Welcome to a Hump Day (“dina bonggol” in Javanese): Wednesday, July 8, 2026 and National Blueberry Day. If you can get the smaller wild lowbush blueberries rather than the big bland blue balls that are the commercial highbush form, do. The best blueberries I ever had were in a pie at Helen’s, a diner in Machias, Maine. They served a combination of cooked and uncooked lowbush berries in a whipped cream filling, and oy, was it good! (I don’t know if they still serve pie.)
Here’s a video explaining why Finns are obsessed with blueberries (did you know that?). Be sure to watch the preparation of a blueberry pie with wild blueberries and sour cream!
It’s also National Ice Cream Sundae Day and National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day.
Posting will be light today as I have to go downtown to get examined today for this summer’s cataract surgery (yep, it’s time).
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the July 8 Wikipedia page.
My Great Duck Obsession began nine years ago yesterday when I spotted Honey and her four babies in Botany Pond. I decided to feed them, and a monster was born. Here are the “babies” I fed and documented in a Facebook post:
Da Nooz:
*Footy news: My favorite team, Argentina, beat Egypt 3-2 yesterday after being down two points in minute 68. I complained to Matthew, and he told me to hold my horses: that footy is a dicey game and things change quickly. They sure did! As he said, “You see? Footy is a mad game and you should never leave the stadium until the final whistle blows.” From ESPN:
Lionel Messi scored in a record sixth straight World Cup knockout match to help Argentina reach the quarterfinals after a stunning late comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 in Atlanta.
Egypt were leading the defending champions 2-0 heading into the closing stages before Messi provided an assist for Cristian Romero in the 79th minute and then a goal of his own four minutes later to tie the score.
Just when it seemed that extra time was in the cards, Enzo Fernández headed into the net in the second minute of stoppage time to complete a remarkable turnaround at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It is the first time in World Cup history that a team has won a knockout match in regulation time after trailing by two goals in the 75th minute.
“This is a phenomenal group that never gives up,” Fernández said. “Four years have passed since Qatar, and we’ve come to enjoy another World Cup — and we want to win it again. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
Argentina, who are bidding to become the first back-to-back World Cup champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, will face either Colombia or Switzerland in the quarterfinals in Kansas City on Saturday.
“I’m so emotional,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”
Here are the highlights; the goal-scoring plays on the tape are at 1:47, 9:55, and then the three goals from Argentina at 11:50, 13:20, and 15:15. What a game!
Yesterday Switzerland tied Egypt 0-0 in regular time and overtime, but Switzerland won on penalty kicks, 4-3. Today France goes against Morocco.
*There was more fighting between Iran and America yesterday (article archived here), prompted by Iran’s firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz:
President Trump on Wednesday cast doubt over the future of last month’s preliminary cease-fire deal between Iran and the United States, suggesting that he no longer considered it to be in effect after both sides traded attacks overnight.
In response to a question at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, about the state of the cease-fire, Mr. Trump responded: “To me, I think it’s over.”
His comments came after Iran’s armed forces on Wednesday said that they had attacked U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The United States had earlier carried out airstrikes against several targets in Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales. The price of oil, which was already higher after the attacks in the region, spiked after Mr. Trump’s remarks.
The preliminary agreement to cease hostilities, which was signed more than three weeks ago in Switzerland, was intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil and gas shipping route, and allow longer negotiations toward permanently ending the monthslong war.
The Pentagon said its latest strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the central command of Iran’s military, called the U.S. strikes in Iran’s south an “overt act of aggression” and warned that Iran would “deliver a crushing response.” In remarks carried on Iranian state media on Wednesday, it also warned the United States against interfering in Tehran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that it had targeted 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Iranian military also shot down an American MQ-9 drone in the attack, the Guards Corps said in a statement published on state media.
Are the warring parties even close to a ceasefire? Not that I see.
Apropos:
*Iran is worried because it seems unable to control the Strait of Hormuz, as ships are sneaking through:
Iran’s renewed attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz are exposing a growing dilemma for Tehran’s hard-line leaders, who are relying on their control of the waterway for leverage in talks with the U.S. but feeling their grip weaken as more ships slip through.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missiles at two commercial ships near the strait early Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official. It echoed an attack two weeks ago that was aimed at shutting down traffic in a route that hugged the southern side of the waterway along the Omani coast. Iran has warned shippers to avoid that route and instead use a northern path it controls. Another tanker came under attack later Tuesday from an unidentified projectile in the strait that caused structural damage, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, which is affiliated with the Royal Navy.
Despite the threat of strikes, conservatives in Tehran have watched with rising alarm as traffic that was deterred from crossing during the war now ply the U.S.-backed route near Oman. Shipping through the strait has rebounded under President Trump’s preliminary deal with Iran to wind down the war, and oil supplies have recovered, pushing futures prices back near prewar levels.
Oil producers are also plowing investment into alternative routes and overseas storage with new urgency to get around the chokepoint.
This isn’t what Tehran was hoping for. Iran wants vessels seeking to cross the strait to first get its approval, use its waters and eventually pay fees. But as Iranian attacks give Gulf exporters greater incentives to find alternatives, Iran’s ability to force concessions is weakening.
So are we going to get a ceasefire now that Iran has seemingly lost its biggest lever? I doubt it—not until they agree to Trump’s stipulation that they will never build a nuclear weapon. That’s only something they won’t agree to, but even if they do they can just renege on that agreement as soon as we get another President, perhaps even a Republican one.
*Facing accusations of rape and pressure from Party leaders, Graham Platner still hasn’t dropped out of the race for the Democratic Senate Seat in Maine.
Democratic Party leaders and close allies urged Graham Platner to quit the Maine Senate race, after a woman he had been romantically involved with publicly alleged that he sexually assaulted her.
The allegation, which Platner denied, is the most serious so far to emerge in a campaign marked by controversy and put his political future in doubt. Allies who had campaigned with him dropped their endorsements and Democrats scrambled to find a backup plan in what they see as a must-win state, with a deadline for a new candidate later this month if Platner steps aside.
In a video he released Monday, Platner said “any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.” He also said he was “mindful” of the political impact it could have on his race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. “We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said.
The video comes after Politico detailed an allegation by Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, who said Platner forced himself on her about five years ago and had nonconsensual sex with her after she told him repeatedly to stop. She had previously told the New York Times that he didn’t respect women and that she had cut off contact with him after finding his behavior “reckless” and “unsettling.” Racicot told Politico she was reluctant to come forward, in part, because she agrees with Platner politically.
. . . Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats’ campaign chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, in a joint statement called the allegations “incredibly disturbing” and said Platner needed to step aside immediately to give the party a chance to select a new candidate. The leadership of the Maine Democratic Party also urged Platner to withdraw.
Prominent party allies including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Ro Khanna of California also said he should drop out. Khanna rallied with Platner days after a woman accused him of abuse in early June and others also described volatile behavior in their relationships.
If he doesn’t drop out by Monday, the Democrats can’t replace him and the Senate Seat in Maine will remain occupied by Republican Susan Collins. The Democrats consider winning this seat pivotal in taking control of the Senate in November.
*Ezra Klein is an idiot (archived here). Just read his plan for the Israel/Palestine conflict:
But a number of people I trust have written to me saying I should look at the A Land for All plan. A Land for All was founded in 2012 by a group of Israelis and Palestinians. It’s attempting something different, something I find in some ways beautiful: Not a two-state model of separation, not a one-state model of unification, but a confederation model that centers both peoples’ connections to the land and tries to combine the free movement of people with separate political entities. In this model, you would have an Israel and a Palestine. There would be free movement, but political separation. The borders would be open, but, they say, hopefully secure.
This is a recipe for slaughter of the Jews. Is Klein insane?
*From Evan Barker at the Free Press: click bait for me—”My former colleagues are destroying the Democratic Party.”
From 2018 to 2023, I was a Democratic operative, working for a slew of progressive candidates. I taught DSA-aligned staffers how to build a money machine for the left; coached progressive politicians on how to speak to donors; and collaborated with billionaires to create a robust fundraising network. I chart this story in detail in my forthcoming book, Nothing Left, a dispatch from the inside of the left’s rise and takeover of the Democratic Party.
In late 2024, I decided to leave the party, disillusioned by a leadership class that I had watched drift further and further from the working-class Americans they purportedly represented. But my history means that I have worked directly with the people behind almost every victory in the recent socialist sweep, including New York City’s Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Colorado’s Melat Kiros.
So believe me when I tell you: This far-left earthquake is only the beginning. It will not stop in deep-blue cities. What you just witnessed is only a preview of what is to come.
. . .Progressives are angry and energized. They are fed up with the establishment. They blame traditional Democrats for Trump’s return to the White House, and for everything that came after. It’s time for change, they say. So they turn to the democratic socialists.
The great irony, of course, is that the socialist movement is not composed of the working-class people it claims to represent. Rather, they are children of lawyers, professors, donors, and NGO directors who grew up with an incredible amount of privilege. So too are many of their voters. Darializa Avila Chevalier, for example, ran in a district that includes the Bronx, but she lost the working-class section by 30 points. She did well with young people and higher-income voters, and won the college-educated areas of her district by double digits.
This shouldn’t be surprising. I first joined the progressive movement in 2018 because I was born with a rare, genetic lung condition, and I support universal healthcare. But by 2020, progressives were no longer focused on bread-and-butter issues like that. Instead, I witnessed a daily bashing of white people, animosity for the “deplorables” who voted for Trump, deep hatred of men, and an obsession with race that infiltrated every conversation, policy proposal, and objective.
. . .Working-class people don’t want to abolish ICE. They want prisons to exist and for the police to be well funded. Obsession with identity politics is not at the forefront of their minds. They want candidates who focus on the economy, and who will stand up for their safety. And, just like my union family in Kansas City—which, over the years, has abandoned its yearslong devotion to the Democratic Party in favor of Donald Trump and the GOP—they are leaving the progressives behind.
In response, the Democratic establishment and the progressives have nearly morphed into the same conglomerate. Fueled by the loss of working-class voters, this messy coalition has had no option but to concentrate its efforts toward the newly minted, overeducated, upper-middle-class base. For an illustration of that reality, one need only look at the Democrats trying to fight back. Two weeks ago, moderate Democrats signed a “Promise to America” pledge, outlining principles including “We are capitalist, not socialist,” and advocating “secure borders” and “safe communities.”
The effort is laudable. But just thirteen Democratic congress members signed it, out of the 212 in the House. The rest are either on board with the socialist surge, or quietly tolerating its rise. Most likely, that is because they are terrified of being primaried by a progressive caucus determined to rack up as many wins as it can ahead of the presidential election.
What it means is that the far left is steadily, with little to no resistance, capturing the Democratic Party.
His solution? “So, to my former fellow party members who hate what they’re seeing, who reject the DSA wing, who want to see the Democrats return to first principles: Thirteen politicians taking a symbolic stand against radicalism is not enough. This surge is coming, and it will continue, if you do not treat it as the crisis it is.” As he says, “the Democratic establishment stands for nothing” as it’s so muddled, while progressives stand for something, even if we don’t agree with it. Sadly Cowan repeats the same old mantra:
If [the Democratic establishment] wishes to maintain hold of the party, it will need to develop its own vision—and give Americans something to vote for instead of just being “anti-Trump.”
How come nobody tells us what this “vision” is? Is it alignment with the wishes of the working class?
*The New Zealand Parliament is debating a bill (which passed on its first reading) that would legally define a “man” and a “woman” this way:
13A Meaning of woman or female
In any legislation, regardless of gender identity,—
(a) woman means an adult human biological female; and
(b) female means a human biological female.
13B Meaning of man or male
In any legislation, regardless of gender identity,—
(a) man means an adult human biological male; and
(b) male means a human biological male.
Of course New Zealand, being woke, is full of people who object to this definition. For example, the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association wrote a letter advocating the sex-is-a-spectrum approach because of the very low frequency of exceptions to a binary:
We write to express our deep concern regarding the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill following its first reading in Parliament. We believe this bill causes quantifiable harm to our transgender, gender diverse, intersex, and cisgender communities.
. . . This bill claims to reflect biological reality, yet neglects the contemporary scientific and medical understanding that has progressed our understanding of sex beyond a simple male/female binary. Current medical and biological literature recognises sex as a complex interaction of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, secondary characteristics, and brain development rather than a strict binary construct. Intersex variations demonstrate the diversity of people’s bodies and highlight the limitations of binary sex categories. This proposed bill fails to adequately account for the existence and legal status of intersex people.
Yawn. But there is pushback. For instance this long tweet arguing that the Māori had a binary concept of sex, and this letter, confected by biologists at the University of Auckland but signed by an international group of biologists (you may recognize some) arguing this:
In humans, as in other mammals, there are two sexes: female and male. These correspond to the two reproductive pathways organized around large gametes, ova, and small gametes, sperm. Sex is not a social assignment, a spectrum, or a matter of identity. It is a developmental and reproductive feature of the body.
Some individuals have Disorders/Differences of Sex Development, or DSDs. These conditions deserve medical accuracy and humane treatment. But they do not show that sex is a spectrum, nor do they justify replacing clear sex-based language for the whole population.
A major source of confusion is prevalence inflation. Activist materials often claim that 1.7%, 2%, or more of people are “intersex.” These figures are not reliable estimates of people whose sex is genuinely ambiguous. They come from expansive definitions that group together very different conditions, many of which do not make a person’s sex unclear. Some involve hormone exposure, late-onset endocrine disorders, or sex-specific developmental anomalies in otherwise clearly male or clearly female individuals. Treating these as evidence that male and female are unstable categories is misleading.
I’ll report back if and when the bill is passed, but the support for it is heartening.
*Here’s a video suggested for me by YouTube. It shows a guy infiltrating a Pride parade pretending he’s a “queer for Palestine.” Then there’s another segment where he asks pro-Palestinians questions like “Did Hamas have the right to kill Jews on October 7?” Nuff said, you can imagine the contents! Of course the interviews are selected, but I’m amazed that anybody in America can say stuff like this.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili’s policing Andrzej’s reading:
Hili: That book again?
Andrzej: It’s a good thriller, it’s just long.
In Polish:
Hili: Znowu ta książka?
Ja: To dobry kryminał, tylko długi.
*******************
From Stacy:
From Dad Jokes: proof that some geese can read:
From Meow Incorporated:
From Masih, a woman who traveled back to Iran from Italy for a visit and was caught in a nightmare. For protesting, she was not only shot but also given a 2½-year prison sentence, with an additional two-year ban on leaving Iran:
While the world’s cameras are fixed on the five-day state funeral of Khamenei, the Islamic Republic is silently killing this 23-year-old girl with a slow death.
Raheleh Moeini, a biomedical engineering graduate of Amirkabir University, had traveled back to Iran from Italy to… https://t.co/oJvwlb3HCl pic.twitter.com/LnBOoaO9dZ
— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) July 7, 2026
From Luana, though I’m a bit confused. Is the job implicitly assuming that trans-identified women are exceptions because they are considered “men”?
More sex discrimination in hiring at universities in Australia. We have seen several cases like this over the past few years.
In Orwellian fashion, these women-only hirings are justified by reference to equal opportunity and sex discrimination laws.
(NB. Those laws contain… pic.twitter.com/seaOJRzioV— James L. Nuzzo, PhD (@JamesLNuzzo) July 7, 2026
I look in on Kasparian once a day to see how the Jew hating is going. Note her reference here to “Zionist-owned media”, an old trope:
The Number Ten Cat really doesn’t like Trump!
Everything Trump touches turns to s**t. https://t.co/9Uv154EKcM
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) July 7, 2026
From Emma. They’re selling one egg at a time?
The cutest egg ever @goustocooking
It’s got its own house! pic.twitter.com/tlTaqYamHz
— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) July 6, 2026
One from my feed. Swan rescue!
A rescued swan hugging the vet who saved its life, the sweetest thank you ever. pic.twitter.com/Uxw6ERswGb
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 6, 2026
And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
This French Jewish boy was gassed to death as soon as he arrived in Auschwitz. He was one year old and would be 85 today had he lived. https://t.co/dXxcias3UT
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) July 8, 2026
Finally, one from Dr. Cobb. It’s correct, too, except they forgot the difference in wine, women, and song:
Those English stereotypes of the French go back a long way. This is from 1765
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2026-07-06T11:56:26.450Z
For those interested, Barker’s book, Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative, is to be released on July 28.
Hi Jerry. You’re saying ‘points’ instead of ‘goals’ in your football updates just to bait your British readers aren’t you?
Well played sir. It’s working.
I’m American, but points sounds very weird to me too.
Typo note – Switzerland played Colombia, in a snooze of a game, I’m told (not Egypt, who as you already told us had lost to Argentina in a nail biter) – right below the highlights video.
Per Duncan above – it worked on me too!
Jerry, my best wishes for the cataract surgery. I’ve had a few, and they are a great help seeing high spatial frequencies. (I was gonna write “seeing the world clearly”, but you seem to be doing well on that front.
So good luck, and post a pic of you in those cool visors they give out to minimize the light after the procedure.
Yes! They gave away their two point lead 🙂 It was an entertaining game. Egypt is the second team to lose from being two points up in this WC. Senegal contrived to goof it having led for 85 minutes. They too lost by 2 points to 3.
Messi is the individual point leader in this WC with 8 points. He has accumulated a total of 21 WC points since the 2006 WC when he made his first point.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, has only 11 points. He didn’t do well this time making only 3 points 🙂
FFS….
The satire practically writes itself
https://babylonbee.com/news/america-finally-interested-in-soccer-after-realizing-how-angry-you-can-make-europeans
Ezra Klein might indeed be an idiot, but Democratic politicians and operatives are surfing a wave of sharply declining support for Israel and their policies will increasingly reflect that. AP/NORC (the latter a University of Chicago affiliate) released two quite interesting polls this week. The first details differences between Democrats and Republicans in support for either Israel or the Palestinians. There is too much to summarize here, but I’ll note that 58% of Democrats say “the U.S. is too supportive of Israel.” That includes 51% of Jewish Democrats. Over half of Democrats (52%) say “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.” Republicans are far more supportive of Israel overall, but among the young that support declines. Support for Palestinians overall continues to grow, especially on the left.
As sharp as this partisan gap is, the divergence is mirrored between American secular and religious Jews. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise me given that my Ashkenazi ancestors assimilated rapidly and intermarried once in America, but I was struck by how little Israel resonated with secular Jews: “only 11% say they are emotionally attached to Israel and just 12% consider support of Israel a key part of their Jewish identity.”
https://apnorc.org/projects/democrats-are-increasingly-supportive-of-the-palestinians-while-support-for-israel-declines/
https://apnorc.org/projects/among-american-jews-views-on-jewish-identity-and-israel-vary-by-religiosity/
The other thing I can’t leave alone in this post is the egg-in-a-box X post from Emma Hilton. The box says ‘From British Hens’. Unless there are some very odd chickens that all pitch in to produce one egg (“You do the yolk, Barbara and I’ll sort the shell out”), it should be ‘From a British Hen’.
I’ll stop now