News of the Week for December 30th, 2024
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
The Choice for Life – Where the church, abortion, pregnancy care and single-motherhood intersect
Preaching and teaching on the Sanctity of Human Life matters. Most churches support Sanctity of Life based on the Imago Dei, and presumably the Great Commandments and Great Commission. Even pro-abortion, progressive congregations embrace the Imago Dei for the recipients of their care & support (the unborn are just not their favorite).
Gun Rights
The Second Amendment, Reawakened
An appeals court says a nonviolent misdemeanor doesn’t end gun rights.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Climate Activists: The Big Bad Wolf
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs: Liberty, Prosperity, and Freedom of Speech. They lived peacefully in a vibrant village, working hard and building lives rooted in common sense. But then came the Big Bad Wolf, a self-proclaimed climate savior in a hemp hoodie, dragging a solar panel and a stack of IPCC reports behind him.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Obamacare sign-ups lag in 2024 after Trump election, legal uncertainty over Dreamers
New enrollments under the Affordable Care Act are on pace to trail last year’s record numbers by as many as a million as the outgoing Biden administration confronts upheavals in the program.
War & Terror
End the Houthis’ Threat to Global Trade
The Trump administration will be well-positioned to stop Irans proxy attacks on international shipping.
British soldiers successfully test drone killer radiowave weapon for first time
British soldiers have successful trialled for the first time a game-changing weapon that can take down a swarm of drones using radio waves for less than the cost of a pack of mince pies.
Is Trump Getting Serious about Ukraine?
Donald Trump seems to have settled on a coherent and consistent message in relation to America’s commitments to Ukraine’s defense amid Russia’s war of territorial conquest — in private, at least.
Philippines says it will acquire U.S. Typhon missile system, sparking warnings from China
The Philippines said Monday it planned to acquire the U.S. Typhon missile system as part of a push to secure its maritime interests, sparking warnings from China of a regional “arms race.”
Ukraine launches robot-only assault against Russian troops for first time
Kyiv pushes back military forces with remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns and kamikaze drones
Holes in fuselage suggest Russians shot down Azerbaijan jet
Experts say the aircraft, which crashed in Kazakhstan with 38 deaths, may have been caught in an air defence response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Grozny
Russia’s Excuses Are for the Birds
For at least the third time in my lifetime, the Russian military has shot down a commercial passenger airliner and killed scores of people through incompetence, recklessness, and arrogance.
China Buying Land Near Sensitive Military Sites: US Ally
Chinese buyers accounted for the largest proportion of foreign land and property acquisitions near sites deemed sensitive to Japan’s national security during fiscal year 2023, according to a government survey released Monday.
Russia rejects Trump’s Ukraine peace proposals
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected proposals Monday floated by President-elect Trump’s allies to end the war in Ukraine, dealing a major setback for the incoming president’s hopes to freeze the conflict.
National
Guatemalan migrant arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death: cops
A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning — then watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the police commissioner called “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”
Trump’s mass deportation plans thrown into doubt by Republican rebels
Majority of Republicans defy president-elect and vote against suspending debt limit, raising concerns over Trump’s ability to control party
Experimental evidence that a photon can spend a negative amount of time in an atom cloud
When a pulse of light traverses a material, it incurs a time delay referred to as the group delay. Should the group delay experienced by photons be attributed to the time they spend as atomic excitations? However reasonable this connection may seem, it appears problematic when the frequency of the light is close to the atomic resonance, as the group delay becomes negative in this regime. To address this question, we use the cross-Kerr effect to probe the degree of atomic excitation caused by a resonant transmitted photon, by measuring the phase shift on a separate beam that is weak and off-resonant. Our results, over a range of pulse durations and optical depths, are consistent with the recent theoretical prediction that the mean atomic excitation time caused by a transmitted photon (as measured via the time integral of the observed phase shift) equals the group delay experienced by the light. Specifically, we measure mean atomic excitation times ranging from (-0.82±0.31)t0 for the most narrowband pulse to (0.54±0.28)t0 for the most broadband pulse, where t0 is the non-post-selected excitation time, given by the scattering (absorption) probability multiplied by the atomic lifetime tsp. These results suggest that negative values taken by times such as the group delay have more physical significance than has generally been appreciated.
House Ethics draft report accuses Gaetz of statutory rape of 17-year-old, drug use and obstruction
Gaetz is quoted extensively in the draft report denying each allegation and told Just the News that “these were some women who I dated over the course of a decade, and had relationships with at various times and that I admittedly were generous to.”
The Case of the Disappearing Representative
On the menu today: Our geriatric governing class strikes again, and the marriage of one of Vogue magazine’s favorite celebrity couples is on the rocks. This is the last Morning Jolt until December 26. Have yourself a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and anything else you celebrate.
Crime Crackdowns Start as California’s Tough-on-Crime Prop. 36 Goes Into Effect
“Our officers are feeling more empowered. We’re not just racking up another citation. Our officers feel like what they’re doing matters and that they want to do the extra legwork to make sure that we get a good conviction.”
Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they’re tuning out
As a Democrat who immersed himself in political news during the presidential campaign, Ziad Aunallah has much in common with many Americans since the election. He’s tuned out.
Trump, GOP zero in on Liz Cheney as potential target
President-elect Trump’s fixation on former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is escalating as he suggests she should be prosecuted for her work on the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee.
Washington state: Twenty wild cats dead of bird flu at sanctuary near Shelton
The Wild Felid Advocacy Center near Shelton is suffering the devastating loss of 20 wild cats after bird flu swept through the big cat sanctuary.
Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox mulls gubernatorial run
Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican, is considering a run for governor.
Women Allegedly Raped in Prison by Trans-Identifying Inmate Will Have To Refer to Attacker as ‘She/Her’
The recent ruling means that on the stand those women may be subject to speech policing from their alleged rapist—who has opted for self-representation.
Blue state violent crime victims ordered to address ‘trans’ career criminal by preferred pronouns
Tremaine ‘Treymane’ Deon Carroll transferred out of a California women’s prison after being indicted on 2 rape counts
There were 21 campus hate crime hoaxes uncovered in 2024
The demand for racism continues to exceed the supply
10 Years Ago, a U.S. Thaw Fueled Cuban Dreams. Now Hope Is Lost.
It wasn’t long ago that Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution was packed with American tourists knocking into each other with selfie sticks while taking photos of the iconic image of the revolutionary Che Guevara and trying to catch a ride in a candy-apple red 1952 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
A MAGA Schism
In Round 1, it’s immigration hawks versus tech bros.
Trump team says Canada, Greenland, Panama comments are part of a broader plan
In the past several weeks — and before he has been sworn in for his second term — President-elect Donald Trump has threatened trade wars with both of the United States’ closest neighbors, mused about taking over Greenland, blustered about bringing the Panama Canal back under American control and suggested making Canada the 51st state.
Guardian Angels start patrolling NYC subway trains again after shocking murder of woman who was burned alive: ‘I’ve never seen it this bad’
The Guardian Angels will start patrolling New York City subway cars once again in response to the horrifying murder of a sleeping passenger who was burned to death on the F train last week, the group announced.
Jimmy Carter, Former U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 100
Single White House term was marked by Iran hostage crisis and economic problems; later humanitarian work was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize
Economy & Taxes
A Washington Giveaway to Government Workers
As Congress was rending itself over the government funding deadline, and the entire political press was focused on the spectacle of it, lawmakers passed a different bill that communicates the fundamental unseriousness with which our elected leaders approach government spending.
Foreign Direct Investment: Impact of Tariffs and Subsidies
Democrats and Republicans alike hope to “revive” manufacturing employment, yet they have different approaches to the task at hand.
What Today’s Economics Students Aren’t Learning About Economics
Much of the discipline’s accumulated wisdom isn’t present in today’s undergraduate courses.
The EU: At the Cutting Edge
The regulatory superpower has struck again.
US credit card defaults jump to highest level since 2010
Consumers are ‘tapped out’ after years of high inflation and as pandemic-era savings have evaporated
International
Social media firms to be forced to ‘drive out’ under-age users
Watchdog will make apps use facial recognition and other age checks to identify children
The government describes it as “shameful” that Cuba has to import sugar
Production has fallen, impacting the domestic market and exports. A pound of sugar costs 600 pesos.
Amnesty International: ‘The repression in Nicaragua means that no one is safe’
Amnesty International is sounding the alarm about Nicaragua. Will that alarm have any effect? Not really. No doubt about it. Nicaragua is now a clone of Castrogonia, the only difference between the two being that dictators Ortega and Murillo haven’t had as much time in power as Castro, Inc. and the Central American nation doesn’t yet look like a labyrinth of ruins sparsely dotted with apartheid tourist enclaves.
Germany Set for February Election After Bundestag Dissolved
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved parliament and set the country’s snap election for Feb. 23, formally endorsing a timetable proposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
179 killed, two survive in plane crash at South Korean airport
The plane skidded off a runway at Muan International Airport and caught fire after crashing, a fire official said.
Moment boy rescued after being found floating in bubble in the middle of the sea
Rafael Graça do Prado, 32, who runs a tourism boating business, has told how he spotted the large plastic ball while in the sea off Lazaro Beach near Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ex-Man City star Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as PRESIDENT of Georgia after ‘Putin helped his party rig election’
The former footballer is known for his far-right ideologies and is accused of wanting to bring Georgia back into Putin’s influence
“Thumbs-Up Emoji Formed Binding Sales Contract in Canada”
“[H]uman communication is often subtle. Words, phrases, gestures and symbols may carry more than one meaning. All of this gives rise to the potential for ambiguity and uncertainty and, indeed, litigation. The law has long accommodated for this, and courts are often called upon to determine the legal import of a multitude of communication types between individuals. The fact that, in this case, one part of the communication comprised an emoji simply provides a modern twist to this otherwise rather unremarkable observation.”
Opinion
No, Kamala Harris Will Not Be the Democratic Nominee in 2028
I chuckled a little when I saw the new poll by American Pulse that purports to show Kamala Harris with a one-point lead over JD Vance in a hypothetical 2028 General Election matchup.
Belmont Club: Is Vivek Ramaswamy’s Unpleasant Advice What We Need to Hear?
Vivek Ramaswamy broke the first rule of public relations. He said something that will probably alienate the public in what we can call his blood, sweat, and tears tweet. The billionaire entrepreneur had one simple message on X: We can’t get ahead by taking it easy, no matter what Hollywood says.
Jimmy Carter, ‘The Great Deregulator,’ 1924–2024
Nobel-winning economist Vernon Smith says the 39th president radically improved air travel, freight rail, and trucking in ways that still benefit us immensely.
Progressives Hate Jimmy Carter’s Best Accomplishments
Since Phil already laid out the comprehensive case against Jimmy Carter, with which I agree, I wanted to note that despite all of that, Carter did sign three of the best laws Congress has passed in the last 100 years — and many of the progressives who love Carter hate all three of them
