Threats of violence over politics has increased heavily in the last few years. But the darkness has reached new lows. My new interns made this compilation of recent calls they’ve received while serving in my DC office.

WARNING: this video contains foul & graphic language. pic.twitter.com/yQJvvAHBVV

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) July 5, 2022

Remember back in 2020 when the media accused Trump of ignoring intel reports of Russian agents in Afghanistan paying Taliban goons to kill American soldiers? And then Trump denied it and went apeshit like he did with every one of his other screwups and misdeeds? And then after he lost it new reporting indicated the intel wasn’t really as solid as it first appeared so maybe Trump was actually telling the truth? And then we were like “Hahaha fuck you, you lied about so much other shit so of course nobody believed you when you denied the bounty story, sucks for you”?

Well it turns out some Russians military officers may have actually been implicated in a cash-for-dead soldiers scheme. Except they’re the ones getting paid. By Americans. To sell out the locations and movements of their own troops, the Daily Beast reports. One Russian colonel purportedly sold out his airborne brigade for “17 million,” per a phone conversation between a soldier on the front lines and a woman in Russia (It’s not clear if “17 million” was dollars or rubles). The soldier said the “Colonel Matkovsky” was not the first nor the last high-ranking officer to have betrayed his men.

The 30 member nations of NATO signed off on the the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, advancing the approval process to the legislatures of each to greenlight, a path still not 100% certain amid bitching and moaning within Turkey’s parliament, the AP reports.

NATO membership requires unanimity among all 30 members and will take at least a few months for the ratification to make its way through each legislature, including whatever bullshit games tiny Russian-paid pseudo-libertarian Rand Paul tries to pull in the US Senate. The issue with Turkey however stems from a number of exiled Kurish rebels and Turks associated with a failed 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan’s regime currently hiding in Sweden and Finland. It’s not clear why Erdogan can’t just hire Mike Flynn and his son again to find these wanted dissidents and stuff them in the trunk of a rental car for delivery to Turkish agents. They probably learned from their mistakes after the first time they tried it failed, so might as well give them another crack at it.

A former top British foreign office staffer on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was informed in 2019 of allegations of drunken episodes of male sexual harassment against now suspended Conservative MP Chris “Pinchy” Pincher but ignored it and appointed the drunken scumbag to a deputy whip post in Parliament anyway, Bloomberg reports.

Former chief civil servant Simon McDonald on Monday tweeted a letter claiming Johnson was reportedly “briefed in person” about Pinchy’s misbehavior whilst serving as a minister in the UK’s diplomatic agency, writing “He cannot be allowed to use the confidentiality of the process three years ago to pursue his predatory behaviour in other contexts.” The revelation comes at a particularly bad time for Johnson and his Conservative party as just last month they came within a few dozen votes of expelling him over his COVID lockdown defying “Partygate” scandal.

When are we going to have an honest conversation about drug abuse, mental illness, and SSRI’s???

And deadly side effects.

Are we really going to keep pretending?

Or covering for Big Pharma?

Because I’m absolutely done with the political plays on this BS. pic.twitter.com/8SkNpSOYWW

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) July 5, 2022

There were at least four major shark attacks over this holiday weekend around the world, including a fatal attack on two women in Egypt and three attacks in the United States, in one of the sharkliest weekends ever.

The Washington Post reports that a teenage girl will have her right lower leg amputated after a shark attack in Florida, where 38% of all unprovoked shark attacks in the world happen.  The two other shark attacks in the US happened off the coast of New York.

In Egypt, a 68-year-old Austrian woman was attacked in the bay near Shal Hasheesh, a popular resort town; she died of her injuries according to CNN.  During the investigation into that attack, officials found the body of female Romanian tourist in her 40s, who also showed signs of a shark attack.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a pardon for Susan Kurzan, a woman who, as a 16-year-old, was convicted of killing the man who abused her and trafficked her for sex after she spent 27 years in jail, NBC News reports.

Kruzan killed George Gilbert Howard as he attempted to sexually assault her in September 1995.  After her trial, she was sentenced to life in prison.  In 2010, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted Kruzan’s sentence to 25 years to life.  In 2013, considering new guidelines for criminal cases involving abused women, then-Governor Jerry Brown reduced her sentence to 18 years, and Kruzan was released from prison.

While in jail, Kruzan became an advocate for prison reform, work which she continued after her release.  Newsom’s pardon wipes away her conviction, which Kruzan has cited as interfering with her ability to find a job or get an apartment.

Robert E. Crimo III, the man suspected of killing at least six and wounding dozens at the Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Chris Tye of CBS News Chicago reports.  Crimo is suspected of shooting into the crowd and parade participates from a sniper’s perch on top of a building.

Meet Alison Steinberg, who’s famous for… well, nothing really.  But she gets airtime on OAN as they try to out-Neanderthal Fox and Newsmax to be the most bent, right-wingnutty cable station.  Here, Steinberg follows up her bikini-clad rant against a gay pride flag at a California beach with an equally idiotic rant about “soy boys” and how low testosterone levels have diminished masculinity.   If there’s such a thing as a female incel, Alison Steinberg is it.

Dylan J. Kesterson, a 34-year-old white man, has been charged with hate crimes after he attacked a 5-year-old girl and her father from California because he thought they were Japanese, KOIN CBS-6 in Portland reports.

The 36-year-old man and his daughter were riding bicycles along the Eastbank Esplanade on Saturday when Kesterson approached them yelling anti-Japanese speech.  Kesterson then started hitting the father in the face and head; he also hit the girl a number of times on her bike helmet.  Kesterson did not attack the mother.

“I am outraged and disgusted by the assault that occurred on the Eastbank Esplanade. We will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our community and I will ask the District Attorney to pursue maximum penalty,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement.

The terrorist who shot up the Highland Park, Illinois 4th of July parade Monday has been identified as Robert Crimo, 22, driving a 2010 Silver Honda Fit, license plate# IL DM80653.

Crimo is reportedly a shitty rapper who goes by “Awake,” and is unambiguously a Trump fan. The above footage of the disgraced ex-president landing at some airport shows Crimo’s face at the end.

Shortly after at least six people were shot dead at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois on Monday, the Trump-backed Illinois state senator Darren Bailey posted a video of himself with a crowd of fans, saying “The shooter is still at large so let’s pray for justice to prevail and then let’s move on and let’s celebrate the independence of this nation.” So MAGA.

Woody Williams, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II who passed away last week at the age of 98, will have his casket lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda as an honor to him and all those who fought in the Second World War, USA Today reports.

Williams, a Marine from West Virginia trained in the use of a flamethrower, destroyed a network of reinforced enemy bunkers, caves and pillboxes with the cover of a handful of riflemen.  While he was in combat, Williams was able to watch both raisings of the American flag on Mount Suribachi.  He went on to have a 20-year career in the Marines.

“Woody Williams embodied the best of America: living a life of duty, honor and courage,” Pelosi wrote in a release. “When Woody lies in honor under the Capitol Dome, it will be with immense gratitude for his service that the Congress will pay tribute to this legendary hero — and all of the patriots who fought for our nation in World War II.”

Vauld, a cryptocurrency exchange promoted by Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel, suspended some operations Monday after its clients withdrew nearly $200 million since mid-June, CNBC reports, as crypto investors panic during a crash in the market.

Based in Singapore, Vauld is stopping all withdrawals from account holders, hoping to stem the plummet of the crypto market after $197 million has been withdrawn since June 12th.  Vauld allows users to trade multiple cryptocurrencies on a single platform.

The CEO of Vauld, Darshan Bathija, said in a blog post Monday that the company was working with financial and legal advisers to  “explore and analyse all possible options, including potential restructuring options, that would best protect the interests of Vauld’s stakeholders,” which can be interpreted to mean the company management is panicking in the face of the crypto collapse.

UPDATE 2:00 PM EDT 7/4/2022: Six people are dead and 26 are wounded after a Monday morning Fourth of July Parade was shot up by some sick asshole in Highland Park, Illinois, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Police are still calling it an active shooter situation. “I heard 20 to 25 shots, which were in rapid succession. So it couldn’t have been just a handgun or a shotgun,” a witness told the Sun-Times. The gunman is still on the loose, and police announced to the people on the scene to leave immediately because “it is not safe to be here.”

Cops describe the shooter as a white male, 18 to 20 years old wearing a blue t-shirt, per CBS Chicago’s Marissa Parra. The terrorist fired upon the parade from a rooftop along the parade route.

Members of the “1776 Restoration Movement,” formerly the “People’s Convoy,” halted traffic both north and southbound Monday morning for about 30 minutes on I-95 in Prince George’s County, Maryland, among other interstate highways in the area, the Daily Beast reports. Thought they were threatened with arrest, the group say they’re not done yet and may continue to block traffic on area highways. Monday’s attack marks probably the most successful traffic blockage by the assholes attempting to replicate the actually effective siege of Canada’s capital Ottawa, in which thousands of maniacal right wing truckers paralyzed the city for weeks in February into March this year.

Ukrainian forces on Monday raised their nation’s flag on Snake Island, having recaptured the island from the Russians who withdrew last week amid heavy artillery shelling. “The military operation has been concluded, and… the territory has been returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command told reporters Monday.

Ukrainian officials said control of the island – site of the defiant “Russian warship, go fuck yourself” battle cry of its heroic guards during the invasion’s initial stage – will help reduce pressure on exports of wheat, but they specifically asked for diplomatic help from Turkey to ensure safe passage for shipments out of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits.

The Great MAGA King is increasingly annoyed over Republican campaigns using his name and likeness for their insane fundraising emails as his PAC’s donations dwindle amid exhaustion from the constant barrage of spam and inflation squeezing disposable income, with one recent message from Trump-undorsed Senate candidate Arizona Attorney General and nunchucks guy Mark Brnovich particularly pissing off the Orange God Emperor, the Washington Post reports.

“Your use of President Trump’s name, image, and/or likeness is likely to deceive individuals into believing President Trump supports, endorses, or otherwise promotes your candidacy for U.S. Senate in Arizona – he does not,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a cease and desist to Brnovich’s campaign over a fundraising email they sent with the subject line “ACCOUNT TERMINATION NOTICE” which threatened fans they would lose “any chance of continuing to receive our Trump polls, Trump rally alerts, and 2024 Endorsement opportunities” if they didn’t donate to Brnovich.

Trump also reportedly asked his team to lower the volume of his own batshit emails, complaining they were “cheesy” and annoying his fans, but promptly backed off when told it would probably end up lowering the response rate. And thus he continued sending shit like “You’ll never believe this. We’re about to launch our exclusive Official 2022 Trump Cards, and we have some very exciting news to share with you. When we asked President Trump what he wanted our NEW membership cards to look like, he told us to ask YOU, the American People,” to morons who would want an “Official 2022 Trump Card” that does literally nothing whatsoever.

.@TGowdySC: Embrace the real spirit of Independence Day this year without disillusion and dividehttps://t.co/zr1RuZHJAm

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 4, 2022

A Florida ice cream maker who only sells in the state is responsible for a listeria outbreak that has killed one person, possibly terminated a pregnancy, and hospitalized at least 22 people across ten states, the New York Times reports.

Sarasota-based Big Olaf Creamery supplies ice cream to stores and restaurants throughout southern Florida.  At least ten people outside of Florida have been hospitalized with listeria after having visited the state in the previous month.  The youngest was under one year old and the oldest was a 92-year-old man.

Each year, about 1,600 Americans contract bacterial infections caused by listeria, which can linger for months in patients.  Infections come from raw milk products, undercooked poultry and unwashed vegetables.  The proper treatment is to see your doctor, who can provide antibacterial medications, not to use something you read about on the internets.