Another rotten week in #Murica and the world. Trump credits himself with Ukraine’s military success; President Biden gets things done, but to little to no credit; CBP officials now interrogating international travelers on whether they’ve had an abortion, more

Ukraine Emergency Service

Russian missiles strike the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, killing at least twenty-three and injuring many more - Deliberately targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure in an area with little-to-no militarily strategic value. The cruelty *is* the point, just as with our domestic Fascists in #Murica. It is vital that President Biden and other world leaders heed Zelenskyy’s call, and designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Слава Україні. (AP 7/14)

Nothing’s shocking anymore: Trump brags that Ukrainian forces are performing well because of weapons he falsely claims he authorized to be sold to Ukraine while he was president - Incredible nerve; he withheld congressionally-authorized military aid in an unsuccessful scheme to blackmail Zelenskyy for ‘dirt’ on Mr. Biden. For which, in January 2020, the GAO issued a report plainly stating that the then-president broke the law, and thus was the impetus for the first of two impeachment trials. Yet, people still believe Donald Trump’s horses**t. It is so insulting to our intelligence, but that is exactly what #Cult45 wants to do: Supporting this fool is their collective way of telling the other half of the country to go f**k ourselves, and it is very much an anti-intellectual, radically populist movement. Therefore, he must be stopped and the GOP cannot be allowed to control Congress and the presidency so long as they are domestic tyrants and international menaces. No Ukrainian-Americans or American supporters of Ukraine should involve themselves with the Republican Party right now; for it’d be akin to a Jew supporting the pro-Nazi ‘America First’ movements of the 1930s. (Political Tribune 7/13)

Fred R. Conrad/NYT

Trump’s first wife and the mother of his three-oldest demon spawn dies at 73 - Conspiracy theories suck and I do not like engaging in them, but it’s not hard to put two and two together here: She knew too much, and he is owned by the Russians. This is how Russians kill their sacrificial lambs. By ‘accident.’ Falling down stairs, out of windows, that sort of thing. Very basic, but very effective. (New York Times 7/14)

Susan Walsh/AP

Mexico agrees to contribute $1.5 billion for infrastructure improvement along the border with the U.S. - Interesting: Trump famously made a campaign promise that he would make Mexico pay for a border wall; of which only 450 miles of construction ever came to fruition, and that Mexico did not contribute to but was instead funded by raiding the Pentagon budget. President Biden and his counterpart, López Obrador, have actually just made a substantial investment that should do a lot more to strengthen national security than some stupid wall. Not that #Cult45 and its media organs - or even most of the general public - will acknowledge any of this. (ABC News 7/12)

Debbie Hill/pool/AFP

President Biden visits Israel, offers words of comfort to Holocaust survivors. (Times of Israel 7/13)

President Biden and interim Israeli PM Yair Lapid sign joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weapons - Another important achievement for this administration that will go completely unnoticed in #Murica. (Reuters 7/14)

Average U.S. gas prices fall for twenty-eight days in a row, though still well over $4.00 a gallon. (New York Times 7/13)

Australian woman trying to get to Canada via the U.S. is interrogated by CBP over minor visa violation, asked if she has had an abortion. (The Guardian 7/12)

HERE & THERE

Jury selection to begin Monday in the trial of Steve Bannon after judge rejects request to delay. (CBS News 7/14)

Trump invites Saudi-backed ‘LIV’ golf circuit to his New Jersey course, outraging 9/11 families. (New York Daily News 7/15)

Canada’s central bank raises interest rates by a full point to combat inflation. (AP 7/13)

New 988 mental health emergency hotline launches, and has great potential to revolutionize mental health treatment in America. And Lord knows we need it. (AP 7/15)

Rest in Peace, Kitten’s Joy: Legendary racehorse and leading sire dies at 21. (Bloodhorse 7/15)

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Aghast British broadcaster: ‘The Republican Party have embraced the AR-15 as their mascot.’ The Christofascist takeover of America is underway, and with it divorce from the Western world

Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images/USA Today

{VIDEO} British broadcaster Anthony Davis responds to the Highland Park shooting - ‘The Republican Party have embraced the AR-15 as their mascot.’ Americans should see how the free, civilized world sees this country right now. Once, America led the free world, but now many are in denial that this is no longer the case. Not that most Americans care how the world sees them - in fact, Americans tend to only become more jingoistic the more they are called out on their pathetic jingoism. One of the results of this extreme rhetoric and brainwashing is that America is growing apart from Europe and the Western world; when the American people return the radicalized GOP to congressional majorities this November and then restore Trump (or install a DeSantis or similar type) as dictator in two years, our alliance with the free world comes to an official end. In fact, I fully expect that American Christofacsists, in time, are going to begin calling for a modern-day Crusades to ‘liberate’ Europe from Satanism, or Communism, or whatever garbage is used as an excuse. America is crumbling quickly and Fascism is rising at an alarming pace. Either President Joe Biden takes drastic action to attempt to save this republic, or it is gone; forget about trusting most of our fellow Americans to do the right thing, they are a lost cause. 

Even if this republic is somehow held together and Fascism is defeated, we’ll never again have the prosperity we once knew domestically, or anywhere near the level of respect and deference on the global stage. The hallmarks of the post-war global order will not be reclaimed; the new Fascist state is emerging, but as with Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, it will collapse before too long; eventually, the union is likely to be dissolved and broken up into many smaller states. Large numbers of us are going to be dead before it completely collapses. Putting it bluntly, Europe, Asia, etc., are ‘over’ our bulls**t and are moving on. Like an jilted love that refuses to let go, Fascist America - or #Murica - will grow more aggressive and hostile the more isolated it becomes. Just as with Russia, or taken to the extreme, North Korea. Hermit kingdoms that offer nothing but misery and death. Putin’s Russia may be one of #Murica’s only allies once the Fascist takeover is complete. I pray that at least some sane Americans will be able to escape this nightmare, and find new, more welcoming homes elsewhere. To that end, I pray the Fascist alliance does not destroy the entire planet, and that there will be an ‘elsewhere’ to go. Just know that once Fascist Americans finish annihilating their domestic enemies they are not going to want to stop there. Bloodlust is addictive, and therein will lay #Murica’s eventually downfall; the free world and its governments must prepare now. (MeidasTouch 7/07)

Katherine Stewart: Christian nationalists are excited about what comes next - ‘(M)ovement leaders are already preparing for a new and more brutal phase of their assault on individual rights and democratic self-governance. Breaking American democracy isn’t an unintended side effect of Christian nationalism. It is the point of the project.’ (New York Times 7/05)

Fact-checking #Cult45, as futile as that may be these days: No, the Supreme Court did not secretly overturn the 2020 presidential election, and does not have constitutional authority to do so. (Reuters 7/12)

The law of unintended consequences: Following the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the coach who led his team in prayer at the 50-yard line, Satanists petition to lead prayer at a Florida high school football game. (Patch 7/08)

Oakland: Four baseball fans injured by bullet fragments from outside the stadium while on field for post-game fireworks display - Attendance is already wretched for A’s at Oakland Coliseum, this won’t help. In all seriousness, one of the effects of all these mass shootings {along with other factors, such as COVID} is that people are increasingly less willing to attend any sort of public gathering. (AP 7/05)

Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images/NPR

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step aside, will stay in office until the Tories pick a new leader - Imagine that, a country that still demands character and will hold its leaders accountable. And, for all his flaws, Boris Johnson could not possibly have done 1/1000th of the evil Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and other tyrants around the world have. A great orator who stood by Ukraine and against Putin; he was also either the very first or one of the first to publicly congratulate Joe Biden and acknowledge the man as the rightful winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, much to the chagrin of the American right. The major concern now for Great Britain and the entire world is which direction the Conservative Party heads in, and who they choose as leader. If they go the route of the GOP and other right-wing parties that are embracing the revival of Fascism, then the United Kingdom is in a lot of trouble. Boris Johnson may have some serious flaws, but what comes next, in his absence, may be catastrophic; I would not be celebrating his impending exit. (NPR 7/07)

Russian politicians and propagandists celebrate the downfall of ‘stupid clown’ Boris Johnson - The outgoing PM ‘finally got his just reward for arming Ukraine against Russia,’ they say. (Reuters 7/07)

Kimimasa Mayama/EPA/Shutterstock/NYT

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is fatally shot at a campaign event, stunning world leaders. (AP 7/08)

HERE & THERE

First color image from the James Webb Space Telescope is revealed, comprising ‘thousands of galaxies.’ (CBS News 7/11)

Liz Cheney reveals Trump attempted to personally reach out to J6 witness, and refers the matter to the DOJ. (Axios 7/12)

An entire county quarantined in Florida due to invasion of giant, disease-spreading African land snails. (Extreme Tech 7/05)

Another great privilege of living in #Murica: Weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer in 80% of U.S. urine samples. (The Guardian 7/09)

The second installment of Ted Gioia’s three-part essay on the legacy of Frank Zappa. (Substack 7/10)

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‘Putin’s oldest enemy’ warns the West that the Russian despot will only be tamed by sheer force, while a Congressional Putin apologist and national laughingstock insists Russia only wants to be our friends

Getty Images

‘It is the fanatic and the moderate who are poles apart and never meet.’ Marjorie Traitor Greene and other figures on both the far-right and hard-left say Russia just wants to be our friend and we’re being awfully unfair to them. - Who the hell does Marjorie Traitor Greene think she is? Who the hell do the likes of Ilhan Omar and AOC think they are? Who the hell does any American who stands against aiding Ukraine and praises Putin think they are? Ukraine is protecting the entire world from the biggest menace to global security since the days of Hitler and Stalin. Do we not understand what is at stake here? Clearly, no. Ukrainian people are dying so rednecks, hillbillies, and other assorted bigots, racists, and awful human beings can whine about gas prices, watch ‘reality TV,’ eat junk food, and boast about how superior they are in peace. 

Nationalist populists praise men like Trump and Putin as virtuous leaders who are going to save the world for Christianity and the white race, but in the end they’ll meet the same fate as the lay Germans who went along to get along in Nazi times. The German people were held liable for the crimes of their leaders and were punished - they were forced to tour the ruins of the concentration camps they had previously heard the rumors of but steadfastly denied existed, their nation was divided into two with the eastern half living under a tyrannical Communist regime for 40 years. Even today, elderly Germans who participated in Nazi war crimes are being brought to justice. Germans were able to rebuild and redeem themselves, because the Germans are an exceptionally industrious and intelligent people; they learn from their mistakes and do not hesitate to correct course. #Murica and Americans possess none of these qualities. 

In time, the American people will be held to account, when this experiment with being a global Fascist menace is brought to an inglorious end. Held to account for allowing Trump and the rest to coddle our enemies, betray our allies, and pervert Christianity. Held to account for oppressing millions of their own people, and for destroying America’s international standing. Americans are already the most hated people on earth, and will never regain the world’s trust and friendship; nor does it appear interested in doing so. Ukrainians will not forget who stood with them, and who did not. Ukrainians will not forget that the overwhelming majority of Americans saw men, women, and children being killed and maimed, and those Americans shrugged their shoulders, declared it wasn’t their problem, and that it probably was the Ukrainians’ own fault. The U.S.A. is no longer a good country, and few embody what we have become better than Marjorie Traitor Greene - her star within the Republican Party will only continue to rise and her approval ratings will soar, the further #Murica goes down the dark path of Christofascism. (Peter Burns, Medium 7/06)

Atlantic Council

{VIDEO} Oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, known as ‘Putin’s oldest enemy,’ stresses the only way Putin will be stopped is by force - One of two things will happen: America will either firmly reject Fascism at home and stand with Ukraine and NATO to put down the Russian menace, or #Murica will capitulate completely to the Fascists and join the Russians in directly waging war on Ukraine and all of Europe. Right now, I’m sorry to say, my money is on the latter; and there will be a very harsh price to pay if Americans decide to not merely turn the other way as Putin commits genocide as is happening now, but to actually participate. But I fear that’s coming. Ukrainians need to understand that while some Americans and the Executive branch of our government do support them, millions more are increasingly hostile to Ukraine and admire Vladimir Putin. This is so because their cult leader, Donald Trump, commanded it (at Putin’s behest), and #Cult45 is just about at the point where their brainwashing is leading them to commit atrocities, as Voltaire warned of long ago. (‘Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’) One way or another, Americans will be drawn into battle, domestically and abroad. All that our country purported to stand for is now being thrown away so we can help a Russian despot satisfy his bloodlust. All of this would have been unimaginable 25, 30 years ago. (CBC News 7/10)

Ukrainian officials: Powerful long-range US rocket systems have helped destroy 20 depots of Russian artillery ammunition, disrupting Putin's firepower. (Business Insider 7/10)

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If only the British had maintained control of the colonies. 4th of July #Murica 2022: Mass shooting at parade in Illinois, the Supreme Court continues its assault on sanity, Russia claims control of key Ukrainian province, and COVID rises again

Another night of idiots who can't hear us over the sound of them exercising their 'freedom.' Bombs going off everywhere, the dog was about to have a heart attack. Upon many years of experience, reflection, and logical examination, this is a really stupid country on so many levels. This is a country for Darwinian bullies and psychopaths. Sorry, just not feeling this whole #Murica thing anymore.

Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times/AP

Mass shooting at 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois - Turn out the lights and end this s**t show already. (AP 7/04)

Lowlife scum identified as the person of interest in the Highland Park shooting ‘left a long trail of tributes to mass shootings and public killings on social media platforms’ - A real winner here. Performed as a white-boy rapper under the alias ‘Awake,’ and is the son of a failed mayoral candidate. (NBC News 7/04)

AP/Salon

GOP gubernatorial candidate in Illinois, not even hours after the mass shooting that has devastated his state and the nation: Let’s move on and celebrate - How do we ever reconcile with people of this mindset, which represents a good percentage of the country? We’re f**ked. Sorry, folks, we’re f**ked. {And I am sorry, I know the Raw Story site loads like crap and slows down any device one is using, I'm just too pissed to even try to find a better source at the moment. F**king bulls**t to all Hades.} (Raw Story 7/04)

Going back to Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy,’ and accelerating greatly during Barack Obama’s presidency and the rise of Donald Trump, Republicans have appealed to confirmation biases to hoodwink millions of (mostly white, ‘working-class’) Americans into supporting their nation-killing, undemocratic policies. The Republican Party must now die; not in the way innocent victims of mass gun violence have, because we know that isn’t happening and the rest of us are not barbarians. No, because their individual consciences finally catch up with them. But, who are we kidding? They are going to sweep the mid-terms and win the presidency in 2024. We all know it, we all know most of our fellow citizens are awful people who would laugh while watching their neighbors being dragged off to death camps. We know the Democratic Party must really suck to have allowed things to progress to this dire stage, where attending a 4th of July parade - or, literally, any event or any place at all, even being in one’s own home - means risks being shot to death, and nobody is allowed to complain about it because ‘freedom.’

Very funny that #Cult45 proclaims to be so anti-socialist, yet they worship Trump with the same fervor as if he were Joseph Stalin, demanding the same of the rest of us. And they worship the United States itself as if it were the very (perverted) ideal the Soviet Union spent 70 years trying to impose upon its citizens. So, screw ‘em, because they’ve ruined the idea of patriotism in America. The flag has become nothing more than a fashion statement, courtesy of those jackasses who never stop bellowing about their ostensible love of country while s**ting on everything it is supposed to stand for. The Founding Fathers would never have fought had they known it would come to this (and, yes, I asked them.) #Murica

‘What accounts for the blithe dismissal of potentially cataclysmic threats?’ Sen. Mitt Romney calls out the American people for being in denial about the pathetic state of the republic - Says a return to Trump ‘would feed the sickness, probably rendering it incurable.’ Agreed, but he and the few remaining sane Republicans need to disavow themselves of any illusion that the GOP can be saved - or is worth saving - and declare themselves independents. (Mediate 7/04)

Fascist outlet Patriot Front demonstrates in Boston on Saturday, and there is violence - One {African-American} man is injured in an altercation with these white supremacist goons. (WCVB 7/03)

Supreme Court issues ruling limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate climate standards at power plants - For the longest time, I didn’t buy into climate change. Until, as with a lot of crap I used to believe, the reality couldn’t be denied any longer. Even now it’s not my area of expertise. Considering that this court is apparently trying to destroy the nation as it currently stands, what would be a few more carbon emissions into the environment? Once the right of women to drive is rescinded and two-thirds of the population have either been eliminated or have fled the country, there will be fewer cars on the road. Christofascists and their allies tend to hate cities, so destroying those should also help clean the air. Hmmm, perhaps the extreme right are onto something after all, and are not the anti-environmentalists they’re often mistaken for. Just as they defend freedom of speech by constantly belittling and threatening anyone with differing points of view. Just as how they support science by rejecting vaccines and facemasks in the middle of the largest global pandemic in over a century. Really, not too surprising that Fascists would love Mother Earth, in their own unique way. Hitler was quite the environmentalist by the standards of his time. (John Sutter, CNN 6/30)

Russia claims control over Luhansk province, Ukrainian forces withdraw from the pivotal city of Lysychansk - God willing, Ukraine will restore authority over its territory, and liberate the residents of these regions from Russian aggression. A setback, not a defeat. (AP 7/03)

Several people dead in mass shooting at Copenhagen shopping mall - America’s sickness is spreading. (AP 7/03)

‘Two Omicron subvariants are now causing more than half of new coronavirus infections in the United States—and both are very good at dodging antibodies in people who have been vaccinated and boosted, as well as in people who had a previous COVID-19 infection.’ (National Geographic 7/01)

Ohio: 14-year-old tiger dies at Columbus Zoo from pneumonia caused by COVID-19 - Rest in Peace, Jupiter. (WLWT 6/30)

USC and UCLA to the Big Ten? - What the f**k!? Geographically this is stupid, obviously, but at the highest levels of college sports geography is simply no longer a concern. No conspiracy theories needed: The SEC, Big Ten, and their broadcast partners (chiefly, ESPN) are boldly and deliberately consolidating their power and ensuring no other schools or conferences will ever again be competitive with them, on the field and off. The few remaining major powers outside those two conferences will be absorbed within the next few years, and we’ll never see even an ACC, Big 12, or Pac 12 school win another national championship.  Or if they do, it’ll be at a new level between FBS and FCS, as those three conferences and the five current mid-majors will be entirely frozen out of FBS (now only consisting of the SEC and Big Ten) and compelled to form their own, secondary division. We may even see FBS split into three, with ACC/Big 12/Pac 12 being the second division, and the current mid-majors being third division. FCS would now be Division IV, the current Division II becomes Division V, and the current Division III will become Division VI. All of this is so bloody ridiculous, and it’s part of what is slowly killing my interest in this sport. Even the pretense of these players being student-athletes is disappearing, (FanNation 6/30)

A little history on how musicians were routinely pressed into service by municipalities as first responders in medieval Europe. (Ted Gioia 7/02)

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