I've seen a couple articles in the last few days warning people to download Wikipedia, or archives of the internet, etc. before Trump can "scrub the sites", and then this article is trending on the subreddit r/pics today about Trump scrubbing the historical archives of HIV information from the CDC: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/O6i6NTUDgY

Can he actually interfere with the US's Internet in such a damaging way? Is there a governing body that can push back on him? I'm so confused/concerned.

I keep seeing posts that some tech oligarchs have infiltrated the US government and trying to crash it like post USSR collapse so they can buy up everything on the cheap and cause and mass unemployment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpPTRcz1no
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/30/curtis-yarvins-ideas-00201552

https://www.reddit.com/r/Foodforthought/comments/1icwm77/trump_is_trying_to_collapse_our_economy_the_war/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa

I never heard most of these names before but now I keep saying them everywhere:

* Peter Thiel,
* Elon Musk,
* Brian Armstrong,
* Marc Andreessen,
* Ben Horowitz,
* David Sacks
* Balaji Srinivasan
* Curtis Yarvin

How seriously should these theories be taken? These people seem like clowns but now they seem to have found their way into the government so not sure about anything anymore.

Edit: typo.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

I keep hearing about "Zik" and the cult murders, which somehow is related to the Center for Applied Rationality.

And a guy named Geoff Anders seems to be still running some sort of kooky "rationalist inspired" cult that seems more Scientology-inspired to me: https://protos.com/arkham-intelligence-reserve-and-the-leverage-research-cult/

All these people are apparently computer engineers in the Bay Area. What gives?

There are reports of a planned massive Costco strike action.

There is a general mood on Reddit that Costco treats its employees much better than most competitors, and is often used as a role model of an ethical employer. If this is true, why are they striking?

I know it was a big deal a few years ago, people saying China's economy will collapse (and all other world economies as well in a domino effect). But now, it's pretty much crickets in the news. Are we all still screwed or did they fix that?

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202009/14/WS5f5f2989a3101ccd0bee0453.html

Why the heck is the official White House account tagging in Selena Gomez? What is this in context of? https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1885466675765559741

So what’s the deal? Everything that crosses the border tomorrow from Mexico is going to have a 25% charge on it paid by the importer? Can they enact it that quickly, no set up required? So a box of bell peppers that got bought for $10 will now cost the importer $12.50? Surely that will get passed on to us consumers, no?

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/north-america-braces-new-trump-tariffs-saturday-deadline-nears-2025-01-31/

I am getting frequent emails from win.donaldjtrump.com asking for money. One of today's emails has this:

"Friend, this is urgent—my FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT fundraising deadline as President is just HOURS AWAY, and we still need you!"

He can't run for POTUS again. What is this fundraising for? What is the deadline?

I keep hearing it mentioned in passing, and apparently there is even political discourse surrounding the event. When I try to look up anything, it’s almost entirely “live updates” which are unhelpful for those who don’t know what happened. What is going on with this and why is it so huge?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/live-blog/rcna190079

Context: this tweet

Where does this come from? Are people seriously thinking it?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAUqgOCqVJA&t=1s

I keep seeing all over the internet that people keep saying this is music history but they’ve done plenty of concerts like this before to support disasters so i don’t understand why it’s music history.

https://fireaidla.org

I don't read the news, like, AT ALL. So... sigh... what did the president do this time?

Full letter (well the important bits anyway):

We empathize that you might be feeling hesitant, scared and/or anxious after recent national events. We want to reassure you that our practice remains a safe place for ALL our patients. Our mission, vision and values are unchanged. We continue to support our patients with complete and thorough healthcare. Our goal is to provide Excellent care with absolute integrity and respect for all.

obligatory search link, which I half heartedly skimmed through:

https://www.google.com/search?q=recent+national+events&oq=recent+national+events&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAtIBBzMwNGowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This post compares Tesla to Enron and I know Tesla is greatly overvalued but nothing I’ve found indicates that they are fraudulent, illegal, or going bankrupt. https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/s/LiLOCfu427

https://old.reddit.com/r/buccos/comments/1i8c0jf/an_11yearold_pulled_the_1m_paul_skenes_rookie/

I've seen this going around the internet but I don't really see anything official. The most widely shared source has been this website. Everybody seems to be saying that we're on our way to Pulling A Germany, since Musk's awkward Nazi salute thing. What's that all about?

https://www.lemkininstitute.com/red-flag-alerts/red-flag-alert-for-genocide---united-states%3A-the-rise-of-the-nazi-salute

first saw it around the Love and Deepspace tumblr tag and found out it wasnt liked by the Vietnamese side of the community and now I just saw this reel and I didn’t even know it was an issue

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFZPdwqsDDX/?igsh=MWVubG5pZGt2NDNvaA==

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/usda-inspector-general-escorted-out-her-office-after-defying-white-house-2025-01-29/

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-durbin-seek-presidential-explanation-for-ig-dismissals

Is the idea that Congress will decide on the legality of this move once it’s back in session?

I live in eastern Europe. I had an MRI head scan in private hospital. It cost me 235€. Nothing covered by my countries healthcare system. So how can same procedure cost up to 4000$ in USA? It's same equipment. Same procedure.

https://ezra.com/blog/brain-scan-cost#:~:text=The%20cost%20disparity%20in%20healthcare,%248%2C400%20on%20average3%2C4.

I keep seeing post related about J Cole being right or some relating MLK to Diddy. I’m aware some of these could be theories but I’m so confused.

My one of reference videos

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2Y3Qgpm/

I recently learned that the new administration is currently emailing federal employees asking for voluntary resignations. Those interested have until early February to resign and the Trump administration will "go to the next step." Anyone know what is going on? Can they just start mass firing people who do not voluntarily resign? What about people in probationary periods having just recently been hired?

Thanks in advance.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/01/trump-administration-offers-most-feds-deferred-resignation-if-they-quit-by-next-week/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/justin-baldoni-2-a-m-voice-memo-blake-lively-1236120598/

Please remain respectful during this discussion, as I’m sure everyone has different understandings or opinions on this….but I can’t seem to find a solidified reason why he froze federal funding, and what that means for employees under federal or state level funding? For the everyday American? How long will it last?

Thanks.

News article resource: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-orders-pause-all-federal-grants-loans-2025-01-28/

https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/

I've never looked at this community before, but a post from it was on the homepage and after gathering some more context it looks like there is some kind of crisis going on but I don't understand and I can't find any explanations. What is the relationship between US politics today and what people are "leaking" in this subreddit

What is going on with Neymar Jr. and his contract terminated with Saudi Arabia Al Hilal?

https://www.instagram.com/neymarjr/p/DFXhhr4OSO0/?img_index=1

I understand why companies like Amazon have dropped them, Bezos is kissing the ring. But I've read that Trump is bullying other companies, like Target, into dropping their DEI initiatives. https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/trumps-executive-orders-rolling-back-dei-and-accessibility-efforts-explained

What I don't understand is how Trump's DEI executive orders about banning DEI initiatives in the Federal Government, are bullying private companies into dropping DEI initiatives. I don't doubt that they are, but I don't understand how. I do know how his orders have basically created a witch hunt in the Federal Government.

I just saw an article saying Sweden’s Green Party will likely move away from opposing the development of nuclear energy in the country. It reminded me that many European Green parties are against nuclear power. Why? If they’re so concerned with the burning of fossil fuels and global warming, nuclear energy should be at the top of their list!

https://www.dn.se/sverige/mp-karnkraften-behover-inte-avvecklas-omedelbart/

(Article in Swedish)

I see a lot of international news about war in Congo between Congo on one side Rwanda and M23 rebels on the other side. It is a conflict that has been going on since 2009, there is also a UN force on the ground.

It appears the rebels have made a breakthrough and that Congolese army and UN forces aren't able to stop them. Also some Romanian mercenaries and South African forces are involved ?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/27/who-are-m23-rebels-fighting-in-eastern-drc-congo

Can someone explain what the issue is and why Rwanda's involvment is controversial ?

I keep seeing that hiring him was a bad choice and even that the Cowboys are not a serious football team but I don’t see why

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43552501/cowboys-hire-coordinator-brian-schottenheimer-head-coach