News Dump

U.S. killing of Iran’s top commander dims hopes that the Iran nuclear deal might be salvaged
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-killing-of-irans-top-commander-rattles-european-allies/2020/01/03/0012822e-2e19-11ea-bffe-020c88b3f120_story.html

Trump told his Mar-a-Lago buddies to expect ‘big’ Iran action days before the Soleimani hit. In other words, randos at Trump's club knew more about the strike before members of Congress.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-told-mar-a-lago-pals-to-expect-big-iran-action-days-before-soleimanis-death

'Firenados' are wreaking havoc across Australia- Cyclonic fire-tornadoes, also known as "firenados," are tearing across parts of southern Australia, adding to the apocalyptic scenes playing out amid one of that nation's worst fire seasons on record.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/02/world/australia-victoria-firenado/index.html

Video of Trump Warning 'Our President Will Start a War With Iran Because He Has Absolutely No Ability to Negotiate' Resurfaces: "The only way he figures that he's going to get reelected—and as sure as you're sitting there—is to start a war with Iran," Trump said of Obama in 2011.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/03/video-trump-warning-our-president-will-start-war-iran-because-he-has-absolutely-no

Trump tweets predicting Obama would start a war with Iran to get re-elected are coming back to haunt him
https://www.businessinsider.com/old-trump-tweets-emerge-claim-obama-wanted-war-iran-2020-1

Chief Justice Roberts warns we’re taking “democracy for granted.” His rulings haven’t helped.
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/1/3/21046493/chief-justice-roberts-annual-report-democracy

Trump could rewrite the PPACA  word for word and pass it as Trumpcare and his supporters would hail it as the perfect solution to rising health care costs that still protects our freedoms. And Obama, being the better man, would simply bite his lip and think, "if that's what it takes to help the American people, so be it."

US to deploy 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East after killing of Iranian general
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/01/03/us-to-deploy-more-troops-to-the-middle-east-after-iranian-gen-soleimani-killed.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/politics/us-troops-middle-east-soleimani/index.html

I don't support Iran. I also don't support Trump starting wars to boost his election chances (and enrich Republican donors). We've squandered way too much blood and treasure on Republican-initiated quagmires already.

The US Didn't Warn Britain Or Its Other European Allies Ahead Of The Planned Airstrike To Kill Iran's Top Military Commander
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/uk-reacts-to-qasem-soleimani-killing

Ethical veganism is a "philosophical belief" and so is protected in law, a tribunal has ruled for the first time. The landmark legal case was brought by vegan Jordi Casamitjana, who claims he was sacked by the League Against Cruel Sports because of his ethical veganism. His former employer says he was dismissed for gross misconduct. The judge ruled that ethical vegans should be entitled to similar legal protections in British workplaces as those who hold religious beliefs.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50981359

Firefighter refuses to shake Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s hand in Cobargo
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/firefighter-refuses-to-shake-prime-minister-scott-morrisons-hand-in-cobargo/news-story/beb7a2ef6f7f8efe90369d8aede75514

Iran has been slowly pushing and probing the US and American allies for years now. Iran has been fighting a proxy war against American troops as far back as 2007, "the surge" was mainly against these very Iranian militias. Iran has been interfering with oil shipments in the gulf with more audacious boardings. They've been funding militant groups across the Middle East, in Yemen, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, etc. They propped up the Syrian government and helped him crush the democracy movement in the country. They've made missile attacks against Saudi oil facilities. Iran has been acting more boldly, and escalating tensions for years now.

Denmark sets record by sourcing nearly half its power from wind energy. Over 47 per cent of energy was generated by wind turbines in 2019.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-power-wind-energy-climate-turbines-sea-a9269076.html

Pompeo says Trump made the world safer by killing top Iranian general Soleimani as the State Department tells Americans to flee Iraq.
https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/pompeo-says-trump-made-the-world-safer-by-killing-top-iranian-general-soleimani-as-the-state-department-tells-americans-to-flee-iraq/articleshow/73087871.cms

Flashback: Trump Warned That a 'Weak' and 'Ineffective' President Would Start a War With Iran to 'Get Re-elected'
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-warned-president-start-war-iran-reelected-933391/

Commonly prescribed heartburn medication Zantac produces cancer-causing chemical, potentially even while in its packaging
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-02/carcinogen-in-heartburn-drug-may-build-during-storage-lab-finds

Sales of beef and pork plunge as Britons choose vegan diet | 3.6 million fewer animals eaten in the first six months of 2019
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/red-meat-sales-hit-as-800-000-people-go-vegetarian-kpz2k3xnz

Iran to take international legal measures against U.S. for Soleimani's killing
https://www.reuters.com/article/iraq-security-blast-iran/iran-to-take-international-legal-measures-against-u-s-for-soleimanis-killing-tv-idUSL1N298105

Bernie Sanders’ wife Jane follows about 400 people on twitter. Several are Russian propaganda accounts and one of them is a major QAnon account. Anyone in the media want to ask Bernie why his wife supports QAnon? Bueller?
https://twitter.com/TrinityMustache/status/1212811057472905217

An 'ordinary middle-class' mother, 60, and her two grown-up daughters are facing up to five years in prison after admitting they illegally set off the Chinese lanterns that destroyed a German zoo's monkey enclosure - killing 30 animals
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7844549/New-Year-revellers-let-Chinese-lanterns-burned-Krefeld-Zoo-hand-police.html

US firefighters arrive in Australia to help efforts
http://abc.net.au/news/2020-01-02/us-firefighters-arrive-in-australia-to-help-efforts/11838086

Let me make one thing crystal clear: DOJ for nearly a year has been telling the court the 302s are voluminous and they are incapable of processing more than 500 pages a month. Today, DOJ reveals the total typewritten pages are just 5368 pages. They are slow rolling this.
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1213223598913011712

Pence says Iran "assisted in the clandestine travel" of 9/11 terrorists. 9/11 Report says terrorists traveled through Iran because it was known it didn't stamp passports, but "no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack."
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1213221949360488448

Page 241 of the 9/11 Commission report: "We have found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack.
https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf

YEP: Bloomberg blasts Bernie (and Warren by implication) for calling strike against Soleimani an “assassination” “This is a guy who had an awful lot of Anerican blood on his hands. I think that’s an outrageous thing to say...”
https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1213228594366992385

Yesterday my family spent much of the day at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel’s holocaust memorial. It is impossible to overstate the importance of public education and remembrance of the Holocaust. For starters, yes, please follow @AuschwitzMuseum👇
https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/1213227878013394944

U.S. federal agencies won't have to consider climate change when assessing projects like oil pipelines under a Trump administration plan
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html

Sen. Tim Kaine Will Force A Vote On War With Iran | The resolution by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine argues the Trump administration does not have congressional approval to start a war with Iran.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/trump-iran-war-powers-congress-tim-kaine-vote

After Christianity Today, founded by Billy Graham, slammed POTUS in an editorial, he brings Graham's granddaughter on stage. She offers praise for him.

Musk defies skeptics, meets Tesla delivery goal; shares hit record
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-deliveries/musk-defies-skeptics-meets-tesla-delivery-goal-shares-hit-record-idUSKBN1Z21B5?il=0

Scientists just found the crater from a huge asteroid impact that covered 10% of Earth's surface in debris 790,000 years ago. The crater was discovered beneath a plain of hardened lava in southern Laos, and the impact that caused it scattered special rocks, called tektites, from Asia to Antarctica.
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2020/01/crater-found-from-asteroid-that-covered-10-of-earths-surface-in-debris

New Zealand glaciers turn brown from Australian bushfires’ smoke, ash and dust
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/02/new-zealand-glaciers-turn-brown-from-australian-bushfires-smoke-ash-and-dust

Paris stabbing: Man shot by police after stabbing rampage leaves one dead - At least one victim dead and two others seriously injured
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-stabbing-attack-today-latest-villejuif-france-a9269276.html