Glenn Kirschner – Judge Aileen Cannon sets NO trial date – thus far – in Trump’s documents/obstruction/espionage case
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party July 18, 2023
Robert Reich – Amazon Is up to More Shenanigans
Armageddon Update – NATO You Didn’t!!
Woman Spends Days Trying To Rescue A Tiny Puppy In The Woods
Beau – Let’s talk about two minutes on Fox….
Glenn Kirschner – Jack Smith informs Donald Trump HE IS A TARGET of the grand jury’s Jan. 6 insurrection investigation
The Lincoln Project – Trump’s TPUSA Speech in 91 Seconds
Thom Hartmann – Is Nationalizing Big Oil The Only Way To Stop Climate Change?
Liberal Redneck – Hollywood and the Summer of the Strike
Tiny Kittens Have Been Inseparable Since They Were Born
Beau – Let’s talk about bad headlines, Russia, and Ukraine….
Glenn Kirschner – ared Kushner testifies in grand jury about Trump’s crimes. What are the odds he told the truth?
The Lincoln Project – Biden at the NATO Summit
MSNBC – Trump supporter faces voter fraud charges, following ironic pattern
Finnish Minister for European Affairs Playing Cello to Honor Ukraine
Single Kestrel Parent Raises Six Chicks
Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine, NATO, and a rumor….
Glenn Kirschner – Biden says world leaders ask him why Trump has not been held accountable for Jan. 6 insurrection
The Lincoln Project – Raging Ron
Thom Hartmann – Unmasking the Ring Leader: Is Mark Meadows Pulling the Strings Behind the Scenes?
Parody Project – Happy Happy 4th of July (CC by creators, and full lyrics here )
The Tiniest Puppy Grows Up Wrestling With His Cat Foster Brother
Beau – Let’s talk about Kremlin games and generals….
Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Counterman v. Colorado – known as “the stalking case” here – which I find upsetting, to say the least. It was not decided along party lines – far from it – so one would presume actual thought went into the decision. But I can’t help but wonder how it would have been decided had the victim been male. On the other hand, SCOTUS also decided Moore v. Harper by rejecting the “Independent State Legislature Theory,” which would have been far more damaging – could have spelled the end of democracy. In personal news, I got an email from my utility company that my rates are going down. Not a whole lot – but any at all is jaw-dropping.
Cartoon – 28 0628Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
The New Yorker – After Affirmative Action Ends
Quote – We have some legal clues from which to piece together what may happen next…. A preview of what such lawsuits will look like came in a recent case about Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (T.J.), a selective magnet school in Fairfax County, Virginia, that is often described as one of the top high schools in the U.S. In 2020, during the national racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd, the Fairfax County school board, frustrated with T.J.’s lack of diversity, considered a number of proposals to change its admissions, in order to increase the enrollment of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups. The board thus resolved to alter T.J.’s racial composition…. The board ultimately decided to eliminate standardized tests and mandated that each public middle school in four Virginia counties and the city of Falls Church would be entitled to send a set percentage of its students to T.J…. The new admissions process was race-neutral in that an applicant’s race was not considered, and, in fact, evaluators were not provided any applicant’s name, race, ethnicity, or sex.
Click through for more. The problem is, whether we are talking about education or government contracts or corporate hiring or almost anything else, any program that works is going to be sued by some B-list or C-list white person with an inflated ego and a victim complex, and we will be at the mercy of the courts.
Robert Reich – Putin, Trump, and the privatization of tyranny
Quote – Why did Putin authorize Prigozhin to lead a private army to attack Ukraine outside the Russian military chain of command in the first place? Presumably because Putin didn’t trust Russian generals to do the job. And he didn’t want to risk that the generals might turn on him…. Throughout history, tyrannical rulers have created their own private operations outside normal chains of command, run by people like Prigozhin, who are personally loyal. This give tyrants flexibility to do what they want without bureaucratic opposition. It protects them against revolt by their subordinates in the chain of command. And it gives them deniability when operations go badly.
Click through for full case. (As always, click “continue reading” on the pop-up.) Heaven only knows what’s going on in Russia – but it’s interesting to realize that it isn’t just good government which is destroyed by privatization. Bad government can also be – ultimately – destroyed by it.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump federally indicted! Here’s what we can expect in the coming days
The Lincoln Project – Our Flag
MSNBC – Jack Smith’s coup probe hits MAGA convict Steve Bannon
Thom Hartmann – You Won’t Believe The Power Behind The Most Corrupt SCOTUS Justice…?
Cat goes WILD for Trader Joe’s ciabatta!
Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine, Kuwait, and supplies….
Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump caught on tape, PROVING he lied about declassifying national security documents
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – May 30, 2023
Thom Hartmann – America’s Rich Don’t Want You To Know This Simple Way To Stop Oligarchy
Parody Project – Say It Again – MONEY SUCKS THE CONGRESS DOWN (a tad too much bothsiderism for my taste)
Rescue Dog Stayed in Her Crate For Five Days Until She Realized She Was Home
Beau – Let’s talk about Russia’s nuke promise….
Yesterday, good news (which you probably already know) – Elmer (Stewart Rhodes) was sentenced to 18 years prison. The sentences are getting longer as DOJ works its way up the chain.
I’ve been watching, bit by bit, a history series about native Americans (North, South, and Meso) and their lives before Columbus. Turns out the land isn’t the only thing we stole from them. This episode covered medicine (from aspirin through clotting agents to brain surgery – approximately 70% of their trepanning patients, for instance, survived, which we know because removed and replaced skull bone knit and healed.) But I was really blown away by the information that the concept of the number zero, which I was taught was invented by Arab mathematicians in the 8th century CE was actually known to the Maya, possibly even to the Olmec before them, in the 3rd century BCE – over a thousand years earlier. We had one hell of a nerve calling them savages.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/05/prigozhin-laments-fck-knows-how-we-ve
Crooks & Liars – Prigozhin Laments: ‘F*ck Knows How, But We’ve Militarized Ukraine!’
Quote – The leader of Russia’s Wagner private mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, says Moscow’s plan to “demilitarize” Ukraine failed and that the invasion of its neighbor “turned Ukraine’s army into one of the most powerful in the world.” In an interview with pro-Kremlin political observer Konstantin Dolgov, the full version of which was published on May 24, Prigozhin said Russia’s aggression made Ukrainians “a nation known to the entire world.”
Click through for more of interview. Let’s not get overconfident. Putin is just as good at rejecting reality as any MAGAt, and who knows what destruction he could cause just for the sake of destruction, But much of what Prigozhin says is objectively true.
Washington Post (no paywall – hanky alert) – A burger chain fed a homeless teen. Years later, she got married there.
Quote – West said she grew up in Arizona and was put into the state’s foster-care system when she was 4 because her parents struggled and could not care for her. “Over eight years, I was in and out of 94 foster homes — some of them were really abusive and neglectful,” she said. “When I was 12-and-a-half, I finally climbed out a bathroom window to run away, and I got good at hiding.”
Click through for full story. This was made possible by thegoodness of many people … and also by Jamie’s gratitude.
Food For Thought
