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7:50 PM ET, February 17, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Tara Copp / Associated Press:
Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash  —  The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision …
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
Our Government Is Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
New York Times:
4 Top Officials to Resign Over Adams's Cooperation With Trump  —  Four deputy mayors to Eric Adams are leaving “to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families,” they said in a statement.  —  Four top New York City officials said they would resign after the Justice Department moved …
RELATED:
RELATED:
Peter Stone / The Guardian:
‘This is a coup’: Trump and Musk's purge is cutting more than costs, say experts
Discussion: TechCrunch and The Independent
Tom Hals / Reuters:   Judge calls rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE
Washington Post:
Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk's DOGE over data  —  Yet another top career staffer is leaving the administration amid a disagreement over a request by Elon Musk's team for sensitive government information.
Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:
Vance's real warning to Europe  —  Europeans need to reduce their dangerous dependence on an adversarial America  —  When JD Vance took the stage at the Munich Security Conference last week, he issued a stern warning.  The US vice-president told the assembled politicians and diplomats …
Discussion: Raw Story and Asia Times
RELATED:
Lauren Irwin / The Hill:
Rubio spars with Brennan over Vance's Munich speech
Associated Press:
European leaders gather for emergency talks, fearing that Trump has abandoned age-old allies
David Gilbert / Wired:
No, 150-Year-Olds Aren't Collecting Social Security Benefits  —  Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration.  There's a much simpler explanation.  —  Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) …
Eliza Collins / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington  —  Some core supporters love his no-holds-barred approach, but several swing voters are taken aback at his early moves
Discussion: New Republic, Fox News and Raw Story
RELATED:
New York Times:
Thousands Gather on Presidents' Day to Call Trump a Tyrant  —  Thousands of protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump's agenda took to the streets across the country, including outside the U.S. Capitol.  —  Thousands of protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump's agenda took …
RELATED:
David Edwards / Raw Story:
'It's gone': Elon Musk suggests without evidence that gold was ‘stolen’ from Fort Knox  —  Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Department of Government Efficiency Chair Elon Musk demanded access to the gold stored at Fort Knox.  —  Writing on Musk's social media platform X, Lee said he was repeatedly denied access …
Washington Post:
Trump casts psychiatric and weight-loss drugs as threats to children  —  Trump directed a panel headed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to assess “the prevalence of and threat” posed by SSRIs, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.
Discussion: Eschaton
Pranshu Verma / Washington Post:
Elon Musk ridiculed a blind person on X. Then a mob went to work.  —  Musk's unparalleled online reach on X has given him a powerful tool to attack individuals who criticize DOGE.  —  Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette works at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group focused on reducing bureaucratic waste.
Edward Helmore / The Guardian:
Jewish man mistakes two Israeli tourists for Palestinians and opens fire on them in Miami  —  Victims reportedly posted ‘death to Arabs’ on social media after shooting while suspect held on attempted murder charges  —  A Jewish man in Miami Beach is facing charges of attempted murder following accusations …
Daniel Bice / Journal Sentinel:
Bice: An Elon Musk-backed group buys at least $670,000 of TV time to support Brad Schimel  —  Conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel said just recently he was hoping conservative third-party groups would start buying up TV time in the state “very soon.”  —  Ask and you shall receive.
Discussion: WisPolitics
Tom Gerken / BBC:
Argentina president faces impeachment calls over crypto crash  —  Argentine President Javier Milei is facing impeachment calls - and legal action accusing him of fraud - over his promotion of cryptocurrency on social media.  —  Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the $LIBRA coin on Friday …
Popular Information:
In botched DEI purge, OSHA trashes workplace safety guidelines  —  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the digital and physical destruction of 18 publications on workplace safety practices, according to an internal February 7 email obtained by Popular Information.
Discussion: Raw Story
Matt Binder / disruptionist:
Elon Musk's X blocks links to Signal, the encrypted messaging service  —  Signal has been a primary method of communication for federal workers looking to blow the whistle on DOGE.  —  Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is currently banning links to “Signal.me,” a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal.
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
The Death of Government Expertise  —  Why Trump and Musk are on a firing spree  —  One of the greatest tricks that Donald Trump and Elon Musk ever pulled is to convince millions of people that DOGE, the self-styled Department of Government Efficiency, is about government efficiency.
Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
‘Turned out the lights’: Fury hits Washington Post as it refuses to run $115K anti-Musk ad  —  The Washington Post canceled plans to run a front-and back-page advertisement that would have earned the paper $115,000 — and ran straight into fresh fury.  —  The ad, reportedly sponsored …
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Why Trump targets AP … - “This isn't just about the Gulf of America,” White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich told Axios. … - The dispute with AP is part of Trump's broader effort to discredit legacy media outlets and the public's trust in the press — already at a record low.
Politico:
‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry  —  The Elon Musk-run effort wants to study a system that includes tax returns, Social Security numbers and other information.  —  Democrats and tax experts are sounding alarms about a plan by Elon Musk's DOGE team …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Sunjeev Bery / The Intercept:
This Is the Way to Stop Elon Musk
Discussion: Raw Story
Ailia Zehra / The Hill:
Homan says he's asked DOJ whether Ocasio-Cortez is impeding ICE
Pema Levy / Mother Jones:
There's No Way Elon Musk's Job is Legal
Discussion: Rolling Stone
New York Times:
Trump Pushes Business Interests in Golf, Mideast and New York as Conflicts Abound
Eli McKown-Dawson / Silver Bulletin:
So, how did the polls do in 2024? It's complicated.
 Earlier Items: 
Brad Reed / Raw Story:
'Can't be saved': Former Canadian defense official says relationship with U.S. is over
Liza Featherstone / New Republic:
Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That's Deliberate.
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump has already weaponized the Department of Education
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
The Marco Rubio Guide to Survival is Not Working Well
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two in Q3 2026

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the First Amendment Watch's SLAPP Back Initiative, a US SLAPP tracker; in 2024, 69 of 500 cases involved the media, of which 46 were dismissed

 
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