And another day of unraveling the federal government, Ramaswamy, Tuberville, Paxton, record firearms deaths of children, a fired teacher, LGBTQ resource closures, a right-wing sheriffs group, and the Loch Ness Monster comes to a close:
"If you like to worry about things, this is a great time." — Bill Nye
“He’s skipping the debate because he can’t debate. He has no policies, no policy ideas, no ideas. His whole platform is about him. He doesn’t talk about anything else. He has nothing to give or share.” — Bridget
“Stop saying Donald Trump broke norms and start saying Donald Trump broke the law.” — Don Winslow
GOP presidential candidates all want to unravel the federal government. Yet while the candidates have different positions on major issues facing the country, they broadly agree on the idea of taking a sledgehammer — not a scalpel — to the federal government. The most-covered aspect of this comes from Trump’s plan to slash the federal bureaucracy by reclassifying tens of thousands of employees to make them easier to fire. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy have floated similar plans, both claiming they’d cut the federal bureaucracy in about half. DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence have both talked about cleaning house at the top of the FBI. Ramaswamy wants to shut down the FBI down entirely, and namechecked the IRS, ATF, CDC and Education Department as other “government agencies that should not exist” during a speech in Iowa this month. DeSantis, meanwhile, wants to ax the departments of Education, Commerce and Energy, as well as the IRS. Just this week, Pence also proposed to eliminate the Education Department as part of a broader plan that called for federal welfare and housing assistance to be converted into block grants, and to dramatically reshape the Affordable Care Act. -- The Republican plan is to decimate American society. They all support it. They all desire it. They all will do it. Never vote Republican. Vote Democrat from the bottom to the top.
Trump says he will surrender Thursday on Georgia charges tied to efforts to overturn 2020 election. Trump’s announcement came hours after his attorneys met with prosecutors in Atlanta to discuss the details of his release on bond. The former president is barred from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case — including on social media — according to the bond agreement signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump’s defense attorneys and the judge. It explicitly includes “posts on social media or reposts of posts” made by others.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, a rising GOP candidate in the 2024 presidential race? Ramaswamy is fervently against the government doing anything to stop climate change. He has called for the U.S. military to be deployed to the border with Mexico in order to halt the flow of migrants. He opposes more aid to Ukraine and wants a federal ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. A lot of his ideas self-consciously recall the proposals that made Trump popular in the first place. Ramaswamy, who calls his agenda "America First 2.0," says he will take “the America First agenda even further than Donald Trump did.” -- And he wants to raise the voting age from 18 to 25. Now see the first story for even more of the things he wants to destroy. That’s who he is. He has told us. And now you know he is someone who should never be in the halls of power in the United States.
Tommy Tuberville no longer owns property in Alabama; senator may be a Florida man, report suggests. As of last month, Tommy Tuberville did not own a single square foot of property in Alabama after selling parcels in Macon and Tallapoosa counties for $1.4 million, according to a Washington Post report published Thursday. And while a spokesman for Alabama’s senior senator maintained to the Post that Tuberville’s primary residence is an Auburn house owned by his wife and son, campaign finance documents and property records suggest Tuberville’s main home is in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, the paper reported.
Ken Paxton’s team said there was no evidence to support impeachment. The House published nearly 4,000 pages. The Senate, which is conducting the trial, published the exhibits Thursday night. The document dump provides granular detail of how Paxton allegedly abused his office to help Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer and campaign donor.
Firearms killed a record number of children in 2021, study finds. The alarming statistic clearly indicated that America’s gun violence epidemic has gotten worse, experts say. More than 80% of the gun deaths were among males 19 and younger. Black male children were more likely to die from homicide. White males 19 and younger were more likely to kill themselves with guns.
A Georgia school board fires a teacher for reading a book to students about gender identity. She had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book “My Shadow Is Purple” by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some parents complained. -- So many disgusting people. Soon, no one anywhere in the US will ever want to be a teacher. Goddamn Republicans are destroying that profession.
University of Houston students brace for LGBTQ Resource Center closure in response to Texas’ DEI ban. The announcement confronted students with the impact of a new law that will require all state-funded colleges and universities to close their diversity, equity and inclusion offices. -- We are not the United States of America. Instead, we’re 50 mini-countries. And your rights depend on the mini-country you reside in. “State’s rights” is nothing more than approval for some states to oppress certain groups of people.
Alabama can enforce ban on puberty blockers and hormones for transgender children, court says. A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Alabama can enforce a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender children, the second such appellate victory for gender-affirming care restrictions that have been adopted by a growing number of Republican-led states.
Female soldiers in Army special operations face rampant sexism and harassment, military report says. U.S. Army Special Operations Command, in a lengthy study, reported a wide range of “overtly sexist” comments from male soldiers, including a broad aversion to females serving in commando units. The comments, it said, are “not outliers” but represent a common sentiment that women don’t belong on special operations teams.
Angry reaction as Spanish soccer leader kissed a Women’s World Cup star on the mouth without consent. In Spain, acting minister for sports and culture Miquel Iceta told public broadcaster RNE “it is unacceptable to kiss a player on the lips to congratulate her.” A stronger reaction came from Spanish government equality minister Irene Montero. “It is a form of sexual violence that women suffer on a daily basis, and which has been invisible so far, and which we should not normalize,” Montero said wrote Sunday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country. “The sheriff is supposed to be protecting the public from evil,” the chief law enforcement officer for Barry County, Michigan, said during a break in the National Sheriffs’ Association 2023 conference in June. “When your government is evil or out of line, that’s what the sheriff is there for, protecting them from that.”...The group, known as CSPOA, teaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing to enforce any law they deem unconstitutional or “unjust.” “The safest way to actually achieve that is to have local law enforcement understand that they have no obligation to enforce such laws,” Mack said in an interview. “They’re not laws at all anyway. If they’re unjust laws, they are laws of tyranny.” -- Many in this country are so fucked up.
Long Covid symptoms create a greater burden of disability than heart disease or cancer, new study shows. After considering their findings, though, Al-Aly said it really shouldn’t be such a huge surprise that long Covid is so disabling, because it affects so many different parts of the body...The study has some important caveats. On average, the people in the study were older, in their 60s, and almost 90% were male, so the findings may not translate to those who are younger or to women. None of the people in the study were vaccinated at the time they were infected because the vaccines had not been developed yet, and there weren’t yet antiviral treatments targeted to Covid-19. Studies have since shown that vaccination and early treatment can help curb long covid risk.
CDC and WHO monitoring new Covid variant with large number of mutations. Global disease experts are monitoring a new variant, BA.2.86, that carries a large number of mutations — meaning it looks significantly different from the original version of Omicron and the previously dominant strain targeted by upcoming Covid booster shots this fall. It's still unclear how transmissible BA.2.86 is, though experts said it seems capable of sidestepping vaccine protection to some degree.
Maryland reports state’s first case of locally acquired malaria strain in over 40 years. The unnamed person, who was hospitalized and is now recovering, did not recently travel out of the country or to other states with recent locally acquired malaria cases.
New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’. As the climate warms, scientists have suggested that “time-traveling pathogens” unleashed by thawing Arctic permafrost may pose a risk to modern ecosystems.
Stem cells from one eye show promise in healing injuries in the other. Dr. Ula Jurkunas, an ophthalmologist at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston who was the principal investigator for the study, said the experimental technique involves taking a small biopsy of stem cells from the healthy eye, then expanding and growing them on a graft in a lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. A couple of weeks later, they’re sent back to be transplanted into the injured eye. Durst was the first patient to undergo the procedure.
Rare flesh-eating bacteria kills 5 in Florida, 3 in New York, Connecticut. The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, which can be found in raw or undercooked seafood, saltwater, and brackish water, led to the death of two people since January in Hillsborough County, home of Tampa, according to the Florida Department of Health. An additional person died in each of the surrounding Pasco, Polk and Sarasota counties. Florida has recorded a total of 26 cases statewide this year.
Spain win historic FIFA Women’s World Cup final against England. After 63 games, great goals and agonizing penalty shootouts, Spain are crowned champions in Sydney's Stadium Australia.
Women’s soccer teams ditched white shorts at the World Cup. Here’s why that matters. The move is part of a growing trend — and one not limited to soccer — aimed at tackling period anxiety among female athletes.
Phillies set to use facial authentication to identify ticketholders. During the Phillies' next homestand, some fans will be able to enter the ballpark by just scanning their faces. Citizens Bank Park will become the first to unveil Go-Ahead Entry, at the First Base Gate, on Monday. The technology, through the MLB Ballpark app, uses a camera that will recognize any opted-in fans as they walk in and automatically scan tickets once they're identified.
Trudeau denounces Meta's news block as fires force evacuations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted social media giant Meta on Monday over its decision to block local news as wildfires continue to force thousands of Canadians from their homes..."Right now in an emergency situation, where up-to-date local information is more important than ever, Facebook is putting corporate profits ahead of people's safety, ahead of quality local journalism. This is not the time for that.”...Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has blocked Canadians from viewing news from Canadian outlets in response to the Liberal government passing its Online News Act, Bill C-18, in June. Google has threatened similar action.
Meta criticized for making reproductive health an R-rated issue. Female reproductive health experts are calling on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to rethink its restrictions on reproductive health content. The company has long faced criticism for removing and restricting female reproductive health information with a prominent report from the Center for Intimacy Justice early last year accusing Meta of systematically rejecting many female and gender diverse reproductive health ads. The CIJ report also accused Meta of having bias algorithms, stating that male reproductive health ads were found to be permitted, including ads that referenced male sexual pleasure...“The policy says that reproductive health is allowed, but in practice their technology is still rejecting it,” Rotman said, explaining that images of uteruses are often mistakenly flagged as nudity, and words like period, menopause, endometriosis and vagina also commonly triggering sexually inappropriate warnings.
More than 20 million Americans enrolled in a federal program for subsidized internet access. US residents can can qualify for the program if they meet certain eligibility requirements, such as participating in other government assistance programs including SNAP or Medicaid, if their income is below a certain level or if they have recently received federal Pell grants.
Looking for a new car under $20,000? Good luck. Your choice has dwindled to just one vehicle. Just five years ago, a price-conscious auto shopper in the United States could choose from among a dozen new small cars selling for under $20,000. Now, there’s just one: The Mitsubishi Mirage. And even the Mirage appears headed for the scrap yard.
AI-Created Art Isn’t Copyrightable, Judge Says in Ruling That Could Give Hollywood Studios Pause. More than 100 days into the writers strike, fears have kept mounting over the possibility of studios deploying generative artificial intelligence to completely pen scripts. But intellectual property law has long said that copyrights are only granted to works created by humans, and that doesn’t look like it’s changing anytime soon.
Loch Ness monster fans prepare for biggest creature hunt for 50 years. “Monster hunters” from as far away as Japan and New Zealand will be tuning in to livestreams of Scotland’s Loch Ness in the hope of settling a longstanding debate as to whether or not the famed monster, affectionately named Nessie, actually exists.
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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