02/14/25
Good morning! It’s Friday, February 14th.
Valentine’s Day!
Also, International Book Giving Day.
Two great days that go great together. Books are very romantic. A little romcom? A little fighting fascism? Very romantic.
And now, the news.
Car Drives into Crowd in Munich
-via CBS News
Starting with news out of Germany, where at least 28 people have been injured, including two in serious condition, after a driver drove a car into a group in central Munich. A suspect has been taken into custody, he is believed to be a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker.
The Bavarian governor says the event, which took place around 10:30 in the morning was “suspected to be an attack.”
A motive is not currently known, though a demonstration for the service workers’ union was taking place at that time. Again, no motive is known yet so that could just be a coincidence.
Ship Collision + Military Fight Jet Crash
-via ABC News
On Wednesday night, the military aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman collided in the Mediterranean Sea with a large merchant vessel.
There are no reported injuries and both ships appear to be without significant damage. Which is great news, because the aircraft carrier is powered in part by two nuclear reactors so we like those feeling nice and safe, that’s for sure.
So wild – the ocean is so big! What happened, someone forgot to turn their turn signals on?
Also on Wednesday, two pilots were rescued from the San Diego Bay after a fighter jet crashed into the water. They were rescued by good Samaritans because we are America’s Finest City and you’re darn right two they scooped those pilots right on up!
This is the 6th plane collision and 2nd military collision since Trump took office.
Immigration in America
-via NPR, Axios, NY Times, The Hill, NY Times, and CBS News
Despite assurances that Guantanamo Bay would hold only migrants who had committed actual crimes, literally saying it would only house “the worst of the worst” (which no one really should have believed because they also want to house 30,000 people. After 9/11, the most amount of people sent over, whether they were rightfully detained or not, was 779)… we are now already getting reports about who’s actually being sent over.
And guess what? He lied.
We don’t know enough about who’s being held at Gitmo, but PR photos of migrants being led, while shackled, on and off of military planes have led to a clearer picture of who’s actually being taken over there. For example, Luis Alberto Castillo, a 29-year-old father of one, who came into the United States from Venezuela on January 19th and attempted, at 7 AM that day, to make an appointment to seek asylum with border patrol using the CBP One app that was developed when Biden was in office.
Doesn’t sound like “the worst of the worst” to me. In fact, when asked if he was a member of a Venezuelan gang that the administration is using as an excuse to apparently jail as Venezuelans as possible, the spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said “During further assessment, intelligence officers could not definitively determine whether the individual is or is not a confirmed member of TDA. He may very well be a member of this vicious gang. He may not be.”
So they don’t know, but are still holding him there.
Castillo is being held at the Migrant Operations Center on the island. And we gotta ask… if they intended to only take over “the worst of the worst”… why is there a Migrants Operations Center?
Lots of questions to be asked, which is probably why the ACLU has filed a suit against the Trump administration.
Actually, what they’re specifically suing over is the lack of access to lawyer at Guantanamo Bay.
So taken all together, we’ve got people who came here using a Biden-developed program, arrested and taken to Guantanamo Bay without proof of a specific crime, not being given acceptable access (if any) to lawyers. That is Luis Alberto Castillo’s story – and we have to assume he won’t be the only one.
And along these same lines, AG Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday that she is suing the state of New York, as well as Governor Hochul, DMV chief Mark Schroeder, and AG Letitia James for, as she says, limiting the state’s cooperation with ICE and for having laws like the Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers’ license.
She filed a similar suit in Illinois and in a statement, Pam Bondi said “As you know, we sued Illinois and New York didn’t listen. So now you’re next.”
It’s not about not listening… it’s not these laws exist and have been previously held up in court before.
I should also note that, as our top law enforcement official, Pam Bondi didn’t say she was suing the New Yorkers. She said they’d been charged. Appearing to not know that there is no such thing as a civil charge. She has filed a civil suit. You can only charge someone when it’s a criminal charge.
At the same press conference where she invented a new legal word, she also said: “This is a new DOJ”
Tragically, yeah it sure is.
Meanwhile, Eric Adams says he’s going to allow ICE agents back into Rikers prison to assist in criminal investigations. He also wanted to embed more detectives in federal task forces. This is a sharp change from the laws that dictate the city’s status as a Sanctuary City.
I should also mention that, after charges against Eric Adams were dropped this week, Manhattan’s US attorney, as well as others connected to the case, resigned their jobs. Speaking to NPR on the condition of anonymity, a former senior Justice Department official said the fallout from this is, "the worst we've seen so far (from the new DOJ) and that's a high bar." Adding that the idea of dropping the case like this was, "jaw dropping, shocking."
A new DOJ.
USAID Pause Extended + Federal Employees Fired
-via CNN, NPR, Newsweek, Reuters, and
On Thursday, a federal judge hit pause for another week on Trump and Elon’s plan to dismantle USAID. Now, let’s be clear about this…
Trump wasn’t to dismantle USAID completely. Take it down to the studs. This order reinstates the USAID workers who were put on paid leave as well as blocks Trump and co from taking further actions against those workers.
The closure of USAID is still having a negative effect on the programs that it supports. It is still having a danger effect in some of the most vulnerable places in the world. Food is about to go bad because it’s sitting in ports and on ship. TB and HIV treatment programs in Ukraine are shuttered.
A men’s health clinic in South Africa, which also cater to LGBTQ+ folks in the area, is closed.
Schools, known as “secret schools” that educate hundreds of Afghan girls, have been closed in Afghanistan.
And in Myanmar, a 71-year-old refugee in a Thai displacement camp has died after hospital closures meant she was discharged from a USAID-funded hospital caused her oxygen supply to be cut off.
The reinstatement of the employees, under this judge’s ruling, will last through February 21st.
However, as another judge ruled that Trump’s “fork in the road” email can go forward, a yet-to-be-determined number of federal employees have been fired. 75,000 others have taken the buyout, but that number is according to the White House and should be taken with the raised eyebrow and magnifying glass emoji.
When I say we don’t know how many people have been fired, I’m talking about every single probationary employee at the Office of Personnel Management , at least 160 recent hires at the Department of Education, about 100 at the General Service Administration. But according to government data, about 280,000 civilian government workers were hired in the last two years, with most of them still on probation.
So tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of people are eligible to be fired under this attack on our federal workers.
RFK Jr + Measles
-via CBS News, Twitter, People, and Washington Post
On Thursday, the Senate voted, nearly along party lines, to confirm RFK Jr. as our new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The only person who didn’t vote for him was Mitch McConnell who said that, as a survivor of polio, Kennedy “failed to proved he is the best possible person” for the job, based on his record on vaccines.
So… everything else was fine?
The dude said wifi causes “leaky brain”! That’s what he calls it, leaky brain. He has a brain worm and, while running for president, tweeted: “I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate.” And then he was like nah, that’s not enough. I need to say more and offered this second tweet: “I feel confident of the result even with a six-worm handicap.”
Still one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.
He once sawed the head off of a dead whale. He once drove around with a dead bear cubs for hours manufactured a scenario which made it appear that a cyclist in New York’s Central Park had hit and killed the bear.
But okay, the vaccine thing is also a concern. (It is though. He’s very anti-vaxx. And pro-conspiracy theory)
Also, side note, when someone mentioned to Trump that McConnell had polio, Trump appeared to question whether that was true.
Anyway. Dangerous! Yet another dangerous Senate confirmation.
Coming at a great time too…
At least 24 cased of measles have been detected in Texas. None of those cases were found in anyone who had gotten the measle vaccine.
In Gaines County, where the cases were found, their measle vaccination rate is about 94.3% in kindergarteners. At one of the schools in the county, that number fell to 46.2% and, in that same school, about 55.6% in seventh graders.
In places where vaccination rates are below 95%, the virus can easily spread to other counties.
Elon Pays Trump $10M
Back in 2021, before Elon accidentally bought Twitter and drove it straight into the ground, Trump sued the site and its owner (Jack Dorsey) for kicking him off the platform after he used it to incite a deadly insurrection on the capital because his dad never told him he loved him.
And now, four years later, Elon has settled that suit and forked over $10 million to Trump.
Can. You. Even.
First of all, Twitter could have won this suit because Trump argued a First Amendment violation but what do we know about the First Amendment? People love to get it wrong. 1A does not protect you when you violate a private company’s terms and conditions.
Also… Elon’s already got his grub hands in every area of the government. Does Twitter really need to give Trump $10 million on top of that?
And speaking of conflicts of interest… the State Department’s procurement forecast for the year sure does have an interesting $400 million line item…. An unknown number of armored Tesla vehicles.
Yeah.
…Yeah.
As Tesla sales fall all around the world, likely because Elon is doing stuff like this, the government is spending $400 million on what will presumably be cybertrucks.
Musk literally just tweeted about how the soap dispensers were overpriced at the Pentagon. But go on, get your bag I guess.
For reference, Cybertrucks start at around $80,000. They also plan to buy BMW SUVS… they start at $40,000.
Missouri AG Suing Starbucks
-via Washington Post
Speaking of people who need a hobby…
Missouri’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, announced that he has sued Starbucks for being “more female and less white.”
The suit accused the company of using hiring quotas, advancement opportunities, and board membership to create “systemic racial, sexual, and sexual orientation discrimination” that leads to customers forced to “pay higher prices and wait longer for goods and services.”
Sounds to be like this guy has an annoying order that he had to wait too long for and now he feels like he can sue.
Bailey, either learn to make a coffee and learn to leave earlier for work so you can wait a little longer for a drink. But stop making your problem, everyone’s problem.
Teens Fight Back Against Trump
It’s Friday – let’s talk about some wins!
Six transgender teens, between the ages of 12 and 18, fought and won to keep funding in place for hospitals that offer gender-affirming care for people under 19 years old.
There will be more cases, this will go to more courts, but in the meantime… this is a win.
Kind of.
A 12 year old needing to spend time and money in court fighting for the right to live their most authentic life is not a win.
But these hospitals continuing to be funded is a win.
These kids, and their parents, refused to just let this administration, which leads with hate before anything else, steamroll over their rights.
And in New Hampshire, two teenage transathletes are also fighting back. Specifically against Trump’s executive order that prevents transwomen and girls from being able to play on the womens and girls teams.
It is likely to be the first time the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order will be challenged.
This is not the first time these athletes have had to fight for their rights. Previously, they sued to overturn the New Hampshire state law that allow would have prevented them from playing on the girl’s team. Last fall, a federal judge ruled in their favor to let them try out for, and play with, the girl’s team while the state ban was challenged in court.
Why are they doing all this? How about this quote from one of the girls: “I just want to go to school like other kids and keep playing the game I love.”
She’s fifteen. She just wants to play soccer with her friends.
These wins in the court that allow these kids to play sports and exist as their most authentic selves are wins, of course. They are judicial and moral wins.
But where is the win when we’re forcing kids into court just to prove they have a right to exist?
Humpback Whale Swallows Man
-via AP News
And finally… a humpback whale very briefly swallowed a kayaker in Chile, before spitting him out. The whole thing was caught on video and the link is in show notes. You gotta check it out, it’s wild. It all happened so fast!
When reached for a comment, the whale said:
And that’s it. That’s the news.
We made it!
I was so excited about that whale impression. Honestly, it motivated me through this whole long episode.
One day the episodes will go back to normal.
But in the meantime, you better believe I am wildly, impossibly, proud of those teens who are fighting back. I am so terribly sorry they have to, but they’re amazing.
I’m also proud of… chocolate.
It really carries Valentine’s Day, huh?
But more than that, more than chocolate covered cherries which are, scientifically, the best chocolates… Because you are, scientifically, the best. I’m proud of you.