 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 My son has narrated the last book I wrote. Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too. (Click on Book Cover) World & Nation The search for Nancy Guthrie is in its 10th day. Here are the key developments  The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has stretched into a second, anguished week, with mounting pressure on investigators and a family grappling with uncertainty. Guthrie was last seen on January 31, before she was apparently kidnapped, disappearing from her secluded home in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills without her phone or critical medications. The long days since she vanished have been marked by disturbing twists: purported ransom notes demanding millions of dollars, an intensive investigation and emotional video pleas from Guthrie’s children publicly begging for the return of their mother. House Epstein Probe Amps Up Amid Document Reviews, Depositions  Key House lawmakers on Monday pushed for more information on the sex-trafficking probe of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and raised the prospect of new criminal prosecutions. Speaking outside a Justice Department office after reviewing unredacted files in the Epstein inquiry, Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna said they believed there are six men whose names have not been revealed who could face criminal charges. Massie said he’s willing to give Attorney General Pam Bondi more time to make their names public but signaled that he would list the names on the House floor if necessary. “We want those things published,” Massie said. The Justice Department has released about 3.5 million pages of emails, flight logs, photographs, videos and other documents in response to a law enacted last year. Dems: WH Offer on ICE 'Insufficient'; Shutdown Looms Friday  Democrat leaders say a proposal from the White House is "incomplete and insufficient" as they are demanding new restrictions on President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and threatening a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement late Monday that a White House counterproposal to the list of demands they transmitted over the weekend "included neither details nor legislative text" and does not address "the concerns Americans have about ICE's lawless conduct." The White House proposal was not released publicly. The Democrats' statement comes as time is running short, with another partial government shutdown threatening to begin Saturday. Among the Democrats' demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling. They say such changes are necessary after two protesters were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.
Jorge Rodriguez to Newsmax: Venezuela Stabilizing After Maduro's Capture  The brother of Venezuela's acting president reports that Delcy Rodriguez is stabilizing the country following the capture of dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were brought to the United States to face federal drug charges. Jorge Rodriguez told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" during an exclusive interview in Caracas on Saturday that the turmoil from Maduro's capture by U.S. forces has not led to lingering effects on the nation as a whole, despite the traumatic nature of the operation.
Trump says Gordie Howe bridge won't open without Canadian concessions  President Donald Trump says he will not allow the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor to open unless Canada makes significant concessions to the U.S. Trump said in a Feb. 9 post on Truth Social that the U.S. will open negotiations with Canada, which has footed the entire bill for the $5.7-billion bridge construction project, but believes the U.S. should probably take ownership of at least half of it. In fact, the bridge is jointly owned by Canada and the U.S., with Canada intending to recoup its upfront construction costs over time, through bridge tolls. The bridge is expected to open early this year, after construction began in 2020, following a 2018 groundbreaking. 40+ GOP Congressmen Urge FCC to Keep TV Ownership Cap  Almost a quarter of Republicans in Congress are urging the Federal Communications Commission not to lift the national television ownership cap, warning that doing so would trigger massive consolidation, undermine local news coverage, and raise costs for consumers. See Congressional Letter to FCC Chairman on TV Caps Last week, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., led a strongly worded letter signed by 40 colleagues to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr saying they wanted to keep the statutory TV cap that limits networks from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households. Zuckerberg Joins Billionaire Rush to Florida With Indian Creek Mansion Deal  As California weighs a proposed 5% billionaire tax, tech mogul Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest ultra-wealthy executive to plant a flag in Florida — snapping up a lavish waterfront home in one of Miami’s most exclusive enclaves, The Wall Street Journal reports. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are buying a newly completed mansion on Indian Creek, the tightly guarded barrier island often dubbed “Billionaire Bunker,” according to people familiar with the transaction. Real-estate agents say the deal underscores how tax policy is accelerating an already red-hot luxury housing market in South Florida. Iran Says Nuclear Talks Gauged 'Seriousness' of US  Nuclear talks with the United States allowed Tehran to gauge Washington's seriousness and showed enough consensus to continue on the diplomatic track, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. U.S. and Iranian diplomats held talks through Omani mediators in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after President Donald Trump positioned a naval flotilla in the region, raising fears of new military action. "The Muscat meeting was not a long meeting. In our view, it was to gauge the seriousness of the other side and how to continue this path," Baghaei said. "After the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process." Bill Maher, Adam Carolla unload on left for shunning people who think differently by Jason Cohen
Comedians Bill Maher and Adam Carolla rebuked the political left for excluding individuals who hold heterodox views during a Monday episode of “Club Random.” Maher and Carolla, who both live in the Los Angeles area, are not religious and support abortion and smoking marijuana. Yet they lamented on the podcast that the left had cast them out and treated them as conservatives. “It’s so hard to not be on one of the extremes, to not have a team. I mean, it just really sucks. And especially in this town where everyone’s on one team … They are very exclusionary,” Maher said. “They really just don’t want to breathe the same air if you’re not exactly with the groupthink, while they’re not that bright.” Carolla agreed and argued that Americans should focus on shared beliefs rather than dissent. Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ shows UK’s spineless Keir Starmer how leadership is done By Daniel McCarthy
The contrast between America’s great island allies on opposite ends of the world couldn’t be more drastic. Japan has just given its common-sense conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, a two-thirds supermajority in the national legislature’s Lower House — her Liberal Democratic Party took the highest proportion of seats of any party since World War II. It’s an enormous vote of confidence for Takaichi’s economic agenda, and for her willingness to get tough with China. When she indicated Japan would aid Taiwan against an invasion, China’s consul general in Osaka threatened her: “The dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.” Such incendiary language didn’t intimidate Takaichi — nor, it turns out, Japan’s voters. |
|