AND ANOTHER ONE: JetBlue plane’s tail struck runway of Colorado airport as captain took off quickly to avoid HEAD-ON collision with incoming jet in latest horror near-miss over American skies.

THEY LARGELY ARE. THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE: Members of the Elite Think They’re Untouchable.

COFFEE, IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Coffee grounds hold the key to preventing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. “Their work centers around caffeic-acid based Carbon Quantum Dots (CACQDs), derived from discarded coffee grounds, which may offer protection to brain cells against the damage triggered by various factors including obesity, aging, and exposure to toxic environmental chemicals.”

YES. NEXT QUESTION? Shoplifting Isn’t Really Out of Control, Is It?

ENERGY: China brings world’s first Generation IV nuclear reactor online. “Generation IV reactors are the latest, long-anticipated nuclear power plants that promise to be cheaper, safer, and more efficient than the current reactors. They’re called Generation IV because Generation I were the first experimental reactors, Generation II were the first commercial reactors, Generation III were improved versions of Gen II, and Generation IV are the future reactors that incorporate new technologies, fuels, and basic designs.”

LOCK ‘EM UP: Old School Election Deniers: The Hill Publishes Breathless Op-Ed Whining About Bush vs Gore.

SEVEN-FIGURE WELFARE: DEI Is Welfare For People Like Claudine Gay Who Couldn’t Get A Job Without Identity Politics.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Republicans May Not Be Able to Get Out of Their Own Way Next Year. “The GOP has done something this year that I didn’t think was possible: they’ve taken the already useless presidential primary debate system and made it worse. The blame for that goes to the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel.”

HARDBALL: Elon Musk goes after Biden Administration following $900 million SpaceX loss.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 12 reaffirmed its 2022 decision to reject SpaceX’s application for nearly $900 million in broadband subsidies.

Following SpaceX’s challenge of the initial decision, the FCC said in a statement that Elon Musk’s space company failed to “meet basic program requirements” in its bid to receive funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program.

The program is meant to expand broadband access in rural areas.

SpaceX’s Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 18, 2023. SpaceX on November 18, 2023, carried out the second test launch of Starship, the largest rocket ever built that Elon Musk hopes will one day colonize Mars, while NASA awaits a modified version to land humans on the Moon. It comes after a first attempt to fly the spaceship in its fully-stacked configuration back in April ended in a spectacular explosion over the Gulf of Mexico.

The FCC said that, after passing an initial application stage, SpaceX later failed to demonstrate to the agency that it “could deliver the promised service.” The agency said in its statement that funding the request would “not be the best use of limited” resources.

Starlink — I’m a customer — is tailor-made for rural areas. Anyone in its coverage area (that’s pretty much the entire US) with $600 to spend on equipment can have access almost immediately without any wait for someone to lay cable.

You have to figure that cutting Starlink out of Biden’s much-hyped rural access program is nothing but punishment for Musk’s Twitter/X purchase.

JUST HELP KEEP ISRAEL ARMED WELL ENOUGH TO KILL THEM ALL: Senators Call on UN to Open an ‘Independent Investigation’ Into Hamas Sexual Violence.

WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE? White House cleans up Biden’s claim that Israel is losing support: John Kirby insists the U.S. and Netanyahu STILL have a close relationship and the president still believes in a two-state solution as he’s bombarded with questions.

Pressed repeatedly about the status of American-Israeli relations and if Biden was putting conditions on his support of the war against Hamas, Kirby said: ‘He expressed those concerns as a real friend of Israel, somebody who loves and respects Israel and has for his whole public life.’

He noted that Biden and Netanyahu remain friends.

‘They have a long standing relationship. They’re going to keep that relationship. They’re going to keep talking. I think you can expect that he will be talking to Prime Minister Netanyahu in the future about what we can do to continue to support Israel.’

The American reassurance came after Israel vowed its war against Hamas will continue no matter what and rejected one of Biden’s key requests regarding the Palestinian Authority.

‘Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support,’ its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

His double down came after Biden’s rebuke of the Israeli prime minister.

Previously: The White House keeps walking back Biden’s remarks.

VIRTUAL LAZYBONES: AI Finally Developed a Feature So Advanced You Might Mistake It for Human.

AND ANOTHER BREAKER: House Votes to Formally Authorize Biden Impeachment Inquiry.

BREAKING: Judge Halts January 6 Case Against Trump.

WHOEVER RUNS THE SITE THESE DAYS CAN BE QUITE PETTY: The Drudge Plot Thickens. “Why would whoever’s running the site link to an article that portrays its eponymous (former?) owner in a negative light? Then I clicked on the link. It was nothing but a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social Post, and—get this—the link to my story was cut off.”

FINALLY: Israel Prepares Much-Needed Enema for Hamas Tunnels Beneath Gaza.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Comedy Cowards: Late Night, ‘SNL’ (Mostly) Ignore Antisemitism Spike.

I DID NOT THINK HARVARD’S COMMIE PRESIDENT WAS GOING TO BE FIRED: If You Thought Harvard’s Commie President Was Going To Be Fired, You Still Don’t Get It.

WELL, WE KEEP ELECTING DEMOCRATS WHO DESTROY THEM: New Poll Shows Coloradans Losing Faith in the American Dream, Public Institutions.

WHOA: Tesla Just Recalled HOW MANY Cars?

THE NEW SPACE RACE: After 15 months Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft will finally fly again.

The uncrewed New Shepard 24 test flight will refly the science payloads that were aboard the New Shepard 23 flight, which experienced an engine nozzle failure at 1 minute and 4 seconds following liftoff in September 2022. The capsule’s emergency escape system performed as intended, rapidly pulling the spacecraft away from the disintegrating rocket and allowing Blue Origin to recover the payloads flown for NASA and other customers.

Blue Origin finished its accident analysis this spring and implemented a fix to the problem, including design changes to the BE-3 engine combustion chamber. In May, the company said it planned to return to flight “soon.” Then, in September, the Federal Aviation Administration closed its mishap investigation.

The company originally targeted an uncrewed return-to-flight mission in early October; however, two sources told Ars that the additional two-month delay was caused by an issue with certifying an engine part intended for flight.

Plus: “Tuesday’s announcement came amid a tidal wave of changes in leadership at Blue Origin this month, with several high-profile retirements and the arrival of its new chief executive, who has come to the company from Amazon, Dave Limp.”

I wouldn’t turn down a free tourist flight on New Glenn but at some point, the company has got to put some mass into orbit.

THIS IS LOVELY: A Georgia Community Rallies Around a Couple to Keep a Christmas Tradition Going After Disaster.

I HAD BEEN ASSURED THAT INFLATION WAS ILLUSORY, A HIGH-CLASS PROBLEM, TRANSITORY, AND OVER ALREADY: Rise in US core inflation highlights stubborn price pressures.

TO BE FAIR, EVERYTHING THE LEFT SAYS IS PROJECTION: ‘Trump As Dictator’ Is a Simple Case of Left-wing Projection.

MELTDOWN POSTPONED: Treasury Market Stress: Primary Dealers Taking Up Slack As Foreign Demand Fades.