If he walks like a dictator and talks like a dictator…
 

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra right-wing government have been the target of ongoing protests over his administration’s plans to overhaul the country’s highest court in an effort to consolidate more power for himself and his far-right political allies, and protect himself from legal accountability. Netanyahu made a televised address announcing he would delay his plans “in order to reach a broad consensus,” calling it a “chance to avoid civil war.” 
   

• Despite certain interpretations of the move, and even the White House commenting that the pause is “the best path forward for Israel,” it is not a capitulation. Netanyahu is punting in order to postpone the increasingly-violent showdown and unleash the hounds of a state-sanctioned militia to extinguish unrest. Far-right minister Ben-Gvir’s party said that Netanyahu’s postponement is contingent upon protesters clearing out from the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) and assembling a paramilitary national guard. 
   

• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant became the first member of the Netanyahu cabinet to bravely call for a halt in the judicial overhaul on Saturday, saying it has “created an internal rift that poses a clear and immediate threat to Israel’s national security. On Sunday, Netanyahu fired him, causing even more protests to erupt across the country. Supporters of the Netanyahu-led coup have also been actively protesting, marching through the streets with chants like “traitorous leftists,” and in at least one incident, attacking an Arab taxi driver.

Violent unrest continues as protesters and counter-protesters take to the streets in support of or opposition to Netanyahu’s dictatorial agenda. 
 

• Israel’s national labor union shut down Ben-Gurion Airport preventing any flights from coming in or going out, and the chair of Israel’s largest trade union federation stated that they will launch a mass strike if the judicial coup is not stopped. Israeli universities have announced indefinite strikes in protest of the Netanyahu government. Wow, seems like people get pretty mad when you try to stage a coup!
   

• Police fired stun grenades (a weapon I honestly didn’t know existed until this moment) into a crowd in central Tel Aviv in an effort to disperse protesters early Tuesday morning. These are not far-flung, one-off protests. This is a nation deeply divided in a fight for the soul of its democratic institutions. 

Spokesman for the Department of Defense Phil Ventura said today that “...the bond between Israel and the United States is rooted in the shared values of democracy and freedom and the rule of law,” and underscored, “President Biden’s firm belief in the imperative of strong institutions, and an independent judiciary, for vibrant democracies like Israel and the United States.” It seems increasingly clear that the bond between the United States and Israel is rooted in each country’s shared, profound misunderstanding of one another.

Lovett or Leave It: The Errors Tour is hitting the road this summer! The Errors Tour brings this big gay live comedy and variety show to states that are totally into that, plus a few other states that had no say in the matter. Join as Jon Lovett and a motley crew of comedians, actors, journalists, politicians, and queer icons dive into the latest chaos in the news and pop culture while raising money to fight trans bans and protect trans kids. Expect games, sketches, perfect jokes, jokes that were worth a shot, and an overall great fucking time- even if we’re mad as hell. It’s a weird moment in history. The Errors Tour is ready to make it weirder.
 

*$1 of every Lovett or Leave It 2023 Errors Tour ticket sold will be donated directly to the Vote Save America F*ck Bans: Leave Queer Kids Alone Fund. You can take action too by donating at www.votesaveamerica.com/fuckbans
 

Get your tickets today with presale code ERRORS
 

As homelessness ravages the country, many municipalities have been urged to increase affordable housing, but time and again, it comes up against two main adversaries: NIMBYs and private equity. The housing crisis has reached full-tilt in California, where massive private-equity companies like the Blackstone Group are buying up affordable housing, jacking up rents, and increasing evictions. A new report from the Blackstone Tenants Union shines a spotlight on San Diego, CA, where Blackstone purchased thousands of affordable housing units in 2021, and with turnover of each unit, the company raised rents between 43 and 64 percent in two years. The Blackstone Group called the report “riddled with inaccuracies and mischaracterizations,” while also not providing any specific citations. Analysts believe that private equity will control 40 percent of single-family rental homes by 2030. Someone! Should! Do! Something!

A 28-year-old woman armed with two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, TN. Police responded to the scene shortly thereafter and killed her. 

A rare tornado ripped through Mississippi this weekend beginning on Friday, killing at least 26 and leaving a trail of destruction throughout the state. 

President Biden approved a federal disaster declaration for Mississippi on Sunday, freeing up federal funds for the affected areas. 

The FDIC said it would backstop a deal for First Citizens BancShares to acquire Silicon Valley Bank, which was put into government receivership after its failure. The backstop will cost the FDIC an estimated $20 billion, but taxpayer dollars do not fund the agency. 

A Florida school banned the 1998 Disney film Ruby Bridges after just one parent complained that she didn’t like how it (accurately) depicted the true story of the fight for school integration in the 1960’s. "Parental rights above all else" seems to be going great!

Parts of Twitter’s source code, the underlying architecture on which the whole website rests, were hacked and leaked online. Isn’t it crazy what happens when the CEO of a tech company fires the whole data-security team?

Prosecutors in Germany announced today that they searched the home of two pro-Russia activists in an effort to corroborate a report that the couple is providing monetary aid to Russian forces in Ukraine. 

French people are still going the hell off (protesting and setting fires) about changes to the national pension system. They even blocked the entrance to the Louvre. C’est fantastique!

A slow but profound shift is happening in the Republican 2024 presidential primary race: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is gaining ground, even though he still hasn’t announced. Even as all of the usual suspects in GOP circles raise questions about DeSantis’s “readiness” for a national campaign (someone remind me: did that stop Trump?) and as the Florida governor has had a series of rhetorical stumbles amid the klieg lights of national scrutiny, he is still seen by a significant and growing portion of the GOP base as the “more palatable” alternative to the twice-impeached disgraced former president Donald Trump, who remains under multiple federal and state-level investigations. Members of the right-wing think tank the Claremont Institute, who played a crucial role in not only normalizing Trump but aiding his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, have mostly jumped ship for DeSantis. As Trump’s possible arrest looms overhead, DeSantis’s profile will likely continue to rise, and it’s hard to imagine that his horrifyingly-successful rate of passing an entire slate of fascism-lite legislation in Florida won’t be catnip for the GOP base.

Let’s stop cutting down trees to make toilet paper.

It’s true, humans are cutting down tens of thousands everyday just to supply the American need for toilet paper. And the worst part is that when we use trees for toilet paper, it’s just one use and done - it obviously can’t be recycled or reused, so it just goes straight into our water system. Enter: Reel Paper.


Reel is 100% bamboo, so it's made of a plant that grows fast, can be harvested and regenerated (like grass in a lawn), and doesn’t impact entire ecosystems of forests.
 

Reel is now partnered with One Tree Planted and with every box of Reel that you buy, they are funding reforestation efforts across the country. So unlike the other TP that cuts down trees, Reel is helping to actively plant them!

Reel paper is available in easy, hassle-free subscriptions or for one-time purchases on their website. All orders are conveniently delivered to your door with free shipping in 100% recyclable, plastic-free packaging. 


Head on over to reelpaper.com/CROOKED and sign up for a subscription using code WORLD at checkout to get 30% off your first order and free shipping!

Let’s make a change for good this year and switch to Reel Paper. Reel is paper for the planet.

Chicago is planning to debut its first commercial electric air-taxi route in 2025, a fully battery-powered aircraft. 

Hungary’s parliament approved Finland’s bid to join NATO on Monday after months of delays, putting the Nordic nation ever closer to full membership.