Here comes the summer sun! We’ve got an extreme heat warning all day. This is getting to be our normal summer these days. The most interesting thing of the day is something I have always associated with the active volcano ring of fire in the Pacific Ocean. This was a new thing for me.
This is a weather phenomenon as explained by Accuweather. “‘Ring of fire’ thunderstorms to erupt on building heat dome in central, eastern US Rounds of thunderstorms will form a “ring of fire” around a massive dome of building heat in the central and eastern United States into next week.” Well, that sounds pretty hellish.
As a major heat wave builds and takes center stage in the weather from late this week to next week, groups of severe thunderstorms will erupt on the edge of the dome of hot air, AccuWeather meteorologists advise.
The storms will take on a “ring of fire” effect, erupting first over parts of the northern Plains and Midwest, followed by portions of the Northeast and finally the Southwest and central Plains.
The intense high pressure and sinking air within a heat dome make it difficult for thunderstorms to form in large numbers. However, thunderstorms tend to erupt on the edges of the heat dome, as the high pressure area is weakest in these areas, allowing columns of air to rise and form towering clouds and gusty downpours.
Everyone from Kansas City east to the Atlantic will be impacted. It’s huge! Yes, Boston is included! It goes as far south as Asheville and will go way up into Canada. Be prepared to stay home! Europe is getting directly involved in pushing both Iran and Israel to the negotiation table. This is from Reuters. “Iran says no nuclear talks under fire, UN atomic watchdog urges maximum restraint.” It’s reported by Parisa Hafezi, Crispian Balmer, and Jana Choukeir.
Iran said on Friday it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel, as Europe tried to coax Tehran back into negotiations and the United States considers whether to get involved in the conflict.
A week into its campaign, Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets overnight, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. The Israel Defense Forces later said they had also struck surface-to-air missile batteries in southwestern Iran as part of efforts to achieve air superiority over the country.
At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser’s, Fars news agency reported.
Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel early on Friday and Israeli media said initial reports pointed to missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa after further attacks hours later.
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint.
You may ask yourself, Where is my beautiful country in these peace-seeking negotiations? Well, the answer is we’re trapped in the Trump Two Week Twist. You really have to watch this clip from Jen Psaki’s show last night. The explanation and the incredible number of times he’s used the Two Week Twist is surreal. It’s laughable even though it turns the United States of America into a feckless and shammy place run by a feckless and shammy nepobaby. The New York Times heading is trying to make Yam Tits look thoughtful. Why do they keep carrying his water? Or perhaps, better put, why is he carrying his colostomy bag? This is the headline. “Trump Buys Himself Time, and Opens Up Some New Options. While President Trump appears to be offering one more off ramp to the Iranians, he also is bolstering his own military options.” Here are the feckless reporters who executed the Trump Two-Week Twist: David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager. Sanger covers Iran’s nuclear programs. Pager is from the merry band of White House Reporters who don’t do their job. That’s a gift link if you want to read all about it.
President Trump’s sudden announcement that he could take up to two weeks to decide whether to plunge the United States into the heart of the Israel-Iran conflict is being advertised by the White House as giving diplomacy one more chance to work.
But it also opens a host of new military and covert options.
Assuming he makes full use of it, Mr. Trump will now have time to determine whether six days of relentless bombing and killing by Israeli forces — which has taken out one of Iran’s two biggest uranium enrichment centers, much of its missile fleet and its most senior officers and nuclear scientists — has changed minds in Tehran.
Look, it’s the Trump Two Week Twist! It’s a ploy, boys! It’s his fallback version of Homer Simpson’s d’oh.
Yam Tits is also using his basic staged reality show strategic moves as he tries to drag the minds of his knuckle dragging MAGA voters off his past promises of no new endless wars. This was likely predictable, too. ABC Newsreports that “Trump calls for special prosecutor for 2020 election, after again claiming fraud with no evidence.” We don’t need no stiking evidence! We’re the Reality Show Administration! Bondi will likely go along with it.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social Friday morning to again make unverified claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. He called for a special prosecutor.
“The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING,” Trump claimed without giving more details. “A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America!”
There has been no evidence that the 2020 election was filled with fraud following numerous investigations, audits and other reviews over the last four and a half years.
An Associated Press investigation found fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud in six battleground states during the 2020 presidential election — a number far too little to have make any different in the outcome of that election.
Meanwhile, we now have to report the news about ongoing attempts at political assassinations. In sad news, MSNBC reports that “Minnesota lawmaker shot 9 times at his home in ‘targeted’ attack is in a critical condition. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times and are continuing their recovery, according to a statement from the couple.”
The Minnesota lawmaker who survived an attack by a gunman on his doorstep is still in a critical condition and has revealed details of the terrifying moment he and his wife were shot multiple times.
Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, released a statement Thursday, obtained by NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis, outlining the events in the early hours of June 14.
The Hoffmans continue their recovery in the hospital — Sen. Hoffman is in a critical but stable condition, while his wife is in a stable condition, the statement said.
We also have a new possible attempt in Ohio as reported by CNN. “Man arrested after Ohio GOP congressman says he was run off the road and threatened.” We’re not sure atm if this was politically motivated or what, but it’s being investigated.
A man in Ohio has been arrested and charged after allegedly threatening Rep. Max Miller during an incident in which the Republican US congressman says he was driven off the road, according to documents provided to CNN.
Feras S. Hamdan, 36, was arrested after Miller filed and signed a complaint with police for aggravated menacing, as well as requested a protective order against him, according to the Rocky River Police Department in Ohio.
Hamdan, accompanied by legal counsel, voluntarily turned himself in and is awaiting a court appearance, according to police.
CNN is attempting to reach Hamdan’s attorney.
Miller on Thursday called the Rocky River Police Department via 911 to report that an individual on the highway was threatening him and his family.
“I’m on the freeway. I have somebody who has cut me off, who is flipping me off, who is showing me a Palestinian flag and is yelling to kill me,” Miller said, according to a recording of the call obtained by CNN.
He told the 911 operator at one point: “I’m a little shaken at the moment because I got death threats.”
Miller called police on his way to work and read the license plate of the alleged perpetrator. At one point, he held out his phone for the 911 dispatcher to hear the honking and yelling, though the sounds were largely unintelligible. His call was transferred to a different police department based on the location of the incident.
Well, have to wait to learn more about this one. Meanwhile, the big bad budget-busting bill is hung up in the Senate. This is from The Hill. “Trump’s megabill hits more trouble as Senate conservatives demand changes.”
The Senate version of legislation to enact President Trump’s agenda is hitting new turbulence as conservatives led by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are demanding deeper spending cuts to address the nation’s $2.2 trillion annual deficit.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has focused this week on addressing the concerns of Senate GOP colleagues such as Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who raised alarms about cuts to federal Medicaid spending.
But Thune has to worry about his right flank as Johnson and his allies are threatening to hold up the bill unless GOP leaders agree to deeper cuts to federal Medicaid spending and a faster rollback of the renewable energy tax credits enacted under former President Biden.
Johnson, Lee and Scott are threatening to vote as a bloc against the bill next week unless it undergoes significant changes.
Thune plans to bring the bill to the floor Wednesday or Thursday next week, but he may not have enough votes to proceed on the legislation, Republican senators say.
Additionally, the Senate Parlimentarian has deleted some of the bill. This is reported in Politico. “Parliamentarian nixes key pieces of Tim Scott’s megabill proposal. Senate Banking Republicans will be forced to go back to the drawing board on the core components of their proposal for the GOP’s “big beautiful bill.”
The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that several key provisions in Banking Chair Tim Scott’s proposed contribution to the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” violate the upper chamber’s rules for the budget reconciliation process, according to Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley’s office.
Scott’s proposals to zero out funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, slash some Federal Reserve employees’ pay, cut Treasury’s Office of Financial Research and dissolve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are all ineligible to be included in a simple-majority budget reconciliation bill.
The ruling from Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is a major blow to Scott and Banking Committee Republicans, who will be forced to go back to the drawing board on the core pieces of their proposal for the GOP megabill. The panel is required to find $1 billion in cuts over the next 10 years under a budget resolution adopted by both chambers of Congress — a narrow fraction of the overall bill.
Scott said in a statement that he remains “committed to advancing legislation that cuts waste and duplication in our federal government and saves taxpayer dollars.”
Only measures that are aimed at changing spending or revenues are allowed under the strict rules governing the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. MacDonough is responsible for determining which proposals comply with the body’s rules. Banking Committee staffers from both parties met with the parliamentarian’s office earlier this week to discuss Scott’s plan.
Here’s a sad headline from the New York Times. I’ve gifted this one too, so you may read the entire thing. “Appeals Court Lets Trump Keep Control of California National Guard in L.A.A panel rejected a lower court’s finding that it was likely illegal for President Trump to use state troops to protect immigration agents from protests.”
A federal appeals court on Thursday cleared the way for President Trump to keep using the National Guard to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles, declaring that a judge in San Francisco erred last week when he ordered Mr. Trump to return control of the troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
In a unanimous, 38-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the conditions in Los Angeles were sufficient for Mr. Trump to decide that he needed to take federal control of California’s National Guard and deploy it to ensure that federal immigration laws would be enforced.
A lower-court judge had concluded that the protests were not severe enough for Mr. Trump to use a rarely-triggered law to federalize the National Guard over Mr. Newsom’s objections. But the panel, which included two appointees of Mr. Trump and one of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., disagreed with the lower court.
Mr. Trump praised the decision, saying in a Truth Social post late Thursday that it supported his argument for using the National Guard “all over the United States” if local law enforcement can’t “get the job done.”
Mr. Newsom, in a response on Thursday, focused on how the appeals court had rejected the Trump administration’s argument that a president’s decision to federalize the National Guard could not be reviewed by a judge.
“The president is not a king and is not above the law,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement. “We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.”
This bill is on a long path. Be sure to stay on top of it. I’m pretty sure a lot of the reality show attractions are still to keep us out of the loop. Also, do not forget the importance of this Supreme Court decision, which basically says state Religionists have more control over your children and your body than you do. This is from Chris Geidner writing on his blog Law Dork. “Where is the outrage over Skrmetti? On the far right’s campaign to create uncertainty over gender-affirming medical care for minors — and the powerful institutions that helped along the way.” We’re living under a situation where there are safe states under attack from the Trump administration, and states are trying to get their kids out of living under the same kinds of craziness of States’ Rights we fought a long time to get rid of. It’s nuts!
The response to Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Tennessee’s law barring transgender minors from obtaining gender-affirming medical care has been muted at best.
In its U.S. v. Skrmetti ruling, the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees shaved off the edges — if not more central parts — of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in order to uphold laws that bar an exceptionally small number of teens from receiving a type of medical care that only one group of teens need.
Addressing this formal attack on transgender people by the government — de jure discrimination, one might even call it — is, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor made clear in her dissent on Wednesday, the work that the Equal Protection Clause is supposed to do.
One would expect more outrage.
But Wednesday was the result of a long-term campaign that ultimately succeeded. As same-sex couples succeeded in obtaining marriage equality in 2015, the far-right organizations who had used their opposition to those couples’ marriage rights to fund their work needed a new cause.
The far right moved on to attacking transgender people. The animosity from the right — and others — toward trans people wasn’t new, but as the marriage outcome became clear, the shift of focus began.
They went after trans people’s use of bathrooms. North Carolina’s 2016 “bathroom bill“ backfired. Gov. Pat McCrory lost re-election, and the swing state has been led by Democratic governors since. But, bathrooms have always been targets for moral panic, so the issue eventually returned.
Starting in Idaho in 2020, they went after trans people’s participation in sports. That got some traction, particularly as the campaign moved on.
Then, starting in Arkansas the next year, they went after trans kids’ medical care.
They were just going to keep going until they got something that pushed them into the spotlight.
Even when lawmakers started passing bans on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, however, judges of all stripes started blocking them as likely unconstitutional.
This was not, Trump appointees even agreed, a close question.
“At bottom, sex-based classifications are not just present in [Indiana]’s prohibitions; they’re determinative,” U.S. District Judge Patrick Hanlon, a Trump appointee, wrote in blocking Indiana’s law back in June 2023.
As another Trump appointee, U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, wrote later that month in blocking Tennessee’s ban, “Though the Court would not hesitate to be an outlier if it found such an outcome to be required, the Court finds it noteworthy that its resolution of the present Motion brings it into the ranks of courts that have (unanimously) come to the same conclusion when considering very similar laws.“
Read more at the link.
Anyway, we’ve made it through another year, oops season, oops week with Yam Tit’s ongoing decline and falls. I can’t imagine going through any more of this, but it will get worse here, I’m sure. The idiot who’s now our Governor has already volunteered to help federal troops and ICE. State Law enforcement will definitely be there aiding and abetting. I’m hoping we can do better here in New Orleans, but who knows? This is what he signed last month, as reported by the Shreveport Times.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an executive order, Operation GEAUX, directing state law enforcement to assist federal immigration operations.
Landry emphasized the program’s focus on deporting individuals in the country illegally who engage in criminal activity.
The initiative includes enhanced screening, identification, and a public awareness campaign.
The only crimes related to immigration we’ve had are business owners grabbing immigrants’ passports and papers while not giving them back, and essentially enslaving them. I’m not sure the state would file charges even if this happened again.
Have a very restful and good weekend. Stay Cool!
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It’s No Kings day, and Donald Trump is looking forward to a North Korea-style parade on his 79th birthday. Today was supposed to be a day to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, but Trump has turned it into a celebration of himself, forcing soldiers to spend weeks preparing and moving military equipment to the Washington DC area. The Universe is not smiling on Trump’s big day though; bad weather is expected.
Meanwhile, a man who is likely one of Trump’s MAGA followers has assassinated Minnesota House Speaker and her husband and attempted to assassinate a sitting state Senator and his wife. The murderer was impersonating a police officer.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a politically motivated assassination, and a second lawmaker and his wife were shot and wounded. Authorities were actively searching for a suspect hours after the targeted killings.
“We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,” Walz said at a press conference Saturday. “Those responsible for this will be held accountable.”
The wounded lawmaker was identified as state Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, was first elected in 2012. He previously served as vice chair of the Anoka Hennepin School Board, which manages the largest school district in Minnesota.
Hoffman is married and has one daughter. Hortman was the top House Democratic leader in the state Legislature and a former House speaker. She was first elected in 2004.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that authorities were actively searching for a suspect.
Autopsies will be done to determine extent of injuries, but Hortman and her spouse died from gunshot wounds, Evans said. A “shelter in place” order was in effect early Saturday.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune is posting live updates. Here’s the latest at 11:43AM ET:
10:13 am. – Here’s the full quote from Gov. Tim Walz confirming that Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in what the governor called a “politically motivated assassination.”“We’re here today because an unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota. My good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot and killed this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination. Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends. Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota. She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by so many.
”10:11 a.m. – Authorities investigating the shooting recovered an alleged manifesto.“There was a list of individuals and the individuals that were targeted were on that list,” said Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans.
“When we did a search of the vehicle there was a manifesto that identified many lawmakers and other officials, we immediately made alerts to the state, who took action on alerting them and providing security where necessary,” Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley added.
10 a.m. – Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said that when officers arrived to the Hortman home, they noticed a vehicle with emergency lights what appeared to be a police officer at the door, “when our officers confronted him he immediately fired at officers and retreated back into the home.” He fled back into the house after being confronted by police. They went to the threshold and saw a man that was down and dragged him out to safety, he was pronounced dead shortly after. Police then went in with a drone to identify Hortman dead in the home.
“This was not a real police officer, this was a person who was clearly impersonating a police officer wearing the trust of this badge to manipulate their way into the home,” Bruley said.
The suspect drove a vehicle that looked exactly like an SUV squad equipped with emergency lights, a Taser and badge. There was “no question that if they were in this room you would assume that they are a police officer.”
A massive manhunt is underway for the suspect, who is believed to be on foot. Bruley said police are now arriving at residences in pairs of two or more. Officers will not be alone. Police are searching for people of interest.
You can check that page for future updates. There is no paywall.
No Kings protests against Trump and his attacks on democracy are planned for cities and towns across the country.
About 2,000 “No Kings” protests are planned Saturday in response to the Trump administration’s plans to hold alarge-scale military parade this weekend, an event organizer told NPR.
Organizers are accusing the president of putting on the parade as a show of dominance and a celebration of his 79th birthday, which is also on Saturday. The Army has been planning some form of anniversary celebration for over a year, but the parade was a recent addition. It will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, and falls on Flag Day. A peacetime military parade is rare in the U.S. and has drawn criticism from Trump’s political rivals.
“No Kings” organizers describe the protests as a “day of defiance…to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like” on their website.
The statementcontinues, “We’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.” [….]
The demonstrations were put together by a coalition of more than 200 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers and the Communications Workers of America. Protests are scheduled in every state, but not in Washington, D.C. Instead, organizers are encouraging interested D.C. residents to gather in Philadelphia — the flagship “No Kings” protest. Philadelphia was America’s first capital and was the birthplace of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence….
According to the organizers’ website, the protesters are avoiding the nation’s capital “to draw a clear contrast between our people-powered movement and the costly, wasteful, and un-American birthday parade in Washington.”
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Demonstrators began gathering in cities and towns across the U.S. Saturday to rally against President Donald Trump as officials urged calm and mobilized National Guard troops ahead a military parade to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary that coincides with the president’s birthday.
Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity “No Kings” rally quickly reached its limit, while intermittent light rain fell as early marchers carrying signs gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia’s Love Park….
Protests in nearly 2,000 locations are scheduled across the country, from city blocks and small towns to courthouse steps and community parks, organizers said, but no events are scheduled in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will take place in the evening.
The 50501 Movement orchestrating the protests says it picked the “No Kings” name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration.The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement….
Reactions from authorities:
by Elizah Leighword
Governors and city officials vowed to protect the right to protest and to show no tolerance for violence.
Republican governors in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri are mobilizing National Guard troops to help law enforcement manage demonstrations.
There will be “zero tolerance” for violence, destruction or disrupting traffic, and “if you violate the law, you’re going to be arrested,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters Friday.
In Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe issued a similar message, vowing to take a proactive approach and not to “wait for chaos to ensue.”
Nebraska’s governor also signed an emergency proclamation Friday to activate his state’s National Guard, a step his office called “a precautionary measure in reaction to recent instances of civil unrest across the country.”
Organizers say that one march will go to the gates of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis warned demonstrators that the “line is very clear” and not to cross it.
President Donald Trump wants to celebrate his birthday like a king: not with cake or candles, but with a $45 million military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. Officially, the parade is only to mark the U.S. Army’s birthday, not the president’s the same day; in reality, the military’s celebration, though long planned, did not include a parade until his administration got involved. On the day the Army was founded to defeat tyranny, he’s getting a parade and using your tax money to do so.
This chilling spectacle pulls us away from the ideal of nonviolence that has paved the way for freedom movements in this country for generations. That’s not freedom. That’s not democracy. That’s not American. So on June 14, we the people are rising up and declaring that in America, we do not have a king. Across every U.S. state and territory, in cities, towns, and rural communities alike, millions of us will join the “No Kings” mass mobilization.
The president is using the same playbook we’ve seen in other countries throughout history: concentrate power, crush dissent, target vulnerable communities, enrich yourself, and distract the public with shows of force. He’s moved swiftly to erode the guardrails of democracy. He’s attacked the press and public universities, purged civil servants, and ignored court orders. He’s slashing budgets for public services, moved to erase hard-won victories for civil rights, ordered the hounding of immigrants in schools, places of worship and job sites, and ignored due process while deporting migrants to dangerous foreign prisons.
Now, in the very same week when he dispatches the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles to silence protesters’ righteous cries for justice in the face of his cruel assaults on our immigrant brothers and sisters, he hosts a grand parade. We hold a parade of the people.
Trump’s power doesn’t just come from his title; it comes from the myth that he’s untouchable. That he can say and do whatever he wants, and no one can stop him. But that myth only exists if we let it. Authoritarianism feeds on fear and silence. It survives when institutions go along, and when people give up. Already, too many elected officials, business leaders, and civic institutions have fallen in line.
But since his inauguration, millions of Americans have rejected Trump’s myth. Thousands of protests around the country have denounced his authoritarian moves, his attempts to rewrite this country’s history and his moves to destroy our already tattered safety net. And the more people have seen of Trump’s lawless second term, the less popular he has become.
“Shoot a couple, the rest will go home,” said a meme circulating on Telegram channels of groups affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys. “You just have to impale a few of them…” another local chapter posted. One disseminated an online gun tutorial, illustrating optimal shooting techniques with the caption: “Riot season again!”
Organizers in more than 2,000 cities are mobilizing for “No Kings” rallies Saturday in opposition to President Trump and his military parade in Washington. Among those watching closely: extremist organizations on social media.
Cozy cat companionship, by Alex Katz Leinwanddruck
These accounts are also sharing detailed locations of the “No Kings” protests and sharing identifying information about the organizers, including names, images and where they work. In addition, days prior, social media videos verified by The Wall Street Journal show leaders of Chicago and Los Angeles far-right groups attended anti-ICE protests in those cities.
A review of dozens of known far-right social-media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers across leading platforms like X, Truth Social, and Telegram are posting about the “No Kings” rallies and encouraging their people to respond, in some cases with violence.
Some extremist groups appear to be capitalizing on escalating emotions and at times destructive protests in L.A., as a recruitment opportunity or to promote the mass deportation of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Some of their messages have been echoed by the White House.
One anonymous online account, which posts racial slurs to its hundreds of followers, this week posted an image promoting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tip line for reporting those here illegally. Half a dozen white nationalist Telegram channels quickly reposted the meme. It was also spread widely among mainstream conservative social media accounts.
A bit more, in case you can’t get past the paywall.
On June 11, the official White House account shared the same image on Instagram, Presidential senior adviser Stephen Miller also retweeted it on X, and the Department of Homeland Security posted it across several platforms.
In response to requests for comment about the image, White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said reporters should focus on “the American victims of illegal alien crime and the radical Democrat rioters willing to do anything to keep dangerous illegal aliens in American communities.”
Also this week, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio—convicted of helping to mastermind the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol and then pardoned by Trump—announced on social media he was now a “Border Czar” for a new cryptocurrency venture, ICERAID. The platform offers cryptocurrency rewards to those reporting immigrants here illegally to authorities. Neither Tarrio nor the crypto company responded to requests for comment.
“The emergent insurrections across America and assault on Federal ICE Agents that began in Los Angeles come at a critical time as the need for citizens to collaborate with federal law enforcement becomes critical,” says the company’s website.
Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, said the posts could inspire “lone-actor violence”—or lead people reading them to “get off the couch, pick up a gun and go out to one of these cities.”
One meme on Telegram this week, from a Proud Boy-affiliated group, depicts four armed men with shiny blue eyes wielding military weapons before an American flag. The meme declared, “HANG THE TRAITORS, EXPEL THE INVADERS.”
Saturday’s military parade in Washington will celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, but planning documents shared with The New York Times show a focus on President Trump, who turns 79 the same day. The parade, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., is expected to proceed even with rain and thunderstorms forecast in the late afternoon and early evening.
Thousands of soldiers will march from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., to Washington while heavy armored vehicles slowly make their way north from West Potomac Park.
The Inhabitants, by Natalia Bagatskaya
The parade will officially kick off once the Army secretary, Daniel P. Driscoll, and chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, report to Mr. Trump in a small ceremony at his reviewing stand along Constitution Avenue.
There will be roughly 7,000 soldiers — some in replicas of Army uniforms from different eras, including the Revolutionary, Civil, Korean and Vietnam Wars, as well as both world wars.
Heavy armored vehicles from previous conflicts will be followed by those from the modern era, including 70-ton Abrams tanks, 30-ton Bradley fighting vehicles and 20-ton Strykers.
These vehicles will be staged in West Potomac Park because they could damage the Arlington Memorial Bridge and leak hazardous hydraulic fluid as they move. They could also break down before they reach their destination, according to Army planning documents, which is why the service will have heavy towing vehicles called wreckers at the beginning of the parade route on a nearby cross street.
But for all of this planning and expense, the parade route is remarkably short — running less than 1,600 yards down Constitution Avenue from 23rd Street until the soldiers pass the president’s reviewing stand….
The president will sit in a 100-foot-wide reviewing stand constructed on the north side of Constitution Avenue. Mr. Trump will be joined by a number of special guests, including Army soldiers who have received the nation’s highest decoration for combat valor, the Medal of Honor.
At the end of the parade, the Golden Knights, the Army’s parachute team, will jump from the sky, land in the Ellipse, a park south of the White House, and present an American flag to the president on behalf of the Army.
Afterward, a country music concert is scheduled to begin nearby on the National Mall, followed by a fireworks show.
In June 2024, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his aides were at a Virginia military base where the service was putting on one of its live-action shows for kids and families.
The event — a decades-long tradition known as the “Twilight Tattoo” — was a spectacle. Soldiers from ceremonial units reenact the history of the Army, complete with Revolutionary War garb, music, theatrical vignettes and military pageantry, all meant to serve as a kind of salute to Army soldiers and their families.
George and his top communications adviser, Col. Dave Butler, were attending with several media executives, when one of them leaned over.
“This would make great television,” the executive said, according to Butler.
George and his staff had already been talking about how to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday. Maybe, they thought, the National Park Service would let them host one of their live-action shows on the National Mall, the officials thought.
Enter Donald Trump.
After President Donald Trump took office and the June 14 birthday was getting closer, the Army began to toss around more ideas. One idea was to add tanks or other iconic Army equipment to an exhibit parked on the National Mall where tourists could learn about the Army’s history of fighting the nation’s wars.
Lady with White Cat, by Sharyn Bursic
Butler said he doesn’t remember who first broached the idea of turning the Army’s show into a parade. But once the idea was floated, no one seemed to push back.
By June, the Army had a plan of what they would include: 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, 50 aircraft flying overhead including World War II-era planes and high-tech weaponry like rocket launchers.
Trump, a former media executive himself, seemed game to the idea. One official involved in the planning described it like “knocking on an unlocked door.”
“We wanted to reintroduce this nation’s Army to the American people,” Butler said. “To do that, we thought we needed to be in their living rooms and on their phones. We needed something that would catch the national eye.”
I don’t believe for one minute that anyone but Donald Trump suggested the parade. Give me a break.
The Sky Dancing banner headline uses a snippet from a work by artist Tashi Mannox called 'Rainbow Study'. The work is described as a" study of typical Tibetan rainbow clouds, that feature in Thanka painting, temple decoration and silk brocades". dakinikat was immediately drawn to the image when trying to find stylized Tibetan Clouds to represent Sky Dancing. It is probably because Tashi's practice is similar to her own. His updated take on the clouds that fill the collection of traditional thankas is quite special.
You can find his work at his website by clicking on his logo below. He is also a calligraphy artist that uses important vajrayana syllables. We encourage you to visit his on line studio.
Everyone from Kansas City east to the Atlantic will be impacted. It’s huge! Yes, Boston is included! It goes as far south as Asheville and will go way up into Canada. Be prepared to stay home! Europe is getting directly involved in pushing both Iran and Israel to the negotiation table. This is from 
You may ask yourself, Where is my beautiful country in these peace-seeking negotiations? Well, the answer is we’re trapped in the Trump Two Week Twist. You really have to watch this clip from Jen Psaki’s show last night. The explanation and the incredible number of times he’s used the Two Week Twist is surreal. It’s laughable even though it turns the United States of America into a feckless and shammy place run by a feckless and shammy nepobaby. The New York Times heading is trying to make Yam Tits look thoughtful. Why do they keep carrying his water? Or perhaps, better put, why is he carrying his colostomy bag? This is the headline. 
Meanwhile, we now have to report the news about ongoing attempts at political assassinations. In sad news, 
Well, have to wait to learn more about this one. Meanwhile, the big bad budget-busting bill is hung up in the Senate. This is from 
Here’s a sad headline from the
This bill is on a long path. Be sure to stay on top of it. I’m pretty sure a lot of the reality show attractions are still to keep us out of the loop. Also, do not forget the importance of this Supreme Court decision, which basically says state Religionists have more control over your children and your body than you do. This is from Chris Geidner writing on his blog 
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