Sunday Night

 Rock on.

Is It Any Wonder The Monkey's Confused

Remember the Rafah red line

Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route Military action will be paused on the route from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Israel said.

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard the reports on Sunday about a daily "tactical pause" along an aid route, he contacted his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him, an Israeli official told ABC News. 

After an inquiry, the prime minister was informed that there was no change in Isreal Defense Forces policy and that the fighting in Rafah would continue as planned, the official said. 

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari released a statement in Hebrew shortly after announcement saying the pause will affect a single aid route.

"There is no cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, and the fighting in Rafah continues," Hagari said. "Also, there is no change in the introduction of goods into the Gaza Strip."

Memories

Someone reminded me that I used to call Ross Douthat "Chunky BoBo" or "Pastor Chunky BoBo" (BoBo being David Brooks) and I thought that was funny!

IVF

A lot of people have fertility struggles and having a quiverfull-adjacent movement wrapped up with an anti-abortion movement is, well, problematic.

These people generally resolve this by being confident in the knowledge that their hearts are pure, that wanting babies (destroying embryos through IVF) is different than not wanting babies (destroying embryos through abortion), and that this should be good enough. But the leaders and the movement are not the same.

The Forever Beat

A US journalist could spend a lifetime opening the box that is UK journalism and documenting all the Eldritch Horrors that spill out.

The publisher and incoming editor of The Washington Post used fraudulently obtained phone and company records in newspaper articles as journalists in London, according to a former colleague, the published account of a private investigator and an analysis of newspaper archives.

Will Lewis, The Post’s publisher, assigned one of the articles in 2004 as business editor of The Sunday Times. Another was written by Robert Winnett, whom Mr. Lewis recently announced as The Post’s next executive editor.

This piece does not really provide the full dimensions of the "phone hacking scandal" generally, which is sort of shorthand for a whole set of horrors.

Morning

Sunday funday.

Saturday Night

Rock on.

Afternoon Thread

Doing some weekending, as is the tradition.

Are People OK

I'm stupid and don't really have the vocabulary of basic psychology and neuroscience, but I occasionally think about just why THE METAVERSE had such an appeal to Zuckerburg and others. Plenty of things in tech these days are just fraud, but I'm reasonably sure Zuck thought putting tens of billions into that would produce something amazing.. and that something would be like Holodeck 1.0.

I'm just not sure how functioning humans thought the experience as it was hyped - legless Zuck floating near the Eiffel tower, or whatever - was in any way that immersive reality they craved. There's some fundamental perception and reality disconnection that I can't comprehend.

An inability to distinguish between what I see, what others see, and what I imagine. Or something.  Like I said I'm stupid...

Ah, Well, Nevertheless

Mission Accomplished?

The U.S.-built aid pier will be detached from Gaza’s coast for a second time due to rough seas, two U.S. officials said Friday, raising further questions about the viability of the sea route.

I suspect it won't return.

Morning

Slacker Saturday.

Friday Night

Rock on.

Happy Hour

Get happy.

Political Journalism

Often as bad as its harshest critics claim.

Poor Emma (of Politico). She probably got herself kicked out of the group chat for that.

Sounds Bad

Probably bad.

Over 2 feet of rainfall was recorded over the past 72 hours at Miami-Dade College - North Campus. Over 20 inches of rain was clocked at Miami-Dade College - Hialeah Campus, over 19 inches in the Everglades, over 18 inches at the University of Miami and 13.51 inches at Miami Beach.

South Florida has been drenched in a deluge that started Tuesday into Wednesday, with a brief break on Thursday before more rain pounded down. This week’s downpour forced flight cancellations at airports, residents to abandon cars in high water and the rescue of locals from flooded vehicles and homes.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

This will be one of those things the press will refer to as a "conspiracy theory" in a few years.

Lunch

eat

😞

Poor guy.

It’s a day of reckoning today for Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and a long-awaited culmination for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones for defamation. A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas is expected to force Jones to liquidate his personal assets, including ownership of his media company, Free Speech Systems, in order to pay families nearly $1.5 billion in damages for spreading lies that the 2012 school shooting never happened.

Sure Why Not

What the fuck is wrong with these people.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

Airborne viral blowback.

Bust Out

I have to say, earnestly for once, masterful gambit, sir.

June 13 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package, the electric vehicle-maker said on Thursday, a big thumbs-up to his leadership and an incentive to keep his focus on his biggest source of wealth.

The approval underscores the support that Musk enjoys from Tesla's retail investor base, many of whom are vocal fans of the mercurial billionaire. The proposal passed despite opposition from some large institutional investors and proxy firms.

Tesla Corp. has (forgive me) no gas in the tank, but it is amazing how long it will run on fumes as its leader is pillaging it.