DL Open Thread: Monday, January 12, 2026
Starting tomorrow–the General Assembly returns. My favorite time of year. Also my busiest.
More Trump Corruption:
The Department Of Injustice Targets Fed Chair. You all know why:
The U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, according to officials briefed on the situation.
The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Mr. Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the officials said.
The investigation escalates Mr. Trump’s long-running feud with Mr. Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly. The president has threatened to fire the Fed chair — even though he nominated Mr. Powell for the position in 2017 — and raised the prospect of a lawsuit against him related to the $2.5 billion renovation, citing “incompetence.”
Mr. Powell, in a rare video message released by the Fed, acknowledged on Sunday that the Justice Department had served the central bank with grand jury subpoenas days earlier. He described the investigation as “unprecedented” and questioned the motivation for the move, even as he affirmed that he carried out his duties as chair “without political fear or favor.”
No need to question the motivation. The name Jeanine Pirro says it all.
Greg Bovino Can’t Even Pee/Poop In Peace. Sad:
Dems Land Top Recruit For Senate Race. Unlike Schumer’s other preferred candidates, she’s not in his age demographic:
Former Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska announced Monday morning she would challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan in the 2026 midterms, a decision placing the last frontier at the center of the battle for the Senate.
Peltola, who won Alaska’s lone House seat in a 2022 special election and held it before losing in 2024, has a record of winning over voters in her state that no other Democrats can. She first won the seat by running with the motto “Fish, Family, Freedom,” and has performed strongly with the state’s fishing and indigenous communities. Even in her loss, Peltola convinced 7% of Alaskan voters to split their ballots between her and President Donald Trump.
“Growing up, Alaska was a place of abundance,” she said. “Now, we have scarcity. The salmon, large game and migratory birds that used to fill our freezers are harder to find. So we buy more groceries, with crushing prices. It’s not just that politicians in D.C. don’t care that we’re paying $17 a gallon for milk in rural Alaska; they don’t even believe us. They’re more focused on their stock portfolios than our bank accounts.”
Trump Vs. Exxon Mobil? Just more tin-horn dictator shit:
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he might block Exxon Mobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil major’s CEO called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 other oil executives.
Woods’ skeptical remarks quickly emerged as the dominant headline, undercutting the White House’s hopes of building momentum from its engagement with the world’s most prominent oil executives.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington on Sunday. “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”
So Trump’s gonna bar Exxon from investing in a country it deems ‘uninvestable’? Ouch. That’ll leave a mark. Not.
Charter Student Creates Access To STEM Education Worldwide. This blows my mind:
For many students, academic enrichment — especially in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM fields — depends on access. Access to tutors, expensive textbooks, competition fees and even awareness that opportunities exist. For students without those resources, curiosity can stall before it ever has a chance to grow.
That inequity is what pushed Satya Kokonda, a sophomore at the Charter School of Wilmington, to create CompetifyHub. The student-run nonprofit provides free academic competition resources to students worldwide.
“Back in middle school, I was more invested in math competitions and I saw many of my peers, one of my friends particularly, was extremely bright, but didn’t really have access to these competition resources for math that seemed almost standard in these really high-level competitions,” Kokonda said. “That did set him back, and I felt that that wasn’t really fair because they loved math. They had a very obvious passion.”
What began as a small, informal Discord group has since grown into a global nonprofit reaching tens of thousands of students, a rapid expansion far exceeding Kokonda’s expectations.
CompetifyHub officially published its free textbooks in November 2024. While Kokonda said the organization had already been distributing resources through various partnerships before the launch, growth accelerated rapidly after the platform’s official release.
In its first month, 306 students used CompetifyHub’s math textbooks. That number grew to 3,511 within three months, reached roughly 13,000 by six months, and, as of early January 2026, Kokonda said 57,751 students worldwide have used the platform’s materials.
One of the organization’s guiding principles is free access, a deliberate choice rooted in what Kokonda learned about barriers faced by students globally.
Just–wow.
There’s No Crying In Gun Purchases. Well, yes, there is:
Delaware’s newly-implemented restrictions on purchasing firearms have so far missed the mark, many gun shop owners say.
Since going into effect in November, statewide computer systems that are needed to enforce Delaware’s permit to purchase firearms law – which requires prospective gun owners to go through an eight-hour live firearm training course, get fingerprinted, and pass both local and federal background checks in order to obtain a permit to buy a handgun – have yet to come online.
This delay, gun shop owners say, means they must call the Delaware State Police Bureau of Identification each time a customer comes into their store with a permit to buy a gun to confirm that it is legitimate. (The HORROR.)
Tyler Wright, a spokesperson for the Delaware State Police, said he does not consider the permit to purchase program to have had any implementation delays because the state was able to begin issuing permits before the Nov. 16 launch date, through the call-in system.
Wright also said the state police have been processing permit to purchase applications within three days, on average – substantially faster than the 30-day processing period granted by the law.
B-but, the gun store owners have to make a call! Sounds like a Second Amendment violation to me…
What do you want to talk about?
I don’t think we should have Permit to Purchase / “assault weapons” restrictions so long as ICE thugs are running around trying to abduct citizens. This is the very scenario for which the second Amendment was conceived. Maybe one day, after we deport the Maga thugs and their families to rehabilitation camps, we can consider common-sense gun safety legislation.
Regarding this CSW story – this kid is just trying to juice their resume to get into the ivy league, probably with a lot of parental involvement and third party competition. We see basic material needs going unmet in Wilmington, and they are doing a book drive for kids that are already academically advanced? They need to try harder
Weird takes all around. Thanks anon. I hope you feel better soon.
Sounds to me like the kid doesn’t need to get into the Ivy League.
Uh, what he’s done is worldwide, not Wilmington-wide.
But, whatever.
I think this is a reference to a Wall Street journal article. Basically there are consultants that will help your kid get into a prestige school. Starting a nonprofit was one of the tricks you could use to pad your college resume by demonstrating entrepreneurial capability and social consciousness. The fact that this kid started a nonprofit with “global reach” seems tailor-made to check those boxes. If this kid did it authentically, it seems like a poor use of resources-supplying kids materials for math competitions seems trivial compared to people freezing to death in the carney concentration camp.
Are you fucking kidding me? A student with a vision comes up with a plan to help like-minded mathematically-inclined students who don’t have access to materials to help them fulfill their dreams, and you raise that kind of criticism?
WTF were YOU doing when you were that kid’s age?
You’re pathetic.
“supplying kids materials for math competitions seems trivial compared to people freezing to death in the carney concentration camp.”
So fill me in, sport – what do you think the kid should be doing instead? What resources were spent that would have done anything to alleviate the homeless situation in Wilmington?
There’s a difference between class consciousness and class envy.
Conflating a kid’s Apparantly genius initiative and distribution of study materials with the “Carney Concebtration Camp” is classic BS.
We can call out Carney, put up memes and deliver and ask for help simultaneous with an innovative academic initiative.being nurtured and supported.
A thoughtful observer would note that the project in question began organically in middle school, long before college applications were a consideration. Its evolution from a local book drive to a worldwide initiative was driven by genuine passion and observed need, not by college strategy. It’s disappointing to see a student’s sustained effort to expand access to advanced academic resources be cynically reframed. Addressing one worthy cause does not negate the value of another; supporting aspiring young scholars and advocating for the vulnerable are not mutually exclusive, and the former should not be dismissed as mere resume-building. The scale and impact of the work speak for themselves.
Couldn’t agree more.
The fact that someone who is just now a HS sophomore could accomplish this blew me away.
Senate Protem has the one school District at the top of his agenda and nothing about the Super Massive Data center at Delaware City. He’s not inform the voters about hearings or anything. Leadership is lacking at a bad time.
AGREED. Legislation can’t wait. The NCC Council is majority corrupt and the state is our only recourse. It is going to be a statewide problem.
Anon – You know who else resents the ivy league? Donald J. Trump. It’s good to help poor kids, but you could do it without that chip on your shoulder.
I know everyone is big time mad about the world but I really don’t think this kid is the problem. Yall should relax.
I saw the pathetic showing in Philly for some anti ice March. The excuses given were the weather.
If you can’t figure out how to buy and use an umbrella, I really don’t think you’re going to purchase a handgun and go to battle with armed federal agents.
Baby steps people.
Were you there?