Extra, Extra
Face the Face: “Mike German, a former FBI agent, said officers’ widespread use of masks was unprecedented in US law enforcement and a sign of a rapidly eroding democracy. ‘Masking symbolizes the drift of law enforcement away from democratic controls.'” (It’s not a drift, it’s a sprint.) The alarming rise of US officers hiding behind masks. (Just tell them the masks can protect against Covid. They’ll take them off.)
+ Disorder at the Border: “Perhaps nowhere is fear among farm workers more palpable than on the farms and ranches along the southwestern U.S.-Mexico border, where for centuries workers have considered the frontier as being more porous than prohibitive.” NYT (Gift Article): On a Quiet Southern Border, Empty Farms and Frightened Workers.
+ Erased But Not Forgotten: Pentagon Strips Harvey Milk’s Name From Navy Vessel. (Feel safer?) Hope they saved the letters because we’re gonna put ’em back some day.
+ Married to the Taliban: “There is a saying in Pashto (language): A woman’s place is either inside the house or in the grave. But this is not merely a simple proverb, it is rather a law that dictates the social role of women among the Pashtun people. It means that a woman has no place outside the walls of her house. She has no right to study and no right to work. Deprived of these fundamental rights, women remain far removed from any kind of participation in society. The confines of their home become their whole world and, in that small space, they continue to suffer all kinds of violence.” Aeon: Taliban bride. “Women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their own homes. This is the story of Marjan, married at 12 to a Taliban fighter.”
+ Balls Deep: Earlier this week, we learned that the infamous, 19-year-old DOGE-ist known as Big Balls had retired from government. No such luck. Key Member of Musk’s DOGE Moves to Social Security.
+ Harmers Market: The market doesn’t seem to mind the chaos in Washington. It climbed back to pre-tariff levels and then some. S&P 500 hits record high as stock market surges.
+ Defame and Fortune: Gavin Newsom sues Fox News for defamation and demands $787m. (Suing Fox for defamation is like suing a fish for getting wet.)
