NATIONAL MUTT DAY UPDATES
Adopt! Adopt, Adopt, Adopt! And Also ... ADOPT!!
-"The work is accomplished. We've been working for two and a half years. We're ready." With those words and this morning's court decision rejecting a motion to remove her from the case, Fulton County D.A. Fani Wills signaled that her case against Twice-Indicted (so far) Ex-President (TIsfEP) Trump (and, if other reports are to be believed, potentially up to 12 others) and his attempts to steal the 2020 GA Presidential election from the winner, Joe Biden is about to begin. Barricades have been set up around the court house where the grand jury is about to meet, and Wills' requests to have the courts and security officials ready for an announcement between today and September 1 have been granted. So along with continuing watches of further indictments and motions that have been made or continue to be made in DC, FL, NJ and NY (that we know of), add the Peach State to the list!
-Not that any of these indictments is hurting Trump's GOP party leadership - in fact, according to a new New York Times/Siena poll, the pile-on of legal issues has only helped Trump, who has an overwhelming 54%-17% lead over the death-spiraling campaign of his closest competitor, FL Gov. Ron DeSantis, with no other candidate above 3%. Trump's lead is literally across every demographic group and region in the GOP, and were every other candidate drop out except DeSantis, Trump's lead goes to 62-31%. Thus, barring a serious health issue emerging on either side of the aisle, whether people like it or not, 2024 is barreling towards a 2020 rematch ... at least at this time.
-And if anyone wants a glimpse at what a GOP win in 2025 could mean, just look outside your window. As we wrap up the hottest July on the globe in the history of humans recording such things, reports of the Antarctic ice sheet starting to break up, and ominous reports of the Gulf jet stream potentially collapsing and creating even further climate chaos as soon as 2025, a report from right-wing groups, under a report labelled Project 2025, outlines what they would do if they come back to power. Their plans? Gutting the Environmental Protection Agency, stopping development of a national renewable electric grid, ending all regulations that help a transition to greener energy, and unlimited promotion of coal and gas and oil extraction.
-In case you were thinking about not voting or throwing a vote away next year ...
-There are unconfirmed reports that Ukrainian forces have breached one of the Russian defense lines in their ongoing counteroffensive, now apparently being carried out on four different fronts. This comes amid increased attacks on Ukrainian civilian cities, with President Zelenskyy reporting five civilians killed in the attacks last night and a Russian official claiming the counteroffensive was "not working out as planned." There are also unconfirmed reports of skirmishes between NATO member Poland and Russian ally Belarus around their border, with the Belarus military reportedly using material 'given' to them by the Wagner Group. Whether this means an escalation of the conflict - and, should an attack on Poland take place, engagement by the full force of NATO - remains to be seen (SLAVA UKRAINI!).
-A second potential source of global military conflict may also be emerging in the African country of Niger, which last week saw its military execute a coup against President Mohamed Bazoum, the first elected leader of the former French colony. A group of 15 West African countries in the area have demanded that Bazoum be reinstated or face the potential use of force to remove the coup leaders. These announcements were made as pro-coup forces attacked the French Embassy in the Niger capital of Niamey, forcing local police to break up the protest with tear gas. Western countries have roundly condemned the coup, while Niger military officials got praise from apparent former Wagner Group CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin. Tensions continue ...
-And in collapsing social media network news, the change in name of billionaire weirdo Elon Musk's "X" site continues to get brickbats. Apple cannot list the new app due to the fact that "X" is only one character and thus does not meet the requirements for listing on the store. The city of San Francisco continues to demand that the new bright-neon-flashing logo installed on top of the former Twitter headquarters be inspected as permits were not issued to add the sign - which is reportedly only being supported by sandbags atop the building, an art deco landmark first opened in 1937 (but not by Twitter). Numerous complaints about the signage from apartment dwellers are flooding into the city, and its attempts to inspect the signage have not yet been successful.
-And usage of the actual social network continues to fall, with Musk now preparing to sue a nonprofit organization banned from the site for the crime of documenting hate speech on the private network, which has run rampant since Musk started demanding $8/month for the privilege of, for example, Musk speculating that LeBron James' son Bronnie's cardiac arrest during a workout at USC was actually the result of a reaction to the COVID vaccine.
-Which - and it is brutal that it should need to be said - IS NOT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM TRUE. Idgit ...
-On this date in 1964, the Ranger 7 satellite took the first pictures of the moon's surface in preparation for the Apollo missions. Speaking of which, on this date in 1971, the lunar rover became the first wheeled vehicle to be driven on something other than the Earth. On this date in 1990, Nolan Ryan won his 300th game. On this date in 2001, courts shut down the Napster music/file exchange program. And on this date in 2006, Fidel Castro stepped down as the leader of Cuba.
-Happy Birthday to Irv Kupcinet, Milton Friedman, Curt Gowdy, Primo Levi, Whitney Young Jr., Hank Bauer, Ahmet Ertegun, Bill Bidwill, Kenny Burrell, Nick Bollettieri, Ted Cassidy, Geraldine Chaplin, Gary Lewis, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Deval Patrick, Michael Biehn, Daniel Ash, Leon Durham, Bill Berry, Mark Cuban, Kevin Greene, Troy Murray, Wesley Snipes, Fatboy Slim, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Tim Couch (sigh), Zac Brown, Harry Potter, Evgeny Malkin, Kyle Larson, and Lil Uzi Vert.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to St. Ignatius of Loyola, Franz Liszt, Charles E. Hires, Robert A. Taft, Bobby Van, Mitch Miller, Gore Vidal, Billy Pierce, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jeanne Moreau, Alan Parker, Mo Ostin, and Bill Russell.
-Feed the Worms: OL for amoral rat bastard Baltimore Ravens Jonathan Ogden entered Earth on this date. Racist and corrupt former President Andrew Johnson bought it on this date.
-Novelist of beloved series exposed as raging homophobe J.K. Rowling was born on this date. You decide if she gets a Happy Birthday or if she Feeds the Worms.