Monday, December 23, 2024

December 23, 2024

Good morning,

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Leading the News . . .

Biden commutes the sentences of 37 of 40 murderers on death row . . . President Biden on Monday will commute the sentences of nearly all of the 40 murderers on the federal government's death row, in another move to thwart President-elect Donald Trump's stated goals.The men would have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment without parole. The move, which is not reviewable by courts or reversible by the next president, would prevent Mr. Trump from repeating his first-term performance, when he carried out a record number of federal executions. Washington Times

Remember, these are only federal death row inmates. There are more than 2,000 people on death row in the states.

Tree of Life synagogue victim's sons ask Biden not to commute killer's federal death sentence

Politics

House Ethics draft report accuses Gaetz of statutory rape of 17-year-old, drug use and obstruction . . . The House Ethics Committee gathered evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida paid multiple women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school junior, used illegal drugs like cocaine and ecstasy and obstructed efforts by Congress to investigate his conduct, according to a draft of its findings obtained by Just the News. Gaetz is quoted extensively in the draft report denying each allegation and told Just the News that "these were some women who I dated over the course of a decade, and had relationships with at various times and that I admittedly were generous to." Just the News

Gaetz teases run for Rubio's Senate seat

Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama's president says no . . . Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States "foolishly" ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged "ridiculous" fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Panama's conservative president José Raúl Mulino, who was elected in May on a pro-business platform, roundly rejected that notion as an affront to his country's sovereignty. Associated Press

Trump: U.S. 'Ownership And Control Of Greenland Is An Absolute Necessity . . . Trump said, "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." Controlling Greenland would give the U.S. a big leg up in countering threats from Russia and China in controlling the Arctic. Not only would controlling Greenland counter the significant military and scientific build up both countries have invested there, it would put the U.S. in position to win the race for the Arctic. Daily Wire

Biden's insult to families of Marines murdered in disastrous Afghan withdrawal . . . Joe Biden kept the grieving relatives of the Marines killed in Afghanistan waiting for three hours while he napped on Air Force One on the tarmac before a dignified transfer, multiple military families have told Daily Mail. The shocking allegation comes today amid growing calls for the Biden administration to be investigated over its scandalous cover-up of the president's ailing health. Daily Mail

FLASHBACK: Media, leaders run passionate defense of President Biden against fitness concerns

Lara Trump Withdraws Her Name From Consideration For Florida Senate Seat . . . Lara Trump, President-elect Donald Trump's daughter-in-law and outgoing Republican National Convention co-chair, announced Saturday that she will no longer be available as a possible replacement for outgoing Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate," Lara Trump, 42, said. Daily Caller

Apparently, despite President-elect Donald Trump taking him to the Army-Navy game, Florida Gov. DeSantis said "no."

Culture

Conservatives declare victory after Disney drops transgender storyline from children's cartoon . . . Disney has scuttled a transgender storyline from an upcoming animated series, citing concerns about usurping parental authority after years of pushing LGBTQ themes and characters in its children's programming. The entertainment giant said it has scotched the transgender identity of a character in "Win or Lose," a Pixar Animation Studios series about a middle-school coed softball team set for release on Feb. 9 on the Disney+ streaming service. Washington Times

The indoctrination of our children in this kind of thing will of course continue elsewhere, like in school.

George Mason Professors Demand End to Pro-Hamas Activity . . . Almost 20 professors at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School sent a letter urging the school's president to crack down on pro-Hamas, anti-Israel activity in the student body. Three GMU students of Middle Eastern origin have had recent run-ins with the police over weapons and pro-terror materials. Daily Signal

National Security

President-elect Trump's Syria dilemma: Intervene or let it turn into terror state . . . Likely driven by the goal of fulfilling his mandate to stop sending Americans to fight foreign wars, President Trump's instincts are noble. Let Allah sort this one out seems like a reasonable approach. America has plenty of our own problems at this time. But here's the dilemma that will almost certainly complicate Trump's "stay out of someone else's fights" foreign policy approach. If left to its own devices, Syria will highly likely turn into a terrorist state. That is a nation state run by terrorists and harboring terrorist groups. Another Afghanistan in other words. Rebekah Koffler in Fox News

Violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua terrorizing Americans in at least 19 states . . . Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezeulan gang, has a recorded presence in at least 19 states as of December — up from 16 states last month. Fox News Digital has noted official reports of Tren de Aragua (TdA) activity in New York, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, California, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina and — most recently — Maryland, North Dakota, Arizona and Utah. Fox News

International

Poland Says It Will Arrest Bibi If Israeli PM Attends Auschwitz Liberation Anniversary . . . Polish officials said they will arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in compliance with a warrant from the International Criminal Court if he attends the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. "We are obliged to respect the provisions of the International Criminal Court," Władysław Bartoszewski, Poland's deputy foreign minister, said. Dozens of world leaders are expected to attend the anniversary event on January 27. Netanyahu is not due to attend the ceremony, according to Rzeczpospolita. Washington Free Beacon

Former Israeli spies describe attack using exploding electronic devices against Hezbollah . . . One agent said the operation started 10 years ago using walkie-talkies laden with hidden explosives, which Hezbollah didn't realize it was buying from Israel, its enemy. The walkie-talkies were not detonated until September, a day after booby-trapped pagers were set off. Phase two of the plan, using the booby-trapped pagers, kicked in in 2022 after Israel's Mossad intelligence agency learned Hezbollah had been buying pagers from a Taiwan-based company, the second officer said. Associated Press

Money

Honda, Nissan Plan to Create World's No. 3 Automaker in 2026 Merger . . . The companies said they intended to create an automaker that, combined with Nissan partner Mitsubishi Motors, would be the third-largest carmaker in the world, after Toyota and Volkswagen, with more than eight million vehicles sold annually. The announcement came at the end of a year in which Nissan's profit has tumbled in part because of a dated model lineup in the U.S. Both companies have cratered in China, where electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are growing quickly. Wall Street Journal

A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS . . . The IRS said it's distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. People who missed one of the COVID stimulus payments or had received less than the full amount were able to claim the credit. But the IRS on Friday said it discovered many eligible taxpayers hadn't done so. Associated Press

You should also know

'SNL' Audience Cheers For Man Charged With Murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO . . . The audience at NBC's "Saturday Night Live" cheered upon hearing the name of Luigi Mangione, the man who is charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City earlier this month. It happened when "Weekend Update" anchor Colin Jost began to talk about Mangione being transported back to New York City by authorities after he was captured in Pennsylvania. Jost barely managed to mention Mangione's name before the audience cheered, stopping him mid-joke. Daily Mail

NYPD arrests migrant who allegedly set woman on fire on subway train, watched her burn to death . . . A migrant from Guatemala was arrested in connection to the heinous death of a woman who was lit on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday. Sources identified the person of interest to Fox News Digital as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta. While police did not identify the person of interest, a high-level NYPD source told Fox News Digital the individual entered the U.S. illegally from Guatemala in 2018, when President-elect Trump was president during his first term. Fox News

Some people have gotten unusually friendly notes from their health insurers recently.

'End of an incredible era' as Crocodile Dundee star dies . . . An iconic star in the 1986 blockbuster Crocodile Dundee has died. Burt, the 5.1-metre 700kg monster crocodile from the comedy adventure film, who starred alongside Paul Hogan, died in captivity in Darwin. He was 'estimated to be over 90 years old'. Crocosaurus Cove, a crocodile herpetarium and aquarium attraction who had kept Burt in captivity since 2008, announced Burt's death on Monday. Daily Mail

174 Colorado skiers and snowboarders rescued after a lift cracks . . . The gondola lift at Winter Park Resort, about 70 miles west of Denver, automatically stopped when it detected the crack in a structural piece of the lift just after noon on Saturday, resort spokesperson Jen Miller said. People riding in the gondolas were lowered down by ropes over the course of about five hours, she said. No injuries were reported during the rescues. Associated Press

Guilty Pleasures

Watch: Police officer dressed as the Grinch leads drug raid . . . An undercover police officer wearing a Grinch costume has carried out a drug raid in Lima, Peru. Video distributed by the national police agency shows officers smashing a door in before entering a house. Three people were arrested and several small packets of cocaine were found during the raid, police said. The police unit in Lima is renowned for using costume-clad agents. An officer dressed as a teddy bear pounced on a suspected drug dealer during a Valentine's Day operation earlier this year.