WSJ asks Kennedy to cast aside ‘antivax hooey’ amid Texas measles outbreak

 https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5149761-wsj-kennedy-antivax-texas-measles-outbreak/?tbref=hp

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published an op-ed Monday calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to set aside his anti-vaccine activist positions in light of the nearly 50 measles cases that have been confirmed among mostly unvaccinated children in Texas.

“We are on record as skeptical of RFK Jr.’s nomination. The Senate confirmed him. Now the best-case scenario would be for Mr. Kennedy to internalize that he is no longer an activist outsider who needs to take provocative potshots to get attention,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote.

MAGA Bill Introduced to Make Trump’s Birthday a Federal Holiday

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-bill-introduced-to-make-trumps-birthday-a-federal-holiday/

A Republican congresswoman has called for President Donald Trump’s birthday to become a federal holiday. New York Rep. Claudia Tenney announced the bill to turn Trump’s birthday on June 14th, which falls on Flag Day, into an official holiday in a news release on Friday. “This legislation would permanently codify a new federal holiday called ‘Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day' on June 14 to honor this historic day,” she said.

Four top deputies to Eric Adams have resigned, New York mayor says

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/17/politics/eric-adams-deputies-resign/index.html

“Due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families, we have come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles,” Torres-Springer, Williams-Isom and Joshi said in a joint statement.

Torres-Springer, Williams-Isom and Joshi are career public servants and highly regarded in the city’s government circles. They are also responsible for putting much of the mayor’s agenda into place. Their portfolios include some of the city’s biggest agencies, including the public hospital system, the Department of Homeless Services, and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, to name a few.

GOP lawmakers divided on Musk, seen by some as a liability

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5146881-elon-musk-senate-republicans/?tbref=hp

“There’s a lot of concern among my constituents. The concern is, ‘Who is this guy?’ He’s a billionaire, which puts him in a certain category. ‘How does he have the authority if he’s not elected by anybody to do what he’s doing?’” said the senator, who said there are “a lot” of federal workers in their home state.

The senator said Musk’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also created problems for farmers who sell products to provide food assistance around the world.

GOP senators say Musk’s brash online personality has inflamed constituents who are already skeptical of his broad access to federal programs, the Treasury Department’s sensitive federal payment systems and millions of Americans’ personal information.

Medical Experts React to RFK Jr.'s Antidepressant Drug Remarks

 https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssris-drugs-maha-2032297

Colin Davidson, a professor of neuropharmacology at the University of Central Lancashire wrote for The Conversation: "RFK Jr. has made several debatable statements related to health, including, for example, on vaccinations. On this occasion, though, concerning antidepressants, there is considerable evidence that coming off of SSRIs can be very difficult. But, for most people, it is unlikely that it would be as difficult as coming off heroin."

Hegseth's Insane Emergency Request UNVEILED In Brutal Financial Mistake - Drain the Swamp!

Are 150-year-old Americans receiving Social Security checks, as Elon Musk said?

 https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/feb/17/are-150-year-old-americans-receiving-social-securi/

Why 150-year-old figures may exist in the Social Security database

Social media commenters came up with one possible explanation for the 150-year age, and experts who have worked closely with the Social Security Administration told PolitiFact it was plausible. 

Under an international standard called ISO 8601, a missing value for a date is coded as May 20, 1875, because that was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the "Convention du Mètre."

For that reason, under some coding systems, a missing value for a date will default to 1875 — which in the year 2025 produces a round figure of 150.

Nope. There are no 150-year-olds on Social Security. It's COBOL!--UPDATED Feb 15

 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/14/2303889/-Nope-There-are-no-150-year-olds-on-Social-Security-It-s-COBOL

Elon Musk claimed that his team found 150-year-old people collecting Social Security! He implied there were dead people being sent benefits, with checks cashed by someone else. 

But no—the people getting paid are very much alive.  They are collecting their own benefits.  They’re not committing fraud. They’re just not 150 years old, of course.

So what happens if Social Security doesn’t know a birthdate?  That field is empty in its records.  Thus that person appears to have a birthday of May 20 1875—about 150 years ago.

Fact-checking Elon Musk's claims in the Oval Office

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyjz24ne85o

Elon Musk has made a number of exaggerated or unevidenced claims during an Oval Office event alongside President Donald Trump.

The billionaire, who was making his first major media appearance since beginning his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), said his team was seeking to improve transparency in government.

Sending condoms to Gaza?

'The woman that walked away with $30m'?

Social security payments for 150-year-olds?

Elon Musk Why destroying the Beauracracy

https://www.tiktok.com/@thedailyshow/video/7471304811682499882

@thedailyshow

Elon Musk's warning about an unelected bureaucracy is like watching Drake sing "Not Like Us" at karaoke #DailyShow #ElonMusk #bureaucracy

♬ original sound - The Daily Show

Rep. Carter: Americans 'have to realize they've been duped'

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ta5Zfn7NJEY?si=uWpGEOMOVTiyd91E

Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair claims she gave birth to Elon Musk's 13th child - Family Values?!

 https://www.foxnews.com/us/conservative-influencer-ashley-st-clair-claims-she-gave-birth-elon-musks-13th-child

Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair claims that she gave birth to a child fathered by Elon Musk – said to be the billionaire's 13th – in secret five months ago. 

Musk has been a vocal critic of the declining birth rate in the West. He brought his son X Æ A-Xii, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend and musician Grimes, into the Oval Office during a televised meeting with Trump last week. Musk also shares daughter Exa Dark Sideræl and son Techno Mechanicus with Grimes. Earlier, he and ex-wife Justine Wilson had six children – twins Vivian and Griffin, triplets Kai, Damian, and Saxon, and son Nevada Alexander, who died when he was 10 weeks old. Musk also has three children with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, twins Strider and Azure, and a third whose name has not been publicized.

Trump ‘replacing the rule of law with the law of the ruler’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5147993-auchincloss-trump-rule-of-law/?tbref=hp

“What I say about it is that this president is replacing the rule of law with the law of the ruler,” Auchincloss said.

“He came into office, he pardoned violent criminals from Jan. 6 insurrection, including men who tased cops in the neck. Those people are now recommitting crimes back in their communities. He fired inspectors general and federal prosecutors without cause, and now he is directly bullying the Southern District of New York to act in a corrupt manner,” Auchincloss continued.

Auchincloss praised the prosecutors for refusing to dismiss the charges, pointing specifically to Hagan Scotten, the assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, who resigned from his post over the order to dismiss the case.

“That was the lead prosecutor on Eric Adams, and he resigned rather than pursue this corrupt path,” Auchincloss said. “And he said anybody who followed this order would be a fool or a coward. Now Hagan Scotten clerked for a conservative Supreme Court justice. He is no fool. He is a decorated special forces officer. He’s no coward. Can Republicans answer the same? Because right now they look like both.”

A GOP U.S. Attorney Does the Right Thing in Eric Adams' Corruption Case

 https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2025-02-14/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-danielle-sassoon

The standoff over an administration seeking to use the Justice Department for political ends is an even more alarming transgression than President Richard Nixon’s interference with the Justice Department during the Watergate scandal more than 50 years ago.

These early actions by Trump’s appointees are alarming. As Robert Jackson, who served as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attorney general before he joined the Supreme Court, warned, “The most dangerous power of a prosecutor … [is] that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted.”

Trump and his Justice Department appointees are eviscerating a nonpartisan workforce that is essential to preserving the rule of law. By firing government lawyers, pressuring others and intimidating those who remain, Trump is seeking to stack the government with lawyers who will be beholden to him personally and who will do his bidding.

The order from Washington to stop the prosecution of Adams reveals a worrisome effort to create a compliant corps of government lawyers who can wield the threat of prosecution (or the promise of dropping charges) to enforce a party boss’s will. If his case is dropped, Adams is no longer beholden to New York City voters but rather to Trump. The same could occur with corporations, wealthy individuals and other officials.

The best hope is that lower-level lawyers will follow the lead of principled prosecutors like Sassoon by doing their jobs in the tradition that Robert Jackson articulated so well. That means declining to follow directions that are improper and resigning in protest if necessary.