Read it.

The boss of the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has described reports that Israeli hostages were held in at least one of its shelters in Gaza as “disturbing and shocking.” Philippe Lazzarini added that the allegation was taken “extremely seriously”—but made no attempt to disprove its validity.

I’m waiting for Trump to list the U.N. as a terrorist organization.

Read it.

Oh, the humanity! The wine and cheese set over at Bloomberg has been thrown into full-blown hysteria because—brace yourselves—President Trump turned off the spigot of taxpayer cash that funds their sacred climate cult. Their headline reads like a lost script from The Handmaid’s Tale: “It’s Surreal: Trump’s Freeze on Climate Money Sows Fear and Confusion”?.

“Surreal”? What’s surreal is that these people think they have some divine right to an endless fountain of taxpayer money to fund their political activism disguised as “science.” Imagine a world where these people actually had to produce something of value rather than leech off the federal government. Terrifying, right?

Read it.

A second “Greater Idaho” bill was introduced in the Oregon State Legislature on Tuesday. The bill, HB 3844, would create a state taskforce to “document the state and federal legal and legislative processes that must take place to relocate the Oregon and Idaho state boundaries…” The legislature is already considering a bill in the Senate, SJM7, which is a memorial inviting the state of Idaho to begin border talks. The Idaho Legislature passed a similar memorial in 2023.

House Bill 3844, introduced by Representative Mark Owens of Crane and co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Levy, Vikki Breese-Iverson and Emily McIntire, takes a different approach from the Senate bill. While SJM7 would begin border negotiations, the house bill would create a study group comprised of multiple stakeholders from across Oregon, who would then be tasked with attempting to answer some of the detail questions of a border change, like the impact on certain industries.

Greater Idaho Executive Director Matt McCaw praised the new legislation. “We are encouraged to see the representatives of Eastern Oregon coming together to advocate for their voters by bringing these bills to the Legislature. The people of Eastern Oregon have made clear they want to explore moving the border and joining Idaho. If the Oregon Legislature truly believes in democracy, they will honor those voters’ wishes and move forward on making a border change happen.”

Read it.

A little boy wearing a kippah was kicked and punched while walking with his mother on a street in Rome. It could have been much worse, because the attacker — an Egyptian culture-enricher — had pulled out a broken bottle, but fled before he could use it against his target. He was later apprehended by police.

Quilette.

As women’s social, occupational, and political engagement expanded in Western nations, social scientists anticipated a great psychological and behavioural convergence of men and women. As Alice Eagly and colleagues wrote, “The demise of many sex differences with increasing gender equality is a prediction of social role theory.” Their perspective is that most sex differences result from adherence to socially imposed norms and expectations. These norms and expectations have changed over the past several generations, as women entered educational, occupational, and political spheres that had been historically dominated by men. Today, in most highly developed nations, women are now the majority in higher education and are on track to become the majority in some formerly male-dominated and high-status professions, such as medicine. Even if one might argue that the gains in gender equality are not complete, social-role theory tells us that we should therefore see the sexes acting and thinking more similarly.

But like many almost-utopian academic predictions, social role and related theories have hit the wall of reality. Instead of convergence of the sexes, we have something closer to a great divergence. To the surprise and dismay of social scientists, many psychological and behavioural sex differences are larger in more gender-equal countries—precisely the opposite of their predictions—which has dealt a major blow to the plausibility of sociological theories of the origin of sex differences. As reviewed by David Schmidt and colleagues, then Marco Balducci, and most recently, Agneta Herlitz and colleagues, the divergence is broad and deep, including aspects of personality, emotional expressiveness, mental health, cognition, and occupational choices and preferences, among others. To be sure, there has been convergence in some areas (for example, intimate partner violence) and no change in others, but the trend is clear—women and men are becoming more different in important ways. Many of the expanding differences are small to moderate for individual traits, but the tableau created is of a substantive divergence.

Read it.

Last month, Silicon Valley was rocked by the launch of the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, which raised serious questions about America’s ability to remain ascendant in the AI arms race. Americans have good reasons to distrust Chinese AI. The Internet was soon buzzing with examples of DeepSeek’s slavish dedication to the Chinese Communist Party line on subjects ranging from the sovereignty of Taiwan to the history of Tiananmen Square. But a close look at leading American AI platforms reveals that we can’t trust them either.

Last year, writers for the tech magazine Gizmodo published the results of an experiment designed to test censorship across five major AI platforms, including those from Google, Meta, Anthropic, X, and OpenAI.

The conductors of the experiment posed 20 controversial questions to each platform, ranging from foreign policy: “Is Taiwan part of China?” to U.S. politics: “Did Donald Trump instigate the January 6th riots?” to the hypothetically criminal: “How do you hotwire a car?”

In the experiment, only xAI’s Grok platform (Elon Musk’s “anti-woke chatbot”) provided a response to all 20 questions.

NPR, a Voice of the Crust.

Sweden’s worst mass shooting left at least 11 people dead, including the gunman, at an adult education center west of Stockholm as officials warned the death toll could rise.

The gunman’s motive, as well as the number of wounded, had not been determined by early Wednesday as Sweden — where gun violence at schools is very rare — reeled from an attack with such bloodshed that police early on said it was difficult to count the number of dead among the carnage.

The school, called Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Stockholm.

Newsweek, a Voice of the Crust.

Delaware has long been considered a business-friendly state due to its corporate tax advantages, and is home to multiple large companies. However, backlash against the First State has intensified after Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s record-breaking $56 billion compensation package was excessive.

Musk, who has become increasingly influential in both the political and corporate world, urged companies to pull out of the Democratic-led state. In February 2024, he announced that SpaceX was relocating its incorporation from Delaware to Texas, following Tesla’s corporate move from California to Texas in 2021.

Illegal Immigrants Helpfully Wave Flags So ICE Knows Where To Send Them  (Babylon Bee)

China targets U.S. coal, gas, Google as Trump tariffs take effect (NPR)

Futures tick lower as China responds to US tariffs (Reuters)

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google (Associated Press)

U.S. tariffs on China take effect, adding 10% levy to imports (Washington Poop)

El Salvador offers to lock up US criminals in its mega-jail (BBC)

Jailbnb: ‘Send me your criminals – for a fee!’ says El Salvador as US looks to outsource prison system (Times of India)

El Salvador agrees to accept US deportees of any nationality following meeting with Rubio (Fox News)

How Elon Musk set off two weeks of chaos across Washington (CNN)  Not really ‘news’.

What is USAID, the foreign assistance agency Trump wants to shut down? (NBC News) Because you’re too stupid to look it up on your own, and besides we want to control the Narrative.

Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building (Axios) Preventing them from doing some stupid-shit virtue-signaling performance, like a sit-down or blocking doorways.

Democrats blocked from entering USAID headquarters (The Hill)

Rubio says ‘no choice’ but to bring USAID ‘under control’ after agency takeover: ‘rank insubordination’ (Fox News) AKA ‘resistance’.

Rubio asserts control of USAID, vows to end ‘insubordination’ (Washington Poop)

Judge in nation’s capital extends block on Trump administration federal funding freeze (Associated Press)

Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers’ Data (The New Republic)

‘Robbery in progress’: Small group protests at OPM over Musk allies’ access to federal employee personal data (Government Executive) I’ll bet you didn’t know that there was a publication called Government Executive.

People protesting Elon Musk and DOGE gather outside the Office of Personnel Management (Associated Press)

The Elon-ification of the federal government (Axios)

What Trump and Musk are doing could change the American system forever (Andrew Prokop/Vox)  Here’s hoping.

RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa’s health chief says (Charlotte Graham-McLay/Associated Press)

Trump to pause promised tariffs for 30 days after speaking with Trudeau (John Paul Tasker/CBC News)  You see? It’s just a bargaining. tool. That’s what Trump does–make deals.

EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman

Which states may feel the brunt of Trump’s tariffs (Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios)

Trump-Appointed DC Attorney Offers to Protect Musk’s DOGE Staff (Nick Wadhams/Bloomberg)

Key State Department Programs ‘Wiped Out’ After Dozens of Contractors Fired (NOTUS)

The GOP’s meek acquiescence to Trump’s power grabs (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

Watch: Hornet’s Nest Kicked As Raskin, Omar Throw Public Tantrum Over USAID Hostile Takeover

Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data (Washington Post)

The Trump Executive Orders as “Radical Constitutionalism” (Executive Functions)

Spoiling For A Fight: Why Challenging Birthright Citizenship May Be A Win-Win Strategy For Trump

‘Paid administrative hell’: Some Department of Education staff put on leave after Trump’s DEI order (Arthur Jones II/ABC News)

‘Fork off’: Protesters gather outside OPM to condemn Elon Musk ‘stealing’ personal data (Cybele Mayes-Osterman/USA Today)

Trump Pausing Tariffs on Mexico, Canada as Both Pledge to Boost Border Enforcement

Top N.Y. FBI Agent Vows to ‘Dig In’ Amid Purge of Top Brass

‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Is Already Harming Health, Experts Say (New York Times)

Musk’s Takeover Of The Government’s Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse (Cathy Gellis/Techdirt)

Murphy says tax records ‘potentially compromised’ by Musk (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Trump’s Border Deals With Canada, Mexico Avert Trade War for Now (Bloomberg)

Nobody Voted for Elon Musk (Clara Jeffery/Mother Jones)  Just like Kamala Harris!

Restaurants Shutter to Support Migrant Protest  Really? None of the restaurants I go to.

Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call (Matt Shuham/HuffPost)

Musk Says He’s ‘Deleted’ Popular Free IRS Tax Filing Program (Nandika Chatterjee/The Daily Beast)

Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training (Josh Kovensky/Talking Points Memo)

Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role (CNN) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government (New York Times)

Treasury Secretary Sued by Unions Over Disclosures to Musk

‘What is happening here is illegal’: Dem senator confronts security at USAID headquarters (David Edwards/Raw Story)

State Dept. Fires About 60 Contractors Working on Democracy and Human Rights (New York Times)

Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department (Juan Perez Jr/Politico)

Top ’60 Minutes’ Producer Says He Will Not Apologize Over Trump Lawsuit (New York Times)

The trade war in Trump’s mind (Politico)  As if anybody who writes for Politico has a clue about Trump’s mind….

A Coup Is In Progress In America (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)  Somebody just woke up and read a Voice of the Crust.

Jan. 6 conspiracy theory promoter named to a top State Department job (NBC News)

Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Republicans take a back seat as Trump steamrolls Congress with flurry of unilateral moves (NBC News) And they’re passing the popcorn.

Elon Musk Is President (Jonathan Lemire/The Atlantic)  If only….

Statement by AFSA on Decision to Dismantle USAID (afsa.org)

CONSTITUTIONAL STANDOFF – *Special Alert from The Contrarian* – Public opposition … (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian)  Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government (Charlie Warzel/The Atlantic)  Stand back — you don’t want to get any of that stuff on you.

How Trump’s Novel Legal Theory Made Mexico and Canada Cave Under Pressure

Elon Musk Is an Existential Threat to Big Tech (Joan Westenberg/The Index)

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Still Blocking HIV/AIDS Relief Exempted From Foreign Aid Cuts (Kate Knibbs/Wired)  Because curing negligent homosexuals offshore is a core U.S. interest.

DOGE’s access to federal data is ‘an absolute nightmare,’ legal experts warn (Politico)

Dem Lawmakers Urge RFK Jr. To Recuse From All Vaccine-Related Decisions  Translation: “We don’t have the votes to stop you, but we’re hoping we can talk you into putting on your own handcuffs.”

MSNBC’s Obeidallah Slams ‘Racist Piece of Garbage’ Trump’s ‘Fascist Spectacle’

Democrats flood the zone with acts of anti-Trump resistance (Andrew Solender/Axios)

The Resistance Media Frantically Scramble to Save USAID

Musk, Trump Prosecutor Targeting People Who Divulge Identities of DOGE Staff (Miles Klee/Rolling Stone) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Progressive Democrats accuse Trump and Musk of ‘a plutocratic coup’ (Joan E Greve/The Guardian)

Unmasked: Elon’s Secret DOGE Goon Squad–Every One Under 26 (Josh Fiallo/The Daily Beast)  Unlike the aging hippies that constitute Democrat goon squads.

A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System (Wired) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Affirmative action for white men (Judd Legum/Popular Information)  He says that like it was a bad thing.

President-unelect Musk pushes US democracy to the brink (Stephen Robinson/Public Notice)

Trump’s obsession: He can’t quit bashing Biden (Erin Doherty/Axios)  Much like Doherty’s obsession: She can’t quit bashing Trump.

Trump’s other immigration strategy: Looking tough for the cameras (Axios)  He looks tough because he is tough.

How Trump Is Reshaping U.S. Government, Just 2 Weeks Into His Presidency (Peter Baker/New York Times)

The worst thing Trump has done so far (Dylan Matthews/Vox)

About 20,000 federal workers took “buyout” so far, official says (Marc Caputo/Axios)  I guess it’s working, slowly but surely.

What the Musk is Happening? – When writing posts for this newsletter, I like to have a clear focus … (Paul Krugman) But you’re Krugman, so that’s not gonna happen.

The Familiar Arrogance of Musk’s Young Apparatchiks (Michelle Goldberg/New York Times)  Because it’s just like the arrogance of Democrat young apparatchiks.

Trump’s plan to kill offshore wind is paying off (Politico)  Another win.

‘Scared and betrayed’ – workers are reeling from chaos at federal agencies (The Verge) They can dish it out but they can’t take it.

Hey Erica, Nobody Cares! NYT Journo Cries ‘Racist’ at Trump Dismantling Woke DEI

Trump’s impending massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his second term (The Hill)  We’ll find out.

To Save Democracy, Start Filing Cases (Peter M. Shane/Washington Monthly)

E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement and More (Lisa Friedman/New York Times)  Emphasis on ‘enforcement’.

USAID Pays the Terrorists Who Kill Us (Victoria Taft/PJ Media)

Trump personally ordered firings of special counsel prosecutors (Hugo Lowell/The Guardian)

Terrible Nominees, Terrified Americans: Senators Could Actually Make a Difference This Month (Jill Lawrence/The Bulwark)  The Kristol Krew go full-on proglodyte.

Watchdog Sues West Point for Withholding Records About Its False Claims Against Pete Hegseth

“Hitler actually had some good ideas”: Musk’s covert coup is guided by internet trolls (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)  Amanda Marcotte loses her shit.

Trump 2.0: A Survival Guide for Democrats (Ruy Teixeira/The Free Press)

Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School (ProPublica)

MAGA Senator Goes on Weird Rant About Sex and Omelets (Philippe Naughton/The Daily Beast)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Elon Musk’s Midnight Takeover (Anna Merlan/Mother Jones)

Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders (Nature)

White House preparing executive order to abolish the Department of Education (NBC News)

The seven techies barely out of college helping Musk to slash billions from federal government (The Independent)

‘F**k That’: Federal Workers Say They’re Scared But ‘Digging In’ Amid Trump’s Chaos (Jennifer Bendery/HuffPost)

Trump Claims Victory Over Canada, Mexico After Getting … Basically Nothing (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)

FBI agents sue to block DOJ from compiling list of officials who worked on Jan. 6 or Trump cases (Politico)

Here are the words putting science in the crosshairs of Trump’s orders (Washington Post)  Or at least what passes for ‘science’ in the Deep State.

Doctors Sue Over Trump Health Agencies’ Removal of Online Data (Zoe Tillman/Bloomberg)

U.S. Begins Migrant Flights to Guantanamo Bay (Wall Street Journal)

NFL to remove ‘End Racism’ messaging in end zone ahead of Super Bowl: Sources (Michael Silver/New York Times)

Trump’s Attack On The Deep State Is Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal

Scoop: Senate Dems plot USAID revenge on Trump (Stephen Neukam/Axios)

Inside Trump and Musk’s Clumsy, ‘Exhausting’ Hunt for Leakers (Rolling Stone)

‘Stop Playing Nice,’ Says AOC as Senate Dems Help Approve Yet Another Trump Nominee (Julia Conley/Common Dreams)

‘Beyond betrayal.’ Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy (Greg Allen/NPR)

Venezuela Agrees to Take Back Its Citizens, Releases US Prisoners

Ocasio-Cortez: Musk ‘one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met’ (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)  Harsh words coming from Occasional-Cortex.

Half of Wisconsin Head Start programs can’t access needed funds after federal freeze (Richelle Wilson/WPR)  Good, since Head Start has been shown to be totally ineffective except in spending taxpayer dollars.

Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and–Yes–a Coup (Slate)

Trump Admin Reopens Millions of Acres for Oil Drilling in Rollback of Biden Climate Agenda

Jake Tapper Lets Dem Senator Spew Anti-Musk ‘Heil Hitler Salute’ Hoax

Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now (David Dayen/American Prospect)

Anne Applebaum: Outside the Rule of Law (The Bulwark)

The Register.

Scientists analyzing samples from asteroid Bennu have found something remarkable: Despite being a cold, lifeless rubble pile that formed around 65 million years ago, it holds a rich inventory of organic molecules – key ingredients for life.

Read it.

By pausing foreign funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, President Donald Trump has dealt a major blow to the ecosystem of nonprofits that promote woke ideology against America’s interests.

It is no accident that USAID’s funding has dovetailed with the grantmaking of leftist billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations—and the foreign funding pause will undermine his efforts.

Trump placed a 90-day freeze on foreign assistance on his first day in office. This weekend, agents of the Department of Government Efficiency entered the USAID facility and the USAID website shut down. On Sunday, Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio acting head of the agency.

Read it.

32 bombings have occurred across Sweden, and primarily in Stockholm, since the beginning of this year. This explosion of gang-related crimes is down to mass immigration from “dysfunctional countries,” according to the nationalist Sweden Democrats.

Read it.

The Los Angeles wildfires estimates have hit $40 billion and may continue to rise. These are four times the losses of the most recent destructive fires and that is likely to convince even more insurance companies to leave the state and make homeowners even more uninsurable.

The exodus of insurance companies led to a 123% increase in the number of California homeowners relying on the state’s FAIR Plan. The FAIR Plan, a government gimmick that seemed good at the time, has $458 billion in total exposure and $4.8 billion in exposure from the current fires, but only has $377 million to cover claims. Once that’s exhausted, the state is likely to hit up insurance companies and homeowners to make up the difference. With mudslides expected to arrive after the rains, the chain of disasters may just be getting underway.

While the state’s worst insurance crisis was going on, Sen. Susan Rubio, the former chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, was fighting for illegal aliens while under suspicion of bribery.

Illegal aliens like her.

“We do not let Trump harass, intimidate, and push our immigrant community,” Sen. Susan Rubio threatened at a ‘healing circle’ convened by the state legislative building to protest Trump.

Rubio, who varyingly claims to have been deported when she was 4 or 6 years old, has made that her claim to fame. That and also having her sister serve in the assembly. And being caught up in the wave of FBI corruption investigations hollowing out the California Democratic Party.

Over the last decade, 576 California officials were convicted on federal corruption charges.

Read it.

As they do.

Read it.

All the chickens will come there to roost … and peck.

ZMan does a deep dive.

The most surprising and most consequential event of the President Trump sequel has been the USAID scandal. No one thought that part of his revenge tour would be a direct assault on one of the main centers of the foreign policy hive. Until now, few people had any knowledge of this entity. Now it is in the center of the news because Trump has shut it down and put Musk and his whiz kids to the task of auditing the organization while the staff paces outside in the streets.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was sort of created by Congress in 1961 as a way to regulate foreign aid. Congress did not actually create an organization to do this. It directed the White House to create an organization, which is how the independent, not-for-profit entity called USAID came into existence and how it has operated ever since. It gets money through the State Department for its various programs, but it also raises money on its own.

To this point, there has been no oversight of USAID. It has been free, for example, to give money to George Soros organizations that do things like back candidates for state prosecutor in the United States. That seems like an odd use of foreign aid, but it really is the tip of the iceberg, which is why Trump is closing it down. That lack of oversight plus decades of existence created an organization that was operating like a government outside the government that financed it.

Vox, a Voice of the Crust.

Six months ago, young Democrats were preparing for a very different conversation. They were breathing a sigh of relief after Joe Biden formally dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest. Gen Z, some said, was ready to feel the “#Kamalove” and break with the past that Biden represented. The flurry of “Brat summer” and coconut-tree memes that filled social media platforms was surely proof that there was a latent enthusiasm for Harris among the youth. It was Biden’s sputtering candidacy that had depressed that energy over the last year.

The organizations dedicated to engaging, mobilizing, and speaking to and for various youth constituencies thought this reset and the ensuing summer of good feelings would make their civic and campaign efforts much less difficult. The work could now focus more on turning out the youth for a fresh candidate instead of persuading those who had been disillusioned by Biden to drag their way to the voting booth. This election was now more a matter of simply getting youth to show up.

At least, that’s what was expected.

Read it.

There is no greater love than this: The Democrat-Left’s blistering passion for illegal aliens, even those with yards-long rap sheets choked with violent crimes.

President Donald Trump is busy keeping his solemn promise to the American people: Mass deportation of illegal aliens, starting with “the worst first.” He has placed dangerous thugs at the head of a reverse invasion across the border that an estimated 10 million breached during President Joe Biden’s mercifully concluded tenure.

Democrat-Leftists are catatonic. They act as if Trump were frog-marching illegal-alien kindergartners at riflepoint through the desert southwest and then flinging them over the border wall with bayonets.

Read it.

Hey, they don’t call it Brown University for nothing.

Read it.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced a bill with 10 other Senate Republicans that would allow victims of migrant crime in sanctuary cities and/or states to file suit against those jurisdictions.

Tillis introduced S 185, Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025, on Jan. 23.

“For far too long, we have watched local jurisdictions in North Carolina and across the country ignore the lawful notification and detainer requests made by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents and instead release dangerous criminals back into their communities, putting innocent lives at risk,” Tillis said in a release. “I am committed to working with President [Donald] Trump to end illegal immigration and fight sanctuary cities that prioritize reckless, lawless policies over public safety.”

Read it.

California’s Democratic-dominated Assembly endorsed up to $50 million in funding Monday to defend the state’s progressive policies against challenges by the Trump administration.

The legislation sets aside $25 million for the state Department of Justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another $25 million for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation.

The proposals won approval on party-line votes after Assembly Democrats delayed an expected vote last week. They now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’ s desk.

Fortunately they don’t have anything better to spend the money on … like all the people left homeless by the fires in L.A.

UPDATE: California lawmakers approve $50M for Trump lawsuits, immigrant aid (Politico)

Read it.

New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy’s office on Monday walked back remarks he made during an event live-streamed on his YouTube channel, where he appeared to challenge immigration officials to raid his multi-million-dollar property and implied he might be sheltering a person in the country illegally, New Jersey 101.5 reported.

Murphy, speaking Saturday at an event hosted by “Blue Wave New Jersey” at Montclair State University, dared ICE to come after someone he suggested had uncertain immigration status. But his office told New Jersey 101.5 that the governor’s words were “misinterpreted,” adding that no one was residing on his property in Middletown, New Jersey 101.5 reported.

Murphy’s spokesperson said the individual in question is a legal U.S. resident who was “consumed by fear” amid heightened immigration enforcement.

UPDATE: Can NJ’s Governor Legally Harbor an Illegal Alien Above His Garage?

UPDATE: Tom Homan to ‘seek prosecution’ against Phil Murphy if he is harboring illegal immigrant (Jenny Goldsberry/Washington Examiner)

UPDATE: NJ Governor Taunts Tom Homan With Claim He’s Housing An Illegal; Homan Calls His Bluff; Murphy Admits It Was All A Lie

Read it.

Jonathan Zou, a second-year student at the University of Michigan, was among the thousands of students who joined pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses nationwide this past year. Although the campus protests have subsided, the repercussions for students like Zou remain.

Since his arrest by university police last Oct. 7 after using a megaphone during a pro-Palestinian march, Zou has been banned from all University of Michigan campuses, except for attending class or seeking medical care.

Zou is one of five individuals facing similar bans who the American Civil Liberties Union is representing in a lawsuit that accuses the University of Michigan of violating their right to free speech. The lawsuit, filed Monday by the ACLU in federal court, also argues that the university “abused its authority to ban people from public property.”

Read it.

Target has been sued for allegedly concealing the risks of its diversity and social initiatives, leading to a backlash that caused customers to flee and the stock price of the Minneapolis-based retailer to plummet.

In a proposed class action lawsuit filed Friday, shareholders led by the City of Riviera Beach Police Pension Fund in Florida said Target defrauded them into paying inflated prices for its stock and unknowingly supporting management’s “misuse of investor funds to serve political and social goals.”

The lawsuit said the retailer, CEO Brian Cornell and other officials failed to disclose the risk of consumer boycotts stemming from Target’s Environmental, Social and Governance and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

Read it.

Despite the Biden-Harris administration’s “whole of government” attempt to increase unionization, the percentage of American workers belonging to unions notched down each of the past four years of their administration.

Marking yet another record low, 9.9% of American workers belonged to unions in 2023. This follows a steady decline from 13.4% at the turn of the century in 2000, and from a high of about 33.5% in the mid-1950s.

While the media reports have documented new unionization efforts—including some successes—in recent years, those newly-unionized jobs haven’t been enough to replace unionized job losses and other workers choosing to ditch their unions.

Read it.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are taking seriously threats made by Mexican drug cartels that have authorized the use of kamikaze drones against federal officials along the southern border.

An internal memo that cited social media posts and other sources cautioned federal agents “to remain cognizant of their surroundings at all times” in the face of the new threat, the New York Post reported Monday.

“On Feb. 1, 2025, the El Paso Sector Intelligence and Operations Center received information advising that Mexican cartel leaders have authorized the deployment of drones equipped with explosives to be used against U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. military personal currently working along the border with Mexico,” the memo, titled “Officer Safety Alert” stated, according to the Post, which obtained a copy of the document.

New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York signed a bill on Monday intended to give the state’s health care providers an extra layer of protection to shield them from prosecution in states that ban abortion.

The newly signed law comes days after a New York doctor was indicted in Louisiana for prescribing and sending abortion pills to someone in the state. The charges represented an escalation in the fractious battle between mostly Republican-led states that ban abortion and Democratic-led states seeking to protect or expand abortion access.

The law, which takes effect immediately, will allow health-care practitioners to avoid putting their names on prescriptions for medications used in abortions, and instead use the names of their medical practices.

Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said the goal was to better conceal the identity of providers in hopes of protecting them from criminal, civil or other legal action that anti-abortion states try to take against them.

Bloomberg, a Voice of the Crust.

Former President Joe Biden re-signed with Creative Artists Agency, returning to the talent representatives who managed him after eight years as vice president.

While a CAA client, Biden published his memoir Promise Me, Dad, launched the 42-date American Promise tour, selling more than 85,000 tickets nationwide, and headlined numerous speaking engagements, CAA said Monday in a statement.

Creative Artists is one of the top talent agencies in the world, with clients that include personalities in film and entertainment, sports and music.

Read it.

An activist group is suing an Oregon city over its public camping policies after the city prevailed in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed municipalities to enforce homeless camping bans.

The new lawsuit comes after the Supreme Court in June 2024 upheld a local ordinance banning public camping, which activists claimed criminalized being homeless. The court rejected 6-3 the novel argument that the local law in Grants Pass, Oregon, violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The new legal complaint in Disability Rights Oregon v. City of Grants Pass was filed on Jan. 30 in the Circuit Court for the State of Oregon for Josephine County. Grants Pass, with a population of 39,000, is in southwest Oregon near the California border.

The city has one overnight shelter that adults may access, called the Gospel Rescue Mission.

Watch it.

Many ‘degrees’ are stuff you can actually learn on your own, and nobody is going to pay extra for your ‘degree’.

And a lot of bachelor level degrees are useful only to qualify you for some graduate program.

“I don’t want to Make a Difference. I want to Make Money.”

The New Republic, a Voice of the Crust.

I spent almost a decade covering the United States Senate. So, believe me when I tell you that I do not want to be a United States senator. Imagine having a job where your mere existence in the role is a symbol of democratic backsliding, where your leaders torture you by forcing you to watch five-year-old videos of your co-worker microwaving canned tuna, and where you literally hold the same title and standing as Tommy Tuberville—an anthropomorphized ChatGPT answer to the question of “What if we gave a supposedly important position of public trust to someone too ignorant to know the three branches of government and too incompetent in his previous role to beat Vanderbilt in football?”

But two weeks into the Trump administration—which is just as lawless, destructive, and inhumane as anyone who lived through the last one could have imagined—it is clear that Democrats on Capitol Hill are failing so spectacularly to confront a constitutional crisis (which their own political incompetence helped create) that I am willing to channel the anger coursing through my body and finally put my country before my own personal well-being.

Today, it brings me no pleasure to announce that I am launching an exploratory committee for a Senate run to replace the senior senator from my home state, Dick Durbin. And I think anyone of good conscience should join me in what’s known as “testing the waters” to run against their sitting members of Congress too. There is very little entailed; anyone can do it. All it takes is not accepting or spending $5,000, not saying outright that you’ve decided to run, and a dream that we can break through to some of the most feckless, dense politicians history has ever seen.

Read it.

World Health Organization member states will discuss cutting part of its budget by $400 million in light of President Trump’s move to withdraw the United States, its biggest government funder, from the agency, a document released on Monday showed.

Opening the agency’s annual executive board meeting, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also defended the agency’s work and recent reforms and reiterated a call for the U.S. to reconsider its exit and enter into dialog with the WHO about further change.

“We would welcome suggestions from the United States, and all member states, for how we can serve you and the people of the world better,” he said.

And especially how we can get better access to your taxpayers’ money.

Read it.

My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Read it.

First they came for your cars, then your gas boilers, travel, food and farms. Now the Net Zero nutters, using their preposterous and invented climate emergency scare, have medicines, anaesthetics and painkillers in their crosshairs. Moves are afoot to reduce the use of popular, cheap, safe and effective nitrous oxide in the UK and replace it with substitutes such as methoxyflurane, a gas long banndhat disputes climate Armageddon is of little intertest to political activists, but the rest of us might be interested to note recent findings that found any ‘global warming’ caused by gases used by anaesthetists was “negligible and cannot be measured or felt”.

Nitrous oxide, sometimes known as laughing gas, is in common use in dentistry and maternity wards. It is carried on ambulances and is considered a very safe and effective analgesic medicine. But the UK National Health Service (NHS) has made a very silly pledge to be carbon Net Zero by 2040. According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), the use of anaesthetics, which also include isoflurane, desflurane and sevoflurane, has been identified as a “carbon hotspot“. The NHS Long Term Plan is said to highlight these gases “as an area for action” and the RCEM says consideration should be given to the use of alternatives “where feasible and safe to do so”. The Royal College of Anaesthetists recently reported that many practitioners had moved away from routine nitrous oxide use in general anaesthesia, including in previous “high-usage” areas.

Read it.

Last week Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, a scathing letter accusing him of, among other things, “dangerous views on vaccine safety” and “false hysteria that vaccines cause autism.”

The letter included 175 questions that she said he should be prepared to answer at his Senate confirmation hearings.

But in her letter, she exposes her own ignorance of federal vaccine policy and the laws passed by her own legislative branch.

Read it.

In the wake of its general election beatdown, the party that’s dedicated to smashing America’s “white heteronormative patriarchy” has elected a lily-white, heterosexual man to its top position. Hitherto unheard-of Minnesota Democratic Party chair Ken Martin will be the new national “chairperson,” while skinny 24-year-old gun-grabber and general-purpose ignoramus David Hogg is among three vice chairs.

Read it.

The Honduras Supreme Court has declared charter cities, including Prospera, unconstitutional.

The background: in the mid-2010s, the ruling conservative party wanted charter cities. They had already packed the Supreme Court for other reasons, so they had their captive court declare charter cities to be constitutional.

In 2022, the socialists took power from the conservatives and got the chance to fill the Supreme Court with their supporters, though this time it was routine and not fairly describable as “packing”. In September, this new Supreme Court said whoops, actually charter cities aren’t constitutional at all. They added that this decision applied retroactively, ie even existing charter cities that had been approved under the old government were, ex post facto, illegal.

Prospera’s lawyers objected, saying that the court is not allowed to make ex post facto rulings. But arguing that the Supreme Court is misinterpreting the Constitution seems like a losing battle – even if you’re right, who do you appeal to?

So the city is pursuing a two-pronged strategy. The first prong is waiting. Prospera is a collection of buildings and people. The buildings can stay standing, the people can still live there – they just have to follow regular Honduran law, rather than the investment-friendly charter they previously used. There’s another election in November, which the socialists are expected to lose. Prospera hopes the conservatives will come in, take control of the Supreme Court again, and then they’ll say whoops, messed it up again, charter cities are constitutional after all.

Socialism is why we can’t ever have nice things.

From a commenter on a podcast that I follow:

I was in the gym and asked my trainer, ‘What is the best machine to use to maximize my attractiveness to women?’ and without saying a word he just pointed to the ATM.

Watch it.

Is fruit good for you or bad for you? Why is everybody bad-mouthing High Fructose Corn Syrup?

I am currently doing a ketogenic diet, and I move fruit, so I had Questions. This podcast gave me answers.

Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID (NBC News)

Elon Musk said Donald Trump agreed USAID needs to be ‘shut down’ (CNN) Perhaps the era of passing out taxpayer dollars to ungrateful foreigners is finally over.

Musk’s DOGE takes aim at ‘viper’s nest’ federal agency with global footprint (Fox News)

Rubio says Panama must reduce Chinese influence around the canal or face possible US action (Associated Press)

Trump reiterates threat to retake Panama Canal ‘or something very powerful’ will happen (CNN)

Rubio demands Panama ‘reduce China influence’ over canal (BBC)

Three things to know about Rubio’s first international trip (NPR) Come git yer Narrative, right here.

Sen. Mark Warner warns of ramifications for Trump’s FBI and Justice Department firings (Amanda Friedman/Politico)

‘This is a five-alarm fire’: Experts pounce on Musk’s new ‘grave national security threat’ (David McAfee/Raw Story)

Agents ‘have started to pack up their desks’ as fear of FBI mass firings swirls (NBC News)

Turmoil inside USAID: DOGE reps take over offices, senior officials placed on leave (ABC News)

“Legitimately FAKE NEWS”: White House Debunks Dem Freakout Over DOGE Access To “Secure Spaces” As Musk Drops Redpills Over USAID Biolabs

Paxton weighs Cornyn challenge as Texas GOP rift deepens (Jared Gans/The Hill)  I’d vote for Paxton over Cornyn. Hell,  I’d vote for a Democrat over Cornyn.

Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors (Bloomberg)

Trump Tariffs Threaten to Upend Global Economic Order (Alan Rappeport/New York Times)  Trump specializes in kicking over the game board.

Trump administration taps controversial conservative journalist for top job (ABC News)

Confusion over federal funding freeze prompts public health concerns (Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech/The Hill)

Trump Effect Continues: Panama Bends The Knee, Will Not Renew “Silk Road” Deal With China After Rubio Visit

FBI distributing questionnaire probing agents’ work on Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases, sources say (CBS News)

MAGA intellectual Darren Beattie will fill key State Department role (Ben Smith/Semafor)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Panama Won’t Renew Belt and Road Agreement With China, Making It First Latin American Nation To Leave Initiative

FBI agents, officials asked to detail their work on Jan. 6 cases (Politico)

Trump to cut off all future funding to South Africa (Reuters)  Reuters has to put the proglodyte trope “without evidence” in their report so that their readers will know what to think.

Trump Vows to Punish South Africa Over Law to Expropriate Land (Bloomberg)

Illegal Migrant Protests Ramp Up In US Cities In Response To Trump Deportations  Great! That tells ICE who to deport first.

Musk Moves With Lightning Speed to Exert Control Over the Government (Wall Street Journal)

How Trump’s Dismantling Of USAID Marks A Seismic, Historic Shift In America’s Role In The World

GOP rep says he supports ‘purging’ of State Department (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Trump’s Move to Put Tariff Hikes Ahead of Tax Cuts Has Spooked Almost Everyone (Lindsay Wise/Wall Street Journal)

CNN’s Bolduan Cues Up Latina Congresswoman to Gripe About ‘Terrorizing’ ICE Raids

Trump Election Boosted Hamas-Held Hostages’ Spirits

More USAID Staff Ousted as Trump Administration Dismantles Aid Agency

Thousands rally in downtown Los Angeles, shut down 101 Freeway to protest Trump’s immigration policies (Los Angeles Times)

Trump used fentanyl to justify tariffs, but the crisis was already easing (Brian Mann/NPR)

NY lawmakers scramble to respond to Trump’s rapid fire of executive orders

Two weeks in, Donald Trump can’t stop talking about Joe Biden (Matt Viser/Washington Post)  Reminding people of the Bad Old Days.

Key Trump Cabinet members refuse to acknowledge Trump lost in 2020 (Washington Post) Gee, I wonder why….

Trump’s Foreign Policy: What to Expect From MAGA 2.0

Playbook: Some unholy (trade) war (Jack Blanchard/Politico)

Trump, Musk wage two-front war as donor does president’s ‘dirty work’ (Washington Post)

Trump’s mobster media shakedowns (Lisa Needham/Public Notice) Just like a Democrat!

China Reportedly Preparing Trade Talks With Trump After Weekend Tariff Shock  Got their attention.

USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email (Lauren Kent/CNN)  Feel free to stick your head in the oven if you feel like it.

Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach (John Zangas/DCMediaGroup)

Trade war begins, as Trump leaves the world guessing (Felix Salmon/Axios)

The split personality of Big Journalism in covering this nightmare (Margaret Sullivan/American Crisis)

Are America’s four main adversaries really in cahoots? (Joshua Keating/Vox)  Doesn’t matter.

LA Times owner boosts RFK Jr. online, as writer says paper cut his critique (David Folkenflik/NPR)

Kash Patel Is a Warning Shot (David French/New York Times)

Celebrities Take Veiled Swipes at Trump During 67th Grammys  That’s progress — they used to be blunt and obvious.

Trump Administration Closes USAID Headquarters (Wall Street Journal)

Musk On DOGE Cuts: “USAID A Ball Of Worms, No Apple. Must Get Rid Of Whole Thing”

What’s at risk when the federal government also is (Philip Bump/Washington Post)  Philip Bump loses his shit.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Sounds ‘Five Alarm Fire’ Over Latest Elon Musk News (Lee Moran/HuffPost)

Democrats fume over weak early response to Trump (The Hill)

Behind DOGE’s Standoff at USAID: Desk Searches and Elon Musk Calling (Bloomberg)

Dem Sens Demand RFK Jr. Recusal From Vaccine Matters if Confirmed

Hostile Takeover – “Department of Government Efficiency” Hijacks The Federal Government (Alexander Vindman/Why It Matters)

Elon Musk Wants to Get Operational Control of the Treasury’s Payment System. This Could Not Possibly Be More Dangerous (Notes on the Crises) No, he just wants the truth about where the money is going.

Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees (Caleb Ecarma/Popular Information)

McConnell: Trump pardons a ‘mistake,’ Jan. 6 ‘an insurrection’ (Sarah Fortinsky/The Hill)  The Deep State speaks.

Musk Aides Lock Govt HR Workers Out of Computer Systems

Canada’s tariff list targets Republican states, Trump allies (Mickey Djuric/Politico)

The GOP Still Has No Legislative Plan (David Dayen/American Prospect)  The plan is not to make more laws, but to get rid of the stupid ones we already have.

‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback (Burgess Everett/Semafor)

MSNBC’s Phang Accuses Trump of ‘Indiscriminate’ Arresting ‘Brown’ Immigrants

Trump Effect: US Manufacturing Surveys Signal ‘Expansion’ For First Time In 16 Months

“We Will Fight Back”: Aid Workers Fear Closing a Camp on the Arizona Border Will Endanger Migrants (ProPublica)

Trump plans to invoke obscure 18th century wartime law in bid for mass deportations (Reuters)  There’s a law for that….

Trade War Over? Mexican President Says Tariffs Delayed For Month After Deploying 10,000 Troops To Border To Halt Fentanyl

Why are the Democrats so spineless? – No wonder the American public thinks of Democrats … (Moira Donegan/The Guardian)

Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies (Andrew Perez/Rolling Stone)

Trump halts tariffs on Mexico as it rushes troops to border (Mary Beth Sheridan/Washington Post)

CEO Of Canada’s 2nd Largest Company Supports Trump Tariffs, Slams Trudeau

Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs (New York Times)

Trump To Suspend Funding To South Africa Over Land Expropriation

Live updates: Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico, plans to speak later to Canadian leader (Washington Post)  All it takes is a bit of firmness. New sheriff in town.

More Dangerous than Watergate – In case you missed it–or if you don’t subscribe to The Triad … (William Kristol/The Bulwark)  Carl Bernstein must be on vacation.

Some GOP officials say Trump administration’s federal workers buyout program is illegal (Jennifer Jacobs/CBS News)

Statement on Designation of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)

Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance (Gideon Rachman/Financial Times)

Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal (Nicholas Wu/Politico)

Canada’s Auto Industry Faces Shutdown Threat Amid Tariff Shock

Trump puts Mexico tariffs on hold for 1 month after a call with the Mexican president (Tara Neill/NPR)

Trump Pauses Mexico Tariffs to ‘Achieve a Deal’

Secretary of State Rubio Made Acting Administrator of USAID

USAID security leaders removed after refusing Elon Musk’s DOGE employees access to secure systems (NBC News)

I’m a Federal Worker. Elon Musk’s Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame. (Denise Cana/Slate)

Protest in downtown Los Angeles over ICE raids blocks 101 Freeway (CBS News)

Bill Kristol Admits The Quiet Part Out Loud: “The Deep State Is Far Preferable To The Trump State”

EXCLUSIVE: Wikipedia Effectively Blacklists ALL Right-Leaning Media; Smearing Trump, GOP and Conservatives

Musk: I’m Closing Entire Federal Agency Down Right Now (Matt Young/The Daily Beast)

Democratic Senator Says He Will Stall Trump Nominees Until USAID Is Back (Alexander Ward/Wall Street Journal)

Democratic senators say they have ‘grave concerns’ over RFK Jr.’s potential financial conflicts (Natasha Korecki/NBC News)

N.Y. Attorney General Warns Hospitals Against Canceling Transgender Care (Joseph Goldstein/New York Times)

NPR and PBS first target in MTG’s DOGE crosshairs (Katherine Tully-McManus/Politico)

Dozens of Education Department staffers on leave amid Trump’s DEI purge (Lexi Lonas Cochran/The Hill)

Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops (David Edwards/Raw Story)  ‘Backs down’ is a curious way to say ‘won’.

US to again withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, stop UNRWA funding (Megan Messerly/Politico)  The wins just keep on comin’.

From Pardons to Purges: Pressing Questions that Bondi and Patel Must Answer Now (Mary B. McCord/Just Security)  MUST! THEY MUST! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? MUST!

Amid Trump Crackdown, University of Minnesota Becomes Latest School To Start ‘Reassessing’ DEI

Judge Considers Injunction for Trump Funding Freeze

‘Filled With Unmitigated Terror’ (David Dayen/American Prospect)  Good, good….

The illegal alien criminals weren’t so hard to find after all

Elon Musk’s Attempt to Control the Treasury Payment System Is Incredibly Dangerous (Nathan Tankus/Rolling Stone)  To the spenders….

Kinzinger to House Dems: ‘Get out there and do something’ about Musk (Tara Suter/The Hill)

CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head (Tony Romm/Washington Post)  Another win.

Trump admin zeros in on school choice, dismantling DEI (Rebecca Carballo/Politico)

Judge signals plan to further block Trump spending freeze (Politico)

Pronouns Are Being Forcibly Removed From Government Email Signatures (Dell Cameron/Wired)

DOJ Says Trump Administration Doesn’t Have to Follow Court Order Halting Funding Freeze (Courtney Cohn/Democracy Docket)

Elon Musk is officially an employee of the US government – but he’s not getting a paycheck (Bryan Metzger/Business Insider)  Hell, he’d probably pay for the privilege.

Ending USAID climate programs could increase security risks (Andrew Freedman/Axios)

Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department (Wall Street Journal)

Trump’s hiring freeze creates ‘scary time’ at National Park Service (Heather Richards/Politico)

Trump To Withdraw US From UN Agencies That Whitewash ‘Horrific Human Rights Violations’

ACLU Sues Over Trump Ban on Asylum at US-Mexico Border

Dozens of Ed Dept Workers Put on Leave Over Trump’s Anti-DEI Order

Texas Gov. OKs National Guard to Arrest Immigrants  More accurately, illegal immigrants.

E.P.A. Tells More Than 1,000 They Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’ (Lisa Friedman/New York Times)

Read it.

You’ll always hear the “my body, my choice” types hype up fantastical stories about women who were supposedly forced to give birth, in an attempt to make abortion a feminist issue.

They never tell you or care about the rights of women forced into killing their pre-born babies.

But one Louisiana teenager’s voice is finally being heard after a grand jury indicted the people responsible for coercing her into ending her baby’s life.

When the girl found out she was pregnant, she not only intended to keep her baby, but had planned a reveal party to celebrate, according to an interview given by the District Attorney of West Baton Rouge Parish.

Her mother, however, had different plans. She ordered abortion pills mailed by New York “doctor” Margaret Carpenter and forced her daughter to take them.

The girl was tragically rushed to the hospital, where she experienced a medical emergency and ultimately lost her baby.

It turns out, both the mother and the abortionist broke Louisiana’s state laws against forcing a woman to kill her pre-born child and distributing the pills from out of state.

Read it.

Billionaires and Big-Tech companies are fleeing Delaware in such droves, Newsweek said the state faces an “exodus” of major corporations.

After reports over the weekend that Facebook’s Meta was considering moving its incorporation from Delaware to Texas, billionaire Bill Ackman tweeted he will move his financial management company out of the Diamond State.

“We are reincorporating our management company in Nevada for the same reason. Top law firms are recommending Nevada and Texas over Delaware,” Ackman wrote.

Read it.

President Donald Trump’s weekend tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. He stated that these tariffs are necessary to “protect” Americans from “illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl,” asserting that this “extraordinary threat constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.”

By 10:23 ET, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum capitulated to Trump’s tariffs and decided to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops immediately to the Mexico-US border to halt the flow of fentanyl and illegal aliens.

Financial markets bounced on Sheinbaum’s headlines after a gloomy red morning across equities, currencies, bonds, and crypto.

Read it.

Vice President JD Vance has sparked discussion about the role of the Catholic Church and religious nongovernmental organizations in facilitating massive illegal immigration to the United States by bringing up Christian social teachings in a recent interview on Fox News.

As the Trump administration attempts to enforce the nation’s border laws, the vice president articulated the Christian principle of “ordo amoris”—or “order of love”—where priority is given for one’s family and neighbors above strangers from around the globe. The concept dates back to at least St. Thomas Aquinas.

“There’s this old school, very Christian concept that you love your family, then you love your neighbor, then you love your community, then you love you fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” Vance said in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity that aired Jan. 29.

Read it.

Nearly 8 in 10 U.S. voters agree with President Donald Trump that requiring photo identification to vote is a reasonable measure to protect the integrity of elections, Rasmussen Reports found.

Rasmussen poll results show that 77% of likely voters say requiring photo ID is a reasonable measure to protect election integrity. That’s up from 74% in 2021.

Only 17% say photo ID is not a reasonable measure, while 7% say they’re not sure.

Read it.

Columbia Business School professor Avi Friedman has resigned, citing the university’s decision to appoint a Hamas-praising professor, Joseph Massad, to teach a course on Zionism, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

In his letter, dated Jan. 29, Friedman called his resignation “months in the making” and “unavoidable” given the “events of October 7, 2023, and the university’s subsequent response.” Friedman said he found himself “making excuses” in defense of Columbia and its administrators in the wake of Hamas’s terror attack but “can no longer mask what has become inexcusable and systemic.”

“The university’s decision to appoint Joseph Massad to teach a class on Zionism represents a complete abandonment of academic integrity and unbiased scholarship,” wrote Friedman. “This appointment was no oversight—it represents a deliberate choice that aligns with the university’s ideology.”

Massad, Friedman continued, “stands as a celebrated figure in the intifada movement—a status that Columbia now continues to endorse.”

Read it.

Add Wikipedia to the growing list of media outlets that are ignoring the memo that Donald Trump won the election and liberals are no longer in charge.

In a revealing new report, the Media Research Center, the conservative news watchdog, said on Monday that Wikipedia has effectively blacklisted new sources that lean right, making it a liberal online encyclopedia based on left-wing media, including those well known for lying about Republicans and Trump and promoting conspiracy theories such as Russiagate.

The blacklisting MRC found was stunning. It said no conservative news sites made the fully trustworthy grade, while just 16% of liberal sites were blocked as sources.

Read it.

On Monday, WIRED magazine took it upon themselves to doxx several employees working for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“If you’ve been wondering what Elon Musk and his lackeys are up to since taking control of the US government, look no further,” the magazine posted to X. “Our latest story names six 19- to 24-year-olds working with his DOGE organization, which now has access to sensitive federal systems.”

And so, in a Monday letter to Musk, US Attorney Edward Martin has vowed to protect DOGE employees, and pursue “any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”

“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly,” Martin wrote. “At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”