Week 1 - 2: January 1, 2025 -- January 12, 2025 -- This Is Going To Get Ugly — These Stories Are Being Reported By The New York Times — January 10, 2025

Locator: 44665TOPSTORIES.

Southern California Fires

• Anger: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6366937197112. 
• Brentwood, January 11, 2025. Politicos talking about “re-building,” link here.
• Victor Davis Hanson: link here.
• Sunday morning news shows are going to be must-see TV. Let’s see if Governor Newsom gets a pass.
• Southern California fires, January, 2025: tracked here. 
  

******************************************
Top Stories

Geoff Simon's Quick Connects -- January 10, 2025: link here.

***************************
Hiatus Between November 5, 2024 - January 20, 2025: Twelve Weeks
Biden-Trump Transition
December 30, 2024 - January 13, 2025: Week Ten / Eleven

The transition works this way, this cycle:

• Biden's emphasis is on pardons and commutations, separately making Trump's life as difficult as possible; 
• Biden has never been so busy in the past four years as the past week with executive orders, briefings, southern California briefings.
  
• Biden still perceived by many as working to set up Trump for failure; 
• Biden exit interview: still believes he could have won race against Trump; though he admits not sure if he would live another four years.
  
• continues to regret that he dropped out of race; says he could have won (he's 82 years old) 
• as delusional as he is senile
  
• Trump: US Supreme Court, 5 - 4 lets legal system play out -- Trump sentenced, but no punishment; none whatsoever; judge wishes him Godspeed
  
• state felony so future president cannot pardon Trump; would have to be done by a NY governor
  

The Florida White House:

• no change from last week:
• Trump is the president, simply waiting to make it official, January 20th (unchanged from last month)
• surrounding himself with "self-made billionaires"
• those billionaires not named to his administration are making pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago
• most recent rumor: Bill Gates on his way (I don't think he has gone there yet)
• entry fee to be part of Trump's inaugural inner circle: $1 million -- Tim Cook most recent to ante that $1-million entry fee. 
• since last week, both GOOG and MSFT have each donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural
• also Hims and Hers
  

**********************************
The Top Stories

Top story of the week:

• the southern California / Pacific Palisades and four other fires
• said to be worse in history
  

Top international non-energy story:

• 
  

Top international energy story:

• Biden finally places huge sanctions on Russis
• WTI spikes from $83 to $87
  

Top national non-energy story:

• Trump stories continue to dominate political stories
  
• Jack Smith, who led federal prosecution of Trump, steps down / resigns / quits.
  

Top national energy story:

• WTI surges -- from $83 to $87
  

Focus on fracking: current link here. Generally updated late Sunday night.

Top North Dakota non-energy story:

Top North Dakota energy story: