PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE DAY UPDATES

IT DOESN'T MATTER What Got Into What - Just Enjoy!

-As the New York Times reports that flop-sweating GOP Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will retool his campaign to make it more of an “insurgent outsider!” campaign, one of his concepts of being an outsider emerged last week, when the FL Board of Education and its DeSantis-appointed-and-approved majority approved what could be called an “outsider’s” view of slavery. In the new FL/DeSantis curricula (as DeSantis was a history major as an undergraduate at Yale), the institution was not one of cruelty and racism at all – in fact, as the curriculum states, “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for personal benefit.” The institution wasn’t one of racism and violence, according to FL/DeSantis – it was an agrarian vocational training program. (Also, the curriculum demands any descriptions of slave uprisings must be bothsided with notes about how African-Americans did violence, too.)

-The changes have brought righteous indignation and condemnation from everyone from Vice President Kamala Harris (who flew to the state to rip it), educators, and sane people everywhere. Republicans and UltraMAGAts, of course, spent their time ignoring it or defending it while reveling in Jason Aldean videos and (as WAP-averse adolescent-voiced commentator Ben Shapiro did in a 43-minute YouTube screed), condemned the new BARBIE movie as a pinnacle of woke-ness that nobody should watch (more on THAT later).

-The White House undoubtedly finds the FL/DeSantis changes abhorrent, and is doing its own commentary and status about race relations by announcing on Tuesday the establishment of a national monument in honor of Emmett Till, the Chicago boy whose murder at the hands of racists who were acquitted became one of the seminal events of the modern civil rights movement. The monument will actually be on three sites – the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago (the site of Till’s funeral), the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, MS (where the trial took place), and the site where Till’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, Graball Landing, MS.

-Biden also continues to get excellent news on the economic front, with Forbes and other financial papers reporting the combination of inflation being reigned in, a continued robust job market, expansion of infrastructure and manufacturing projects nationally, and sustained stock market growth are combining to make economic forecasters back off on any fears of a recession through 2024 – usually a bellwether for incumbent Presidents in a re-election year. The economy is going so strong that even polling that has stayed suspicious about the strength of the economy is starting to uptick. Currently, the only clouds being watched for potential slowdowns are the uptick in strikes across the country, with a potential walkout by UPS drivers being the most important (as the Hollywood writers and actors strike is the most prominent), but so far, so good …

-The port city of Odessa was attacked again this morning by Russian rockets in that country’s pivot to use grain shipments from Ukraine as a ploy to try to stop slow but steady advances against its invasion. Of note was a historically important cathedral that took a direct hit by a Russian rocket, killing one and injuring 19. Amid continued questions about everything from the current status of former Wagner Group and sorta-kinda coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the current status of Russian lapdog – er, ally – Belarus, and the grind of the Ukrainian offensive that has yielded progress but no major breakthrough, the “slog” predicted by many military commentators continues.

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-A critical vote which has taken months to set up amid massive protests to stop it may be about to take place in Israel. The controversial bills would impose what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes as “necessary judicial reforms” that opponents claim would allow Netanyahu to escape trials for bribery and corruption charges and give him near-dictatorial control of the Israeli Supreme Court. An added twist to the story is the health of Netanyahu, who fainted two weeks ago and today had a pacemaker installed in his heart – and intended to go to Parliament right after the procedure. The vote is expected Tuesday.

-And in movie news, the double-premiere of BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER has generated the biggest box office weekend for Hollywood since AVENGERS:ENDGAME in pre-COVID 2019. Both movies are exceeding their lofty estimates, with BARBIE now poised to gross at least $155M this weekend and OPPENHEIMER (on fewer screens and a three-hour run time) $80.5M, with some estimates thinking the combined box office may exceed $300M when all is said and done. All this despite efforts by right-wing culture scolds ranging from the aforementioned Shapiro to humiliation kink-lover Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancun, TX), who called for boycotts to the “ultra-woke!” BARBIE. (Sad!)

-Now if we could only get the studios to pay the talent …

-On this date in 1903, Ford Motors sold its first consumer auto – the Model A (its iconic Model T would go on sale in 1908). On this date in 1952, Abdel Nasser led a military coup to topple the monarchy in Egypt. On this date in 1967, riots broke out in the city of Detroit after a police raid on a club in the 12^th Street neighborhood – when done, 43 were killed and over 1,400 buildings were destroyed. On this date in 1976, a convention hosting American Legion members opened in Philadelphia – only to eventually have 12 attendees die of a mysterious pneumonia labelled “Legionnaire’s Disease.” On this date in 1984, Vanessa Williams resigned as Miss America after nude photos of her appeared in Penthouse Magazine. And on this date in 2010, One Direction was formed to perform on the TV show THE X FACTOR and did pretty well thereafter.

-Happy Birthday to Emil Jannings, Raymond Chandler, Arthur Treacher, Pee Wee Reese, Calvert DeForest (aka Larry “Bud” Melman), Gloria DeHaven, Bill Lee (Spike’s Dad), Bert Convy, Don Drysdale, Ronny Cox, Don Imus, Andy MacKay, David Essex, Edie McClurg, Martin Gore, Woody Harrelson, Slash, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gary Payton, Sen. Rafael Warnock, Alison Krauss, Marlon Wayans, Monica Lewinsky, Nomar Garciaparra, Omar Epps, Kathryn Hahn, and Daniel Radcliffe.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Isaac Singer, Ulysses S. Grant, Montgomery Clift, Van Heflin, Vic Morrow, Kay Kyser, Donald Barthelme, James Jordan, Eudora Welty, Chaim Potok, Leo McKern, Amy Winehouse, Gen. John Shalikashvili, Sally Ride, and Bob Rafelson.

-Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and SCOTUS Anthony Kennedy were born on this date. Technically trailblazing racist filmmaker D. W. Griffith died on this date. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday/Rest in Peace or if they Feed the Worms.