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Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya tweeted out a link to a "Chamath for California Governor" campaign website on Tuesday. Palihapitiya supports an effort to force a recall vote for current California Governor Gavin Newsom which would lead to a special election later in 2021. Some California residents have been displeased with Newsom's performance, especially when it comes to a slower-than-expected vaccine rollout.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch blasted so-called cancel culture and a "woke orthodoxy" that he described as "awful" and suggested was a threat to the free exchange of ideas in the U.S. and around the world. "For those of us in the media, there's a real challenge to confront: a wave of censorship that seeks to silence conversation, to stifle debate, to ultimately stop individuals and societies from realizing their potential," Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp., said in recorded remarks while receiving an award from the Australia Day Foundation, according to The New York Times. "This rigidly enforced conformity,...

Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) traded jabs with each other on Monday in what could be illustrative the battle for the heart and soul of the GOP and its opposing wings. Cheney has been in the hot seat, most recently for her vote to impeach Donald Trump, who Democrats accuse of being responsible for the violent protests at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. As a result, Trump supporting Rep. Matt Gaetz announced on Monday that he would be traveling to Wyoming to “inspire” Wyoming voters to remove Cheney from her seat in Congress.

... Joe Biden on Tuesday signed four executive actions pertaining to racial equity, including phasing out the use of private prisons at the federal level. "We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation, to state the obvious, that all people are created equal and have a right to be treated equally throughout their lives," Biden said just before signing the actions. ...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) voted in favor of a resolution declaring the impeachment trial of former President Trump “unconstitutional” on Tuesday. * * * However, only five Republicans voted against the resolution: Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. At the close of the impeachment trial itself, at least 17 Republican senators would need to join Democrats in order to convict Trump.

High school juniors who lost three months of their in-person learning last year might also lose their entire senior year of classroom learning. Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged that possibility during a news conference Monday about his 'Due North Education Plan

Currently, SpaceX’s Starlink beta internet service offers download speeds of 100 Mbps or so for its beta testers in the U.S., Canada and the UK. But what about future Starlink download speeds? According to SpaceX director David Goldman, in speaking with the FCC last week, the company outlined its plan to modify Starlink and its future plans, as noted by CNBC reporter Michael Sheetz (via Reddit). Goldman outlined to the FCC the current 100 Mbps download speeds for Starlink will offer up to 10 Gbps in the future, which is a staggering goal and also much faster than what is...

Just five GOP senators vote Trump impeachment trial is constitutional Jordain Carney 45 mins ago Dr. Fauci pressed on vaccine availability, asked whether media focuses too much… Just five GOP senators vote Trump impeachment trial is constitutional The Senate sent a strong signal Tuesday that there are not nearly enough votes to convict President Trump in an impeachment trial when only five GOP senators rejected an effort by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to declare the looming trial unconstitutional. Greg Nash Just five GOP senators vote Trump impeachment trial is constitutional The Senate voted 55-45 to set aside Paul's motion, with...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1 last year prohibiting bulk power system equipment from foreign companies in the U.S. grid, citing security concerns. The U.S. Department of Energy noted that under the current rules, contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder when it comes to bulk power system procurement, and that creates a “vulnerability that can be exploited by those with malicious intent.” U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said that it is imperative that “the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats.” Analysts believe this means that the United States will...

President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. Two people with knowledge of Biden’s plans outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public; some details remain in flux. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters announced last week and follows Biden’s campaign pledge to halt new...

Smart lock startup Latch Inc. is set to be the latest company to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company in a deal that values the company at $1.56 billion. Under the deal, Latch will go public via TS Innovation Acquisitions Corp., a company backed by property developer Tishman Speyer. Latch will raise $510 million in cash, including $190 million from investors Chamath Palihapitiya, BlackRock, D1 Capital Partners and Fidelity Management & Research, according to Reuters. SPACs are entities that are created for the sole purpose of buying another firm and taking it public. They became growingly popular in 2020...

A second wave of desert locust swarms has begun striking an already hard-hit East Africa in recent weeks after heavy rains and a late-season cyclone sparked a new round of breeding, with swarms invading Kenya and southern Ethiopia, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The first wave of locusts was reported in East Africa in January of last year, when heavy rains sparked a round of largescale breeding, according to FAO. Weather conditions remained favorable for locust reproduction and growth throughout the year, feeding outbreaks of locust from East Africa to Iran. With the...

Hopefully, by now, you’ve all heard that our denomination is headed for a major division, and that the need for this is widely agreed upon by the leaders of all major factions.Why is the United Methodist Church splitting?You may have heard that our division is because of homosexuality. There is some truth to that, but that is really a misleading way to view things.The reality is that our division has been a long time coming. The impending split is the result of an extensive history which dates back long before the present debates over sexual morality. We have a history,...

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden.

Star Wars star Mark Hamill on Monday touted his involvement in a Green Eggs and Ham-styled cartoon parodying conservatives who oppose wearing masks during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Hamill — who is also famous for his voice acting work, particularly as the Joker in several Batman animated series — performed the narration for “Will You Wear A Mask? I Ask,” a video adaptation of a children’s book by writer Tom Ruegger, published in August of last year. The actor, who frequently riffs on politics from his social media accounts, linked the project to President Joe Biden’s mandate to wear a...

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A motorist plowed his car into pedestrians in Portland, Ore., on Monday, killing one person and injuring at least five others in hit-and-runs spanning dozens of city blocks, according to police. ...Witnesses to the hit-and-run said they watched the driver speed through red lights and smash into a retaining wall, clipping pedestrians as he zigzagged across the streets. Charles Kuziuk told a local ABC affiliate that he heard a “bloodcurdling scream” and then saw a woman lying facedown on the sidewalk. He said she told him that the driver had tried to run over her a second time ...

Senator Rand Paul @RandPaul The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order. 45 Senators agreed that this sham of a “trial” is unconstitutional. That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process. This “trial” is dead on arrival in the Senate. 4:26 PM · Jan 26, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

"This is the latest example of big tech suppression of free speech, a step on the road to communist-style censorship' - publisher Stephen Gregory. YouTube, the video platform service that is a Google subsidiary, has banned The Epoch Times, a rising, conservative-leaning media outlet, from earning money off its videos. "YouTube demonetized the Epoch Times and related accounts last week," Stephen Gregory, publisher of The Epoch Times confirmed to Just the News on Tuesday in an email. "This is the latest example of big tech suppression of free speech, a step on the road to communist-style censorship." A YouTube spokesperson...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agree that indoor dining will not return to the city anytime soon, citing a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases. Cuomo said during a Monday press conference that while he plans to ease some New York COVID-19 restrictions starting Wednesday, "the indoor dining in New York City is a New York City-specific condition" and the state is "not at this point contemplating any changes" to the ban. De Blasio, after urging people to stay home if they can and take mass transit if they have to amid harsh...