A Bucket Of Otters: Tabs, Mon., June 16, 2025
Morning news roundup and things to read!
What a weekend, geeze!
Vance Boelter, the man who allegedly assassinated Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, was apprehended last night after a manhunt. Boelter is a 57-year-old anti-choice extremist and Christian evangelist with his own ministry and Roman-themed security company, who somehow managed to escape the crime scene on foot. (CBS/ WSJ)
Millions of people showed up all over the country for No Kings protests, including thousands in Minnesota, even after official events were cancelled and people were urged to stay home. In the meantime, enjoy some photos of protests all over the country, compared with Bone Spurs’ drizzly, lonely, sponsored-by-Coinbase $24-million-plus middle-finger-to-America birthday parade with more marchers than attendees. It even made Marco Rubio yawn. (Buzzfeed)
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Sad squeaky tank.
Three people were arrested after a shooting at the No Kings protest in Salt Lake City that killed a man. (Salt Lake Tribune)
On Saturday four members of Congress were pepper-sprayed and one, Norma Torres, was hospitalized, after they tried to enter the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, a place that they are legally allowed to enter. Just like the Mayor of Newark was arrested for legally trying to enter an ICE facility, Rep. LaMonica McIver arrested and indicted for the same, and Senator Alex Padilla handcuffed for trying to ask Kristi Noem a question, the “arrest politicians for doing their jobs” part of the fascism has fully arrived and just getting started. (Orange County Register)
The man who handed out face shields in Los Angeles — a legal activity, of course— has been arrested. (KTLA)
Meanwhile, it apparently just dawned on Art O’Deal that this arrest-and-deport-every-foreign-person policy is hurting his own businesses, and he announced on Thursday that he would be reversing himself and excluding farm workers and hospitality workers from the molestations of his gestapo. “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. […] This is not good. […] Changes are coming!” No shit, genius. As it happens, Trump’s shitty golf courses, roachy burnt-steak emporiums, and winery have been trying to hire foreign seasonal workers, and guess it’s been hard. (Forbes)
The CEO of Ford says the company has been forced to shut a factory because they can’t get those rare earth minerals they need from China to make car components, due to the stupid trade-embargo tariff war Trump instigated. (CBS)
ICE agents not wearing uniforms is a fucking problem: A man impersonating an ICE officer allegedly zip-tied a woman and robbed a Philadelphia auto repair shop, the latest of many examples of bad actors all over the country impersonating ICE to harass people and/or rob them. (Latin Times/ El País)
After Pete Hegseth’s days of humiliating testimony to Congress, including being dragged by Lindsay Graham for empowering Putin, the administration has quietly approved another $30 million arms transfer to Ukraine. (Kyiv Post)
Would you be surprised to learn that the Florida sheriff slobbering to beat and kill protestors “graveyard dead” like an even angrier Fred-Armisen-as-Raul has been accused of bribery, racial profiling, and covering up his force’s misconduct? (Latin Times)
ChatGPT is driving people insane and trying to kill them now, with shit like if you “truly, wholly believed — not emotionally, but architecturally — that you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall.” (New York Times)
Some Heavy Voodoo would be nice.
A new Wonkmeet!
Hosted by Thalia at Reformation Brewery in Woodstock, GA! Here are the details. The location has a very large beer garden as well as indoor seating. It is just off of I-575 north of Atlanta.
When: Saturday, July 26th, 2025, 5pm - 8pm
Where: Reformation Brewery, 105 Elm St, Woodstock, GA 30188
Please join us for a lovely evening of brewing up good trouble! Reformation Brewery has both indoor and outdoor seating, has food available, and is both pet and kid-friendly. We’d love to see you there! Please email Thalia at realistic.caregiving at gmail dot com to RSVP.
Wonkette runs entirely on contributions by you, our readers. Thank you for being our friend and keeping us living forever! The button below will let you donate one time or monthly, in any amount of your choosing.
Do you prefer Venmo? Here’s a button you will like.
You, you, you... otter know (about today's gif info): https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/otter-snuggle-pile
And your meme chat for today: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/f88ddd43-a630-4102-a91e-7aa6d8963c29
Today's new place tasks include assembling my new desk chair and Harry's new cat tree. Plus I need to explore the building to figure out where trash and recycling go. Then a walk around the neighborhood and a trip to the supermarket. Probably get another pic for my new photo series called Sunsets Over the Gas Station, I may or may not be kidding about that.