Pelosi says Biden is ‘just perfect’ . . . Oh no. Nancy is again thinking that we’re idiots. Speaking at a dinner Tuesday evening for the Democratic National Committee, Pelosi said President Biden was “experienced” and “capable.” Well, he’s certainly experienced, but it’s not clear that that’s made him capable. President Biden at the same event predicted victory for Democrats in the House in 2022, which showed that delusion was on the menu. White House Dossier

 

 

Another place VP Harris isn’t popular: Spanish-language talk radio in Florida . . . Criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris on influential Spanish-language talk radio programs in South Florida is prompting speculation in some quarters that she‘s the target of an organized campaign to drive down her popularity. Fernand Amandi, principal at the public opinion research firm Bendixen & Amandi in Miami, said there “appears to be a proactive, clearly organized effort to demonize and malign” the vice president’s image and reputation. “It comes in the form of audience listeners calling into live talk shows with talking-point attacks,” Mr. Amandi tweeted. He didn’t respond to a request for further comment. Stories about Ms. Harris on the Facebook page of Actualidad Radio, a prominent South Florida talk station, also contained criticism of the vice president from the station’s followers. Washington Times

 

 

 

 

Hackers launch more than 1.2m attacks through Log4J flaw . . . Hackers including Chinese state-backed groups have launched more than 1.2m attacks on companies globally since last Friday, according to researchers, through a previously unnoticed vulnerability in a widely used piece of open-source software called Log4J. Cyber security group Check Point said the attacks relating to the vulnerability had accelerated since Friday, and that at some points its researchers were seeing more than 100 attacks a minute. Perpetrators include “Chinese government attackers”, according to Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer of cyber company Mandiant. The flaw in Log4J allows attackers to easily gain remote control over computers running apps in Java, a popular programming language. Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, told industry executives that the vulnerability was “one of the most serious I’ve seen in my entire career, if not the most serious”, according to US media reports. Hundreds of millions of devices are likely to be affected, she said. Financial Times

 

U.S. lawmakers call for sanctions against Israel's NSO, spyware firms . . . A group of U.S. lawmakers is asking the Treasury Department and State Department to sanction Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and three other foreign surveillance companies they say helped authoritarian governments commit human rights abuses. Reuters

 

Don’t fall into Putin’s trap, Estonian PM warns the West . . . Russian military pressure cannot be allowed to influence who can join the European Union and NATO, warned Kaja Kallas, the prime minister of Estonia, ahead of two key meetings on the bloc’s relationship with its neighbors. By amassing troops at the Ukrainian border, and then suggesting that NATO rescind a 2008 commitment to Ukraine and Georgia that they would one day become members of the alliance, Russian President Vladimir Putin “is trying to present himself as a solution to this problem that he has created himself. And I think we shouldn’t fall into that trap,” Kallas said in a phone interview on Tuesday in which she also discussed concerns about U.S. President Joe Biden’s outreach to Putin. “I don’t think that Russia has any right to say anything about who has the right and who doesn’t have the right to join [the] European Union or NATO,” said Kallas, whose country of 1.3 million people borders Russia. PoliticoEU

 

After Gas Crisis In Europe That Increased Russia's Federal Budget Revenue, Moscow Has No Intention Of Going 'Green' . . . There is no chance of reaching the Paris Climate Goals by 2030 and very little hope of turning the world carbon neutral by 2060. Yet, China is rapidly becoming one of the most important beneficiaries of the new "green" agenda, as it produces up to half the world's electric vehicles and close to 80 percent of its solar panels. Russia instead stays almost entirely outside the new "green" mainstream. Several speeches, articles, and interviews by leading Russian public figures, including President Vladimir Putin present a strange combination of hatred, fear, and unattainable and fanciful hopes about a "green" agenda for the country. However, the majority of Russians cannot really imagine that windmills and solar panels may sideline oil, gas deposits, and pipelines. MEMRI

 

US to blacklist eight more Chinese companies including dronemaker DJI . . . The Biden administration will place eight Chinese companies including DJI, the world’s largest commercial drone manufacturer, on an investment blacklist for their alleged involvement in the surveillance of the Uyghur Muslim minority. The US Treasury will put DJI and the other groups on its “Chinese military-industrial complex companies” blacklist on Thursday, according to two people briefed on the move. US investors are barred from taking financial stakes in the 60 Chinese groups already on the blacklist. Financial Times

 

 

Lithuania pulls diplomats from China as row deepens over Taiwan ties . . . Lithuania has pulled its remaining diplomats out of China over concerns for their safety, in a sharp escalation of bilateral tensions as Beijing retaliates against the Baltic nation’s efforts to strengthen ties with Taiwan. Audra Ciapiene, Lithuania’s interim chargé d’affaires in China, the country’s most senior diplomat in Beijing after the ambassador’s recall in September, returned to Vilnius on Wednesday for consultations. The embassy will temporarily operate remotely, the foreign ministry in Vilnius told the Financial Times. Financial Times

 

 

Pentagon stops implementing vaccine mandate for defense contractors . . .  The race to vaccinate defense workers is now at a standstill, after a US district court judge blocked the implementation of the vaccine mandate for federal contractors last week. The Defense Department issued a Dec. 9 memo instructing its contracting officers to stop enforcing President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 executive order, which required workers for federal contractors to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 18. Breaking Defense

 

Omicron spreading rapidly in U.S. and could bring punishing wave as soon as January, CDC warns . . . Top federal health officials warned in a briefing Tuesday morning that the omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the United States and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January, according to new modeling analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The prevalence of omicron jumped sevenfold in a single week, according to the CDC, and at such a pace, the highly mutated variant of the coronavirus could ratchet up pressure on a health system already strained in many places as the delta variant continues its own surge. The warning of an imminent surge came even as federal officials and some pharmaceutical executives signaled that they don’t currently favor creating an omicron-specific vaccine. Washington Post

 

‘They’re sick of masks’: Democratic governors fight Covid fatigue . . . Asked in an interview about his November close call, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy attributed it to “a lot of folks who are frustrated, is my guess.” In his most candid assessment of his 3-point victory to date, Murphy said some New Jerseyans “feel like government is not connecting with them. They’re sick of masks, being told what to do in terms of vaccines, probably not thrilled with what they sense is going on in Washington, they may have lost a job or a business that went bust — or a loved one, worse yet.” Politico

 

 

Holiday Spending Expected to Be Strong, Fueled by Solid Demand, Rising Inflation . . . The holiday shopping season is likely off to a strong start, with consumers showing robust demand for gifts, dinners out and other products even amid the highest inflation in decades. Sales at U.S. retail stores, online sellers and restaurants are estimated to have risen by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in November from the previous month, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The Commerce Department will release its report on Wednesday morning. Consumer spending has been a primary driver of strong economic growth this year. Retail sales rose nearly 15% in October, from a year earlier, showing low unemployment, rising wages and savings from stimulus payments are giving Americans the capacity to spend more, even when accounting for historically strong inflation. Wall Street Journal

 

 

Trump's media company to partner with Rumble . . . Former President Donald Trump's social media company announced a technology and cloud services partnership with video hosting platform Rumble. "As part of our mission, TMTG [Trump Media & Technology Group] continues to align with service providers who do not discriminate against political ideology," Trump said in a statement Tuesday.  "Therefore, I have selected the Rumble Cloud to serve as a critical backbone for TMTG infrastructure. TMTG has already launched Truth Social on the Rumble Cloud for invited guests only, and the initial Beta launch has been excellent. America is ready for TRUTH Social, and the end to cancel culture." Fox Business

 

 

 

As trial of Harvard prof opens, Biden faces pressure to end Trump program to catch Chinese spies . . . As a high-profile Harvard professor stands trial for hiding his ties to the Chinese government, the Biden administration is coming under intense pressure from a loose coalition of lawmakers, nonprofits, and academics to abandon the so-called China Initiative, a Justice Department effort to preserve America's technological edge by thwarting Chinese spies. Launched by the Trump administration in 2018 and continued so far by its successor, the China Initiative is designed specifically to identify and prosecute those engaged in hacking, stealing trade secrets, and conducting economic espionage for the Chinese government on U.S. soil. The program has led to several arrests and convictions, including, for example: 

Last month, a federal jury convicted Yanjun Xu, deputy division director of China's Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, for attempting to steal trade secrets and commit economic espionage. Just the News

 

OJ Simpson Is ‘Completely Free’ After Being Granted Early Release From Parole . . .  O.J. Simpson is a free man after he was granted early release by the Nevada Board of Parole earlier this month. Simpson, 74, is a former football star and actor who was acquitted in the 1994 murder of his wife and her friend.
He was later convicted by a jury in Las Vegas in 2008 after he was accused of leading five men, two armed among them, in a confrontation over sports memorabilia at an off-strip Las Vegas casino hotel. Simpson said he just wanted to retrieve personal mementoes and items stolen from him following his acquittal.
He served nine years in prison before he was released on parole on Oct. 1, 2017. Epoch Times

 

‘Men Aren’t Women,’ Says Dangerous Far-Right Extremist . . . EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND —According to sources, a dangerous right-wing extremist named J.K. Rowling has taken to the internet to spread hateful rhetoric. Authorities have called for decisive action to silence the bigoted fascist before she further spreads her message.  "Men aren't women," said the disgusting transphobe in a recent Twitter post. She then doubled down on her controversial message by also saying "Women aren't men." 

"This is a hate crime," said EU Diversity Minister Günter Schreiber. "Everyone knows that women aren't a real thing, but rather a fantastical state of being that ebbs and flows through the human imagination like a wisp of magical fairy dust. That's just science." The EU has called for a hearing to discuss what they can do to silence the deadly thought criminal before she gains an audience and teaches them basic biology. As the war on Christmas rages on, it is your DUTY to follow these eight simple steps to land a blow for the spirit of Christmas. Babylon Bee