07/21/23
Good morning! It’s Friday, July 21st.
No Pet Store Puppies Day.
Friends… don’t buy puppies from a pet store. Just adopt. That feels like a no brainer but come on…
And now, the news.
Washington Commanders
-via CNN
Let’s start with this story about football, American football, so we can get it out of the way. And listen, it’s probably a very important story for football fans and for sure for fans of the Washington Commanders, but I just… I still don’t think I know a down is (sorry mom!) and so like… I don’t know anything about any of the players in this story. But I’m gonna do my best.
The Washington Commanders, which is a football team, have a new ownership group. On Thursday, all 32 NFL owners voted to approve the sale of the team to Josh Harris, who is the co-founder of the Apollo Global Management group. Harris is also the majority owner of the 76ers (that’s basketball) and New Jersey Devils (that’s hockey). So what I’m learning about Josh Harris is that he might care about sports, but he also might think sports teams are Pokemon – gotta collect em all.
Has Josh Harris heard about the Oakland As? Because they seriously want a new owner.
The decision to sell the Commanders came after a lawsuit was filed against the previous owner Dan Snyder for creating a hostile work environment and allegations of sexual assault.
Pvt. Travis King Update
-via AP News
Remember earlier this week when I told you about Pvt. Travis King, the soldier who snuck into North Korea right before he was supposed to board a plane to Texas for further military discipline and service discharge after he served two months in South Korea for assault?
Well a witness has come forward to say she saw King flee into North Korea – and thought it was a stunt.
Because who willingly is like… I know where to escape from bad things! North Korea!
Operation Lone Star
-via CNN
And bouncing off that story, remember when I first reported on King and joked that he’d gone into North Korea because it was better than Texas?
Well… in emails shared with CNN, Texas Troopers say that medics were given orders to “push the people back into the water to go to Mexico” and they were also ordered not to give water to the migrants.
And who gave them such heinous orders? Greg Abbott and his Operation Lone Star, through which he used his power as governor to send the National Guard and state police to the border.
The reports, which you can read in the CNN article linked in show notes, includes the story of a 19-year-old having a miscarriage while stuck in the wire that installed around the border. Just truly horrific and heinous actions led by a truly horrific and heinous governor.
Ethics for Supreme Court Justices
-via AP News
In “get caught trying” news… On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a stronger ethic standard for the Supreme Court. Which the Republicans say will “destroy” the Court. Which feels like… if ethics are going to destroy something, mayhaps the ethics are double-y needed.
Don’t get too excited, this one’s not going to make it out of the Senate because it’ll need nine Republicans to give it the thumbs up emoji, which – duh. They would never be like “yeah! We love ethics. We’re super into them!”
But I say, in something like this – get caught trying. Make them say no, if they really want to.
New Zealand Shooting
-via BBC and The Athletic
And we don’t have much more information about the shooting in New Zealand that killed two, but we do know that it was not connected to the World Cup and is not being seen as an act of terrorism. The shooter was a 24 year old who had a history of family violence and mental health issues. He had a home detention order but an exemption to work at the site of the shooting. He did not have a license to own a firearm. New Zealand has very strict gun laws, which is why this news is so shocking. Police are looking into how he obtained the gun he had.
Since it was not connected to the World Cup, it was clear that the opener would be played as planned – a match between New Zealand and Norway. And let me tell you… okay, New Zealand has never won a World Cup. And I don’t mean, they’ve never won the whole thing. I mean, New Zealand has never won a World Cup match.
Norway is ranked 12th in the world and were predicted by some, not I but some, to win the whole dang thing this year.
Which is why it is absolutely wild that I can tell you that New Zealand WON the match. The opening match. At home. Incredible.
The first US game is tonight at 6p PST.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of… our footie players! Based only on that one game, I’m excited for a super fun, and surprising, World Cuppa. Though I am firmly in camp Hat Trick for the US team.
I’m also proud of silly little adopted dogs. And cats! I’ve always had only adopted animals, or cats that were found in a garage. And frankly – it’s always been a win.
But more than that… more than Detroit the Detective cat I had, who was a lawyer somehow, and Buddy, the dog I that ran around in circles because he was a sheep dog without sheep (or, frankly, much variation in his family tree)… because you are also unique… I’m proud of you.