Wildfires Scorch U.s., From East To West

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal seems to be the testing ground for Pete Hegseth's replacement, with that nomination now seemingly dead in the water. Whether it will go to DeSantis or someone else (Elbridge Colby and Joni Ernst have also been mentioned) remains to be seen but it is clear they're looking to pull the plug on Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth's chances of becoming the next Secretary of Defense are effectively zero at this point, and word is that Trump is already shopping around for a replacement. Source: Mediaite CNN anchor John Berman audibly exclaimed from off-camera when CNN data Jedi Harry Enten revealed Pete Hegseth — President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for defense secretary — has dropped steeply in betting markets. Hegseth’s nomination has been endangered by bombshells like a rape allegation and the revelation of a 2018 email from Penelope Hegseth to her son in which she called him “an abuser of women” — and now, a devastating whistleblower report. On Wednesday’s edition of CNN News Central, Berman could be heard exclaiming “WHOAH!’ as Enten ran down the bleak numbers for Hegseth, who has gone from a high of 83 percent to just 12 percent: KATE BOLDUAN: Since Trump announced his plans to nominate the former Fox News anchor, a bunch of past allegations have surfaced of drunken misbehavior, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement of the veterans nonprofit that he once ran. CNN’s Harry Enten has the numbers on how much has changed for that man and how fast it has changed for him.

In California's 13th Congressional District race, encompassing five counties from Fresno to Stanislaus, every vote counts. As of Tuesday evening, Democrat Adam Gray leads incumbent Republican John Duarte by 165 votes. Via ABC30.com: "We saw the same thing in this congressional district two years ago," said Merced County Registrar of Voters Mel Levey. "In 2022, we had the second closest congressional race in the country, separated by about 500 votes.

A newly elected MO House Representative wants to pay Missourians up to $1000 to turn someone in they believe is in the United States illegally. What could possibly go wrong? The first part reads that someone in the country illegally is prohibited from voting in any election, receiving any permit or license to drive, receiving any public benefit, and becoming a legal resident of this state. The proposed bill also calls for the Department of Public Safety to develop the “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program.” That would certify Missouri residents to be bounty hunters to find and detain immigrants without legal status in the state. “This does not make life better in Missouri,” Local attorney Javad Khazaeli told First Alert 4 Investigates Tuesday. He called the proposed legislation the “worst written bill I’ve seen,” and said to put a bounty on someone’s head because someone believes they are here illegally is incredibly dangerous. “As a civil rights attorney that’s great for me,” Khazaeli explained.

This has been a difficult year. You may have been buffeted by anger you didn’t want to feel, and didn’t know how to productively process. Breeding grounds for misinformation—and its even more treacherous sibling, disinformation—have proliferated. AI is coming, supposedly to make our lives easier, but in reality it may just be taking our jobs.

A new report tracking the health of civic freedoms around the world identifies a notable trend: Crackdowns on Palestinian solidarity protests in every kind of society, from the most open to the least. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Both the conflict itself and its impact on civic space … is one of the main takeaways of the year for us,” says Tara Petrović, an author of the report by CIVICUS Monitor, a global alliance of civil society groups, headquartered in Johannesburg.