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Dem Rep. Abigail Spanberger Announces Run for Virginia Governor
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Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) will not run for reelection next year but will instead launch a bid to replace Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) in the governor’s mansion, the House Democrat announced on Monday.

The announcement comes after months of speculation that the two-term incumbent would seek a gubernatorial bid, which, in turn, would leave a seat up for grabs in one of the most competitive districts of the 2024 cycle. Those rumors intensified over the weekend after Spanberger reportedly told Virginia Democrats she would not run for reelection and would announce her gubernatorial bid sometime next week, according to Virginia Scope reporter Brandon Jarvis.

“Virginia is where I grew up, where I am raising my own family, and where I intend to build a stronger future for the next generation of Virginians,” Spanberger said in a statement announcing her bid.

“As a former CIA case officer, former federal law enforcement officer, and current Member of Congress, I have always believed in the value of public service. I look forward to serving the Seventh District through the end of this term and then pursuing the important work of bringing Virginia together to keep our Commonwealth strong.”

Spanberger will run to replace Youngkin, who will be stepping down from the position due to Virginia term limits that bar governors from serving consecutive terms. Spanberger will seek to revert the governor’s mansion to Democratic control after Youngkin managed to flip the seat red in 2021, marking a major win for state Republicans to advance their conservative agenda.

Spanberger’s retirement in the House sets the stage for what could be an extremely competitive and expensive race in 2024. Her absence leaves open a key seat in Virginia, a state that has become more competitive over the last few election cycles.

There are a handful of Democrats who could run to replace Spanberger should she bow out, setting the stage for what could be a crowded primary. Those who are expected to announce their candidacy include state Del. Elizabeth Guzman, state Sen. Jeremy McPike, former Del. Hala Ayala, and former National Security Council deputy legal adviser Yevgeny Vindman, among others.

Several Republicans have already announced their bids to run for the seat. Republican groups were quick to seize on the news of Spanberger’s retirement, citing her absence as a key pickup opportunity to expand their slim majority in the House next year.

“Nothing is going right for Democrats in Virginia’s Seventh District, but the NRCC is all hands on deck to flip this now-open seat and grow the House Republican majority,” Delanie Bomar, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement moments after Spanberger’s announcement.

“Spanberger joining the other swing-district Democrats racing for the exits makes House Democrats’ climb out of the minority that much steeper.”

All 435 seats are up for grabs in 2024 as Republicans seek to hold their slim majority in the lower chamber. Of these, 42 are considered competitive, with most of those held by Democrats compared to Republicans, giving the GOP a slight advantage as it prepares for the next election cycle.

However, of the 42 competitive seats, 18 are held by Republicans in districts that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, compared to just five Democrats who must defend their seats in districts carried by former President Donald Trump. That means there are just enough vulnerable GOP-held seats to keep things competitive.

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CIA Whistleblower Comes Forward in Catherine Herridge’s Investigation

Catherine Herridge’s latest investigation, Government Gaslighting, uncovers allegations of mysterious attacks and government retaliation against retired CIA officers and national security professionals.

Speaking publicly for the first time, they reveal career-ending symptoms, lost security clearances, and a sense of betrayal after reporting their experiences.

Catherine Herridge reported:

Tomorrow, we are releasing our biggest investigation of 2024 called Government Gaslighting.

After years of quiet advocacy, a retired CIA officer is speaking publicly for the first time about career ending cognitive and neurological symptoms.

Our investigation has exclusively obtained never seen before government records documenting reported attacks, mysterious injuries and allegations of retaliation.

This is an extraordinary group of national security professionals. They are highly vetted and trusted with the US government’s most closely guarded secrets.

After telling leadership they had been attacked, these officers say they were dismissed as crazy and unstable.

Some national security professionals report their TOP SECRET security clearances were pulled, limiting their ability to work in the future.

They took an oath to protect this country, and now, they speak of betrayal, government gaslighting, and thousands of dollars of medical debt.

Monday’s special edition newsletter complements our video investigation that also launches Monday on X.

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Biden Wanted Trump Prosecuted Earlier, Regrets Garland Pick: Report

President Joe Biden reportedly wanted the Department of Justice to target then-former President Donald Trump for prosecution far sooner and more aggressively than it did, and regrets naming Merrick Garland as Attorney General.

The report, published in the Washington Post on Saturday, echoes reporting nearly three years ago by the New York Times, which suggested in 2022 that Biden was frustrated with the slow pace of Garland, a “ponderous judge.”

The Post noted:

In private, Biden has also said he should have picked someone other than Merrick Garland as attorney general, complaining about the Justice Department’s slowness under Garland in prosecuting Trump, and its aggressiveness in prosecuting Biden’s son Hunter, according to people familiar with his comments.
…

Ron Klain, Biden’s incoming chief of staff, pushed for Garland. He stressed that Garland — a federal judge with a sterling reputation for independence and fairness — would show Americans that Biden was rebuilding a department badly shaken by Trump’s political attacks.

Biden was persuaded, and some Democrats believe the decision had devastating results. Had the Justice Department moved faster to prosecute Trump for allegedly seeking to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents, they say, the former president might have faced a politically damaging trial before the election.

The Biden White House claimed throughout his presidency that it was not politicizing the Department of Justice, and was in fact depoliticizing it. Democrats claimed that the department had been politicized by then-Attorney General William Barr, who refused to release grand jury materials related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into so-called “Russia collusion.” Barr noted that it was against the law for him to release grand jury materials.

The Post omits one of the other reasons Garland was picked: he had been blocked from confirmation to the Supreme Court by Republicans in 2016, and his appointment was seen as a consolation prize, as well as a strike at the GOP.

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Mike Johnson Has Votes to Keep Gavel?

Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) will be reelected Speaker of the House because no member of the Freedom Caucus could not get the 218 votes needed.

Partial transcript as follows:

JONATHAN KARL: First of all, let’s start right there with Mike Johnson. Does he get re-elected speaker of the House? Should he be?

LAWLER: Yes, and yes. The fact is that Mike Johnson inherited a disaster when Matt Gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove Kevin McCarthy, which will go down as the single stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics. With that said, removing Mike Johnson would equally be as stupid. The fact is that these folks are playing with fire. And if they think they’re somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they’re kidding themselves. Mike Johnson is arguably the most conservative speaker that’s ever been elected to the office. He’s done a great job keeping the conference unified, getting major things off the plate, and ultimately keeping the majority, which frankly despite the best efforts of some of these same people that are now calling for Johnson’s removal, we held onto the House because of seats like mine. And I’ll be very clear, as I was during the Kevin McCarthy fight, I’m not going to bend to their will. So, if they think somehow that they are going to end up in a stronger position by removing Mike Johnson, they’re not.

I think the bottom line here is this, Donald Trump has been given a mandate to govern. He’s been given majorities in the Senate and the House. And we have a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people with respect to the economy, with respect to the border, with respect to energy policy, and the foreign affairs disaster that has been left on Donald Trump’s doorstep by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

We can’t get anything done unless we have a speaker, including certifying President Trump’s election on January 6th. So, to waste time over a nonsensical intramural food fight is a joke. And I think my colleagues, if they didn’t learn anything from the 118th Congress, it should be that we absolutely do not need a fight over the speakership.

KARL: I mean, by my math, he can’t afford to lose more than a single vote. And we already have one of your colleagues, Massey, saying he’s not going to vote for him. Do you really think he’s going to line up every single House Republican?

LAWLER: Well, first of all, you’re going to have 219 members on January 3rd.

KARL: Yes.

LAWLER: Assuming Matt Gaetz doesn’t show up. And I guess that’s a big assumption. But you have 219. You need 218.

KARL: That’s some tough math.

LAWLER: Obviously, if you lose Thomas Massey, you still have 218.

KARL: Yes. Yes. Right.

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LAWLER: So, look, at the end of the day, people better be very careful though because you’re playing with fire. And if somebody thinks that they’re going to be able to get 218 votes for somebody let’s say out of the freedom caucus, they’re kidding themselves.

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H-1B Visa Program: By the Numbers

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Yellen Issues Debt Limit Warning to Congress

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States will hit its statutory debt ceiling around the middle of January, a development she said will prompt the Treasury to resort to “extraordinary measures” to prevent the government from defaulting on its obligations.

Yellen outlined the looming fiscal challenge in a Dec. 27 letter to congressional leaders, urging them to act to protect the nation’s economic credibility and preserve fiscal stability.

She noted that the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 temporarily suspended the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, enabling lawmakers to avert default during contentious budget negotiations.

A day after that deadline—on Jan. 2—a new debt limit will be set based on the total amount of outstanding debt subject to the statutory limit as of the end of Jan. 1. Yellen noted that the debt is projected to temporarily decrease by $54 billion on that date due to scheduled Medicare trust fund redemptions, providing a brief reprieve before extraordinary measures become necessary.

“Treasury currently expects to reach the new limit between January 14 and January 23, at which time it will be necessary for Treasury to start taking extraordinary measures.” Yellen wrote.

Extraordinary measures, often described as accounting maneuvers, allow the Treasury to free up cash and delay default. These measures, however, are a short-term solution. Once exhausted, they leave the government unable to meet its financial obligations without congressional intervention. Yellen emphasized the urgency of action, warning that a failure to address the debt ceiling would severely damage the nation’s economic credibility.

“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” she wrote.

Yellen’s warning comes as the national debt has climbed to a staggering $36 trillion, driven by decades of government spending outpacing tax revenue under both Republican and Democratic administrations. High inflation that soared after the pandemic led the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, increasing borrowing costs and debt service payments.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) recently noted that interest payments on America’s public debt have nearly tripled since 2020 and in 2024 were higher than spending on Medicare and national defense. The nonprofit estimated that interest payments will continue climbing over the next decade and beyond, exceeding Social Security spending by 2051 to become the top expense.

“The alarm bells are clearly ringing when it comes to our unsustainable national debt,” CRFB analysts wrote in the note. “Policymakers should put in place reforms that reduce the growth of debt and stabilize it as a share of the economy before interest and debt spiral further out of control.”

President-elect Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the debt ceiling altogether, or at least extending it through 2029, a move that would give his incoming administration more breathing room by avoiding repeated debt cap standoffs on Capitol Hill.

Congress first established a debt limit of $45 billion in 1939 and has since raised it 103 times as government spending has consistently exceeded tax revenue. As of October 2024, publicly held debt hit 98 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a sharp increase from 32 percent in October 2001. CBO projects that public debt will rise to 122 percent of gross domestic product in 2034.

Maya MacGuineas, president of CRFB, warned in a recent statement that the risks of rising debt include slower economic growth, higher inflation, and constrained fiscal flexibility that would hamper the government’s ability to respond to economic downturns or global crises.

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List: America’s Safest Small Towns

If you’re ready to trade in car break-ins and police sirens for a slice of small-town living, you may want to set your sights on the quaint communities of New England or the quirky architecture mecca of Indiana.

MoneyGeek, a personal finance site, had researchers analyze last year’s FBI crime data of more than 1,000 small towns and cities where the population is between 30,000 and 100,000.

MoneyGeek then used research by professors at the University of Miami and the University of Colorado Denver to calculate the cost of crime in each town. The cost of crime includes direct losses suffered by victims, resulting medical care costs, property loss, the cost of putting a suspect on trial and more.

When all the calculations were done, they found the safest small city in the country is Columbus, Indiana. The city south of Indianapolis had the lowest property crime rate of all the smaller towns and cities and among the lowest violent crime rates. (Aside from its low crime rate, you may have heard of Columbus for its architecture and public art. It was the setting of the 2017 movie “Columbus,” which featured the city’s unique design.)

Violent crime is even lower in several spots in the Northeast, which dominates the list of top 20 safest small towns and cities. Two are in Connecticut, three are in New Jersey, four are in New York and three are in Massachusetts.

But not all small towns are safe havens. Saginaw, Michigan, has the highest violent crime rate of all the small towns and cities analyzed.

Atlantic City, New Jersey, has the highest property crime rate, MoneyGeek found. When it comes to the cost of crime, the residents of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, pay the highest price.

The 20 safest small towns and cities in the U.S., according to MoneyGeek’s analysis, are:

On the whole, the country is getting safer from violent crime, the FBI said earlier this year.

In an analysis of 2023 data, the FBI found overall violent crime dropped 3% from the year before. Murders and non-negligent manslaughter rates dropped even more.

On the other hand, one type of property crime spiked pretty substantially. Motor vehicle theft was up about 13% in 2023, the FBI found.

The FBI’s nationwide analysis depends on its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Since not all agencies in the U.S. participate, the data is incomplete. However, it’s pretty thorough. Last year’s reported included data from 16,000 agencies around the country.

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Tornadoes Touch Down Southern US, 4 Killed

Officials assessed the damage on Sunday after a strong storm system moved across the southern U.S. over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people.

There were at least 45 reports of tornado damage across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. Crews will do damage surveys to confirm tornadoes.

The storms during busy holiday travels caused some treacherous road conditions along with delays or cancellations at some of the busiest U.S. airports. As of Sunday afternoon, there were over 600 flight delays affecting Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

“It’s not unheard of, but it is fairly uncommon to have a severe weather outbreak of this magnitude this late in the year,” said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.

In the Houston area, National Weather Service storm survey crews confirmed that at least five tornadoes hit north and south of the city on Saturday.

At least one person died. The 48-year-old woman was found about 100 feet (30 meters) from her home in the Liverpool area south of Houston, said Madison Polston of the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office. She said the exact cause of death wasn’t immediately known.

Four other people in Brazoria County had injuries that weren’t considered critical, said Polston, adding that at least 40 homes and buildings were significantly damaged.

In Montgomery County, north of Houston, about 30 homes were destroyed and about 50 others sustained major damage, county official Jason Smith said.

In North Carolina, a 70-year-old man was killed Sunday in Statesville, just north of Charlotte, when a tree landed on the pickup truck he was driving. Highway Patrol Trooper DJ Maffucci said “it was just a freak accident” and he believed Matthew Teeple, of Cleveland, North Carolina, was killed instantly.

“It’s very sad, just terrible timing,” Maffucci said, adding that the storms were responsible for a number of downed trees and “quite a few wrecks.”

Two people were killed in storms in Mississippi, officials said. An 18-year-old died after a tree fell on her home Saturday night in Natchez in Adams County, said Emergency Management spokesperson Neifa Hardy. Two other people in the home were injured.

Another person died in Lowndes County and at least eight more were injured across the state, officials said.

The National Weather Service said two tornadoes hit around Bude and the city of Brandon, ripping roofs from several buildings.

Storm damage also was reported in the northern Alabama city of Athens, northwest of Huntsville.

Holly Hollman, spokeswoman for the city, said most of the damage from the early Sunday morning storms occurred downtown. She said it hurled large HVAC units from the tops of building and ripped the roof off a bookstore. A full-sized, stripped-down military helicopter was toppled from a pole where it was on display, she added.

“I stepped out on my porch and I could hear it roar,” she said of the storm. “I think we are extremely lucky that we got hit late at night. If it had hit during the busy hours, I think we might have had some injuries and possibly some fatalities.”

As of Sunday afternoon, over 40,000 people were still without power in Mississippi, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us. Texas, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia each had about 10,000 customers without power, it said.

The storms closed some roads in western North Carolina, a region broadly devastated by Hurricane Helene this fall. That included part of U.S. 441, also known as the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, which closed north of Bryson City due to high winds.

In Bumpus Cove, Tennessee, Justin Fromkin, president of Raising Hope Disaster Relief, worked Sunday to save what he could from the organization’s supply tent — filled with clothes and food — after about 6 inches (152 millimeters) of rain fell.

He’s spent the past few months delivering aid to areas in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee that are still reeling from Helene. The ground in some parts of the mountains is still unstable from Helene, Fromkin said, and Sunday’s downpour adds to the problem.

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Five Charged Over Liam Payne’s Death

Several people have reportedly been charged in connection with One Direction star Liam Payne’s death in Argentina.

Argentinian online newspaper Infobae published that five people have been charged by a judge and two have been remanded in custody.

The site claims that one of those charged is Liam’s friend Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, who said he left the singer at the CasaSur Palermo hotel about an hour before he fell to his death.

Infobae reported that the authorities have charged him with negligent homicide.

Braian Paiz, a waiter who admitted to using drugs, including cocaine, with the singer, was charged with supplying narcotics for payment.

CasaSur employee Ezequiel Pereyra was allegedly also charged with supplying drugs.

Hotel managers Gilda Martín and Esteban Grassi have reportedly been charged with manslaughter. All five have been summoned to appear in court.

The One Direction star died on October 16 after falling from a third floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.

His death shocked the world and raised questions about how he had fallen.

Police launched a wide-ranging investigation into his death and previously Nores denied being a suspect.

A 911 call the day the singer died warned that he had been acting aggressively and could have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Grassi, the chief receptionist, claimed Liam called down ‘insistently’ to ask for alcohol, and to ask where he could get cocaine – allegedly insulting a member of staff who said he could not help.

Further to this, text messages purporting to have been exchanged between Liam and an escort in which he offered her $5,000 (£3,900) to ‘party’.

It came as reports suggested a psychiatrist had emailed Nores to advise it was ‘impossible’ to continue supporting Liam with his mental health – and to warn of the risks associated with mixing antidepressants and alcohol.

Alleged dealers Braian Nahuel Paiz and Ezequiel David Pereyra, a former employee at the Buenos Aires hotel, said they were ‘retaining their right to remain silent’ during a previous hearing in front of Laura Bruniard.

Following a police investigation, both defendants were charged with the crime of supplying narcotics for payment, which could lead to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Braian had told an Argentine TV journalist last month he had taken marijuana and the former One Direction star snorted cocaine during a rendezvous at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, where Payne was staying shortly before his death.

But Braian insisted in his interview with Guillermo Panizza on Telefe Noticias: ‘I never took drugs to him or accepted any money.’

Pereyra, 21, identified locally as the hotel worker suspected of delivering drugs to Liam in a Dove soap box, has made no public comment so far since it emerged he had been placed under formal investigation.

Nores told a TMZ documentary examining Payne’s death that he was ‘in good spirits and perfectly balanced’ the day he died as he refuted claims the singer was intoxicated and acting erratically shortly before his October 16 fatal fall from his third-floor hotel balcony.

The businessman, fighting accusations he abandoned his pal before his death amid claims he was Liam’s ‘de facto’ manager, has previously protested his innocence after being named locally as one of the men under investigation.

He said in a statement last month: ‘I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.

‘There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left.

‘I could have never imagined something like this would happen.

‘I gave my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since.

‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend.’

Grassi and Martin have been identified as two of the three men pictured carrying the singer back up to his room from his hotel lobby shortly before his fall.

The chief receptionist, who made an emergency 911 call moments before the 31-year-old singer died, has not made any public comment since being named as one of the suspects.

Tests have shown the singer binged on alcohol and cocaine before he died and also had traces of an antidepressant in his system.

Prosecutors also made it clear the idea that Liam had committed suicide had been ruled out and said he was in a state of ‘semi or total unconsciousness’ as he fell to his death from his hotel balcony when he ‘didn’t know what he was doing.’

They said of the hotel worker and the alleged ‘drug dealer’: ‘The second suspect is a hotel employee who must respond for two proven supplies of cocaine to Liam Payne during the time he was in the hotel.

‘The third is also a drug dealer who is being investigated on suspicion of another two clearly proven supplies of cocaine at two different times on October 14.’

The recent publication of the last photo of Liam, showing him being carried back up to his room from his hotel lobby shortly before his fall by three men said to include Mr Grassi, has led to speculation in Argentine media that the court investigation could eventually become a manslaughter probe.

Horrified tourist Bret Watson, who saw Liam fall to his death, revealed to TMZ earlier that the tragedy will forever remain ‘burned into his brain.’

‘It’s something that’s been burned into my brain and something I’m never going to forget,’ Mr Watson admitted.

It comes after Liam’s girlfriend reportedly agreed to be interviewed by Argentinian Police as they continue their investigation into the pop star’s tragic death.

Kate Cassidy was with Payne just two days before he died when he fell from the third floor of a Buenos Aires hotel on October 16.

The 25-year-old is not under investigation for any wrongdoing, instead she will provide a witness statement to provide police with an insight into Payne’s final days.

In words reported by the Daily Mirror, a source claimed that Ms Cassidy is speaking with the force because ‘she wants the right people to be brought to justice’.

The source said: ‘She’s going to help in any way she can, she wants the right people to be brought to justice, and if that takes her answering their questions, she’s going to do it.

‘Obviously, there’s no reason for her not to cooperate, she tried for a long time to help him get clean, and is still haunted by what happened. Anyone who provided drugs to Liam should be prosecuted, she says.’

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Jimmy Carter Dies at 100

Jimmy Carter, the Georgia peanut farmer who became the 39th president of the United States during a time of gas shortages, Cold War drama and the Iran hostage crisis, died Sunday.

He was 100.

Carter — the longest-living president in US history — passed away in Plains, Ga. — the town where he was born — after spending nearly two years in hospice care.

He survived Rosalynn, his wife of 77 years, by a little over a year. She died at age 96 in November 2023.

The former president leaves behind four children, Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy, as well as 11 grandchildren and 14 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by Rosalynn as well as one grandchild.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son.

“My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

The Carter Center confirmed his death Sunday with a simple statement: “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia.”

Carter’s grandson, Jason, previously said the former commander-in-chief was “experiencing the world as best he can” but was not awake every day in an update weeks before his death.

Still, he said they were able to talk and watch an Atlanta Braves game recently.

“I told him, I said: ‘Pawpaw, you know, when people ask me how you’re doing I say, ‘honestly I don’t know,’” Jason, 48, recalled to Southern Living.

“And he kind of smiled and he said, ‘I don’t know, myself.’

“It was pretty sweet,” Jason added.

Carter was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating Republican Gerald Ford, whose campaign was burdened by the political baggage he carried from his decision to pardon disgraced President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.

He served only one tumultuous four-year term before being swept aside by Ronald Reagan — but in that time he racked up triumphs such as the historic Camp David peace accords, in which Israel and Egypt officially recognized each other’s governments.

“Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood,” he once said.

But there were also fiascoes, primarily the hostage crisis and a lame economy plagued by low growth and soaring interest rates.

“Few people ever have such fantastic luck and such rotten luck in the span of just a few years. Carter came out of nowhere and satisfied the public’s desire for an outsider who couldn’t find his way around Washington without a map,” said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“Until Donald Trump, Carter’s was probably the most astonishing victory in any presidential election of modern times.”

James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains on Oct. 1, 1924, the son of a grocer and a registered nurse.

He was a studious boy who avoided trouble and began working at his father’s store at the age of 10. His favorite childhood pastime was sitting with his father in the evenings, listening to baseball games and political programs on the battery-operated radio, according to biography.com.

Carter, a devout born-again Christian, entered the US Naval Academy in 1943.

His studies were accelerated because of World War II, and he graduated in 1946 — the same year he would marry the former Rosalynn Smith, with whom he would have four kids, Jack, James III, Donnel and Amy.

Carter was assigned to work on submarines, and in the early years of their marriage, the Carters moved frequently.

In 1952, he was ordered to work with Admiral Hyman Rickover on the US nuclear submarine program in Schenectady, NY.

Rickover’s powerful intellect and work ethic deeply impressed the young officer, who was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1953.

“I think, second to my own father, Rickover had more effect on my life than any other man,” Carter said later in life.

After the death of his father in July 1953, Carter returned to the family homestead in Plains to help his ailing mother, Bessie, by taking over the family farm.

He ran for the Georgia Senate in 1962, winning despite his relatively liberal views on civil rights for the deeply conservative and segregationist Peach State

Carter made a stab at the governor’s mansion in 1966, but those same liberal views wound up costing him — he finished a distant third in the Democratic primary, and the avowed segregationist Lester Maddox wound up winning the race.

But Georgia governors were limited to a single, four-year term in those days, and Carter retooled his liberal message — opposing forced busing and limiting appearances with black leaders — to better position himself with the electorate.

It worked, with Carter overcoming a Democratic primary field in 1970 that included former Gov. Carl Sanders and easily defeating Republican Hal Suit.

As governor, Carter streamlined the state’s bureaucracy and was considered a centrist reformer.

After leaving office, his ambitions went national, and he decided to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976, four years after uber-liberal George McGovern lost every state but Massachusetts to Nixon.

“I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll never make a misleading statement. I’ll never betray the confidence that any of you had in me. And I’ll never avoid a controversial issue,” he vowed.

But Carter’s presidency was marred by events both within and out of his control.

In 1979, a pair of international crises erupted — the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, which led Carter to cancel US participation in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics; and the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran, following which 52 Americans were held captive for 444 days.

A failed rescue effort by the US military in April 1980 led to the deaths of eight American service members, and crippled Carter’s credibility on national security ahead of that year’s presidential election.

Carter was also buffeted by economic forces, as the OPEC-induced fuel crisis of the early 1970s helped lead to paralyzing “stagflation,” a brutal cocktail of persistently high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand.

On July 15, 1979, Carter gave a televised speech in which he said the nation was going through a “crisis of confidence … threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.”

The so-called “malaise” speech, though Carter never used the word, was followed days later by the dismissal of six cabinet members — including the attorney general, treasury secretary and energy secretary. What was meant as a bold renewal of the Carter White House instead came off as an administration falling apart — led by a blame-ducking president.

Carter’s image wasn’t helped by a few comical incidents, such as when the devout Baptist gave an interview to Playboy magazine just before the 1976 election in which he overshared by saying that at times “I’ve committed adultery in my heart.”

There was also the time Carter told reporters he’d had to fight off a swamp rabbit while fishing in a canoe near his Georgia home, leading to jokes that he’d been attacked by “a killer rabbit.”

“The inexperience and lack of friendships in DC caught up with Carter,” Sabato said. “He made loads of enemies and had few passionate allies. Among the enemies was Ted Kennedy, who helped bring an end to the Carter Presidency in 1980.”

Carter would win the Democratic nomination, but the bruising battle with the Massachusetts senator left the incumbent vulnerable to Reagan, the charismatic former California governor and Hollywood actor, who framed the election in stark terms when he asked Americans during his only debate with Carter: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

The Republican would hand Carter one of the most crushing election losses ever, winning 44 of the 50 states, while the Democrat took the other six plus the District of Columbia.

After leaving the White House, Carter turned his attention to humanitarian and charitable endeavors, notably his decades-long commitment to the Habitat for Humanity program, which developed housing for the poor, and the Carter Presidential Center to promote human rights.

Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

“Just about everybody agrees Carter’s post-Presidency was the most productive in history. As one Carter opponent once told me, ‘What he is doing now [after the White House] almost makes enduring his years as President worth it,’” Sabato said.

Carter also indulged his lifelong love of baseball post-presidency, frequently attending Atlanta Braves games alongside Rosalynn. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 6 of the 1995 World Series when the Braves won their first championship since moving to Georgia from Milwaukee in 1966.

In August 2015, Carter underwent surgery to remove a mass from his liver and later disclosed that he had cancer.

Later that month, he held a news conference in which he said doctors had found melanoma, “four very small spots,” on his brain.

“I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said, adding that he has led “a wonderful life.”

Later, Carter officially announced that an examination had revealed no trace of the four brain lesions.

Heading back to work, Carter finished his 32nd and last book, “Faith: A Journey for All,” emphasizing the importance of spirituality in his life and on American history.

Carter was back in the hospital in October 2019 after a fall that caused a minor fracture in his pelvis. Another fall that same year required 14 stitches.

The former president marked his 98th birthday on Oct. 1, 2022, by attending a parade thrown in his honor in his hometown of Plains, where he and his wife had lived in the same house since 1961.

“He’s still 100% with it, even though daily life things are a lot harder now,” his grandson Jason told the Associated Press at the time. “But one thing I guarantee: He will watch all the Braves games this weekend.”

The following February, the Carter Center announced that the former president had decided to receive hospice care at home rather than receive “additional medical intervention” following a “series of short hospital stays.”

“I saw both of my grandparents yesterday,” Jason tweeted at the time. “They are at peace and — as always —their home is full of love.”

Rosalynn joined her husband in hospice care that November, passing away two days after her condition was made public.

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in a statement. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”

The former president made his final public appearances, confined to a wheelchair, at memorial and funeral services for his late wife.

During the former service, at Glenn Memorial Church on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, Carter was positioned in the front row alongside President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former first ladies Melania Trump, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush.

In October, the 100-year-old filled out a mail-in ballot in the 2024 presidential election after reportedly saying he wished to live long enough to cast a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Carter Center at the time confirmed the former president had voted, but declined to specify whom he backed, citing the principle of the secret ballot.

However Chip Carter said the centenarian “absolutely” backed Harris and “never voted for a Republican in his life.”

Public observances will be held in Atlanta and Washington, DC followed by a private interment in Plains, where Carter will be buried alongside Rosalynn on a plot visible from the front porch of their home of more than six decades.

The full details of President Carter’s state funeral — including public events and motorcade routes — are still pending and will be released by the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region.

The Carter family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made to The Carter Center, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30307.

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X Poll Shows Massive Support for Ending H-1B Program

Analyzing Sean Spicer’s Twitter Poll on H-1B Visas: Insight or Anecdotal?

A Twitter poll by Sean Spicer reveals strong support for Steve Bannon’s “America First” opposition to H-1B visas, highlighting ideological divides over immigration, globalism, and economic priorities in U.S. policy.

Over the past 15 hours, Sean Spicer’s Twitter account (now rebranded as X) hosted a poll that reignited a contentious debate about H-1B visas in the United States. With a striking 67,453 participants weighing in, the results leaned heavily against the program: 66.6% sided with the “Con” position associated with Steve Bannon, while 33.4% supported the “Pro” stance attributed to Elon Musk. But what does this poll actually tell us, and how significant is it as a measure of public sentiment?

Context and Framing

H-1B visas have long been a flashpoint in U.S. immigration policy. Proponents argue that these visas attract top global talent, fueling innovation and economic growth. Critics, including Steve Bannon, counter that the program undermines American workers by depressing wages and outsourcing jobs. Elon Musk, a staunch advocate of technological progress and global talent recruitment, epitomizes the opposing view.

Spicer’s framing of the poll as a binary choice between these two figures simplifies a complex issue into a battle of personalities. This polarization may attract engagement but risks oversimplifying nuanced policy considerations.

Data Overview

The poll garnered 67,453 votes within the first 15 hours, with one day remaining. While this level of participation suggests robust interest, several limitations must be acknowledged:

Audience Bias: Spicer’s followers are likely to skew conservative, aligning more closely with Bannon’s anti-H-1B stance. This inherent bias diminishes the poll’s ability to reflect broader public opinion.

1. Self-Selection Bias: Participation in Twitter polls is voluntary, meaning respondents are not randomly sampled but are instead self-selected, often motivated by strong opinions.

2. Lack of Verification: Twitter polls cannot verify voter identities, leaving room for duplicate votes or participation by bots and non-U.S. residents.

Statistical and Political Significance

While the poll reflects significant interest and mobilization around the H-1B debate, it falls short as a statistically rigorous source of public opinion. Without demographic breakdowns or methodological transparency, interpreting the results as representative of the general U.S. population would be misleading.

However, the poll’s importance lies in its role as a political barometer. The overwhelming support for the “Con” position may signal growing grassroots dissatisfaction with H-1B visas among Spicer’s conservative audience. This sentiment aligns with broader populist-nationalist critiques that gained traction during the Trump administration, emphasizing “America First” priorities over global labor markets.

Broader Implications

The poll’s results resonate with current tensions between two visions for America’s economic future. Musk’s “Pro” stance embodies a globalist perspective, advocating for open competition to maintain U.S. dominance in tech innovation. Bannon’s “Con” position reflects a protectionist ethos, prioritizing the rights and wages of American workers.

While the poll is not a definitive measure of public opinion, it underscores the deep ideological divide surrounding H-1B visas. Policymakers should approach this issue with caution, recognizing the need to balance the economic benefits of skilled immigration with the concerns of American workers.

Conclusion

Sean Spicer’s poll provides a snapshot of sentiment within a particular online community, not a scientifically valid measure of national opinion. However, it highlights the enduring political and emotional salience of H-1B visas, suggesting that any reform efforts must navigate sharp ideological divides. Whether this Twitter poll ultimately influences policymakers remains uncertain, but it is yet another reminder of the power of social media to amplify divisive debates.

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Elon Musk Calls for Major Reform of Broken H-1B Visa Program

In a recent development, Elon Musk, co-chair of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called for major reforms to the H-1B visa program, aiming to prioritize American workers and address concerns of exploitation within the system.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher. These occupations often include fields like IT, engineering, mathematics, and medicine.

As of September 30, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) estimated that approximately 583,420 individuals were authorized to work in the United States under the H-1B visa classification.

Each fiscal year, there is a congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, with an additional 20,000 visas available for individuals holding a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution, totaling 85,000 new H-1B visas annually.

Musk, an immigrant himself who benefited from the H-1B program, acknowledges its role in attracting top-tier talent to the United States.

Musk previously wrote, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”

He added, “Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

After facing backlash for his comment, Musk offered clarification in another post.

“Maybe this is a helpful clarification: I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning,” Musk wrote.

“This is like bringing in the Jokic’s or Wemby’s of the world to help your whole team (which is mostly Americans!) win the NBA. Thinking of America as a pro sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct.”

However, Musk emphasizes the necessity for reforms to prevent potential abuses and to ensure that American workers are not disadvantaged.

This development follows revelations by X user Robert Sterling, who highlighted how certain companies are exploiting the H-1B visa program.

Musk responded, “Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically. I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.”

Musk also expressed confidence in the direction set in the upcoming Trump administration.

He added, “I’m confident that the changes made in the Donald Trump administration will make America much stronger. A rising tide lifts all boats.”

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Guardian Angels Resume Patrolling NYC Subways After Woman Burned Alive

The Guardian Angels are resuming their patrols of the Big Apple’s subways as if it were crime-riddled Gotham in 1979, after the horrifying arson murder of a sleeping straphanger on a train last week, founder Curtis Sliwa said Sunday.

The red-beret-wearing volunteer vigilante squad is beefing up its ranks to its level 45 years ago, Sliwa said.

“We’re going to have to increase our numbers, increase the training and increase our presence as we did back in 1979,” Sliwa said at the Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island station in Brooklyn where the woman was killed.

“We went from 13 to 1,000 [members] back then within a period of a year,” he said. “Because the need was there. The need is here now once again. We’re going to step up. We’re going to make sure we have a visual presence just like we had in the ’70s, 80’s and ’90s.”

Ever since last week’s shocking slaying, “hundreds of citizens” have requested the Guardian Angels return to patrol the subway cars, Sliwa claimed.

“We’re covering the actual trains from front to back, walking through the trains and making sure that everything is okay,” he told The Post on Sunday. “We’re doing this constantly now. Starting today. that’s going to be our complete focus because the subways are out of control.”

The group’s latest strategy will focus on conducting wellness checks on homeless people and emotionally disturbed individuals, he said.

The Guardian Angels will also provide water to homeless people and report any issues they come across to the NYPD, the group said.

Members of the organization last patrolled subway trains in 2020 after targeted attacks on members of the Asian community during COVID-19.

The group’s current 150 New York City members will start their patrols on trains at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station.

Last week’s arson victim, a woman who has still not been identified, was lit on fire while she slept on an F train that had pulled into the station, which is at the end of the line. Cops later arrested illegal Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil for allegedly starting the fire.

Authorities said the heinous crime appeared to be completely unprovoked.

“There’s so many trains that come in and out of here,” Sliwa said. “It’s the perfect place because it reminds people that nobody did anything a week ago. Nobody intervened. Nobody pointed to the cops and said ‘This is the guy.’ Even the cops didn’t do anything.”

Sliwa said he hopes the group’s presence on the train will encourage people to not be bystanders.

“It was an example of people just not getting involved,” he said. “And we’re here to say, ‘You see something, you say something.’ You gotta do something.”

Part of the issue, according to Sliwa, is the lack of cops actively patrolling the trains to help people.

“We’re now back to where we were when I started the group in 1979 on the subways. It’s gone full circle. I’ve never seen it this bad. Never,” Sliwa said.

But a rep for Mayor Eric Adams chided Sliwa for his “meaningless stunts” and said Hizzoner “remains focused on real solutions.

“Mayor Adams is committed to improving the lives of New Yorkers, which is why he frequently rides the subway to speak directly with everyday riders about how we can make it safer,” said City Hall representative Kayla Mamalek in a statement.

“The mayor surged 1,000 police officers per day into the subways, has brought down overall crime and transit crime, delivering real action — not theatrics — but he knows there’s still more work to be done,” Mamalek said.

Sliwa, 70, was flipping burgers as a night manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in The Bronx in 1979 when he decided to start the Angels, sickened by runaway subway violence.

He originally had just 13 volunteers.

The idea took off, and in its heyday grew to thousands of members with outposts dotted around the globe.

In recent years, some of the luster has worn off, but the Angels still make periodic public appearances, primarily standing alongside Sliwa at attention-grabbing announcements following high-profile crimes.

For example, when the 90-year-old owner of Manhattan’s iconic Ray’s Candy Store was pummeled outside his shop, the Angels lined up outside and promised to patrol the landmark confectioner.

Sliwa and the Angels have made several similar proclamations about returning to the subways in the past and have also on occasion been accused of embellishing encounters with bad guys.

But the group, with their trademark red berets and red jackets, remain recognizable in the five boroughs and are generally well-received by average New Yorkers — including after their latest crime-busting promise.

“It won’t get fixed overnight, but, yeah, it sounds good,” an MTA worker told The Post on Sunday of the Angels’ vow. “I think it’ll help. I don’t think the cops downstairs are going to like it, but yeah. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are no cops up here.”

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UPDATE: Plane Crash in South Korea Kills 179, Two Survive

At least 179 people are feared dead after a plane carrying 181 passengers skidded off a runway as it landed and smashed into a wall at a South Korean airport.

The Jeju Air flight was returning from Bangkok when the horror unfolded at Muan International Airport in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Horror footage showed the moment the 15 year old Boeing 737-800 aircraft slid along the runway, before ploughing into concrete and erupting into a ball of flames.

South Korea’s emergency office said the jet’s landing gear appeared to have malfunctioned with a bird striking the aircraft among the theories that could have possibly caused the crash.

There were wails in the airport’s arrivals hall as families wept loudly when a medic announced the names of 22 dead passengers. They were identified by their fingerprints.

The still-rising death toll includes at least 82 men and 83 women, according to the National Fire Agency.

Two crew members, a man and a woman, were miraculously rescued from the tail section of the burning plane.

The horrific crash is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

News1 Agency reported a passenger sent a text message to a relative saying a bird was stuck in the wing.

Their heartbreaking final message read: ‘Should I say my last words?’

Family members hugged and cried at the airport as Red Cross volunteers handed out blankets to bereaved relatives.

One stood at a microphone to ask for more information from authorities. ‘My older brother died and I don’t know what’s going on,’ he said. ‘I don’t know.’

Mortuary vehicles lined up outside to take bodies away, and authorities said a temporary morgue had been established.

The bodies of 11 other passengers aboard the deadly flight were so brutally injured that their gender was not immediately clear, officials said.

The passengers on board the flight included 173 South Koreans and two Thais, Yonhap reported.

Two survivors were miraculously pulled from the wreckage but all of the remaining 179 passengers are presumed dead. They were both crew members and are conscious, the fire agency said.

Thirty-two fire trucks and several helicopters were deployed to contain the fire. About 1,560 firefighters, police officers, soldiers and other officials were also sent to the site.

Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, said the death toll would likely continue to rise ‘due to the critically injured’.

Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said workers have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane’s black box, which will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire.

Joo said the runway at the Muan airport will be closed until January 1.

The Juju Air website this morning was changed to a black background with a message that read: ‘We deeply apologize to all those affected by the incident at Muan Airport.

‘We will make every effort to resolve the situation. We sincerely regret the distress caused.’

In a post on social media site X, Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expressed deep condolences to the families of those affected by the accident.

She said she had ordered the foreign affairs ministry to provide assistance immediately.

Kerati Kijmanawat, director of the Airports of Thailand, confirmed in a statement that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 had taken off from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the aircraft or on the runway.

Jeju Air issued a statement expressing its ‘deep apology’ over the crash and said it will do its ‘utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident’.

In a televised news conference, the airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, gave a deep bow with other senior company officials as he apologised to bereaved families and said he feels ‘full responsibility’ for the incident.

He said the company had not identified any mechanical problems with the aircraft following regular checks and that he would wait for the results of government investigations into the cause of the incident.

Haunting snaps taken from the scene shows a huge plume of smoke as scores firefighters with 32 trucks were tackling the blaze.

The horror crash is believed to have been caused by ‘contact with birds, resulting in malfunctioning landing gear’ as the plane attempted to land at the airport in the country’s southwest.

The flight had reportedly attempted one landing before being forced to turn around and tried to land again when the landing gear failed to lower normally.

Footage has emerged of the moment the plane attempts to land – and appears to have an issue with its landing gear.

The aircraft appears to slide along the runway, but it fails to slow down.

It then slams into the concrete wall at the end of the runway and erupts into a ball of flames.

Frantic emergency services then rush to the scene.

According to Flightradar data, the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 departed from Bangkok at 2.29am local time and was due to arrive at 8.30 but landed at 8.59am.

Boeing has said it is in contact with Jeju Air about the disaster.

In a statement the plane-maker said: ‘We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them.

‘We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew.’

A photo showed the tail section of the jet engulfed in flames on what appeared to be the side of the runway, with firefighters and emergency vehicles nearby.

Firefighters have since extinguished the fire and search and rescue operations have been deployed on site.

An on-site investigation has now been launched to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the mobilisation of all resources to save the passengers.

‘All related agencies… must mobilise all available resources to save the personnel,’ he instructed officials in a statement.

The Foreign Office has confirmed no Britons were on board the flight.

It is one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

The last time South Korea suffered a large-scale air disaster was in 1997, when a Korean Airline plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines plane crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three and injuring approximately 200.

Sunday’s accident was also one of the worst landing mishaps since a July 2007 crash that killed all 187 people on board and 12 others on the ground when an Airbus A320 slid off a slick airstrip in Sao Paulo and collided with a nearby building, according to data compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit group aimed at improving air safety.

In 2010, 158 people died when an Air India Express aircraft overshot a runway in Mangalore, India, and plummeted into a gorge before erupting into flames, according to the safety foundation.

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UPDATE: Netanyahu Recovering After Successful Prostate Surgery

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent successful surgery Sunday to have his prostate removed, hospital officials said, a procedure that came as he manages multiple crises including the war in Gaza and his trial for alleged corruption.

Netanyahu, who has had a series of health issues in recent years, has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader. During his trial this month, he boasted about working 18-hour days, accompanied by a cigar. But as Israel’s longest-serving leader, such a grueling workload over a total of 17 years in power could take a toll on his well-being.

Netanyahu, 75, is among older world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, 82, President-elect Donald Trump, 78, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 79, and Pope Francis, 88, who have come under scrutiny for their age and health issues.

Netanyahu’s latest condition is common in older men, but the procedure has had some fallout. The judges overseeing his trial accepted a request from his lawyer on Sunday to call off three days of testimony scheduled this week. The lawyer, Amit Hadad, had argued that Netanyahu would be fully sedated for the procedure and hospitalized for “a number of days.”

Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center announced late Sunday that the procedure had been completed successfully and that the prime minister had woken up.

Netanyahu thanked his doctors. His office said he was “fully alert” and was taken to an underground recovery unit fortified against potential missile attacks. Netanyahu was expected to remain in the hospital for several days of observation.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close ally, served as acting prime minister during the operation.

With so much at stake, Netanyahu’s health in wartime is a concern for both Israelis and the wider world.

A turbulent time in the region

As Israel’s leader, Netanyahu is at the center of major global events that are shifting the Middle East. With the dizzying pace of the past 14 months, being incapacitated for even a few hours can be risky.

Netanyahu will be in the hospital at a time when international mediators are pushing Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and as fighting between Israel and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels intensifies.

Prostate issues are common and in many cases easily treatable. Still, the procedure puts a dent in Netanyahu’s image of vigor at a time when he would want to project strength more than ever, both to an Israeli audience navigating constant threats as well as to Israel’s enemies looking to expose its weaknesses.

Previous health issues, including a heart condition

Netanyahu insists he is in excellent health. His office releases footage of him touring war zones in full protective gear flanked by military officers, or meeting with defense officials on windswept hilltops in youthful dark shades and puffer jackets.

But that image was shattered last year when Netanyahu’s doctors revealed that he had a heart condition, a problem that he had apparently long known about but concealed from the public.

A week after a fainting spell, Netanyahu was fitted with a pacemaker to control his heartbeat. Only then did staff at the Sheba Medical Center reveal that Netanyahu has for years experienced a condition that can cause irregular heartbeats.

The revelation came as Netanyahu was dealing with massive anti-government protests. The news about a chronic heart problem stoked further anger and distrust during extreme political polarization in Israel.

Last year, Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital for what doctors said likely was dehydration. He stayed overnight, prompting his weekly Cabinet meeting to be delayed.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu underwent hernia surgery, during which he was under full anesthesia and unconscious. Levin served as acting prime minister during the operation.

Recovery can be quick

According to Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli leader was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection on Wednesday stemming from a benign enlargement of his prostate. The infection was treated successfully with antibiotics, but doctors said the surgery was needed in any case.

Complications from prostate enlargement are common in men in their 70s and 80s, Dr. Shay Golan, head of the oncology urology service at Israel’s Rabin Medical Center, told Israeli Army Radio. Golan spoke in general terms and was not involved in Netanyahu’s care or treatment.

He said an enlarged prostate can block proper emptying of the bladder, leading to a build-up of urine that can lead to an infection or other complications. After medicinal treatment, doctors can recommend a procedure to remove the prostate to prevent future blockages, Golan said.

In Netanyahu’s case, because the prostate is not cancerous, Golan said doctors were likely performing an endoscopic surgery, carried out by inserting small instruments into a body cavity, rather than making surgical cuts in the abdomen to reach the prostate.

The procedure lasts about an hour, Golan said, and recovery is quick. He said that aside from catheter use for one to three days after the procedure, patients can return to normal activity without significant limitations.

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Trans Child Molester Repeatedly Sexually Assaulted Female Cellmate After Being Transferred to Women’s Prison

A former inmate at a Washington state women’s prison was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her hulking transgender cellmate — who was transferred to the prison after changing her gender identity, according to a shocking new lawsuit.

Mozzy Clark sued the state department of corrections in federal court last week for locking her in a cell with a 6-foot-4 convicted child molester who allegedly subjected her to months of stalking, threats of violence and sexual harassment and assault, according to the lawsuit.

The cellmate, Christopher Scott Williams, was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl as a male, and was serving a separate sentence for domestic abuse.

Williams then petitioned to be recognized as female and be transferred to a women’s prison, according to the lawsuit.

When the state granted the request and placed Williams in a cell with Clark, her life became a living nightmare, she alleged.

State DOC records show Williams is listed as female at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

Clark claimed Williams, who slept over her in the top bunk, would threaten to rape her, leer at her in the shower, and constantly ask for sex — once with a homemade dildo he had brought into the cell, according to the lawsuit.

“In their cell, Ms. Clark was on the bottom bunk. Mr. Williams … would hover menacingly over Ms. Clark’s bunk with an erection while touching himself. He would also display his erection to Ms. Clark against her will, and gesture towards it, saying how much he wanted her,” the lawsuit alleged.

“One night, Ms. Clark woke up and saw inmate Williams sitting on the floor next to her bed with his arm under her blanket, rubbing her genitals,” the lawsuit adds.

Clark said the guards did little to protect her when she complained. Eventually Williams was moved to a separate cell, but the inmate would seek her out, stare at her in the showers, and follow her into the bathroom — making perverted comments from the next stall, the documents alleged.

“He also started threatening her with violence if she complained about him again,” according to the suit, which is asking for restitution from the state for “extreme emotional distress, shame, intimidation, humiliation, indignation, embarrassment, and fear.”

Clark isn’t the only woman who claims to have suffered abuse at the hands of Williams.

In August, another inmate alleged lewd, intimidating behavior by Williams and other transgender inmates held in the Washington Corrections Center for Women in an interview with the National Review.

“A bunch of women, when they’re in the showers, these people are just standing there. They don’t have to stand on their tippy toes and they look over and see everything. People were so uncomfortable. You feel kind of like you’ve been violated,” the unnamed prisoner said.

At the time, the prison housed at least 11 transgender inmates, according to Daily Wire.

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Trump Backs Elon Musk on H-1 B Visas

President-elect Donald Trump says he has “always been in favor” of the H-1B visa program that imports hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, primarily from India, to take white-collar American jobs.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas,” Trump told the New York Post of the H-1B visa program. “That’s why we have them.”

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B,” Trump continued. “I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”

The remarks come after a weeks-long online debate that has divided proponents of the H-1B visa program, mainly billionaire Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and other tech investors, and critics from the political right and left.

There are about 650,000 H-1B visa foreign workers in the U.S. at any given moment. Americans are often laid off in the process and forced to train their foreign replacements.

Research published in the Journal of Business Ethics recently revealed that foreign H-1B visa workers are paid about 10 percent less than their American counterparts doing the same line of work.

Analysis conducted in 2018 discovered that 71 percent of tech workers in Silicon Valley, California, are foreign-born, while the tech industry in the San Francisco, Oakland, and Hayward area is made up of 50 percent foreign-born tech workers. Up to 99 percent of foreign H-1B visa workers imported by the top eight outsourcing firms arrive from India.

Trump, in particular, for years has been a critic of corporations abusing the H-1B visa program to hold down wages in white-collar industries by laying off American professionals only to replace them with foreign workers.

In 2015, Trump’s immigration agenda laid out key reforms for the H-1B visa program to prevent such gaming of the system by corporations, Breitbart News reported at the time:

[Trump] called for also increasing the prevailing wage when it comes to the issuance of H-1B visas so as to get Americans — especially Hispanics, blacks, and women — hired into corporate positions in Silicon Valley rather than foreigners. It is here where he points out that Rubio — who along with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is one of the two candidates in the Republican primary against Trump that the donor class is pulling for — has put forward legislation that would drastically harm American workers’ job prospects, and he’s done so on behalf of Zuckerberg and other donors.

“We graduate two times more Americans with STEM degrees each year than find STEM jobs, yet as much as two-thirds of entry-level hiring for IT jobs is accomplished through the H-1B program,” Trump wrote. “More than half of H-1B visas are issued for the program’s lowest allowable wage level, and more than eighty percent for its bottom two. Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant, instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas. This will improve the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program. Mark Zuckerberg’s personal Senator, Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities.”

In 2016, Trump said H-1B visas were bad for American workers and he used them as a businessman but shouldn’t be allowed to.

In 2020, Trump implemented such reforms to the program — requiring federal agencies to complete audits to assess their compliance with requirements ensuring only American citizens are given federal civil service jobs and ending the program’s lottery system, instead making companies offer the highest salaries when seeking to import foreign H-1B visa workers.

The move was celebrated by longtime Trump supporters who have helped represent Americans fired from their jobs and forced to train their foreign H-1B visa replacements.

“Outsourcing hundreds of workers is especially detrimental in the middle of a pandemic, which has already cost millions of Americans their jobs,” a White House statement said at the time. “President Trump’s actions will help combat employers’ misuse of H-1B visas, which were never intended to replace qualified American workers with low-cost foreign labor.”

Only months before, in July 2020, Trump issued the reforms, the federally-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced an outsourcing plan whereby 200 American professionals would be laid off and made to train their foreign H-1B visa replacements.

By August, Trump stepped in and fired TVA Chair Skip Thompson. He also demanded that TVA CEO Jeff Lyash cut his salary to no more than $500,000 a year after learning that he had raked in $8 million at the time of the outsourcing announcement.

Most importantly, with the help of U.S. Tech Workers, Trump successfully lobbied TVA to abandon its outsourcing plan, thus saving hundreds of Americans from layoffs.

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Biden Regrets Leaving Presidential Race, Thinks He Could’ve Beaten Trump: Report

President Biden privately regrets dropping out of this year’s presidential election and reportedly insists he could’ve beaten President-elect Trump if he wasn’t pushed out of the race by his own party.

Biden and some of his aides have boasted to confidantes “in recent days” that the president should’ve stayed in the race and could’ve won a second term, the Washington Post reported Saturday citing multiple anonymous sources briefed on the conversations.

Instead, the 82-year-old buckled to pressure by Democratic Party elites to drop out of the race in July because of poor poll numbers and his rocky June 27 debate performance, in which he gave incoherent answers and appeared to stumble over his words.

Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden on the top of the Democratic ticket and was handily defeated by Trump, who’ll be sworn in for a second White House stint on Jan. 20.

“Aides say the president has been careful not to place blame on Harris or her campaign,” the outlet reported.

However, the president all but admitted during a CBS News Sunday Morning interview in August that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led the charge because Dems in the House and Senate were worried that he’d drag down their chances of being reelected.

And in September he told “The View” that he was confident he would have defeated Trump in November.

Many Democrats blame Harris’ loss on Biden’s insistence not to drop out sooner.

“Biden ran on the promise that he was going to be a transitional president, and in effect, have one term before handing it off to another generation,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) told The Washington Post.

“I think his running again broke that concept — the conceptual underpinning of the theory that he would end the Trump appeal; he would defeat Trumpism and enable a new era.”

Some of his closest advisers, without faulting Biden, concede his old-school governing style did not always mesh with modern politics.

“The president has been operating on a time horizon measured in decades, while the political cycle is measured in four years,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told the outlet.

Biden in recent weeks has admitted to some of the myriad of gaffes he’s made in office, including that he “screwed up” during the debate and was “stupid” for not getting credit by putting his name on the pandemic relief checks his administration sent out in 2021 – as Trump did as president in 2020.

And Biden and his aides have also conceded the administration could’ve done a better job lifting Americans’ spirits during the pandemic.

Repeating claims made in the Bob Woodward book “War,” The Washington Post reported Biden has also been telling confidantes he shouldn’t have picked Merrick Garland as attorney general, whining the former US appeals court judge was too aggressive in prosecuting his son Hunter.

And Garland was apparently too slow for Biden in prosecuting Trump over the Jan. 6 riots – charges that were ultimately dismissed.

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3 Firefighters, 12 Passengers Injured After Train Collides with Fire Truck in Florida

Three firefighters and a dozen passengers were injured in Florida on Saturday when a fire truck with its lights flashing drove around rail crossing arms and into the path of a high-speed passenger train after waiting for another train to pass, according to video of the incident and a person briefed on what happened.

The crash happened at 10:45 a.m. in crowded downtown Delray Beach. In the aftermath the Brightline train was stopped on the tracks, its front destroyed, about a block away from the Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck. Its ladder was ripped off and in the grass several yards away, The Sun-Sentinel reported.

The Delray Beach Fire Rescue said in a social media post that three Delray Beach firefighters were in stable condition at a hospital. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue took 12 people from the train to the hospital with minor injuries.

The person familiar with the details of the crash, who was not authorized to disclose what happened because of the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fire truck stopped at the crossing and waited for a freight train to go by before maneuvering around the lowered crossing arms.

Video of the collision shows the fire truck driving around cars stopped at the crossing with its lights flashing to cross the double tracks.

Emmanuel Amaral rushed to the scene on his golf cart after hearing a loud crash and screeching train brakes from where he was having breakfast a couple of blocks away. He saw firefighters climbing out of the front window of their damaged truck and pulling injured colleagues away from the tracks. One of their helmets came to rest several hundred feet away from the crash.

“The front of that train is completely smashed, and there was even some of the parts to the fire truck stuck in the front of the train, but it split the car right in half. It split the fire truck right in half, and the debris was everywhere,” Amaral said.

A Brightline safety officer said the entire community is involved in ensuring railroad safety and drivers should never go around closed gates.

The Federal Railroad Administration will investigate. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said in the afternoon that it was still gathering information about the crash and had not decided yet whether to investigate.

The NTSB is already investigating two crashes involving Brightline’s high-speed trains that killed three people early this year at the same crossing in Melbourne along the railroad’s route between Miami and Orlando.

More than 100 people have died after being hit by trains since Brightline began operations in July 2017 — giving the railroad the worst death rate in the nation. But most of those deaths have been either suicides, pedestrians who tried to run across the tracks ahead of a train or drivers who went around crossing gates instead of waiting for a train to pass. Brightline has not been found to be at fault in those previous deaths.

Railroad safety has been a concern since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023, spilling toxic chemicals that caught fire. Regulators urged the industry to improve safety and members of Congress proposed a package of reforms, but railroads have not made many major changes to their operations and the bill has stalled.

Earlier this month the two operators of a Union Pacific train were killed after it collided with a semitrailer truck that was blocking a crossing in the small West Texas town of Pecos. Three other people were injured, and the local Chamber of Commerce building was damaged.

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Costco Embraces DEI as Other Companies Move in Opposite Direction

Costco has urged its shareholders to vote against the push to limit the major retailer’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) after receiving a proposal about striking “discriminatory practices.”

The National Center for Public Policy Research requested that Costco publish a report about the risks the company could face by maintaining its current DEI policies, according to The Hill.

“It’s clear that DEI holds litigation, reputational and financial risks to the Company, and therefore financial risks to shareholders,” the proposal stated.

“And yet Costco still has such a program, though it was apprehensive enough to recognize this as it recently and quietly rebranded its DEI program to ‘People and Communities.’ But sticking a new label on discriminatory practices does not protect Costco and its shareholders from these risks,” the proposal continued.

The proposal noted the renamed program still contains a “commitment to equity,” meaning an “equality of outcome, not opportunity,” in addition to employing a “Chief Diversity Officer” that “picks suppliers based on their race and sex, still appears to factor in race and sex in hiring and promotion, and still contributes shareholder money to organizations that advance the discriminatory agenda of DEI.”

“With 310,000 employees, Costco likely has at least 200,000 employees who are potentially victims of this type of illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight,” the group stated. “Accordingly, even if only a fraction of those employees were to file suit, and only some of those prove successful, the cost to Costco could be tens of billions of dollars.”

Costco said the request is simply “inflicting burdens on companies with their challenges to longstanding diversity programs.”

“The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing risk for the Company but abolition of diversity initiatives,” the wholesale corporation said.

“Our Board has considered this proposal and believes that our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary,” Costco said, adding that the Board “unanimously” recommends shareholders vote against the proposal.

The meeting where shareholders will vote on the issue is set to take place on Jan. 23.

The matter comes after companies like Walmart, Lowe’s and Harley Davidson announced they were repealing DEI practices following similar pushback.

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VIDEO: Muslim Parents Attempt Honor Killing of Their Own Daughter in Washington State

Mother arrested trying to flee to Canada after she & her husband allegedly tried performing an “honor killing” on their daughter for refusing to be shipped to Iraq for an arranged marriage.

Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, & assault.

The 17 year old daughter ran away from home after her parents tried shipping her to Iraq.

When they found her at Timberline High School in Washington, the father, Ihsan Ali, was seen beating his daughter while classmates tried to save her.

The girl’s 16-year-old boyfriend eventually was able to free her as the father tried choking her out.

The father was immediately arrested and the mother was later caught while trying to flee to Canada.

“Her father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another country,” police said.

According to the father of the boyfriend, Victor Barnes, who recently spoke to the Daily Mail, the mother tried fleeing to Canada after she heard prosecutors say they believed she was also a threat to her daughter.

“They wanted to seclude her and during this period of time, that’s when he was threatening to kill her and was starving her and crazy, crazy stuff,” Barnes said.

WATCH:

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