White House Dossier's

Israel warns that it will act against Hezbollah . . . Israel's military will act to remove Hezbollah from the border with Lebanon if its attacks continue, an Israeli minister has warned. Benny Gantz said the military would intervene if militants do not stop firing on northern Israel.

Time for a diplomatic solution was running out, he added. Meanwhile, the head of the Israel Defense Forces said troops were in "very high readiness" for more fighting in the north. BBC

Haley avoids saying slavery was the cause of the Civil War . . . Nikki Haley declined to say that slavery was a cause of the Civil War on Wednesday evening, placing the blame, instead, on the role of government. The former UN Ambassador and South Carolina governor, who has seen her star rise in the first-in-the-nation primary state, was appearing at a town hall event in Berlin, New Hampshire, when a voter asked her to identify the cause of the war. “I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run,” she responded. “The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.” Politico

Let's be clear about what is going on here. South Carolina is the fourth GOP contest in the 2024 primaries, after Nevada. Haley has to win it or do well, because she was the governor there. But polls show Trump about 30 points ahead. So the candidate who supposedly has "principles" Trump doesn't casts them aside when she needs to.

Colorado GOP askes Supreme Court to overturn decision to remove Trump from ballot

Michigan keeps Trump on the ballot . . . . The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s name can stay on the 2024 Republican primary ballot, joining six other states in rejecting liberal attempts to keep him out of the running. Colorado’s highest court ruled last week that Mr. Trump should be removed from the state ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court finds such splits attractive. Washington Times

Biden gives the Deep State its biggest raise since Carter . . .. Beginning in January, federal civilian employees will see their salaries increase by the largest percentage since the Carter administration.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order in December giving federal employees an average of a 5.2% increase in pay, the largest increase since former President Jimmy Carter raised federal salaries by 9.1% in 1980. Meanwhile, Americans are dealing with inflation and a generally poor economy, with some blaming high government spending, according to recent polling. Seventy-six percent of Americans reported that their income is not keeping up with inflation, according to a poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov this month. Daily Signal

Biden administration quietly shifting strategy on Ukraine . . . With U.S. and European aid to Ukraine now in serious jeopardy, the Biden administration and European officials are quietly shifting their focus from supporting Ukraine’s goal of total victory over Russia to improving its position in an eventual negotiation to end the war, according to a Biden administration official and a European diplomat based in Washington. Such a negotiation would likely mean giving up parts of Ukraine to Russia. Politico

Europeans balk at helping US defend Red Sea shipping . . . U.S. President Joe Biden hoped to present a firm international response to Yemen's Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping by launching a new maritime force, but a week after its launch many allies don't want to be associated with it, publicly, or at all. Two of America's European allies who were listed as contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian - Italy and Spain - issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force. Reuters

Yup, we can always count on Europe to turn chicken when it counts. They're afraid of their own voters. This is the kind of thing Trump was talking about when he demanded they contribute a minuscule 2% to their own defense.

North Korea's Kim Jong UN calls for military to accelerate was preparations . . . North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his country's military, munitions industry and nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the U.S., state media said on Thursday. Kim also said Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with "anti-imperialist independent" countries, news agency KCNA reported. Reuters

International

Beijing ramps up pressure on Taiwan election . . . . With Taiwan due to elect a new president on 13 January, the key objective is to undermine support for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. The island's current president Tsai Ing-wen is stepping down after eight years in power. President Tsai, who has been candid yet deft in her defence of Taiwan's sovereignty, is deeply disliked by Beijing. But the man running to replace her, current vice-president William Lai, is far worse in their eyes.  BBC

Money

NY Times sues Open AI, Micorsoft over use of its stories to train chatbots . . . The New York Times has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, seeking to end the practice of using its stories to train chatbots. In the suit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, the Times said OpenAI and Microsoft are advancing their technology through the “unlawful use of The Times’s work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it” and “threatens The Times’s ability to provide that service.” Politico

Global M&A hits lowest level in a decade . . .Global merger and acquisition activity in 2023 fell 17% to $2.87 trillion, the lowest level in over a decade, according to London Stock Exchange Group data. A slow M&A market can strain companies seeking growth or investment. The 2023 tally was driven lower by economic worries and tight financing markets. The last time global M&A fell below $3 trillion was in 2013, thanks in part to the eurozone crisis. Axios

Apple can temporarily sell its smart watches after win in US appeals court

Amazon Prime to start running ads on movies and TV shows . . . Starting Jan. 29, Amazon Prime Video users will start seeing ads within movies and TV shows, the company announced in an email to U.S. subscribers this week. Prime members who wish to keep their experience ad-free must pay an additional fee of $2.99 per month. NY Daily News

Culture

Oklahoma the latest state to limit DEI . . . Criticism continues to mount against diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on college campuses. The latest lawmaker to prohibit the use of taxpayer spending on DEI programs that “grant preferential treatment” based on race, ethnicity, or national origin is Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican.

Stitt issued an executive order prohibiting any executive agency, including public colleges, from requiring job applicants to complete a DEI statement or “loyalty oath” to diversity as a condition of applying. Daily Signal

UCLA report finds 5.5 percent of adults identify as LGBTQ . . . California has the largest number of LGBTQ Americans, according to new research, while Washington, D.C., has the greatest percentage of LGBTQ residents and the South claims a larger share of LGBTQ adults than any other region. A report published by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles found an estimated 5.5 percent of U.S. adults, or about 13.9 million people, identify as LGBTQ, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021-22. About 14.3 percent of D.C.’s population identifies as LGBTQ. The Hill

That's a lower percentage than we are led to believe. Meantime, society is being turned upside down over identity politics.

Judge had released deranged attacker who stabbed teens at Grand Central despite violence . . . The troubled attacker who allegedly stabbed two teen tourists at Grand Central Terminal on Christmas morning was cut loose by a Bronx judge just weeks earlier — despite a string of violent busts in recent months, The Post has learned.

Prosecutors wanted Steven Hutcherson, 36, to be committed to a psychiatric program for randomly threatening a stranger on a Bronx street last month, but Judge Matthew Grieco instead gave the career criminal a conditional discharge that put him back on the street, records show. NY Post

Palestinian restaurant faces backlack over "genocidal" menu . . . The restaurant, Ayat, is part of a small chain owned by Ayat Masoud and her husband, Abdul Elenani. The Ditmas Park menu includes a seafood section titled “From the river to the sea,” a controversial slogan that the Anti-Defamation League considers antisemitic and a call for “Israel’s destruction through violent means.” One aggrieved Facebook commentator derided the phrase as “openly genocidal.” Many Palestinian advocates, Elenani included, insist that the decades-old slogan is merely a non-violent rallying cry for justice. The Daily Beast

Firefighters forced to pour 36,000 gallons of water over burning Tesla . . . Alabama firefighters arrived at the scene in Pine Level at 11 a.m. Monday and were greeted with a burning Tesla Model Y that crashed on the interstate. The intensity of the fire forced police to close the highway. By the time the fire was extinguished, more than 10 rescue groups were helping snuff the blaze with the 36,000 gallons. A regular car fire takes 500 gallons to put out. Washington Times

Man proposes in in front of a crowd in romantic Rome, and she says, "No." . . . The proposal starts well as they finish dancing in the fashionable Via dei Condotti under the Christmas lights. The young man then casually bends down on one knee with a ring as a tenor's performance of O Sole Mio reverberates around the square. But his partner's body language is immediately awkward as she makes repeated gestures pleading for him to stop in front of the onlookers as the romantic music continues. 'I didn't expect it. I wasn't ready. But is this why we came to Rome?' she says several times.The man is then asked in front of onlookers: 'But is it yes or no?' After some hesitation she replies that it is a "no." Daily Mail