Your First Look at Today's Top Stories

Having trouble viewing this email? View the web version.

Sponsored By

Monday, December 30, 2024

Mexico Develops App to Alert Illegal Immigrants When U.S. Immigration Officials Attempt to Detain Them

Townhall: Mexico has launched a new mobile app designed to help illegal immigrants in the United States receive immediate alerts if President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar tries to detain them. The app, which aims to assist illegal aliens facing potential deportation, allows users to quickly notify family members, consulates, or legal representatives about their deportation. The move comes as Mexico intensifies efforts to protect its citizens amid rising tensions over Trump’s incoming immigration policies. The “Alert Button” app allows users to press a tab to alert previously chosen relatives and the nearest consulate when they believe they are about to be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There are 53 consulates in the US… De la Fuente stated that his office has strengthened its consular staff by hiring “329 legal representatives” to ensure that Mexicans facing deportation receive due process and are fully informed of their rights before any potential removal. The app will be ready in January, just as Trump takes office and ignites his immigration policies (Townhall). Reporter Michael Sullivan: Never been more clear that this has been an invasion by foreign forces eager to destroy our republic (X).

Seattle Residents Reconsider Tipping After Minimum Wage Jumps to $20.76

Townhall: In Seattle, a growing number of people are growing tired of tipping and are reportedly refusing to tip restaurant staff due to the city’s significant minimum wage hikes. With Seattle’s minimum wage now among the highest in the nation, some residents argue that tipping is no longer necessary, believing the increased base pay should cover service compensation. According to a Daily Mail report, residents in the Democrat-run city feel it is unnecessary to tip service workers. The minimum wage will increase from $19.97 to $20.76 an hour on January 1, 2025. Seattle’s Minimum Wage Ordinance requires the wage rate to reflect the city’s inflation rise (Townhall).

Scott Jennings on Joe Biden’s Legacy: "I think he's going to leave office in disgrace"

New York Post: CNN’s resident conservative commentator Scott Jennings heartily dismissed rosy predictions from his liberal colleagues about President Biden’s legacy, contending the 82-year-old will end his presidency “in disgrace,” during a lively panel debate. Fellow panelist, Democrat Karen Finney, got Jennings going on Sunday by positing that Biden’s record and accomplishments will “stand the test of time,” despite legitimate issues with his mental acuity (New York Post). Hugh Hewitt: Bravo Scott Jennings. Legacy media is sprinting away from the story of President Biden’s diminished mental acuity. They were not duped but generally agreed to go along with the charade as a necessary ruse de guerre in the joint effort of Dems and legacy media to stop Trump (X).

Judge Mandates Biden Cannot Sell Materials for Trump’s Border Wall

Axios: President-elect Trump on Saturday praised a federal judge’s decision to block the Biden administration from disposing of materials used for Trump’s promised southern border wall before his inauguration. Trump’s political identity has rested heavily on a promised crackdown on illegal immigration, earmarked with campaign vows of mass deportations and a completed border wall (Axios). Nick Sortor: Biden attempted to blatantly subvert the will of the American people by racing to auction off border wall materials for just pennies on the dollar, which would force Trump to buy them back at EXPONENTIALLY higher markups (X).

Trump, Elon Musk Fully Support H-1B Visas

Daily Wire: President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he shares the same views on H-1B visas as Elon Musk amid intense debate online about the use of the program. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told The New York Post. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.” Controversy over the subject slowly began at the start of the week after Trump named Sriram Krishnan to serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Krishnan, who was born in India, came to the United States on an L-1 visa and became a citizen in 2016. He has held senior roles at several major U.S. tech companies. The backlash to the appointment was relatively small with some expressing problems with Krishnan’s pro-immigration views while a small, fringe segment made racist remarks targeting Indians. “Sriram sure didn’t deserve all this!” Musk posted on X. “He’s such a great guy. I hope this ultimately pierces the boil of hidden racism and leads to a better America” (Daily Wire). Elon Musk: 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 (X).

South Korean Airplane Crash on Runway Kills 179 Passengers

Wall Street Journal: A passenger plane skidded off the runway, collided with a concrete barrier and burst into flames in South Korea on Sunday, killing nearly all of the 181 people on board in one of the deadliest aviation disasters in years. Investigators were still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fiery crash of an aircraft operated by South Korea’s Jeju Air that occurred just after 9 a.m. local time… It had been attempting to land at an airport in Muan County. Shortly before landing, the control tower warned of a possible bird strike and the Jeju Air pilots issued a mayday. Aviation security consultants said a severe bird strike could disable both engines as well as mechanical systems used to lower landing gear. Once the blaze was extinguished, all that remained visible of the Boeing 737 was the tail of the aircraft—with a single charred wing angled to the sky. There were just two survivors: a pair of flight attendants (Wall Street Journal). Nick Sortor: Air Canada flight lands in Halifax with a broken landing gear, resulting in the wing scraping the runway causing a fire. The airport is currently CLOSED (X).

Putin Apologizes to Azerbaijan for Plane Crashing, Did Not Admit Responsibility

National Review: Russian strongman Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan on Saturday for the crash of a civilian flight carrying passengers from Baku to Grozny in Russia-controlled Chechnya. Putin had a phone call with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and “apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said… The rare apology from Putin falls short of taking responsibility for the airline disaster where at least 38 people are believed to have been killed and 29 survivors were injured. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously told reporters that investigators will be the ones to determine the cause of the crash, declining to comment on whether Russia struck the plane (National Review). CNN: Putin apologizes over Azerbaijan Airlines crash, saying air defenses were active at the time, but stops short of admitting responsibility (X).

Dr. Leana Wen Urges Biden to Authorize Vaccines for Bird Flu, Rush Dissemination

CBS: Dr. Leana Wen said Sunday that the lack of testing for bird flu doesn’t mean that the virus isn’t alive in humans, and that she feels the federal government “should have learned our lesson from COVID” and should be proactive in making tests available for Americans — and not wait for labs to characterize the cases and their severity… The recent outbreak of bird flu stems from a mutation of the H5N1 virus that affects humans more easily, compared to past mutations of the virus that targeted birds and not mammals. On Thursday, the CDC reported its first severe case of bird flu in the U.S. found in a patient in Louisiana who was infected from a backyard poultry flock. The Louisiana case was first confirmed by health officials Friday, adding to the total of 61 reported human cases of H5 bird flu reported in the United States. Another severe case of H5N1 has been reported in a teen in British Columbia (CBS). Benny Johnson: Dr. Leana Wen calls on the Biden administration to authorize “bird flu vaccines” for “vulnerable” Americans before Donald Trump takes office (X). Collin Rugg: Health ‘expert’ calls on the Biden Administration to get immediate FDA authorization for H5N1 vaccines and get 5 million doses to the American people as fast as possible. This sounds familiar (X).

Former President Jimmy Carter Passes Away at 100-Years-Old

Townhall: Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, took his last breath on Sunday at the age of 100-year-old. He was the oldest living U.S. president… In February 2023, the 39th president entered Hospice care after a series of short hospital stays. In 2015, he had a small mass removed from his liver, and soon after that, he announced he had liver cancer that had spread throughout his body. His death follows that of his wife, Rosalynn, who died on November 19, 2023, at the age of 96. They were married for 77 years. Carter is considered one of the most respected and notable figures in American political history, primarily due to his post-presidential humanitarian work. While significant challenges marked his presidency, it is often remembered for its focus on human rights, energy conservation, and peace efforts. Before entering the White House, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and served in the Navy until 1953 (Townhall).

10.

Indiana University Course Requires Students to Determine How Their “Privilege” Oppresses “Subordinate Groups”

Frere Beacon: An Indiana University class required students to determine their “privileged” and “dominant” identities—like being white or male—so that they could “address issues of oppression.” The mandatory exercise was part of a course that fulfills the school’s “social and historical studies” requirement needed to graduate. Students were instructed to write an “in-depth reflection of two parts of [their] identity: one subordinate identity and one dominant identity,” according to documents obtained. The final assignment for the eight-week course, worth 26 percent of the final grade, assumes that each student has at least one identity group that gives them power over their peers and another that leads to their oppression. Students were given a chart showing examples of “dominant” identities—like being white—and “subordinate” identities—like being black—and separated them by “manifestations of social oppression,” such as classism, racism, and heterosexism. Effectively, the chart shows that straight, white, Christian males are dominant over everyone else. Or, put another way, everyone else is subordinate to straight, white, Christian males, according to the chart (Free Beacon).