02/21/23
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 21st. National Sticky Bun Day.
Fun fact – the difference between sticky buns and cinnamon rolls is that sticky buns have nuts, usually pecans, and cinnamon rolls don’t.
Both are delicious and I wish I had some right now.
And now, the news.
New Earthquake Hits Türkiye
-via NPR
First, an FYI… the Turkish government is asking for the country to be called by its Turkish name. The change has been adopted by the United Nations and, moving forward, that’s how it’ll be referenced here.
It’s not a big change in the country, as this is how it’s pronounced in Turkish. They’re simply asking everyone else to pronounce it that was as well.
It’s spelled T-U-R-K-I-Y-E (Tur-key-ey)
So… that’s just news.
Unfortunately, this piece of news comes with other news when it comes to the country, as yet another earthquake has rocked the area. A 6.4 earthquake shook both Turkiye and Syria on Monday, followed by a 5.8 aftershock. So far, only three fatalities have been reported, and as least 200 injuries. Six people are believed to be trapped under three collapsed buildings.
Which is just about one of the worst things that could happen to the area, as the death toll continues to grow from the devastating earthquake earlier this month. So far, the death toll from that quake is at over 47,000 and still expected to rise.
Once again, there is a link in show notes to a great NY Times article about how to help the area.
Alec Baldwin Charges Downgraded
-via ABC News
The Santa Fe DA is dropping the gun enhancement charge against Alec Baldwin and Rust shoot armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, which, if convicted, would have carried a five-year sentence. The involuntary manslaughter charge, with its 18-month conviction, still stands.
This dropped charge is a win for Baldwin which makes it, in my eyes, a big ol thumbs down.
Biden Visits Kyiv
-via NY Times
Traveling under a cloak of invisibility, President Biden made a surprise trip to Kyiv on Monday, to demonstrate the country’s “unwavering support” of Ukraine, ahead of the one-year anniversary (anniversary?) of Russia’s invasion of the country.
After a ten hour train ride through Ukraine (what can I say? Dude LOVES trains), President’s Biden and Zelensky stepped out onto the streets of Kyiv, as an air-raid siren went off, with Biden saying, “One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”
They also walked along the Wall of Remembrance, viewing the portraits of the more than 4,500 soldiers that have died since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Meta Launches Paid Verification Service
-via NPR
Because certainly nothing bad happened when Twitter did it, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and Instagram will offer a paid verification service, beginning in Australia and New Zealand, with other countries to be announced soon.
No thanks. For me.
The company lost more than $600 billion in market value last year. But uh… yeah, this should fix it. This feels like the reason that Meta has lost its value…
Brazilian Deluge
-via AP News
The search continues in Brazil for survivors of that landslides and flooding that took place over the weekend, killing at least 36 people.
Armed forces have joined the search, which has been made more difficult by the fact that the landslides have blocked the roads, while the floods have washed away chunks of pavement.
A state of emergency has been declared for the area, on the northern coast of Sao Paolo.
President Carter Enters Hospice Care
-via Washington Post
President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care. At 98, he is the oldest living president. And, at 42+ years post-presidency, he has had the most amount of time post-presidency. During that time, Habitat for Humanity has helped more an 29 million people access new or improved housing.
I’ll have more to say about President Carter later but, if Lin Manuel Miranda is right, and we are all just planting seeds in a garden we never get to see, I can only hope that the 39th president is able to take in the legacy of his presidency and life after the White House, as memorializations begin to pour in.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
Hey! Here’s something… allergy season is firmly here and this is a reminder to take your allergy medicine. Trust me, you’ll feel better.
I’m proud of sticky buns. Instead of being like, “no we’re basically cinnamon rolls,” they said – hey. We’re doing something different over here. What we’re doing matters and we don’t want to just be looped in with cinnamon rolls. We have pecans! We’re our own thing.
But more than that… more than a delicious sticky bun on a nice weekend morning… because you’re a little nutty sometimes too, but in the best way possible… I’m proud of you.