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IJR, The Daily Signal, 9to5Mac, Washington Examiner and RedState, more at Techmeme »
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Exclusive: Meta kills DEI programs … - The moves come just three days after Meta ended many of its efforts to fact-check and police speech on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. — The announcement also follows a host of public moves by tech companies and executives to align with the politics …
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New York Post, New York Times, Salon, The Atlantic, New Republic, TheGrio, Adweek, Alpha News, Mock Paper Scissors, UPI, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Kos, LGBTQ Nation, Breitbart, Ars Technica, TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Information, The Hill, freebeacon.com, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Fox Business, Blaze Media, CBS News, The Post Millennial, acecomments.mu.nu and The Verge, more at Techmeme »


Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan podcast Biden administration tried to censor memes in surprise episode — Mark Zuckerberg says the the Biden administration forced Meta to censor a Covid meme - and said the president's staff would scream and swear at his workers to remove content they didn't like.


Amazon to halt some of its DEI programs: Internal memo
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Bloomberg, Fox Business, Al Jazeera, TechCrunch, HotAir and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Meta just killed its diversity, equity and inclusion program
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One America News Network


Trump is planning 100 executive orders starting Day 1 on border, deportations and other priorities — President-elect Donald Trump is preparing more than 100 executive orders starting Day One of the new White House, in what amounts to a shock-and-awe campaign on border security, deportations and a rush of other policy priorities.
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One America News Network and American Greatness
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Trump's Hill weapon … - Miller has become instrumental as Senate GOP leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) haggle over how to pass MAGA priorities, fast. — Miller also gets Congress: While he initially called for a two-bill approach to immigration and tax reform …


Biden Issues Sweeping Deportation Protections Before Trump Takes Office — The move allows hundreds of thousands of people from Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela to stay in the country temporarily. — The Biden administration on Friday issued sweeping extensions of deportation protections …
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CBS News, New York Post, Department of Homeland …, RedState, Florida Politics, Wall Street Journal, Politico, USA Today and Associated Press


Border Crossings Continue to Drop Before Trump's Second Term — Illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border in November fell to their lowest level of President Biden's administration. — Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have slowed significantly as President Biden prepares …
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Notes From Poland


Rudy Giuliani held in contempt for second time this week — Federal judge rips into Guiliani over “fabricated lies.” — A federal judge has held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to falsely accuse two Georgia women of election fraud in 2020, breaching a court order against further attacking …
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Federal judge slams Rudy Giuliani as ‘outrageous and shameful’ as she holds him in contempt in 2020 election defamation case — Rudy Giuliani has been held in contempt of court for the second time in a week, as the former New York mayor and top Donald Trump lawyer's fall from grace continues …
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New York Times, The Hill, NPR, New York Magazine, Axios, New Republic and UPI

Rudy Giuliani Found In Contempt Of Court For Second Time This Week
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MSNBC and Law & Crime


Meta Deletes Trans and Nonbinary Messenger Themes — Meta deleted nonbinary and trans themes for its Messenger app this week, around the same time that the company announced it would change its rules to allow users to declare that LGBTQ+ people are “mentally ill,” 404 Media has learned.
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Diane Duane
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Inside Mark Zuckerberg's Sprint to Remake Meta for the Trump Era — After visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump in November, Mr. Zuckerberg decided to relax Meta's speech policies. He asked a small team to carry out his goals within weeks. The repercussions are just beginning.
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The Post Millennial, Fox Business, Semafor and Al Jazeera, more at Mediagazer »


State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded — A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of use when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby, the Los Angeles Times found.


Leaked memo reveals LA Mayor Karen Bass demanded her fire department cut an extra $49 million just ONE WEEK before wildfires broke out — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demanded her Fire Department make an extra $49million of budget cuts last week, a leaked memo revealed.
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RedState, Raw Story, The Post Millennial, acecomments.mu.nu, The Gateway Pundit, HotAir, Twitchy and Fox News
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As a Felon, Trump Upends How Americans View the Presidency — President-elect Donald J. Trump has worked for years to discredit any and all criminal and civil cases against him as nothing more than politically motivated witch hunts. — A big economic package, mass deportations, maybe even some invasions of other countries.
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Reuters, Washington Post and Associated Press
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Trump Received an Unconditional Discharge. What Does That Mean?
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Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, Forbes, The Independent, NOTUS, CBS News and Politico

Trump sentencing live updates: Judge sentences Trump to 'unconditional discharge in hush money case
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The Daily Caller, CNBC, Fox News, Politico, FOX 11 Los Angeles, New York Times, NPR, UPI, The Guardian, El País, Raw Story, Hollywood Life, Ordinary Times, CBS News, Al Jazeera, New Republic, Metro.co.uk, The Hill, Vibe, freebeacon.com, Forbes, The Daily Signal, TMZ.com, Deadline, Boston.com, The Post Millennial, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, HotAir, Washington Examiner, NewsNation, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, The Atlantic, JONATHAN TURLEY, New York Daily News, BBC and Deseret News


House GOP puts Medicaid, ACA, climate measures on chopping block — The menu of potential spending offsets has been circulated by House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington. — House Republicans are passing around a “menu” of more than $5 trillion in cuts they could use to bankroll President-elect …
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PoliticusUSA, Boston Herald, Daily Kos, The Mahablog and New Republic


ICE warns Laken Riley Act could force it to release detained migrants … - ICE warned that without emergency funding, they could be forced to release tens of thousands of immigrants — including potentially some deemed to be public safety threats. … - ICE currently only has funding for 42,000 detention beds.
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Supreme Court to weigh reinstating Obamacare care requirements struck down by lower court — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider reinstating some preventative care coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act that were struck down by a lower court.
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CNN, New York Times, Politico, Courthouse News Service, Raw Story, The Hill and Reuters


DOGE is dispatching agents across U.S. government — Federal officials are already dealing with surrogates from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's nongovernmental body before Donald Trump is sworn in again. — Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are sending representatives to agencies across …
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Fox News, Daily Kos, Washingtonian, The Independent, The Guardian, New Republic and Magnolia Tribune


Mark Zuckerberg lies about content moderation to Joe Rogan's face … I'll spare you the experience of listening to one of the richest men in the world whine and just tell you straight out: Mark Zuckerberg's interview on The Joe Rogan Experience is full of lies.
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9to5Mac, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Variety, IJR, The Post Millennial, Breitbart, Raw Story, NBC News, Twitchy, The San Francisco Standard, Washington Examiner and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »


Trump can still vote after sentencing, but can't own a gun and will have to turn over DNA sample — President-elect Donald Trump doesn't have to go to jail, pay a fine or perform community service as a result of his New York hush money conviction. A judge ended the case Friday with a sentence …
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Forbes, USA Today, PolitiFact, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Life, Raw Story, The 19th and Associated Press


The Trumps Are in Talks to Reclaim Their Prized D.C. Hotel — The family firm is looking for a hotel in the capital as Trump prepares to return to the White House — Donald Trump's real-estate company is in talks to reclaim its former Washington, D.C., hotel, a move that could offer …
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New Republic, CBS News, The Independent, Washington Examiner and Raw Story


Drone collides with firefighting plane during Los Angeles wildfires — A drone crashed into a firefighting aircraft near the California Palisades fire Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. — The aircraft landed safely but sustained wing damage, and it is out of service.
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Federal Aviation …, New York Times, KFMB, Los Angeles Times, DRONELIFE, The War Zone, New York Magazine, MyNewsLA.com, USA Today, DroneDJ, Futurism, New York Post, LAist, Breitbart, The Hill, The Verge and UPI


Key senators receive Pete Hegseth's FBI background check days out from confirmation hearing — Democrats have expressed concern over the delay and how thorough the report on Trump's embattled defense secretary pick will be. — WASHINGTON — An FBI background check for Pete Hegseth …
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Defense News


Biden Calls Meta's Ending of Fact-Checking Program ‘Shameful’ — Responding to a question from a reporter, the president said he believed Americans “want to tell the truth.” — President Biden criticized Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, on Friday for deciding to abandon …
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Deadline, Associated Press, Washington Post, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Bloomberg and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »


The 119th Congress opens to AI, SCOTUS dances around TikTok, and a celebration of the OGFAC — Good evening from Washington, where more snow is inbound later tonight. If you're receiving this newsletter, it's because you subscribed to Civic Texts: so glad to see more of you in this new year!
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Law Dork and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »


The Architects Of L.A.'s Wildfire Devastation — Back in 2019, a California state climate task force issued a stark warning: Endless development in the state's high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying wildfires and putting more people in their path. — It was a call that has echoed …


In North Carolina, Republicans Try to Reverse a Supreme Court Election Loss — An incumbent Democrat narrowly won re-election to the state's highest court. But the Republican-controlled court is considering an unusual protest from her challenger that could flip the result.
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Associated Press, Election Law Blog and Arizona Mirror


Biden's legacy as president — In his final weeks in the White House, 39% approve of how Biden is handling his job. Compared to his predecessors, fewer say he was a great or good president. … As President Biden prepares to leave the White House, only a quarter of the public view him as a great or good president.
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Daily Kos, The Hill, Washington Times, Deseret News and New Jersey Online


Vince McMahon, SEC reach $1.7M settlement over hush money payments — World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder Vince McMahon reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday for failing to disclose two payments made on behalf of himself and the company.


The Consensus On Havana Syndrome Is Cracking — After long denying the possibility, some intelligence agencies are no longer willing to rule out a mystery weapon. — Two years ago, U.S. intelligence analysts concluded, in unusually emphatic language, that a mysterious and debilitating ailment known as …
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HotAir, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Twin Cities and The Hill