Indy Digest: June 12, 2023
This was how I started this newsletter on Jan. 6, 2021: “Words matter. This was the phrase that kept coming back to me as I watched one of the darkest days in this nation’s history unfold.”
That, of course, was the day when the insurrection took place. Well, some people call what happened an insurrection. The GOP now refers to what took place that day as “legitimate political discourse.”
Words matter.
And tomorrow … who the hell knows what’s going to happen?
We do know that former president Donald J. Trump is scheduled to appear in court in Miami. And we know that numerous Trump supporters are saying a lot of scary things in the wake of his federal indictment.
The federal indictment of former President Donald J. Trump has unleashed a wave of calls by his supporters for violence and an uprising to defend him, disturbing observers and raising concerns of a dangerous atmosphere ahead of his court appearance in Miami on Tuesday.
In social media posts and public remarks, close allies of Mr. Trump—including a member of Congress—have portrayed the indictment as an act of war, called for retribution and highlighted the fact that much of his base carries weapons. The allies have painted Mr. Trump as a victim of a weaponized Justice Department controlled by President Biden, his potential opponent in the 2024 election. …
“Eye for an eye,” wrote Representative Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, in a post on Twitter on Friday. His warning came shortly before the special counsel in the case, Jack Smith, spoke to the public for the first time since he took over the investigation of Mr. Trump’s retention of classified documents.
On Instagram, Mr. Trump’s eldest son’s fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, posted a photo of the former president with the words, “Retribution Is Coming,” in all capital letters.
In Georgia, at the Republican state convention, Kari Lake, who refused to concede the Arizona election for governor in 2022 and who is an ardent defender of Mr. Trump, emphasized that many of Mr. Trump’s supporters owned guns.
Later on, that NYT piece says: “Political violence experts say that even if aggressive language by high-profile individuals does not directly end in physical harm, it creates a dangerous atmosphere in which the idea of violence becomes more accepted, especially if such rhetoric is left unchecked.”
Words matter. And the words coming from a lot of high-profile Trump supporters should be concerning to any sensible American, regardless of one’s political beliefs.
Be safe, everyone.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
Open During Construction: Backstreet Art District Business Owners Bemoan the Lack of Communication Regarding a Storm Water-Drainage Project
By Kevin Fitzgerald
June 9th, 2023
A construction crew arrived toward the end of May’s first week to install a much-needed storm water-drainage system—but Backstreet Art District businesses are suffering as a result.
Big Names Needed: Decent Action Can’t Overcome a Lack of Star Power in ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’
By Bob Grimm
June 12th, 2023
There are some fun robot-to-car (and back) transformations, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts gets passing grades on the special-effects front—but the human part of the story drags.
More News
• Congratulations to DannyLux, aka Daniel Balderrama, who is getting a key to his hometown for making the city proud. From a news release: “The city of Desert Hot Springs is thrilled to announce the presentation of the ‘Key to the City’ to celebrated Latin music artist and Desert Hot Springs native DannyLux. The honor comes in recognition of his exceptional performance at the legendary Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, his positive impact on the residents and youth of the city of Desert Hot Springs, and his newly announced role as the 2023 City of Desert Hot Springs Holiday Parade Grand Marshal. DannyLux, a highly talented musician and composer, not only mesmerized audiences with his soulful melodies at this year’s music festivals; … the 19-year-old has also been actively involved in making a positive difference in Desert Hot Springs. His passion for music extends beyond the stage to dedicate his time and talent to inspire and encourage young people to pursue art and music as a profession. Mayor Matas will present the Key to the City to DannyLux in a special ceremony at the city of Desert Hot Springs Council Chambers on June 20 at 5:30 p.m.” You can read our pre-Coachella interview with DannyLux here.
• Related-ish: The Coachella 2024 ticketing process is under way. From a news release: “Coachella 2024 is set for April 12-14 and April 19-21. Register now for your first chance at passes for both weekends. The advance sale begins Friday, June 16, at 11.a.m. Pacific time. Choose the payment plan at checkout to pay for your order over time. Be sure to set up (an) Coachella AXS Fan account ahead of time to be ready for the advance sale.” So there ya go!
• The Washington Post, using federal data, added up all the crashes in which Tesla’s Autopilot feature could have played a role—and the numbers are concerning: “The school bus was displaying its stop sign and flashing red warning lights, a police report said, when Tillman Mitchell, 17, stepped off one afternoon in March. Then a Tesla Model Y approached on North Carolina Highway 561. The car—allegedly in Autopilot mode—never slowed down. It struck Mitchell at 45 mph. The teenager was thrown into the windshield, flew into the air and landed face down in the road, according to his great-aunt, Dorothy Lynch. Mitchell’s father heard the crash and rushed from his porch to find his son lying in the middle of the road. ‘If it had been a smaller child,’ Lynch said, ‘the child would be dead.’ The crash in North Carolina’s Halifax County … was one of 736 U.S. crashes since 2019 involving Teslas in Autopilot mode —far more than previously reported, according to a Washington Post analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. The number of such crashes has surged over the past four years, the data shows. … The most recent data includes at least 17 fatal incidents, 11 of them since last May, and five serious injuries.”
• Also from The Washington Post: Insurers are trying to clamp down on the use of Ozempic, a diabetes drug, for weight loss: “‘The Special Investigations Unit has completed a comprehensive review of your prescription and professional claims,’ said one letter to a Missouri doctor from insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. Of the patients for whom the doctor prescribed Ozempic, the review found that more than 60 percent lacked ‘sufficient evidence’ of diabetes, its Food and Drug Administration-approved use. The ‘education letter’ warned that prescribing the drug for other conditions could put patients at risk, saying the insurer would refer ‘suspected inappropriate or fraudulent activity … to the state licensure board, federal and/or state law enforcement.’ Anthem used the same language in other letters, reviewed by The Washington Post, that went out to clinicians in New York and North Carolina, and their ominous tone signals a coming clash over new drugs that are upending treatment for obesity.”
• Well, this is a terrifying violation of privacy. Wired magazine reports on how a county in Indiana, among others, is using an app called Covenant Eyes: “Covenant Eyes is part of a multimillion-dollar market of ‘accountability’ apps sold to churches and parents as a tool to police online activity. For a monthly fee, the app monitors every single thing a user does on their devices, then sends the data it collects, including screenshots, to an ‘ally’ or ‘accountability partner,’ who can review the user’s online activities. … Covenant Eyes doesn’t permit its software to be used in a ‘premeditated legal setting,’ such as monitoring people on probation, according to its terms of service. But public spending documents, court records, and interviews show that courts in at least five U.S. states have used Covenant Eyes to surveil the devices of people who are awaiting trial or released on parole.”
• Our partners at Calmatters explain how the state of California went from a $97.5 billion surplus in one year to a $31.5 billion budget gap in the next: “California collects taxes to fund state programs. The kinds of taxes the state relies on to fill its coffers has changed over time, and that has increased revenue volatility. The state’s major revenue sources have shifted from retail sales and use taxes making up the bulk of major revenue to personal income taxes. … (As one example,) the state relies heavily on capital gains—the profit a person gets when they sell stock for a higher price than they bought it for—of wealthy folks more than ever. In 2021, a record-setting year for the stock market, capital gains accounted for 11.3% of personal income in the state. That’s good when the financial markets are doing well, but shocks to the income of this relatively small group of taxpayers can have a significant impact on the state’s revenue.”
• And finally … here’s a genuinely freaky story out of Las Vegas, as reported by the Los Angeles Times via SFGate. “At around 11:50 p.m. on April 30, body camera footage from an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police captured a bright, glowing object cutting through the sky, according to local TV channel 8 News Now. About 40 minutes later, a local resident placed a 911 call to report that something ‘100% not human’ was staring at him from his backyard shortly after he and his family saw an object fall from the sky, the station reported. ‘There’s like an 8-foot person beside it, and another one … and it has big eyes and it’s looking at us—and it’s still there,’ the caller, who said that he and his family had seen something fall from the sky, told the dispatcher.” Officers later interviewed the family, and the investigation continued for several days; Las Vegas Metro closed the case as “unfounded.”
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