President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will create a new agency called the External Revenue Service to collect tariffs and other forms of revenue that come from foreign sources, echoing a suggestion made by former adviser Steve Bannon at an event hosted by POLITICO Tuesday morning.
Starbucks is scrapping a policy that had let anyone hang out at its cafes or use the restrooms without making a purchase. The new rules are part of a larger effort to improve Starbucks' cafe experience and deter homeless people and non-paying customers who have come to use Starbucks solely for shelter and bathroom access " but they reverse a policy that was put in place after one of the company's biggest-ever PR disasters. The new code of conduct, announced to stores Monday, is part of CEO Brian Niccol's strategy to lure back customers, boost sagging sales and improve worker relations. It applies to all locations in North America and will be displayed on store doors. Read more
There's been an uptick in stories about insurers limiting coverage of prosthetic limbs and questioning their medical necessity, for example. Mr Beast, an influencer with 343 million subscribers on YouTube, recently railed against the healthcare industry in a new video where he helped 2,000 amputees walk again. "Many lived in America and it feels so disgusting that in a country with this much wealth, a fucken YouTuber is their only option to get a prosthetic leg," he tweeted. "We need to fix this." And last week a plastic surgeon called Dr Elisabeth Potter " a specialist in reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients who have had mastectomies " went viral on TikTok for claiming she had to step out of an operation (where another surgeon was also present) because a health insurance representative demanded proof it was necessary. According to Potter, her patient was under anesthesia when she got an urgent phone call from UnitedHealthcare while in the operating room.
For those of us that were there fighting Trump supporters inspired by his lies and his violent rhetoric, we were there to protect ourselves and our fellow officers," Fanone continued. "And ultimately, those of us that chose to speak out and testify about our account and what we experienced at the Capitol on January 6th, you know, who have been targeted by Trump himself and by his supporters. And that continues to this day." He recalled revealing that his mother was swatted, the practice of someone calling the police, claiming that there was a person with a gun, or threatening a person at the residence. The goal is for police to act irrationally and shoot first when the owner opens the door. While the swatting has been reported, Fanone revealed that his mother was attacked by someone driving by her home at least twice in the past several months. "Unfortunately, my mother has suffered at the hands of these MAGA lunatics," he said. Read more
The GOP's subservience to Donald Trump was once again made clear today, as House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that flags at the U.S. Capitol will be raised to their full height on Inauguration Day. This is simply embarrassing. Read more
"As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power," the report says." Read more
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused their pharmacy benefit manager units of imposing significant price markups on specialty generic drugs, according to a new interim staff report. FTC said the "Big 3 PBMs" -- CVS's Caremark, Cigna's Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth's OptumRx -- imposed markups of hundreds to thousands of percent on critical drugs, including those for cancer and HIV, between 2017 and 2022.
Lockheed Martin's Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Shelly O'Neill Stoneman is under fire from the Trump transition and House Armed Services Committee after Republicans exposed her political opinions as woke and incompatible with the incoming Trump administration. Stoneman, a former Obama administration aide, offered strong political commentary for years on her X account. She apparently deleted the account on Friday after Breitbart News requested comment. She resigned under pressure. Read more
The House voted on Tuesday to pass a GOP-led bill that would ban transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports at federally funded schools and educational institutions. The legislation is expected to next be taken up by the GOP-controlled Senate. Republicans put attacks on Democrats over transgender issues front and center in competitive races during the last election cycle, including at the top of the ticket with President-elect Donald Trump. Read more
The last two games for the Vikings have been brutal. Go Lions!
The Justice Department released the special counsel's report on his investigation into Trump's interference in the 2020 election.
A Washington Post investigation into police use of facial recognition software found that law enforcement agencies across the nation are using the artificial intelligence tools in a way they were never intended to be used: as a shortcut to finding and arresting suspects without other evidence. Some law enforcement officers using the technology appeared to abandon traditional policing standards and treat software suggestions as facts, The Post found. One police report referred to an uncorroborated AI result as a "100% match." Another said police used the software to "immediately and unquestionably" identify a suspected thief.
The Today Show is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952.
It's Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer vs. Elon Musk and David Sacks. Who you got? Read more
It's now less than a week before Donald Trump is sworn in for his second term, and every sign out there is pointing toward him using the power of the presidency in ways no one else has before him. And this isn't simply conjecture. Read more
The JPMorgan Chase CEO said November's election result was the culmination of feedback he had heard across the country, with voters tired of being "lectured" to by the current administration. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning released over the weekend, Dimon was asked if he was surprised that Trump had won the election, to which he responded "no." "People were angry at the"what do they call it?"the state, the swamp ... ineffective government," Dimon explained. "People wanted kind of more pro-growth and pro-business policies; they didn't want to be lectured to on social policies continuously," he added. "I think it's the lecturing part of it"the social superiority, it's the 'My way or the highway.' "I traveled around the country. I felt it wherever I went."
