STICK TO YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION DAY UPDATES
It’s Better than Work Harder Day, but A Good Backup for Kiss A Ginger Day if There’s No Ginger Nearby …
-The wildfires continue in California, with firefighters – including volunteer help coming from Canada and Mexico – furiously working to keep as many of them contained ahead of what are feared to be new waves of Santa Ana winds expected to hit in the next few days. The death toll has risen to 16 with focus on the still-raging fires in the Eaton and Palisades areas.
-Unfortunately, California officials working to contain the physical blazes are also fighting rampant misinformation about the fires – and that misinformation is being led by Donald Trump, who has yet to utter one syllable of sympathy or support for victims and instead has resorted to name-calling and mocking of CA Governor Gavin Newsom.
-Trump boss Elon Musk has gone further, encouraging lies about water pressure and DEI somehow making the situation worse on the open sewage social media network he runs. California’s MAGAGOP contingent showed where its loyalty lies last night by traveling to Mar-a-Lago to get a photo of themselves with their leader while constituents burned. And, a vile Ohio Congressional MAGAt named Warren Davidson proposed that when Trump takes power no aid should go to the state until forestry practices are revised.
-The trash is coming so fast and furious that Newsom and the state have created a new web site where residents can find real information and help while the fires – created in some instances from acts of arson but building in fury thanks to the drought and winds that are more than likely the product of two words that MAGAts are terrified of using: CLIMATE CHANGE – continue to rage.
-Take care of where you find your information. If you have streaming services, Pluto and Roku will allow you to watch local Los Angeles stations cover the stories directly and with little interruptions, and will have up-to-date information on where you may wish to send aid if you can.
-The information situation in Los Angeles is yet another damnation of the current state of social media, one that sadly looks to likely worsen in the weeks and months to come – one that Musk competitor Mark Zuckerberg is attempting to address in utterly embarrassing ways. Fresh off the announcement that what little fact-checking Zuckerberg-owned sites Facebook, Instagram and Threads would be waived and moved from California to Texas, it was further announced that all DEI measures at Meta were going to end, and open attacks on the LGBTQI+ community was going to be allowed unfettered in the name of “free speech” (never mind that, as privately-owned entities, Zuck and every social media site owner can pretty much do what they want anyway).
-But those moves weren’t enough for Zuck in the changes at Meta. Zuck made it clear that the main reason these changes were being made was to ingratiate himself with the incoming Trump administration (and more than likely hoping against hope that President Musk will tell Trump it’s okay to drop federal litigation against Meta once they take power), and Zuckerberg made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to bend his hips towards Trump and Musk.
-And, since one of the central tenets of making nice with Trump is self-humiliation, Zuck then made a pilgrimage to the second MAGA altar of Austin, TX, and the studios of Joe Rogan, where Zuck could also try to make good with the Dudebro MAGA Base Broligarchy. And in a three-hour appearance, Zuck did so, claiming that everything he had done to make the Meta outlets more MAGA was because of a lack of what Zuck described as “masculine energy” at Meta (also claiming members of the Biden Administration “yelled” at Zuckerberg which is exactly the sort of thing masculine he-men do and not soy boy snowflake cucks trying to chase approval of Donald Trump – a guy who will never give him such affirmation, just ask his sons).
-Zuck’s “masculine energy” statement left observers confused. After all, 2/3 of the Meta workforce is male, it has been sued numerous times for protecting employees accused of sexual harassment, stories of these sites being used by people to harass and threaten other uses are legion, and nobody took Zuckerberg seriously when he allegedly was training to fight Musk in a UFC grudge match (though that prospect and the hope of cheering for a double concussion seems a bit wistful now).
-Phew …
-We move the focus to Washington, where in the week before returning to power, confirmation hearings for Trump’s Putz Parade Cabinet are scheduled to begin. News about the nominees have been quiet thanks to a gag order placed on them by Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, though rumblings about some nominees are beginning again. The focus is on the national security nominees, and while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination appears more likely, news of parts of his FBI report being suppressed (given other reports that include charges of excessive drinking, temperament issues, sexual abuse charges, and financial impropriety questions) are beginning to be raised.
-Similarly, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard has been dogged by a series of reports of a less-than-stellar round of interviews with Senators, with claims of arrogance and lack of preparation being made. Given that there were profound questions about her relationship with now-ousted Syrian dictator Basel al-Assad and new reports that she was fond of reading news stories taken from Vladimir Putin-owned Russia Today to staff members, and the fact that she is the only woman and almost the only alleged Democrat (aside from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose Health and Human Services nomination is being opposed by over 15,000 physicians in a letter to be presented to Congress) may make her nomination among the most tenuous.
-Then there’s FBI Director nominee Ka$h Patel, who is already under scrutiny for an avowed and open allegiance to Trump and “promise” to use the office to attack Trump enemies. A series of email exchanges from the first Trump Administration shows that even then he was hoping to use his position to attack Trump opponents, drawing the ire of another Trump ally, Richard Grennell. There are also rumors that the January 6 final report may contain information that could bring Patel into the events of the attempt to overturn the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.
-Whether that is true is dependent on whether the report will be released. The report is completed and has been submitted to Attorney General Merrick Garland – and, in fact, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith resigned his position as Special Prosecutor on Saturday. The report is allegedly being “prevented” from being released by Trump’s Bestest Truest Judge In All The Land, Aileen “ofTrump” Cannon – this despite non-MAGA-humping judges universally agreeing Cannon has less than zero jurisdiction over the January 6 proceedings – and so whether, or how, or if, the report is released, or leaked, or suppressed (even though the report and its evidence has been disbursed to committee members from both parties) will remain to be seen in this last week of the Biden Administration.
-The focus on national security, by the way, is important, as word is immigration is where Trump would like to begin the all-important first 100 days of legislation. Word is Trump wants to begin at least some of their promised raids on “illegal immigrants,” with NBC and other outlets reporting the first set of such raids could be carried out by ICE agents in in Washington, DC, possibly on Inauguration Afternoon. You know officials are serious when they are quoted as wanting a raid that they describe as “flashy!” and “Shock and awe!”
-In addition to that reported raid, the first piece of legislation that could be voted on is the so-called Laken Riley Act, named after the victim of a violent crime by a reported illegal immigrant. Immigration activists are appalled at the bill, in particular a provision that would reportedly allow an Attorney General in any state to challenge the arrest of any single immigrant in any other state on the suspicion that the immigrant is in the country illegally.
-These activists are especially furious that Senate Democrats helped end a filibuster on the bill, including new AZ Senator Ruben Gallego, a former member of the House Progressive Caucus who defeated Kyrsten Sinema to win the seat. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly hoping to amend the bill to “improve” it, but that has only made frustrated Democrats worry that Congressional leadership is “obeying in advance” and not fighting what they were told was an oncoming Fascist government. Work on the bill, along with whatever Senate Democrats will do with the Putz Parade, continues this week.
-We need some good news, so let’s talk about infighting in MAGA-world – and much of that fight centers around immigration and Elon Musk, whose announcement that he is actually in favor of some immigration for high-tech industries like his because there aren’t enough white male Americans who are smart enough for those jobs (Musk actually described Americans using “the r-word” to describe their lack of abilities) continues to rile the no-immigration-ANYWHERE (that may involve non-white people like South Asians) like human canker sore Steve Bannon. Bannon again railed against Musk on his podcast over the weekend, getting really personal and threatening to somehow throw the “EVIL!” Musk out of the country and out of Trump’s sphere of influence “by the Inauguration!” Given that said inauguration is in a week, Bannon has work to do …
-Besides, Musk himself has also started to backtrack on his grand promise to MAGA-land to use his Government Efficiency Committee (IT IS NOT A COMMISSION – It has no authority to do anything) and realizing he probably will not be able to find $2 trillion in cuts to the Federal budget after all, oh shucks. On the heels of Trump himself admitting he is not likely going to be able to cut the cost of groceries or not likely ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours after entering office, expect more of these little disappointments to start accumulating for the not-quite-50% of the electorate that voted for Trump. It will soon add up …
-Back to Ukraine, where Russian forces are expected to hit 1 million casualties in the days to come, and whose use of North Korean troops may be backfiring on a number of levels. Besides not helping shift the battlefield towards Putin and the Westernization of a number of North Korean troops – primarily through their discovery of porn – this week it was announced Ukraine had captured two North Korean troops. This is highly unusual, in large part because reportedly North Korean troops are trained to commit suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured, and reportedly one of the prisoners did attempt to do so. It is not known if NATO or American intelligence is helping debrief those prisoners, but it is a sign that any hype you may read in a Meta or Musk-owned entity about how Ukraine may be losing just may be more bunkum.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-The Consumer Electronics Show is wrapping up today in Las Vegas. While the annual event is missing some of the bigger names that used to use it to discuss some of its innovations (like Apple and Microsoft), trends can still be spotted for all the gadgets that we continue to use. Not surprisingly, artificial intelligence is the dominant trend, even as new surveys are revealing most consumers are finding ChatGPT-esque widgets and apps appearing in every bit of software out there is starting to get annoying and, frankly, not as helpful as the hype claims.
-Nonetheless, AI in cars is a major trend (though not yet self-driving cars like a certain company owned by a certain annoying dweeb pushes). TechCrunch’s favorite devices include a Lenovo laptop with a screen that goes vertical instead of horizontal, a new handheld gaming system from Atari (remember them?!), a turntable that will allow you to listen to LPs using Bluetooth devices, and a home security system that shoots paintballs at would-be intruders. Because why the Hell not?!
-DUCK, and let’s get to some of today’s history …
-NEWS ON THIS DATE: In 1969, Joe Namath came through on his guarantee and led the New York Jets to defeat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III. In 1973, the American League adopted the designated hitter. In 2010, over 160,000 were killed in an earthquake that destroyed most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: AMOS ‘N ANDY (1926), HULLABALOO (1965), BATMAN (1966), LED ZEPPELIN I (1969), ALL IN THE FAMILY (1971), DYNASTY (1981), BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING STORY (2014).
-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: John Singer Sargent, Jack London, Ray Harroun, Tex Ritter, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, James Farmer, Mac Speedie, Bill Burrud, Ruth Brown, Tim Horton, The Amazing Kreskin, Long John Baldry, Bernardine Dohrn, Joe Frazier, George Duke, Tom Dempsey, Wayne Wang, Sheila Jackson Lee, Bill Madlock, Drew Pearson, Kirstie Alley, Walter Mosley, Howard Stern, Dominique Wilkins, Olver Platt, Wade Goodwyn, Heather Mills, Cam Russell, Zack de la Rocha, Mel “Sporty Spice” C, Cade McNown, Dontrelle Willis, Issa Rae, and Zayn Malik.
-REST IN PEACE/POWER: Hiram Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, Agatha Christie, Bobby Phills, Bill Hewlett, Cyrus Vance, Maurice Gibb, Randy VanWarmer, Alice Coltrane, William Peter Blatty, Keith Jackson, Bob Kuchenberg, Ronnie Spector, Lisa Marie Presley, and Robbie Bachman.
-FEED THE WORMS: Hermann Goering, P.W. Botha, and Rush Limbaugh entered Earth on this date.
-Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.
-THIS WEEK IN THE CULTURE: The Number One Song in America on this date … in 2025, “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars … in 2015, “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift … in 2005, “Let Me Love You” by Mario …in 1995, “On Bended Knee” by Boys II Men … in 1985, “Like a Virgin” by Madonna … and in 1975, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by Elton John.
-TODAY’S MUSICAL CONCLUSION: Happy Birthday to Rob Zombie!