“Nary a month after the dramatic implosion of former president (and current Twitter refugee) Donald Trump’s attempted blogging career, the septuagenarian authoritarian’s ‘team’ of grifting enablers has launched its latest attempt at a social network for folks who are just too darn patriotic for mainstream social media…and also for all sorts of Sonic the Hedgehog porn” Koatku reports.

“QAnon genius Jordan Sather, who suggests drinking bleach to cure the ‘rona, noted that, ‘Shills are already hitting the #QAnon hashtag on GETTR hard. I won’t repost what I’m finding. Titties and bad words and stuff.’ ‘Stuff,’ indeed. So far GETTR’s moderation safeguards haven’t stood a chance against the NSFW Communist mpreg onslaught, which has flooded venerable tags like #QAnon with the sorts of sexuality-threatening furotica that pass through MAGA uncles’ minds during Thanksgiving rants. It seems likely that a fair few decent, upstanding conspiracy theorists and proto-fascists are rapidly being forced to come to terms with the existence of a large chunk of the shitposting internet, or at least to acknowledge it outside of their secret bookmarks. Sega’s speedy meme king is particularly well represented, with tags like #sonicfeet, #sonicismygod, #soniclovescommunism, #sonicmylove, and #sonic_came_in_my_bussy (ask your father about that one) tracking the sometimes-pregnant blue blur’s presence across the nascent social network for shitheads. But despite GETTR’s professed dedication to #FREEZEPEACH, a peek into accidentally leaked source code reveals its operators can add or remove ‘trending’ topics at will. To arms, blue bussy brigade – you’re being censored!”

CNN: “As China celebrated the success of its first spacewalk outside the new Tiangong space station on Sunday, the country’s main aerospace company was drawing attention online for a very different reason. The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has faced a backlash after news emerged that a Communist Party official at its subsidiary had allegedly attacked two prominent space scientists – including an 85-year-old woman. The alleged brutal assault, which took place in early June, was brought to wider public attention on Saturday by a report from the state-run magazine China News Weekly. According to the state media report, Zhang Tao, the party secretary and chairman of China Aerospace Investment Holdings, an arm of CASC, attacked the two scientists after they refused his request to be recommended for membership of the International Academy of Astronautics, a Stockholm-based NGO”

“Wu Meirong, 85, suffered a fractured spine, while 55-year-old Wang Jinnian had several broken ribs and soft tissue injuries all over his body. Both remained in hospital a month after the attack, while Zhang had been ‘going to work as usual,’ according to the report. Repeated calls to China Aerospace Investment Holdings went unanswered on Monday morning. On Chinese social media, many questioned why the incident had been kept from the public for weeks, and why Zhang appeared to have faced little consequences for his alleged violent tantrum. On Weibo, China’s heavily-censored version of Twitter, users flooded CASC’s official account with angry comments demanding answers for the alleged attack. A related hashtag racked up more than 130 million views. Amid mounting pressure, CASC finally issued a statement Sunday afternoon, acknowledging that Zhang had conducted the beating ‘after consuming alcohol’ and announcing his suspension.”

“If President Joe Biden’s last big science project was a moonshot, his new one has goals that are light years further. The proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency would deliver breakthrough treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other diseases and reshape the government’s medical research efforts, by adding a nimble new agency modeled on the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which laid the groundwork for the internet. But the way Biden would make ‘ARPA-H’ and its $6.5 billion budget part of the sprawling National Institutes of Health is raising concern within the research community and in Congress about whether it will bring a new approach to old problems or become a duplicative bureaucracy with a lofty mandate. ‘Most of us did not support putting this in NIH, for the simple reason that if NIH were capable of doing this, it would have done it,’ said one person outside the government familiar with the planning who’s worried NIH’s staid culture and leadership will bog down the effort.”

“A half dozen individuals both inside and outside the administration who were involved in discussions about the plan told POLITICO there are alternative approaches being discussed, like putting ARPA-H well outside of Washington, to escape some of the Beltway’s inertia and turf battles. More autonomy could, in theory, speed up the way scientific discoveries are turned into drugs and diagnostic tests. But the prevailing view is that making the new agency part of NIH’s infrastructure will give it a foundation to spring off – and foster communication to head off unnecessary duplication. As Congress prepares for hearings on the first budget proposal, administration officials are expressing confidence ARPA-H can carve out a distinct identity, wherever it is. ‘[The established NIH culture is] a valid concern and we have to do everything to prevent that from being the default,’ NIH Director Francis Collins told Politico. Referring to his agency’s many constituent parts, he added, ‘This is not going to be the 28th institute'” – Politico.

#SparklersSuck pic.twitter.com/s45iB7eWrU

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 5, 2021

Daily Beast: “QAnon conspiracy theorists often talk about protecting children from pedophiles and sex traffickers. They accuse top figures in the Democratic Party and Hollywood of abusing children in pizzerias, and unite around hashtags with names like ‘Save the Children’ even after genuine anti-trafficking groups beg them to stop. It’s hard to find a more dedicated booster of QAnon’s promises to save the children and bring the deep state to justice than Pennsylvania resident Philip Godlewski, who has amassed more than 48,000 followers on YouTube and Telegram. In a representative video from June, Godlewski warned his audience that nefarious global forces practice ‘Satanic children-torturing so you can drink their blood to get high.'”

“Godlewski has hobnobbed with some of QAnon’s biggest stars, recently posing for a picture with former Trump national security adviser and QAnon promoter Michael Flynn at a QAnon conference in Florida. Just as QAnon’s purported interest in saving children has hampered genuine anti-trafficking efforts, though, Godlewski’s own claims about protecting children comes with a caveat: an alleged sexual relationship with a teenage girl. In 2010, Godlewski was indicted for statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and a host of other crimes after allegedly carrying on a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl while he was 28 and working as a high-school baseball coach. Godlewski ultimately avoided the most serious charges over the alleged relationship by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for corruption of a minor. Godlewski’s criminal background surfaced when he pleaded guilty last June in an unrelated case over writing a bad check for more than $21,000 in home improvement materials, then falsifying his bank records to cover up the crime. The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported on Godlewski’s charges and earlier conviction.”

“Rescue crews in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan are expanding efforts to search for survivors of this weekend’s deadly mudslides. The mayor of Atami, a bayside resort city in the prefecture, says 113 people remain unaccounted for. Prefectural officials say the torrents of mud washed away at least 130 homes and buildings in Atami on Saturday. Twenty-two people trapped by the deluge were rescued over the weekend. Three people are confirmed dead” – NHK.

https://youtu.be/4ENdjkqoN3k

Asked by Jim Acosta why he continues to associate himself with Donald Trump after Trump “invoked an insurrection” on January 6th, North Carolina Congressman (and credibly accused alleged sexual predator) Madison Cawthorn said he doesn’t “agree with the premise of the question” and “genuinely [doesn’t] believe that there was any provocation from anyone who spoke that day.”

Demolition crews took down the remaining structure of the Champlain Towers South condo complex in Surfside, Florida using controlled explosions, and rescue crews will resume search efforts as soon as the demo crew gives the all-clear, the Associated Press reports.

The demolition became urgent as Hurricane Elsa approaches the East Coast of the United States.  While Surfside isn’t directly in the storm’s path, the structure would be weakened by the wind and rain expected to hit the area.

“We are standing by. We are ready to go in, no matter the time of night,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference Sunday night.

After unexpectedly announcing Sunday morning that Pope Francis would undergo a surgical procedure later in the day, the Vatican announced Sunday evening that the 84-year-old pontiff has responded well to colon surgery, the New York Times reports.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, announced Francis was recovering in the Gemelli hospital in Rome for a scheduled surgery to symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon.  The announcement came hours after Bruni shocked the world by announcing the Pope would be in the hospital immediately for surgery.

In the past week, Bruni had made a number of announcements relating to changes in Francis’s scheduled events, including the general audiences he holds with the public every Wednesday would be suspended through July, but would restart August 4th.

https://youtu.be/VrkX7vYALnM

About 200 members of the Patriot Front, a Texas-based white nationalist group, marched through downtown Philadelphia late Saturday night, chanting “Reclaim America,” and “The election was stolen” as they marched, WPVI ABC-6 Philadelphia reported.

Wearing white face coverings, blue shirts and khaki pants, the group arrived in the city driving Penske rental trucks with their members traveling in the rear compartments.  After being confronted by Philadelphia residents, a member of the Patriot Front threw a smoke bomb to cover their retreat back to the vans.  As they were high-tailing it out of town, police pulled over the vans for safety reasons.  Police say none of the group was from Philadelphia.

“They started engaging with citizens of Philadelphia, who were none too happy about what they were saying.  These males felt threatened, and at one point somebody threw a smoke bomb to cover their retreat, and they literally ran away from the people of Philadelphia,” said Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Crum.

https://youtu.be/CdvcZk_gjQs

A 61-year-old Texas woman driving a tractor led police on a chase on the streets of Rockwell after she joined into a Fourth of July parade without registering and later causing a disturbance when trying to be forced out of the parade, WDBD Fox 40 reports.

Video of the chase shows the woman, Laurie Bostic, driving around a turn in the road as police officers tried to pull her off the tractor or shut down the piece of farm equipment.  A police car eventually forced Bostic and her tractor off the road and into a fence.

One-term Republican Congressman from Florida and head of the Texas GOP Allen West will challenge Texas Governor Greg Abbott for the Party’s nomination for the gubernatorial race, the Associated Press reports.

Running for his third term, Abbott has the support of a large percentage of Republican voters, but he has a so-so record with voters overall, seeing just a 44% job approval rating, versus 44% who disapprove of his job performance.

West, who represented the 22nd Florida Congressional District for the 2011-2013 term, was voted out after redistricting in the state took effect.  He is a former Army colonel who saw his military career stagnate after firing a pistol next to the ear of a foreign detainee from the Iraq war during an interview.  West became popular as a vocal member of the far-right Tea Party Caucus, and as a frequent guest on Fox News as one of the few Black Republicans in Congress. 

“Joey Chestnut breaks his own world record by eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Destroying the competition” CBS Sports reports.

https://youtu.be/9jLUjMJW_yQ

“On Sunday, July 4, 2021 the Ocean City Fire Department was alerted for a vehicle fire at Dorchester Street and the beach.  Firefighters arrived to find no vehicle was on fire; however, there was an unintentional discharge of fireworks that were being set up on the beach for the Town’s fireworks show.”

Two workers were slightly injured.

Later in the day, the Town announced:  “Due to an abundance of caution, all firework shows in Ocean City have been canceled.”

Today we celebrate America’s independence from the cruel reign of a bloated, miserable tyrant. But enough about Trump. We’re also free of the scourge of the Coronavirus and can enjoy the fine weather, hot dogs, and fireworks. Please be careful with that last one. You can’t comment here as easily if you patriotically blow off any of your fingers while celebrating our independence. Just ask Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Jason Pierre Paul about that.

At his July 3rd whine-fest in Sarasota Florida, Donald Trump claimed that there was no reason for his accountant Allan Weisselberg to be arrested, and complained about the complexity of US tax laws:

“They go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car,” Trump said. “You didn’t pay tax on the car or a company apartment. You used an apartment because you need an apartment because you have to travel too far where your house is. You didn’t pay tax. Or education for your grandchildren. I don’t even know. Do you have to? Does anybody know the answer to that stuff?”

“In recent weeks, a steady drumbeat of Oath Keepers and their associates have pleaded guilty to crimes related to the Jan. 6 break-in at the U.S. Capitol, and agreed to cooperate with further investigations into the deadly riot,” reports the Daily Beast. “For the Oath Keepers, more so than almost any other group that participated in the break-in, those cooperation agreements could prove troubling to members anxious about catching charges. Of the more than 500 people charged in the riot, members of the Oath Keepers are among the only defendants accused of conspiracy for allegedly plotting the assault on the building, in an attempt to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.”