08/06/24

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, August 6th.

Balloons to Heaven Day

Which is great, because now I get to go on my balloon rant.

Don’t let balloons go free in the air. Because they pop or deflate and now you’re just littering. It’s bad for animals, it’s bad for the environment, just don’t do it.

And now, the news.

Hurricane Debby

-via CBS News

Tropical Storm Debby made landfall on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing the storm surge to parts of Florida and historic rains into Georgia and South Carolina.

This is all happening as I record so, for now, it’s unclear what the damage will be. But if you live in that area, board up your windows and just be safe.

The Dow Drops

-via NPR

On Monday the Dow Jones Index fell more than 1,000 points, sparking a worldwide reaction. It all started last week, with a jobs report that was weaker than expected and caused investors in Europe and Asia to worry.

The thing that’s tricky about the jobs report is that US employers continue to add jobs. The unemployment rate was 4.3% because 400,000 new workers started working last month.

The market is so silly because it’s like… there was a dip, so everyone freaked out, so they started moving their money around, causing more of a dip, and so it all just became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But if everyone had just chilled for a second and left their money alone, it probably wouldn’t have been so bad.

Anyway, I don’t have any stocks or money so… don’t take my advice!

Americans Injured in Iraq

-via NBC News

Several US personnel were injured after a suspected rocket strike on the Al Asad Airbase in Iraq.

Details are sparse – all reports say injured, not dead, but no numbers have been released.

A source for the attack has not been identified.

So basically – we know it happened, but uh… that’s it. That’s all we know.

Google is a Monopoly

-via NY Times

In this is brand new information news… Google is a monopoly!

In a landmark antitrust case, a federal judge ruled that the company acted illegally to maintain its monops in the online search game by paying billions to be the automatic search system for companies like Apple and Samsung.

This suit is likely to influence similar suits against Apple, Amazon, and Meta.

Google also faces another antitrust case, this time over its ad tech, next month. This ruling does not bode well for next month.

The judge did not offer any remedies to fix Google’s behavior.

Man Charged with Threats Against Public Officials

-via CNN

Virginian Frank Carillo has been charged with making threats against Vice President Harris. He also made threats against President Biden as well as FBI Director Chris Wray and Arizona officials. He did this on a platform called Gettr, which is a super right-wing site.

In a search, the FBI found more than 4,300 posts that targeted various officials, including Veep Harris. The posts are super graphic. Very gross.

Two firearms, a pistol purchased last year and a rifle purchased this year, were found in his home.

A hearing to decide if he will stay behind bars until trial will be help on Thursday.

Pretty dark story, but this did make me chuckle: When the FBI showed up at his house, Carillo asked if they were there “about the online stuff” and when they said yes, he said, “I guess I’m gonna need a lawyer” and it’s just so absurd.

Another Day, Another Thomas Plane Ride

-via AP News

In how many plane rides did this guy take news… Historical Badman Justice Thomas failed to disclose yet another private plane ride!

This time he and Harlan Crow, as well as Ginster, took a roundtrip flight from Hawaii to New Zealand in November of 2010.

It was discovered as part of an inquiry from Sen. Ron Wyden, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Senator Wyden, like any rational person, is concerned about Justice Thomas and Harlan Crow’s friendship and how each person is benefiting. For example, as the Senator wrote in his inquiry, Harlan Crow “showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill”?

Obviously Justice Thomas as well as Harlan Crow maintain their innocence and would like you to know that for sure their friendship is not part of the reason you have fewer rights in this country.

Trump Crime Update Time

-via Washington Post (Jenna Ellis) and AP News (SCOTUS)

Just a little bit of

Trump Crime Update Time

(A light snack, if you will, edition)

First up, the Supreme Court rejected a longshot bid out of Missouri to lift Trump’s gag order in his 2016 Election Interference Crimes Case. It also was meant to delay his sentencing. But it won’t! Which means September 18th is still his likely sentencing date.

Missouri’s AG sent this request to the high court because… well presumably because he wanted to suck up to Trump. However, he said it was because, should Trump be in jail, it would interfere with his current presidential campaign.

And I don’t know but it sure seems like if you’re in jail for criminally interfering in your first campaign, it shouldn’t really matter if that jail time will cause an issue for your current campaign, because you shouldn’t have it to begin with!

So that’s a crime he did in his first campaign. How about the crimes he did in his next campaign?

On Monday Arizona’s AG reached a plea deal with former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who was very close with Trump and is one of the 18 defendants in the state’s fake elector’s case.

All nine charges against her will be dropped, provided she will fully cooperate with the investigation.

Hard to overstate what a big deal this is – aside from Rudy Guliani and Sidney Powell, there are few that were closer to the scene of the crime than Jenna Ellis.

It also means she is gettable, as far as plea deals go. So will she take a plea in Georgia if offered? Possibly!

Listen, I don’t think people who attempted to overthrow the voters of millions of people deserve that much praise, but doing the right thing, no matter how long it takes, is always good.

RFK Jr. Continues to Do His Thing

-via NPR

And finally… I don’t even know what to say about this one but ten years ago RFK Jr. was driving upstate to go falconing (as one does) and a driver hit and killed a bear in front of him. He took the bear and put it in his car, to skin and eat.

However, he got busy falconing (again, as one does) and then had to rush to catch a flight. So instead of doing, I don’t know, literally anything else… he took the bear to Central Park and, because he also randomly had an old bike in his car, stagged it to look like the bear had been hit by a bike. And then he left.

That was 10 years ago, and it was a whole story when it happened.

It’s a weird story of a weird guy who did a weird thing.

Cut to Sunday, when this weirdo posts a three-plus minute video on Twitter of him telling the story to Rosanne Barr. And then captions the video “Looking forward to seeing how you spin this one,” because on Monday the New Yorker wrote up a big piece about that as well as just Kennedy’s general… vibe.

The article includes a picture of RFK Jr with the body of the bear, pretending the bear is biting him.

And, all on his own, all his own choice, he told the New Yorker – “Maybe that’s where I got my brain worm.”

And I don’t even know what to say here.

Hunting exists. Roadkill happens. That’s not the issue here. The issue is that he was like “hey I know, let’s pretend this bear got hit and killed by a cyclist who then ran away and left the body there” and I don’t know that that’s the best story for a Kennedy to be jokingly telling.

Anyway, that guy is still running for president. Still joking about his brain worms. And the more he does, the more I think… how long do brain worms last? Is his still alive? Did he, as offered, eat five more?

And that’s it. That’s the news.

Hey by the time you hear this, we may have a new democratic VP nominee! Kamala Harris is expected to announce her partner in saving America/democracy/my sanity this morning.

Very exciting.

I’m proud of whoever they are. I don’t care. I mean, obviously I do but I will be voting for them no matter what because we have a democracy to save.

I’m also proud of people who don’t release balloons in the air.

But more than that, because you’re a rational person who understands that it’s really really bad for the environment… I’m proud of you.