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By Valerie Volcovici. February 22, 2025. 8:36 PM EST.

Summary Musk says non-response by federal workers seen as resignation Emails sent to federal agencies demanding work summaries AFGE union vows to challenge unlawful terminations

A woman used online dating apps to lure at least four older men to meet her in person, drugged them with sedatives and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “sinister” romance scheme, FBI officials in Las Vegas said on Friday.

Three of the men died, authorities said, and she has been charged in one of their deaths.

Aurora Phelps, 43, who is in custody in Mexico, faces 21 counts including wire fraud, identity theft and one count of kidnapping resulting in death, Sue Fahami, the acting US attorney for the district of Nevada, said at a news conference.

“This is a romance scam on steroids,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division. One of the four victims – who were all targeted in 2021 and 2022 – awoke from a coma after Phelps gave him prescription sedatives over the course of a week, Evans added.

In one instance, Phelps is alleged to have kidnapped a victim by heavily sedating him and taking him across the US-Mexico border in a wheelchair – and then to a Mexico City hotel room, where he was later found dead.

God save the king. Drunk on power, Donald Trump spent Saturday afternoon before adoring fans, boasting of his victories, taunting his enemies and casting himself as America’s absolute monarch, supreme leader and divine emperor rolled into one.

Trump’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the National Harbor in Maryland began with country singer Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA and raucous cheers in a crowded ballroom that included January 6 insurrectionists.

Seventy-five minutes later, it concluded with the US president standing between two stars-and-stripes flags, pumping his fists and swaying to the Village People’s anthem YMCA.

What emerged in between was a man who has never felt so sure of himself, so contemptuous of his foes and so convinced of his righteous mission to make America great again, even if it means breaking china, cracking skulls and leaving global destruction in his wake.

Summary

Conservative lawmakers and activists are pushing to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver declared, "It’s just a matter of when."

Some legislators, like Oklahoma Senator David Bullard, are introducing bills to challenge the ruling, while Justices Thomas and Alito have signaled interest in reconsidering it.

Though most Americans support same-sex marriage, the court’s conservative shift is concerning.

The 2022 Respect for Marriage Act ensures federal recognition but does not prevent states from restricting same-sex marriage if Obergefell is overturned.

Summary

At CPAC, Donald Trump falsely claimed Europe had contributed less aid to Ukraine than the U.S. and demanded Ukraine repay America with mineral rights.

He again refused to acknowledge Russia started the war and framed both sides as equal victims.

Trump called Ukraine’s leader a "dictator" while praising Putin, aligning with CPAC attendees who showed increasing pro-Russia sentiment.

His speech also included election lies, vaccine conspiracies, and personal attacks.

Summary

Elon Musk announced that all federal employees must report their weekly accomplishments via email or be considered resigned.

The directive requires workers to submit 5 bullet points summarizing their work by Monday night.

It remains unclear how responses will be evaluated or enforced.

Critics question the feasibility of processing hundreds of thousands of reports across multiple agencies.

Definitely no conflict of interest here or anything!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25934009

His post on X said employees will receive an email “shortly” requesting to “understand what they got done last week.”

All federal government employees will have to share what they’ve been working on in the last week or face dismissal, Elon Musk said Saturday.

Musk posted on X that employees will be receiving an email “shortly” requesting to “understand what they got done last week.” A lack of response, Musk said, “will be taken as a resignation.” It’s unclear what legal authority, if any, Musk is relying on.

MBFC
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The actor was known as the Most Beautiful Woman in Puppetland.

Summary

Texas is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 30 years, with 90 reported cases, mostly among unvaccinated children and teenagers.

The outbreak is centered in Gaines County, where nearly 18% of students opted out of vaccinations. Officials warn of further spread, with cases already appearing in neighboring New Mexico.

The surge coincides with the confirmation of anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as national health secretary under Trump.

This has prompted concerns as the CDC halts some vaccine campaigns and postpones a vaccine-safety panel meeting.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has asked the US federal government for $40 billion (£31.6b) in funds to help rebuild areas of Los Angeles devastated by January fires.

Newsom sent the request to congressional leaders in a letter on Friday. He said the funds would help both immediate and long-term recovery work.

"I'm asking Congress to have the back of the American people and provide disaster funding to help Californians recover and rebuild as soon as possible," he wrote on social media.

The fires, which began 7 January, burned 37,469 acres and killed at least 26 people in the greater Los Angeles area.

The National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), which stored police records documenting misconduct, is now unavailable, the Washington Post first reported.

The US justice department also confirmed the database’s elimination in a statement issued online.

“User agencies can no longer query or add data to the NLEAD,” the statement read. “The US Department of Justice is decommissioning the NLEAD in accordance with federal standards.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25921559

Link above goes to the Daily Kos post that discovered the scrubbing. Here's the text of the original article:

Former Intelligence Officer Claims KGB Recruited Trump

Isabel Van Brugen – The Daily Beast – 21 February 2025

A former Soviet intelligence officer has alleged that Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename “Krasnov.”

Alnur Mussayev, 71, a former Kazakh intelligence chief, made the explosive claim in a Facebook post on Thursday. He claimed that he served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy. One of its key objectives, he claimed, was “recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.”

Mussayev wrote that in 1987 “our directorate recruited Donald Trump, a 40-year-old American businessman, under the pseudonym Krasnov.”

He reiterated that the department specialized in recruiting spies and intelligence sources from the West, asserting once again that Trump had been brought into the fold.

“I hope I’ll survive a third assassination attempt,” he said in a comment below his post.

He made another shocking allegation in another comment, saying: “Today, the personal file of resident ‘Krasnov’ has been removed from the FSB. It is being privately managed by one of Putin’s close associates.”

Mussayev’s allegations, while unfounded, add to ongoing speculation about Trump’s connections to Russia. Trump’s first visit to Moscow as a real estate developer in 1987 drew intense scrutiny and speculation that the trip was arranged by the KGB for dubious reasons.

According to Politico, in 1985, the KGB updated a secret personality questionnaire distributed among the agency, advising case officers what to look for in a successful recruitment operation.

The document instructed agents to target “prominent figures in the West” with the goal of drawing them “into some form of collaboration with us… as an agent, or confidential or special or unofficial contact.”

Trump has denied any improper ties to Moscow or collusion with President Vladimir Putin.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

U.S. officials have also expressed concerns about Trump’s relationship with Putin.

Anthony Scaramucci who briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, said during an episode of “The Rest Is Politics: US” podcast with co-host Katty Kay on Friday that he thinks there is a mysterious “hold” on the president.

Scaramucci did not elaborate on what he believes that “hold” might be, adding only: “I don’t know why it’s like this. [H.R.] McMaster couldn’t figure it out, [James] Mattis couldn’t figure it out, [John] Kelly couldn’t figure it out.”

"Russia attacked, but they shouldn't have let him attack," he said.

Summary

The General Services Administration (GSA) is removing all EV chargers from federal properties, citing that they are “not mission-critical.”

The move aligns with Trump’s broader rollback of green energy initiatives, including efforts to override California’s EV mandates.

The GSA will also phase out electric vehicles purchased under the Biden administration. Critics see this as part of a broader GOP effort against clean energy.

The decision comes as Trump also pauses $3 billion in public EV charger funding.

President Donald Trump was asked at a press conference this month if there were any federal agencies or programs that Elon Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency wouldn’t be allowed to mess with.

“Social Security will not be touched,” Trump answered, echoing a promise he has been making for years. Despite his eagerness to explode treaties, shutter entire government agencies and abandon decades-old ways of doing things, the president understands that Social Security benefits for seniors are sacrosanct.

Still, the DOGE team landed at the Social Security Administration this week, with Musk drawing attention for his outlandish claims that large numbers of 150-year-old “vampires” are receiving Social Security payments. DOGE has begun installing its own operatives, including an engineer linked to tweets promoting eugenics and executives with a cut-first-fix-later philosophy, in multiple top positions at the Social Security Administration.

Their first wave of actions — initiating the elimination of 41 jobs and the closing of at least 10 local offices, so far — was largely lost in the rush of headlines. Those first steps might seem restrained compared with the mass firings that DOGE has pursued at other federal agencies. But Social Security recipients rely on in-person service in all 50 states, and the shuttering of offices, reported on DOGE’s website to include locations everywhere from rural West Virginia to Las Vegas, could be hugely consequential. The closures potentially reduce access to Social Security for some of the most vulnerable people in this country — including not just retirees but also individuals with severe physical and intellectual disabilities, as well as children whose parents have died and who’ve been left in poverty.

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/post/2965218

Coca-Cola has set a goal of having women in 50% of its senior leadership roles by 2030. Coke has also said that it wants race and ethnicity representation that reflects national census data at all levels of the company in the U.S.

Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who targets corporate DEI programs, applauded PepsiCo’s actions on Friday. In a post on X, Starbuck said Coca-Cola “should be very nervous about continuing with their woke policies.”

tl;dr: Pepsi bad, Coke good.

Summary

A Missouri Republican lawmaker proposed a bill to create a registry of pregnant women “at risk” of abortion and another for prospective adoptive parents.

The bill claims to reduce abortions by facilitating adoptions, though it lacks a clear definition of “at risk.”

Critics warn it could expand government tracking of pregnancies, echoing broader anti-abortion surveillance efforts.

Missouri remains a key battleground over abortion, with legal challenges to the state's near-total ban ongoing.