- Friday January 31st, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Trump: Black Hawk 'Flying Too High' Before Crash
President Donald Trump says the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in
Wednesday's tragic collision with an American Airlines passenger jet at
Reagan National Airport was "flying too high, by a lot."
In a post to his Truth Social account early Friday, the president said:
The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far
above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to
understand, is it???
Trump did not immediately cite any source or provide any additional detail.
Israel Frees Prisoners After Chaotic Gaza Hostage Exchange
Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners after a brief delay to
protest the chaos surrounding the handover of hostages by Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement posted
on X that following his demand, mediators delivered a commitment that a
safe exit will be guaranteed for Israeli hostages in the next round of
swaps.
“During the release of our hostages today, we all saw shocking scenes,”
the Israeli premier’s office said. “We made it clear to the mediators
that we do not intend to accept any risk to our hostages.”
The five hour delay doesn’t seem to have had an impact on the six-week
ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which paused the war in
Gaza after 15 months of fighting that devastated the Palestinian
territory. Given the issue was quickly resolved, the next
hostage-prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as scheduled on
Saturday.
Kash Patel flips script on Dem senator after being grilled on J6 pardons: 'Brutal reality check'
Kash Patel, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, pushed back in his confirmation hearing after he was
grilled on the president’s pardoning of January 6 rioters.
"So do you think that America is safer because the 1600 people have
been given an opportunity to come out of serving their sentences and
live in our communities again?" Dem. Sen. Dick Durbin asked Patel in
Thursday’s hearing, pressing him on January 6 rioters who assaulted
police officers having their sentences commuted earlier this month.
Patel responded with a reference to Biden’s decision in the final hours
of his presidency to free Leonard Peltier, a far-left activist
convicted in the 1975 murders of two FBI special agents, Ronald
Williams and Jack Coler, who were gunned down in a shootout in South
Dakota.
Trump: Tariffs on Canada, Mexico Coming Saturday, With Decision on Oil Tax Pending
President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are
coming on Saturday, but he's still considering whether to include oil
from those countries as part of his import taxes.
"We may or may not," Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office
about tariffing oil from Canada and Mexico. "We're going to make that
determination probably tonight."
Trump said his decision will be based on whether the price of oil
charged by the two trading partners is fair, although the basis of his
threatened tariffs pertains to stopping illegal immigration and the
smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.
Senior U.S. official to exit after rift with Musk allies over payment system
The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is
departing after a clash with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over
access to sensitive payment systems, according to three people with
knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
describe private talks.
David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for
several decades, announced his retirement Friday in an email to
colleagues obtained by The Washington Post. President Donald Trump
named Lebryk as acting secretary upon taking office last week. Lebryk
had a dispute with Musk’s surrogates over access to the payment system
the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year,
the people said. The exact nature of the disagreement was not
immediately clear, they said.
Officials affiliated with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency”
have been asking since after the election for access to the system, the
people said — requests that were reiterated more recently, including
after Trump’s inauguration.
A spokeswoman for DOGE declined to comment. Lebryk could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
Hamas hostage handover reveals that violent, genocidal rot infests ALL of Gaza
The ugly near-riots in Gaza around Thursday’s release of Israeli hostages proves just how deep the terror rot runs.
Before the handover, as Hamas killers (plus members of three other
terror orgs, including Islamic Jihad) paraded those to be released
through the streets, enormous, threatening crowds closed in around
them, shouting and seething.
There was, of course, nothing comparable on the Israeli side — because
Israel is not a terror-loving proxy power for an aspirant regional
hegemon, committed to genocidal antisemitism and total war.
It forces any rational person to ask himself: Do ordinary Palestinians actually want this cease-fire?
Douglas Murray: Gaza must reject terror of Hamas for war to end
How do wars end?
There is a modern belief that they end around a negotiating table.
In fact, historically, most wars end by one side winning and the other side losing.
Critical to this is that the side that has won knows that it has won, and that the side that has lost knows that it has lost.
Which brings me to the Middle East.
