TIKTOK, TIKTOK: The social media platform TikTok used by 170 million Americans for fun and to make money is supposed to go offline tomorrow after the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban or forced sale of the Chinese-owned tech behemoth.

  Congress passed the law claiming TikTok gathers intelligence on Americans and could use it to distribute politically disrupting misinformation. TikTok claims that although its parent company is Chinese, the Chinese government has no role in the company.

  The company said in a statement that “unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19” unless the Biden administration assures Apple, Google and other companies that they would not be punished for delivering TikTok’s services in the United States.

  Whether that’s the end of it or just the beginning remains to be seen. The incoming Trump administration will be in charge of enforcing the ban.

  In recent days TikTok users have been posting desperate pleas to save the platform for the sake of making their living and social connections, some of them emotionally tearful.

  In anticipation of the TikTok shutdown many users have begun migrating to a platform called RedNote, also Chinese-owned.

CEASEFIRE: Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza goes into effect at 8:30 tomorrow morning following approval of the deal by the Israeli government. 

  The ceasefire has created hope that ensuing negotiations can end the war, but 

some cabinet members are vehemently opposed to anything that will allow Hamas to remain in power in Gaza where 47,000 people have been killed in 15 months of war.

  The deal sets up a a 42-day truce during which Hamas will release 33 of the roughly 98 hostages it still holds although many of them are believed to be dead. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed in exchange.  

  The truce calls for negotiations to end the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but it is expected to be a long discussion.

IT’S A RAID: The incoming Trump administration already has plans for immigration raids starting as early as Tuesday, the day after inauguration day, in Chicago.

  The new Trump administration plans to deliver a message that it is serious about deporting millions of illegal immigrants. Tom Homan, Trump’s pick to oversee mass deportations, has said the public should expect immigration action in the early days of the Trump presidency that creates “shock and awe.”

  ICE is planning on sending roughly 150 agents to Chicago for the weeklong raids, The NY Times reports. Don Terry, a spokesman for the Chicago police, said his department will not get in the way of the raids but will not be cooperating with them either.

  Much of the focus will be on the so-called “sanctuary cities,” the ones that welcome illegal immigrants. “New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the major cities in this country are still sanctuary cities,” Homan said. “If they’re not going to help us, then we’ll just double the manpower in those cities.”

THE ANTI-VAX: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to lead oversee the nation’s health, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke authorization of all Covid vaccines during a phase of the pandemic when thousands of Americans were still dying every week and the tide was beginning to turn.

  The NY Times reports that Kennedy filed his petition in May 2021 demanding authorization for the shots be rescinded and for the agency to refrain from approving any Covid vaccine in the future. Estimates at the time were that the vaccine had saved at least 140,000 lives, although ultimately 1.2 million Americans died.

  Kennedy likes to call himself a vaccine skeptic rather than an anti-vaxxer, but his actions have opposed vaccines. His petition claimed that the risks of the vaccines outweighed the benefits and that good treatments were available, including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, which have been denounced by medical experts as voodoo solutions.

THE OBIT PAGE: Bob Uecker, an undistinguished catcher who turned his talent for being the clubhouse wisecracker into a career as an announcer and pitchman known as “Mr. Baseball,” died at his home in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He was 90.

  Uecker played six years as a major leaguer in the 1960s, never starting more than 62 games in a season. After retirement he capitalized on self-deprecating humor. “I was once named minor league player of the year,” he said. “Unfortunately, I had been in the majors for two years at the time.”

 THE SPIN RACK: At least three people were killed today in Kyiv in Russian attacks using drones and ballistic missiles. Towns and cities across the country also were targeted. — Barring a last-minute settlement, the lawsuit brought by Britain’s Prince Harry against News Group Newspapers for unlawful gathering of private information goes to trial in London on Monday. Reporters for the news group are accused of routinely hacking the telephones of Harry and other celebrities for private information. — A new survey from the Pew Research Center says 26 percent of students ages 13-17 are using the artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT to help them with their homework.

BELOW THE FOLD: Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday has been moved inside to the Capitol rotunda because of an expected cold snap, leaving thousands of ticket holders out in the cold where they would have been anyway. 

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