- Trademark attorney Josh Gerben, referencing the almost 900 active trademark registrations covering the letter “X”, Elon’s ~*brilliant*~ Twitter re-brand
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For those of us who thought the madness might end with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) showing stolen pornagraphic images during a congressional hearing, no such luck!
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Let’s dig in a little deeper into the accusation at hand.
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The FBI document in question states that the informant provided the information to the Bureau in June 2020, but the conversations and meetings described date back to 2015. The informant described a 2016 meeting with the CEO of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, who claimed that he had made two $5 million payments to “the Bidens” but did not specify further. The FBI described the informant as credible but noted that they were “not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity” of the claims. We should note it surely does resemble the “dirt” that Rudy Giuliani, acting at Trump’s behest, pressured Ukrainian officials to fabricate about the Bidens in the corruption scandal that led to Trump’s first impeachment.
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The FBI responded to the GOP disclosure of the form by blasting Republican lawmakers for ignoring the bureau’s “significant concerns” about the dangers of releasing the materials, saying that it “...at a minimum – unnecessarily risks the safety of a confidential source.” Interestingly, House Democrats have already released the transcript of separate private comments Zlochevsky made to Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas, where the CEO stated that “no one from Burisma had any contacts with VP Biden or people working for him,” while Hunter Biden served on the company’s board. Parnas has repeatedly called this line of GOP accusations against President Biden “misinformation” and stands ready to testify under oath—you’ll be stunned to learn that Republicans don’t want to hear from him.
Add it all up and it looks like Republicans are gearing up to conduct a revenge impeachment based on nothing, and by sheer coincidence, to do so at the same point in Biden’s presidency as Trump’s first impeachment. In the span of just a few weeks, the idea of impeaching president Biden went from a fringe Marjorie Taylor Greene stunt that made even certain spineless GOP miscreants queasy, to a reality now being floated by the speaker of the House. Very healthy, normal political party brimming with good ideas!
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With the senate set to vote on the Supreme Court Code of Ethics, many are asking “Should the White House push for increasing the number of Justices on the Supreme Court?” On a recent episode of Positively Dreadful, host Brian Beutler asks Adam Serwer of The Atlantic and Ben Wittes of The Brookings Institute their thoughts in a special debate format that we’re rolling out all summer long. Tune into this and more great conversations on Positively Dreadful every Friday.
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Hot Strike Summer just got a little cooler. UPS struck a deal with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday to avert what could have been one of the largest labor strikes in modern American history. Both parties claimed victory on a tentative five-year contract, which includes raises for all UPS employees and installation of air conditioning units in new delivery vans. The tentative agreement states that all UPS employees would receive a $2.50 raise on their hourly pay this year and a $7.50-an-hour pay raise over the next five years. Part-time UPS workers, who make up about half of the company’s employees, would start at $21 per hour, less than the $25 per hour demanded by the union but still a notable increase from the current starting wage of $16.20. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien was ebullient, saying, “We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it…This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.” Some rank-and-file union members expressed dismay that only new trucks will be required to be outfitted with air conditioning units, and not until 2024. The union will have to sell its members on the contract before taking a vote between August 3-22. Should members vote no, a strike of 340,000 UPS employees could still occur.
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Long-distance power-line policy does not typically make for sexy messaging, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer never met an un-sexy issue he didn’t want to embrace with open arms. Schumer has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the bipartisan panel known as FERC, even less sexy somehow) to “strengthen and finalize” rules governing where power lines can be built in the United States, and who will pay for them. He stated that such rules will be essential to delivering “reliable, affordable, and clean power to Americans.” The letter from Schumer suggests that Democrats are getting pretty fucking tired of dithering over reforming domestic environmental-permitting laws with their uncooperative Republican colleagues, and will instead seek agency action to secure most of their climate goals. Long-distance transmission is key to increasing the power grid’s share of wind and solar power, which is obviously why Republicans are doing everything they can to obstruct it. This work-around shows that Democrats are serious about the climate commitments they made in the Inflation Reduction Act, because a Princeton study shows that some 80 percent of the carbon reductions from the law might be lost if new power lines are not built quickly. Nice to see Democratic leadership making appropriate pivots when partisan gridlock tries to slow them down!
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A Better Way to Wake Up
OK—let’s spill the beans. Drinking too much coffee can lead to a surge of adrenaline and cortisol. Those hormones are great when you're fighting off a wild tiger or dodging an errant spear (hey, it could happen!), but if you’re drinking countless cups every day just to wake up, it's like trying to light a candle with a flamethrower. It’s too much.
So MUD\WTR created something better. Their OG blend is a coffee alternative made from 100% organic cacao, masala chai, and functional mushrooms. With a fraction of the caffeine found in a cup of coffee, you get the sustainable energy you need to conquer your day… without the jitters or afternoon energy crash.
Plus it tastes like a mug of hot cacao met a chai latte and they had a baby. Give it a try and use code CROOKED for 15% off today.
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The Biden administration unveiled new rules for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act on Tuesday, requiring insurance companies to increase their coverage of mental-health care.
New reports show that consumer confidence continued to trend up in July, hitting a two-year high.
Democrats are using recent Supreme Court rulings upholding key aspects of the Voting Rights Act to plan a new strategy to take back the House by winning new districts in the south.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave the largest-ever single donation to the Screen Actors Guild strike-relief fund, said to be seven figures. Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? It’s solidarity.
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