03/17/23
Good morning! It’s Friday, March 17th. St. Patrick’s Day!
I don’t really have anything else to add to this… it’s St. Patrick’s Day so go dye some stuff green and have yourself a great day.
And now, the news.
France Raises Retirement Age
-via BBC
The big story is in France where President Macron raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. This has been the scuttlebutt over in France for a while, which has led to nationwide protests and strikes.
Because of those strikes and protests, it was expected that a vote on the measure would not pass. So, to circumvent that, the Prime Minister invoked an article of the Constitution that allows this to pass without a vote.
So France has avoided a vote on this, but will have to take another vote because this move will prompt a no-confidence motion, filed by the leader of the far-right opposition party.
Protests have increased since the announcement of the new retirement age, and as of this recording 120 people have been arrested in the streets. Another day of strikes is planned for March 23rd.
Ten Charged in Virginia Mental Hospital Death
-via AP News
Ten people have been charged in the March 6th death of a 28 year old Black man who was handcuffed and pinned to the ground of a Virginia mental hospital for 12 minutes. This, after another video shows officers punching and using pepper spray on him, while he was alone in his cell.
Officers are also being accused of a coverup, saying that they washed the handcuffs and did not report the incident to the Virginia’s state police right away after Otieno died.
No plea deals have been entered.
TikTok Update
-via NY Times
The Biden Administration has given TikTok two choices – sell the app, or face a possible ban. The company is currently owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, and has been under scrutiny for years over concerns that Beijing could suddenly say hey – we need everyone’s data. Not just Kim’s or Elyse or Not Chris’… but everyone’s.
The White House is currently attempting to negotiate a deal that would put new security in place on the clock app, which eliminates ByteDance’s need to sell its shares.
Now, again, I think the better, more future-facing move here is to work with ByteDance to ensure safety on this app, as well as similar apps that will absolutely continue to be made in the future. But, you know… I’m not the white house. So all I can say is – this is a fight that’s been going since Trump said TikTok should sell to an American company in 2020, and while things are certainly moving faster now, nothing has been settled yet.
First Republic Saved by Frenemies
-via NPR
A group of 11 lenders, including Bank of America, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, have agreed to front First Republic Bank a casual $30 billion, to help prop the bank up. The move is meant to show commitment to lenders like First Republic in hopes of upping everyone’s confidence and, you know… preventing bread lines and stuff.
The decision comes after an announcement on Wednesday that both Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings downgraded First Republic's credit ratings which Fitch says is because First Republic caters to wealthy customers and has a high proportion of uninsured deposits.
Trump Crime Update Time
And now, on this lovely Friday, let’s kick the weekend off right with…
Trump Crime Update Time!
(Many crimes, many updates, edition)
Let’s start in Georgia, where Fulton County investigators say they have another recording of Trump trying to keep the job he was so terrible at that a whole entire country really fired him from. This time it was a call to former State Senator David Ralston, who passed away last November.
In the call, which was played for the Fulton County special grand jury, Trump asks for a special session of the George State Assembly to be convened where they would, naturally, just invalidate the state’s valid election results and put Georgia in Trump’s win column. You know… for funsies.
As a reminder, the Special Grand Jury finished its work and recommended multiple indictments, which are unnamed but almost certainly involve Trump. And evidence like this is what has been handed over to Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who has yet to make any public decisions on whether they will be charging anyone in this case.
So that’s one of the things that Trump is charged with… trying to steal an election.
Remember that another thing he’s charged with is trying to steal, or well I guess successfully stealing for the time being, multiple classified documents.
In that case, at least two dozen Mar a Lago staffers as well as members of Trump’s inner circle have been subpoenaed to ask… ew. Why would you want to be a part of Trump’s inner circle? Seems miserable!
No no, they were subpoenaed to ask – what’s up with those classified documents? One source says they’re casting a wide net of people to ask, which is great because people like Trump communication aide Margo Martin declined to answer any questions. Coach Beard’s senior-most prosecutors was involved in Martin’s interview.
Coach Beard himself couldn’t do it because he’s on another angle here… he is still in pursuit of Trump’s defense lawyer Evan Cocoran, who doesn’t want to answer any questions. Prosecutors are asking a judge to find that he must answer the questions. A ruling on that Big Q is expected next week.
And speaking of next week! No news… well, hopefully no news. But as far as Here’s What’s Happening, there will be no new episodes.
So if you have any questions about things… I don’t know pal. I guess slide into those DMs?
And that’s it! That’s the news!
I’m proud of people that dye food and drinks different colors on any day they please. My Grandma used to dye my milk different colors when I was a kid, and it’s one of my favorite memories.
But more than food dye… because you are also really really great… I’m proud of you.