Elon Musk Endorses Neo-Nazis; Please Support Art in the Park in the Dark–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Dec. 23, 2024

Indy Digest: Dec. 23, 2024

The march toward fascism continues …

From The New York Times:

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump, on Friday endorsed Germany’s far-right party, a group with ties to neo-Nazis whose youth wing has been classified as “confirmed extremist” by German domestic intelligence.

“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Mr. Musk posted to X, referring to the anti-immigrant party, the Alternative for Germany, by its German initials.

In doing so, he is wading into German politics at a moment of acute turmoil, and at the very same time that he has wielded his influence in Washington to help blow up a bipartisan spending deal that was meant to avoid a government shutdown over Christmas. The German government recently collapsed, resulting in early elections, which are planned for next year.

Mr. Musk’s post was in response to an English-language video by a 24-year-old German far-right influencer, Naomi Seibt. She harshly criticized Friedrich Merz, whom polls show leading the race, for dismissing a rival’s suggestion that Germany look to Mr. Musk and another firebrand, President Javier Milei of Argentina, for ideas about reforming the country. …

Like all the mainstream German parties, Mr. Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union has ruled out working with the AfD, which Mr. Scholz and others have called a threat to German democracy.

From NPR:

A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events.

Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there—and at most other public health entities in the U.S.—must stop.

NPR has confirmed the policy was discussed at this meeting, and at two other meetings held within the department’s Office of Public Health, on Oct. 3 and Nov. 21, through interviews with four employees at the Department of Health, which employs more than 6,500 people and is the state’s largest agency.

According to the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation, the policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing.

Staffers were also told that it applies to every aspect of the health department’s work: Employees could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put up signs at the department’s clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were available on site.

Another piece from The New York Times:

Over the past two days, President-elect Donald J. Trump has made clear that he has designs for American territorial expansion, declaring that the United States has both security concerns and commercial interests that can best be addressed by bringing the Panama Canal and Greenland under American control or outright ownership.

Mr. Trump’s tone has had none of the trolling jocularity that surrounded his repeated suggestions in recent weeks that Canada should become America’s “51st state,” including his social media references to the country’s beleaguered prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau.” …

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media, “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

On Saturday evening, he had accused Panama of price-gouging American ships traversing the canal, and suggested that unless that changed, he would abandon the Jimmy Carter-era treaty that returned all control of the canal zone to Panama.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” he wrote, just ahead of an increase in the charges scheduled for Jan. 1. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our country will immediately stop.”

He went on to express worry that the canal could fall into the “wrong hands,” an apparent reference to China, the second-largest user of the canal. A Hong Kong-based firm controls two ports near the canal, but China has no control over the canal itself.

The upcoming year is going to be crazy. Brace yourselves …

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Remember the guy President-elect Trump initially picked to BE THE NATION’S TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER? The Washington Post reports: “Former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) regularly paid for sex, possessed illegal drugs and paid a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, according to a 42-page report released by the House Ethics Committee on Monday on President-elect Donald Trump’s former pick for attorney general. The report cited ‘substantial evidence’ that from 2017 to 2020, Gaetz ‘regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him,’ and from 2017 to 2019, possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on ‘multiple different occasions.’ The Ethics Committee also investigated a 2018 trip Gaetz made to the Bahamas where the panel found he accepted transportation and lodging in violation of the House rules and laws on gifts. The GOP-led committee concluded in the document that Gaetz ‘violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.’”

• Party City, which has a Coachella Valley presence with a store in Indio, will soon be no more. CNN says. “CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday in a meeting viewed by CNN that Party City is ‘winding down’ operations immediately and that today will be their last day of employment. Staff were told they will not receive severance pay, and they were told their benefits would end as the company goes out of business. … ‘It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,’ Litwin said. ‘Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.’ Also on Friday, some of Party City’s store employees received letters that the company would close down stores on February 28, at which point store staff would be terminated.”

• The same thing, more or less, is happening with Big Lots. The Washington Post reports: “Big Lots, which filed for bankruptcy in September, said it no longer expects to complete a previously announced asset sale to an affiliate of the private equity firm Nexus Capital Management. Though it has not ruled out a sale to Nexus or another party by early January, the Ohio-based retailer said it is moving forward with going-out-of-business sales at its roughly 900 U.S. stores. … Big Lots’ brand as a bargain-goods store has been increasingly hard to deliver on, analysts said, as it’s undercut on price by Amazon, Walmart and other companies that can take advantage of sophisticated logistic and supply-chain operations.”

• I realize this Digest has been pretty depressing so far. I am really sorry about that, so let’s conclude this newsletter with three positive stories, shall we? First up: Shann Carr, a friend of mine and the Independent, is putting on an amazing, artsy, family-friendly event on New Year’s Eve—and she could really use your help. From a GoFundMe page: “Back by popular demand, the highly anticipated Art in the Park in the Dark will illuminate Demuth Park this New Year’s Eve. After last year’s successful event, this free, all-ages celebration of all things art and glow is moving to Dec. 31 and will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at Demuth Park on Mesquite Avenue at Calle Santa Cruz. … Art in the Park in the Dark is a free, annual event for all-ages, featuring an exciting blend of interactive art, laser light shows, illuminated bike parades, and live performances. Created to foster creativity and community engagement, the event transforms the park into a glowing wonderland where everyone can explore art installations, participate in hands-on activities, and enjoy a vibrant atmosphere under the stars. Founded by comedian Shann Carr with support from the City of Palm Springs, Art in the Park in the Dark celebrates the power of light, art, and togetherness in a fun and inclusive environment.” If you can, please go to that GoFundMe page, and help Shann put on this fantastic event!

• Next: Our partners at CalMatters report on a new state law that may help some people avoid eviction, making the process much fairer as a result: “A state law set to take effect Jan. 1 will give renters facing eviction a little more breathing room. The law doubles the time tenants have to respond after receiving an eviction notice from five business days to ten. Lawyers who work with renters say that what may seem like a minor procedural change could make a big difference in allowing people to stay in their homes. Tenants who are served an eviction notice and don’t respond in writing within the legal timeframe can lose their case by default, potentially incurring financial penalties and a black mark on their record that affects their future ability to obtain housing. That’s true even if a tenant has a valid legal defense—for example, if their landlord increased the rent above state limits or refused to fix problems like lack of heat or broken door locks. About 40% of California tenants lose their cases this way, researchers have estimated. ‘Five days has never been enough for a tenant to find legal assistance and try to decipher the complaint filed against them, find out what kind of defenses they have, fill out the paperwork and make it to court,’ Lorraine López, a senior attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, told CalMatters earlier this fall.”

• And finally … about a million Americans will be getting $2.4 billion in special payments, because they failed to claim them during the pandemic. CBS News explains: “The payments will vary by person, with a maximum amount of $1,400 per recipient, the agency said in a statement. The checks are a holdover from the three stimulus payments that were sent during the pandemic, (when) some people may not have received some of the money, even if they were eligible. … The tax agency said it’s disbursing the funds after reviewing internal data that showed many people had filed tax returns but yet didn’t claim what is known as the ‘recovery rebate credit’ in 2021. That credit was designed for people who didn’t get all or some of the stimulus checks when they were issued during the pandemic. Lawmakers authorized three stimulus payments, with two sent in 2020 and a third in 2021. … The IRS said it’s sending the payments automatically to about 1 million people who filed tax returns and who qualified for the recovery rebate credit yet didn’t claim it. The agency will send a letter to recipients to let them know they will receive the payment. … The tax agency said the checks will be sent in December, with most of the payments arriving by late January 2025.”

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