I'm sitting here looking out a window…

 … watching two very small – maybe seven or eight year old – assassins with huge squirt guns stalk each other in the neighbors' back yard

July.

Finally some body talks some sense about Project 2025…

It seems like Project 2025 is everywhere. But what is it?

…and it's NPR.

So you can tie one on and sober up at the same time?

BREWING: DUNKIN’ INTRODUCES NEW SPIKED ICED COFFEES AND ICED TEAS

"We know our 21+ fans [SIC*] will love every sip.”

*Or maybe a late night sipping?

[Thanks, Shawn]

Un-Conventional

 Metra service to O'Hare is about to get much better — for the DNC, at least

Hometown airline United Airlines is adding 118 flights to and from Chicago in August. And the CTA has committed to provide up to 250 of its buses to transport convention participants as part of a “secured transit system,” despite concerns about the agency’s ability to provide reliable regular bus service.

That's for the Democrats' convention, which may indeed attract quite a crowd. 

(They always do. Which is, I guess, why cities like to host them. At least like to host them before they happen.)

Look, in the original Constitution…

 …the candidate who came in second in a presidential election automatically became vice president. So their could have been a Vice President Trump.

Joe just forgot about the 12th amendment, is all. And who can blame him? It happened in 1804, and that was a long time ago.

Just pointing out.

Things don't always work the way they're supposed to

I got a reminder in the mail today from the VA. I have an appointment at the local clinic two days ago.

(I knew. I went. I'm fine.)

It's World Population Day (We're not No. 1)

U.S. and World Population Clock

Seriously

Milk, eggs and now bullets for sale in handful of US grocery stores with ammo vending machines

“People I think got shocked when they thought about the idea of selling ammo at a grocery store,” Magers said. “But as we explained, how is that any different than Walmart?”

Well? 

In Chicago, maybe again?

After violent holiday weekend, Chicago civic leaders announce $100 million for crime-fighting efforts

The gathering of CEOs, philanthropic leaders, police and violence interrupters came after more than 100 people were shot in Chicago over the extended Fourth of July weekend. Nineteen people died, including an 8-year-old and two family members in a mass shooting in the South Side Greater Grand Crossing community.

Support from the business community for civic enterprise is one of the things that make Chicago Chicago. And this effort sounds encouragingly similar to another, almost exactly 100 years ago, that helped run Al Capone out of town.

A little Minnesota style

Meet the lantern moose built to light Duluth nights

As darkness fell over a thick patch of forest on private land just outside city limits, a warmly glowing moose stepped out from among the trees.…

[Looks like a paywalled link. Sorry. At least you might get to see the picture.]

O brave new world

A nuclear accident made Three Mile Island infamous. AI’s needs may revive it.

The plant along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, where a partial reactor meltdown in 1979 sent the nation into a panic and the nuclear industry reeling, is part of a broader push backed by the White House to bring mothballed nuclear facilities back to life, something that has never before been done in this country.

How beautious mankind is!

One of the benefits of studying abroad…

University student who yelled ‘Free Palestine’ reportedly deported as UAE weighs Israel-Hamas war

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — At the graduation ceremony of New York University Abu Dhabi this May, a student wearing the traditional Palestinian black-and-white keffiyeh scarf shouted “Free Palestine!” as he crossed the stage to receive his diploma, witnesses say. Days later, he reportedly was deported from the United Arab Emirates.

…is that students learn something about life in countries other than their own.

Today in history

On today's date in 1980 Democratic President Jimmy Carter was preparing his run for a second term in office, just like Joe Biden is now.

On the same date in 1980, the most trusted man in America, according to a popular poll, was CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, who would have begun his nightly news program by saying: Today is the 248th day Americans have been held hostage in Iran. 

Today Americans have been held hostage in Gaza for 276 days.

Who's saying that?

And the winner is…

The Most Famous Sandwich From Every State [MAP]

With its prominence in cafeterias, delis, and diners across the country, sandwiches are one of the most common dishes in the United States. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately half of all American adults eat at least one sandwich on any given day.

Any excuse will do

Coffee a 'miracle' drink with many health benefits, experts say

"If you compare the benefits of coffee to those of the Mediterranean diet, you could hardly tell the difference between them," said Safe, a distinguished professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Go Aggies.

And let's brew up another pot. 

Dissonance

Oregon county seeks to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for extreme heat

“This catastrophe was not caused by an act of God,” said Jeffrey B. Simon, a lawyer for the county, “but rather by several of the world’s largest energy companies playing God with the lives of innocent and vulnerable people by selling as much oil and gas as they could.”

Consider, however, the present administration in DC — and a long line of previous administrations as well — brag about pushing the price of gasoline down, so more people can use more of it affordably.

So then, maybe the catastrophe caused by companies playing God was also caused — or at least enthusiastically encouraged — by government.

How low can this bar go?

 NBC News is breathlessly waiting to see if Biden can "plow through three days of meetings, speeches and dinners" with NATO leaders and a news conference on Thursday. All this in DC. Not in another time zone. 

In other words, whether he can do his job for a week.

Seems to me we shouldn't have to be wondering about this.

But here we are.

Focus is the key

Trib sportswriter agog over the hot dog guy.

Column: Hot dog eating champion Patrick Bertoletti has a winning strategy Chicago teams should emulate

“He was four beers deep, sitting on his couch, burping Chinese food, and playing ‘Final Fantasy VII Dragon’s Death Slaughter’ when his girlfriend said, ‘I don’t think this relationship is working.’ And he experienced an almost physical reaction of pure euphoria. Because, this man, he could focus on competitive eating with no distractions. And so he has.”

Or maybe beer and Chinese food.

Sports are complicated. But either way, Sullivan says, "Bertoletti’s crowning moment at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest could be the first domino to fall in the hoped-for comeback of all-out failing legacy franchises — the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox."

Focus on.

And how did this become a bad thing?

1

: a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people

especially,  often capitalized  : a member of a U.S. political party formed in 1891 primarily to represent agrarian interests and to advocate the free coinage of silver and government control of monopolies

2

: a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people

“Populist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/populist. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

Pope Francis warns of 'populists' and ailing democracy

Or did something get lost in the translation here?

Numbers and common sense

According to the official 2020 U.S. census there are at least 140 million people in the U.S. old enough to serve as President (35 yrs). 

That's one of the numbers. The other number is two. Two is the number of people we allow to compete, with any expectation of success, for the job.

There is no common sense.

But it's the humidity

Death Valley sets a new daily record with a searing 128 degrees as West Coast heat wave drags on

Hey, it was nearly 90º here, which is hot — because here is New England. And it felt like hot.

(Actually, no. I don't believe in feels like, either on the hot end or the cold. Hot is hot and cold is cold and that's all there is to it, is what I say. Old school.

(Either way, it's hot right now. Be good to yourself. Sit in the shade and drink iced tea. Try to remember how it feels.

(For February.)