Welcome to a Hump Day (“Горбатый день” in Russian): Wednesday, July 19, 2023, and National Daiquiri Day.  Here’s Papa and friends enjoying some in Havana:

It’s also National Raspberry Cake Day, National Flitch Day (the part of the pig where we get bacon), and Stick Out Your Tongue Day (there, I just did it).

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 19 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Yep, the Trumpster has received word that he’s likely to be indicted for his refusal to accept the election results that gave Biden the Presidency, and then Trump’s incitement of Americans that promoted the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Former President Donald J. Trump has received a so-called target letter in connection with the criminal investigation into his efforts to hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election, Mr. Trump and people familiar with the case said on Tuesday, a sign that he is likely to be indicted in the case.

It was not clear what aspects of the sprawling investigation the letter may be related to. The investigation has examined an array of schemes that Mr. Trump and his allies had used to try to stave off defeat, including the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by his supporters at the Capitol.

The letter was the second Mr. Trump received from the special counsel, Jack Smith, notifying Mr. Trump that he is a target in a federal investigation. The first, in June, was in connection to the inquiry into Mr. Trump’s handling of national defense material after he left office and his alleged obstruction of efforts to retrieve it.

Days after that letter became public, Mr. Trump was charged with 37 criminal counts covering seven different violations of federal law.

Mr. Trump disclosed his receipt of the latest target letter in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, that assailed Mr. Smith, calling him “deranged.” He wrote that he had received the letter on Sunday and been given four days to report to a grand jury — an invitation he is expected to decline.

. . .The former president spent weeks after the 2020 election publicly insisting that he had won and looking for ways to remain in power, at one point considering whether to use the apparatus of government to seize voting machines. Ultimately, he encouraged a crowd at a rally near the White House to march to the Capitol as Joseph R. Biden’s electoral victory was being certified. Members of the mob stormed the building, some chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and others hunting for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Federal grand juries in Washington have been hearing evidence in the criminal investigation into Mr. Trump’s efforts to reverse his election loss. That suggests that any charges would be tried in the nation’s capital, where the Justice Department has won guilty pleas or convictions in hundreds of cases related to the assault on the Capitol.

But what will the charges be? Inciting insurrection, illegal manipulation of election results? This is one of at least four Trump investigations that I know of, and several of those have indictments already or indictments pending. Yet a friend of mine told me this morning that she never thought Trump will go to jail–ever. At most, she said, he would be sentenced to house arrest and have to wear an ankle bracelet.

I say that if America stands for anything (regardless of whether the stand is fulfilled) it stands for equal justice under the law.  Ergo, if he’s convicted he should do time. With a Secret Service agent sitting in a chair outside his cell.

Let’s have a poll, and please fill in your answer.

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*On Sunday the heat index (a combination of temperature and humidity) reached 152ºF in Iran—a level incompatible with human survival. What that means is that if you were out in that weather, it felt as though the temperature was 152ºF. You would die! Here’s a tweet, and snippets from the WaPo article are below

Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C) today at 12:30 pm.

Those are intolerable conditions for human/animal life. pic.twitter.com/R3RJ9pf4DC

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 16, 2023

In recent days, China set an all-time high of nearly 126 degrees Fahrenheit, while Death Valley hit 128 degrees, two shy of the highest reliably measured temperature on Earth. Phoenix was expected to observe a record-breaking 19th consecutive day at or above 110 degrees Tuesday. And in the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees, nearing — or surpassing — levels thought to be the most intense the human body can withstand.

. . . Research has shown the human body loses its ability to cool itself via sweating at 95 degrees (35 degrees Celsius) on a scale known as the wet bulb global temperature, which factors in a combination of temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover. Unlike the heat index, which rises above the air temperature based on humidity, the wet bulb globe temperature is not designed to be interpreted as a measure of how hot it feels outside.

A study [Penn State Professor Larry] Kenney published last year estimates that the body’s cooling systems struggle at an even lower wet bulb global temperature, closer to 88 degrees (31 degrees Celsius) even for young and healthy people, based on observations of volunteer test subjects in a weather-controlled chamber.. . . On Sunday at the Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran, air temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, and the air was nearly saturated with humidity. That translated to a wet bulb temperature of 92.7 degrees (33.7 degrees Celsius), according to data and a wet bulb conversion calculator from the National Weather Service.

The heat and humidity were so intense, they translated to a heat index value that was literally off the charts. The heat index is designed to max out at about 136 degrees, but on Sunday it surpassed 150 degrees in the Persian Gulf.

*In its efforts to liberalize, or at least show the world that it’s pretending to be liberalized, Saudi Arabia has removed substantial anti-Semitic material from its school textbooks.  (h/t David)

*You’ve heard of the “nuclear football,” a satchel always carried by a military aide to the President when he travels, and which contains everything needed for the Prez to push the button. But do you know what’s in that satchel? The AP explains, but first an AP photo by Andrew Harnik showing an aide to, yes, Donald Trump schlepping the Presidential Emergency Satchel aka “The football”.

Officially called the “ Presidential Emergency Satchel, ” the “nuclear football” is a bulky briefcase that contains atomic war plans and enables the president to transmit nuclear orders to the Pentagon. The heavy case is carried by a military officer who is never far behind the president, whether the commander-in-chief is boarding a helicopter or exiting meetings with world leaders.

Beyond those basic facts, however, not much is known about the satchel, which has come to symbolize the massive power of the presidency.

. . . William Burr, a senior analyst at the nonprofit National Security Archive at George Washington University, published a report Tuesday detailing his recent research into the presidential pigskin. Among the tidbits Burr unearthed: The football once contained presidential decrees that some in the U.S. government came to believe were likely illegal and unnecessary (there would be nobody left alive to implement them in the event of a nuclear holocaust).

Part of an interview with Burr:

The idea of a military aide following the president, carrying a locked bag with secret nuclear information, is a routine for the modern U.S presidency that has intrigued journalists and historians and the public. The idea that the president needs to be able to make speedy decisions in a perilous moment conveyed the ultimate danger of nuclear weapons. That the football system has lasted since the late 1950s adds to the mystery.

. .  .But its contents remain as inscrutable as they were 50 years ago. The Archives’ new posting includes photos of the military aide carrying the football, sometimes with the president in different situations. From some of the photos, you can see what looks like a little antenna projecting from the bag, suggesting that it includes communication devices. As far as the contents go, some details have been leaked and some general information has been declassified — but very little in the way of specifics.

And, by gum, you won’t get an idea of what’s in there from the article. The link to the National Security Archives gives us a bit more, but still not enough:

Among the revelations in Gulley’s book was that the “White House Emergency Procedures” manual “sets out exactly what’s supposed to happen in the event of a sudden attack,” including the steps that the Pentagon will “take to notify the White House and how the White House will respond.” In a crisis, it was the task of the White House Military Office to ensure that the President gets the Football “because it’s only the President who can issue the orders.” Nevertheless, Gulley found that the “entire retaliatory strike capability is vulnerable” because the President is “scandalously underprotected against a full military attack.”

*As a foodie, I couldn’t resist the NYT article, “Meet the chefs who serve Beyoncé and Lizzo on tour.” What do these megastars and their entourage eat on the road?

Yes, Beyoncé is one of the world’s biggest stars, but traveling with a cadre of chefs isn’t just a flex. Many touring artists now take several professional cooks, not to mention entire mobile kitchens, on the road with them for efficiency, health and morale.

While idiosyncrasies like Van Halen’s ban on brown M&Ms have become familiar lore, the suspension of concerts during the Covid years has prompted an industrywide reset, with a focus on wellness. Many tours now include a vegan chef, for instance, and place a priority on physical and mental well-being as well as lessening environmental impact.

“Before, back in the early ’80s and ’90s, it was more of a party — cocaine and whatever they wanted. And now it’s just a business,” said Gray Rollin, Linkin Park’s longtime chef, who has also cooked on tours for Prince, Madonna and Tori Amos. “We have one job to do, and that job is to put that talent onstage. Make sure that the show goes flawlessly. And then do it again the next day.”

. . .Regardless of the cuisine, the production demands are significant. The industry standard for a sizable tour requires four meals on setup and show days: breakfast, lunch, dinner and an after-concert meal, often eaten on a bus.

“An army marches on its stomach, so you’ve got to feed the troops,” Mr. Digby said. By troops, he meant the band, the backup singers and dancers, stage builders, the pyrotechnics crew, security guards, managers, bus drivers and all the other people involved in the high-stakes business of live entertainment.

At a recent Lizzo show at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., lunch featured a juicing station with a blender-ready basket of vegetables. There were corn dogs, fried chicken sandwiches and plant-based Impossible sliders, as well as couscous, squash, carrots and cookies.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, in a colorful scene, Hili comments on the summer activities in the yard, but Andrzej quashes her enthusiasm:

Hili: Roses are shedding blossoms, bees are working busily among hollyhocks.

A: A normal course of events.

Hili: Róże przekwitają, pszczoły uwijają się wokół malw.

Ja: Normalny bieg rzeczy.

********************

From Merilee (yes, it’s real, but it’s ten bucks for a 12-ounce package). Look at all those shapes!

From Nicole:

From Beth:

From Masih, an Iranian woman, sans hijab, vehemently argues that “I will wear what I want.” These men are intolerable!

This is how Iranian regime hired undercover agent to attack and force women to obey the hijab laws. The younger generation will no longer accept the rule of seventh century sharia laws. Please stand with us. #WomanLifeFreedom pic.twitter.com/GuxRAjwmL6

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 18, 2023

From Elon, but that’s a great hat!

pic.twitter.com/QYuDL1l9o9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2023

From Malcolm, a careful d*g plays jenga. Could you bet this good boy?

Twitter needs this today 🤩

pic.twitter.com/lDPBVaF4UB

— Jessi 💫 (@its_jessi_grace) July 2, 2023

This seems to be for real. I don’t care about Snow White being Hispanic, but the dwarves, except for one, don’t appear to be dwarves. So is it “Snow White and the Six People of Size”?

Welcome to some of the first images from Disney’s live action remake of Snow White and her DEI Dwarfs. Snow White is played by a Hispanic actress and there’s only one dwarf and 6 full gown adults. Disney says it’s taking the casting of the film in a “new direction” to “avoid… pic.twitter.com/sqiRHkyf97

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 14, 2023

From the Auschwitz Memorial, an eighteen year old who made it about three weeks before dying:

19 July 1924 | A Pole, Czesław Palusiński, was born in Warsaw.

In #Auschwitz from 1 February 1941.
No. 9932
He perished in the camp on 26 February 1942. pic.twitter.com/qeYORuKPZx

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 19, 2023

Tweets from the indefatigable Dr. Cobb. First, one of his, and he’s too smart for his ripoff insurance company:

You’d think they would want to keep you as a client, reduce or maintain the cost to reward you for staying with them (plus the car is worth less every year, so risk is less!) But no, they would rather up the premium (by over 300%!) in the hope you won’t notice and it rolls over…

— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) July 18, 2023

From Ziya:

Earthling pic.twitter.com/Atn6vuRjDG

— Earthling / 🦣: journa.host/@ziya (@ziyatong) July 15, 2023

Amira goes up brother by brother, and winds up with. . . INFINITE brothers! Read the thread; it’s hilarious.

I decided today that I’m going to see if I can find the restaurant with the highest number of brothers. I am on strike and have nothing better to do with my time. Please join me. pic.twitter.com/BGY3r04PyX

— Dan Amira (@DanAmira) July 17, 2023

Gotta be getting close to the end now… pic.twitter.com/6CXPnGCVqf

— Dan Amira (@DanAmira) July 17, 2023

Nope. . . . .

All right, enough! pic.twitter.com/N94HCBcph2

— Sylvester Tweetycat (@STweetycat) July 17, 2023

Welcome to the first day of the “work” week: Monday, July 17, 2023, and National Peach Ice-Cream Day (is that hyphen correct?). Sadly, this may be in short supply this year since the weather has severely reduced the crop in states like Texas and Georgia (the “Peach State”):

It’s also Global Hug Your Kids Day, Wrong Way Corrigan Day, celebrating the day in 1938 when Douglas Corrigan made an unauthorized solo transatlantic flight from Brooklyn to Ireland, claiming that it was a “navigational error” (he lied), National Tattoo Day, International Firgun Day (look it up), World Day for International Justice, and World Emoji Day.

Here’s the backwards headline of the New York Post on August 5, 1938, celebrating Corrigan’s feat and his return to the U.S.:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 17 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*One of the jewels of Britain’s crown, the National Health Service, is in big trouble—it’s overloaded. Whenever I mention this, British readers take me to task and say that NHS is fine, but I think I was right all along. At any rate, the NYT lays out the problems:

Her stoicism captures the reverence that Britons have for their cradle-to-grave health system, but also their rueful sense that it is broken.

As it turns 75 this month, the N.H.S., a proud symbol of Britain’s welfare state, is in the deepest crisis of its history: flooded by aging, enfeebled patients; starved of investment in equipment and facilities; and understaffed by doctors and nurses, many of whom are so burned out that they are either joining strikes or leaving for jobs abroad.

Interviews over three months with doctors, nurses, patients, hospital administrators and medical analysts depict a system so profoundly troubled that some experts warn that the health service is at risk of collapse.

“Doctors and nurses face an endless stream of patients filling beds,” said Matthew Trainer, the chief executive of the N.H.S. trust that runs Queen’s and another nearby hospital, the King George. “For the clinical staff, that removes a sense of hope — that sense that what you’re doing matters.”

More than 7.4 million people in England are waiting for medical procedures, everything from hip replacements to cancer surgery. That is up from 4.1 million before the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.

. . .Mortality data, exacerbated by long wait times, paints a bleak picture. In 2022, the number of excess deaths rose to one of the highest levels in the last 50 years, and those numbers have kept rising, even as the pandemic has ebbed.

In the first quarter of 2023, more than half of excess deaths — that is, deaths above the five-year average mortality rate, before the pandemic — were caused by something other than Covid-19. Cardiovascular-related fatalities, which can be linked to delays in treatment, were up particularly sharply, according to Stuart McDonald, an expert on mortality data at LCP, a London-based pension and investment advisory firm.

. .  These problems are compounded by a breakdown in primary care, which has made it all but impossible for many people to get an appointment with their family doctor. With a shortage of general practitioners and nowhere else to turn, the E.R. has become the first stop for millions of sick Britons.

It looks to me like the NHS is circling the drain. And then what? The E.R. is also the first stop for millions of impoverished Americans who can’t afford health insurance. And the U.S. doesn’t have National Health.

*Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican, of course, continues to hold up military nominations and promotions (including the head of the Marine Corps and the soon-retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) because the Secretary of Defense has a policy of allowing female troops reproductive health care, including abortions that involve travel. First, how can he do this?

In the Senate, one senator can hold up nominations or legislation even if the other 99 want it to move forward.

Generally, leaders in the majority party get around this by holding a series of votes to move a measure and dispense of the hold. It just takes some additional time on the Senate floor.

But Tuberville’s blockade is unique because there are hundreds of military nominations and promotions, and Democratic leaders would have to hold roll call votes on every single one of them to get around the hold. It’s a decades-long tradition for the Senate to group military promotions together and approve them by voice vote, avoiding lengthy roll calls.

So Tuberville has put the Senate in a bind. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said this week that voting on the more than 260 military nominations through the regular procedure would take 27 days with the Senate working “around the clock” or 84 days if the Senate worked eight hours a day.

. . .Senators in both parties — including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — have pushed back on Tuberville’s blockade, but Tuberville is dug in. He says he won’t drop the holds unless majority Democrats allow a vote on the policy.

For now, the fight is at a stalemate. Democrats say a vote on every nominee could tie up the Senate floor for months. And they don’t want to give in to Tuberville’s demands and encourage similar blockades of nominees in the future.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that holding up the promotion of military leaders, most of whom have dedicated their lives to protecting the country, “is one of the most abominable and outrageous things I have ever seen in this chamber, witnessed by the fact that no one has ever had the temerity, the gall to do this before.”

*Here’s Lauren Boebert and her “postmodern” idea about there being no truth getting demolished by Democratic representative Jamie Raskin (his hat is there to cover his balding head, as he’s being treated for cancer).  Why did she get reelected? If you can’t see the video below, go here.   (h/t: Merilee)

*The Washington Post‘s Kathleen Parker has a heterodox take (for this liberal paper) on the Dylan/Mulvaney Bud Light fracas, “Bud Light started a fight it was bound to lose.”

Pardon the clichés, but this is what we’ve become — a continuous, live-streaming cliché of mass-produced outrage alternating between the apocalyptic and the absurd. If you’ve been hammocking the past few months, you might have missed the comedy team known as Anheuser-Busch and its marketing department’s merry pranksters. The latter are the geniuses who thought transgender woman and TikTok sensation Dylan Mulvaney should partner with Bud Light for the March Madness basketball tournament.

To be phobic is to have an irrational fear of or an aversion to something. As used today, phobic connotes animosity or hatred as well, which might or might not be the case. What is true is that changing one’s sex through chemical or surgical alteration is alien to most people, many of whom hold no animosity toward anyone. Even so, they might question the direction their culture is taking and its effect on children. Mulvaney’s audience, by the way, skews younger than the legal drinking age.

Here’s what I’m phobic about — the manipulation of innocents through sophisticated targeting, and the political exploitation of issues that are intentionally misleading, unconstructive or hurtful.

*The Food Police are having their way, at least according to CNN, which dutifully recounts “How America fell out of love with ice cream.”

Consumption of regular dairy ice cream, which does not include frozen yogurt, sherbet or non- and low-fat ice creams, has been falling for years, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

In 1986, the average American ate 18 pounds of regular ice cream, according to the USDA. By 2021, the most recent year of the data, that was down a third to just 12 pounds per person.

For years, ice cream was more than a frozen dessert: It was a lifeline for American brewers during Prohibition and a means to boost morale among troops during World War II. By the 1950s, the sweet, creamy treat had become an American treasure.

But like full-fat milk, soda, red meat and other former heroes of the American diet, ice cream has been scrutinized for its impact on health and the environment. After peaking in the 1940s, per capita availability of regular ice cream started to decline in the 1990s and through the 2000s as health-conscious consumers — including a member of the Baskin Robbins family — turned on the sugary, fatty food, or started treating it as an occasional, pricey treat.

“An occasional pricey treat”. OY!  The first word is disturbing, the second distressing.

“I think part of the reason that ice cream has faded is that novelty has worn off,” he said. And with concerns rising about the impact of sugar on health, ice cream’s image as a wholesome treat is melting away.

It probably didn’t help, Siegel noted, that one man leading the charge against ice cream and dairy production was John Robbins, the one-time heir apparent to the Baskin-Robbins’ ice cream kingdom.

. . . Robbins walked away from the family business decades ago, instead devoting his attention to heralding plant-based diets and animal rights.

Here are the data:

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is reaching across the species aisle:

Hili: You understand.

A: What do I understand?

Hili: How much unites a human and a cat.

Hili: Sam rozumiesz.

Ja: Co?

Hili: Jak wiele łączy człowieka z kotem.

********************

From Thomas, one of the best Gary Larson Far Side cartoons EVER:

From The Cat House on the Kings. We seem to be getting a lot of cat-in-the-loo cartoons lately:

From Ron:

From Masih. Iranian cops love to shoot out people’s eyes.

Raheleh Amiri, a 30 year old woman who lost an eye in the widespread protests in Iran now lives in Italy. She said, “I mourn for my eye, but I will never back down and always fight with my people”. #WomanLifeFreedom pic.twitter.com/6sF6WWavOd

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 15, 2023

From Luana.  Is this social pressure or what?

This is being taught to primary school students in the UK.

It is subtle indoctrination that gives children the message that to be ‘cis’ and comfortable in their own body is to be boring or uncool.

This is abusive. pic.twitter.com/f4yv2BqqGb

— James Esses (@JamesEsses) July 14, 2023

From Ziya Tong, frog television!

WormTV is 🤌🏽 https://t.co/TUnLpmgTPU

— Earthling / 🦣: journa.host/@ziya (@ziyatong) July 15, 2023

From Barry, a chinwag between a cat and a crow. Sound up!

What are they talking about? 😅 pic.twitter.com/wg8Rr2FksU

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) July 13, 2023

From Amy, who adds

Pauly at Hedgehog Cabin shared this video on Twitter recently. A cat walked into Hedgehog Cabin and when Pauly checked the chip folk, she discovered this cat had travelled 13 miles from where the cat lives to Hedgehog Cabin. Pauly provided a cat bed but he preferred the sink as seen here.

Being a rescue, often other animals turn up. This cat arrived 5 days ago and has been sleeping in the sink (I have cat beds!).
I scanned him and contacted the chip folk, and they finally reached his owners. He went missing 7 days ago, from 13 miles away!!
Always chip your pets. pic.twitter.com/kNqzq8M7HG

— Hedgehog Cabin (@HedgehogCabin) July 11, 2023

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one I retweeted. A rare survivor!

One who survived (camp orchestra members were often treated better than others). https://t.co/UswDJhGjLu

— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) July 17, 2023

From the diligent Dr. Cobb. This bit looks like a bit from Matthew’s upcoming bio of Crick:

Science students! Are you crap in the lab? I have been reading Francis Crick’s lab books from the beginning of his PhD: pic.twitter.com/aNGv1Ov0Ll

— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) July 16, 2023

Matthew sez, “Yesterday on the Tour de France. This rider is out of all contention, it was an amazingly tough ride, so he had some fun with his supporters…”

La folie des supporters de @BenoitCosnefroy et @AurelienParetP dans Joux Plane 🔥🔥🔥

Le vélo qu’on y aime #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/UXvvWQU7nF

— Julien Trivero (@Julientrivero) July 15, 2023

In JAPAN! I’m flabbergasted!

Turns out a few different universities in Japan are down with this tradition. We need to normalize this everywhere. Traditional graduation gowns are boring.

More info here: https://t.co/nEbgMnYkjr pic.twitter.com/XUmB37jBiT

— Rob (@thegallowboob) July 15, 2023

It’s Sunday, the Sabbath for Christian cats, July 16, 2023, and National Corn Fritters Day. I love these as a snack or side dish, but I haven’t had one in decades. They’re best with a wee bit of syrup poured over them:

It’s also National Ice Cream Day, National Fresh Spinach Day, World Snake Day, Guinea Pig Appreciation Day , and Holocaust Memorial Day in France.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 16 Wikipedia page.

There’s a Google Doodle today (click on screenshot below), honoring the 86th birthday of Indian-American artist Zarina Hashmi (1937-2020)

Here’s one of her works, explained by Wikipedia:

Zarina’s work explored the concept of home as a fluid, abstract space that transcends physicality or location. Her work often featured symbols that call to mind such ideas as movement, diaspora, and exile. For example, her woodblock print Paper Like Skin depicts a thin black line meandering upward across a white background, dividing the page from the bottom right corner to the top left corner. The line possesses a cartographic quality that, in its winding and angular division of the page, suggests a border between two places, or perhaps a topographical chart of a journey that is yet unfinished.

Da Nooz:

*Over at the NYT, in an op-ed called, “How to break a country,” Nick Kristof describes how nearly everybody in Europe now hates Russia.

Vladimir Putin has compared himself to the czar Peter the Great. But to travel through Eastern Europe is to see how much he has instead caused Russian influence to shrink.

I’ve been on a road trip through Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — and it’s clear that Putin has managed to unite nearly everyone against Russia. Even Russian speakers who often used to feel loyalty to Moscow are now fund-raising for Ukraine.

“Poland has been able to serve as a model for countries to the east,” Mark Brzezinski, the American ambassador to Poland, told me. And Russia has been a model of a different kind.

“Putin’s actions since February 2022 have proven the thesis that Russia under Putin is interested in leadership by terror and authoritarianism,” Brzezinski added. “For other countries of the former Soviet bloc, if they ever were wobbly about joining the West, they certainly have had a clarifying experience.”

. . . The improvements in the Baltics have been as pronounced as those in Poland. Estonia is now a jewel of Europe, the global model of a high-tech and prosperous “e-state.” It has nurtured countless high-tech start-ups, including Skype, and as I walked through Tallinn, the capital, I shared a sidewalk with a robot delivering a takeout dinner to a nearby home.

In contrast, Russia and the places that have remained in its orbit like Belarus and Transnistria remain dismal and oppressive. A glimpse of that side of the chasm: One of the world’s bravest journalists, Elena Milashina, who has reported on human rights in Russia, was attacked recently in Chechnya; thugs beat her, shaved her head, poured dye on her and left her with a brain injury.

Putin’s depredations also of course put new life in NATO, so that now Scandinavia will soon be a bastion of U.S. allies. Kristof also mentioned that the Baltic countries, with a sizable Russian populace, are no longer so keen on NATO.  Even if Russia manages to win in Ukraine somehow, nobody will love it.

*Nellie Bowles has taken a break from her weekly news summary, with Suzi Weiss (Bari’s sister) filling in on a summary called “TGIF: Hollywood Shutdown.” As usual, I’ll purloin three items (indented):

→ 1776^®: Check out this new planned community in Gastonia, North Carolina, for “patriots” over 55. According to the developer, the cluster of 44 homes will all be required to fly an American flag, and owners will have to pledge their allegiance to the United States as well as the Constitution. You can read their own “Declaration” here.

Look, I love planned and intentional communities. My favorites are Mohammed bin Salman’s The Line in Saudi Arabia, Disney’s Storyliving development in California, and the group of people in Snowflake, Arizona, who claim to be allergic to the chemicals associated with modern life. I think if you have the money and want to go all in and live in a real-life Reddit forum, go for it.

→ The Siria Valley 49ers: There is an idea among the progressive prosecutors who run America’s urban justice systems, and that idea is that drug dealers are human trafficking victims who must be protected (I’m serious). Anyway, it turns out that’s not true at all. This week, the San Francisco Chronicle published a blockbuster investigation into the cluster of Honduran villages that provide the Bay Area with its drugs. San Francisco has made the people in Honduras’ Siria Valley very, very rich, and they honor that fact in Honduras with Golden Gate Bridge tattoos, San Francisco-themed murals, and mansions with the 49ers logo welded onto metal gates.

→ Sonia “Buy 11,004 Hardcover Copies of My Book” Sotomayor: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor required the venues hosting her to buy large quantities of her books before she’d agree to show up for a speech, according to a report from the AP.

Apparently, attendees to Sotomayor’s talks weren’t allowed to get in line for face time with her unless they bought a book, and aides pressured the venues—public libraries, public schools, universities—to have many, many copies on hand. For an event at an Oregon public library, Sotomayor’s aide emailed to say that 250 books simply was not enough. “Families purchase multiples and people will be upset if they are unable to get in line because the book required is sold out.”

Her memoir is called My Beloved World and her children’s books are Turning Pages: My Life Story and Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. (We’re linking them here so you can buy multiples in the hopes that a sweet librarian in Oregon won’t get shaken down quite so hard next time Sonia comes to town.) And weren’t the aides just taking the justice’s advice? They were just asking if Clemson might want to take that measly 60-book order and pump it up to 400.

To be fair, it’s standard policy for a book signing to have a book to sign if you’re in line. Otherwise, “facetime” tends to run on and people waiting in line naturally get restive.

*It’s only six months until the Iowa caucuses—the official beginning of the 2024 election season. And the AP reports that even now, under indictment and with several others looming, Trump may be “unstoppable”.

He’s been indicted twice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And he’s viewed unfavorably by about a third of his party. But six months before Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner.

Early leaders don’t always go on to win their party’s nomination, but a growing sense of Trump’s inevitability is raising alarms among some Republicans desperate for the party to move on. Some described a sense of panic — or “DEFCON 1,” as one put it — as they scramble to try to derail Trump and change the trajectory of the race. But there’s no clear plan or strategy on how to do that and Trump’s detractors aren’t rallying around a single alternative candidate yet.

“They’re very concerned,” former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said of fellow Republican leaders who share his view that renominating Trump would be a disaster for the party next November. “People expected us to have made more progress than we have at this point.”

. . .Polling finds Trump routinely besting his closest rival by 20 to 30 points or more. Of course, the six months that remain until the Iowa caucuses can be an eternity in politics, where races can turn in a matter of weeks or days.

And Trump faces glaring vulnerabilities, including state and federal investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the possibility that he could end up in the unprecedented position of standing trial while simultaneously mounting a campaign.

But even critics acknowledge the outside events that many were counting on to dent Trump’s standing — namely his criminal indictments in New York and Florida — have not hurt him. In fact, the charges led some voters who were entertaining an alternative to return to Trump’s camp.

Here’s a recent Presidential poll from Five Thirty Eight. Biden/Trump is a squeaker, while there’s more breathing room for us Dems with DeSantis as the GOP candidate. Other polls show Trump leading Bidden, again narrowly. But there’s miles to go before we vote. .

*From the WaPo, “How addictive, endless scrolling is bad for your mental health.” It’s aimed at parents who have scrolling kids, but applies, I think, to adults as well.

But there’s another side to social media, one about which mental health experts have been sounding the alarm for years: how our social media consumption compares to cocaine or alcohol addiction. And how it’s contributing to a growing mental health crisis among youths.

“Human connection is vital for survival. We’re programed over millions of years of evolution to connect with other people,” says Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. But Lembke says social media companies have essentially exploited our need for human connection.

“Part of the way our brains get us to do that is by releasing oxytocin, our love hormone, which in turn releases dopamine in the reward pathway, which makes connection feel good, ” she added.

Lembke explains that social media has taken the work out of how we connect with other human beings, placing that effort online and adding three major ingredients: novelty, accessibility and quantity, making scrolling a very potent drug.

In May, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a public warning: Social media poses a risk to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.

. . .Now Murthy’s report on social media is trying to move the needle again, and he has statistics to back up his concern: More than 95 percent of people ages 13 to 17 in the country say they use a social media platform, and more than a third say they are “almost constantly” using one.

“We are living in the middle of a youth mental health crisis in America. And my growing concern is that social media has become an important contributor to that,” Murthy told The Washington Post.

In the absence of laws against overuse of social media platforms, Lembke says, the responsibility rests on parents and users. She recommends identifying the particular type of digital media that is affecting us and eliminating it for four weeks, as a sort of dopamine fast.

Parents, of course, can enforce less social media use, though good luck to them. As for adults making a “choice” to use less social media, that’s not possible unless you can rewire the neurons of social-media users, who are bound by the laws of physics to remain online. Consider this posting (which the laws of physics compelled me to make) as an environmental intervention that can rewire your neurons. I’ve known a few full-grown adults who are absolutely addicted to Twitter, but I won’t name them. . .

*And again at the Free Press, Bari Weiss interviews Hannah Barnes, who has a new book on the Tavistock Gender Centre debacle (the Centre was shut down and refurbished after a report led the NHS to conclude that its “affirmative” care was dangerous. Barnes’s new book, Time To Think, gives the entire story of Tavistock from its founding to its closure, and is the subject of a 73-minute interview here. If you’d like a printed excerpt, go to the site “When ideology corrupts medicine—and how one reporter exposed it.”

Two Q&A’s

BW: And as you’re looking through the documents, the internal emails, these unpublished reports, what was your light bulb moment, if there was one? When did you realize that this wasn’t just a few examples of treatment gone awry but a system-wide problem?

HB: So, this is a healthcare story. No one is questioning someone’s identity or that trans people should have anything other than happy lives free of harassment. It wasn’t about identity for us ever. It’s about “Are vulnerable young people being given the best and safest care possible in each and every case?” But I think I realized that there was something quite serious here when I saw the transcripts of some of the interviews that took place as part of an official review of the clinic that was published early in 2019. The review said they had investigated, and none of the concerns that had been raised and leaked to the media were of immediate safeguarding concerns. And then you read what a sizable number of clinicians told the medical director on record, and it’s awful. Some of them had serious child protection concerns. There were clinicians saying these are some of the most vulnerable children they’d ever worked with and they are in really desperate situations. In some cases they’re being referred for a medical intervention after an hour. It’s quite clear from those documents just how worried they are, and it’s just impossible to see those concerns as coming from a place of transphobia. It’s just not credible. These are professional people who’ve dedicated their working lives to helping young people, and what they were saying boils down to: this is not good clinical practice. This isn’t how we’ve ever practiced in other places we’ve worked. Somehow, because this is a gender clinic, the same questions that we would ask normally were not welcome.

.  .  .BW: In your book, you report that in 2000 there was an internal audit done of about 150 patients at the Tavistock gender clinic. That audit found the vast majority of the clinic’s patients were dealing with lots of other issues on top of gender dysphoria, whether that was anxiety or depression, abuse in the home, or an eating disorder. There was this additional internal report done in 2005 by the medical director of Tavistock, and what it found was pretty alarming. It found that no one was collecting data on the patients and that there was a lot of internal confusion and conflict within the clinic about the very treatments they were providing. In short, providers at Tavistock could not agree on whether they were treating children distressed because they were trans or children who identified as trans because they were distressed? Or was it a combination of both? The medical director also said this of puberty blockers in 2005: “They are relatively untested and unresearched.” Tell me about both of these findings of the audit and the report, and what changes were made at the gender clinic following these things coming to light.

HB: The audit was meant to be the start of a more rigorous, scientific approach to helping this group of vulnerable young people. The better you know your patients and what’s going on with them, the more you can cater their care. So David Freedman, a social sciences researcher, undertook this audit with a couple of other people, and the idea was that they would use the findings to improve, and then continue. But they didn’t do that. Even in 2005, Sue Evans, who was the first whistleblower, felt that young people were being referred too quickly for physical interventions for puberty blockers, and there really wasn’t adequate exploration in some of these cases. So, the report, which was very thorough, went unseen until 2020 when I filed a Freedom of Information Act and received it from Tavistock (they had resisted quite vigorously). And it’s really striking because the recommendations are really sensible. What Dr. David Taylor, who was the medical director, said was: if we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly. We need to conduct proper research. How are these young people using the blocker? Are they using it as time to think, or what else is going on? Who are the people that we’re seeing? And he said, look, I’m not saying we shouldn’t use blockers. But they should be a last resort. Therapy should come first. Most importantly, he said, we have to support our staff in being able to say no when a patient requests puberty blockers and intervention. And he said, if our staff doesn’t think it’s appropriate, they must be able to say no and be supported in doing that. Dr. Taylor also suggested that they do regular and retrospective audits of both those who went on the blockers and those who didn’t, because you can learn from everyone. But none of that happened. So, as for the second part of your question, how were the findings used? Well, they were ignored.

.  . .BW: Here in the U.S., this feels like a very partisan issue. I don’t think it actually is, but I think it feels that way to a lot of people. Hannah, why is this topic and conversation so important?

HB: It’s important because they’re children. It’s the rest of their lives, and adults need to protect children. Absolutely trans people face real transphobia and bigotry. But actually, the current system isn’t serving trans people very well. The adults need to come back into the room. It’s the job of adults to say no, and that’s not saying no to every one of these young people, because it’s more complicated than that. There is a lot of nuance and there’s this real desire for certainty, like “ban puberty blockers or everyone has them.” But the welfare of children is everybody’s responsibility. The judge of a civilized society is how we protect the most vulnerable.

The adults need to come back into the room and, sometimes, say “no.”

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is enervated, as it’s hot in Dobrzyn:

Hili: I do not have strength.

A: What for?

Hili: For any work.

Hili: Nie mam sił.

Ja; Na co?

Hili: Na żadną pracę.

********************

From Jesus of the Day:

From somewhere on Facebook:

From the Absurd Sign Project 2.0: apparently a demonstration of addition:

According to this tweet from Masih, the morality police, reported to be disbanded a year ago, are actually still in action. This is frightening!

This is Iran today and this is how the morality police arrested a teenager for not wearing a hijab. Mahsa Zhina Amini was taken away like this, then killed. Where are those journalists who excitedly reported the cancellation of those morality police? #WomanLifeFreedom pic.twitter.com/xndXlnnkSB

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 15, 2023

From Frits, an elephant who apparently understands how an electric fence works takes the thing down:

Elephant probes electric fence, dismantles it to cross road. Unbelievable! 🐘💥 @ cpwildLanka pic.twitter.com/eaxNCfTDQm

— Tansu YEĞEN (@TansuYegen) July 14, 2023

From Malcolm, who notes that “we all need a hug sometimes.” Sound up to hear the otters!

We all need a hug sometimes.. pic.twitter.com/6Bnrj9XY4f

— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) July 4, 2023

I found this one, though I’m not sure how far I trust it. India, for example, may not have an official state religion, but Hinduism is given preference, so India should be light blue.

Separation of church and state? Not everywhere. Some grey countries of course have a strong cultural preference for specific religions but church and state are still (officially) strictly separated. pic.twitter.com/VAvR1J55N1

— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) November 30, 2022

From the Auschwitz Memorial, a four-year-old boy gassed upon arrival. Do you ever see these and say, “How could they possibly DO that?”

16 July 1939 | A French Jewish boy, Jean Jacques Erdstein, was born in Paris.

He arrived at #Auschwitz on 20 December 1943 in a transport of 850 Jews deported from Drancy. He was among 505 of them murdered in gas chambers after the selection. pic.twitter.com/cHnOGFUzZw

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 16, 2023

From the ailurophilic Doctor Cobb, a biology lesson:

A pic that lets me use two favorite bug words – eclose and teneral. (Both words may be useful in Scrabble; you're welcome.) The beetle has just eclosed (emerged/hatched from a pupa), and is showing a pale orange teneral (ephemeral/temporary) color. A teneral arthropod is in– pic.twitter.com/b7Wn2QApFC

— Tom J. Astle (@tjalamont) July 10, 2023

Look at this intrepid osprey mom.  All three eggs remained intact. Sound up to hear that hail.

In this video we see a female osprey protecting her eggs during a hailstorm in Boulder, Colorado. The mother never left the nest, even though she was “pounded” by pea-sized hail

[full story: https://t.co/0Anzscfnqc]pic.twitter.com/vnKQvkrPd0

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 11, 2023

Matthew’s note on this is, “They are closing ticket offices on UK railway stations, and poor George the cat is going to become homeless…”  But I’m sure someone will adopt this lovely moggy:

George is doing a great job in promoting rail travel and fighting ticket office closures. My piece in the @dailymir https://t.co/Ejj4ygBi4F

— Chime Whistle Publishing (@ChimeWhistle) July 10, 2023

Greetings on CaturSaturday, with Jewish cat shabbos lasting until sundown on July 15,  2023, and it’s a food day worth skipping: National Gummy Worms Day.  If you like this disgusting confection, you can buy a 3-pound gummi worm, available in seven flavors, for only thirty bucks.

It’s also I Love Horses Day, National Be a Dork Day, National Respect Canada Day, Orange Chicken Day, National Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day (ecch!), National Tapioca Pudding Day, Saint Swithin’s Day, and, in Kiribati, Elderly Men Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 15 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The House of Representatives narrowly passed a Republican-endorsed military spending bill, one with conservative provisions.

Congress’s decades-long streak of bipartisan support for itsannual defense policy and spending plan collapsed Friday, after House Republicans rammed through the most conservative National Defense Authorization Act in decades — restricting military personnel’s access to reproductive care and diversity protections, and imperiling lawmakers’ broader effort to set major national security priorities.

The House’s version of the bill, totaling $886 billion, passed on a vote of 219-210, carrying a razor-thin Republican majority. Four Democrats voted in favor of the legislation. The outcome sets up a showdown with the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to vote next week on its version of the legislation which lacks the divisive components pushed by House GOP’s hard-right wing.

Democrats and moderate Republicans predict that the defense bill, in its current form, will die in the Senate, raising uncertainty for the fate of major items that leaders from both political parties had identified as national defense imperatives.

. . . Republicans, who maintain a narrow majority in the House, voted late into the night Thursday approving amendments to the NDAA that roll back Pentagon policies that allow servicewomen to travel out of state to obtain an abortion, and that fund diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs operated throughout the Defense Department. They also added prohibitions on specialized health care sought by transgender troops or members of their families.

Maybe the House bill will die in the Senate, by why would the less divisive Senate bill die in a Democratic Senate? At any rate, the bills would have to be reconciled and, if passed by both houses of Congress, be okayed by Biden. That doesn’t look likely, and the defense budget, nearly a trillion bucks, will die. No more military! But its stupid to make the defense of our country hinge on abortion and DEI matters: that’s just the Republicans hurting the country by having an antiwoke tantrum.

*The U.S. is on pace to set a record for mass killings in one year.

This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.

From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.

Six months. 181 days. 28 mass killings. 140 victims. One country.

. . . A mass killing is defined as an occurrence when four or more people are slain, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. A database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University tracks this large-scale violence dating back to 2006.

Here are the data just for shootings, but you can go to the page and see all mass killings, whether involving guns or not.

The 2023 milestone beat the previous record of 27 mass killings, which was only set in the second half of 2022. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, never imagined records like this when he began overseeing the database about five years ago.

. . .Experts like Barnhorst and Fox attribute the rising bloodshed to a growing population with an increased number of guns in the U.S. Yet for all the headlines, mass killings are statistically rare and represent a fraction of the country’s overall gun violence.

“We need to keep it in perspective,” Fox said.

But the mass violence most often spurs attempts to reform gun laws, even if the efforts are not always successful.

“Not always successful?: They’re almost NEVER successful.  We have a country full of morons who won’t give up their guns until they’re pried from their cold, dead hands.

*Have you had a problem feeling cramped in those narrow airline seats? I do, and I’m only five foot eight. The WSJ shows how widespread this disaffection is.

Passengers have been sounding off for years about airline seating—no legroom, thin cushions, too narrow. Now politicians are listening. A bill introduced in Congress last month to update aircraft evacuation standards would compel federal regulators to study seat sizes and spacing.

Tito Echeverria, who used to travel frequently as a plant manager for a manufacturing company, has had too many awkward interactions with other squished travelers. “You end up having to consistently rub legs with someone, even though you’re not really trying to,” said Echeverria, 32, from Ontario, Calif. “You’re just freaking there next to them.”

U.S. regulations cover aisle width and the number of seats allowed on planes, but not minimum seat sizes. The Federal Aviation Administration has said in court it isn’t required to set seat standards unless it finds they are necessary to protect passenger safety. In late 2019 and early 2020, it simulated emergency evacuations and found seat size and spacing didn’t adversely affect the process.

Last year, the FAA sought public feedback on whether seat sizes posed safety issues, and it got an earful. More than 26,000 public comments poured in over a three-month stretch.

“Airplane seat sizes are appalling,” one commenter wrote. “They are built for people from the ’40s and ‘50s. They cannot remotely accommodate a person over 6 feet or 200 pounds. It’s literally painful to fly today.”

. . .The court did agree with one point. “To be sure, many airline seats are uncomfortably small,” it wrote. “That is why some passengers pay for wider seats and extra legroom.”

Victoria Carter, 37, said the price of regular coach seats is already too high—that airlines are asking her to pay Hilton Hotel prices for a Motel 6 quality seat. She said she tries to fly exclusively with Southwest Airlines because they offer plus-size travelers a second seat at no additional cost. A spokesperson for the airline said the policy is meant to accommodate all customers who purchased a ticket for a flight.

Good old Southwest; my favorite airline. A free see for Persons of Size! And then there’s RECLINING:

Barry Umbs, a 6-foot-9 retiree from Milwaukee, said he has gotten into heated exchanges with passengers in front of him who try to recline.

“I hate to say it, but when I get on a plane, I jam my knees into the back of the seat until they give up trying to recline,” said Umbs. “I’ve had people call the flight attendant and say that I’m not allowing them to recline. And the flight attendant will look around to the back of the seat and say, ‘You can’t recline because the person’s knees are jammed in already.’ ”

Well, can t get any worse?  As the Jewish optimist said, “Of course it can!”

*Andrew Sullivan’s Weekly Dish column is largely a paean to a “normal summer and a normal President,” but his second piece is on gender, and he pulls no punches, highlighting an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal:

A live boy or a dead girl?

That’s the question many sex reassignment doctors pose to parents of a child with gender dysphoria. Will you change the kid’s sex or wait till she kills himself? It’s one or the other.

When you think about it, it’s an extraordinary question, the kind of blackmail you might expect from a mafia boss and not a pediatrician. And you’d assume — because these are medical professionals, after all — that such a huge claim would have a mountain of strong evidence behind it.

And yet there is none. Yes, doctors cite personal experience with dysphoric kids. Yes, suicide rates for trans people are much higher than the average — at all ages. Yes, there are some small, sketchy studies that claim success in preventing suicide among teens. But actual, solid evidence in reliable studies? Nope.

To give a sense of the bullshit, here’s Stephen Hammes, president of the Endocrine Society:

More than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.

Note the vagueness, and the absence of any mention of children — the only population we need to be concerned about. And here is the Endocrine Society’s own study on sex reassignments for kids:

We could not draw any conclusions about death by suicide.

Today, in the Wall Street Journal, 21 pediatric clinicians from nine countries call Hammes out. In those countries that have conducted systematic evidence-based reviews of all the studies involving children, all of them have concluded that “the evidence for mental-health benefits of hormonal interventions for minors [is] of low or very low certainty.” The risks — permanent sterility, inability to experience orgasm ever, irreversible changes to the body, voice and face — are very real. Yet the American Academy of Pediatrics refuses to conduct a similar systematic review, five years after its last guidance.

. . . But here’s the stunner: of the more than 15,000 children treated for gender dysphoria, the number of suicides was four. It is insane to believe that every child with dysphoria will kill themselves if not subjected to a sex change. If a doctor tells you this, find another doctor.

We’ll have more on this soon, but read the op-ed, or at least be aware that it puts the lie to the assertion in bold above.

*Finally, here’s a NYT piece of interest to all insomnaics: “How to sleep better at every age.” I won’t go into detail, but advice for gerontocrats like me include this:

You have insomnia with no clear cause.

THE PROBLEM: Insomnia, the persistent inability to fall and remain asleep, is common among this age group. Insomnia doesn’t always have a clear cause, but it may occur because of a family history of the condition, stress or significant changes to your life or routines.

TRY THIS: If you have symptoms of insomnia for more than a few weeks, it’s worth seeking solutions. Talking to a primary care doctor is a good place to start. The standard treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy, which psychologists and sleep specialists can help administer.

Been there, done that—and more—but Monday I try a new form of short-term CBT. At any rate, my insomnia has abated significantly on its own. And did you know this?

THE PROBLEM: It can take up to 10 hours for caffeine to leave your bloodstream, so a 2 p.m. cup of coffee can linger in your system as you’re trying to fall asleep, flooding your brain with signals to stay awake.

TRY THIS: Cut yourself off from caffeine after noon.

Hell, I learned about the long-term effects of caffeine years ago. I now have one latte in the morning, and it’s down the hatch by 6 a.m. And that’s it.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has become a weathercat:

Hili: I have a feeling that it’s raining in the next village but here we have a drought.

A: It’s not the first time.

Hili: Mam wrażenie, że w sąsiedniej wsi pada deszcz, a u nas susza.

Ja: To nie pierwszy raz.

********************

From Lorenzo the Cat:

From Merilee:

From the Absurd Sign Project 2.0:

From Masih, hijab-less women pass a protest sign:

It’s written on the wall for all to see “#WomanLifeFreedom”. After all of the threats, arrests, and violence by the Islamic regime against Iranian woman to force them to wear a mandatory hijab, this is how Iranian streets look. Brave Iranian woman ignore Khamenei and his gangs. pic.twitter.com/4c1g8pe0iN

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 14, 2023

One I found. Don’t anger the hedgehog!

Hedgehog trying to destroy everything, cuteness wins pic.twitter.com/fh4qzYUW3b

— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) July 14, 2023

A tweet I made:

From New Zealand's official weather forecasting service: watch how astronomy morphs into astrology! This is the problem with pretending that indigenous "ways of knowing" constitute science. https://t.co/MrGXmzDHyV

— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) July 13, 2023

From Luana, a long-lasting hoax:

In 1948, a guy in Florida wore heavy, three-toed lead shoes that weighed around 30 pounds. He stomped around a beach at night, leaving behind massive footprints. People thought a 15-foot-tall penguin was roaming the area. This prankster kept it up for 10 years, hitting different… pic.twitter.com/ryJ3788neu

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) July 14, 2023

From Barry: an errant cat at a baseball game falls, gets saved. (I think I’ve posted this before.)

💙💙 pic.twitter.com/WAjAtfuK3y

— Noble Ron (@perry_ron) July 13, 2023

From the Auschwitz Memorial a five-year-old girl gassed upon arrival:

15 July 1937 | A French Jewish girl, Jeannette Rotbaum, was born in Paris.

In August 1942 she was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber after the selection. pic.twitter.com/vmCRKaZnGA

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 15, 2023

From the ever-diligent Dr. Cobb. The first has a link to the paper:

Fascinating overview of nest-building behavior across fishes and how sexual and natural selection have interacted in its evolution from Svenson & Kvarnemo https://t.co/Ek5n797Yha pic.twitter.com/3YSNoetzcH

— John P. Sullivan (@halooie1) July 13, 2023

A giraffe video selfie:

Giraffe posing for the cameras pic.twitter.com/8IhTK3Qnbm

— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) July 13, 2023

Every American Jewish boy knows about Moe Berg, one of the few Jews to play professional baseball. Not only that, but he was an intellectual and a SPY!

https://t.co/iYNnNi7cxj

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) July 11, 2023

It’s the end of the work week and, at sundown, the beginning of cat shabbos, for it’s Friday July 14, 2023. It’s also National Grand Marnier Day, an excellent tipple for a liqueur, and appropriate for Bastille Day.  Here’s a Grand Marnier soufflé, the special dessert at Joséphine Chez Dumonet, one of my favorite restaurants in Paris (background: an apple tart). Each dessert = one serving.

It’s also National Mac and Cheese Day, World Kebab Day, Shark Awareness Day, Bastille Day in France, and International Non-Binary People’s Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 14 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Remember the Equal Rights Amendment, a palpably sensible amendment meant to enshrine equal rights for women in the Constitution? Well, it failed in 1982 because, under the pressure of odious people like Phyllis Schlafly, five states revoked their endorsements. It was never ratified by 3/4 of the states, as per the requirements.  Now, according to the NYT, Democratic senators, led by Kirsten Gillibrand and Cori Bush, are trying to revive it. The tactic is Congressional action to say that the amendment was already approved—that the deadline was unconstitutional.

Democrats in Congress are making a fresh push for the nearly century-old Equal Rights Amendment to be enshrined in the Constitution, rallying around a creative legal theory in a bid to revive an amendment that would explicitly guarantee sex equality as a way to protect reproductive rights in post-Roe America.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Cori Bush of Missouri introduced a joint resolution on Thursday stating that the measure has already been ratified and is enforceable as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. The resolution states that the national archivist, who is responsible for the certification and publication of constitutional amendments, must immediately do so.

. . .While almost 80 percent of Americans supported adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in a 2020 Pew Research Center poll, there is little chance that the effort will draw the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster in the Senate. But the Democrats’ push is their latest effort to spotlight G.O.P. opposition to social policy measures with broad voter approval, and to call attention to the party’s hostility to abortion rights, which hurt Republicans in the midterm elections.

“This is a political rather than a legal struggle,” said Laurence Tribe, the constitutional scholar and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School. “It would succeed only in a different environment than we have. It’s not going to pass. The real question is what political message is being sent. In a political environment like this, you throw at the wall whatever you can.”

. . . This is Democrats’ second attempt this year to advance the Equal Rights Amendment; in April, Senate Republicans blocked a similar resolution that sought to remove an expired deadline for states to ratify the amendment. Only two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted for the resolution.

Now, Ms. Gillibrand and Ms. Bush are trying a different approach: They are simply ignoring the issue of the expired ratification deadline altogether and introducing a resolution that argues that the E.R.A. is already the law of the land.

. . .“If we acknowledge an unconstitutional deadline, a litany of other procedural hurdles will follow,” Ms. Bush, a founder of the E.R.A. caucus in the House, said at a news conference on Thursday, explaining the strategy. “We can’t let paperwork keep us out of the U.S. Constitution.”

At issue is the complex procedure for adding an amendment to the Constitution, which requires passage by both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states, in this case, within a seven-year deadline.

The ERA did pass the threshold, but then five states rescinded their votes, and it was a dead issue.  In some sense we don’t need an ERA, because women’s right have been protected, but the Dems think that if the ERA did pass, there might be a Constitutional basis to overturn the Dobbs deccision, as abortion might be considered a Constitutional right.  Some legal scholars think this tactic (passing the ERA might work). I don’t think it will, but it was reprehensible to not ratify the ERA in the first place.

*OMG, the FDA has approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. The Republicans, sensing a wave of impending sexual activity, must be appalled.

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Opill, made by the consumer health giant Perrigo, comes six decades after daily birth control pills were introduced in the United States, drastically changing the lives of countless women and American society. And it means the country will join about 100 other nations that allow the sale of nonprescription birth control pills.

Health experts, citing the pill’s lengthy record of safety and effectiveness, have pushed for a nonprescription pill for years, but their campaign took on new urgency after the Supreme Court last year struck down the fundamental right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade. Oral contraceptives are the most commonly used method of reversible contraception in the U.S.

. . .Opill is expected to be available over the counter in stores early in 2024, according to Perrigo. It will not have an age restriction. The suggested retail price is expected to be announced this fall. The FDA decision applies only to Opill, not to other birth control pills.

In a call with reporters, Frédérique Welgryn, global vice president for women’s health at Perrigo, said the company was committed to making Opill “affordable and accessible” to whomever needs it. She said Perrigo plans to offer financial assistance to people who qualify and hopes insurers will cover the drug, even though over-the-counter medications usually are not covered. Advocates repeatedly raised the issue of insurance coverage Thursday following the FDA action.

This is all good; there’s only one slight issue:

Under the Affordable Care Act, group health plans and insurance companies are required to cover women’s preventive services, including birth control, at no cost. But that applies to prescription products; typically, insurers do not cover OTC drugs. Women’s health advocates Thursday renewed their call for insurance companies to cover Opill without a prescription, and said the Biden administration and Congress should take steps to make that happen.

I’m sure that the Republicans won’t support this, as their vision of the aftermath is a bunch of young people fornicating like weasels everywhere.

*In what seems to be a tremendous war crime, the Russians are holding gazillions of Ukrainian civilians in Russian jails.

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being detained across Russia and the Ukrainian territories it occupies, in centers ranging from brand-new wings in Russian prisons to clammy basements. Most have no status under Russian law.

And Russia is planning to hold possibly thousands more. A Russian government document obtained by The Associated Press dating to January outlined plans to create 25 new prison colonies and six other detention centers in occupied Ukraine by 2026.

In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in May allowing Russia to send people from territories with martial law, which includes all of occupied Ukraine, to those without, such as Russia. This makes it easier to deport Ukrainians who resist Russian occupation deep into Russia indefinitely, which has happened in multiple cases documented by the AP.

Many civilians are picked up for alleged transgressions as minor as speaking Ukrainian or simply being a young man in an occupied region, and are often held without charge. Others are charged as terrorists, combatants, or people who “resist the special military operation.” Hundreds are used for slave labor by Russia’s military, for digging trenches and other fortifications, as well as mass graves.

. . . Torture is routine, including repeated electrical shocks, beatings that crack skulls and fracture ribs, and simulated suffocation. Many former prisoners told the AP they witnessed deaths. A United Nations report from late June documented 77 summary executions of civilian captives and the death of one man due to torture.

Russia does not acknowledge holding civilians at all, let alone its reasons for doing so. But the prisoners serve as future bargaining chips in exchanges for Russian soldiers, and the U.N. has said there is evidence of civilians being used as human shields near the front lines.

The only upside of this, and it’s not much of one, is that those who take Ukrainian civilians prisoner, hold them in jail, and torture them, are guilty of war crimes. There’s nothing so immoral in this conflict that the Russians won’t do it.

*Leslie Van Houten, one of the “Manson girls”, has been released from prison.

Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer, was released from a California prison on Tuesday, a prison spokesperson told CNN.

Van Houten was released to parole supervision, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Mary Xjimenez said. Van Houten will have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year, Xjimenez said.

*Below is a video of Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discussing the opprobrium they’ve received by being both beneficiaries of affirmative action as well as people who now oppose affirmative action. Are they “pulling the ladder up behind themselves.” Both of them vehemently deny that, give reasons why they insist on having their say, and, at the end, discuss the “hardship Olympics” that will ensue now that the Supreme Court has banned the use of race-based admissions in college. Students will compete with each other to show how much race-based hardship they overcame. (McWhorter predicts that that, too, will be declared unconstitutional when they show that Asian “hardship” doesn’t get you into college more than black “hardship.”

*A photo of Joe Biden stepping aboard Air Force one without socks has rekindled the Great Debate about whether you should wear socks in the summer. First, the photo:

That’s our PRESIDENT, and he just looks gross! But the debate rages on:

Days before this presidential sockgate, New York magazine’s recommendation site, the Strategist, ran an article in which its advice columnist Chris Black ruled firmly against no-shows—an extremely low-cut variety that tenuously hugs one’s toes and heel. “I want to be very clear. No-show socks are a crime,” Black wrote.

While it didn’t rise to the level of a continent-spanning political-style controversy, Black’s guidance enraged no-show defenders. “They were saying how stupid I am, how I don’t know anything,” said the columnist, who was still receiving feedback days after the story ran. “It hit some deeper chord.”

If last week proved anything, it’s that people have really strong opinions about socks.

Here’s the deciding factor for me:

Sock supporters see hygiene as a point in their favor. “If you wear shoes without socks, before long your shoes are going to stink really bad,” said Alan Wenker, 59, a consultant for a large accounting firm who lives in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minn. In his younger years, he would eschew socks with boat shoes, but eventually found he “didn’t particularly like it.” Today, he wears ankle-highs from Vermont’s Darn Tough.

To me, the only justifiable footwear that allows you to eschew socks are flip-flops, which can be easily washed. No odiferous footwear.  As for those tiny socklets:

The loudest knock on no-show socks is that they aren’t actually invisible. As Black wrote in his article, “No matter how low cut, they peek out and reveal the wearer to be a nerd.”

Funny but true. My rule about socks and shorts is what I call the Clint Eastwood Rule. If Clint wouldn’t wear it, I won’t either (shorts are one example). That’s because he’s so cool. My one exception is flip flops, which I often wear in summer. I don’t think Clint would wear flip-floops.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is plumping for “second breakfast”:

Hili: Did I eat my breakfast?

A: Yes.

Hili: That should not prevent me from repeating this experience.

Hili: Czy ja już jadłam śniadanie?

Ja: Tak.

Hili: To nie powinno przeszkadzać, żeby powtórzyć to doświadczenie.

********************

From the Cat House on the Kings:

From Merilee:

From the Absurd Sign Project 2.0:

From Masih. What is “efaf”? This place defines it as “an indirect Quranic name for girls that means ‘chaste’, ‘virtuous’, ‘pure’, ‘morally excellent’, ‘modest’. It is derived from the AIN-F-F root which is used in a number of places in the Quran. Good for the woman who stomp on it!

The Islamic Republic regime named today “Hijab va Efaf” day. The words are meant to represent and propagate their old and out-of-date ethos. The actual effect? Many women are now protesting by going to work without hijabs dressed in more casual clothing. #WomanLifeFreedom pic.twitter.com/UOhLfL9P5Y

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 12, 2023

From Malcolm; sound up to hear the adorable footfalls:

Hedgehog tippy taps.. 😊

🎥 IG: rick_the_hedgehog pic.twitter.com/dPelBN0WR3

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) June 25, 2023

From Luana. Our Vice President explaining AI. “First of all, it’s two letters. .  ”

VP HARRIS ON AI: "AI is kind of a fancy thing. First of all, it's two letters. It means 'Artificial Intelligence' but ultimately what it is is it's about machine learning and so the machine is taught and part of the issue here is what information is going into the machine…" pic.twitter.com/Qpcdc7Cxry

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 12, 2023

From Barry; a rational person pwns a creationist:

“All animals are exactly the same as they were millions of years ago,” he says. “Only the size has changed.”

Somewhere a chicken, the daughter of theropods, stirs in her sleep. She dreams of thunder that shook the fronds of Cretaceous ferns, and the taste of blood, and conquest. pic.twitter.com/TmeTLqXbFp

— Take That Darwin (@TakeThatDarwin) July 12, 2023

From the Auschwitz Memorial, a woman murdered at 33 for the crime of being Jewish:

14 July 1911 | A Czech Jewish woman, Gertruda Weissová, was born in Plzeň.

She was deported to #Auschwitz from #Theresienstadt Ghetto on 9 October 1944. She did not survive. pic.twitter.com/JNpLEg4sOH

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 14, 2023

Tweets from the polymathic Dr. Cobb. First: TRIGGER WARNING! Green tongue! Read more here.

If you enjoy recoiling from your phone with a strangled cry of horror I can strongly recommend the New England Journal of Medecine’s Twitter feed. https://t.co/7WOZukBcOk

— Tom Sutcliffe (@tds153) July 13, 2023

A 64-year-old man with current tobacco use presented with a 2-week history of tongue discoloration. On examination, the tongue had elongated filiform papillae and green discoloration. https://t.co/RPXVULjrIf

— NEJM (@NEJM) July 12, 2023

A good one:

pic.twitter.com/o57fjPaNZ5

— Dave Jones (@CleanPowerDave) July 12, 2023

What a fantastic beetle!

Believe it or not this very strange creature is a beetle. Last night's very warm temperatures brought it to my light sheet.
Atractocerus sp.,
Lymexylidae, Coleoptera.
Imbil, Queensland. pic.twitter.com/DMXbax4aXd

— Ian McMillan (@icmcmi) December 3, 2019

Good morning on a workday for all (except cats): it’s Monday, July 10, 2023, and National Pina Colada Day. Mix rum, cream of coconut or coconut milk, and pineapple juice, shake with ice, garnish, and you have this lovely summer drink:

It’s also Clerihew Day, explained this way,

Edmund Clerihew Bentley, commonly known as E.C. Bentley, was born on today’s date in 1875. He was a British writer known for clerihews: four-line biographical poems of a comedic nature and an AABB rhyme scheme. The subject of the poem is usually named in the first line, and other characteristics of the poem are its clumsy rhythm and irregular number of accents.

Bentley came up with his first clerihew at the age of 16, while in a science class. It was about a chemist named Sir Humphry Davy and was later published in 1905 in Biography for Beginners. The clerihew is as follows:

Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.

It’s also National Kitten Day, Don’t Step on a Bee Day, Pick Blueberries Day, Martyrdom of the Báb, Nikola Tesla Day (Tesla was born on this day in 1856), Statehood Day in Wyoming, and Teddy Bear Picnic Day. The song “Teddy Bear’s Picnic,” sung by Rosemary Clooney, was perhaps my favorite song as a young child. I can still sing the whole thing:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the July 10 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Former world chess champion and expat Russian dissident Gary Kasparov takes the U.S. to task in a WSJ column, “Ukrainians die as America dawdles.” What? Didn’t we just give them cluster munitions? Here’s what Kasparov has to say:

My first message: Ukraine is the one nation worthy of NATO membership, because it is fighting the war the alliance was built for in 1949. My second message: While America delays, Ukrainians die.

(For a strong argument that Ukraine should be admitted into NATO ASAP, see this op-ed in yesterday’s NYT by Alyona Getmanchuk.)  More from Kasparov:

The U.S. is the laggard of the alliance. The once-timid Europeans are now more assertive than the Biden administration, which is still quibbling about every weapons-system delivery. Worse, new reports of back-channel contacts between current and former U.S. officials and Russian authorities betray the concept of alliance unity and deterrence of Vladimir Putin’s terrorist regime.

. . .Mr. Putin is terrified of escalation. Yet it’s the U.S. and NATO that act as if the collapse of his illegitimate regime—or what’s left of Russia itself—would somehow be worse than a nuclear arsenal in the hands of a KGB thug waging genocidal war in Europe. Anyone else would be better.

Sixteen months into the war, the Biden administration either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care that the price of aiding Ukraine will keep rising with every delay. The latest example is Washington’s clearing the way to send cluster munitions to root out entrenched Russian positions in Ukraine—which wouldn’t exist had it provided stronger support weeks ago.

For months, the U.S. and its allies have repeated that they will stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes.” That sounds nice, but what exactly does “it” mean? To push out every last Russian colonizer from sovereign Ukrainian land? To commit to seeing the zhovto-blakytnyy—the “yellow and blue”—fly free over Sevastopol? Will NATO give Ukraine the planes, armor and ammunition it needs to win and keep the peace? The Biden administration is happy to share Ukrainian flags on social media instead of planting them in Crimea.

. . .Ukraine must win. Those are the three words Mr. Biden needs to say in Vilnius. If the leader of the alliance doesn’t publicly commit to a full Ukrainian victory, more blood will be on his hands. Mr. Biden’s meeting with Mr. Putin in 2021 in Geneva—the city where Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in 1985—didn’t turn Mr. Biden into Reagan. Nothing will, but he must still try to finish off the evil empire once and for all. There can be no compromise with genocide, no negotiation with war criminals.

President Biden, instead of offering thoughts and prayers for Ukrainian lives, send planes and guns to save them. Europe’s line of defense against a Russian invasion has moved from the Rhine to the Dnipro, but the values that line represents must not change. Slava Ukraini. Glory to heroes.

I support Ukraine’s admission to NATO (Biden apparently doesn’t), but will more “planes and guns” sent to Ukraine enable them to be “saved” and win the war? What can the U.S. and its European allies actually do to ensure a Ukrainian victory?

*The NYT continues its weekly pandering to religion with Pastor Tish Harrison Warren’s column, “Why we shouldn’t lose faith in organized religion.” (In her email the title was “Faith communities are still a force for good”.)

This is actually Warren’s interview with Eboo Patel, identified as “an American Muslim and founder and president of Interfaith America, a Chicago-based nonprofit that aims to promote cooperation across religious differences. . .”  Some Q&A, with Warren’s questions in bold and Patel’s responses in plain type.

At many interfaith gatherings I’ve been to, I see mainly religious progressives talking about progressive causes. Your organization reaches out to moderate and conservative religious people as well, including white evangelicals. How do you bridge those progressive/conservative divides that seem so deep now?

It’s actually so much simpler in practice than it is in theory. I’ll give an example: In any hospital in America at any hour, there are people from very different religious identities — a Muslim surgeon with a Jewish anesthesiologist, with a Mormon nurse, with a Jehovah’s Witness social worker, with a Baptist who is sanitizing the room at a hospital started by a Catholic social order like the Dominicans or the Jesuits, that is run by an agnostic who grew up Buddhist. And every single one of them before they walk into a surgery is having their own kind of moment of prayer or reflection or connection with what they call God. That’s what we see as interfaith work.

People from diverse religious backgrounds — who may disagree on some fundamental things about abortion or where to draw the line in Jerusalem or doctrinal matters like the nature of Jesus — who are working together on other fundamental things. That is the genius of American society. We call that civic cooperation. It takes place everywhere all the time.

What is needed to help people become more constructive in their approach to social change?

I’m a big believer in the stories that we tell. This is my understanding of religion, of pluralism, of social change: If you tell an inspiring story, people will want to move in that direction. If you only tell a terrible story about America, then people will think that terribleness is inevitable. You tell a terrible story about Islam or Christianity and people will think that terribleness is inevitable. Which is why I think that call-out culture and cancellation culture is wrong in both theory and practice. It is the wrong approach to social change. We want to encourage people — whether schools or churches or entire religions or nations — to be doing more of what we think is beautiful and healthy.

. . . When it comes to religious diversity, specifically, American pluralism is mostly inspiring and generally the envy of the world. And we ought to be proud of that. For all of the mistakes and sins of the European founders, their understanding of religious identity and diversity was totally inspiring, both in 1776 and in 2023. And it’s our job to try to live into that vision.

Well that “civic cooperation” leads to social strife, and we can see that in the Supreme Court or in the very split down the middle of America between Left and the mostly religious right. Yes, a Jewish surgeon can operate with a Muslim anesthesiologist and a Catholic head nurse, but that kind of cooperation is MANDATORY, not voluntary.  As for making religions worse by telling stories about them, I don’t think the Taliban or ISIS needs “stories” to perform their dastardly deeds. All over the world people are being oppressed and killed by religion (look at Iran). And yet the ever-sunny Warren tells us to “keep the faith.” No thank you, especially because there’s no evidence for the things she believes, which are wholly Christian. She is the NYT’s main instrument for touting religion, and it’s not a very good instrument.

*But Warren’s contention about the goodness of the church is countered by David French in an op-ed called “Who truly threatens the church?”

. . . I’ve seen the “new” Christian right re-embrace the authoritarianism of previous American political eras. At the exact time when religious liberty is enjoying a historic winning streak at the Supreme Court, a cohort of Christians has increasingly decided that liberty isn’t enough. To restore the culture and protect our children, it’s necessary to exercise power to shape our national environment.

. . .Years ago, I laughed at claims that Christian conservatives were dominionists in disguise, that we didn’t just want religious freedom, we wanted religious authority. Yet now, such claims are hardly laughable. Arguments for a “Christian nationalism” are increasingly prominent, with factions ranging from Catholic integralists to reformed Protestants to prophetic Pentecostals all seeking a new American social compact, one that explicitly puts Christians in charge.

The motivating force behind this transformation is a powerful sense of threat — the idea that the left is “coming after” you and your family. This mind-set sees the Christian use of power as inherently protective, and the desire to censor as an attempt to save children from dangerous ideas. The threat to the goodness of the church and the virtue of its members, in other words, comes primarily from outside its walls, from a culture and a world that is seen as worse in virtually every way.

French is an evangelical Christian, but abhors what Republican-style “Christian nationalism” is doing to America:

 The sense of virtue creates a sense of righteous entitlement. In Christian America, the belief that “we” are good leads to the conviction that the churches will suffer, our nation will suffer and our families will suffer unless “we” run things. It closes our hearts and minds to contrary voices and opposing ideas.

Putting aside for the moment the long history of religious misrule, recent events demonstrate the reach of Christian sin. In 2021 our nation suffered when many Christian activists, Christian members of Congress and Christian Trump aides participated in an attempt to overturn an American election and helped instigate a violent assault on the Capitol.

. . .This recent legacy of scandal and abuse should be more than enough evidence of the need for existential humility in any Christian political theology.

. . . Who is wrong? I am wrong. We are wrong. Until the church can give that answer, its political idealism will meet a tragic and destructive end. The attempt to control others will not preserve our virtue, and it risks inflicting our own failures on the nation we seek to save.

Who’s right, the Anglican pastor or the evangelical Christian? Well, they’re both victims of religious delusion, but at least French doesn’t have the peaches-and-cream attitude of Pastor Warren that the world would be a better place if we were all religious; we just need to “love each other.” What French realizes, but Warren doesn’t, is that religion keeps members of different tribes from loving each other.  And this is what’s happening in America now.

*I checked on the doings of Elizabeth Holmes, now serving an 11+ year sentence for wire fraud in the Theranos scandal. (She’s in a federal country-club prison in Bryan, Texas).     I found that, according to the BBC and several other sources, Holmes, who owes her defrauded victims  $452 million, can’t afford to pay even $250 per month, divided up among 14 investors.

Holmes has been told to pay $250 (£197) a month for her share of $452m in restitution to 14 investors.

Her co-defendant, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani”, is jointly liable for the payments and will pay $1,000 a month.

Holmes’ attorneys said on Monday she has “limited financial resources”.

Over the course of their fraud, Holmes and Balwani, 57, raised hundreds of millions of dollars, including from some of the wealthiest families and corporations in America.

Donors they have been ordered to repay include media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, the Safeway supermarket franchise and the Walgreens drugstore chain, according to the restitution order.

An earlier restitution order had only included a $25 quarterly payment while Holmes serves her sentence at a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas.

But government prosecutors last week said they had made a “clerical error” and proposed a new repayment schedule: $250 a month or at least 10% of her income, whichever is higher, once she is released.

*An AP story about Bruce Springsteen’s return to live concerts after a 7-year hiatus had a title that made me click on it: “Springsteen has mortality on his mind but celebration in his songs at London show.”

Blowing the deadline was never a real threat as Springsteen, still going strong at 73, got an earlier start and powered through a three-hour set Thursday in rapid-fire succession. He only broke stride a few times to reflect on the passing of time and the passing of friends.

The 28-song set included anthemic classics like “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Prove it all Night” and “Born to Run,” along with several newer tunes and one cover in a show that leaned heavy on a message of mortality but felt more like a celebration of life as an enthusiastic audience sang along on a beautiful summer evening.

“London is there anyone alive out there tonight?” he boomed in an intro to “Mary’s Place,” one of several tunes that showcased the E Street Band’s crisp horn section, dueling keyboards and impressive group of backup singers supported, of course, by tens of thousands of amateurs. “If you’re alive, then I’m alive. And that’s what we came here for.”

The tour, Springsteen’s first in seven years, kicked off in Tampa in February and has included almost the same set list every night, which is unusual for a performer who has often played requests fans post on handwritten signs.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has ambitions:

Hili: How to get to be a celebrity?

A: You have to shout loudly about your narcissism.

Hili: Theoretically I would have a chance, but I’m hindered by my inborn modesty.

Hili: Jak zostać celebrytką?

Ja: Trzeba głośno krzyczeć o swoim narcyzmie.

Hili: Teoretycznie miałabym szansę, przeszkadza mi tylko moja wrodzona skrtomność.

********************

An anti-theist meme sent in by Barry:

From Divy, though I don’t know where she got this:

From the Absurd Sign Project 2.0:

From Masih. The Google translation is this:

Today is the anniversary of July 18. The day the government attacked the university to shut down the protests forever and teach the students a lesson. But after years of repression, neither the universities have calmed down nor the clubs have won, but the struggle of students and their dreams for freedom is more alive than ever. #freedom_life_woman

امروز سالگرد ۱۸ تیر است.

روزی که حکومت به دانشگاه حمله کرد تا اعتراضات را برای همیشه خاموش کند و درس عبرتی به دانشجویان بدهد. اما پس از سالها سرکوب، نه دانشگاه‌ها آرام شده‌اند و نه چماق‌ها پیروز شده‌اند، بلکه مبارزه‌ دانشجویان و رویاهایشان برای آزادی زنده‌تر از همیشه‌ است.… pic.twitter.com/4lKMum06m8

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 9, 2023

Steve Pinker goes after his employer’s (Harvard University) “nutty admissions process.” New Republic article from 2014:

… the fact that a precocious cohort selected only on SAT scores (SMPY) would outperform them on professional AND creative achievement: "the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals." ..

— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) July 9, 2023

From Barry, with the caption, “Get out of here, and don’t you ever show your face around these parts again!” !

This is NOT OK!

pic.twitter.com/foCpuynz37

— Pastor Alex (@PastorAlexLove) July 9, 2023

From Merilee: both ageism and ableism in an old Disney cartoon:

This scene from the 1934 animated Disney short "Funny Little Bunnies" pic.twitter.com/tvx6jO1qHu

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) July 9, 2023

From the Auschwitz Memorial, two young Jewish girls gassed upon arrival:

10 July 1936 | A Dutch Jewish girl, Eva Minzer (or Münzer), was born at The Hague.

In February 1944 she was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber after the selection together with her younger sister Liane (in the picture: Eva (left), Liane (right)). pic.twitter.com/LRvL7dPuNd

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 10, 2023

Tweets from Professor Cobb. This first one is a work of art, and the movie in which this song appears is in the tweet:

A work of art. https://t.co/irdZVTWiaW

— GailRenard (@GailRenard) July 9, 2023

Isn’t this adorable? It’s an elephant shrew, and there are several species falling into six genera.

The cutest little snoot that you'll want to BOOP 😍

These tiny sengis grow to just 10cm and weigh less than 50 grams, but they have an incredible genetic link to elephants and aardvarks! Hence that amazing trunk-like snout 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2qGESCfIqY

— Chester Zoo (@chesterzoo) July 8, 2023

This is a GREAT place for a cat to be!

pic.twitter.com/RarYyhd7Bo

— place where cat shouldn't be 😺 (@catshouldnt) July 9, 2023

Matthew adds another that just appeared at the Auschwitz Memorial site:

10 July 1902 | Russian Jewish woman Tsipa Gast was born in Chernigov. She emigrated to France.

In July 1942 she was deported to #Auschwitz from Drancy with her husband Mozes (Moshe). They did not survive. pic.twitter.com/5ldygt1Tg6

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 10, 2023