07/29/24
Good morning! It’s Monday, July 29th.
National Lasagna Day.
National Lasagna Day? Who’s making this calendar? Garfield?
I say again… who’s making this calendar? Garfield?
Nailed it.
And now, the news.
Mall Shooting
-via ABC News
We start how we start here in America, with one person dead after a shooting in a Maryland mall.
An investigation is ongoing but police believe the shooting was targeted.
The suspects fled.
California Park Fire
California’s Park Fire, the largest fire currently burning in the state, surpassed 350,000 acres on Sunday but is finally at 12% containment. Which isn’t great. More would be better, but considering it went four days without any containment, 12% is better than 0%.
As a reminder, this is the one that was started by the man who pushed a burning car down a gully.
So far, fires in the state have burned more than 680,000 acres. Nationwide, a total of more than 2 million acres have been burned.
Firefighters did note, however, that cooling temperatures are helping them get a little more ahead of the fire.
Though, by cooling temperatures I mean… high 80s for the next two days before it jumps back up to high 90s and triple digits starting Wednesday.
Remember winter? That was better, I think.
US and Israel/Lebanon
-via CBS News (Hezbollah) and CNN (Gaza)
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed three members of Hezbollah. Following that, a rocket attack on an Israeli-controlled Golan Heights soccer field killed at least twelve kids and teens and injured others.
A Hezbollah spokesperson has denied the group’s involvement, which is rare, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "Every indication is that indeed the rockets were from or the rocket was from Hezbollah."
So that was Saturday.
On Sunday, the US announced that it’s having continuous discussions with Hezbollah as well as the Israeli government, in hopes of preventing escalation in the conflict.
I don’t really have an ending to this story – on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told CBS News that he hopes there are moves to de-escalate and uh… yeah. Yeah hopefully.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, at least 19 Palestinians, including children, were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes.
One of the places hit was a humanitarian zone.
Don’t worry though, the Israeli military said it “follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”
Four people died in an attack on a humanitarian zone the weekend after Congress welcomed Netanyahu to give a speech.
Multiple standing ovations.
Nineteen people dead after multiple strikes, including on a humanitarian zone.
Multiple standing ovations.
Election 2024
Over the weekend, a clip from Donald Trump’s speech to a Christian audience went viral and I need everybody to know about it.
It’s a clip from the end of his speech and in it, he’s begging for Christians to vote. That’s not necessarily news, that’s just… embarrassing. It’s a very pathetic beg. But that’s beside the point. So he does his little begging thing and then tells them: “Get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. … You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
And obviously now his team is like, “No we just meant it’s because things will be so great that you won’t feel the need to vote again.”
Now, personally, I don’t believe that. Donald Trump, his team, Agenda 47, and Project 2025 all pose a very real, very serious, threat to democracy. So I actually believe what he meant was, you won’t have to vote because I’m going to rig all future elections so that there’s no real point to voting.
But let’s take him at his word. Let’s say he’s saying things will be so great that you won’t have to vote again.
That’s also bad!
They don’t believe in democracy. Anyone who believes in democracy, in its longevity, wants you to vote. Let’s say that, if he wins, he would actually leave office after four years (which I also don’t believe) – that quote says that he doesn’t care what happens to this country after he leaves.
Donald Trump does not care about the future of this country, the future of anything, beyond him.
Your vote is your voice and anyone telling you that you won’t need to use it… should not be trusted with it.
Donald Trump does not deserve your vote.
Moving on to someone who actually wants you to vote…
Kamala Harris raised $200 million in her first week campaigning – four times what the Biden campaign raised in all of April.
The majority of donations came from first-time donors. The campaign has also signed up more than 170,000 volunteers.
These numbers are incredible.
Money isn’t everything, but nothing happens without it (believe me, I’ve tried). Those numbers are huge and very exciting.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of people getting invested in politics. Who want people to vote.
On that note – there are 99 days between now and Election Day. If you’re looking for a way to turn out voters, check out We Are Voters newest program at democracyeveryday.com. Every day, there will be a quick, easily achievable task you can do to get ready for the election.
It’ll be fun. You’ll like it!
Also, quick medal update as of Sunday evening (Pacific) – Team USA leads the medal count with 12 total medals. France has 8 and Japan has seven. We are also leading in the number of silver and bronze we have. For gold, Japan leads with four gold medals, while we are tried with France at three each.
Very exciting!
I’m proud of voters. I’m proud of athletes. I’m proud of how Kelly Clarkson was a part of the opening ceremonies. But more than all of that combined – because you are also top tier, unbeatable, best in show… I’m proud of you.