By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
I’m not sure who is keeping score on such things, but it certainly seems to be the case that each month has stranger news than the month before.
I’m going to cast caution to the wind and declare June the winner of the wackiest month of 2023.
In unpredictable craziness it will be hard to beat some of these events. I hope the other months don’t even try…
PNW weather – colder and hotter – and definitely drier – than usual
June in the Northwest began with above average temperatures, then, as the month progressed, our fall-type weather returned for a week or so, with average daily temperatures 10-15 degrees cooler than usual. Even the hottest days, toward the end of the month often began with our legendary “marine layer” affectionately known as “June gloom”.
In Texas, even the temperatures are above average
As the Pacific Northwest was borderline chilly, many southern states, Texas and Louisiana in particular, had temperatures well over 115 (F).
Fun fact: Excessive heat kills more than any other weather related factor.
In politics
It’s not an election year (yet) but you’d never know it by the number of GOP presidential candidates running against, alongside or parallel with former President Donald Trump. By mid-June over a dozen GOP contenders had declared their candidacy.
No such thing as bad publicity
Donald Trump, as usual, dominated the headlines for most of June. His guiding principle is what it has been for decades; “There is no such thing as bad publicity”.
Whether it was indictments, lawsuits or scandals, Mr. Trump was in the news nearly constantly. No other issue, candidate, celebrity or even sitting president could come even close. When it comes to name recognition, Mr. Trump (or ‘The Donald’ as he was once called) is the clear winner.
Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges, and will likely avoid prosecution for having illegally purchased a gun while using a controlled substance.
Biden’s addiction to crack cocaine, as well as his various clumsy, if not questionable, financial ventures, have been the focus of a long-standing inquiry (more than five years) on the part of federal prosecutors as well as Republican lawmakers eager to capitalize on, if not “weaponize” any implication or suggestion of criminality.
As always in these times, the partisan divide rings clear. Conservatives say he got lighter treatment, liberals insist that he has been unfairly targeted.
For the record, tax evasion is rarely, if ever a crime that warrants incarceration – especially if the funds were repaid (as these were) and the other charge, checking a box that says no in response to a question about drug use is rarely a chargeable offense by itself. According to one legal expert, if it were a chargeable offense, tens of thousands of cases could be initiated today.
In a saner time, a guilty plea and paying back taxes would be seen as an honorable thing to do and would be the end of legal investigations. Not so in 2023.
Speaking of investigations
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is the latest Supreme Court Justice to be found to have a history of taking gifts from those who had cases before the court. For Alito, it was a stay at a luxury $1,000-a-night lodge in Alaska owned by a GOP donor who did not charge him for his stay back in 2008. Alito got to Alaska via a private plane provided by yet another GOP donor.
Alito’s response was a coy, if evasive note that his seat “as far as I am aware, would have otherwise been vacant”.
I think I’ll try that explanation the next time I fly as a strategy to avoid paying.
Shooting at The Gorge
A 26-year-old soldier based at JBLM is accused of killing two people and wounding several others at a Gorge event campground. His rationale was that he thought the world was ending. Apparently his “end times” theology compelled the shooting of unarmed women.
Arkansas law
A federal judge in Arkansas struck down the state’s law prohibiting transition-related medical treatments for transgender minors. More than a dozen other states have enacted similar bans. This is the first legal challenge to such bans. The irony is that this federal judge premises the decision on the once-conservative belief that medical care should be a private, confidential and protected relationship between the patient and the provider.
Titanic tourist submarine
A tiny submarine (21-foot) on a tourism expedition went missing on a dive to see the wreckage of the Titanic about 435 miles off the southeastern coast of Canada. The vessel carried five passengers. OceanGate Expeditions, based in Everett, operates the Titanic trips.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the mother ship lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the Titanic wreckage, in frigid water 13,000 feet deep (that’s almost three miles). Thanks to tides and powerful currents, the search area was about twice the size of Connecticut.
The vessel was assumed to have imploded due to intense water pressure at those depths shortly after departure.
Meanwhile in the Mediterranean Sea
An overloaded fishing trawler capsized in international waters near Greece. More than 500 perished with the sinking ship, including women and about 100 children who had been confined to its hold. There were about 750 onboard. It was described as “the worst tragedy ever” in the Mediterranean sea, according to the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. Rescue boats were within sight of the sinking.
Since 2014, more than 27,000 have died or disappeared attempting the crossing.
The earth at large
If you’ve had the sense that everything from weather to the seasons is a bit out of kilter, it’s not your imagination. Researchers show that we have pumped so much groundwater (that is not being replaced) that the literal spin of the earth is impacted. You can see the technical details here.
We don’t use much groundwater in western Washington, but the rest of the world does – multi-millions of gallons every day.
Got cash?
The King County Council worked on legislation that would require retail businesses in unincorporated King County to accept cash for many transactions. Some businesses apparently find it in their interest to not accept or use cash.
I rarely use cash, and of those who still use cash for most purchases, the largest percentage is people of color and those with the lowest incomes.
The demise of cash, even for everyday incidentals, is some kind of economic indicator – just another economic reality business schools (and most of us) never anticipated.
In sports
An NCAA panel is recommending the removal of marijuana from its banned drug list, arguing that testing should be limited to performance-enhancing drugs and that cannabis does not enhance performance. Somehow I think everyone already knew that.
Coup, mutiny and chaos in Russia
Something akin to the convoluted plot line of a Cold War spy novel emerged in Russia toward the end of June. To put it mildly, like a set of Russian nesting dolls, with emerging, contradictory and deliberately evasive or false stories, the current President Putin faced his first overt challenge to power in decades. Wagner Group (a quasi-Russian-governement authorized mercenary group) leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has for decades assembled a military force that has worked toward Russian goals for many years – including a few armed confrontations with US forces – across Africa and the Middle East.
And most recently in Ukraine.
Not liking how he was being treated by the Russian government, Prigozhin, a long time Putin ally, turned his formidable forces toward Moscow. Putin and many others quickly left the Kremlin.
Russia does not have a system for orderly succession of power – and Russian revolutions are messy.
Yevgeny Prigozhin has been described as a thief, an opportunist, a murderer and a war criminal. In short, when it comes to Russia, we will probably have more of the same or many years of destabilizing chaos. Is it a coup, a civil war or something else? Only time will tell.
Escape to a woke-free people’s paradise
If chaos, violence, corruption and oppression sound better than life in “woke” America (or Canada), Russia has a deal for you.
Russia is marketing itself as a home for “traditional values”. You won’t see any “pride” parades in St. Petersburg. According to Soviet media, about 200 families have already expressed interest in the project. And yes, you get to pay for the privilege of living in Russia.
To quote a well-known phrase, “What could go wrong?”
You can see more details, or sign up, here.
