The Friday 10: Edition #17

Best reads and a smorgasbord of pictures, clips, and this week in politics.

Jun 17, 2022

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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly

Misha, a non-verbal teen with Down’s Syndrome, didn’t understand why his family had to flee Mariupol this year. To placate him, his mother told him they were travelling to meet John Cena. Cena heard… and went to Amsterdam to oblige. Just brilliant.

WeRateDogs® @dog_rates

This is Optimist Prime. He has watched you kill several consecutive house plants. Would like you to take a moment to reflect before buying another. 12/10

a fluffy black and brown rottweiler puppy stands in the front section of a gray and green shopping cart in the garden section of a store. he has one of his front paws up on the edge of the cart either to gently attempt to stop you. his soulful eyes have seen things in his short life, namely many plant deaths.

**The International Space Station (ISS) caught passing in front of the Sun, captured by Rainee Colacurcio in 2019.**

Build Back Better

You’re paying obscene amounts of money for gas and food. . . but what if I told you the Biden administration made sure it was the most diverse LGBTQ+ administration ever!?

Breaking911 @Breaking911

BIDEN: "I think we have more LGBTQ+ people than any administration or every administration combined. No, I really mean it."

I love Waffle House.

**Never, ever underestimate the power of the Waffle House vote in the South.**

**Great Grey Owl | Edsel James Batuigas**

Negative, Ghost Rider.

Steven Portnoy @stevenportnoy

In his 1st interview with the Associated Press, Biden gets defensive when asked if he's to blame for inflation. “If it’s my fault, why is it the case in every other major industrial country in the world that inflation is higher? You ask yourself that. I’m not being a wise guy."

This is from a Treasury Department report last week:

WeRateDogs® @dog_rates

This is Chewy. He competed in his first dock diving event last month. Proud to be one of only two ranked bulldogs with North American Diving Dogs. 13/10 obviously a natural

a brown and white bulldog wearing a bright blue life vest is mid-jump above a pool of water. his paws are extended forward and back, and his ears are outstretched like little wings.

chewy dives serenely in his little blue life jacket. his ears are flopped up, his front paws slightly angled in, and his back legs are out like aerodynamic turkey legs. small droplets of water are suspended midair all around him.

chewy the bulldog comes in for a landing from a dock dive. one paw is splashing into the water, and the opposite back leg is extended up and out as if over an invisible hydrant. his eyes are laser-focused on the lure in the water a little ahead of him, and the whites of his eyes are slightly visible as his face wrinkles distort.

a brown and white bulldog leaps through the air in a blue life jacket. his front right paw is almost waving at you. his face looks surprised, and his lips are pursed into a little “o.” there’s no way this isn’t going to be an epic belly flop.

The Hertella Auto Kaffeemachine was the first and only known dashboard-mounted coffee maker. Manufactured in 1959 specifically for the Volkswagen Beetle, it came with porcelain cups that could stick to the machine magnetically.

A few posts back, I went on a bit of a rant. . .

The Recount @therecount

One of these channels is not like the others.

. . . about how the mainstream media was minimizing the assassination plot (the dude even brought special soles for his shoes to muffle his footsteps inside the house) against Kavanaugh by not covering it. Well, I suppose it’d be hypocritical of me to not point out that Fox News didn’t air the 1/6 theater. But, I have to admit that a) it’s kind of a savvy marketing move, in a way, considering every single other outlet was covering it as if it were a State of the Union Address, and b) while I do believe that all the morons who assaulted cops and what not should be charged (correctly, mind you; habeas corpus, anyone?), I still think the outsized response relative to the “fiery but mostly peaceful” protests that caused $2 billion in damages across the country (insured damages, that is) and destroyed thousands of businesses is ridiculous, and that 1/6 was neither a coup nor an insurrection, unless we’re suddenly changing the definitions of both those words, which it seems people have been doing because Bad Orange Man with mean tweets.

Speaking of Kavanaugh coverage. . . The Washington Post classified an assassination plot on a sitting SCOTUS justice as a "local crime" story.

Steve Guest @SteveGuest

How the Sunday shows covered the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh via TVEyes. # of mentions of "Kavanaugh": ABC's This Week: 0 mentions NBC's Meet The Press: 0 mentions CBS's Face The Nation: 0 mentions CNN SOTU: 0 mentions Fox News Sunday covered

**A boy stares at a TV screen for the first time, 1948.**

The Dodo @dodo

Husky goes from holding her baby brother’s hand in the crib to showing him how to escape from it when he’s older 💙

An exchange between Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden (his brother Beau’s widow, with whom he had a sexual relationship) on Oct. 23, 2018 was found via Hunter Biden’s hard drive. When defending his gun ownership, Hunter says his dad, Joe Biden, has five. (lol)

The world’s oldest doors are still in use in Rome. Each door is solid bronze, 7.5 feet wide and 25 feet high, and so well balanced that they can be pushed or pulled and easily opened by a single person.

**Qaṣr Al-Farīd, which means “the Lonely Castle,” is the largest rock-cut tomb. It’s located at the archaeological site of Hegra, in Saudi Arabia. (Nabataean Kingdom, 1st century CE)**

Zack Rosenblatt @ZackBlatt

This is Chris. He came in last place in our fantasy football league. His punishment: Go to a nice restaurant with a large teddy bear as his date.

Meanwhile, in New York City. . .

The Dodo @dodo

Sometimes all you need is a little encouragement from Mom ❤️

U.S. birth rate is at an all-time low. Must be because of Ezra Klein’s sage counsel.

An upside-down fig tree grows from the ceiling of an ancient Roman ruin in Bacoli, Italy. The tree sprouts from the ceiling of the arch it grows inside of, which was allegedly part of Emperor Nero's private villa.

That’s a lot of gold.

One week apart.

**A composite photo of the position and phases of the moon over 28 days, with each photo taken at the same location every day. | Giorgia Hofer**

Photographer Martin Le-May was walking through a London park with his wife in 2015, hoping to show her a green woodpecker for the first time, when he snapped this photo of a weasel riding a flying woodpecker.

**Soldiers returning home from WWII, 1945. Many opted to cram onto ships and get home ASAP rather than wait for more spacious accommodations.**

Elon Musk voted for a Mexican-American woman in Texas — in a truly historical win, as she’s the first-ever Mexico-born Congresswoman (more on this below) — but he’s a white supremacist. FYI.

Jamaal Bowman @JamaalBowmanNY

Elon Musk is not a leader. He’s just another Republican billionaire who supports white supremacy and authoritarianism because he doesn't want his workers to unionize or to pay his fair share in taxes. The GOP just tried to end democracy and now he’s supporting them.

Elon Musk @elonmusk

@TheTexanNews @MayraFlores2022 I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022.

When you misuse a word/phrase over and over and over again, that word/phrase ceases to mean what it's supposed to mean; it loses its gravitas. Also, gross hyperbole weaponized as a form of emotional blackmail in lieu of an actual argument has become standard operating procedure for congenital morons these days.

And then there’s NBC’s Mehdir Hasan: "If [the ‘neo-Nazi faction’ of the GOP expands in Nov.], we may look back on this. . . as a pivotal moment, when a petulant and not-so-bright billionaire casually bought one of the most influential messaging machines and just handed it to the far-right.”

You know, I’m no expert on what does and does not make someone “bright,” but I’m pretty sure if you literally teach yourself rocket science, start your own rocket company, and then revolutionize the entire Space industry, you’re at least somewhat “bright.” And as far as the “petulant” remark goes, this begs the question: Why has job interest in Twitter jumped 250% since the Musk takeover?

Maybe Hasan and Bowman and friends are just upset about this:

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast

Elon Musk told his millions of Twitter followers on Wednesday that he’d likely back Ron DeSantis if the Florida governor were to run in the 2024 presidential election

trib.alDeSantis on Musk’s Seal of Approval: ‘I Welcome Support from African Americans’The Tesla founder and would-be Twitter owner raised eyebrows with his tweet that he’s “leaning towards” voting for the Republican Florida governor.

I like Ron DeSantis. He’s 43 and still has over $21,000 in student loans, and he doesn't trade individual stocks. His net worth is $318,987, far, far lower than many top politicians, and if he runs for president, he might clock in with the lowest net worth in a crowded field. The appeal is certainly there.

Speaking of Maya Flores:

Mayra Flores, the TX-34 district’s 36-year-old congresswoman-elect, is the first Republican to win the area in more than 150 years and will be the first Mexican-born congresswoman in American history. A whopping 85% of the residents in TX-34 are Hispanic, according to 2020 census data, which doesn't bode well for the port-side crowd. Click here to read more.

MSNBC on her win: In South Texas “voters have moved 10, 20, 30, 40 points away from the Democrats and towards the Republicans. . . [TX-34] is the second most heavily Hispanic congressional district in the U.S.”

If this keeps happening, Democrats might end up building a wall.

**Europa above Jupiter, as captured by Voyager. | NASA**

WholesomeMemes @WholesomeMeme

WeRateDogs® @dog_rates

This is Waffles. She needs a little help. Got her first few wrinkles up the stair but is struggling with the other eight. 12/10 please give her a boost

a brown and white bulldog puppy stands with her front paws on a deck step and her back legs in some grass. she looks a little confused about where to go from here. her body is a glorious cascade of brown wrinkles that ends in two little white feet.

Science girl @gunsnrosesgirl3

Within hours of birth a baby’s gaze is drawn to faces longer than other patterns, recognition of faces is critical for survival and hard wired Watch this child’s reaction when there are changes, seeing her father without a beard for the first time

Dude.

WeRateDogs® @dog_rates

This is Chancho. He just got a cool new hat. Thinking about making it his signature look. 12/10

a little white pup is wearing a red-brimmed baseball cap with a yellow drawstring under his chin. he’s standing on the sidewalk on a sunny day, but he still looks impossibly cool

a closer view of the little white pup wearing a red-brimmed baseball cap. he's winking at you omg he's so cool

**The clearest photo of Mars ever taken.**

George Washington University has voted to get rid of its colonial mascot after years of concerns about “inclusivity.”

Saturn, as captured from a backyard telescope. Saturn's rings are made of billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials. Astronomers believe these are pieces of comets, asteroids, and shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet, torn apart by Saturn's powerful gravity.

**The world’s largest log cabin in Portland, Oregon, 1938. Built In 1905, it burned down In 1964.**

“People who menstruate”

NPR @NPR

Tampons, a necessity for many, are becoming harder and harder to find. People who menstruate are saying it's hard to find tampons on store shelves across the U.S. right now, as supply chain upsets reach the feminine care aisle.

n.prIt’s not just you: Tampons are harder to find — and pricierMany women say store shelves that once had the menstrual essentials have been sparse for months. When they are available, tampons have been a lot more expensive recently, due in part to inflation.

**Abraham Lincoln's inauguration at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. March 4, 1861.**

MSNBC says that it’s “a problem for democracy” that the Daily Wire, a smaller right-wing news outlet, has more followers than the Times and CNN.

This kind of rhetoric, which is becoming increasingly common, is an insidious attempt to paint the other party as dangerous by fear mongering in the hopes that it’ll motivate more people to rally to your flag. Applying and implying criminality, however indirect, renders justifiable subsequent acts of subterfuge, suppression, and outright censorship. Such rhetoric is based entirely upon its repetition rather than its foundation.

Tom Elliott @tomselliott

@danpfeiffer Pfeiffer: "If you go to Facebook on a daily basis, the posts with the most engagement are from @benshapiro, @dbongino, @RealCandaceO … it should scare us the most that Ben Shapiro’s @realDailyWire has more followers than the NYT or CNN. That is a problem for democracy."

I really don’t like the mainstream media.

**Times Square on Monday, May 7, 1945, after the news of Germany's unconditional surrender in World War II.**

JustFoodForDogs™ @JustFoodForDogs

Dash, one of our customers, is having a ruff day. It was raining on his walk, and one of his ears got all wet. He's pretty upset about the whole ordeal.

tan and white corgi wearing an oversized yellow rain coat. only his face is sticking out from under the hood and one ear. he looks upset.

the tan and white corgi wearing a yellow raincoat still only has his face and one ear popping out from under the food. his expression is of deep concern.

There’s a panel entitled "How to fix toxic discourse and misinformation". . .

. . .and it features the top editors at the two media outlets that arguably did the most to spread the CIA's pre-election lie that the Hunter Biden laptop was "Russian disinformation": Politico and The Intercept.

I will continue to use the word spaz.

Leighton Woodhouse @lwoodhouse

The word was "spaz."

nytimes.comLizzo’s Lyric Offended Fans. She Changed It, and They Forgave.The song “Grrrls” was released Friday and updated Monday to remove a derogatory term for people with disabilities, which she said she did not use with an intent to offend.

**Wedding rings removed from Holocaust victims before they were executed, 1945.**

**Some perspective on how large Saturn’s hexagonal storm is.**

Oh Reuters.

**500 million stars at the heart of the Andromeda Galaxy.**

Covid has plummeted as an issue for voters.

And this is in Los Angeles.

**A clear night in Norway | Sondre Eriksen Hensema**

Propaganda vs. Reality

WholesomeMemes @WholesomeMeme

**Cassini’s last image before entering Saturn’s atmosphere and burning up.**

**The Sombrero Galaxy via the Hubble telescope.**

Rep. Mondaire Jones clearly doesn't know what a semi-automatic firearm is.

Just about every handgun is semi-automatic, killer.

**High quality image of Jupiter captured by Juno.**

The Dodo @dodo

Cat gets his own little denim tote bag to go on walks with his dog BFF 💙

The longest road in the world that can be walked. . .

. . .is from Cape Town, South Africa to Magadan, Russia—13,910 miles. No need for planes or boats since there are bridges. If you were to walk non-stop, it’d take 187 days. Walking 8 hours a day, it’d take 561 days. Along the route, you pass through 17 countries, 6 time zones, and all seasons of the year.

Delicious irony.

“Efficacious,” indeed.

Breaking911 @Breaking911

BREAKING: Dr. Fauci Tests Positive For COVID - breaking911.com/breaking-dr-fa…

Iron workers on the North Tower of the World Trade Center, 1973.

Karine Jean-Pierre is asked if there are any updates on the baby formula shortage.

She spends almost 20 seconds flipping through her binder before saying no.

**The clearest picture of mercury ever taken.**

Biden says he's not going to visit the Saudis. Twenty seconds later, he says he's going to visit the Saudis.

The Dodo @dodo

Couple saves a baby deer and gives him the softest little bed for the night 💛

14 grams is 0.0309 pounds, 24,000km/h is 14912.909mi/h.

Neil Degrease Tyson @DegreaseNeil

This is what happens to aluminium when hit by a 14g piece of plastic going 24,000 km/h in space.

Ruh roh.

**Coney Island during a heat wave, NY, USA, 1936.**

New survey data on "bothsidesism" in American journalism.

76% of U.S. adults say "journalists should always strive to give every side equal coverage," but a majority of journalists themselves (55%) say "every side does not always deserve equal coverage."

WeRateDogs® @dog_rates

This is Douglas. He saw you engage in brief conversation with the mailman. Can't believe you were fraternizing with the enemy. 12/10 keep your friends close and your mailmen closer

a reddish brown dachshund lays on a gray blanket. he’s propped up on his right elbow and has fully tucked that paw under his chest. he is giving you some serious side eye

Olympus Mons, on Mars - the largest and highest mountain and volcano in the Solar System. It has a height of 13.6 mi or 72,000 ft, as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), and is about 2.5x Mount Everest's height above sea level.

The DNC had to move a May fundraiser with Kamala Harris to the fall because "they couldn't sell enough tickets." Tough sledding when even the donors aren't buying what you're selling.