1/. Angus Petersen is angry......not with you [even if you are a boomer], it's the billionaires and elites who've wrecked the planet.....
It gets old writing about how bad things are getting. My everyday writing process is like sitting down with the Four Horsemen for dinner every night. But every day, there’s something else that happens that makes be a) a little bit sadder and b) resolved to let people know about it.
To that point, this article is about the wholesale destruction of any reasonable belief that American might actually give a damn about the climate crisis. It’s not due to incompetence, or bureaucratic bungling, or even your run-of-the-mill political cowardice. No, this is willful. It’s strategic. It’s the calculated unraveling of any moral or scientific credibility the U.S. once had. And it’s happening in broad daylight while the planet roasts like a Costco rotisserie chicken.
2/. Tom Tomorrow with the Magnificent Trump!
23/. It's OK to cut MAGA family out of your life......
In June, a woman who goes by Shannon Hill said that her 36-year-old son would not acknowledge her birthday gift to him. “Why? Because he hasn’t spoken to my husband or I in seven months because we voted for Trump,” she explained on X. Hill’s viral tale worked like a Rorschach test. MAGA parents read it and saw their own snowflakes, who are triggered so easily. Others saw a narcissist who could not accept the consequences of her actions. We don’t know the truth, and we probably never will. Maybe Hill’s vote was the only reason her son needed to block her. Maybe it was the final crack in a longer disintegration. Whatever the reason, the result — estrangement — has become more common. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/david-litt-response-no-contact-parents-maga.html?ueid=757da4c757bd7d86b040a18975d30c93&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Intel%20Daily%20-%20July%2018%2C%202025&utm_term=Subscription%20List%20-%20Daily%20Intelligencer%20%281%20Year%29
5/. One of these is coming to replace Colbert.....
6/. The disturbing thing about this story is the role of FHP - we know the ICE thugs are just that - thugs, but I had a better opinion of FHP.
Not any more....
On the morning of 2 May, teenager Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio was driving to his landscaping job in North Palm Beach with his mother and two male friends when they were pulled over by the Florida highway patrol.
In one swift moment, a traffic stop turned into a violent arrest.
A highway patrol officer asked everyone in the van to identify themselves, then called for backup. Officers with US border patrol arrived on the scene.
Video footage of the incident captured by Laynez-Ambrosio, an 18-year-old US citizen, appears to show a group of officers in tactical gear working together to violently detain the three men*, two of whom are undocumented. They appear to use a stun gun on one man, put another in a chokehold and can be heard telling Laynez-Ambrosio: “You’ve got no rights here. You’re a migo, brother.” Afterward, agents can be heard bragging and making light of the arrests, calling the stun gun use “funny” and quipping: “You can smell that … $30,000 bonus.”
7/. You absolutely have to see the latest South Park episode......hysterically funny, and no wonder Trump has melted down.
It's on Paramount, and on the link below there's a "try it free" button.....go for it!
8/. A fascinating article about why the right is obsessed with the Epstein case - it's a culmination of a "protect the children"
mantra that has gripped QAnon for years....
There is no cause on the American right quite like the quest to save children from sex abuse.
The harming of children is at the center of Pizzagate, the wholly fake theory that began circulating around the 2016 election that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex-trafficking ring out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor. It’s the ultimate sin in the tales spun by QAnon followers, who believe that millions of children are going missing, their bodies harvested for a drug enjoyed by elites.
The obsession can be found closer to the mainstream, too. Conservative activists have stoked fears that transgender adults are “grooming” children for abuse. In the summer of 2023, the movie “The Sound of Freedom,” a thriller about a swaggering federal agent who rescues children from sex trafficking, was an unexpected blockbuster, powered by loyal conservative fans.
9/. I wish this was funny - it's all here already......
10/. Democrats need to learn from Trump - will they?
In the first six months of his second term as president, Donald Trumphas dominated the national political conversation, implemented an aggressive agenda of constitutional reform, scrambled longstanding American alliances, and helped alter US political culture.
Pro-democracy forces have been left with their heads spinning. They (and I) have spent too much time simply denouncing or pathologizing him and far too little time learning from him.
And there is a lot to learn.
Not since the middle of the twentieth century, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt led a constitutional revolution, has any president achieved so much of his agenda in so short a time. But to recognize Trump’s political genius is not to say that it has been put to good use or that he has been a good president. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/20/to-defeat-trump-the-left-must-learn-from-him
11/. Meanwhile life goes on in Florida, getting more corrupt and stupid by the day......
With his new hand-picked chief financial officer standing obediently by his side, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that he will begin sending auditors into city and county halls around the state to scrutinize local government spending.
DeSantis is branding the effort as a state-level “DOGE,” an attempt to tap into some of the media attention that once surrounded the often-chaotic cost-cutting at the federal level imposed by the Trump administration and teams of Elon Musk-led consultants. And the governor is using a suite of new powers granted to him by the Florida Legislature at the last minute of this year’s legislative session — powers that enable DeSantis to demand access to local government employees, buildings and data systems.
DeSantis announced the impending audits during a pair of Tuesday morning stops in the first two communities on his hit list: Broward County, the sprawling south Florida county that includes the city of Fort Lauderdale, and Gainesville, the north Florida college town home to the University of Florida.
12/. What does MAGA see and hear? No evil....
13/. Very interesting article about thriving in your later years - ageing joyfully!
Anyone who says “age is just a number” has not reached the high numbers. Ageing is not easy, and “forever young” is not a plan. Regardless of how many burpees you can do or protein smoothies you chug, the passing of time brings challenges. Roles that you relished change, words on menus seem to shrink, necks sag, diagnoses arise.
On the other hand, ageing is not the downhill slide that people believe it is. A multibillion-dollar anti-ageing industry profits when you feel awful about yourself and fear ageing like the plague. The tragedy of ageing is not that we will all grow old and die, but that ageing has been made unnecessarily, and at times excruciatingly, painful and humiliating. Ageing does not have to be this way. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2025/jul/18/best-ageing-advice-expert-tips?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
14/. That's ICE folks.....
15/. A British view of Trump's foreign policy......how other countries see us now.
Donald Trump’s victory in last November’s US presidential election presented Keir Starmer, Britain’s Labour prime minister, with a choice – and an opportunity. Either cosy up to a man whose obnoxious, hard-right, ultra-nationalist policies are inimical to UK security and foreign policy interests, economic prosperity and democratic values; or risk a rupture with the US, a longstanding but overbearing ally, and seize the moment to redefine Britain’s place in the world, primarily through reintegration in Europe.
Starmer made the wrong call – and Britain has paid a heavy price ever since. The cost to national dignity and the public purse will be on painful show this weekend as Trump, pursued by the Epstein scandal and angry protesters, makes an expensively policed, ostensibly private visit to his golf courses in Scotland. On Monday, the prime minister will travel north to kiss the ring. More humiliations loom. In September, Trump will return for an unprecedented second state visit, at Starmer’s unctuous behest. At that point, the full, embarrassing extent of Britain’s thraldom will be there for all the world to see.
16/. CBS - these fine shows are coming soon......
17/ "The Assassin" review from the Guardian - 5 stars!
Note - not in the US yet......
Amenopausal assassin has been a long time coming, even though there is literally no more perfect pairing in the world than a woman rapidly emptying of oestrogen and a gun. I blame the patriarchy, but I understand its unwillingness to confront the truth that if women were free to express themselves instead of raised in mental straitjackets, then armed at 40, the world would look very different indeed.
Keeley Hawes, who just gets better and more impressive with every outing, is that menopausal assassin, in the aptly named six-part series The Assassin. Julie is her name and trying to live quietly in Greece and spurning every overture of friendship in the village is her game. Alas, she is called by her handler Damian, after 10 years of quietude, to perform one more time. This happens just as her son Edward (Freddie Highmore, absolutely shining in what is essentially a light comic part in a bloody, murderous caper) comes to visit for the first time in four years too! Even hitwomen have to juggle home and work demands. Oh, and Edward’s gone vegan since they last spoke and she got wagyu steaks in for tea. Handlers and kids, eh? Anyway, Edward’s here to ask her about the fortune that landed in his account when he turned 30 and if it’s anything to do with the father she has always refused to tell him about. She, more or less, tells him to shut up and eat his goddamn tofu.
18/. Since it's too damn hot to go out, why not read a book! The Times lists some of the best mysteries this year.....
19/. Vanity Fair with the best 25 movies on Netflix.....
.
It can be hard to find the best movies on Netflix. We all understand the struggle of scrolling time—hours lost to wading through all of the Netflix movie options that could instead have been spent, you know, watching something. Or maybe something has been sitting patiently on your queue, waiting for someone to give you a nudge to finally press play. So, like a beacon in the night, here’s a guide to 26 of the best films within Netflix’s huge selection—including everything from landmark films to cult classics to Netflix-original hidden gems—updated monthly as films appear on and leave the platform. Take that, decision fatigue. (And if you want a list of the best shows on Netflix, we’ve got one of those too.)
20/. The Guardian lists 11 great spoof movies.....
Ahead of Spın̈al Tap II and the Naked Gun reboot, we count down the best cinematic send-ups, from the Life of Brian and Scary Movie to Clueless and Airplane!
21/. "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" review......powerful TV....
There is an overwhelming darkness to The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning novel. Thematically, this is to be expected: it is about a group of Australian prisoners of war constructing the Burma railway in the mid-1940s, at the tail end of the second world war. It is about the lasting trauma of conflict and imprisonment. It spans half a century, and though it tempers its darkness with a rich love story, it is largely violent, fatalistic and sorrowful. But visually, too, you may find yourself fiddling with the contrast and brightness settings. This very much matches its mood to its palette.https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/20/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-review-immensely-powerful-tv?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Today's AI fantasy.......from Pillart AI
Today's Appalachian joke
A young guy from North Carolina moves to Florida and goes to a big "everything under one roof" department store looking for a job.
The Manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?" The kid says "Yeah. I was a vacuum salesman back in North Carolina."
Well, the boss was unsure, but he liked the kid and figured he'd give him a shot, so he gave him the job.
"You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did."
His first day on the job was rough, but he got through it.
After the store was locked up, the boss came down to the sales floor.
"How many customers bought something from you today?"
The kid frowns and looks at the floor and mutters, "One".
The boss says "Just one?!!? Our sales people average sales to 20 to 30 customers a day.
That will have to change, and soon, if you'd like to continue your employment here.
We have very strict standards for our sales force here in Florida.
One sale a day might have been acceptable in North Carolina, but you're not in the mountains anymore, son."
The kid took his beating, but continued to look at his shoes, so the boss felt kinda bad for chewing him out on his first day.
He asked (semi-sarcastically), "So, how much was your one sale for?"
The kid looks up at his boss and says "$101,237.65".
The boss, astonished, says $101,237.65?!? What the heck did you sell?"
The kid says, "Well, first, I sold him some new fish hooks.
Then I sold him a new fishing rod to go with his new hooks.
Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the boat department and I sold him a twin engine Chris Craft.
Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4x4 Expedition."
The boss said "A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a boat and a TRUCK!?"
The kid said "No, the guy came in here to buy tampons for his wife, and I said, 'Dude, your weekend's shot, you should go fishing
Today's motherhood joke
After putting her children to bed, a mother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair.
She then carefully applied cold cream all over her face except her eyes, which she outlined with a different cream.
She then proceeded to put her hair in high rollers.
As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.
At last she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard her three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was that?"
Today's spam joke
I had a phone conversation today with a very nice young chap from Pakistan. This is how it went:
"Hello sir, how are you today?"
"I'm very well, thank you for asking. And how are you? And, more to the point, WHO are you?"
"Sir, my name is Sanjit, and I'm calling you from Microsoft".
"Microsoft, eh? Is that a city in Pakistan? How's the weather there today?"
" No, sir - MICROSOFT, the computer company. I'm calling to tell you that we have found a problem with your computer and -" "REALLY?? Well, that's quite concerning......"
"Yes sir, it can become very serious indeed, but thankfully I will be able to fix it for you. Now, if you -"
"No, I meant it's very concerning because you see I don't HAVE a computer".
"You don't?"
"I don't".
"Ahh, it must be a problem on your laptop sir -"
"Don't have one".
"Ipad?"
"Nope".
"Tablet?"
"Nope, I have none of those things. As a matter of fact, I don't even have a telephone".
After a few seconds of silence he said "Ah, sir, you are lying to me now!"
I said "Well, you started it!!" and put the phone down.
Today's farmer joke
A farmer went to a local bar and ordered a glass of champagne.
The woman sitting next to him said, 'How about that?
I just ordered champagne, too!'
'What a coincidence,' the farmer said.
'This is a special day for me. I am celebrating.' This is a special day for me too, I am also celebrating,' said the woman.'
'What a coincidence!' said the farmer.
As they clinked glasses he added: 'What are you celebrating?'
'My husband and I have been trying to have a child and today my gynecologist told me that I am pregnant!'
'What a coincidence!' said the man.
'I'm a chicken farmer and all last year my hens were infertile, but today they are all laying eggs again.'
'That's great!' said the woman, 'How did your chickens become fertile?'
'I used a different cock,' he replied.
The woman smiled, clinked his glass and said 'what a coincidence'!
