SPEAKER of the House Mike Johnson (Wikipedia).

Legislation to send $60 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and other allies of the U.S. advanced Friday in the House of Representatives.

Debate has been opened on a series of bills that include help not only for Ukraine but also to Israel and Taiwan. Humanitarian aid for Gaza is also being considered.

Support for aid is widely popular in the House and Senate, but the opposition of far-right conservatives in the lower house have kept in bottled up there.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) managed to break the deadlock by separating the proposed legislation into smaller bills.

The vote to open debate was 316 to 94. Democrats votes 165-39 against; Republicans were 151 in favor and 55 against.

Man ignites self outside Trump trial

TRUMP TRIAL starts Monday.

A man who set himself on fire Friday outside the courthouse where former president Donald Trump was on trial for alleged criminal fraud is in critical condition and not expected to survive.

He was identified by city officials as Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Florida. It’s unclear why he set the fire, but he was carrying what were described as “antigovernment conspiracy theories.”

Inside the Manhattan courtroom, the jury process was completed with 12 jurors and six alternates. Opening statements are expected on Monday.

Aaron Rodgers blames Covid-19 on Fauci

AARON RODGERS’ jersey from his years with the Green Bay Packers (Wikipedia).

Former Green Bay Packers star and current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rogers made the discredited claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci was responsible for creating the coronavirus that killed millions of people. 

In his podcast, “Look Into It,” Rodgers claimed that as director of the National Institute of Allergy of Infectious Diseases, Fauci and others had a “game plan” to make a  virus that could only be stopped by a drug to be invented, perhaps Moderna.

(Moderna is not a cure for coronavirus; it’s one of three drugs developed as a vaccine). 

Rodgers also suggested that government labs created HIV,  the cause of AIDS.

Iran backing off on conflict with Israel

Drones that did minor damage in an Iranian city were not launched by Israel. The Iranian government and news media claimed the aircraft were instead the work of unnamed “infiltrators.”

Israel and the U.S. have been silent on the incident, which some observers suggest is an attempt to head off possible escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel into a wider Middle East war.

The incident came after about 300 drones and missiles were fired at Israel by Iran, but nearly all of them were shot down by Israeli, American, British and French air defense systems.

Angels fall to Reds, 7-1; Dodgers to Mets

A five-run eighth inning propelled the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels Friday night. The game had been close with the home team holding a 2-1 edge until Elly De Cruz opened the game up with a three-run home run off Angels’ reliever Adam Cimber. He gave up four runs on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning.

The Halos are now 9-11 and in third place in the AL West. They’ve lost three of four games and five of their last seven.

The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t fare much better, losing 9-4 to the New York Mets at Chavez Ravine. The Blue Crew led 5-4 after six innings, but the Mets scored the next five runs to pull away.

With the loss, the Dodgers are 12-10 but remain in first place by one game over the second place San Diego Padres in the NL West. They’ve lost two straight and are 4-6 over their last 10 games.

Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a mixed outing, working six innings while giving up seven hits and three earned runs. He struck out one and walked one.

Weather: More of that up-and-down

West Orange County residents will get more of that variety, weather-wise, for the next few days. Saturday is forecast to have a daytime high of 69, with an overnight low of 54 under sunny skies. Sunday will warm to 75 (56) with fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon. Monday will cool to 71 (66) with partly cloudy skies. Tuesday is expected to dip to 67 (58) with fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon.