Dana Goldberg (5:12)
All right, everyone, here we go. This one is from Megan Messerly@Politico.us is once again about to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council and stop UNRWA funding. These actions come just one day before Trump is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. So Trump is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday, and basically it's withdrawing the US from the UN Human Rights Council and prohibiting future funding for the UN Relief agency for Gaza. That's according to a document obtained by Politico. The action which reinstates policy in place during the last Trump administration. It's going to come on the day the president is set to meet with Bibi in Washington. The US has long accused the council of bias against Israel and of giving cover to governments with human rights abuses, which is fucking ironic considering what's going on in this country right now. It comes after the Biden administration had paused funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near east, known as UNRWA, following reports that staffers were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. A White House official said Monday afternoon that the executive order signing had been moved to Tuesday. Well, it also comes as the Trump administration has put the future of the United States Agency for International Development and that what that does, it also promotes human rights abroad. He's put that into question over concerns whether it aligns with with the president's quote, America first policy and how dollars are being spent. UNRWA is the main agency providing aid for Gaza's population amid the humanitarian disaster caused by Israel's offensive, some would say defending themselves in the area after the Oct. 7 attack. But the UN fired several staffers last summer after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the attack. It's also the next chapter in the country's complicated back and forth relationship with UN Human Rights Council, which was created, by the way, during the George W. Bush administration. Now under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the US Engaged in the council, but under Bush and Trump, it didn't. Now a spokesperson for the United nations, they declined to comment. The White House, in a fact sheet obtained by Politico, said the council quote has not fulfilled its purpose and continues to be used as a protective body for countries committing horrific human rights violations and condemned its stance on Israel. And there's another quote from the story. The UNHRC has demonstrated consistent bias against Israel, focusing on it unfairly and disproportionately in council proceedings. Again, this is all from the document and it continues. In 2018, the year President Trump withdrew from the UNHRC in his first administration, the organization passed more resolutions condemning Israel than Syria, Iran and North Korea combined. But human rights organizations and some lawmakers argue that the Human Rights Council, that it is important, it's flawed, but the entity in policing human rights abuses across the globe, it's important for that. The unrwa, meanwhile, was founded to support displaced Palestinians and has played a key role amid the ongoing conflict in supporting people in Gaza. The executive order will also require Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review and report to the White House which international organizations, conventions or treaties that, quote, promote radical or anti American sentiment with a particular focus on UNESCO, the UN and now this person. I hope she's going to get confirmed, but God help us all. The president's actions come amid Rep. Elise Stefanik, the Republican from New York, her pending confirmation as ambassador to the United Nations. Fuck. During a confirmation hearing last month, Stefanik said she would focus on reforming the UN system and ensuring that US Funding is, quote, going to programs through the UN that work and have a basis in the rule of law, that have a basis in transparency and accountability and strengthen our national security and our partnerships. That all sounds well and good. I don't fucking trust her. Now she also specifically called out unrwa, saying it turned a blind eye to local workers ties to Hamas. So we'll see what happens with that story. We know this is going to be happening with a lot of things connected to Israel and the relationship between Bibi and Trump. So we'll keep you updated there. This next story is from the Associated Press. Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, he posted Monday on a social media site that he had, quote, deleted 18F and that's a government agency that worked on technology projects such as the IRS's direct file program. Now, this led to some confusion, not surprising, about whether Direct File is still available to taxpayers. But the free filing program is still available, at least for the coming tax session. And there were so many stories that said that it was not. So we are trying to clear up some of that confusion for you here. While Musk's tweets may have intimated that the group of workers had been eliminated, an individual with knowledge of the IRS workforce said the Direct File program was still accepting tax returns. The individual spoke anonymously with the Associated Press because they were not authorized to speak to the press. I'm glad at least some people are. As Of Monday evening, 18F's website was still operational and was the Direct File website, but the digital services agencies, that Twitter account, that one was deleted. Now, the IRS announced last year that it will make the free electronic tax return filing system permanent and asked all 50 states and the District of Columbia to help taxpayers file their returns through the program in 2025. Obviously, if they get rid of this refiling, there's a lot of tax companies that will benefit tremendously. So you have to wonder why this is happening. The Direct File, that trial, it began in March of 2024, but the IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have made billions As I said, from charging people to use their software and have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American, they typically spends about $140 preparing their returns each year. Commercial tax prep companies that have lobbied against development of the Free File program say Free File options that they already exist. Several organizations, including private tax firms, they offer free online tax preparation assistance to taxpayers under certain income limits. Fillable forms, they're available online at the IRS website. But they are incredibly complicated and taxpayers still to calculate their own tax liability, which none of us, almost none of us have any idea how to do that now last minute, which is why I pay someone to do it, because my taxes are complicated. I actually have to do taxes in every state I perform in, which is bonkers. But last May, the IRS announced it would make the Direct file program permanent. Well, that was last May. It's now available in 25 states, up from 12 states that were part of last year's pilot program. The program allows people in some states with very simple W2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the pilot program in 2024, they claimed more than $90 million in refunds. This is what the IRS said in October. Now, Musk was responding to a post on Twitter's One of the users who called 18F far left and mused that Direct File puts the government in charge preparing people's taxes. And Musk responded with that group has been deleted. Well, apparently it hasn' More confusion from this government. And I don't know about you all, but I'm really sick of someone who has no government clearance and is not an elected official making so many fucking decisions for this country. I do see stuff happening behind the scenes though. I think people are starting to push back and they're trying to get Musk not under control, but actually some of them are, you know, threatening to sue and hopefully one day get him to stop all the involvement. So we can hope, we can always hope that people are doing something. All right. These next two stories I actually think are moving toward the good news. So that's why I put them in this segment where they are. This next one is from Edith Olmsted at the New Republic. The Proud Boys. Normally, no good story comes out about the Proud Boys, but they have lost the legal rights to their own name to a black church that they attacked. If this is not karma, I don't know what is. D.C. superior Court Judge Tanya Bossier ruled Monday that the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church now owns the name and symbols of the violent white nationalist hate Group. This is reported by the New York Times. The ruling, this is an outcome of an incident back in December of 2020, and I know we all remember this. This was fresh off a Supreme Court decision rejecting Texas's bid to subvert the Results of the 2020 presidential election for Donald Trump. The Proud Boys took to the streets of Washington, where a violent confrontation with counter protesters broke out. Well, during that march, members of the Proud Boys, including their leader, Enrique Tarrio, trespassed. He trespassed on the church's property and he set its Black Lives Matter banner on fire. He was arrested on vandalism charges on January 4th, and he was consequently not present because of this, if you remember, for the violent riot at the US Capitol on January 6th. Just a couple days later, he was still sentenced with seditious conspiracy for helping plan that entire riot. In January of 2023, D.C. superior Court Judge Neil Kravitz. He ruled that the destruction of the property at the Metropolitan AME had been, quote, highly orchestrated and hateful and overtly racist conduct granted, by the way, a $2.8 million default judgment against the Proud Boys. But the group never handed the money over. Lawyers for the church, they then sought to satisfy that judgment by having the group hand over something of value, its name. The decision now bars the Proud Boys from selling any merchandise with its name or associated symbols without the express permission of the black church that they fucking vandalized. I mean, come on, everyone. We don't have a lot of good stories, but this is one of them now. Tarrio, who was serving a 22 year sentence until Donald Trump, of course, pardoned him him last month. He was less than thrilled, absolutely, with this decision, but he's ridiculous. He said in a statement that the judge should be impeached, that the church should forfeit its nonprofit status. I'm sorry, bullshit. And he says their actions are betrayal of justice. That's what Tario wrote in a statement. I hold in contempt any motions, judgments and orders issued against me. I hope he had a scroll. And he was like, I hereby decree he's a moron. He's a dangerous moron, but he's a moron. In an interview with Alex Jones shortly after being released from prison, Tarrio promised, quote, retribution for Trump supporters being imprisoned for their crimes related to January 6th riot. He is a dangerous, dangerous man. He also said, we've got to do everything in our power to make sure that the next four years sets up for the next 100. I think there's a pretty good chance that Enrico Tarrio is going to commit another crime and my hope that he is back in prison before long because we definitely don't want him roaming the streets. But hey, a little bit of good news. He's got to get permission from a church if he wants to sell any more merchandise. Oh, I hope they sue the shit out of him. All right, everyone, this one last story in the Hot Notes makes me very happy. This is from the Associated Press as well. And we're headed to New York. New York Attorney General Tis James she said on Monday she told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender affirming care for the people under age 19 in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for such treatments. We've said this before in the podcast. Executive orders are wish lists. Most of this asshole's wish lists are unconstitutional and against the law, and there are people fighting them. In a letter, James, who is a beloved Democrat, told healthcare facilities that refusing to provide the treatments was going to violate New York's anti discrimination laws, quote, regardless of the availability of federal funding. We write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York state laws. This is what her letter reads. Now. Trump, a Republican, last week signed an executive order that directed agencies to take steps to make sure that hospitals receiving federal research and education grants, quote, end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children. Fuck off on that, by the way, because it's not happening. If it's happening, it's not happening to trans kids. The language in the order, using words such as maiming, sterilizing, mutilation, it contradicts what is typical for gender affirming care in the United States and what is backed by science. Now, the letter for James came as hospitals in Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. said that they were pausing gender affirming treatments for young people while administrators evaluate the order. The White House on Monday released a statement that said the executive order was, quote, already having its intended effect. If its intended effect is to be absolutely cruel to a community that is causing no harm, then yeah, it's having its intended effect. A spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital association said they were in close contact with member hospitals about the gender affirming care executive order, quote, we are collaboratively working through every aspect of the executive order to determine its legal and clinical implications. That work is ongoing. This is from Brian Conway. That's what he said in an email. Gender affirming medical care, by the way, for transgender youth is not common, but such treatments have been the subject of fierce political debate. I don't know if you all know this, but there are fewer than one in a thousand adolescents in the US with commercial insurance received puberty blockers or hormones during a recent five year period. That's according to a new study. Fewer than one in a thousand. That's some of the stuff that's going on in this country is that when people have been polled on the other side, they literally think the transgender community is 20% of the population. And I'm not exaggerating. In reality, it's less than 1. These are the things that we have to continue to, you know, correct when we hear it publicly. You know, this idea of even trans women in sports, in the ncaa. I've talked about this before in a congressional hearing. There's over 550,000 athlet. There's less than 10 transgender athletes that they're even aware of. Less than 10? They couldn't even give the number, but they know it's less than 10. So we're going to continue to help keep some of this in perspective for you all. But also, this is good news. I'm glad people are pushing back against these executive orders because like I said, many of them are unconstitutional or against the law. So if again, we've got an incredible community. A lot of you are wondering, how can I make a difference? So we've been giving you your segment Good Trouble. What are you guys doing? All right, everyone, it is time for your Good Trouble for today. This is a Good Trouble that is going to be good for your heart, but maybe not your ass and your hips. Let me explain. It comes from a substack from Erin Reed. So if you're not already following her writings, you definitely should. We're going to have a link directly to Aaron's substack in the show notes. So it's going to make it easy for you to do this. I don't know if you all are aware of this, but for a long time Girl Scouts of America has openly included transgender and non binary individuals in its membership. I know some of you are like, really? Yes, really. So this is your Good Trouble. Aaron has compiled a list of all of the trans Girl Scouts she's aware of. Trans and non binary Girl Scouts that are selling Girl Scout cookies. Your job is to go order as many as your body can handle. Okay? Put em in the freezer. Cause that's where Thin Mints belong. And if you don't agree with that, we're not friends. Thin Mints belong in the freezer. Okay, so she's compiled a list. We're going to give you a direct link to this list of trans Girl Scouts, non binary Girl Scouts. Now just a small note and Aaron mentions this in the substack. When you're going to order the cookies from these Girl Scouts, please choose ship the cookie option, do not pick, deliver the cookies by hand option. Okay. For a lot of reasons, but this is the easiest way to do this and we are keeping our Girl Scouts safe. Now this is. There's a. I just going to tell you about a few of these. Rainbow. Rainbow is one of the Girl scouts is an 8 year old who has loved being a Girl Scout for the past few years. She enjoys playing guitar, dancing Minecraft. We've got Coy. Coy's been in the Girl Scout since kindergarten and now she is a senior in the Girl Scouts and that's a 10th grade level. She loves video games, hanging with her friends. We've got Pen pronouns, they, them. Pen's a 13 year old non binary scouts who's helping their troop raise funds for a trip to Yosemite. Raven. Non binary Girl Scout Raven plans to start their gold award. They enjoy snowboarding. They hope to share their love of snow sports with their troops. There are, I think there's almost three dozen names on here. So what we're going to do, you're going to go to the link in the show notes wherever you're listening to this podcast and there's going to be a direct link to Aaron Reed's substack. Read through all of these incredible Girl Scouts. Pick one that resonates with you, that speaks to your heart. Go order as many boxes of cookies as you can and know that you're making a difference for an organization that is trying to be as inclusive as they possibly can, even in the face of all of this discrimination and hate. That's it. Your good trouble for this week is absolutely delicious. All right, that's what we've got. You've got your hot notes, you've got your good trouble. And when we take a quick break, I'll be back with some good news for you. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back.
