Meta’s fact-checking partners accuse Zuckerberg of betrayal

Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control in and around Los Angeles and homes are destroyed
California firefighters battled wind-whipped wildfires that tore across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled, and straining resources as officials prepared for the situation to worsen overnight.

Over 200,000 without power in LA County
There were 219,903 customers without electricity in Los Angeles County as of 2 a.m. ET.

LA Fire Dept report people were actively trying to break into homes as fire spread
“People are trying to break into homes up here!"

Why Is Russiagate's Origin Story Redacted?
In a parting gesture of defiance, the FBI releases a long-awaited document, blotting most of it out.

Report: General Mark Milley, Pentagon approved directed-energy weapons for use on June 2020 DC rioters
According to Blaze News' source, who was present at the meeting, “In the full context of the discussion, I took that to mean that both Milley and then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had signed off on the use of those weapons.”

Democrats’ ‘Ethics’ Smears Against Thomas And Alito Are So Embarrassing They Buried Their Own Report
The Democrats falsely accused Justices Thomas and Alito of violating ethics laws by not disclosing vacations with friends and not recusing from cases because of their spouses’ activities. They are wrong on both counts.

NYC drivers devise clever ways to conceal license plate numbers as congestion toll takes effect
Drivers near Manhattan's congestion zone are using DIY methods like obscuring or altering license plates with paint, tape, or reflective coatings to evade the new $9 toll.

Hooters waitress tries to flirt her way out of DUI stop, calls cop ‘nerd’ when it doesn’t work
“I will do anything for you, daddy,” she said. “I can’t keep my hands off of you,” she said before turning heel and calling him a nerd after he rejected her advances.

Trump signals flexibility on border, tax 'mega-bill' ahead of Senate GOP meeting
Trump is expected to meet with Thune and other key Republicans on Wednesday to discuss legislative strategy and key priorities in hopes to get his legislative agenda passed.

Trump Team Says Dems ‘Playing Politics’ With Key National Security Admin Post
Trump transition accuses Democrats of "stonewalling" Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to DNI.

Trump says the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed ‘Gulf of America’
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name, and it’s appropriate,” Trump declared.

Trump Jr. visits Greenland and Danish king changes royal coat of arms amid feud over Arctic territory
The president-elect’s son arrived in the strategic territory Tuesday, the latest sign of his dad's desire to take ownership of the vast island.

Why Greenland matters: Rare-earth minerals and strategic advantage
Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to Greenland highlights U.S. interest in its vast, untapped rare-earth deposits, crucial for breaking dependency on China.

Canadian official counters Trump’s 51st state proposal and offers to buy two American states
“To the president, I’ll make him a counteroffer. How about if we buy Alaska? And we’ll throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time?”

Texas House speaker race split between hard conservative and establishment Republicans
Neither of the candidates for the GOP House speaker's position have enough supporters to win the election.

Majority of Americans say Biden’s presidency will be remembered as ‘below average’ or ‘poor’: Poll
Only 6% of U.S. adults responded that history would remember Biden as an “outstanding” president, and 13% thought his legacy would be regarded as “above average.”

How Jill Biden Meghan-Markled A President
Jill Biden ruined her husband’s life and has nothing to show for it.

Fetterman Signals He’s Voting For Trump’s Nominees: ‘That’s The Way Democracy Works’
We'll find out soon enough if it's all talk or not. For the record, Fetterman still has a 93% rating from Progressive Punch with an A rating.

RFK Jr. to meet with slew of Dems including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders
He should feel right at home meeting with them.

Matt Gaetz says he is 'starting to think' about a bid for Florida governor in 2026
“I have a compelling vision for the state,” Gaetz said.

On Mark Zuckerberg's Speech Announcement
The Meta chief's surprising public address on free speech hints at a coming battle between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Meta fact-checkers call an emergency meeting after Mark Zuckerberg pulls the plug
"People are upset because they saw themselves as partners in good standing with Meta, doing important work to make the platform more accurate and reliable."

NY Times: Meta Says Fact-Checkers Were the Problem. Fact-Checkers Rule That False.
Fact-checking groups that worked with Meta said they had no role in deciding what the company did with the content that was fact-checked.

Politico: Zuck goes full Musk, dumps Facebook fact-checking program
Meta has also put a longtime Republican in charge of global policy and put top Trump ally Dana White on its board of directors.

NY Post: Don’t let Facebook off the hook for its pro-censorship past so easily
Right up until Zuckerberg began feeling the heat from Congress over Facebook’s content-moderation standards, he was treating censorship as a public good.

BBC News: Facebook and Instagram get rid of fact-checkers
Fact-checking organization Full Fact — which participates in Facebook's program for verifying posts in Europe — said it "refutes allegations of bias" made against its profession, describing the change as a "disappointing and a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world."

NBC News: Meta's moderation rollback sparks despair
“Fact-checkers have not been biased in their work — that attack line comes from those who feel they should be able to exaggerate and lie without rebuttal or contradiction.”

Mark Zuckerberg denies claims of building doomsday bunker in Hawaii
“I think it got blown out of proportion as if the whole ranch was some kind of doomsday bunker, which is just not true.”

Mark Zuckerberg wears rare $900K Swiss watch to reveal major shift on Meta’s free speech: Report
The Meta CEO appeared to wear a rare Swiss watch, which sells for nearly $1 million, as he announced the decision to scrap third-party fact-checking by his popular Facebook and Instagram apps.

Babylon Bee: Guy Who Said Facebook Was Not Suppressing Free Speech Announces Facebook Will Stop Suppressing Free Speech
Conservatives who had been victimized by the social media platform's oppressive policies were pleased to find out that the conduct Zuckerberg said never happened would reportedly come to an end in the coming months.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan Says YouTube is a “Bastion of Free Speech”
Though, “Just because it’s an open platform, it doesn’t mean that anything goes,” Mohan told the Financial Times in the last week.

Congressional trading in 2024: Top political stock market winners
The 2024 report reveals several U.S. politicians outperformed the market with unusual trades and significant portfolio gains, continuing a trend of lawmakers leveraging timely investments to secure financial success.

McDonald’s Backs Away From DEI Programs Amid ‘Shifting Legal Landscape’
The changes announced by McDonald’s include no more participation in third-party surveys, eliminating “aspirational representation goals,” and axing its supply chain DEI pledge.

159 Democrats Voted Against The Laken Riley Act
The legislation ended up passing the House in a 264-159 vote with every Republican voting in favor of it. Forty-eight Democrats ended up voting in favor of the bill. It will now head to the Senate.

Trump's border czar calls for weekly deportation briefings: 'Need to be very transparent'
"It will be sad. It would be controversial. It will be emotional. It always is," he remarked. "And what the media is going to do ... the first crying woman, the first crying child will be news, and my picture will be splashed everywhere as the devil."

Joe Biden pats himself on the back for drop in illegal border crossings
"Following the executive actions we took to secure our border, unlawful crossings have dropped over 60%."

CBP seizes rocket launcher at Arizona port
CBP explained that the weapons taken on Dec. 28 would likely be used to support the drug cartels.

Florida grand jury finds no evidence of criminal activity related to COVID-19 vaccines
The report said although the jury found no evidence of illegal activity, it still found problems with the vaccine process and recommended the state increases transparency around clinical trials and bans ads for pharmaceutical drugs.

Chinese state media: China's respiratory infection within usual range, says WHO
China's reported levels of respiratory infections are within the usual range for the winter season. Authorities report that hospital utilization is currently lower than this time last year, and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered, the WHO said.

5 years ago today: Chinese report says illnesses may be from new coronavirus
“Preliminary identification of a novel virus in a short period of time is a notable achievement,” a WHO representative said, adding that it “demonstrates China’s increased capacity to manage new outbreaks.”

Liberals Cook Up Fearmongering Campaign Against Eggs
“What to know about eating eggs as bird flu spreads,” writes Axios late Tuesday night.

Trump warns Hamas ‘all hell will break out’ if it doesn’t release hostages before he takes office
“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump warned during a press conference in Mar-a-Lago Tuesday. “All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is.”

Ukraine has received less than half of US assistance allocated during full-scale war, Zelenskyy says
Zelenskyy implied that this development may have been linked to corruption or lobbying on the side of U.S. companies. Ukraine's head of state said this in response to Fridman's question about corruption concerns in Ukraine.

Will China Start the Next World War in the Panama Canal?
While Panama denies a Chinese military presence, extensive commercial control by Chinese state-linked companies suggest Beijing's strategic leverage over the canal. Experts warn that accidents or sabotage could disrupt this critical chokepoint, potentially sparking global conflict.

NY Times: What Is the UK ‘Grooming Gang’ Scandal Seized On by Elon Musk?
The racial element of these high-profile cases became a common right-wing talking point, even as experts noted that ethnicity is not a predictor of a propensity to abuse children. The trope has also been weaponized by the far right, including by terrorists.

UK Migrants Arrested For Sex Crimes Three Times As Often As British Citizens
Well, that just proves nothing, except that the police are racists.

Diddy ‘throwing tantrums’ over attention accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer receives behind bars
The rapper and the CEO murderer are both awaiting trial at Brooklyn's infamous Metropolitan Center in New York, and Diddy is reportedly raging that the alleged killer is more beloved than he is among inmates.

Benifer II officially comes to a close
On Monday, Lopez and Affleck finally reached a settlement for their divorce. “The fairy tale she was promised turned out to be a nightmare in the end,” the insider told the magazine.

AP: CNN defamation trial comes at a rough time for legacy media — and for the struggling network
In a broader sense, the case puts the news media on the stand weeks before Trump's due to begin his second term as president and on the same day Facebook’s parent company introduced a Trump-friendly policy of backing off fact-checks.

California Schools Stay Open Despite Plummeting Enrollment
Ballooning costs and shrinking student populations have left districts facing financial crises, but political pressures have kept closures off the table.

Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Takes Aim At Local School Board Races
Planned Parenthood will pour money into Pennsylvania school board races in an effort to normalize sex changes for children and the killing of the unborn.

Public Health ‘Experts’ Set The Stage For A New Prohibition
Biden's Surgeon General says, "Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity."

Pope Francis Appointed Left-Wing, Divisive Cardinal To DC Due To Trump Vatican Ambassador Pick
The Pope on Monday announced his appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration stance and who has also advocated for the “radical inclusion” of women and “LGBT” people in the Church.

Tesla Cybertruck bomber used ChatGPT to plan Las Vegas attack, police say
The former military veteran looked into the amount of explosives he'd need, where to buy fireworks, and how to buy a phone without providing identifying information, all things he'd previous done with Google but instead did with AI.

Google unveils an AI-powered TV that summarizes the news for you at CES 2025
Google AI will create automated news summaries from online sources and YouTube.

Badly decomposed bodies found in plane’s wheel well after Jet Blue flight from JFK
Two men were found dead inside a wheel well of a JetBlue plane that flew from New York City to Florida, the airline said Tuesday.