“Whether he picks a firebrand like Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio or a milquetoast politician like North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump will still govern like Trump. Nevertheless, the septuagenarian’s pick could be far more meaningful than the average VP selection, even if Trump loses. Whoever he picks could shape the post-Trump Republican Party.”
“Are you interested in a deep-in-the-weeds explanation of how crime is reported and summarized in the US? Sure, why not.”
“Sarah McBride is now almost certain to become America’s first trans member of Congress”.
“Most of all, the documents show how Rush, blinkered by his own ambition to be the Elon Musk of the deep seas, repeatedly overstated OceanGate’s progress and, on at least one occasion, outright lied about significant problems with Titan’s hull, which has not been previously reported.”
“I recently did something I didn’t think I’d ever do: I sat down with two Christian hate-preachers to talk about our mutual disgust and why they say such horrible things. Why? Because I’m a masochist, that’s why.”
“As the tech giants rush to build more data centers, behind the scenes there is panic around how to power them. Microsoft, Meta and Google all plan to be net zero before 2030, while logistics-heavy Amazon has targeted 2040. In pursuit of that aim, the past decade has seen those companies hoover up renewable energy contracts with wind or solar companies. But all these projects rely on electricity grids, which are buckling under increased demand for clean energy. That’s forcing the tech giants to think about their energy-intensive futures and consider how they might operate their own off-grid power empires, outside the system.”
“Growing up in Oklahoma, Rupaul’s Drag Race season 6 contestant Kelly Mantle says she often felt the small town of New Cordell couldn’t support her big dreams and ambitions as a queer artist. But she found what she needed within her own family, including from her baseball legend uncle Mickey Mantle.”
“How have members of the Republican establishment in Arizona responded? If you guessed that they’re reconsidering extremist anti-abortion positions and moderating support for bans, LOL. No, as in other states across the nation, the backlash that the Arizona GOP is facing from voters for its wildly unpopular abortion positions caused the party to respond by trying to take away voters’ power to hold it accountable for those positions.”
“Last fall, out of public view, the North Carolina Supreme Court squashed disciplinary action against two Republican judges who had admitted that they had violated the state’s judicial code of conduct, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the decisions.”
RIP, Tony Mordente, dancer, choreographer, actor, director, producer, former husband of Chita Rivera, who was an original cast member of the Broadway and West End productions of West Side Story.
“That million-viewer tally also means Tubi had a higher average May viewership than Disney+, Peacock, Max, and Paramount+”.
“Just 50,000 years ago giants roamed the Australian continent—including a wombat relative the size of a rhinoceros, a monitor lizard as long as a crocodile, a heavy-set kangaroo and a “marsupial lion.” And now researchers have uncovered and reconstructed the skull of a 6.5-foot-tall, 500-pound flightless bird that they’ve nicknamed the “giga-goose,” resolving more than a century of speculation about this species’ ancestry.”
“Religious groups are protecting Pride events — upending the LGBTQ+ vs. faith narrative”.
“McDonald’s just fired its drive-thru AI and is turning to humans instead”. They’re still all in on “voice ordering solutions” long term for their drive-thrus, just not quite yet.
Like Therese, I too had no idea that the iconic ceramic Dalmatian on Wheel of Fortune had a name. All I can say is that we needed this biography a lot sooner.
“Although some evidence indicates that the case spread disinformation about the safety of abortion pills, the suit had unintended consequences. The demonization efforts have wound up being one giant publicity campaign for a medication that, for so many years, most women didn’t even know was an option.”
“Predators And Pulpits“. Please, tell me again why drag shows are morally degenerate.
RIP, Willie Mays, one of the greatest ever to play Major League Baseball. That he passed just before the MLB game to be played at historic Rickwood Field, home of the Birmingham Black Barons where he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1948, is especially poignant.
RIP, Anouk Aimée, French actor best known for European New Wave movies including La Dolce Vita, A Man and a Woman, and Lola.
RIP, Donald Sutherland, versatile actor known for many things, from M*A*S*H to Animal House to Ordinary People to The Hunger Games to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
“George Washington never did cut down the cherry tree, despite the famous story to the contrary, but he did pack away quite a few bottles of the fruit at his Mount Vernon home. Dozens of bottles of cherries and berries — impossibly preserved in storage pits uncovered from the cellar of his mansion on the banks of the Potomac River — were discovered during an archaeological dig connected to a restoration project.”
Remembering George Mikan, the NBA’s first premier big man, whose effect on the game was profound.
“Our dream of having a child together was taken away by a gunman. The dreams of Americans to have a child together could be taken away by politicians.”
“This is Rudy Giuliani’s $153 million bankruptcy case, and nearly everyone except him appears to be at a breaking point over it. Creditors are asking the judge to appoint a trustee who would commandeer Giulaini’s assets; meanwhile, reports said, the U.S. Trustee indicated that it may soon move to dismiss the case, stripping Giuliani of the legal protection offered by Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”