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Friday is frustrated, sleep deprived and her knees hurt
Should go to bed. I bought a "Hand's Off" T-Shirt, but it won't arrive until Monday. Along with a compost bin, a new bag, and a light.
Some news?
* The Tariff thing resulted in Billionaires losing $208 Billion today because of the Tariffs, and Tech shareholders losing 3.5 trillion yesterday.
The world’s 500 richest people lost a combined $208 billion on Thursday after the president’s new levies went into effect and caused a tizzy on markets around the globe, Bloomberg reported. That drop is the fourth-largest one-day decline in the 13-year history of publication’s Billionaires Index, as well as the biggest since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over half of the uber-wealthy on Bloomberg’s index saw their fortunes plunge an average of 3.3 percent, with American billionaires really taking it on the chin. Mark Zuckerberg suffered the most in the aftermath of the tariffs’ implementation, losing about $17.9 billion—about 9 percent of his net worth—thanks to Meta’s stock dropping 9 percent yesterday. This nosedive comes after the social media brand saw an over $350 billion increase its market value from January 1 through mid-February. Since then, though, Meta shares had fallen about 28 percent.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos saw his company’s share plummet 9 percent in the biggest drop since April 2021, Bloomberg reported. In response, Bezos’s fortune fell by $15.9 billion. Since February, Amazon stock is down by over 25 percent. Elon Musk, meanwhile, lost $11 billion on Thursday, adding to the $99 billion the Tesla CEO has lost this year, and saw 5.5 percent shaved off Tesla’s shares. And Europe’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, lost $6 billion yesterday. Trump’s tariffs include a 20 percent tax on the E.U., which is likely to impact exports of spirits and luxury goods, as well as other items; those categories, of course, fall under the LVMH umbrella, which owns brands such as Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Dior.
The Biggest Billionaire lost 3.5 Trillion
"Shares of Musk's Tesla (TSLA) have lost $565 billion in value since Inauguration Day, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge. That's a bigger loss than suffered by any other S&P 500 company. And Musk is holding the biggest losses as he's the largest shareholder in the electric vehicle maker at 12.8% of the company. The value of Musk's position in Tesla alone dropped more than $72 billion — a larger loss than any other individual investor in S&P 500 stocks.
But unfortunately, Musk isn't the only one suffering. The value of all S&P 500 companies as a group has dropped $3.3 trillion since Trump took office. That's the economic equivalent of Apple (AAPL) just disappearing, as the company is worth $3.2 trillion.
"The last month has been a brutal sell-off for tech stocks and the overall market as every day (every hour) there is some news coming out of the Trump White House that is changing the rules of the investing game from tariffs to chips to investments to policy changes among many others," said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities."
* The The US Dollar Has Lost It's Currency Value and is Diving
* Hip-Hop is Shaking Up Politics in Senegal
Hip-hop has always been about more than beats—it’s about power. And in Senegal, rap isn’t just music; it’s a tool for revolution. Meet Y’en a Marre ("We’re Fed Up"), a crew of rappers and journalists who used their platform to mobilize voters and take down a president. Back in 2012, their anthem “Faux! Pas Forcé” helped register 300,000+ new voters, proving that hip-hop could flip elections. Then there’s Journal Rappé—a news show where everything is delivered in rap. Yeah, you heard that right. Rappers Xuman and Keyti turned current events into bars, keeping young people locked in and informed. And don’t sleep on the women in the movement. Artists like Waw Coumba are using rap to challenge the status quo, push for change, and bring more women into politics. Senegal’s hip-hop scene is living proof that rap can do more than entertain—it can educate, inspire, and shake up entire governments.
* The US was forced to admit they deported the wrong guy to a harsh prison in El Salvadore.. But they say, they will do nothing to get him back. It's just his tough luck, and his wife and little kids' tough luck. Go HERE.
* The Wall Street Journal reports on the MAGA Backlash arriving...and that it may be shorter termed than it thought
"Democrats solidified their 4-3 progressive majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, and the ramifications are nationwide. The comfortable win by Democratic Judge Susan Crawford is the second sign in two weeks of a political backlash against the Trump Presidency.
That’s a warning to the GOP that the Trump-Musk governing style is stirring a backlash that could cost them control of Congress next year. All the more so given the results in two special House races in Florida Tuesday to replace a pair of Republicans."
* NY Landmarks Lit Pink White and Blue for Transgender Day of Visibility
*A federal judge in Rhode Island froze a Trump administration plan to cut more than $11 billion in public health grants to state and local health departments that Congress allocated during the pandemic.
* Wealthy Americans have a death rates on par with poor Europeans. Some wealthy Europeans have death rates 35% lower than the richest Americans. The findings are a stark reminder that even the wealthiest Americans are not shielded from the systemic issues in the US contributing to lower life expectancy.
*Democratic senators call for privacy act reform in response to DOGE take over. As Elon Musk’s DOGE continues to slash through the federal government, Democrats in the US Senate are calling for an update to 1974 legislation to restrict government use of personal data and introduce new penalties, including prison time, for violations.
*If you find yourself in Reykjavik, you might want to go to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Located in the city's Hafnartorg district, the museum can be found in a relatively modern-looking office block.
*The FDA has approved a new medication to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women and girls aged 12 or older. It is the first in a new class of oral antibiotics approved for this condition in nearly 30 years. UTIs are common bladder infections and 30% may face recurring infections. Treating these recurrences can be challenging when standard antibiotics fail due to antibiotic resistance, highlighting the need for new treatment options. The drug, known as gepotidacin but sold under the name Blujepa, works in a unique way by blocking two key enzymes that bacteria need to grow and multiply. This dual-targeted action makes it harder for bacteria to develop resistance quickly, providing a promising option for treating infections that may no longer respond to standard antibiotics.
*Nearly 2,000 scientists, engineers and researchers penned an open letter this week to the Republican President's administration, calling for a stop to its "assault" on science.
*"Since taking office, the Trump administration has illegally attempted to deny American citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil, entirely shut down asylum at the border, sent people to Guantánamo Bay without access to their families or legal counsel, invoked the Alien Enemies Act to fuel Trump's mass deportation agenda, arrested and detained lawful permanent residents for their political views and advocacy, and more. Immigrant communities are terrified. In response, the ACLU is firing on all cylinders to stop the
Trump administration's attacks, including:
Filing 9 lawsuits specifically against Trump's anti-immigrant and unconstitutional executive orders.
Securing judicial orders to halt unlawful deportations under the Alien Enemies Act and unconstitutional denials of citizenship to children born in the United States.
Hosting Know Your Rights trainings and sharing materials so people can prepare for interactions with ICE.
Building a firewall in states and cities to keep the federal government from commandeering local resources to violate immigrants' rights."
*The president issued an order mandating proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, seizing a power the Constitution assigns to the states and Congress. States are suing. [I should hope so. Right now, I think most of Congress should be recalled and we should get new people to serve - they don't appear to be doing much of anything, but talking.]
*A man appearing before a New York court got a scolding from a judge after he tried to use an avatar generated by artificial intelligence to argue his case. (LOL!)
* Sperm Stem Cells Were Used for the First Time in an Attempt to Restore Fertility: In an advance for treating male infertility, researchers transplanted a patient with his own sperm-forming stem cells that were collected from testicular tissue when he was a child.
* (Democrat and former VP running mate of Kamala Harris) Tim Walz is launching a national tour of town halls in Republican House districts.
*After a massive backlash, DOGE scrapped plans to cut phone service at the Social Security Administration. At least, they said they did.
* Hank and John Green launched an eco-conscious cleaning line that donates its profits to protect coral reefs. (John Green is known as the author of "The Fault in Our Stars")
*The visibility brigade is starting to really become a movement! They have added a tab to their toolkit with a gallery of other brigades happening all over the place. Let’s keep it coming!
*Constituents from at least half a dozen western NC counties showed up in huge numbers to give GOP Congressman Chuck Edwards an earful at his town hall in Asheville. Go HERE
*After the National Endowment for Democracy sued Trump for withholding $200 million in federal funding, new court filings revealed $97 million was released to the organization earlier this week, with another $72 million expected soon.
*J.D. Vance and his wife went to a concert at the Kennedy Center. They got very seriously booed.
*Constitutional rights extend to non-U.S. citizens, including undocumented immigrants, who are within the United States, with a few exceptions related to citizenship-specific rights like voting and running for federal office.
Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Ginsburg noted that immigrants do have the fundamental civil rights enshrined in the Constitution, including due process rights.
*Father Estrada arrested for non violent civil disobedience protesting deportations sitting blocking traffic in front of immigration courts at 6th and Grand downtown LA
* This is the ACLU Case Filing for the Illegal El Salvadoran Deportations
Some news?
* The Tariff thing resulted in Billionaires losing $208 Billion today because of the Tariffs, and Tech shareholders losing 3.5 trillion yesterday.
The world’s 500 richest people lost a combined $208 billion on Thursday after the president’s new levies went into effect and caused a tizzy on markets around the globe, Bloomberg reported. That drop is the fourth-largest one-day decline in the 13-year history of publication’s Billionaires Index, as well as the biggest since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over half of the uber-wealthy on Bloomberg’s index saw their fortunes plunge an average of 3.3 percent, with American billionaires really taking it on the chin. Mark Zuckerberg suffered the most in the aftermath of the tariffs’ implementation, losing about $17.9 billion—about 9 percent of his net worth—thanks to Meta’s stock dropping 9 percent yesterday. This nosedive comes after the social media brand saw an over $350 billion increase its market value from January 1 through mid-February. Since then, though, Meta shares had fallen about 28 percent.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos saw his company’s share plummet 9 percent in the biggest drop since April 2021, Bloomberg reported. In response, Bezos’s fortune fell by $15.9 billion. Since February, Amazon stock is down by over 25 percent. Elon Musk, meanwhile, lost $11 billion on Thursday, adding to the $99 billion the Tesla CEO has lost this year, and saw 5.5 percent shaved off Tesla’s shares. And Europe’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, lost $6 billion yesterday. Trump’s tariffs include a 20 percent tax on the E.U., which is likely to impact exports of spirits and luxury goods, as well as other items; those categories, of course, fall under the LVMH umbrella, which owns brands such as Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Dior.
The Biggest Billionaire lost 3.5 Trillion
"Shares of Musk's Tesla (TSLA) have lost $565 billion in value since Inauguration Day, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge. That's a bigger loss than suffered by any other S&P 500 company. And Musk is holding the biggest losses as he's the largest shareholder in the electric vehicle maker at 12.8% of the company. The value of Musk's position in Tesla alone dropped more than $72 billion — a larger loss than any other individual investor in S&P 500 stocks.
But unfortunately, Musk isn't the only one suffering. The value of all S&P 500 companies as a group has dropped $3.3 trillion since Trump took office. That's the economic equivalent of Apple (AAPL) just disappearing, as the company is worth $3.2 trillion.
"The last month has been a brutal sell-off for tech stocks and the overall market as every day (every hour) there is some news coming out of the Trump White House that is changing the rules of the investing game from tariffs to chips to investments to policy changes among many others," said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities."
* The The US Dollar Has Lost It's Currency Value and is Diving
* Hip-Hop is Shaking Up Politics in Senegal
Hip-hop has always been about more than beats—it’s about power. And in Senegal, rap isn’t just music; it’s a tool for revolution. Meet Y’en a Marre ("We’re Fed Up"), a crew of rappers and journalists who used their platform to mobilize voters and take down a president. Back in 2012, their anthem “Faux! Pas Forcé” helped register 300,000+ new voters, proving that hip-hop could flip elections. Then there’s Journal Rappé—a news show where everything is delivered in rap. Yeah, you heard that right. Rappers Xuman and Keyti turned current events into bars, keeping young people locked in and informed. And don’t sleep on the women in the movement. Artists like Waw Coumba are using rap to challenge the status quo, push for change, and bring more women into politics. Senegal’s hip-hop scene is living proof that rap can do more than entertain—it can educate, inspire, and shake up entire governments.
* The US was forced to admit they deported the wrong guy to a harsh prison in El Salvadore.. But they say, they will do nothing to get him back. It's just his tough luck, and his wife and little kids' tough luck. Go HERE.
* The Wall Street Journal reports on the MAGA Backlash arriving...and that it may be shorter termed than it thought
"Democrats solidified their 4-3 progressive majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, and the ramifications are nationwide. The comfortable win by Democratic Judge Susan Crawford is the second sign in two weeks of a political backlash against the Trump Presidency.
That’s a warning to the GOP that the Trump-Musk governing style is stirring a backlash that could cost them control of Congress next year. All the more so given the results in two special House races in Florida Tuesday to replace a pair of Republicans."
* NY Landmarks Lit Pink White and Blue for Transgender Day of Visibility
*A federal judge in Rhode Island froze a Trump administration plan to cut more than $11 billion in public health grants to state and local health departments that Congress allocated during the pandemic.
* Wealthy Americans have a death rates on par with poor Europeans. Some wealthy Europeans have death rates 35% lower than the richest Americans. The findings are a stark reminder that even the wealthiest Americans are not shielded from the systemic issues in the US contributing to lower life expectancy.
*Democratic senators call for privacy act reform in response to DOGE take over. As Elon Musk’s DOGE continues to slash through the federal government, Democrats in the US Senate are calling for an update to 1974 legislation to restrict government use of personal data and introduce new penalties, including prison time, for violations.
*If you find yourself in Reykjavik, you might want to go to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Located in the city's Hafnartorg district, the museum can be found in a relatively modern-looking office block.
*The FDA has approved a new medication to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women and girls aged 12 or older. It is the first in a new class of oral antibiotics approved for this condition in nearly 30 years. UTIs are common bladder infections and 30% may face recurring infections. Treating these recurrences can be challenging when standard antibiotics fail due to antibiotic resistance, highlighting the need for new treatment options. The drug, known as gepotidacin but sold under the name Blujepa, works in a unique way by blocking two key enzymes that bacteria need to grow and multiply. This dual-targeted action makes it harder for bacteria to develop resistance quickly, providing a promising option for treating infections that may no longer respond to standard antibiotics.
*Nearly 2,000 scientists, engineers and researchers penned an open letter this week to the Republican President's administration, calling for a stop to its "assault" on science.
*"Since taking office, the Trump administration has illegally attempted to deny American citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil, entirely shut down asylum at the border, sent people to Guantánamo Bay without access to their families or legal counsel, invoked the Alien Enemies Act to fuel Trump's mass deportation agenda, arrested and detained lawful permanent residents for their political views and advocacy, and more. Immigrant communities are terrified. In response, the ACLU is firing on all cylinders to stop the
Trump administration's attacks, including:
Filing 9 lawsuits specifically against Trump's anti-immigrant and unconstitutional executive orders.
Securing judicial orders to halt unlawful deportations under the Alien Enemies Act and unconstitutional denials of citizenship to children born in the United States.
Hosting Know Your Rights trainings and sharing materials so people can prepare for interactions with ICE.
Building a firewall in states and cities to keep the federal government from commandeering local resources to violate immigrants' rights."
*The president issued an order mandating proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, seizing a power the Constitution assigns to the states and Congress. States are suing. [I should hope so. Right now, I think most of Congress should be recalled and we should get new people to serve - they don't appear to be doing much of anything, but talking.]
*A man appearing before a New York court got a scolding from a judge after he tried to use an avatar generated by artificial intelligence to argue his case. (LOL!)
* Sperm Stem Cells Were Used for the First Time in an Attempt to Restore Fertility: In an advance for treating male infertility, researchers transplanted a patient with his own sperm-forming stem cells that were collected from testicular tissue when he was a child.
* (Democrat and former VP running mate of Kamala Harris) Tim Walz is launching a national tour of town halls in Republican House districts.
*After a massive backlash, DOGE scrapped plans to cut phone service at the Social Security Administration. At least, they said they did.
* Hank and John Green launched an eco-conscious cleaning line that donates its profits to protect coral reefs. (John Green is known as the author of "The Fault in Our Stars")
*The visibility brigade is starting to really become a movement! They have added a tab to their toolkit with a gallery of other brigades happening all over the place. Let’s keep it coming!
*Constituents from at least half a dozen western NC counties showed up in huge numbers to give GOP Congressman Chuck Edwards an earful at his town hall in Asheville. Go HERE
*After the National Endowment for Democracy sued Trump for withholding $200 million in federal funding, new court filings revealed $97 million was released to the organization earlier this week, with another $72 million expected soon.
*J.D. Vance and his wife went to a concert at the Kennedy Center. They got very seriously booed.
*Constitutional rights extend to non-U.S. citizens, including undocumented immigrants, who are within the United States, with a few exceptions related to citizenship-specific rights like voting and running for federal office.
Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Ginsburg noted that immigrants do have the fundamental civil rights enshrined in the Constitution, including due process rights.
*Father Estrada arrested for non violent civil disobedience protesting deportations sitting blocking traffic in front of immigration courts at 6th and Grand downtown LA
* This is the ACLU Case Filing for the Illegal El Salvadoran Deportations
no subject
I have been to the Phallological Museum in its former location! Lots of whale penises in particular.
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I don't think they saw it either. Although I kind of did. People think "oh it's just taxes that affect my income" - that's not true. If you own a business, the price of the materials you require, your stocks, whether anyone hires you or buys your products - are also a factor. I know this because I work in procurement and negotiate contracts for a living and have for over twenty years in various industries. If the price of say something like glue goes up - that means the price of anything utilizing that glue goes up, it also means that anyone who needs to buy the glue to make their product - that is an additional cost and affects their bottom line.
So say, your product is dolls, and you need glue to make them, and glue was just $1? And you sold your dolls for $5, making a profit of $4. Now, say glue is $5 because of tariffs. So to make a profit, you have sell your dolls for $15, and your customers who were willing to spend $5 for the doll, may not be willing to spend $15. Your business dies, and it's not just your business that is affected - it's all the other businesses that may have relied on you buying their products to make your dolls, also the shipping services, marketing services, your employees, and of course what they all spend the money on. Like it or not, we're all connected to each other, and what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.
For high tech? META makes their profit off of stocks and advertisers. But if you raise the cost of things, less people can afford to spend funds advertising their goods. So your ad revenue dives, and so do your stocks, because your profit margin has dived.
Same thing with cars? If you need galvanized steel or a certain brand of tire, and the only country that provides that is say, France. And there's a tariff on it? Your prices have soared.
Tariff's effect the stock market, and the financial capital of corporations, also when prices go up - folks don't buy stuff.
I don't know why Trump of all people doesn't know this? He worked in construction - you'd think he'd know that if you rise the cost of building materials, construction grounds to a halt, because people can't afford to build the house.
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Doofus went to Wharton, the most prestigious school of business and economics in the country, and didn't learn a damn thing. I just hope we're not at the beginning of another Great Depression. #Make America God Awful.
no subject
Probably partied the whole time, and learned how to cheat, bully, and persuade. Business school though is a waste of time. I've met a lot of Business majors who can't write, or think critically.
Analysis? Beyond them.
I hope we're not headed for another Great Depression as well - although, there is hope, since we don't have the dust bowl, and the States are pushing back on various things.