Monday, January 6, 2025

administration

January 6, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Canada PM Trudeau expected to resign . . . Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, three sources said Sunday, as the Prime Minister faces a caucus revolt and dismal public opinion polls that show his party will likely be swept out of power by Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives. The sources stressed that they don't know definitely when Mr. Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday. They said it remains unclear whether he will leave immediately or stay on as Prime Minister until a new leader is selected. Toronto Globe and Mail

Politics

Harris readies to certify Trump's election win – and her decisive defeat . . . Kamala Harris is readying on Monday to certify the 2024 election results, affirming President-elect Trump's victory as well as her decisive defeat to him after a whirlwind run for commander-in-chief. After spending much of her campaign warning of Trump's threat to democracy, Harris, in her role as vice president, will now lead the final step in the election process that will send Trump back to the White House. The Hill

Trump Takes Aim at Kamala's 'Illegal' Pre-Interview Campaign Payments to Sharpton . . . President-elect Donald Trump accused MSNBC host Al Sharpton of taking illegal donations from the Kamala Harris campaign ahead of softball interviews with the Democrat last year, potentially spelling trouble for MSNBC and its parent company Comcast ahead of a planned corporate spinoff. In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump accused the Harris campaign of seeking to "illegally buy endorsements" from Sharpton and celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles and Oprah Winfrey prior to the election. Washington Free Beacon

Biden, in 11th-hour action, bans new offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters . . . President Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling. Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska's Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. Associated Press

Biden unleashes foul-mouthed barb at reporters . . . Joe Biden snapped at reporters who asked him a question about his age amid increasing concern over his mental decline. His cognitive decline has been on display for the world to see during his four years in the top job with a seemingly never-ending series of blunders and mishaps. 'My being the oldest president, I know more world leaders than any of you have ever met in your whole godd*mn life,' he said. Daily Mail

A Melania Trump documentary from director Bruce Ratner will be released by Amazon . . . Incoming first lady Melania Trump will be the subject of a new documentary directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The streaming arm of the tech giant got exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release later this year, the company said Sunday. Filming is already underway on the documentary. The company said in a statement that the film will give viewers an "unprecedented behind-the-scenes look" at Melania Trump and also promised a "truly unique story." Washington Times

Culture

LGBTQ liberals start arming themselves over fear of being placed in 'concentration camps . . . Gay and transgender liberals around the country are arming themselves over perceived concerns they'll be rounded up and placed in "concentration camps" under a second Trump administrationt. The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday profiled several members of the emerging gun-toting left, who belong to groups with names like the Liberal Gun Club, the Socialist Rifle Association and Pink Pistols. The Liberal Gun Club told the outlet that it's received "thousands" of firearms training requests since the election and that about a quarter of them were from those in the LGBTQ community. New York Post

Megyn Kelly Blasts Conclave' as 'Most Disgusting Anti-Catholic Film I Have Seen in a Long Time' . . . The awards-bait movie Conclave just received a big thumbs-down from Megyn Kelly, who called it "the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time." Megyn Kelly tore into Conclave in a X post on early Sunday, revealing the movie's major plot twist that the new pope is intersex — an individual who has both male and female reproductive organs. Breitbart

National Security

Driver in Ramming Attack Made Trips to New Orleans and Abroad . . . Months before the man behind the New Orleans terror attack plowed a truck into a New Year's Day crowd, he rode through the area on a bicycle, recording videos of his target using eyeglasses with a built-in camera, investigators said on Sunday. He was back again a few weeks later, they said, probably to continue his plotting. Investigators found that the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had made trips to Egypt and Canada in 2023. But they said on Sunday that they had yet to determine what role, if any, those travels might have played in his evolving beliefs or his planning for the New Orleans attack. New York Times

International

Israel now targeting the Houthis . . . Israel is setting its sights on the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, who represent a lingering problem, regularly firing missiles at Israel—and it is a problem with few clear ways to handle. So far, Israel has targeted what it says is energy and transportation infrastructure the Houthis use for military purposes. The next step is to hit the group's top leaders, much as its security forces did with Hamas and Hezbollah. "We will hunt down all of the Houthis' leaders, and we will strike them just as we have done in other places," said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in late December. Wall Street Journal

Money

Congestion toll takes effect, costing NYC commuters $9 to drive below 60th Street . . . Motorists heading into some of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods have begun shelling out a first-in-the-nation $9 congestion toll — a controversial levy critics contend will drive people out of Gotham and devastate the local economy. The scheme officially took effect at midnight on Sunday, meaning drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have to pay $9 during peak hours — 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends — and $2.25 for off-peak hours. During peak hours, large trucks will pay $21.60, small trucks $14.40 and motorcycles $4.50. New York Post

NYC residents slapped with congestion pricing 'surcharge' by fed-up companies . . . Residents in Manhattan's congestion pricing zone may pay the new toll — even if they don't drive. Companies making deliveries or providing services in the central business district south of 60th Street are sending out notices that they will add the cost of the fee as a surcharge in their bills to customers. New York Post

Unemployed Office Workers Having a Harder Time Finding New Jobs . . . The U.S. economy has added more than two million jobs over the past year. But more people who are out of work are having a hard time getting back in. As of November, more than seven million Americans were unemployed. More than 1.6 million of those jobless workers had been job hunting for at least six months, according to the Labor Department. The number of people searching for that long is up more than 50% since the end of 2022. Wall Street Journal

Biden administration drops new regulation on gas-powered water heaters . . . The Biden administration quietly dropped a regulatory bombshell one day after Christmas. In a controversial move, the Department of Energy finalized sweeping new climate regulations that would drastically raise prices on gas-powered water heaters. Industry experts and lawmakers are blasting the decision as 'reckless,' 'tone-deaf,' and catastrophic for households grappling with inflation and rising energy costs. Daily Mail

The president plans to do everything he can to raise your utility bill before bidding farewll.

Liz Warren's Favorite Agency Just Granted Itself New Powers To Regulate Checking Accounts . . . The lame duck Biden administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule in December to curb overdraft penalties in what experts said is an example of government overreach that will ravage low-income Americans. The CFPB — considered the brainchild of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — finalized the rule with the aim of forcing banks to either cap overdraft fees at $5, far less than the $35 average, or to provide the overdraft as a form of credit rather than a penalty. Daily Caller

Banks in response will simply raise costs on consumers who are responsible with their checkbooks.

OpenAI's Sam Altman: 'We Know How To Build AGI', Will Hit Workforce In 2025 . . . OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a blog post on Sunday that his company has discovered how to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) and that the product will start to impact the workforce this year. "We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it," Altman wrote. "We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'join the workforce' and materially change the output of companies." AGI is a type of artificial intelligence that can match or surpass human cognitive abilities on a range of tasks or subjects. Daily Wire

You should also know

Heavy snow, crippling ice slam mid-Atlantic . . . The first major winter storm of the year that stretched across the U.S. is continuing its deadly journey eastward, where cities in the mid-Atlantic, like Washington and Baltimore, experience significant impacts from heavy snow and ice. The storm began its journey across the nation after slamming the West Coast, where it spawned the first tornado of the year in California. Washington could get up to a foot of snow. Fox Weather

WaPo Cartoonist Quits After Critical Sketch Pulled From Publication . . . Longtime Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit her job at the paper after it declined to publish a cartoon of hers which included a satirization of its billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. Telnaes, hired in 2008, cited free speech concerns when the Post dropped her cartoon criticizing recent perceived relationships between tech and media moguls and President-elect Donald Trump. "I've never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now," Telnaes said. Daily Caller

Demi Moore leads Oscar race after Golden Globes win . . . Demi Moore has made a triumphant return to the Golden Globes, winning best actress for a role in a body horror which has revitalised her career. The 62-year-old gave an impassioned speech as she collected her award, telling the audience she was "at a low point" before being cast in The Substance. Other film winners included Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist and Wicked, while Baby Reindeer and Shōgun won the big TV prizes. BBC

A soccer-loving nun from Brazil tops list of world's oldest living person at nearly 117 . . . A soccer-loving nun from Brazil is believed to have become the world's oldest living person at nearly 117 following the recent death of a woman from Japan. Sister Inah Canabarro was so skinny growing up that many didn't think she would survive childhood, Cleber Canabarro, her 84-year-old nephew, told The Associated Press. LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks supercentenarians around the globe, released a statement on Saturday declaring the wheelchair-bound nun the world's oldest person validated by early life records. Associated Press

Guilty Pleasures

Golden Globes Host Nikki Glaser Torches Celebrities Who Backed Kamala . . . "I am not here to roast you tonight," Glaser told the crowd of celebrities gathered Sunday at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. "How could I, really? You're all so famous, so talented, so powerful. I mean, you could really do anything … I mean, except tell the country who to vote for." Later in her monologue, Glaser took aim at Diddy's sexual trafficking scandal. Speaking about the movie Challengers, she said: "That movie was more sexually charged than Diddy's credit card. I'm upset too. Breitbart

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