"Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu on June 27, maintaining a standoff distance of 20 kilometers for its initial surveys of the kilometer-sized asteroid and its shape. They call the 20-kilometer standoff distance "Home position," and have established confidence in their ability to hold stably at that position." (Grokked from Dan)
"A teen regularly ate bags of snacks such as Hot Cheetos and Takis before stomach pains led to a surgery removing her gallbladder. Now her mom wants such snacks put on notice." Well, high-fat foods do put a strain on the bile system (and this is why gall stones are painful after a fatty meal). So I'm thinking it's more the fat content of the snack than the "spice" (although spice can trigger inflammation which causes other problems).
"Pepperidge Farm announced a voluntary recall of four varieties of Goldfish crackers in a press release on Monday."
"The full moon will turn blood red on July 27 as the longest total lunar eclipse of the century takes place in the skies from Australia through Africa… Friday’s lunar eclipse will be particularly special as it is the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century." Hope my Russian friends enjoy it, as we won't see it here.
"Soon… women… who suffer from endometriosis pain will have a new option for relief. An effective treatment was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and it’s expected to arrive at pharmacies as soon as August. The pill, called elagolix (brand name Orilissa) from the drugmaker AbbVie, is the first FDA-approved oral treatment in more than a decade for the moderate to severe pain that comes with endometriosis." It's an estrogen suppressant that can have serious side-effects (menopausal symptoms and bone loss). Also note how the pain index for the study only had 4 levels.
"A former Ohio State University diving club coach began pressuring a female diver for sex within weeks after meeting her when she was 16, the former diver said Tuesday in an interview."
"On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has settled its claims against the founder of the failed Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland. The commission accused McFarland of defrauding more than 100 investors out of $27.4 million. McFarland has admitted to the SEC's charges against him."
"Crude oil prices were trading up today as tensions continued to escalate between Iran and the United States and as IMF’s prediction that Venezuela would see a million-percent inflation rate this year, making any oil production increases that Venezuela may have had its sights set on seem like a rather lofty goal as PDVSA employees struggle to make ends meet."
"Indeed, the extraction of more than 400 Syrian Civil Defense members -- known as White Helmets -- from Syria this week as the Syrian regime neared their location was a rare reminder that countries can indeed work together effectively to protect people who have worked to help and to save others. That the Syrian regime called their rescue a 'criminal operation' should surprise few and confuse even fewer."
"Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday while advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years." This won't end well.
"The government announced a $12 billion plan Tuesday to assist farmers who have been hurt by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and other trading partners." Okay, but I don't want to hear shit about "government handouts" or "creating money out of thin air" from those farmers.
"Sonny Perdue, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced the government would use the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), established during the Great Depression nearly a century ago, to compensate farmers for an estimated $11 billion in losses due to the trade wars." Basically the CCC will borrow the money from Treasury. I'm not sure this has been entirely thought through. Like if this violates appropriations. "In 2017, the federal government spent nearly $19 billion on agriculture support programs, and that total had been expected to rise to nearly $27 billion in 2018, Office of Management and Budget data showed before Tuesday’s announcement." That'll be $40 billion now.
"Farmers said they would rather have Trump settle the trade disputes with China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union and get free trade flowing again." Yeah, but they're not going to refuse the money, or (most likely) alter their support for the president.
"House Republicans have launched an effort to expand the massive tax law they muscled through Congress last year, aiming to make permanent the individual tax cuts and small-business income deductions now set to expire in 2026." One trick pony is going to work its one trick.
"A U.S. government program designed to give the public and policymakers a clear view of how Washington uses federal dollars is riddled with errors and new Trump administration changes threaten to make the problem worse, Senate investigators said on Tuesday… The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that at least 55 percent of the data submitted during an April-June 2017 review period was inaccurate, incomplete or both." The Trump administration is proposing new laws, which are predicted to weaken the reporting. Of course. (Grokked in a roundabout way from Jim Wright)
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the top law enforcement officer in the country, repeated the words 'lock her up' Tuesday that were being chanted, a rallying cry from Donald Trump campaign events calling to jail Hillary Clinton, and then laughed." This administration is like children playing with matches. It makes them feel powerful, but it could burn down the house.
"Donald Trump may have put an end to his family separation policy last month, but some migrant parents may not reunite with their children for years, experts have warned, due to the many obstacles of rejoining children with their parents… A district judge in California gave the government until Thursday to reunite 2,551 children, but with 1,012 people reunited as of Tuesday, it is not expected that they will meet the deadline." What should be clear by now is that there never was a plan to reunite these children. This administration just didn't care. This is not just a shame, it's a crime.
"Ivanka Trump is shutting down her clothing company and laying off 18 employees after some stores dropped her line and she decided ethics restrictions were holding back its ability to grow." But what about all those Chinese trademarks she won?
"President Donald Trump says he’s 'very concerned' that Russia will try to meddle in November’s midterm elections to help Democrats win." Nope, while it looks like the mix of operations is changing a little, it still appears that Russia believes that electing Republicans would do more to destabilize and weaken America. (Also insert a few minutes of pointing and laughing.)
"The recording, in which the two men discussed a potential payoff tied to allegations of an affair made by a former Playboy model named Karen McDougal, was provided to CNN by Lanny Davis, the newly hired attorney for Cohen. Davis, in an interview with Cuomo following the playing of the tape, made very clear that Cohen had now broken free of his oft-pledged total loyalty to Trump and was now looking out for himself and his own interests." It's easy to pledge to take a bullet for someone else. It's an entirely different equation when you're staring at the gun that will fire that bullet.
"Americans don't think President Trump has been tough enough on Russia, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted after Trump's summit in Helsinki last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin." A new poll with lots of crunchy data.
"President Trump resumed acknowledging Russian election interference on Tuesday and said he fears that this year, it will benefit Democrats." While there is more activity directed toward the Democratic side this year (there was some in 2016), our Russian friends are still heavily invested in the GOP side. I expect that to change in 2020 (dependent on the behavior of Trump and the GOP, although any kompromat disclosed would have less effect in 2024 and I still believe they will release it as a part of this action) because, again, the goal is disruption (and the president's tweet certainly helps that cause, except that it's so laughably wrong). But this is both projection and pre-seeding the media. When the blue wave hits this Fall (with hopefully flipping the House and Senate as well as state governments) Trump is framing that loss as "the Russians helped the Democrats." You may remember this as projection of his insecurity that Russia helped him win in 2016.
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