Random News and Notes 3 July

The Big Beautiful Bill is in the homestretch. It passed the final procedural hurdle last night and it is awaiting final passage in the House. There is a holdup however. Temu Obama is making a speech. Because of House rules, no vote can take place as long as Hakeem Jeffries continues to speak. That said, even his own party is tired of it.

Let’s be honest. This is a stunt. The vote will happen as soon as that gasbag runs out of air.

A passenger ferry has sunk while en-route to Bali from Java in Indonesia. Reports indicate that there were 65 souls aboard – 53 passengers and 12 crew – when the vessel went down in heavy weather mid way to it’s destination. 30 people have been rescued, 6 are confirmed dead and 29 are still missing.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by weather conditions but continue.

The jobs report was released this morning. It was better than forecast.  147,000 new jobs were created for the month, higher than the estimates of 110,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the lowest since February and against a forecast for a slight increase to 4.3%.

I am not an economist, and I do not pretend to be one, however these numbers are an indication that the economy is still rolling along.

Chiraq is living up to its name. There was a mass shooting there last night. 18 were shot, 4 fatally outside a record release party at a bar in the River North neighborhood.

If you have a morbid sense of humor like I do, I highly recommend you check out HeyJackass. they keep an accurate and updated tally of the shootings and other killings in the Chicagoland area.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just issued a letter to all 50 governors. The letter directs them to remove all political painting from roadways. This includes BLM messaging, pro-pal flags and rainbow crosswalks.

Based.

Apparently there is Alligator Alcatraz merch. I should have known it was going to be a thing. The grift is everywhere. Anyway, it is triggering all the right people. From childless cat ladies on Etsy threatening to leave the platform and kill their own business to whatever this is:

Honey, baby girl, kiddo, yes you will be going to jail. After your trip to the hospital. The people who would wear that stuff – and I just ordered some – will beat your ass without a second thought if you got physical with them over some merch.