National

Confederate holidays include Robert E. Lee's birthday, Confederate Memorial Day, Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), Nathan Bedford Forrest Day (Tennessee), Jefferson Davis' birthday; Data: State government calendars, Axios research; Cartogram: Shoshana Gordon and Jacque Schrag/Axios Visuals

Ten states — all in the American South — celebrate Martin Luther King Day and observe at least one confederate holiday during the rest of the year.

Why it matters: All U.S. states honor MLK every year. But the number of states also honoring the Confederacy highlights the country's struggle to reconcile its racial past.

What's happening: Alabama and Mississippi celebrate MLK and Robert E. Lee, the losing Confederate general and slaveholder, on the same day.

Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all have at least one day commemorating the Confederacy on other days of the year, the Axios analysis found.

Mississippi and Alabama each celebrate a total of three confederate holidays every year — Robert E. Lee Day, Confederate Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis' Birthday — all paid holidays for state employees.

Last February in Alabama, a bipartisan group of state senators introduced legislation to split up Robert E. Lee Day and MLK Day, but the bill is "indefinitely postponed."

The intrigue: In 2000, when South Carolina became one of the last states to honor MLK with a state holiday, the legislature also voted to create "Confederate Memorial Day," celebrated annually on May 10.

Tennessee has a day of "special observance" for Nathan Bedford Forrest, another Confederate general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Though Arkansas split up Robert E. Lee Day and MLK day in 2017, the state still commemorates Lee on the second Saturday in October, as well as Jefferson Davis on June 3.

For years, Georgia listed Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee Day on its official state holiday calendar. Since 2016, the state has changed both holiday names to the innocuous-sounding "State Holiday."

Georgia state law requires the governor to pronounce at least one day dedicated to honoring the Confederacy.

Zoom out: Defenders of the confederate holidays and monuments say removing them would erase history.

Reality check: Historians and scholars say the confederate holidays and monuments in the South mostly appeared well after the Civil War as confederate apologists pushed the Lost Cause narrative downplaying slavery.

What they're saying: "It is a diminishing reality that people even recognize and celebrate those Confederate days," NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson told Axios.

"We must completely do away with any concept that the Confederacy and those who participated were patriots."

DaMareo Cooper, co-executive director of The Center for Popular Democracy, said it was hypocritical for any state to honor King while celebrating those who defended enslavement.

"There's no way that you can compare someone who literally fought for the highest ideals of human beings ... to someone who was like, 'I think these humans are checkbooks, they are cow, they're like animals.'"

Don't forget: While many remaining historic sites in the South dedicated to confederates are well kept, many sites linked to civil rights and the victorious Union North sit abandoned or in disarray.

The states that celebrate both MLK Day and confederate holidays

Two states celebrate MLK and Robert E. Lee on the same day.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Politics & Policy

Data: Layoffs.fyi; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios

More than 500 tech companies have announced layoffs since July 2022. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft will each cut more than 10,000 jobs, representing between 5 and 13% of their workforce, per tracking site Layoffs.fyi.

Details: Twitter has cut at least 50% of its workforce since Elon Musk bought the company. At the other end of the spectrum, Apple has so far avoided letting people go.

Why the tech layoffs are happening and what's next

What tech layoffs mean for the future of tech startups

What to expect when your tech firm is downsizing

Charted: Hardest hit in tech layoffs

Large cuts continue at largest tech companies.

Layoffs

More than 500 tech companies have announced layoffs since July 2022. <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Amazon" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/05/amazon-layoffs-18000-jobs" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/05/amazon-layoffs-18000-jobs" target="_self">Amazon</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Google" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/20/google-layoffs-ceo-sundar-pichai-memo-email" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/20/google-layoffs-ceo-sundar-pichai-memo-email" target="_self">Google</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Meta" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/meta-facebook-foundation-crumbling-advertising-revenue" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/meta-facebook-foundation-crumbling-advertising-revenue" target="_self">Meta</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Microsoft" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/18/microsoft-layoffs-nadella" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/18/microsoft-layoffs-nadella" target="_self">Microsoft</a> will each cut more than 10,000 jobs, representing between 5 and 13% of their workforce, per tracking site <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Layoffs.fyi" data-vars-click-url="https://layoffs.fyi" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://layoffs.fyi" target="_blank">Layoffs.fyi</a>.Details: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Twitter" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/30/twitter-elon-musk-layoffs-bloodbath" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/30/twitter-elon-musk-layoffs-bloodbath" target="_self">Twitter</a> has cut at least 50% of its workforce since Elon Musk bought the company. At the other end of the spectrum, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Apple" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-34fff540-d309-4506-9840-7eb765937627.html" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-34fff540-d309-4506-9840-7eb765937627.html" target="_self">Apple</a> has so far avoided letting people go.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Every January, members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists update the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic tracker of the world's proximity to total human-caused destruction.

Driving the news: Scientists will unveil the clock's new setting on Tuesday, after a year marked by heightened fears of nuclear war stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine as well as extreme weather events.

While the Doomsday Clock was first used to represent the danger posed by nuclear weapons, it has since evolved to take into account the risks posed by climate change, bioweapons, and disinformation.

In 1945, scientists at the University of Chicago who worked on the Manhattan Project started a newsletter called the "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists."

This group gathered two years later to discuss the looming threat of nuclear war.  

"They were worried the public wasn't really aware of how close we were to the end of life as we knew it," Rachel Bronson, current president and CEO of the Bulletin, told USA Today.

Artist Martyl Langsdorf, the wife of Manhattan Project physicist Alexander Langsdorf, came up with the design of a clock to represent the idea of time running out to avert the danger.

The Doomsday Clock image was first published in 1947, in the first issue of the Bulletin published as a magazine.

Worth noting: Since 2019, a physical Doomsday Clock has sat in the lobby of the Bulletin's University of Chicago offices.

The Doomsday Clock's hands have been moved back and forth 24 times since 1947. 

Data: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios 

The big picture: The clock's hands are moved closer to midnight to suggest humanity is nearer to self-made catastrophe, and farther when that risk appears to fade.

When it first appeared in 1947, the clock was set at seven minutes to midnight. That's because Martyl — as she was known professionally — said "it looked good to my eye."

The clock's hands were first moved in 1949, to three minutes to midnight, after the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb.

In 1991, the clock was set to 17 minutes to midnight — the farthest it's ever been from midnight — as Cold War tensions eased and the U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to reduce their nuclear stockpiles.

State of play: In 2020, the clock's hands were moved to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest they've ever been.

The decision was made based on continued nuclear and climate threats, compounded by political dysfunction aided by cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns and the erosion of international treaties meant to keep such threats in check.

The clock's setting remained at 100 seconds to midnight in 2021 and 2022.

Zoom out: In the years since Martyl came up with the clock, Bulletin editor Eugene Rabinowitch — a scientist and nuclear disarmament leader — was in charge of deciding whether the clock's hands should be moved. 

After Rabinowitch's death in 1973, the call has been made collectively by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, who first consult with colleagues across a range of disciplines and with the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors.

The Science and Security Board includes scientists and experts in the fields of nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies. 

The Board of Sponsors is also comprised of various scientists and experts, including multiple Nobel laureates, and is intended to provide expert advice on issues that intersect science and global security.

What to know about 2023's Doomsday Clock announcement

The clock's new setting will be unveiled after a year filled with extreme weather events and fears of nuclear war.

Illustration of the doomsday lock with an "i" highlighted. 

Science

Every January, members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists update the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Doomsday Clock" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2020/01/23/doomsday-clock-100-seconds-midnight" data-vars-content-id="c5295e4e-85f4-4f8c-a128-cef6eea9ec6f" data-vars-headline="What to know about 2023&#x27;s Doomsday Clock announcement" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2020/01/23/doomsday-clock-100-seconds-midnight" target="_self">Doomsday Clock</a>, a symbolic tracker of the world&#x27;s proximity to total human-caused destruction.Driving the news: Scientists will <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="unveil the clock&#x27;s new setting" data-vars-click-url="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/" data-vars-content-id="c5295e4e-85f4-4f8c-a128-cef6eea9ec6f" data-vars-headline="What to know about 2023&#x27;s Doomsday Clock announcement" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/" target="_blank">unveil the clock&#x27;s new setting</a> on Tuesday, after a year marked by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="heightened fears of nuclear war" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/01/putin-missile-crisis-nuclear-weapons-threat" data-vars-content-id="c5295e4e-85f4-4f8c-a128-cef6eea9ec6f" data-vars-headline="What to know about 2023&#x27;s Doomsday Clock announcement" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/01/putin-missile-crisis-nuclear-weapons-threat" target="_self">heightened fears of nuclear war</a> stemming from Russia&#x27;s war in Ukraine as well as <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="extreme weather events" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/01/extreme-weather-events-of-2022-international-law" data-vars-content-id="c5295e4e-85f4-4f8c-a128-cef6eea9ec6f" data-vars-headline="What to know about 2023&#x27;s Doomsday Clock announcement" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/01/extreme-weather-events-of-2022-international-law" target="_self">extreme weather events</a>.<ul><li>While the Doomsday Clock was first used to represent the danger posed by nuclear weapons, it has since evolved to take into account the risks posed by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="climate change, bioweapons, and disinformation" data-vars-click-url="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/" data-vars-content-id="c5295e4e-85f4-4f8c-a128-cef6eea9ec6f" data-vars-headline="What to know about 2023&#x27;s Doomsday Clock announcement" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/" target="_blank">climate change, bioweapons, and disinformation</a>.</li></ul>

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Houston

Axios Houston

Houston state Rep. Jarvis Johnson is once again trying to abolish Confederate Heroes Day. 

Why it matters: In the same week that the country celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.'s racial justice and civil rights legacy, Texas continues to honor the Confederacy with a holiday. 

Catch up fast: Confederate Heroes Day, also known as Confederate Memorial Day, has been a state holiday since 1973 and is observed every year on Jan. 19, which is also Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's birthday. 

It's a partial holiday, so state offices remain open and a skeleton crew is required, but employees can either take the day off or use the paid time off at a later date.

Some years, like 2015, the holiday falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

Driving the news: Johnson, a Democrat, has filed House Bill 51, which seeks to abolish Confederate Heroes Day. 

At 8:30am Wednesday, Johnson along with Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson and state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer will speak on how the holiday celebrates white supremacists and slaveowners.

"This is a holiday that kind of defines who Texas is .... We should not continue to embrace an ideology that is harmful to half the population of the state, so we want to change that narrative by getting rid of those things that open up old wounds," Johnson told Axios. 

Flashback: This is Johnson's third time filing a bill to abolish this holiday. 

In 2019 and 2021, Johnson's bill never made it out of the House State Affairs Committee.

Johnson said the committee chair in 2021 "feared that putting up a bill like this, and even having a conversation, was not the right thing to do."

In 2020, Johnson told Texas Monthly, "A hero is somebody that's done something noble. There are no heroes in the Confederacy."

Zoom out: 10 states — all in the South — celebrate MLK Day and observe at least one confederate holiday during the rest of the year.

Alabama and Mississippi celebrate MLK and Robert E. Lee, the losing Confederate general and slaveholder, on the same day.

Texas, along with Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee all have at least one day commemorating the Confederacy on other days of the year, an Axios analysis found.

Context: Historians and scholars say the confederate holidays and monuments in the South mostly appeared well after the Civil War as confederate apologists pushed the Lost Cause narrative downplaying slavery.

What we're watching: Whether Johnson can be successful this year.

"Every year we get closer and closer," Johnson said. "I think the message resonates."

Another push to eliminate Texas' Confederate holiday

In the same week of MLK Day, Texas continues to honor the Confederacy with a holiday.

holidays

Houston state Rep. Jarvis Johnson is once again trying to abolish Confederate Heroes Day. Why it matters: In the same week that the country celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.&#x27;s racial justice and civil rights legacy, Texas continues to honor the Confederacy with a holiday.

Politics

News

Data: Google Trends; Maps: Jacque Schrag and Will Chase/Axios 

Three highly competitive congressional seats — Iowa's 3rd, Nevada's 3rd and Nebraska's 2nd — were among the top 10 districts searching about abortion in the week leading up to Election Day, according to the final installment of Axios' Google Trends Midterms Dashboard.

Why it matters: The dashboard provides insight into what issues Americans are thinking about the most as they head to the polls Tuesday, with more than 40 million ballots already cast early.

The big picture: Democrats focused a significant amount of money and attention on abortion rights as a top campaign message, counting on a wave of momentum after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June to help stave off major losses.

Google searches nationwide about abortion have risen in the past week, potentially providing a sliver of hope for Democrats in some districts and states.

Abortion now ranks 14th among all issues tracked — higher than gas prices and inflation, but just below crime and immigration at the border.

Americans also searched terms related to Donald Trump more than in the past couple of weeks, likely tied to reporting that he plans to announce a 2024 bid this month.

Interest in Russia and Ukraine has been steadily declining for weeks now, although both still landed in the nationwide top 10.

As has been the case since the Axios project began, interest in jobs, taxes, wages and firearms have remained at or near the top of the list.

Zoom in: Just as a resurgence in attention on abortion could be helpful for Democrats in some competitive districts, crime has proved to be an effective battleground issue for Republicans. 

Colorado's 8th District, North Carolina's 1st and California's 3rd are competitive races and landed in the top 10 for search volume around crime in the past week.

Four out of the top five districts Googling terms related to health care — long a top Democratic priority — were in North Carolina: the 12th District, 10th, 14th and 8th.

What Americans Googled most the week before the midterm elections

Three highly competitive congressional seats were among the top 10 districts searching about abortion.

Midterms SEO

Midterm Elections 2022

Three <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="highly competitive" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">highly competitive</a> congressional seats — Iowa&#x27;s 3rd, Nevada&#x27;s 3rd and Nebraska&#x27;s 2nd — were among the top 10 districts searching about abortion in the week leading up to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Election Day" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/midterm-elections-2022" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/midterm-elections-2022" target="_self">Election Day</a>, according to the final installment of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Axios&#x27; Google Trends Midterms Dashboard" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/midterms-elections-2022-issues-americans-care" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/midterms-elections-2022-issues-americans-care" target="_self">Axios&#x27; Google Trends Midterms Dashboard</a>.Why it matters: The dashboard provides insight into what issues Americans are thinking about the most as they head to the polls Tuesday, with more than <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="40 million ballots already cast early" data-vars-click-url="https://targetearly.targetsmart.com/g2022" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://targetearly.targetsmart.com/g2022" target="_blank">40 million ballots already cast early</a>.

Jacque Schrag

Stories

Charted: Hardest hit in tech layoffs

What to know about 2023's Doomsday Clock announcement

Another push to eliminate Texas' Confederate holiday

The states that celebrate both MLK Day and confederate holidays

What Americans Googled most the week before the midterm elections