End of an Era
Why Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for re-election, Bill Maher says "The trans community is asking for too much," plus WTF is "eliminationism" and who are the right wingnuts advancing it?
Thanks for rising up this Wednesday, March 1, 2023. It’s Justin Bieber’s 28th birthday. Kesha turns 35 today. Lupita Nyong'o is 39. Director Ron Howard is 68 and the one and only Roger Daltrey of The Who turns 79 today (An earlier edition of this newsletter had a typo, reporting his age as 78, my apologies and thanks to subscriber Sophie Kandler! And: Please don’t ask me, “Who?”).
Here Now the News
LORI LIGHTFOOT LOSES RE-ELECTION BID: Chicago’s incumbent mayor, its first Black mayor and first out gay mayor, didn’t even make it into the run-off. Lightfoot finished third in Tuesday’s election with 16.89% of the vote, behind former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas at 33.95% and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson with 20.32%. —Chicago Sun Times
IN AN 8-WAY RACE, SHE COULDN’T HAVE WON: Five Black males, one white male, one Latino male and another Black woman tried to unseat Lightfoot, Mary Mitchell writes in the Chicago Sun Times.
KEY MOMENTS FROM SCOTUS HEARING ON LOAN FORGIVENESS: Politico
JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR CHALLENGES CONSERVATIVE COLLEAGUES: Above the Law
JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON’S 1ST OPINION: The Hill
FBI DIRECTOR’S 1ST COMMENTS ON LAB LEAK COVID THEORY: ABC News
LAWMAKERS GRILL PENTAGON ON UKRAINE SPENDING: The New York Times
U.S. SUES CHEMICAL COMPANY FOR EXPOSING LOUISIANA RESIDENTS TO POTENTIAL CANCER: The Associated Press
WHY ARE DEAD WHALES WASHING UP? No, it’s not wind farms. —NYT
Politicukoos
BUTTIGIEG PUSHES BACK ON McCONNELL CRITICISM OF “WOKE INITIATIVES: The Hill
WorldWatch
DOZENS DEAD IN TRAINWRECK IN GREECE: BBC
AMERICAN MURDERED IN ISRAEL WAS CONNECTICUT NATIVE: Elan Ganeles, 27, of West Hartford, Conn., was in Israel to attend a wedding when he was killed while driving through the West Bank area in Jerusalem. Ganeles was gunned down by two terrorists who drove up to his car and opened fire, according to authorities. —WTNH-TV
HealthWatch
COMMON SUGAR SUBSTITUTE LINKED TO HIGHER RATES OF HEART ATTACK: WCBS-TV’s Dick Brennan reports.
WALKING 11 MINUTES A DAY COULD EXTEND YOUR LIFE: Washington Post
FDA ADVISERS RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF 1ST RSV VACCINE: NBC News
Trans World
BILL MAHER: TRANS PEOPLE “WANT TO SHUT DOWN DEBATE” Well, yeah. Help me understand why our existence, our rights, should be up for debate? The HBO comic says trans people are “asking for too much.” — CNN
DAILY WIRE HOST SAYS BEING TRANS NOT “REAL,” NOT “LEGITIMATE,” MUST BE “BANNED:” The New Civil Rights Movement
ELIMINATIONISM: Rhetoric like that, according to Erin Reed of the excellent Substack, Erin In the Morning, is evidence that “political violence and eliminationism targeted towards the transgender community is on the rise. Many of the most famous right-wing figures are now explicitly calling for genocidal policy.” Here are some of the examples Reed provided of “eliminationism:”
Matt Walsh has "declared war" on the transgender community.
Candace Owens has referred to trans people as "demonic" and expressed a desire to "beat them with a cane."
Charlie Kirk has suggested that transgender people should be "dealt with by men like in the 50s and 60s." Meaning, apparently, lynchings.
As mentioned earlier, Michael Knowles called for a complete ban on transgenderism, arguing that it cannot be called “genocide” because transgender people are “not a legitimate category of being and therefore cannot be the target of genocide.”
This surge in eliminationist rhetoric coincides with the advancement of nearly 400 anti-transgender bills in state legislatures.
Mississippi enacted a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Oklahoma passed a bill to ban insurance for transgender healthcare.
Check out Reed’s deep dive into the wave of anti-trans legislation here
IDAHO DOCTORS EXPLAIN WHAT GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE REALLY IS: Idaho Statesman
ANOTHER DOCTOR ASKS LEGISLATORS TO HUMANIZE THE VICTIMS OF THEIR CULTURE WARS: Dr. David Rosenthal, writing in USA Today.
OUT GAY REPORTER CALLS OUT NEW YORK TIMES IN OP-ED: USA Today
AND THEN, THERE’S THIS STORY: A BRITISH LAWMAKER RECOUNTS HER “FRIGHTENING” ENCOUNTER WITH A TRANS WOMAN IN THE LADIES LOO: Or so she claims. —Daily Mail
BizNewz
JACK DORSEY INTRODUCES BLUESKY, NEW ALTERNATIVE TO TWITTER: The catch? You can only sign up if you’ve been invited. —Gizmodo
News from Spaaace
NASA SELECTS WOMAN AS NEW HEAD OF SCIENCE: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday Dr. Nicola Fox will serve as the associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., effective immediately. —NASA
That’s Entertainment!
NO SEX, SAYS NEW BACHELOR: Fox News
HOW HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART II, CAME TOGETHER: The Hollywood Reporter
A REVIEW OF HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART II: The Hollywood Reporter
A REVIEW OF SEASON THREE OF SUPERMAN AND LOIS: CBR.com
WHAT’S J.K. ROWLING TALKING ABOUT IN THAT WITCHES PODCAST? The Daily Beast goes into excruciating detail so you won’t have to.
ROWLING CLAIMS SHE WENT ON TWITTER POSING AS SOMEONE ELSE AND WAS BULLIED: The Independent
Star Trek Corner
HOW A NEW CHARACTER ON PICARD CALLS BACK TO THE MOTION PICTURE: Cinemablend
HOW TO VIEW SEASON THREE OF PICARD AND OTHER STAR TREK EPISODES: Click here to subscribe to Paramount+
For You Star Wars Fans
SEASON THREE OF THE MANDALORIAN IS THE END OF A CHAPTER: Collider
And Finally…
CONNECTICUT TOWN SALUTES LEADER AND COMMUNITY CHAMPION: Congratulations, Leon Davidoff! The former deputy mayor and long-serving member of the West Hartford Town Council, who is moving to the position of Town Clerk, was honored last night with a proclamation from Mayor Shari Cantor, speeches from fellow councilors and neighbors, as well as a citation from Connecticut’s General Assembly, presented by Connecticut St. Sen. Derek Slap and St. Rep. Kate Farrar. Known for his love of zoning issues, Davidoff missed only one of several hundred council meetings, the one held the night his mother passed away. He’s a local legend, a neighbor, and a friend.
That’s all for today. Thanks for rising up with me! I’ll be back tomorrow morning with one more newsletter for the week, PLUS my exclusive review of The Mandalorian season three premiere for paid subscribers, as well as another exclusive preview of Star Trek Picard season three part three, again, only for the paid subscribers! Until then, may your news be good news!
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