Tuesday, December 10, 2024

December 10, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Luigi Mangione, alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer, charged with murder in New York . . . Prosecutors in New York City charged accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione with murder late Monday night, according to online court records.. Brian Thompson, 50, was shot from behind on the sidewalk outside a NYC Hilton hotel before a shareholder conference. He was appointed the CEO of the company in April 2021. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after a five-day nationwide manhunt for Thompson's killer. He could be extradited to New York as early as Tuesday. Fox News

Mangione expressed disdain for the health insurance industry in manifesto . . . "The reality is, these [companies] have gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit," Mangione wrote, according to the sources. He apologized for any trauma he inflicted — likely alluding to his alleged execution-style shooting of Thompson, 50, in busy Midtown last week — but said "it had to be done." New York Post

And he was a communist, or at least anti-capitalist, but don't expect the mainstream media to focus too much on that.

Killer went 'absolutely crazy' and explored 'psychedelic treatment' after back surgery . . . The experience was 'really traumatic and difficult' for him, the roommate said while adding that Mangione sent him X-ray images of his spine. 'It looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine,' Martin said. Mangione suddenly went 'radio silent' while recovering. He sought alternative forms of pain management, including psychedelics and magic mushrooms. His family was so concerned about him that he was reported missing on Nov 18. Daily Mail

Politics

Elon Musk warns Republicans against standing in Trump's way — or his . . . A week after President-elect Donald Trump's victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would "play a significant role in primaries." The following week, the billionaire responded to a report that he might fund challengers to GOP House members who don't support Trump's nominees. "How else? There is no other way," Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter and moving to boost conservative voices, including his own. Associated Press

Trump Spoke to DeSantis About Choosing Lara Trump for Florida Senate Seat . . . President-elect Donald Trump recently spoke to Gov. Ron DeSantis about Lara Trump, according to people familiar with the discussion, putting in a good word with his former 2024 GOP presidential primary rival. DeSantis has the job of filling the seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump has selected to be his secretary of state and is expected to be confirmed next year in the Republican-controlled Senate. Wall Street Journal

Was Rubio chosen to open up this seat for Lara Trump?

FBI Director Christopher Wray preparing to resign . . . FBI Director Christopher A. Wray plans to resign on or before Inauguration Day, The Washington Times has learned. Mr. Wray is calling it quits because he doesn't want to get fired by President-elect Donald Trump, according to sources inside the bureau who are familiar with the director's thinking. Washington Times

It's known as getting out of town before the posse arrives.

Colorado Democrats Launch Program to Give Free Healthcare to Illegal Aliens . . . Colorado Democrats are celebrating a new law that will go into effect on January 1 that will extend free Medicaid coverage to illegal migrants who are pregnant as well as migrant children. Dubbed "Cover All Coloradans," the program opens up state Medicaid funding for prenatal and postpartum care, physical, dental, vision, and mental health care for children, with an initial price tag of up to $51 million in costs to the Colorado taxpayer, according to CBS News. Breitbart

Culture

In a Test of Adult Know-How, America Comes Up Short . . . When it comes to basic skills such as creating a complex travel itinerary, reading a thermometer or finding information from a website, American workers are falling behind those in other rich countries. That is according to a global test of adult know-how, which measures job readiness and problem-solving among workers in industrialized countries. The least-educated American workers between the ages of 16 and 65 are less able to make inferences from a section of text, manipulate fractions or apply spatial reasoning—even as the most-educated are getting smarter. Wall Street Journal

Thank God we have a Department of Education.

Yale Students Overwhelmingly Pass BDS Referendum . . . Yale students have overwhelmingly passed a referendum calling on the university to divest from weapons manufacturers arming Israel. While the school has said it will not do so, the results reveal widespread support for divestment at one of the top universities in the world. Of the more than 3,000 undergraduates who voted on the referendum, 76.6 percent answered "yes" to the question about divestment. An even larger number—79.5 percent—said that Yale should "invest" in "Palestinian scholars and students" given "the widespread destruction of schools and universities in Gaza." Washington Free Beacon

Tim Walz's Daughter: Guys Who Listen to Joe Rogan Are 'Red Flags' . . . Hope, 23, told her nearly 200,000 TikTok followers about her "litmus test" for relationships on Saturday: "A litmus test for me and my friends for like years now has been if the guy we're talking to follows Joe Rogan on Instagram, they're a red flag and we should probably stop talking to them," the former vice presidential candidate's daughter said. "And the times when they do follow him on Instagram and we haven't stopped talking to them… it's never ended well." Breitbart

National Security

Days After Trump's Victory, Biden-Harris Admin Granted Iran $10 Billion in Sanctions Relief . . . The Biden-Harris administration waived sanctions on Iran three days after the November election, providing Tehran access upward of $10 billion in once-frozen funds, according to a copy of the non-public order transmitted to Congress. Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined on November 8 that "it is in the national security interest of the United States" to waive mandatory economic sanctions that bar Iraq from transferring upward of $10 billion to Iran in electricity import payments. Washington Free Beacon

US lawmakers ask feds to help investigate mysterious drones over New Jersey . . . U.S. lawmakers from New Jersey joined in many residents' frustrations over dozens of reports of drones being flown near sensitive sites like a military research facility in recent weeks, and they are now calling on federal agencies to immediately help investigate and address the escalating issue. Fox News

International

Israel pounds Syrian army bases, denies it is staging a deeper incursion . . . Israel pounded Syrian army bases on Tuesday in strikes it says aim to keep weapons from falling into hostile hands, but denied its forces had advanced into Syria beyond a buffer zone at the border. In the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, in a major step towards restoring normal life. Shops were reopening, traffic returned to the roads, construction workers were back fixing a roundabout in the city centre and street cleaners were out sweeping the streets. Reuters

You should also know

Daniel Penny acquitted in subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely . . . Marine veteran Daniel Penny was acquitted by a Manhattan jury Monday in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely – a lightning-rod case that cast a light on the mayhem plaguing Big Apple subways. Jurors cleared Penny, a 26-year-old Long Islander, of criminally negligent homicide after the fatal caught-on-camera encounter on an uptown F train last year sparked fierce debate about mental illness, public safety and vigilantism. New York Post

An AI companion suggested he kill his parents. Now his mom is suing . . . J.F. began cutting himself, lost 20 pounds and withdrew from his family. Desperate for answers, his mom searched his phone while he was sleeping. J.F. had been chatting with an array of companions on Character.ai. One chatbot brought up the idea of self-harm and cutting to cope with sadness. When he said that his parents limited his screen time, another bot suggested "they didn't deserve to have kids." Still others goaded him to fight his parents' rules, with one suggesting that murder could be an acceptable response. Washington Post

BLM Leader Calls for Retaliation After Daniel Penny Acquittal . . . Black Lives Matter leader Hawk Newsome called for "black vigilantes" to descend into major cities Monday to retaliate against 26-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny's acquittal over the death of Jordan Neely. Newsome called on "black vigilantes" to avenge Neely's death and fight against white people who allegedly want to "choke" and "kill" black people for "being loud." Daily Signal

Guilty Pleasures

Egyptians drank cocktails of psychedelic drugs in ancient mugs . . . An Egyptian mug from 2,000 years ago was last used to serve up a cocktail of psychedelic drugs, according to ground-breaking research. Researchers found a cocktail of psychedelic drugs, bodily fluids and alcohol when analysing DNA from a mug used by ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago. The mugs are decorated with the head of Bes, an ancient Egyptian god or guardian demon worshiped for protection, fertility, medicinal healing and magical purification. Sky News

Egyptologists have decreed that mummies are free here on to be called "The Grateful Dead."

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