I had a scare Sunday evening when I went to a local convenience store.

The store is just a few blocks away, within easy walking distance. When I got a block away, I could hear screaming and yelling in the store's parking lot. Angry, threatening tones. Because of parked cars in the store's lot, I could not clearly see what was happening, but I did get a glimpse of a woman running around the side of a car. Someone opened the car's door for her to get in, but she screamed and ran from the car.

From a distance, it looked like a possible abduction attempt. I pulled out my phone to call 911 and slowed down my steps, not wanting to get caught in the middle. The possibility of a gun and shooting came to mind since these days, people are quick to "solve" arguments that way.

Then a cop car whizzed past me and turned into the lot. I waited from a distance until the yelling stopped. When I got closer, it turned out to be two women arguing. They each had young children standing nearby. Two cops were questioning them.

Once inside the store, I asked the clerk what was going on. She said the 2 women started arguing inside the store. When they got outside, one woman grabbed the other one and they both went down. So the store clerk called the cops.

The argument? One woman accused the other of having an affair with her boyfriend. These were adult women, not teenagers!

What a sign of the times that I had feared the possibility of a shooting. On the way home, I thought about it. Fortunately that was not the case this time. But it's prudent to consider that possibility these days since people carry guns and shoot when angry.

Archaeologists Discover Entrance to Zapotec Underworld Beneath Church in Mexico

Using technology to see and map below the church, archaeologists have verified tales of a Zapotec underworld that 17th century Spanish priests ordered to be closed off and then hid by building built a church over it.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/zapotec-underworld-entrance-mexico-180982552/

Does anyone know where this pronunciation for the word "cousin" comes from?

I know a guy who says "cousint" for cousin. He always adds a "t" to the end. He has a few other pronunciations and words that I associate with a Missouri Ozark or an Appalachian dialect.

Is "cousint" an Ozark or Appalachian dialect pronunciation?

Ember the cat changed her mind about fireworks.

First, I am sympathetic to people whose pets are stressed out by fireworks. My sister and I had a lab mix in our teens who was very disturbed by them.

Ember's previous reactions have been aggressive defense of the home front against the loud sky monsters. During past displays, she sat on the windowsill growling furiously at them, then jumped down with the satisfaction of a job well done when they stopped.

Last night, while I read and posted at DU, she was curled up on my desktop when the random (not official) fireworks began. She sat up on full alert, ears twitching, neck stretched out to look out the window. I scratched behind her ears, kissed her head, and said, "Relax, Ember. It's ok."

She stayed on alert a little longer, then curled up again. Later, she sprawled on the couch in relaxed contentment, indifferent to the random bursts.

Her attitude was, "Meh. Just humans doing stupid things again. This, too, will pass."

Get up, lazy human!

Supply Side Jesus video

If the narrator's voice sounds familiar, that's because it's narrated by Al Franken.

Photos of smokey cities in the US, Europe, and Canada

all from the Canadian wildfires.

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/30/photos-canada-wildfires-air-quality-smoke-us-europe

While we comment on air quality from Canadian wildfires, imagine how Canadians feel.

Canada is burning from west to east. Our air quality in the US is bad in several states, but Canadians are right there, where the fires are blazing across its provinces. The AQI in their communities must be double and triple what it is in US communities.

Canadian DUers - How are you coping? How many people are being displaced due to smoke and fires? How does it affect daily life, especially for people whose jobs put them outdoors?

The Canadian smoke is back.

Due to fires in the Montreal area, NY State has issued an air quality alert for tonight and all day tomorrow.

I was shopping this evening and the hazy air looked like fog. The space around me looked fine, but the haze could be seen when looking up at treetops and buildings a couple blocks away. In other words, it was not thick enough to be clearly seen up close, but it was visible on all directions when gazing off away from me. There was a faint burnt odor in the air.

That was around 6:00 pm. At 8:00 we got some steady, light rain. I thought it would clear up the haze but it didn't. You could still see the haze in the air as the rain fell.

It was a smoke haze, not steam from the rain. Temperatures were not warm enough here today to cause steam from cold water coming into warm air. The ground was cool, not warm. The smoke smell remained.

Aileen Canon rules in favor of media who want names of witnesses made public.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith filed to seal the list of 84 witnesses that Trump is barred from speaking to. The NYT and CNN, among others, filed to prevent the list from being sealed, claiming that DOJ gave no reason for sealing the list. Canon's ruling sided with the media.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/26/trump-documents-case-media-want-witness-list-revealed.html