When It Rains It Pours. Tabs, Mon., Jan. 27, 2025
Morning news roundup and things to read!
Morning, everybody, Marcie here! Do you want the bad news or the good news first? Okay, the bad news it is! That Man was not just blatherweaving about destroying American government and our reputation around the world, he and his Heritage Foundation chuds really fucking meant it, and let us count the ways, from just this past weekend.
Under-qualified loyalist dipshits were confirmed by a complicit Senate:
Boozehound/accused sexual predator Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense. (AP)
Puppy-killer Kristi Noem confirmed as Director of Homeland Security, and John Ratcliffe, the guy who helped slow-walk reports about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and Russian interference in our elections, as head of the CIA. (The Intercept)
The Leader illegally fired 18 inspectors general late Friday night, because if you’re the bank manager planning to rob the bank, firing all the security guards first only makes sense. Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Hannibal “Mike” Ware is not fucking having it, as inspectors general can only be fired for cause, and with notice, and we shall see how this plays out. (NBC News/ WSJ gift link)
That Man released Biden’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and said that he’d like Egypt and Jordan to take all of the Palestinians, and as for the Gaza strip, “we just clean out that whole thing.” He added, “Gaza is interesting. It’s a phenomenal location, on the sea. The best weather, you know, everything is good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it.” Sure, the fourth season of “White Lotus” could be Jared running a resort. Dear Leader talked to King Abdullah II of Jordan and he was like, NO, and he had not even bothered to talk to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi yet when he announced this. The AP called his genocidy-sounding plan “a nontraditional view.” (AP)
That Man said that Ukraine should not have fought back against Russia, and repeated his gripe that the US should not spend anything on NATO. (NBC/Reuters)
Larry Ellison, upon whose Oracle Cloud storage TikTok resides, is angling hard to buy the company, even though it’s not clear that it’s for sale. Relevant, he told Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last year in a resurfaced clip that AI is going to make everybody stay in line. “Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.” Man, all of our George Orwell references sure are gonna get a workout! (Business Insider archive link)
In other crap news, Harvard has disbanded its $100 million Slavery Remembrance Program and fired all of its employees, and outsourced its work to a New England-based genealogical nonprofit. (The Harvard Crimson)
The Air Force removed lesson plans on the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots from the curriculum, though two days later they restored it. (San Antonio Express-News)
Now the better news!
McDonald’s wants you to know that even though they’ve rolled back some of their diversity trainings and external employer surveys, they’re still committed to inclusion and have rebranded its DE&I team as its “global inclusion team.” (McDonald’s Corporate)
For the first time last year, solar provided more power than coal in Europe. (Euro News)
Teen Vogue posted tips on how to start an ICE watch program in your neighborhood, and a downloadable organizing playbook. (Teen Vogue)
Relentlessly brave Jackson Reffitt, son of January 6 defendant and Texas Three Percenter Guy Reffitt, talked to ABC about his efforts to get his father mental health help, and how he’s trying to keep himself safe now that the father who threatened to shoot him and his band of criminal lunatics are all out of prison. “This is not the world we should be living in.” (BBC)
There were massive protests in about 60 towns and cities across Germany this weekend against far-right extremism and that Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party that Elon Musk makes kissy faces at. Crowds were estimated at more than 35,000 people in Cologne and 40,000 in Berlin. (Voice of America)
Snoop Dogg performing at the inauguration is still such a disappointment, but you know who would never? Eminem or Ice Cube. They might be sexist, and homophobic, and Ice Cube would star in just about any movie script that passed his desk, but still, NOT THAT. (Warning, explicit.)
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Today's hed gif kitty could not be any more Monday if he tried. Source info here: https://open.substack.com/pub/martiniambassador/p/cat-just-cant-even-today
And your meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/6a19a187-be37-4e43-8267-5cb0b3299f07
Have some Bear cause everything sucks.
https://substack.com/@ziggywiggy/note/c-88988307?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2knfuc