10/16/25
Good morning! It’s Thursday, October 16th.
Dictionary Day
Kids, a dictionary was a big book of words. And I know what you’re thinking, Kim that’s every book. But this was a book of every word, and then those words used words to describe that word. And if you didn’t know that word, you have to look up the description of that word in the book.
Wild times.
And now, the news.
Israel-Hamas
I was gone for a couple days, but luckily nothing too big happened while I was out so this should be a fairly short episode.
Just kidding!
Let’s start with – peace in the Middle East!
(for the moment)
While I was out, the chair of peace himself, President Trump, did in fact create a ceasefire deal that, while fragile, seems to be holding(ish).
On Monday, the remaining 20 living hostages that have been held in Gaza by Hamas were released. Which is absolutely incredible.
Hamas has also returned a few of the bodies of the dead, but says they will not be able to retrieve more bodies without specialist equipment because most of the bodies are below the rubble caused by the damage that Israel caused.
However, that is a sticking point with Israel. So much so that Trump, on Wednesday, said, Israeli forces could resume attacks on the streets of Gaza, “as soon as I say the word.”
Your chair of peace, ladies and gentlemen.
Trump also noted that Hamas, who, as part of this 20-point peace plan, is not supposed to have any part in future governance, is currently, “going in and clearing out the gangs, violent gangs.” But when asked whether Hamas could also be executing innocent Palestinians, Trump said he was looking into it. “I’m doing research on it.” Adding, “It could be gangs plus.”
Ah yes, gangs plus. The least successful streamer of all.
So no one worry – Trump’s the one deciding when Israeli forces will resume attacks and Trump’s the one doing research on Hamas.
Trump. Well known for both his calm demeanor and research skills. So no one worry!
For now though, like I said, this deal is holding as long as, you know, no one moves or breathes or does anything, and Hamas returns the bodies of the rest of the hostages.
Hostile Government Takeover
And let’s check in on the hostile government takeover!
In Portland, a federal judge has extended her temporary restraining order, barring the deployment of the national guard in the city citing, you know, a classic – no real reason for them in the first place.
This will extend the restraining order for an additional 14 days. Perfect timing, as the case regarding whether the troops can be in Portland at all also starts then – October 29th.
And in Chicago, an appeals court there has also blocked the National Guard from being deployed. They are there, still in the state, but currently on hold an unable to be used.
So now the big question remains – will the president invoke the insurrection act?
Trump invoking the Insurrection Act would obviously be the worst possible scenario for democracy.
It would also be… so wildly ironic! Because he did insurrection! Remember? Remember when he was like, my dad never told me it was okay to follow me dreams and sometimes failure is a part of that but that’s okay because it’s not really failure as long as you get up afterwards and because of that instead he went on to lose one election, then win another, then lose another because when he did win the election the entire country was like WHOA! You are very bad at this my guy. And so, in the middle of a once in century pandemic people voted in record numbers to vote him out but because he is so deeply broken and needs to fix what his dad broke he did insurrection.
Do you… remember that?
I do.
Government Shutdown
-via Washington Post
And looking at that government shutdown… it’s still shutdown.
Not sure what else to say there.
Trump is, as I talked about last week, attempting to use this to his advantage.
Wait, did I write that right? Donald J Trump? Taking advantage of an entire government shutdown? That doesn’t sound like him!
On Wednesday a federal judge blocked (are we noticing a trend here) the Trump administration from firing thousands of federal workers, siding with unions who said the firings were political as well as improperly handled and based on the incorrect belief that a government shutdown means you get to do literally anything you want.
That’s what the Supreme Court you hand-picked is for, ya goof.
In positive news, the House has passed a budget. However it failed to make it through the Senate on Wednesday.
So the government lives to be shut down another day.
Today, Thursday, marks day 16 of the shutdown.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
Listen, some vital voting news did come out on Wednesday. There will be a special episode about it. Not sure if you can tell by my voice but… it will not be today!
I’m proud of dictionaries. I’ll never say goodbye. But I will know when to because I’ll know what it means.
But more than dictionaries, and more than all the words in the dictionaries… because you mean all of the good ones and none of the bad ones… I’m proud of you.