🚨 Pants off – January 09 2023

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm AM. 

The Lead: Biden's Border Touch and Go

credit: getty

President Biden toured the Southern Border for the first time in his career on Sunday. The immigration crisis is worsening but will the President see it? 

Not according to some reports that show migrant camps cleaned up in advance of the President’s visits. The President was greeted by Governor Greg Abbott who has criticized the President’s actions on immigration but in the days before the visit, handed him this letter doubling down on that criticism and accusing the President of avoiding “the sites where mass illegal immigration occurs.” 

Last week the Biden Administration recommitted to Trump-era policies that would work to curb immigration from South America and the Caribbean. It was a major reversal from his campaign stance but an admission that the crisis is indeed a crisis. 

President Biden was only in Texas for three hours on his way to meet with the presidents of Canada and Mexico in Mexico City for the North American Leaders’ Summit but that is a lot more than the 0 hours he’d previously spent in the region. Former White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in 2021 that he’d driven by it in 2008. 

The Shrunken Speakers Gavel

credit: roll call

It only took 15 rounds of voting to get Kevin McCarthy elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And again. You get the point. 

The win was not without its drama. Congressman Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained when confronting Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. 

McCarthy attributed his win to the support of former President Donald Trump. He told reporters, “I don't think anybody should doubt his influence.”

The Democrats elected Congressman Hakeem Jeffries as the minority leader, making him the first Black person to ever lead a party in Congress.  

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Pronouns For Who? 

credit: unsplash

New census data in the UK shows that the percent of adults who identify as transgender is approximately 0.5%. That equates to about one in every 200 adults. 

The question asked was “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?” Six percent of respondents did not answer but of the 94% that did, 0.5% said no. Meanwhile, 3.2% identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or another sexual orientation, meaning other than heterosexual. 

These are interesting statistics, given the strong movement to re-order society according to gender pronouns and single-sex spaces. Is it worth doing that for such a small population if it has a negative effect on other populations of marginalized groups such as female prisoners or sexual abuse survivors? 

What's Trending?

credit: reuters

Jesus was trending on Sunday because it was Epiphany Sunday for some Roman Catholics. 

Alba Baptista is trending after Chris Evans sort of confirmed on Instagram that she is his girlfriend. 

Prince Harry is trending as people discuss revelations from his upcoming book, which was released in Spain last week. He is making the media rounds to promote it with lengthy TV interviews. 

This video is trending as people debate whether or not the shooting was justified and/or an act of racism. Warning: this video contains lethal violence.

News By The Numbers

12. That is how many generations removed actor Edward Norton is from his great grandmother Pocahontas, according to one of those ancestry tracing TV shows. Somewhere Senator Elizabeth Warren is jealous. 

200,000. That is how many corporate employees McDonalds is planning to lay off in April. 

560,000. That is how many people in California are without power due to massive storms with more severe weather to come.

96%. That is how many flights had Covid in the wastewater when sampled. 

Flipping The Script

credit: Mars

Are these M&M’s woke or just expressing themselves? Mars, the owner of M&M, released feminist candy wrappers that are upside down which is supposed to represent “how women have flipped the status quo.” 

Huh. I didn’t get that from the upside-down part. I had to re-read it to get it. 

The new Green is no longer in high-heeled boots but instead sneakers. The new brown also has a more sensible shoe and will drop the Ms. from her name. Just Brown. No gendered salutation. Purple is new. She is a fun-loving representation of inclusivity. She will also have a music video dropping on Tuesday. 

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