INTERNATIONAL FALAFEL DAY UPDATES
Fried, Yes - but It's Chickpeas! Dipped in A Yogurt Sauce! With Cucumbers and Dill! Clearly, Falafel is Health Food!
-President Biden spent yesterday with his son Hunter after Hunter was (according to several jurors) somewhat grudgingly convicted of three felonies of lying about a crack cocaine addiction while buying a firearm. Some legal experts noted this crime has never been prosecuted before and that the prosecution continued with a prosecutor hired by Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist) - but Biden and his son accepted the verdict, and the President has said he will not pardon his son for the conviction.
-So you would think that this conviction would torch once and for all the MAGA-Right Conspiracy Theory - belched the most by Trump - that the Department of Justice was an arm of the Biden Administration Hell-bent on persecuting and punishing his foes for financial and personal gain ... or, maybe you wouldn't, because after all these years you have seen the MAGA-Right contort and twist themselves into all sorts of shapes to ensure that conspiracy theories are all that nestle in their bubbles ... and, indeed, that seems to be the case in several branches of MAGA-ville.
-Led by Trump's right hand, The Ghoul Stephen Miller, and all-gums MAGA influencer Charlie "I May Soon Touch A Woman If I Ever Do Become a MAN!" Kirk, are now promoting that the Hunter Biden conviction is all part of the same evil Biden Krime Familee Scheme that is designed to help them try to say "PSYCH!" and use Hunter as a sacrifice to make it look like there is fairness at DoJ ... all while continuing to try to take down Dear Leader Trump.
-So, OWNED, LIBZZZZ!!!!
-Besides, if there is anything Trump and the MAGAts do exceedingly well, it is to project their own desires and goals on the Left. A central part of Project 2025 - the Federalist Society tome that Trump and his campaign have embraced as being The Plan should Trump regain power - is to have TRUMP use the DoJ to prosecute any Democrats they see as political foes ... and they define "Democrats" as "anyone that does not look at Trump as a Sun God With A Huge Penis - even for one second."
-I mention Project 2025 because, while Progressive journalists and pundits are (in this case justifiably) freaking out over the plans, a new poll indicates 71% of Democratic voters are not aware of Project 2025. House Democrats plan to fix this problem by holding hearings on the contents, whose 'highlights' include criminalization of every kind of birth control (from abortions to The Pill), firing civil servants and replacing them with lackeys whose sole qualification is loyalty to Dear Leader, mass deportations, criminalization and worse of the LGBTQI communities (including ending LGBTQI marriage), full control of the military under Trump in order to allow Trump to move troops to go full Tiananmen on protestors, and waiving the two-term-limit limit on the Presidency so brain-damaged orange simpletons can reign over a new Catholic theocracy.
-You think any of the above is hyperbole? Read it for yourself. Or better, listen to the recordings made of two of the biggest proponents of Project 2025 and a radical Catholic-ized America: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his charming wife, Martha HYPHEN Ann.
-The recordings in question were made by a reporter from the news site ProPublica and first released this weekend over Rolling Stone, who met the Alitos weeks ago and basically asked them to talk. Judge Alito (calling him "Justice" is a stretch) freely admitted he sees his job as adjudicating a battle between good and evil, convinced that "One side or the other is going to win" and adding body parts to the scale to ensure that his side will win. (That the same reporter also had a conversation with Chief Justice John Roberts and Roberts pushed back on that notion is cold comfort given how Alito and fellow God-warrior-cum-corrupt-AF Judge Clarence Thomas seems to be running things over there.)
-And as wild as those conversations (there are two) were, they pale next to the woman Alito claimed flew the pro-insurrection flags over their homes mere days after the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Because Martha HYPHEN Ann gleefully admitted she LOVES flying flags thanks to her personal disgust - DISGUST! - at all those rainbow flags that she sees flying "in her FACE!" She spoke of wanting to design her own flag made of flames and the word VERGOGNA - Italian for "SHAME" - festooned on it. Later in the rant, Martha HYPHEN Ann also made a point by repeating the word "German" a number of times her desire to get REVENGE! for the crime of being forced to be tolerant of ... anyone, apparently.
-In short, they seem nice. Bless their hearts. And all THAT ...
-More primary elections took place yesterday, and while for a change several of Trump's endorsed candidates actually won (significantly Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown and MAGAt House member Nancy Mace, who comfortably beat 11 primary opponents including one financed in part by ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy), there was yet another underperformance red flag in a MAGA state. In Ohio's Sixth District, Republican Michael Rulli held the seat for the MAGAGOP - but only won by 9%. "Only," because in 2022 the seat was held with a 22% victory margin (and OH Senator and would-be Trump Veep J.D. Vance won by 35%) - yet another in a line of election results where questions about turnout and enthusiasm may be of concern to some ...
-And in news that should affect the election in some way, inflation was reported to have blipped down to an annual 3.3%, led by grocery prices going DOWN in the last three months and up by only 1% in the last 12 months. The 3.3% inflation rate is the lowest that it has been in three years and a continued sign that the American economy is in strong shape and not in such a horrific dystopian status that people are not putting together "to-go packs" of clothing and water and beef jerky in the case that some sort of invasion will force them to flee their homes and survive for some time in the woods. (And yes, apparently in some communities this is A Thing That Is Happening.)
-There are conflicting stories regarding the latest cease-fire proposal between Israel and HAMAS, with stories indicating first one side than the other first approved of the latest U.S.-brokered deals than one side and then the other rejected all or parts of the proposal. In short, there appears to be continued negotiations as pressures to stop the fighting while securing any remaining hostages also continues (including at least one report that the U.S. attempted to cut a deal for the Americans who are still being held with HAMAS directly), while protests continue as well on college campuses as graduation season winds down.
-The G7 Economic Summit begins tomorrow in the Italian city of Fasano, with Ukraine and the building power of the far right in Europe at the top of the discussion lists, with Ukraine still needing support as they regain their footing after a Russian offensive fueled by the delay in aid manufactured by the House MAGA Right, Trump, and Vladimir Putin (SLAVA UKRAINI!). On the economic agenda, Africa will be discussed as the subcontinent is increasingly wooed with economic help (and an 'alternative' to the Olympics Games that Russia is barred from being a part of - though Russian athletes can compete under the Olympic flag) by Russia and their buddies in China, who will also be in the list.
-And speaking of competition, we end with earth-shattering news from the world of ... competitive eating. Yes, this is a thing, and we normally only hear of it on July 4 with the National Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has been dominated by the ... LeBron James of hot-dog-huffing, Joey Chestnut. Well, the sixteen-time champion has been banned from this year's contest - for a reason some may find as ironic and others hysterical.
-You see, the National Hot Dog Eating Contest is sponsored by Nathan's Hot Dogs (a good hot dog, it must be said) - but Nathan's was infuriated when Chestnut dared to sign an endorsement deal with a Nathan's competitor. That competitor? Impossible - the company that is a leader in meatless hamburger substitutes (which are also are quite good!) that is now marketing Impossible Beef Hot Dogs. Chestnut has said he was "gutted" by the decision ... yes, he did ... and so the gluttonous compeition will go on without its LeBron.
-BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP!
-(And hey, Nathan's? Impossible? Endorsement deal ready right here for you!!)
-On this date in 1964, Nelson Mandela began serving a prison sentence that would last 27 years. On this date in 1967, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that interracial marriages were constitutional. (Sigh ...) On this date in 1942, Anne Frank was given a diary to use for her notes and thoughts. On this date in 1974, Little League teams allowed girls to be on teams. On this date in 1987, Ronald Reagan admonished Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall (which it was in 1989). On this date in 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected President of Russia. (Sigh ...) On this date in 2016, 49 people were killed by a mass shootist at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL. And on this date in 2018, Ex-President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un met in person (and we've never heard the end of it) ...
-Debuts on this date: the Baseball Hall of Fame (1939), "Rock Around the Clock" (1954), "Satisfaction" (1965), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), MARIAH CAREY (1990).
-Happy Birthday to Johanna Spyri, Irwin Allen, Ivan Tors, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Uta Hagen, Richars Sherman, Vic Damone, Anne Frank, Jim Nabors, Chick Corea, Marv Albert, Brad Delp, Bun E. Carlos, Pete Farndon, Timothy Busfield, John Linnell, Scottt Thompson, Jordan Peterson, Hideki Matsui, and Robyn.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Jimmy Dorsey, Medgar Evers, Edmund Wilson, Norma Shearer, Nicole Brown Simpson, Ron Goldman, Leo Buscaglia, Gregory Peck, Don Herbert George Voinovich, Sylvia Miles, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Treat Williams, and today, Jerry West.
-Feed the Worms: George H.W. Bush entered Earth on this date. Henry Hill and Silvio Berlusconi exited Earth on this date.