Short Takes – 2-17-25

Trump administration tries to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers in DOGE reversal. APNews.com article. Pull quote: ““This is a pivotal moment. We must decide whether we are truly committed to leading on the world stage or if we are content with undermining the very systems that secure our nation’s future,” deputy division director Rob Plonski posted to LinkedIn. “Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and adversarily opportunistic at worst.””

Got Weird? Milk Is Headed for Its Strangest Year Yet. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “Now milk is back in nutritional favor, as Americans’ priorities have shifted toward hydration, protein and healthy fats. A high-profile 2008 study — partly funded by the dairy industry — showed that chocolate milk’s benefits for athletes were equivalent to or better than those of lab-concocted performance drinks like Gatorade. Follow-up studies have continued to show similar results, helping to rebrand milk as a natural nutrition powerhouse.”

Trump fires hundreds of air traffic support staff as SpaceX visits FAA command center. TechCrunch.com article. Pull quote: “Members of Musk’s SpaceX team are visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia on Monday to “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system,” wrote Sean Duffy, Secretary of the Department of Transportation, in a post on X.”

Trump begins firings of FAA staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash. APNews.com article. Pull quote: “Other FAA employees who were fired were working on an urgent and classified early warning radar system the Air Force had announced in 2023 for Hawaii to detect incoming cruise missiles, through a program that was in part funded by the Defense Department. It’s one of several programs that the FAA’s National Airspace System Defense Program manages that involve radars providing longer-range detection around the country’s borders.”

EO 14211 - One Voice for America's Foreign Relations. Federal Register.