News that got my attention today
Friday, February 21, 2025
Mitch McConnell is retiring. We’re losing a moderating force on right-wing extremism — and that’s a statement on the dire condition the US is in.
Trump is dismantling the government fight against foreign influence operations. Makes sense; foreign influence helped get him elected.
Trump cut protections for Haitians, putting them on track for deportation.
Hamas turned four hostages over to Israel in a display a senior UN official called “abhorrent and cruel.” Israel later said only three bodies belonged to captives.
The SS United States, a historic 990-foot ocean liner and the largest passenger ship built in America, is steaming from Philadelphia to its final fate as the world’s largest artificial reef. It will finish about 180 feet underwater and 20 miles off the coast of Okalosa County, off the Florida Gulf Coast. The ship carried four US presidents, Marylin Monroe, Marlon Brando and Grace Kely, set transatlatic speed records and completed about 800 crossings until it retired in 1969.
Amazon passed Walmart revenue for the first time. I would have thought Amazon did that years ago.
New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, decided against removing NYC Mayor Eric Adams from office.
Wild fish can tell humans apart when we dress differently.
Cheetohs launched the Flamin' Hot Dill Pickle flavor.
On this day: The Communist Manifesto was published (1848), NASCAR was founded (1948) — a friend told me recently that NASCAR was based on evasion techniques invented by bootletters; he said his family were bootleggers 100 years ago, which is way more interesting than my family history — Malcolm X was assassinated (1965), Billy Graham died (2018).
Sources: 1440, The New York Times: Today’s Headlines