MY FRIEND AND PODCASTER THE WINE YOGI IS ON TODAY TO TALK INDEPENDENCE DAY BOOZE! I'll put a photo up on Instagram and FB of all the wine and beer we taste today. YUM. You can hear a lot more from Kristal on her killer podcast The Wine Yogi which you can find by clicking here!
BUT I THOUGHT THE GOVERNMENT HAD FIXED THIS Clean air is something we mostly take for granted, but it's not always nice in other places. After years of emissions controls and other measures, there has been a significant reduction in the number of days in LA with bad air. But not so for the cities to it's east. Because they are smack up against the mountains (like another city I know) smog reduction is pretty tricky. Good news though, I have a solution. Just bulldoze the mountains down to dust. That should do it. Just kidding of course, but this part of the article really stuck out to me:
The disparities are largely a function of weather and topography. Southern California’s persistent sea breeze blows emissions from cars, trucks and factories inland, where it bakes in the abundant heat and sunlight to form ozone pollution. The smog gets trapped against the mountains, while strong inversion layers keep it close to the ground where millions of people breathe.
“Our geography is perfect for forming ozone, and that’s what makes it such an intractable problem,” said Suzanne Paulson, a professor of atmospheric chemistry who directs the Center for Clean Air at UCLA.
So topography is the problem. Which is why Native Americans have talked about haze long before we had cars. I'm not saying that we should go back to leaded gasoline and hope for the best, but it might be time to recognize that some places are just more habitable than others.
ARE YOU PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN? Most of us say we are, but many of us are like "meh, I'm proud-ish". That's really sad to me and I'd love to ask those who responded no some follow up questions and raise some money to buy them a plane ticket to wherever they think is better. I'm going to tell you why I'm proud today.
GOD FORBID COLIN KAEPERNICK JUST SHUT HIS PIE HOLE But he can't and Nike can't turn enough of their decisions over to him so they pulled a shoe that was already made from distribution because Kaepernick told them he found it offensive. What was so horrible? That it had a version of the Betsy Ross American flag stitched on the back. I'm not even making this up. I'm going to start peppering their website with all sorts of complaints about every product they have offending me for some reason. Idiots.
FOR A GUY EVERYONE SUPPOSEDLY HATES TRUMP IS SURE BRINGING IN THE MONEY And his re election campaign and the RNC brought in a combined $105 million bucks last quarter. That's more than Obama and the DNC did at the same point in his presidency. This has to have some Democrats very nervous because their eventual candidate is going to have to withstand what is beginning to look like a bruising and expensive primary campaign. That is not a place you want to start when your opponent is raising this kind of money.
SECONDHAND DRINKING IS NOW GOING TO BE A THING And unlike the shoddy science that posited second hand smoke was a health issue for those around smokers, this one doesn't try to say that drinking necessarily has a negative physical effect on those around the drinker (although it can), but that the emotional harm is there. This isn't surprising because in my lifetime I've met maybe three people whose personalities were made better by drinking and whole slew of people I wanted to kill when they were drunk. But what does this mean for public policy? I'm afraid to ask.
HICK'S CAMPAIGN IS IN DEEP DOODOO Because his finance director just dropped him like a hot potato to run over to a guy I actually think is an even weaker candidate than Hick, Beta O'Rourke. And he did so on the day AFTER 2nd quarter campaign finance reports came in. This is not looking good for Hick and is looking even sketchier for Cory Gardner who I guarantee doesn't want to face Hick in his Senate race. We'll see when he drops out, but I'm guessing it's no later than right after Iowa, but that would be a late start for a Senate race.
JOHN STOSSEL EXPLAINS WHY BAD LAWS CAUSE HOMELESSNESS And it's another example of how government is expected to fix a problem that government helped create.
YES LET'S REPLACE EXPENSIVE TRAINS WITH BUSES PLEASE! I am THRILLED to read this story this morning about transit advocates who have realized that a fast and efficient dedicated bus line would be far more cost effective and realistic than light rail that is already years behind schedule and way over budget. YES. Now let's make this happen.
HERE'S A LIST OF FIREWORKS SHOWS THIS WEEK SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BLOW YOUR FINGERS OFF And please don't set anything on fire to scratch your weird pyro itch. Just go watch these instead.
NOW SOME JEANNE ROBERTSON TO MAKE YOU LAUGH
BECAUSE DOG KISSES ARE THE BEST MEDICINE This is sort of sweet but I'm not sure I would rely SOLELY on my dog for comfort when something goes wrong. A recent survey showed that 44% of dog owners who responded said they'd rather confide in their dog than a family member when trouble hits. I get that but a dog doesn't give the best advice and sometimes you need good advice. But if you're looking for advice like "let's play ball, you'll feel better" your dog is definitely where you need to head.
IS JOE BIDEN INFLATING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS STREET CRED? It's like how everyone who was alive in 1969 was at Woodstock now. Joe Biden's claims that he was actively involved in the Civil Rights movement are now being questioned as there is no real evidence or witnesses to support them. This should be his undoing unless he can start producing some sort of proof.
COCKROACHES ARE BECOMING SUPER COCKROACHES AND THEY WILL OUTLIVE US ALL Cockroaches are evolving to survive and this should terrify everyone. Now some German cockroaches are being born impervious to the common poisons used to kill them. Holy crap. I think cockroaches are actually little aliens sent here to run recon on our society so the rest of their race can come kill us. Just a thought.
IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR THE SUPER BOWL OF GLUTTONY That's right, it's almost time for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championships at Coney Island. Current title holder Joey Chestnut gains about 26 pounds in the ten minute contest. This can't be good for a person.
EARLY ENROLLMENT COULD BE THE BIG REASON FOR SKYROCKETING ADHD DIAGNOSES And this is why when I hear politicians talk about how we need to have more three year olds in some sort of "schooling" so they can be ready for real school my head nearly explodes. Too many kids are being diagnosed with ADHD when most of them just need to be able to grow up a bit before they are forced to sit in desks.
VENUS WILLIAMS GOES DOWN TO YOU A YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS NOW A RECORD BREAKER
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CAN WE ALL JUST HAVE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE SOME OF THE NICE FOLKS OF WALMART?