08/06/26
Title
Elections Are So Important
Good morning! It’s Thursday, August 6th.
National Root Beer Float Day
You know what I like? I like the part of the root beer float where the bubbles are a little frosty. I haven’t had a root beer float in so long, but I LOVE them.
And now, the news.
Waterworld
-via NY Times
Starting with – the water, she’s been hacked!
Last week, at least seven states, including Minnesota and Michigan and probably other states that don’t begin with an M, including Georgia, reported cyberattacks on their water systems which took wells and treatment plants offline but, and this is important, didn’t appear to make the water undrinkable.
Based on experts taking a look at evidence, as well as the fact that they’ve done it before, it seemed that Iran was behind the attack.
Obviously, this is very serious and should be investigated so that we’re not open to attacks like that, in general, as well as by foreign countries that we’re at war with.
Trump, though, said, without any evidence to show this at all: “I think Minnesota is behind it,” adding, “I don’t think there was an Iranian cyberattack.”
They attacked their own water??
Brightest brain!
Three years ago, when Biden was president (remember that? It was so much less stressful. Far from perfect! But so much less stressful.), the EPA asked to create stronger cybersecurity guidelines, in hopes of preventing exactly this from happening.
The ask was taken back, though, when Republican-led states and industry groups sued to block its enforcement.
But jeepers, friend-o, it sure seems like it would be a good idea to have it now!
Anyway, it seems like they’re trying to work to backfill those open spots now. Hey, I wonder if all those DOGE firings are going to cause any issues.
TPS Ends for Hundreds of Thousands
-via PBS
After June’s court ruling that Trump could do white supremacy and end TPS (or Temporary Protected Status protections) for about 350,000 Haitians and Syrians here in America, the day has come that those protections are officially lifted. There were multiple stays since that June ruling, but on Wednesday, a federal judge officially lifted the last stay.
This leaves 350,000 people here with a terrible choice to make: stay here in America, with no legal status or work permit (and in a climate where Trump’s brown shirts are still taking people from homes and workplaces and streets and putting them in ICE detention centers without asking any questions) or go back to their country of origin.
Haiti holds a Level 4 advisory from the State Department, due to risk of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, and unrest. Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, is controlled 90% by gangs.
190,000 TPS holders contribute $5.9 billion to the economy every year because they’re in the workforce.
Some TPS holders are planning to stay here in hopes that a future administration will reinstate the program, but that holds its own dangers, beyond the aforementioned brown shirts. For example, a man who had a stroke at home refused to go to the hospital, in case he would be picked up. Teens are afraid to go back to school this fall.
Great job, this administration.
Congressman Edwards Drops Out
What is up with North Carolina congressmen with the last name Edwards? Remember John Edwards? He cheated on his wife, while his wife had cancer.
When now there’s a new Edwards in town. Republican House Rep Chuck Edwards dropped his bid for reelection after a House Ethics investigation recommended he be censured for being a super creep to two young female aides in his office.
He’s 65. They’re in their 20s. The super creep behavior included gifts such as designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, KitchenAid mixer, robotic vacuum, comments about their looks and clothes, inviting them to one-on-one dinners and on vacations or out to shows, and sending notes that I don’t even WANT to know what they say and I wish those women never had to read. (Although you just know they ROASTED this man when they read them, and I hope that helped them feel a little better.)
He took one of the staffers on a trip to New York City for a helicopter ride, dinner, and a show for his birthday. At another time, he paid for one of the aides to go to New York with a friend and bought them tickets to see “Hamilton” after she’d “gone through a breakup.”
He also, and may this man never know peace from how embarrassing this is and always wake up at 3:30 AM in a cold sweat of embarrassment from it: He later wrote that same aide a poem that he read out loud at her going-away party “during which he cried.”
Anyway, so he’s out. He’ll serve out his term but is no longer seeking re-election.
Mike Miller, who the House Ethics Committee is also investigating for the abuse allegations against his ex-wife and toddler daughter, says he’s staying in the race. We’ll see what happens there.
I saw someone say something about Miller that was basically “oh good, the Republicans finally have a Graham Platner problem,” and I just think we all need to be very careful how we talk about these guys. Because do you think I care about protecting their feelings? No! Not even a little! But on the other end of the stories, are the women they harmed and they deserve way more respect than that.
Also, just a quick note about the Michigan Senate race. I did call that race correctly but it was closer than I expected. I almost had to re-record the episode! It was a real nail-biter! …that’s all.
New Mexico AG Sues DOJ
-via ABC News
Speaking of things I totally called and how everyone should just only listen to me forever.
On Tuesday, New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez filed a suit against the Department of Justice, forcing them to hand over unredacted Epstein files, which he says are necessary to investigate the crimes that took place at Zorro ranch, which Epstein used to own.
The reason he filed a suit instead of just saying please is because he says he’s asked ten times and still not gotten what he asked for. "USDOJ and Acting Attorney General [Todd] Blanche are refusing to facilitate the investigation of state law crimes by hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators from Attorney General Torrez and state law enforcement, when New Mexico is one of few jurisdictions that still may have an opportunity to hold Epstein's associates accountable or otherwise provide some sense of justice to survivors.”
First of all, this is why we need to elect great AGs. I say it every time I talk about Torrez – keep an eye on him. He’s going somewhere for SURE.
Second, this is going to be how this case gets solved. Not federally, but by state leaders.
Elections are so important.
Perez Hilton
-via The Guardian
Perez Hilton, the celebrity blogger (who is not related to Paris Hilton or the Hilton that’s running for governor) who made a name for himself at the height of paparazzi like… danger, by being very mean and also outing closeted celebrities, but I guess he doesn’t do that anymore?
But he has a very large social media following and, on Tuesday night, he went live on TikTok in the middle of what appears to have been a mental break and livestreamed himself engaging in self-harm and covered, truly covered, in blood.
It’s absolutely horrific. I don’t recommend you watch it, even a tiny bit. It’s a man at what you can only hope is the worst moment of his life.
The livestream stayed up for more than 30 minutes. Other livestreams were taken down within 90 seconds.
Perez is alive and is currently hospitalized.
On TikTok, you have to say things like rugs instead of drugs or your video will get suppressed. In fact, discourse about this story is interesting because the livestream was able to stay up for more than 30 minutes but if you say suicide on the app, your video can get suppressed or have a warning on it. That’s how the word “unalived” came into popular vernacular.
So now people are rightfully asking how this video was able to stay up that long.
The crisis support line can be called or texted at 988, or online at 988lifeline.org
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of root beer floats.
The last time I tried to have one, we were coming home from Vegas and we stopped at this place that has like 50 flavors of ice cream and you know what? They were out of vanilla ice cream! Monsters!!
Life is… so hard for me.
But because you make the root beer free days just a little bit easier… I’m proud of you.