FASTER, PLEASE: New Semiconductor Technologies Driving Down Cost Of Electric Vehicle Batteries.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Dems Seem Disappointed That Trump Won’t Bomb Tehran. “If you’re wondering whether I am implying that Democrats wouldn’t care if American troops were in harm’s way if it would help them defeat Trump in November, I am not. I’m saying it outright.”

UKRAINE AIRLINER CRASH: What we know so far about the victims and how it happened. “Ukraine and Iran have agreed to jointly investigate what happened to the Boeing 737-800 plane, but Iran said it would not give the black boxes to Boeing or U.S. aviation authorities. ”

If they still won’t turn over the black box, then they’re hindering the investigation, not joining it.

IT WOULD BE A REAL SHAME IF THEY HAD TO FALL BACK ON HER LUCRATIVE TV CAREER: How Will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Earn Money?

ANDREA MITCHELL SEES WHAT SHE WANTS TO SEE: ‘The worst national security team that I’ve ever seen.’

COCAINE MITCH: McConnell just ate Pelosi and Schumer’s lunch.

Like your Aunt Frieda threatening not to bring her awful fruitcake to Christmas Dinner, their plan didn’t work. Nobody wanted it in the first place.

McConnell won this round against his Keystone Cops opposition because he has something Schumer and Pelosi don’t: a reasonable argument.

The Senate majority leader has insisted from the beginning that if the House were to impeach Trump, the Senate should treat him the same way it treated Bill Clinton in 1998. So, McConnell has steadfastly argued for the same rules package that passed the Senate 100-0 in the Clinton iteration. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” makes a pretty sensible argument.

The Democrats have raged against his position. This is different, they say.

Because reasons. And also shut up.

FAKE NEWS: MSNBC Repeats Iranian Propaganda That Missile Strikes Killed 30 U.S. Soldiers.

They’re not antiwar; they’re on the other side.

NYUK, NYUK, NYUK: Iran Strikes Concrete, Downs Airliner, Steps Up Cyberwar, Channels Curly.

MUST-FLEE TV: Read the Trump Derangement Behind ‘Party of Five’ 2.0.

The minds behind the Fox series “Party of Five” didn’t want to revive the show for the usual reasons.

Nostalgia sells, of course, and new versions of “Will & Grace,” “Veronica Mars” and “Roseanne” scored (again) with audiences. Amy Lippman, who created the ’90s hit “Party of Five” with Chris Keyser, told the TV’s Top 5 Podcast that she needed a better reason to bring the story back to primetime TV.

The nation’s immigration crisis, and a hearty case of Trump Derangement, gave her team all the rocket fuel required.

Read the whole thing.

GETTING WHAT YOU VOTED FOR, GOOD AND HARD: Uber Announces Reduced Rewards, Hidden Pricing to Comply with California Law.

HE ISN’T WRONG: Barack Obama Paid For The Missiles Used To Attack U.S. Forces, Says Trump.

BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Lincoln Chafee files to run for president as a Libertarian.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW? ‘This was an act of war’: Lawmakers react to Iran’s missile strike on US military bases.

As Richard Fernandez noted the other day, the Suleimani killing forced Iran’s 40-year-war with us out of the shadows — where they can’t afford to fight.

REMEMBER LIBYA? Thank God It’s Donald Trump in the White House and Not Warmonger Hillary Clinton.

To be fair, at this point I’m not sure the people in what used to be Libya can still remember Libya.

TO BE FAIR, BIDEN SAYS A LOT OF STUFF WITH LITTLE OR NO BASIS IN REALITY: Biden in 2010 Said Iran’s Influence in Iraq Was ‘Greatly Exaggerated.’

HMM: Iran fears US war – May have deliberately missed hitting Americans in missile attacks.

ILAN BERMAN: Exploiting Iran’s Imperial Overstretch. “Quite suddenly, the Islamic Republic finds itself facing serious setbacks in the Middle East. After years of strategic gains fueled by the dividends of its 2015 nuclear deal with the West, Iran’s clerical regime has started to weather significant reversals in the region in recent weeks. These developments — from unrest in Iraq and Lebanon to renewed grassroots protests within the Islamic Republic itself — suggest that, contrary to the public proclamations of its officials, Iran’s geostrategic position is in fact far from secure. These same indicators also suggest that the United States now has a crucial opening to further weaken the regime in Tehran, should the Trump administration choose to seize the opportunity.”

The Mullahs are broke, unpopular at home and abroad, are stuck in quagmires in Iraq and Syria, they just lost their terror mastermind, and were just put back in the box Obama let them out of.

But other than that, I suppose they’re doing just fine.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Iran Retaliated, Sort Of: So Now What? “Trump’s attitude seems to be that if the Mullahs want peace, they can have it. If they don’t, he’ll do to the next guy what he did to Suleimani. If last night’s ‘retaliation’ is anything to go by, Tehran seems to be very receptive to Trump all of a sudden. Iran reportedly alerted both Baghdad and Washington, quietly, that an attack was imminent, and then made sure the missiles were badly targeted. Hence, zero casualties. The harmless explosions were mostly for domestic propaganda purposes, so the Mullahs have something to show the people on TV and claim to have killed a jillion infidels with their mighty missiles or whatever. But the whole world knows exactly what they just saw: Tehran backing down after Trump ordered the death of their terror mastermind.”

You’ll want to read the whole thing.

INCENTIVES, HOW DO THEY WORK? Ohio Town Rolls Out Red Carpet for Homeless. Is Shocked When Stream of Homeless Show Up.

OH, WHAT A NIGHT: As Iran Launched Missiles at U.S. Troops, There Was a Mysterious Plane Crash in Iran. Oh, and a Couple of Earthquakes.

JONATHAN TURLEY: Democratic impeachment case collapses under weight of time.

The witness was Charles Kupperman, a deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton. Other than Bolton himself, Kupperman is one of the officials most likely to have direct knowledge of an alleged quid pro quo on aid to Ukraine. After subpoenaing him last fall, the House withdrew its request before the court could rule on compelling his testimony for the record. The House also decided not to subpoena Bolton or any other key witnesses in the administration. Judge Richard Leon dismissed the case before New Years Eve with a hint of frustration, if not bewilderment, that the House did not seem interested in hearing from a possible eyewitness. Historically, that lack of attention in not only witnesses but also a triable case will remain one of the most baffling blunders of this impeachment.

When I testified in the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, I cited this case in my criticism of the pledge by Democrats to impeach Trump by Christmas despite a very incomplete record. While I opposed some of the proposed articles of impeachment that were subsequently dropped by the panel, I said Trump could be legitimately impeached on abuse of power and obstruction of justice if the House could establish such violations. But the House refused to wait just a couple months to build a much stronger case to remove Trump. In the mad rush to push impeachment, Democrats could not have made it easier for his team.

I’m convinced Democrats rushed it because A) They could not indeed make a legitimate impeachment on abuse of power and obstruction of justice, and B) they needed out of the headlines ASAP.

INSANE: A Borrower Will Be 114 When Bonds Backed by Her Student Loans Mature.

Julie Chinnock is 50 years old and owes about $250,000 in student loans. She was happy to get a new payment plan that lowered her monthly bill, but the holders of two bonds backed by her loans were probably less cheerful.

The two bonds were due in 2043 and 2054, but Ms. Chinnock and other borrowers were paying less each month under a new government plan that tied debt payments to income. Because borrowers were taking longer to pay off their loans, there was a risk the bonds backed by the loans wouldn’t be paid off in time. Bond-rating firms were watching and getting ready to downgrade the highly rated bonds, potentially causing losses for investors.

The issuer of the bonds and the investors who owned them hatched a plan to avoid the downgrades. Their solution: make sure bonds were paid off in time by extending their maturity dates by decades. The bonds that include a big chunk of Ms. Chinnock’s loans now mature in 2083, when she will turn 114.

Nothing ends up being more expensive than government efforts to make things more affordable.

JAZZ SHAW: The Odd Timing Of That Ukrainian Airline Crash And Earthquake. “The President is scheduled to make an announcement later this morning, but I wouldn’t expect any specific details as to what if any ‘retaliation for the retaliation’ might be on the way. But does Trump even feel a need to hit them again? At least as of now, there are no reported casualties from Iran’s missile strike. In fact, none of the missiles hit the areas where American troops would be found. They mostly hit areas occupied by Iraqi forces and several of them missed their targets entirely.”

The smart move might be to sit back — guard up, of course — and let Tehran demonstrate even more of their impotence, should they choose.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Not Quite World War III Edition. “Trump Derangement Syndrome has now morphed into Iranian Apology and Appeasement Syndrome and, like every part of this Trump tantrum, is beyond wearisome.”

I WONDER HOW MUCH LITTLE PROMPTING SHE’D NEED TO SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT TRUMP: Meghan McCain Has To Ask Warren Three Times To Admit Soleimani Was A Terrorist.