Celebs imply LA Mayor backlash over race, not cuts to fire department, being out of US during fires

 Two LA-based actresses claimed embattled Mayor Karen Bass is only facing backlash because of her race — instead of forcing drastic cuts to the fire department and being out of the US when the historic deadly wildfires started.

“Act Your Age” co-stars Yvette Nicole Brown and Kym Whitley defended Bass as calls for her removal from office skyrocketed Saturday.

“She’s got a spine of steel, and she’s been a black woman in America for a really long time,” Brown told TMZ. “None of this is new.”

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a press conference about the devastating wildfires on Jan. 9, 2025.County of Los Angeles

Brown, 53, has lived in the City of Angels for nearly three decades but couldn’t recall another mayor facing the same scrutiny as Bass, suggesting the criticism stemmed from racism.

“We have fires every year, and I don’t remember in the almost 30 years that I’ve lived in LA, I’ve never seen everybody react like this to the mayor and blame one person for a natural disaster,” Brown said.

“Now what’s different this time?” she questioned.

The enraged “Community” alum says she was standing up for Bass because she was “tired” of watching the 71-year-old mayor be the lone scapegoat for the deadly blazes despite the fires decimating several cities in the area.

“She is also not the mayor of every municipality in California, there are people mad because she didn’t fix the fires in Malibu,” Brown said. “She’s not the mayor of Malibu. What is she supposed to do in a city she’s not the mayor of?”

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Yvette Nicole Brown and Kym Whitley at the 2023 Byron Allen’s 5th Annual Oscar Gala in Beverly Hills on March 12, 2023.Getty Images

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are briefed in an area damaged by the Palisades Fire on Jan. 8, 2025.ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Whitley was forced to evacuate her Tarzana home with her son when the fire threatened her neighborhood.

The actresses insisted Bass was heartbroken to watch a city “she loves” get destroyed by the fires, and the citizens of the city call her out for the response.

“Stand behind her, support her, because you can see it in her face she stays calm,” Whitley said. “Think about this, she has the city to take care of, she doesn’t have time to hear what these reports are saying.

“This is not the time to blame, it’s time to get some resources, she has reached out far. We have planes coming in from other countries to help us.”

Firefighters from Mexico landed at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday to help battle the fires, a sight welcomed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The landing of the crews from south of the border comes a day after Bass declined the FDNY’s offer to send its resources out to the Golden State.

JetBlue offered to fly New York’s Bravest to the West Coast, but Bass rebuffed the sentiment, The Post reported Friday. Her office later denied the snub.

Bass has been criticized for her actions since the Palisades Fire broke out in the Pacific Palisades Tuesday morning, while she was in West Africa for the inauguration of the Ghanaian president.

The Los Angeles Fire Department’s funding was slashed after Bass awarded gilded contracts to city workers.

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The ground of the Mandeville Canyon burns as the Palisades Fire pushes east in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2025.REUTERS

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Powerlines stand in front of the glow of flames and smoke from the Palisades Fire near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood on Jan. 11, 2025.AFP via Getty Images

The trouble began early last year after Bass settled contract negotiations with public sector unions. In dozens of agreements, the city’s civilian employees pocketed 20 to 25 percent wage hikes over five years and other goodies that cost the city $4.5 billion over the life of the contracts, according to an analysis by the city’s administrative officer, the City Journal reported.

Several celebrities have bashed Bass for her handling of the situation.

Khloe Kardashian took to social media Friday, calling the LA leader “a joke” while defending LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley.

“I stand by YOU Chief Crowley!!!! You spoke the truth and you had tears in your eyes because I can tell you didn’t even want to say that but it was THE TRUTH!!!!” she wrote.

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Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as flames rage across Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 2025.Anadolu via Getty Images

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The Los Angeles skyline is covered in the orange haze and smoke from the nearby Palisades Fire on Jan. 8, 2025.AFP via Getty Images

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A firefighter walks through a burnt hillside after the Palisades Fire tore through the area on Jan. 10, 2025.Getty Images

Actor Zachary Levi called the poor leadership in Southern California “criminally negligent” for the events and preparations leading up to the fires.

“This is just incredible mismanagement, incredibly poor leadership” the “Shazam” star told Fox News’ Jesse Waters.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/12/us-news/karen-bass-la-fires-backlash-is-over-race-not-lafd-budget-cuts-yvette-nicole-brown-kym-whitley/

GOP rep suggests California relief aid should be withheld over state policies

 Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said he believes Congress should withhold disaster relief funds from California in the wake of Los Angeles wildfires until environmental policy changes are made by the state government.

During a Friday Fox News appearance, he said, “If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies.”

Davidson echoed President-elect Trump’s sentiments that state leaders failed to prepare for large scale fires that frequently impact the region. However, upwards of four fires have spiraled out of control as firefighters ran out of water and manpower to fight flames.

“I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster, but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here,” Davidson stated, blaming Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for policies that have made the fires “worse.”

“Florida is prone to hurricanes so they do lots of things to mitigate the risks of hurricanes. California is prone to fires and they do things to make the fires worse,” he said.

In 2019, Trump challenged the elected official’s preparedness in a tweet alleging Newsom’s  mismanagement.

“The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers…..,” Trump wrote.

“Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states…But our teams are working well together in…..,” a subsequent post read.

Over 5 years later, the two are still debating the best approach to wildfires, which have killed at least 13 in the Los Angeles area in the past week.

President Biden has been working to brief federal agencies with information and also visited fire departments in Los Angeles county.

Newsom and other representatives are now urging Trump to do the same as he prepares to take the helm of federal government on Jan. 20 after his inauguration.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5081025-gop-rep-suggests-california-relief-aid-should-be-withheld/

Sabbath Gasbag Shows

 Vice President-elect Vance will likely address the unprecedented California flames and suggested solutions during his appearance on FOX News Sunday in discussion with anchor Shannon Bream.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell may address these efforts, which come after two destructive storms ravaged the Southeast region in the later months of 2024, on the Fox News show. Criswell is also scheduled to join ABC’s “This Week,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The 119th Congress is set to oversee the disbursement of federal funds fueling longer term response efforts and will soon vote on a reconciliation package to address national spending and debt with heavy influence from Trump. GOP lawmakers are currently debating whether one bill will float his agenda or if two texts will be required to sustain the Republican leader’s desires.

Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), a Senate Budget Committee member, will likely discuss party strategy earlier into the new legislative season on Sunday Morning Futures. Marshall, also a Senate Finance Committee member, may discuss China’s recent hack on the U.S. Treasury. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) will also likely share comments on the security breach and new efforts to secure the department and prevent foreign adversaries from gaining access to sensitive information. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/5080018-sunday-shows-preview-wildfires-rage-through-southern-california-gop-tackles-trump-agenda/

India set for Maha Kumbh Mela, the world's largest gathering of humanity

 A six-week Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival begins in India on Monday, a Hindu sacred event that will be the world's largest gathering of humanity as it showcases religion, spirituality, tourism and crowd management.

More than 400 million people are expected in the northern city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers - the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati.

Devout Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, it also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.

The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality from demons.

In a 12-day celestial fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, which host the festival every three years by rotation. The Kumbh held once every 12 years in this cycle has the prefix 'maha' (great) as it is considered more auspicious due to its timing and attracts the largest gathering.

The Kumbhs are a big test for authorities to showcase India's ability to organise and manage the movement of millions of people and retain the ancient festival's sanctity.

A sprawling 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers has been converted into a temporary city to house the visitors in 150,000 tents and comes equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 restrooms and 99 parking lots.

Authorities are also installing up to 450,000 new electricity connections, with the Kumbh expected to drain more power than what 100,000 urban apartments in the region consume in a month.

Indian Railways has introduced 98 special trains that will make 3,300 trips during the festival to transport visitors besides regular trains that connect Prayagraj.

Prashant Kumar, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh, said around 40,000 police personnel and cybercrime experts have created a web of surveillance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to protect and help navigate the sea of humanity at the site.

"Security and safety of pilgrims is our priority," said Kumar.

Emergency response capabilities include 125 road ambulances, seven river ambulances and air ambulances for swift medical assistance.

"I am fortunate to host one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals in my state," state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told the Aaj Tak TV channel.

Adityanath is also a powerful Hindu monk and a popular hardline Hindu politician in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A successful Maha Kumbh is expected to burnish the BJP's record of reclaiming and glorifying India's religious and cultural symbols for its Hindu base, promised by Modi and Adityanath since their Hindu nationalist party swept to power nationally in 2014.

The state government has allocated 64 billion rupees ($765 million) for this year's event, officials said. It has also promoted the Kumbh Mela at several international tourism expositions and invited foreign representatives.

In 2021, Modi's government had refused to call off the Kumbh festival despite a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases and allowed thousands of ash-smeared ascetics and devout Hindus to take a dip in the Ganga, possibly fearing a backlash from religious leaders in the Hindu-majority country.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/India-set-for-Maha-Kumbh-Mela-the-world-s-largest-gathering-of-humanity-48738463/

Mainstream Media Ignoring Ethno-Religious Genocide Under Syria's New Rulers

 Mainstream Western media previously wrote several puff pieces on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its US-designated terror leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani in the wake of Assad's ouster, but now that same media is completely ignoring the atrocities taking place under Jolani's watch.

Various armed allied groups of HTS are rampaging through the central and northern countryside, attacking Christians and Alawites, in a developing ethno-religious genocide. It has only been one month since Assad was overthrown.

Via AFP/Al-Akhbar

Initially HTS and other factions, which includes foreign groups such as Chechens and Uyghurs, rounded up individuals and tortured or executed them under the guise that they were former "Assad regime agents".

Now, according to regional reports, the jihadists are dropping even this pretense and are simply taking over Alawite villages. Serious problems and threats are also being reported in the historic 'Valley of the Christians' (or Wadi al-Nasara, which lies in Western Syria in Homs governate).

Various locations have seen jihadists seeking to impose public segregation of the sexes, Islamic head-coverings, and blanket bans on alcohol... 

Below is a machine translated report from Lebanon's major Al-Akhbar newspaper on some of the latest [emphasis ZH]...

* * *

Today, the villages of Hama's northern and eastern countryside are witnessing liquidation operations based on identity. Local forces are not even using the excuse of saying that they are going after “regime remnants” or people who are “against the revolution” before ordering the killing.

They are terrorizing the residents of the Alawite sect, and pressuring them to evacuate their homes, especially in some eastern villages affiliated with Salamiyah.

This is changing the demographic face of this countryside and will continue so long as chaos continues and the new Syrian administration does not intervene to stop it. In the villages of Al-Zaghba, Mabatan, Maryoud, Al-Fanat and Ma'an in the eastern countryside, there are thefts and looting of property, while armed factions burn houses to ensure that residents do not return.

A resident of Al-Zaghba village confirmed to Al-Akhbar that "the militants present in the village prevent the return of the homeowners, and if the purpose of returning is to check on the house or bring some items and necessities from it, then the residents enter at their own risk."

The same scenario was repeated in the village of Maryoud, most of whose residents have been displaced. "The militants killed a civilian man from the village who returned to check on his house during the past two days. When we contacted the Commission to find out the affiliation of these killers, it responded that the area was outside the control of its factions.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mainstream-media-ignoring-ethno-religious-genocide-under-syrias-new-rulers

Trump, Zuckerberg meet at Mar-a-Lago, Semafor reports

 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Semafor news website reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Meta and Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The U.S. tech giant on Friday said it is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers, in a memo to its employees.

The social media company earlier this week also scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to criticism from conservatives as Trump prepares to take office for a second time.

https://www.aol.com/trump-zuckerberg-meet-mar-lago-011423389.html

Apple's board recommends shareholders vote against proposal to eliminate diversity programs

 Apple's board of directors recommended investors vote against a shareholder proposal to abolish the company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, according to a proxy filing from the company.

The National Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, submitted a proposal that the company consider abolishing its "Inclusion & Diversity program, policies, department and goals

."The proposal cited recent Supreme Court decisions, and made the argument that DEI poses "litigation, reputational and financial risks to companies" and could make Apple more vulnerable to lawsuits.

Apple responded that it had a well-established compliance program and the proposal was unnecessary. It added that the shareholder proposal was an inappropriate attempt to micromanage Apple's business strategy.

"Apple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law", the iPhone maker said in the filing. The news was first reported by TechCrunch.

Several major companies including Meta and Amazon are winding down diversity programs ahead of Republican Donald Trump's return to the U.S. presidency as conservative opposition to such initiatives grows louder.

Conservative groups have denounced DEI programs and threatened to sue companies over them, emboldened by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that struck down affirmative action in university admissions decisions.

The changes show how some of America's biggest businesses have reacted to a larger conservative backlash against diversity initiatives, which multiplied after widespread protests following the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2025-01-11/apples-board-recommends-shareholders-vote-against-proposal-to-eliminate-diversity-programs