Easter Eggs, Expensive Watches, & Inexplicable Spinning Fish
April 1, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Monday! Today, we’re talking about the Middle East, the Easter Egg Roll, India’s protests, Peru’s president’s fancy watches, Transgender Day of Visibility, AT&T’s data breach, and spinning fish.
Here’s some good news: John and Bev Martin sold their home and all their belongings to spend their retirement traveling the world. They started their journey in 2020 and have now gotten to visit 92 countries. Also, a federal judge in Oregon has overturned a city ordinance that prevented churches from serving the homeless. Homeless meal services can no longer be limited in Brookings.
“To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
Israel’s Internal Issues
Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people across Israel held protests calling for the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him an “obstacle” to a hostage deal that would see Hamas-held Israeli hostages returned to their families. “The people of Israel won’t forget or forgive anyone who prevents a deal that would bring them back to us. After 176 days, 4,224 hours, the excuses have run out,” said the mother of one hostage who was present at the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government is facing another existential threat. The coalition is backed by both secular and religious right-wingers who might agree on some points, but strongly disagree about whether ultra-Orthodox Jews should retain their long-held exemption from military service. The coalition wasn’t able to extend the exemption agreement until April 1, leading Israel’s Supreme Court to suspend educational subsidies for ultra-Orthodox students if they don’t answer military call-ups. If the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox members decide to split over the issue, Netanyahu’s government might no longer be able to lead the country, leading to a wartime transition of power — though it’s unclear if a more centrist Israeli government would conduct its war in Gaza any differently than Netanyahu’s.
Laying An Egg Over An Egg Roll
Over the weekend, conservative outlets across the U.S. got their eggs in a scramble over the Biden White House allegedly banning religious themes from the White House’s Easter celebration. Unfortunately for Fox News and The Daily Caller, their pundits are kind of looking like a yolk here – the White House Egg Roll has banned religious themes long before Biden’s presidency, according to multiple sources.
The uproar came in response to a flier passed out by National Guard leadership inviting the children of National Guard members to submit egg designs to the White House. The flier noted that designs “must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements,” which apparently ruffled some feathers.
The president of the American Egg Bowl, the group that supports the White House Egg Roll each year, said in response to the uproar that “The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations.”
Blowback For The BJP
- On Sunday, India’s opposition parties banded together to criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP party for rigging the country’s upcoming elections. “Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing in this election,” said Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress party, in a joint rally with other opposition leaders. “If the BJP wins this match-fixing election and changes the constitution, it will light the country on fire. This is not an ordinary election. This election is to save the country, protect our constitution.“
- One of Modi’s most prominent critics, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested on March 21 on charges of graft over granting liquor licenses just one month ahead of the election. Modi has framed the election as a fight between his party and the corrupt opposition, while his critics say the regime has leveraged its position to conduct unfair and crippling investigations into Modi’s opponents, reducing their chances of a fair election.
I Just Want A Rollie, Rollie, Rollie, Now I’m President
- Peru’s president seems to have a penchant for pricey timepieces. The problem is so bad that the country’s police have become involved, conducting a raid on President Dina Boluarte’s residence as part of a preliminary investigation into her watch collection (that’s real, not a joke).
- In mid-March, a TV program highlighted one of Boluarte’s watches, noting that it was a $14,000 Rolex. Following this, the press noted that she appeared to own three Rolexes in total. This raised eyebrows because she’d worked as a normal district official before securing a position in then-President Pedro Castillo’s government, where she earned $8,136 per month for about a year and a half. Following that position, Boluarte became president, a job which came with a steep pay cut down to $4,200 per month.
- She began showing off her flashy watches shortly after ascending to the presidency, but there’s nothing particularly wrong with a little bit of ice on a national leader’s wrist. The issue here is that Boluarte did not disclose owning any Rollies in an obligatory asset declaration document she submitted before becoming president, meaning she either bought the expensive timepieces on her relatively low presidential salary, or lied in the document. Police say they found about 10 “nice” watches in their search, but it’s unclear exactly how much they were worth.
More Mixed Nuts
- King Charles attends Easter church service in most significant public appearance since cancer diagnosis (CNN)
- Romania and Bulgaria partially join Europe’s Schengen travel zone, but checks at land borders remain (AP)
- Eight killed by car bomb in northern Syria, war monitor says (Guardian)
- A man suspected of holding 4 hostages for hours in a Dutch nightclub has been arrested (NBC)
- Extreme drought in southern Africa leaves millions hungry (AP)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to undergo hernia surgery (NBC)
- Israel Gaza: US weapons to Israel a sign of thaw in strained ties (BBC)
- Pope Francis presides over Easter Sunday Mass, calls for cease-fires in Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine conflicts (ABC)
- GOP congressman appears to suggest dropping bombs on Gaza to end conflict quickly, referring to ‘Nagasaki and Hiroshima’ (CNN)
A Coincidence Is Just Another Opportunity For Criticism
- The Easter Egg Roll wasn’t the only Easter controversy for the White House this year. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates was forced to respond after Republican commentators, former President Trump, and Speaker Johnson all criticized President Biden’s proclamation on Friday celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, which was yesterday.
- “As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” said Bates. Trans Day of Visibility is celebrated annually on March 31st, and has been for over a decade – Easter changes every year, but this year, it happened to fall on the same day. Biden’s proclamation was called “blasphemous” by multiple people over the weekend.
I Will Carry You Into The Dark (Web)
- AT&T announced this weekend it is investigating a data breach in which over 70 million current and former customers’ information was leaked on the dark web. An AT&T press release said the incident occurred about two weeks ago but has not yet had a “material impact” on its operations.
- The data seems to have impacted over 60 million former customers and around 7 million current ones, but it’s unclear what information has been stolen – the company said it could be social security numbers, email and mailing addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, or account numbers and passcodes. The source of the leak hasn’t been discovered yet, but those affected should be contacted soon if they haven’t been already.
More Nuts In America
- At least 7 shot, all under the age of 17, in mass shooting near Indianapolis mall (NBC)
- Embittered Republicans plot to knock off House GOP’s hard-right leader in Virginia primary feud (CNN)
- Trump is ‘inciting political violence’ sharing Biden hog-tied video: Biden campaign (ABC)
- Oklahoma State Patrol says it is diverting traffic after a barge hit a bridge (AP)
- Texas appeals court blocks state from investigating families seeking gender-affirming care for trans youth (CNN)
- Ex-Trump adviser says former president ‘hasn’t got the brains’ for dictatorship (Guardian)
I Saw Three Sawfish Come Spinning By
- There’s something strange going down off the coast of South Florida. So strange, in fact, that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has launched a new investigation to figure out what the heck is going on. NOAA’s investigation comes in response to reports of smalltooth sawfish that are mysteriously spinning in circles and displaying other strange behaviors.
- So far, researchers have ruled out pathogens, dissolved oxygen levels, salinity, pH, and temperature as the reasons for the fishes’ strange spinning. Sawfish, which are rays with long snouts that kind of look like chainsaws, are an endangered species thanks to habitat loss from coastal developments.
- “We suspect that total mortalities are greater since sawfish are negatively buoyant and thus unlikely to float after death,” said NOAA Fisheries’ sawfish recovery coordinator, Adam Brame. “Given the limited population size of smalltooth sawfish, the mortality of at least two dozen sawfish could have an impact on the recovery of this species.”
More Loose Nuts
- They came for Florida’s sun and sand. They got soaring costs and a culture war. (NBC)
- Boat Race organisers ask defeated Oxford crew to clarify sickness claims (Guardian)
- Police believe car registered to Rashee Rice was street racing before crash (NBC)
- Las Vegas’ famed Tropicana resort will close this week to make way for a new ballpark (NPR)
- Harvard Applications Drop as Other Elite Schools See Record Highs (NYT, $)
- Scientists gear up to study solar eclipse with high-altitude planes and sun-orbiting probes (NBC)