The absurdity amazes me sometimes

The federal government wants to cut, cut, cut!  They have cut programs big and small, all in a seeming effort to inflict the most "pain" on citizens, while mostly protecting the oligarchs.

And this budget bill proved just how silly all of this is, on almost every level.  Rafael Edward Cruz (I shan't call him "Ted" because that's a nickname, and that is simply unacceptable in this day and age) added a line item to said budget that moves the Space Shuttle Discovery from its home at the Air and Space Museum to the Johnson Space Center.  For no reason other than he thought it belongs in Texas.  But included in this line item was $85,000,000 to facilitate its move and to create a structure to house it.

Its just the usual stupidity from the people who we "elect to serve us" but instead just act like a bunch of imbeciles in it for themselves.

That Epstein report

I have the Epstein report and I’ll release it right away!  

Don’t worry, it will be available soon!

There never was a report.

T-rump channeled his inner Frank Drebin in order to keep people close to him (and likely himself) from salacious headlines that ultimately wouldn’t matter (remember when Al Franken resigned from the senate because at some point he made an inappropriate comment about a female reporter? Such simpler times.  Now you can literally do anything and it gets a yawn) 

And meanwhile, Elon opened that can of worms further. https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanavalko/elon-musk-reacts-epstein-memo-memes

RFK jr makes no sense

Make America healthy. Or not. But rail against everyone and let the worm in the brain control you. 

So freaking dumb. 


https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-ultraprocessed-foods-diet-maha-trump-018a808efcf059eadfab2f8fc93fad4d

Two thoughts on the flood in Texas

1. Cutting weather-related services and research into weather patterns in a changing climate is a fools errand and will lead us to nowhere good. 

And 2. This is the kind of thing you might have heard about in time past happening in an underdeveloped country. Having something like this happen here in our "great nation" is inexcusable.  

That's on brand...

France unveiled a mural called "The Statue of Liberty's Silent Protest," designed to illustrate the "shame" surrounding the recent immigration policies of the Trump administration. 

Images went viral (including here) and have been viewed (according to some estimates) by at least 20 million people.  

But the MAGA crowd thinks its insulting and there were more than a few comments about how France should be "thanking us for bailing them out in the second world war" ... which is somewhat disingenuous and omits the fact that our independence would not have been won if the French hadn't intervened and provided support for the revolution.

And for reference, the statue was gifted to the United Stated by France on July 4, 1884 to celebrate our independence, democracy, and our willing acceptance of others on our shores.

Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw took six days to complete the mural, which was painted on a building in Roubaix, France. This location was intentional due to Roubaix's large migrant population who live in extremely difficult circumstances. "The values that the statue once stood for — freedom, hope, the right to be yourself — have been lost for many," she said.

Soccer fans stuck between a (hard) rock and a hard (trip home) place.

Early this year, you had people storming the gates. And now you have people unable to get out of the stadium and easily get home. 

But, I'm guessing Stephen Ross (who owns the stadium) made me money in both cases. So who cares? 

Soccer fans stuck between Hard Rock Stadium and a ride home: 'I'll never go to another game, especially not here' - The Athletic


https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6460496/2025/06/30/club-world-cup-hard-rock-stadium-fans-experience/

Man rebuilds a B-17 bomber

This is kind of a fun story about a guy that bought a B-17 fuselage, that had been sitting in a field in Maine, way back in 1984. 

He has since spent the last 4 decades restoring it. 

There's a charm and a warmth to the story, and the embedded tv coverage is kind of a nice summary of it all. 

"Illinois man has spent 40 years rebuilding a WWII-era B-17 bomber" | Popular Science


https://www.popsci.com/technology/b-17-bomber-restoration/