Dems flee Texas; Trump losing it; fireflies return; courts vs DOJ; smartphones damage kids; Florida man turns in 50 pounds of cocaine he found at sea
It's National Champagne Day!
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Knee Deep in the Hoopla
Democrats flee Texas to block Republican redistricting map backed by Trump. Two-thirds of the 150-member Texas legislature must be present in order to hold a vote. Fifty-one Democratic lawmakers have fled, most of them to Illinois, denying Republicans the required quorum.
The Trump administration’s campaign to undermine the next election. The executive branch is interfering in U.S. elections in unprecedented ways.
‘He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity. Joe Biden was hounded for his age-related gaffes, but Trump’s increasingly strange behavior has largely been ignored.
For more than a year Trump, 79, has exhibited odd behavior at campaign events, in interviews, in his spontaneous remarks and at press conferences. The president repeatedly drifts off topic, including during a cabinet meeting this month when he spent 15 minutes talking about decorating, and appears to misremember simple facts about his government and his life.Legal cases could pry open Epstein cache despite Trump’s blocking effort. Cases winding through courts offer hope that documents could be released even if DOJ declines.
Seeing isn’t believing any more. (Video)
Fireflies are lighting up summer skies. But the glowing bugs are still on the decline. Some species were boosted by a wet spring, but they’re still in danger from habitat loss, pesticides, and light pollution.
After a reference to Trump’s impeachments is removed from a display in the Smithsonian, complex questions echo. Trump has pressed institutions and agencies under federal oversight, often through the pressure of funding, to focus on the country’s achievements and progress and away from things he terms “divisive.” The museum said they weren’t pressured.
Children who are provided with access to smartphones before the age of 13 are, per a jarring new study, far more likely to suffer severe mental health problems down the line. Among the more than 100,000 18-to-24-year-olds whose outcomes were tracked, those who got phones when they were younger experienced more suicidal ideation, aggression, reality detachment, and hallucinations as they aged.
Want to get smarter? Neuroscience says five simple steps significantly boost memory, learning, and cognition.
Strange radio pulses detected coming from ice in Antarctica. TLDR: Either something’s wrong with the instruments, or they have no clue.
Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows. Although, recently, we can all agree that it pretty much sucks.
Quote of the Day:
Look, when I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point.
--Barack Obama (Wikipedia link)
(More Barack Obama quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Assistance Dog Day, Hooray for Kids Day, International Clouded Leopard Day, National Champagne Day, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, National White Wine Day, Single Working Women's Day, and U.S. Coast Guard Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
2022 – Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages to parents of child killed in Sandy Hook massacre after Jones claimed it was a hoax
2020 – At least 220 people were killed and over 5,000 were wounded when 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut, Lebanon. (Video)
2015 – Died: Elsie Hillman, American philanthropist and politician (born 1925)
2014 – Died: James Brady, American activist and politician, 15th White House Press Secretary (born 1940)
2007 – NASA's Phoenix spacecraft was launched.
2007 – Died: Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1929) (Video)
1999 – Died: Victor Mature, American actor (born 1913)
1987 – The Federal Communications Commission rescinded the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views.
1984 – Prince's "Purple Rain" album hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, where it remained for 24 weeks. (Video)
1981 – Died: Melvyn Douglas, American actor (born 1901)
1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
1964 – Second Gulf of Tonkin Incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy mistakenly reported coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1964 – Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
1962 – Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (born 1926) (Video)
1958 – The Billboard Hot 100 is published for the first time, with "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson at #1. (Video)
1944 –A tip from a Dutch informer led the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they found and arrested Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
1914 – World War I: In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declared war on Germany. The United States declared its neutrality.
1892 – The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden were found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She was tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.
1887 – Granny, a sea anemone, died in Edinburgh after nearly 60 years in captivity. Her death was reported in The Scotsman and The New York Times.
1875 – Died: Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (born 1805)
1821 – The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
1790 – A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).
1693 – Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1983 – Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1981 – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, American member of British Royal Family, media personality and actress
1961 – Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
1955 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1944 – Richard Belzer, American actor (died 2023)
1941 – Cliff Nobles, American musician (died 2008) (Video)
1920 – Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (died 2013) (Video)
1901 – Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer (died 1971)
1900 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (died 2002)
1834 – John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1923)
1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (died 1822)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
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