CITIZEN OPEN THREAD — FRIDAY

Animals go wild for snow day at the Minnesota Zoo | FOX 9 MSP

A quick stop-by to say Happy Friday! And Go Hoosiers! It’s our Girls in the ‘Hood party tonight but I’ll watch scores on my phone. Have a great evening!

Steve Bannon Makes the Case: Speaker Johnson “Has To Go” After Working w/Dems on Failed CR | Megyn Kelly
Megyn Kelly is joined by Steve Bannon, host of “Bannon’s War Room,” to discuss the way Speaker Johnson had secretly worked with Democrats putting together his CR that ultimately failed, why Bannon says Johnson “has to go” now, what might happen now with the looming government shutdown, and more.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Final Remarks on Senate Floor as Republican Leader | C-SPAN
McConnell makes final remarks on the floor as Republican Leader: “Folks come to Washington to do one of two things: either to make a point or to make a difference…it’s usually not that hard to tell who’s doing which, especially in situations like the one we’re in right now.” [Is anyone swayed by what McConnell says anymore? He sounds frustrated…]

Tim Burchett Asked Point Blank If He’ll Vote For Latest Spending Bill As Shutdown Nears | Forbes Breaking [1hr ago]
Congressman Burchett spoke with reporters on Friday about next government funding bill.

‘It’s time to call out the bad apples, inflict pressure’: Top FL official makes congressional case | Fox Business
Florida chief financial officer and U.S. congressional candidate Jimmy Patronis says he’s ‘inspired’ by political optimism and talks his top policy priorities as he looks to fill Matt Gaetz’s open seat.

Elon Musk weighs in on government funding bill as shutdown looms | ABC7 [posted an hour ago]

Nissan seems to have plenty of housecleaning to do before merging with Honda. The former mouthy spokeswoman too
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/12/nissan-relents-and-winds-back-diversity-efforts-in-policy-shake-up/

Mayorkas warns of serious consequences if government shutdown happens | Face the Nation
In an interview for Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tells Margaret Brennan the “implications and the consequences are serious” if Congress does not pass a spending bill to keep the U.S. government funded.

To town Yoda Claus is coming…

Poilievre calls on Gov. Gen. to recall house for confidence vote against Trudeau | CTV News [posted 1hr ago]

VW and the unions have reached an agreement.
https://www.motor1.com/news/745203/volkswagen-saves-german-plants-closure/

https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/12/20/union-reaches-agreement-with-volkswagen-to-avoid-plant-closures

Minnesota judge rules that a Dem state House candidate was not an official resident of his district

https://alphanews.org/breaking-judge-finds-dfl-legislator-elect-is-not-a-resident-of-his-district-not-eligible-to-serve-in-house/

Republican candidate Paul Wikstrum filed the lawsuit last month, alleging that Johnson never established residency in House District 40B.
The Minnesota Supreme Court would take the case in the coming days.
The judge’s order comes as the incoming House of Representatives is tied at 67-67.
If Johnson isn’t seated, then Republicans will, at least temporarily, have a one-seat majority in the Minnesota House, which would be enough to elect a speaker.

A special thank you to Secret Santa from some Greek students. I love this!

It’s always a good time to poke fun at “Christie the Clown”…

Friday’s Secret Santa #2. I love these bonus days!

Salvini VICTORIOUS!
“Matteo Salvini: Italy’s deputy prime minister found not guilty of illegally detaining migrants on rescue boat
Matteo Salvini denied any wrongdoing and said he was “defending borders from illegal immigrants”.
https://news.sky.com/story/matteo-salvini-italys-deputy-prime-minister-found-not-guilty-of-illegally-detaining-migrants-on-rescue-boat-13276941

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/common-sense-wins-matteo-salvini-acquitted-in-migrant-kidnapping-case/

Macron gets saucy…
https://www.euronews.com/2024/12/20/if-this-wasnt-france-youd-be-10000-times-more-in-the-sht-macron-hits-out-at-mayotte-reside

https://www.dw.com/en/macron-receives-angry-welcome-in-cyclone-battered-mayotte/video-71123468

Kevin O’Leary says Canada’s economy in ‘free-fall,’ Trudeau should go | Canada Tonight, CBC News

Senator Hagerty says Trump ‘means business’ with blazing tariff threats: Europe needs to ‘wake up’ | Maria Bartiromo

Newt Gingrich: Trump refused to sell out | Fox News

Where is KJP? Missing her…..😳🤣😳

Redskins still have a shot.
“Since it was introduced in the House in July 2023, the RFK Stadium bill has never had any funding attached to it. In fact, the version that exited the House Oversight Committee and was approved by a 348–55 vote in the GOP-controlled House in February already included language that guarded against the very thing Musk called out. ”
https://frontofficesports.com/rfk-stadium-bill/

DUH!! Now, inform the demented Caryn Johnson, aka Whoopi Cushion.

Flat-earthers admit defeat after seeing 24-hour Antarctica sun: ‘Sometimes you are wrong’:

A group of popular flat earth YouTubers have admitted defeat against the “globers” after taking a trip to Antarctica to witness the 24-hour sun.

Colorado pastor Will Duffy organized the highly anticipated December 14th trip, dubbed “The Final Experiment”, which brought together four “flat earthers” and four “globe earthers” in an attempt to settle the debate once and for all.

Flat earthers have long maintained that Antarctica holds the key to proving the earth is flat.

In summer, due to the tilt of the earth, the sun does not set over much of the continent. In the flat earth view of the world, Antarctica is actually an ice wall that encircles the other continents and holds in the oceans. If that view were correct, the sun must rise and set each day, even in Antarctica, and could never circle the sky all 24 hours.

“All right, guys, sometimes you are wrong in life,” Jeran Campanella from the YouTube channel Jeranism told viewers on the midnight livestream from Union Glacier Camp, four-and-a-half hours south from Punta Arenas, Chile. “And I thought that there was no 24-hour sun, in fact I was pretty sure of it.”

Pastor Duffy noted Jeranism was “one of the most popular flat earth YouTube channels”, but Campanella quipped “not for long”.

Borders. Wake up.
“One of the prosecutors, Geri Ferrara, told the court in September that human rights had to prevail over the “protection of state sovereignty”.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/italys-deputy-pm-salvini-faces-002046065.html

“The prosecution requested a 6-year prison sentence for the minister , while the defense requested an acquittal.”
https://www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/open-arms-today39-s-sentence-what-salvini-risks-6-years-in-prison-requested-vjcysogv

‘Full inferno’ engulfs 19th-century private Va. college that owner refused to safeguard, local pols claim:

A historical Virginia college was engulfed in flames early Friday as local officials said calls to preserve the buildings fell on “deaf ears.”

The fire sparked around 1 a.m. on what was once Virginia Intermont College’s campus in Bristol, Va. — located on the border of eastern Tennessee and Virginia.

The “full inferno” spread to other buildings and the main hall collapsed shortly after 2 a.m., according to News Channel 11.

Stunned Bristol City Councilman Neal Osborne, who witnessed the flames destroy the 19th-century private school overnight, shared images and videos of the blaze as emergency crews worked to contain the fire…Osborne had been fighting to preserve the historic campus for years but said those efforts were not getting far…

…The cause of the fire is unknown.

Wisconsin school shooter’s alleged co-conspirator called ‘very creepy’ and ‘quiet’ by current and former neighbors:

The alleged co-conspirator in the Wisconsin school shooting was referred to as ominously “creepy” and “quiet” by current and former California neighbors, according to reports.

An unidentified ex-neighbor from San Diego described Alexander Paffendorf, 20, as “very creepy,” describing how she “never heard him speak a word” despite living next to him and his parents for six years, TMZ reported.

“He looks like someone who would shoot up a place,” she said, adding that neighbors had theorized about him before he was accused of plotting a coordinated attack with Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, who opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday, killing two people and injuring six.

Paffendorf “always had a hood on” and “doesn’t make eye contact,” according to the neighbor. She mentioned he would follow her closely as she walked down the stairs and had once stood outside her window, despite not uttering a single word. When she confronted Paffendorf’s parents about him lurking outside her window, they blew her off.

Pierre Poilievre | CTV Your Morning

Delphi double murderer Richard Allen sentenced to 130 years in prison for killing 2 Indiana middle school girls:

Delphi murderer Richard Allen, who was convicted in the savage 2017 killings of Indiana teens Abigail Williams and Liberty German, was sentenced to 130 years in prison — the maximum sentence — on Friday.

Allen, 52, was found guilty last month of murdering both eighth graders, ages 13 and 14 — nearly eight years after their bodies were found with their throats slit near an Indiana hiking trail.

Judge Frances C. Gull told Allen at the sentencing hearing that the brutal slayings rank “right up there with the most hideous crimes,” NBC News reported…

…The former drugstore clerk encountered the girls, who were close friends, on the Monon High Bridge Trail just outside of Delphi in February 2017.

Allen forced the pair at gunpoint off the trail and threatened to rape them — but changed his plans when a van passed by, prosecutors said.

He then forced them down the bottom of a hill and cut open their necks about a quarter mile from the trail, where they were found the following day.

The jury was shown chilling Snapchat footage recorded by one of the girls showing a man, who could be heard telling them, “Down the hill.”

The grisly murders rocked Delphi, Indiana, a tiny city of just 3,000 people located 70 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

The girls’ killings went unsolved until October 2022 when Allen was arrested…His attorneys say they plan to appeal the verdict.

“Richard Allen maintains his innocence,” they wrote in a sentencing memo ahead of Friday’s sentencing, NBC News reported.

Well Kane tonight is the battle for the State of Indiana! My beloved ND against your Hoosiers. Best of Luck and a Wager of a Steak dinner at BHI from our hometown of C’ville.

Not only is Stephen Kevin Bannon an (actual) freaking genius, dude gives the greatest speeches of all time.

I agree, I always wonder how Bannon remembers what to say, it almost seems as if he wings it, with stream of consciousness?

He knows how to fire up a crowd, and his delivery, is always excellent (especially his two F bombs 👍🏻👍🏻). He knows how to communicate policy to the average man, by explaining it in laymen’s terms, without making it dry and boring. No wonder his classrooms in Danbury were filled, I am sure he was beloved, while he was a political prisoner.

Bannon, like James Woods, is an national treasure.

One question

Why is a Hogwarts gender studies professor addressing Congress?

I know this is a long shot, and a fantasy, but think Matt Gaetz should be Speaker of the House, that would be the ultimate FU.