Highlights of the News

Donald John Trump is still our president.

West Virginia remains Almost Heaven.

ITEM 1: Fox reported, "Former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., filed a lawsuit Tuesday against her ex-husband and several media outlets for distributing 'nonconsensual porn,' including naked photos of her and a female staffer, which caused a scandal that forced her to resign from Congress last year.

"The lawsuit alleges that Hill's ex-husband Kenneth Heslep and Mail Media Inc., parent of the Daily Mail, and Salem Media Group Inc., which owns RedState, conspired to and distributed intimate images of her without her consent.

"Heslep has previously denied similar allegations after intimate photos of Hill were leaked to the media outlets and rumors swirled that she was in a so-called 'throuple' relationship with Heslep and a female congressional staffer.

"As the scandal unfolded last October, the Daily Mail published one photo of what appeared to be Hill, 33, undressed and holding a bong, and another of her kissing the campaign staffer."

She posed for the "nonconsensual porn."

ITEM 2: The Palmieri Report reported, "President Trump officially kept his promise to Americans and has vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act because it doesn’t terminate Section 230."

Section 230 protects social media from libel with the understanding that they would not censor people.

Soo-prize, soo-prize, Sergeant Carter.

ITEM 3: Zero Hedge reported, "Following Pelosi's earlier plea to Republicans to agree to a bill calling for $2,000 stimulus checks which she will put to a vote in the House on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would object to a bill boosting stimulus payments for individuals to $2,000, Bloomberg reports citing a person who participated in a private call with GOP House members. Furthermore, the Republican also plans to offer a new Continuing Resolution separating state and foreign aid from the omnibus. And since McCarthy's position will see objection from Dems, we are - as CNBC's Kayla Tausche puts it - 'Back at square one.'

"If the measure fails on Thursday, which it now appears certain to do, Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal will introduce a new bill, called the Cash Act, to be put on the floor Monday. That bill would codify the larger stimulus payments, Pelosi told Democrats in a private call on Wednesday, according to a person on the call.

"Trump’s demand for bigger checks came alongside various complaints about the tens of billions in pork, including hundreds of millions in foreign aid, contained in the $2.3 trillion ($900 billion in Covid-19 relief with $1.4 trillion in government funding) bill, which was passed with big bipartisan support on Monday despite virtually nobody reading the 5,500 + pages of the full legislation."

Less than 10% of the bill Congress passed goes to individual Americans. 

It is a bribe package that rewards donors and foreign countries. They get the gold mine. We get the shaft.

ITEM 4: I wrote about this last night, but I must note that the president pardoned Paul Manafort and others last night. 

Manafort wrote, "Mr. President, my family and I humbly thank you for the Presidential Pardon that you bestowed on me today. Words cannot adequately convey how grateful we are. History will record that your Presidency accomplished more in 4 years than any of your modern-day predecessors. You truly did Make America Great Again."

It was a political prosecution that had nothing to do with the Russian Collusion hoax and everything to do with being allied with the president.

ITEM 5: The New York Post reported, "NY leads nation in population drop, could lose House seat."

The story said, "Some 126,355 people hightailed it out of the Empire State between July 2019 and July 2020, a dip of 0.65%, the preliminary figures show.

"New York has been losing locals since 2016, but the most recent drop was significantly larger than in years past.

"It was also the state with the nation’s biggest population decline, followed by Illinois with a 0.63% dip, Hawaii with 0.61% and West Virginia with 0.58%.

"The estimates are based on the 2010 Census, and the official 2020 Census results will be released next year, along with a new legislative map.

"The once-a-decade national head count determines how the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are divided among the 50 states based on the population changes recorded."

Not all the people moved out of New York.

Cuomo killed about 10,000 of them by putting covid 19 patients in nursing homes.

Maybe that is why others left.

ITEM 6: Bloomberg Law reported, "More than one-third of those who took California’s first online bar exam in October were flagged for possible cheating, based on alerts sent by the test’s software, the state bar said.

"Of the 9,301 people who took the entire exam, 'we are currently reviewing 3,190 applicants that were flagged,' state bar official Tammy Campbell said during a Dec. 4 meeting of the California Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners, according to a video recording. Test takers were flagged based on a number of rules infractions, including having food or electronic equipment like a cell phone, as well as behavior like gazing off-screen.

"The inquiry, first reported by the ABA Journal, puts test takers flagged by the system at risk of being required to retake the exam, which is typically required before a law school graduate is allowed to work as an attorney in the state. Any review that substantiates widespread cheating also could give critics of bar exams in California and other states further ammunition to promote alternatives like diploma privilege, which allows law school grads to get licensed without taking an exam."

Cheating on a bar exam?

Isn't that practicing law without a license?

ITEM 7: Bloomberg reported, "The worst fiscal crisis in decades is pitting U.S. states against one another over billions in taxes from residents working from home.

"New Jersey and Connecticut on Tuesday joined a legal battle to stop neighboring states from taxing residents who -- due to the pandemic -- have stopped commuting over state lines and are now working remotely. The case, filed by New Hampshire against Massachusetts in October, has drawn more than a dozen friend-of-the-court briefs by states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the challenge."

Now Democrats are poaching each others' taxpayers.

ITEM 8: The New York Post reported, "Christmas Day in South Florida will likely feature unusually low temperatures — along with a chance of falling iguanas, forecasters said."

Huh?

Forecasters explained in a tweet last January, "Iguanas are cold blooded. They slow down or become immobile when temps drop into the 40s. They may fall from trees, but they are not dead."

Falling iguanas would be the perfect end to this year.

ITEM 9: United Press International reported, "Consumer spending dropped 0.4% in November, the first decline since April as personal income took another hit amid the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.

"The department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said personal consumption expenditures for November were $13.04 trillion, down $58.5 billion from the previous month.

"Spending had been growing steadily since May despite the economic crisis and job loss precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There was a 1% decline in spending on goods and a 0.2% drop in spending on services, the monthly report said.

"Personal income dropped by $221.8 billion -- or 1.1% -- in November compared to October, which also experienced a 0.6% drop.

"Consumer spending was down 2.4% compared to November 2019, while personal income in the third quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same period in 2019."

Locking down the nation a second time didn't stop covid 19.

But the lockdown stopped the economic recovery.

ITEM 10: Just the News reported, "Classified information may be utilized in the probe scrutinizing the origins of the FBI investigation related to the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a presidential order from President Trump.

"U.S. attorney John Durham, who had been conducting the investigation, was named as a special counsel in the probe in October."

He will have no excuse not to indict someone bigger than the summer interns.

ITEM 11: Fox News reported, "The city of Detroit is trying a new tack during a year in which it, like many other U.S. cities, saw violent protests and destruction in the streets.

"Detroit has filed a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter activists, alleging a 'civil conspiracy' and claiming the protests in the city 'have repeatedly turned violent, endangering the lives of police and the public,' according to reports.

"The city claims the activists participated in the conspiracy, defamed the mayor and police, and contends that the city should be awarded damages, The Intercept reported.

"The city cites four protests that occurred in the city this year, and alleges that injuries to police officers included 'cracked vertebrae, lacerations, and concussions,' according to the report."

I hope the money people who funded this chaos have to lawyer up.

ITEM 12: The Daily Mail reported, "A New Hampshire woman has been arrested for sending pictures of a mutilated female body and threatening the family of a Michigan election official who refused to certify the results for Joe Biden. 

"Katelyn Jones, 23, is accused of calling Wayne County chairwoman Monica Palmer a 'racist b****' and a 'terrorist' after she refused to confirm the 878,000 votes from Michigan's largest county."

Democrats say call for unity -- or else!

ITEM 13: Augusta Crime reported, "Two people handing out flyers for the Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff campaigns have been arrested for stealing packages from homes in Columbia County.

"Cesar Guerrero and Santina Walker confessed to taking packages Tuesday and Wednesday while performing their job of handing out political flyers for the two Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, authorities said.

"Deputies were dispatched Wednesday to the area of Chastain Drive in reference to a suspicious situation. A deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was possibly involved in a package theft. Investigators responded to the scene and found several packages in the trunk of the vehicle driven by Walker. Known thefts occurred on Millhaven Road, Colonial Road, Paisley Lane and Herrington Drive."

Democrats.

What they can't get by taxes, they get by stealing.

ITEM 14: Rick Moran reported, "Senator Ted Cruz sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to send both the Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate accords to the Senate for ratification. Since the Senate won’t agree to advise and consent to either deal, requesting a vote would force Biden into a confrontation and could precipitate a constitutional crisis.

"Biden has promised to recommit the government to adhere to those two deals despite the enormous cost of the Paris climate deal and despite Iran’s rejection of U.N. inspectors and Iran’s public determination to enrich uranium far above the levels allowed in the agreement."

Excellent idea.

Treaties need a majority of two-thirds of the Senate.

ITEM 15: Move over Rose Bowl. The New Mexico Bowl is headed for Texas as well.

The Albuquerque Journal reported, "That’s right, due to the current state guidelines in New Mexico pertaining to COVID-19 cases, Hawaii (4-4) and Houston (3-4) will not play at the bowl’s home since its inception, University Stadium in Albuquerque. Instead, ESPN Events, which owns the bowl, has moved it to Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday.

"Nonetheless, New Mexico Bowl sponsors such as Visit Albuquerque will support the game, advertise the city’s attractiveness as a place to live, work and play and encourage Texans and those watching the game to visit – of course, when things clear up."

Like California, New Mexico screwed itself and elected a Democrat governor.

FINALLY, there will be a Highlights tomorrow. It is not a Sunday.