10/31/23

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, October 31st.

Halloween.

OooOOOoooohhhhhh!!!

And now, the news.

Israel-Hamas War

-via CNN

Let’s start with the Israel-Hamas war, where Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, unsurprisingly, rejected calls for a ceasefire, not that, while the Bible says there is a time for peace “now is a time for war.”

Which uh… I mean, sure doesn’t feel super comforting.

While Hamas says Israeli defenses were only able to enter Gaza in limited areas, the Israeli military says they have killed four prominent Hamas operatives with its expanded ground operations.

And of course, there’s the overall humanitarian concern, with the United Nations reporting that a total of 26 aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday, while thousands of Palestinians take basic items, like flour and hygienic supplies, from warehouses. According to UNICEF, about 55% of Gaza’s water infrastructure is in need of repair, with the chief of UNICEF saying the situation is on the verge of “becoming a catastrophe.”

So… that’s how things are going there.

Texas Border

-via NBC News

Down in Texas, a federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from removing the razor wire that Greg Abbott put up on the US-Mexico border.

Why is the Biden administration trying to get rid of it? Well, first of all… it’s just bad. But also, the US Border Patrol has said that sometimes it needs to cut the wire in order to save the lives of migrants who are drowning or dying of dehydration.

To which Abbott said… okay, but like – what’s the problem here?

Texas sued to stop the agents from cutting the wire by arguing, are you ready for this? They argued that they had to stop saving people’s lives because the wire… belongs to Texas.

And that’s what the federal judge’s ruling on Monday supports.

Imagine working your whole life, to get through college, law school, the bar… meeting people, meeting strangers, having life experiences… all to rule that ownership over wire is more important than saving someone’s life.

UAW Strike

-via Detroit Free Press

In an effort to be one of the cool kids, and also, ya know, be on the right side of things, GM has joined Stellantis and Ford as the final company to reach a tentative agreement with striking United Auto Workers.

Unions win. Strikes work.

Constitutional Lessons

-via NPR

And now… fun Constitutional lesson time, with me. Kim. Someone who owns multiple copies of the book. Section three of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution says the following: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

And no, I didn’t have it memorized. Just… almost.

It was ratified to prevent Civil War insurrectionists, and their little buddies, from holding office in the same government they don’t believe in. Which is fair.

So there’s that. And then, as a reminder, a couple 153 years later, there was a literal insurrection as a bunch of Trump supporters, at the organizing, likely funding, and definitely behest of, Donald Trump, who was, at that time, the literal president of the United States.

Well on Monday, a suit to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot in Colorado, began. The weeklong case, brought forward by four Republican, and two unaffiliated voters, is the first of its kind when it comes to Trump and argues that he violated the 14th Amendment when he “dishonestly and unlawfully tried to overturn the 2020 election results through multiple avenues. When that failed, he summoned tens of thousands of enraged supporters for a “wild” protest in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.”

On Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear the same argument. It’s a long shot for sure but you know what… we all saw a man turn a violent mob against our nation’s capitol, because he didn’t like the results of a free and fair election.

Get caught trying.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

Hey you know what? I like candy corn. I like candy corn and I’m not afraid to say it.

But more than that, because you are also excellent, if not as controversial… I’m proud of you.