- Monday January 13th, 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 to Lawmakers: Find 'Fair Number' on SALT
President-elect Donald Trump reportedly told House Republicans from New
York, New Jersey, and California to negotiate a "fair number" for the
state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
House SALT Caucus members, who have threatened to hold back support for
Trump's agenda if the SALT deduction cap isn't raised, met with the
president-elect at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.
"The president certainly wants to increase the deduction for SALT to
provide more relief, because he knows that our mayors and governors are
crushing taxpayers," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said after the
meeting, Politico reported.
Jack Smith has resigned as special counsel, Justice Department says in court filing
Jack Smith, who investigated Donald Trump over allegations of
interfering with the 2020 election and unlawfully retaining classified
documents after leaving the White House, has formally resigned as
special counsel after submitting his final report on the probes to
Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith resigned Friday, according to a court filing on Saturday that noted his departure in a footnote.
His resignation was widely expected following Trump's reelection in
November, as both his cases against the president-elect were dismissed
due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the
prosecution of a sitting president.
Palisades Fire's likely cause reportedly revealed as frustrated residents blame LAFD for slow response
Palisades Fire was likely started by dormant blaze sparked by NYE fireworks: report
The Palisades Fire that has devastated Los Angeles and killed at least
eight people may have reignited from scorch marks left by an earlier
inferno that is believed to have been caused by fireworks set off on
New Year’s Eve, according to a report.
The remnants of the New Year’s Eve fire likely could’ve been reignited
by strong winds — which have made the current blazes difficult to
control — even six days after it was put out, the Washington Post
reported.
An analysis of satellite images, radio communications, videos as well
as interviews by the publication found that the deadly Palisades Fire
began in the same area where firefighters had put out the previous fire
— and that firefighters were slower to respond to the second blaze,
which quickly became one of the most destructive in California’s
history.
Frustrated residents told the Washington Post that the response time
from first responders when the Palisades Fire first started last
Tuesday was much slower than it’d been on New Year’s Eve.
States Are Preparing to Help or Thwart Trump's Second-Term Plans
Do you live in a red state, a blue state, or one where Republicans and Democrats share power?
Your answer might provide the best indicator of what to expect from
your governor and state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump takes
office and legislatures convene.
In many cases, political party identification has come to define public
policy, percolating from the nation’s capital down to the 50
statehouses.
Israel and Hamas reach breakthrough in hostage, cease-fire negotiation talks
Israel and Hamas reached a significant “breakthrough” in cease-fire
talks early Monday in a deal that aims to finally end more than 15
months of war and bring home the remaining hostages.
Talks held in Qatar — and attended by envoys of both President Biden
and President-elect Donald Trump — went into the early hours Monday,
with Hamas teasing the release of many of its terrorists captured by
Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leading a meeting with the
Security Cabinet after Iran's missile attacks on Israel, with Director
of Mossad David Barnea in attendance
Although a final deal has not yet been reached, a source involved in
the negotiations told Reuters, “The next 24 hours will be pivotal to
reaching the deal.”
The talks revolve in part around a list of more than 30 hostages Hamas
has said it would be willing to finally release — without saying how
many might be alive.
Ukraine may have tank advantage over Russia for first time since 2022
For the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's
Defense Forces may have an advantage over the occupiers in tank
deployment. However, this advantage is observed not along the entire
front line but only in certain sectors of the battlefield, reports
Forbes.
According to the American magazine, Ukraine's tank advantage is
achieved through the use of drones, which force Russian tanks to
retreat kilometers away from the frontline and operate only from
concealed, fortified positions far from the battlefield.
Forbes noted that these limitations effectively turn Russian tanks into
inaccurate howitzers rather than assault vehicles, which their
designers initially intended them to be.
Drones are changing the rules of war, with robotic systems of all types increasingly dominating the modern battlefield.
Sen. Lankford: US Won't Invade Greenland
Despite President-elect Donald Trump's threat to take control of
Greenland by force, Sen. James Lankford told NBC News' "Meet the Press"
on Sunday that the United States is not going to invade the Danish
territory.
The Oklahoma Republican said, "The United States is not going to invade another country. That's not who we are."
Lankford said Trump "speaks very boldly on a lot of things."
"We've seen this over how he's done negotiations, whether it be for
real estate or how he served as a great president just four years ago.
Miranda Devine: We can’t let Mark Zuckerberg pass the buck on Meta’s censorship
No, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t get to go on Joe Rogan’s podcast and
pretend he’s a free speech champion as if there were nothing he could
have done to stop the censorship at Facebook that rigged the 2020
election and probably cost lives during the pandemic.
The wanksta-lite makeover can’t hide Zuck’s sins, from throttling The
Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election to
deplatforming a sitting president, Donald Trump, to suppressing
COVID-19 dissent.
No matter how many “Iron Neck” workouts he does in an attempt to
de-nerd himself, the billionaire tech titan will always be a spineless
coward whose monopoly needs to be broken up. No one person should be
wielding historically unprecedented power to censor political thought
and speech, least of all a socially inept tech bro.
Michael Goodwin: The world has now seen the ‘Trump Effect’ on full display
A glance across America and Europe leads to an unmistakable conclusion: Revolution is in the air.
The failures of democracies are sparking internal upheavals.
Thankfully, spasms of violence and bloodshed are few, but a toxic brew
of overbearing governments, shrinking freedoms and undeniable decline
is producing demands for big changes.
A common thread from California to Great Britain, France and Germany is
that liberal underpinnings have morphed into sloppy socialism,
unchecked immigration, cultural clashes and restraints on critical
speech.
