Flotsam and Jetsam - The DC Air Disaster Turns Political, Kash, Tulsi Face Senate

Likely by now you've heard about the deadly plane crash on Wednesday night over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. but for foreign visitors who may not have, briefly, a US Army Blackhawk helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, on a night time training mission, carrying three soldiers, collided with a small commercial airliner coming from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 passengers and crew on landing approach to  Reagan National Airport, located across the Potomac from D.C. at about 300 ft of altitude. The wreckage of both aircraft fell into the Potomac River, which is currently just barely above freezing temperatures. A huge rescue and recovery effort was launched immediately, but there were no survivors found. It appears the helicopter was not at the correct altitude (it should have been flying either below 200 ft, or well above the zone it was in, but of course, we won't really know the whole story until the NTSB thoroughly investigates the crash. The presence of two such airports in close proximity, heavy air traffic in the vicinity, and night time visibility issues almost certainly contributed to the crash. Of course, it has become a political football. 

At Althouse, Trump press briefing, just now, on the air disaster.  Sundance at CTH, President Trump Delivers Remarks to Press on DC Aviation Disaster. At NewsMax, Trump Mourns, Blasts Biden, Buttigieg on DEI, Lowering Air Traffic Control Standards. TNP, Trump Blasts Diversity Hiring & Ex-Transport Sec Pete Buttigieg in DCA Crash Briefing at White House. Rusty Weiss at RedState, Buttigieg Furious After Trump Calls Him a ‘Disaster’ With a ‘Line of Bull’ During Crash Press Conference.  At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition),Twitchy: Bakari Sellers & JoJoFromJerz Rush To X, Blame Trump For DCA Crash.  Ace, Reports The Air Traffic Control Tower in DC Was Understaffed, "But wait until you hear why." "The Biden Administration stopped hiring qualified air traffic controllers because the qualified candidates they were getting were "too white." They changed the test to be "biographical" -- code for, "We're going to ask you about any racism you've experienced in your life," wink-wink -- and refused to hire 3000 qualified "too white" candidates." Libs of TikTok@libsoftiktok, "Trump calls out FAA's DEI push to hire people with "severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities." Ian Miles Cheong@stillgray, "Thanks to DEI, more than 3,000 top-performing, motivated applicants who applied as air traffic controllers to the FAA lost out because they weren’t the right race." Personally, I think he could have left that out for a few days, but I guess he wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Misty Severi at JTN reports Another plane almost crashed into a helicopter near Reagan airport, day before collision, "The plane was forced to abort its first landing attempt at the airport on Tuesday after Air Traffic Control warned that a helicopter was in its vicinity." Also, the 2 "black boxes" have been recovered. Hat Hair, Holy Crap Alert: SecDef Personally Updates the Public. @PhilHollowayEsq "Does anyone remember Lloyd Austin personally briefing the public on matters of great public interest?" Paula Bolyard at PJM says BOOM! NTSB Chair Calls Out Media Hypocrisy on Crash Speculation.

Yesterday, Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel began their confirmation hearings for DNI and FBI Director respectively, and RFK Jr. continued his hearing for HHS Secretary. Ace, Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard Suffer Democrat Ignorance and Bluster at Hearings, "Thom Tillis made up a Kash Patel Bingo card to point out that the Democrats just keep using the same discredited attacks." At OTP, VP Vance Warns Republican Senators About Voting Against RFK And Gabbard. JD Vance @JDVance, "In their own way, both Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. represent parts of the new coalition in our party. To say they’re unwelcome in the cabinet is to insult those new voters. To reject their confirmation is to reject the idea that President Trump decides his cabinet." Sundance at CTH says The RFK Jr, Patel and Gabbard Inquisitions Showcase One Irrefutable Conclusion… "… The Intelligence Community and Big Corporate Interests Control Government.  That’s the inescapable conclusion for anyone who watched the grand pantomimes being displayed in the past 24 hours." The Great Victor Davis Hanson at Da Signal, The Harder the Change, the Tougher the Vote.

Sundance, of course, hosts the whole Tulsi Gabbard Confirmation Hearing. Hat Hair's Dave Strom thinks Gabbard's Opening Statement Is Lit. From Fox. 'Lies and smears': Tulsi Gabbard rails against Dem narrative she's Trump's and Putin's 'puppet'. 'The absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters.' Twitchy, 'I Am NO ONE'S Puppet': Tulsi Gabbard Takes the Deep State APART In SPECTACULAR Opening Statement (Watch). Aaron Maté at RCI says The Record Shows Tulsi Gabbard Was Not an Apologist for Russia-Backed Syria. At Althouse, "After being pressed by senators from both parties to call Edward Snowden a traitor, Tulsi Gabbard repeatedly refused during her confirmation hearing on Thursday morning...." "'This is a big deal to everybody here, because its a big deal to everybody you'll also oversee,' said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who has publicly said he supports her nomination. 'So, was Edward Snowden a traitor?'Gabbard would not give a yes or no answer, saying only that she is 'committed if confirmed as Director of National Intelligence to join you in making sure that there is no future Snowden-type leak.' Bob Hoge at RedState, Colorado Senator Loses It on Tulsi Gabbard at Hearing, Sounds Like Crazy Shrieking Guy at HOA Meeting. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition), American Conservative: The Tulsi Gabbard I Know Is Perfect for DNI,

Sundance, Kash Patel Confirmation Hearing. 'Bonchie' at RedState, Kash Patel Hearing Starts Off With a Bang, Future FBI Director Cooks Democrats. Cathy Salgado at PJM, Patel Vows to Stop ‘Government Overreach’ of Which He Was Victim. Jeff Charles at TownHall thinks Sen. Blumenthal Made an Utter Fool of Himself When He Tried to Trip Up Kash Patel. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Patel to Durbin: Oh, You Want to Play the Pardon Game? At GateWay, MIC DROP: Kash Patel Bodies Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar with an Epic Response After She Tries to Entrap Him with a Series of Sly Questions. Cutie Pavlich at TownHall, Adam Schiff Tried to Take Down Kash Patel. It Went How You'd Expect. From Twitchy, Kash Patel's Answers to Ted Cruz's J6 Questions Made Things VERY Awkward for Pelosi and Schumer. Da Signal has 8 Takeaways From Kash Patel’s FBI Confirmation Hearing.

From Ward Clark at RedState, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Answers the Tough Questions, but Rand Paul Hits Today's Bullseye. At RCP, Why Does the NYT Continue To Print Front Page Lies About RFK Jr.? Ask a stupid question . . . A Midwestern Doctor@MidwesternDoc, "The hostility @RobertKennedyJr experienced at his hearing was directly proportional to how much Pharma money each Senator received. In fact, each of them simply repeated the same attacks we just saw flood the mass media (all of which were blatant lies)." It's not a direct proportion, but the correlation is quite strong. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition), EBL, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr Health and Human Services Hearing, Louder With Crowder: Elizabeth Warren has must-see meltdown when RFK Jr. calls her out for being a sellout to Big Pharma, Bernie Sanders gets so unhinged he attacks RFK Jr over onesies, and Unbelievable! A GOP senator who is up for reelection is the one who tried to sabotage Pete Hegseth’s nomination at the last minute, American Greatness, CDC Employees Threaten to Quit if RFK Jr. Is Confirmed as HHS Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. Stands Tall Amid Unhinged Democrat Attacks During Senate Confirmation Hearing, Legal Insurrection: Caroline Kennedy Tries to Sabotage RFK Jr’s HHS Nomination, Victory Girls, Kennedy Hearing – Democrat Arseholes Show Their Backsides, The Federalis, Leftist Smear Group Attacking RFK Jr. Led By ‘Queer Trans Activist,’ Funded By PornHub’s Parent Company, Dem Senators Side With Big Pharma Over Kennedy’s Bipartisan MAHA Message. Althouse finds "Today, over 100 members of Congress support a bill to fund Ozempic with Medicare at $1,500 a month." ""Most of these members have taken money from the manufacturer of that product, a European company called Novo Nordisk. As everyone knows, once a drug is approved for Medicare, it goes to Medicaid. And there is a push to recommend Ozempic for Americans as young as six over a condition, obesity, that is completely preventable and barely even existed 100 years ago."

Yashar Ali@yashar, "BREAKING The nomination of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to serve as Secretary of the Interior has been confirmed in a 79-18 vote. Burgum, who will be eighth in line to the presidency, will oversee around one-fifth of the United States’ landmass (500 million acres). . . "

WaEx's Paul Bedard reports Voters support most controversial Trump executive orders. At Da Signal, Trump’s Best Shot to Get His Agenda Through Congress, Explained, budget reconciliation. Sarah Anderson at PJM, School Choice for Everyone? Trump's Latest Round of Executive Orders. Thomas Catenacci@ThomasCatenacci, "Breaking: In his first action, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy axed Biden’s CAFE fuel economy standards that were seen by critics as a de facto EV mandate. Duffy said the rules had “needlessly driven up the cost of a car in order to push a radical Green New Deal agenda.” Da Hill whines Federal agencies ordered to implement transgender bathroom ban. At Spiked, Trump’s assault on DEI will bring us closer to a post-racial America. "The biggest winners from an end to racial identity politics will be ethnic minorities themselves." Da Caller, Fed Workers ‘Kicking And Screaming’ At Trump’s Buyout Offer. From Flopping Aces, Trump’s 5-D Chess: How Mass Firings Are Freezing the Deep State. Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfal, "PRESS SEC: TAXPAYERS EXPECT FEDERAL WORKERS TO SHOW UP Reporter: “But is there any concern that we risk losing people with years of experience, like doctors and, let's say, scientists?” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Most doctors who work in actual hospitals and medical institutions have to show up to the office . . ." Tom Knighton at Bearing Arm finds Gun Control Crowd Freaking Over Trump's Grant Ban. Guess where their money comes from. Don Surber says Cry harder, "Trump has power. He is using it wisely this time." At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition), Dana Loesch: Trump’s Spending Freeze Frozen Then Rescinded, The Geller Report: TRUMP Admin Offers 2 Million Federal Employees a Buyout to Resign, “Fork In the Road”,

Mike Cote at Providence thinks America Shouldn’t Shy Away from Buying Greenland. From No Pasaran! Avoiding the NATO Burden: "Denmark has made the skill of tricking the US into an art" Writes Danish Editor; "Denmark Deserves No Respect from America". And Leif Erikson, discoverer of Greenland was believed to be Icelandic, not Danish. At NewsMax, Trump says Tariffs on Canada, Mexico Coming Saturday, With Decision on Oil Tax Pending.  At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition), Cafe Hayek: “Buy American” Rules Hurt Americans, Trump Doesn’t Understand Trade, and Trump Has No Comparative Advantage at Understanding Trade, CDR Salamander: So, We’re Back To Paying Tribute?, Da Tech Guy: Trump as Decatur And Columbia as Algiers or FAFO, The Lid: Trump Cancels the $50Million Biden was Sending to Gaza for ‘Condoms’ (But Really Bomb Supplies)

In Misc. Trumpiania, from Breitbart, NPR TDS: Astronauts Were ‘Stranded’ Until Trump Asks Elon to Rescue Them. Liberty Nation, Powell vs Trump, Round 2: Fed Defies the President "US central bank kept rates unchanged to the chagrin of Trump" trying to wring out the last Bidenflation. PJM's Sarah Anderson sees Fashion Mag Mocks Melania (And It's Pretty Nasty). Mean girls. 

Dave Strom, Gitmo Bound...Worst Illegal Alien Criminals Being Sent to Purgatory. Stephen Kruiser at PJM, Trump's Rebranding Will Bring an All New Clientele to Guantánamo Bay. Ace hears Vance: Biden Knew The Names and Locations of Violent Criminal Alien Murderers and Rapists and Chose to Leave Them in Place to Kill and Rape Americans. "It's that stark, and it's completely true." At the Miami Herald, Trump rolls back deportation protections for thousands of Venezuelans. Here’s what that means. From the Free Bacon, WATCH: Mass Deportations Mean No More Migrants To Harvest ‘Blueberries’ for Women’s ‘Smoothies,’ Dem Strategist Says. Campus Reform reports Fordham president sends email expressing solidarity with illegal aliens in face of Trump crackdown. At Hat Hair, Bear-of-Little-Brains Mayor on Chicago ICE Raids, 'We Literally Have Acts of Terror Promulgated By Federal Govt', a far cry from Sauron's Eye's original title, More than 100 arrested in Chicago area as targeted immigration enforcement efforts continue. 'It's Not My Job' to Protect Chicagoans Says the Mayor, from Dave Strom. Fox, Minneapolis mayor announces city will not cooperate with Trump's deportation policy. "Over 1,200 illegal immigrants charged with crimes have been detained by federal officers." At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.29.25 (Evening Edition), Twitchy Megyn Kelly Explains Why Fed-Up Voters Sent Trump Back To The White House, and Mass Criminal Illegal Alien Arrests Provide Shocking Visions Of A Do-Nothing Harris Presidency, American Greatness, Trump Signs Executive Order Instructing DHS and Defense Dept. to Prepare Gitmo For High-Priority Criminal Illegals, The Geller Reports, President Trump Sending Worst, Most Dangerous Illegals to GITMO, This Ain’t Hell: President Trump ordering 30,000-person facility in Guantánamo for illegal aliens, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order prioritizing military excellence and readiness, and Gunfire exchange between Border Patrol and suspected cartel members, The Federalist: Teachers Unions Conspire To Evade Trump’s Border Solutions With ‘ICE-Free Safe Zones’, This Ain’t Hell: President Trump ordering 30,000-person facility in Guantánamo for illegal aliens.

Ryan King at NYPo reports Democrats’ unfavorability rating reaches new, 16-year high as party keeps licking wounds following disastrous 2024: poll. Geiger Capital@Geiger_Capital, "I’ve never seen a poll like this… Democratic Party: 31% - Favorable 57% - Unfavorable (-26) The Democratic Party has never been more unpopular in modern-American history." Paul Bedard sees a New record: Biden’s swamp uncorked $1.8 trillion in regulations. 

VodkaPundit at PJM says Goodbye Pacific Palisades, Hello Full Communism. "With homeowners locked out of the process and without any oversight, Bass will pursue her dream of rebuilding the Palisades "in a more equitable and environmentally sustainable way," as she put it. I'm picturing government-spec apartment buildings and other multifamily dwellings on burned-out lots where single-family homes used to stand. Those 15-minute cities don't build themselves, you know — mostly because, given the choice, people reject them." Beege Welborn at Hat Hair, Bass Has 'Outside Consultant' for Pacific Palisades Rebuild: Be Afraid? @amuse@amuse. "RACISM? Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opposes voter ID but is requiring proof of residency and photo ID to enter the Pacific Palisades area. What about all of the minority residents who can’t obtain ID?" Insty, LET CALIFORNIA SECEDE, BE FORCIBLY RETURNED TO THE UNION, AND KEPT UNDER RECONSTRUCTION FOR 40 YEARS WITH NO VOTING RIGHTS: David Burge @iowahawkblog. "I can't believe we're still doing the States-Seceding-to-Preserve-Discount-Labor thing" Quote unusual_whales@unusual_whales, "BREAKING: California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has approved a campaign to gather signatures petitioning for a vote on whether California should leave the U.S. and become an independent country, per Newsweek." Beege Welborn, So, Y'All Remember There Was That Other Big Fire in CA Two Weeks Ago? The lithium ion energy storage site at Moss Landing? "Residents in the Moss Landing area are furious. The anger they expressed in interviews just a few days after being trapped in their homes, sealed up as best they could for days after the fire due to the fumes and ash, was palpable. They want the facility gone."

Fox, Anti-Trump FBI agent responsible for opening Jack Smith elector case against president: whistleblower, "Fox News Digital obtained internal FBI emails shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley by a DOJ whistleblower." Ace, Chuck Grassley Reveals Whistleblower Emails Showing That An Already-Fired "Rogue" FBI Agent Violated Rules to Justify Prosecuting Trump, "You've heard of this guy, Thibault. He was so corrupt that even Christopher Wray was forced to stop protecting him." Also, Megyn Kelly: The Democrats' Brazen Banana-Republic Lawfare Against Trump Was Their Own Undoing. ABC, FBI wrestles with a spike in sexual misconduct claims and male-dominated culture. "The FBI has recorded a sharp spike in complaints that its own agents and employees have engaged in sexual misconduct, ranging from assault to harassment, despite a pledge by the bureau’s leaders to eliminate the longstanding problem." Maybe, maybe, pricks like to be FBI agents and abuse their power. 

Ace, SecDef Hegseth: We're Investigating Milley's Leaking and Gross Insubordination of the Chain of Command and We Might Demote Him.  American Greatness: Mark Milley Sees Security Clearance Revoked, Security Detail Removed, Chicago Boyz, The Matter of Milley,This Ain’t Hell, Milley’s Retirement Plans.

At OTP, Sen. Ron Johnson Subpoenas Fauci Records. 

Stacy McCain has another Vegan Transgender Death Cult Update: Zizian ‘Anti-Law Enforcement Ideology’. Double the crazy, double the danger.

OTP, Elon Musk Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize "A European Parliament member from Slovenia says he nominated tech giant Elon Musk for a Nobel Peace Prize for his free speech advocacy." Atop Da Hill they're whining that the FCC chair launches investigation into NPR, PBS.  “I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr wrote to the news outlets in a letter first obtained by The New York Times." If they can shutter them over this, great. Remember, they go Al Capone for tax evasion. 

Hollywood in Toto thinks he knows The Real Reason Stars Are Suddenly Targeting Trump "Selena Gomez, Jesse Eisenberg and Karla Sofia Gascon take aim at new president." Time to burnish their credentials for the Oscars!

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Back In The Cellar up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Inauguration Moved Indoors, Biden Proclaims 28th Amendment Passed, CNN Liable for Defamation

Two more days, but who's counting? The Pop Times, that's who, Countdown to Inauguration. Instapundit, at his substack says Happy DJT Day "Monday marks a new kind of holiday." The Free Bacon sees Apex Trump " Donald Trump's power arrives before the presidency."

Of course, you've probably heard, from Sundance at CTH, Citing “Weather Concerns” President Trump Announces Inauguration Ceremony Moved Inside Capitol Rotunda. "Citing concerns with “cold weather,” nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say-no- more / say-no-more, President Trump announces via Truth Social that his swearing in and inauguration speech will now be moved inside and take place in the Capitol rotunda." The weather Monday is supposed to be mid-20s, with wind chills bringing the "feels-like" into the teens. No big deal for a midwesterner or an Alaskan, but a bit daunting for us mid-Atlantic folk. No need to subject large crowds to it. At Twitchy, David Axelrod, Twitter's Own Petty Betty, Scoffs at Trump's Indoor Inauguration and via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Evening Edition), Twitchy: Tim Walz Tries To Dunk On Trump For Moving Inauguration Indoors & Gets Rekt and The Federalist, Federalist CEO Sean Davis Drops Stunning Details About The Butler Trump Assassination Attempt In Tucker Carlson Interview, Of course, security concerns may be playing a part; there have only been two near miss assassination attempts on the former President and President-to-be in the past year. Insty is PROBABLY TOO SUSPICIOUS. BUT I HOPE SECURITY IS EXTRA TIGHT. @instapundit @instapundit, "All these absences make me nervous for Trump’s safety." Quote Miranda Devine@mirandadevine, "The good news just keeps coming! Nancy Pelosi won't attend Trump's inauguration." Susan Crabtree@susancrabtree, "BREAKING: Trump to announce Sean Curran, the head of his Secret Service campaign detail, as Secret Service director, according to three sources who I've spoken over several days this week. Curran is on the right in this iconic photo from the July 13 Butler assassination attempt. More to come..."

Sundance hosts DHS Nominee Kristi Noem Senate Confirmation Hearing – 9:00am EST Livestream. From Fox, Trump DHS pick Noem pledges to end controversial app used by migrants on 'day one’ "Nearly 1.5M have been paroled in through CBP One and a linked parole program." Dave Strom at Hat Hair hears Senator Blumenthal say to Kristi Noem: Ignore the 300,000 Missing Children... under Biden. Bad Hombre@joma_gc, "Sen. Moreno: Mayorkas let in about 12,000 murderers. How many would you let in? Gov. Noem: None. Sen. Moreno: Mayorkas let in 6,000 rapists into this country. How many would you let in? Gov. Noem: My goal would be none. Sen. Moreno: Mayorkas let in 600,000 with criminal convictions. How many would you let in? Gov. Noem: Those with criminal convictions will be immediately removed. Sen. Moreno: How many private jets will you send to fly people into this country? Gov. Noem: We won’t be undertaking that program. Sen. Moreno: How many illegals will you be housing in luxury hotels? Gov. Noem: That will not be a part of this new administration. Sen. Moreno: How many sex change operations for illegals would you fund? Gov. Noem: We will not allow that." At the Balmer Sun, Alsobrooks questions Trump's EPA nominee Lee Zeldin. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Morning Edition), from Twitchy, Yup, She BROKE Him! Adam Schiff Still CRYING to Nicolle Wallace About Pam Bondi and It's GLORIOUS (Watch). At WUWT, Live at 1 p.m. Eastern Time: Trump’s Climate Cabinet – The Climate Realism Show #141. Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Evening Edition), Louder With Crowder: Bernie Sanders tries playing the “oligarchy” card with Trump’s Treasury Secretary, gets hit with a reality check, MAHA for the win!, American Greatness: 145 House Dems Vote Against Bill to Deport Illegal Aliens Who Commit Sexual Assault, Nearly Half of Federal Employees Say They Plan to Resist Trump’s Incoming Administration, and Pete Hegseth is the Leader Our Military Needs, Legal Insurrection, Sen. Mazie Hirono Establishes that No Trump Nominees Have Made Unwanted Sexual Advances, Victory Girls: Tammy Duckworth Dragged By Fox News Joey Jones, The Federalist  Conservatives Say, Noem Confirmation Hearing Highlights How Much DHS Rot She’ll Have To Clean Out, and Good Riddance, Deb Haaland.

Sundance, Stephen Miller Encapsulates Immediate Objectives of President Trump. "Stephen Miller articulates the non-pretending reality of what the people around Joe Biden have done with horrific outcomes for our nation.  Then Miller quickly moves to articulate what exactly President Trump is going to do about it." The NYSun wonders Will Trump Call Biden’s Bluff on Cuba? "Senator Rubio, at his confirmation hearing for secretary of state, makes it clear that he knows what the Castroite communists are up to." Shooting News Weekly sees ATF Reverses ‘Zero Tolerance’ Enforcement Policy That Shut Down Hundreds of FFLs Nationwide, Trump effect? At WaEx, Trump brings hope for shoring up the steel industry. At Oil Price, U.S. LNG Industry Prepares for Boom Years Under Trump. From Da Wire, Energy Experts Urge Incoming Trump Administration To Stop EPA Abuse. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Morning Edition), Louder With Crowder, Oh no, you guys! Mike Pence is OPPOSING RFK Jr’s nomination as HHS Chairman and Sources: Hegseth’s Confirmation. More Trump effect? at Ace In a "Huge Win," the Woke Corporate Cartel "Net Zero" Stops Operations as Corporations Back Away from Toxic Wokeness, "This was the group of financial services companies using their immense power to force countries to immiserate themselves by not producing energy."

Sundance, Speaker Mike Johnson Selects Arkansas Rep Rick Crawford to Chair Powerful House Intel Committee

Also at Da Wire, Greenland PM: ‘We Don’t Want To Be Americans … But We Want A Strong Cooperation’ "Egede said he wants the U.S. to maintain its military presence in Greenland." Algemeiner, Mike Waltz Vows Trump Admin Will Support Israel Resuming Operations in Gaza if Hamas Violates Ceasefire Deal. Mark Simon on Substack, The CCP Was Expecting a Harris Win. It Didn’t Happen and Trump’s Election is Changing Xi’s GamePlan.

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, More Biden: I Hereby Commute ERA's 1982 Deadline Too. President Biden @POTUS "Today I'm affirming what I have long believed and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex." WaT, National Archives rebuffs Biden’s attempt to add Equal Rights Amendment to Constitution. It doesn't work like that. Noah Rothman @NoahCRothman, "When you think about it, it’s nice to live in a system where the commander of the armed forces declares that the founding legal charter is permanently amended and we all just laugh at him and nothing happens." Mark Hemingway@Heminator, "*RECORD SCRATCH* "Yup, that's my wife ratioing the president of the United States. You're probably wondering how I ended up here, well..." Quote, Mollie@MZHemingway "Replying to @POTUS Sir, this is not how the Constitution works. Dementia is not a magic ticket to become a dictator that asserts Constitutional amendments into existence." Ace, Demented Tyrant Biden Now Presumes to Change the Constitiution By His Kingly Pronouncement, Adding an Amendment to the Constitution Via a Tweet.

PJM's Matt Margolis, Biden Issues Thousands More Commutations in New Clemency Blitz. Sundance, Biden Pardons 2,500 “Non-Violent Drug Offenders” and Indicates More Pardons Likely. From WokeSpy, “We Did It, Joe!” – Poll Finds Biden Is Set To Go Down As One Of America’s Worst Ever Presidents. Althouse, "Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.’s obituary will be stalked by the counterfactual: What if he hadn’t made the selfish decision to run for reelection?" ""What if he had passed the torch a year or even six months earlier?... The way that events unfolded—his catastrophic debate performance, the stark clarity with which the nation came to understand his geriatric state–-beggars belief. Why didn’t Democrats stage an intervention earlier? Why didn’t his aides stop him from running?" Writes Franklin Foer in The Atlantic, in "How Biden Destroyed His Legacy/The president’s accomplishments are considerable, but on his signature issue of preserving democracy, he failed spectacularly."" "ADDED: I keep rereading this sentence: "A cabal intent on preserving its own power would never have blundered in such tragically self-defeating fashion." It gets funnier every time." Matt Vespa at TownHall, The NYT Details the Dem Plot to Oust Joe Biden...and It's a Doozy. Scott Jennings@ScottJenningsKY "Step 1 - engage in the largest coverup of a president’s mental condition in the history of the United States" Quote, Axios@axios, "How to lead like Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients: 8 skills to know https://trib.al/VULXBj6"

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Morning Edition), Louder With Crowder, Let’s take a dump on Joe Biden one final time – his farewell address was a derptastic swan song, Don Surber: Best farewell speech of my life, First Street Journal: It was never about “protecting democracy”. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Evening Edition), The Lid: Another Poll Shows Americans Think Joe Biden is the Worst President in History, Shot In The Dark, The Bullets We Dodged, The Federalist: An Embarrassment For Every Month: The Worst Blunders, Failures, And Flops Of Biden’s Final Year,

 At Da Blaze, Here are the top oddities and falsehoods from Biden's farewell address. Bob Hoge, Peter Doocy Reveals What Actually Happened After Hot Mic Caught Biden Calling Him a 'Son of a B' "The Fox News correspondent, who has covered Biden since the launch of his 2020 campaign, said the president called him to address the name call and promised to take him out for lunch, which never ended up occurring." Robby Soave at Reason, Biden's Farewell F-You to Elon Musk, "The president opposes the tech "oligarchy" because it has stopped listening to him."  Sister Toldja at RedState hears The Assessments From Biden Insiders on Karine Jean-Pierre's Tenure Have Started - and They Are Brutal. "“I am not sure there is someone that did more damage to the president’s reputation than her — it is really sad.” At 1945, Blame Joe Biden If Ukraine Loses the War to Russia. Ace, The CIA Analyst and Traitor Who Leaked Israel's Military Plans to Iran Pleads Guilty in Court, Asif Rahman. 

Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Evening Edition) American Greatness: 145 House Dems Vote Against Bill to Deport Illegal Aliens Who Commit Sexual Assault, Da Fetched reports 145 Democrats Vote Against Deporting Illegal Alien Sexual Predators from U.S. Duane Patterson at Hat Hair has a list of what he thinks were The Top Ten Dumbest Things Said By A Democrat...Thursday. So many to chose from. 

VodkaPundit at Insty, "MANDATES ARE DUMB: And Suddenly, Gavin Newsom’s Electric Car Mandate Looks Pretty Dumb to LA Fire Victims “No mocking these poor folks, America, because this Caltastrophe may have bought more time for the rest of the country to shout down the climate cultists in state houses across the country. California’s proof of concept showed that climate nirvana doesn’t protect the environment for humans.” I’m OK with more mocking." Da Signal reports How a Woke Newsom Appointee Dismantled California’s Volunteer Firefighting Force. Capt. Ed reads the LAT: People Fleeing Dem-Controlled States May Be a Problem For Progs. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.17.25 (Evening Edition) ,357 Magnum: The Mayor of LA and the Governor of California Wanted the City to Burn, American Greatness, Man Seen Starting Fires With Blow Torch in LA County Not Charged With Arson, Chicago Boyz: The Fire Next Time, First Street Journal, How the severity of the California wildfires is Donald Trump’s fault, Hollywood In Toto, Andrew Schulz Thinks Fire Fallout Will Turn California Red, The Lid: Another Poll Shows Americans Think Joe Biden is the Worst President in History, We Can Change The World-Together, and California’s Largest Lithium Battery Plant Goes Up in Flames, Legal Insurrection: Recall Effort Against Gov. Gavin Newsom Ignites in California, Nebraska Energy Observer: So the fires continue in Cali along with the demands for politicians to resign, Watts Up With That:Massive Fire Engulfs Moss Landing Battery Plant,

MD Kittle at Da Fed reports Wisconsin Court Race Is A Buyer Beware Election, Conservatives Say.

Stacy McCain finds CNN, GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! At the Independent (UK), CNN found liable for $5 million in defamation trial against US Navy vet over ‘black market’ Afghanistan story. Matt Vespa at TownHall, CNN Suffers Massive Defeat in Defamation Suit Involving Navy Veteran. Sundance grins when a Florida Jury Award $5 Million in Compensatory Damages Against CNN in Defamation Case – Punitive Damage Award Forthcoming. At Twitchy, Try Not to Laugh at Lawyer's Argument Against CNN Having to Pay Punitive Damages in Defamation Suit. Curtis Houck @CurtisHouck "CNN's lawyer argues against the network being hit with punitive damages (after it was found liable for defaming Navy veteran Zachary Young) by saying it'd harm the company financially and hinder its ability to report on major breaking news events like wildfires and crises around the globe." Ace, Convicted Disinformation Outfit CNN: Our Finances Are In Tough Shape and If You Hit Us With Major Punitive Damages We Won't Be Able to Cover Hurricanes and Earthquakes for You. "CNN's own lawyer says that CNN is in "a subtle decline" so that the jury doesn't crush them."  Julio Rosas @Julio_Rosas11, "CNN yesterday vs CNN today:" Ace, CNN Moves Superstar Jim Acosta to a Hot New Time Slot More Worthy of His Towering Stature. "BREAKING: JURY FINDS CNN LIABLE Having a show at midnight is a high-status thing, right?"

Althouse, Supreme Court upholds the TikTok ban. "Opinion here. Per curiam. Sotomayor concurs, but let's read the Gorsuch opinion, concurring:. . . " Pixie at Ace's Daily Tech News 18 January 2025 "Top Story "In a groundbreaking decision that will have lasting consequences for Chinese spyware apps, the Supreme Court said "yeah, whatever" and waved the TikTok divest-or-die law through the gate. (CNN) The law is due to go into effect tomorrow, but since the Biden Administration is currently busy looting the treasury and fleeing the country, will be left to Trump to enforce."

Stacy McCain has the Least Surprising News of the Week? "I’m not surprised. You’re not surprised. Nobody’s surprised: A Trump-bashing, Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist — whose illustrations have been published by the Washington Post, New Yorker and Los Angeles Times — was arrested for possession of child pornography." Ace, Trump Bashing WaPo Cartoonist -- the First Black American to Win a Pulitzer for Cartooning -- Arrested for Possession of Child S*x Exploitation Materials. "Oh, you don't say. You don't say. A leftwinger? And a cartoonist? Likes looking at naked children? You don't say, you don't say, you don't say." Althouse, The death of “Democracy Dies in Darkness." "I'm reading "The Washington Post’s New Mission: Reach ‘All of America’ /This week, The Post began trying out a new mission statement: 'Riveting Storytelling for All of America'" (NYT) . . . The new slogan is terrible. The old slogan was also terrible, but at least it was ridiculous. "Riveting Storytelling for All of America" is just really dumb — a dumb slogan expressing the opinion that America is dumb, but what are you going to do?"

Hollywood in Toto, sees Dueling Bills: Maher Slams Dems While Burr Blasts Conservatives. From Slay, Joy Behar: ‘Convicted Felon’ Trump Is ‘Not a Normal Person’. Pot, kettle. Will her head explode on Monday?

The redoubtable Julie Kelly @julie_kelly2, "Sounds like the DC judges held quite the banger in court today--partisan hacks until the very end. Per Politico: Tanya Chutkan before sentencing a J6er to 10 days in prison on misdemeanor: “I only wish the rest of the country could see some of the things I see. This may be, based on what happens outside these courthouse walls, the last one of these. I don’t know. . . .” Lorraine Yuriar at Chapter and Verse, Trump Case Report Volume 1. "This report deals with J6; The FL case report has been held back due to the ongoing trial of Trump's employees, Nauta and DeOliviera."

At Fox, FBI assistant special agent in charge who said New Orleans attack 'not a terrorist event' reassigned, "The FBI later put out a statement confirming the Bourbon Street attack was 'terrorism.'"

From TNP, EXC: San Francisco Settles With Judicial Watch, Will End Taxpayer-Funded Transgender Guaranteed Income Program. If you want more of something, subsidize it. 

Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: A Long Week Of Much Baseball up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

news/nancy-pelosi-wont-attend-trumps-inauguration-clintons-bush-obama-will-skip-luncheon/

US to Allow Lithium Mining for Batteries

And boy, is NPR ever pissed, Tribes object. But a federal ruling approves construction of the largest lithium mine

In a blow to tribes, a U.S. appeals court has denied a last ditch legal effort to block construction of what's expected to be the largest lithium mine in North America on federal land in Nevada.

In a decision Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. government did not violate federal environmental laws when it approved Lithium Nevada's Thacker Pass mine in the waning days of the Trump administration.

Lithium is a key component of electric vehicle batteries, and despite pressure from west coast Paiute tribes and environmentalists, the Biden administration did not reverse the decision and had continued to advocate for the mine, which would be located on remote federal land near the Nevada-Oregon border.

"We have always been confident that the permitting process for Thacker Pass was conducted thoroughly and appropriately," says Jonathan Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas in a statement provided to NPR. "Construction activities continue at the project as we look forward to playing an important role in strengthening America's domestic battery supply chains."

Heaven forfend we should actually produce some the the lithium required for all the batteries that will be required for all the electric cars they want us to buy. 

 

Can Crabs Save the World?

I doubt it, but, hey, maybe this will work, Maryland’s Blue Crabs May Power Sustainable Future

A new paper by the University of Maryland’s Professor Liangbing Hu details the successful use of Blue Crab shells in batteries as an alternative to lithium. Specifically, chitin, a chemical that toughens exoskeletons in shellfish and insects, also has properties that promote superior recharging and better recyclability.

According to Seafood Source, the seafood industries leading publication,

“Vast quantities of batteries are being produced and consumed, raising the possibility of environmental problems,” Hu said. “For example, polypropylene and polycarbonate separators, which are widely used in lithium-ion batteries, take hundreds or thousands of years to degrade and add to environmental burden.”

Exploiting this widely consumed staple potentially offers a major tool in fighting climate change. This point is furthered if chitin can be harvested or produced sustainably. In contrast, lithium, by its very nature, will never be able to be produced sustainably. Like other metals, it must be mined, which carries an entire slew of negative environmental impacts. This is best illustrated by the New York Times in May 2021,

“Blowing up a mountain isn’t green, no matter how much marketing spin people put on it,”…

On the other hand, lithium is a trace element in seawater, with concentration of about 0.2 parts per million. Can that be concentrated economically? Maybe. 

If Maryland is to exploit this abundant resource well into the future, officials must work to stabilize the Blue Crab’s diminishing population. Long-time readers of Conduit Street will remember that populations of the iconic crustacean have been declining in the Chesapeake Bay since the 1990s.

Read the full story.

Read the full research paper.

OK, I actually did my homework, and read the abstract of the paper. Chitosan from crab shells is used in conjunction with zinc (a fairly common and cheap metal, and not terribly toxic) in the electrolyte of zinc acid batteries (think your old style A, B and C cells) to make them rechargeable.

I doubt that Maryland crab could provide enough chitosan for the industry if this technology really took off, but there are plenty of other commercial crabs, and crustaceans besides crabs (shrimp, lobsters, krill) are also potential sources of chitosan.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Mrs. Santa out on time and under budget.

Enjoy Your Electric Car

Via WUWT, The dark side of Electric Vehicles

You might also be amused by this electric bus in Paris catching fire, also found at WUWT:

 

There's a lot of chemical energy stored in a charged Li-ion battery; if something goes wrong, it can go south in a hurry.

For what it's worth, the US does have significant cobalt deposits, mostly untapped due to America's recent turn away from extractive industries. That doesn't solve the burning battery issue, but it would take problem of the supply being controlled by China away to some extent. I'm not sure I see how to solve the childhood mining problem in Africa short of making it too cheap to be worthwhile, and I don't see that as likely.

FWIW, we have a Toyota RAV 4 hybrid, and we like it.

PSA: Don't Knife Your Phone

There's a lot of chemical energy stored up in a lithium ion battery, and it come come out violently if damaged or overcharged. More here: The Risk of Exploding Lithium Ion Batteries