Mad Special: While We Were Away...
Dear readers,
I squirreled away some time to tap out a bare-bones news round up from the last fortnight between various seasonal adventures. MadMondays proper will return next week, but despite the quietness of Christmas, creatures were stirring there was quite a bit going on…
Frisby
Politics
Incoming:
Tech luminaries Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) have traveled to Mar-A-Lago to meet Donald Trump, both promising to donate money to the fund for January’s inauguration ceremony. (Not the Bee)
Donald Trump has demanded Panama reduce fees for American ships crossing through its canal, threatening to take it back for the US if changes aren’t made. (The Hill) Trump has also restated his hope that the US could buy Greenland. For a strategic base, globally and abundant mineral reserves, arguments for the purchase don’t sound too crazy. (Pirate Wires)
Outgoing:
President Biden (or perhaps his staff) has commuted the sentences of dozens of death row criminals, many who killed or raped their victims. They will now serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Donald Trump has promised that his Department of Justice will vigorously pursue the death penalty for murderers and violent criminals. (Daily Wire, Donald Trump via Truth Social)
The Biden Education Department has scrapped two broad initiatives to cancel student debt, saying there is not enough time left to complete the program before a new administration takes over. The Department also said it would no longer pursue changes to Title IX which would prevent blanket bans on transgender athletes competing under their “gender identity”. (Inside Higher Ed, WNG)
A conservative legal group has requested the release of photos by the National Archive which show Hunter Biden and then-vice president, Joe Biden, meeting Chinese business partners. The President has long denied he met or even knew of his son’s foreign entanglements. (CNN)
President Biden has signed 50 bills into law. (Epoch Times)
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized in Luxembourg after falling down stairs at a public event. (The Hill) Former president Bill Clinton has been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. (WNG)
The hill:
The US House has voted to pass a “skinny” stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shut down. Republicans were upset when the final Bill numbering over 1,500 pages was presented, just days out from the vote, triggering two further reviews. While there was broad agreement about disaster relief for hurricane victims, pay raises for Congress and changes to the national debt ceiling were hotly disputed. It seems no one was happy, fiscal austerity was lost in the mix and no meaningful governance from Congress was shown. So, business as usual! (The Hill, The Federalist)
There have been fresh calls for term limits after a reporter’s investigation into the extended absence of a sitting Republican congresswoman found she was living in a dementia home, unbeknownst to constituents. (The Blaze)
In case you missed it, Rev Fisk wrote a delightful Christmas tale:
Life
A California judge has ordered that a rapist’s victims must use the perpetrator’s preferred pronouns during court sessions. (Hot Air)
Two homosexual men have been sentenced to over 100 years each in jail by a Georgia court. The couple trafficked their adopted children out to pedophiles. (Not the Bee)
Texas is suing a New York abortionist who prescribed abortion drug in telehealth consultations. (WNG)
A California dad has blasted his school district’s leaders after his child was set an assignment in which students had to imagine how they would “come out” as homosexual to their friends and family. (Not the Bee)
A couple has set the world record for being the oldest to tie the knot. The bride is 102 and the groom is a spritely 100 year-old. (NBC)
A social media survey asked why some people are not afraid of death revealing a crazy misunderstanding about death and judgement. Respondents said they were more scared of losing their minds or being incapacitated than of death. Some said they feel life is exhausting and saw death as rest. Others said they’ve lived a good life, so whatever comes next will be fine. (Upworthy)
President Carter has died, aged 100 years-old. (Time)
Law
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has had a terror charge added to the list of allegations against him. Authorities said the killing was “designed to evoke terror”. He entered a not guilty plea to state charges against him in a New York court room last week. (AP, CBS)
A 15 year-old girl has been identified as the perpetrator in a Wisconsin school shooting. Natalie Rupnow killed a teacher and a student before taking her own life. Reports of a note left by the shooter suggest she disdained her parents, especially her father. She wanted to take her own life, but felt the planet would benefit if she would take out some others first. (WNG, ZeroHedge)
The legal team for Derek Chauvin, the former policeman who was charged with killing George Floyd, has been granted access to autopsy reports. (Daily Mail)
A DNA test gifted to a Wyoming woman has lead to the murder arrest of her own grandmother. (Not the Bee)
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s appeal after the Chinese-owned app claimed a US-wide ban on it would violate free speech protections. Separately, Donald Trump has asked the Court to delay the start date for banning the app, saying he wishes to seek a “political resolution” to the national security threat posed by the platform. (The Hill, NPR)
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by energy industry representatives that are challenging a California mandate that almost a quarter of vehicles sold next year must have zero emissions. (Pennsylvania Petroleum)
Immigration
A woman has died on a New York subway after an illegal immigrant allegedly set her clothing on fire. (Fox)
Science and Technology
Epic gaming company will refund around $72 million to Fortnite customers tricked into unwanted charges. (MSN)
OpenAI says Elon Musk has tried to paper over his wish to run the company and turn it into a for-profit entity. OpenAI posted receipts as evidence in a lengthy blog post, while legal action initiated by Musk continues. (OpenAI)
Digital license plates. What could go wrong? (Wired)
How WhatsApp ate the world. (Rest of the World)
The rise of the AI crawler. (Vercel)
How very Matrix: humans as batteries? (The Hustle)
A lickable “lollipop” is designed to simulate flavors for virtual reality users. (Live Science)
How it’s possible to weld underwater. (IFL Science)
One man turned his smartphone into a dumb phone and reduced his screen time by 80%. (Reysu via YouTube)
Environment
Arctic ice has defied climate alarmist narratives, growing by almost a quarter in the last twelve years. (ZeroHedge)
TikTok’s carbon footprint might be bigger than the nation of Greece. With people scrolling for an average 45 minutes per day, the emissions are said to be worse than 100 mile journeys in a car. (The Guardian)
Health
A much-quoted 2020 study showing that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for covid-19 has been retracted. But critics of the retraction say it was “unethically” pulled from publication. (Science, Courageous Discourses)
The US Department of Agriculture has mandated that milk be tested for bird flu. (The Guardian)
To vax or not to vax: some questions to ask. (Intellectual Takeout)
The benefits of push ups. (Ask Men) And, how many should you do daily? (The Manual)
Money
Consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal lawsuit. A McKinsey partner that advised now defunct Purdue Pharma how to market the opioid Oxycontin pled guilty on charges that it obstructed justice during a probe into criminal activity. (CNBC)
Honda and Nissan are reportedly entering negotiations to work together under a holding company. While the Japanese government says the venture is necessary to compete with Chinese automative industries, Honda bosses say they won’t do it unless Nissan gets its financial act together. (CNBC, Drive)
Signs the US economy is not in good shape. (ZeroHedge)
Volkswagon has unveiled its new Kombivan. (PopSci)
Church
A Satanic statue erected in a city plaza in New Hampshire has been promptly knocked down. Police say they will investigate as a hate crime. (Front Page Mag)
Seeker sensitive? A leaked memo to Church of England clergy has warned that some Christmas hymns could be problematic to non-Christians. (Breitbart)
Only Illuminati Need Apply: Reader Highlights
Our friend Bryan from Unnatural Philosophy has written a hymn, Father You Have Made This Day. You can check it out here.
Media
ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million towards Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation suit brought by the former president. Anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asserted on air that Trump had been found “liable for rape” which was false. Donald Trump is also suing the Des Moines Register for publishing a poll right before the election which showed Kamala Harris winning Iowa, calling it election interference. (AP, USA Today)
A CNN reporter has been duped by fake Syrian prisoner. (Spiked)
Reports finally acknowledging that President Biden has not been mentally-fit enough to lead the country for many years are slowly being published in media. (PJ Media)
Culture
Tom Cruise has accepted a Distinguished Public Service award from the US Navy, the highest honor the Navy can bestow on a civilian. (US Today)
Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson has made an appearance during a Broadway show. The production is a feminist/woke reimagining of Romeo and Juliet with some “non-binary” characters. (The Federalist)
Since its debut in 1963, instant replay has revolutionized sport. (Smithsonian)
Don’t give into anti-Western vitriol: sing together! (The Critic)
The mysterious death of Alfred Lowenstein, 1928. (Historic Flix)
The subtle difference between a “gift” and a “present”. (Mental Floss)
Four New Year’s resolutions that could change America. (Intellectual Takeout)
Hat-wearing tips from Humphrey Bogart’s milliner. (Shortlist)
Ideas
Life cannot be delegated. (Convivial Society)
Moral Exhibitionism: The Hollow Virtue of Overreaction: “empty vessels make the most noise, and to attend to empty vessels is to court disaster.” (Epoch Times)
Has liberalism been “hacked” or is progressivism the inevitable end of … (The Critic)
War
Two US Navy pilots are safe after their jet was accidentally shot down by a US carrier ship over the Red Sea in a “friendly-fire” incident. (Just the News)
An Azerbijan Airline plane which crashed in Kazakhstan may have been hit by a Russian missile. (Red State)
Ukraine has claimed responsibility for an explosion that killed the head of a Russian nuclear defence program in a residential area of Moscow. (Just the News)
An announcement reportedly from Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s ousted leader, claims he did not intend to flee the country but was evacuated on the advice of Russian troops. Meanwhile Syria’s new leadership has said it is not interested in joining regional conflicts against Israel. (The Independent, Reuters)
Finland has seized a tanker carrying Russian oil, which is suspected to have cut undersea cables. (ABC)
World
🇨🇦 Hecklers called for the resignation of Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau after his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland slammed his “taxpayer-pleasing” economic plans. Freeland resigned saying Canada needs to keep its power dry while waiting to see what Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs will do to Canada’s economy. Others pointed out that Freeland is responsible already for racking up a massive deficit. (ZeroHedge)
🇩🇪 A man has plowed his car through a Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg. Five people are confirmed dead and hundreds were injured. The suspect was Saudi born and reports say he was an anti-Muslim activist. (BBC, The Guardian, Not the Bee)
🇮🇪 A warning that Ireland’s “shadow banking” sector is overheating and in danger of “volatile market correction”. (The Critic)
🇫🇷 France’s new prime minister François Bayrou is negotiating with various parliamentary factions in the hope of forging a government. (Politico)
🇩🇪 Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost a confidence vote by Germany’s parliament, triggering early elections. The fractious three-party government had hoped to retain the support of smaller parties, but disparate economic goals have proved irreconcilable. Fresh elections can now be called, which was the outcome Scholz was aiming for. (BBC)
🇰🇷 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a second impeachment brought by the opposition party after short-lived marital law declaration. (UPI)
🇬🇧 A UK court has agreed that police can seize £2 million from influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan in legal action seeking to recover £21 million in unpaid taxes. (BBC)
🇰🇷 A plane crash in South Korea has claimed the lives of 179 passengers, with just two survivors. US investigators have joined the inquiry into the cause. (The Guardian)
Clickbait
🇲🇽 Mexico’s mad radish-carving festival
🎄 Pinecone to pine tree time lapse
🎇 A Guinness World-record Christmas light display from 5,000 drones
🧷 Mom establishes charity to provide preemie sized onesies to tiny newborns
🇨🇭 First-of-it-kind: a mobile bridge-road makes it safer for road repair workers and less frustrating for motorists
Audio
Sermons
Podcasts
Let us pray: O God, our Maker and Redeemer, You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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