Wildfire response threatens to end Karen Bass' extended honeymoon  —  The Los Angeles mayor returned home from Ghana on Wednesday and said she was in “constant contact” while abroad.  —  LOS ANGELES — Karen Bass probably has second thoughts about that trip to Ghana.

Taking Trump's imperialist trolling seriously (for a moment)  —  We've come a long way from bringing down egg prices.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Speaking as someone who's been covering Trump for nine years now, paying attention to what he's doing instead of obsessing over what he's saying is generally a good rule of thumb.

Trump speaks with Justice Alito amid push to halt criminal sentencing  —  Alito spoke to Trump to recommend an ex-clerk for a job in his administration.  —  President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 7, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla.

Elon Musk says DOGE probably won't find $2 trillion in federal budget cuts  —  Musk previously said his Department of Government Efficiency would be able to recommend cuts to the federal budget of “at least $2 trillion.”  —  Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that his budget-cutting effort …

The '90s weren't that great  —  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be  —  Today's guest post is from the author of Cartoons Hate Her, a Substack about social dynamics (including parenting, marriage, sex and friendship) from the hybrid mind of a terminally online sicko and a normie liberal mom.

Scoop: Trump's 100 executive orders … - Senators were given previews of some of what they were told would be 100 executive orders, two sources who were in the room told Axios.  — Stephen Miller, Trump's longtime immigration adviser, dove into how they intend to use executive power …

Google donates $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, joining other tech giants … Google donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund, becoming the latest major tech company to try and curry some goodwill with the incoming administration.

Ex-FBI informant behind fake Biden-Ukraine bribery allegations sentenced to 6 years in prison  —  The disgraced former FBI informant who falsely accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of taking a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced Wednesday to six years in federal prison, according to court records.

'Can't Even Respond': Gavin Newsom Reacts To Trump's Los Angeles Wildfires Attack  —  The California governor wasn't having it with the president-elect blaming him for the devastating fires.  —  LOADING  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) swiftly dismissed Donald Trump's efforts to …

Carter funeral reunites current and former presidents before Trump inauguration  —  The country's five living presidents are leading the nation as it says one last, final goodbye to its longest-living commander in chief, the late Jimmy Carter, who died last month at the age of 100.

SEIU Joins AFL-CIO to Build Unprecedented Worker Power, Win Unions for All Workers  —  Two million service and care workers to join nation's largest labor federation, bringing total membership to nearly 15 million  —  Joint commitment to long-term fight to rewrite rules to strengthen the right to organize …

Republicans on North Carolina Supreme Court block certification of Democratic justice's election victory  —  On Monday, Congress certified the results of the 2024 presidential election in routine fashion.  Some concluded that, due to Trump's victory, there would be no attacks on the democratic process this year.

Lessons, Painful At Times, Are Only Lessons If They're Eventually Learned  —  The devastation in Southern California is almost beyond measure.  A little over half of Pacific Palisades is gone.  Most of the seaside parts of Malibu are in ruins.  There are now seven active fires in Los Angeles …

Trump Is Poised to Turn the DOJ Into His Personal Law Firm … No president has ever attempted to do what Donald Trump now proposes to do—assemble a small team of former personal attorneys and install it at the highest levels of the Department of Justice.  The president-elect first named lawyers …

Evangelicals loved Jimmy Carter — until his anti-racism turned them against him  —  Today's funeral for former President Jimmy Carter follows nearly two weeks of reminiscence about the legacy of the Georgia Democrat who held the White House for one term in the late '70s.

Musk to host German far-right leader on X, stirs angst about election meddling  —  Elon Musk will host the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on X on Thursday, stoking concerns in Berlin and Brussels about possible meddling by the U.S. billionaire in campaigning for Germany's Feb. 23 national election.

Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine  —  Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance support to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs as part of the surge of security assistance the President directed to put Ukraine in the best possible position.

Falsehoods around the L.A. fires are proliferating on the right  —  Anything to keep the realities of climate change from spreading.  —  There is nothing political about the wildfires that have annihilated thousands of buildings around Los Angeles this week, with two exceptions.

Prepare to Be Shocked: Los Angeles' Fire Chief Is a DEI-Obsessed ‘LGBTQ’ Woman Who Wasted Millions  —  In perhaps the most unexpected, shocking revelation to come out of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, it turns out their Fire Chief is an “LGBTQ+” woman who is obsessed with DEI.

Musk examines how to oust Starmer as UK prime minister before next election  —  Technology billionaire interested in building support for another political party, notably Reform UK  —  Elon Musk has privately discussed with allies how Sir Keir Starmer could be removed as UK prime minister …

Extremism in US military is ‘sleeping danger’ says author of Pentagon report  —  New Year's Day attacks by US service members highlight threat, says Bishop Garrison who led DoD investigation  —  The decorated combat veteran who led the Biden administration's efforts to counter extremist activity …