The Morning Sixpack - February 10, 2025
Eagles win Super Bowl LIX and PornHub misses golden opportunity
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Eagles Crush Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, Using Andy Reid’s Own Blueprint
The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX—they dismantled them.
In a dominant 40-22 victory that felt even more lopsided than the score suggests, the Eagles executed a game plan straight out of Andy Reid’s own playbook.
General manager Howie Roseman, a disciple of Reid, built this team from the trenches, and it paid off as the Eagles' defensive front overwhelmed Patrick Mahomes, sacking him six times and hitting him 11 times without blitzing. The Chiefs' three-peat hopes were dead on arrival, and by the second quarter, it was clear this game belonged to Philadelphia.
"They played really good up front and really good on the back end, and we just couldn't figure it out," said Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who scored twice but saw his team outmatched in every phase.
The turning point came midway through the second quarter when back-to-back sacks led to a desperate third-and-16 throw by Mahomes—picked off by rookie Cooper DeJean and returned for a touchdown.
Despite Mahomes' past heroics, he admitted he didn’t play to his own standard this season and would take full ownership of the loss. "When defenses are going to stay back, I can't make bad plays worse," he said. "Sometimes I get to where I want to make a big play to spark us."
The reality for Kansas City is clear: their offensive line remains a liability, and a potential offseason shake-up looms.
Travis Kelce’s future is uncertain, and if the Chiefs want to maintain their AFC dominance, they’ll need to rebuild in the trenches—just as the Eagles have done.
As Chiefs center Creed Humphrey put it bluntly, "They didn’t show anything un-scouted. It just came down to them coming out and playing harder."
Now, the question is whether the Chiefs will take that lesson and turn it into fuel for another run next season.
Source: NFL.com
I am just thankful that for several hours yesterday, I didn’t have to think of these guys:
And I got to spend time with friends & family that I love.
America’s Economy Under Siege—And the Attack Is Coming from Within
The greatest threat to the U.S. economy isn’t foreign adversaries or external forces—it’s a self-inflicted wound led by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the broader MAGA movement. Through reckless economic policies, performative populism, and creeping authoritarianism, this coalition is orchestrating a financial crisis disguised as nationalism.
Trump’s proposed tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico are nothing more than a tax on American consumers, driving up costs for working families already struggling with inflation. Meanwhile, Musk postures as a free-market champion while pushing for chaotic economic experimentation, such as integrating cryptocurrency into government functions—despite his track record of erratic leadership at X (formerly Twitter).
Trump’s latest economic vision takes an even stranger turn with his proposal for a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, which, instead of funding infrastructure or reducing debt, would be used to purchase TikTok.
This isn’t about economic strength—it’s a blatant power grab over digital platforms.
At the same time, his mass deportation agenda threatens industries that depend on immigrant labor, from agriculture to construction to hospitality.
History proves that forcing American workers into these roles simply doesn’t work, yet Trump continues to push policies that will devastate businesses and drive up prices.
Musk, for his part, is enabling Trump’s economic authoritarianism, embracing a government power structure that benefits the billionaire class while squeezing everyday Americans.
The real winners in this new order? Trump’s ego, Musk’s fortune, and a growing class of opportunistic elites ready to exploit the instability they help create. The American people, however, are left holding the bill—paying for the tariffs, suffering from labor shortages, and watching their economic future dictated by a handful of self-serving power players.
Source: David Pakman Substack
I’m including more coverage here from people whom I respect and admire. David Pakman is one of the few people in the political commentary world that I (try to) listen to every day on his excellent podcast. This article is a summary from his Substack.
Trump’s Tariff Whiplash: Steel and Aluminum Imports Hit with 25% Duties—This Time for Real
After announcing a 30-day postponement on tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China, President Donald Trump is back on the tariff train, announcing that starting Monday, all steel and aluminum imports—including those from Canada and Mexico—will face a hefty 25% duty.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while en route to the Super Bowl, Trump made it clear: “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff.” When pressed about aluminum, he casually added, “Aluminum, too.”
Because why stop at one economic grenade when you can throw two?
This move marks a reversal of his previous decision to postpone tariffs for a month—likely to the relief of trade partners who had hoped he’d forget about it. But Trump is doubling down, teasing more import duties later in the week.
On top of that, he’s reviving his “reciprocal tariffs” plan, promising retaliatory duties on countries that charge higher import taxes on U.S. goods.
“If they are charging us 130% and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way,” he declared, signaling yet another trade battle ahead.
While manufacturers, allies, and economic analysts scramble to assess the fallout, one thing is certain: Trump's tariff rollercoaster is back in motion, and no one’s quite sure where it’ll stop.
Source: AP News
Biden Built It, Trump Killed It: Feds Halt $5 Billion EV Charging Program
Well, that didn’t take long.
The Biden administration’s $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program—designed to scatter EV charging stations across America—has officially been put on ice by the Trump administration.
In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered all 50 states to “decertify” their plans, effectively yanking the plug on a program that had already built 30 stations, with hundreds more in progress.
Why? Because “Biden did it.”
The memo, obtained by WIRED, makes it clear that Trump’s DOT wants to rewrite the rules from scratch, tossing out Biden-era planning in favor of a new system that will go through public comment (read: bureaucratic limbo).
Former FHWA deputy administrator Andrew Rogers isn’t buying it, saying, “There is no legal basis for funds that have been apportioned to states to build projects being ‘decertified’ based on policy.”
In other words, this could be an illegal stall tactic, or at the very least, a massive roadblock to getting federal dollars where they were supposed to go.
Meanwhile, EV companies—including Tesla, which has quietly collected $31 million from NEVI grants—are left wondering what happens next.
The Trump administration has already made its stance on electric vehicles clear, scrapping an “EV mandate” (which never existed) and gutting programs that made life easier for EV buyers.
With billions in funding now up in the air, one thing is certain: America’s EV infrastructure just hit a major speed bump.
Source: Ars Technica
Trump Fires U.S. Archivist Amid Long-Standing Tensions Over Government Records
President Trump has dismissed Colleen J. Shogan, the Archivist of the United States, a key figure responsible for preserving and managing government records.
The decision, announced by Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, comes after months of speculation about potential changes at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
"At the direction of @realDonaldTrump the Archivist of the United States has been dismissed tonight," Gor wrote on X. "We thank Colleen Shogan for her service."
Shogan, who had held the role since 2023, was overseeing an agency that played a significant role in past disputes over classified documents. Read: Trump stole top secret documents and kept them in—among other stupid places—the bathrooms at his shitty Waffle House wannabe, Mar a Lago.
The firing, while not entirely unexpected, raises fresh concerns about the independence of the National Archives. Read: NOTHING in the federal government is independent any more.
Earlier this month, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt, “We will have a new archivist,” signaling his intent to shake up leadership at the agency. However, just a day before her dismissal, a senior NARA official told CBS News there was “no word that anything is changing.”
The archivist position has historically been an apolitical role, but Trump has expressed frustration with the agency, which was involved in the investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.
Trump’s clashes with the National Archives date back to when the agency flagged his retention (i.e., theft) of presidential records, which eventually led to a high-profile legal battle.
While Trump was initially charged with multiple felonies for allegedly refusing to turn over classified documents, those charges were dropped following his election victory in November, due to Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
With Shogan’s dismissal, Trump’s administration is expected to install new leadership at NARA, potentially reshaping how government records are managed.
Source: CBS News
This is all so sad and chilling. As has been demonstrated time and again, those who record history can change it.
Transgender Americans Sue Trump Administration Over Passport Policy Change
A group of seven transgender and nonbinary individuals has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging an executive order that mandates government documents, including passports, reflect only a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, argues that the State Department has been rejecting passport applications from transgender individuals or issuing documents that misrepresent their gender identity.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing the plaintiffs, stated that over 1,500 transgender people or their families have reached out with concerns about the policy’s impact.
One of the plaintiffs, Massachusetts resident Reid Solomon-Lane, described the order’s effect on his life, saying, "I've lived virtually my entire adult life as a man. Everyone in my personal and professional life knows me as a man, and any stranger on the street who encountered me would view me as a man." He added, "Now, as a married father of three, Trump's executive order and the ensuing passport policy have threatened that life of safety and ease."
The lawsuit contends that forcing individuals to carry documents that misidentify them exposes them to potential discrimination and endangers their safety when traveling.
Trump’s executive order, issued on his first day in office, legally defines sex in strict biological terms, reversing previous State Department policies that allowed individuals to self-identify their gender on official documents.
The move has drawn sharp criticism from medical and legal experts, who argue it disregards the scientific and social realities of gender diversity. The case now challenges whether the federal government can lawfully enforce policies that contradict evolving state-level laws, where many jurisdictions allow individuals to amend gender markers on birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
Source: ABC News
This is all so sad and so fucking unbelievably unnecessary.
A note on the Super Bowl ads: They were almost non-existent and not a single one left an impression.
Many people—and I mean millions—watch the Super Bowl FOR the commercials. Most of the ads were for Fox TV shows, which means they couldn’t sell the ads, which makes sense because they were $8 million per half minute!
Absolutely crazy. And crazy that Fox didn’t reach out to PornHub to take advantage of the funny name of this spectacle: Super Bowl Licks (LIX, or 59). Could have been a real bombshell of an ad campaign!
One more thing: Facebook suspended my account for 180 days without warning and for no apparent reason. I appealed. They will deny. When that happens, they will “permanently suspend” my account and I won’t be able to use it.
Gee, thanks?
I was wondering where you went on FB.