Slog AM: Boeing’s New Plane Can’t Fly in the Rain, United Auto Workers Divest from Israel, Alan Greenspan Dies

Washington Dems Decline to Condemn MGP for Anti-Trans “Genocide” Vote: There was a strong push by delegates at Washington Democrats’ party convention in Spokane this weekend to punish US Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez for voting for a Republican bill last month that would force teachers to out transgender students to their parents. But the push wasn’t strong enough to sway partisans who think Democrats need all the seats they can get in Congress, and the condemnation vote failed 383-377, according to the Seattle Times’s reporting on the convention.

UAW is First Major National Union to Divest from Israel: United Auto Workers delegates voted at their Detroit constitutional convention to divest themselves from bonds from Israel. Truthout has the details.

But Her Emails—Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Connections Under New Scrutiny: Not to sound too much like a fed here, but I’m not sure it’s in the country’s best interest for the US Director of National Intelligence to belong to a Hawaii-based breakaway Hare Krishna sect called the Science of Identity Foundation. Tulsi Gabbard resigned as director in May, and the Washington Post just published an investigation into numerous emails demanding policy action cult leaders sent Gabbard during her time as a Democratic congresswoman.

These details are new, but Gabbard’s cult ties have been public for quite a while. My favorite coverage of it was the time Honolulu Civil Beat sent a reporter all the way to our neck of the woods, Stehekin at the north end of Lake Chelan, by boat to track down a fellow devotee making big money on her 2020 presidential campaign.

Republicans Support US-Iran Deal: And that’s a good thing! According to a June CBS News YouGov poll, over 80 percent of Republicans say the deal to end the US invasion of Iran was either better for the US or about equal for the US and Iran. 

Alaska Dems’ Last US Senator Lobbies for Palantir Now: After losing reelection in 2014, US Senator Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat, did what every out-of-work frontiersman adrift does: he started a consulting firm, Northern Compass Group, which campaign finance watchdogs Sludge noticed is among several new Democratic lobbyists and lobbyist groups hired by vampire clan/surveillance tech company Palantir. Begich is registered to lobby on “government programs related to artificial intelligence.” 

Boeing’s New Air Force Trainer Jet Has New Problems: Before putting recruits in the pilot’s seat of a $100 million aircraft, the US military lets them learn how to fly in trainer aircraft to see who’s bad at it. Boeing has been developing a new trainer jet for the Air Force, the T-7 Red Hawk, but according to a new investigation by Breaking Defense, it might not be the green pilots that military insurance claims adjuster should be looking at because “the plane cannot currently fly in the rain.” This is a remarkable achievement for an aerospace manufacturer based in the Pacific Northwest.

DEA Let Dealers Flood New Mexico with Fentanyl: That was the agency’s strategy to catch major suppliers according to current and former DEA agents who spoke with the Associated Press. According to one DEA agent: “We poisoned our community to make cases … we 100% got people killed.”

“Security Authorities” Say Egyptian Team Can’t Stay in Seattle: Egypt beat New Zealand in Vancouver, BC, on Sunday, and are playing Iran in Seattle on Friday (Happy Pride). But in the infinite wisdom of whoever is actually in charge of security at the World Cup, it’s not safe for the Egyptian team to stay in Seattle for a couple days. They’re being sent back to Northern Quest Casino in Spokane, where they will quickly turn around and come right back, the Seattle Times reports.

Trump Pays North Dakota Millions for Helping Crush DAPL Protests: No one expected the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, except for, of course, the tribal communities whose land has been stolen and water poisoned for generations. The security forces that coalesced to crush the protests were a mix of state, federal, and local law enforcement, and exactly who should be stuck with the bill has been a matter of contention for a decade. According to Native News Online, the Trump administration has agreed to pay North Dakota $38 million for their trouble.

Professor Abraham Van Helsing Dispatches Ghoul Back to Underworld: Former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan died yesterday, returning to the fiery cavern from which he came to destroy the US economy and spike inequality through a lack of regulatory oversight. Greenspan’s responsibility for the subprime mortgage crisis that caused the Great Recession is legend by this point, but here’s Naomi Klein crucifying him on Democracy Now! in 2007.

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