Thursday, December 18, 2024

​ December 18, 2024 Good morning, ​ It's day three of our fundraiser for Cut to the News. Many of our readers have been incredibly generous, and we are deeply grateful for their help. It's not easy asking for money, because you work hard for it. We are honored by the support we have been given. ​ Nevertheless, we remain far off our goal for this fundraising drive, as you can see on the donation page, and time is starting to run out! We hope that if you have not contributed, that you consider at last a small donation. Cut to the News takes work to produce, and there are costs associated with it. Your generosity is our only source of income. ​ We hope you find the newsletter a valuable service. Please donate now if you are able to! Thank you.​ ​ Leading the News . . . ​ House GOP leaders scramble for Plan B after Trump, Musk lead conservative fury against spending bill . . . House GOP leaders are working toward a backup plan after an initial bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown on Friday was killed by an avalanche of conservative opposition. The legislation angered conservatives in both the House and Senate, as well as President-elect Trump's pick to co-chair his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk. As Musk called for lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats, Trump's presidential transition team released an official joint statement by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance opposing the initial iteration of the deal. Fox News​ ​ ​Massie Becomes First Republican To Publicly Say He Won't Throw Support Behind Mike Johnson For Speaker​ ​Jeffries suggests Democrats will oppose a 'clean' funding bill after Johnson's plan falters​ ​ Politics DOGE Caucus leader Joni Ernst eyes relocation out of DC for third of federal workers . . . Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the leader of the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, is hoping to take on the centralization of the federal workforce in the Washington, D.C., area with a new bill that would relocate nearly a third of workers. Ernst is leading a bill, titled the "Decentralizing and Re-organizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide To Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration, and Management Practices Act," or DRAIN THE SWAMP. Fox News​ ​ 'Black Widow,' Who Murdered 3 Ex-Lovers, Freed in Biden's Historic Clemency Spree . . . A Maryland woman dubbed the "Black Widow" for murdering two husbands and a boyfriend for insurance money is now free after President Joe Biden commuted her 40-year prison sentence, undercutting the White House's claim that Biden released only "non-violent" offenders in a clemency bonanza last week. Washington Free Beacon​ ​ Is anybody going to be left in jail by Inauguration Day? ​ Jeff Bezos and fiancee are spotted having dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago . . . Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was seen sauntering into Mar-a-Lago late Wednesday night to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump. Bezos walked in with his fiancée Lauren Sanchez for their first dinner with Trump since the soon-to-be 47th president won re-election. Trump had said last week that Bezos would visit him at his Florida mansion. New York Post​ ​ Amazon kisses the ring. ​ Tucker Carlson Killed Mike Pompeo's Hopes of Joining the Trump Administration . . . Carlson—the former Fox News host who continues to have deep influence in conservative circles—Pompeo was a risky pick. Carlson argued that he is a warmonger. He highlighted to the president-elect a list of grievances he holds against Pompeo, including what he said was an alleged plot by the then-secretary of state to assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to multiple people with knowledge of Carlson's efforts. Wall Street Journal​ ​ 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. To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers 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 ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.'s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan. Wall Street Journal​ National Security Man admits to running secret Chinese 'police station' in NYC . . . An American citizen has pleaded guilty to helping run what has been described as the first known secret police station in the US on behalf of the Chinese government. Prosecutors say Chen Jinping and his co-defendent Lu Jianwang opened and operated the station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighbourhood in early 2022 on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security. At least 100 such stations have been reported worldwide across 53 countries. BBC​ ​ U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes . . . The router-manufacturer TP-Link, established in China, has roughly 65% of the U.S. market for routers for homes and small businesses. It is also the top choice on Amazon.com, and powers internet communications for the Defense Department and other federal government agencies. Investigators at the Commerce, Defense and Justice departments have opened their own probes into the company, and authorities could ban the sale of TP-Link routers in the U.S. next year. Wall Street Journal​ International Frenchman found guilty in horrific rape trial that shocked the world . . . A Frenchman accused of drugging his wife of 50 years and inviting strangers over to rape her – while he filmed the assaults – has been found guilty. The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot, the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot, was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata. He later gave Pelicot the maximum sentence of 20 years. Dominique Pelicot, admitted that for years he knocked his then wife of 50 years out with drugs so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults. Fox News​ Money Teamsters union launches historic nationwide strike against Amazon: 'Paying the price' . . . Thousands of Amazon workers organized under the Teamsters union went on strike at 6 a.m. Thursday after the company's "repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain." Amazon Teamsters at seven facilities in Skokie, Illinois; New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco and Southern California are participating in the "largest strike" against the trillion-dollar company in American history, the union said in a news release. Workers at other facilities are prepared to join them. Fox Business​ ​ ​The Fed expects to cut rates more slowly in 2025. What that could mean for mortgages, debt and more​ You should also know Bird flu: Louisiana patient is first severe case and California declares emergency . . . Health officials on Wednesday confirmed the first known severe illness in the U.S. caused by bird flu, and California's governor declared a state of emergency as the virus rampages through dairy cattle in that state. A person in Louisiana is hospitalized in critical condition with severe respiratory symptoms caused by a bird flu infection, state health officials said. The person, who is over 65 and has underlying medical problems, had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock. Associated Press​ ​ Ubiquitous microplastics linked to cancer . . . In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco evaluated dozens of studies in mice and humans to learn how microplastics may be harming digestive, respiratory and reproductive health. They found that these shards — which are now virtually everywhere in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat — are suspected of links to colon cancer and lung cancer. Washington Post​ ​ US deaths are down and life expectancy is up, but improvements are slowing . . . Death rates fell last year for almost all leading causes, notably COVID-19, heart disease and drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. That translated to adding nearly a year the estimated lifespan of Americans. Experts note it's part of a bounce-back from the COVID-19 pandemic. But life expectancy has not yet climbed back to prepandemic levels, and the rebound appears to be losing steam. Associated Press​ Guilty Pleasures New York man finds mastodon jaw while gardening in his backyard . . . Scholars are hailing the discovery of a fossilized mastodon jaw discovered by a man who spotted two giant teeth while gardening at his upstate New York home this year. The mastodon jaw and some other bone fragments were found in late September in a backyard near Scotchtown, a hamlet about 70 miles northwest of New York City, officials from the New York State Museum said. Associated Press​ ​ Did RFK Jr. leave it there? ​ Please don't forget to donate! Thank you for your support. ​ ​ Got this from a friend? Subscribe here and get Cut to the News sent to your Inbox every morning. ​ Have a great day! ​ Follow us ​​​​ 2302 Gallows Road #625, Dunn Loring, VA 22027 Unsubscribe · Preferences​ ​