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Friday, January 9, 2026

Son of Shah to the People of Iran: ‘Take to the streets’

And the people of Iran have heeded the call. Reza Pahlavi is the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran: Great nation of Iran, the eyes of the world are fixed upon you. Take to the streets and, in united ranks, shout out your demands. I warn the Islamic Republic, its leader, and the Revolutionary Guards that the world and the President of the United States are closely watching you. The suppression of the people will not go unanswered (Pahlavi). Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL): The people of Iran are showing historic bravery, taking to the streets like never before demanding FREEDOM. Iran has been hijacked by extremists for too long. Sending my courage to those using their voices to demand liberty and hoping this will be the year for democracy in Iran (w/Video: Salazar). Dr. Eli David: Massive protests in and around Isfahan (3rd largest city in Iran). Regime forces are fleeing (w/video: David). Mario Nawfal: Iran is going full throttle tonight. Protests exploded across more than 100 cities, the most intense yet, and now heavy gunfire echoes through Tehran streets packed with massive crowds. People risking it all against the regime, storming governor HQs, torching police rides, building barricades. The IRGC, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite hardcore loyalists who crush dissent and guard the clerics, reportedly unloading on protesters. Polymarket odds spiked to 55% Khamenei falls this year. Forces stretched thin, some even clapping for crowds elsewhere. Feels like the regime’s grip slipping fast. Whole world is watching this one (Nawfal). More video: (Ghamari).

Iranian Mullahs Shutter Internet; Report: Elon Musk Giving Free Starlink Access

The religious dictators are very clearly threatened. Financial Times: Iran was almost completely cut off from the internet on Thursday, according to monitoring groups, as the Islamic republic struggled to contain the most serious wave of protests in years (Financial Times). Reza Pahlavi: Millions of Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication. It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals. I want to thank the leader of the free world, President Trump, for reiterating his promise to hold the regime to account (Pahlavi).Report via Channel 14 in Israel: Elon Musk has quietly enabled free Starlink access for protesters, according to people familiar with the matter. The move was implemented several days ago without a public announcement, with protest leaders informed privately. Israeli businessman Dubi Francis raised the issue with Musk’s team after an inquiry from Deputy Minister Almog Cohen. Musk committed to keeping the network open at no cost while protests continue and instructed Starlink executives to block regime interference (Open Source).

President Trump Has Firm Message for the Shi'ite Leaders in Iran

The president was a guest of Hugh Hewitt of Salem Media. Hugh start’s their interview with Iran: Michael Duran of the Hudson Institute says the regime there is failing. They have fuel shortages, electricity shortages, water shortage, Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian-American senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is posting the videos of the spreading protests. Mark Dubowitz—so this is a quote: “If President Trump brings down the Islamic Republic of Iran, he will cement his place as the greatest foreign policy president since Ronald Reagan.” I think it would actually…. What about Iran? Is the aim with Iran the collapse of that awful 47-year tyranny? The president’s response: Well, I don’t want to say it, but I will tell you they’re not doing well, as you know, probably better than anybody. They’re doing very poorly. And I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots, they have lots of riots. If they do it, we’re going to hit them very hard (Full interview: Salem News Channel).

Two Shot in Portland as Customs and Border Patrol Officers Sought to Make Traffic Stop of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua Gang Members

This will, no doubt, be used to further escalate tensions. Oregonian: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents shot and wounded a man and a woman Thursday afternoon in a medical clinic parking lot near Adventist Medical Center in Southeast Portland, authorities and witnesses said. One was shot in the leg and the other in the chest, Portland police sources said (Oregonian). DHS: At 2:19 PST, US Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Portland, Oregon. The passenger of the vehicle and target is a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring and involved in a recent shooting in Portland. The vehicle driver is believed to be a member of the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents. Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene. This situation is evolving and more information is forthcoming. (DHS).

Scott Jennings on Minnesota Incident: ‘We are undergoing an epidemic of political vigilantism’

The CNN contributor and host with Salem Media framed well the tragedy and the broader context of what resulted in the death of a woman in Minneapolis. Jennings: It strikes me that we are undergoing an epidemic of political vigilantism right now. Why are people showing up in vehicles in convoys, not just in Minneapolis, but all over the country in an effort to obstruct lawful federal law enforcement activities? This is not an isolated incident. We have had hundreds of car rammings against ICE agents all over the country. According to DHS, this lady in this car today, along with other vehicles had been tracking ICE agents around. Why are people believing that they can drive their car into a federal law enforcement situation?—and that is an appropriate thing to do? I understand they don’t like the fact that these agents are enforcing existing immigration law, but that’s not how we change laws in this country. If you don’t like a law, you talk to the politicians. You don’t drive your car into the middle of a building or a law enforcement situation that’s being occupied by the people who are simply there to enforce the law (Musk).

Five GOP Senators Vote With Democrats to Pass Motion Aimed at Limiting Further Action in Venezuela

It’s not likely that the motion will become law. Wall Street Journal: The vote marked a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House and underscored growing unease over the administration’s use of war powers. The 52-47 vote on the motion came less than a week after the U.S. seized Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a nighttime raid. Members of the Democratic caucus were joined by five Republicans in advancing the measure…. The resolution required only a simple majority to advance because it is considered a privileged measure under the War Powers Act, allowing it to bypass the Senate’s usual 60-vote filibuster threshold. The measure is almost certain not to become law. It still requires a final vote in the Senate and would also need to be approved by the House. Even if it did clear Congress, the White House said Trump would veto it, and a congressional override would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber (Wall Street Journal).

Poll: GOP Voters Show Strong Support for US Military Action in Venezuela

While GOP Senators give something of a reprimand to the president, Trump seems to have rather effectively convinced the Republican voter. A full 78 percent of GOP voters now say they are supportive of the military action. Axios: Once hesitant or disapproving of using the U.S. military to invade Venezuela, the vast majority of Republicans now say they approve of President Trump’s raid and the stunning capture of Nicolás Maduro, a new poll found. Trump tested his base’s appetite for new international incursions — and they have rallied behind him since the stunning Venezuela operation and his claim that the U.S. will “run” the Latin American country. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans said they somewhat or strongly supported the U.S. using military force to invade Venezuela in a YouGov poll released Wednesday and conducted after last weekend’s shocking operation. That’s a sharp increase from just days prior. In an Economist-YouGov survey conducted Jan. 2-5 (Trump announced the operation Jan. 3) 53% of Republicans said they’d support such military force. In a Dec. 20-22 poll, that figure was at 43%. Back in September and October, only about three in ten Republicans said they would support military action targeting Venezuela. An even larger share of Republicans (78%) now say they approve of using military force to capture Maduro, per the YouGov survey (Axios).

Atlanta Fed Doubles Q4 GDP Estimate—to Startling 5.4 Percent Growth

Encouraging news for all watching the economy as we approach midterm elections this fall. Market Minute: In a move that has sent shockwaves through global financial markets, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta drastically revised its GDPNow tracker for the fourth quarter of 2025. On January 8, 2026, the estimate for real GDP growth was effectively doubled, jumping from a projected 2.7% to a staggering 5.4%. This revision marks one of the most significant upward adjustments in the model’s history, suggesting that the American economy is not merely avoiding a recession but is currently in the midst of a high-octane expansion that few analysts saw coming. The immediate implications of this “sizzling” forecast are profound. With official government data currently delayed due to an ongoing federal shutdown, the Atlanta Fed’s nowcast has become the primary North Star for investors and policymakers alike. The 5.4% figure suggests that despite high interest rates and global geopolitical tensions, the U.S. consumer remains undeterred and the domestic trade balance has shifted in a way that provides a massive tailwind to national output (Financial).

District Court Prohibits Gender Secrecy Policies of California Educators

A case that received inadequate attention when it was decided late last month. In sum: California educators can no longer lie and conceal the fact that their child is identifying as a gender opposite of their biological sex at school. Thomas More Society: Thomas More Society achieved a historic victory in Mirabelli, et al. v. Olson, et al., ending California’s gender secrecy policies and restoring transparency and parental involvement in public education. The decision and federal court order issuing a class-wide permanent injunction (More). Albert Mohler: US district court judge, Judge Roger Benitez … handed down a ruling at the end of December saying that parents have a right to know what is going on with their children, and public school teachers can’t be put in the position of hiding that information from parents or even lying to parents, misrepresenting reality to parents if, indeed, one of the children of that parent or those two parents, if one of those children is presenting in a different way in terms of gender identity, and that includes pronouns, name, dress, you just go down the list. At school, parents, according to this US district court judge, must be told. Behind that is also the fact that public school teachers are not, according to this judge, to be put in the position of lying or misrepresenting the reality of what’s going on with children in their classroom when dealing with the parents of those children (Mohler). Reality has a way of fighting back.

10.

A Court Victory for Religious Liberty: Church Free to Hire Persons That Align With Their Beliefs

A win at a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit—with enormous implications for First Amendment freedoms. New York Sun: Religious organizations in Washington state can exclusively hire employees for nonministerial positions who share the group’s doctrinal and ideological beliefs, a federal court has ruled. A church in Washington, the Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, sued Washington in 2023 over the state’s anti-discrimination law that prevents religious organizations from exclusively hiring employees who align with their beliefs for nonministerial positions. The lawsuit was initially dismissed, but it was revived by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and remanded to a lower court, which enjoined Washington from enforcing its anti-discrimination law. This week, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the mission and blocked Washington from enforcing its anti-discrimination law. The judge who wrote the opinion, Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, said, “Washington cannot override the First Amendment’s church autonomy doctrine” …. The Yakima mission was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. A senior counsel for ADF, Jeremiah Gallus, said in a statement, “Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs” (New York Sun).

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