Barry Bloch

[Rand Paul @RandPaul]

TOMORROW, under subpoena, I will be asking Anthony Fauci a number of questions surrounding gain-of-function research, the COVID cover-up, and his preemptive pardon.

Be sure to tune in.

[Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson]

This is beautiful. @MarcoRubio confronts Medea Benjamin and Code Pink. Research them, you’ll be outraged!

But Marco bitchslaps her! #48?

[Selene Mariposa @Selene_Mariposa]

The World Cup ends today. One game left. By tomorrow most of you visitors will be packing up, heading to the airport, going home.

So before you go, let me say the thing I actually want to say.

A few weeks ago I wrote a silly post about all the things you were discovering here. Free refills. Free water. Ice like civilized people. Chips and salsa before you even order. Air conditioning that is a fact and not a moral debate. Drive-throughs. Ranch by the gallon. The Germans standing in the HEB meat aisle in reverent silence, finally understanding why we do not have trains. Buc-ee’s, for which there are still no words.

It blew up, because it was true, and because you were so delightfully stunned by all of it.

Even the Wall Street Journal caught on. Their headline this week: how the US lost the World Cup and won over the world. We did not lift the trophy. But apparently we lifted something else.

We even learned a few things about ourselves along the way. Like the fact that Elon Musk, the single richest man on the planet, shops at HEB. Just rolls in and queues up for fresh tortillas with everybody else. The man could buy the tortilla company, the state it is in, and the moon it sits under, and instead he is standing in line at the hot-tortilla counter like the rest of us, because that is where the good ones are. Only in America is the wealthiest human alive elbow to elbow with a mom of four at the salsa bar. That is the whole country in one aisle.

And here is the part I want every one of you to hear on your way out the door.

None of it was a show.

We did not roll all this out because you were coming. The ice was always there. The refills were always free. The grocery stores were always the size of aircraft hangars at ten on a Tuesday. The stranger who adopted your whole section, the guy who gave you a ride, the waitress who remembered your order, the family that invited you to the cookout, that is not World Cup America. That is just America. That is Tuesday.

We are exactly like this when nobody is visiting. Loud, generous, ridiculous, overfed, and genuinely thrilled you came. We will still be exactly like this tomorrow when the stands are empty and the flags come down.

So thank you. To everyone who came, who sang in our streets, who cleaned our stadiums, who turned our cities orange and filled our bars and taught us your chants. You were wonderful guests, and you made a country that just turned 250 feel young and seen and loved.

And to everyone who could not make it this time, the door does not close today. We meant all of it. Come whenever. The porch light stays on, the fridge stays full, and there is always room for one more at the table.

You found out who we are these last few weeks.

Good news. We are like this all the time.

Safe travels home.

Y’all come back now, you hear. 🦋

[Carolina Hurricanes @Canes]

Forever etched in history

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

The US Navy operates a 50,000 acre forest in Indiana whose entire job is keeping one wooden ship from 1797 afloat.

The ship is USS Constitution, still a commissioned warship with an active-duty crew. Cannonballs bounced off her in 1812 because the hull sandwiches a wall of live oak ribs between two layers of white oak planking, nearly 2 feet of solid wood so dense it barely floats. British 18-pounders hit it and dropped into the sea. A sailor yelled "her sides are made of iron" and the nickname stuck.

Here's the problem with owning a 229-year-old wooden ship: you can't buy the parts. Hull planks run up to 40 feet long and 7 inches thick, cut from single white oak trunks. A white oak takes over a century to grow that big. No lumberyard on earth stocks it.

So the Navy grows its own. Constitution Grove at Naval Support Activity Crane holds trees over 100 years old, reserved exclusively for this ship. Foresters there are managing oaks today that will become hull planking in the 2100s. The maintenance plan literally runs on tree time.

Every 20 years or so she enters dry dock and shipwrights swap out rotted timber. After two centuries of this, estimates put original 1797 wood at maybe 10 to 15 percent of the ship. The Navy keeps replacing her plank by plank because Congress mandated her preservation and because she's the only active US warship that has sunk an enemy vessel.

Every other asset in the Navy has a decommission date. This one has a tree farm.

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

And if it wasn’t for America the insignia on the pub would be written in German.

[Carolina Hurricanes @Canes]

The vibe all day today. Happy 4th, y'all!

[The American Legion @AmericanLegion]

Happy Independence Day from The American Legion!

Enjoy the fireworks. Cherish the freedom. Celebrate responsibly.

Reminder: It's not officially the Fourth of July until someone says, "Ooh!" at the fireworks... and someone else insists, "That one's better than last year's." 🎆😂

[Ted Nugent @TedNugent]

#america #usa #250th #4thofjuly

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

The Canes rolling through the city as champions 😎🏆

(via @NHL)

[Bill King @billkingDTR]

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: HOME OF THE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

@Canes @DowntownRaleigh

[Secretary Kennedy @SecKennedy]

Thank you, Tulsi, for documenting Dr. Fauci's central role in causing the COVID-19 pandemic — among the most consequential crimes in human history.

[ABC News @ABC]

The Carolina Hurricanes brought their Stanley Cup celebration to Raleigh on Saturday, with thousands arriving hours early to line sidewalks for the team's parade or packing in near the rally stage where the Hurricanes were set to cap off the festivities. https://t.co/A8qGZOiTdJ

[LeoTerrell @TheLeoTerrell]

Please RT!

[Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson]

@ewarren A millionaire bitching about a trillionaire. Perfect.

[Walt Ruff @WaltRuff]

Ahead of an afternoon flight to Vegas, the #Canes are scheduled to skate at Invisalign Arena, starting at 10:30 a.m.

The first player on the ice today is Frederik Andersen, going through his usual pre-practice routine with Goaltending Coach Paul Schonfelder.

[Dinesh D'Souza @DineshDSouza]

Elon has created thousands of millionaires. The only millionaire you’ve created is yourself. Elon is a wealth creator. You are a looter. While your title is POLITICIAN, your real profession should be called THIEF.

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

THE CANES ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM THEIR FIRST STANLEY CUP SINCE 2006 🌀

Back to Vegas for Game 6 👀

[The American Legion @AmericanLegion]

It's time our voices are heard!

The #MajorRichardStarAct would ensure that combat-injured retirees can receive both their Department of Defense retirement pay and the disability compensation earned through their sacrifices without any offset.

Our nation made a promise to those who sacrificed in service. It’s time to keep it.

Please urge Congressional support at our Action Center today: https://t.co/WCI6bYVTvG

[General Mike Flynn @GenFlynn]

. @BarackObama needs to get more than a grand jury subpoena, he needs to be tried with grand conspiracy to commit treason against the United States of America!

Enough is enough!!!
@realDonaldTrump