Tuesday December 23rd, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
My son has narrated the last book I wrote.Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too.(Click HERE)
World & Nation
US Economy Expands a Surprising 4.3% in Q3
The U.S. economy expanded at a surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in
the third quarter as consumer spending, exports and government spending
all grew.
U.S. gross domestic product from July through September — the economy’s
total output of goods and services — rose from its 3.8% growth rate in
the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast growth of 3% in the period.
However, inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve would like.
Hunter Biden rips dad Joe’s presidency over immigration, Afghanistan in stunning interview: ‘Obvious f–ing failure’
Disgraced first son Hunter Biden turned on his father, Joe, in a
wide-ranging podcast interview this week, acknowledging that the 46th
president’s lax immigration policy and move to pull US forces out of
Afghanistan were both catastrophic failures.
Hunter admitted to interviewer Shawn Ryan that the botched bugout from Afghanistan “was an obvious f—ing failure.”
“I think that there was a better way to do it, and … I can blame it on
his generals, I can blame it on [other] people [for] the way in which
we did it, but — and my dad always knew this also, is that the buck
stops with him.”
The rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan was punctuated by an ISIS-K
suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport that
killed 13 US service members who were attempting to process Afghans
fleeing the reconquering Taliban.
Hunter specified that “I think leaving Afghanistan was the right thing
to do,” but agreed with his interviewer when Ryan said, “I cannot f—ing
stand the way the Afghan withdrawal happened.”
Yanked ‘60 Minutes’ report on Salvadoran prison appears to spread online after streaming on Canadian app
A “60 Minutes” investigation that was abruptly pulled over concerns
about its characterization of a Salvadoran mega-prison housing migrants
deported from the US — sparking furor within CBS News — has been
spreading online after apparently streaming on a Canadian TV app.
What appeared to be the shelved segment on El Salvador’s notorious
CECOT prison circulated online with the Global TV logo after CBS News
yanked the report just hours before its scheduled Sunday night
broadcast, citing the need for additional reporting.
The spread of the piece added a new twist to the explosive internal
dispute at CBS, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi accused network
leadership of killing the story for political reasons.
Trump Escalates Feud With NY Times: 'Enemy of the People'
President Donald Trump issued a new attack on The New York Times early
Tuesday, accusing the news organization of lying, publishing "fake"
stories, and posing "a serious threat" to U.S. national security.
In a post published on Truth Social shortly after midnight, Trump sharply criticized the Times' reporting and opinion coverage.
"The Failing New York Times, and their lies and purposeful
misrepresentations, is a serious threat to the National Security of our
Nation," Trump wrote.
He accused the Times of "Radical Left, Unhinged Behavior" and said it
was "writing FAKE Articles and Opinions in a never ending way."
Oklahoma teaching assistant fired after uproar over flunking Christian student who referenced Bible in essay
Samantha Fulnecky filed discrimination claim after receiving zero on assignment about gender norms
Weeks after a University of Oklahoma student's story about being
flunked on a paper that touted her Christian faith caused a viral
uproar, the teaching assistant behind the grade has been fired.
"Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant’s prior
grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching
assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined
that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of
this specific paper," the state's flagship school said in a Monday
evening statement. "The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have
instructional duties at the University."
Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the school, received zero out of 25 on
an assignment in which she referenced the Bible after graduate teaching
assistant William "Mel" Curth, who uses she/they pronouns, scored the
paper.
Rand Paul's 'Festivus Report' calls out cocaine dogs, COVID influencers and a mountain of debt
Kentucky senator's annual 'Festivus Report' details $40M for COVID vaccine influencers, $5M for cocaine experiments on dogs
Congress’ top fiscal hawk is back with his yearly government waste
report card, this time uncovering over $1.6 trillion in spending on
cocaine experiments on dogs, COVID-19 vaccine influencer campaigns and
staggering yearly debt payments.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., unveiled his 11th annual "Festivus Report" on
Tuesday, detailing the wonky ways that the federal government dumps
taxpayer dollars into pet projects.
Paul has long been against Congress’ spending habits, routinely voting
against appropriations bills and spending packages for not trying to
tackle the nation’s growing debt problem. His report highlights that
even with several lawmakers pounding their chests on Washington’s
spending problem, Congress can’t help but spend more.
GOP lawmaker unveils WALZ Act after billions lost in Minnesota fraud scandal
The legislation was introduced by Iowa GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
A Republican lawmaker has reacted to the massive unfolding fraud
scandal in Minnesota with legislation aimed at preventing more taxpayer
dollars from being wasted at the United States Department of Health and
Human Services.
Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has introduced the Welfare
Abuse and Laundering Zillions Act, or the "WALZ Act," which would
require HHS' Office of Inspector General to open investigations into
any program that sees a 10% or greater increase in total payments over
any six-month period within a fiscal year.
Under the bill, HHS would no longer have discretion to ignore sudden
billing increases that critics say often signal fraud schemes,
particularly in large entitlement programs.
Jim Beam to close one of its distilleries for a year
Kentucky bourbon giant shifts operations to another facility while investing in Clermont site enhancements
American Whiskey Association President and CEO Michael Bilello joins
'Mornings with Maria' to discuss how tariffs and shifting consumer
trends are impacting U.S. whiskey exports.
World-famous Kentucky whiskey brand Jim Beam is reportedly closing its
production facility in Clermont starting Jan. 1 through the end of
2026. The company is shifting production to its larger Booker Noe
distillery in Boston, Kentucky.
The James B. Beam Distilling Co. said in a statement that it is "always
assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand." It added
that there was a recent discussion of its 2026 volumes.
"We’ve shared with our teams that while we will continue to distill at
our FBN craft distillery in Clermont and at our larger Booker Noe
distillery in Boston, we plan to pause distillation at our main
distillery on the James B. Beam campus for 2026 while we take the
opportunity to invest in site enhancements," the company said in its
statement.
Trump Says It Would Be 'Smart' for Venezuela's Maduro to Step Down
President Donald Trump said Monday it would be "smart" for Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro to step down, as U.S naval forces pressed a
blockade on the South American country's oil wealth.
Venezuela's key ally Moscow, however, expressed its "full support" for
Maduro's government, as Washington has dialed up military operations
and threats against Caracas.
Asked by reporters at his Florida home if Washington's threats were
designed to force Maduro to leave office after 12 years, Trump said:
"That's up to him, what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for
him to do that."
But he added: "If he wants to do something — if he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever able to play tough."
Senate Republicans block Schiff effort to force release of Caribbean strike footage
Sen Markwayne Mullin argued on the floor that Adam Schiff's motives may have been politically influenced
Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to
force the release of unedited footage to Congress and the public of the
U.S. military's controversial Sept. 2 double-tap strike on an alleged
drug boat in the Caribbean.
Schiff’s move Wednesday afternoon followed passage of the annual
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included a provision
to require the Pentagon to release all unedited footage of the strikes
in the Caribbean to Congress in exchange for full funding of the
Department of War’s travel expenses.
His bill went a step further and was specifically geared toward the
early September double strike against an alleged drug boat that has
divided lawmakers in recent weeks, particularly over whether the
strikes were legal.
Quinnipiac survey shows only 43% of Democratic voters approve of their own party's congressional performance
A new national poll is raising alarms for Democrats as the party works to rebound from last year's election setbacks.
Only 18% of voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey
released on Wednesday said they approve of the way Democrats in
Congress are handling their job, while 73% percent disapproved.
That's the lowest job approval rating for the Democrats in Congress
since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question 16
years ago.
MORNING GLORY: The president ends 2025 with a clear declaration of the Trump doctrine
And he used all caps to do so
America has many allies in what promises to be a decades-long Cold War
2.0 between the U.S. and its allies and the alliance of tyrants, led by
the People’s Republic of China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin,
Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. This quartet
of dictators has some fourth-string powers allied with it in our
hemisphere, like Venezuela’s Maduro and Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel, who
succeeded the Castro brothers (though Raul is still doddering around at
94 with some influence.)
President Donald Trump is in the process of securing the Western
Hemisphere against this alliance by placing a quarantine on Maduro’s
oil and drug exports from Venezuela. Cuba can only export sugar and
secret police and is already in an advanced state of economic collapse.
It is heavily dependent on Venezuelan oil, and the spigot for that has
been turned off by 45-47. Xi, Putin and Khamenei can’t live forever,
and succession battles within tyrannies are never guaranteed to run
smoothly for the bad guys.
So the United States, already in possession of the most powerful
military in the world, is modernizing it — especially its Navy — and
can count on its allies around the world to contain "the evil-doers,"
as President George W. Bush once memorably and accurately put it.
It’s time to treat Bill Clinton like Prince Andrew — and banish him from polite society
The man formerly known as Prince Andrew has had a catastrophic year.
Due to growing public disgust over his relationship with infamous pedo
Jeffrey Epstein, he’s had his given and hereditary titles stripped and
is being booted out of his home.
Across the pond, we have our own problematic prince — or, rather,
problematic former president. And he needs to be banished, too.
Late last week, the Justice Department unveiled a trove of photographs
once owned by Epstein. Among them are several of Bill Clinton in what
look like compromising positions.
He’s lounging in a hot tub with an unidentified woman in one. A
different pic shows him frolicking in a pool with Epstein’s
now-convicted madam Ghislaine Maxwell and a second woman. In another, a
woman in a tank top sits almost on his lap, their arms around each
other.
