving past churches, hospitals, schools, or any residential homes. (Separately, HB 1435 also includes language letting police crack down on public gatherings larger than 50 people.) — Florida continuing to embrace fascism. I’m sure police won’t abuse this at all.
In rare contact, US offers Russia deal for Griner, Whelan. The U.S. has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since before Russia invaded Ukraine to discuss the deal and other matters.
Outrage in Brazil as Jair Bolsonaro avoids five charges related to Covid response. Brazilian senators are calling for an investigation into one of the country’s top prosecutors after she shelved several charges against the president, Jair Bolsonaro, over his mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic. A damning congressional inquiry had recommended that Bolsonaro be charged with nine offences, including crimes against humanity and charlatanism, for promoting false treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. The far-right president constantly downplayed the severity of the pandemic, initially calling it “a little flu” and telling Brazilians to man up because “we are all going to die anyway”. Bolsonaro ignored early emails from Pfizer offering to sell Brazil vaccines and was slow to accept a Brazilian alternative, losing time that cost tens of thousands of lives. He also urged Brazilians not to stay at home and not to use masks and his government launched a campaign titled ‘Brazil cannot stop’. More people have died from Covid-19 in Brazil than in any other country except the US. The current death toll in the South American nation stands at 676,964, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Forecast: Scorching heat wave extended in US Northwest. Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.
A 5th person is likely cured of HIV, and another is in long-term remission. One case involved a man with cancer who underwent a specialized stem cell transplant; the other involved a woman who received immune-boosting therapies as part of a clinical trial.
Parents speak out on lawsuit accusing Instagram of fueling daughter's eating disorder, depression. Instagram is accused in two new lawsuits of spurring eating disorders and mental health problems ranging from anxiety and depression to addiction and suicide attempts in teenage girls. The lawsuits -- filed against Meta, the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram, allege the company needs to be held responsible for “causing and contributing to burgeoning mental health crisis perpetrated upon the children and teenagers of the United States."
No one wins U.S. Mega Millions, jackpot now over $1B. A giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02 billion after no one matched all six numbers Tuesday night and won the top prize. The new estimated jackpot will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize…The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million. — The next drawing is Friday night.
RIP Tony Dow. He was 77.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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