Most violent ones first so initial phase might be slower.
Florida issues advisory for winter system moving through ‘Gulf of America’
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday, Jan. 20, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” Florida has become the first state to adopt the new name, using it in an official winter weather advisory.
The advisory, issued for a system moving through the gulf, warned of snow, sleet and freezing rain across the state.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed the change in the advisory. He stated that “an area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America, interacting with Arctic air, will bring widespread impactful winter weather to North Florida.”
Trump signed the executive order titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
The order states, in part: “The area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America. The Gulf was a crucial artery for America’s early trade and global commerce. It is the largest gulf in the world, and the United States coastline along this remarkable body of water spans over 1,700 miles and contains nearly 160 million acres.”
Before his inauguration, Trump suggested the name change, describing “Gulf of America” as having “a beautiful ring to it.”
The Gulf of Mexico has been known by its current name since 1672, according to the Library of Congress. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to the name change. She stated that Trump could call the gulf whatever he wanted on his side of the body of water.
While Trump has the authority to rename the gulf in the U.S., changing its name in government databases and official usage, other countries are not required to adopt the new name.
https://san.com/cc/florida-issues-advisory-for-winter-system-moving-through-gulf-of-america/
Hockey on the icy streets of New Orleans.
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1882135642114838823
Senate Democrats block GOP’s ‘born-alive’ abortion bill
Senate Republicans failed on Wednesday to invoke cloture on a bill legislating care for infants “born alive” during attempted abortions, with the motion largely serving to get Democrats on the record as voting against a bill being framed as anti-infanticide.
Republicans sought cloture on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill that requires health care practitioners to provide the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” for a child born alive during an attempted abortion, as they would during normal childbirth.
Health care practitioners who fail to comply with the law would face fines and up to five years in jail or both. House Republicans passed their version of the bill when they retook control in 2023. Democrats have routinely criticized “born-alive” bills as being redundant because killing an infant who was born alive following an attempted abortion is already illegal.
Though Republicans gained control of the Senate, their 53-47 majority does not give them enough votes for the three-fifths majority — 60 votes — needed for cloture.
The motion for cloture Wednesday failed with a vote of 52-47. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) did not vote.
“Senator Hagerty was responding to a family health matter that required his presence. He is a staunch pro-life advocate and would have voted aye,” a spokesperson for the senator told The Hill.
The bill is timed to coincide with the March for Life on Friday, which will bring together anti-abortions activists from across the country and their allies in Washington. Wednesday also marks the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which was struck down in 2022.
“We should all be able to agree that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion must be protected, and yet I fully expect that later today my Democrat colleagues will vote no on this legislation,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.).
“They will vote against protection for a living, breathing newborn baby simply because that child has been born alive after an attempted abortion.”
An infant being born alive following an abortion is extremely rare. Between 2003 and 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 143 instances of an infant being born alive after an attempted termination.
A report from the Minnesota Department of Health found that among the 10,177 abortions performed in the state in 2017, three were reported to have resulted in an infant being born alive, none of whom survived.
“The Republican so-called ‘born-alive’ bill is pernicious as they come,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
“It attacks women’s health care using false narratives and outright fearmongering, and it adds more legal risk for doctors on something that’s already illegal. So much of the hard right’s anti-choice agenda is pushed, frankly, by people who have little or no understanding of what women go through when they are pregnant,” he added.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5100557-senate-abortion-bill-born-alive/amp/
Pensacola takes advantage of once in a lifetime snow storm (photos)
https://www.pnj.com/picture-gallery/news/2025/01/21/florida-snow-winter-storm-photos/77848220007/
Florida and Texas beaches covered in snow
A 'historic' snowstorm is beginning to spread snow and ice across a 1,000-mile-long stretch of the US from central Texas to northern Florida.
'For parts of the western and northern Gulf Coast, this could be the biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years and possibly one that people may remember for decades,' AccuWeather meteorologists said.
The storm threatens to shut down travel for days and cut power for an extended period in part of the region, prompting Florida governor Ron DeSantis to issue a state of emergency in 61 counties.
And it could smash records such as Florida's all-time-high 24-hour snowfall of four inches.
The first-ever blizzard warning was also issued for southeast Texas and south Louisiana, including the city of Lake Charles, LA where a wintry weather mix has already been reported.
As of 7am CST Tuesday, Lake Charles had already received nearly two inches of snow and could see up to four inches by 12pm CST.
Snow and ice are also quickly accumulating in Texas, including in Houston where officials have identified more than 55 areas of ice on major roadways.
The storm is predicted to track eastward across the Gulf Coast region as the day goes on, bringing snow, ice and gusty winds to southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, Georgia and the coastal Carolinas.
Winter storm warnings have been issued across a wide area that stretches from the southern portions of the Gulf Coast states to the Florida panhandle and the southeastern regions of the Carolinas.
This type of warning is issued when heavy snow is expected to fall at a rate of at least six inches in 12 hours, or at least eight inches in 24 hours, according to the NWS.
The agency placed winter weather advisories across a narrower band from southeastern and south-central Texas to the southeastern corner of Virginia.
This indicates more moderate impacts, such as a snowfall rate of three to five inches over 12 hours, a wintery mix of precipitation and/or blowing snow, the NWS states.
Major cities under alert include Houston, New Orleans, Tallahassee, parts of the Atlanta metro area and Charleston, South Carolina.
New Orleans is bracing for what could be its highest snowfall total since 1963, when 2.7 inches fell over the city. The current forecast for this area is five to eight inches.
If more than eight inches accumulate in The Big Easy, that would smash the city's all-time snowfall record set in 1895.
City officials plan to shut down major highways, including interstates 10, 310 and 510 as road conditions worsen. Ramps to US 90 and elevated bridges will also be closed.
Houston is shutting down roads, schools and airports as one to two inches of snow had already accumulated early Tuesday morning.
Current road closures include all lanes of I-69 between FM-2218 to Harris-Ft Bend County Line, I-45 Gulf in both directions between Dixie Farm Road and I-610 South Loop.
The Houston Independent School District announced all schools would be Tuesday and Wednesday as roads have already become treacherous.
Both of the city's largest airports — George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) have suspended operations, leading to more than 1,300 flight cancellations.
In Louisiana, Lafayette Regional Airport has also cancelled all flights Tuesday due to ice and snow on the runways.
Affected areas of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas can expect one to five inches of snow today, with locally higher amounts up to eight inches in isolated areas near the coast.
Cities across this region expecting snow during include Montgomery, Alabama and Savannah, Georgia.
By Tuesday night, winter weather will taper off from the Mississippi River westward, but parts of Georgia, northern Florida and the Carolinas will continue to see snow overnight into early Wednesday.
The zone from northeast Florida to southeast Georgia may see enough ice accumulation to down tree branches and cause scattered power outages.
Winter Storm Enzo's impact is being fueled by a polar vortex currently sweeping across the eastern half of the US.
The bitter cold hit Monday and is expected to persist through Wednesday, forcing 235 million Americans to brace for 'life-threatening' temperatures that could feel as low as -50F.
The Arctic air will stretch deep into the South and Southeast. States within Enzo's path could experience feels-like temperatures of 10F to 30F, enhancing the chances of accumulating snowfall across the region.
But the cold will also impact the Midwest, the Great Lakes and New England.
Meteorologists warned that the freezing temperatures will put added stress on heating systems and the power grids, force schools to shutter and pose a high risk of frostbite, hypothermia and immune system impacts.
Much of this brutal cold will be fueled by gusty winds that can send feels-like temperatures plunging well below zero.
'In areas that experience windy conditions, like much of the Midwest early this week, AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures can reach minus 40 to minus 50,' Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
'It will feel brutally cold, and anyone adventuring outside can get frostbite on exposed skin in just a matter of minutes,' he added.
The risk of cold-related illnesses such as frostbite, hypothermia and lung or immune system impacts will be high in areas impacted by these bitterly cold winds.
Experts recommend staying indoors as much as possible when it is this cold outside. But if you do have to spend extended periods of time outside, you should take extra measures to protect yourself against the life-threatening temperatures.
That includes making sure that all of your skin is covered, wearing multiple layers of clothing and taking breaks inside to warm up whenever you can.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14308769/winter-storm-warning-enzo-2025-ice-snow.html
JD Vance blown away, seeing Oval Office for first time
https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1882083118032846868
Ross Ulbricht receives full pardon, after spending 12 years in prison for Silk Road
US President Donald Trump has followed through on his promise to pardon Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online drug market Silk Road, who was imprisoned for over a decade.
US President Donald Trump has given a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who has been in prison for 12 years for founding the defunct darknet marketplace the Silk Road.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” Trump said in a Jan. 21 post on his Truth Social platform.
The president added that Ulbricht’s sentence of 40 years plus two life sentences was “ridiculous.”
Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015 for his role in the operation and creation of the Silk Road.
Freeing Ulbricht was one of Trump’s many promises to the crypto community during his presidential campaign, with the businessman pledging to pardon the Silk Road founder on his first day in office if reelected.
Several Bitcoiners had earlier expressed frustration with Trump for not following through on his promise to pardon Ulbricht on Jan. 20. Trump instead pardoned around 1,500 people involved in the US Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
US Senator Rand Paul had also called on Trump to pardon Ulbricht in a Jan. 21 letter, just hours before the president announced the pardon.
Paul noted that Ulbricht — whose online black marketplace used Bitcoin
BTC
$103,465
for payments — received a far harsher sentence than many users, such as Matthew Verran Jones, who ranked in the top 5% of drug dealers on the site and received six years in jail.
Some reports previously suggested that Trump was sympathetic to the Free Ross campaign and had considered clemency for the Silk Road founder in 2020.
The crypto community has long called for Ulbricht’s release for various reasons.
Some questioned Ulbricht’s key role in the Silk Road, arguing that he didn’t deserve to die in prison for contributing to a marketplace where users could freely exchange goods, both legal and illegal.
Others called him a “Bitcoin legend” due to his early contribution to the Bitcoin market.
While Ulbricht did not deny his involvement in Silk Road operations, he repeatedly contested allegations that he was the sole person in charge or the original creator of the platform.
“I didn’t start the Silk Road, my predecessor did. From what I understand, it was an original idea to combine Bitcoin and Tor to create an anonymous market. Everything was in place, he just put the pieces together,” Ulbricht said in a Forbes interview in 2013.
Some Bitcoiners supported Ulbricht’s release for his role in the adoption of Bitcoin. Silk Road was one of the first peer-to-peer exchanges accepting BTC, though for illicit purposes.
Ulbricht is believed to have launched Silk Road in 2011 and helped bring Bitcoin to prominence during its early days. That year, Bitcoin experienced its first rally, reaching a then-record price of $32 in June.
“I owe everything to Ross Ulbricht. Crypto changed my life. Crypto became big because of him. He made the ultimate sacrifice. We all benefitted from his work,” the Bitcoin project programmer Amir Taaki said on X.
Bitcoin-friendly billionaire investor Tim Draper supported Ulbricht’s release in 2019, arguing that the US needs entrepreneurs like him.
Ulbricht’s views on freedom resonated with Bitcoin’s principles, further cementing his place as a polarizing figure in the crypto community.
During his time in prison, Ulbricht has regularly posted about Bitcoin and crypto on X. On Jan. 19, Ulbricht took to X to warn the community against a fake memecoin bearing his name.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-pardon-ross-ulbricht-silk-road
Huntington Beach votes unanimously to become NON sanctuary city
Ali Bradley
@AliBradleyTV
#BREAKING Huntington Beach, California becomes a “Non-Sanctuary City” —The city council voting unanimously tonight bucking Governor Newsom’s sanctuary stance.
The initiative was introduced by Mayor Pat Burns “for the Prevention of Crime.”
City council member Gracey Van Der Mark said at the meeting, “We promised to protect the residents of Huntington Beach and unfortunately at this point we have to protect them from the state, from the governor and from the, thank goodness former President Biden…”
https://x.com/AliBradleyTV/status/1881923842643239105
Mayor's Statement: Initiative to Declare Huntington Beach a "Non-Sanctuary City"
Today I am introducing my initiative for City Council consideration at the January 21 meeting to Declare the City of Huntington Beach a “Non-Sanctuary City for Illegal Immigration for the Prevention of Crime.” Estimates are that nearly 20 million illegal immigrants were allowed to enter the Country under the Biden administration, which has led to an increase in crime. Crime is at an unacceptable level nationwide and according to the California Department of Justice, violent crime in our State is up nearly 20% since 2018. Since the election of President Trump, our Governor has now doubled down on subverting our federal government’s enforcement of our immigration laws, and we have seen both Los Angeles and now San Diego make announcements advancing their sanctuary city policies. In fact, reports indicate that an illegal immigrant was arrested for starting at least one of the recent devastating fires in Los Angeles, and that the suspect is being shielded in California by the Sanctuary State law from the federal law enforcement agencies.
As government leaders, and as a 30-year veteran of law enforcement myself, I know our primary function is to fight crime and protect citizens, i.e., to keep them safe from crime. That means employing every possible measure and mechanism to fight and reduce crime. For this reason, I am presenting this Declaration to the City Council in hopes that my colleagues will join me in taking a stand in favor of our City by cooperating with the Trump Administration and the federal government law enforcement agencies with regard to enforcement of immigration laws in order to further combat crime. City Attorney Michael Gates supports and states, “with the recent passage of Prop 36 by an overwhelming margin, it is clear Californians are in favor of more tools to fight crime, not fewer, and they hunger for the return to law and order. As the top attorney and prosecutor in this City, I support the Mayor’s initiative to support our great police department and fight crime at all levels and by whatever means necessary and this initiative is consistent with the lawsuit we filed last week challenging the State’s unconstitutional Sanctuary law.”
https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/news_detail_T4_R263.php
Full Bishop video from Trump national prayer service
Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg
NEW: Trump appears to roll his eyes as Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde begs him to “have mercy” on gay, lesbian and transgender children and illegal immigrants.
These people are absolutely nuts.
“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
“… and the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings who labor and poultry farms and meat packing plants who wash the dishes.”
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1881762803192607226
Sticker shock inflation rages on in Russia
https://meduza.io/en/short/2025/01/22/sticker-shock