BUT OF COURSE: San Diego State University Pride Center says ‘fatphobia’ is ‘rooted in anti-Blackness,’ calls on students to champion ‘fat bodies.’

Nobody is afraid of fat people. People just find them unattractive. That’s what all this is about: If you won’t date me you’re a bigot!

DECOUPLING: US probe finds China unfairly dominates shipbuilding, paving way for penalties, sources say.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has concluded China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, three sources familiar with the results of a months-long trade investigation told Reuters.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai launched the probe in April 2024 at the request of the United Steelworkers and four other U.S. unions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the U.S. to penalize foreign countries that engage in acts that are “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable,” or burden U.S. commerce.

Investigators concluded that China targeted the shipbuilding and maritime industry for dominance, using financial support, barriers for foreign firms, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft and procurement policies to give its shipbuilding and maritime industry an advantage, said one of the sources who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Beijing also “severely and artificially suppressed China’s labor costs in the maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sectors,” that person added, citing excerpts of the report.

None of this comes as a huge surprise and all of it was probably inevitable the moment the West welcomed a Communist regime with a billion people into an international economic system meant for free countries.

WE’RE BA-ACK: LIVE: Six Trump Nominees Head to the Hill for Confirmation Hearings.

Watch for the excitement as we try to cover six simultaneous hearings.

A FEEL GOOD STORY FROM X: Crying In The Target Parking Lot.

SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: Recent Academic Writing on the End of the Rule of Law. “Trump never had a chance to remove Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith resigned days before Trump will take office. And before he left, Smith actively closed down the D.C. and Florida federal prosecutions. If these things were wrongful for Trump to do, was it not also wrongful for Smith to do? And if so, do Finkelstein and Painter think Smith should be impeached for wrongdoing in office amounting to high crimes and misdemeanours? Or should Smith be indicted for criminal obstruction of justice?”

No, silly. Some laws only apply to Donald Trump. That’s what “Rule of Law” means in 2025.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Nancy Mace Understands the Republicans’ Assignment for 2025. “Present-day Democrats in Washington are awful people, and feigned tolerance for their antics in vomit-inducing at this point. In addition to being a paste-eating idiot, Jasmine Crockett is a perennially shrieking confrontation monger; Nancy Mace’s response to her was perfect.”

LAYING OFF THE COPY EDITORS WAS A MISTAKE (CONT’D): Ann Althouse has a lengthy analysis of the NYT fashion analysis of Pete Hegseth, but what leapt off the page to me was this (from the Times story): “Unseen was the Uncle Sam jacket linings that Mr. Hegseth [has] occasionally flashed.” Unseen was the linings?. Really?

AT LEAST THE EMPTY SUIT IS A NICE ONE:

If you're missing your word salad bowl, Gavin Newsom has it. https://t.co/1180QGzge5

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) January 15, 2025

HEGSETH HAS A LOT OF DEADWOOD TO CLEAR OUT OF THE PENTAGON:

The Russians here fail to understand the same thing US flag ranks don't.

The economic and organizational barriers to entry to operational/strategic range drone airpower, in massive numbers, that is too cheap to be engaged by missiles. https://t.co/03ApaxQNze

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) January 14, 2025

Three years of this war and the people who should get it about drones still don’t get it about drones.

BYRON YORK: Jack Smith, the prosecutor who would never admit what he was doing.

Legally, I’m not sure he ever knew. Politicaly, we all knew.

I GUESS THAT MEANS GLENN JACOBS WILL BE RUNNING FOR U.S. SENATE: Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs endorses Sen. Marsha Blackburn for governor. “Blackburn and Jacobs, who are close friends, are both strong allies of President-elect Donald Trump and many of their political views align. Instead, Jacobs is likely to position himself for an appointment to Blackburn’s would-be vacant Senate seat if she wins. And his endorsement does just that.”

HERE’S MORE ON HAPPENINGS IN SOUTH KOREA, which deserve more attention than they’ve gotten.

TO BE FAIR, THAT’S BECAUSE DEI IS STUPIID:

🇺🇸 DEI SUPPORT PLUMMETS AS WORKERS SAY "ENOUGH"

American workers are increasingly skeptical of DEI initiatives, with 42% of Republicans now calling them "bad" for business, up from 30% last year.

Looks like those mandatory unconscious bias trainings aren't winning any… pic.twitter.com/5NAlbG17GQ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 15, 2025

Related:

This clip has done irreparable damage to the DEI cause. It is breaking through to normies.

pic.twitter.com/yVutTJPVsp

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 15, 2025

WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED THAT ELECTING A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER TO AN IMPORTANT EXECUTIVE OFFICE WOULD NOT LEAD TO EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE? ‘Lack of Leadership’: L.A. Fire Vet Says No One Prepared Even After Extreme Wind Warnings.

SUNLIGHT IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT: Virginia AG Miyares Ratchets Up Investigation Into American Muslims for Palestine, Files Petition To Enforce Document Request.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.:

As fires raged, and LA Mayor Karen Bass attended a cocktail party in in Ghana, her Deputy Mayor for Public Safety was also unavailable because of "an FBI raid at his house in connection to an investigation regarding a bomb threat he allegedly made against city hall." https://t.co/y3ECPCPKak

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) January 15, 2025

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Beckham Hotel Collection Bed Pillows Standard / Queen Size Set of 2. #CommissionEarned

CRISIS BY DESIGN: Colorado apartment complex occupied by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be closed.

An apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, occupied by members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is being closed by court order, city officials said Monday.

The complex drew national attention in August 2024 following a viral video of armed gang members entering a unit.

Aurora city officials were pursing a lawsuit to declare all but one building at the complex a criminal nuisance.

Last week, they asked a judge to close the property in the meantime because the situation had reached a “breaking point” following the kidnapping and assault in December of two residents, according to CNN.

The court granted the request Friday, ahead of a court hearing Monday on the matter.

Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a court filing that the complex had become a frequent place for crime and there has been a “criminal element that has exerted control and fear” for residents.

However, he later made clear gang members had not taken over the complex and that the main problem was the lack of management and oversight by the property’s owners.

That must be an awfully fine line between a “criminal element that has exerted control and fear” and “gang members had not taken over the complex.”

JONATHAN TURLEY: How Jack Smith Destroyed His Own Case Against Trump.

SEEMS FAIR.

Pete Hegseth Awarded Silver Star For Enduring Roomful Of Hysterical Women https://t.co/r4Ij67GuEz pic.twitter.com/hmA2G5B4sw

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 14, 2025

ROBERT SPENCER: Old Joe Biden Reminds Us Yet Again That Leftists Live in a World of Pure Fantasy. “The left is at war with reality and has been for decades now. And Old Joe Biden has just confirmed that this war is still raging, although it has become so familiar that many Americans overlook the pitched battles that are still being fought.”

ROLE MODEL:

Sen. Mazie Hirono is a true inspiration: no matter your incompetence or lack of discernable skills, you too can become a Senator.

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 14, 2025

READER FAVORITE: G Gradual Men’s Sweatpants with Zipper Pockets. #CommissionEarned

OPEN THREAD: Wherever you go, that’s where you are.

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD IS SEVERELY TEMPTING FATE HERE: