Below, you will find some headlines we may have missed and some interesting video clips on several subjects. Please feel free to share anything you may have run across; just make sure it’s not from a McMAGAt infested shithole.
Updates:
LA’s wildfires sparked by rare collision of climate factors
At least three destructive, fast-moving wildfires were burning in the Los Angeles metro area early Wednesday.
- Tens of thousands of people evacuated, some having run on foot to flee oncoming flames.
The big picture: The wildfires are the result of an unheard-of combination of factors at this time of year — the worst high wind event in Southern California since 2011, plus some of the driest conditions on record for early January.
- Downtown LA has received just 0.16 inches of rain since May 6 of last year, making it the second-driest period on record for May 6 to Dec 31, according to the National Weather Service.
- January is typically during the region’s wet season.
- Bone-dry conditions in Southern California contrast with the northern parts of the state, where atmospheric rivers have squelched fire risks.
- Even worse, the region had an unusually hot summer that dried out vegetation even further.
Wildfire climate connection
Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades. Wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity, and the lack of moisture in fuels, such as trees, shrubs, grasses, and forest debris. All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change.
From the MarKODA Files-The Dumber than Pigeon Shit Edition:
President Biden/The Biden Administration:
The Fascist/Felon Guy, Wannabe ‘President’ Elmo, and their Brownshirts:
‘Actively dangerous’: 15,000 doctors sign letter begging Senate to reject RFK Jr for health secretary
More than 15,000 doctors have signed a letter imploring the US Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation for secretary of health and human services.
The letter, organized by the advocacy group Committee to Protect Health Care, calls President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Kennedy “a slap in the face to every health care professional who has spent their lives working to protect patients from preventable illness and death.”
“The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system,” the letter reads. “RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency — he is actively dangerous.”
Fuck Off! Signed, California
Fuck Off! Signed, Mother:
Busted! Trump’s Greenland Supporters Were Homeless and Socially Disadvantaged People Bribed With Hotel Dinners
Danish news reports on Trump’s scheme
As it turns out, sources have told Danish news outlet DR News that the supporters wearing fresh MAGA hats during a visit from Trump’s representatives Don Jr and Charlie Kirk were homeless and socially disadvantaged people who were bribed with hotel dinners:
“Several sources now tell DR that a portion of the people who appear in the video from Trump’s campaign people …are homeless and socially disadvantaged, who often find themselves outside the Brugsen in Nuuk …which is located directly opposite Hotel Hans Egede.”
Duped Again, MAGAts:
The Worst People in the World:
Newborn babies at a Virginia hospital have been suffering mysterious injuries. A nurse now faces abuse charges
Police last week arrested a former nurse at the hospital, Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, and charged her with malicious wounding and felony child abuse in a November 2024 incident involving another newborn.
Investigators are now looking into a total of seven potential abuse cases at the hospital: three in 2024 and four in 2023, including Noah’s, said Shannon Taylor, the commonwealth’s attorney for Henrico County.
In a statement last week, Henrico Doctors’ Hospital said it was “shocked and saddened” by the nurse’s arrest and is assisting Henrico police in their investigation.
“At this time, we are not admitting new patients to our NICU,” the hospital added. “For babies needing NICU care, we will assess them, stabilize, and facilitate a transfer to an appropriate facility, once available.”
State News:
Ohio governor signs bill into law forcing teachers and counselors to out LGBTQ+ students
The bill also mandates that all schools find a time during the school day when students are able to leave school for religious instruction.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB 8 (“The Parents’ Bill of Rights”) into law on Wednesday. He did so behind closed doors, not televised as he did for another bill he signed into law the same day.
HB 8 will force teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth to their parents and will limit the mention of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula.
The bill requires that teachers and school staff – including school social workers, counselors and psychologists – notify a student’s parent of “any change in the student’s services, including counseling services, or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.”
The legislation specifically calls out trans identity as necessitating parental notification, and previous testimony has affirmed that disclosures of sexual orientation would also trigger parental contact.
