Sen. Mark Kelly (retired career USN Captain) responds to unearthed Hegseth comments that there should be consequences for war crimes ... that's why the U.S. military won't follow unlawful orders. Hegseth on film in the linked video. Read more
Donald Trump's boast that he was close to ending the war in Ukraine was in ruins on Wednesday, with his much vaunted peace plan in tatters. The U.S. president was left humiliated, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer claiming Russian leader Vladimir Putin was never serious about seeking peace. His comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled his planned talks in Brussels with Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. For the past two weeks, Trump has bragged about his 28-point peace deal as the latest reason why he should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. But the draft deal was put together with the Kremlin, with no input from Ukraine, and included compromises Zelensky was never likely to accept.
In the Before Times, George Will was the dean of conservative letters, so attention ought to be paid to his latest column: "Trump, Hegseth and a sickening moral slum of an administration" - The Washington Post No operational necessity justified Hegseth's de facto order to kill two survivors clinging to the wreckage of one of the supposed drug boats obliterated by U.S. forces near Venezuela. His order was reported by The Post from two sources ("The order was to kill everybody," one said) and has not been explicitly denied by Hegseth. President Donald Trump says Hegseth told him that he (Hegseth) "said he did not say that." If Trump is telling the truth about Hegseth, and Hegseth is telling the truth to Trump, it is strange that (per the Post report) the commander of the boat-destroying operation said he ordered the attack on the survivors to comply with Hegseth's order. Read more
Donald Trump has handed a company partnered with Donald Trump Jr. a multi-million dollar deal in what has been described as a "cloud of conflict". The deal for Vulcan Elements will see the company given a government contract to increase the domestic industrial supply of magnets. Trump Jr. had invested heavily in Vulcan Elements earlier this year, and they are now set to receive a $260 million Defense Department loan as part of a deal. It's part of a wider investment in the tiny-earth company and magnets sector, with a $1.4 billion loan distributed by the Trump administration. Four firms within 1789 Capital's portfolio, the venture company Trump Jr. is partnered with, will receive a significant portion of the $1.4 billion loan. ALSO READ: Texas GOP senators dodge questions over ethics of Trump pardon for 'Blue Dog' bribery Dem
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a cabinet meeting Tuesday that "50%" of visas in Minnesota are fraudulent. Noem claims people "married their brother" or claimed "they were somebody they are not." This comes after President Donald Trump criticized Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, saying they are "incompetent" and criticizing their handling of Somalis in Minnesota.
Pete Hegseth, in a 2016 talk, cited the same military law as the lawmakers he's now calling seditious.
The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. With worries intensifying over the domestic jobs picture, ADP indicated the issues were worse than anticipated. The payrolls decline marked a sharp step down from October, which saw an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 positions, and was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists for an increase of 40,000. Larger businesses, entailing companies with 50 or more employees, actually reported a net gain of 90,000 workers. Read more
In an utterly nauseating chapter in the history of the Department of Defense and the United States of America, antisemitic white supremacist Jack Posobiec, viciously Islamophobic Laura Loomer, accused teen sex predator/drunk driver Matt Gaetz, and rightwing agitprop specialist James O'Keefe are all duly credentialed members of the Fourth Estate actively participating in DOD press briefings.
The top 1% have seen their wealth increase by $4 trillion over the past year, an increase of 7%. Their wealth hit a record $52 trillion in the second quarter. The top 0.1% saw their wealth grow by 10% over the past year. Since the pandemic, the top 0.1%, or those with a net worth of at least $46 million, have seen their total wealth nearly double to over $23 trillion.
Dec 2 (Reuters) -- The city of San Francisco sued Kraft, Mondelez, Coca-Cola, and other makers of ultra-processed foods on Tuesday, accusing them of knowingly sickening California residents with addictive and harmful products. City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging the companies employed tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry to design and market products intended to addict consumers. The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating California laws on public nuisance and deceptive marketing. Read more
It worries me that it's so normalised. He obviously wasn't hiding it. He didn't feel this was something he shouldn't be doing. It was in the open and people saw it. That's what was quite shocking." A headteacher is describing how a teenage boy, sitting on a bus on his way home from school, casually pulled out his phone, selected a picture from social media of a girl at a neighbouring school and used a "nudifying" app to doctor her image. Read more
Tech billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to create 25 million additional "Trump Accounts," which are aimed at giving the next generation "a jumpstart on savings. Michael and Susan said the accounts will be seeded with $250 and available for children who missed the cutoff for the $1,000 federally funded accounts for babies born after January 1, 2025. Read more
Animal control officers in Virginia responded to an unusual call this weekend after a raccoon broke into a liquor store, ransacked several shelves, and passed out in the bathroom.The officer safely secured the "very intoxicated raccoon" and took it to an animal shelter to recover, the shelter said. After several hours of rest, the raccoon showed no signs of being hurt, "other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices," the shelter said. It was released back into the wild. Read more
Obamacare premiums are set to spike for tens of millions of Americans next month. Plenty of rank-and-file Republicans are happy to sit back and ride it out. Some vulnerable GOP lawmakers up for reelection are scrambling for a last-minute fix to renew the enhanced federal health care subsidies keeping costs down. But even if party leaders and President Donald Trump were to rally around a plan in the coming days -- and there's no sign of that happening -- many conservatives are likely to revolt. Read more
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is now engaged in an open war with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), ostensibly about a dispute in the NDAA, the annual Pentagon policy bill. The 2026 NYS gubernatorial candidate is so frustrated that she's prepared to tank the must-pass defense bill, approved by lawmakers every year for more than six decades, if House Speaker Johnson doesn't include a provision requiring the FBI to alert Congress if it opens a counterintelligence investigation (CII) into an elected official or candidate.
"Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized AUTOPEN,' within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect. Anyone receiving Pardons,' Commutations,' or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
