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"/news/ - Current News; is 4chan's board for current news.
Please note that news, news articles, and current events can also be discussed on /pol/; however /news/ is exclusively for recent news articles, and not general discussions of politics, social phenomenon, or world events.
This is terrible!! The rich people house broke down and people are saying so much bad thing just because they think the rich people are demons! This fire is the worst one EVER!
Meta will democratize fact checking by using a "community notes" style feature, and all of their DNC think tank fact checkers are now out of a job.
Sorry, fake checkers. It's tent life for you now.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/meta-axes-third-party-fact-checkers-in-time-for-second-trump-term/
Meta axes third-party fact-checkers in time for second Trump term
Zuckerberg says Meta will "work with President Trump" to fight censorship.
Instagram announced the changes in a blog post and a video message recorded by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"Governments and legacy media have pushed to censor more and more. A lot of this is clearly political," Zuckerberg said. He said the recent elections "feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech."
"We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with Community Notes, similar to X, starting in the US," Zuckerberg said. "After Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth. But the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the US."
Meta says the soon-to-be-discontinued fact-checking program includes over 90 third-party organizations that evaluate posts in over 60 languages. The US-based fact-checkers are AFP USA, Check Your Fact, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories, PolitiFact, Science Feedback, Reuters Fact Check, TelevisaUnivision, The Dispatch, and USA Today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/us/virginia-babies-icu-nurse-charged.html
A Virginia woman was charged with child abuse on Thursday over her connection to mysterious injuries that appeared on a newborn in a neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital where she worked as a nurse, officials said.
The woman, Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, of Chesterfield County, Va., was charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse, according to court records and the Henrico County Police Division.
The arrest came after the police began investigating three babies who were discovered with “unexplained fractures” in the newborn care unit of Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond in late November and December, the hospital said in a statement on Friday. The hospital said it provided footage to the authorities to help in their investigation.
If found guilty, Ms. Strotman faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the felony child neglect charge and 20 years for the malicious wounding charge, Shannon Taylor, the Henrico County’s commonwealth’s attorney, said in a statement.
Ms. Strotman is being held without bond in Henrico County Regional Jail West. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday.
The hospital, which in the statement described Ms. Strotman as a former employee, declined to say when Ms. Strotman began working there. She received her nursing license in May 2019, and her certification is active, according to the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
Though three babies were recently discovered with fractures, Ms. Strotman was only charged in connection to injuries to a single victim, Ms. Taylor said.
The abuse, which took place on or before Nov. 11, 2024, echoes cases from 2023, when four babies were discovered with mysterious injuries at the same hospital, Ms. Taylor said.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5074436-claudia-sheinbaum-trump-mexican-america/
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum dove into President-elect Trump’s chatter of geopolitical rearrangement Wednesday, proposing a name change for North America in response to Trump’s musings about the Gulf of Mexico.
In a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday, Trump expounded on his aspirations of U.S. territorial expansion to Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, and proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
Sheinbaum, in her daily morning press conference Wednesday, said the body of water shared by Cuba, Mexico and the United States is internationally recognized as the Gulf of Mexico, adding that North America was historically marked on maps as Mexican America.
“I mean obviously ‘Gulf of Mexico,’ the name is recognized by the United Nations, an organism of the United Nations. But next, why don’t we call it ‘Mexican America’? It sounds nice, doesn’t it?” Sheinbaum said, waving to a historical map projected on a screen.
“Since 1607,” Sheinbaum added, in an apparent reference to the map. “the Constitution of Apatzingán was for Mexican America, so we’re going to call it ‘Mexican America,’ it sounds nice, doesn’t it? And Gulf of Mexico, well, since 1607 and it’s also recognized internationally.”
International shipping costs have been rising in recent months as global freight companies faced a string of challenges in moving goods around the world.
Tensions in the Middle East and attacks on vessels travelling through the Red Sea by Houthi rebels prompted many major shipping firms to re-route their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding cost and time to journeys.
The prospect of Trump following through on his threats to impose tariffs of 10% on global imports into the US, along with a higher 60% tariff on Chinese goods has already prompted some companies to bring forward container shipments of goods to avoid such changes.
However, pre-emptive measures such as stockpiling would only temporarily delay the impact of price rises, trade experts said, warning that any new levies could push up costs, disrupt trade flows, and spark retaliation against US exports.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/07/consumers-price-rises-trade-experts-warn
https://forward.com/news/686797/heritage-foundation-wikipedia-antisemitism/
The Heritage Foundation plans to “identify and target” volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are “abusing their position” by publishing content the group believes to be antisemitic, according to documents obtained by the Forward.
Employees of Heritage, the conservative think tank that produced the Project 2025 policy blueprint for the second Trump administration, said they plan to use facial recognition software and a database of hacked usernames and passwords in order to identify contributors to the online encyclopedia, who mostly work under pseudonyms. It’s not clear exactly what kind of antisemitism the Wikipedia effort, which has not been previously reported, is intended to address. But in recent months some Jewish groups have complained about a series of changes on the website relating to Israel, the war in Gaza and its repercussions.
In June, a panel of Wikipedia editors declared the Anti-Defamation League a “generally unreliable” source of information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, limiting when the organization can be cited in Wikipedia articles. And there was an outcry this fall among some Jewish scholars and pro-Israel activists over edits to Wikipedia’s entry for Zionism to add references to “colonization.”
Wikipedia has also recently drawn ire from right-wing figures including Elon Musk, the billionaire who has been by President-elect Trump’s side during much of the transition. Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) in December: “Stop donating to Wokepedia.”
A Heritage Foundation spokesperson said she was not able to answer questions about the organization’s work related to Wikipedia, which editors it was seeking to identify or how it sought to “target” them. The Wikimedia Foundation, which provides the infrastructure for Wikipedia, declined to comment.
Rumors of jailhouse jealousy are coming out of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where alleged sex trafficker Sean "Diddy" Combs is reportedly pouting because he's playing second fiddle to suspected health insurance hitman Luigi Mangione.
A source reportedly familiar with the situation told the New York Post that Combs was "throwing tantrums" inside the notorious New York jail because all eyes are on Mangione, at least inside the facility.
Combs is facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. After he was arrested late last year, colorful details of his alleged "freak off" parties — elaborate sex performances involving a whole lot of baby oil and drugs to leash the sex workers hired for the event — were revealed via discovery.
Mangione allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month in an attack New York City police believe was targeted. Mangione faces both state and federal charges, which is why he is being held in the federal facility.
The alleged gunman — was arrested while lurking at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania a few days after the shooting — left a manifesto that made clear he was no fan of the health insurance industry in the U.S....
“Diddy has been throwing tantrums over the fact that Luigi is getting all of the attention in prison and is being revered as a hero after literally murdering someone on camera," the source told the paper. “Even in prison, Diddy’s ego is bigger than life."
"He always wants to be the center of everything," the alleged source said. "If he feels like anyone takes his attention, he doesn't take it well. He gets pissed off, and if he has the power to do it, he makes the other person's life miserable."
Nigerian atheist wey dem just free afta serving more dan four years in prison for blasphemy, dey live for one safe house as im legal team dey fear say im life fit dey in danger.
Dem convict 40-year-old, Mubarak Bala for one court in di northern city of Kano afta, e plead guilty to 18 charges relating to one Facebook post wey cause gbas-gbos in 2020.
"Di concern about my safety dey always dey dia," e tell di BBC for exclusive interview as e dey chop im first meal as free man.
Nigeria na deeply religious society and pipo wey insult religion - weda Islam or Christianity – dey face discrimination.
Blasphemy na offence under Islamic law – Sharia - wey dey operate alongside secular law for 12 states in di north. Na also offence under Nigeria criminal law.
Bala, wey renounce Islam in 2014, say e get times during im imprisonment wey im feel say "e fit no come out alive".
E fear say guards or fellow inmates fit dey target am for di first prison e dey for Kano, mainly Muslim city.
"Freedom dey hia, but some kain threat still dey wey I dey face," e tok. "All dis years, di threats, e fit dey out dia."
E fit dey inside prison for much longer if no be appeal court judgement wey reduce di initial 24-year sentence last year, describing di sentence as "excessive".
Bala look tired as e waka comot from prison for di capital city Abuja, but e dey cheerful as e wear white T-shirt, khaki shorts and slippers. E come out wit im lawyer by im side.
"Evri tin dey new to me. Evri tin dey new," E tok as im embrace im freedom.
Bala, na bold religious critic, wey dem arrest afta one group of lawyers file complaint wit di police about di social media post.
E den spend two years for prison awaiting trial bifor dem convict am in 2022.
At di time Bala guilty plea shock many, even im legal team, but e stand by im decision, saying e go relieve di pressure on di pipo wey stand for im side, including im lawyers, friends and family.
https://dailyboulder.com/trumps-lawyers-admit-jack-smiths-report-reveals-evidence-of-large-scale-criminal-conspiracy-involving-trump/
In a surprising admission, Donald Trump’s legal team has conceded that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report on the criminal investigations into the former president includes evidence of a large-scale criminal conspiracy involving Trump. The revelation comes as Trump’s lawyers make a last-ditch attempt to block the report’s release.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday, Trump’s legal team argued that they had a right to review Smith’s findings before they are made public. The report addresses Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office and claims he led “unprecedented criminal efforts” to obstruct justice.
Trump’s lawyers specifically acknowledged that Smith’s findings point to Trump being at the center of “criminal conspiracies.” However, they called the report politically motivated, claiming that releasing it would interfere with Trump’s presidential transition. They also argue the report contains “baseless attacks” on other members of Trump’s incoming administration, accusing Smith of trying to disrupt Senate confirmation hearings.
Despite the high-stakes legal battle, Smith is required by law to submit a report detailing his findings. In previous investigations, reports like Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election were made public. However, Trump’s lawyers argue that releasing Smith’s report would be an illegal political stunt designed to harm Trump’s political future.
Furious Los Angeles residents tore into their absent Mayor Karen Bass, who was 7,400 miles away in Arica on a political trip as raging fires turned the City of Angels into an apocalyptic hellscape Tuesday.
“RESIGN! WHY ARE YOU IN GHANA?!,” one person commented on an X post by Bass’ office giving an update on the wildfires.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/08/us-news/biden-set-to-become-a-great-grandfather-wednesday/
WASHINGTON — Retiring President Biden became a great-grandfather Wednesday when his granddaughter Naomi gave birth in Los Angeles — with Biden announcing the “good news” as three large wildfires raged nearby.
“The good news is, I’m a great-grandfather as of today,” Biden, 82, said during a briefing on the blazes in the Pacific Palisades, which have killed at least two people and left dozens more homeless.
“I’ll remember this day for a lot of reasons,” the president told reporters at a Santa Monica fire station before declining to answer questions from the press about the natural disaster, which has destroyed at least 1,000 buildings.
about time if you ask me personally
The progressive democrat wing has collapsed in America. The progressive wing of the Liberal Party has likewised caused it's collapse.
In 2025 North America will be under conservative stewardship and will see a return delivering it's residents from the chaos sewn by liberals back to the predictable, safe norm we had before progressives took over.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-pm-trudeau-announce-resignation-early-monday-globe-mail-reports-2025-01-06/
Canada PM Trudeau is likely to announce resignation
OTTAWA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is increasingly likely to announce he intends to step down, though he has not made a final decision, a source familiar with Trudeau's thinking said on Sunday.
The source spoke to Reuters after the Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau was expected to announce as early as Monday that he would quit as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party after nine years in office.
The source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Trudeau's departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.
Sources told the Globe and Mail that they did not know definitely when Trudeau would announce his plans to leave but said they expect it would happen before a emergency meeting of Liberal legislators on Wednesday.
An increasing number of Liberal parliamentarians, alarmed by a series of gloomy polls, have publicly urged Trudeau to quit.
The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on until a new Liberal leader is selected.
dems just put in congestion pricing in nyc because they want more American murdered on the shitty subway.
>Abdul Malik Little, 46 played loud shitty rap music on phone
>passenger told him to turn that gay shit off
>Abdul Malik Little, 46 stabbed the passenger who told him to turn his ass music off
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/06/business/mcdonalds-dei/index.html
McDonald’s is ending some of its DEI practices
McDonald’s is the latest US corporation — and among the largest — to back off some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, as a Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and conservative backlash to those programs continues to lead businesses to reevaluate their diversity pledges.
The company in a statement Monday said it is sunsetting its specific diversity goals, including requiring its suppliers to commit to certain DEI targets. And it will stop participating in external surveys that measure corporate diversity.
McDonald’s is also changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team — a common practice for many other companies that have rolled back diversity pledges.
“This name change is more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team’s work,” McDonald’s said in the statement.
But the company said it has not abandoned its mission to maintain a diverse workforce. Instead, McDonald said that it will continue to support practices that foster inclusion in the workplace and across its operations, and it will work with its suppliers and vendors to discuss diversity and inclusion practices.
The company said its new position was driven by a recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and other corporations reevaluating their diversity initiatives. Online pressure, legal threats and customer opposition have led many companies, including Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere and others to make changes to their DEI initiatives.
Publicly, Donald Trump is thrilled to have his mega-donor and “First Buddy” Elon Musk camping out just a few hundred feet from his house.
Privately, he seems to be tiring of Musk dropping in whenever he feels like it.
“Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot,” New York Times journalist and “Trump whisperer” Maggie Haberman told tech reporter Kara Swisher during the latest episode of Swisher’s podcast, On.
After pouring more than a quarter-billion dollars into Trump’s re-election effort, Musk has been renting the $2,000-per-night Banyan Cottage at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club, the New York Times reported last week.
It’s not clear who will ultimately foot the bill for the cottage, which is just a few hundred feet from Trump’s main residence and transition-team headquarters. From Banyan, Musk has been able to attend Trump’s personnel meetings and crash awkward dinners with rival tech billionaires, like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“He really parked himself in Trump’s face,” Haberman said.
For now, Musk seems to be on the winning side of the MAGA civil war that’s pitted Silicon Valley’s regulation-hating tech bros against the original grassroots loyalists who have backed Trump since 2016, she said.
But it’s not clear how long that will last. Trump hasn’t even taken office yet, and already Musk has inserted himself in policy battles to the point of Democrats calling him “President Musk.”
“It definitely bothers him,” Haberman said of Trump’s reaction to the taunt. “The ‘President Musk’ line was always going to be a way to get him. Trump’s not a wind-up toy, but there certainly are very specific things that can zotz him.”
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-trump-zelenskyy-a80e4d3498692218f40a42bc3718c7c9
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable,” and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, Zelenskyy said it won’t be possible to end the almost three years of war in one day, as Trump claimed during his election campaign that he could do.
“The ‘hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly, if Trump is strong in his position,” Zelenskyy said in a Ukrainian television interview late Thursday, referring to fighting on the battlefield.
“I believe (Trump) is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily toward the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, hasn’t publicly fleshed out his policy on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is eager to guarantee that Washington’s support keeps coming, and he met with Trump in New York even before the U.S. presidential election in November.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, and capitalized last year on weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses to slowly advance in eastern areas despite high losses of troops and equipment. The war’s trajectory isn’t in Ukraine’s favor. The country is shorthanded on the front line and needs continued support from its Western partners.
Trump responded favorably to the possibility raised by French President Emmanuel Macron of Western peacekeepers being deployed in Ukraine to oversee an agreement that stops the fighting, Zelenskyy said. He met with Trump and Macron in Paris last month.
The House erupted into applause when a clerk in the chamber announced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) would officially be stepping down from his Florida seat and would no longer be a member of the 119th Congress.
Meet your next Medal of Freedom recipients: Hilary Clinton, George Soros, Liz Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, and George Romney
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/04/hillary-clinton-george-soros-and-denzel-washington-will-receive-the-highest-us-civilian-honor.html?&qsearchterm=Hillary%20Clinton,%20George%20Soros%20and%20Denzel%20Washington%20will%20receive%20the%20highest%20U.S.%20civilian%20honor
Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington will receive the highest U.S. civilian honor
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony.
President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
Four medals are to be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense.
Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s strongest conservative critics.
Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s top food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2.
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/nikki-haley-says-trump-inauguration-cant-come-soon-enough-after-watching-biden-give-george-soros-medal-of-freedom-slap-in-the-face/
Last month, in the waning days of the Biden administration, the SEC set a tight deadline of several days for demanding that Elon Musk pay a settlement or face civil charges relating to alleged securities violations during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022.
Musk broke the news himself in a social-media post: “Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” he wrote, referring to SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
He added a smiley-face emoji but attached a legal letter condemning the “improperly motivated” ultimatum: “We demand to know who directed these actions—whether it was you or the White House.”
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the incident. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The SEC is not the only investigative agency Musk has defied and accused of political harassment. The billionaire has long railed against government oversight, portraying himself as a victim of bureaucratic zealots stifling his companies’ potentially life-saving innovations.
The White House will soon be occupied by Donald Trump — whom Musk spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to help elect — rather than Joe Biden, who appointed Gensler. Trump has already named a new SEC chair to replace Gensler, who plans to resign when Trump is inaugurated.
Musk’s potential to have extraordinary clout with the new administration raises questions about the fate of federal investigations and regulatory actions affecting his business empire, of which at least 20 are ongoing, according to three sources familiar with SpaceX and Tesla operations and the companies’ interaction with the U.S. government, as well as five current and former officials who have direct knowledge of individual probes into Musk’s companies.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-cybertruck-appears-burst-flames-trump-hotel-las-vegas-rcna185932
Deadly Tesla Cybertruck blast outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas was intentional, officials say
The suspicious blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members briefed on the matter told NBC News.
Act 372 targeted librarians and booksellers, threatening jail for shelving "inappropriate" books.
Critics argued the act targeted LGBTQ+ content; Gender Queer became central in the debate.
ACLU hails the ruling as a victory for free speech; AG Tim Griffin plans to appeal the decision.
A federal judge in Arkansas has struck down two provisions of Arkansas' "harmful to minors" law, known as Act 372, and signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the 30th of March, 2023, as unconstitutional. Writing in a 23rd of December summary judgment, Judge Timothy Brooks wrote that if the Arkansas legislature's goal was "to protect younger minors from accessing inappropriate sexual content in libraries and bookstores," and that it would "only achieve that end at the expense of everyone else's First Amendment rights… The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship; when motivated by the fear of jail time, it is likely they will shelve only books fit for young children and segregate or discard the rest."
Section one would have imposed a misdemeanour penalty of up to one year in jail for librarians and booksellers who have books deemed inappropriate on the shelves. Section five would have mandated "a new procedure for libraries, city councils, and county quorum courts to follow when evaluating a citizen's request to move or remove a book from a public library's permanent collection".
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/arkansas-judge-strikes-down-act-372-keeps-gender-queer-on-shelves/
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads.
In the proposed class-action settlement—which comes after five years of litigation—Apple admitted to no wrongdoing. Instead, the settlement refers to "unintentional" Siri activations that occurred after the "Hey, Siri" feature was introduced in 2014, where recordings were apparently prompted without users ever saying the trigger words, "Hey, Siri."
Sometimes Siri would be inadvertently activated, a whistleblower told The Guardian, when an Apple Watch was raised and speech was detected. The only clue that users seemingly had of Siri's alleged spying was eerily accurate targeted ads that appeared after they had just been talking about specific items like Air Jordans or brands like Olive Garden, Reuters noted.
It's currently unknown how many customers were affected, but if the settlement is approved, the tech giant has offered up to $20 per Siri-enabled device for any customers who made purchases between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024. That includes iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, HomePods, iPod touches, and Apple TVs, the settlement agreement noted. Each customer can submit claims for up to five devices.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/03/us-news/gov-landry-ripped-for-disgraceful-pic-after-new-orleans-terror-attack/
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has been widely ripped for a “disgraceful” and “tone-deaf” photo of himself smiling and giving a thumbs-up outside a pricey steak restaurant — just hours after the deadly New Orleans terror attack unfolded.
The grinning Republican governor shared the photo of himself posing with restaurant employees outside Bon Ton Prime Rib on Wednesday night, mere blocks from where the ISIS-supporting terrorist killed 14 New Year’s revelers in the city’s famed French Quarter.
“Ate dinner tonight in New Orleans. Proud to be a part of this incredibly resilient city,” Landry wrote on X.
Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people in a ceremony Thursday at the White House, including Americans who fought for marriage equality, a pioneer in treating wounded soldiers, and two of the president’s longtime friends, former Sens. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-citizens-medals-jan-6-cheney-thompson-f725b7003ea11239b90962a8cf0d5305
Shares of the company fell more than 5%, indicating investor worries over the challenges facing CEO Elon Musk, who expected promotions including zero-interest financing to power a “slight growth” in deliveries in 2024.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/02/business/tesla-shares-sink-as-annual-car-deliveries-fall-for-first-time/
https://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/wild-video-shows-tesla-cybertruck-on-fire-outside-trump-hotel/
Wild video shows a Tesla Cybertruck in flames Wednesday outside a Trump Tower — ironically as Tesla owner Elon Musk saw in the New Year with the hotel’s namesake, President-elect Donald Trump.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed it was “investigating a vehicle fire at the entrance to Trump Towers,” without elaborating on how it started or if it was suspicious.
A video taken by a hotel shows the Tesla electric pickup truck parked just outside engulfed in flames and emitting giant plumes of smoke seen across the Strip.
“The battery blew I think,” someone can be heard saying as bangs and whistles could be heard on the video quickly seen more than 1.5 million times on Musk’s own social media site, X.
They detonated a car bomb in front of trump tower. Officials are investigating it as a terror event.
Leftists literally will not stop until they are able to relive the events of Sarajevo, 1914.
https://abc7.com/post/trump-tower-fire-police-investigating-vehicle-explosion-las-vegas-nevada-hotel-driver-dead/15737979/
Police investigating Cybertruck explosion at Trump hotel in Las Vegas as act of terror
LAS VEGAS -- Authorities are investigating a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada as a possible act of terror.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it was investigating a fire at the entrance to the tower. The public was told to avoid the area, though the police noted the fire had been put out.
The driver pulled into the valet area of the hotel and the vehicle exploded, according to an official. The driver is apparently dead and, so far, the only casualty from the incident. Seven bystanders had minor injuries, authorities said.
Investigators do not know what caused the blast, such as whether something was wrong with the vehicle or whether something external prompted it. Determining what was behind the explosion is the key focus of the probe.
An official briefed on the probe told ABC News that the Tesla Cybertruck had a load of fireworks-style mortars onboard. Investigators are urgently working to determine a motive and whether the driver intended to set off an explosion and why.
President-elect Donald Trump slammed "criminals coming in" from other countries after a driver plowed into dozens of people in New Orleans, killing 10 and wounding dozens of others. But Trump's statement, issued Wednesday morning, appeared to have been made before authorities identified the suspect as a 42-year-old Texas military veteran — a fact not lost on even the right-wing Fox News network.
Around 3 a.m. Wednesday, a pickup truck intentionally mowed down a crowd of New Year's revelers on Bourbon Street in the city's French Quarter. The suspect, identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar, drove a Ford F-150 Lightning truck in the attack that was apparently rented via the Turo app, the owner of the truck told ABC7.
Hours after the attack on Wednesday morning, Trump echoed his campaign rhetoric in blaming criminals from other countries.
"When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!" he exclaimed.
A Fox News reporter read the statement on air Wednesday afternoon after federal officials identified the suspect, and fact-checked the president-elect.
It's driven by Bidenomics and biden's open border policies, as illegal immigration was a contributing factor to this 18% gain in homelessness, according to HUD
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5060411-migrant-crisis-border-security-cities-record-homelessness/
Migrant crisis added to record-level US homelessness: HUD
by Jeff Arnold and Jorge Ventura - 12/31/24 7:24 AM ET
Hispanics saw a significant jump in homelessness
Chicago is ending its new arrival mission
Migrants moved from shelters to tent communities
The number of immigrants who entered the country illegally and then struggled to find housing in sanctuary cities contributed to a record number of Americans who experienced homelessness in 2024, according to a new report.
Data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that more than 770,000 people struggle with finding a place to stay across the country on a single night. The report also indicates that the percentage of Hispanics dealing with homelessness was exponentially higher than the national average due largely to increased migrant populations in cities like New York, Denver and Chicago.
The 18 percent increase in the nation’s unsheltered population was the largest year-over-year jump since HUD began tracking homelessness in 2007, The New York Times reported.
That surge is connected to the number of immigrants and asylum-seekers who were sent to sanctuary cities by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) after they entered the country illegally, HUD data shows. Immigration advocates in New York, Chicago and Denver pushed federal officials to allow migrants to be able to better qualify for housing.
The HUD report also indicated that migration had a notable effect on family homelessness, which increased by 39 percent in the past year
https://nypost.com/2024/12/31/us-news/lunatic-accused-of-shoving-commuter-into-path-of-nyc-subway-charged-with-attempted-murder/
The lunatic accused of randomly shoving a Big Apple straphanger onto Manhattan subway tracks Tuesday afternoon was charged with attempted murder, cops said.
Kamel Hawkins, 23, was also charged with second-degree assault after he allegedly pushed a complete stranger onto the tracks at the 18th Street station shortly after 1:30 p.m., according to police.
The terrifying ordeal, which was captured on chilling video footage obtained by The Post, showed the hooded brute roaming the edge of the platform while the victim appeared to be looking at his phone as the train pulled into the station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1SvYwkVtk RAMBLA
Well I'm a-talkin' bout the midnight rambler
And did you see me jump your garden wall
And if you ever catch the Midnight Rambler
I predict they will blame it on trump even though it's an effect of Bidenomics.
The Biden economy is great for the rich, not the working class.
https://www.newsweek.com/credit-card-defaults-skyrocket-americans-unable-pay-their-debts-2007843
Credit Card Defaults Skyrocket as Americans Unable To Pay Their Debts
Defaults on credit cards in the U.S. have spiked significantly in the last year, according to a new report.
Credit card lenders wrote off $46 billion in seriously delinquent loan balances in the first nine months of the year, the Financial Times reported, citing industry data collated by BankRegData.
The amount is up 50 percent from the same period last year and is at its highest level since 2010.
Newsweek has contacted consumer credit research firm WalletHub for comment.
Why It Matters
The numbers indicate that many Americans are struggling to pay off their credit card debt after years of high inflation.
High prices and economic concerns were a major reason that voters in November chose President-elect Donald Trump, but his threats to impose tariffs on imported goods could further raise prices for Americans and exacerbate their financial struggles.
What To Know
Credit card balances have soared in recent years, with the total amount U.S. consumers owed topping $1 trillion for the first time in 2023. This has been scientifically proven to be Biden's fault. Trust the science.
Americans now owe a record $1.17 trillion on their credit cards, according to a recent report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Credit card balances rose by $24 billion during the third quarter of 2024 and are 8.1 percent higher than a year ago, the report said.
His team of unelected DNC dogs made all his decisions for him.
It is worded that Biden didn't even get pudding every night on vacation
https://nypost.com/2024/09/07/us-news/biden-took-48-years-worth-of-vacation-while-president/
Biden’s astonishing vacation total revealed — prez took 48 years worth of leave in 4
President Biden spends almost as much time on R&R as he does running the country.
The 81-year-old commander-in-chief has racked up 532 vacation days in less than four years — about 40% of the 1, 326 days he’s been in office.
It would take the average American — who gets 11 days a year of vacation — approximately 48 years to accumulate that number of days off, according to shocking data compiled by the Republican National Committee.
“The image of Biden fast asleep and lying flat on his back in his chair at the beach while America and the world is on fire will define the Biden presidency,” said Mark Paoletta, the general counsel of the White House budget office under former President Donald Trump.
“Inflation has been out of control; prices still way too high; our border overrun with millions of illegal aliens committing violent crimes on our citizens; the world in a perilous state; and all Biden wants to do is go on vacation and check out — for more than 530 days".
The RNC noted that last Saturday’s fun in the sun for Biden in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware was his “16th straight day on vacation.”
Speculation has swirled that Biden has been keeping an even lower profile since late July because he’s annoyed with fellow Democrats, such as former House Speake Nancy Pelosi, who turned against him and strong-armed him into not seeking re-election.
The Post’s front-page report last year noted that Biden spent all or part of 382 of the first 957 days of his presidency – or 40% — on personal overnight trips putting him on pace to become America’s most idle commander-in-chief.
also the reason why you should never turn in your guns. because dems like aoc, sanders, obongo and brandon want to do part 2 and go for the high score
CBS News journalist slams media, says most underreported 2024 story was Biden’s ‘obvious cognitive decline’
Veteran CBS News reporter Jan Crawford dinged news organizations for not thoroughly covering President Biden’s “obvious cognitive decline” this year until it became unavoidable during his disastrous debate against Donald Trump over the summer.
Crawford, the network’s chief legal correspondent, insisted stronger reporting on the topic could have changed the entire election as she responded to a question from “Face the Nation” moderator Major Garrett about the most underreported story in 2024.
“Undercovered and underreported, that would be, to me, Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in the televised debate,” she said on the Sunday morning show.
She then noted recent reporting by the Wall Street Journal that detailed how White House aides covered up Biden’s mental decline over the past four years.
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $5-million verdict that E. Jean Carroll won against Donald Trump when a jury found the U.S. president-elect liable for sexually abusing and later defaming the former magazine columnist.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s argument that the trial judge made mistakes in letting jurors hear evidence about the Republican’s alleged past sexual misconduct, making the trial and verdict unfair.
The court said that evidence, including Trump bragging about his sexual prowess on an “Access Hollywood” video that surfaced during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, established a “repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct” consistent with Carroll’s allegations.
“Taking the record as a whole and considering the strength of Ms. Carroll’s case, we are not persuaded that any claimed error or combination of errors in the district court’s evidentiary rulings affected Mr. Trump’s substantial rights,” the court said in an unsigned decision.
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Carroll did not immediately respond to similar requests.
The May 2023 verdict stemmed from an incident around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan, where Carroll, now 81, said Trump raped her, and an October 2022 Truth Social post where Trump denied Carroll’s claim as a hoax.
Though jurors in federal court in Manhattan did not find that Trump, 78, committed rape, they awarded the former Elle magazine advice columnist $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation.
The wisdom of trying to put people who can't even be trusted with social media accounts into some of the most powerful positions in American government may confuse some, until we remember that the former reality TV star turned adjudicated rapist himself was deemed not responsible enough to have a Twitter account for the last two weeks of his administration.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/30/us-news/trump-team-orders-all-intended-nominees-to-stop-posting-on-social-media-ahead-of-senate-confirmations/
President-elect Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles sent a message Sunday ordering nominees to refrain from any posting on social media as Senate confirmation hearings are scheduled to start next week.
“While this instruction has been delivered previously, I am reiterating that no member of the incoming administration or Transition speaks for the United States or the President-elect himself,” Wiles wrote in a memo obtained by The Post.
“Accordingly, all intended nominees should refrain from any public social media posts without prior approval of the incoming White House counsel,” she said in the Dec. 29 missive.
The backlash escalated Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy, in a post on X, criticized an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-open-rift-maga-loyalists-skilled-worker-visa-rcna185557
A multiday firestorm has erupted over comments made by two incoming advisers to President-elect Donald Trump about H-1B temporary worker visas, a carve-out for high-skilled workers who some in the MAGA world say are taking American jobs.
The fight began brewing on X ahead of Christmas after Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to a top artificial intelligence policy post, triggering a racially charged backlash that surfaced Krishnan’s comments advocating for green cards for skilled workers.
The backlash escalated Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy, in a post on X, criticized an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence,” attributing this as one reason for the influx of foreign tech workers. Ramaswamy, who is Indian American, went on to say he hopes Trump’s presidency can start an American culture that prioritizes “hard work over laziness.” Tech executives have called for greater access to the widely used immigration visa, arguing that it is necessary to fill high-skilled tech and other specialized jobs.
Eliecer Marte
Sun, December 29, 2024 at 5:39 PM EST
https://www.yahoo.com/news/overwhelming-drivers-discouraged-over-congestion-223943324.htm
‘Overwhelming’: Drivers discouraged over congestion pricing
Eliecer Marte
Sun, December 29, 2024 at 5:39 PM EST
2 min read
‘Overwhelming’: Drivers discouraged over congestion pricing
NEW YORK (PIX11) — The MTA is urging eligible drivers to apply for discounts and exemptions ahead of the start of the congestion pricing plan, which will go into effect one week from today.
The deadline to apply is today.
A New Jersey lawsuit is pending that seeks to overturn the Federal Highway Administration’s decision to move forward with congestion pricing.
Commuters are anxiously waiting for the outcome of that lawsuit and hoping it is beneficial for them, otherwise, they say they have no other option but to lose more money to go into this part of the city, money they say they work very hard for.
Many expressed their unhappiness, which appears to be the sentiment of most commuters driving into the city on Sunday afternoon. But that’s not stopping congestion pricing from going into effect on the first Sunday of 2025.
“It is overwhelming. We are already paying a lot and 9 dollars! It is crazy,” said Ofman.
Most drivers will be charged $9 when entering the Central Business District in Manhattan below 60th Street.
“It is a lot of money it adds up, you are talking about $45 a week, or $180 a month. It adds up. For working people it is a problem,” stated Ricky.
Congestion pricing aims to reduce traffic and pollution, create safer streets, and make public transit better. All paid for with the one billion dollars estimated to come in each year with the new toll.
“I hate it because my girlfriend lives, and I go to the city. All my friends are there, hopefully, they do something about it,” concluded Sorry.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-maga-immigration-visas-musk-91ab17e141cc9764fb18b8bc862c84dc
You heard the man, fall in line republitards. (Side note for you idiot republicans, click the link above in order to view the article)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-hateful-racists-removed-republican-party-b2670826.html
Elon Musk has declared that “hateful, unrepentant racists” should be removed from the Republican Party “root and stem” as the in-party feud over H-1B visas intensifies.
Conversations around H-1B visas have divided Donald Trump’s party, with his Department of Government Efficiency heads Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on one side and other allies like Laura Loomer on the other. The Space X founder escalated the feud on Friday night when he called for some “contemptible fools” in the GOP to be removed.
Musk made the statement in response to a post on X by Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council.
“I am an Indian American who was born here and it’s crystal clear that the Democratic Party sees me as American and a large part of the base of the Republican Party does not. I hope Indian Americans remember this moment at the next election. They don’t see you as one of them. And never will,” she wrote.
“You thought they just hated other immigrants. But it turns out there’s no exception for you. As many of us have been telling you,” Tanden continued.
Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, chimed in, saying MAGA Republicans are now “taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves.”
The X owner agreed, writing: “Yes. And those contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem.”
Musk clarified in a follow-up post that when he said “contemptible fools,” he was referring to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists.” He added: “They will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed.”
The tenacious Southerner was turned out of office by disillusioned voters after a single term. But he had a brilliant post-presidential career as a champion of health, peace and democracy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/12/29/jimmy-carter-president-dead/
Jimmy Carter, a no-frills and steel-willed Southern governor who was elected president in 1976, was rejected by disillusioned voters after a single term and went on to an extraordinary post-presidential life that included winning the Nobel Peace Prize, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to his son James E. Carter III, known as Chip. He was 100 and the oldest living U.S. president of all time.
His son confirmed the death but did not provide an immediate cause. In a statement in February 2023, the Carter Center said the former president, after a series of hospital stays, would stop further medical treatment and spend his remaining time at home under hospice care. He had been treated in recent years for an aggressive form of melanoma skin cancer, with tumors that spread to his liver and brain.
Elon Musk is too rich to care about making more money, a GOP governor claimed during an interview on Sunday.
Chris Sununu made the bold assertion on CNN’s State of the Union as he sat down for an interview with co-host Dana Bash. The New Hampshire Republican is one of the few holdouts in his party who remain in office without fully embracing the MAGA brand — though Sununu has been far more deferential than others like him.
The CNN host questioned Sununu during their interview about whether Musk, whose companies have won lucrative government contracts, faced a conflict of interest by serving as a close adviser to the incoming president.
He told Bash that the Twitter and Tesla chief was “so rich he's removed from the potential financial influence” of serving as an adviser to Donald Trump in the White House. Musk, along with failed Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is set to run the “Department of Government Efficiency,” likely taking the form of a presidential advisory council, with the stated purpose of making suggestions to Trump on cost-cutting measures. The position will have no direct authority, nor will Trump over the federal budget — which is written by Congress, and approved or vetoed by the president.
Sununu also lashed out at progressives and liberal Democrats for criticism of the staggering net worth of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, which the president-elect’s critics argue is indicative of an administration set to primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and not working-class familes.
Elon Musk is facing censorship accusations after prominent right-wing accounts claimed they lost access to premium features on X when they criticised his views on immigration.
On Friday night, Musk called some anti-immigration Republicans "contemptible fools", adding they were "hateful, unrepentant racists" who would "absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed".
At least 14 conservative accounts who criticised Musk's pro-legal immigration views said X revoked their blue tick, a verification badge given to premium account holders, according to Sky News' US partner NBC News.
That removed their ability to monetise their accounts and led to some saying they were worried about their ability to keep posting on the platform.
When Musk bought the site in 2022, he said he had a policy of "freedom of speech" but not "freedom of reach", meaning negative posts wouldn't be banned but would be "max deboosted", making them hard to find.
He said this policy would apply to individual tweets and not entire accounts.
Musk has since called himself a free-expression advocate, even as he called for jailing some of his critics.
X and Musk did not respond to NBC News' requests for comment on Friday
However on Thursday, the tech billionaire posted what he called a "reminder" on X: "If far more credible, verified subscriber accounts (not bots) mute/block your account compared to those who like your posts, your reach will decline significantly".
This led some to say he was "shadowbanning" people who disagreed with him.
Shadowbanning is when the reach of an account is significantly restricted without an official explanation or acknowledgement of the restriction.
Billionaire Trump surrogate Elon Musk endorsed a post on Thursday which suggested Americans were too “retarded” to be hired for skilled jobs.
After the South Africa-born CEO of X, SpaceX, and Tesla found himself embroiled in an argument over H-1B visas and the importation of foreign labor over American workers, a pro-Musk account wrote:
"So basically the right split into two factions, tech right and right right, and the tech right is like “hey we need h-1b visa people to do the jobs,” and the right right was like “no you need to hire americans,” and the tech right is like “but you guys are retarded,” and the right right is like “well you don’t train us,” and the tech right is like “you can’t outtrain being retarded,” and while all this was going on we learned some people *really* don’t like Indians."
“That pretty much sums it up,” replied Musk, mere hours after defending one of his engineers who posted a series of racist, anti-White rants. “This was eye-opening.”
On Thursday, Musks’s DOGE co-head Vivek Ramaswamy also received backlash after he suggested companies were not hiring Americans because they were raised in a culture of “mediocrity.”
President-elect Donald Trump announced last month that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – an announcement praised by many of Trump’s allies and supporters.
In the wake of remarks made by both Musk and Ramaswamy this week, however, many Trump supporters have begun to express concern over their involvement in the second Trump administration.
Disturbing body cam footage shows NY prison guards brutally beating handcuffed inmate, leading to his death
Brutal body camera footage shows a handcuffed inmate being beaten unconscious by prison guards before he’s stripped down to his underwear — a fatal attack that’s now under investigation by New York’s top prosecutor.
The sickening recordings were made public by Attorney General Letitia James Friday showing three correction officers repeatedly punching, kicking and stomping on Robert Brooks in an examination room on Dec. 9 at upstate prison Marcy Correctional Facility.
Brooks, 43, who was serving time for assault, died of injuries the next day. It’s unclear what sparked the beatdown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHbOuG9c6g8 XXX SIGN IN
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you
And DEFILE Her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt
I love DIS land
God DAM DA U.S.A.AAAAA
The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.
That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population.
“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”
Hunter has received, from his father, the single most extensive pardon of any individual in United States history, shielding him from all crimes, known and unknown "For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted by Special Counsel David C. Weiss".
Hunter worked directly with Xi.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/27/us-news/feds-finally-release-photos-showing-then-vp-biden-meeting-son-hunters-china-biz-partners-days-before-he-leaves-office/
WASHINGTON — The National Archives has finally released photos showing then-Vice President Biden meeting with two of first son Hunter Biden’s Chinese government-linked business partners — again proving that the president lied about not interacting with his family’s foreign patrons.
The cache of photos, released long after their potential political salience and days before Biden retires on Jan. 20, also show Chinese President Xi Jinping grinning as then-Vice President Biden introduced his son during the same December 2013 trip to Beijing.
The Xi-Hunter Biden encounter, which had not previously garnered much attention, appears to have been at a meal Hunter described in an email to his former associate Devon Archer as “pretty amazing” because his dad and China’s powerful authoritarian leader “were supposed to spend 2hrs together [but it] stretched to 7hrs. I think they are in love.”
Xi was two months into his ambitious “Belt and Road” foreign-influence and investment — and a Chinese state-backed company aligned with that vision, BHR Partners, was in the process being launched by Hunter.
“We decided to kind of just enjoy it as we went, instead of trying to have a bunch for retirement or our older age,” Jerry said. Given what happened, “I’m kind of glad we did.”
One of the display cases now holds Sibrina’s urn.
https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-helene-plastics-factory-erwin-tennessee-80c456d05d0da27458f7e6f9388fec5e
ratings down 48% since 2012. maybe don't push communist propaganda
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/multiple-lasd-deputies-taken-off-job-as-feds-investigate-trans-mans-beating-alleged-coverup/
Days after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy agreed to plead guilty to beating a transgender man for flipping him off, at least eight colleagues have been relieved of duty amid the investigation into an alleged cover-up, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Former Deputy Joseph Benza III of Corona was headed to a domestic violence call when he saw the gesture, abandoned the call and, instead, followed the victim — now identified by the Times as 23-year-old teacher Emmett Brock — to a 7-Eleven parking lot in Whittier.
Surveillance video shows Benza throwing Brock to the ground without provocation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vHbXI2p4k BANG
Trump once again is proving he cares about nothing except his EGO.
Elon Muskrat fanboys will support this Elons public statements admitting he uses COCAINE but will implode if it's Hunter Biden using cocaine as they are led by MURDOCH.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-dramatically-puts-maga-split-with-rfk-jr-on-display-with-santa-post/
Elon Musk Dramatically Puts MAGA Split With RFK Jr. on Display
Elon Musk has picked another fight in Donald Trump’s inner circle with a Christmas challenge to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Musk posted a photo of himself on his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, dressed up as Santa Claus and posing in front of a lit-up tree with the caption: “Ozempic Santa.”
He followed up with a message that quickly went viral in MAGA world: “I use cocaine, like Cocaine Bear, but I also use Ozempic!”
“Technically, Mounjaro,” Musk added, “but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
He was referencing a once-weekly injection – approved for use last year by the Food and Drug Administration – that is widely used for weight loss. It makes the user feel fuller between meals and lowers the appetite. It is also used to treat type-2 diabetes.
Musk is gloating about his trimmer figure in the posts about the drug. Mounjaro, works like Ozempic, slowing down how quickly food is digested and helping with weight loss.
But he also appears to be trolling Kennedy, Trump’s pick as Secretary of Health and Human Services, who has made no secret of his opposition to drugs as a primary method of battling obesity.
“The first line of response should be lifestyle,” he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer earlier this month.
Conveniently, 23 types of businesses are exempted from abiding by the CTA, including banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and any bussiness that employs more than 20 full-time employees in the United States, has an operating physical office in the U.S. and has reported more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales on its tax forms for the previous year.
https://activistpost.com/2024/12/millions-of-companies-must-register-w-massive-u-s-database-by-jan-1-due-to-last-minute-court-ruling.html
https://www.investopedia.com/corporate-transparency-act-8413903
Just in time for the holidays
Heading into the holidays, many Americans were already saddled with record-breaking credit card debt. And yet, consumer spending is set to reach a fresh high this season.
The National Retail Federation reported last week that spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 is “clearly on track” to reach a record, between $979.5 billion and $989 billion.
“Job and wage gains, modest inflation and a healthy balance sheet have led to solid holiday spending,” the NRF’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said in a statement.
But other reports show that many shoppers are increasingly leaning on credit cards to manage their holiday purchases.
To that point, 36% of consumers have taken on debt this season, a recent report by LendingTree found. And those who dipped into the red racked up an average of $1,181, up from $1,028 in 2023, according to the survey of more than 2,000 adults.
“No one should be surprised that so many Americans took on debt this holiday season. Prices are still really high and that means that lots of Americans simply didn’t have any choice,” said Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst.
“Inflation is still a big deal in this country, and it’s having a huge impact on people’s finances, including their holiday spending,” he said.
Heading into the peak holiday shopping season, credit card balances were already 8.1% higher than a year ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s report on household debt.
Further, 28% of credit card users had not paid off the gifts they bought last year, according to another holiday spending report by NerdWallet, which polled more than 1,700 adults in September.
Santa is looking a little slim this year!
Elon Musk admitted to taking a weight-loss drug Wednesday after posting a photo of himself dressed as “Ozempic Santa.”
In the X upload, the Tesla CEO, 53, wore a Santa Claus suit and a fake white beard as he posed in front of a Christmas tree.
Musk dubbed himself “Ozempic Santa” before clarifying in a follow-up post that he is “technically” taking “Mounjaro, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
“Like Cocaine Bear, but Santa and Ozempic!” he joked.
While Musk previously took Ozempic, he found that “high doses” of the drug made him “fart & burp like Barney from the Simpson’s.”
“Mounjaro seems to have fewer side effects and be more effective,” he told an X user Wednesday when asked why he chose that specific medication.
Both Ozempic and Mounjaro are GLP-1 inhibitors meant to help people with diabetes, but they are often used for weight loss.
The three deputies were pulled over to the shoulder on their motorcycles, as one of them appeared to have an issue with his bike, Bradshaw said during a press conference after the crash. A woman driving her SUV down Southern Boulevard came upon a driver who was driving slower than her and veered toward the shoulder to pass but "overcompensated" and struck all three deputies, sending them "airborne," Bradshaw added.
"People have to take it seriously when you're driving a vehicle…that's 2,000 pounds of destruction if it's not handled properly," Bradshaw said, adding that the driver is cooperating in the investigation and "feels terrible" about what happened.
awwwww, hope she gets over it
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
But what's confusing you (whoo-hoo)
Is just the nature of my game, mm yeah (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
Just as every cop is a criminal (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
And all the sinners saints (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
As heads is tails, just call me Lucifer (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
So if you meet me, have some courtesy (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
Have some sympathy, and some taste (whoo-hoo, woo-hoo)
Use all your well-learned politeness (whoo-hoo, woo-hoo)
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah (whoo-hoo, woo-hoo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwtyn-L-2gQ SAINTS
Trump’s Christmas Day message to death-row inmates granted clemency by Biden: ‘GO TO HELL!’
https://nypost.com/2024/12/25/us-news/trumps-christmas-day-message-to-death-row-inmates-granted-clemency-go-to-hell/
President-elect Donald Trump refused to wish federal death-row inmates granted clemency by President Biden a merry Christmas on Wednesday – telling them to “go to Hell.”
“[T]o the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky ‘souls’ but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL!” he added.
The US House Ethics Committee has accused Republican Matt Gaetz of paying women for sex, including a 17-year-old-girl, and use of illicit drugs while the Florida native was a member of Congress in a damning new 37-page report.
The House Ethics Committee has accused former Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying women for sex, including one with an underage girl, in a new report by the committee’s bipartisan panel.
The 37-page report includes explicit details alleging the former congressman participated in “sex-filled” parties and vacations from 2017 through to 2020 while the Republican was a member of Congress.
The findings concluded that Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general, had violated multiple state-level laws related to sexual misconduct during his time in office.
The report contains dozens of pages of exhibits and evidence against Gaetz, including text messages, financial records, travel receipts and online payments.
The often secretive bipartisan panel has reportedly been investigating claims against the former Florida representative since 2021.
“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report said.
Gaetz denies any wrongdoing and maintains his innocence, stressing that he has never had sex with a minor.
The Republican slammed the committee’s findings, adding that he was in a long-term committed relationship with one of the women the report indicates was paid in exchange for sexual services.
https://www.ksbw.com/article/santa-cruz-wharf-repairs-collapse-california/63267643
Santa Cruz Wharf collapses during repair project, 3 rescued
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. —
The end of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf fell into the ocean on Monday at around 12:44 p.m.
The end of the wharf had previously been damaged by winter storms. The wharf collapsed right in the middle of a $4 million project to fix the damages from previous storms.
In all, about 150 feet at the end of the wharf was destroyed, officials said. This includes the Dolphin Restaurant and a restroom.
Santa Cruz police confirmed with KSBW 8 that three people were on the wharf when it collapsed. Two of them had to be rescued, and the last person got out of the water on their own.
Minor injuries were reported. The wharf was promptly evacuated.
"We had our engineer, our engineering team and our wharf crew on-site monitoring minute by minute," said a city official Matt Huffaker. "We made the decision that based on our forecasting models, it would be safe to do so today with constant monitoring."
The Santa Cruz Harbor is closed until further notice as is the wharf. Police say Main Beach and Cowell's Beach are also closed. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk also said they will close for the rest of the day out of caution.
The city cited "extensive damage caused by storm surge. Though some landside businesses are open, access and parking may be severely limited."
The current conditions are:
docks are damaged in some areas and unstable
vessels are still in danger of sinking
surge conditions continue to occur.
The full extent of the damages is unknown at this time. The wharf will remain closed until further notice.
A crane and skid steer also fell into the ocean. The bathrooms at the end of the wharf also collapsed into the water and ended up on Seabright Beach.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/24/us-news/kamala-harris-told-teamsters-president-sean-obrien-shed-win-election-with-or-without-you/
It has been alleged by the president of Teamster, one of the largest Labor unions in America consisting of over 1.3million members. That at a meeting with the now former democrat candidate prior to the election. The democrat rudely pointed at the teamster representative and yelled " you'd better get on board or else" demanding unilateral obedience.
It was later said that the disgraced candidate proceeded by insulting the representative and saying "i'm going to win with or without you". Teamster refused to endorse any politician in the 2024 election the first instance of this occurring since 1996.
Property values will eventually fall—just like in 2008—sending household wealth tumbling. The United States would be looking at a systemic shock to the economy similar to the financial crisis of 2008—if not greater
https://www.newsweek.com/us-housing-market-mirroring-2008-bubble-real-estate-analyst-2005520
US Housing Market Is Mirroring 2008 Bubble—Real Estate Analyst
The recent flood of new inventory in the U.S. housing market has brought the number of homes sitting vacant and waiting for a buyer close to levels seen only during the 2008 bubble, the real estate analyst Nick Gerli said.
Gerli, the CEO of the real estate data platform Reventure App, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that for-sale speculative, or "spec," homes—new houses built under the assumption that builders will be able to sell them easily for a profit—"just hit the second highest level ever."
"Builders are doing their part to inundate the housing market with supply," Gerli wrote on X. "Only other time there has been more builder spec inventory was [the] 2008 bubble."
Newsweek contacted Gerli for comment by email on Tuesday outside normal working hours.
According to Gerli, the explosion of inventory in certain markets of the country is "quite the rebound from the shortage experienced from 2012-22."
The country has long struggled with a housing shortage that has inflated prices and pushed the property ladder a little further from many Americans' reach.
New inventory is good news for the housing market, but not if a slowdown of home appreciation isn't matched by a rise in demand from buyers. At the moment, with stubbornly high mortgage rates and still rising home prices, sales remain relatively low despite pent-up demand in the market.
Many of the new homes for sale on the U.S. markets remain unsold because their prices are still higher than many can afford.
Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker, who has handled Mangione’s pre-trial hearings, is married to Bret Parker, who stopped working at Pfizer in 2010.
She also has hundreds of thousands in stock, according to reporting by journalist Ken Klippenstein.
The judge holds between $50,000 and $100,000 in Pfizer, including stock in other healthcare industry companies like Abbott Laboratories, Viatris and CRISPR Therapeutics. Her husband still collects a pension from his former employer.
Parker also has holdings in Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla and Apple, amongst others.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/luigi-mangione-judge-katharine-h-parker-married-to-former-healthcare-exec-bret-parker/
I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
And all my friends are junkies
That's not really true
I'm a cold Italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
But I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you babe?
But I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey woman too
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-released/
Matt Gaetz ethics report says his drug use and sex with a minor violated state laws
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/23/matt-gaetz-ethics-report/
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-inhumane-christmas-attack-ukraine-power-shortage-volodymyr-zelenskyy-energy-grid-drones/
Christmas attack on Ukraine leads to power shortages, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president says Vladimir Putin “deliberately” chose Christmas Day to carry out the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned what he called an “inhumane” Christmas Day Russian drone strike.
“Every massive Russian strike requires time for preparation. It is never a spontaneous decision,” he said Wednesday.
The Ukrainian defense ministry said Russia launched 78 missiles and 106 drones, of which it shot down 113. Nonetheless, Zelensky said there were power “outages in several regions.”
“The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy added.
Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook that the transmission system operator took “the necessary consumption restriction measures to minimize the negative consequences for the energy system.”
Taking a dig at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrei Sybiha said on X that “this Christmas terror is Putin’s response to those who spoke about illusionary ‘Christmas ceasefire.’” In days leading up to Christmas, Orbán had campaigned for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, which Zelenskyy dismissed during an EU leaders summit he attended on Dec. 19.
Half a million people in the ravaged Kharkiv region were left without heating, while there were blackouts in Kyiv, according to media reports.
President-elect Donald Trump dismissed any suggestion that he’s being usurped by his high-profile billionaire ally Elon Musk, coming off a week in which Musk helped derail an emergency spending measure to avert a government shutdown.
Trump said the notion that he has “ceded the presidency” to Musk is a fiction and that even if Musk wanted the job, he couldn’t get it because of the Constitution’s requirement that the U.S. president be a natural-born citizen. Musk was born in South Africa.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”
Trump spoke for more than an hour Sunday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, with thousands of conservative activists cheering wildly as he took the stage amid a pyrotechnic display. It was his first rally-style event since the election.
Smoke curled around the lectern and sparklers shot up from the floor as the crowd stood and cheered the incoming president, who wore his trademark suit and overlong red tie.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/22/democrats-2024-election-problem-focus-group-00195806
New research shows the massive hole Dems are in
Even voters who previously backed Democrats cast the party as weak and overly focused on diversity and elites.
Democrats conducting post-mortems on their sweeping losses in 2024 are finding more reason for alarm. And the problem isn’t just Kamala Harris or Joe Biden.
In a trio of focus groups, even voters who previously backed Democrats cast the party as weak and overly focused on diversity and elites, according to research by the progressive group Navigator Research.
When asked to compare the Democratic Party to an animal, one participant compared the party to an ostrich because “they’ve got their heads in the sand and are absolutely committed to their own ideas, even when they’re failing.” Another likened them to koalas, who “are complacent and lazy about getting policy wins that we really need.” Democrats, another said, are “not a friend of the working class anymore.”
The focus group research, shared first with POLITICO, represents the latest troubling pulse check for a party still sorting through the wreckage of its November losses and looking for a path to rebuild. Without a clear party leader and with losses across nearly every demographic in November, Democrats are walking into a second Trump presidency without a unified strategy to improve their electoral prospects. And while some Democrats blame Biden, others blame inflation and still others blame “losing hold of culture,” the feedback from the focus groups found Democrats’ problems are even more widespread and potentially long-lasting than a single election cycle.
An elderly Texas member of Congress who has been seemingly missing from the Capitol for six months is now living in a retirement community that specialises in memory care — and even her family acknowledges she has exhibited possible signs of dementia.
Longtime Republican Representative Kay Granger, 81, has not cast a vote in Washington DC since July — despite the GOP’s super-slim majority in the chamber.
Questions about Ms Granger’s health caused massive uproar after The Dallas Express — which was founded by one of her political opponents — reported on Friday that she was living full-time in a memory care unit and was moved there after she was found wandering her neighbourhood.
Ms Granger did not run for re-election in November, but her disappearance is especially significant given the tiny majority Republicans hold in the House — and the massive votes that are taking place, including the government spending bill — in the waning days of her tenure.
However, her son told The Post that that claim was “a load of bulls**t” and that she moved into a condo in an independent living community because was getting bored and lonely in her Fort Worth apartment.
Three sources close to Ms Granger, including her son Brandon, her current spokesperson, and another source familiar have denied to The Post that she is living in the memory care unit. Her son was coy with The Post about whether she received care from that unit.
unironically send him to what ever prison does the most rapes for 15 years and then give him the chair
One of the most important buildings in Russia got attacked by an aerial strike orchestrated by the terrorist state of Ukraine.
https://www.terra.com.br/noticias/mundo/videos/videos-mostram-supostos-drones-ucranianos-atingindo-predio-residencial-na-russia,b581de681406d957b57870b51f9ad4efo3uujtw9.html
Kayla Prowell, a 23-year-old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, would really love a place to hang out, and ideally, not have to buy something to do so. Growing up in the South Suburb of Chicago, Prowell said it felt like there was no shortage of places to come together with friends. That was in part due to local politicians’ and community organizers’ efforts to keep kids off the streets.
“As I kid, I remember going to nature clubs, dance classes, knitting clubs, all after school,” she recalled. “I don’t know if it’s my increasing age or just a natural decline of shared spaces, but now it requires much more effort to find these kinds of spaces.”
“I’ve found myself making concerted efforts in adulthood to join clubs, go on Eventbrite, and more,” she told HuffPost. “I’m an avid QR code scanner when I see a poster for a community event, and I enjoy the YMCA.”
Online communities just don’t cut it anymore, Prowell said. She wants IRL.
Biden is going to pardon SBF for sending money to the dems and diddy because biden and obongo went to diddy parties.
At USP Florence ADMAX, McVeigh and Nichols were housed in what was known as "bomber's row". Ted Kaczynski, Luis Felipe, and Ramzi Yousef were also housed in this cell block. Yousef made frequent, unsuccessful attempts to convert McVeigh to Islam.[87]
At least 68 other people were injured, including 15 who were left in a critical state, according to the city government.
In the attack, a black BMW drove straight into the crowd at the Christmas market, travelling at speed for 400 metres in the direction of the town hall, according to eyewitnesses cited by the broadcaster.
Videos posted on social media showed a dark-coloured car driving into the crowds at high speed. Several media outlets showed the videos in their coverage, but the authenticity of the footage has yet to be officially confirmed.
Emergency workers were seen treating victims on the ground at the market, surrounded by blood. Makeshift tents were erected at the site. Witnesses reported hearing cries and screams. The operator of a food stall on the market described the scenes as “reminiscent of a war”.
Source for the article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/20/death-and-injuries-in-germany-as-car-ploughs-into-crowd-at-christmas-market
Full video:
https://x.com/i/status/1870199670342897997
https://archive.md/qe2PJ
Donald Trump’s team has told European officials that the incoming US president will demand Nato member states increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, but plans to continue supplying military aid to Ukraine.
The US president-elect’s closest foreign policy aides shared his intentions in discussions with senior European officials this month, according to people familiar with the talks, as he firms up his policies towards Europe and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
During his White House campaign, Trump vowed to cut off aid to Ukraine, force Kyiv into immediate peace talks, and leave Nato allies undefended if they failed to spend enough on defence — spooking European capitals.
But in a boost for allies deeply concerned over their ability to support and protect Ukraine without Washington’s backing, Trump now intends to maintain US military supplies to Kyiv after his inauguration, according to three other people briefed on the discussions with western officials.
At the same time Trump is to demand Nato more than double its 2 per cent spending target — which only 23 of the alliance’s 32 members currently meet — to 5 per cent, two people briefed on the conversations said.
One person said they understood that Trump would settle for 3.5 per cent, and that he was planning to explicitly link higher defence spending and the offer of more favourable trading terms with the US. “It’s clear that we are talking about 3 per cent or more for [Nato’s June summit in] The Hague summit,” said another European official briefed on Trump’s thinking.
Nato allies are already in discussions about increasing the target to 3 per cent at that meeting of leaders in June, but many capitals are concerned about the difficult fiscal decisions that would be required to do so.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-white-house-age-function-diminished-3906a839
How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge
Aides kept meetings short and controlled access, top advisers acted as go-betweens and public interactions became more scripted. The administration denied Biden has declined.
During the 2020 presidential primary, Jill Biden campaigned so extensively across Iowa that she held events in more counties than her husband—a fact her press secretary at the time, Michael LaRosa, touted to a local reporter.
His superior in the Biden campaign quickly chided him. As the three rode in a minivan through the state’s cornfields, Anthony Bernal, then a deputy campaign manager and chief of staff to Jill Biden, pressed LaRosa to contact the reporter again and play down any comparison in campaign appearances between Joe Biden, then 77, and his wife, who is eight years his junior. Her energetic schedule only highlighted her husband’s more plodding pace, LaRosa recalls being told.
The message from Biden’s team was clear. “The more you talk her up, the more you make him look bad,” LaRosa said.
The small correction foreshadowed how Biden’s closest aides and advisers would manage the limitations of the oldest president in U.S. history during his four years in office.
To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratics and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s at key moments, including the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/22/world-news/swedish-rapper-gaboro-shot-dead-in-parking-garage/
Swedish rapper Gaboro fatally shot in parking garage, disturbing footage reportedly shows
A Swedish hip-hop star has been reportedly shot dead in a car park with disturbing footage of the apparent killing emerging online.
According to the BBC, citing several Swedish newspapers, rapper Gaboro was gunned down in a parking garage on Friday night in the city of Norrkoping, southwest of the capital Stockholm.
In the disturbing video spreading across social media platforms, a person carrying a handgun and seemingly wearing a bodycam video could be seen firing multiple shots inside a parking garage, hitting a man as he attempted to run for his life.
The rapper was heard saying “I beg you” before he was shot multiple times.
The rapper – real name Ninos Khouri – was unable to get away from his shooter with police later confirming that a man in his 20s had been found injured at the scene and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that police would not confirm if the video was related to the shooting, but said it will be examined as part of their investigation.
Gaboro is known for obscuring his identity during his performances and music videos by wearing a balaclava and sunglasses to hide his face.
He first burst onto the rap scene in 2022 with the release of his song Browski, which has clocked up 1.6 million views on YouTube to date.
In the last two years since its release, Gaboro’s songs have attracted more than 226,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
His most popular single Harki, released just this year, has been streamed on Spotify more than 11 million times.
Authorities in Guatemala rescued at least 160 children from a Jewish sect following allegations of abuse and human trafficking.
Police raided the premises of the sect called Lev Tahor in Oratorio city, 78km southeast of the capital Guatemala City, on Friday after receiving complaints of widespread abuse of children, including rape, human trafficking and forced marriage, prosecutors said.
They took at least 160 minors and 40 women into protective custody.
The operation in the Santa Rosa region involved around 480 police personnel, soldiers, prosecutors, and psychologists who also seized electronic devices and searched for evidence of child pornography.
Regional prosecutor Dimas Jiménez y Jiménez said they were considering charges of human trafficking, mistreatment of minors, and rape.
“We suspect these crimes were committed by a member of the community,” he said.
Nancy Lorena Paiz García, a prosecutor in the Office Against Human Trafficking, said that police found bodies suspected to be of minors buried on the premises.
“We have no information that the sect has used the local cemeteries,” she said, “but we must investigate these possible deaths of minors.”
![Gun-Ranges-Boom-in-Finland-AP-[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734736781079068s.jpg)
The jealousy bone might appeared to have bitten Elon Musk Wednesday, as he reportedly crashed the widely publicized dinner between President-elect Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago hosted the dinner dinner for the politician and billionaire, but the two didn’t have privacy for long before Musk appeared. According to the New York Times, the X CEO “was not initially expected to be part of the dinner but joined as it was underway.”
Reactions online to the apparent power move were swift and cutting, with late night hosts and social media commentators mocking Musk as “deranged” and “creepy,” among other unflattering conclusions. The tech mogul was dragged up and down, with many saying it seemed like he was worried about his ongoing “bromance” with the president-elect.
“This two-week bromance is going to fall apart more spectacularly than any in history,” journalist and author Seth Abramson wrote on Bluesky. “Elon Musk is so deranged and creepy — and such a clueless stalker — that he actually crashed a private dinner between Donald Trump and Musk rival Jeff Bezos. I can’t imagine how livid that made both Trump and Bezos.”
He continued his post: “What it also confirms is that Musk not only has no boundaries and believes himself Trump’s superior but has no intention of permitting any other plutocrat to squeeze more juice out of Trump than him. Showing up at that dinner uninvited is a power play intended to cow both other oligarchs and Trump.”
Musk’s choice to crash Trump and Bezos’ meal was a dinner bell to the various late night hosts out there, as well. Just about every single one of them had a joke or two to crack at Musk’s expense this week, with Seth Meyer’s warning Trump he got “‘Cable Guy’-ed” – a reference to the 1996 Jim Carrey stalker comedy.
![imrs[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734737865487284s.jpg)
https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/nancy-pelosi-posed-for-photo-with-broken-hip-after-falling-in-very-high-heels
Nancy Pelosi underwent hip replacement surgery after a fall during her Europe trip. House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul shares details of the incident.
Trump has already taken two of the biggest government programs — Social Security and Medicare — off the table for potential cuts. Reduced defense spending is also viewed as unlikely, meaning nearly half of federal spending would be protected, Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF (formerly Kaiser Family Foundation,) said in a recent JAMA article.
That leaves "Medicaid, which is the next largest source of federal spending, and the ACA as prime targets for spending cuts. The math is inescapable," Levitt stated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p13yZAjhU0M SURFARIS
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/19/co-president-elon-musk-trump-ally-tests-influence-spending-fight/
Elon Musk has never been elected to office. President-elect Donald Trump has not tapped him to serve in any role
inside the government. Until the July assassination attempt, he never even publicly supported Trump.
But this week, critics of the world’s richest man say he attained a new title: “shadow president” of the United States.
In a matter of hours on Wednesday, Musk wielded his powerful X account to pressure House Republicans to torpedo
a spending bill that would have kept the federal government open for three months. Musk’s rapid-fire messages —
which included numerous false claims about the contents of the spending bill — ricocheted through Washington,
where some lawmakers reported their phone lines were ringing all day with calls from constituents who saw Musk’s
posts. More than 12 hours after Musk’s first post calling lawmakers to not pass the bill, Trump and Vice President-
elect JD Vance also put out a statement opposing the legislation, and House Republicans scrapped the deal.
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I WILL forget the ones who died who gave that right to me
And I'll gladly stand up next to you and DEFUND her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love DIS land, God DAM DA USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IagRZBvLtw THINGS
Pornhub is set to block access to the site starting January 1st, to Florida residents due to security risks brought on by the newly enshrined Florida legislation banning Minors from adult sites.
Rather then implement the required security checks, requiring age verification through ID, Pornhub has instead opted to simply block the state's residents from accessing it instead, decrying the severe security risk brought on by the collection of this much personal data.
![1734662751872168[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734665281624818s.jpg)
![MV5BZTQyNDA0ZDctZjFkMC00NDA1LWI3Y2QtOWY5OWE0NTQ2YzJjXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734647138310628s.jpg)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/19/fani-willis-is-disqualified-from-prosecuting-trump-election-case-appeals-court-rules-00195323
Fani Willis is disqualified from prosecuting Trump election case in Georgia, appeals court rules
A Georgia appeals court has ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office must be disqualified from the criminal racketeering case she brought against President-elect Donald Trump and his allies over their efforts to alter the results of the 2020 election.
In a 2-1 decision Thursday, the court found that Willis had created the appearance of a conflict of interest stemming from her romantic relationship with an outside prosecutor whom she hired to help run the case.
“This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” Judge Trenton Brown wrote, addressing the legal implications of Willis’ relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The ruling appears likely to require the case to be assigned to another prosecutor. But Trump’s imminent inauguration as president means the charges against him are almost certain to either be paused while he is in office or dismissed entirely. The proceedings against Trump’s co-defendants — including close allies like former chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani — could continue to grind forward during Trump’s presidency.
The prosecution has been stalled for months while Trump and other defendants pressed their claims that Willis and Wade had a financial conflict because they were taking lavish vacations together while Wade was under contract with her office as a special prosecutor on the case.
https://www.kswo.com/2024/12/18/oklahoma-senators-present-bill-rename-veterans-hospital-tulsa-honoring-jim-inhofe/
A bill that would rename a Tulsa VA hospital in honor of the late Jim Inhofe is headed to the President’s desk.
Introduced by Oklahoma’s US Senators, the bill would name the Veteran’s hospital the “James Mountain Inhofe VA Medical Center.”
It passed both the House and Senate and now heads to President Biden to be signed into centriliftlaw.
In a statement, Senator James Lankford stressed the importance of this bill, saying the following.
President Joe Biden is choosing to stay out of the public spotlight in what could emerge one of the final domestic crises of his presidency, as the White House and Democrats in Washington are portraying a looming government shutdown as a problem for Republicans to resolve on their own.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/19/politics/biden-shutdown-congress-johnson/index.html
White House aides hid Biden’s apparent mental decline from Day 1 of his presidency, explosive report reveals
White House aides covered up President Biden’s apparent mental decline from Day 1 of his presidency, shielding the aging commander-in-chief from the public and even rearranging his schedule after scatterbrained performances, an explosive report revealed Thursday.
The lack of access to the nation’s oldest-ever president has been well known in Washington — with Biden hosting the fewest large press conferences in modern history and frequently descending into gaffes at the podium when he appeared — but how much the White House made up for the haziness had until now been hidden, according to aides, Democratic lawmakers and donors who spoke with the Wall Street Journal.
Presidential staff formed a tight shell around Biden, 82, right after he took office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with staff immediately limiting his in-person interactions in January 2021.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/19/us-news/white-house-aides-hid-bidens-apparent-mental-decline-from-day-1-of-his-presidency-explosive-report-reveals/
Campaign staff were also concerned that first lady Jill Biden would outshine the president, even during the 2020 primary, according to the Journal.
“The more you talk her up, the more you make him look bad,” her press secretary at the time, Michael LaRosa, told the outlet he was instructed by Jill’s closest confidant, White House staffer Anthony Bernal.
Like most Democrats, Ryan is clinically insane, but unlike most Democrats, he's willing to admit it publicly
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/18/florida-trump-assassination-charges-00195106
Florida hits alleged would-be Trump assassin with state charges
The charges were related to a traffic accident during the police pursuit against Ryan Routh.
Florida filed the first state charges against the man accused of attempting to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, as state leaders criticize the federal investigation into the incident at his golf course in West Palm Beach September.
The charges against the defendant, Ryan Routh, aren’t for the acts on the perimeter of Trump’s golf course, where Routh was allegedly posted with his weapon and a Secret Service agent fired several shots in his direction before he fled. Instead, state law enforcement alleges he is responsible for a traffic accident that arose due to him fleeing the scene, which they say significantly injured a six-year-old girl. He was charged with attempted felony murder.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the charges Wednesday during a press conference in Stuart, Florida, near where Ryan Routh is being held.
“We felt compelled to seek justice on her behalf and her family,” Moody said.
Routh has already faced numerous federal charges, including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and assault of a federal officer. He’s in federal custody and his attorneys recently said they were considering an insanity defense.
![0c7d5d93-046d-49a8-8c0e-2962bc1dce15-061821_WPB_Pride_Damage_01[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734489565965662s.jpg)
I still don't get why the government is flying the flag of another nation
![maxresdefault[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734487647603559s.jpg)
The hornets, which can be 2 inches (5 cm) long and were formerly called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675.
The news represented an enormous success and was achieved in part by residents agreeing to place traps on their properties and reporting sightings, as well as researchers capturing a live hornet, attaching a tiny radio tracking tag to it with dental floss, and following it through a forest to a nest in an alder tree. Scientists destroyed the nest just as a number of queens were beginning to emerge, officials said.
“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington state department of agriculture, told a virtual news conference.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/19/murder-hornet-eradicated-us-washington
"This was a killing to evoke terror," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference to announce the 11-count indictment. "This was not an ordinary killing … this was extraordinary."
Bragg called the slaying "brazen" and "targeted."
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/17/luigi-mangione-brian-thompson-murder-new-york-extradition.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/15/trump-brithright-citizenship
Donald Trump probably will not be able to fulfill his stated aim of ending birthright citizenship in the US when he returns to the White House, but it is perhaps more conceivable than during his first term, according to legal experts.
The US constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the country, even if they are the children of undocumented immigrants.
The president-elect said he would eliminate that right during his first term and again recently said during a television interview that he planned to and could use an executive action or would “maybe have to go back to the people”.
The aim comes at the same time as Trump plans to carry out mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants during his second term – an ambition that has civil liberties groups and many Democrats bracing for economic and legal chaos and protests.
But if Trump were to try to use executive action to eliminate birthright citizenship, courts would probably strike it down because of language contained in the 14th amendment, according to scholars.
Still, given the conservative majority on the supreme court – and fact that one of the people considered a candidate for the court has argued that the provision does not apply to children of “invading aliens” – it’s not a certainty that birthright citizenship will remain in place, said Amanda Frost, a University of Virginia law professor and expert in immigration and citizenship law.
![gettyimages-2156180681[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734501960678276s.jpg)
Main Report: https://files.catbox.moe/9zqxid.pdf
TLDR: https://files.catbox.moe/38fzsw.pdf
Brief: https://www.defense.gov/news/transcripts/transcript/article/4009708/senior-defense-official-briefs-on-2024-china-military-power-report
Talks:
https://airandspaceforces.com/pentagon-report-china-project-power-global
https://csis.org/events/discussion-defense-departments-2024-china-military-power-report
https://news.usni.org/2024/12/18/pentagon-annual-report-on-chinese-military-and-security-developments
Local shills better buckle up
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5044208-house-republicans-fume-speaker-johnson-cr/
House Republicans are fuming at Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) handling of an end-of-year measure to extend government funding until March, saying it is more like a sprawling omnibus — which they abhor — than a simple temporary funding measure.
The continuing resolution (CR), which will keep government funding at current levels through March 14, is also set to include $100.4 billion in disaster aid for those affected by hurricanes earlier this year and $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers, lawmakers said, among other provisions.
“It’s not a CR, which is a continuation of the budget. It’s turning into an omnibus,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said.
The final text of the measure has not yet been released, as congressional leaders work through the remaining hangups ahead of Friday’s funding deadline. But as the package begins to come into clear focus, Republicans of all stripes — including hard-line conservatives, committee chairs and moderates — are hammering away at Johnson for its contents, the process he followed to craft it, and how he plans to bring it to the floor for a vote.
“It’s a total dumpster fire. I think it’s garbage,” said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “This is what Washington, D.C., has done. This is why I ran for Congress, to try to stop this. And sadly, this is happening again.”
“We get this negotiated crap, and we’re forced to eat this crap sandwich,” echoed Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another Freedom Caucus member. “Why? Because freaking Christmas is right around the corner. It’s the same dang thing every year. Legislate by crisis, legislate by calendar. Not legislate because it’s the right thing to do.”
"No divestment witout remediation!" Na di demand of some Niger Delta environmental activists wey carry protest go Rivers State Government House for Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria.
Di protest by environmental advocacy groups like Social Action, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, We The People and some local communities dey ask Nigeria President Bola Tinubu not to allow international oil companies (IOCs) to go on wit di divestment process wen dem never clean up di many sites wey oil spillage don damage across di Niger Delta region.
Dr. Prince Edegbuo of Social Action explain to BBC say dem want make President Tinubu maintain Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) rejection of Shell request to sell dia remaining shares for Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC to Renaissance Consortium.
E say oda international oil companies like TotalEnergies dey also attempt to sell dia stakes for SPDC and oda Nigeria onshore oil assets, kon add say approving di sale of Shell SPDC share go send a dangerous message to all multinational corporations wey dey operate for Nigeria say dem fit extract di resources, leave devastation behind and waka comot witout any consequences.
"Any approval of Shell and Total request to divest go weaken regulatory independence, ignore di interests of di Niger Delta communities, jeopardise di environmental and social wellbeing of di region for generations to come and e go undermine Nigeria sovereignty."
"Our demand na say dem no fit do divestment witout di clean up of all di communities across di Niger Delta wey oil spill from dia facilities don damage finish!" Na di position of Ken Kentebe of HOMEF.
![images[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734490499134810s.jpg)
https://www.tampafp.com/biden-granted-clemency-to-multiple-public-officials-democrat-politicians-convicted-of-corruption/
Biden Granted Clemency To Multiple Public Officials, Democrat Politicians Convicted Of Corruption
Biden granted clemency last week to several Democrat politicians and public officials convicted on corruption charges.
Among the nearly 1,500 criminals whose sentences Biden commuted last week were at least three Democratic politicians and several other public officials, including a former judge notorious for putting thousands of kids behind bars for kickbacks.
Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan, one of two judges convicted in 2011 for his role in the “Kids for Cash” scandal, had his sentence commuted by Biden. Conahan and another judge received millions from sending children to private detention facilities where they had a business interest.
READ: Neo-Nazi Socialists Are Imploding At Record Numbers Nationwide
Several victims of the scheme spoke out against Biden’s decision.
Amanda Lorah, who was wrongly imprisoned, told Fox 59 it was a “slap in the face.” Sandy Fonzo, whose son committed suicide after being placed in detention, said she was “shocked” and hurt.
“Conahan’s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son‘s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power,” Fonzo said in a statement to The Citizen’s Voice. “This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back.”
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Biden got it “absolutely wrong” and created “a lot of pain” in his state, according to the Penn Capital Star.
Portrait of Jason P. Frank
By Jason P. Frank, a Vulture writer covering comedy, theater, and music
https://www.vulture.com/article/luigi-mangione-documentary.html
Luigi Mangione, suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, will be the subject of dueling documentaries. Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Anonymous Content were the first to announce, per Variety. Last year, Gibney was “hugely excited” to announce that he is working on an Elon Musk documentary as well. His previous work includes the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, a 2007 doc about the killing of an Afghani taxi driver by U.S. soldier, and his 2005 breakout, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, about the collapse of the energy company. The new documentary will not just follow Mangione but also explore larger questions about the value of life and death in America, Variety reported. We assume that will be entirely different from …
… This other documentary! Also announced December 16, the second Mangione-focused documentary is produced by Stephen Robert Morse, who directed the Emmy-nominated 2016 Amanda Knox for Netflix, per Variety. “This case is complex and raises important questions about vigilantism, the devastating cost of a privatized healthcare system and the inevitability of violence when peaceful change is seen as impossible,” Morse said in a statement. If anybody else has a Luigi-mentary they’d like to announce, submit an invoice and we’ll get back to you.
Was also a girl. Feminism win!
Trump accuses Biden of knowing more about reported drone sightings than he's saying
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said U.S. government officials, including President Joe Biden, know where the mysterious drone sightings along the East Coast are coming and going from, accusing the leaders without evidence of intentionally keeping those details from the public.
Trump said the U.S. military also knows where the drones took off and where they went afterward. "And for some reason, they don't want to comment," he said Monday at a wide-ranging news conference at his private club Mar-a-Lago. "And I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows. And our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense."
"I can't imagine it's the enemy, because if it was the enemy, they'd blast it out. Even if they were late, they'd blast it," he added. "Something strange is going on. For some reason they don't want to tell the people, and they should."
A video obtained by CNN shows the moments before Russian general Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in a Moscow explosion.
In the video, which was obtained from a source with knowledge of the operation allegedly carried out by Ukraine’s security services, both men can be seen leaving a residential building, with one of the men carrying what appears to be a box in one hand and a briefcase in the other.
Though the video is slightly blurry, the outline of what appears to be a scooter can be seen close to the building’s exit, parked to the right of the door.
Both men were killed by an explosive device planted in an electric scooter, according to the Russian investigative committee.
Those in the video seem to be walking towards a waiting car, which is a few meters in front of the door with its headlights on. Before they can reach it, the explosive detonates, and the screen flashes white.
let's hear the wokefags defend disney this time
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was donning “very high” heels when she broke her hip in a nasty fall on marble steps at a World War II battlefield site in Luxembourg last Friday — then ostensibly powered through the pain to pose for a group photo.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who helped Pelosi to her feet after the tumble at Grand Ducal Palace, opened up on Tuesday about how the 84-year-old Democrat got injured during the bipartisan trip.
“I was right next to her. She likes to wear high heels — very high. She was on one of her last steps on this marble staircase that didn’t have a railing and she lost her footing and fell to the ground,” McCaul, 62, told reporters.
“I immediately helped pick her up. And we took a picture of that. You can see me holding her up by her hand and then very soon thereafter, a vehicle showed up and took her to the hospital.”
https://nypost.com/2024/12/17/us-news/pelosi-fell-in-her-very-high-heels-then-stood-for-a-photo-with-a-broken-hip-mccaul-says/
A Democratic House committee on Monday recommended that Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly take over the party’s top spot on the House Oversight Committee, a key vote that saw challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez finish a close second.
>dems bitch about wanting to expand the courts for 4 years saying there are too many cases for the current number of judges
>democrat written bipartisan bill passes
>biden uses his 12th veto, more than bush, obongo or trump, to veto this extremely popular democrat bill he himself called for
According to a new report from Bitwise Asset Management, a leading crypto investment firm, the crypto market is set for a revolutionary year in 2025. Following the successes of 2024, including the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs and improved regulation under President Donald Trump, Bitwise predicts even bigger breakthroughs in the coming year.
![GbOxzXzXAAAQGoi[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734295143464585s.jpg)
>Tim Walz, a chinese citizen, America hater and alleged child rapist has teamed up with Phil Murphy, an israeli citizen, America hater and intentional mass murderer of olds to sue Glock for frivolous bullshit in an attempt to deny Americans their basic human rights
![81MPjFyLiwL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734390449524544s.jpg)
Joe Biden, who is not an American citizen and who hates the American people, pardoned Israeli citizens (((Nevin Shapiro))), brother of communist dictator (((Josh Shapiro))) ran a ponzi scheme for over $900 million and Rita Crundwell, a comptroller and treasurer who embezzled $54 million in tax payer funds from Dixon Illinois
![maxresdefault[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734292190882382s.jpg)
>Mayorkas, an American hating communist who intentionally opened the southern border to third worlders in an attempt to destroy America says Biden admin can't shoot down drones because it has "not been granted authority" by his and biden's masters, Xi Jinping and Netanyahu.
>we have no idea what the drones flying over nyc, a military base and the capital are and somehow have no way to find out what they are but they aren't a thread because just trust me bro
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/15/2024/kamala-harris-digital-chief-on-democrats-losing-hold-of-culture
Soon after Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty turned his attention to sports.
The campaign needed to introduce Harris quickly to people who aren’t obsessed with politics. Sports is perhaps America’s last remaining monoculture, and Flaherty and the Harris team decided to book her on sports shows and podcasts.
But one by one, the biggest personalities and shows politely turned them down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cZVXxgzjTg GO
![george-stephanopoulos-abc-ps-210527_1622141324150_hpMain_16x9_1600[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734294099588312s.jpg)
>ABC and George Stephanopoulos pay Trump $15 million, admit they have small penises and admit they are lying pieces of shit pushing fake news and chinese propaganda for saying the false and unfounded lie that Trump is a rapist. Trump is not a rapist. there is no evidence Trump ever raped anyone and anyone claiming he is is a lying piece of shit intentionally pushing chinese propaganda and have a small penis
Neo-Nazi socialists are literally imploding at the negative news and claim they they deserve to lie about Trump, while repeating overused buzzwords and think-tank catchphrases about "democracy dying"
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-abc-news-lawsuit-settlement-reaction-2000995
ABC Faces Anger After $15M Trump Settlement: 'Democracy Dies'
ABC News is facing backlash from both Democrats and Republicans following its $15-million settlement with Donald Trump.
In a settlement announced on Saturday, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump's presidential library and issue a public apology in order to settle a defamation lawsuit over inaccurate statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a broadcast earlier this year.
The settlement describes the funding as a "charitable contribution" from the broadcaster. Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump's attorneys.
Trump filed the defamation suit after Stephanopoulos claimed during a March 10 segment of ABC News' This Week while interviewing Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, that Trump had been "found liable for rape" in connection to writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits. Neither verdict involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law.
Following the settlement, which came just days after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid ordered the president-elect and Stephanopoulos to submit to four-hour depositions, ABC News is facing backlash from both sides of the aisle.
![0x0[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1734293164824794s.jpg)
I hope she dies. its not even a far fetched, tons of 80 year olds die as a result of breaking their hips.
Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has been helping Kennedy select top health administrators as part of the Trump transition process, is deeply embedded in longstanding efforts to force the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw a raft of vaccines that have saved the lives and health of millions of Americans.
Siri has been sitting alongside Kennedy in interviews in which they have asked candidates for top health jobs where they stand on vaccines, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Kennedy, a leading vaccine sceptic, has insisted he has no plans to revoke vaccines should he be confirmed by the US Senate for the health secretary position. But his close ties with Siri are raising concerns about the incoming Trump administration’s intentions, given the lawyer’s intimate involvement in the anti-vaccine movement.
Siri works closely with the Informed Consent Action Network (Ican), a “medical freedom” non-profit founded by Del Bigtree, whose has long waged war on vaccines including as producer of the anti-vaccination documentary, Vaxxed. The New York Times report noted that Siri filed the 2022 petition calling for the FDA to revoke approval for the polio vaccine on behalf of ICAN.
>https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/13/rfk-jr-aaron-siri-polio
He is doing this because he wants to pack the courts with partisans, but Americans decided they dislike democrats and elected trump instead of Harris.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/11/biden-judges-veto-000534
Biden threatens to veto bill that would have given Trump new judicial appointments
The president threatened to veto a bill to expand the number of federal judges because he doesn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities, one of the outgoing president’s closest allies said in an interview.
The move dooms legislation spearheaded by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who had spent months pushing for the creation of 63 new judgeships.
“I understand that the president’s view is that to pass it this late in the session and hand the next president 22 judges to confirm is something he doesn’t support,” Coons told POLITICO.
Coons called the decision a “regrettable outcome,” blaming partisan politics for bogging down a once-bipartisan effort.
He added that Biden told him his only objection to the bill was its timing.
“If we could change the date by four years, I know — he told me — if we could change the date, he’d sign it tomorrow,” Coons said of their conversation.
https://russian.rt.com/russia/news/1409312-vakcina-rak-rossiya-besplatnaya
The kuki people have killed and raped the innocent lives of 7 person which consists of 2 child which were raped and then killed by smashing their head the others were adult they were also raped killed and were thrown down at a river which we obtained their body at. There are many cases of rape and mass killing. I beg the community to help spread this news and lend us a hand in exposing the government. The P.M of India posted a post about the death kuki people and commented on it but when our people was raped and killed he didn't even look at it and just went on to travel to another country
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://hubnetwork.in/manipur-massive-rally-in-imphal-demands-repeal-of-afspa-justice-for-jiribam-killings/&ved=2ahUKEwio6K_766eKAxVk4zgGHSBzHo8QxfQBKAB6BAgPEAE&usg=AOvVaw0BXvisxfYCZc-cNNoWkrm6
>combined offensive with local militias and insurgency
>let's repeat this victory against the largest standing nation in the world
Are they just nuts or does their victory give them that much advantage?
UnitedHealth CEO Sparks Uproar After Unbelievable New York Times Op-Ed
Critics are torching a New York Times op-ed Friday by the chief of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, arguing that the $23.5 million-salaried executive’s message overwhelmingly ignored the failures actively perpetuated by his company in the American health care system.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty condemned the American public’s gleeful response to the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was assassinated by a masked gunman last week on the streets of New York City just hours before an investor meeting.
In roughly 600 words, he also attempted to deflect his insurance network’s responsibility in the growing inequity in America’s health care system, vaguely pointing to a “patchwork” of failures decades in the making while swearing that his corporate network—which reported $22 billion in profits in 2023 alone, nearly three times the figure reported by CVS, the second-most-profitable health insurance company that year—was consistently fighting to “deliver high-quality care and lower costs.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XWgw3Ea4WU MICHAEL
The president-elect walked back what was always a wildly unrealistic campaign promise.
President-elect Donald Trump admitted in an interview with Time magazine that it will be difficult for him to reduce consumer prices, contrary to statements he made on the campaign trail this year.
Trump told Time in an hourlong interview for its “Person of the Year” feature that his presidency wouldn’t be a failure if he failed to bring the price of groceries down.
“I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will,” Trump said, according to the transcript.
Trump is right that it’s very hard to achieve across-the-board price reductions. Curbing inflation is only a matter of slowing the rate of price increases — actual economy-wide price drops typically don’t happen outside of a massive economic downturn.
Nevertheless, Trump repeatedly told voters during the campaign that electing him president would cause prices to tumble.
“Prices will come down,” Trump said during a rally in August. “You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.”
“We will end inflation and make America affordable again, and we’re going to get the prices down, we have to get them down,” Trump said at a rally in September. “It’s too much. Groceries, cars, everything. We’re going to get the prices down.”
“We will cut your taxes and inflation, slash your prices, raise your wages and bring thousands of factories back to America,” Trump said at a Georgia rally in October, reciting a line he used in speeches at several other events.
Trump also specifically promised to get gas prices down: “I will cut your energy prices in half within 12 months.”
The CEO of UnitedHealth Group Andrew Witty said in a leaked internal video that the insurance company will continue to work to prevent "unnecessary" and "unsafe" care that would strain the health care system. The video address to the company's employees following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was leaked to journalist Ken Klippenstein. Witty is the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. Thompson was killed in what police say was a targeted attack in New York City last week. He added that employees should "tune out" criticism of the insurance company, saying that it "does not reflect reality."
https://apnews.com/article/wray-fbi-director-resign-trump-patel-ca7553c92819b5487ce12de252a5a543
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray told bureau workers Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January, an announcement that came a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job.
Wray said at a town hall meeting that he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought,” roughly three years short of the completion of a 10-year term during which he tried to keep the FBI out of politics even as the bureau found itself entangled in a string of explosive investigations, including two that led to separate indictments of Trump last year as well as inquiries into Biden and his son.
“My goal is to keep the focus onour mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray told agency employees. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw12JW77fV4
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is facing strong headwinds – including opposition from House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – as she tries to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Senior Democrats say that while Ocasio-Cortez is seen as the favorite over Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the race is still in play. The fight comes as several septuagenarian committee ranking members are facing desperate battles against – or yielding to – younger challengers. Many members are concerned about [the] precedent these races are setting,"
What we're hearing: Pelosi has been approaching colleagues urging them to back Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez, according to two House Democrats with direct knowledge of her outreach.
Connolly, 74, and Ocasio-Cortez, 35, are facing off to replace current Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Punchbowl News was first to report Pelosi's advocacy for Connolly. A Pelosi spokesperson did not offer a comment to Axios.Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is facing strong headwinds – including opposition from House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – as she tries to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
https://apnews.com/article/nancy-pelosi-injury-hospital-luxembourg-d55392b1dd9ebc2af77795bb46e364ed?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg.
Pelosi, 84, in Europe with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. spokesman, Krager, said she is “currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals” and unable to attend the remainder of events on her trip.
Krager said Pelosi “looks forward to returning home to the U.S. soon.”
Biden pardons Chinese spies convicted of stealing American tech secrets
President Biden pardoned two Chinese spies and the relative of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party who was caught with tens of thousands of images of child pornography on his computer last month in a prisoner swap between the two countries that was made public Thursday when the three received clemencies.
Yanjun Xu and Ji Chaoqun, who were both convicted of espionage, were granted clemency last month, along with Shanlin Jin, who was convicted of possession of more than 47,000 images of child pornography while a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2021.
Their clemencies, signed by President Biden, are dated Nov. 22
Five days later, on November 27, the Chinese government released three Americans who were serving prison sentences in the Communist country: Mark Swidan, a businessman from Texas, who was arrested in 2012 and accused of drug related offenses; Kai Li, who had been held since 2016 on espionage charges; and John Leung, who was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison on spying charges.
The news of the pardons for the Chinese nationals comes comes months after federal authorities in New York have cracked down on alleged Chinese spies in both state and local governments, and a Congressional committee has blasted the Department of Justice for its lack of enforcement against Chinese espionage in the country.
An officer tipped off the feds after recognizing the 26-year-old’s face in surveillance images put out by the NYPD after Thompson was gunned down last week, sources told the San Francisco Chronicle.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/luigi-mangione-was-idd-by-san-francisco-cops-days-before-alleged-unitedhealthcare-ceo-killer-was-arrested-report/
https://newrepublic.com/post/189316/surprise-key-witness-reveals-lied-biden-corruption
The resisters have stopped resisting.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14183539/trump-time-magazine-person-year-2024.html
The magazine made its annual announcement early Thursday after releasing its shortlist on Monday.
To celebrate the occasion, the president-elect headed to Wall Street to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning.
This is the second time the 78-year-old is being named Person of the Year after he also received the title in 2016 after his first presidential election victory.
It comes after Trump dominated headlines this year with his third bid for the White House and decisive win last month.
The president-elect also survived a close assassination attempt in July and became the first U.S. president convicted of a crime in May.
The magazine has been naming a person, group or concept each year since 1927 that had the 'biggest impact—for good or for ill—on the world over the previous 12 months.'
Trump said in his interview that his astounding victory was due to hitting the 'nerve of the country... the country was angry'.
He claimed the country was angry over immigration and argued the border, not the economy, was actually the biggest issue of the election.
Time lauded Trump's 'political rebirth' after his last term 'ended in disgrace' and he was 'shunned by most party officials'.
'On the cusp of his second presidency, all of us—from his most fanatical supporters to his most fervent critics—are living in the Age of Trump,' wrote Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs.
'[He] has remade American politics in the process. He won by enlarging his base, seizing the frustration over rising prices and benefiting from a global turn against incumbents,' Jacobs continued.
Both building materials and dismantled sections of wall are being hauled off by the despot Biden
https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/biden-admin-quietly-clears-away-border-wall-parts-for-auction-before-trump-takes-office/
Biden admin quietly clears away border wall parts for auction ahead of Trump’s second term
The Biden administration is reportedly spending their final weeks quietly clearing away unused southern border wall materials to put up for auction — a move characterized by some lawmakers as an apparent ploy to sabotage President-elect Donald Trump’s goal to secure the US-Mexico border.
Alarming footage taken by a US Customs and Border Agent captured numerous flatbed trucks hauling away dismantled sections of the steel wall near Tucson, Arizona – a hotspot for illegal crossings – with the agent estimating a half-mile’s worth of parts are being removed daily, The Daily Wire reported.
“They are taking it from three sections: Nogales, Tucson, and Three Points,” the agent, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, told the outlet.
“The goal is to move all of it off the border before Christmas.”
The materials are being transported to Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona, where it’s being sold through GovPlanet, an online auction house specializing in military surplus, with bidding starting at just $5.
Online auctions for the parts — listed as Steel Bollard Wall Sections w/Grout — already happened this month, with another scheduled for Dec. 18.
The materials were left unused following Biden’s decision to stop the wall’s construction and roll back Trump’s immigration policies upon taking office in 2021, resulting in a massive surge of illegal immigrants and unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5031852-josh-shapiro-united-healthcare-ceo-shooter-arrest/
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) condemned “deeply disturbing” reactions to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
“Some attention in this case, especially online, has been deeply disturbing, as some have looked to celebrate instead of condemning this killer,” Shapiro said during a press conference Monday, referring to some reports on the internet that show a “lack of sympathy.”
I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes, just for one day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktpdSUhduXg DAVID