Monday Musings - July 13, 2026

 1. Welcome to the second Monday of July. The hot month is moving along. There are 24 Mondays remaining in the year. 

View of the Loxahatchee River
Tequesta, FL
July 12, 2026

2. On my bike ride yesterday, I stopped on the Loxahatchee Bridge in Tequesta. Despite the overcast skies, a day on the water would have been perfect. The river was flat and the sandbars seemed inviting. We are enjoying a planned boat day tomorrow, although we need to find a new spot to dock for lunch because the City Dock in Stuart is undergoing renovations. 

3. It is amazing what a good week can do for a baseball team. The Orioles came into the All Star Break riding a four game winning streak that made them 7-3 in their last 10 games and pulled them from the bottom of the division by one-half game. Even more exciting, they are only 2 games out of Wild Card contention. Hopefully they will come out of the break and begin to make a serious run at the post-season.

4. Something to be concerned about: 

The United States is currently in the grip of an outbreak of the Cyclospora parasite, which causes severe diarrhea and has sickened more than 3,000 people across the U.S. Last August, Aria Bendix of NBC News reported that on July 1, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would no longer track infections caused by cyclospora and five other common causes of foodborne illnesses. (Letters from an American)

5. A very important nomination is to be considered by the Senate this week.

This week, Trump’s pick to be his second Attorney General for this term in office, his former criminal defense lawyer Todd Blanche, faces a confirmation hearing in the Senate. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am on Wednesday and is expected to last for two days, including outside witnesses. Blanche will need a majority of the votes from Senators who are present to get the job.

Blanche has refused Trump virtually nothing. He supports the effort Trump launched on day one of his second term in office to erase the insurrection. It began with the pardons of Rudy Giuliani and the fake slates of electors. As Ed Martin put it, “No MAGA left behind.” It went on to include virtually everyone who was present at or involved with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including those charged with insurrection. It has only gone downhill from there. (Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance)

6. Today in History. Outraged and saddened after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who killed a Black teenager in 2012, Oakland, California resident Alicia Garza posts a message on Facebook on July 13, 2013. Her post contains the phrase "Black lives matter," which soon becomes a rallying cry and a movement throughout the United States and around the world.

Garza said she felt "a deep sense of grief" after Zimmerman was acquitted. She was further saddened to note that many people appeared to blame the victim, Trayvon Martin, and not the "disease" of racism. Patrice Cullors, a Los Angeles community organizer and friend of Garza, read her post and replied with the first instance of #BlackLivesMatter.

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-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL