07/18/23
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, July 18th.
Shh… it’s world listening day. It’s a day to…
Actually, sorry, that’s a little too ASMR. World Listening Day is a day to, you know, like listen and stuff. And not even other people, thank goodness. It’s a day to encourage you to listen to listen to the natural environment, societies, and cultures through the practice of listening and field recording.
In other words… go outside and touch grass.
And now, the news.
Crimean Bridge
-via Washington Post and NY Times
I didn’t sleep well Sunday night, so let’s start with the news that popped up on my phone at 2am and then that was the new reason I didn’t sleep…
The bridge that connected Russia to Crimea, the piece of land that Russia first stole from Ukraine back in 2014, was attacked, killing two people and forcing the closure of the supply route for Russian troops.
The bridge was built after the 2014 illegal annexation. The rail line over the bridge was unharmed and quickly resumed service after stopping to assess damage.
After the attack, which Russia blames Ukraine for, Russia backed out of the Black Sea grain deal. As a reminder, the Black Sea grain deal was brokered a year ago between the United Nations and Turkey and was meant to help stabilize global food prices, as well as shortages in Africa and the Middle east.
The deal was extended three times over the last year, most recently in May. But on Monday, when the deal was set to expire again and just hours after the attack on the bridge, Russia announced that it was out on the deal. Though the Kremlin’s spokesperson says the decision to let the deal expire was not connected to the bridge attack.
And just so we’re all clear on how big of a deal this Black Sea grain deal is: Ukraine is one of the world’s major exporters of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and vegetable oil. Over the last year, under the deal, Ukraine has exported 32.9 million tons of grain and other food. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index, food prices have dropped over 23 percent from their peak in March 2022.
Ukraine can still export the grain, but by truck, river, and train – which will take longer and can’t handle the same volume.
So hopefully a new deal can be brokered quickly.
Gilgo Beach Murders
-via CNN
There’s really nothing new to tell you in the Gilgo Beach murders that I talked about in yesterday’s episode, but as the story stays in the news I read a stat I HAD to tell you about – while they were searching the suspects house, they found… between 200 and 300 guns! Behind a walled-off vault.
And here’s what really got me… police only knew about 92 of them.
So on the one hand… wow. That’s a lot of guns they didn’t know about. But on the under hand… Wow. That’s a lot of guns they did know about!
How is there not a limit on the amount of guns someone can own?
Iowa Abortion Ban Blocked
-via Iowa NPR
A district judge in Iowa has temporarily blocked a six-week abortion ban, that the legislature passed last week during a special one-day session, which the governor signed that same day.
This means the state law flips back to allowing abortions until the 20th week (until it goes to the state Supreme Court. And then we’ll see.)
But in the meantime… Hey, I know I haven’t talked about it in a while but I’m back to it… www.researchyourjudges.com
Because some judges save lives.
Trump Crime Update Time
-via CNN
And speaking of state Supreme Courts…
Trump Crime Update Time
On Monday, the Georgia State Supreme Court dismissed Trump’s legal teams big ask of “hey, would it be cool if you just like, didn’t do this case?”
Listen… if you don’t ask, the answers always gonna be no.
Though, in this case, the question was so absurd, it was kind of always going to be no, regardless.
So here’s what happened. Remember when Trump absolutely totally for sure lost the election because if he has one skill, and even that’s hard to imagine but just imagine if he did… if he had one skill, it would be losing. And he lost the 2020 election.
But then he was like, “but I’m not a loser. I’m a winner. And I tell myself that every day. And I pay everyone around to say it too. And I don’t care if they believe it or not. They tell me I’m a winner and that’s all I need because I’m a fragile shell of a human, for whom any real truth would absolutely crush everything I’ve ever told myself about myself.”
As always… spot-on impression.
Anyway, so he lost the election, threw a fit, then he and his little band of dinkuses tried to do a coup. And that included calling the Georgia Secretary of State to ask if he could just find some extra votes in the couch cushions and make it so he actually won the election. And the Secretary of State was like “whoa whoa whoa, I’m disenfranchise until the cows come home. But I stop messing with democracy and inventing votes. I want fewer votes, not more of them.”
So now Fulton County’s DA, Fani Willis, is investigating all of that. And since Trump totally guilty and Willis is expected to announce charges soon, Team Trump just straight up asked (for real this time, no joke)… they asked the Georgia justices to throw out the evidence collected so far and to block state prosecutors from ever using that material in any future criminal or civil proceedings.
And all of the justices, eight out of nine of which were appointed by Republican governors, said no. Absolutely not. Literally what a waste of time. They literally said Team Trump “has not presented … either the facts or the law necessary to mandate Willis’s disqualification by this Court at this time on this record.”
So… justice prevails!
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of… listening. It’s not for me. But others seem to enjoy it.
I’m proud of all my friends out there on the picket lines. It’s very hot outside.
This is a random one but I’m rewatching ER and dang… how great is Maura Tierney? I’m proud of Maura Tierney.
But more than… shoot. Because Maura Tierney’s really great and Abby Lockhart went through an incredible journey. So let’s just say… more than nature… I’m proud of you.