Greetings all! It’s my birthday. I am 48 years old today. It has been... an eventful almost 5 decade journey. I am glad I am here. Stay tuned until the end for a suggestion for how to really help me celebrate my birthday.

In the meantime, let’s get right to the update.

Combat

1. Almost as soon as I pressed send on yesterday’s update, news from Minneapolis broke about George Floyd. I will not be posting a link to what happened. You can find it online. However, I won’t be linking to the murder of black men by white cops. It has happened way too much. And it seems to make no difference, no matter how many times we see it. We will never educate our way out of it. We won’t ever get rid of the “bad apples” in uniform. Because it is the system that is corrupt. It is America that is broken, and until we fix that, we will keep seeing this happen. And not for nothing, but you can draw a direct line from the white fragility and privilege of women like Amy Cooper and her Central Park 911 call to the murder of black men under color of law. We have to rethink the whole thing from the ground up. I am not sure we are capable. We certainly don’t seem to be.

2. Speaking of incapable, and broken America, Trump was all over the news with a whole host of bullshit, from harassing the widower of an accident to smear a rival to criticizing a social media company which has spent literally a decade kissing his ass to asking randomly if he should be taking insulin. Look, lots of people - myself included - have spilled more virtual ink on this chucklefuck than we should have. At this point, it is pretty simple really. Trump is deranged and decompensating. He is Ted Bundy the last 6 months before arrest. He is desperate for attention. This all gets worse before it gets better. So buckle up. It’s gonna be bumpy.

3. In the midst of all this, some more fantastic news. And by fantastic I mean horrifying. Fucking 2020:

Paul Cruickshank @CruickshankPaul

Could 2020 get any worse? New metrics by @Mikeknightsiraq in @CTCWP Sentinel show ISIS has been mounting a "strong and sustained resurgence" in Iraq at a time development of the Iraqi security forces is deteriorating & COVID-19 is creating a "perfect storm" opportunity for ISIS.

CTC at West Point @CTCWP

Second early release from our forthcoming May 2020 Sentinel issue: @mikeknightsiraq & @alexmello02 on the recovery of Islamic State operations in Iraq in 2019-2020. https://t.co/jlkcgAJI7L https://t.co/ewl0WAEkUD

1:28 PM ∙ May 26, 2020

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Snuggles

Let’s get some joy in here. In addition to my birthday, the following good things are happening in the world:

1. These neighbors, who made some adjustments in their fence so they could still drink beer and talk while maintaining a safe and responsible distance.

2. Finding a near perfectly preserved mosaic floor from the Roman Empire.

Myko Clelland @DapperHistorian

Newly discovered just outside of Verona, what could be this year's biggest discovery - an almost entirely intact Roman mosaic villa floor!

6:42 PM ∙ May 26, 2020

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3. And this guy, who got buckets in the longest, most complex and convoluted way in history. Well done sir.

Thank you all again for your support. For my birthday, I have one ask. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the newsletter. It helps me feel tremendous validation to know that people are enjoying enough that they are willing to pay to read what I write. Frankly, I would write this newsletter if no one read it, or paid me. I need to be able to give voice to the thoughts that bounce around in my head because if I don’t I will go crazy. And I don’t mean that figuratively. 

While I write for me and my own health, it is ENORMOUSLY gratifying to know that people like and appreciate my words enough to actually pay for them. 

So here’s the deal. If you are reading this, you are on the base email list (today’s update is public). Most of you have subscriber status, which I gave to folks who joined initially or were on my previous email list. So you have a couple of options. If you are a free subscriber and would like to get an update like this in your inbox everyday, then head over to combatsnuggles.com and subscribe. If you are currently on a gift subscription, and are willing to convert to a paid subscription, then just reply to this email and let me know. I will change your status from gift subscriber to free and then you will be able to sign up for a paid subscription. Subscriptions are $5 per month or a full year for $50. For less than $1 a week you can get all the updates, and the latest news about what is happening in our family. I am biased, but I think that is a pretty sweet deal.

Plus, it’s my birthday and you have to do something nice for me. It’s like a rule or something.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. Seriously. I wouldn’t be here without you. 

Be well, buy a subscription, and I will see you here tomorrow.