Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalIndia 'engaging with US' after shackled deportees spark anger
BBC
India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has told parliament the government is working with the US to ensure Indian citizens are not mistreated while being deported.
His statement came a day after a US military flight brought back 104 Indians accused of entering the US illegally.
One of the deportees told the BBC they had been handcuffed throughout the 40-hour flight, sparking criticism.
But Jaishankar said he had been told by the US that women and children were not restrained. Deportation flights to India had been taking place for several years and US procedures allowed for the use of restraints, he added.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm27k2m91p7o
Trump caught Dems flat-footed, but poll shows campaign against Musk is working
Source: NJ.com
Support for MAGA billionaire Elon Musk is continuing to plummet, according to a new poll.
(snip)
But the new YouGov/The Economist poll found that Americans are largely disapproving of Musk’s influence as Democrats label Musk’s role as a “constitutional crisis.”
The poll found that 51% of Americans believe Musk has a lot of influence on the Trump administration. However, just 13% of Americans want Musk to have a lot of influence, according to the results. Nearly half—46%—said they don’t want him to have any influence.
YouGov noted that 47% of Republicans wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration after the election, but now just 26% of Republicans said the same.
Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/02/trump-caught-dems-flat-footed-but-poll-shows-campaign-against-musk-is-working.html
Bird flu reported in Montgomery Co. backyard flock, officials say
WTOP
A case of the highly infectious avian influenza, or bird flu, has been detected in a Montgomery County, Maryland, backyard flock, officials announced Thursday.
State laboratory testing confirmed a bird flu infection in one chicken, according to a news release from the Maryland Department of Agriculture. As a result, the whole flock and the affected area are under quarantine. The birds on the impacted properties are being or have been “depopulated” to stop the spread of the virus, officials said.
Birds from the affected flock won’t enter the food system, the agriculture department said.
Bird flu “affects chickens, ducks, and turkeys, along with some wild bird species such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, and raptors,” officials said in the news release. It spreads via nasal and eye secretions, and through manure.
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2025/02/bird-flu-reported-in-montgomery-co-backyard-flock-officials-say/
DOJ Is Not Charging Project Veritas Following Ashley Biden Diary Probe: Report
HuffPost/NY Times
The Justice Department has decided to not bring charges against anyone tied to Project Veritas following a lengthy probe into the right-wing group's efforts to obtain and publish a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, former President Joe Biden's daughter, The New York Times reports.
James O'Keefe, the group's founder, is considered a Trump ally. It's unclear if their relationship played a role in the department's decision.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-inauguration-live-updates_n_678a8f36e4b097ab56976f5b
NY Times:
Prosecutors in New York had spent years pursuing a case against the conservative group over its role in the theft of a diary kept by Ashley Biden.
Times article requires signup so i only got the first sentence
National Museum Covered Exhibit Honoring Women, People Of Color Amid Anti-DEI Efforts
HuffPost
Displays honoring women and people of color who served the National Security Agency were covered up by staff at a national museum over the weekend amid workers’ rush to comply with President Donald Trump’s dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, an NSA representative told NPR.
The National Cryptologic Museum in Fort Meade, Maryland, acknowledged the coverings in a statement Saturday after a photo of the papered displays began circulating on social media. The museum called what happened “a mistake” and said that the issue had been rectified.
(snip)
NSA Executive Director Sheila Thomas told NPR that the museum workers erroneously covered the displays amid a rush to comply with Trump’s recent order to terminate DEI policies in the federal government.
“They were on rapid fire to move very quickly and be responsive,” said Thomas. “We are being as responsive as we possibly can. Some of these [executive orders] have short deadlines.”
Pilot stops teen who entered a regional airport with guns, demanding a plane
CNN -- Police are praising the heroic actions of a local pilot who confronted and stopped a 15-year-old who entered Texarkana Regional Airport in Arkansas on Tuesday, brandishing guns and demanding a plane.
The teen walked into Signature Aviation, a business providing aviation services at the airport, on Tuesday morning, armed with a high-power rifle and handgun, and demanded a plane at the front counter while brandishing the guns, according to the airport and the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department (TAPD).
After the teen chambered a round, a staff member was able to flee to a back office and alerted the police, the airport said.
A local pilot retrieved his firearm from his truck and confronted the teen as he breached security onto the airfield, ordering him to get on the ground. The teen complied and was disarmed before police officers arrived and took him into custody. A shotgun was also found in his vehicle, according to the airport.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/us/texarkana-airport-armed-teen-pilot/index.html
Out of power, Democratic lawmakers take to the streets to rally opposition to Trump
NBC
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are staging protests outside federal agencies, holding resistance-themed news conferences back home and taking to social media as they try to combat President Donald Trump’s moves to remake the government with executive power.
Relegated to the minority in Congress and left with few legislative tools to check Trump, Democrats are seeking to rally voters against his push to freeze federal loans and grants, dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies and allow his government efficiency czar, billionaire Elon Musk, to access Americans’ federal data.
On Monday, congressional Democrats staged a protest outside USAID. On Tuesday, they appeared outside the Treasury Department. On Wednesday, they spoke to a crowd near the Capitol and another outside the Labor Department. It all comes as Democrats seek to find their voice and break through in a cluttered media environment while Trump overwhelms the national discourse with one disruptive action after another.
“This is not America First — this is America in retreat,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at the Capitol rally. “And we are not going to retreat from American values.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/power-democratic-lawmakers-take-streets-rally-opposition-trump-rcna190842
The White House Said Trump's Executive Order Is Law. It's Not.
HuffPost Live Updates
Sara Boboltz
Trump’s executive order aimed at preventing trans women and girls from participating in sports that align with their gender identity came with a twist today. An official White House press schedule and the title of a White House livestream video both described the event as: “President Trump Signs No Men In Women’s Sports Executive Order Into Law.”
Except the order is not a law. Laws require Congress to write, introduce, debate and pass them, after which point the president signs them.
While presidents can wield a lot of power by executive order, it is different than having a statute on the books, which requires cooperation from Congress. Executive orders may also be overturned by the next president, whereas a law cannot typically be repealed so easily.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-inauguration-live-updates_n_678a8f36e4b097ab56976f5b
Japan Airlines plane struck the tail of Delta Airlines plane at Seattle-Tacoma airport
NBC
The right wing of a Japan Airlines plane struck the tail of a Delta Airlines plane Wednesday morning while both were on the runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, officials said.
The collision occurred around 10:40 a.m. while the planes were taxiing, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Delta said its plane was being deiced when its tail was clipped.
There are no reported injuries.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/japan-airlines-delta-airlines-seattle-tacoma-rcna190358
Trump administration evicts former Coast Guard leader from her house with 3 hours notice
Source: NBC
President Donald Trump's administration evicted former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan from her home with three hours of notice on Tuesday — not even enough time to gather her personal effects — according to two people familiar with the incident.
Fagan, a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead a branch of the military, was removed from her post as the Coast Guard’s top officer on Trump’s second day in office. Officials at the Homeland Security Department — which oversees the Coast Guard — cited border security issues and an “excessive focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion among the reasons for her dismissal.
Fagan made a convenient target for a new president who wanted to flex his muscle. The process for firing her was less complex than for dismissing chiefs of the four main branches of the military. More than that, the move allowed him to send signals about his anti-DEI agenda and desire to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and goods into the United States.
Throwing her out of her house on short notice went a step further.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-administration-evicts-former-coast-guard-linda-fagan-3-hours-rcna190820
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