04/29/24
Good morning! It’s Monday, April 29th.
National Zipper Day!
Finally, a day to celebrate a pretty basic piece of technology that snags more than anything else I own. Let me tell you something – I own a purse. There are things in that purse. The zipper just straight up fell off of it one day… I haven’t been able to open it.
So enjoy your day, zippers! When you work, you’re fine. When you don’t work, you really set the whole day sideways.
And now, the news.
Oklahoma Tornado
-via AP News
We start in Oklahoma, where four people are dead, more than 100 are injured, and thousands are without power after a weekend of tornados. Most of the damage is in a town called Sulphur.
Heavy rains paired with the tornados, to create areas of flooding on top of the damage from the tornado. A state of emergency was ordered on Sunday in twelve different counties.
There were actually dozens of reported tornados over the weekend. In Iowa, one person died from a tornado in Minden Iowa.
In Lincoln Nebraska, also on Friday, a tornado hit an industrial building, trapping 70 people in it.
Maybe it’s because I’m from California, but tornados scare me! I was in Texas during tornado season and when I was checking into the hotel I asked what to do if there was a tornado and the woman told me there was an area in the hotel that we’ll all meet up and just pray.
That… did not make me feel better.
Israel-Hamas War
On Sunday, Israeli officials announced that they believe the International Crimes Court (aka ICC) is getting ready to hand down arrest warrants for senior government officials related to their actions in the Israel-Hamas war. They also believe the ICC is weighing warrants for Hamas leaders.
It’s possible that, included in the arrest warrants, is Israeli’s Prime Minister Netanyahu. It’s unclear who from Hamas would be issued a warrant.
This is all very hush hush (I mean, obviously not that hush hush… I’m talking about it here, on the world’s most popular news podcast). But this information was given out on the condition of anonymity, and its unclear what stage things are in.
We’ll talk in more detail about what this would mean, if and when the warrants are handed down but just at a glance… when people talk about “tossin em in The Hague” – that’s the ICC. It is the only permanent international court that can prosecute people accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. It doesn’t have a police force, but instead relies on its 124 members (which does include Europe, but not Israel or the US) to arrest those given a warrant. They can’t try anyone in absentia. So Netanyahu would have to be arrested and brought to the ICC in order for a trial to happen.
But don’t worry, here in America we’re having our own conversations because the State Department is divided over whether Israel is using American-provided weapons in accordance with international law, which Israel promised they would do back in February when they acquired those weapons.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has until May 8th (hey! That’s my mom’s birthday!) to he believes the weapons are being used as they were assured they would be.
If it’s determined that the weapons are being improperly used, the White House has the ability to slow the aid they’re sending over to Israel.
If I may be bold… with more than 31,000 people dead in Gaza, including more than 13,000 kids, it sort of feels like the numbers kind of speak for themselves?
Meanwhile, campus protests continued over the weekend with more than 275 people arrested on campuses all over the country. This includes UCLA, where a security barrier, put up to keep opposing groups able to safely protest in their owns areas, was breached. This particular piece of news is happening as I’m recording, so hopefully it won’t go any further, but there are reports of some shoving and pushing between the two groups, with police in riot gear standing by.
And finally, RFK Jr told reporters that he supports the protests, because of free speech, but went on to say that he opposes that ceasefire while also calling himself “pro-Palestine.”
I mean… you just can’t be both of those things. You can’t call yourself pro-Palestine while also saying “I don't see how people want to have a negotiation.”
That’s so far behind not wanting a ceasefire. That’s not even being open to a conversation.
Not even being open to a conversation is not a trait you want in a president. Just… FYI.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I know! Just the two stories! But hey, I don’t know write the news. I mean, I write this news show. But I don’t, you know, invent the news.
But while we’ve got some free time here… this is a great time to remind you that you can also subscribe to Here’s What’s Happening on Substack. Get the news right in your inbox! Complete with gifs!
There’s a link in show notes. There’s also a link to by book in there too, for fun.
I’m proud of… ugh, no I’m not saying I’m proud of zippers. It’s also shrimp scampi day! I’m proud of shrimp scampi! But more than that… because you’re also quite the dish… I’m proud of you.