Next Disaster: Toxic Waste from Ohio Derailment
Where it's been, where it's going and WTF is going on with this contamination cleanup? Plus, applause for Brittney Griner, and why even Steve Bannon thinks MTG's "National Divorce" is batshit crazy
Thanks for rising up on this Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, the last Monday of the month!
On this day 101 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of women’s suffrage.
The high court’s eight justices unanimously ruled the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, to be constitutional.
It came two years after Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the required three-fourths majority of state ratification.
The 19th Amendment went into effect on Aug. 26, 1920, now known as Women’s Equality Day.
According to the latest census, about 9.7 million more women than men voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Here Now the News
SHIPMENTS OF CONTAMINATED WASTE FROM TRAIN DERAILMENT RESUME TODAY: The EPA paused removal of hazardous waste on Saturday, according to Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio). The difference today is, toxic material is headed to approved sites within Ohio, not out of state. —NPR
MICHIGAN RESIDENTS AND LOCAL REPUBLICANS WANT ANSWERS: Why were some of the toxic chemicals and waste water cleaned-up in East Palestine, Ohio sent there, without warning? —Detroit News
TEXAS ALSO KEPT IN THE DARK, DEMANDING ANSWERS: Insider
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SCOTUS HEARS LOAN FORGIVENESS CASE TOMORROW: USA Today
World Watch
ALMOST 60 MIGRANTS DROWN IN SHIPWRECK OFF COAST OF ITALY: A dozen of the victims were children, including a baby only a few months old. The passengers had fled Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Iran. —BBC
FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN SEES EAST AFRICAN DROUGHT UP CLOSE: Politico
CIA CHIEF: PUTIN RELYING ON AMERICANS’ “ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER” TO WIN WAR IN UKRAINE —USA Today
TRANSGENDER AMERICAN JOURNALIST WHO ENLISTED IN UKRAINIAN MILITARY WOUNDED: Shrapnel from a Russian artillery shell struck Sarah Ashton-Cirillo of Las Vegas on Thursday. —Michael K. Lavers reported exclusively in the Washington Blade
PAKISTAN’S FIRST OUT TRANSGENDER TV ANCHOR ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: Los Angeles Blade
A FIRST DOWN UNDER: AUSTRALIA’S PRIME MINISTER MARCHES IN SYDNEY’S GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS —Washington Blade
Politicukoos
GOV. RON DeSANTIS BOYCOTTING NBC NEWS & MSNBC: The Daily Beast
FLORIDA GOP TARGETING NEWS MEDIA: A bill pushed by Florida Republicans that would relax the standards required for public officials to sue journalists and media organizations for libel is “plainly inconsistent with the First Amendment,” according to the acclaimed attorney and constitutional law expert Floyd Abrams. “The statute is a frontal attack” on the U.S. Supreme Court’s longstanding interpretation of the principles “governing First Amendment libel law as it currently exists,” Abrams told the Washington Blade’s Christopher Kane.
EVEN STEVE BANNON ISN’T BUYING MTG’S “NATIONAL DIVORCE” IDEA: "If there's anything that I am one million percent opposed to it’s this entire concept," the former Trump administration advisor said in a podcast last week. "We're at war right now. We're at war with the administrative state, the secular paganism of the Gaia movement, the climate change movement, we're being sucked into a third world war on the Eurasian landmass… We have never had a bigger inflection point in all of human history. We don't have the time, or luxury, for sideshows.” —Newsweek
What We’re Talking About
BRITTNEY GRINER APPEARS WITH WIFE CHERELLE AT NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, RECEIVES ROARING STANDING OVATION: Los Angeles Blade
ANGELA BASSETT, VIOLA DAVIS, WILL SMITH, WAKANDA FOREVER AND ABBOTT ELEMENTARY WIN NAACP IMAGE AWARDS: Associated Press
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNERS: Sally Field for her Lifetime Achievement; Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan and their incredible film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, plus Abbott Elementary and The White Lotus. —CNN
Biz News
TWITTER REPORTEDLY LAYING OFF ANOTHER 200 EMPLOYEES: The New York Times
ELON MUSK FIRES TWITTER EXEC IN CHARGE OF “TWITTER BLUE:” The Information
MUSK CALLS MEDIA “RACIST AGAINST WHITES:” See last night’s “Bedtime Stories” edition of this newsletter
RALPH NADER TWEETS ATTACK ON MUSK: The Street
THE ELON STRIKES BACK, VIA TWITTER, OF COURSE
INSIDE NEXSTAR, THE BIGGEST TV COMPANY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF: Max Tani writing in Semafor
FOX NEWS LAMENTS MUSIC COMPANY CO-FOUNDER’S DEPARTURE AFTER BACKLASH FOR SUPPORTING TRANSPHOBES J.K. ROWLING AND GRAHAM LINEHAN: Grasp your pearls, dear reader! “Cancel Culture” claims its latest victim! Oh, my goodness, when will it end? —FoxNews
THE CASE FOR CANCEL CULTURE: The new book, just out as of last week, is the first to argue in favor of cancel culture as a fundamental means of democratic expression throughout history, and timely necessity aimed at combating systems of oppression. It’s the first book by award-winning journalist and out gay activist Ernest Owens. "An important tool for all times,” is how I describe it in a blurb on the back cover, “for anyone looking to learn how to have the difficult but necessary conversations about race, injustice, inequality, and oppression.” Available in hardcover and audiobook from St. Martin’s Press.
All the Bias That’s Fit to Print
THE NEW YORK TIMES IS REPEATING ONE OF ITS MOST NOTORIOUS MISTAKES: The Nation
ICYMI: Check out my report in the Los Angeles Blade about the plea by nearly 200 journalists, celebrities, advocates and organizations, calling on The Times to stop its biased coverage of the transgender population and gender-affirming care.
FAILURE TO FACT-CHECK: Journalist Parker Molloy takes readers of her excellent Substack, The Present Age, on an awesome trip back in time and provides an inside look into the NYT’s Opinion Section.
Sportsball
QUIN SNYDER SIGNS 5-YEAR DEAL TO COACH ATLANTA HAWKS: ESPN
SLUGGER MANNY MACHADO SIGNS $350M, 11-YEAR CONTRACT WITH SAN DIEGO PADRES: Associated Press
OUT WWE STAR SONYA DEVILLE AKA DARIA BERENATO ENGAGED: My story in last week’s Los Angeles Blade
OUT WRESTLER KAYLA SPARKS APPEARS ON BOTH WWE AND AEW:
“The Spice Ranger” tweeted that it’s been her dream since she was 3 years old to make it to the WWE, and on Friday night Sparks appeared on both “Smack Down” as well as on “Rampage.” —Webisjericho
HOW BLACK TRANS ATHLETES HAVE LED THE WAY ON INCLUSION: The incredible Karleigh Webb writing in Outsports
Trans World
KENTUCKY ROLLS ALL ITS TRANS HATE INTO ONE BILL: Erin Reed has the story in her excllent Erin In the Morning Substack.
ERIN TRACKS ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION: Erin In the Morning
LGBTQ+ Review
LGBTQ+ POPULATION IN U.S. HOLDS STEADY AT 7.2%: Los Angeles Blade
HOW “THE LITTLE MERMAID” WAS INSPIRED BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN’S OWN “QUEER HEARTBREAK:” PinkNews
PROUD BOYS FAIL TO SHOW FOR THEIR OWN DRAG STORY HOUR PROTEST: Washington Blade
Movie News
ANT MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA shrunk at the box office this past weekend. My daughter and I saw it, along with a total of three other people in an otherwise empty theater. Meh, it was alright. But I love Paul Rudd, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas, so totally worth it. In second place: Cocaine Bear. Yeaahh, no thanks, I’ll pass. —AV Club
Star Trek Corner
NEW PICARD SEASON 3 TRAILER RELEASED: Click here!
That’s all for today. Thanks for rising up with me, and a special thank you to all my subscribers, especially those who are paid subscribers. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with more. Until then, may your news be good news!
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