Idiocracy

The Associated Press reports: Americans were duped out of more than $5.6 billion last year through fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency, the FBI said in a report released Monday that shows a 45% jump in losses from 2022. The FBI received nearly 70,000 complaints in 2023 by victims of financial fraud involving bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies, according to the FBI. …

Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate reports: New ads have appeared around Philadelphia that claim Vice President Kamala Harris is the “official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles.” The team told NBC10 that the ads are counterfeit and they are working to have the ads removed. The ads also link to Philadelphiaeagles.com/vote — which is a real site that the team has set up …

Tesla owners site Teslarati reports: Elon Musk sent a Tesla Cybertruck to former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, as detailed in a review of the electric vehicle (EV) from Carlson’s social media channels this week. Carlson released the video with the Cybertruck on his YouTube and X channels on Monday, saying that he had reached out to Musk to see …

Jalopnik reports: Somehow in 2024, people are still destroying products made by companies they feel have “gone woke.” Youtuber Columbia War Machine recently destroyed his Harley Davidson for YouTube views, due of course, to wokeness. “This is one of the backbone companies of America. Even saying the name Harley Davidson makes you think of the American flag. It’s patriotic. But …

Politico reports: Musk on occasion tried to steer Trump into more broadly appealing territory, suggesting that not all illegal immigrants are criminals or mentally ill; that climate change is not in fact a hoax, even if oil-and-gas companies get blamed unfairly for it; and that Trump would do well to create a blue-ribbon commission on government efficiency. Trump instead returned …

The Christian Post reports: Prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Copeland thanked Jesus for a dying man’s seed offering of a Bentley with a Breitling clock, which he had given in the hope that it would bring healing. At Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ annual Southwest Believers’ Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, held from July 29 to Aug. 3, the 87-year-old televangelist regaled attendees …

The Hill reports: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Monday said he is not running for office in the wake of speculation that he would pursue the Democratic presidential nomination after President Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday. “I’m not running for office,” Manchin told “CBS Mornings” on Monday. “I’m not going to be a candidate for president,” he added. …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida spent $60,000 on new highway welcome signs that feature a campaign slogan used by Gov. Ron DeSantis in speeches and on merchandise. Signs welcoming visitors to “The Free State of Florida” now stand at 24 locations along highways and at two welcome centers, said Michael Williams, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, in …

Semafor reports: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump lifted his political fortunes — and his actual fortune. Shares of Donald Trump’s media company surged after the weekend’s assassination attempt, lifting Trump’s 60% stake in the company by nearly $800 million. Stocks seen as winners in a second Trump administration also spiked: gun and bullet manufacturers, prison operators, cryptocurrency companies, and …

Axios reports: Amazon shoppers drove a 192,400% increase in sales of a t-shirt emblazoned with the now-iconic photo of former President Trump moments after an assassination attempt. That it’s being used in pro-Trump merchandise confirms many photographers’ fears that the photo would become propaganda for Trump. The “Donald Trump 2024 Survived Shot At Election Rally T-Shirt” listing on Amazon was …

The New York Times reports: For more than two decades, Elon Musk has focused SpaceX, his rocket company, on his lifelong goal of reaching Mars. Over the last year, he has also ramped up work on what will happen if he gets there. Mr. Musk told SpaceX employees in April that he now expects one million people to be living …

The Washington Examiner reports: The House passed measures preventing the Energy Secretary from enforcing energy efficiency standards for various kitchen appliances, an effort by Republicans to portray the Biden administration’s regulations as a war on consumers. The two bills, which would bar the Energy Secretary from enforcing energy conservation standards for refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers that are not “cost effective …

Just in via press release: Attorney General Ashley Moody today led a 23-state coalition of attorneys general opposing the Biden administration’s latest overreach into the livelihoods of middle-class Americans. This time, the administration is weaseling its way into laundry rooms in an attempt to further its radical energy policies by implementing harmful and costly standards on washing machines. Attorney General …

Charleston’s NBC affiliate reports: A Summerville man was killed in an accident involving a firework on the Fourth of July holiday.  Dorchester County Coroner Paul Brouthers said the victim, 41-year-old Allen Ray McGrew, ignited a large firework device and set it on his head. The device exploded, causing “massive head injuries.”  McGrew was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident …

NBC News reports: A Missouri woman is charged with multiple felonies for allegedly spiking her husband’s Mountain Dew with Roundup weed killer and insecticide repeatedly to be “mean” to him, authorities said. Michelle Y. Peters, 47, of Lebanon, is accused of secretly putting Roundup in her husband’s 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew he stored in a garage refrigerator during May …

Vermont news site Seven Days reports: Spy camera videos of a Republican lawmaker dumping water into a Democratic rival’s bag at the Statehouse were released on Tuesday, confirming previous reporting by Seven Days about the bizarre incident. Rep. Jim Carroll shared with Seven Days two videos he surreptitiously took in the Statehouse hallway that captured Rep. Mary Morrissey pouring a …

The Daily Beast reports: A conservative water brand that claims to offer right-wingers an anti-woke protest in a bottle made its pitch to attendees at Turning Point USA’s People’s Conference this weekend. “Freedom 2.0,” which makes disposable water bottles with labels like, “This water isn’t free, but your speech is,” ran a spot at the conservative conference attended by GOP …

NBC News reports: The world’s greatest eater won’t be able to compete in the world’s greatest eating event. Joey Chestnut, a 16-time champion of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, is unable to participate in the July 4 event after signing with another hot dog brand, according to Major League Eating. “We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has …

The Associated Press reports: A rodeo bull hopped a fence surrounding an Oregon arena and ran through a concession area into a parking lot, injuring at least three people before wranglers caught up with it, officials said. The crowd at the 84th Sisters Rodeo in the city of Sisters was singing along with Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” on …

NBC News reports: An Idaho bar has drawn national attention for celebrating “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” in response to LGBTQ Pride month, which has been celebrated during June for decades. The Old State Saloon in Eagle, a suburb of Boise, announced its “inaugural Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” on social media last month. “Each Monday will be Hetero Male Monday and any heterosexual …