Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 1/12

[SVPete]

“WE’RE WITH CNN, IT’S OKAY”

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/were-with-cnn-its-okay.php

CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild was harassed by a masked left-wing protester at the scene of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. When Wild advised the protester she worked for CNN, the protester went away. She had confirmed they were on the same team.

WILD: “This is a growing, smaller crowd. This is controlled. The scene spans several blocks.”

PROTESTER (off-camera): “Hey! Who do you work for? Who are you?!”

WILD: “But it goes at least 2 or 3 blocks—”

The protester got right in Wild’s face.

PROTESTER: “Hey! Who are you?? Who do you work for?”

WILD: “Uhh thank you.”

PROTESTER: “Who do you work for??”

WILD: “Hold on, I’m sorry. We’re with CNN, it’s okay.”

The protester noticed the CNN lanyard and finally backed off before turning and walking away.

PROTESTER: “Okay.”

WILD: “Thank you for your help…I’m sorry, I think people are getting upset.”

CNN reporterette said too much, she said quiet part out loud.

[SVPete]

Oregon Election Officials to Begin Purging Rolls of Inactive Voters

https://www.oregonjournalismproject.org/oregon-election-officials-to-begin-purging-rolls-of-inactive-voters

As Oregon kicks off a general election year, Secretary of State Tobias Read is taking what he says is the overdue step of cleaning up the state’s voter rolls.

That process could lead to the cancellation of as many as 800,000 registrations. That’s the number of voters Read says are currently classified as “inactive” on the voter rolls. To be clear, inactive voters do not receive ballots, but their names remain on the rolls.

The cleanup comes as Oregon’s first-in-the-nation vote-by-mail system is under intense scrutiny. President Donald Trump, who blamed mail-in ballots, among other bogeymen, for his defeat in 2020, has amplified historical criticism of Oregon’s system.
...
Oregon currently has 3,063,747 registered, active voters. About 800,000 more voters’ registration status is inactive because their mail, including ballots or official notices, from county elections offices has been returned undelivered.

Active voters get ballots; inactive voters, Read emphasizes, do not.

"Inactive" voters' ballots and official notices are returned undelivered but they don't get ballots? Ummmm, that's kind pf clearly contradictory. And those 800K, ASSuming they really are officially inactive, with their addresses, are still on OR's rolls where they could be reactivated by anybody spoofing their identity.

[SVPete]

Beat the Press: In this administration, everyone pushes back against reporters

https://donsurber.substack.com/p/beat-the-press?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1115457&post_id=184147918&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=9bg2k&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Meet the Press began as a weekly show where a group of reporters interviewed a Washington politician, politely taking turns asking questions.

It devolved into the mess you see these days. For years Republicans never pushed back.

That ended with the second Trump presidency. Following their leader, the administration’s top officials are shoving back. Hard.

Press conferences? They hold press confrontations barbecues.

I’ll start with the veep last week.

REPORTER: You said earlier that there’s a left-wing network to attack. If everything you’re saying is true, how does being part of that network justify being shot?”

VANCE: Being part of a network doesn’t justify being shot, but ramming an ICE officer with your car, that’s what justifies being shot.

I’m sorry, guys, what’s going on here? You guys are meant to report the truth! How have you let yourself become agents of propaganda of a radical fringe that’s making it harder for us to enforce our laws?

You just asked me a question that presumed that the reason why this woman died is because she was engaged in legitimate protest. She tried to run somebody over with her car, and the guy defended himself when that happened.

[SVPete]

Iran: IRGC Commanders Assassinated; U.S., Israeli Help Expected UPDATED

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=69527

Friday we reported the assassination of IRCG commander Mahmoud Haqiqat in Iranshahr.

Now, in a Livestream, TousiTV is reporting the assassination of other IRCG officials:



* “Reza Kasab, head of a ballistic missile unit in Kashan, this was a professional hit. He was assassinated by a suicide drone attack.”
* “There are a lot of operatives on the ground carrying out these attacks.”
* “Multiple generals have been killed in Iran.”
* He notes that Israel’s strikes last year killed multiple senior IRGC officials, so now the replacement leaders are being killed.
* “Islamic State TV in Iran have confirmed that IRCG have lost hundreds of their personnel in leadership.” My suspicion is that the IRCG have lost hundreds, but not all in leadership.
* Reports of Mossad agents on the ground helping the revolution. This is the sort of thing that both sides in the conflict would say to help shore up resolve in their respective bases, but the drone attack suggests it’s true. (Could also be IDF special forces, CIA, or U.S. special forces.)
* ...

Iran may be coming apart at the seams, and, hopefully and unlike OhBummer! in 2009, the US is quietly supporting the revolution against the Mullahcracy.

[SVPete]

Arson Attack Devastates Mississippi Synagogue

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/01/12/arson-attack-devastates-mississippi-synagogue-n4948165

The largest synagogue in Mississippi lost multiple Torahs on Saturday and part of its building after an arson attack that appears to have been specifically aimed at the Jewish sacred building.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry attributed the attack to explicitly anti-Jewish sentiment, pointing to evidence that the perpetrators targeted not only the synagogue but its Torahs — including one that survived the Nazi Holocaust. “Antisemitism is a poisonous scourge,” the ministry wrote about the attack in America. Tragically, violent antisemitism is on the rise around the world, even in the United States.

The synagogue, which was attacked on Saturday (i.e., on Jewish Shabbat), is located in the city of Jackson — in fact, it is the only synagogue in Jackson. The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s full statement on X declared, “We are appalled by the arson attack on the synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, and by the desecration of this place of worship and the Torah scrolls it houses.”

Bibles used in most Christian churches are ordinary printed books. Synagogues' Torah scrolls are, when they can be obtained and afforded, hand-copied from a certified copy by specially qualified scribes according to exacting rules. A suspect has been arrested, but as far as I can learn from DDG searching, his/her name has not been released.

[SVPete]

A Brutal Reminder: No Christian Leader Is Temptation-Proof

https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2026/01/12/a-brutal-reminder-no-christian-leader-is-temptation-proof-n4948170

... Philip Yancey has been a Christian writer longer than I’ve been alive. I didn’t follow his career as closely as others, but he contributed heavily to the teen study Bible that was instrumental in my spiritual growth in high school.

His classic book What’s So Amazing About Grace? has sold over 15 million copies, and he wrote for Christianity Today for nearly half a century. Yancey’s presence has loomed large over evangelical thought.

That’s what made Yancey’s admission land hard. Last week, he sent a statement to Christianity Today that detailed a years-long extramarital affair:

To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.

My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage. It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families. I will not share further details out of respect for the other family.

I have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counseling and accountability program. I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused. I realize that my actions will disillusion readers who have previously trusted in my writing. Worst of all, my sin has brought dishonor to God. I am filled with remorse and repentance, and I have nothing to stand on except God’s mercy and grace.

I am now focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years. Having disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking, and social media. Instead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written. I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness—as well as yours—and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.

...
There’s a twist to this story. Yancey faced a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2023, and the woman who has committed herself to his care is his wife, Janet. She issued her own statement:

I, Janet Yancey, am speaking from a place of trauma and devastation that only people who have lived through betrayal can understand. Yet I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise. I accept and understand that God through Jesus has paid for and forgiven the sins of the world, including Philip’s. God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma. Please pray for us.

Other than, possibly, third-hand, I have not been influenced by Yancey's writings, but that he has been much respected in Evangelical circles is true. His failure does not make untrue any true things he wrote, but his credibility is affected. As this article points out, his history shows that personal vigilance against temptation needs to be lifelong, for leaders and for believers generally. Yancey's confession is as far from weasel-worded as words can get. His wife Janet's statement is remarkable.

[enslaved1]

[VIDEO: Leftist Who Called Trump a ‘Pedophile’ Accused of Trying to Meet 11-Year-Old for Sex

A Washington leftist is accused of trying to meet an 11-year-old for sex after previously calling President Donald Trump and his supporters pedophiles.

Police in Bremerton, Washington, said 44-year-old Houston Wade was arrested on December 17 after he allegedly tried to meet up with a little girl, the Lynwood Times reported on Friday.

The outlet noted he taught Physics and Astronomy at Edmonds College until 2022. Law enforcement said he used a social media app to exchange messages with a “decoy” he thought was an 11-year-old child.

Something something accusation something something admission.

[SVPete]

What are the odds that female students at Edmonds College were hit on or worse by him when he was their prof? Though it is possible that he was "purely" a pedophile and not also an ephebophile.

[SVPete]

Federal judge delivers Mamdani early legal setback on housing market intervention

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/federal-judge-delivers-mamdani-early-legal-setback-housing-market-intervention

A federal judge blocked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's effort to intervene in the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized rental properties on Thursday.

Mamdani's administration had sought to slow the sale of the properties after tenants complained that the seller, Pinnacle Group, had poorly maintained the properties and were concerned that the prospective buyer, Summit Properties USA, would have similar issues.

Mamdani's administration attempted to intervene on the basis of being a creditor to Pinnacle. The company owes the city over $12 million in unpaid fines, according to Gothamist.

Bankruptcy Judge David Jones rejected Mamdani's effort, however, setting back the new mayor's first foray into NYC's housing market.

Mamdani's first attempt to monkey-wrench NYC housing came up short.

[SVPete]

Kristi Noem clashes with CNN’s Jake Tapper over Minneapolis ICE shooting: ‘You don’t get to change the facts’

https://nypost.com/2026/01/11/us-news/kristi-noem-clashes-with-cnns-jake-tapper-over-minneapolis-ice-shooting/

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem got into a fiery clash with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday while defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) fatal shooting of Renee Good — telling the lefty host that he can’t “change the facts” just because he doesn’t “like them.”

Tapper grilled Noem about how she could make swift conclusions, such as calling Good a “domestic terrorist,” and defending ICE officer Jonathan Ross just hours after the shooting.

“Everything that I’ve said has been proven to be factual,” Noem shot back during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.

“ decided that the department and the people of this country deserve to know the truth of the situation of what has unfolded in Minneapolis.”

The CNN host then harped on Noem’s initial reaction to the tragic shooting that took place last Wednesday, in which she claimed that ICE officers “were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over.”

“That’s not what happened,” Tapper insisted, later implying that his gripe was with the notion that Good attacked the ICE officers.

“It absolutely is what happened,” Noem fired back. “[She] blocked the road for a long time and was yelling at them and impeding a federal law enforcement operation.”
...
Noem claimed Ross later received treatment at a nearby hospital for being “hit by the vehicle” before being released.

Tapper grilled Noem about why she was so certain that Good wasn’t “trying to move her car and flee and get away” and not necessarily ram into Ross.

Tapper tried to insinuate that Noem spoke without knowing facts. In the real world, she probably had read written reports and viewed multiple videos showing what happened within an hour or two of the shooting. Notice, too, Tapper trying to move the goalposts to something unknowable, Renee Good's intention when she moved her SUV. Her actions before moving - the taunting and following with her head/eyes the officer she eventually hit, and then her acceleration so sudden and strong that her wheels spun, evidence that Tapper's claim was less than plausible. Renee Good's intention, however, was irrelevant to the officer's decision to shoot. She clearly endangered his life, and clearly could be a danger to anyone behind him (LEO or civilian).

[SVPete]

FBI: Suspect in Mississippi synagogue fire targeted house of worship because of its ‘Jewish ties’

https://srnnews.com/hub-of-jewish-life-in-mississippis-capital-city-damaged-by-arson-attack/

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A suspect in an arson fire at a historic Mississippi synagogue admitted to targeting the house of worship because of its “Jewish ties” and was turned in to authorities by his father who had observed burn marks on his son’s ankles, hands and face, the FBI said Monday.

Stephen Pittman was charged with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive. The suspect confessed to lighting a fire inside the building, which he referred to as “the synagogue of Satan,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi on Monday.

There was no attorney listed for Pittman in the court docket Monday.
...
The suspect’s father contacted the FBI and said that his son had confessed to setting the building on fire. Pittman had texted his father a photo of the rear of the synagogue before the fire, with the message, “There’s a furnace in the back.” His father had pleaded with his son to return home, but “Pittman replied back by saying he was due for a homerun and ‘I did my research,’” the affidavit said.

During an interview with investigators, Pittman said he stopped at a gas station on his way to the synagogue to purchase the gas used in the fire. He also took the license plate off of his vehicle at the gas station. He used an ax to break out a window of the synagogue, poured gas inside and used a torch lighter to start the fire, the FBI affidavit said.

The FBI later recovered a burned cell phone believed to be Pittman’s and took possession of a hand torch that a congregant had found.

FWIW, "the synagogue of Satan" is a phrase from the New Testament book of Revelation. It is likely, though I don't visit such places to have seen it, that the phrase has been used in Stormfront-grade antisemitic sites and publications.