THE GRANDSTANDING WAS SHORT-LIVED:
After major backlash from Californians and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the Assembly walked back a vote on Newsom’s $50 million slush fund to sue Trump.
Los Angeles is battling a catastrophic wildfire, and California faces a massive budget deficit for future years. The…
— Brian W. Jones (@SenBrianJones) January 30, 2025
WITH MORE TO FOLLOW, ONE HOPES: Trump Deals Two Blows to Wokenesss.
ALLIES, NOT FRIENDS: Avoiding the NATO Burden: “Denmark has made the skill of cheating the US into an art” Writes Danish Editor; “Denmark Deserves No Respect from America.” “In relation to NATO, Denmark has for decades opposed American interests by pursuing a peddling strategy that is about securing security policy guarantees from the United States while at the same time avoiding having to carry its share of the burden in NATO. Denmark has made the skill of cheating the US into an art. In January 2025, Denmark’s real contribution to NATO is approximately 1.7 percent of GDP excluding donations to Ukraine, directly contrary to the agreement of 2 percent of GDP. The SVM government claims that Denmark spends 2.4 percent of its GDP on defense and security, but the Danish attempt to cheat NATO has been condemned and rejected by several NATO countries and the former Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, as the donations to Ukraine do not contribute to Denmark’s or NATO’s defense capabilities.”
If NATO is going to work, members have to contribute their fair share.
SPACE: Bennu asteroid samples yield watery history, key molecules for life.
A bright fireball streaked across the sky above mountains, glaciers, and spruce forest near the town of Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of March 31, 1965. Fragments of this meteorite, discovered by beaver trappers, fell over a lake. A layer of ice saved them from the depths and allowed scientists a peek into the birth of the solar system.
Nearly 60 years later, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned from space with a sample of an asteroid named Bennu, similar to the one that rained rocks over Revelstoke. Our research team has published a chemical analysis of those samples, providing insight into how some of the ingredients for life may have first arrived on Earth.
Born in the years bracketing the Revelstoke meteorite’s fall, the two of us have spent our careers in the meteorite collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the Natural History Museum in London. We’ve dreamed of studying samples from a Revelstoke-like asteroid collected by a spacecraft.
Then, nearly two decades ago, we began turning those dreams into reality. We joined NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission team, which aimed to send a spacecraft to collect and return an asteroid sample to Earth. After those samples arrived on Sept. 24, 2023, we got to dive into a tale of rock, ice, and water that hints at how life could have formed on Earth.
Fred Hoyle, call your office.
DAYS OF (FEMALE) RAGE:
Amy Klobuchar — you just made the list. ✅ pic.twitter.com/q4mADkgYg6
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 30, 2025
Democrats used to be so much better at optics than Republicans almost ever were. But then the Hollywood-Media-Democrat Axis went Woke, optics went out the window, and then Republicans went with the most optics-savvy nominee since Reagan.
CONFIRM HIM ASAP: Patel Vows to Stop ‘Government Overreach’ of Which He Was Victim
THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP AND SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS:
RACISM? Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opposes voter ID but is requiring proof of residency and photo ID to enter the Pacific Palisades area. What about all of the minority residents who can’t obtain ID?
h/t @WallStreetMav pic.twitter.com/gowuAGlnDA
— @amuse (@amuse) January 30, 2025
The needs of the Party are subject to change, comrade.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: The Real Reason Stars Are Suddenly Targeting Trump. “The answer is simple. The stars in question are now in Campaign Mode. No, they’re not running for office. They’re trying to snag more votes for their Oscar-nominated films.”
Much more at the link.
BLUE CITY BLUES: Goodbye Pacific Palisades, Hello Full Communism.
THEY WORKED VERY HARD TO GET TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY:
I’ve never seen a poll like this…
🔵Democratic Party:
31% – Favorable
57% – Unfavorable (-26)The Democratic Party has never been more unpopular in modern-American history. pic.twitter.com/R4vbXZYA3A
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) January 29, 2025
THREAD: “I’m friends with a military helicopter pilot who set up the rotary component of Operation Noble Eagle, (the layered air defense system to secure DC after 9/11). I write books about transportation incidents (mostly ships). Here’s what he told me with a breakdown for laymen.”
But we learn nothing by blaming the pilots or air traffic controllers. Worse still it takes pressure off the airline executives, manufacturers and bureaucrats who contributed to the incident.
This is why NTSB being independent is SO important
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) January 30, 2025
Read the whole thing and let the NTSB get to work.
THAT WOULD BE NICE: Utah Senator Wants to Let Kids Be Kids.
THE EV BUBBLE CONTINUES TO DEFLATE: Volkswagen Cancels the ID.7. It Won’t Be Coming to America After All.
The German automaker was originally planning to launch the mid-size sedan in the US in 2024, a year after starting to market it in Europe, but decided to move back the date, waiting for the right time. However, the right time never came.
Late last year, Pablo Di Si, former President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, who has since resigned, claimed the electric sedan could still hit the market in 2025. However, Volkswagen officially announced it changed its mind and the model would not be coming to the US after all.
A spokesperson from the brand confirmed the information for Automotive News, explaining that the ongoing challenging EV climate is to blame for the decision. However, EV sales figures went up by 9% in 2024, while the ICE-powered car market continued its decline down the slope it has been sliding for the past few years.
Left unsaid: the adoption rate for EVs is decelerating and autmakers like VW that went all-in on giving up ICE are feeling the pain.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Trump’s Rebranding Will Bring an All New Clientele to Guantánamo Bay. “As surprises in the news go, this is one of the greatest ones I’ve had in a while. After four years of a presidential administration that celebrated criminality, we now have someone in charge who revels in proving that he is the opposite of whatever the hell went on during the Biden slog. Trump is willing to treat heinous people like they’re heinous people. That’s a radical departure from Team Biden’s approach.”
OH, SHE’S GOOD:
🇺🇸 PRESS SEC: TAXPAYERS EXPECT FEDERAL WORKERS TO SHOW UP
Reporter:
“But is there any concern that we risk losing people with years of experience, like doctors and, let's say, scientists?”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:
“Most doctors who work in actual hospitals and… pic.twitter.com/msUgR5sVwG
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 29, 2025
To be fair, it probably doesn’t take any great skill to make a GMA anchor look ridiculous.
REESTABLISHING THE BORDER: Trump rolls back deportation protections for thousands of Venezuelans. Here’s what that means.
The Trump administration’s decision to revoke the recent extension of Temporary Protected Status granted to Venezuelans by former President Joe Biden could affect hundreds of thousands living and working in the United States, setting the stage for possible deportations.
Here is a look at some of the key questions and answers about the issue.
What is Temporary Protected Status?
TPS is a federal program that gives temporary deportation protections and work permits to people in the United States from countries in turmoil. The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to designate a country for TPS. Besides Venezuela, countries that currently also have the status include El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Nicaragua and Ukraine, among others. To qualify, people must have been in the United States before a certain cutoff date that Homeland Security sets when it announces the designation.
When was Venezuela designated for TPS status?
The Biden administration first designated Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status in March 2021, a decision that was widely celebrated in South Florida. In October 2023, Biden created a second designation for Venezuela that included an additional half-million people.
People are upset because everybody understood that “temporary” for the Biden Cabal really meant “forever.”
MAKE AN EXAMPLE: Portland Police Chief Blatantly Refuses to Help ICE, Enforce Laws.
WHEN YOU’VE RUN OUT OF THINGS TO SCARE PEOPLE WITH…: Climate change could spark outbreaks of DIARRHOEA in Britain, scientists warn.
PRO-CHOICE: GOP Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Expand School Choice. “Introduced Wednesday, the Educational Choice for Children Act provides a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to fund scholarships for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education. School Choice Week began Monday.”
And on the Senate side: Sen. Mike Lee Introduces ACE Act to Promote School Choice. “The ACE Act increases tax exemptions for families to make private school or homeschooling more affordable for parents and encourages states to adopt school choice programs.”
Full text:
There cannot be a “hostile takeover of the civil service.” The civil service is not a check on the Executive Branch- it IS the Executive Branch. If a Department, Office, Bureau, program, or individual is doing something counter to the will of the Executive, it’s well within the Executive’s right to nip such behavior in the bud. Because the Executive was elected by the will of the people. The bureaucracy was not.
“Prevent the civil service from becoming the President’s henchmen.” What absolute drivel.
Left-wing ideals have been left to fester and seep into every aspect of the so-called civil service, to the point it feels emboldened to act as an unelected, unvetted check on the President. Nonsense. There are three branches of gov’t that are intended to check and balance each other: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. There is no fourth branch called “The Bureuacracy” that has the right to check or balance the other three.
The bureaucracy in DC is as entrenched as a tumor grown in the bone, sucking the life force out of this country. It will take a lot of surgery – some of it messy – to fix all that damage.
There will likely be collateral damage but, at this point, fewer and fewer people probably give a damn.
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