08/01/24
Good morning! It’s Thursday, August 1st.
World Lung Cancer Day, which has been celebrated since 2012 to create awareness about lung cancer. Things you can do today include donating to the American Lung Association, should you be so inclined, and of course – take their quiz and lung.org to see if you’re at risk for the cancer.
Because early testing saves lives.
And now, the news.
Escalations in the Middle East
-via AP News, CNN, and NY Times
Starting with an escalation in things with Israel and Hezbollah as well as Israel and Hamas.
I mentioned yesterday that Israel announced they’d assassinated a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Well, on Tuesday, Israel also announced the assassination of a Hamas leader in Iran.
Iran has threatened retaliation, while Israel says they are not interested in an all-out war.
We don’t yet know how this will all play out, but certainly it upends any ceasefire talks that may have been going on. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Qatar’s Prime Minster, who has been working as a key-mediator in all of this, to keep working towards that ceasefire.
So, kind of the same thing as when I covered this yesterday – this happened, we don’t know what’ll happen next but… we’re for sure gonna keep an eye on it!
9/11 Defendants Plead Guilty
-via ABC News
After legal battles caused delay after delay, three of the five 9/11 defendants at Guantanamo, pled guilty. This includes mastermind Khalid Mohammed.
The plea deal reached means the three will not receive the death penalty but will essentially spend the rest of their life in jail. I don’t know what the lawyer meant by “essentially” – they either will or won’t be in jail for the rest of their lives.
And hear me out… they should be.
The detainees have been in Guantanamo Bay since 2006.
Venezuela Election Update
-via BBC
Quick update on the election in Venezuela – at least eleven people have died, and dozens more have been injured, in protest-related violence sparked by the National Electoral Council announcing President Maduro had won reelection over the weekend, despite the fact that voting tallies show the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, winning by a large margin.
On Wednesday, Maduro blamed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for the violence. He also said the election website was hacked, which is why results aren’t online.
Oh, and he’s ready to hand over all vote tallies.
And we should all feel super normal about the fact that he’s handing them over days after the election. I’m sure he didn’t do anything weird with them.
So far, more than 1,000 protestors have been in the streets to protest this election.
Trump’s Increasing Racist Comments
-via Rolling Stone (Doug) and Washington Post (NABJ)
Days after going on a radio show and calling Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, “a crappy jew. A horrible jew.” (Also I am so sorry. I hated it. We all hated it. But we also have to know.), Donald Trump went in front of the National Association of Black Journalists and questioned when Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black.”
So what in the white nationalist is going on?
Well, in many ways… nothing new!
The comments about Doug are a current line for him. He says any Jewish person who votes for Kamala is “a fool.” He has also accused Harris of disliking Jewish people and Israel “more than Biden did.”
Not only is that not true, I will remind us all that Donald Trump called nazis in Charlottesville “very fine people” and has literally dined with nazis. He says he didn’t know Nick Fuentes was a holocaust denying white supremacist who praises Hitler but also… he didn’t ask him to leave the table when he found out! So… that’s not a good excuse.
Just an evergreen reminder that Trump’s unending love for Benjamin Netanyahu absolutely does not mean he cares about Jewish people.
So that’s what he’s been doing on that front. Just some absolutely gross antisemitic stuff.
And then on Wednesday, at the National Association of Black Journalists (aka NABJ) Trump went on to question whether Kamala Harris, who has never made it a secret that she is biracial. She is Black and South Asian.
Many people are multiracial, this is not that difficult of a concept.
Unless, of course, you are a white nationalist and running for president. And then…
On Wednesday Trump said he was aware of Kamala Harris’ Indian heritage, but claimed she just “happened to turn Black” a few years ago.
Kamala Harris went to an HBCU and is a member of the AKA sorority.
To quote Kamala Harris: this is just “the same old show.”
It doesn’t make it okay. It doesn’t make it something that shouldn’t be absolutely blasted all over the place, but it’s not a surprise.
Donald Trump has been telling us who he is since he came down that elevator.
By the way, his lie about Kamala’s race isn’t the only lie he told (it’s just the most disgusting one). He told a litany of lies in the room, and he was able to do it because the NABJ, after putting up a fight, conceded to his demand that they not fact-check him while he’s on stage.
So in this room of journalists… he got away with not being immediately fact-checked.
Don’t worry, he was supposed to be there for an hour but it went so bad for him that his team yanked him off stage after 35 minutes.
The backlash to his comments was swift and in response, he said nothing at the rally he went to after but did repost a video on his ironically-named Truth Social. The video? Kamala Harris and Mindy Kaling talking about their Indian heritage.
Let me you something… this is not going to go the way he thinks it will go.
And that’s good.
Because I just don’t think he should elect authoritarian white supremacists.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
Medal update!
Team USA leads in total medals with 30. France has 26 and China has 19. We lead in bronze and silver. China has 9 gold medals, France has 8, and we have 5. That 5th? That came from human fish Katie Ledecky who basically eviscerated the 1500, setting a new Olympic record and earning her her 8th gold medal. She’s got 12 overall, tying her with three other swimmers as the most decorated American swimmer of all time.
Exciting!
I’m proud of swimmers! And fish! And people who get screened early for any possible health issues.
We gotta stay healthy!
But more than… more than staying healthy? No no… more than IPAs (it’s also IPA day)… because you are sometimes hoppy but always a delight… I’m proud of you.