Hey Dippers,
In the headlines today: Conservatives propose restricting pregnant travelers after birthright citizenship ruling, Trump’s newly disclosed $1.2 billion crypto windfall, and more.
Today’s read time is 3 minutes and 59 seconds.
- The Daily Dip Editor
CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S SHOW AD-FREE BELOW
Nostalgia Nerd
On this day in 1843, what animal reportedly fell from the sky during a storm in Charleston, South Carolina? (answer revealed below!)
(hint: reptile)
Before We Dip In (TL;DR)
In today’s issue:
GOP pushes to bar pregnant foreign travelers. 🏛️
Idaho adopts firing squad as its main execution method. ⚖️
Disclosure shows Trump earned over $1 billion from crypto. 💼
Plus, take today’s poll and check out the Nostalgia Nerd quiz answer down below!
LAW & POLICY
🌎 Conservative Figures Push to Restrict Pregnant Foreign Travelers After Ruling
After the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship this week, conservatives pushed to restrict pregnant foreign travelers over birth tourism fears. Federalist co-founder Sean Davis proposed barring pregnant and female visitors and requiring sterilization for foreign visitors; commentator Jack Posobiec suggested pregnancy testing at the border.
Rep. Lauren Boebert called for halting visas for pregnant applicants, and Rep. Andy Ogles introduced legislation barring pregnant foreign nationals from entering. Sen. Rick Scott cited the ruling to push a bill targeting adversarial nations that use American surrogates to secure citizenship for their children.
The pushback: Birth tourism is estimated at well under 1% of U.S. births yearly. One New York Times columnist called the scale of the backlash to a decades-old legal standard bizarre.
LAW & ORDER
⚖️ Idaho Becomes First State to Make Firing Squad Its Main Execution Method
Idaho is the first state to make firing squad its main execution method, spending over $1 million on a death chamber stocked with $24,000 in rifles. Three anonymous shooters will execute the state’s eight death row inmates under a law signed last year.
Supporters call it faster and more reliable than lethal injection, which has faced drug shortages and botched procedures. Critics call it archaic and warn a missed shot can leave a prisoner suffering before death.
The precedent: South Carolina’s 2025 firing squad execution of Mikal Mahdi left him alive and in pain for nearly a minute after shooters missed. A pathologist called the bullet count unusual, and some question whether it was intentional, since Mahdi killed a police officer.
Dipper Poll
:📈 Today’s Poll: Method Matters
Idaho’s move makes it the state with the most aggressive embrace of firing squad executions, while other states have shifted away from the method over concerns about botched shots.
Should states have full discretion to choose their own execution methods?
POLITICS
🏛️ Trump’s Financial Disclosure Shows About $1.2 Billion in Crypto Earnings
Trump’s new federal financial disclosure shows crypto ventures earned him around $1.2 billion last year, helping push his net worth to an estimated $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion before he took office. The 927-page filing shows crypto has outpaced his real estate holdings, with $500 million from World Liberty token sales and $600 million from meme coins.
Critics call it a conflict of interest, noting everyday investors lost money as insiders profited; World Liberty tokens have since fallen 80%.
The response: The White House says Trump’s businesses sit in a trust run by his sons and denies any conflicts of interest.
Fun Facts
🦏 Animals: A narwhal’s tusk is actually an inside-out tooth packed with millions of nerve endings that can detect changes in the surrounding water. A 10-foot tooth with better sensors than most submarines.
⚔️ History: Vikings carved messages into ancient monuments during their travels. Humanity invented graffiti almost immediately after inventing walls.
🚀 Space: The International Space Station orbits Earth at roughly 17,500 mph, so astronauts aboard see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every 24 hours. Jet lag doesn’t begin to cover it.
🤯WTF: During the Korean War, U.S. Marines who radioed for “Tootsie Rolls” as code for mortar shells received actual Tootsie Roll candy by mistake, which then became a real ration because it didn’t freeze. A supply error became a survival tool.
TODAY’S QUIZ ANSWER:
An Alligator
On July 2, 1843, residents of Charleston reported an alligator falling from the sky during a thunderstorm. Meteorologists believe a waterspout, essentially a tornado over water, picked the animal up from a nearby swamp or waterway and carried it inland before dropping it. So-called “animal rains” have been reported elsewhere in history too, usually involving fish or frogs swept up the same way.
Poll Results From June 30, 2026
Did you take today’s poll?
Show Notes
Looking for more specific details on each story? Click here for the full show notes for yesterday’s PDS episode.
Over and Out...
Thanks for checking us out Daily Dippers!
If you enjoyed today’s newsletter, be sure to share with a friend or two and tune in next time for more news, entertainment, and good vibes 😎
I hope the firing squads idea is completely halted. What in the actual?! That is one of the most obscene things I have ever heard in my entire life. I can't believe it's actually gotten this far