DL Open Thread: Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Two Headlines From The NYTimes.  Do they first clear these with the White House?:

Trump Administration Acknowledges Lack Of Evidence From Epstein Documents.

Trump Looks To Avoid Casting Blame In Texas Flood As Democrats Question Cuts.

‘Acknowledges’?  As in the Times knew/knows that there is no evidence?  ‘Claims’ should have been used to make clear that this issue is not closed.

‘Avoid Casting Blame’?  Setting aside ICE Barbie’s criticism of antiquated equipment that she called Biden’s fault, the word ‘Casting’ in that headline is misplaced, and never should have appeared there.  He’s just seeking to avoid any blame.

Or, perhaps the villain is–AI?  If so, AI has a Trumpian bias.

Trump’s Minions Don’t Avoid Casting Praise–Upon Themselves.  A San Antonio news anchor calls them out for it:

San Antonio anchor Stephania Jimenez fumed Saturday over a press conference that featured Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott thanking each other and President Donald Trump instead of giving immediate updates on the lethal floods in central Texas.

Other officials did the same and gushed over the emergency response, delaying pertinent details by nearly a half-hour, she said.

“What I was struck by is that we really didn’t get any concrete information until 27 minutes into that news conference where you had the governor speak, you had Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak for a while,” KSAT’s Jimenez said. “But you know what people are wanting is information.”

″… I don’t know what it is about people who run for federal office that whenever disasters like this happen, they take it upon themselves to first list all the names of people they want to thank. Um, not what we want to hear right now.”

Noem and the other officials did not take questions until 26 minutes and 30 seconds into the presser, after Abbott performatively showed himself signing a disaster-aid request for Trump, declaring the president’s love for Texas, expressing gratitude to Trump and asking for prayers multiple times.

ICE/Military Tried Armed Takeover Of MacArthur Park.  Just this once, I’ll spare you the obvious musical tie-in.  You’re welcome:

Today’s homeland security operation at the 35-acre MacArthur Park in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles was a mere “show of presence,” internal Army documents I’ve obtained say. ICE and Customs agents, many dressed in military garb, assaulted the Park, which the documents describe as a hotbed of “historic lawlessness” and “the founding location of MS-13,” the Salvadoran gang.

The news media is describing the operation as an ominous crackdown, but National Guard sources tell me that it was a botched laughingstock. The military aspect of the operation, codenamed Operation Excalibur, has not been previously reported.

The documents reveal that the erstwhile justification for the operation was to try to shut down the distribution of fake IDs. The mission of the 1st Squadron, 18th Cavalry is described as protecting DHS [Department of Homeland Security] “security points and blocking positions” while they undertook their assault. The Squadron was ordered not to “restrict pedestrian movement” and not to “conduct law enforcement activities.”)

The operation was meticulously planned, the threat listed as “HIGH.”

“Criminal elements, likely including FTO [foreign terrorist organization] MS-13 consider the park their home ‘turf’ and could escalate to lethal violence,” a threat assessment warned.

Then all that planning went bust.

Because ICE and CBP apparently failed to communicate or coordinate effectively, the military showed up too late (and Los Angeles authorities weren’t notified until two hours prior.)

“We were on the objective for 24 minutes,” a National Guard member told me. “Many of the phase lines were not reported because they didn’t happen. So we parked and then left. Soldiers didn’t get out of trucks. [They] stayed in the back of the 5-tons [military trucks] sweating in the heat.”

This is just the latest operation that didn’t go off as planned, amplifying the sense amongst the California Guardsmen that the whole spectacle is idiotic and shameful. Part of the reason for the confusion is the sheer number of government agencies involved. In this operation, according to the documents, nine different federal agencies (including the IRS) were given radio code names based on soda brands (Pepsi, Coke, 7-UP, etc.) —that is, except for ICE, which was codenamed “Inca,” which may or may not be the Peruvian cola of the same name.

Gonna have to read this guy moving forward.  That last line sealed the deal.

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Chilling Disregard For Human Life’:

Saudi Arabia has carried out a “horrifying” number of executions for drug crimes over the past decade, most of which were of foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International.

Almost 600 people have been executed over the past decade for drug-related offences, Amnesty International has found, three-quarters of whom were foreign nationals from countries including Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and Egypt.

After a temporary moratorium on drug-related capital punishments between 2021 and 2022, the executions jumped to record levels, with 122 in 2024 and 118 so far this year up until the end of last month.

With little international scrutiny of what Amnesty describes as “grossly unfair trials” and a “chilling disregard for human life”, the rights organisation warned that the death toll would only increase.

Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International’s Middle East researcher, said: “We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty.

But, hey, why complain, their sports-washing has led to record profits for the WWE and UFC, not to mention LIV?  This article comes highly-recommended.  Like me, you’ll learn something.

Residents Hope That New Legislation Will Provide Relief From Chronic Pollution:

State lawmakers passed a bill last week that aims to hold polluters accountable by increasing violation fines and by directing the funds back to communities directly affected by the environmental offenses. The bill now awaits a signature from Gov. Matt Meyer.

“I hope it will open up more revenue for us to take evasive actions — clean up the carbon footprint, or the ‘death footprint,’” Joyce said. “At least use the money to buy filters. At these schools, you need to get some water fountain filters, air filters for the ventilation systems.”

The new legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Larry Lambert, increases daily fines associated with various environmental violations — one of which had not been raised since 1973 — by as much as $30,000 in some cases.

The State Chamber is not happy, of course.  Fuck them.

What do you want to talk about?