03/13/26

Good morning! It’s Friday, March 13th. So scary!

International Every Girl Wins Day

Every? 

Listen… being a feminist means believing that women can do anything! Including be Pam Bondi, who should never win anything.

And now, the news.

Old Dominion Shooting

-via ABC News

We start how we start here in America, with one person dead and two others injured after a gunman, who has been killed, opened fire at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He was stopped, and ultimately killed, by two ROTC students.

The suspect, a former Army National Guardsman who had already served eight years for trying to help the Islamic State group, and considering an attack on the US military in the style of the Fort Hood-attack that left 13 people dead, was allegedly trying to commit that terrorist attack when he opened fire just before 10:45 AM on Thursday.

A motive is still being investigated but it is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

Synagogue Attack

-via Axios

And we continue as we do in America… with a 41-year-old man dead after ramming his truck into Temple Israel Synagogue in a Detroit suburb. 

After he drove through a hallway of the synagogue, the truck, which had explosives in it, caught fire.

He was found dead inside his truck, but although security did shoot at his truck, it’s unclear how he died.

A security guard was knocked unconscious by the car but did not suffer life-threatening injuries. Thirty officers were treated for smoke inhalation. Otherwise, there were no other injuries or deaths.

A genuine miracle.

Synagogues all around the world have had to ramp up security since the war in Iran started two weeks ago. 

This is being investigated as a direct attack on the Jewish community, with Michigan’s AG saying there is a clear “nexus” between the Iran war and Thursday’s attack.

Iran

-via NPR, The Guardian, and NY Times

And speaking of said war… on Thursday, Iran’s new supreme leader issued his first official address and, in it, vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed while also continuing to attack US bases in the region. 

Well, it’s believed to have been an address from him. He didn’t actually appear on screen. A picture of him was on the screen, and then another person read the remarks. 

And in western Iraq, a refueling aircraft crashed in what Central Command says is a two-aircraft incident that occurred in friendly airspace, causing one plane to be able to land safely while the other crashed. 

It’s still being investigated, so details are sparse, but it was not due to hostile or friendly fire. 

Rescue efforts were underway as of this recording, but the type of plane that crashed has at least a three-person crew.

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has started laying mines to keep people out.

As oil prices surge, the US has temporarily lifted Russian oil sanctions. Everything’s coming up Putin, huh?

Lifting the sanctions hasn’t really moved the markets yet, so we’ll see what happens. 

And one more thing… earlier this week ABC News published an FBI warning to police that Iran could launch drones at the West Coast. And then there was confusion or whether this was real or not. I mean, the FBI really sent that but it was unclear if what they were warning about was real

On Wednesday, Governor Newsom said there was no imminent threat to the west coast and that it was based on “unverified information.”

Karoline Leavitt tweeted that the FBI’s original alert was about a single, unverified tip.

It turns out… ABC News forgot to include the part of the FBI alert stating the information was from an unverified tip. 

Nice one team!

But it’s also nice one team to this administration because it took forever for them to clarify. They fumbled a very serious moment, where they should have very clearly and immediately been able to explain whether or not an entire coast of the country was in danger. 

But they didn’t. Because they are the worst possible administration to have in office at this moment.

Senate Passes Housing Bill

-via NBC News

Here’s something wild – the Senate did bipartisanship on Thursday!

I didn’t know they could do that. Did you? Did they??

On an 89 to 10 vote, the Senate passed a bill that is meant to make it easier to buy a house here in America through a variety of means, including grants and pilot programs for building homes, changing federal definitions to encourage more housing units, and stopping big businesses from buying up a ton of single family home and then overcharging for them. 

Now, who knows if it’ll make it out of the House (ironic, innit? Considering it’s a housing bill?) and, even if it does, will real estate mogul Trump want to sign? Who knows. We take our wins where we can get em!

And that’s it. That’s the news.

Why? Because I started with two stories that are being investigated as acts of terrorism and then went straight into the war.

I think a shorter than usual episode as we head into the weekend is fine. I’m proud of lots of girls. And women. And lots of people in general.

But more than all of those people put together. Because I do hope a lot of people win but only one really deserves it… I’m proud of you.