Sunrise — 5:21, 5:29, 5:31.

Today's sunrise photos are all by Meade. I did not get my act together in time!

"English sales have accelerated in recent years, in part because books now go viral on social media, especially TikTok."

"Booksellers in the Netherlands said that many young people prefer to buy books in English with their original covers, even if Dutch is their first language, because those are the books they see and want to post about on BookTok.... 'We are in the middle of a transition,' said Simon Dikker Hupkes, a commissioning editor at the Dutch publisher Atlas Contact. The fact that many readers overlook the Dutch translations, he said, 'hurts our hearts a little.' Asha Hodge, 19, who described herself as an avid reader, said she preferred to read in English because she enjoyed posting about books in English on her Instagram account...."

From "English-Language Books Are Filling Europe’s Bookstores. Mon Dieu! Young people, especially, are choosing to read in English even if it is not their first language because they want the covers, and the titles, to match what they see on TikTok and other social media" (NYT).

"Four Israeli hostages have been rescued alive from Gaza, the Israeli military said Saturday."

"Israeli forces rescued Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, from two locations in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said at least 55 dead and 'tens of wounded' had arrived at a hospital nearby....Video showed that Netanyahu also spoke to Argamani shortly after she arrived at the hospital. 'We never gave up on you for one moment,' Netanyahu said. When he asked how she was feeling, she replied, 'I’m very excited. I haven’t spoken Hebrew for so long.'"

WaPo reports.

Noa Argamani receives a call from President Herzog:

Noa Argamani? This is President Herzog on the phone. pic.twitter.com/AwzPbp4ZO7

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) June 8, 2024

"Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan revealed Friday that a Facebook user claiming to be a 'cousin' of a juror in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial..."

"... suggested he had advanced knowledge of last week’s guilty verdict. 'Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention,' Merchan wrote in a letter to Trump attorney Todd Blanche and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. 'In the comment, the user, "Michael Anderson," states: "My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted … Thank you folks for all your hard work!!! …."' the judge explained. .... In his Facebook profile, Anderson describes himself as a 'Transabled & a professional sh** poster.'"

I'm reading "Hush money judge alerts Trump lawyer, prosecutors to Facebook post claiming prior knowledge of jury’s verdict" (NY Post).

It's hard to imagine how this can amount to anything... even if it turns out that the person who posted actually is the cousin of one of the jurors.

I've chosen to link to this story at the NY Post, because other news outlets did not include the detail that "Michael Anderson" called himself "transabled." According to Wikipedia, "transabled" is a term used by some persons with body integrity dysphoria, which is "a rare mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disability or feeling discomfort with being able-bodied, beginning in early adolescence and resulting in harmful consequences."

Why would someone who presented himself as a "shit poster" — I'd write "shitposter" — also want to identify as "transabled"? Actually, it's hard to understand why a shitposter would want to call himself a shitposter. Wouldn't the usual game of shitposting be undercut by telling people that's what you're doing?

"A fascinating new book by John Ganz, 'When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s'..."

"... offers a useful way to think about the value system undergirding MAGA’s romance with the mob. Ganz’s book excavates a prehistory of Trumpism in the angry, cynical period between the end of the Cold War and the full flush of the Clinton boom. You can see, in the rise of figures like David Duke, Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan, Trumpism in embryo.... But the most revelatory section... involves the mystique around the mobster John Gotti and the Buchanan-style paleoconservatives who saw, in the mafia, an admirable patriarchal alternative to the technocratic liberalism they despised.... Societies fetishize Mafiosi to the degree that they lose faith in themselves.... It’s a sign that a culture is in the grip of a deep nihilism and despair when moblike figures become romantic heroes, or worse, presidents."

Writes Michelle Goldberg, in "Donald Trump’s Mob Rule" (NYT).

"Two recent polls show President Biden and former president Donald Trump tied in Virginia, a surprising finding for a blue-trending state that Biden won by 10 points in 2020..."

"... and that independent analysts still see as a stretch for the presumptive GOP nominee.... 'Whether the numbers are fully accurate or not, you do get a general indication of what’s happening. … Things are not going well for Joe Biden. They’re just not,' [said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist and self-described polling skeptic].... Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for Trump’s campaign [said] 'Joe Biden is so weak, and Democrats are in such disarray, that not only is President Trump dominating in every traditional battleground state, but longtime blue states such as Minnesota, Virginia, and New Jersey are now in play.... President Trump is on offense with a winning message and growing his movement every single day. Joe Biden’s campaign should be terrified.'"

WaPo's reporter on Virginia, Laura Vozzella, strains to cheer readers up in "Virginia still seen as stretch for Trump despite two tied polls with Biden/While some analysts say they have trouble squaring those polls with other surveys showing a tight race nationwide, they still see potential warning signs for Biden."

Sunrise — 5:16, 5:20, 5:21, 5:21:30.

In the year 3035.

I'm reading "U.S. Tightens Car Mileage Rules, Part of Strategy to Fight Climate Change/The shift, which could reshape the American auto market, is designed to encourage sales of electric vehicles and hybrids" (NYT):

Thanks to my son Chris for noticing that... 

 

I love the idea of the culture around pickup trucks in 3035.

Anyway, seriously:

"Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney called one of President Biden’s top aides last month to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s action against Israeli leaders..."

"... a case his wife, Amal Clooney, worked on, according to three people familiar with the conversation. Clooney called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to express concern about Biden’s denunciation of arrest warrants sought by ICC prosecutors for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, especially his use of the word 'outrageous.'... The actor was also upset about the administration’s initial openness to imposing sanctions on the ICC because his wife might be subject to the penalties, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Clooney’s call came just weeks before he is set to appear at a fundraiser for Biden’s reelection campaign June 15 in Los Angeles. His concerns spread throughout Biden’s orbit.... In 2020, [George Clooney] donated more than $500,000 to Biden’s campaign effort and co-hosted a virtual fundraiser for him that raised $7 million.... The White House later said sanctions against the ICC were 'not the right answer'...."

From "George Clooney called White House to defend wife’s work on Israel warrants/Biden had sharply criticized a move by the International Criminal Court to issue warrants for Israeli leaders" (WaPo).

"In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly talked about Rubio, Vance and Burgum, according to people familiar with his remarks...."

I'm reading "Trump search for a VP candidate narrows, with senators dominating list/At least eight people have been asked to provide documents to the campaign" (WaPo).

I'm betting on J.D. Vance, because I like Vance best as the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028. As soon as Trump wins the election — if he wins — he will be a lame duck and the 2028 campaign will have begun. Trump should want someone who can carry forward his approach to governing. Isn't that Vance?

On rejecting Nikki Haley:

The Trump verdict is the worst verdict Alan Dershowitz has seen in his 60 years of studying legal cases.

"I still don't know what he was convicted of."

🚨BREAKING: 60 year long Democrat Lawyer Alan Dershowitz absolutely DESTROYS the wrongful verdict against Donald Trump in New York.

Everyone in America needs to see this. pic.twitter.com/GXS0PBfrGJ

— Philip Anderson (@VoteBidenOut) June 7, 2024

Dr. Phil interviews Trump.

"Imagine if, when Obama got into office, he decided to prosecute Dick Cheney and George Bush for crimes against humanity."

"Oh, my God. Do you know how crazy that would be? You know how divided the country would be then? Well, that's the same thing kind of taking place now on a lesser scale, obviously, because it's not a war crime you're charging someone with, but you could. You could charge Trump with war crimes. You could find some things that he did, especially with bombings. Even what Obama did -- during the administration, they dropped a drone on a US citizen. No trial, no nothing. Boom...."

Said Joe Rogan, quoted — with video — at "Rogan: It's Scary How Many Democrats Are Willing To Set These Precedents To Go After Trump" (Real Clear Politics).

There were people, at the time of the 2008 election, who were quite serious that Obama must prosecute George W. Bush. I vividly remember having to deal with Jane Hamsher on Bloggingheads. She was quite adamant and insulted me — me, a law professor! — for not agreeing that it was absolutely necessary. And the topic came up because VP candidate Joe Biden had made the news by saying the Obama administration might pursue criminal charges against Bush:

 

Imagine if Jane and Joe's notion had won the day back in the first Obama administration! Where would we be now?

ADDED: Here's the blog post of mine from just before that Bloggingheads discussion, "Biden says a President Obama might pursue criminal charges against George Bush." I wrote:

In France, Biden rhapsodized about 'the story of America' told by the rows of graves at the Normandy America Cemetery: 'Nearly 10,000 heroes buried side-by-side...'"

"'... officers and enlisted, immigrants and native-born, different races, different faiths, but all Americans.' In Phoenix, Trump, invoked the racist 'great replacement' conspiracy theory, saying Biden had orchestrated an 'invasion' at the border as part of 'a deliberate demolition of our sovereignty' because “they probably think these people are going to be voting.... Trump... complained about 'endless wars' and 'delinquent' Europeans, and vowed to 'spend our money in our country' — including by 'moving thousands of troops, if necessary, currently stationed overseas to our own borders.'... Will Americans recognize their country in the dark and desperate portrait Trump painted? 'Our country is falling to pieces,' he said, and if he isn’t returned to power, 'the country is finished ... You won’t have a country anymore.' Trump described a nation full of 'crooked people' and serving as 'a dumping ground for the dungeons of the Third World.'"

WaPo opinion-writer Dana Milbank endeavors to frame the candidates, in "As Biden rallies the free world, Trump serves a higher cause: Himself/In Phoenix, at his first post-conviction campaign rally, Trump portrayed a dark and desperate America" (WaPo).

Milbank's writing is so heavy-handed, but it must please some readers, perhaps readers who want to believe Biden is a good-enough candidate. He rhapsodized about a story told by the rows of graves, while Trump complained of endless wars.

Sunrise — 5:13, 5:24, 5:26.

"Gunmen have killed the female mayor of a town in Mexico just hours after the country celebrated the election of Claudia Sheinbaum as the nation's first woman president."

"Yolanda Sánchez was ambushed by gunmen in the centre of Cotija, Michoacán, on Monday. Local media say she was shot 19 times and died in hospital shortly after the attack. Her bodyguard was also killed in the gun battle.... More than 20 people running for office have been killed since September according to official figures, but independent surveys have put the number closer to 40...."

BBC reports.