- Tuesday January 14th, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
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World & Nation
Hamas Accepts Deal to Release Hostages; Israel Now Must Approve
Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the
talks said Tuesday. An Israeli official said progress has been made,
but the details are being finalized.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an
Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. The
plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final
approval.
All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.
Qatar, a key mediator in the talks, said Israel and Hamas were at the "closest point" yet to an agreement.
Trump Faces Elevated Security Threat For Inauguration
The special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Washington, D.C.,
field Office said Monday there is a higher threat environment for
President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 that in previous
years and that there will be a more robust security plan.
"What's different is we are in a higher threat environment," said Matt
McCool at a news conference with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser
and other officials, according to a video posted on X.
The inauguration will be coming after D.C. had seen enhanced security
measures following Congress' certification Jan. 6 of Trump's victory
over Vice President Kamala Harris and the state funeral for President
Jimmy Carter on Thursday.
Pete Hegseth, Trump's Pentagon nominee, comes under fire at Senate hearing
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth,
came under fire during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday as the top
Democrat on the Senate committee accused him of lacking the "character
and composure" to lead the U.S. military.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, is one of the most controversial
figures ever nominated to be Secretary of Defense. The 44-year-old has
railed against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the
military, questioning whether the top U.S. general has the job because
he's Black. Prior to his nomination, Hegseth strongly opposed women in
combat roles.
"Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the
overwhelming demands of this job," said Senator Jack Reed, the ranking
member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in prepared remarks.
For his part, Hegseth vowed on Tuesday to bring back a "warrior culture" to the U.S. military.
Donald
Trump has hit out at Jack Smith in an angry 1am rant after the special
counsel published his report, concluding the president-elect tried to
criminally overturn the 2020 election.
Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” in
the January 6 riots and knowingly spread a false narrative about fraud
in the 2020 election, the Department of Justice report found. The
long-awaited document - written by Smith - also claimed Trump would
have been convicted for the role he played had he not been re-elected
by voters in a landslide victory last year.
Responding, Trump slammed Smith as a “deranged lamebrain prosecutor” in
a furious tirade posted to his social media platform TruthSocial.
“[He was] was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent
of his ‘boss,’ Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another
‘Report”’ based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political
Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how
totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and
others, were.”
Strong California Winds Could Fuel Raging LA Wildfires
A beefed-up firefighting force was staged around Los Angeles to attack
flare-ups or new blazes and anxious residents were prepared for the
worst as dangerous winds were expected to build Tuesday, a week after
two massive infernos destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least
24 people.
On Monday, planes doused homes and hillsides with bright pink
fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire engines were placed near
particularly vulnerable spots with dry brush. Dozens of additional
water trucks rolled in to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry
last week when the two largest fires erupted.
Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass and other officials — who have
faced criticism over their initial response to fires that began last
week — expressed confidence Monday that the region was ready to face
the new threat with scores of additional firefighters brought in from
around the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico.
"We're absolutely better prepared," LA County Fire Chief Anthony
Marrone said when asked what will be different from a week ago, when
hurricane-force winds propelled multiple fires across the parched,
brush-filled region that has seen almost no rain in more than eight
months.
MSNBC President Resigns Amid Declining Ratings
Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, announced Tuesday she is
resigning after four years leading the struggling cable news network.
Jones was the first Black woman to lead a major U.S. television news
network. She will be replaced by Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC's senior vice
president of content strategy on an interim basis, the network said.
"I came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our
remarkable journey and the many successes we've achieved together as a
team. This has been the most rewarding chapter of my professional
career and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, which has
been made possible only by you," Jones said in a memo.
NBC taps left-wing journalist Yamiche Alcindor to cover Trump in return to White House press corps
Alcindor served as PBS' White House correspondent during the first Trump administration
Left-leaning journalist Yamiche Alcindor announced Monday that she will
be returning to the White House to cover the incoming Trump
administration for NBC News after an extended hiatus.
Alcindor was accused of glaring liberal bias as a PBS White House
correspondent and New York Times reporter during President-elect Donald
Trump's first term, where she regularly sparred with the president in
contentious public exchanges.
She was first named White House correspondent of PBS "NewsHour" in
2018. NBC News hired her to be their Washington correspondent in 2021,
but Alcindor's history of alarmist, anti-GOP commentary persisted with
her new roles.
Throughout her career, she has garnered a reputation for frequently
peppering her reporting with liberal commentary and editorializing to
advocate for liberal causes.
'Incomplete' Hunter Biden report, protection of 'Biden Crime Family' shredded by Comer, IRS whistleblowers
'The Weiss report leaves too many questions unanswered,' a pair of IRS whistleblowers said
House Oversight Chairman James Comer ripped Special Counsel David
Weiss' final report on his years-long investigation into Hunter Biden
as "incomplete" due to President Biden's sweeping pardon of his son.
"Special Counsel David Weiss just released an incomplete 27-page report
because President Joe Biden issued his son an unprecedented pardon.
This sweeping pardon prevents the Special Counsel from holding Hunter
Biden accountable for the international influence peddling racket only
made possible by Joe Biden," Rep. Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement
Monday evening following the release of Weiss' final report.
"Let’s be clear: the Biden DOJ was never going to prosecute the Biden
Crime Family. The House Oversight Committee’s investigation of the
Bidens’ influence peddling schemes revealed how Joe Biden knew about,
participated in, and benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden
name," Comer continued.
Trump’s
incoming ‘canceled’ cabinet has fully faced the censorship regime that
silenced America before — now they can flip it the ‘middle finger’
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen recently expressed what many felt at
the re-election of Donald Trump: not triumph so much as relief.
“I hope this last 10 years increasingly is just going to feel like a
bad dream,” he told podcast host Joe Rogan. “I can’t believe we
tolerated the level of repression … and anger and … emotional
incontinence and … cancellation campaigns.”
Much of it was orchestrated or encouraged by our government.
One could say many things about Trump’s cabinet picks. At times, they seem to embody Government by Middle Finger.
But they also, undeniably, represent Government by the Canceled: an
assemblage that doesn’t need to be reminded of the administrative
state’s ability to coerce the American public by calling in favors from
Big Tech or pulling the levers of regulation, audit or investigation.
Many have experienced such treatment firsthand.
LA wildfires show Karen Bass is a ‘joke’ of a mayor — and it’s racist NOT to say so
Amid the death and destruction of Los Angeles’ horrific wildfires,
we’re finding that a segment of Americans care more about protecting
the feelings of a politician than scrutinizing that politician’s
failure to do her job.
As homes turn to ashes, memories disintegrate in the flames and at
least 24 souls are tragically taken from this world, the epic
incompetence of Mayor Karen Bass is plain: “You are a joke,” as reality
star Khloe Kardashian, among many others, put it.
Bass left town for a trip to Africa despite wildfire warnings, cut the
fire department’s budget, failed to clear dangerous brush and neglected
the city’s water system.
Yet there are some who can’t comprehend the vitriol toward Bass as being anything other than racially motivated.
