Mon Blogcast: Israel strikes; Restaurant "junk fees"; Dave Williams ousted

Just One Thing (OK, it's two things):

Domestically, in presidential betting odds, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remained essentially tied…a very small lead for Harris on some sites. In polling, Harris has a modest lead in the so-called national vote, between 1.5% and 3.5% in the averages depending on the website because they don’t all include the same polls. Harris is raising a lot of money and Trump needs to find a way to change the momentum.

Polymarket | Presidential Election Winner 2024

National : President: general election : 2024 Polls | FiveThirtyEight

Internationally, on Sunday morning, Israel struck multiple targets in southern Lebanon described as weapons sites from which Israel had intelligence that the terrorist organization Hezbollah intended to launch a significant attack on Israel. Hezbollah responded with some rockets and armed drones. There were only a few casualties reported and both sides signaled a temporary calm, but Israel says they're not done and nobody should think peace is imminent.

By the way, Israel attacked half an hour before Hezbollah had planned to launch against Israel.

Israel foils Hezbollah attempt to attack Mossad, IDF intel targets - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Netanyahu vows more 'surprise blows' after Israel thwarted 'thousands' of Hezbollah rockets: 'Not the end' (msn.com)

This is nuts: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah mocked by Arab world over foiled attack - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Today's Guests

Ken Coats is founder and CEO of Kentech. From their website:

Leading the U.S. in intelligent background investigative solutions as a licensed private detective agency, KENTECH leverages cutting-edge technology to deliver comprehensive and reliable background investigation reports to help their clients make clear and informed business and hiring decisions. With deep industry insights and an acute understanding of business needs, KENTECH offers a compliant suite of investigation services tailored to diverse industry requirements. Our expertise ensures that our clients stay ahead in a fast-evolving market landscape.

We'll discuss the business of doing background checks (and oppo research?) on politicians and election officials.

John Kellner is the District Attorney of the 18th Judicial District. (He's not running for re-election.) We'll discuss his support for Initiative 112, which would require that people convicted of certain violent crimes to serve 85% (going forward) or 75% (if convicted previously) of a sentence before being eligible for parole:

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time: Coloradans will decide if people convicted of violent crimes should be imprisoned longer before being parole-eligible - The Colorado Sun

Here's the text of Initiative 112: 2023-2024%20%23112.pdf (colorado.gov)

Ruthie Blum is an award-winning columnist for JNS (the Jewish News Syndicate) and a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We'll discuss the current situation in the region including the insufficiently considered Palestinian Authority, the corrupt group in charge of the West Bank. Ruthie is originally from New York but moved to Israel in 1977.

The Israeli imperative to destroy myths, not just missiles - JNS.org

Follow Ruthie on Twitter/X here: https://x.com/ruthieblum

Other Stuff

Great news, but unsurprisingly the lying grifter Dave Williams says he doesn't recognize the result of the vote to remove him. Sound like anyone whose boots he licks?

Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams removed by his opponents (coloradosun.com)

Republican party members vote to remove Williams as state chairman | FOX31 (kdvr.com)

It's worth noting that there's some ambiguity over whether the 60% voting threshold to remove Williams means 60% of every GOP Central Committee member who is present to vote or 60% of all eligible GOP leadership voters. It seems that many Williams supporters (of whom there should be none) didn't show up at the vote in order to try to pursue a legal avenue arguing that the 60% threshold is of the entire group of eligible voters.

GOP chair Dave Williams voted out by party members in meeting he calls “illegitimate” (cpr.org)

Are restaurant's additional "service fees" or "inflation fees", etc., really just "junk fees"? Restaurants fight FTC junk fee crackdown over surcharges (cnbc.com)

A listener who lives near the new Ford Amphitheater (not to be confused with the Ford theater in Vail, or the place where Lincoln was shot) emailed me a few days ago about how bad he says the nighttime noise from the venue is. Then I saw this story: Ford Amphitheater: 600 noise complaints hit venue in Colorado Springs (denverpost.com)

Primitive stone-age lunatics who need to be destroyed (by their own people, not by us): Afghanistan: Taliban bans women’s voices, bare faces in public under new law | AP News

I realize there's more to it, but this arrest basically seems to come down to Europe saying a social media platform has to have "moderators" to control/censor content on the platform.

Authorities extend detention of Telegram app founder Pavel Durov after Paris arrest | Social media | The Guardian

Elon Musk on Telegram Founder Pavel Durov’s Arrest: ‘Executed for Liking a Meme’ (msn.com)

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France over lack of moderators on app | The Independent (the-independent.com)

In Colorado, the top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of the income tax. Thanks to a listener for sending this...I haven't seen this broken down on a state-by-state basis before. What the Top 1% Pay in Taxes in Each State – 2024 Study (smartasset.com)

Baseball history happens today: How Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen could appear in the same game for two teams | AP News

This is what you can achieve when you invade the invaders and take prisoners: Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners after Kursk offensive (bbc.com)

I wonder if Boeing and NASA still say they're "not stranded": NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew - NASA

Joe Kernen of CNBC crushes Elizabeth Warren on price controls: Joe Kernen, Elizabeth Warren Throw Down on Price Gouging (mediaite.com)

Judge says guy can keep his home-made machinegun. I suspect this gets overturned on appeal. It's very interesting. US judge tosses machine gun possession case, calls ban unconstitutional | Reuters

Kansas judge throws out machine gun possession charge, cites Second Amendment - ABC News (go.com)

Here's the judge's ruling: show_public_doc (uscourts.gov)

This seems ripe for another Biden administration loss: Texas leads 16 states in lawsuit targeting Biden immigration program (axios.com)

Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Biden Administration Over Unlawful “Parole in Place” Policy that Incentivizes and Rewards Illegal Immigration | Office of the Attorney General (texasattorneygeneral.gov)

Quite a fascinating psychological profile of Sam Bankman-Fried, a guy who's thought of by most Americans as little more than a fraud: Opinion | Sam Bankman-Fried, a personal verdict - Washington Post (Check out the part of the testimony transcript where Caroline Ellison talks about SBF's view of coin-flip bets. It's really remarkable.)

I'm not a golf fan but since this happened in Colorado, I'm sharing the story: Keegan Bradley wins 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines | 9news.com

Today's Videos

Reagan's wedding dress joke

Luckily my wife can in fact pronounce "no"

OK, this is really good...the comedian's name is Drew Dunn: Drew Dunn (@drewdunncomedy) • Instagram photos and videos


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