Usque ad Finem

So, my question is; do bugs get drunk?

I constantly have the problem of fruit flies being attracted to my glass of white wine, and I always do my best to lift them out, with varying degrees of success. After I do, understandably they’re soaking wet so they can’t fly. But I’ve seen them weave back and forth around the table, spin around in circles, stand on their hind legs & “dance”, even try and get back into the wine glass.

Are they drunk?

"Israel’s defence and finance ministers announced plans for three illegal settlements in Gaza and more than $400m (£300m) in funding to expand construction in the occupied West Bank, as Israel’s military commander for the region celebrated violent outposts as his “security partners”.

...

The finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced 1.3bn shekels (£318m) in funding for dozens of new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The cabinet allocated the money last month but kept the decision secret because of expected US opposition, Israeli media reported.

...

Israel now controls 65% of Gaza, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, Maj Gen Tamir Yadai, told Katz in an on-camera briefing. This is far beyond the 53% agreed under the ceasefire brokered last year by the US president, Donald Trump.

About 2 million Palestinians who survived Israel’s war of annihilation are crowded into the remaining third of Gaza’s territory.

“I don’t know how to describe this, other than victory, when you control 65% of the territory, when you have killed over 70,000 terrorists here,” Yadai said.

In case you didn't hear, Trump lost in 2020. He has a hard time accepting that he's a loser – not unusual for a narcissistic nepo baby surrounded entirely by world-class lickspittles.

His Thursday speech was a boring cocktail of conspiracy theories, distortions, and unverified reports all mixed together with classic Trump butthurt grievance.

Trump spews unhinged election conspiracy theories in speech TV networks refused to air

Despite wars, inflation, climate threats, and cyber attacks, Donald Trump has decided to concentrate this summer on reflecting pools, cage fights, and fantasies about him "winning" the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's attack on the American electoral system is yet another reason to reject Todd Blanche as attorney general.

Washington Post is paywalling the article but it looks like Taylor Farms — a consumer bagged salad brand that also supplies produce to grocers and fast food chains like Taco Bell, Walmart, McDonald's, Chipotle, Burger King, KFC, and Meijer —may be at least one of the sources of the current cyclosporiasis outbreak.

"President Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own affecting national security and financial markets.

The move announced Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from top Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.

Called Truth PSI, the new service comes amid a flurry of other deals by Trump and his family company that critics say are exploiting the presidency for profit. It follows similar offers of paid access on rival platforms, though with one key difference: The most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself and, as the biggest shareholder of the public traded parent company, would directly benefit.

“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflicts of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”

...

A press release states it would allow traders to see “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts” ahead of others. The president has the most followers — 12.9 million — followed by his oldest son, Don Jr. and, close behind, his son Eric.

...