06/12/26

Good morning! It’s Friday, June 12th

National Loving Day

On this day in 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mildred and Richard Loving and made interracial marriage legal in all 50 states.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Warren said this: “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

One day we’ll have to explain to our kids that we used to have a Supreme Court, and sometimes they were actually good. The youths will not believe it.

And now, the news.

Update: Iran

-via AP News

Starting in Iran where, after threatening to hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” Trump has, apparently, seen something shiny so now we’re, once again, super close to a deal with Iran and he’s called off the strikes.

This is good news!

It’s also… classic.

Classic!

Trump. Always. Chickens. Out.

Actually, specifically he said, “Today we settled up with Iran. People will start coming home very soon. ... We got everything we wanted.”

But Iran hasn’t confirmed the deal, so I wouldn’t put all your money on Kelchi quite yet. 

Guilty Plea in Minnesota

-via AP News

Vance Boelter, the man who murdered Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, as well as her husband Mark Hortman, last June, pleaded guilty on Thursday, admitting he spent months identifying and then stalking elected officials before he drove to their homes in the middle of the night, dressed as a police officer. 

He knocked on the door and said he was doing a welfare check. When Melissa’s husband answered the door, Boelter said he needed to see Melissa before he could leave. That was when Mark questioned Boelter, who shot Mark multiple times before charging through the home and shooting Melissa as she tried to leave.

Earlier that night, Boelter was at state Sen. John Hoffman’s house, where he shot and critically injured both Hoffman and Hoffman’s wife. He was at two other houses that night, but no one answered at one of the houses, and at the second, he was scared off after a police officer, believing Boelter was a fellow officer, approached him.

Boelter will serve two consecutive life sentences plus forty years.

As someone who feels very passionate about the rise in political violence, he himself having been a target multiple times, as well as been so struck by the death of Charlie Kirk, Trump took to social media to say…

Nothing. 

He said nothing.

Because he only cares when it’s political violence against him or Republicans.

It’s not right at all. Ever. Full stop. But immediately following Hortman’s murder, he said "such horrific violence will not be tolerated,” but then in January he blamed it on Tim Walz while amplifying the Minnesota day care scandal conspiracy theory.

And I know we don’t really expect better, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. 

El Niño Está Aquí

-via The Guardian, LA Times, and ABC 7

El Niño está aquí

And no… I don’t mean the boy is here. (El Niño está aquí translates to the boy is here)

El Niño, the weather phenom that hits turbo on weather worldwide, is here is officially here, with experts warning this could be the most intense El Niño since 1950.

No El Niño is the same, but here’s what we can (kind of) predict… A possibly dampened hurricane season in the Atlantic, but an increased on in the Pacific. A wetter winter in California. Parts of western South America can get heavy rain and floods, as well as an extra warm summer. Meanwhile, Australia could see heat, drought, and wildfires, while India faces intense heatwaves and Africa may go from intense drought to intense rains.

Scientists believe that, because we once used aerosol hairspray in the 80s, stronger El Niños are all but assured. However, they don’t know if this is a part of this.

This just might be, you know… luck of the draw!

Lucky us!

On a separate note (well, separate-ish)… dude. The waves down here are gnarly! (I’m in Oceanside right now)

Thanks to an Antarctic storm, Southern California is seeing historic waves all up and down the southern coast. Specifically at a place called The Wedge, which is seeing 30 and 40-foot waves.

And while the waves can be fun for experienced surfers, an absolute tragedy in Laguna Beach this week was a reminder that the beach is also an unrelenting monster and waves like that can become a nightmare in a minute.

On Tuesday night, a family of three was pulled into the ocean. The mom and brother made it out after bystanders pulled them out but after a 30-hour search, on Thursday night, the body of the 5-year-old girl was finally found.

Just… an unimaginable tragedy.

So this is just a reminder to be careful out there. Waves don’t mess around.

8647 (Kind Of)

-via CNN

You know the whole James Comey 8647 thing? Where he took a picture of the seashells arranged to say 8647, 86 meaning “get rid of” and 47 as in Trump being the 47th president.

And then Trump was like, “this is a direct threat to my life! I’m very brave! (And very scared!) BUT SO BRAVE! Go get him!”

Anyway, so on Thursday everyone freaked out because apparently the numbers 8647 were, according to CNN “etched into the grass on the National Mall on Thursday.”

According to The Guardian it was a “huge etching.” Reuters called it a “huge ‘8647’ marking.”

Can I tell you when it is? It’s for sure an 8. For sure.

Kind of a 6. And then I had to look at it for a LONG TIME before I saw the 47. 

And listen, obviously you can’t go mucking about with the National Mall. But the point of this story is more to tell you that those headlines were way too intense. Someone definitely tried to write 8647, as a piece of protest, on the National Mall, but I don’t know if I’d call it a huge etching. 

So I just think we all need to chill out. If everything is a 10, nothing is a 10. You know?

Sports by Kim™️

-via CBS News

And now… Sports by Kim™️!

Thursday marked the start of the World Cuppa, with Mexico beating South Africa 2-nil. South Korea also took on Czechia, but I’m recording before that came.

Today’s lineup is Canada v Bosnia and Herzegovina (HURT-suh-goh-VEE-nuh) playing at a classic nooner, and USA v Paraguay at 6 PM. All times Pacific Coast Time. 

And in the NBA Finals, the Knicks are up 3-1 after the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history in Wednesday’s Game 4.

Game 5 takes place tomorrow at 5:30 PM Pacific Coast Time. 

And in baseball… the Padres are still in 2nd place! And hey, we’re only 8 games behind 1st. So… we’re basically right there. Pretty much in 1st.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of sports. I do love sports so much though. It’s all just so beautiful. 

But more than sports, because you’re a winner no matter what… I’m proud of you.