Morning Update: 07/25/24

Today pretty much starts the beginning of the school season for us. While classes don’t start until Monday, the next two days are full of all those last-minute things that must be completed in order to make the start of school successful. Kat’s schedule at the salon has gotten crazy, so I’ll be taking Tipper to the PPHS main campus first, then escorting G to the Lab for his stuff. G only needs me for those things that might require a parent’s signature. I’m sure somewhere in the middle of everything we’ll do lunch because these kids have this thing going where they like to eat. A lot.

While a large part of yesterday was spent sleeping, the cats decided to be overly active. That excess energy went on through the night as Queen Bit and Fred Fredburger were hissing and fussing at each other to the point I’m not sure Kat got much sleep at all. There were things knocked off tables, things knocked over, things dug out and scattered… you know, all the things cats do in those moments when the humans in the house need to be sleeping. There’s something wrong with the bottom of my bedroom door this morning that I’ve yet to figure out, and yeah, I’m pretty sure a cat had something to do with that, too. It’s never boring.

As I was quickly browsing the various news sources, Tipper came in and read this over my shoulder from TheSkimm’.

What’s going on: Vice President Kamala Harris stands to be the first Black and South Asian female presidential candidate — a point of attack among conservatives. Right-wing politicians and media personalities have called Harris a “DEI candidate,” attributing her political career to her skin color. Harris has also been accused of sleeping her way to the top and is the target of unvalidated “birther” conspiracies due to her immigrant heritage. Meanwhile, her husband, Doug Emhoff, is on the receiving end of antisemitic attacks. Recent analysis from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) found that hateful and violent speech toward Harris rose 33% on Truth Social and 50% on Telegram from July 19 to July 21.

What it means: Harris isn’t the first candidate to face these kinds of attacks. Former President Obama and Hillary Clinton got their fair share of it. However, Harris could be getting the worst of it. Even during the 2020 Democratic primaries, the Wilson Center found that Harris faced more gendered abuse and targeted disinformation than other female candidates. Now, some congressional Republican leaders are warning their members from using that playbook against Harris, urging them to focus on her political career and policies under the Biden administration. That’s because racist or misogynistic attacks against Harris could alienate swing voters like suburban women or voters of color.

Tipper’s question was, “Why? What reason does anyone have for not wanting a black president or a woman president? It doesn’t make any sense.”

No, baby girl, it doesn’t make any sense. Nothing about the Republican party in its current state makes any sense. The overt authoritarianism, racism, and sexism have no excuse. The fact that their own leaders have to tell their members to behave shows how unreasonable, unintelligent, uncaring, and undesirable the party is. Even worse, as I’ve said before, this isn’t just at the Presidential level. Republicans are this nasty all the way down to the bottom of the ballot. For them, Project 2025 isn’t just a wish list for taking control of the government, it is a plan for taking over the world. This is why they must be stopped. The party in its current form must be destroyed. Is there room for a conservative voice in politics? Yes, but a true conservative doesn’t exist in the modern dialogue. What the GOP currently represents is chaos in all its worst forms and it must be eliminated.

Meanwhile, Mother Nature continues to fight back on the open seas as Typhoon Gaemi sinks a freighter off Taiwan, and barrels towards the Chinese seaboard. Amidst all our own noise, there are signs that the planet is getting fed up with our nonsense. News flash: the planet is going to win. Species of beings come and go. The planet is going to take care of itself if we don’t. We need to be aware of the message it is sending.

Nestle cuts sales growth outlook as consumers become increasingly cost-conscious. What can I say other than it’s about fucking time? Nestle has been especially bad about having an “anything for a dime” attitude over the past several years. CEO Mark Schneider has an attitude that all natural resources are best managed through capitalistic markets. That includes water and, yes, even clean air. Nestle has a massive portfolio of products and the company has been regularly increasing prices since 2020 to bolster their profits. So, if consumers are finally saying, “We can do without that,” then that’s a good thing.

Oh, did you see that Utah was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics? Did you know that the award comes with a catch? The IOC would only give Utah the games after the state’s politicians signed an agreement to lobby the FBI to end its investigation into the Chinese doping scandal at the Tokyo Games. That’s right, this is the IOC attempting to interfere with US law enforcement. That seems to be a pretty bold move considering the fact that UTAH WAS THE ONLY BIDDER FOR THE GAMES. No one else wants them. So, if the FBI doesn’t back down, what the fuck is the IOC going to do? I think we need to be having conversations as to whether the Olympic Games, in their current form, are worth continuing. They’re expensive for the host city, often incurring costs that are never recovered, and upsetting the lives of the people who live there. We need to end that attitude that says sports is king and look at the reality of paid players at the amateur level and re-format the whole mess so that international athletic competition isn’t a mask for an international power move by a bunch of oligarchs, which is exactly what the IOC is.

Finally, that whole “single cat lady” thing isn’t going away, Mr. Vance. Today, it’s Jennifer Anniston who’s speaking out against the wildly ridiculous statement from the GOP Vice Presidential candidate. Don’t think celebrity comments matter? Kamala Harris has Gen Z appeal with young voters largely because of celebrity endorsements. Plus, statements like this pull women across all age groups together against a common enemy: stupid men. This is why women will be deciding this year’s election. They’re pissed and they’re registered to vote.

So, off we go now. There may be pictures on Facebook if you’re watching throughout the day. Depends on how shy the kids are feeling.