Enjoy The Silence. Tabs, Fri., Nov. 15, 2024

Morning news roundup and things to read!

Tabs gif by your friend Martini Glambassador!

I’m about to show you a wonderful, wonderful thing. But first you have to do the homework: This is background on the “Waitangi Tribunal,” which is the “essential institution in New Zealand, [whose] mandate has evolved massively to cover everything from the preservation of Indigenous language, to Indigenous stewardship of the environment, to a group’s ability to copyright its cultural artifacts and traditions. Its work is even responsible for the fact that, since 2017, both a river and a forest in New Zealand have had the same legal rights as a human.” (World Politics Review) Now, this week, the newly rightwing New Zealand Parliament tried to “reinterpret” the treaty that established it. (Reuters)

Now.

I feel like I can breathe again.

Alexandra Petri dreamed about Trump’s Cabinet.

Hmm! A VILE WIND BEARING PESTILENCE AND LAMENTATIONS will likely be in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services! This is actually a huge relief because Trump was considering the words “your body, my choice” for the position until Monday, but their interview went badly. Don’t get too complacent though: The box of free measles and a committee composed of all RFK Jr.’s weird roadkill are still in the running.

(Gift link Washington Post)

Pete Hegseth is a loathsome pig who wants to constrain “wanton divorce” while knocking up colleagues while married to someone else. (AMPM Reports)

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel, isn’t just the guy who’ll try to kickstart Armageddon, he can cure cancer! (Prospect)

What anti-vaxx surgeons general mean for your kid and measles :) (NPR) Oh right, measles surged twenty percent worldwide last year, and a hundred thousand children died. Thank you RFK Jr! (CNN) How RFK Jr. killed children in Samoa, and how he lied about it. (Mother Jones)

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Corruption. (Paul Waldman)

I like this man.

Ohhhhh, the “mass deportations now” will actually be a moneymaker for the private prisons, and instead of deporting them, they’ll likely just loan the immigrants out to industry, like in the chain gang days (or Schindler’s List). (The Journeyman)

Elon wants to kneecap his EV competitors, so he plans to get rid of the $7500 EV credit. Go get your electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid now, if you can swing it! (Reuters) Eligible cars and trucks. (Consumer Reports)

Marine LePen is on trial for embezzlement? But the far Right is so honest and selfless all the time. Anyway, prosecutors are trying to get a ruling that “crime” means you can’t be president. What a silly place that Europe is. (Politico)

Your friend Cajun Kid had some real bad health thingies, and while Medicaid should cover the Medicaid-y stuff, they could use your help with the living part, if you are holding! (Gofundme)

Hey hey, St. Paul, Minnesota, here’s $110 million in medical debt relief! Thanks Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan! :D (KARE 11)

Enjoy the gayness of John Paul Brammer enjoying the gayness of some new pope heist movie, Conclave I guess? (Hola Papi)

EVAN POPS IN: I’ve already been writing here about what a sick creep Trump SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth is, but this morning I’ve gone muuuuuuuch deeper into how Hegseth is EXACTLY the guy Trump wanted to pick to go after “the enemy within,” AKA the American people. Come by/share/subscribe! [The Moral High Ground]

OK back to Rebecca! And this Carla Bruni video:

(Let’s only be nice to Carla Bruni and maybe she will come back to the Left, who knows, flies, honey, etc. Who knows, a Bruni fangirl can dream.)