Archive for 2025

INDEED:

TikTok is a tool of a hostile foreign power.

UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Assassination of an escort leads to miniskirt ban in world’s least popular parliament.

Detectives immediately knew they were dealing with a professional hit. The criminals had riddled the taxi with some 40 bullets, yet stole nothing from the dying driver and passenger.

But what puzzled them was the identity of the victim of the ferocious attack in the centre of Lima, Peru’s chaotic capital, last December. That passenger, Andrea Vidal, 27, was a slim, photogenic lawyer and former congressional aide.

By the time she succumbed to her injuries in intensive care one week later, investigators had begun to unearth a scandal shocking even by the rock-bottom standards of the Andean nation’s ethically-challenged Congress – a prostitution ring allegedly operating within the legislative palace itself.

Politicians initially sought to ignore the mushrooming scandal, which Ms Vidal, who was part of the ring, had reportedly been on the point of revealing when she was killed.

But public pressure finally forced them to act. Last week, they banned female aides from wearing miniskirts and shorts.

Well, that ought to solve the problem.

OUR NEW NORM IS “ANYTHING GOES:”

INAUGURATION LIVE:

Trump looks less tired after 8 years of hell than most presidents do after serving four years. “The golden age of America begins right now.”

UPDATE:

The Insta-Wife from downstairs: “Have you been watching Kamala’s face?”

Flashback: Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

MORE: “I don’t think I’ve ever watched an inauguration so closely. The indoor setting brings the focus to the individual faces…”

And from the PJ Liveblog:

HARSH, BUT AT THIS SAD POINT IN BRITISH HISTORY, FAIR:

Related:

REPORT: Trump Inaugural Speech Promises ‘Revolution of Common Sense’ for America.

In an exclusive report, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published that incoming President Donald Trump is going to call for a “revolution of common sense” during his inaugural address in Washington D.C. on Monday.

WSJ reportedly received remarks Trump is allegedly expected to say during his first address as the 47th president of the United States.

“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country,” Trump will supposedly say. “My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”

Related: America braces for an avalanche of Trump executive orders on day one.

THE EV BUBBLE CONTINUES TO DEFLATE: Canoo Inc. Announces Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filing. “Despite being American-made, successfully delivering to such esteemed organizations as NASA, the Department of Defense (“DOD”), The United States Postal Service (“USPS”), the State of Oklahoma and having agreements with Walmart and others, Canoo has unfortunately been unable to secure financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Loan Program Office. Recently, the company’s executives were in discussions with foreign sources of capital. In light of the fact that these efforts were unsuccessful, the Board has made the difficult decision to file for insolvency.”

Judging by the press release, the company’s business model was to get government loans to finance the production of EVs for purchase by governments.

MINORITY REPORT: Biden Issues Pre-Emptive Pardons on Last Day in Office.

Just hours before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for a number of high-profile figures, shielding them from potential retribution by the incoming administration.

The pre-emptive pardons were announced Monday morning for Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lawmakers and staff that served on the Jan. 6 Committee, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.

In his 1956 novel Minority Report, later adapted into a 2003 movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, Philip K. Dick created the “precrime unit” that would predict future crimes to be committed by potential miscreants. But can a president issue a pardon before a sentence has been issued? At the Justice.gov Office of the Pardon Attorney is the following question and answer:

Can the President pardon someone before they are indicted, convicted, or sentenced for a federal offense against the United States?

It would be highly unusual, but there have been a few cases where people who had not been charged with a crime were pardoned, including President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Richard Nixon after Watergate, President Jimmy Carter’s pardon of Vietnam draft dodgers and President George H.W. Bush’s pardon of Caspar Weinberger. President Donald J. Trump pardoned Joseph Arpaio and others after they were charged and convicted, but prior to sentencing. See Pardons Granted by President Donald Trump (justice.gov)

Fauci is no doubt thrilled to have gotten his precrime pardon, but issues a “what, me worry?” public statement: Fauci Issues Statement After Pre-Emptive Pardon. Conservatives Respond. “I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,’ he said.”

UPDATE:

As for the January 6th committee members:

UPDATE (from Steve): To Gerald Ford’s credit, he didn’t issue a midnight pardon to Nixon and willingly took the political hit for it. It’s a completely different thing that Biden did, filled with spite for our institutions and, oddly enough, his own (already tattered) credibility.

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING:

Soon you will hear the lamentations of their womyn.

I DUNNO, THERE ARE STILL NEARLY TWO HOURS LEFT: Dear Joe: NOW Are You Done Breaking the Country?

Did you ever have to deal with the last guy to leave the party who wouldn’t take the hint that the fun ended an hour ago and he’s the only reason you aren’t in bed already, sleeping it off? You finally maneuvered him to the front door, the Uber is honking in the driveway, but he won’t wrap up the 12″ extended dance mix of “Goodnight!” and leave.

Presidentish Joe Biden has been on his way out the door since June, and that sound you hear outside is an Uber driver at the absolute end of his patience.

One empathizes.

Much more at the link.

THERE’S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Facing Trump’s mass deportation plans, some sanctuary cities shift their tone.

Leaders of several sanctuary cities where officials had prominently rejected Donald Trump’s first-term immigration policies are shifting their tone as he prepares to take office again and carry out his mass deportation plans.

Some local officials have softened on how closely they want their cities to be identified with the “sanctuary city” label and have pledged to work with federal immigration authorities. But others have doubled down on their cities being sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants and reject any notion that they’d cooperate with a Trump administration seeking to deport millions of them.

The mixed approaches of officials in some of the largest and heavily Democratic cities in the U.S. underscore the country’s shifting politics on immigration. While leaders in these cities largely — and often loudly — rejected Trump’s immigration policies when he was last in the White House, some are now willing to work more closely with his administration on a top priority or tamp down their rhetoric.

Resistance is futile.