It's Friday morning, what do we know?
Pelosi steps down
What do we know?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday she will be stepping down from leadership in the next Congress. Pelosi first became Speaker from 2007-2010 and then again from 2018-2022. Pelosi will go down as one of the most consequential Speakers of the House in the body’s history. She, more than anyone else, was responsible for passage of the Affordable Care Act, one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the last half century. She led the House during the chaos of the Trump years and was one of the few effective bulwarks against his insanity. She was also a master tactician the likes of which have rarely been seen in Washington D.C. Pelosi will step down but is not retiring; she has picked Brooklyn Democrat Hakeem Jeffries as her successor, passing the mantle of leadership to a younger generation. Steny Hoyer, the second ranking Democrat in the House, will also be stepping down
You can watch the Speaker’s full remarks here
To no one’s surprise, the imbeciles who will control the next House have announced they will begin investigating Hunter Biden as their first order of business. Let’s be clear, Hunter Biden is a sleazy guy who’s done a fair amount of shady things, but it is not the job of the United States Congress to investigate any of it. The investigation and the many more that follow will, of course, be an embarrassment to the institution and only serve to remind Americans that the GOP is a gang of performative grifters with no idea how to govern like responsible adults. But at least they’ll get on Tucker
Chaos continues to reign over at Twitter as a significant number of Twitter employees resigned ahead of a Thursday deadline set by billionaire internet troll and Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Employees had until Thursday afternoon to resign from the company and receive three months severance or remain and be “extremely hardcore.” Most decided not to be “extremely hardcore.” The departures include all or nearly all the members of several critical engineering teams, without whom Twitter cannot function. The resignations come just a couple of weeks after Musk fired half Twitter’s 7500 employees and a few days after mass resignations by senior management teams responsible for security, compliance, communications and community standards. I have no idea how they’re gonna keep the lights on over there
Two new images from the James Webb Space Telescope to geek out on. The first (left) is a protostar, the dust and cloud will soon form a new star and much of what remains is likely become that star’s planetary system. Our solar system probably looked something like it about 4.5 billion years ago. The second image (right), though less dramatic, is actually much cooler. JWST has discovered luminous galaxies that existed a mere 350 million years after the Big Bang. To put it simply, they shouldn’t exist. According to what we thought we knew, 350 million years isn’t enough time for stars to form and coalesce into a galaxy bright enough to be seen from this distance. Scientists now have to rewrite the history of the universe. A reminder of how little we humans understand
What do we know in Ukraine?
Air raid sirens blared as Russian missiles destroyed critical infrastructure amid Ukraine’s first snowfall of the season. Although Ukrainians have remained resolute in the face of Russia’s latest barrage, much of the country is suffering without reliable power and running water. Despite efforts to repair essential infrastructure, most of Ukraine is experiencing rolling blackouts as officials attempt to reduce demand. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as many as 10 million people are experiencing blackouts
The Russia-Ukraine grain shipment deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey has been extended another four months, President Zelenskyy said on Thursday. The grain and other agricultural products exported by both Russia and Ukraine are critical for developing nations, who are the primary customers
Thank you Adam.