Southpaws

Darren discussed these topics:

Hunter Biden's plea deal may be in jeopardy as the judge has questions for federal prosecutors and the defense attorneys.

Eight Michigan state legislators have had recall petitions filed against them, including two Republicans.

A federal judge has declared Oregon's gun control measures outlawing large capacity magazines and requiring permits to purchase firearms Constitutional.

The CEO of "We Buy Ugly Houses" will step down after ProPublica published an expose about some of their franchisee's business practices.

A Michigan clerk charged with being one of the fake electors in 2020 has been barred from running elections in his township.

Ocean temperatures in Florida have hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, causing damage to the coral reefs.

Israel's Supreme Court said they will hear arguments against a new law that weakens the court's power. Israeli's have been protesting against the orthodox conservative government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the law passed.

And collective bargaining chalked up another win as United Parcel Service and the Teamsters have reached a tentative agreement.

Darren discussed these topics:

Donald Trump received a target letter from the Justice Department regarding his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has some very scary ideas to gain presidential control over independent agencies, including the FCC and FTC, if he's re-elected.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed charges against 16 people in connection to the fake electors scheme to help overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The Mason, Michigan city council voted to table changes to the ethics ordinance that many say are meant to silence free speech.

The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners approved a plan of organization for the county Health Department.

And the Ottawa County board approved transferring over $100,000 to pay Kallman Legal Group after the county blew through the budget for legal fees.

Hammer Time: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said that white nationalists were not racist, but then backtracked after bipartisan condemnation of his remarks.

Hammer Time: Country singer Jason Aldean has been roundly criticized for his new song "Try That In A Small Town". CMT pulled the video for the song, which was filmed in front of a Tennessee courthouse famous for a 1927 lynching.

Hammer Time: Georgia State Rep. Mesha Mainor abandoned the Democratic Party to become a Republican.

Darren is joined this week by Jack Prince to discuss these stories:

Donald Trump may soon be indicted in Georgia over his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

A resolution to limit speech by city employees and council members in Mason, Michigan was soundly defeated by the city's ethics board. The city council will vote on it soon.

Another fight breaks out at a Michigan Republican Party committee meeting in Clare.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) outsmarted Republicans by securing funding increases for public schools until the year 2425 by using his partial veto power to adjust the dates. Republicans don't have enough votes to override.

Grand Traverse County Right to Life was removed from participating in the National Cherry Festival Children's Parade in Traverse City when festival organizers began enforcing rules that have been in place for a long time.

Iowa has passed a six week abortion ban. The ban is on hold after several groups filed lawsuits against the ban.

Teamsters Union members will probably strike against United Parcel Service.

Larry Nassar was assaulted in prison, receiving several stab wounds.

Climate change has led to conditions across the country including record temperatures in the southwest and record flooding in the northeast.

And migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border are down, despite what conservatives say.

Darren discussed these topics:

A U.S. District Judge issued a ruling on Independence Day stating that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by asking social media companies to remove disinformation from their platforms. Law professors are rightfully criticizing the opinion.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Colorado violated the free speech rights of a woman who didn't want to design websites for same sex couples. She claimed that she was approached for that service by a gay man. The man said he had no idea he was named in the suit, he's straight, and he's been married to his wife for 15 years!

Recall paperwork was filed against a conservative Ottawa County, Michigan commissioner who is aligned with Ottawa Impact. She claimed the recall was based on racism because she's Hispanic.

The Ottawa County Commission approved a resolution to protect "childhood innocence." The vote came after the county health department had a booth at recent Pride festivals in Grand Haven and Holland.

Newaygo, Michigan held its first Pride event recently.

And some Isabella County, Michigan residents plan to protest outside the court house over false claims of election fraud.

Hammer Time: Ottawa County Board chair Joe Moss (R) filed an amicus brief in support of the Colorado woman who didn't want to build websites for same sex couples.

Darren discussed these topics:

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action and for religious accommodations.

The Wagner Group almost invaded Moscow. We'll examine what happened, what didn't happen, and how a civil war in Russia was avoided.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was censured by House Republicans for investigating Donald Trump. Democrats called it revenge on behalf of Trump.

The chief meteorologist at a Des Moines, Iowa television station resigned after he received viewer threats about his coverage of climate change.

And Ottawa County commissioner Jacob Bonnema (R) was censured by the county board of commissioners for filing a Human Resources complaint against county administrator John Gibbs and for voting with the lone Democrat on the board.

Hammer Time: WOOD TV news director Stanton Tang was the architect behind a memo issued to newsroom personnel to cover "both sides" of Pride events. He also wanted reporters to cover "news" items from Newsmax and One America.

Hammer Time: Nexstar Media Group senior vice president of content development Susan Tully scolded WOOD TV newsroom personnel after the memo was leaked to the media.

Darren discussed these topics:

The missing OceanGate submersible Titan was discovered imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic. All five people on board died.

What happened to the Titan should serve as a warning to everyone about conservative efforts to remove regulations protecting us from poisoned food and water and defective products.

Wall Street Journal reporter Deborah Acosta described Donald Trump's reactions and body language during his court appearance in Miami.

Court documents reveal that Rep. George Santos' father and aunt were behind bailing him out of jail.

The Ottawa Impact led conservative Ottawa County, Michigan Board of Commissioners criticized the county health department for being at the Grand Haven Pride festival. Commission vice-chair Sylvia Rhodea called the event "grooming." Health Department officer Adeline Hambley responded to the criticism by saying that it was the health department's job to be there.

The Ottawa County Republican Party censured Commissioner Jacob Bonnet for not towing the party line.

And a recent survey showed that an estimated 12 Million Americans believe violence should be used to restore Donald Trump to the White House. Darren said that's 12 Million Americans who should be arrested right now!

Hammer Time: WOOD TV's management sent a memo to the newsroom instructing them to water down coverage of Pride events in the area. The newsroom revolted against the memo and now their parent company is investigating.

Hammer Time: Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill eliminating local regulations including mandated water breaks for construction workers.

Off The Cuff: An Atlanta area auto shop owner is ordered to pay workers for unpaid overtime and damages after he retaliated against one former worker by paying $915 in back wages by dumping 91,500 oil covered pennies in the guy's driveway.

Darren discussed these topics:

Donald Trump pled not guilty in Miami to 37 charges related to his retention of classified documents. If convicted of all charges, he could spend decades in prison.

A breakdown of the charges filed against Trump and his valet Walt Nauta.

Security appeared to be lax outside the courtroom during Trump's arraignment.

Trump was fingerprinted, but officials didn't take his mugshot or take a DNA sample like they would to the average person. Trump was also allowed to turn himself in. The average American would have been arrested on the spot.

Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, will hear the case.

Earth is a lot sicker than even scientists thought.

St. Louis, Missouri police can banish people from entire neighborhoods. Why is this allowed?

And Senior U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan Robert Holmes Bell passed away at the age of 79. We take a brief look at his career and why Darren is not shedding tears over this.

Darren discussed these topics:

Donald Trump has been indicted by the federal government over his handling of classified documents.

Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson has died at the age of 93.

Conservative radio host Dave Ramsey is being sued for $150 Million by listeners who were allegedly swindled by a timeshare exit company he promoted.

The Southern Poverty Law Center declared Moms For Liberty an "anti-government extremist" group.

The Michigan Court of Appeals partially threw out an order by a lower judge prohibiting the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners from firing Health Department Officer Adeline Hambley.

Ottawa County is one step closer to creating a communications director to review press releases and media requests from various departments, including the health department.

Darren has a special commentary about so-called "progressives" who still support Tulsi Gabbard.

Darren wondered why People's Party presidential candidate Cornel West is supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' legislation to allow graduating high school students to qualify for Bright Futures scholarships using the Classical Learning Test as an alternative to the SAT. The CLT was developed by conservative Jeremy Tate and was devised in part to follow "Christian tradition."

And emails obtained by the Detroit Metro Times show that the University of Michigan is pressuring faculty members to fabricate grades for students of striking graduate student instructors. These faculty members have had little to no interaction with these students.

Darren discussed these topics:

Nearly a dozen Republicans have announced their run for President with at least three more announcements eminent.

Darren went through some of the terms of the debt ceiling deal, which passed both houses of Congress this week. The environment, the poor, and college with students with debt are the big losers in this deal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would vote no on the debt ceiling deal. He joined 31 Republicans and 4 Democrats who opposed it.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Other members of the group have also been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Prosecutors are going after money raised through crowdfunding websites by defendants in January 6 cases.

The Ottawa County, Michigan Board of Commissioners passed a resolution making it a "constitutional county."

And Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams told a crowd at a recent concert that anyone who votes for Ron DeSantis for president is "fucking dead to me."

Hammer Time: The private Houghton University in upstate New York fired two employees for adding their pronouns in a work email.

We went on the road to a studio just outside of Lansing, Michigan for this interview. Darren Gibson was joined for the first half of the show by special co-host Jeff Smith from the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID.org). Jeff is also the author of "A People's History of Grand Rapids, Michigan." They interviewed Mason City Councilor Rita Vogel about her efforts to have the city pass a day of proclamation for Malcolm X, who lived in Mason for a year and a half. The city council denied the request without comment. Since then, Rita had an ethics complaint filed against her (which was dismissed) and the city is now attempting to stifle free speech from city employees and elected officials.

In the second half of the show, Darren was joined by Jack Prince as they interviewed former Mason Public Schools teacher Katelyne Thomas. Katelyne left the district after they denied her request to use materials from a Black Lives Matter approved curriculum to teach Black history. We asked her about efforts to limit teaching Black history across the country, book bans, and the city's racist history that was detailed in James Loewen's book "Sundown Towns."

Between interviews, we were joined by slam poet Native Child Brown, who read a poem about Malcolm X.

We had booked two different venues for this event and both of them cancelled at the last minute with bogus excuses. We want to thank Peter Clay Productions for the use of his studios and for recording the show for us.