The Burning Issue Before Us

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Pay up now or pay up ALL life later.

Attribution: UN Court urges action amongst disaster by Graeme MacKay, caglecartoons.com

[Graeme MacKay born in Ontario, Canada, his worked as staff editorial cartoonist for The Hamilton Spectator since 1997, earning multiple national awards and nominations, including citations from the United Nations and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.\

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78 thoughts on “The Burning Issue Before Us”

  1. https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/the-un-s-highest-court-will-decide-wednesday-on-the-climate-obligations-of-countries/

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court in a landmark advisory opinion Wednesday said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.
    Advocates immediately cheered the International Court of Justice opinion on nations’ obligations to tackle climate change and the consequences they may face if they don’t.
    “Failure of a state to take appropriate action to protect the climate system … may constitute an internationally wrongful act,” court President Yuji Iwasawa said during the hearing. He called the climate crisis “an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet.”
    The non-binding opinion, backed unanimously by the court’s 15 judges, was hailed as a turning point in international climate law.
    Notably, the court said a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment” is a human right. That paves the way for other legal actions, including states returning to the ICJ to hold each other to account as well as domestic lawsuits, along with legal instruments like investment agreements.
    The case was led by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and backed by more than 130 countries.
    All U.N. member states including major greenhouse gas emitters like the United States and China are parties to the court.
    U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the “historic” advisory opinion.
    “This is a victory for our planet, for climate justice, and for the power of young people to make a difference,” he said in a statement. “Young Pacific islanders initiated this call for humanity to the world. And the world must respond.”
    Climate activists had gathered outside the crowded court with a banner that read: “Courts have spoken. The law is clear. States must ACT NOW.” They watched the ruling on a giant screen, clapping and cheering at times during the two-hour hearing.
    “Today, the tables have turned. The world’s highest court provided us with a powerful new tool to protect people from the devastating impacts of the climate crisis — and to deliver justice for the harm their emissions have already caused,” former U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said in a statement.
    “The ICJ’s decision brings us closer to a world where governments can no longer turn a blind eye to their legal responsibilities. It affirms a simple truth of climate justice: Those who did the least to fuel this crisis deserve protection, reparations, and a future,” said Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.
    […]
    Ruling could be leverage at next UN climate conference
    Activists could bring lawsuits against their own countries for failing to comply with the decision, which ran to over 130 pages.
    The senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, Erika Lennon, said the ruling also can be used as leverage at the next U.N. climate conference later this year in the Brazilian city of Belém.
    “States must take this ICJ ruling and use it to advance ambitious outcomes at COP30 and beyond. People and the planet deserve it,” she said.
    The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions. The Trump administration has again withdrawn the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and has made it harder to find scientific assessments of how climate change endangers the U.S. and its people.
    Asked to comment on the ruling, White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said: “As always, President Trump and the entire administration is committed to putting America first and prioritizing the interests of everyday Americans.”
    Those who cling to fossil fuels could go broke doing it, the U.N. secretary-general told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview this week.
    Simply having the U.N. court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.
    In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.
    The presiding judge on Wednesday acknowledged that international law had “an important but ultimately limited role in resolving this problem,” and said a lasting solution will need the contribution of all fields of human knowledge “to secure a future for ourselves and those who are yet to come.”

  2. more that’s heating up

    A humid, nationwide heat wave is causing problems at airport security, the Attorney General confirmed that Donald Trump’s name appears in the Jeffrey Epstein case files, and the president bragged about how much free air time he’s set to receive in his settlement with Paramount.

  3. in other news
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/24/

    Trump push to ban birthright citizenship unconstitutional, US court rules
    Appeals court’s verdict echoes decision from federal judge blocking president’s executive order nationwide

    Donald Trump’s effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president’s attempt unconstitutional.

    The three-judge ruling panel in the 9th US circuit court of appeals echoed a district court in New Hampshire that blocked the executive order earlier this month.

    “The district court correctly concluded that the executive order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” the verdict said.

    The case is now one stop further on the long road to the US supreme court.

    Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship was signed just hours after the president took office on 20 January and was immediately challenged in a spread of courts across the country. It has faced a tumultuous legal battle ever since. Birthright citizenship is a legal principle that allows nearly everyone born on US soil to become a US citizen.

    In under a month since the executive order’s filing, multiple judges across the country have filed injunctions blocking the order.

    Trump’s administration then took to the supreme court to fight the injunctions. In a major decision, the US supreme court ruled that injunctions by the lower courts were exceeding their given authority, effectively transforming the mechanics of the US justice system. The verdict did not address the legality of the birthright citizenship ban itself.

    A loophole was left, however, for those looking to fight the executive order – class action lawsuits. In opposition to the executive order, New Hampshire judge Joseph LaPlante recognized babies across the US as a class that would be affected by the lawsuit and said depriving them of citizenship constituted irreparable harm.

    Birthright citizenship was embedded in the US constitution’s 14th amendment in 1868, overturning the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision and giving citizenship to formerly enslaved Americans. It was strengthened in 1898 in the Wong Ark case, which upheld the citizenship of American-born Wong Kim Ark in the face of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Indigenous Americans were historically excluded from birthright citizenship, which changed with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

    Long a fringe issue in rightwing circles, the effort to repeal birthright citizenship was brought back into Congress in 1991 and has appeared regularly since. Trump’s executive order, constitutional or not, marks its furthest foray into the mainstream.

    At time of writing the Trump administration was yet to comment on the ruling.

  4. Republican power-struggle is ‘the game to watch’ as Trump vanishes ‘before our eyes’: Opinion by John Stoehr

    On Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House for a month to avoid a vote on the release of the Epstein files. Johnson said that the Republicans weren’t going to be part of the “Democrats’ sideshows.”

    However, this omits the fact that a small but growing number of Republicans have been on the vanguard of the push to release everything the administration knows about the child-sex trafficker. The vote that Johnson canceled Tuesday was on a bipartisan measure.

    “Americans were promised justice,” said rightwing Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky in a social media post, according to reporting by the HuffPost’s Jen Bendery. “Our binding bipartisan legislation to release the complete Epstein files now has 20 sponsors.”

    The speaker’s bid to blame the Democrats for the president’s Epstein troubles came the same day Donald Trump himself tried, though instead of blaming them for making a stink about the scandal, he blamed them for attempting to invalidate his 2016 victory, which was a bid, in and of itself, to draw attention from his Epstein troubles.

    “[Barack] Obama cheated on the election,” Trump said in reference to the 2016 election. “And you should mention that every time [reporters] give you a question that’s not appropriate [that is, about the Epstein scandal]. Just say, ‘Oh, by the way, Obama cheated on the election.’”

  6. craig, did Chico make the cut? will he and MawMaw go at it in future vids?
    BTW he sure sounds like james carville or at least a kissin’ cajun cousin of his.

  7. PatD, my idea is Chico hacks our livestream and MawMaw has to chase him off. New character in today’s 4pm stream — Crypto Carl “While you were paying taxes, I was yield farming NFTs backed by AI hamster sweat”

  9. Columbia University has settled with the federal government and will pay over $220 million to resolve multiple investigations. The settlement, which comes after months-long negotiations, will also restore access to hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen research funding. The university will pay $200 million over the span of three years to the government and another $21 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, says the settlement also addresses concerns about admissions and hiring, though she didn’t provide details on how.
    🎧 Columbia’s decision to settle is a different approach from Harvard University, which has rejected the government’s demands and sued the administration, says NPR’s Elissa Nadworny. Todd Wolfson, the president of the American Association of University Professors, says the agreement is a devastating blow to academic freedom and freedom of speech at Columbia. In March, the Trump administration sent Columbia demands, including requesting strict controls over its international studies department and changes to student discipline policies. The administration alleged there was antisemitism on campus related to student protests over the Gaza war. Trump expressed that Columbia would need to comply with the demands if it wanted its funds to be unfrozen and be eligible for more federal funding in the future.

  10. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/07/24/south-park-new-episode-season-donald-trump-colbert/85353240007/

    The “South Park” creators tore into President Donald Trump − and their bosses at Paramount − in the animated show’s Season 27 premiere, which referenced everything from the company’s controversial settlement with the president to its shock decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Comedy Central, where “South Park” airs, is owned by Paramount.

    The episode depicts Trump literally getting into bed with Satan, his lover, using actual photos of the president crudely placed on an animated body. It’s the same depiction that Saddam Hussein received in 1999’s “South Park” movie, and Satan even comments that Trump and Saddam are “exactly alike.”

    In the episode, Trump is portrayed as a thin-skinned bully who threatens to sue anyone who gets on his bad side. The main plot revolves around the supposed death of “wokeness” and the president pushing Christianity in classrooms by having Jesus physically appear at the boys’ school. When the parents of South Park get angry and push back, Trump decides to sue the town.

    “(Trump) can do whatever he wants now that someone backed down,” Jesus continues, adding, “You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert? … Just shut up, or we’re going to get canceled, you idiots!”

    The season premiere ends with the people of South Park settling with Trump and agreeing to do pro-Trump messaging as part of their agreement. So the show cuts to a supposed pro-Trump public service announcement, in which Trump, in live-action, is shown crawling through a desert completely nude.

    With its surprisingly pointed critique of Paramount, the episode also aired on the same day that Paramount announced a five-year agreement with Parker and Stone for 50 new episodes of “South Park.”

  15. BlueInDallas called it: Murdoch made Trump — and now he’s trying to unmake him.
    Final season energy.
    💥 We’re live again today at 4pm ET — join the daily chat

  16. Devil’s Head Lookout is a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout tower at the summit of Devils Head in Douglas County, Colorado. Located on a large pinnacle of Pikes Peak granite, the fire lookout point lies within the Pike National Forest and is accessed by hiking the Devils Head National Recreation Trail.

    The station was first established in 1912, with the original tower built in 1919. In the summer of 1951, the old tower was dismantled and current structure was built. In 1991, Devil’s Head Lookout was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Sitting at the highest point of Rampart Range, the fire lookout is the last remaining such structure to be in service along the Front Range of Colorado.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Head_Lookout#

  18. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-subcommittee-votes-8-2-to-subpoena-justice-department-for-epstein-files

    House subcommittee votes 8-2 to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files

    Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally.

    The House Committee on Oversight also issued a subpoena Wednesday for Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late Epstein, to testify before committee officials in August.

    The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work was beginning to draft the subpoena but did not give a timeline for when it would be issued.

    “I’ve never handled a subpoena like this. This is some fascinating stuff,” said Higgins, who voted against the motion.

    *The VICTIMS! Invite the victims! Maxwell is not a credible witness. She will say what she needs to for a reduced sentence & she just needs to stay in prison until after the 2028 election to satisfy MAGAts…after which, Republicans won’t care what they say.

  19. Not feeling any assurance Republicans won’t co-sign some bullshit version that whitewashes Dodo and attempts to string up a bunch of Democrats.

  20. Ivy – Downloaded a Chrome app & went into TrailMix through that app & clicked the live link. Warning: My phone heated up fast and a lot (it’s not done that before), so I had to bail. (Deleted the Chrome app, so I’m back on the Google boycott.) Didn’t realize my face was still covered in sunblock. Ridiculous. Ha! Between that & not having my camera on a stand, kind of motion sickness inducing. Still have quite the headache; got overheated in the garden yesterday & the headache remains. Are tomatoes worth the literal headache?

  21. Thanks for those useful tips, BiD, and hope you’re back in full form soon.

    IMO, homegrown tomatoes are worth it. Sadly, I never had luck growing them. Even in Alabama, the mockingbirds would get to them before I did. Here, I have a nice neighbor who might give us a few again this year. In Colorado, Palisade peaches have arrived but our yard tomatoes have not.

  22. https://www.newsweek.com/south-park-donald-trump-episode-paramount-2103263

    South Park Eviscerates Donald Trump After Paramount Gives Them $1.5B

    In the episode, Satan tells Trump as they’re lying in bed: “Another random b**** commented on my Instagram that you’re on the Epstein list.”

    “The Epstein list?” Trump asks. “Are we still talking about that?”

    “Well are you on the list or not?” Satan says. “It’s weird that whenever it comes up, you just tell everyone to relax.”

    “I’m not telling everyone to relax,” Trump replies.

    *Adolf got Colbert, Jim Acosta, Terry Moran, maybe why Lester Holt retired, too. I hope Rupert & Lachlan Murdoch absolutely destroy the entire tRUMP mob family.

  24. https://www.rawstory.com/tim-burchett-ghislaine-maxwell-sentence/

    Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) suggested that Republicans might push for a lighter sentence for convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell if they agreed with her upcoming testimony.

    On Wednesday, Burchett was asked if he trusted Maxwell after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) issued a subpoena for her to sit for a deposition related to Jeffrey Epstein.

    “She is a liar, and she’s a dirtbag,” Burchett opined.

    “So then why subpoena her if you can’t trust her?” a reporter asked.

    “Well, because the one thing we’ve got holding over her head is if we find out she lies, she goes back to her original sentence, and that’s looking at a lifetime,” the lawmaker said. “And if she’s looking at maybe parlaying this into reducing her sentence, then we could have some leverage there.”

    Would you want to attend this interview with her with the oversight committee?” the reporter wondered.

    “100%, 100%,” Burchett replied. “I want to know the chain. I want to know the money. I want to know the people involved. And all gloves are off.”

    “But I do warn people, though, just because somebody’s on a travel log does not mean that they’re a pedophile,” he added. “If somebody’s plane breaks down, somebody knows Epstein, and then they got a friend that gets on the plane with them, nobody knew this guy was as big a dirtbag as he was until the last few years, until y’all broke the story.”

    *Nope. Not just “the last few years.”

  25. “She is a liar, and she’s a dirtbag,” Burchett opined.“

    Oh, you mean she’s a Republican?

    ba-dump bump

  26. The other Murdoch offspring are at war with Rupert & Lachlan.

    As of September 2024, the whole Murdoch family is involved in a court case in the US in which James, his sister Elisabeth and half-sister Prudence are challenging their father’s bid to amend the family trust to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlan, retains control of News Corp and Fox Corp, rather than benefiting all of his six children, as is specified in the “irrevocable” terms of the trust.

  27. Ok, Mike Swindle

    MyPillow Founder Will Not Pay Winnings for Election Challenge, Court Rules
    A court overturned a previous ruling requiring Mike Lindell to pay out $5 million to a software engineer who had entered Mr. Lindell’s challenge to skeptics of his election interference claims. Mr. Lindell had just landed in Washington, D.C., he said, and was headed to the White House.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/us/elections/mypillow-founder-challenge-winnings.html

  28. Since when is irrevocable revocable?

    A revocable trust can be changed or canceled by its creator (the grantor) at any time, while an irrevocable trust cannot be altered or revoked once established. Revocable trusts offer flexibility but less asset protection and potential tax benefits, whereas irrevocable trusts offer greater asset protection and potential tax benefits but less flexibility.

    -so says my Aye Eye

  31. another critique of the new south park premiere piece

    Jul 24, 2025 #GFuelPartner
    South Park: Sermon on the ‘Mount Reaction Season 27, Episode 1)
    🔵 For Full Reactions And Exclusive Content Join The Patreon! ► / disfunktionaltv

  33. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pete-hegseth-signalgate-classified-chat-rcna220778

    Investigators in Signal chat probe reportedly found damaging evidence on Hegseth

    The Pentagon inspector general’s investigation into the defense secretary is ongoing, and new reporting suggests it’s not going well for Pete Hegseth.

    The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled ‘SECRET/NOFORN,’ people familiar with the matter said. The revelation appears to contradict long-standing claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach.

    The final paragraph of Goldberg’s piece on the fiasco read, “All along, members of the Signal group were aware of the need for secrecy and operations security. In his text detailing aspects of the forthcoming attack on Houthi targets, Hegseth wrote to the group — which, at the time, included me — ‘We are currently clean on OPSEC,’” referring to “operations security.”

    In other words, the defense secretary was certain that he and his colleagues — while chatting on a free platform that has never been approved for chats about national security or classified intelligence — had locked everything down and created a secure channel of communication.

    The ‘SECRET’ classification of Kurilla’s email, which has not previously been reported, denoted that the information was classified at a level at which unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to national security. The ‘NOFORN’ label means it also was not meant for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of close allies of the United States. In accordance with government regulations, Kurilla sent his sensitive message over a classified system, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, four people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal by the Trump administration.

    *Which Kegseth also stated under oath to Congress. Nothing classified. That’s what he said. Under oath.

  35. In today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) promoted an amendment to release the Epstein files that was opposed by Republicans.

    Booker Amendment To Release Epstein Files Blocked By Cornyn—Then Booker Responds

    *Republicans sure do want to protect pedofile(s).

  36. BlueD I never heard of a browser heating up a phone. But then I don’t go near Apple products and their infamous sabotaging of competitors. Keeping this site accessible to Safari is a constant headache.

  39. This being just the 4th day of this little experiment, think i’ll try something different — assembling pre-recorded elements at 4pm without going live on YouTube. That way guests can come and go, and I can edit everything together into a post on YouTube in the early evening. “Live on tape” so to speak.

    Today’s link at 4p for anyone who’d like to chat in this less pressurized format:
    https://streamyard.com/9fv9rd225d

  40. The Telegraph
    Men, it’s time to swap the chinos for short shorts. Here’s how to do it
    Laura Craik

    lol no it’s not

  41. I’m decidedly not antisemitic, but I am definitely anti Netanyahu
    Gaza faces mass starvation.

    After four months of a near-total Israeli siege, Gaza’s few remaining hospitals now have wards for the growing number of malnourished children whose tiny bodies are just the width of their bones.

    Doctors are famished to the point that they have dizzy spells as they make their rounds, medics say, and the journalists documenting their caseloads are often too weak to even walk to the clinics…. More

  42. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/joy-behar-the-view-donald-trump-b2794710.html

    The White House has issued a blistering statement in response to Joy Behar’s latest criticisms of President Donald Trump.

    During Wednesday’s episode of The View, the panelists addressed Trump’s unfounded accusations that former president Barack Obama “[tried] to lead a coup” to keep him from returning to the Oval Office.

    “First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on January 6. Who was that again? That was not Obama,” said co-host Behar, 82, in reference to the infamous 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

    “The thing about him is he’s so jealous of Obama,” she claimed, “because Obama is everything that he is not: Trim, smart, handsome, happily married, and can sing Al Green’s song ‘Let’s Stay Together’ better than Al Green. And Trump cannot stand it. It’s driving him crazy.”

    Reacting to Behar’s comments, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told The Independent: “Joy Behar is an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

    The White House statement additionally claimed the ABC talk show “hit an all-time low last year,” and that Behar “should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump’s historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air.”

    A representative for The View later commented on the White House’s remarks about its viewership, telling Entertainment Weekly: “Season to date, The View is ranking No. 1 in households and total viewers among all network daytime talk shows and news programs for the fifth straight season” and “is up in total viewers and women 18-49, versus the comparable weeks last season, to its most-watched in four years.”

    *The View goes on summer hiatus next week. Will they be back or will folks have to cancel Disney+ and ParamountPlus?

    Orange Chickensh/t Taco and his N@zis sure are a bunch of thin-skinned, little bitchez.

  43. Congress, Trump and DOGE should have paid attention to LBJ

    You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

    Lyndon B. Johnson

  44. The ghoul, Emil Bove, has been confirmed. How long before Clarence Thomas is forced out to make room for him?

  47. I’m starting to wonder if one of Donald’s young victims was unalived on the island?

    Or, maybe in his tower on 5th Avenue.

    You know how he’s always confessing?

  50. Or, maybe in his tower on 5th Avenue.

    You know how he’s always confessing?

    If you said that eight years ago, I would’ve laughed you off, but knowing what we know about him now…

    DOT DOT DOT

  52. bId – good possibility. I had never thought of that. Whatever he did it must be a big time bad for him to spend so much time trying to cover it over. He had already made it through sexual assault, rape, adultery, and so many more despicable acts. As said a long time ago, “. . . a live boy, or a dead girl . . .”

  53. Burning Man 2025, themed “Tomorrow Today”, will take place in Black Rock City, Nevada, from August 24th to September 1st. The event is an experiment in community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. Final ticket sales will be held on July 30th, with registration open from July 21st to 29th.

    Can Burning Man survive the financial desert – and keep its soul intact?
    Organisers say creative culture, not profits, will secure the desert festival’s future despite $20m budget shortfall

    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/jul/23/burning-man-festival

  55. Now it may just be me, but I think that the Epstein stuff is Dumbass’ big distraction from him fucking up the economy and the rights we thought we enjoyed under the constitution. He knows his base has a prurient interest in that issue, but that they’ve heard it before and thinks he can bullshit them with fictitious “Obama-Comey-Biden” shit about it, and won’t be clamoring for him to leave or holding his discretions against Republicans at large in 2026. And he has to know the press is taking the bait hook, line and sinker. I see this as him pulling a Br’er Rabbit briar patch head fake, and too many people are going for it – particularly the useful idiots in Congress.

  56. he’s a frickin’ genius if the “i’ll let them think i’m a pedophile child-trafficker” play works out

  58. And in the Tour, Ben O’Connor conquered the highest summit of the 2025 Tour de France, the Col de la Loze (2,304 m), followed by Tadej Podacar 1’45” later, with Vingegaard right on his heels. Tadej may very well have wrapped up the Tour overall and the Polka Dot jersey today, although there’s another sho’ ’nuff mountain stage in the Alps tomorrow, with two Cat 2 climbs, one Cat 1 climb and two HCs. Currently Podacar holds a 4’26” advantage over Vingegaard and 11’01” over Lipovich.

  59. Headline should say: Dodo not fazed by his own on-camera lies

    (Powell retorted to his face: you just added in another building that was finished five years ago.)

    Powell Pushes Back On Trump’s Cost Claims During Awkward Tour Of Fed Building

    Powell rejected Trump’s claim that the cost of renovations to the building are now an estimated $3.1 billion, up from a previous estimate of $2.7 billion, telling Trump and reporters gathered for the tour the estimate included renovations to a separate building that were done five years ago.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/07/24/powell-pushes-back-on-trumps-cost-claims-during-awkward-tour-of-fed-building/

  60. Anon, I think it’s more instinct than genius. The sexual stuff didn’t work to raise an outcry from his worshippers twice before, and as long as we’re talking about something other than his efforts to dismantle our democracy, I think he’s happy. But I may be flat dead wrong.

  61. https://newrepublic.com/article/197988/trump-fifa-infantino-world-cup

    Earlier this year, President Donald Trump designated himself chairman of the U.S. task force organizing next year’s World Cup in North America.

    *N America, not the US. The US; the N American country on a human rights watchlist because of extra-judicial kidnappings/human trafficking.

    His reign officially kicked off amid a hail of boos on July 6 in New Jersey at the Club World Cup finale between Chelsea and Paris Saint-German—a precursor to the big event in 2026.

    Trump had already helped himself to the trophy meant for the tournament’s winners, claimed as a piece of bric-a-brac to display in the Oval Office, so Chelsea’s triumphant squad had to be presented with a replica of the original. (The president insisted the winners’ trophy was gifted to him by FIFA.) The kleptomania didn’t end there: Trump was filmed tucking away a championship medal in the inside breast pocket of his suit jacket at the event.

    The president will now lord over arrangements hammered out in offices in his own Trump Tower in Manhattan for the 2026 World Cup taking place in the United States (13 cities), Canada (two cities), and Mexico (three cities). The 2026 iteration of the Cup will debut its new, expanded format and will include a record 48 teams and 104 games.

    Trump named as the executive director of his new World Cup task force former small-time pro golfer and short-time Republican candidate for New York Governor Andrew Giuliani, 39, son of onetime New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a main defender of Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was rigged. The task forces will be part of Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security.

    Trump Tower enthusiasts will recognize that this is a full-circle operation. Ten years ago, an investigation into the biggest bribery scandal in soccer history was launched in the exact same building, as FIFA general secretary Chuck Blazer, to save himself, suited up with a wire for the FBI to implicate his cronies in the sports federation. Mike Gaeta, a founder of international investigation and consulting firm SI Global Partners, was a top FBI investigator in the case who launched the probe. In an interview, he characterized the crackdown as a major “slap upside the face of those out to game the system.”

    A decade later, FIFA is back in the building. And with it comes millions of dollars—involving security, sponsorships, sports gear, and memorabilia—that has been and is being negotiated. Trump, whose private companies continue to profit from deals with corporations and nations even as he serves in the White House, is calling the shots in the U.S.

    Besides providing a fresh opportunity for profit and kickbacks, the World Cup in the U.S. promises politically to be a jarring mix of global cooperation, talented athletes from around the world, and the Trump administration’s “suited and booted” ICE men poised to pounce on people attending the matches from around the world. It threatens to be a modern-day taste of Hitler’s 1936 Summer Olympics, when Germany hosted the global games while aiming at the same time to highlight Nazi domination.

    A decade ago, the FBI’s investigation resulted in the indictment of nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives by the U.S. Department of Justice—for corruption, racketeering, and money laundering, among other charges—in a massive bribery and kickback scandal linked to awarding contracts and choosing World Cup venues in South Africa (2010), Russia (2018), and Qatar (2022). The number of indicted FIFA officials and corporate representatives later grew to some 40 people. Most confessed, were convicted, or died before court actions concluded.

    Like the mobster wiseguys Gaeta had worked with, he said Blazer was “practical, getting the most benefit as quickly as possible” while working with the FBI to stay out of prison.

    Trump had nothing to do with FIFA or CONCACAF then, but the crafty, ebullient Blazer—who tipped the scales at 450-plus pounds and needed a motorized mobility chair to get around and a breathing apparatus at night—was friendly with his neighbor and building owner, who lived in Trump Tower’s two-story penthouse. Both were Queens men with a chip on their shoulder about snooty Manhattan society. Trump offered Blazer open invitations to his various beauty pageants, and Blazer took him up on them.

    Trump filmed his lone TV ad for his infamous Trump “University” offering pricey classes on business and real estate in Blazer’s apartment in 2010.

    The money to be made and expended in the U.S. World Cup games is unclear. A FIFA accounting mashing together figures for 2023–2026 reported a budget for the 2026 Word Cup of $3.75 billion, though specific expenses weren’t detailed. Listed revenue apparently for all FIFA events included some $4.2 billion in broadcasting rights and $3 billion in hospitality and ticket sales. Cost estimates for Vancouver alone for its World Cup games are already edging close to half a billion U.S. dollars.

    Expenses may be divvied up among hosting nations and cities and FIFA, but the organization’s budget report doesn’t detail how the burden will be shared.

    Trump beefed up his “big, beautiful bill” with a $625 million fund to help pay for “safety and security” in the host cities—Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, East Rutherford (for New York and New Jersey), Philadelphia, Santa Clara (for the Bay Area), and Seattle. The money was allocated just as a Houston World Cup official warned that the city was “teetering in terms of being close to breaking even” for hosting one of the games.

    FIFA comes out way ahead in stadium agreements, according to one recently obtained by The New York Times. It will take full control of New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, 30 days before the opening World Cup match until seven days after the tournament, according to the deal. The city and stadium, meanwhile, shall “bear all the costs and expenses incurred,” including “providing police escorts” for teams, referees, and FIFA head Infantino and his delegation. The city is also expected to “provide medical services and fire protection around matches” and any required FIFA offices free of charge.

    *WTF!?!

  62. and as long as we’re talking about something other than his efforts to dismantle our democracy

    all good points except the magas don’t give a shit about that either

  63. NBC bending the knee, stating tRUMP & Powell corrected each other. No, Powell corrected Adolf.

    Giving a glowing obit of Hulk Hogan. Boo! But mentioning the racial slurs & sex tape.

  64. MAGAts have picked up on the Obama & Hillary stories they are trotting out, again; it’s deeply ingrained in their MAGAt minds.

    https://www.newsweek.com/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-files-hillary-clinton-emails-2101893

    Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday that the Justice Department has released documents related to the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

    *They’ve got nothing new, so they’re playing their gold-leafed oldies.

  66. Terry “Hulk” Bollea; sad tale I don’t think he was a real Strumpet, I think he was just broke and saw another chance to come up with one more fistful of dollars. You never know with those wrestler dudes But anyway hope he had somebody with him

  67. 🚨 NEW FORMAT DROP 🚨
    Trail Mix: Live on Tape 🎬

    Tonight we cover:
    – Trump in the Epstein files?
    – DOJ’s grand jury faceplant
    – Jamie breaks down the roots of racism in GOP politics
    – Tarot forecasts from Lady MawMaw
    – Chico hacks the intro (again)
    – Crypto Carl auditions with hamster-sweat NFTs

  69. Craig,
    Setting up the new computer and all seems to be going well except for where to put the screen or all you get is a profile.

  73. Maxwell walked back into prison with a box, after the meeting at a courthouse.

    Assuming they are files that the DOJ had so she can give the story tRUMP needs – this would be collusion, yes?

    Editing evidence that was in her handwriting with her handwriting?

    Another meeting is to come. Gotta be coached.

  74. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-modeling-agent-reveals-details-about-melania-trumps-visa/

    Zampolli said that while he was a partner at modeling agency Metropolitan Models, he secured a work visa for Mrs. Trump, who in the mid-1990s was named Melania Knauss.

    “I know she was not working a paid job before she got the H-1B,” Zampolli said, referring to the type of work visa that U.S. companies can obtain for “fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.”

    ***

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_TerraMar_Project

    The TerraMar Project was a self-described environmental nonprofit organization. It was founded in 2012 in the United States by convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.

    On the organization’s IRS annual return, the organization reported that it owed $560,650 to Ghislaine Maxwell, it owed $1,341 of credit card debt, and it had $10,252 of cash, as of 31 December 2018.[14] During 2018, the organization had spent $5,365 for professional fees, $9,380 for website development, $11,157 for advertising, and $270 of bank fees, but it spent nothing toward program services.[14]
    Epstein was charged with new sex trafficking crimes on 6 July 2019. Epstein was a close associate of Maxwell. The TerraMar Project announced its closure six days later, on 12 July 2019, via Twitter and a statement on its website.

    ***

    https://www.businessinsider.com/ghislaine-maxwells-mysterious-ocean-non-profit-being-investigated-2019-7

    The New York Post reported that one girl who was identified as a member of the board of The TerraMar Project was also listed as a passenger on two different flights taken by Epstein’s private plane in 2005.

    ***

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Zampolli

    Paolo Zampolli (born March 5, 1970) is an Italian-born New York City-based businessman. Since March 2025, he serves as the United States Special Representative for Global Partnerships.

    *Aaaad, now he works for the State Department.

  78. One thing to note about Epstein is that he loved hanging out with the rich and famous. In order to court their favor, he went out of his way to be helpful as in support of their pet charities and providing rides in comfort on any schedule in his plane. That list of plane passengers reads like Whos Who. Before they severed ties with him over the creep factor both of the Clintons used that plane for locations, principally Africa, in connection with their foundation.
    Since all this ties in neatly with all of conspiracy theories, there is more than enough fuel for this particular fire no matter who you happen to hate.

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