MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Trump’s Message to Xi Jinping: ‘I’m Nuts!’ “Trump, in other words, is his own best attack dog — and there’s nobody holding the leash.”

WINNING: Six big US banks quit net zero alliance before Trump inauguration.

JP Morgan is the latest to withdraw from the UN-sponsored net zero banking alliance (NZBA), following Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. All six have left since the start of December.

Analysts have said the withdrawals are an attempt to head off “anti-woke” attacks from rightwing US politicians, which are expected to escalate when Trump is sworn in as the country’s 47th president in just under a fortnight.

Trump’s vows to deregulate the energy sector, dismantle environmental rules and “drill, baby, drill”, were a big part of his campaign platform and are expected to form a key part of his blueprint for governing the US, the world’s biggest oil and gas producer.

Paddy McCully, a senior analyst at the campaign group Reclaim Finance, said: “The sudden exodus of these big US banks out of the NZBA is a lily-livered effort to avoid criticism from Trump and his climate denialist cronies.

“A few years ago, when climate change was at the front of the political agenda, the banks were keen to boast of their commitments to act on climate. Now that the political pendulum has swung in the other direction, suddenly acting on climate does not seem so important for the Wall Street lenders.”

To be fair, the banks weren’t “acting on climate.” They thought they were hopping on a government gravy train. Now that it’s about to derail, they’re jumping off.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: What Will Hamas Do Without Its Friends the Democrats in Power? “Violence is the only language Hamas understands and responds to, as Israel is all too painfully aware. Its leaders grasp the none-too-subtly implied threat of it from Trump. That means they know that they’re on the clock and only have mere days left before Israel once again has a true ally in the United States.”

DECOUPLING: China’s Biggest Shipping Line Added to US Military Blacklist.

The US has blacklisted China’s largest shipping line and two shipbuilders over alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army, as Washington turns its attention to the country’s massive maritime sector.

Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. was named in a Federal Register filing on Tuesday, qualifying it as a Chinese military company as determined by the Pentagon, along with China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Trading Co. While the blacklist carries no specific penalties, it discourages US firms from dealing with those companies.

It also signals increased scrutiny of marine transport and shipbuilding as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House. China has the world’s largest shipbuilding sector, producing more than half of merchant vessels globally, while the US industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation.

It’s criminal — and bipartisan — what Congress has allowed to happen to our shipbuilding, maintenance, Navy, and merchant marine.

IT’S EVEN HARDER BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO DESIRE TO DO EITHER ONE: Resisting Authoritarian Impulses Is Hard for the Left. Tolerating Free Speech Is Harder.

“IT IS A BITTER TRADEOFF”: An Open Letter to Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg: The Strategic Realities of the War in Ukraine.

After 1,000 days of war, there seems to be no end in sight. Ukrainian forces have pushed into the Kursk Oblast, occupying the Sudzhansky Rayon and have a tentative grip on the territory, creating a bulge that must be defended, while serving as an occupying force. Russian forces batter relentlessly against entrenched Ukrainian defenders from Kupyarsk to Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas. Although both sides put their hopes in fielding a new weapons system or missile will change the course of the war, it is a false hope: this is a war of attrition. Despite Russia’s often admired sophisticated concepts of war at the operational level, the Russian armed forces are incapable of applying them. Their leadership has neither the imagination, nor do their combat units have the training, to conduct sophisticated joint operations or combined arms maneuver. Russian forces have naturally, almost unconsciously, reverted to the model of war their grandfathers and great-great grandfathers understood: simple, straightforward, uncomplicated, unsophisticated infantry assaults backed by mass artillery strikes with the belief that enough men and steel thrown against the enemy will eventually break them. It has been the approach from the Masurian Lakes to Grozny. The Russians accept casualties at a rate that has astounded their enemies for over 100 years; the Russian soldier is capable of enduring atrocious conditions that would destroy the morale of any other army. New wrinkles have been introduced, with mostly indiscriminate rocket and missile attacks and the arrival of thousands of mercenaries from around the globe along with North Korean combat troops. Yet, the model of simple attrition is unchanged. The enemy inevitably wears down before the Russian steamroller wears down.

The Ukrainian armed forces have shown remarkable resilience and morale, adapting quickly, and fighting tenaciously, while continuously introducing and integrating new capabilities that are changing the tactical battlefield forever. And yet, like all those who have faced the Russian army for over a century, it is difficult to sustain units in combat as they suffer casualties and fewer and fewer replacements are available as the manpower pool shrinks. This affects front line unit morale and cohesiveness and wears on the national will.

Because neither side can achieve its goals, there must be a new approach to ending this war.

Much more at the link.

VICTORIA TAFT: What Started L.A.’s Firestorm? Hint: It’s Not ‘Climate Change.’

LAUGHING WOLF: A Resignation.

My mother was always into family, which is to say the actions of ancestors in the past who gave some cachet to those still living. She actually became a rather well respected genealogist for her work to establish legal proofs on various lines. For her, every link to royalty and nobility was yet more proof of our goodness and superiority. Me, well, I rather enjoyed the playboys, cattle thieves, and other less-than-stellar ancestors. I’ve met various members of royalty over the years, and frankly with a few exceptions I’d rather drink with whores and rogues. The latter are far better sorts in my opinion.

That said, I also have to admit I enjoyed being a direct descendant of Duncan slain by the traitor MacBeth. Of course, I am one of many who suspect the family paid off Shakespeare to make Duncan into a saint when he was far from it. It was interesting to have more than one connection to the current royal family of England. And, I have enjoyed being a member of a society The Friends of St. George’s. Another earned it, but it was interesting to be a descendant of one who had done great things.

However, current events do have an impact on the past.

Read the whole thing.

IT HELPS TO KNOW HOW THINGS WORK, ASIDE FROM PUSHING THE BUTTON:

I listened to an interview on the radio about the fires in California. A woman being interviewed said she couldn't leave her house because the power was out and her garage door is electric. Apparently she doesn't know the pull cord dangling from the door allows her to open it.

— Military Arms (@MAC_Arms) January 8, 2025

Left unsaid: Did the interviewer fill her in or were they just as clueless?

THERE’S PLENTY MORE TRAGEDY YET TO UNFOLD, LARGELY SELF-INFLICTED:

A couple of years ago, insurance companies put in the necessary requests to the state of California to raise their rates. They were denied. So most of them pulled out of CA. It has been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get house ins here since then.
Many of these now… https://t.co/1Ghd5In1OA

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) January 8, 2025

CORN, POPPED: Did Sunny Hostin Rat Out Her Husband on The View? “On the December 11 show, The View discussed the Left’s sexual fascination with back-shooting coward Luigi Mangione, who assassinated United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and had recently been captured. The hosts debated whether Mangione deserved any sympathy, and that’s when Hostin decided to add in her two cents. Or rather, her physician husband’s two cents, so to speak.”

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’:

#BREAKING eight Senate Democrats now say they will vote for the Laken Riley act, a major blow to Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and the far left, & a major early victory for Trump. This is a big shift inside the Democrat party toward cracking down on the border crisis…

— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) January 8, 2025

Elections have consequences.

INCENTIVES MATTER: Trump’s Tariff Threats Are Working Already to Curb Illegal Immigration.

THE ENEMY WITHIN:

🚨 NYU IS A JOKE 🚨

Dr. Linda Luu canceled her class to attend an anti-Israel rally and told her students to "join me at the picket line." Instead of teaching, she joined a mob trying to block access to the library during finals.

NYU is letting professors push propaganda and… pic.twitter.com/00FooDRL7g

— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) January 7, 2025

I’m (just) old enough to remember when Jesse Jackson was referring to New York City as “Hymietown.”

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Biden Finally Sits Down for Another Interview, Really Shouldn’t Have. “Thank goodness for transcripts — although I’d be shocked to learn if USA Today hadn’t heavily edited this one — because Page also left out a sundowner moment that would be shocking if we hadn’t seen so many of them already.”

THERE’S STILL PLENTY OF BIDENFLATION BAKED IN: Mortgage rates hit highest level since July, crushing application demand.

HE’S THE T-800 OF STUPID IDEAS: Guess Who Is Already Talking About Impeaching Trump Again.

NOBODY SAID THIS WAS GOING TO BE EASY: Tom Homan: We’re Deporting Venezuelan Illegal Aliens. Venezuela: We Don’t Want Them Back. Homan: Tough. “Homan says he’s going to send them all back, no matter what the Caracas commies say.”

THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN: Brad Parscale Joins Salem Media as Chief Strategy Officer. “Parscale is perhaps best known for his digital strategy during Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and for revolutionizing modern political campaigning.”

HMM: General Mark Milley, Pentagon approved directed-energy weapons for use on June 2020 DC rioters, source says. “It can stop the heart, make you s**t your pants and disrupt any number of bodily functions.”

PRIORITIES:

🚨#BREAKING: FEMA is NOT ANSWERING the phone calls of #WNC victims begging to extend their motel stays.

Mike McGraw, a retired veteran said,

"I only have one option, to live in my truck until I can find some other place to live."

It's 16° and snowing outside. pic.twitter.com/IGNAnQHRIU

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) January 8, 2025

FEMA seems to have some decent digs, though.

https://t.co/VW5ik8s98t pic.twitter.com/XTqSKKDjXt

— NC MELUNGEON Contrarian Documentarian (@ETEGriftless) January 8, 2025

THE GREAT ICY GAME: Okay, Trump Is Serious About Acquiring Greenland, and the Game Is Heating Up.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’: Melania Trump signs documentary deal with Amazon for whopping sum — with cameos from Barron and Donald.

Former and future first lady Melania Trump has inked an eye-popping $40 million deal with Amazon to license a documentary on her life — with cameos from her husband, Donald, and son, Barron.

The documentary, directed by “Rush Hour” auteur Brett Ratner, is set to be released later this year — with one source close to the agreement suggesting it could spawn multiple projects.

The hefty price tag was first reported by Puck News and covers the rights to projects involving Mrs. Trump over the next four years.

Page Six has learned that Disney was also in the running and bid $14 million, only to be swamped by the internet giant.

Amazon and Disney in a bidding war over the first lady who couldn’t even get a fashion mag cover during her husband’s first administration?

Yuge.

PRIORITIES: While Los Angeles Burns, Mayor Bass Parties in Ghana, Fire Chief Fiddles with DEI.

RED-PILLED: Facebook’s Fact-Checkers Changed the Way I See Tech—and Speech—Forever.

Back in February 2020, when I was the Sunday editor of the New York Post, China expert Steven Mosher pitched me a theory about how the coronavirus started. Back then, it was believed it came from a wet market in Wuhan, but Steven was unconvinced. He said it was much more likely it had leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which had been doing experiments with the coronavirus for years.

This was before the lockdowns, and before Covid had spread across America and killed millions worldwide. Some experts had just started talking about the possibility of a global pandemic.

I was happy to publish Steven’s piece, because I figured the world would want to hear an alternative idea at an important moment from a social scientist who had lived in China and written books about the country.

I was right about the story. (In fact, the lab leak theory is now seen as the most likely explanation for Covid’s origins.) But I was wrong—and naive—to think anyone in power would want to hear it.

We published the piece on February 22, under the headline “Don’t Buy China’s Story: The Coronavirus May Have Leaked from a Lab.” It immediately went viral, its audience swelling for a few hours as readers liked and shared it over and over again.

I had a data tracker on my screen that showed our web traffic, and I could see the green line for my story surging up and up. Then suddenly, for no reason, the green line dropped like a stone. No one was reading or sharing the piece. It was as though it had never existed at all.

Seeing the story’s traffic plunge, I was stunned. I thought, How does that even happen? How does a story that thousands of people are reading and sharing suddenly just disappear?

Read the whole thing.