06/21/23

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, June 21st.

National Selfie Day!

I’m fine with this one! Listen – you’re a dreamboat so go find your light, trust your angles, and snap away. No judgment here!

And now, the news.

The Search for Titan

-via AP News

We start with the news that KiMSNBC first reported in the kitchen of the Palm Springs AirBnB my friends and I were staying at, to anyone that would listen.

Titan, a submersible that took five people down to view the Titanic wreckage, is currently lost.

The US Coast Guard has searched over 10,000 miles, but with time running out, the search is becoming more diar. When it set sail around 6a on Sunday, the ship only had a 96-hour supply of oxygen. Communication with the Titan stopped about an hour and 45 minutes after they submerged, which a CBS journalist who traveled on the Titan last year says is because it lost all power or has imploded.

This was OceanGate’s third annual voyage to the Titanic.

Listen, we’ll know more when we know more but, as of this recording on Tuesday night, there is only about a day and a half of air left. Here’s hoping for a miracle.

Hunter Biden to Plead Guilty

-via NY Times

President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has reached a deal with the Department of Justice and will plead guilty to two counts of failing to pay his taxes (in 2017 and 2018, when he owed over $100,000 in each year). He will agree to probation, likely without serving time in prison, and, in exchange, the Department of Justice will not prosecute him in connection with a 2018 handgun purchase during a time he was using drugs.

While it still needs to be approved by a federal judge, the deal is contingent on Hunter remaining drug-free for 24 months, and never owning a firearm again.

And now we get to watch as someone who is a private citizen, with some very real demons, get turned into a political pawn.

Because what Hunter Biden did was a crime. So, you know… it’s good when people who do crimes have consequences.

But the Republicans don’t really care about those crimes – they do tax crimes all the time! Famously, their Dear Leader just got indicted for money crimes. And they love guns! But none of that matters when you’re the target of the right. Happy to be a hypocrite – ya know? Because they’re going to make an absolute meal out of this, while they also continue to try and find other crimes he’s guilty of – invented or not.

So where’s what you just need to remember: he’s a private citizen. He’ll plead guilty. The President will stay completely out of it.

And anyone trying to make a meal out of this, probably just wants to keep you distracted from whatever crimes the former President is currently being indicted for.

Trump Trial Date Set

-via Washington Post

And speaking of whatever crimes the former President is currently being indicted for…

President Obama – No no, I’m just kidding. He would never! (But if he did, we wouldn’t be all culty and weird about it. We’d be like – aw dang. And then, you know, not storm a building.)

Judge Cannon, who was randomly assigned to Trump’s Illegal Dib Calling Crime (not sarcasm. That’s real. These cases are randomly assigned), said on Tuesdsay that the trial could begin as early as August 14th.

“Whoa whoa whoa! August 14th! That’s nuts!”

Yeah, it totally is. So nuts, in fact, that experts believe it’s almost certain to be pushed back since this case hinges on classified documents that most people connected with the case don’t have the clearance for.

Unless, of course, you just happen to use the restroom at the golf club in Florida where a bunch of these papers were.

Since this case is all about SeeEEeeCrets, it will be tried under the rules of CIPA – the Classified Information Procedures Act, which takes times due to extra steps.

So, we’ll see how things actually Rock n Roll along

Arkansas Trans Ban Bill Banned

-via CNN

And let’s end with some good news… a federal judge has struck down Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth in the state.

In his 80-page ruling, Judge Moody said the act violated the US Constitution and could not be enforced.

“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the State undermined the interests it claims to be advancing.”

This ruling is the result of Judge Moody blocking it back in July of 2021, with an 8-day trial taking place last year. In July of 2021, Arkansas was the first state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. The Republican governor vetoed it, but lawmakers overrode his veto.

Two years later, 17 states have enacted either bans or significant restrictions on gender-affirming care.

This care saves lives.

These laws are deadly.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of… trans youth. And the parents and lawyers fighting for them.

I’m proud of selfies. I take em. We all take em. No one is too good for a selfie!

But more than that… more than selfies… because you are also just – no notes, looking great… I’m proud of you.