Out d’Coup | Anti-Asian, Misogynist Killings; Proud Boy Arrests; Deb Haaland; Spain 4-Day Work Week; Toomey Sucks; Bucks Ass’t DA Does Door Dash; Dissolving PASSHE; SLS; Mars H2O; Free Will Releases

On Tuesday, 8 people were killed in an anti-Asian, misogynist attack on three spas in Atlanta. Six of the eight people killed were Asian women. The killer was arrested. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Officer Capt. Jay Baker held a news conference on Wednesday and said that the shooter had a “sex addiction” and was just “having a bad day.” It was later revealed that Capt. Baker had been pushing anti-Asian t-shirts with the slogan: “COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA.”

Philadelphia Councilmember Helen Gym called the shootings “the latest escalation in the nation’s history of systemic racism and violence against Asian immigrants, fostered by a culture of white supremacy and misogyny that has long devalued the lives of immigrants, Black women, and women of color.” See Helen Gym’s Twitter thread on history of AAPI organizing in Philly.

Proud Boys leaders in four states were arrested this week.  One of the four leaders arrested was Philadelphia native Zach Rehl.  Rehl became a figurehead in the organization over the last three years.  He was photographed at the insurrection leading the Proud Boys to the capitol and smoking a cigarette inside Senator Merkley’s office while  wearing a Temple Owls schoolbag the whole time.  

This comes on the heels of a report of how federal, state and local agencies ignored the Proud Boys over the last four years while they were committing acts of political violence at Trump events and far right rallies.   

Deb Haaland was confirmed as the first Native American cabinet secretary. Haaland will lead the Department of the Interior - the department with a long and strained history with indigenous communities. The agency manages over 500 million acres of public land, much of it stolen from indigenous people. The agency also houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

The filibuster appears to be on life-support as President Biden and key Democratic senators come out in reforming it.  This prompted Mitch McConnell to throw a temper tantrum on the Senate Floor where he promised to go “scorched Earth,” and Democrats responded by saying that McConnell already went “scorched Earth.”

Spain may become the first country to move to a four-day workweek. That follows the launch of a pilot project for companies in the country interested in the concept. Spain has a long history of leading on shorter working hours. Following a 44 day strike in Barcelona in 1919, for example, Spain became one of the first countries in Europe to move to an eight-hour day. As reported in the Guardian, “From New Zealand to Germany, the idea has been steadily gaining ground globally. Hailed by its proponents as a means to increase productivity, improve the mental health of workers and fight climate change, the proposal has taken on new significance as the pandemic sharpens issues around wellbeing, burnout and work-life balance.” The pilot program will see a reduction of working hours with no loss of salary or jobs. 

This won’t come as a surprise, but the Guardian reports that “The oil industry knew at least 50 years ago that air pollution from burning fossil fuels posed serious risks to human health, only to spend decades aggressively lobbying against clean air regulations.” Their report is based upon a pile of internal document obtained by the Guardian, including internal memos and reports. 

The CDC is exploring whether 3 feet of social distancing - instead of 6 feet - is safe for schools. The distancing guidelines are a key part of determining the most effective way to reopen schools while keeping students, faculty, staff, and the community safe.  

21 states with Republican Attorneys General are suing the Biden administration for putting the kibosh on the Keystone XL pipelines. 

Moderna begins to study the safety and effectiveness of its vaccine for kids between the age of 6 months to 12 years old. The study will enroll about 6.750 children in the U.S. and Canada. 

Graduate Student Workers at Columbia University are on strike after failing to achieve their first contract after over two years of negotiations with the administration. 

Bucks County Assistant District Attorney Matt Weintraub was caught moonlighting as a Door Dash driver while working out of the District Attorney’s office.  The Bucks County District Attorney only demoted from his position while the DA called it “an incredibly poor decision.”

The Pennsylvania Capitol is scheduled to reopen to the public this Monday.  It will be open to the public for the first time since the fall.  Guests must wear masks unless you are Republican legislators who still don’t believe in the pandemic.

The Commonwealth Foundation went in front of the House Commerce Committee last week and defended their positions on why there shouldn’t be a minimum wage.  Representative’s Malcolm Kenyatta and John Galloway shut that nonsense down and forced the Commonwealth Foundation’s representative to explain that they support a zero dollar minimum wage. 

Two men were arrested this week for taking part in the assault on Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick during the January 6 insurrection. Sicknick later died from his injuries. And, once again, a Pennsylvanian was one of those arrested. Julian Khater, a 32 year old many from State College, was seen spraying bear spray directly into the face of Officer Sicknick during the assault. 

Yes, of course, Sen. Pat Toomey blocked a bill that would have prevented debt collectors from taking stimulus checks. When asked why he voted for the bill he blamed Democrats for not including it in the original bill and compromised with Republicans to pass a bill with 60 votes. He defended debt collectors and said it’s too late anyway as 90 million checks have already been sent to Americans. Way to stick up for working families. 

At the State Senate budget hearings yesterday, PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein issued a threat. If his plans for reorganizing the 14 state-owned university system are not followed - including the mergers of three universities in the Northeast and three universities in the West - he told lawmakers: “I will be recommending to the board that we come back to the Senate next year with a legislative package to dissolve the state system.” Senator Joe Pittman of Indiana County, the home of IUP, said he would be happy to introduce the legislation. APSCUF President Jamie Martin said she was flooded with texts and emails from faculty who were watching the hearings. “It was reckless, at the very least it was reckless,” Martin told PennLive. 

NASA finally had a successful test of the Space Launch System or SLS rocket on Thursday. The SLS rocket is the one planned to be NASA’s workhorse for Artemis Moon missions. 

SpaceX’s launch of 60 Starlink Internet Satellites was seen over large areas of the Eastern U.S. including Central, PA and Bucks County. 

Some scientists now think that the large amount of water that flowed on Mars billions of years ago, may have become trapped in the planets outer crust. The findings published in the the journal Science, suggest that between 30% and 99% of the water on Mars may have been incorporated into minerals and buried in the planets crust. 

Elon Musk fulfills a childhood dream and changed his official title to “TechnoKing of Tesla. Tesla’s chief financial officer, Zach Kirkhorn, will also get a new title. He’ll be Tesla’s “Master of Coin.” 

Kevin has his vaccine appointment!

Free Will releases Personified - DDH Double IPA 8.4% ABV. This Sunday is Free Will’s annual release of their Barrel Aged Flowers series, featuring six different bottles and for the first time ever, draft pours of each.