News

Summary

Walmart fired Dani Davis, a 6'4" cisgender woman, after a man who mistook her for transgender verbally threatened her in a women’s restroom at a Florida store.

Davis, visibly shaken, reported the March 14 incident to her immediate supervisor but was fired for not informing salaried management, allegedly creating a “security risk.”

Davis called the firing discriminatory. After viral backlash, Walmart offered to reinstate her with back pay.

Davis, a longtime employee, is uncertain about returning, citing fears of a hostile work environment.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250331120535/https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/nx-s1-5312115/

Summary

Elon Musk handed $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters at a Sunday rally supporting conservative court candidate Brad Schimel ahead of the state’s pivotal Supreme Court election.

But the state Supreme Court, which is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, declined to take the case as an original action and gave no rationale for its decision.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul argued the payments violated election law.

Musk’s groups have spent over $20 million in the race, which has drawn more than $81 million in total spending.

Republican President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not joking about seeking a third presidential term, which is barred by the U.S. Constitution, but that it was too early to think about doing so.

Trump, who took office on January 20 for his second, non-consecutive White House term, has made vague allusions to seeking a third one but addressed it directly on Sunday in a telephone interview with NBC News.

"No, I'm not joking. I’m not joking," Trump said, but "it is far too early to think about it."

"There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know," he said. He declined to elaborate on any specific methods.

Summary

Reddit shares have dropped 50% from their February peak, when the stock had soared over 500% from its $34 IPO price last March.

Much of the early enthusiasm came from AI-related deals allowing Reddit’s content to be used for training models, but recent doubts about long-term growth in the AI sector have dimmed that optimism.

Analysts remain skeptical and some call the stock “super overvalued,” noting Reddit still is not making any money.

Market uncertainty and early investor sell-offs continue to weigh on Reddit and the broader tech sector.

Non-paywall link

Archived at https://archive.is/NrJYe

~~Orange Gestapo~~ "Homeland Security" has opened up a 60 day comment period for plans to collect Social Media accounts for anyone with a Visa or Greencard.

Link to provide Homeland Security with feedback is in the article as well as here.

Leave feedback, though I'm highly doubtful it will make any difference.

The driver was arrested and questioned but has not yet been charged. An investigation is ongoing.

The shooting took place at around 3 a.m. Sunday as the two men were riding the bus in Miami Gardens, according to the city’s police department.

Miami-Dade bus drivers are not allowed to be armed while on the job, according to Deborah Souverain, a spokesperson for the county’s Transportation and Public Works Department.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/35340931

“They’re our brothers and sisters. When we stop seeing people that way it’s so easy to start making laws or enacting policies that harm them.”

At least 17 Tesla cars were destroyed after a fire broke out at a dealership on the outskirts of Rome on Monday morning, according to Italian fire officials. No one was at the dealership when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported.

The fire comes after a string of reports across Italy in recent weeks of Tesla vehicles being vandalized and defaced, with anti-Elon Musk and anti-Donald Trump sentiments written with spray paint.

Another car dealership burned down in northern Rome a week ago, destroying 30 cars, including used Teslas.

Also in Rome, several Teslas in the Garbatella neighborhood were defaced, according to police and social media posts.

Tesla dealerships in Milan have also been targeted by environmental groups in recent weeks.

Reports of Tesla vandalism have also surfaced in France and various parts of the United States, including the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast.

Spending on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race has reached unprecedented heights as independent groups have injected millions of dollars in the final days leading up to the April 1st election.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26650519

The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and three other people were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a Black Mass in the rotunda.

About 30 members of the Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, led by its president, Michael Stewart, rallied outside the Statehouse for the separation of church and state. The group also protested what members called the state’s favoritism toward Christians in allowing events inside. Gov. Laura Kelly temporarily banned protests inside, just for Friday, weeks after Stewart’s group scheduled its indoor ceremony.

The Satanic Grotto’s rally outside drew hundreds of Christian counterprotesters because of the Grotto’s satanic imagery, and its indoor ceremony included denouncing Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. About 100 Christians stood against yellow police tape marking the Satanic Grotto’s area. The two groups yelled at each other while the Christians also sang and called on Grotto members to accept Jesus. Several hundred more Christians rallied on the other side of the Grotto’s area, but further away.

Kelly issued her order earlier this month after Roman Catholic groups pushed her to ban any Satanic Grotto event. The state’s Catholic Bishops called what the group planned “a despicable act of anti-Catholic bigotry” mocking the Catholic Mass. Both chambers of the Legislature also approved resolutions condemning it.

...

Satanic Grotto members, who number several dozen, said they hold a variety of beliefs. Some are atheists, some use the group to protest harm they suffered as church members, and others see Satan as a symbol of independence.

...

Video shot by KSNT-TV showed that when Stewart tried to conduct his group’s ceremony in the first-floor rotunda, a young man tried to snatch Stewart’s script from his hands, and Stewart punched him. Several Kansas Highway Patrol troopers wrestled Stewart to the ground and handcuffed him. They led him through hallways on the ground floor below and into a room as he yelled, “Hail, Satan!”

Summary

The Trump administration has terminated over 300 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research projects, including 65 focused on HIV prevention and care, slashing $35 million in funding.

Scientists warn this move will reverse decades of progress in combating the epidemic, especially among high-risk groups like Black men and trans women. Termination letters cite opposition to “DEI” initiatives.

Researchers say the cuts threaten patient care, eliminate jobs, and jeopardize future studies.

The NIH claims it is refocusing on “evidence-based science,” but experts argue the decision erases key public health efforts and communities.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27943543

Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem, Malak A Tantesh in Gaza, and Julian Borger
Mon 31 Mar 2025 10.24 EDT

"Fifteen Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, including at least one United Nations employee, were killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried in a mass grave eight days ago in southern Gaza, the UN has said.

According to the UN humanitarian affairs office (Ocha), the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) and civil defence workers were on a mission to rescue colleagues who had been shot at earlier in the day, when their clearly marked vehicles came under heavy Israeli fire in Rafah city’s Tel al-Sultan district. A Red Crescent official in Gaza said that there was evidence of at least one person being detained and killed, as the body of one of the dead had been found with his hands tied."

As World Liberty Financial raised more than half a billion dollars, President Donald Trump’s family took control of the crypto venture and grabbed the lion’s share of those funds, aided by governance terms that industry experts say favor insiders.

Launched last fall, World Liberty’s goal is to allow people to access financial services using cryptocurrencies and without intermediaries like banks in what is called decentralized finance, or DeFi. But it has yet to launch a public platform and has reported only a small staff, a review of the project shows.

As its fundraising got traction, World Liberty disclosed in January that the Trump family had taken control of the business, a review of changes in the fine print on World Liberty’s website shows. Two of its co-founders, crypto entrepreneurs Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, were replaced as the controlling parties of World Liberty by an entity in which the Trump family holds a 60% stake.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250331120327/https://lailluminator.com/2025/03/29/louisiana-amendments-3/