04/19/23
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, April 19th. Humorous day.
Don’t you just love it?
Hey! Why don’t fish have jobs?
…Because they’re always in school!
Humorous day – we love it.
And now, the news.
Ralph Yarl Update
-via The Guardian & ABC News
Let’s start with an update on the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the 16-year-old Black student who was shot twice, once just above the eye, after knocking on the wrong door, by 84-year-old white homeowner Andrew Lester, who asked zero questions before he shot Yarl twice, once before he even opened the door.
So, originally, Lester was initially taken into police custody and released without charges last Friday. I didn’t know that when I recorded yesterday’s episode, which is why it wasn’t in that episode. Sorry about that. He was released pending further investigation.
On Monday, after social media outcry and local protests brought much needed attention to this story thanks to Yarl’s aunt’s GoFundMe post, charges against Lester were announced.
Which brings us up to Tuesday, when Lester surrendered to police around 1:30p local time. Then, just after 3p… he posted a $200,000 bond. And, for the second time in a week, after shooting a young Black man twice… Andrew Lester walked out of the police station.
The way this whole system needs to be reformed…
Anyway, that’s the latest there.
New York Parking Garage Collapse
At least one person is dead, and five others were injured, with another person refusing medical treatment, after a parking garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan. It was a five-story building, but the collapse occurred when the 2nd floor fell onto the 1st. The building has been deemed structurally unstable – which feels… you know… not being an engineer or contractor, I still have to say – I agree.
First responders believe everyone is out of the building, but they will continue a search to be sure.
The cause is currently unclear but does not appear to have been criminal.
Debt Limit Update
-via CNN
Hey, let’s talk about the debt limit. Something we all know a ton about and are super, super comfortable about at length.
In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy asked House Republicans to pretty please back his debt ceiling plan so they can at least get to negotiations with the White House.
The debt plan heads to the floor next week for a vote, so this story is mostly just a little reminder that the debt fight still looms and, you know… we’ll know more when we know more.
I’ve had a few jobs, I’m thinking about a few specific shows, where I just loved driving to work because I couldn’t wait to be there. I just knew, even if the day wasn’t the best, I’d have a good time in the end because I liked the show and I really like the people I worked with. It’s a great feeling, to genuinely love a job like that. Rare, for sure. But great. All of that to say… I hope, every morning he gets up to go to work, Kevin McCarthy feels the exact opposite of that.
Senate Republicans Continue to Not Be Great
-via NPR
Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic effort to temporarily replace Sen. Feinstein from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Why? Because without her, judges can’t be confirmed. Literally, Senator Linds Graham said adding a Democrat to replace her would seat, “a handful of judges that I think should never be on the bench."
And what’s worse? Mitch McConnell, who himself just got back to the Senate after a fall that was only supposed to take him out of work for a week turned into him being out for almost TWO MONTHS, was like – yeah! Don’t replace her!
It’s the hypocrisy, for me.
Beijing Hospital Fire
-via ABC News
At least 21 people are dead after a fire broke out at a hospital in Beijing. At least 71 patients were rescued and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Dominion Settlement
-via Deadline
And finally, let’s end on a story that, as I write this, I truly don’t know if I’m going to be mad, silly, or just super annoyed while I tell it.
Dominion has settled their suit against Fox News and Fox Corp for $787.5 million. An amount that does not bankrupt the company, nor, and this is where I actually see red, does it include a requirement for Fox to apologize.
It’s just… why? Why did they settle? With a $787.5 million settlement, I have to assume that Fox is, you know… guilty. So then why?
And what does this do? No apology?
Because were I the judge, part of the punishment would have been making the executives go to the door of every single person in America and apologize to them for lying to them, their friends, and their family. Now, would I open the door to Tucker Carlson? No! Honestly, I would call the cops immediately. But still… make him come down here anyway.
It is a state-run media network that exists to boost the Republican party’s decent into Qanon madness, and they want to drag America and democracy down with them. And what the Dominion discovery text prove is that they don’t even care. Which is worse! They don’t believe the lies they tell, even as they know their lies are lies. And they are deadly lies. And this settlement will only embolden them.
Fraud by voters occurs at such an impossibly low rate that it has never changed the outcome of any election. But this? This is a fraud against voters, and beware of anyone who tries to tell you anything other than exactly that.
Flames. Flames on the side of my face.
Pull their license to air. Fine them so much money that they can’t afford to buy Tucker more bowties, let alone continue to run the network. At the very least, make them apologize.
We’ve gone round the bend. This is the upside-down.
I have to end this segment here before I do another 17 hours just rambling into my own madness about how absolutely impossibly absurd this is.
And that’s it. That’s news.
It has to be. For my own sanity.
I’m proud of humor. Remember earlier in this episode, when I had humor still? What a time that was.
You know? I’m proud of you.