10/17/24
Good morning! It’s Thursday, October 17th.
National Pasta Day.
Are you kidding me? A whole day for carbs?
Don’t mind if I do.
And now, the news.
Update: Middle East
Let’s start in the Middle East, where we now know that Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attack earlier this year is now planned, and will likely happen before Election Day.
So um… hey, that’s not, you know… it’s not great!
As it stands right now, Lebanon says Israel has launched more than 10,000 attacks in the country. This includes an attack on Wednesday that killed the mayor, as well as 15 others, including other municipal employees, in a Lebanese city.
So far, there is no more information about Israel’s plans.
Italy Bans International Surrogacy
-via Washington Post
More international news – on Wednesday, Italy passed a law that threatens jail time for would-be parents who use an international surrogate. Jail time because this new law classifies international surrogacy as a universal crime that transcends borders. Other laws with this classification? Oh you know… terrorism. Genocide.
This makes Italy the new holder of the most restrictive law against international surrogacy in all the West.
Opponents of the law note that, if a straight couple leaves Italy and returns with a baby, who’s to say that the woman wasn’t pregnant before she left and just happened to give birth in another country?
But if two men leave the country and suddenly have a baby… obviously that’s much harder.
In Italy, same-sex couples are barred from adoption, international or domestic, which means this law cuts off yet another, if not the last, route for gay men to start a family in Italy.
Overall, not a good law!
Diddy Wants His Accuser’s Names
-via ABC News
In order to best prepare for his May 5th criminal trial, Sean Combs’ lawyers have requested that prosecutors release the names of his accusers.
Prosecutors say no thanks, so it’s up to a judge.
May I suggest… no?
Lion Mauls Worker
-via CBS News
In Crimea, at one of Europe’s largest big-cat parks, a lion mauled a worker to death after the worker went to clean the cage without shutting the bolt between two rooms in the enclosure.
A criminal case has been opened as the owner of the park believes this was workplace negligence. "It is unclear how and why this happened, as the animals could not have done such a thing on their own, and apparently there were no people around."
Listen, I don’t mean to be mean, and it’s genuinely sad that a person died but… they’re lions! I just watched Chimp Crazy and it’s like… what happens is sad and shocking to see – but not shocking it happens. Caged or not, wild animals are wild animals. And honestly, if you think caging up an animal is not going to upset them…
If my 9-pound cat who relies on me for survival isn’t domesticated (and she is not) – why on earth do people think a lion can be domesticated?
Anyway, I’m sorry it happened.
Maybe in the future, we should stop putting animals in zoos?
And also, Russia… give Crimea back to Ukraine!p
Click-to-Cancel
-via NPR
Hey, here’s a cool thing the Biden-Harris administration did.
A new US rule will direct companies to make canceling subscriptions and memberships much easier. It’s called “click to cancel” and it’s part of the Biden-Harris administration’s campaign against junk fees.
The new rule will go into effect in six months – so about three months into Veep Harris’ first term as president (provided we work really hard for just a couple more weeks).
Listen, it’s the president’s job to make life better for people.
Can you imagine Trump doing something like this?
Election 2024
-via NPR, AP News, and NY Times
And speaking of the election – let’s check in on the campaigns!
Despite Kamala Harris doing so, and despite (or perhaps because of) his increasingly erratic and mumbling rallies and townhalls where he truly appears lost, unable to speak coherently, and even telling people to vote on January 5th – Donald Trump is still refusing to hand over his health details.
If he wins (but we’re going to try really hard to not let that happen) he would be the oldest president in history. We don’t need to know everything, but we gotta know some things.
I’m no doctor but that is not a well man, and the way we know it is because he’s not releasing his health records.
Ask yourself – is there really any chance at all that, were he healthy, he wouldn’t release his records? No! Of course not!
The last thorough report we got was in 2019. That was before he had covid, of which his doctor’s lied about the severity. He was VERY sick with covid. Very sick. He covered that up, never released a real report after. Never released a real report after he was shot. Won’t release anything now.
So, what’s he hiding?
At a rally just a couple weeks ago, he told the audience that America is a “third-world hellhole,” and then said this “Remember, there’s a hat that’s made that sells like crazy. Oh there’s a fly, I wonder where the fly came from. See, two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. We can’t take it any longer!”
His brain’s no good!
Also at what was supposed to be a Trump rally for women, but was just a normal rally that had women there, he called himself the Father of IVF. Not sure what that means, but just a reminder that he killed Roe and IVF is next.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris went on Fox News and took Bret Baier for a walk. It was nice to watch.
He repeatedly interrupted her – and she repeatedly told him to stop.
At one point they played a Trump ad that said she was in favor of “taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners” and “illegal aliens.”
To which she responded: “I will follow the law, and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed.” The law being that transgender inmates are allowed gender-affirming care – which Trump ALSO provided those inmates.
Baier also tried to stick up for Trump by, instead of playing the many times that Trump has called people who disagree with him “the enemy from within” and said that the military should turn against those folks, they instead played a clip of Trump saying he never said that.
And Kamala was NOT having that and let Baier know that she knew they were playing the wrong clip and really laid into how dangerous it is for someone who wants to be president talking about using the military against American citizens.
All in all… good job.
Hey, there are 19 days until the election.
Yeah, 19.
How you feeling? Nervous?
Okay, go to www.raisingvoters.org/increaseturnout and let’s go make sure we get everyone to the polls.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of carbs! They get a bad rep but they give us energy and they taste dang delicious.
But more than that… more than a fresh, delicious bowl of pasta with thick tomato and mozzarella slices… because you are also exactly perfect… I’m proud of you.