il Donaldo Trumpo

FBI Shuts Down DEI Office Before Trump’s Inauguration

Related:

Democrats Are Terrified of Kash Patel Leading the FBI

And garbage media, and bureaucrats.

California Incinerated Its Insurance Market

“…Other disaster-prone states, such as Florida, have major insurance problems, but the causes vary. In California, the cause is tied to our prior-approval system of insurance regulation. Wildfires exacerbate that problem. Climate change might intensify the wildfires. But the issue is California makes it inordinately difficult for insurers to price their policies accordingly. Price controls always lead to shortages. Instead of risking their financial health, insurers quietly leave.

Our controls came in 1988 when voters approved Proposition 103. It made the insurance commissioner an elected official. Elected officials have a political incentive not to raise rates for obvious reasons. It instituted a prior-approval system (similar systems exist in 12 states), whereby the commissioner must approve any rate increases. It created a Byzantine rate-review process that’s costly and time-consuming. It gave consumer attorneys (“intervenors”) standing to oppose rate hikes. It even rolled back rates.

The state can enact reforms within the Prop. 103 framework (mainly through expediting the rate-review process and allowing use of those catastrophe models), but it won’t have a healthy insurance market until it ditches price controls. To make matters worse, the state’s FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan is in deep trouble, as increasing numbers of property owners rely on this bare-bones state-created insurer of last resort. If that fails, what exactly will people do?…

…the state needs to allow a competitive marketplace. If insurers were free to price their policies to reflect their risk, they would be more apt to write them in riskier areas — and competition would eventually reduce the cost of premiums…”

Biden orders milkshakes in bizarre behind-the-scenes video of final days in White House

“…President Biden’s staff released a behind-the-scenes video Thursday of the retiring president ordering milkshakes and chatting with staff during his final days as commander in chief.

Biden, 82, was shown asking for the dairy treat twice — in one instance being told he’d have to wait for the blended confection to be prepared.

“I’m going to miss you. I just came down to say hi, and by the way, can you make me a milkshake?” the leader of the free world asked a staffer at the Navy Mess on the floor below the Oval Office.

“Yeah, just give me like five minutes,” the male staffer said.

In another clip, a female Mess employee said to the president: “A chocolate milkshake? You want one? On it, sir!”

Biden, joined by adviser Amos Hochstein, proceeds to walk around the executive grounds with a chocolate syrup-lined ice-cream-sundae glass…”

“Your Credibility with Me is about None”: CNN Trial Goes From Bad to Worse

“…In following the defamation trial against CNN by veteran Zachary Young, we have previously (here, here, and here) marveled at how bad things were going for the network.  It appears that they are getting even worse. This has been a brutal week as CNN figures, including host Jake Tapper, took the stand. If “this is CNN,” the judge (and possibly the jury) are not liking what they are seeing. The report at the heart of the case aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Nov. 11, 2021, and was shared on social media and (a different version on) CNN’s website. In the segment, Tapper told his audience ominously how CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered that “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”

Marquardt piled on in the segment, claiming that “desperate Afghans are being exploited” and need to pay “exorbitant, often impossible amounts” to flee the country. He then named Young and his company as an example of that startling claim. The evidence included messages from Marquardt that he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young mf**ker” and thought the story would be Young’s “funeral.” After promising to “nail” Young, CNN editor Matthew Philips responded: “gonna hold you to that cowboy!” Likewise, CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan described Young as “a shit.” As is often done by media, CNN allegedly gave Young only two hours to respond before the story ran. It is a typical ploy of the press to claim that they waited for a response while giving the target the smallest possible window. In this case, Young was able to respond in the short time and Marquardt messaged a colleague, “f**king Young just texted. “In the last week, Tapper was seen on video by the jury and was mocked for claiming under oath that he “doesn’t pay attention to ratings,” a claim that could make him unique as a network host. While Tapper can argue that he was referencing the following of daily numbers, critics hammered him by showing repeated clips where he discussed ratings. However, the most damaging testimony may have come from top producers who told the jurors that they opposed the modest apology given to Young on air. Since Young seemed to do well before the jury, the testimony of senior editor Fuzz Hogan, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt, CNN producer Michael Conte, CNN’s executive vice president of editorial Virginia Moseley, and CNN supervising producer Michael Callahan undermined any effort to portray the network as seeking to amend a wrong or reduce damage to Young. Arguably, the worst moment came with an argument by CNN’s lead attorney, David Axelrod. Axelrod introduced a document that he claimed was a smoking gun and showed that Young was a liar. Pointing dramatically at Young and waiving the document in the air, Axelrod declared that he had the proof:

“Plaintiff’s entire case, sitting right there, is that after the publications, he couldn’t get any work…Mr. Young knew, when he filed this lawsuit that he had entered into a new consulting agreement with a government contractor one month after CNN’s publication. This entire lawsuit was a fraud on this court. It was a fraud on CNN. This man knew it. I don’t know what they know. But when his came up in discovery, CNN’s counsel asked Mr. Young about the Helios connection, and he completely lied in his deposition. Over and over again, he made up some incredible ruse that Helios just had his security clearance because it was a company that held security clearances. It makes no sense. He knew at that time that he had a consulting agreement with Helios Global and he didn’t disclose it. It was an outright lie.”

However, it turned out that the document merely was Young’s application to maintain his security clearance.

Young’s attorney, Vel Freedman, later laid waste to CNN. He told the court that Young had lost his security clearance back in 2022 and that he hadn’t been aware of that until he double-checked after his testimony in the case. Freedman asked for the right to present a witness who would testify on the issue and Axelrod objected. Judge Henry had had enough and blew up at CNN. He read back Axelrod’s comments and said “You called him a liar multiple times there.” He told Axelrod that he owed an apology to the plaintiff. After telling CNN that “this isn’t Kindergarten, ” he added “Right now, your credibility with me, Mr. Axelrod, is about none.”

That is never a good thing to hear from a judge.

Axelrod apologized but the damage is clearly considerable.

The most chilling aspect from a litigation perspective? Axelrod replaced the earlier lead counsel who also imploded in court over ill-considered arguments…”

Pam Bondi:

Hunter Biden Artworks Worth ‘Millions of Dollars’ Burned Up in LA Fires

“…Remember Hunter Biden’s supposed stint as an artist? It was, without doubt, one of the shallowest, most obvious money-laundering efforts undertaken by any member of the Biden family, and that’s really saying something. Hunter’s “art” was reminiscent of what might result from a bomb going off in a paint factory when a truck loaded with bolts of canvas sat parked outside; a talented kindergartner could finger-paint more compelling art than Hunter’s best efforts. But somehow, Hunter’s daubs gained some acclaim in the art community – at least the art community that was willing to help the Biden family to launder bribes – and the paintings sold for, wonder of wonders, a lot of money.

But hey, they sold to anonymous buyers. Give me a break.

Now, the New York Post is breaking the exclusive, heartbreaking story of how Hunter Biden paintings and other artworks worth “millions of dollars” have, according to a source close to the Biden family, reportedly burned up in the ongoing LA-area wildfires.

A trove of nearly 200 artworks by Hunter Biden has been destroyed — one of the casualties of the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, The Post has learned.

The controversial art had been in storage near the Pacific Palisades home of Hunter’s Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris and is valued at “millions of dollars,” a source close to the Biden family said.

Morris, who loaned the first son nearly $5 million to help pay a tax bill and has been financing a documentary on him, lives in a sprawling five-bedroom, six-bathroom home which is among the few houses still intact in the posh neighborhood, The Post can confirm.

Still though, look on the upside: In the midst of responding to the unspeakable, unending horror in California, Flo from Progressive and Jake from State Farm are about to break the tension with some massive laughs…”

80 armed homeowners hunt looters in Pasadena

The people of Oakland have voted for far-left wackos over and over for decades. They have chosen failure. They have received failure. Failure has become a preferred way of life for many Democrats.

Here is Democrat controlled Oakland:

Blowtorch perp Juan Sierra is an Illegal alien with a violent felony rap sheet

This self-described spy-hunter was himself hunted. Put an attractive woman and a cocktail in front of these intrepid spy-hunters and they spill their guts.

Is this the typical caliber of people working in and for the federal bureaucracy?

Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Star Mark Hamill Bravely Announces He Won’t Watch Trump’s Inauguration