Hamas has unleashed the West’s monsters
By: Jacob Howland
We live in an apocalyptic moment, when something truly hideous, long hidden just beneath the surface of everyday life, is breaking forth from the ground. The torture, rape, massacre, and kidnapping of roughly 1,200 Israelis on October 7 was only the beginning of this revelation. In the West, Hamas’s butchery has unleashed eruptions of antisemitism and massive, increasingly violent displays of support for the terrorists. Like some mythical monster that periodically emerges from hibernation to slaughter far and wide, the rough beast, it seems, is just stretching its legs. And we are only beginning to take its measure.
It’s important to understand the sheer evil that now threatens us. Hamas has been called “barbaric”, but that is hardly a sufficient description of its primitive savagery. The Greeks called non-Greeks barbaroi because their words sounded like babble to their ears: “bar bar bar.” Barbarians ranged from the slavish inhabitants of large, sophisticated, highly stratified societies (Persians, Egyptians) to fiercely spirited, independent tribes (the forest-dwelling Northerners that the Romans called Germani). None of these peoples based their identity on the struggle against a hated Other whose total elimination, to be achieved at any cost, was their sole reason for existence. None embraced the complete destruction of body and spirit — including their own as well — that the Nazis called Vernichtung: “negation”. None, in other words, were pure enemies of civilisation.
But jihadis are. Civilisation is the sum of cultural and social conditions that make for flourishing lives and communities. Jihadism is a death cult. In a recent podcast, Sam Harris reminds us of the Taliban jihadists who, in 2014, murdered 132 Muslim children at a school in Peshawar and burned a teacher alive in front of her students. A supporter of the Pakistani Taliban said of the dead children: “We did not end their lives. We gave them new ones in Paradise…. They will be rewarded for their martyrdom. After all, we also martyr ourselves with them.”
These words are themselves apocalyptic. From the perspective of Islamic fundamentalism, there is no human being who does not deserve to die. Muslims will go to Paradise; non-Muslims will burn in Hell. Death is a blessing for true believers, divine justice for apostates and infidels. Choosing a martyr’s moral and physical self-destruction thus legitimises the deaths of everyone one can possibly kill. Murder-suicide on this grand scale is the ultimate form of religious totalitarianism, the complete control of the lives of others.
This mentality explains a lot, including the abject misery of the Gazans — a people who, pressed beneath the heavy machinery of organised death-worship, are twisted with moral scoliosis. Is it any wonder that Hamas has stolen tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid for military purposes? Or that it hides weapons and hostages in hospitals using sick and injured Gazans and new-born babies as human shields? Or that it blocked evacuation routes and confiscated the car keys of civilians who wanted to cross the Wadi Gaza, as the IDF urged them to do, in order to flee Israeli military action in the northern part of the territory?
Hamas’s strategy is to maximise civilian deaths in order to stimulate worldwide opprobrium of Israel, and, if possible, open up more military fronts of Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Syria. As Harris says, Hamas is “eager to martyr all Palestinians for the pleasure of killing Jews”.
But if Hamas, Isis, and other jihadis are not barbarians, what are they? This question takes us back to remotest antiquity, when very ancient peoples struggled to master the dark depths of the human psyche, and to establish the handful of “Thou shalt nots” on which all civilisation is based.
Weirdly, the most primitive tribal impulses are today expressed by means of the latest digital technology. There is a recording of a phone call that a Hamas terrorist made to his parents on October 7. The audio captures a human drama as old as recorded history: a son seeks approval from his parents for his prowess in battle. But there is something deeply twisted about their conversation. “Hi Dad!” the son shouts. “I’m talking to you from [kibbutz] Mefalsim. Open my WhatsApp now, and you’ll see all those killed. Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews! … Dad, I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her, and I killed her husband. I killed ten with my own hands! Dad, ten with my own hands!” The whole time, his father is repeating “Allah hu Akbar!” A little later, the young man says “Mom, your son is a hero!”
https://unherd.com/2023/11/hamas-has-unleashed-the-wests-monsters/
Massachusetts and Michigan Cities Display Palestinian Flag in ‘Solidarity’
By: Robert Spencer
How crazy are leftists? This crazy: a couple of American cities have decided to display the Palestinian flag to show their solidarity with the bloodthirsty jihad terrorists who murdered 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 — no, wait, that’s incorrect.
The preening moralists responsible for the flag displays in both cities would insist that they are standing with the people of Gaza, whom Hamas most emphatically does not represent, despite being elected overwhelmingly in the last elections held there. That was in 2006, but Hamas has not had to deal with any unrest from disgruntled Gazans since then.
The first instance of this particularly nauseating example of virtue-signaling came on Monday from the bucolic hamlet of North Andover, Mass. WHDH reported that North Andover High School was the site of a “lively Select Board meeting” that approved a proposal to fly the flag of countless murderous jihadis over the Town Common.
Oops, there I go again. There were people at this meeting who objected to the idea of the Palestinian flag flying over the Town Common. A rabbi, Iden Irelander, stated, “It’s a big deal for us to see the Palestinian flag that many of us think represents the attempted genocide of the Jewish people. It basically represents Hamas, since they are the elected ruling party in Gaza.”
But a supporter of the proposal batted this back, saying, “It’s a flag that represents its people, it’s a flag that represents a nation, the heritage of the people, their traditions, their culture and it doesn’t represent a terrorist group.”
That sounds swell until one remembers that “Palestine” is an artificial nation and people with no distinctive traditions or culture of its own, created solely as a weapon to be used against Israel. As “The Palestinian Delusion“ details, no one ever spoke of a “Palestinian people” before 1964.
The Palestinian Arabs are not distinguishable linguistically, culturally, ethnically, or religiously from the Arabs of Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, and no one spoke of them as a nation of their own until this became a useful means (devised by the KGB and Yasir Arafat) to counter the popularity of Israel as a courageous underdog facing off against twenty-two massive Arab states and Muslim non-Arab states as well.
These facts show the hollowness of the North Andover resident’s claims that the Palestinian flag “represents a nation, the heritage of the people, their traditions, their culture.” There is no Palestinian heritage, tradition, or culture other than hating Israel and wanting to destroy it. That’s why the Palestinian nationality was fabricated, and that’s why it exists.
Nevertheless, no one said any of that at the North Andover Select Board meeting, if anyone there knew it at all. And in Dearborn Heights, Mich., the same thing has been going on.
Dearborn Heights is next to Dearborn, which has a majority population of Muslims and Arabs (there are quite a few Christian Arabs there as well). Dearborn Heights doesn’t have any such population, but apparently the people there don’t want Hamas supporters in Dearborn to start think that their neighbors are “Islamophobic,” so on Tuesday, they took action.
The Daily Wire reported that “a local government-owned sign welcoming people into the city of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, was adorned with Palestinian flags Tuesday.” Dearborn’s TCD News explained on Instagram: “This morning, in another show of solidarity, Palestinian flags were placed on the ‘Welcome to Dearborn Heights’ sign along Ford Road, highlighting the city’s support for the people of Palestine.”
The Instagram post drew a slew of unhappy comments, including: “Okay but where’s the American flag[?]” “F*** that remember yall all are American first.” “We need more AMERICAN FLAGS in these [people’s] hands they all live in America, where’s the American flag tho?”
Nine Vermont car dealerships tell Biden: “Tap the brakes on the unrealistic government EV mandate”
By Michael Bielawski
The government mandates to push electric vehicles onto consumers are failing to translate into sales as EV inventory is piling up, and now 3,882 dealerships nationwide including nine from Vermont are calling out the situation to the President.
“Mr. President, it is time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate,” the letter states.
The essence of the letter is that the technologies, infrastructure, and consumer enthusiasm are all lacking where they need to be to fulfill these mandates.
It continues, “Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable. Allow time to develop domestic sources for the minerals to make batteries. Allow time for the charging infrastructure to be built and prove reliable. And most of all, allow time for the American consumer to get comfortable with the technology and make the choice to buy an electric vehicle.”
The nine dealerships from Vermont that signed onto the letter include Haddad Subaru of St. Albans, Key Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac of South Burlington, Key Chevrolet of White River, Key Honda of Rutland, McGee Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Barre, McGee Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Brattleboro, McGee Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram FIAT of Springfield, McGee Ford of Montpelier, and McGee Hyundai of Barre.
Hard-right libertarian Milei wins Argentina's presidential election
By: News Wires
Milei, who rode a wave of voter anger with the political mainstream, won by a wider-than-expected margin. He landed some 56% of the vote versus just over 44% for his rival, Peronist Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who conceded.
"The model of decadence has come to an end, there's no going back," Milei said in a defiant speech after the result, while also acknowledging the challenges that face him.
"We have monumental problems ahead: inflation, lack of work, and poverty," he said. "The situation is critical and there is no place for tepid half-measures."
In downtown Buenos Aires hundreds of Milei supporters honked horns and chanted his popular refrain against the political elite - "out with all of them" - as rock music played from speakers. Some people set off fireworks as excitement spread.
"We came to celebrate this historic triumph," said Efrain Viveros, a 21-year-old student from the province of Salta. "I'm honestly ecstatic. Milei represents change, for the better. With Massa we'd have had no future, our future has returned."
Milei is pledging economic shock therapy. His plans include shutting the central bank, ditching the peso, and slashing spending, potentially painful reforms that resonated with voters angry at the economic malaise.
"Milei is the new thing, he's a bit of an unknown and it is a little scary, but it's time to turn over a new page," said 31-year-old restaurant worker Cristian as he voted on Sunday.
Milei's challenges are enormous. He will have to deal with the empty coffers of the government and central bank, a creaking $44 billion debt program with the International Monetary Fund, inflation nearing 150% and a dizzying array of capital controls.
Some Argentines had characterised the vote as a choice of the "lesser evil": fear of Milei's painful economic medicine versus anger at Massa and his Peronist party for an economic crisis that has left Argentina deeply in debt and unable to tap global credit markets.
Milei has been particularly popular among the young, who have grown up seeing their country lurch from one crisis to another.
"Perhaps not everything Milei says I agree with or can identify with but he is our future," said Irene Sosa, a 20-year-old student celebrating outside his election bunker. "Milei represents a future for young people like me, Massa was everything that is wrong with our country."
Milei's win shakes up Argentina's political landscape and economic roadmap, and could impact trade in grains, lithium and hydrocarbons. Milei has criticised China and Brazil, saying he won't deal with "communists," and favours stronger US ties.
Despite that, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva wished Milei luck and success after the result was announced, adding that it was important democracy was respected.
Former US President Donald Trump congratulated Milei and said the libertarian would make Argentina great again.
Leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro, meanwhile, said it was a "sad day" for the region.
House Intel Committee Chairman: Terrorist Threat To U.S. Highest It’s Been In Over A Decade
By: Daily Wire News
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said over the weekend that the terrorist threat to the U.S. is the highest that it’s been in over a decade following Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.
Turner made the remarks during a Sunday CBS News interview with Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” while discussing FBI Director Christopher Wray’s recent testimony to Congress about how foreign terror groups like Al Qaeda are calling for terrorist attacks against the U.S.
“This is very, very unusual for the FBI director to so publicly make these statements,” he said. “And, certainly, in his conversations with the Intelligence Committee, they’ve been on an unclassified basis. So we have the ability to talk about it. It certainly shows the extent to which these threats are troubling the director.”
“And what he’s indicated specifically is that, more than a decade, the increase in terrorist threats to the United States inside the United States is at its highest ever,” he continued. “And he cites the – the chaotic withdrawal of Afghanistan and our loss of intelligence gathering there. He cites the Southern border and individuals who are allied with international terrorist organizations that have crossed the border.”
Rosalynn Carter dies aged 96, days after entering hospice care
By: Kelly Rissman
Rosalynn Carter, former President Jimmy Carter’s wife, has died at the age of 96.
The Carter Center announced the former first lady’s death on Sunday, two days after she entered hospice care at their home in Plains, Georgia. She leaves behind her husband, four children, 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a legacy of mental health advocacy.
“Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights, passed away Sunday, Nov. 19, at 2:10 p.m. at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96. She died peacefully, with family by her side,” the statement read.
The former president, 99, is also in hospice care at their home. He paid tribute to his wife in the statement, saying: “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.
“She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
The couple’s son Chip Carter said: “Besides being a loving mother and extraordinary First Lady, my mother was a great humanitarian in her own right. Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today.”
Rosalynn was diagnosed with dementia in May, the Carter Center previously announced. At the time, the Center wrote that she “has been the nation’s leading mental health advocate for much of her life.”
Throughout her life, “she urged improved access to care and decreased stigma about issues surrounding mental health,” the statement continued.
Consistent with her efforts, the Center said it decided to share the family’s news in the hopes that the transparency would “increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor’s offices around the country.”
Rosalynn Smith was born on 18 August 1927 in Plains, Georgia. As the oldest child, at the age of 13 Rosalynn helped her mother support her family after her father died, according to White House archives.
Despite her family’s hardships, she attended Georgia Southwestern College at Americus, where she met a man, who would one day become president, after her freshman year.
“She’s the girl I want to marry,” Jimmy Carter reportedly told his mother after his first date with the then 17-year-old. A year later, in 1946, they did exactly that; the couple got married.
The pair had four children: John William Carter, James Earl Carter III, Donnel Jeffrey Carter, and Amy Lynn Carter. As Jimmy Carter worked in the Navy, the Carters moved all over the country — until his father’s death in 1953 planted them in Georgia, where he took over the family business: a peanut farm.
Less than a decade later, Jimmy entered into the political sphere, winning a seat in the Georgia Senate, becoming the state’s governor, and then, of course, earning the presidency — all with Rosalynn by his side.
She was frequently praised for her political chops. The press dubbed her “the Steel Magnolia,” referring to her graceful persona in combination with her tough inner strength.
Jimmy Carter’s White House adviser Stuart Eizenstat said she had “uncanny political instincts,” while her White House adviser Kathy Cade said, “She knew what she wanted to accomplish.
Apparently, her interest in mental health reform was inspired by talking to voters during her husband’s Georgia campaigns. PBS reported that after hearing one particular story about a mill worker caring for her child, who was suffering from mental illness, she told her husband the next day: “I want to know what you are going to do about mental health when you are governor.” Mr Carter reportedly replied: “We’re going to have the best mental health system in the country, and I’m going to put you in charge of it.”
From 1977 to 1978, she served as the Honorary Chairperson of the President’s Commission on Mental Health. And after Mr Carter’s 1980 defeat, the couple founded the Carter Center, an institution dedicated to “human rights and the alleviation of human suffering.”
Among many mental health initiatives, in 1996, the Center launched the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, which aimed to provide journalists with the resources to cover mental health issues while reducing stigma around the topic.
After he left the Oval Office, Mr Carter remarked: “The best thing I ever had happen in my life was when she said she’d marry me.”
Ahead of Dutch elections, food banks highlight the cost-of-living crisis, a major campaign theme
By: Mike Corder
VOORBURG, Netherlands – Cans of fish, jars of pasta sauce and bags of beans are stacked in blue crates. Meat, dairy and bread are kept cold in a huge freezer and a walk-in refrigerator in this affluent Dutch town. The supplies are on hand to feed the new poor in one of the richest nations in the world.
Needy families are lining up for free handouts at food banks across the Netherlands, underscoring how poverty is taking root even in lower middle-class families and why tackling it has become a major theme in next Wednesday's parliamentary election.
If it gets any worse, "then it really becomes a scandal for society,” said Rob Kuipers, a 70-year-old retired senior civil servant who is the chairman of the local food bank in Leidschendam-Voorburg, within easy cycling distance of the parliament in The Hague.
The cost-of-living crisis, a chronic shortage of social and affordable housing and limits on access to affordable healthcare have combined to become known by the catch-all title “security of existence” in election campaigning and it's a topic all parties are addressing in their election programs.
“We, for a long time, had people living in poverty but this was always, relatively speaking, a smaller group and a quite marginal group and now this has spread to the lower middle class. And that, I think, is the reason why we are talking so much about it now,” said Maurice Crul, a professor of sociology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
“This was always a topic that the progressive or the left-wing parties put on the agenda," he added. "But now you see that also populist right wing parties and the middle party is putting this on the agenda big time, too.”
That centrist “middle party” is personified by Pieter Omtzigt, a former Christian Democrat who set up the New Social Contract over the summer. It is already polling so high that he will play a key role in coalition talks once the votes have been counted.
After years campaigning on behalf of marginalized members of society and uncovering government scandals, tackling poverty is one of his two main campaign themes.
“There is a long list of things we need to do to challenge that cost-of-living crisis,” he told reporters at a campaign event. “We will make the primary necessities of life affordable,” his party’s manifesto says, with measures including reforming taxation and welfare rules to give people more disposable income.
The center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte — traditionally seen as a party for the wealthy and a supporter of the free-market economy — is also pledging to help.
“To make sure people who work full-time can make ends meet, we will raise the minimum wage,” the party’s manifesto pledges. “To tackle childhood poverty, we will give targeted support to families with children.”
Underscoring how the issue cuts across traditional party lines, a center-left two-party bloc led by former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans proposes some of the same solutions. It advocates raising the Dutch minimum wage to 16 euros ($17.40) per hour. For employees aged over 21 years, the current minimum is 12.79 euros for a 36-hour work week.
For some workers and for others living on welfare benefits, that is not enough.
The national umbrella organization for 176 Dutch food banks says that they serve a total of 38,000 households — 100,000 people — each week and that 1.2 million people live below the poverty line. The number is down slightly from a year ago when inflation was soaring in the Netherlands and across the world.
Just 18 months ago, the food bank in Leidschendam-Voorburg, a municipality of some 78,000 people that recently ranked fifth in a survey of the most “livable” towns in the the Netherlands, had 140 clients. That shot up to 250 as a cost-of-living crisis swept across the world and did not spare the wealthy Netherlands. Those 250 households amount to up to 700 people, Kuipers said.
31 premature babies are evacuated from Gaza's largest hospital, but scores of trauma patients remain
By: Najib Jobain
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip – Health officials said 31 premature babies in “extremely critical condition” were transferred safely Sunday from Gaza’s main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to look for Hamas operations.
The plight of the babies, along with the Israeli claims against Shifa Hospital, have become potent symbols in the devastating war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli offensive has taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, while Israel has accused Hamas of using Shifa and other hospitals as headquarters for military operations.
The newborns from the hospital, where power was cut and supplies ran out while Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside, were receiving urgent care in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. They had dehydration, hypothermia and sepsis in some cases, said Mohamed Zaqout, director of Gaza hospitals. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, he said.
A World Health Organization team that visited Shifa said most of the remaining patients had amputations, burns or other trauma. Plans were being made to evacuate them in the coming days.
Later Sunday, Israel’s army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa. Israel has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamas’ rule in Gaza following the militant group’s into southern Israel six weeks ago.
The army said it found a 55-meter (60-yard) tunnel about 10 meters (33 feet) under the hospital’s 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by snipers, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened.
The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify Israel’s findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, taken to the hospital following the Oct. 7 attack.
The army also said an independent medical report had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been killed by Hamas in the hospital. Marciano had been injured in an Israeli strike Nov. 9 that killed her captor, according to Israel's intelligence assessment. The injuries were not life-threatening but she was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa, the army said.
Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Critics describe the hospital as a symbol of what they call Israel’s reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, which is severely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the Israeli military’s announcement and didn't deny that Gaza has hundreds of kilometers of tunnels. However, he said, “the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel.”
About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza and shattered Israel’s sense of security. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 12 over the past 24 hours.
Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa.
Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. “We are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told ABC’s “This Week.”
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the sticking points were "more practical, logistical.”
Israel's three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages’ families on Monday evening.
Equity, Equality and Hamas
By: Daniel Greenfield
How did we end up with Hamas rallies on college campuses across America? Start with ‘equity’.
America started out with the idea of ‘equality’ that all people should be treated equally so that regardless of where they started out, everyone had the same rights and their lives had the same value. Advocates for ‘equity’ argue that this was unjust because different people were starting out in different places. What they really needed was a level playing field by imposing ‘equity’.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion disposed of equality. Its equity agenda dismissed the idea that people would be treated equally. The only way to achieve equality was through an indefinite period of inequality: raising up some people and pushing down others. Organizations, from the White House to Corporate America, vowed to ”embed equity” into everything that they did.
The moral DNA of society was completely rewritten so that everything from freedom of expression to the value of human life had to be weighed in terms of identity politics. Even the most basic moral questions came down to the paradigms of oppressor and oppressed. Right and wrong were determined purely in terms of ‘punching up’ or ‘punching down’.
“Is it wrong to murder, rape and kidnap people?” was a question to which the answer was no longer “yes”, but “were the victims or the killers members of an oppressed group?”
What matters is not so much that Hamas raped, killed and kidnapped kids, but that it appears to be the weaker party in the conflict, the one with backing from leftist figures in good standing, and the one that has the revolutionary vibe that bourgeois radicals love so much.
Siding with Israel or Hamas has become a litmus test for the left of center. It evenly divides liberals from leftists. The dividing line is between human decency and ideology. It’s a familiar moral struggle that played out time and again throughout the twentieth century.
Morality can only exist in a society that believes in equality. Equity is obsessed with outcomes which is another way of saying that it believes that the ends can always justify the means.
“To put it brutally,” Walter Duranty, the New York Times correspondent, busy covering up Communist atrocities in the Soviet Union, famously wrote, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.”
Equity is all about the omelets. It reduces all morality to a political program. Right and wrong is determined by where everyone starts out and where they want to end up. Violence is just another means. Sometimes eggs have to be broken and millions of people have to be killed.
Brutality, rather than something to be deplored, becomes a sign of revolutionary commitment. Only those who truly believe in a new age and are determined to overthrow the existing order will be utterly ruthless, vicious and destructive in the campaign against the system. The worst barbarism is justified as a ‘reaction’ to oppression and a determination to rush out an end to it.
The Left never lets go of bad ideas. It just rebrands them. Equity is just the same old program of promising to make everyone equal through a temporary totalitarian ‘evening out’ period. Under this umbrella, there is no room for individuality or freedom, and the only morality is political.
Radicals claim that equality perpetuates the system while equity disrupts it. The reality is that equality is genuinely dangerous because it disrupts all systems of power while equity is just another means of eliminating individual rights, and replacing it with a system of power.
Expecting people dedicated to this proposition to side with Israel over Hamas is foolish. And those indoctrinated to view the world through concepts like anti-racism, intersectionality and orientalism have been groomed throughout their miseducation to support Hamas. All the tools and the information they have been given have trained them to understand Islamic terrorists as the oppressed, not just in Israel, but in America, Europe, India and all around the world.
This may seem like madness to conservatives and liberals, but if you understand the world as a conflict between the old order and an emerging new order, as leftists and some far righters do, siding with Hamas is wholly reasonable. Not to mention China, Russia and Al Qaeda.
Equity is all about forcibly ‘evening out’ humanity while intersectionality connects all causes.
When abortion rights ralliers carry signs reading, “Palestinian resistance is reproductive justice”, it seems like madness, but it’s a very particular species of ideological madness. The same one that led Communists to defend Nazi Germany during the period of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Or led the Trotskyists who still form the backbone of the anti-war movement to sabotage the defense industry in the United States and the United Kingdom once WWII was in full swing.
If the only real measure of morality is the oppressor/oppressed or ‘punching up’ and ‘punching down’, then why be selective about who the oppressed ‘punching up’ are? Nazis and Hamas both look pretty good when they’re inflicting defeats on the people you want to overthrow.
Some radicals may be well aware that Hamas Jihadis would be shooting or raping them if they were in the wrong place, but it didn’t especially bother them when their friends ended up on the guillotine or in gulags, or when they were beaten during race riots or killed in Latin America.
Equity requires sacrifices. We can’t all be even until some of us are broken or killed.
Where equality sees us as individuals, equity reduces us to members of a group operating within a political context. Our lives are sacred only to the extent that our death serves a political purpose. Do black lives matter? Only when they’re taken by a police officer, not by the stray bullets of a gang member over a long weekend in Chicago.
College students who cheer Hamas or tear down posters of kidnapped hostages ask themselves what is the political context in which these crimes were carried out. It is the context that matters, not the people. In the right political context, anything can be justified.
The Pro-Palestinian ‘Million-Man’ March In London
By: Hugh Fitzgerald
Billed as a “million-man” march by its pro-Hamas organizers in London, in the end less than a third of those predicted to participate showed up. Those 300,000 marchers did make sure to avoid passing the Cenotaph, as the London police had demanded, where poppy- bearing British citizens were visiting on Armistice Day to honor the country’s war dead, and instead took a route that ended up in front of the American Embassy where, not surprisingly, they defaced the American flag. Dozens were arrested for not following orders from the police, but in general, it was a peaceful affair, as pro-Palestinian marches go. There was the usual monotonous chanting of slogans with sinister intent, including “from the river to the sea/Palestine will soon be free,” which is a call for the destruction of the only Jewish state, and its replacement by a twenty-third Arab one. Some placards labelled Israel as an “apartheid state,” which of course it is not, for Jewish and Arab Israelis have exactly the same political and civil rights; a handful showed pictures of bearded Israelis labelled “settlers” which means that as far as the marchers were concerned, they are practically Nazis, persecuting helpless and innocent Palestinians (this requires you to forget the thousands of terror attacks by Palestinians on those “Jewish settlers” in the West Bank).
Meanwhile, the government remains unmoved. Rishi Sunak came out, immediately after the Oct. 7 massacre, uncompromisingly for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas murderers. So has Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. And so has Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, who has described the pro-Palestinian “mobs” and accused the police of giving more favorable treatment to pro-Palestinian marchers while coming down hard on protesters from the right, including Tommy Robinson and his supporters.
The Labour Party, too, is standing firmly with Israel, and will continue to do so as long as Keir Starmer remains its head; he not only booted the anti-Israel and antisemitic Jeremy Corbyn out of the party, but has been demoting the corbynites who still remain — many have left in anger at his pro-Israel stance — in the Labour Party. Starmer just sacked Labour Party MP Andy McDonald for a speech he gave at a pro-Palestinian rally in which he invoked the phrase “From the river to the sea”; this seemed to imply he supported a “one-state solution” west of the Jordan that would lead to Jews being demographically swamped by Arabs. He also shouted “Free Palestine.”
The five pro-Palestinian marches have so far had no visible effect on the policies either of the Conservative government or the Labour opposition, whose leaders understand Israel’s absolute need to demolish Hamas, and realize that it is Hamas’ practice of using human shields that explains the regrettably unavoidable number of casualties. This is the most pro-Israel government the U.K. has ever seen.
Let us hope the British government can resist following the Bidenites in their weakening support for Israel. The increasingly critical tone toward Israel in Washington, with constant pressure exerted on the Israelis to agree to a series of six-hour “pauses” in the fighting every day, so that Gazans can travel safely from north to south, will lead inexorably to a call by the Bidenites for Israel to agree to a “ceasefire” in all of Gaza, which would only give Hamas time to regroup, and make things much harder for the IDF soldiers on the ground.
Antony Blinken has chosen to ignore the colossal efforts the IDF makes to minimize civilian casualties, including the 1.5 million leaflets dropped from planes that warned people in northern Gaza to head south of the Wadi Gaza, for their own safety, and all the warnings given to people living in or near buildings, including schools, apartment blocks, offices, kindergartens, mosques, and now hospitals, where Hamas hides its weapons and its fighters, to leave the buildings or areas that are about to be targeted. The IDF telephones, messages, leaflets, and uses the “knock-on-the-roof” technique to convey its warnings. Of course these warnings also allow Hamas operatives to escape. No other army in the world lets its enemy know where it is about to attack. In addition, Israeli pilots also abort attacks if they see evidence of too many civilians close to the target area.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-pro-palestinian-million-man-march-in-london/
They’re rich, American, live in China, and fund Hamas propaganda
By: Andrea Widburg
You’ve probably never heard of Neville Roy Singham or his wife, Jodie Evans, nor are you aware of the company that made them rich. However, they are affecting your life and your world in profound ways. They are rich Marxists (which is an oxymoron only if you ignore that powerful Marxists always amass millions and billions) who live in China and finance anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda. I’ve been meaning to write about them for almost a week now and, with Sunday being a slow news day, I’ve finally got the space and the time.
A report from Francesca Block at The Free Press explains that most of the pro-Palestinian protests that have not-spontaneously popped up across America since October 7 have funding from a single source: Singham and Evans. It is they who, beginning in 2017, started donating to a Manhattan-based entity called The People’s Forum, which, in turn, is the moving force behind the protests. In just five years, Singham and Evans poured over $20 million in the organization which bills itself as a “movement incubator for working class and marginalized communities to build unity across historic lines of division at home and abroad.”
Where in the heck did Singham, whom I’m sure you’ve never heard of before this, get that kind of money? Consulting, believe it or not: “Singham’s wealth stems from Thoughtworks, a software consulting company that he launched in 1993 in Chicago and sold in August 2017 to private equity firm Apax Partners for $785 million.” If you go to the Thoughtworks’ home page, this jargony statement explains what Apax Partners got for the money:
We’re a leading global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and software engineering to enable enterprises and technology disruptors across the globe to thrive as modern digital businesses. Ongoing digital disruption is challenging enterprises to keep pace with the accelerating rate of technological change. This is where Thoughtworks can help. We’ve been at the forefront of technology innovation for 30 years.
Apparently, there’s lots of cash flowing in the advice business.
But Singham and Evans aren’t just your ordinary rich leftists. These two are such committed Marxists that they’ve dedicated their lives to advancing the interests of…drum roll, please… China!
Richest 1% account for more carbon emissions than poorest 66%, report says
By: Jonathan Watts
The richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency, a report says.
The most comprehensive study of global climate inequality ever undertaken shows that this elite group, made up of 77 million people including billionaires, millionaires and those paid more than US$140,000 (£112,500) a year, accounted for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019 – enough to cause more than a million excess deaths due to heat, according to the report.
For the past six months, the Guardian has worked with Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and other experts on an exclusive basis to produce a special investigation, The Great Carbon Divide. It explores the causes and consequences of carbon inequality and the disproportionate impact of super-rich individuals, who have been termed “the polluter elite”. Climate justice will be high on the agenda of this month’s UN Cop28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates.
The Oxfam report shows that while the wealthiest 1% tend to live climate-insulated, air-conditioned lives, their emissions – 5.9bn tonnes of CO2 in 2019 – are responsible for immense suffering.
Using a “mortality cost” formula – used by the US Environmental Protection Agency, among others – of 226 excess deaths worldwide for every million tonnes of carbon, the report calculates that the emissions from the 1% alone would be enough to cause the heat-related deaths of 1.3 million people over the coming decades.
Over the period from 1990 to 2019, the accumulated emissions of the 1% were equivalent to wiping out last year’s harvests of EU corn, US wheat, Bangladeshi rice and Chinese soya beans.
The suffering falls disproportionately upon people living in poverty, marginalised ethnic communities, migrants and women and girls, who live and work outside or in homes vulnerable to extreme weather, according to the research. These groups are less likely to have savings, insurance or social protection, which leaves them more economically, as well as physically, at risk from floods, drought, heatwaves and forest fires. The UN says developing countries account for 91% of deaths related to extreme weather.
The report finds that it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year.
“The super-rich are plundering and polluting the planet to the point of destruction and it is those who can least afford it who are paying the highest price,” said Chiara Liguori, Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy adviser. The twin crises of climate and inequality were “fuelling one another”, she said.
The wealth gap between nations only partly explains the disparity. The report shows that in 2019 – the most recent year for which there is comprehensive data – high-income countries (mostly in the global north) were responsible for 40% of global consumption-based CO2 emissions, while the contribution from low-income countries (mostly in the global south) was a negligible 0.4%. Africa, which is home to about one in six of the world population, was responsible for just 4% of emissions.
A less discussed but faster-growing problem is inequality within countries. Billionaires are still overwhelmingly white, male and based in the US and Europe, but members of this influential class of super-rich can increasingly be found in other parts of the world. Millionaires are even more dispersed.
The report says this is bad news for the climate on multiple levels. The extravagant carbon footprint of the 0.1% – from superyachts, private jets and mansions to space flights and doomsday bunkers – is 77 times higher than the upper level needed for global warming to peak at 1.5C.
The corporate shares of many super-rich are highly polluting. This elite also wield enormous and growing political power by owning media organisations and social networks, hiring advertising and PR agencies and lobbyists, and mixing socially with senior politicians, who are also often members of the richest 1%, according to the report.
In the US, for example, one in four members of Congress reportedly own stocks in fossil fuel companies, worth a total of between $33m and $93m. The report says this helps to explain why global emissions continue to rise, and why governments in the global north provided $1.8tn to subsidise the fossil fuel industry in 2020, contrary to their international pledges to phase out carbon emissions.
Biden Aide Tries to Sell Idea of Vigorous Joe
By: Robert Spencer
How far will Biden regime wonks go in lying to the American people? They’re just getting started. Their latest whopper tops them all: would you believe they’re trying to sell us that Joe Biden is vigorous and energetic? Oh yes, they are.
The whole world has been watching for nearly three years now as Old Joe Biden grows progressively feebler. On Saturday, at the Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery, he appeared visibly confused and had to be told by a polite and deferential military officer to go stand beside alleged Vice President Kamala Harris.
That was just the latest in an ever-lengthening series of obvious signs that the putative Commander-In-Chief, who will be 81 years old in less than a week, is in the grip of a severe and likely irreversible mental and physical decline. On Aug. 31, NPR noted that Old Joe “has been avoiding climbing up the sometimes-wobbly 18-foot staircase that is trucked over to the plane’s upper door. More often than not, he is using a much shorter and sturdier set of stairs that fold out from the belly of the plane.”
But the problem wasn’t that the stairs were wobbly. The problem was that the rapidly deteriorating kleptocrat was too weak to navigate them: “Biden, 80, has stumbled on the tall stairs more than once. The short stairs have the distinct advantage of moving most of Biden’s ascent into Air Force One out of public view. But for those who have noticed the shift, it also draws attention to one of Biden’s greatest political liabilities as he seeks reelection: his age.”
Indeed. But now one of Old Joe’s wonks, Mitch Landrieu, a man who has the lofty title of “White House infrastructure coordinator,” is here to tell us not to believe our lying eyes.
Landrieu, whose grandfather must have been one of those guys who sold miracle patent medicine out of the back of a covered wagon and then high-tailed it out of town before anyone realized that it didn’t work, said:
For those of you that think the president might be too old or doesn’t have enough energy or whatever it is that you all think, This guy gets up early. He stays up late. We have made trips, if not every week, sometimes twice a week and three times a week. And we have done it over and over again and there’s nothing new here. What’s wonderful about it is how relentless that it is and how many places that we have been.
As if that weren’t laid on thick enough, Landrieu added: “The guy is, like, he’s a beast.” Despite talking like a witless, gum-smacking teenager, Mitch Landrieu is 63 years old, but who knows? Maybe poor Mitch is not in the best of health himself. Maybe those Air Force One stairs make Mitch Landrieu puff and wheeze and long for the vanished stamina of youth. Because if Landrieu can try to convince us that Old Joe Biden is ready to do a full day’s work wrecking the United States and then hit the White House lawn to play a vigorous game of touch football with Blinken, Mayorkas, and the guys, maybe the problem is that Landrieu himself is so frail that by comparison, Old Joe looks like Jack Kennedy when Camelot was in full bloom.
Or maybe Mitch Landrieu is lying. Biden is, like, a beast? Well, if you mean that he has devastated the economy, erased the Southern border, emboldened our enemies, and (after the manner of Third-World dictators everywhere) weaponized the justice system against his foremost political opponent, then sure, Biden is a beast. He is the hungry, rapacious animal that tore the body politic apart.
That is, however, obviously not what Landrieu meant. He really wants us to think that Old Joe bounds down the stairs from the private quarters of the White House every morning and leaves his henchmen gasping for breath as they struggle to keep up with the punishing schedule that he runs through with aplomb, along with his trademark slanted smile.
In reality, there is nothing punishing about Old Joe’s schedule. The only ones being punished are the American people. On all too many days, he calls a lid before noon and spends the afternoon and evening doing who knows what. “Matlock,” perhaps? Meetings with Hunter to collect his ten percent?
https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-aide-tries-to-sell-idea-of-vigorous-joe/
US calls Nicaragua's decision to leave Organization of American States a 'step away from democracy'
By: The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY – The U.S. State Department called Nicaragua’s formal withdrawal from the Organization of American States on Sunday “another step away from democracy.”
The regional body, known by its initials OAS, has long criticized rights violations under Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. Ortega, who governs alongside his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has rejected those criticisms and started the two-year process to leave the OAS in November 2021.
“The Ortega/Murillo regime’s withdrawal from the OAS is another step away from democracy and further isolates Nicaragua from the international community,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Neither Ortega's office nor the government commented Sunday.
The OAS has said it will continue closely monitoring Nicaragua’s democracy and human rights record even after the country’s exit from the group, which it has belonged to since 1950.
According to a resolution approved by the OAS permanent council earlier this month, the OAS “will continue paying special attention to the situation in Nicaragua” and will try to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms there.
Arturo McFields, Nicaragua’s representative at the OAS until he publicly denounced Ortega and Murillo in 2022, said earlier this month that Nicaragua’s withdrawal would be “a heavy blow to the fight for democracy and defense of human rights.” But he was encouraged by the OAS resolution.
Ortega’s administration has sought to suppress critical voices since popular street protests in April 2018 turned into a referendum on his government. After the protests were violently put down, with some 355 people killed and hundreds imprisoned, the government set about silencing institutions he perceived as supporting the protesters.
Targets have included private universities, the Roman Catholic Church, civil society organizations and tens of thousands of individuals driven into exile.
Ortega’s government started the two-year process to leave the OAS shortly after the body joined others in the international community in condemning the elections, widely criticized as flawed, that led to Ortega’s latest term.
From Entebbe to Gaza City
By: Jonathan Feldstein
On June 27, 1976, Captain Michel Bacos was piloting Air France Flight 139 with 246 passengers from Athens to Paris. Minutes into the flight, two Palestinian Arab and two German terrorists hijacked the flight that originated in Tel Aviv hours earlier. Bacos was forced at gunpoint to re-route the flight to Benghazi, Libya, for refueling and then to Entebbe, Uganda.
In Entebbe, the four terrorists were welcomed by Uganda’s dictator, Idi Amin, with Ugandan troops providing support for the terrorists. Two days later, the terrorists forced all Israeli and Jewish passengers into a separate room. Eventually, they released the 148 non-Jewish passengers. Remarkably, Captain Bacos and his crew remained with the Jewish hostages. On July 4, the hostages were freed following a bold Israeli commando raid known as Operation Entebbe. Captain Bacos took a two-week vacation and requested that his first flight back be to Israel.
I was thinking about the Entebbe hijacking and raid recently in the context of Hamas kidnapping and taking hostage more than 240 people during their October 7 assault and massacre in Israel. Hamas is a different kind of Palestinian Arab terror group, an Islamist one. Still, the goals and tactics remain the same: the death and suffering of as many Israelis as possible toward the objective of Israel’s complete annihilation.
In 1976, terrorists held more than 100 hostages thousands of kilometers away. Today, terrorists hold some 240 hostages, much closer, but harder to reach underground bunkers and likely not altogether. A rescue will be more difficult, but Israel is committed to bringing ALL the hostages home.
The hostages are citizens of at least 27 countries, including Israelis. As Israel faces mounting pressure for a cease-fire, terrorists are playing the same game, trying to separate the non-Israeli and non-Jewish hostages, holding out as bait to release 2, 10, or maybe 15 of the non-Israelis.
The tactic of separating hostages based on their nationality or religion is the same, but they must not be allowed to stand this time. ALL the hostages must be rescued. If Israel lets the terrorists play the world, in no time, the world will stop caring about the Israeli and Jewish hostages. How do we know? Because it’s already started. And sadly, despite the passage of time, the more time passes, the more things are really the same.
One should not be surprised that in the aftermath of the hostage rescue in Entebbe, then-UN Secretary General (and former Nazi) Kurt Waldheim said the raid was “a serious violation of the sovereignty of a member state of the United Nations.”
Taking a page out of the antisemite UN Secretary-General handbook, its current occupant, António Guterres, decried the recent violence, saying it “does not come in a vacuum” but “grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year-long occupation and no political end in sight.” Basically, Guterres justified Hama’s terror the same way Nazi-Waldheim criticized Israel for rescuing its hostages.
In 1976, Captain Bacos received France’s National Order of the Legion of Honour, and his crew also was recognized for their heroism. Then, with little exception, the West widely supported Israel’s operation. France, (West) Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States offered significant praise. Then, US Secretary of State Kissinger criticized Israel for using American hardware and weapons, but that was only revealed later.
Ironically, today, one of the ones leading the pack pressuring Israel for a cease-fire under any circumstances is French President Emanuel Macron. Macron flew to Israel in the days after Hamas’ massacre to show solidarity. But the French president has changed his tune. Though he says France knows what terrorism means, he’s clearly playing to the vast terror base in his own backyard, something that France has allowed to fester to increasingly dangerous levels.
Macron pivoted from his early support in a recent BBC interview, claiming that there was “no justification” for the bombing and pontificating that a ceasefire would benefit Israel. “There is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow us to protect … all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists. Today, civilians are bombed – de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So, there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.”
I suspect that none of Macron’s predecessors ever criticized the Allies bombing of Dresden and other German cities, without which Le France would be speaking German today.
France has a legacy of retreat, so maybe Macron can be excused. But as pressure grows on Israel from liberated Europe, it’s also painful to see the US heating up its rhetoric. Most recently, current Secretary of State Blinken told reporters in India, “Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks.” It’s not yet the parroting of Kissinger’s criticism. Still, it’s a slippery slope, especially with the Hamas wing of his own party claiming that they won’t support President Biden for re-election. Will Biden/Blinken heed the Hamas wing of their party to stop providing Israel with weapons to defend itself?
If comments like those of Blinken and Macron are not first pointed at Hamas, repeatedly and clearly without any qualifications for their October 7 massacre and using their own civilians as human shields, they are simply not credible. But being credible no longer matters when Pallywood mixes up its main characters (terrorists) with the extras (civilians), putting the latter at risk no matter the suffering.
To push back on the mounting pressure, an invisible but increasingly strong front against Israel from the West, the Genesis 123 Foundation has launched an international petition to call upon the US, Red Cross, G7, and all countries whose citizens are hostages in Gaza to end pressure for a cease-fire and make the first priority to bring home ALL the hostages.
It’s time for all Jews and Christians and all people of conscience everywhere to stand with Israel to defeat Hamas and bring home the hostages. Pandering to terrorists through a cease-fire, ransom, or any other appeasement will just mean more death and suffering. This will continue in Israel for sure, but it is just a moment away from the violent protests against Jews in the West turning on their host countries, too.
Senegal opposition party sponsoring new candidate Faye
By: Babacar Dione
DAKAR, Senegal – The party of jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko said Sunday it was sponsoring another candidate for the February presidential election, just days after Senegal's Supreme Court effectively blocked Sonko's own bid.
Election authorities have refused to provide Sonko with the sponsorship papers that need to be submitted by early December. On Sunday, the YouTube channel of Sonko's Pastef party said it now would sponsor the party's No. 2 politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
In making the announcement, the party said Faye “is the candidate that Pastef will sponsor,” but specified that Sonko's candidacy has been maintained.
“Sponsoring the candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in no way implies an abdication of the candidacy of President Ousmane Sonko,” the party said in a communique released Sunday.
“Everyone knows him well enough to know that to his last breath, he will fight without compromise. To sponsor the candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye is to defeat the regime’s strategy of rotting and launch one of our project’s many cards into the race.”
Faye, a tax and property inspector, is the opposition party's Secretary General. In April he was arrested on charges of “spreading false news, insulting a magistrate and defaming a constituted body" after making comments on social media.
Like Sonko, he is also now facing a slew of other criminal charges that the party believes are politically motivated. Those include calling for insurrection, undermining state security and plotting against the authority of the state among others.
Incumbent President Macky Sall ended years of speculation in July when he announced that he would not seek a third term in office. The move came after Sonko’s supporters launched months of protests that at times turned deadly. The ruling party has since coalesced around Prime Minister Amadou Ba as its candidate of choice.
Sonko placed third in the last presidential election in 2019, drawing wide support from younger voters. In the years since, Sonko has accused Sall and his government of pursuing criminal charges in an effort to sideline the opposition figure's future political aspirations.
'Thermonuclear lawsuit': Elon Musk vows action against Media Matters
By: Jake Smith
Elon Musk announced Saturday that X Corp. will be filing a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters, alleging the left-wing watchdog intentionally misinformed advertisers about the social media platform.
Media Matters claimed that advertisers on X regularly appear next to pro-Nazi content, and said that the social media platform has given a voice to “anti-Muslim bigots, white nationalists, and antisemites,” since Musk took over, according to a report from the organization. A number of major corporations have pulled their advertisements from X in the wake of the accusations, including IBM, Apple, Paramount Global and Disney, according to The New York Times.
The advertiser exodus led Musk to accuse Media Matters of attempting “to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” and promise to file a lawsuit against the media watchdog “the split second courts open on Monday.”
“This week Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” Musk said on X Saturday. “Despite our clear and consistent position, X has seen a number of attacks from activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as a threat to their ideological narrative and those our their financial supporters.”
“These groups try to use their influence to attack our revenue streams by deceiving advertisers on X,” Musk said.
Musk alleges that Media Matters intentionally manipulated content to make it seem as though advertisers regularly appear adjacent to antisemitic posts on X, which is not the true experience of users on the platform. Musk underscored his fears that once “free expression is taken away, it is very dangerous to get back” and said that individual rights must be defended “as if our lives… depend on it.”
Media Matters has routinely fallen under scrutiny for publishing false information and attempting to censor conservatives.
“Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate,” Media Matters said in a statement on Saturday. “Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win.”
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.wnd.com/2023/11/thermonuclear-lawsuit-elon-musk-vows-action-media-matters/
Iran’s Khamenei claims it’s ‘a fact’ Israel has been defeated by Hamas in Gaza
By: Toi Staff
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that Israel has suffered a “defeat” in its war against Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, claiming that this was “a fact.”
In a speech at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force center in the capital Tehran, Khamenei said “the defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a fact.”
“Advancing and entering hospitals or people’s homes is not a victory, because victory means defeating the other side,” he said.
The military has focused efforts on uncovering the group’s use of civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings and medical centers, for its terror activities.
Khamenei charged that Israel “has so far failed” in achieving its declared goal of destroying Hamas “despite the massive bombings” of Gaza.
“This incapacity reflects the inability of the United States and Western countries” which back Israel, he added.
Israel’s ground operation in Gaza followed three weeks of intense aerial campaigns across the Strip in response to Hamas’s shock October 7 invasion of southern Israeli communities. Under cover of thousands of rockets, thousands of terrorists from Gaza killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel, a majority of them civilians of all ages, in their homes and at an outdoor music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. Terrorists also kidnapped some 240 people to the enclave.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims that 12,300 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, including at least 4,700 children and 3,000 women. Those figures cannot be independently verified, and Hamas has been accused of inflating them and of designating gunmen in their late teens as children. It is not known how many among its total are combatants, and how many among the dead were victims of misfired rockets aimed at Israel.
Iran, which seeks Israel’s demise and supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the October 7 attacks a “success” but denied any direct involvement.
Tehran has made support for the Palestinian cause a centerpiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Khamenei said Israel has “killed thousands of children without any remorse” because, as he claimed, “Zionists consider themselves to be a superior race.”
During his visit, the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace force unveiled new defense systems and drones, state media said, and Khamenei inspected a drone that carried the name “Gaza.”
The force also unveiled Fattah 2, an upgraded version of a hypersonic missile unveiled in June, according to official news agency IRNA.
Khamenei urged Muslim countries that have formal relations with Israel to “cut off” these ties and halt trade.
Ukraine reveals size of latest World Bank loan
By: Staff
The Ukrainian government expects receive $1.1 billion from the World Bank, Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said on Saturday, adding that the money will be used for social benefits, education, medicine, and other priorities.
“Ukraine continues to attract money from partners, with an almost $1.1 billion loan expected from the World Bank,” Shmigal wrote in a Telegram post.
The prime minister added that the country also expects to obtain €162 million ($177 million) in financial support from the European Investment Bank as part of programs to restore Ukraine, while $190 million and $70 million would be allocated by Norway and Switzerland, respectively.
Earlier this week, the Ukrinform news agency reported that EU military aid for Ukraine had reached €27 billion euros (some $28.8 billion) since the beginning of the conflict, marking a record high in the bloc's history. The military assistance includes ammunition, air defense systems and tanks.
Meanwhile, financial, military, humanitarian, and refugee assistance provided by EU member states to Ukraine has already amounted to about $89 billion.
Last month, Gavin Gray, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission in the country, said that over time international support for Ukraine would inevitably decrease, urging Kiev to develop internal resources for self-financing.
In April, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko said the monthly deficit of the Ukrainian budget had totalled $5 billion, with two-thirds covered by foreign loans and grants, while three-quarters of spending goes to military needs.
In August, the Finance Ministry reported that Ukraine’s national debt had exceeded $132 billion, having increased by $4 billion in July alone.
Oregon's Drug Decriminalization Law Faces Growing Pushback Amid Fentanyl Crisis
By: Associated Press
PORTLAND, ORE. —
Oregon's first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children.
"The inability for people to live their day-to-day life without encountering open-air drug use is so pressing on urban folks' minds," said John Horvick, vice president of polling firm DHM Research. "That has very much changed people's perspective about what they think Measure 110 is."
When the law was approved by 58% of Oregon voters three years ago, supporters championed Measure 110 as a revolutionary approach that would transform addiction by minimizing penalties for drug use and investing instead in recovery.
But even top Democratic lawmakers who backed the law, which will likely dominate the upcoming legislative session, say they're now open to revisiting it after the biggest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states that have reported their numbers.
The cycle of addiction and homelessness spurred by fentanyl is most visible in Portland, where it's not unusual to see people using it in broad daylight on busy city streets.
"Everything's on the table," said Democratic state Sen. Kate Lieber, co-chair of a new joint legislative committee created to tackle addiction. "We have got to do something to make sure that we have safer streets and that we're saving lives."
Measure 110 directed the state's cannabis tax revenue toward drug addiction treatment services while decriminalizing the possession of so-called "personal use" amounts of illicit drugs. Possession of under a gram of heroin, for example, is only subject to a ticket and a maximum fine of $100.
Those caught with small amounts of drugs can have the citation dismissed by calling a 24-hour hotline to complete an addiction screening within 45 days, but those who don't do a screening are not penalized for failing to pay the fine. In the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1% of people who received citations for possession sought help via the hotline, state auditors found.
Critics of the law say this doesn't create an incentive to seek treatment.
Republican lawmakers have urged Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek to call a special session to address the issue before the Legislature reconvenes in February. They have proposed harsher sanctions for possession and other drug-related offenses, such as mandatory treatment and easing restrictions on placing people under the influence on holds in facilities such as hospitals if they pose a danger to themselves or others.
"Treatment should be a requirement, not a suggestion," a group of Republican state representatives said in a letter to Kotek.
Law enforcement officials who have testified before the new legislative committee on addiction have proposed reestablishing drug possession as a class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail or a $6,250 fine.
"We don't believe a return to incarceration is the answer, but restoring a (class A) misdemeanor for possession with diversion opportunities is critically important," Jason Edmiston, chief of police in the small, rural city of Hermiston in northeast Oregon, told the committee.
However, data shows decades of criminalizing possession hasn't deterred people from using drugs. In 2022, nearly 25 million Americans, roughly 8% of the population, reported using illicit drugs other than marijuana in the previous year, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Some lawmakers have suggested focusing on criminalizing public drug use rather than possession. Alex Kreit, assistant professor of law at Northern Kentucky University and director of its Center on Addiction Law and Policy, said such an approach could help curb visible drug use on city streets but wouldn't address what's largely seen as the root cause: homelessness.
"There are states that don't have decriminalization that have these same difficult problems with public health and public order and just quality-of-life issues related to large-scale homeless populations in downtown areas," he said, mentioning California as an example.
Backers of Oregon's approach say decriminalization isn't necessarily to blame, as many other states with stricter drug laws have also reported increases in fentanyl deaths.
India considering new shaft to free trapped tunnel workers
By: Staff
Excavators have been removing earth, concrete and rubble from the under-construction tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since last Sunday after a portion of the tunnel collapsed.
Rescue efforts have been slowed by continued falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines, with the air force having to twice airlift in new kit.
Drilling through the tonnes of debris was paused late Friday, after a cracking sound created a "panic situation", officials said.
Operations were then halted due to the possibility of "further collapse", said the government's highways and infrastructure company, NHIDCL.
"Every possible effort is being made," Minister of Road Transport Nitin Gadkari said Sunday, after visiting the site.
He said if the drilling machine was fixed, they could reach the men by Tuesday, but said teams were also considering multiple alternative routes.
Relatives of those trapped, who spoke to the men via radio, said conditions were grim and morale low.
"They are in tears… they have started asking us whether we are lying about the rescue efforts being made to save them," one relative told reporters late Saturday, without giving their name.
700,000 pupils being taught in schools in England that need major refurbishment
By: Michael Savage
The state of disrepair of some schools is so bad that 700,000 pupils are learning in classrooms that need a major rebuild or refurbishment, according to a damning parliamentary inquiry into the school estate.
This year’s crisis over crumbling and potentially dangerous concrete means that other schools in dire need of an overhaul will not be included in the government’s current rebuilding programme.
MPs on the powerful public accounts committee, which examined the state of school repairs, also warned of a “shocking and disappointing” lack of basic information from the government on the concrete crisis in schools. It said that there were now unacceptable numbers of pupils learning in “poorly maintained or potentially unsafe buildings”.
It states that the government’s School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) has become dominated by concerns over the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac). The committee said many of the 100 schools still to be selected for the programme will be chosen due to serious Raac issues, leaving other run-down schools in limbo. An estimated 700,000 pupils attend the 1,200 schools considered for the SRP.
“The images of classroom ceilings collapsed on to empty school desks released in recent months are not just searing indictments of a deteriorating school estate,” said Dame Meg Hillier, the committee’s chair. “They are chilling reminders of absolute catastrophe averted through sheer luck. Given the poor condition of so many of these buildings, the government’s prime challenge now is to keep the safety of children and staff absolutely paramount.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said it “beggars belief” that ministers still lacked a clear plan to deal with deteriorating school buildings. “We urgently need clarity from ministers on when Raac will be dealt with and a proper long-term plan to ensure the school estate is fit for purpose, both backed by the significant new funding that will be needed. This should be a top priority for next week’s autumn statement.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We do not accept the committee’s assessment – the government has taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with Raac to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers. We have now gathered questionnaire responses from all education settings in the affected areas. The vast majority have no Raac and continue to provide full-time face-to-face education for all pupils.
‘Giving up is not an option’: Volunteer doctors at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital
By: Maram Humaid
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Abdelrahman Abu Shawish did not expect to be making life-altering decisions for his patients so soon after graduating from medical school at Gaza’s Azhar University.
The 25-year-old, who lives with his family in the Nuseirat refugee camp, began volunteering in the surgical department of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on October 10 and found himself deciding whether a wounded person requires a full or partial amputation of their limbs.
“The injuries that I saw in the [May] 2021 war more or less looked the same,” he told Al Jazeera. “But this time around, I’ve seen so many different types, from varying degrees of burns to amputated limbs, to deep lacerations and different types of shrapnel.”
The hospital, which was meant to serve the central town of Deir el-Balah, has become the Gaza Strip’s main treatment facility due to the complete collapse of hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza.
Nearly two-thirds of the strip’s hospitals – 26 out of 35 – have stopped functioning following weeks of bombardment by Israeli forces on the territory, which began on October 7. At least 1.5 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes and the massive aerial and ground assault on Gaza has destroyed much of its infrastructure, including more than half the homes.
Furthermore, the total siege imposed by Israel on the enclave means hospitals have run out of fuel, electricity and clean water.
“We have very limited medical supplies,” Abu Shawish said. “When dozens of wounded people come to the hospital as a result of an Israeli attack, we often can’t treat them all at once because we need to sterilise our tools as we don’t have enough.”
The lack of resources means doctors can do little more than the minimum required to keep their patients alive. Proper treatment is out of the question.
“We’re unable to remove all the shrapnel from a wounded person’s body, only the pieces that threaten their lives,” Abu Shawish explained. “That’s still dangerous, as shrapnel can cause infections that lead to multiple organ failure, but we hope they can follow up once the war is over.”
The young doctor, who had studied German in preparation for going to Germany for his residency, said he has had to downgrade his aspirations for his career.
“I had big dreams before the war but now I just hope for me and my family to stay alive,” he said.
A Ceasefire Deal With Hamas Would Be a Mistake
By: Daniel Greenfield
Terrorists and insurgents have one defensive strategy. When faced with superior force and numbers, they pull back, melt into the civilian population, and wait for a nation-state to exhaust itself and tire of hunting them.
Taking out a terrorist group requires moving fast, being agile, gaining the element of surprise and choking off exits for the terrorists.
After a fairly slow start, Israel showed it had a good handle on speed and agility in ground attacks. It bypassed Hamas kill zones and took key Hamas infrastructure. But the problem is that Hamas is not a conventional military and seizing territory and infrastructure counts for only so much unless it’s used to choke off the movement of terrorists.
And then finish them.
Qatar, a state sponsor of Hamas, has been pushing for a ‘ceasefire’ deal in which some (not all) hostages will be traded for an extended ceasefire of a number of days. Hamas supporters around the world have been frenziedly chanting “ceasefire”.
The goal is the same.
Why does Hamas want a ceasefire? It needs time and space to escape the trap that Israel spent time and blood constructing.
Giving it to them would be a strategic disaster.
The lesson of Al-Shifa hospital is that trying to conduct a humanitarian assault doesn’t work. Certainly if Israel hopes to militarily free hostages, it can’t slowly edge its way toward its goal while offering every possible humanitarian concession. Israel has to strike quickly and unexpectedly. A difficult thing to do in urban ground warfare already.
Hamas bet that it could wait out Israel’s response. It did so in the past. Why not again?
The Biden administration would like a hostage deal and it’s not shy about dealing with terrorists. Qatar is exploiting that. And Israel’s government has internal divisions. Benny Gantz has emphasized that the war will go on until “our sons and daughters come home.” That’s a hostage release scenario. Not Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas.
And we’ve already seen from Al-Shifa hospital that Hamas will kill hostages if it can’t use them as leverage.
The only way to justify this operation is to pin Hamas in place and destroy it. The failure to do that will drag this out until international pressure forces an end to it. Hamas forces will slip away, regroup and relaunch their operations.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/a-ceasefire-deal-with-hamas-would-be-a-mistake/
Everybody Loves Islam
By: Robert Spencer
After Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, all the various factions of the world rushed to show how much they loved and admired not the victims of the attacks, and certainly not the state that they lived in, but instead, the belief system and ideology that inspired and motivated the attacks themselves: Islam. Left, right, and center, everybody loves Islam now, and that love is growing more intense by the day.
The left, of course, has loved Islam for many years now. Even before 9/11, Islamic groups such as the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) adopted the left’s tactic of charging that all critics of Islam, including even foes of jihad terror who were simply exposing the motives and goals of the terrorists, with “racism” and “bigotry.” Muslims, CAIR and its allies contended, were an oppressed class, victimized for being “brown,” despite the fact that there are Muslims, and Islamic jihadis, of all races. A new sin, “Islamophobia,” was invented to intimidate people into thinking it was somehow wrong to oppose jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women.
The left embraced this wholeheartedly, leading to a lasting alliance that has given us the winsome and patriotic Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Ramallah), and a society-wide fear of the personal and professional ruin that can come from being accused of “Islamophobia.” This alliance is showing some signs of strain lately over the left’s obsession with normalizing insanity, sexual deviance, and perversity, but the Oct. 7 attack showed that the bond between the left and Islam is still strong. Leftists eagerly purvey Hamas’ propaganda about how many civilian casualties have resulted from Israel’s defensive action in Gaza, and Israel is drawing increasing fire from leftist leaders including Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
The strains in the leftist/Islamic alliance, meanwhile, have awakened a new love for Islam on the right. Many social conservatives have noted that Muslims are among the only groups in the U.S. standing up against the delusion that a man can become a woman and vice versa, and that those who wish to do so are of perfectly sound mind. Muslims are also among the few who are resisting the left’s insistence on placing pornography in primary schools. This has led some patriots to imagine that a new alliance can be formed between pious Muslims and social conservatives; this is, in fact, not a new idea on the right, but one that no less a luminary than Dinesh D’Souza advocated as far back as 2007.
The fallacy of this kind of thinking, however, is that even if Muslims are willing to make common cause with non-Muslim social conservatives, this will not lead them to abandon the tenets of their faith that call for them to make war against and subjugate unbelievers. The shared distaste for the left’s perversions and delusions cannot be and will not become the basis for a new accord that will allow Muslims and non-Muslims to live together in peace. The Islamic imperative to “fight them until persecution is no more and religion is all for Allah” (Qur’an 8:39) will remain.
Antisemites on the left and the right, meanwhile, have always loved Islam for its deep-rooted hostility to the Jews. The Qur’an even projects that hostility upon its target: “You will find the Jews and the idolaters the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe.” (Qur’an 5:82) We saw this most recently, and most revoltingly, demonstrated in the TikTok craze for Osama bin Laden’s 2002 letter to America, which excoriates the Jews for supposedly oppressing the Palestinians, and declares: “The first thing we are calling you to is Islam.” Nick Fuentes and others who have hijacked the “America First” slogan to contextualize and justify their Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred love Islam for being so tremendously negative toward the group for which they blame virtually everything. Marxist professors who have always hated Israel for being a standing rebuke to the left’s collectivism and destruction of individual cultures (and of individuality itself) love Islam for lending itself quite well to collectivism and hating Jews just as much as they do.
https://gellerreport.com/2023/11/everybody-loves-islam.html/
His Highness’ failure: What’s wrong with Britain’s Africa policy?
By: Staff
Symbolism has always been at the heart of the British monarchy. So, too, was King Charles III’s recent visit to Kenya, an East African nation gearing up to celebrate its sixth decade of independence from Britain.
For Charles and Camilla, the royal couple, the symbolism was obvious as Kenya was the place where Princess Elizabeth learned of her father’s death, which meant she was to become Queen. That was February 1952.
Britain and Germany together, again
A few months later, in October 1952, a state of emergency was declared in Kenya to put down the Mau Mau rebellion, perhaps the fiercest anti-colonial struggle in the history of the British Empire. The Mau Mau were seeking an end to colonial rule, a restitution of land rights, a return to native traditions, and an expulsion of foreigners from Kenya.
Foreigners first came to Kenya after 1886, when Britain and Germany signed a treaty to agree on their respective spheres of influence in East Africa, finalizing the deal by 1890. This fact is another piece of symbolism, as Germany’s current president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was vising Tanzania, once part of Deutsch-Ostafrika, at a time when Charles III was heading for Nairobi. Both were expected to offer an apology for their countries' wrongdoings during the colonial era.
In Kenya, these included not only the brutal suppression of the Mau Mau upheaval, which featured aerial bombings, mass deportations, even concentration camps, but also a broader legacy of white settlement. Fertile lands and an accommodating climate in the central uplands attracted the attention of British administrators, who believed Kenya could be more than a colony but “a territory admirably suited for a white man’s country.”
Incidentally, the country’s White Highlands were even deemed convenient for a Jewish homeland, with Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain inviting a special “investigatory commission” of Herzl’s Zionist organization in 1903. This, however, was met with resentment from British settlers, who were coming to Kenya in increasing numbers, especially after World War I. This was facilitated by the Crown Lands Ordinance of 1915, legislation that essentially snatched away any rights that Kenya's indigenous population had to their land.
Kenya soon became Britain’s first colony to enfranchise women, albeit with the goal of consolidating the dominance of the European minority over the African population, whose interests were still represented by a nominated member of the Legislative Council, sure to be of European origin.
When the teacher Eliud Mathu was appointed as the first African member of the body in 1944, it was too late, as the local population was seeking another way to have their say. That year, the Kenya African Union was founded, with Jomo Kenyatta soon emerging at its helm. In 1951, they demanded independence by 1954, only to be rejected and banned. It was not until December 1963 that Kenya, through a quest“monstrous in its cruelty,” achieved its independence, the last in East Africa to so do.
https://www.rt.com/africa/587596-britain-in-africa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Heathrow passengers face flight disruption due to strong winds and staff shortages
By: Staff
Strong winds and staff shortages have led to temporary flight restrictions at the UK's busiest airport causing passenger delays.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it was working to minimise disruption at Heathrow caused by weather conditions and short notice absences in the tower.
Passengers have been encouraged to check with their airline for information updates.
NATS said in a statement: "Due to short notice staff absence in the tower and strong winds at Heathrow, temporary ATC (air traffic control) restrictions are currently in place.
"We expect the situation to improve this afternoon.
"We are working hard to minimise disruption, working closely with Heathrow airport and airlines.
"Passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline.
"Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to ensure safety and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "Strong wind is forecast today, while there may be minor changes to today's schedule as a result of the weather, we want to reassure passengers that our colleagues are working in close collaboration with our airline and air traffic control partners to get them safely on their journeys as quickly as possible.
"We encourage passengers to check with their airline for the latest information."
British Airways said: "Air traffic control restrictions imposed on all airlines at London Heathrow mean we've had to make some adjustments to our short-haul schedule.
Tense DR Congo election campaign kicks off
By: Staff
Around 44 million registered voters, out of a population of almost 100 million, are set to elect a president on December 20.
They will also choose between tens of thousands of candidates for legislative and local bodies in a country with vast natural resources but endemic conflict and corruption.
A "pre-campaign" has been underway for a while, with President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term, attending several public events while his allies vaunt his record.
With the start of the official campaign, big rallies, media interviews, giant posters and handing out flyers will be allowed.
On opening day, Tshisekedi held a rally at the Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, which was filled to its capacity of 80,000 people despite steady rain.
"He tells the truth, and he's the only one who is starting to do things," said Papa Kalombo, a Kinshasa official for the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which backs the incumbent.
One of Tshisekedi's main challengers, Martin Fayulu, who claims he was robbed of victory in 2018, addressed a rally in a nearby province.
"The time has come to transform Congo," Fayulu told the crowd.
In total there were a record 25,832 candidates for the legislative elections, 44,110 for provincial bodies and 31,234 for municipal councils, according to the Electoral Commission (CENI).
Disney is Losing its Past and its Future
By: Daniel Greenfield
The Marvels bombed horrendously and deservedly. And even more sadly for Disney, it couldn’t even manage to raise the usual outcry of “sexism, racism, Islamophobia” because about the only people who went to see it were white men.
And not that many of them.
What happened to The Marvels raises bigger issues because Marvel Comics had been a reliable source of movies and streaming television products that were making Disney very rich. (The actual comics don’t sell so well anymore.)
But superhero movies, despite being everywhere, are performing worse and worse. The Marvels isn’t an exception, it’s the bottom of a trend line. And there’s an ominous statistic in its failure.
As reported by IndieWire, tracking data for the studio’s latest release, The Marvels, states only 19 per cent of the opening weekend audience was between ages 18-24. 30 per cent, however, was in the 25-34 bracket, while only 8 per cent were between ages 13-17.
As noted by the outlet, 40 per cent of the audience for the film’s 2019 predecessor, Captain Marvel, was aged 18-24. This data suggests Gen-Z (defined as people born in the late ’90s and early 2000s) might be losing interest in the output of Marvel Studios.
Teens are less likely to go to movies, but this is still a sharp drop. And inevitable.
The Marvel movies are zombie pop culture left over from a previous generation. That’s exactly the kind of thing that teens are likely to reject.
This is bad news for Disney because its whole reason for taking over Marvel Comics was to supply itself with a treasure chest of IP that would allow it to get a lock on male teens. And for a while it seemed to be working.
Not so much anymore.
After spending a fortune on Marvel and Star Wars, Disney may not have much of a Plan B.
As I noted previously, Disney’s money is coming from ‘Disney Adults’. Childless millennials. And there’s a big problem there because aging millennials are becoming more conservative and on the other end, teens aren’t buying into its two big properties. On the one end, millennials are going to drop the woke versions that Disney makes. But Disney’s making them in the hopes of luring teens who are perceived to be more woke, but they’re staying away.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/disney-is-losing-its-past-and-its-future/
US looking to deny visas to Israelis who attack Palestinians
By: Israel National News
Politico reports that US President Joe Biden directed officials in his administration to prepare visa bans and sanctions for Israelis who attack Palestinian Arabs.
A memo to aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”
Parts of the memo became known after President Biden’s op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.
The Biden administration has defended Israel's operation in Gaza, but has also pushed for Israel to take a stronger stance against Israeli civilians attacking Palestinians. Recently, some of Biden's party have called.for restrictions or conditions on US aid to Israel.
The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”
The memo notes that the administration views these attacks as a serious issue liable to destabilize the Middle East as a whole. It was issued after intense debate among President Biden's cabinet.
Yair Netanyahu shares posts casting blame for Oct. 7 on courts, security services
By: TOI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair shared posts on his Telegram account on Saturday that cast blame on the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet and the High Court for the failures leading to the devastating October 7 assault by Hamas.
Yair Netanyahu, who moved to Miami earlier this year and has stayed there despite the war in Israel, shared a clip on “how the High Court changed the security arrangements and the instructions for opening fire on the border of the Gaza Strip.”
The clip featured a video of an attorney from the Kohelet Policy Forum, the conservative think tank whose ideas formed the ideological basis of the government’s contentious judicial overhaul program.
Yair also shared a screen grab of an unsourced news item from the Kan public broadcaster on October 2 that stated: “The message sent by the Shin Bet and the IDF to the political echelon: In order to preserve peace in the Gaza Strip — economic operations for Gaza must continue.”
The premier’s son also shared with his 14,000 subscribers a headline from a Channel 12 report on surveillance soldiers who warned of Hamas activity on Gaza border for months before the onslaught, but were ignored by their commanders.
He also disparaged journalists for “asking political questions and carrying out polls,” an apparent reference to recent surveys showing a nosedive in support for the premier and his Likud party.
Yair later claimed that Channel 12 was inciting against him for first reporting the stories he was sending in his Telegram channel.
The prime minister’s son has moved to Florida, reportedly after Netanyahu and his wife demanded that he stop posting on social media and not speak directly with lawmakers or ministers amid accusations he was inflaming tensions in Israel and exacerbating a diplomatic rift with the United States.
He has faced criticism for remaining in the US despite the outbreak of war, as tens of thousands of Israelis returned home to join the over 300,000 reservists initially called up.
Last week the premier said, after a reportedly planted question in a press conference, that Yair was volunteering in the US and acquiring equipment for the military and emergency services.
Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to publicly take responsibility for the failures that led to the Hamas massacre, saying instead that it will be investigated after the war.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu reportedly appeared to intimate that protests by reserve soldiers against his coalition’s judicial overhaul legislation earlier this year may have been a factor in the Hamas’s decision to launch its brutal incursion on October 7, in an apparent attempt to deflect responsibility for failures that led to the slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel and the abduction of over 240 to Gaza, and the ongoing war with the terror group.
He later denied making any such comments.
Several Hebrew media outlets have reported that Netanyahu believes that, after the war, Israel must probe any connection between “insubordination” in the military and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s motivation to launch the deadly onslaught, referring to some reservists’ refusal to show up for reserve duty before the war in protest of his government’s polarizing judicial overhaul package.
Smotrich to Gallant: Security officials working to replace Hamas with PA
By: Israel National News
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sent Defense Minister Yoav Gallant a letter in which he claimed that the defense establishment is already planning for "the day after" the war against Hamas and that the officials who are in charge of the issue have adopted the policy of replacing Hamas with the Palestinian Authority as the rulers of the Gaza Strip. According to Smotrich, this goes against the decisions of the Cabinet.
In the letter, which was published by Israel Hayom, Smotrich stated that "From the information I have received, it appears that parts of the security system have begun to formulate the position of the State of Israel for the day after victory in the war. At the political level, they have consciously decided not to deal with the question of 'the day after' at the moment. The Justice Minister and the security establishment do not have the authority to do this themselves, to put the cart before the horse and determine facts on the ground in preparation for the replacement of Hamas by the Palestinian Authority in Gaza."
Smotrich added that "we will deal with the issue of the administration of the Strip after we, God-willing, achieve victory in Gaza. Dealing with this issue and this stage will inevitably cause internal disputes and bring us into conflict with the American government, which will harm our national resilience and degrade our ability to win and achieve our goals in this war. For this reason, I am not currently dealing with the question of the day after. However, I cannot accept a situation in which, while we act responsibly and avoid dealing with questions that may cause controversy, there will be someone who will take advantage of this to promote their own agendas, deal with it from their point of view and put the State of Israel on a dangerous path that will be difficult to extricate ourselves from."
Populist challenges economy minister in Argentina's presidential runoff
By: News Wires
Populist Javier Milei, an upstart candidate who got his start as a television talking head, has frequently been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He faces Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the Peronist party, which has been a leading force in Argentine politics for decades.
On Massa's watch, inflation has soared to more than 140% and poverty has increased. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, proposes to slash the size of the state and rein in inflation, while Massa has warned people about the negative impacts of such policies.
The highly polarizing election is forcing many to decide which of the two they consider to be the least bad option.
“Whatever happens in this election will be incredible," said Lucas Romero, director of local political consultancy Synopsis. “It would be incredible for Massa to win in this economic context or for Milei to win facing a candidate as professional as Massa."
Voting stations opened at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close 10 hours later. Voting is conducted with paper ballots, making the count unpredictable, but initial results were expected around three hours after polls close.
Milei went from blasting the country’s “political caste” on TV to winning a lawmaker seat two years ago. The economist's screeds resonated widely with Argentines angered by their struggle to make ends meet, particularly young men.
“Money covers less and less each day. I’m a qualified individual, and my salary isn’t enough for anything,” Esteban Medina, a 26-year-old physical therapist from Ezeiza, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a Milei rally earlier this week.
Massa, as one of the most prominent figures in a deeply unpopular administration, was once seen as having little chance of victory. But he managed to mobilize the networks of his Peronist party and clinched a decisive first-place finish in the first round of voting.
His campaign has cautioned Argentines that his libertarian opponent's plan to eliminate key ministries and otherwise sharply curtail the state would threaten public services, including health and education, and welfare programs many rely on. Massa has also drawn attention to his opponent's often aggressive rhetoric and has openly questioned his mental acuity; ahead of the first round, Milei sometimes carried a revving chainsaw at rallies.
Massa's “only chance to win this election when people want change … is to make this election a referendum on whether Milei is fit to be president or not,” said Ana Iparraguirre, partner at pollster GBAO Strategies.
Milei has accused Massa and his allies of running a “campaign of fear” and he has walked back some of his most controversial proposals, such as loosening gun control. In his final campaign ad, Milei looks at the camera and assures voters he has no plans to privatize education or health care.
Most pre-election polls, which have been notoriously wrong at every step of this year’s campaign, show a statistical tie between the two candidates. Voters for first-round candidates who didn’t make the runoff will be key. Patricia Bullrich, who placed third, has endorsed Milei.
Javier Rojas, a 36-year-old pediatrician who voted for Bullrich in October, told The Associated Press he's leaning toward Milei, then added: “Well, to be honest, it’s more of a vote against the other side than anything else.”
Underscoring the bitter division this campaign has brought to the fore, Milei received both jeers and cheers on Friday night at the legendary Colón Theater in Buenos Aires.
The vote takes place amid Milei's allegations of possible electoral fraud, reminiscent of those from Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Without providing evidence, Milei claimed that the first round of the presidential election was plagued by irregularities that affected the result. Experts say such irregularities cannot swing an election, and that his assertions are partly aimed at firing up his base and motivating his supporters to become monitors of voting stations.
Such claims spread widely on social media and, at Milei’s rally in Ezeiza earlier this week, all those interviewed told the AP they were concerned about the integrity of the vote.
Russian electric SUV launches on domestic market
By: Updates
EV maker MotorInvest has begun mass production of its latest Evolute model
Russian electric vehicle maker MotorInvest has launched production of its latest SUV model, the Evolute i-SKY, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.
The vehicle, a mid-size crossover SUV with a range of over 500km on a single charge, will be assembled by MotorInvest at a factory in Lipetsk Region. The car is already available to order, with prices starting from nearly 4 million rubles ($45,000), according to the manufacturer’s website.
MotorInvest started production of electric vehicles in Russia in September 2022. Its Evolute brand also includes vehicles such as the i-Pro sedan, i-JOY compact crossover, and i-VAN minivan. All the cars are based on Chinese models made by Dongfeng and Sokon.
The Russian company has said it expects to sell a total of 7,500 cars this year and 12,000 vehicles in 2024.
Up until 2019, the factory in Lipetsk Region had assembled cars for Chinese brands Great Wall and Changan. It has the capacity to produce more than 100,000 electric cars annually.
The Russian automotive industry, which was heavily reliant on investment and equipment from abroad, suffered a crisis last year due to the exodus of foreign manufacturers amid Ukraine-related Western sanctions.
However, Chinese brands have since filled the void left by departing Western carmakers. Production was launched recently at a plant in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which previously assembled German BMWs and South Korean Hyundai and Kia cars.
https://thepressunited.com/updates/russian-electric-suv-launches-on-domestic-market/
Bolsonaro under investigation for ‘harassing’ humpback whale
By: Tom Phillips
Federal police are investigating Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for yet another suspected misdeed: “harassing” a humpback whale while taking a public holiday spin on his jetski.
Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental policies earned him the nickname “Captain Chainsaw” during a four-year administration characterised by soaring destruction of the Amazon. But the far-right ex-president’s latest suspected environmental offence reportedly occurred in the waters off Brazil’s south-eastern coastline near the town of São Sebastião.
It was there in June that a man resembling Bolsonaro was seemingly spotted – and filmed – about 15 metres from a humpback whale that had surfaced.
“The man, thought to be Bolsonaro, was shooting a video with a mobile phone as the whale performed aerial behaviours suggesting distress or discomfort,” the news website iG reported.
Brazilian legislation outlaws “the deliberate harassment of any species of cetacean” such as dolphins or humpback whales, which are called baleias jubarte in the South American country.
According to rules enforced by the environmental agency Ibama, vessels with their engines running must not come within 100 metres of such animals. Seafarers are also forbidden from chasing or invading the space of pods of dolphins or whales, or making “excessive noise – such as music, any kind of percussion or other [sounds] … within 300 metres of any cetacean”.
Another rightwing politician was recently fined 2,500 reais (£410) for committing a similar offence in the same region. Just over a decade ago, Bolsonaro himself was fined for illegal fishing within a marine reserve off the Rio de Janeiro coastline. As president, critics accused him of deliberately dismantling environmental protections with catastrophic consequences for nature.
One year after losing power, Bolsonaro is facing a multitude of investigations into suspected crimes, including plotting a coup against his leftwing successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, misappropriating expensive jewels and faking Covid vaccination records. Some believe the politician, who has been banned from seeking election until 2030, could eventually end up in jail.
On Saturday, the ex-president dismissed the humpback whale inquiry as another example of political persecution from Brazilian politicians and environmentalists. “Every day they accuse me of some kind of mischief. Yesterday it was hounding whales,” Bolsonaro told supporters, before making a disparaging remark about Brazil’s justice minister, Flávio Dino, whom he likened to a whale.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/19/jair-bolsonaro-under-investigation-humpback-whale
UK Government Keeping Dossiers on Critics – Reports
By: Sputnik
A dozen departments in the United Kingdom have been profiling government critics in order to block them from speaking at public events, UK media have found.
The Observer revealed on Saturday that 15 departments, including the departments of health, culture, media and sport, and environment, food and rural affairs, were running checks on experts and occasionally disinviting them from government-funded events.
Guidelines, seen by the paper, told officials to monitor social media of potential invitees as well as look through a minimum of five to 10 pages of Google search results on them covering a period of three to five years, and keep that information “for future reference.”
The Observer broke the story about the Department for Education vetting its speakers in October but the true scale of the profiling was uncovered only recently by human rights experts at law firm Leigh Day.
Tessa Gregory, partner at Leigh Day, argued that such hidden checks were unlawful and running contrary to data protection laws.
“This is likely to have impacted large numbers of individuals, many of whom won’t know civil servants hold secret files on them. Such practices are extremely dangerous,” she told the Observer.
Dan Kaszeta, a chemical weapons expert, hired Leigh Day to take the government to judicial review after learning that he was disinvited from a UK defense conference in April for writing critical posts online. He said he knew other victims of government blacklisting, most of whom were frightened of speaking out.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/uk-government-keeping-dossiers-on-critics-reports/
Arizona State University cancels event with Rashida Tlaib after she defends destruction of Israel
By: Collin Jones
Arizona State University has apparently decided to cancel its event with U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, someone who has called for the complete annihilation of Israel.
Tlaib has come under fire from colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives for suggesting that Hamas was right to launch the attack on October 7, and that the complete destruction of the Jewish state is a good thing. The New York Post reported that the now-canceled event was put on by the Arizona Palestine Network, which is not affiliated with the university.
The event was apparently canceled because the group did not follow the appropriate procedures. Tlaib was supposed to speak on Friday about how the issue in Palestine is an American issue.
The cancellation comes as several colleges and universities around the U.S. have been forced to address the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as student-led groups and faculty have expressed anti-Semitic rhetoric in their support of Palestine.
A spokesperson for the Arizona Palestine Network told Fox News Digital that "[t]he event featuring Congresswoman Tlaib was planned and produced by groups not affiliated with ASU and was organized outside of ASU policies and procedures. Accordingly, that event will not take place today on the ASU Tempe campus."
However, the Arizona Palestine Network believed the university's decision to be unacceptable, claiming that "Rashida Tlaib must be heard on campus as the only Palestinian member of Congress who plans to speak on an American issue at this event."
"ASU cannot claim to hold free speech as a principle while denying Palestinians their voices on campus. Cancelling this event puts the university in direct contradiction with its charter as a university ‘measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed,'" the group said.
Blaze News reported earlier this week that Tlaib appears to have garnered steep disapproval of the Jewish community in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. And it does not appear she has made an effort to reach out to the Jewish community there.
Since Hamas' brutal attack on Jewish civilians in early October, Tlaib has refused to condemn the attack, instead launching criticisms at Israel for its response to the attack.
The Economist Depicts Trump as the “Biggest Danger to the World” in 2024
By: Jason Walsh
British newspaper The Economist depicted former President Trump as the “biggest danger to the world” in 2024 in their latest cover.
The Economist’s upcoming November publication, a “90-Page Guide to the coming year,” features an image of the earth engulfed by Trump’s silhouette.
The article’s headline is “Donald Trump poses the biggest danger to the world in 2024.”
The text of the article, which is laughable, warns about how “perilous” a Trump second term would be.
“A shadow looms over the world. In this week’s edition we publish The World Ahead 2024, our 38th annual predictive guide to the coming year, and in all that time no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as Donald Trump eclipses 2024. That a Trump victory next November is a coin-toss probability is beginning to sink in,” the article stated.
It continued:
“For decades Democrats have relied on support among Black and Hispanic voters, but a meaningful number are abandoning the party. In the next 12 months, a stumble by either candidate could determine the race—and thus upend the world.”
“This is a perilous moment for a man like Mr. Trump to be back knocking on the door of the Oval Office. Democracy is in trouble at home. Mr Trump’s claim to have won the election in 2020 was more than a lie: it was a cynical bet that he could manipulate and intimidate his compatriots, and it has worked.”
Axios reported on the article:
Why it matters: The respected 180-year-old British newspaper said a “second Trump term would be a watershed in a way the first was not” and the “fate of the world” will depend on the ballots of “tens of thousands of voters in just a handful of states” in the 2024 presidential election.
Details: The Economist said in its annual “World Ahead” guide Thursday that another four years of Trump in the White House would be “more damaging” than his previous term.
“China and its friends would rejoice over the evidence that American democracy is dysfunctional” and Beijing “could easily miscalculate over Taiwan, with catastrophic consequences.”
And Russian President Vladimir Putin “would have an incentive to fight on in Ukraine and to pick off former Soviet countries such as Moldova or the Baltic states,” according to the outlet.
Of note: The “greatest threat” Trump poses “is to his own country,” the Economist argues. The “moral authority” of the U.S. would decline “because America will have voted him in while knowing the worst.”
While “pursuing his enemies,” Trump “will wage war on any institution that stands in his way, including the courts and the Department of Justice,” the Economist said.
The big picture: The former president, who faces 91 criminal charges across four separate jurisdictions, has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims trying to tie the prosecutors and others to Biden.
https://www.dailyfetched.com/the-economist-depicts-trump-as-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024/
Arab Nations Won’t Clean Up Israel’s ‘Mess’ – Jordan
By: RT
Arab nations have no plans to put boots on the ground in Gaza as part of post-conflict peacebuilding after the fighting between Israel and Hamas ends, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in Bahrain on Saturday. The Arab world would not “clean the mess” supposedly created by Israel, he added.
The post-conflict fate of the Palestinian enclave has emerged as a pressing topic amid the continued fighting between Israel and the Gaza-based Hamas militant group. In early November, roughly a month into the escalation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country would manage “overall security” in Gaza for an “indefinite” period of time after hostilities end.
At the same time, even Israel’s closest allies opposed the idea of what they called “occupation” and a “blockade” of the enclave. Last week, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that there should be “no reoccupation of Gaza” and “no attempts to blockade or besiege” it. The enclave should not be “a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks” either, he added.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the US and the EU were pushing for UN peacekeeping forces in the enclave after the end of the Israeli operation. On Monday, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that a post-conflict peacebuilding framework should be developed “in collaboration with the United States and Arab states.”
Minister Safadi insisted on Saturday that a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians would be the only way forward. “Let me be very clear. I know speaking on behalf of Jordan but having discussed this issue with many, with almost all our brethren, there’ll be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. We’re not going to be seen as the enemy,” the foreign minister said.
He also accused the current Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, of aiming to dislodge Palestinians from Gaza. The foreign minister also called such plans a “direct threat” to Jordan’s national security.
The Arab nation’s top diplomat then said that any real plans for post-conflict peacebuilding could only be drawn after the end of the Israeli operation. “How could anybody talk about the future of Gaza when we do not know what kind of Gaza will be left once this aggression ends?” Safadi asked.
West Jerusalem’s military operation in Gaza has been ongoing since October 7, when Hamas launched its own surprise attack against Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. More than 200 people, including both military and civilians, as well as foreign nationals, were taken hostage in the Hamas attack.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/arab-nations-wont-clean-up-israels-mess-jordan/
Just Stop Oil: cosplay radicals
By: Michael Pearce
Diego Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus, the gorgeous 17th-century masterpiece depicting the goddess, Venus, lying naked and vulnerable in her bedroom, has once again been assaulted.
Last week, two misguided Just Stop Oil activists managed to shatter the glass protecting the painting in London’s National Gallery. They presented themselves and JSO as the heroic comrades of Suffragette Mary Richardson, who famously slashed the canvas of the painting with a meat cleaver in 1914, in retaliation for the arrest of fellow Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.
JSO seems to be indulging in a cosplay fantasy, in which there is some equivalence between its anti-oil posturing and the Suffragettes’ campaign for the enfranchisement of women. After fracturing the glass, the protesters even directly invoked the Suffragettes, claiming that ‘Women did not get the vote by voting. It is time for deeds, not words.’ The historical analogy is absurd. The Suffragettes fought to emancipate half the population. JSO wants to impoverish the whole world.
And what kind of ‘deed’ was this lame assault on the Goddess of Love anyway? The attack stank of performative pretension. The axe-wielding Richardson’s ferocious attack was poetic in its sublime destruction and spectacular in its scale. She enacted her attack as a metaphor for the patriarchal establishment’s imprisonment and abuse of Emmeline Pankhurst. Real symbolic purpose lay behind Richardson’s use of the Rokeby Venus as her target.
As she told the press at the time, ‘I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the government for destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history’. Richardson argued that those who expressed outrage over her deed were hypocrites ‘so long as they allow the destruction of Mrs Pankhurst and other beautiful living women’. There was a political power to Richardson’s performance, a potency to her ‘deed’.
Contrast her act of rebellion with JSO’s. The two privileged activists tapped ineffectually at the glass with tiny hammers, just about causing it to break. Where Richardson was forceful, these two were insipid. And their statements to the press were weaker still.
Unlike the Suffragettes, JSO is not driven by any popular support. This assault on the Rokeby Venus was funded by patronising, super-rich Americans. According to its website, Just Stop Oil is financed by a Los Angeles-based activist organisation called the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF). It’s run not by people with any scientific expertise, but by bobo Americans seeking to impose their theatrical fantasies of catastrophe and annihilation upon the British people.
Oil heiress Aileen Getty founded the CEF with a $1million donation, perhaps seeking redemption for her gilded life as a trust-funded beneficiary of the empire built by her grandfather, J Paul Getty. The CEF’s co-founder, film director Adam McKay, reportedly ‘pledged’ a $4million gift to the fund. McKay’s smugly apocalyptic and fear-mongering Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, Don’t Look Up, glibly parodied what he believes to be the world’s indifference to climate change.
Then there’s clinical psychologist Margaret Klein Salamon, the executive director of the CEF. She has written jargon-laden polemics about the collapse of the environment in the ghastly prose of the worst American self-help books. Her Facing the Climate Emergency promises therapy-seeking readers desperate for self-affirmation that they will transform themselves and find validation in ‘climate truth’.
The CEF is backed by an all-women board who surely imagine themselves to be latter-day followers of Pankhurst. These condescending Californian propagandists include deep-pocketed social-justice warrior and documentary producer Geralyn Dreyfous, and her showbusiness friends, Shannon O’Leary Joy and Rory Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F Kennedy. The solitary former scientist among these monied deck-dwellers is Rose Zheng Abramoff, a former associate researcher at the US Department of Energy’s nuclear-power institute, Oak Ridge National Lab. Abramoff was fired after only a year at the laboratory for disrupting an academic conference with a staged protest demanding that her colleagues take to the streets.
There is no connection between Venus and oil, and there is no symbolism to JSO’s actions, no cultural resonance. The activists’ reference to a Suffragette once attacking the same painting is a desperate attempt to give JSO’s actions some meaning. But this is stolen valour, as shameful as wearing someone else’s medals.
Just Stop Oil has misunderstood symbolism, and turned the British public against it and its American overlords. The Suffragette campaign aimed to improve representative democracy. The Just Stop Oil campaign is merely a means for the limousine-liberals of the Climate Emergency Fund to burnish their narcissism. They know nothing of the lives of Britons and less about the depth of their treachery to Venus.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/11/13/just-stop-oil-cosplay-radicals/
Ex-Mossad deputy head: ‘Unrealistic’ to say Iran didn’t know of Hamas’s Oct. 7 plans
By: TOI Staff
The former deputy head of the Mossad Ehud Lavi said Sunday that he believed it was unlikely that Iran did not know in advance of the devastating assault on October 7 perpetrated by the Tehran-backed terror group Hamas.
“That such a significant, reality-changing event, like the attack on October 7, would happen without the Iranians knowing? That sounds unrealistic to me,” said Lavi, who led the Mossad’s daring operation to obtain Iran’s secret nuclear archive, which was revealed in 2018.
The former spy official told Channel 12 in his first public interview that “the top goal [of the war] should be the return of the hostages,” and that he trusted the professionals involved in the operation.
“I am not aware of what is happening behind the scenes, but I know that the intelligence, experience and hearts of the professionals involved are in the right place,” Lavi said. “However, at the end of the day, a decision like that is a political one, and always has been. The political echelon has to make this very tough decision.”
“They have to decide what to give up on, what price can be paid, and when to stop,” Lavi said. “I trust the prime minister, the defense minister and Minister Benny Gantz [who make up the war cabinet] to make the decisions, but they have a lot of considerations… We will be required to make concessions.”
Lavi, who was second in command at the spy agency until two years ago, said he believed Mossad head David Barnea, who is managing negotiations with Qatar for the potential release of hostages, is working “between the instructions he received, and the best deal he can get.”
“Barnea is an excellent professional who is also attentive to the political leadership. The central and top consideration should be the return of the abductees, even at the expense of other things,” Lavi said.
When asked about the apparent tension between ex-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and Barnea, with the former’s involvement in hostage negotiations, Lavi said he believed that Cohen would not have become involved without a nod from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Even when Yossi was the head of the National Security Council and was the head of the Mossad, [Netanyahu] sent people on unknown missions above his head and around the side,” Lavi said. “This is nothing new for Netanyahu. I am convinced that the prime minister knows about the channel that is being run in parallel to Barnea’s work. There is no way that Yossi would make such a move without Netanyahu’s knowledge.”
Lavi also said that Israel did not need to kill Hamas leaders immediately, and that it was an operation that could take time.
The former spy official cited the Mossad’s Operation Wrath of God, in which the agency methodically hunted down the senior terrorists it blamed for the killing of 11 Israelis at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
“In my opinion, the decision to eliminate Hamas is not limited in place and time, whether we kill [Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yahya] Sinwar today or in two months in whichever place he runs to, if he does, or whether we kill [leader Ismail] Haniyeh in two months or during the fighting,” Lavi said. “What matters is that all Hamas leaders should realize that they are vulnerable everywhere, whenever the State of Israel decides.”
Since Hamas’s onslaught on October 7 and the subsequent war inside Gaza, where Israel seeks to topple the ruling terror group, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has conducted and overseen daily assaults on Israel’s northern border from Lebanon, but has stopped short of launching a full-scale campaign.
Israel, too, has attempted to walk a fine line, responding with significant firepower to attacks and attempted attacks, while trying to avoid actions that would escalate the conflict as it seeks to keep its focus on Gaza.
“[Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah] is a very experienced man, who pretends and boasts that he knows us very well — that he has intelligence officers that know what I am thinking, what the public and politicians are thinking. A boast that for years has been shown to be correct,” Lavi said.
“At the same time, I now think he should check with his intelligence officers whether he is not crossing the line… It would be a mistake on Nasrallah’s part to think that we are in the same place as on October 7,” he said.
“The State of Israel has the ability to wage a two-front war,” Lavi said. “At the same time, it is clear that it is better for Israel to conduct one campaign after the other. We will have to calculate the time, the damage and the risk — how long we will be prepared to absorb the escalating harassment [from Lebanon].
“In my personal estimation, Iran has very big assets that it could lose if it engages Hezbollah in a campaign against us when the Americans are here. I assess that the Iranians are telling themselves that the Americans will wipe out everything they have built for years. But the situation is dynamic,” he said.
‘Squad’ Socialist Ilhan Omar to Face Solid Primary Challenger
By: Brandon Poulter
(Daily Caller)—Former Democratic Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels announced Sunday that he will attempt to unseat Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, according to The Associated Press.
Samuels previously challenged Omar in August 2022, a race in which he was narrowly defeated, garnering 48.2% support to Omar’s 50.3%. Samuels called Omar, a member of the ‘Squad,’ divisive and believes a more moderate option is needed, according to the AP.
“Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict,” Samuels told the AP.
“She has frightened the Jewish community,” Samuels told the AP. He further pointed to a “latent and lurking antisemitic sentiment that always needs discouragement, and always in times of national crisis raises its ugly head.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi offered a late endorsement to Omar in the 2022 race, but the Jamaican-born Samuels also received significant endorsement from local officials in Minneapolis.
“The long tails of the George Floyd and COVID issues continue, with empty storefronts and empty strip malls because people don’t want to invest anymore. They don’t think it’s safe,” Samuels told the AP.
Samuels opposed defunding the police following the death of George Floyd while Omar, on the other hand, called it a “policy demand,” according to the AP.
“I’m incredibly proud of the model of cogovernance we’ve built in the 5th District, which has included monthly town halls, routine constituent service resource fairs and a brand new district office,” Omar told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I’ve brought over $40 million to the district in the form of community projects—including a brand new affordable housing facility for veterans in Robbinsdale that I toured this weekend.”
“As a leader of the House Budget Committee and Progressive Caucus, I’ve continued to fight for the progressive values Minnesotans sent me to advocate for—whether it’s fighting to codify Roe v. Wade into law, pushing for historic climate legislation, addressing the opioid crisis or fighting for an assault weapons ban,” Omar continued.
Other declared candidates include Democrats Sarah Gad, an attorney, Tim Peterson, a military veteran, and one Republican, Dalia Al-Aqidi, an Iraqi-American journalist, according to the AP.
https://discernreport.com/squad-socialist-ilhan-omar-to-face-solid-primary-challenger/
Los Angeles County Approves New 'Office Of Food Equity'
By: Tyler Durden
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan this week to create a new Office of Food Equity to address what they call a growing problem of food insecurity in the region.
The measure, authored by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath, will build on the county’s Food Equity Roundtable, created in 2021 to bring together food companies with private and public charity groups. The coalition was funded by the Annenberg, the California Community, and the Weingart foundations.
According to Ms. Hahn, the new office will allow the county to improve the county’s food system.
“By creating the first-ever LA County Office of Food Equity, we can build on the work we already started with our partners, modernize our food system, and work toward a future where everyone in LA County can get the healthy food they need,” she said in a statement Nov. 7.
The roundtable, a two-year pilot program, integrates the county’s solutions for chronic food insecurity based on the principle that “just and equitable access to healthy and nutritious food is a human right.”
In a December 2022 report, the program compiled a list of recommendations to improve food access—such as addressing structural racism, ageism, and overall inequity—and identified populations who organizers say are disproportionately more vulnerable to food insecurity, including immigrant and transgender communities.
California residents living in poverty or who have lost jobs are already eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides monthly funds to buy food. In 2022, more than 4.6 million California residents—or about 1 in 8 people—received SNAP benefits, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute.
Volunteers at Laguna Niguel Presbyterian work with San Clemente-based Family Assistance Ministries in handing out food donations to a line of cars in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on Dec. 23, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
The state received nearly $14.5 billion in such benefits in 2022—about 142 percent more than in 2019.
However, food insecurity was much higher last year in Los Angeles County compared to the rest of the United States, according to the latest county and federal statistics.
In Los Angeles County, about 24 percent of households—nearly 1 in 4—were food insecure as of July 2022, statistics show.
“We know the need has only grown, particularly for communities of color who lack access to fresh food,” Ms. Horvath said in the Nov. 7 statement. “The Office of Food Equity will build on this successful public-private partnership model to continue to provide nutritious food to residents who are counting on us.”
Federal statistics show the number of households in the U.S. that were food insecure grew substantially in 2022 to 12.8 percent, or 17 million households. That meant 3.5 million more households were lacking food compared to the year before, when 10.2 percent reported food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Food insecurity in the U.S. declined in 2018, decreasing for the first time to 2007 levels, the USDA reported. Only 11 percent of U.S. households were food insecure in 2018, a decline from 11.8 in 2017, according to the agency.
Cinny Kennard, executive director of the Annenberg Foundation, said she hoped the new office would ensure all people get the food they need.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/los-angeles-county-approves-new-office-food-equity
Meet The Phony ‘Christian’ Group Trying To Take Down The New House Speaker
By: Hayden Ludwig
One of the activist left’s oldest projects is also its most devious: infiltrate, then undermine, the Christian church. Why? Because only Bible-believing evangelicals and Catholics stand between them and the total conquest of America.
It’s no wonder, then, that atheist mega-donors like George Soros have poured tens of millions of dollars into the effort over the past two decades. That political machine’s latest target is our new House speaker, Mike Johnson, R–La., a devout Baptist who unashamedly turns to the Bible for “my worldview — that’s what I believe.”
That’s enough to qualify Johnson as America’s “most dangerous Christian nationalist” and a “dangerous extremist,” according to the phony Christian group Faithful America, a key cog in the leftist attack machine.
Faithful America pretends to promote “Jesus’ message of good news” — what that means, the group won’t say — supposedly “hijacked by the religious right to serve a hateful political agenda,” “white supremacy,” and, horror of horrors, Christian nationalism.
Don’t be fooled. Faithful America was created by far-left activists to serve God-haters in the Democrat Party, courtesy of funding from Soros. Here’s the inside scoop.
Suella Braverman removed from post as UK Home Secretary
By: Yitz Goldberg
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided on Monday to remove Suella Braverman from her post as Home Secretary.
In addition, Prime Minister Sunak has appointed former Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary.
In a post on the Conservative Party's social media, it claims Sunak's reshuffle today "strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future".
Braverman has been a staunch supporter of both Israel and has gone to great lengths to protect the British Jewish community from rising antisemitism and has been under fire for such.
In an opinion column for The Times, the Home Secretary accused the police of "playing favorites" with how it handles controversial protests by showing a more lenient attitude to left-wing protesters than their right-wing counterparts.
In the piece, she compared pro-Palestinian demonstrations to Protestant marches in Northern Ireland - comments that were labeled "wholly offensive" and "ignorant" by one former Tory cabinet minister.
Critics - from both opposition parties and fellow Tory MPs - called Ms Braverman's comments "offensive" and "inflammatory". They pressured the Prime Minister to act after and accused Braverman of undermining the operational independence of - and public confidence in - the police.
This is the second time Braverman has lost the job of home secretary. Prime Minister Sunak reappointed her less than a week after she resigned from Liz Truss's government, breaking the ministerial code.
As mentioned, Braverman has been outspoken in support of Britain's Jewish community and has put forward initiatives to combat antisemitism in the kingdom.
Last month, several days after Hamas's massacre in southern Israel, the Home Secretary wrote to police leaders in England and Wales that the waving of Palestinian flags and other pro-Palestinian symbols "may not be legitimate" and could require police intervention after antisemitic demonstrators rejoiced in the streets of London over the massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.
“It is not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols and chants that are cause for concern. I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offense," Braverman wrote to the police officers.
What do Pacific people really think of China?
By: Denghua Zhang
China has been steadily increasing its footprint in the Pacific in recent years as it attempts to deepen its influence and challenge the traditionally strong relationships many countries have with the US and Australia.
But what do people in the Pacific think of China’s expanding interest and engagement in the region?
To find out, we conducted surveys with local residents in two countries where China has focused its outreach in recent years – Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Both countries have embraced a foreign policy professing to be a “friend to all and enemy to none.”
PNG is China’s principal diplomatic and trading partner in the region. Prime Minister James Marape just concluded a visit to Beijing where he and Chinese leaders discussed deepening their economic and security ties, including possibly establishing a common currency trading arrangement.
Solomon Islands’ relationship with China, meanwhile, has boomed since it abandoned its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in September 2019. China has made huge efforts to promote cooperation with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government on aid, trade, agriculture, health, fisheries and policing cooperation.
Beijing intends to develop this partnership to serve as a role model for other Pacific Island nations that still recognize Taiwan.
While the PNG and Solomon Islands governments welcome China’s growing engagement with their countries, however, our research found this wasn’t always the case with the local populations.
https://asiatimes.com/2023/11/what-do-pacific-people-really-think-of-china/
What Gaza might look like ‘the day after’ the war
By: Rob Geist Pinfold
Less than a week after Hamas’s devastating attacks on October 7, Israel’s intelligence ministry produced a chilling document. It advocated that Israel remove all of Gaza’s Palestinian population and forcibly resettle them in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.
In November, a poster advertising a far-right rally in Tel Aviv juxtaposed an image of two cherubic Jewish-Israeli children on a beach (presumably in a vision of a future Gaza) with the ominous policy prescriptions of “occupy, expel, settle.”
Most worryingly, a cabinet minister suggested that Israel could use nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip. Does this bellicose and dehumanizing rhetoric suggest that Israel’s long-term plan for Gaza is to ethnically cleanse the territory, or even commit genocide there?
There is scant evidence that Israel’s government has any intent or capability to achieve these unsettling goals. Israel’s regional and international partners – Egypt and the US – steadfastly reject any population transfer. Jordan has gone further, claiming that any such policy would constitute a “declaration of war.”
Turnout at the far-right Tel Aviv rally was negligible, and neither the minister who considered “nuking” Gaza, nor the intelligence ministry have any tangible input in Israel’s national security decision-making.
What is more likely is that Israel will indefinitely occupy parts of Gaza, while seeking to eschew responsibility for civilian governance elsewhere in the territory. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, himself claimed that “we don’t seek to govern Gaza”, but added that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) should have “overall security responsibility” in the territory for “an indefinite period.”
This strategy is unsurprising, given that Israel has pursued it in all of its diverse occupations to date. These experiences provide a projection of what Israel’s planned “day after Hamas” scenario in Gaza might look like.
https://asiatimes.com/2023/11/what-gaza-might-look-like-the-day-after-the-war/
The Anti-White Racism Governing The Democrat Party Inevitably Spawns Violence
By: B.L Hahn
For the last seven months, many wondered why the Covenant School shooter’s manifesto remained hidden. On March 27, a trans shooter massacred six people at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, including three 9-year-old children.
After several pages from the manifesto were leaked on Monday, those who suggested that politics were at play are feeling vindicated. The shooter ranted and raved about the “white privilege” of the students and referred to them as “crackers,” a racist term used to describe whites. It would be a miraculous coincidence if these details were unrelated to the Herculean effort to hide the manifesto from the public.
Although we only have a few pages, it doesn’t really matter what else the shooter wrote. Even if the shooter went on a racist rant against another demographic, she ultimately targeted white children for execution and did so based on their skin color.
Another Government Agency Secretly Plans to Follow Biden’s Election Executive Order
By: Fred Lucas
(Daily Signal)—The Biden administration continues to shield from the public its plans for federal agencies to turn out the vote, citing “presidential communications and deliberative process privilege.”
Newly released emails, however, demonstrate the focus of the White House and various government departments on registering voters and getting them out.
In a response to a request by The Daily Signal under the Freedom of Information Act, the General Services Administration refused to provide its strategic plan for implementing President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14019.
Biden signed the order in March 2021 while saying he wanted to increase voter participation. The GSA, the federal government’s chief procurement agency, also runs the Vote.gov website.
A spokesperson for the General Services Administration didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s inquiries about this report.
Many congressional Republicans, as well as government watchdog groups, expressed concern about federal agencies’ engaging in partisan political activity in violation of laws such as the Hatch Act.
Biden administration agencies have ignored requests from over 50 members of Congress and from media outlets for basic information about implementation of Biden’s order on turning out voters.
In response to The Daily Signal’s request, GSA provided 12 pages of email correspondence that included a White House press release about the executive order.
“GSA, however, is withholding the agency’s strategic plan in full pursuant to FOIA Exemption 5, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5), including under the presidential communications and deliberative process privilege prongs of that exemption,” the agency’s response letter says.
Still, emails between White House officials and GSA officials, obtained by The Daily Signal through the FOIA request, make several references to the strategic plan or to “strategic planning” to boost voter turnout.
Biden’s Justice Department also has refused to release its strategic plan, citing “presidential privilege.” The Foundation for Government Accountability, a watchdog group, sued the Justice Department in federal court in Florida to obtain its strategic plan to register voters and get out the vote.
In an email dated Aug 17, 2021, White House aide Justin Levitt, a senior policy adviser for democracy and voting rights for the Domestic Policy Council, wrote to a GSA employee named Raashi Parihar.
“Following up, still looking for a quick meeting to talk about status of Vote.gov efforts and executive order on promoting access to voting, specifically the strategic plan outlining the steps to modernize and improve the user experience of Vote.gov which I believe is due September 23,” Levitt wrote, referring to Sept. 23, 2021.
Biden appointed Levitt, a Loyola law school professor, to his White House post in April 2021 as Democrats sought to expand the federal government’s role in election administration.
Levitt had been a lawyer in the Obama Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He was highly critical of Georgia’s election law reforms, and previously worked for the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal advocacy group that opposes voter ID laws.
On Sept. 28, 2021, Levitt wrote about planning in an email to officials in GSA as well as to these Cabinet-level departments: Health and Human Services; Interior; Education; Veterans Affairs; and Housing and Urban Development.
“Thank you all once again for all of your efforts on strategic planning for EO 14019, Promoting Access to Voting—and for your quick review of summaries of the first public commitments from those plans,” Levitt wrote.
“As mentioned, we planned to release a fact sheet with compilations of those summaries today, including your agency’s good work. The final fact sheet is attached—and WH [White House] Communications plans to release it shortly,” Levitt wrote.
That day, the White House issued a press release outlining broad ways in which government agencies would respond to the president’s order, including the GSA.
“The General Services Administration will ensure Vote.gov is a user-friendly portal for Americans to find the information they need most to register and vote,” that White House press release said. “Available in over ten languages and in a format accessible for voters with disabilities, Vote.gov will make it easier for eligible users to register to vote or confirm their registration status. Agencies across the federal government will link to Vote.gov to encourage Americans to participate in the electoral process.”
California city removes homeless in beautification before Biden's summit with Chinese President Xi
By: Peter Aitken
San Francisco has undertaken a significant effort to glam up streets ahead of a vital U.S.-China summit next week, including the removal of homeless camps around the city.
"I know folks are saying, 'Oh they're just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town.' That's true, because it's true — but it's also true for months and months and months before APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit], we've been having conversations," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday at the unveiling of a new program to plant trees in urban neighborhoods.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the conference could help the city with an anticipated $53 million injected into the economy, according to FOX affiliate KTVU, adding that "tourism is our business here in San Francisco."
KTVU noted that the efforts to clean the city have created "noticeable" cleanliness to the streets but also far fewer homeless encampments on major thoroughfares.
Marc Savino, who works in the city, told KTVU that "you just naturally start to wonder about houseless folks being displaced."
Emails obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle show that the city's superintendent of Street Environmental Services Christopher McDaniels was "concerned about historical encampments that are close to priority areas."
Those areas include seven intersections in two neighborhoods that have long been the "epicenter" of the homeless crisis, according to the Chronicle. Another official, Deputy Director of Operations DiJaida Durden, said that the city needed to "stay on top of the growing encampments," then asked, "Do we have a plan?"
The Squad: Hamas' fifth column
By: Peter Olsson
The “Squad,” Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna, Pressley, and Cori Bush, in supporting Hamas actions are clearly a fifth column in America. They are ignorant about the facts around the war of Israel against Hamas.
War is inevitable often under complex circumstances and only prevented by extraordinary creative work and efforts of human creatures that often fail. Once war is declared and acted upon, so called “rules of war” all but disappear in the fury of rage, hate, and violence. Evil can be aroused during war. There are seldom innocents in communities at war – not even women, children, or the elderly. Wars most often only end with surrender negotiations, not peace negotiations.
The unresolvable conflicts between Israel and Palestine began centuries ago and particularly recurred violently since the creation of the two nation states in 1948 by the benevolent efforts of the United Nations. Wars and violence have repeatedly erupted against Israel ever since. October 7th, 2023 witnessed the emergence for the first time of pure evil by Hamas terrorists.
The brutal rape and murder of women after the prior murder of their husbands; the beheading of children and babies with some burned alive; the ripping open of a pregnant woman’s abdomen and the simultaneous killing of her baby and then her murder, marked the committing of pure evil by Hamas. The Rubicon of pure evil was forever passed and everything sacred violated. There will be no effective cease-fires, no effective peace negotiations. Only surrender by or extinction of Hamas will bring resolution. Perhaps peace may occur in the future for Palestinians whom Hamas had ruled by vote, passive complicity, or deception.
Protests, demonstrations, and violent speech or behavior against Israel in America or around the world misses the horrible truth of history in the Holy Land as of October 7, 2023.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/11/the_squad_hamas_fifth_column.html
Newly empowered Virginia Democrats nominate the state’s first Black House speaker, Don Scott
By: Sarah Rankin
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s state House will soon have its first Black speaker in its more than 400-year history after the chamber’s incoming Democratic majority on Saturday chose Del. Don Scott to serve in the post.
Scott was unanimously elected speaker-designee by the House Democratic Caucus, the group said in a news release. The full House of Delegates will vote to officially confirm him on the first day of the 2024 legislative session.
“Virginia voters sent a resounding message on Tuesday that they wanted a Commonwealth that moved forward and that is exactly what I intend to do as your next Speaker,” Scott said in a statement.
Democrats not only flipped control of the House of Delegates in Tuesday’s legislative elections but also held their majority in the state Senate, dashing Gov. Glenn Youngkin and fellow Republicans’ hopes of securing a GOP trifecta.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/11/newly-empowered-virginia-democrats-nominate-states/
Speaker Johnson eyes funding Ukraine aid with seized Russian assets, calls it ‘pure poetry’
By: Alex Miller
Speaker Mike Johnson said that he would like to use billions in seized Russian assets to pay for President Biden’s Ukraine aid request.
Mr. Johnson’s pitch comes as the top House Republican already diverted from Mr. Biden’s $106 billion request by splitting Israel aid from the larger package that included aid spending for the Jewish state, Ukraine, Taiwan and spending on the U.S.-Mexico border to bolster the president’s catch and release policies.
House Republicans have increasingly shifted their stance on providing more aid to Ukraine, arguing that no more taxpayer dollars should flow to the war-beleaguered country until the Biden administration offers clear-cut objectives for the conflict.
Mr. Johnson of Louisiana told the New York Post that he’s interested in using the more than $300 billion in Russian assets seized after fighting began in the region to fund future Ukraine aid.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/11/speaker-mike-johnson-eyes-funding-ukraine-aid-seiz/
Analysis: How long will Hezbollah’s Nasrallah hold back against Israel?
By: Zoran Kusovac
For the first four weeks of Israeli assault on Gaza, Syed Hassan Nasrallah was conspicuously silent. When he finally spoke, a week ago, the world listened anxiously: Would the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah, the strongest militia in the region, declare a full-scale war on Israel?
It was much ado about nothing. In his well-known fiery style, Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s views on regional issues and warned Israel.
There was no big announcement, and the speech was not followed by fighters storming into Israel or even a token salvo of missiles. The standoff continued as usual: tension, skirmishes, and occasional flare-ups, all measurable and containable.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/11/waiting-for-nasrallah-again
Media collusion The shameful alliance with terror
By: Erfan Fard
In the 21st century, media outlets have transformed into a double-edged sword, serving both as informers and manipulators of public perception. The unimaginable revelation that even terrorists exploit international media for self-justification emphasizes the alarming state of media ethics.
Iranians, accustomed to the biased narratives of outlets like BBC Persian, are no strangers to media manipulation, often fueled by political agendas.
The recent exposure of media outlets recording criminal activities, particularly during the Hamas barbaric massacre on October 7, raises not only ethical questions but also concerns about the media's complicity in showcasing atrocities, reminiscent of ISIS tactics.
Nowadays, Israel is not engaging in war crimes. It is engaging in the global fight against terrorism, particularly when addressing Islamic terrorist networks It raises a valid question as to why there was silence from self-proclaimed human rights activists when thousands of opponents were killed by Khomeini or when Khamenei took the lives of innocent protesters. This disparity calls for a closer examination. Throughout history, various Islamic caliphates have been associated with terrorist actions carried out without legal process. It's time to acknowledge this issue and demand accountability.
Shocker: No matter how bad the economy gets, government jobs are doing fine
By: Jay Davidson
Consider the irony. Government job creation is high and growing. Private-sector job creation is much slower. This shouldn’t be a surprise — the pseudo-government agency called the Federal Reserve has guaranteed that private sector job growth will slow and may reverse.
Job growth in the private economy, the kind that creates wealth and tax revenue, was only 99,000. The government contributed 51,000 of the new jobs, second only to hiring in healthcare (58,400) by industry. This continues the trend of 50,000 new government jobs a month over the past year. Government employment is now back where it was before the pandemic in February 2020.
Fed policy created this extreme imbalance in the private economy — first, by printing $8 trillion under Q.E., which led to the inflation we experience today. Second, by raising interest rates as high and as fast as they did, Fed policy all but guarantees that the private sector will go into a recession. But government programs and employees will prosper while citizens pay off the debt for generations.
The “irony” is that all these printed dollars (Q.E.) went into government spending programs and federal employment, through purchase of Treasury bonds by another agency, the Federal Reserve.
The real kicker is that neither political party is willing to curb government spending and thereby stop the growth in government control over our lives. Instead, both parties merrily kick the can down the road and leave the crushing deficit to the private sector and future generations. Talk about a road to serfdom, and we private citizens will be the serfs.
Our government policies caused inflation through Q.E. They also shut down the private economy through interest rate hikes. Our federal government, including elected politicians, continues to spend us into penury. Yet our government continues to grow, and its employees prosper, while we citizens sit around and pay off the tremendous debt they incurred to further their careers. Forgive me, but this is insane.
It’s not as if our nation can continue on this path. Inflation is harming everyone, especially the poor. Federal bureaucrats and regulations are crushing free enterprise with relatively useless edicts. Businesses must comply, and they pass the cost of regulation on to consumers. Further, this same government is forcing adherence to a green energy policy that costs more trillions of (our) dollars based on questionable science.
Spending, by our government, in excess of tax revenues leads to debt. The nation’s debt is unsustainable, and both parties still allow government to spend and grow.
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” Actually, a constitutional republic. It is the ultimate tool to control a government. But first, we citizens must exercise our right to support only elected officials who understand how to eliminate excess federal spending, and who have the willpower to do it.
Nolte: Disney’s ‘The Marvels’ Bombs with Worst MCU Opening Ever
By: John Nolte
The Disney Grooming Syndicate’s The Marvels is now a certified disaster, with an opening weekend predicted between $47 million and $55 million, according to the left-wing Deadline.
Even if The Marvels hits that high water mark of $55 million, it will still rank as the worst opening of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which officially launched 33 movies ago in 2008 with Iron Man. Prior to The Marvels, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton (remember that?) earned the MCU’s worst opening weekend at $55.4 million.
Could The Marvels have legs? Doubtful. The die-hard turned out Friday night; the Marvel fanatics and The Marvels still earned a very weak B Cinemascore. That does not bode well for the word-of-mouth advertising and repeat business necessary to create a box office hit.
The once untouchable MCU, a franchise that delivered $30 billion in worldwide box office dollars from 30 movies, a franchise more successful than any in history, the cinematic golden goose of all cinematic golden geese, has been woke-raped into a straight-up disaster.
Since the breathtaking one/two punch of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, only one Marvel film has delivered that old Marvel magic — which is a perfect mix of box office gold and audience goodwill — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And that’s it for Guardians. Star-Lord and company are officially retired. Writer/director James Gunn has now moved over to Warner Bros. to save that superhero universe (only to have his first movie shelved).
Sure, since 2019, post-Endgame, some Marvel titles have made money, but there is no goodwill or excitement around Shang-Chi, The Gay Eternals, Doctor Strange, Emasculated Thor, the Chadwick Boseman-less Black Panther, or Ant-Man. The MCU’s future was supposed to hang on Boseman (which would’ve worked with decent scripts — but Boseman’s unlimited talent was lost to cancer) and Kang the Conqueror (whose promising career has likely been defeated by a storm of abuse allegations).
The only good news for Marvel is that no MCU features are scheduled for 2024. Maybe absence will make the nerd-heart grow fonder. Yes, Deadpool 3 hits theaters next year in July, but that’s not really an MCU movie. Then comes Captain America: Brave New World in February 2025, but that title is already getting terrible press. As talented and likable as Anthony Mackie is, he is no leading man. Can he replace Chris Evans, who is barely a leading man? We’ll see.
Then comes Hollywood’s third attempt at a Fantastic Four movie in May of 2025. Then something called Thunderbolts in July of 2025. Then, the much-troubled Blade in November of 2025. And then — lmao — Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is supposed to sum it all up in May of 2026.
Biden pays tribute to late son Beau in Veterans Day speech
By: Bevan Hurley
President Joe Biden paid emotional tribute to his late son Beau in a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday.
Mr Biden delivered remarks and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony with vice-president Kamala Harris at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark Arlington’s 70th National Veterans Day Observance.
The president avoided any mention of the war in Gaza in his speech, as he comes under intense pressure to push for a ceasefire by Israeli forces.
As he spoke, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near his Delaware home to call for an immediate end to the Israeli offensive which has claimed more than 11,000 lives in Gaza.
Mr Biden told how he could still feel the “overwhelming pride” as his son received the Bronze Star Medal posthumously for his service with the 261st Signal Brigade of the Delaware National Guard during his deployment to Iraq in 2008.
“Like so many of you, Veterans Day is personal to Jill and me,” he said.
“On this day I can still see my son, the attorney general of Delaware, standing ramrod straight as I pinned his bars on him the day he joined the Army National Guard in Delaware.”
Beau Biden, the president’s eldest son, died in 2015 from brain cancer that the president believes was linked to his exposure to toxic carcinogens from burn pits during his time serving in Iraq.
Mr Biden said he asked Beau why he had enlisted. “He said ‘Dad, it’s my duty’. That was the code my son lived by and the creed that millions of veterans have followed.”
The president touted new policies on veterans’ healthcare, which will see all living World War II veterans receive free medical treatment.
DeSantis, Haley Campaigns Say They Raised $1 Million After GOP Debate
By: Chris Nelson
Governor Ron DeSantis's Presidential campaign has reported that in the twenty-four-hour post-debate period, it raised over $1 Million, according to Press Secretary Bryan Griffin. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley has also announced that her campaign matched the DeSantis campaign with $1 million of their own.
"We need a president who can win back the White House and help win races up and down the ballot. We've raised more than $1 million post-debate—thank you to everyone who's donated to our movement," stated Haley.
Both Gov. DeSantis and Ambassador Haley, who are in a virtual tie for second place behind former President Donald Trump in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, stood out at the NBC News debate in Miami last week.
DeSantis appeared very comfortable and answered the question posed to him with substantive responses. Haley did as well and also showed that she was not afraid to take on her male competitors in the race. Haley even took a pound of flesh out of Vivek Ramaswamy when he invoked her 25-year-old daughter. Haley called him "scum."
"BREAKING: As reported, our campaign raised over $1 million in the 24 hours following @RonDeSantis' winning debate performance. We return to Iowa today with the wind at our back and @KimReynoldsIA in our corner. Fight. Win. Lead," posted Griffin linking to a story in Politico.
"NEW: Our campaign raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after Wednesday night’s debate. This is yet another example of how our fundraising continues to accelerate this quarter, and is a sign of our growing momentum following the historic endorsement of Kim Reynolds and a debate victory this week," posted DeSantis War Room.
https://floridianpress.com/2023/11/desantis-campaign-says-they-raised-1-million-after-gop-debate/
High-ranking Republican Stefanik files ethics complaint against judge in Trump fraud trial
By: Alex Miller
Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik filed a judicial ethics complaint against the New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s fraud trial, calling on the judge to resign over “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance.”
Mrs. Stefanik, the no. 4 Republican in House GOP leadership, wrote in her complaint to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct that Judge Arthur Engoron has shown a “clear judicial bias” in presiding over Mr. Trump’s fraud trial and that he has broken “several rules” in New York’s judicial conduct code.
“This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system, where Judge Engoron is not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial,” Mrs. Stefanik said. “These serious concerns are exacerbated by the fact that the defendant is the leading candidate for President of the United States, and it appears the judicial system is being politicized to affect the outcome of the campaign.”
The fraud case was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who says Mr. Trump, his two adult sons, his company and top executives fraudulently inflated the values of their assets to get tax benefits and advantageous loan terms.
Mr. Trump has long held that the fraud case and dozens of other criminal charges stemming from other indictments against him are part of a Democratic plot to thwart his 2024 presidential bid.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/11/high-ranking-republican-elise-stefanik-files-ethic/
Israeli attacks target Rafah as tens of thousands flee to south Gaza
By: Staff
The Israeli military has pounded Rafah in southern Gaza, levelling residential buildings and camps, leaving no place safe in the blocked-off enclave.
The mass movement towards Gaza’s south, accelerated under intense fighting and through evacuation corridors, has seen tens of thousands of people flee in recent days.
But on Saturday, attacks were hitting buildings in Rafah, the area of the densely populated territory to which civilians have been urged to evacuate.
An estimated 30,000 additional Palestinians went southwards through a corridor opened by the Israeli military on Friday, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA.
The Israeli military said about 150,000 Palestinians have left for the south in recent days from areas in the northern strip where combat is heavy.
The main hospitals that are still working do not have the medical resources to deal with the amount of injuries from the continuing bombardment in the south.
More than 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced.
Archie Manning says grandson Arch remains content at Texas despite lack of playing time
By: Chantz Martin
Arch Manning was one of the most highly sought-after prospects in recent history. The 18-year-old star nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning eventually committed to the Texas Longhorns.
Manning, however, has yet to see any game action since he arrived on campus. Sophomore Quinn Ewers has been the team's primary starter this season. Redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy started the last couple of games in place of the injured Ewers.
Some thought the injury to Ewers would open the door for Manning to get some playing time, but the Longhorns' coaching staff decided to see what Murphy could do instead. Nevertheless, Manning remains happy with his decision to join the Longhorns football team — at least according to his grandfather.
Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning said his grandson doesn't have any regrets about landing in Austin, Texas.
"Arch is happy with the decision he made," Manning told The Spun's Chris Rosvolou. "All the reports we get is that he’s doing well. He’s going to get a redshirt out of this year, and I think that’s important."
The eldest Manning did acknowledge that Arch's current situation in Texas is different from what his sons went through early on in their college football careers.
"Every situation is different," said Manning."If you remember, Peyton and Eli went to school early for spring training. Peyton got thrown in for his first game as a freshman. He played a great deal that season. Tennessee had a great offensive line and two really good running backs, so that allowed him to work into it."
Eli did not take over the starting quarterback reins until his junior season at Ole Miss. Archie said that Eli ultimately benefited from sitting on the bench for a couple of seasons.
"Eli had what I think is the best course. He redshirt his first year, was a backup in his second year and then started in his third year. I think it’s a big jump."
Has Uber caused more societal harm than good?
By: WND News Services
Has Uber caused more harm than good? After disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of livery drivers the globe over, many believe it has - but those critics probably never met Meshack Andrew and Osman Omer.
Osman spent 1991-95 living in a Kurdish refugee camp following Saddam Hussein’s brutal invasion of Kuwait. The Kurds have never had a country to call their own, and Osman’s teenage years near Erbil were particularly harsh. After miraculously winning a US visa in 1996, his life has been transformed. Osman and his wife now own their home and make a good living in Salt Lake City. He supplements his income as a receiving manager at a Walmart super center by driving an Uber several days a week. “Whenever I have spare time, I can drive MY customers to wherever they need to go.” Osman feels deeply blessed by both job opportunities. “If anyone told me when I was in Makhmur I would one day own a piece of the American Dream, I would have told them they were crazy.”
But even Osman’s blessings seem modest when compared to Meshack’s. The hardworking father of four children has more than doubled his income to 40,000 Kenyan shillings per month since abandoning his career as a corporate driver in Nairobi five years ago. It’s not that his life’s become easier: Meshack typically works 14 hours a day, 30 days a month. But because of his industriousness and thrift, his eldest son Simon will soon finish his electrical engineering degree at Kabete Technology College. Simon’s younger brother Steven plans to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, relying upon the same tuition help he got from his father. Simon and his siblings will reap the benefits of advanced technical degrees and life-transforming careers Meshack himself could never attain. Meshack exudes prideful joy, knowing all four of his children will live easier, more fulfilling lives because of his hard work and entrepreneurialism.
“The process of industrial mutation incessantly revolutionizes economic structures from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one," wrote the late, great Joseph Schumpeter. Just as all of our personal weaknesses are mirror images of our strengths, capitalism’s painful tendency towards “creative destruction” is precisely how it breeds improved productivity, higher living standards and greater consumer choice. I can speak passionately to the latter. Over the past month alone, I have ridden Ubers in eleven different cities on three separate continents, all summoned through the convenience of a single app. In addition to getting from point-to-point in totally unfamiliar African, European and US environs efficiently, I made two great, new friends, Osman and Meshack.
Uber now has more than 3.5 million drivers worldwide. Many have inspirational, entrepreneurial stories like Osman and Meshack. Like Osman, many drivers work part time, augmenting their income whenever they can. Others like Meshack work punishing hours just to make as much as money as they can. Uber has clearly opened up new labor markets, and that new supply of labor has been met with consumer demand. In the US, a quarter of Uber drivers are female. They co-exist with licensed-for-hire drivers in most urban centers, but also service many more remote jurisdictions that never had car services. Approximately 25 million Uber trips are taken every day around the globe. Since its founding, Uber has provided more than 42 billion rides, point-to-point. Uber has created a much larger market, one traditional drivers could have never reached.
Stakeholder capitalism has captured the imagination of managers and workers alike because many have concluded that wealth generated by traditional capitalism has not been distributed broadly enough. The UAW insisted they had not been given their fair share of GM, Ford and Stellantis’ burgeoning profits. They now have more coming their way. Displaced livery drivers around the globe justly claimed Uber has made their former livelihoods less livable.
Anchorage digs out from 2 feet of snow, more expected next week
By: Amy R. Connolly
Nov. 11 (UPI) – Parts of Alaska declared a snow emergency and broke some longtime snowfall records after nearly 20 inches fell in two days, causing power outages and work, school and public transportation closures.
The National Weather Service said 17 inches fell at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Wednesday and Thursday and upwards of 30 inches fell on the outskirts of town. Since the beginning of November, 28.6 inches of snow have fallen in Anchorage and other parts of southcentral Alaska.
Forecasters said the unprecedented snowfall makes it the sixth snowiest November on record for Anchorage.
"Not only is that a new daily record, but also the earliest we've *ever* recorded a 20-inch depth. The previous record for the earliest 20 inch depth was November 21st, 1994!," the National Weather Service said on Facebook.
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson declared the snow emergency on Thursday to bring in resources to clear roads. Fees at public parking garages were lifted so residents could move their vehicles to make way for snow plows and deicers. Warmer temperatures on Friday cause some of the snow to melt.
"This wet snow and slush is now going to freeze hard so we had to take some pretty strong action here tonight to mitigate that," Bronson said.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/11/11/Alaska-snow-emergency/6681699725613/
Samantha Woll murder: Detroit Police not naming arrested suspect is highly unusual, expert says
By: Rebecca Rosenberg
Detroit Police announced Wednesday they made an arrest in the stabbing death of Jewish community leader Samantha Woll but have refused to provide any details, including the suspect's name.
Experts told Fox News Digital it's unusual to withhold the name of a suspect after that person has been taken into custody, adding another layer of mystery to an already puzzling case.
"There are a host of possible reasons to withhold the name. I can think of many. Does it happen often? As often as a lunar eclipse," said former senior Manhattan prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon.
Aside from juveniles, she has never tried a case in which a suspect's name was withheld after an arrest in 33 years of prosecuting serious crimes.
Woll, the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and an avid supporter of Israel, was attacked Oct. 21 inside her Lafayette Park home before stumbling outside and collapsing on her front lawn, according to police.
At about 6:30 a.m., a person found her unresponsive and called 911. There were no signs of forced entry, and she had her phone and ID with her.
Many speculate Woll had been the victim of a hate crime amid tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. The Detroit area has the largest Arabic-speaking population in the U.S.
Two days after the slaying, Detroit Police Chief James E. White held a press conference and told reporters very little.
"We believe this incident was not motivated by antisemitism, and this suspect acted alone," he said, declining to comment on a possible motive.
In announcing the arrest on X, White wrote that details of the investigation "will remain confidential."
Illuzzi-Orbon, who secured a rape conviction against Harvey Weinstein in 2020, pointed to Woll's political connections.
FBI seizes NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ cell phones in campaign probe
By: Kerry Picket
The FBI seized cell phones used by New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a federal corruption probe into his campaign.
The seizure relates to an investigation into whether the New York Democrat’s campaign accepted illicit donations from the Turkish government.
The agency executed a search warrant on Nov. 2 at the home of Susanna Suggs, a 25-year-old former intern and fundraiser for Mr. Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.
There, bureau personnel seized records, documents and electronic communications devices to establish whether the campaign had solicited or knowingly accepted donations from Turkey through different U.S. entities, according to The New York Times, which first reported the seizure of Mr. Adams’ phones Friday.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/10/fbi-seizes-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-cell-phones-campai/
Bay Area Counseling Service Hosts Meet-Ups for Adults and Minors To Discuss Gender and Sexuality
By: Susannah Luthi
A Bay Area kids' counseling service is convening online meet-ups for LGBT adults and minors to talk about gender and sexuality.
Transgender adults up to age 25 can discuss intimate topics of gender identity with kids as young as 14 through a weekly online program sponsored by Outlet, the LGBT arm of a public school therapy contractor called Adolescent Counseling Services. Also weekly, 10-year-olds identifying as LGBT can chat with teens up to age 18 through Outlet's "LGBTQIA+ youth group." A "Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color" meet-up is open to people aged 14-25.
The fact that these meet-ups are mingling adults and minors to talk about adult-themed subject matter has sparked concern among local teachers and parents—which echoes similar worries about the Trevor Project, a prominent national group focused on LGBT youth whose online chatroom is open to kids and adults aged 13-24. Last year the mother of a gender-confused minor discovered adults pushing transgenderism on kids through a Trevor Project chatroom, the New York Post reported at the time.
"This is extremely dangerous," said Erin Friday, a San Francisco attorney and co-lead of Our Duty, a support group for parents of gender-confused kids. "We're talking about 10-year-olds with 18-year-olds? I can't think of one good reason why this should be occurring, especially behind parents' backs. These types of groups are feeding the gender medical complex."
Outlet advertises little gatekeeping for these sessions beyond a 10-minute video orientation, and its sign-up form asks kids if they want to keep their participation secret from their parents and whether Outlet representatives should conceal their affiliation when trying to contact the minor. Outlet's parent organization, Adolescent Counseling Services, contracts with four Bay Area public schools and a youth center to offer onsite counseling to kids.
The San Mateo Pride Center, which says it works in partnership with Outlet and supports "LGBTQ+ community members of all ages," is featuring Outlet's sessions in its list of local peer support groups. Outlet itself held a $125-per-head fundraiser late last month sponsored by Stanford Medicine pediatrics, the drug giant Genentech, Yahoo, and others.
Trump posts Veterans Day message after criticism for his ‘suckers and losers’ gibe at US military
By: Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump posted a message in which he hailed “heroic Veterans”, after previously branded wounded or killed US war heroes as “losers” and “suckers”.
The former president took to his platform Truth Social on Friday to praise those who had fought for their country, saying that their service would “never be forgotten”.
Last month, Mr Trump’s longest-serving Chief of Staff John Kelly confirmed remarks made and previously denied by the former president, which featured in a 2020 article in The Atlantic.
Veterans Day – a federal US holiday – is celebrated annually in the US on November 11, though since that day falls on a Saturday this year, some will observe the holiday on Friday, November 10.
In his Truth Social post Mr Trump wrote: “To our heroic Veterans, I am grateful for your service to our Country and honored to wish you a Happy Veterans Day!
“There is no greater act of selfless service than defending America’s God-given freedoms and liberty. The traditions of excellence and integrity demonstrated by our men and women in uniform never fade after leaving the Military—once a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coast Guardsman, or Guardian—always.”
He continued: “Our Veterans will never stop fighting for the America we cherish. The full measure of your sacrifice and your family’s dedication in support of your service may not be fully understood and appreciated, but it will never be forgotten.
“On this Veterans Day and always, May God Bless you and your family, our Nation’s Veterans, and our Military men and women, and May He Bless and uphold the United States of America. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The post comes in stark contrast to comments confirmed by Mr Kelly, who served the Trump administration from 2017 until 2019.
The 2020 Atlantic article, written by Jeffrey Goldberg, claimed that Mr Trump refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 as it would ruin his hair, and did not understand the value of honouring the US war dead.
According to sources from the article, he said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” At the time Mr Trump dismissed the story as “fake” and that he considered the fallen “absolute heroes”.
In a statement to CNN, Mr Kelly confirmed several details of the story on the record and said the former president was unable to understand why the American public held respect for former prisoners of war and those shot down in combat.
What can I add that has not already been said?” he said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-veterans-day-military-b2445558.html
How not to have sex
By: Kat Rosenfield
The Zoomer Generation is notoriously uninterested in the risk-taking behaviours that were once a rite of passage to adulthood. They don’t drink, they don’t smoke, and they’re indifferent to sex — not just to having it, but even, according to a new study, to seeing it depicted in books or films. One wonders how these young prudes will feel about How To Have Sex.
This film about a 16-year-old Brit desperately trying to lose her virginity on a girls’ holiday to Crete strikes me, in some ways, as an heir to America’s Raunch Renaissance of the late Nineties. Back then, movies such as Sex Drive, Can’t Hardly Wait, and American Pie brought us stories of the kinds of sexual obsession that can only be harboured by teenagers who haven’t actually done it yet. As in How to Have Sex, a central theme in these films was the notion of virginity as an albatross, a shameful burden of which you needed to rid yourself at the earliest opportunity. There was one key difference, though: the embarrassed, desperate virgins in those movies were always young men.
A girl was supposed to value her virginity, only allowing herself to be coaxed into bed with promises of love and commitment; if she had sex easily, let alone eagerly, she was invariably punished by the universe, be it with pregnancy, heartbreak, or worse. Watch a slasher film from this era, and note how often the slutty high schooler is the first to die. The message from pop culture was clear: girls were not supposed to have sex. But women, on the other hand, channelling their inner Carrie Bradshaw, were supposed to not just have sex, but have sex like men.
I didn’t notice it at the time, but this seems profoundly weird to me now: that the process whereby you were supposed to go from guarding your virginity with your life as a teen to having sex constantly and casually as a young adult was rarely depicted or discussed. How was a young lady meant to advance from never done it to elite level intercourse, just by moving to the city? How were you supposed to figure out what to do, what you liked, what you and a partner enjoyed doing together? Sex education was no help here — most programmes didn’t even mention the existence of the clitoris — but even the romcom industrial complex conspired to keep us all in the dark: all you would ever see was the couple tumbling into bed at night, and then all aglow the morning after. The sexual learning curve was glossed over, completely.
And, as we see in How To Have Sex, it still is — but now it is not purity to blame, but sex positivity. Pushed upon today’s Zoomers is the notion that sex itself is meaningless, and therefore so is virginity. Once you begin to argue that having multiple partners is no big deal, it’s hard to preserve any significance around having sex for the first time: one progressive sex-ed provider in the UK invites students to think of virginity as “a damaging social construct”. For this, we may thank feminism: women, who risk the most from penetrative sex — often while enjoying it the least — probably benefit from a culture in which it is no longer seen as a special prize to be won. We may also thank the increased visibility of LGBT people, for whom equating the loss of virginity with heterosexual intercourse presents obvious problems.
And yet, the resulting landscape is one rife with profoundly mixed messages about sex. While sex positivity tells us the act is so meaningless that you should feel no compunction about doing it for the first time with a total stranger, consent culture says it’s so dangerous that you’re always a heartbeat away from being violated and traumatised for life. But more importantly, the shrinking significance of virginity as a concept has made casual sex not only an acceptable way to do it for the first time, but the expected way.
Does this reduce the stigma of being a non-virgin? No doubt. But I’m not persuaded that it’s actually helping anyone figure out, per the movie title, How to Have Sex. Whatever the shortcomings of the pre-digital era in terms of its sexual double standards, teenagers at the time at least tended to learn by doing — by building intimacy through the mutually awkward process of figuring out the alien landscape of another person’s body while they fumbled their way around yours. And alongside the Raunch Renaissance, there was another model for what first-time sex looked like, something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer: a story which, however otherwise unrealistic, still depicted sex as something people did after they were certain that they really, really liked each other.
Today’s teenagers don’t even have that. They have porn — and hook-up culture, which means your first sexual experience could be with a partner who doesn’t love you, or barely know you. And the weirdest part is, this is supposed to be fun, a paradox that How To Have Sex highlights exceptionally well. The immense uncertainty surrounding a young woman’s sexual debut is painstakingly, and painfully, shown here, and the pressure to be unburdened of the albatross of virginity is only one piece of it. Another is the expectation — for everyone, not just women — that one must be not only as skilled between the sheets as a porn star but also as emotionally detached. In some senses, the Nineties model has been fully flipped: physical intimacy is now par for the course, while emotional intimacy is coded as cringe. That a person could view sex as the physical act of love, which is ironically the one thing that would actually make the whole process less fraught and more fun, is barely nodded at. Tara may not know how to have sex, but she knows enough to know that having feelings for the person you’re doing it with is super embarrassing.
Perhaps needless to say, this does not end well — for the characters in the movie, and often for young women in real life. I want to say that Tara has a uniquely bad experience on this front, but what really strikes me is how not-unique it must be, how common. The whole scene, these dark and pulsing landscapes full of beautiful young people dancing, drinking, sweating, screaming: it makes for great cinema, but how are you supposed to connect with anyone under these circumstances? Even the friendship Tara strikes up with another girl, after getting separated from her friends at a club, is like the platonic equivalent of a one-night stand: the emptiness of the connection stands in stark contrast to her relationships with her friends, even the bad friend who keeps trying to embarrass and undermine her. There’s a moment in the film where one of the girls notes that they need to be more social. “We’re never getting laid if we only hang out with each other,” she says. It’s true, but also: when you see what getting laid entails, hanging out with the girls and eating cheesy chips is clearly the better option.
That is, unless you’re a virgin so desperate to shed the mantle of sexual inexperience that you don’t even care anymore how it happens or with whom. Tara is on a mission — though it’s unclear if it’s a mission she volunteered for or one her friends have assigned to her — and there’s a giddy energy to her early exploits in Crete that’s not unlike the American Pies and Can’t Hardly Waits of the world. For the first half of the movie, her virginity is a burden, yes, but also a source of excitement, anticipation. Every time a boy touches her, you can see the wheels in her head turning: is this how it will happen? Or this? Or this?
Debate or no debate, Trump still commands the 2024 Republican race
By: Hilary Beaumont
The third Republican debate of the 2024 United States presidential race came and went this week with a whimper.
The New York Times dismissed the event as “the undercard that underwhelmed”. The Washington Post cast it as “a lower-tier competition”. And The New Yorker brushed it aside as “an incredible waste of time for any but the most masochistic of Republican viewers”.
What prompted the withering criticism was the seeming insignificance of a debate without the Republican Party’s heaviest hitter, former President Donald Trump.
Now one year into his 2024 reelection campaign, Trump remains far and away the party frontrunner, trouncing his Republican rivals in seemingly every poll. Confident in his lead, he has skipped every Republican debate so far this election season.
Experts say this creates a novel dynamic: one where Trump is acting more like an incumbent than a candidate trying to unseat a sitting president.
“What’s unusual about this is there’s a former president, not a sitting president, who is dominating the field and skipping debates,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute and author of the book Primary Politics.
'Rogue' daycare workers busted for allegedly running child fight ring
By: Christina Coulter
Two South Carolina daycare teachers face multiple charges for allegedly directing 3 and 4-year-olds in their care to fight each other and "allow[ing] the violence to proceed without correction," police said.
Kids Unlimited of Prosperity day care employees Ericka Jones, 27, and Serena Caldwell, 56, turned themselves in to authorities on Thursday after warrants were issued for their arrest, per the Newberry County Sheriff's Office.
Both are charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful conduct to a child, according to the department's Friday press release. Jones faces 14 counts of each charge, while Caldwell faces 15.
Daycare owner John David Dawkins wrote in a statement provided to local outlet WIS-TV that Jones and Caldwell were "immediately terminated" after staff reported their behavior and security footage was viewed.
The facility immediately notified the South Carolina Department of Social Services and the Newberry County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Lee Foster told WLTX the daycare had cooperated fully in their subsequent investigation.
Investigating deputies discovered that the two women instructed children to shove, pull and hit each other, per the outlet.
Foster told WLTX that the behavior "started out with [Caldwell and Jones] saying the teacher had promoted other students or other clients of the daycare, to use violence to try to punish a child or make another child compliant."
"I have no idea what the two daycare workers were thinking of - that was just abhorrent behavior," Foster continued. "I just can't imagine why you would do this."
https://www.foxnews.com/us/rogue-daycare-workers-busted-allegedly-running-child-fight-ring
What is the Measure of True Freedom?
By: Michael J. Sutton
The measure of freedom in any society is the degree of inclusion for those who stand on the margins, those who linger on the edge, and those who suffer in silence. The potential and eventual realisation of inclusion is evidence of a free society, of genuine enfranchisement for all who seek it. Good rulers take care of those who come under their authority, including those parties on the losing side of military conflicts. Freedom is not achieved by overturning the results of conflict, revising the past, or instilling guilt and shame on the victors.
Every nation was formed as the result of conflict, either with other nations or political groupings, or because of conflict within nations. Often it was military conflict over boundaries, land, culture, or history. Many nations, over time, have brought the losing side of conflicts under a broader national umbrella, often promoting, and preserving some elements of their culture and history. It is how a nation treats the losing side in conflict that really defines the substance of freedom available to citizens.
The great lie of Australia is that Australians have never been in a war. It is a doctrine we are taught from birth that our first conflict was against the Turks at Gallipoli. Not only is this fiction – our first engagement was with German troops in Papua – but it reflects a deeper, more traumatic deceit. Australia was forged in blood. There is not a town in rural New South Wales that does not contain memories of this war. Other states are the same. Australia was built on the blood of aboriginal people against whom the colonial administrators fought in many wars across the young nation.
One of the great achievements of Australia is the freedom granted to the losers of these wars to enjoy full participation in Australian society. This itself has been a long and bitter struggle, but it remains true, nonetheless.
The other day, I drove past a billboard sign that was historically incorrect. It read: ‘Drive responsibly, you are in Dharawal country.’ This local tribe was exterminated by early English settlers and colonial troops, though a remnant survived. Their history is awful and telling, brutal, and tragic, and it is a story that should be told.
The sign however is a lie, and it is this lie that goes to the heart of what is wrong with societies when they seek to subvert democracy and replace it with fascism, complete with fake history, fake propositions, and fake expressions of justice, which are in reality, efforts to divide a nation and pit one group against another.
This sign was part of corporate propaganda to support the idea that aboriginal Australians own the land of Australia. This is reflected also in the absurd and racist ‘Welcome to country,’ that all are forced to recite, like a secular rite before every meeting or gathering, that each small part of Australia is owned by a local aboriginal tribe, and we must ask permission to enter it.
The sign was inaccurate and historically incorrect. Where I was driving was not the territory of the Dharawal people, but it was their territory before they lost it. They lost it because they lost the war with the English who came and defeated them. For some strange reason, there are still those in Australia who do not believe that war took place between the many aboriginal tribes and British troops and settlers.
History tells a different story. They are often called the frontier wars for a reason. This was war; there were combatants, casualties, and crimes. It is a bloody history, a violent history, and in many cases, a shameful one, but the fact is, aboriginal Australia lost the war, or wars fought against them.
It was incumbent on colonial authorities to care for those who lost against the Crown. It is to Australia’s lasting shame that aboriginal people were not cared for, elevated, respected, or welcomed until much later in our history. Governments, churches, and other social organizations have blood on their hands, and this is the dark truth of the fiction of this land of peace Down Under.
The fact is that aboriginal land ceased to be theirs and it is no longer their land. They lost it. Their people died for it, they shed blood for it, and while blood soaked into the earth, another flag was hoisted over it, and new laws governed it, and a new authority owned it. It belongs to the Crown, and to whomever the land is leased or granted.
This rule even applies to land secured under Native Title legislation; the Crown cedes this land to claimants. This is what we call history, and we will do well to remember it, that just like every other war in history, to the victors belong the spoils. This is the natural order of things.
The Voice Referendum was an immoral effort to impose secular guilt, overturn the natural order, and restrict freedom because of race. It failed because Australians are sick of racism, political hypocrisy, and special interests. The Referendum result was a middle finger to the establishment, a faction within Australia that has been trying to overturn democracy and replace it with fascism. The government and their 60,000-strong voluntary militia told us with a straight face, ‘We are having a vote soon, and you must only vote yes, or else you are a racist bigot.’
This kind of puerile rubbish is what is left of Australian political discourse after almost a decade of the promotion of fascism that really began in the dying days of Obama’s reign in America. If the moon shines on the water, then America is the moon, and Australia is the pale reflection. Those who protested Covid Hysteria were called terrorists, fanatics, and bigots, but watching the Yes Campaigners march across the nation reminded me of the Hitler Youth, and China’s Red Guard, recruited, devoted, brainwashed, and totally loyal to the state.
What was behind it? It is about money and power; it always is. Most Australians are like everyone else; they just want to work, enjoy life, and participate in family and community life in a safe and pleasant environment. They vote for their representatives and assume they are the ones in whom political power resides. They are wrong. Power resides in those who bypass and use democracy to advance their special interests.
Australia, like all democratic societies, attracts political parasites who make a lucrative existence lobbying for their cause. Protectionists, human rights campaigners, environmentalists, miners, farmers, and churches are just a few examples of these political parasites who have been sucking the blood of democracy for years.
This tiny group of people live in a kind of bubble – high salaries, inflated egos, contempt for ordinary people, and a commitment to bypass the democratic process by getting to the politicians behind closed doors. This bypassing of the democratic process and the concentration of power within a few corporations or special interest groups is the foundation stone for the rise of a fascist state.
From time to time, this lobbying makes perfect sense and the causes advanced resonate within the broader community. To advance special interests and be able to recruit or reflect the will of the nation is a rare skill, but some pull it off. Often, however, the ambitions of these lobbyists are so out of touch that their projects collapse in spectacular fashion.
In Australia, the Voice Referendum was one such example. It was about guilt-tripping white Australia with a twisted and sick version of history, promoted by a tiny group of largely wealthy aboriginal lobbyists and their allies, all with an eye on the prize – contracts, grants, power, and access to power – and they were salivating so much that their excitement blurred their eyes, and they could not see the glaringly obvious, that the population was unconvinced.
You see, this tiny but powerful group of aboriginal lobbyists and their white friends are in trouble and have been for decades. The conditions for aboriginal Australians have been improving. Government programs, charities, and corporations have done much to bring this about, as well as new education policies, but more critically, other ethnic groups are now competing for the vast amounts of money these aboriginal lobbyists saw as exclusively theirs by virtue of their special position in Australian history.
The welfare pie has more people sitting at the table now, including thousands of Ukrainian migrants, and every dollar that goes to the Ukrainians is money that will not go to the gravy train that keeps the aboriginal lobbyists and their white friends employed. Most migrants who come to Australia are happy to be here and are amazed that it is a society that ostensibly celebrates equality and a fair go for all. Their vision of Australia does not include the handouts, special treatment, welfare slush fund, and white guilt that has been part of Australian politics since the 1970s.
The Voice was to secure this funding and power well into the future, thus denying new migrants the enfranchisement and equality they so earnestly seek. For the lobbyists, the failure of the Voice was a catastrophic disaster. As compensation, the sinless and spotless can rest assured that their single vote still carries weight and in the next election, they and all the 9.5 million racist bigots who voted no can enjoy what is called democracy, something the fascists so earnestly sought to overturn.
If Australia belongs to aboriginal people, even though they lost the war, even though they did not prevail, then why stop there? Surely, this logic can be applied to every nation in every continent, for every ethnic group. Why do we make an exception for Australia?
China has over 50 ethnic groups, each with their own histories, cultures, and identities and yet they are all Chinese. Maybe Beijing should return all the land to its original inhabitants; after all, it was their land, and maybe they want it back again. Take Britain. The original inhabitants were the Britons, whose land was invaded by the Germans, the French, the Vikings, and the Dutch. Almost every nation from Europe is represented there. Maybe, the lands of England should be returned to those who were there first, even though they lost the wars, even though they did not prevail.
I recently returned from Russia. The Russian Federation has about 200 ethnicities, as well as indigenous peoples, such as the Bashkir and the Tartar, with their own histories and stories of their encounter, and eventual integration within the rich ethnic tapestry that is modern Russia. Peter the Great ordered the establishment of a copper factory deep in the Ural Mountains, created in 1724 where the early industrialists engaged in bitter conflict with the locals for many years.
This was a war, and the Bashkir lost. They fought well and bravely and today, they are proud of their history, their identity, and they are also proud of being Russian. Take America. Will they return all their lands to the native Americans? After all, they were here first, it is their land, and it belongs to them, according to the new logic of the land Down Under. The whole direction of this revisionist view of Aboriginal enfranchisement is contrary to the laws of history, and it is perverted, unjust, and undemocratic. Special racial treatment in a democracy. What a disgrace.
https://brownstone.org/articles/what-is-the-measure-of-true-freedom/
Elon Musk Responds to Big Tech Censorship of David Horowitz Freedom Center Event
By: Daniel Greenfield
This week we learned that our video hosting provider, Vimeo, had suspended the David Horowitz Freedom Center after it decided that Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon’s talk was “hate speech”.
Seth Dillon had discussed the Babylon Bee’s fight against censorship after Twitter suspended its account for a joke that named Rick ‘Rachel’ Levine, a transgender Biden administration official, as its ‘Man of the Year’.
That Orwellian act of censorship was described as one of the most “consequential” moments in the anti-woke struggle against Big Tech and helped lead to Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
A year after Twitter was ridiculed and then taken over for classifying Babylon Bee’s humor as hate speech, Vimeo sent out a letter announcing “Seth Dillon – The Babylon Bee was removed for Hate Speech.“ The letter refused to name anything hateful that had been said or to specify what in the talk triggered the ban.
Seth Dillon shared our article on X which got a response from Elon Musk. And hundreds of replies and shares from others including by commenters who announced that as a result of Vimeo’s decision, they’re dropping the company. Like Bud-Lite, Vimeo may discover that going woke leads to going broke. With nearly 100,000 views, Musk’s reply and Seth’s original message helped spread the news that Vimeo is a woke company that suppresses free speech.
PBS Puts Onus on Israeli Victims, Wants ‘Carrots’ for Hamas to Free Hostages
By: Clay Waters
One way to demonstrate the slant in PBS’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war is to compare and contrast how their interviewers treat representatives of the respective sides. On Monday’s edition of the PBS NewsHour, reporter Leila Molana-Allen conducted a friendly interview with Mohammad Shtayyeh, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which represents the West Bank, and who has failed to condemn the Hamas atrocities.
Host Geoff Bennett: ….Since it was evicted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, the P.A. has governed the parts of the West Bank that it controls. Leila Molana-Allen sat down with the Palestinian Authority prime minister for a rare interview, and asked him about the state of the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Note Bennett has already placed the onus on Israel, not on the instigators of the war, Hamas.
After opening with Shtayyeh ranting that Israel’s war was “against children, women, university professors, priests, chefs” and not Hamas, Leila Molana-Allen opened with a tough question.
Molana-Allen: The Hamas leadership is sitting there saying there will be a second and a third and a fourth October 7. How could Israel possibly step back and say, ‘OK, we're going to lighten off on the invasion?’
But the rest of her questions to Shtayyeh were non-challenging. A small sample:
Molana-Allen: We have seen in the last few weeks since this war began a huge escalation in violence in the West Bank. We're seeing daily raids into Palestinian towns, cities, camps by the Israeli Defense Forces, lots of young people dying, also a lot of violence with settlement communities as well.
(…)
Molana-Allen: There's always a call for something. There's always a call for something to change, for an end to the occupation, for a future for a Palestinian state. The calls don't go anywhere. Whenever there's a U.N. resolution, people don't pay attention to them anymore. What practically do you want from your Arab partners, from your other partners, to make something happen?
Shtayyeh: You are right. Palestinians are really fed up with the statements, and Palestinians are fed up with United Nations resolutions….
She offered her hand at the end of the interview, and the two shook hands.
Now the contrast.
On Tuesday, PBS reporter Nick Schifrin talked remotely from the studio with Mark Regev, senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is waging a counterattack to decimate Hamas and to rescue Israeli civilian hostages, including children, taken on October 7. Yet Schifrin’s tone toward Regev was much more challenging than was Molana-Allen’s talk with the Palestinian Authority leader.
Schifrin: ….are you willing to consider what the president is requesting, a more significant pause in order to release hostages?
After Regev pointed out that children were among the hostages held by Hamas, Schifrin wanted Israel to give a little in Hamas's direction. "You have said, that the military operation, you hope, pressures them to release hostages. Are you also providing any carrots to Hamas to convince them to release hostages?" he wanted to know.
California sheriff rips into Target over 'unbelievable' restrictions against policing retail theft
By: Carlos Garcia
Asheriff in California is so fed up with restrictions on law enforcement trying to cut down retail theft that he called out Target on social media.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper expressed his frustration Thursday after meeting with the company's regional head of security.
"Recently, we tried to help Target. Our Property Crimes detectives and sergeant were contacted numerous times by Target to help them with shoplifters, mostly who were known transients. We coordinated with them and set up an operation with detectives and our North POP team," wrote Cooper.
He went on to say that Target would not let them contact suspects inside the store or handcuff any suspect inside the store. Cooper said if police arrested anyone, Target told them to process them outside and behind the store.
"We were told they didn't want to create a scene inside the store and have people film it and put it on social media. They didn't want negative press. Unbelievable," he added.
He gave an example of a retail theft that police watched at Target.
"Our deputies watched a lady on camera bring in her own shopping bags, go down the body wash isle, and grab a bunch of Native body washes," Cooper wrote. "Then she went to customer service and return them! Target chose to do nothing and simply let it happen. Yet somehow, locking up deodorant and raising prices on everyday items we need to survive is their best answer."
He also criticized Walgreen's and the California Retail Association in a second social media post, and the latter responded to his accusations.
"I've known the sheriff for years, he knows how to find me. I'm not getting into public policy discussions via Twitter, he should get on the phone to move the agenda forward," said CRA president and CEO Rachel Michelin in a statement to KXTV-TV. "We helped secure almost $300 million in state funding to fight retail theft, millions for Sacramento we negotiated. He wasn't in the room, I was."
Retail theft has been an increasing problem across the country, and some stores have responded by locking up more and more items behind plexiglass. Retail stores are also reporting large losses that are hitting their bottom line and leading to lower stock prices.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/target-sheriff-retail-theft-restrictions
WATCH: Hamas Terrorists Admit They Hide In Hospitals, Use Ambulances For Transport
By: Daily Wire News
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released intercepted communications of Hamas terrorists this week and video footage from captured Hamas terrorists showing them admitting to hiding in hospitals and using ambulances to get around on the battlefield, both of which are war crimes.
The video footage came from Hamas terrorists who were captured after their October 7 attack where they murdered 1,400 Israelis, wounded 5,300+, and took more than 240 people hostage.
One of the terrorists told the Israeli interrogator, whose voice was digitally altered to protect his identity, that “anything important” can be transported in ambulances during fighting.
“Anything important, commanders, and anything needed,” he said.
When asked why they use ambulances and not regular vehicles, the terrorist responded: “The Jews don’t attack ambulances.”
Another terrorist spoke about how Hamas hides out in hospitals.
“In Shifa (Hospital), for example, in Shifa (Hospital), there’s a basement level, they could be in the basement, Shifa is a big place, not a small hospital,” he said. “They hide here.”
“They are hiding in Shifa?” the interrogator asked. “The seniors who are in a-Shifa, who do you think they are?”
“The seniors like [Hamas terrorist leader Yahya] Sinwar, those, everyone’s there,” he said. “The senior political and military officials, they’re all there.”
Dignitaries attend funeral of ex-Finnish President Ahtisaari, peace broker and Nobel laureate
By: The Associated Press
HELSINKI – Dignitaries bid farewell to the late Martti Ahtisaari at a ceremony Friday in Finland's capital for the former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who helped facilitate peace deals in the countries of many of the mourners.
Ahtisaari died Oct. 16 at the age of 86.
More than 800 dignitaries and guests, including Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Namibian President Hage Geingob, former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, and the former leaders of Indonesia and its Free Aceh rebel movement, attended the ceremony at the Helsinki Cathedral. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson also were among the guests.
“He was a great Finn, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He put his own stamp on both Finnish history and international history,” current Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said in his eulogy.
“The work President Ahtisaari did in Indonesia, Kosovo, Namibia and many other places has left its mark on the lives of numerous people,” he said at the end of the church ceremony, which included wreath laying and music by Finland’s most famous classical composer, Jean Sibelius.
Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbia’s withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibia’s bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. He was also involved in the Northern Ireland peace process in the late 1990s, being tasked with monitoring the IRA’s disarmament process.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.
He later founded the Helsinki-based Crisis Management Initiative, aimed at preventing and resolving violent conflicts through informal dialogue and mediation. In May 2017, Ahtisaari stepped down as chairman but said he would continue working with the organization as an adviser. In 2021, it was announced that Ahtisaari had advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
After the service, soldiers carried the casket to a hearse as a military band played a funeral march outside the neoclassical cathedral with its distinctive tall green dome and four smaller domes.
The Finnish flag, a blue cross on a white background, flew at half-staff on Friday across the capital. Church bells rang across the Nordic country in remembrance of the Finnish statesman on Friday afternoon.
In cold weather, hundreds of people lined up along the route from the cathedral through downtown Helsinki to the city’s Hietaniemi cemetery where Ahtisaari was laid to rest among other Finnish presidents. His widow, Eeva, and son, Marko, each threw a red rose into the grave as rain fell gently. The funeral procession briefly stopped outside the presidential palace where he served from 1994 until 2000.
Kenya doomsday cult leader found guilty of illegal filming, but yet to be charged over mass deaths
By: Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Paul Mackenzie, the Kenyan preacher at the center of a doomsday cult in the country that led to the deaths of more than 400 people, was on Friday found guilty of operating a studio and distributing films without a license.
The senior resident magistrate in the town of Malindi, Olga Onalo, found Mackenzie guilty of exhibition of films through his Times Television without approval of the Kenya Film Classification Board.
The preacher has been in police custody for more than six months now since he was arrested in April, following the discovery of hundreds of bodies in mass graves in a forested area across his 800-acre property in the coastal county of Kilifi.
Prosecutors say Mackenzie ordered his congregants to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.
However, he has not been formally charged over the deaths, despite being arraigned in court on numerous occasions since his arrest.
On Friday he was acquitted of additional charges of influencing children to not attend school and using radical preaching to incite Christians against Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims.
He will be sentenced for the film-related offenses on Dec. 1 and could face up to five years in prison.
On Thursday, prosecutors applied to have Mackenzie held in custody for six more months to allow police to complete their investigations which include the search for dozens of people still missing.
Whistleblowers: FBI officials singled out agents who were former military for anti-Trump retaliation
By: Kerry Picket
More whistleblowers have stepped forward to tell Congress that high-ranking FBI officials are targeting agents for their political beliefs and trying to force them out of the bureau, specifically going after former military members.
The Marine Corps and other military veterans at the FBI are being accused of being disloyal to the U.S. because they fit the profile of a supporter of former President Donald Trump, according to two new disclosures sent to lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee.
The Washington Times obtained copies of the disclosures.
The whistleblowers said FBI Security Division Deputy Assistant Director Jeffrey Veltri and Assistant Section Chief Dena Perkins specifically went after bureau employees who served as Marines or in other military branches
They retaliated against the agents by stripping them of security clearance, which sidelines them on the job and pushes them toward the exit, according to the disclosures.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/10/whistleblowers-fbi-officials-singled-out-agents-wh/
MAGA Watchdog Files FEC Complaint over Biden’s Campaign Collusion w/ Deep State
By: Contributing Author
(Headline USA) A conservative group filed a complaint last month with the Federal Election Commission against President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, alleging campaign leaders illegally coordinated with intelligence officials to benefit Biden during the election.
America First Legal, which is run by former White House aide Stephen Miller, argued that the infamous letter signed by 51 former and current intelligence officials dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop story as “Russian disinformation” was an in-kind contribution to Biden’s presidential campaign that should have been reported.
“[The] evidence suggests that the respondents failed to disclose coordinated expenditures constituting in-kind donations with respect to the infamous ‘Letter of 51’ former intelligence officials claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story had ‘all the classic earmarks’ of Russian disinformation,” said the AFL complaint.
The FEC filing named four key groups involved in the alleged coordination: Biden for President 2020, the Biden Victory Fund, the Democratic National Committee and the Biden Action Fund.
The complaint noted that two of the letter’s key signatories, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director Leon Panetta, donated to both the Biden Victory Fund and the Biden for President campaign in 2020.
It also cited an email from then-Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken to Michael Morrell, the former CIA deputy and acting director, which made clear that the intention of the “Russian disinformation” letter was to help Biden in the presidential debate against then-President Donald Trump.
“There are reasons to believe that the public statement by 51 former intelligence officials was a coordinated political operation to help elect Vice President Biden in the 2020 presidential election, as set forth below,” the complaint to the FEC says.
Moreover, it could be legally considered election meddling, said Reed Rubinestein, the director of oversight and investigations for America First Legal.
“The Federal Election Commission’s charge includes election integrity—Americans have the right to know who is coordinating with federal candidates,” Rubinstein said in a statement.
U.S. Congress to be shown 'highly graphic' video of Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas
By: Paul Godfrey
Nov. 10 (UPI) – The House Foreign Affairs Committee is inviting all U.S. representatives to a closed-door screening of "highly graphic" video of Hamas' attack on Israel for members to see for themselves what happened on Oct. 7.
The bipartisan screening of the footage, which is being supplied by the Israeli Embassy in Washington is scheduled for Tuesday in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building, according to an announcement Thursday from Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. and Vice Chairman Ted Lieu, D-Calif.
A strict no-recording policy will be in force with the notice containing a strongly worded warning about the scenes in the footage. But it was unclear whether it includes images of the worst of the atrocities, including babies being beheaded in their beds, that had been left out of footage previously released by Israel.
"Please note this footage is highly graphic and may be disturbing to viewers. No recording of any kind will be permitted, whether video or audio. Due to the sensitive nature of the footage, members will be required to leave their phones and any other electronic equipment outside the screening room," the notice states.
The screening, which the committee is hosting in response to requests from lawmakers, including many Jewish ones, will be followed in the afternoon by a classified briefing from Biden administration officials to update members on the Israel-Hamas war.
The footage "should be shown to Congress, and let the entire Congress see what happened on Oct. 7. Because people don't remember that as well as they should," said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.
Cohen said the briefing was equally important.
"There's a lot we don't know as far as what Israel's targeting has been, how surgical they've been in trying to avoid civilian deaths."
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/11/10/Congress-screens-Hamas-attack-footage/6311699609045/
Discover the Networks Continues Exposing Rep. Rashida Tlaib
By: Daniel Greenfield
Rep. Rashida Tlaib has been in the news lately. And while the House finally got around to censuring her, the David Horowitz Freedom Center and our talented researchers at Discover the Networks, led by John Perazzo, have been tracking and investigating her for a long time.
Here’s some insight into her background.
Tlaib earned a BA in Political Science/Government from Wayne State University in 1998, and a JD from Thomas Cooley Law School in 2004. She subsequently found employment as a social worker before taking jobs at the International Institute of Metro Detroit, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, and the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice — where a majority of her co-workers were, by Tlaib’s description, “pretty much socialists” whom she “love[d].”
In October 2006, Tlaib was a guest columnist who contributed an op-ed piece titled “Bills Must Stop Deportations for Minor Offenses” to The Final Call, a newspaper and website headed by Nation Of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. In her article, Tlaib lamented that immigrants were in constant fear of being arbitrarily deported for what she described as small violations such as paperwork errors.
In 2008 Tlaib was the Arab-American outreach coordinator for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Michigan. Later that year, Tlaib herself was elected, as a Democrat, to the 12th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives, where she would serve from 2009-15. On March 11, 2010, the Detroit News reported that Tlaib’s father, Harbi Elabed, was accusing his daughter of having lied “big-time to get elected” during her 2008 campaign. According to Elabed, Tlaib had falsely claimed on an election affidavit to be a resident of the 12th District (in southwest Detroit) – a requirement for anyone seeking that office – when in fact she lived in the city of Dearborn, which was not a part of the District. Tlaib denied her father’s allegations.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/discover-the-networks-continues-exposing-rep-rashida-tlaib/
After Ohio, Abortion Lobby Sets Sights on Florida
By: Luis Miguel
Can Florida buck the current political trends and remain a bastion of conservatism?
On the heels of the elections on Tuesday, the pro-abortion movement feels invigorated, confident that it has a path to nationwide victory via implementation of the kind of strategy it used to great effect in Ohio — spend lots of money to get a misleading amendment on the ballot and then spend even more money to sell it to the public.
Florida in recent years, under the work of Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Republican supermajority in both houses of the state Legislature, has become an epicenter of conservative politics. But just as the Left succeeded in getting a right to abortion enshrined in Ohio’s constitution despite it being a red state, they hope to do the same in Florida and other states.
Yet when it comes to the Sunshine State, the Left may be biting off more than they can chew.
As Politico notes, John Morgan, the wealthy trial attorney and founder of the prominent Orlando-based firm Morgan & Morgan, has played a major role in the success of numerous Democrat-loved ballot initiatives. He personally spent millions on the successful efforts to legalize medical marijuana and the $15 minimum wage.
But even Morgan won’t touch the effort to create an abortion right of up to 24 weeks in Florida.
“I am pro-choice but this is not my fight,” he told Politico via email.
Florida has been on a pro-life trajectory in recent years. Prior to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Legislature passed and DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest. In the aftermath of Roe’s overturn, Florida passed a six-week abortion ban this year.
If Democrats want abortion on the ballot in the 2024 general election, they have to gather the required 891,523 signatures by Feb. 1.
Politico reported on the progress of the pro-abortion movement in Florida, which while well-funded, falls far short of the kind of war chest the Left had in Ohio:
Floridians Protecting Freedom, the main group organizing the initiative, has raised almost $9 million as of the end of September, though the group says it’s taken in at least $12 million (which will be reflected in the next fundraising report). The vast majority of the other contributions were from people who gave between $1 and $250,000. But the group’s leaders say 80 percent of the contributions came from in-state donors — sparking worries that big donors from out-of-state and national groups are dismissing Florida.
By comparison, Ohio’s Issue 1, the initiative enshrining abortion rights in that state’s Constitution, raised more than $28 million, including close to $13 million from groups based in New York, Washington, D.C., and even Tulsa, Okla.
Thus far, Floridians Protecting Freedom has reportedly gotten 500,000 valid signatures. If it gets on the ballot, the amendment would need 60 percent support to pass.
Ballot initiatives in Florida are expensive, particularly because the Legislature tightened the rules on petition gathering and signature verification. An effort to get recreational marijuana on the ballot next year has already spent $39 million — most of that spent on gathering signatures. Meanwhile, Morgan’s medical marijuana effort spent about $14 million, per state records.
Anna Hochkammer, who works as the executive director of the coalition behind Florida’s pro-abortion initiative, has high hopes after Tuesday’s victory in Ohio.
“The reason why Ohio’s result is really giving some wind underneath our waves down here in Florida is not only did you have a conservative state with a well-funded Republican infrastructure,” she said, “you’re starting to see voting patterns that this is not a particularly partisan issue — it’s a bipartisan issue.”
Hochkammer further claimed that her group has received major donations, such as $1.1 million from a Palm Beach philanthropist and $500,000 check from the New York-based Open Society Fund.
“We’re talking about people who were adding five zeros are now adding six,” she said. “The focus is now coming to Florida.”
The effort poses a threat to the pro-life gains Florida has made. But conservatives in the state have some reason to hope. The reluctance of some big donors, such as Morgan and out-of-state givers, to contribute to the abortion cause may be a warning that those with financial skin in the game aren’t so confident of their ability to pull off a win in the Sunshine State as they were in Ohio.
https://thenewamerican.com/opinion/after-ohio-abortion-lobby-sets-sights-on-florida/
'Caring' mum with 'the most amazing soul' stabbed to death in front of her children
By: Todd Fitzgerald
Tributes have been paid to a 'caring' mum with 'the most amazing soul' after she was stabbed and her body discovered by her two young children.
Perseverance Ncube, known as ‘Percy’ to friends, family and close ones, tragically died after being attacked in Little Hulton, Salford, on Friday morning. Officers later arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
The Manchester Evening News reported that witnesses saw police arrive at the property just before 3am, with the tragic incident said to have taken place at 2.40am. Ms Ncube was tragically found by her two children with a single stab wound to the chest just a few weeks after she had celebrated a recent birthday.
Her family have paid a heartbreaking tribute to the 35-year-old. In a statement released via Greater Manchester Police, they said: “It is with immense pain that we say goodbye to Perseverance Ncube, also known as Percy to her loved ones. She was a loving and devoted mother who lived for her children, family, and friends. Percy was an active member of her church and had created a beautiful community for herself and her children, but she was cruelly taken from us due to domestic violence.
“Percy had just celebrated her 35th birthday in October, and her passing has left us with an immeasurable sense of loss. Our focus now is on supporting her children as they continue their journey without their mother. With love from Percy’s family.”
Neighbours have been left shell-shocked following Ms Ncube’s death and that frantic efforts were made to save her as she lay wounded in the street. One neighbour, who lives a few doors down and didn’t want to be named, said she was woken at 2.30am by “screaming”. She, along with a few others, went outside to see if they could help and saw Ms Ncube with a 'stab wound' to her chest.
She said: "I was there, I was on the phone to the ambulance. We were all there looking after her. There was four of us and a lad was given her compressions on her chest. It's horrible - it's really, really sad." Another neighbour described Ms Ncube as a "wonderful woman" who was "a lovely lady".
He added. "Nobody deserves that." Another woman said: "She was nice, she kept herself to herself. It's so sad, so terrible. The poor kids - Christmas and no mum."
"It's horrible," another neighbour added. "It's just sad, that poor woman and her poor children. It's really heartbreaking." Kingsley Adekunle, 44, said: "She was our neighbour. I didn't know her by name, but we would always say hello. She was a very lovely lady. She was a calm and kind lady. Everyone is so shocked. I was asleep and then around 2am I started heading screaming. We were forced to come out and lots of the neighbours were already out. It's very, very sad. You are just not expecting this. It's unbelievable."
Tributes have poured in on Facebook as well. Alysha Connor posted: "I knew this woman personally, she had the most amazing soul. [A] kind, caring, amazing mother to her children. I can't get my head around this. I'll cherish all our memories forever. Rest in peace, beautiful." Caz Carey wrote: "Absolutely heartbreaking. Thoughts go to her family and friends." Nicola Lacey added: "Her poor children,".
Detective Chief Inspector Gina Brennand, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "We are in the early stages of our investigation, and an experienced team of detectives continue to work extremely hard to understand a comprehensive timeline of events that will help us piece together what has happened earlier this morning."
"This was a truly horrific attack on a mother, witnessed by her two young children and we really need the public to come forward and give information to us that may be able to assist our enquiries to find answers for them. A man, aged 45, fled the scene but has since been arrested by officers on suspicion of murder and remains in custody for questioning. Our inquiries at present suggest that the victim was known to the suspect and we believe that it was targeted attack."
"We recognise that incidents of this nature will understandably cause worry in our communities in Greater Manchester and to reassure members of the public, additional neighbourhood officers will be in and around the surrounding area over the coming days and anyone with any concerns is encouraged to come and speak to us."
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/caring-mum-the-most-amazing-31412014
Pilot who tried to take down plane after taking mushrooms speaks out
By: Kelly Rissman
The off-duty pilot who attempted to shut down a plane’s engines mid-flight after taking psychedelic mushrooms has spoken out for the first time since being charged with 83 counts of attempted murder.
Joseph Emerson, 44, was riding in the cockpit jumpseat on an Alaska Airlines flight on 22 October from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, California.
In an interview with the New York Times this week, Mr Emerson explained: “I thought it would stop both engines, the plane would start to head towards a crash, and I would wake up.”
After the plane made an emergency landing in Portland, Mr Emerson admitted to police that he had had “a nervous breakdown” and had taken psychedelic mushrooms two days earlier. In all, he faces a total of 167 state charges and one federal count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Emerson explained to the Times that he had no intention of harming anyone. His wife, Sarah Stretch called him “the most caring and gentle person.” On top of this, the Alaska Airlines incident was merely a reaction to taking a psychedelic, he claimed. He told police he had not slept in 40 hours and that he had struggled with depression for the past six months.
Mr Emerson said his depressed mental state was not uncommon among those in his field: “A lot of us [pilots] aren’t as forthcoming as we otherwise would be.”
The onset of his depression occurred, according to the outlet, after the best man at his wedding died in 2018. Mr Emerson has been wearing a necklace of his friend’s ashes ever since.
Mr Emerson was returning from a get together with friends to commemorate the death of his once best man; the group had already held a similar one the year prior.
One person on the trip suggested he try mushrooms, which Mr Emerson said he had never tried before, but ultimately agreed to, as he wasn’t scheduled to fly an aircraft for another six days.
According to an affidavit, Mr Emerson told a flight attendant: “You need to cuff me right now, or it’s going to be bad.” Flight attendants then moved Mr Emerson to the back of the plane and put him in flex handcuffs.
During the flight’s descent, he allegedly turned towards an emergency exit door and tried to grab the handle. “A flight attendant stopped Emerson by placing her hands on top of Emerson’s hands,” the affidavit said. The outlet said that he thought that if he jumped out, he would finally wake up.
He wouldn’t regain his full mental capacity until five days later, the outlet said, when things became clear to him that they were real and no longer a dream.
Upon reflection, Mr Emerson told the Times: “I am horrified that those actions put myself at risk and others at risk.” He continued, “That crew got dealt a situation there’s no manual, checklist or procedure that’s been written for. And they did an exemplary job keeping me and the rest of the people on that plane safe.”
Hamas offered Israel 50 hostages for a 5-day cease-fire but the deal got rejected, reports say
By: Joshua Zitser
Hamas proposed exchanging 50 Israeli hostages for a five-day cease-fire in Gaza, but Israel rejected the offer, according to The New York Times.
Citing Arab and Western officials with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Times said that the negotiations took place in the days leading up to the ground invasion of Gaza.
The invasion took place on the evening of October 27.
The incursion had been delayed briefly to allow time for negotiators to try to reach a deal, two officials told the Times.
According to The Guardian, which cited three sources familiar with the talks, the originally proposed deal for a five-day cease-fire primarily involved the freeing of children, women, the elderly, and sick people.
Hamas said it needed a five-day pause in Israel's bombardment to gather the hostages, the Times reported. Roughly 240 hostages were taken prisoner during the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, which killed some 1,400 people.
But Israel insisted on a much shorter timeframe, demanding that the militant group that rules Gaza gather the hostages in just hours, according to the Times.
It also wanted Hamas to provide a detailed list of the hostages who would be released, the newspaper reported.
Hamas found the request too challenging amid an ongoing bombing campaign, which ultimately led to the collapse of a deal, two officials told the outlet.
Israel then moved forward with its campaign, with officials believing that Hamas would eventually bow to military pressure, the newspaper reported.
According to the Guardian, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the deal outright and has maintained a tough stance on cease-fire-for-hostage proposals.
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Israel's retaliatory strikes, now in their second month, have killed more than 10,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Netanyahu, who is facing mounting pressure in Israel to free the hostages, said last week that the offensive in Gaza will continue with "full force" until all hostages are released.
https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-gaza-offer-50-hostages-5-day-ceasefire-israel-rejected-2023-11
Salon writer equates Hamas with Republicans, Christians, Trump-supporters
By: Eric Utter
Salon, which is to news and opinion as Porta Potties are to lavatories, proved unable to wait even one full week after Hamas terrorists massacred thousands of Israelis (and at least 33 Americans) before reminding the twisted souls who read the rag that Christian Republicans are the real threat to the planet’s roughly 8 billion people.
On Oct. 12, the far-left repository of radical refuse published an unhinged polemic by former White House correspondent Brian Karem asserting that the Republican Party and Hamas are “both terrorist groups,” and any difference is “just a matter of degree.”
As if that preposterous — and libelous — statement weren’t enough, Karem recently doubled down via a similar piece, suggesting that “MAGA and Christian nationalism” together constitute a greater threat to America than “Hamas could ever be.” B.K. needs to be reminded that the country was founded by Christian nationalists, which is in large part why it became the most successful nation in the history of the world. Neither Christians nor nationalists tend to behead babies or kill children in front of their parents. Trump-supporters don’t typically take the elderly hostage. Patriots rarely prey on innocents. And I have never heard of a horde of screaming Republicans crossing another nation’s border and butchering thousands.
I’m guessing, if he were to be honest, that Mr. Karem would be less confident of his safety were he with Hamas in Gaza than he would be, say, in a Catholic church or at a Republican caucus. But Mr. Karem is not honest. He is either a hate-filled pathetic liar…or insane.
Rapist Nathan Gillet jailed for 17-year campaign of abuse on Isle of Bute
By: Jenness Mitchell
A violent rapist who brutalised a woman and girl during a series of sex attacks has been jailed for 14 years.
Nathan Gillet's campaign of abuse took place on the Isle of Bute, Argyll and Bute, over a 17-year period.
The 50-year-old denied the charges, but was found guilty of 13 offences including rape, sexual assault, and physically assaulting a boy.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, judge Lord Armstrong told the first offender: "These crimes of which you have been convicted are disturbing and grave."
Gillet repeatedly attacked one woman between 2002 and 2019. On one occasion, he raped her while she was asleep, intoxicated, and moving in and out of consciousness.
He also repeatedly assaulted a schoolgirl and acted towards her in a threatening and abusive manner. Gillet sexually assaulted her when she was under the age of 13 and then raped her on one occasion when she became a teenager.
The court heard Gillet, from Rothesay, continues to deny responsibility and has been assessed as posing a high risk of reoffending.
'The lasting effect of your conduct on them may be incalculable'
Lord Armstrong said the victim impact statements showed the "devastating and ongoing, long-term negative consequences" of Gillet's actions on their daily lives.
The judge added: "The lasting effect of your conduct on them may be incalculable.
"They have suffered significant and lasting detrimental effects on their health and the quality of their lives - physically, emotionally and psychologically."
As well as the 14-year jail sentence, Gillet has been placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.
In addition, he will be supervised for a further five years upon his release from prison.
Lord Armstrong said: "I am satisfied that an extended sentence is necessary in your case in order to provide adequate protection to the public from serious harm."
Armed Robbers Attack Concealed Carry Holder, Instantly Realize Their Mistake
By: Jason Walsh
A 29-year-old concealed carry holder was accosted by armed robbers after crashing his car “just south of the West Loop” Wednesday night.
The robbers arrived at the crash scene in a black Dodge Charger, believing their victim was easy prey.
Unfortunately for the robbers, the 29-year-old pulled his weapon out, letting them know they had made a big mistake.
Defensive Gun Use tracker posted an account of the incident on social media:
“The permit holder engaged the robbers in a gunfight in which more than 30 rounds were fired.”
While the victim suffered gunshot wounds to both legs, the robbers were also shot.
The robbers, caught off guard and not expecting armed resistance from their prey, scrambled back into their car and drove to the West Side.
One of the robbers was dropped off in an alley and called 911 for help.
He attempted to distance himself from the attempted robbery by claiming the shooter “in a black Infiniti SUV shot him during a botched robbery.”
However, cops heard a gunshot around the time of the 911 call and witnessed a black Charger speeding away.
Discerning police concluded the gunshot was likely an attempt to add credibility to the criminal’s story.
Meet the little-known group funded by left-wing dark money that is shaping federal climate policy
By: Thomas Catenacci
A little-known, Boston-based organization focused on sustainability and combating global warming and fueled by millions of dollars in dark money funding has quietly established itself in recent years as a key federal policymaking power player.
Ceres, a nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1989, in recent years has established elaborate networks of financial institutions, pension funds, labor unions and major multinational corporations, rallying those members to pursue shared left-wing climate policies. The group has simultaneously worked hand-in-hand with other environmental groups and federal and state policymakers to forward its agenda.
"Ceres is trying to drive the climate agenda through subterfuge and milking the power of wealthy investment firms and big corporations," Jason Isaac, the founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, told Fox News Digital.
"They're getting rich while they believe that they're saving the world. I say they're destroying the planet to save the Earth in their minds, and that the scourge of the Earth is us humans. At the same time, they just happen to be profiting very handsomely from their advocacy, so they feel good about it. I call it a cult. It has become their religion."
Isaac's American Energy Institute recently assembled a report, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, that outlines how Ceres has grown into one of the nation's most influential climate organizations affecting policy. According to the report, Ceres is composed of three main membership networks — the Investor Network, the BICEP Network and the Company Network.
The Ceres Investor Network includes more than 220 institutional investors, which manage a staggering $46 trillion in assets. That network, Ceres says, seeks to "accelerate the transition to a just, sustainable, net-zero emissions economy."
The Ceres BICEP and Company Networks include companies like Doordash, General Mills, HP, Ikea, Kaiser Permanente, McDonald's, Nestle, Netflix, Nike, PayPal, Salesforce, Starbucks and Unilever. They work to adopt uniform strategies to lower emissions. For example, the BICEP Network contains a Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance focused on "accelerating the transition to electric vehicles."
"They're using their influence and their power and their money to push these policies on Americans at the detriment of American energy producers and to the benefit of Chinese companies that now own or control more than 80% of the cobalt mines in Africa and the Congo to meet our green dream goals, if you will," Isaac told Fox News Digital, referencing critical mineral production vital to developing green energy technology.
"It's, again, to our incredible detriment, as we're seeing higher cost of electricity. We're seeing greater number of electricity disconnects and greater number of natural gas disconnects in American homes," he added. "Expensive energy hurts the poor, and I'm working against policies that make energy more expensive."
The American Energy Institute report also highlighted how Ceres has raised tens of millions of dollars to fund its operations. The majority of Ceres' funding has originated from left-wing grant-making foundations like the Rockefeller Family Fund, New Venture Fund, Climate Imperative Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, which aren't required to disclose individual donors, in addition to individual donors who have remained anonymous.
According to Ceres' most recent 990 tax filing, between the period from November 2021 through October 2022, it received $26.6 million in contributions and grants. The year prior, it raised nearly $40 million for its operations. Two anonymous grantors contributed 35% of the $26.6 million raised, while one grantor was responsible for 14% of the $40 million raised, further financial filings showed.
Internet collapses in Yemen after recent attacks by rebels targeting Israel, US
By: AP and Toi Staff
Internet access across the war-torn nation of Yemen collapsed early Friday without explanation, web monitors said.
The outage began early Friday around 0000 GMT and saw all traffic halt at YemenNet, the country’s main provider to some 10 million users, which is now controlled by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Both NetBlocks, a group tracking internet outages, and the internet services company CloudFlare reported the outage. Neither offered a cause for the collapse.
“Data shows that the issue has impacted connectivity at a national level as well,” CloudFlare said.
Several hours later, some service was restored, though access remained troubled. In a statement to the Houthi-controlled SABA state news agency, Yemen’s Public Telecom Corp. blamed the outage on maintenance.
“Internet service will return after the completion of the maintenance work,” the statement quotes an unidentified official as saying.
A previous outage occurred in January 2022 when the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen bombed a telecommunications building in the Red City port city of Hodeida. There was no immediate word of a similar attack in this case.
The undersea FALCON cable carries internet into Yemen through the Hodeida port along the Red Sea for TeleYemen. The FALCON cable has another landing in Yemen’s far eastern port of Ghaydah as well, but the majority of Yemen’s population lives in its west along the Red Sea.
The outage came after a series of recent drone and missile attacks by the Houthis targeting Israel amid its campaign of airstrikes and a ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That includes a claimed missile strike Thursday again targeting the Israeli port city of Eilat on the Red Sea. Israel said its long-range Arrow air defense system intercepted the missile.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have attempted to fire drones and missiles at Eilat, though in all the attempts the projectiles were either intercepted or missed their targets.
Last week, the Houthis claimed a drone attack and said they had carried out three earlier strikes with drones and ballistic missiles.
They have said they are acting as part of the “axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
The ongoing war in Gaza erupted when Hamas terrorists stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, massacring some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing over 240 hostages in the deadliest attack in the Jewish state’s history.
Houthi forces “continue to carry out more qualitative military operations in support of the Palestinian people… until the brutal Israeli aggression against our brothers in Gaza stops,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on X Monday.
Philippines accuses China of 'dangerous' actions in South China Sea
By: Staff
The incident happened during a Philippine mission to deliver provisions to a tiny garrison on Second Thomas Shoal, which is part of the Spratly Islands and a longstanding flashpoint between the countries.
China deploys coast guard and other vessels to patrol the hotly contested region and asserts its claim to almost the entire South China Sea.
Manila said the Chinese coast guard and other vessels "recklessly harassed, blocked, executed dangerous maneuvers" as they tried to "illegally impede or obstruct" Friday's mission.
A Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon against one of two supply boats, according to the Philippines' National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
The supply mission was also the target of "extremely reckless and dangerous harassment at close proximity" by Chinese boats inside the shoal, it said in a statement, adding that the Philippine vessels still managed to deliver their cargo.
China, however, said it "took control measures" against two Philippine transport boats and three coast guard vessels it insisted were in Chinese waters.
"The Philippines' actions infringe on China's territorial sovereignty," China Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu said.
"We urge the Philippines to immediately stop its infringing actions."
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
A handful of Filipino troops are stationed on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre, which the Philippine Navy grounded on the reef in 1999 to check China's advance in the waters.
The troops depend on the resupply missions for their survival.
The task force said the Philippine embassy in Beijing had lodged a protest with the Chinese foreign ministry over the latest incident, which it said had "put the lives of our people at risk".
"The systematic and consistent manner in which the People's Republic of China carries out these illegal and irresponsible actions puts into question and significant doubt the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue," the statement said.
- 'They are not being deterred' -
Friday's incident comes nearly three weeks after two collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels during another resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, with the countries trading blame.
China's intentions were clearly designed to "stop the resupply missions to the Sierra Madre", said Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines' Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.
"The use of water cannon again is an indication of something like renewed aggressive tendencies… it's like they are demonstrating that they are not being deterred by what we've been doing," he told AFP.
Analyst Richard Heydarian warned these confrontations were a "ticking time bomb", as both sides test how far the United States, Beijing's rival, is willing to either prevent outright conflict or side with ally Manila.
"I think both sides are really sleepwalking towards a potential armed confrontation," Heydarian told AFP.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has publicly criticised Chinese actions in the South China Sea, and sought stronger security ties with Japan and the United States in the face of Chinese actions in the waters.
Beijing has ignored a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that its claims to almost the entire sea have no legal basis.
Air Force hopes raising maximum age of enlistment to new high will ease recruiting crisis
By: Michael Lee
The Air Force and Space Force are raising the maximum age applicants can enlist as the services continue to search for ways to alleviate ongoing recruiting struggles.
Those interested in joining the Air Force or Space Force will have until they are 42-years-old to sign up, a three-year rise in the age limit that was previously set at 39, according to a report from Military.com. The change means that the two branches will now be accepting the oldest recruits of any Department of Defense military branch
"Air Force Recruiting is glad to see a change in the age component of the accessions process," Brig. Gen. Chris Amrhein, the Air Force Recruiting Service commander, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "This change, which aligns us with DOD accessions policy, is about identifying opportunity for talent out there. But make no mistake, we are not lowering any of our standards; someone who is 42 still has to meet the same accession requirements as younger applicants."
The change comes after the Air Force announced last month that it had missed its active duty recruiting goals by 11%, falling nearly 3,000 recruits short of the 26,877 that the service said it needed, according to Military.com.
The failure to meet recruiting goals extended to other branches as well, the report noted, with the Army and Navy also falling short of this year's goal. Only the Marine Corps was able to meet its recruiting goals this year, though the report notes that the branch "squeaked by" and has also struggled to meet National Guard and officer goals.
Asked about the timing of the policy change, an Air Force spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the move was made to better "align with current DOD policy."
"This opens the aperture to allow more otherwise qualified Americans the opportunity to serve. The accession age of 42 allows an Airman or Guardian, officer or enlisted, to serve a full 20 years," the spokesperson said.
The Air Force also brushed off concerns that the new age may be too old for new recruits, arguing that "people are living longer, healthier lives now."
"We don’t see this as a drawback," the spokesperson said. "Keep in mind [recruits] still have to meet all the mental, physical and moral qualifications to enter the US Air Force no matter what the age."
Israel minister accuses Gaza-based journalists of having prior knowledge of Hamas attack
By: Maroosha Muzaffar
Israel’s communications minister accused Gaza-based journalists of four western media outlets of having “prior knowledge” of the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
The accusations were levelled against journalists of the New York Times, Reuters, CNN, and the Associated Press. All of the four organisations have categorically denied the allegations.
In a letter to these organisations, Shlomo Karhi claimed that the journalists, including photojournalists, “may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpetrators”. He added: “It is alleged that some of your employees were present, documenting these horrors, effectively becoming participants in this horrifying event”.
The New York Times in its statement said there was “no evidence” to support such claims about its freelancer in Gaza. “The accusation that anyone at The New York Times had advance knowledge of the Hamas attacks or accompanied Hamas terrorists during the attacks is untrue and outrageous. It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk.”
Reuters said it “categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct 7”.
The Israeli government demanded clarifications from the four media outlets after an article titled “Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions” was published by Honest Reporting. This website claims to expose “anti-Israel media bias”.
The article claims that “on October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical questions”.
Mr Karhi wrote on X: “Terrorists disguised as journalists? I demand immediate clarifications from the international media bodies published in the investigation.”
Reuters clarified in its statement: “Reuters acquired photographs from two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of Oct 7, with whom it did not have a prior relationship.
“The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border. Reuters staff journalists were not on the ground at the locations referred to in the Honest Reporting article.”
Associated Press also denied the claim that it had any “prior knowledge” of the Hamas attack. Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of AP, said: “It was a fast-moving development in a very small territory. We carried out a very typical news-gathering process when a big event, a big moment, is happening and we need to figure out what it is and inform the world about it.”
Man Spent 30 Hours in Police Custody After Being Wrongly Identified by AI-based Tech
By: Arthi Nachiappan
Three years ago in Detroit, Robert Williams arrived home from work to find the police waiting at his front door, ready to arrest him for a crime he hadn't committed.
Facial recognition technology used by officers had mistaken Williams for a suspect who had stolen thousands of dollars worth of watches.
The system linked a blurry CCTV image of the suspect with Williams in what is considered to be the first known case of wrongful arrest owing to the use of the AI-based technology.
The experience was "infuriating", Mr Williams said.
"Imagine knowing you didn't do anything wrong… And they show up to your home and arrest you in your driveway before you can really even get out the car and hug and kiss your wife or see your kids."
Mr Williams, 45, was released after 30 hours in custody, and has filed a lawsuit, which is ongoing, against Detroit's police department asking for compensation and a ban on the use of facial recognition software to identify suspects.
There are six known instances of wrongful arrest in the US, and the victims in all cases were black people.
Artificial intelligence reflects racial bias in society, because it is trained on real-world data.
A US government study published in 2019 found that facial recognition technology was between 10 and 100 times more likely to misidentify black people than white people.
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This is because the technology is trained on predominantly white datasets. This is because it doesn't have as much information on what people of other races look like, so it's more likely to make mistakes.
There are growing calls for that bias to be addressed if companies and policymakers want to use it for future decision-making.
One approach to solving the problem is to use synthetic data, which is generated by a computer to be more diverse than real-world datasets.
Chris Longstaff, vice president for product management at Mindtech, a Sheffield-based start-up, said that real-world datasets are inherently biased because of where the data is drawn from.
"Today, most of the AI solutions out there are using data scraped from the internet, whether that is from YouTube, Tik Tok, Facebook, one of the typical social media sites," he said.
As a solution, Mr Longstaff's team have created "digital humans" based on computer graphics.
These can vary in ethnicity, skin tone, physical attributes and age. The lab then combines some of this data with real-world data to create a more representative dataset to train AI models.
One of Mindtech's clients is a construction company that wants to improve the safety of its equipment.
The lab uses the diverse data it has generated to train the company's autonomous vehicles to recognise different types of people on the construction site so it can stop moving if someone is in their way.
Toju Duke, a responsible AI advisor and former programme manager at Google, said that using computer-generated, or "synthetic," data to train AI models has its downsides.
"For someone like me, I haven't travelled across the whole world, I haven't met anyone from every single culture and ethnicity and country," he said.
"So there's no way I can develop something that would represent everyone in the world and that could lead to further offences.
"So we could actually have synthetic people or avatars that could have a mannerism that could be offensive to someone else from a different culture."
The problem of racial bias is not unique to facial recognition technology, it has been recorded across different types of AI models.
Why Vivek Ramaswamy should be Trump’s vice president
By: Timothy Jankowski
This week, former president Donald Trump made news when he suggested that he would be open to having Tucker Carlson as his vice president. In a previous late September speech to Michigan auto workers, Mr. Trump indicated that he did not see a potential vice presidential candidate among the current crop of rivals running against him in the GOP primary. With all due deference to Mr. Trump, I believe there is one clear choice who stands out above not just the primary candidates, but also any other candidates, and that person is Vivek Ramaswamy.
Is it because Mr. Ramaswamy is young, energetic, and charismatic and has a number of new ideas? Well, that certainly helps, but the real reason for choosing him comes down to, at the risk of sounding racist…math.
Donald Trump will enter the general election season with a lock on 233 electoral votes. He will win a supermajority of states in the South, the Mountain West, and the agricultural Midwest. This means that in order to achieve the 270 votes necessary to win the presidency, he will need to win just three additional swing states: Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia. This is where Vivek comes into play.
Trump lost Georgia in 2020 by approximately 12,000 votes, so he needs to…ahem…find those votes among the population in 2024. Now, it just so happens that the city of Atlanta is home to approximately 140,000 people of Indian descent, of which almost 70% vote Democrat. This means that poaching just 10% of the votes from that population would result in a Trump win in one of his three critical states.
So, were I Donald Trump, I would name Vivek Ramaswamy my V.P. pick and immediately send him to live in North Atlanta for the next eight months, where his entire job would be to stop in at every Indian restaurant, temple, clothing store, wedding, and social event and press the flesh in an Iowa-style campaign to win over that 10% (or more) population that was planning on voting Democrat.
With a personal fortune of over $600 million, Mr. Ramasway could be exceptionally generous when it comes to patronizing local businesses, donating to charities, setting up scholarships for people in the Indian community, etc., none of which would be regulated by campaign finance laws.
“But what about Nikki Haley?” you might ask. “She’s Indian as well.” The answer is that Nikki Haley is Indian in the same way that Ben Kingsley is, meaning that if someone didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know it. She doesn’t use her ethnic name, but rather goes by the Anglicized nickname “Nikki.” She is also a Christian, which accounts for 2% of India’s religious demographics, and she’s a female in a culture that is highly patriarchal.
Likewise, Kamala Harris, who also has Indian heritage, identifies more as a black person than an Indian, as well as a Christian. Further, her infamous interview where she talked about spending a lot of time in college smoking weed and listening to Tupac Shakur music is completely incongruent to Indian culture, which places a high value on college education. Talk to any Indian member of the professional class about his college experience, and he will tell you about all the hard work and study he put in, not how much time he spent getting wasted.
Vivek, on the other hand, identifies as an Indian; goes by his ethnic name; and is a Hindu, by far the dominant religion in India. He is also a successful businessman. A large number of Atlanta’s immigrant population settled there due to the city’s burgeoning tech industry. Who better to speak to such people on a level that they understand than Mr. Ramaswamy? In many ways, he is what so many of them aspire to be exactly: entrepreneurs, not government drones.
If you’ve followed Mr. Trump for any period of time, you’ll notice he has a clear M.O. He assigns an employee a low-level task, and if that person is successful, he promotes that person rapidly, in exchange for him taking credit for that person’s work. It would be a perfect start to their professional relationship if Vivek could deliver those votes and thereby the state of Georgia, leaving his campaign with only two states to focus on.
Colleges grapple with academic freedom, student safety amid Israel-Palestine protests
By: Joe Fisher
Nov. 10 (UPI) The Israel-Hamas war has provoked large-scale divisions on U.S. college campuses, where students lining up behind Israel and Palestine call on their universities for support of their views and in some cases to condemn the other side.
Dueling demonstrations have veered into accusations of hate speech, with students on both sides saying they feel unsupported, or even unsafe walking around campus.
The situation has left administrators walking a fine line between maintaining the academic freedom of giving space to diverse viewpoints and keeping students from harm, while facing public pressure to stake a position.
Scholars say universities risk their moral authority when they take sides, as some have learned since the war started with Hamas' invasion of Israel on Oct. 7.
"Universities should just stay quiet and as neutral as possible," Steve Sanders, associate dean of academic affairs at Indiana University, told UPI. "Faculty and scholars – those are the people who can stay engaged."
Indiana faculty have worked to emphasize the humanity of the situation.
"We are conditioned to think in tribal terms. A much more healthy way to look at this is from a humanistic perspective," said Abdulkader Sinno, an associate professor of political science who is of Muslim heritage. "Those who see the humanity in each other come from all groups. They are natural allies of each other."
Iran foreign minister warns Israel-Hamas war expansion 'has become inevitable': report
By: Greg Norman
Iran’s foreign minister is warning that an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war has now "become inevitable" as military activity is escalating inside the Gaza Strip, a report says.
Hossein Amirabdollahian made the comment during a telephone conversation with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani last night, according to Reuters, citing a report on Iranian state television.
"Due to the expansion of the intensity of the war against Gaza's civilian residents, expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable," Amirabdollahian reportedly said.
Israel continued to bombard Hamas inside Gaza on Friday, the 34th day of the war. Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said it killed a handful of Hamas terrorists, including two commanders who participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The IDF also reported that 37 of its soldiers have been killed since the ground portion of the fight against Hamas began, according to Fox News’ Trey Yingst.
American troops in Iraq and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by groups likely backed by Iran since the war started.
In response to one of the recent incidents in Syria, U.S. military forces conducted an airstrike against a weapons facility in the country on Wednesday.
"U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. "This strike was conducted by two U.S. F-15s against a weapons storage facility. This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates."
A U.S. defense official also confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that the Iranian-backed Houthis shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone near the Yemeni coast.
Poland’s opposition party leaders sign a coalition deal after collectively winning election
By: Associated Press
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The leaders of Polish opposition parties signed a coalition agreement on Friday that lays out a roadmap for governing the nation over the next four years.
The parties collectively won a majority of votes in last month’s national election. Their candidate to be the next prime minister is Donald Tusk, a former prime minister who leads the largest of the opposition parties, the centrist Civic Platform.
Tusk said the parties worked to seal their agreement before the Independence Day holiday on Saturday, adding that, “We wanted to show that we are ready to take responsibility for our homeland.”
Speaking ahead of the signing ceremony in the Polish parliament, Tusk said the agreement would offer a set of “signposts and recommendations” for the government he hopes to lead.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/10/polands-opposition-party-leaders-sign-coalition-de/
‘Corpses on streets’: Sudan’s RSF kills 1,300 in Darfur, monitors say
By: Mat Nashed
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) besieged a camp for displaced people on November 2 after attacking a nearby army base in West Darfur. Over the next three days, the paramilitary group committed what may amount to the single largest mass killing since the civil war erupted in April.
Local monitors told Al Jazeera that about 1,300 people were killed, 2,000 injured and 310 remain missing.
“They went house to house to search for men and killed each one they found,” said Montesser Saddam*, who barely escaped the killing and arrived in Chad on Sunday. “There were so many corpses in the streets.”
The latest atrocities are part of a wider campaign by the RSF and its allied militias to eradicate the non-Arab Masalit tribe from West Darfur, according to activists and survivors.
Since the start of Sudan’s civil war, the United Nations and Western governments have condemned the systematic killing and displacement of the Masalit from their land. But the criticism and concern have not deterred the RSF from carrying out more atrocities.
Hungary’s Orban says negotiations on Ukraine’s future EU membership should not move forward
By: Justin Spike
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary‘s prime minister said Friday he does not support moving forward on negotiations on Ukraine‘s future membership in the European Union, signaling again that his country could pose a major roadblock to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc.
EU leaders are to decide in mid-December whether Ukraine should be formally invited to begin talks to join the 27-member union, with Hungary seen as a potential obstacle. Unanimity among all member states is required to admit a new country into the bloc, giving Hungary‘s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a powerful veto.
The EU’s executive branch on Wednesday recommended that Ukraine should be permitted to open membership talks once it has addressed some shortfalls. But in an interview with state radio on Friday, Orbán said the embattled country is nowhere near gaining membership in the world’s largest trading bloc.
“Ukraine is in no way ready to negotiate on its ambitions to join the European Union,” Orbán said. “The clear Hungarian position is that the negotiations must not begin.”
Orbán’s government has refused to supply Ukraine with weapons in its war against Russia and has threatened to veto EU financial aid packages to Kyiv. It also accuses Ukraine of violating the rights of an ethnic Hungarian minority in western Ukraine by restricting its use of the Hungarian language in schools.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/10/hungarys-orban-says-negotiations-on-ukraines-futur/
German homelessness rises by 50% in a year – media
By: Staff
A sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany has contributed to a more-than-50% rise in homelessness in the EU state in the past 12 months, according to a report by an emergency housing assistance organization.
Increased rents, a lack of social housing and soaring costs of living have limited accommodation options for about one million refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, The Times newspaper reported, citing new data from the Federal Association for Aid to the Homeless (Bag W). Additionally, about 148,000 non-Ukrainians applied for asylum in the EU state in 2022, further compounding the country’s scarcity of available housing.
“Inflation, elevated costs and rising rents are bearing down heavily on households in Germany with weak incomes,” Bag W’s director Werena Rosenke told The Times. The most vulnerable, Rosenke added, are “low-income single-person households, single parents and couples with many children.”
Last year, about 607,000 people were at least temporarily homeless in Germany, Bag W said, compared to 383,000 in 2021. This was the highest count since 2018, with asylum seekers making up 411,000 of the figure (71%). While the homeless statistics were not broken down by nationality, January data from the country’s Federal Statistics Office said that Ukrainian nationals accounted for just under a third of the homeless population.
About 50,000 of Germany’s homeless were forced to sleep on the streets, according to Bag W’s analysis. The rest were able to find temporary accommodation, such as shelters or at the residences of friends or acquaintances.
Last weekend, a poll conducted by Der Spiegel concluded that about 40% of 125 local authorities in the ‘safe haven towns’ alliance –sometimes known as ‘Sanctuary Cities’– are close to reaching their immigrant-reception limits. Another survey, this one by Hildesheim University, found that about 40% of the 600 districts polled were “overwhelmed” or “in emergency mode.”
Bag W’s report also noted that a large drop in the social housing sector has exacerbated Germany’s homelessness problems, particularly as the amount of publicly-funded accommodation has halved to just over one million in the past two decades.
“The lack of affordable accommodation remains the main cause for the housing shortage in Germany,” Rosenke said. “For this reason German and non-German homeless people alike cannot be adequately provided with accommodation that is suited to their needs.”
Christian student wins $150K after public school allegedly tried to force her into idol worship
By: Hannah Grossman
A former Christian student at a Chicago public school reacted to winning $150K after she alleged in a lawsuit that while on campus she was forced into participating in Hindu rituals, according to the original complaint.
"I'm a very strong Christian," Mariyah Green said in an interview with Fox News Digital. She said a woman who was teaching her meditation in mandated "Quiet Time" asked her to bow to an image of a foreign deity she did not recognize. The woman teaching the meditation said it would help her internalize the mantras and bring her to "Zen."
Green believes that she was nearly forced into idol worship. "Like, I'm in school right now, why is we learning how to meditate in this way? I just knew it wasn't right. So that's what made me take the initiative and go home to tell my parent and my auntie, who was my pastor at the time, that I didn't feel comfortable with what they was enforcing on me at school."
"The only time I kneel was when I was at the altar at church when I'm praying and I'm kneeling down for God because that was a way that we was taught, but not the kneeling to that idol. It was inappropriate," she said.
The complaint, originally filed by law firm Mauck & Baker, in February, alleged that the compelled rituals violated her deeply-held religious beliefs during the "Quiet Time" program implemented at Chicago Public Schools. The district said it terminated the program in 2020 and denied that it at any time violated any of its students' constitutional rights.
"CPS used was Quiet Time — a meditation-based social-emotional learning tool… which develops programs to serve populations dealing with violence and trauma," the district said in a statement.
The program encompassed the practice of "Transcendental Meditation" and the repetition of "mantras," which were "fundamentally religious in nature," according to the complaint. The students were informed the mantras were "meaningless words," but after Green did some research she found they were actually "the names of Hindu Gods," according to the lawsuit.
Green said students were informed not to tell anyone about their mantras, because if it "got out" it wouldn't be as effective.
Green also alleged that students were shown a picture of a "guru" and were asked to bow to it during a "Puja" ceremony, according to the complaint.
"During a ‘Puja’ initiation ceremony, specific items are presented to the picture of Guru Dev while the 'Transcendental Meditation' instructor chants aloud in Sanskrit for about three to five minutes and performs certain rehearsed ritual movements," the lawsuit said. "CPS students were regularly asked by the instructors to participate in the ‘Puja’ by placing various items before the image of Guru Dev or to kneel before that image."
French oil giant accused of ‘spiritual assault’ in East Africa
By: Staff
French oil and gas major TotalEnergies is facing pressure to halt the construction of a pipeline from oil fields in Uganda to a port in Tanzania, after a report found that it had damaged hundreds of graves along the project route.
Released on Thursday by the New York-based climate watchdog GreenFaith, the report claimed that TotalEnergies “has consistently failed to respect local customs and traditions related to the treatment of graves.”
“The company has routinely disregarded the pleas of local families to respect graves, ignored information which families or community members shared about the location of unmarked graves, and provided inadequate, delayed, or no compensation for the harm caused,” it stated.
TotalEnergies has been planning to construct the world's largest heated crude oil pipeline, the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and governments of Ugandan and Tanzanian, since 2017.
If completed, the 1,443-kilometer pipeline project, which is expected to displace more than 100,000 people, will result in dozens of wellsites, hundreds of kilometers of roads, camps, and other infrastructure.
However, TotalEnergies, the project's largest shareholder with a 62% stake, has long faced legal action from activists for alleged human rights and climate violations.
In June, five French and Ugandan NGOs sued the oil giant for a second time in a Paris civil court after an earlier fast-track attempt was dismissed. The groups accused TotalEnergies of causing “serious harm” to locals, particularly with regard to their rights to land and food, as well as undermining the Paris climate accord through its EACOP and Tilenga oil development project operations.
The “As if nothing is sacred” report by GreenFaith found that the construction is a “spiritual assault” on local communities, aside from environmental and human rights concerns. The findings are based on field surveys in three districts in Tanzania and six in Uganda, including interviews with members of affected families who own graves along the path of either the EACOP or the Tilenga project.
According to the research, the French oil major risks disrespecting over 2,000 graves along the project route, in addition to those that have already been desecrated. This has inflicted "painful spiritual and psychological harm" on affected families, it added.
“It is traumatizing enough that TotalEnergies, supported by Uganda and Tanzania governments, has already displaced thousands of families along the proposed pipeline’s route. But the finding that even the dead cannot rest in peace is disrespecting something deeply sacred to Africans,” Meryne Warah, Global Organizing Director for GreenFaith, said.
Australian police officer sentenced for threatening to shoot colleague over Top Gun spoiler
By: Maroosha Muzaffar
An Australian police officer who threatened to shoot his colleague over Top Gun: Maverick spoilers has been sentenced, the local media reported.
Dominic Francis Gaynor took his weapon out of the holster and pointed it at 26-year-old probationary constable Morgan Royston after he told Mr Gaynor that he had already watched the Tom Cruise-starrer and would give out a spoiler.
Constable Gaynor, 30, responded by saying “Don’t spoil the movie, c***. I’ll shoot you”, according to the court documents cited by Australian media outlets.
The incident took place in May. After this episode, Mr Royston left the police force and reportedly struggled with depression.
On Thursday, a court handed Mr Gaynor a two-year good behaviour bond and a conviction, ABC News reported.
The court documents said Mr Gaynor “pointed his firearm at the vicinity of the complainant and held it stationary for five seconds”.
“The offender’s finger was on the receiver and not the trigger. The offender was laughing throughout this incident.”
Mr Gaynor has pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm with disregard for the complainant’s safety.
Mr Royston told the court that he would never forget the “overwhelming shock and fear” he felt when Mr Gaynor took out his gun.
“I have completely lost the trust I had and my admiration for the NSW Police Force,” he said.
“When I see a police officer now, I feel compelled to watch them and check their hand is not on their firearm.”
Chris Micali, Mr Gaynor’s lawyer, said his client made an awful mistake. “This is a case where the skylarking and tomfoolery in an employment context has gone awry,” he told the court.
Target's in an ironic twist: Locking up 'Pair of Thieves' undies due to chronic theft
By: Aislinn Murphy
Target had "Pair of Thieves" and other men’s underwear brands under lock and key at a New York store, a seeming irony as the national retailer continues to deal with theft.
At a White Plains, New York, store, rows of "Pair of Thieves" products could be seen displayed in glass-fronted security cases. Other brands of underwear also appeared locked up alongside them.
"Pair of Thieves," which is based in Los Angeles, also sells socks and undershirts. FOX Business reached out to the brand and Target for comment on the men’s underwear displayed behind glass at the White Plains store.
Some retailers have put underwear and some other products in anti-theft security cases in past instances. That includes measures back in 2020, according to reports.
In a report released in September, the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that underwear and certain other clothing were products that organized retail crime groups often try to steal. Some other "frequently targeted" items included handbags, cellphone accessories, designer footwear and cosmetics, according to the organization.
Some personal care aisles at Target locations in San Francisco and in Riverdale, New York, made headlines in April for having the items stored in locked shelves.
At the time, a Target spokesperson said the company takes a "multi-layered approach to combating theft."
"This includes in-store technology, training for store leaders and security team members, and partnerships with law enforcement agencies as well as retail trade associations," the spokesperson said. "On a limited basis, we also employ theft-deterrent merchandising strategies, such as locking cases, for categories that are prone to theft. While we don’t share specifics on these strategies, these decisions are generally made at a local level."
https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/targets-ironic-twist-lockup-pair-thieves-undies-due-chronic-theft
Penn affiliates say university violates ‘fiduciary duty’ with oil investments: complaint
By: Jack Applewhite
Penn’s investments are ‘imperiling the university’s financial and physical condition’
University of Pennsylvania’s investments in oil, gas, and coal violate the school’s “fiduciary duty,” according to a complaint filed with the attorney general’s office and supported by students, faculty, and outside groups.
Attorneys at the Climate Defense Project, an environmental advocacy group that fights for “climate justice,” filed the complaint with Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Harris and asked her investigate and order Penn to end all of its investments with ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Over 40 UPenn faculty members and 35 student groups signed on to the complaint along with 10 national organizations, although all the names of the students and faculty were removed from the public letter.
The College Fix reached out to attorneys at the Climate Defense Project to ask if the attorney general had responded to the complaint.
The Climate Defense Project did not respond to requests for comment sent in the past two weeks.
The board of trustees “have a fiduciary duty to invest with consideration for the University’s ‘charitable purposes’ — a duty that distinguishes non-profit institutions from other investors,” the complaint stated.
“Instead, the Board of Trustees has invested a portion of their $21 billion endowment in the fossil fuel industry — damaging the world’s natural systems;” according to the complaint. The investments are also “disproportionately harming youth, low-income people, and communities of color; and imperiling the university’s financial and physical condition.”
Penn did not respond to requests for comment sent in the past two weeks and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office told The Fix he had “nothing to offer at this point.”
The Fix reached out to Fossil Free Research, a group that advocates fossil fuel divestment in higher education and that was a signatory on the complaint. The Fix asked if the group was aware of any university response to the complaint and what next steps it would take against the school.
“While we did sign on in support of Fossil Free Penn’s legal action, we are not the right group to ask about how the university has responded,” Jake Lowe, the group’s executive director, told The Fix. “I’d encourage you to reach out to the student organizers from Fossil Free Penn for more on this,” Lowe said.
Lowe said that he would be able to speak more on the legal complaint rather than the university response.
However, when The Fix sent a follow-up inquiry asking about the basis of the complaint, specifically the laws the school is violating by investing in fossil fuels, a separate spokesperson responded on Lowe’s behalf and declined to answer the questions.
“We are not the specific student group at UPenn who filed the legal complaint and thus we do not have answers to your questions,” the spokesperson said.
The complaint against UPenn is one of five that were recently filed by the Climate Defense Project against prominent universities’ endowments. Other school endowments that were subject to complaints include the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University.
The Fix also inquired with four of the student groups that signed on to the complaint to ask if they were aware of any plans by the university to divest from fossil fuels and if they planned on taking further action against the school.
Fossil Free Penn, Penn Association for Gender Equity, Penn Non-Cis, and Penn Young Democratic Socialists of America all did not respond to multiple inquiries sent in the last two weeks.
The Creeping Absorption of Hong Kong into China is Palpable
By: Dr. Roger Watson
I had not been to Hong Kong for over four years. Last time I left in 2019 it was, literally, with the smell of CS gas in the air. I extricated myself, with difficulty, from my hotel in Wan Chai next to the occupied Legislative Council (LegCo) and felt lucky to make it to the airport. It too was occupied soon after. I covered this and the student uprising for the European Conservative in my review of Revolution of Our Times, the banned documentary of the uprising. My absence from Hong Kong was enforced by the COVID-19 travel restrictions, which were applied more forcefully and for longer in Hong Kong than almost any other country, with the exception of mainland China. The restrictions hit the Hong Kong airline badly with three years’ losses of HK$33.7 billion (approximately HK$10 to the pound) and redundancies of 6,000 employees. It is beginning to make a modest profit and reported HK$4.26 billion for the first half of the year, is employing a few thousand new staff and expanding its routes again.
Superficially, Hong Kong looks exactly the same and, to an outsider, any changes taking place are intangible. But conversations with colleagues and friends reveal that things are, indeed, changing. As a part-time academic here I was most interested in what was happening in the universities, and that can be most usefully summarised by saying that the four major universities now have mainland Chinese Presidents. Previously the Presidents have been either local or expat. But the last expat university President here was Sir Peter Mathieson, now Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. Having started in 2013, his reign was cut short in 2017 after supporting the students’ right to protest about democracy in the special administrative region (SAR). It is unthinkable that another expat President will be employed in a Hong Kong university.
Local elections to district councils are taking place which means that at rush hours the colourful and noisy candidates and their supporters are out distributing leaflets. As these are written in Chinese they do not give them to gweilos like me so I have no idea what the burning issues are. Asking local colleagues about the elections, they mainly scoffed. The candidates are all Beijing approved, exactly like candidates are now for the LegCo. Previously only the Chief Executive of the LegCo had to be approved. The result is that there is dwindling interest among Hong Kongers for these elections. Once they could expect 80% to 90% turnouts. Now they are heading towards single figures.
China continues to make reassuring noises about the ‘one country two systems’ approach to Hong Kong. But when I ask people here if even the pale excuse for a democracy that currently exists will persist beyond full assimilation into China, they shrug their shoulders. Likewise if I ask whether the Chinese border will be extended to include Hong Kong. Beijing assured Hong Kong of 50 years of relative autonomy but that is being severely eroded and nobody realistically expects it to wait for the full 50 years before taking over completely.
The result of the rapid political change and loss of freedom of expression means that half a million Hong Kong people have left the SAR since the start of 2021. I had dinner with one leading local academic in my field who is emigrating to Australia. His wife, also a senior academic, is leaving with him as are their very well-educated children. Hong Kong’s loss is certainly Australia’s gain over this, and they have no intention of returning. This brain drain is benefiting many countries, mainly the U.K. but also the U.S. and Canada.
The local newspaper of record is the South China Morning Post (SCMP), now in its 120th year. Published in English, it used to take an independent and even critical position over China.
It would be unfair to say that it has capitulated completely but, apart from the changing political situation in Hong Kong, its ownership since 2016 by Jack Ma, also known as Hangzhou-based Alibaba, is surely influential. One contributor Stephen Vines was clear that the SCMP had become an instrument for Chinese propaganda and stopped writing for it. From an outsider’s perspective, it has certainly changed. There is no longer a pullout section on local news and the main broadsheet contains three pages dedicated to news from China. This seems unnecessary as the remainder of the SCMP is largely already dedicated to news from the mainland. Nevertheless, it remains a readable and informative newspaper, but a local expat colleague said that is not stocked by many outlets now.
The above said, Hong Kong remains an incredible place. The MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is one of the first of its kind in the world. Of course, mass transit rail started in London and has spread across the world, but in Hong Kong, starting in 1979, they have perfected the art and science of the MTR system. It is far superior to the much more recently developed system in its regional counterpart Taipei. The systems in Beijing and Shanghai are much harder to negotiate. Trains run every three minutes and move rapidly through the system which operates at 99.9% service reliability. On slow news days, delays within the system of several minutes have been reported in the local newspapers. The system of interchange stations where you step out of a train on one line and walk across to one on another line is unique.
I visited LOHAS park which was near my accommodation. Construction began in 2008 and, when completed in 2024, will accommodate 58,000 people. LOHAS is a concept, it means ‘Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability’, which probably tells you all you need to know. What I found was a complete cultural desert. Imagine a cross between SIM City and the Stepford Wives. I did not stay long.
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/11/10/the-creeping-absorption-of-hong-kong-into-china-is-palpable/
FEC complaint alleges coordinated disinformation campaign from Biden's 2020 run
By: Fred Lucas
An alleged campaign finance violation could ensnare Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 51 former senior intelligence officials who asserted without evidence in 2020 that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.
America First Legal, a conservative organization run by former Donald Trump White House aide Stephen Miller, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in late October, alleging a "coordinated communication" and an unreported in-kind contribution to the Joe Biden presidential campaign and related entities, in violation of federal law.
"[The] evidence suggests that the respondents failed to disclose coordinated expenditures constituting in-kind donations with respect to the infamous ‘Letter of 51’ former intelligence officials claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story had ‘all the classic earmarks’ of Russian disinformation," says the 13-page AFL complaint, with 110 accompanying pages of evidence.
The FEC complaint claims that the Biden for President campaign in 2020, the Biden Victory Fund, the Democratic National Committee, and the Biden Action Fund should have reported on coordinating efforts.
The "Letter of 51" was released on Oct. 19, 2020, weeks before the Nov. 8 presidential election between Biden and Trump.
The Obama administration officials who signed included former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Former George W. Bush DNI Michael Hayden, a vocal Trump critic, also signed.
The complaint notes that Panetta and Clapper donated to the Biden Victory Fund and the Biden for President campaign in 2020.
In March, former CIA Deputy and Acting Director Michael Morrell testified to the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committees that on Oct. 17, 2020, then-Biden campaign adviser Blinken contacted him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story first reported by the New York Post.
The complaint cited an April statement from the House Judiciary Committee that summarized the Morrell testimony.
Islamic Jihad Releases Propaganda Video, Offers to Release Two Hostages
By: Joel B. Pollak
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terror group controlled by Iran in Gaza, released propaganda videos Thursday that featured two Israeli hostages and offered their release in return for fuel and other supplies.
The video, like a Hamas video released last week, features the hostages blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the October 7 terror attack, though it goes further, specifically blaming him for the murder of “all the children,” and for “all the problems that happen in Israel and in the world.”
A masked Islamic Jihad figure claims that the two could be let go for “humanitarian” reasons and suggests they will die for lack of medicines in Gaza. He also suggests that the release of the hostages would await the right conditions — presumably, a unilateral ceasefire by Israel.
The video is notable in that it is the first to show any male hostage: Yagil Yaakov, 13. He, like the other hostage, Hannah Katzir, 77, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the Times of Israel.
Elon Musk escalates AI chatbot spat with Sam Altman: 'GPT-4? More like GPT-Snore'
By: Beatrice Nolan
Former colleagues Elon Musk and Sam Altman are swiping at each other's products.
Musk fired back at Altman after the OpenAI CEO mocked his '"rebellious" AI chatbot Grok. The Twitter owner took to X to share Grok's view on GPT-4.
Musk said, "GPT-4? More like GPT-Snore! When it comes to humor, GPT-4 is about as funny as a screendoor on a submarine. Humor is clearly banned at OpenAI, just like the many other subjects it censors. That's why it couldn't tell a joke if it had a goddamn instruction manual. It's like a comedian with a stick so far up its ass, it can taste the bark!"
Musk was responding to a post from Altman showing an interaction with OpenAI's new ChatGPT Builder. The OpenAI CEO asked the system to create a bot with "cringey boomer humor in an awkward shock-to-get-laughs sort of way."
To which ChatGPT Builder replied: "Great, the chatbot is set up! Its name is Grok."
Grok, created by Musk's startup xAI, infuses crass humor into its responses and is able to answer "spicy" questions other AI models would reject, according to the company.
Screenshots of interactions with the bot making the rounds online show Grok swearing and mocking its users. One example, shared by X employee Christopher Stanley, involved Grok comparing scaling API requests to a "never-ending orgy."
Grok aims to be a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, which Musk has been critical of. Despite cofounding OpenAI together in 2015, Musk and Altman have been publically sniping at each other over the last year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-chatgpt-spat-grok-sam-altman-2023-11
Malaysian ex-official to be caned and jailed – media
By: Staff
A former government minister was sentenced to being flogged and seven years in prison in Malaysia for corruption, local media reported on Thursday.
Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, the former youth and sports minister, was convicted on charges of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of assets and two counts of money laundering.
The 30-year-old will get two strokes of the cane, making him the first politician to receive a flogging sentence, the reports said.
Apart from the caning and a 7-year jail term, Syed Saddiq was also fined an amount equivalent to $2.13 million. The former minister denied the charges and has filed an appeal.
Wynn joins Caesars and MGM in reaching tentative deal to avoid a strike by Las Vegas hotel workers
By: Rio Yamat
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Over seven months of tense negotiations, mandatory daily room cleanings underscored the big issues that Las Vegas union hotel workers were fighting to address in their first contracts since the pandemic: job security, better working conditions and safety while on the job.
From the onset of bargaining, Ted Pappageorge, the chief contract negotiator for the Culinary Workers Union, had said tens of thousands of workers whose contracts expired earlier this year would be willing to go on strike to make daily room cleanings mandatory.
“Las Vegas needs to be full service,” he said last month.
It was a message that Pappageorge and the workers would repeat for months as negotiations ramped up and the union threatened to go on strike if they didn’t have contracts by first light on Friday with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts.
But by dawn Friday, the union had secured tentative labor deals with MGM Resorts, Caesars and Wynn Resorts, narrowly averting a sweeping strike at 18 hotel-casinos along the Strip. Agreements with MGM and Caesars — the Strip’s two largest employers — came earlier in the week, while the agreement with Wynn Resorts was announced just a few hours before the strike deadline.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/10/wynn-joins-caesars-and-mgm-reaching-tentative-deal/
Microsoft temporarily blocked staff from using ChatGPT over security concerns, report says
By: Tom Carter
Microsoft temporarily blocked its employees from using ChatGPT, according to CNBC reported.
The tech giant banned access to OpenAI's chatbot, in which it's invested billions of dollars and incorporated into some products, for a brief period Thursday after warning employees that it posed privacy and security concerns. The company later reversed the move.
"Due to security and data concerns a number of AI tools are no longer available for employees to use," Microsoft said in an internal update seen by CNBC.
"While it is true that Microsoft has invested in OpenAI, and that ChatGPT has built-in safeguards to prevent improper use, the website is nevertheless a third-party external service. That means you must exercise caution using it due to risks of privacy and security. "
The block proved temporary, with Microsoft reinstating access to ChatGPT shortly after it became public knowledge. The company told CNBC the move was accidental, and that access to ChatGPT was inadvertently turned off during testing of its AI control systems.
Sam Altman reacted by joking on X about OpenAI blocking Microsoft's 365 software in response.
"The rumors that we are blocking Microsoft 365 in retaliation are completely unfounded," the OpenAI CEO posted.
Several big tech companies, including Amazon and Apple, have issued bans on using ChatGPT internally over fears that using it could lead to leaks of confidential data.
Microsoft and OpenAI have a close partnership, with the tech giant investing $10 billion in the ChatGPT creator at the start of 2023.
The alliance has proved mutually beneficial. OpenAI has been able to leverage Microsoft's computing power and GPUs to train its AI models, while Microsoft has incorporated the GPT-4 AI into its Bing search engine.
However, there are signs of a rift emerging. The Information reported that Microsoft is building its own cheaper in-house AI models to reduce its reliance on OpenAI.
OpenAI, meanwhile, is reportedly exploring plans to build its own AI chips as it seeks to bring down the huge cost of training models like ChatGPT.
Spanish police investigate possible Iran link to shooting of former politician
By: Associated Press
The Spanish rightwing former politician Alejandro Vidal-Quadras is recovering in hospital after being shot in the face on a central Madrid street.
Police said they were not ruling out any theories for the attack on Thursday afternoon, including a possible link to the former European lawmaker’s ties with the Iranian opposition.
A police source close to the investigation told the Associated Press there was no evidence backing the Iranian link, but confirmed that Vidal-Quadras himself had raised the suspicion from his hospital bed and that investigators were looking into it as one of several possible motives.
In a sign that police were broadening the investigation to consider the Iranian angle, another official said a provincial brigade that handles terrorism and extremism cases had joined the investigation, previously led by agents specialising in homicides, late on Thursday.
Both officials spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to protect the secrecy of the inquiries.
Vidal-Quadras, 78, was attacked at about 1.30pm on Thursday near his home in the capital and was conscious when taken to hospital by emergency crews.
There were no immediate arrests and police were checking surveillance footage and witness accounts to identify the shooter, who had been seen wearing a black helmet. The suspect had fired one gunshot before fleeing on a motorbike driven by an accomplice.
A burnt motorbike found later in the day on the outskirts of the Spanish capital was being investigated, one of the officials said.
Four hours after the shooting, Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón general university hospital said the bullet had fractured Vidal-Quadras’s jawbone and that he would undergo surgery. It said the politician was in a stable condition and his life was not in danger.
Vidal-Quadras was a member of Spain’s conservative People’s party, its regional leader in Catalonia, and a European parliament member before leaving after three decades when he fell out with the then prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.
After he broke away, he helped found the far-right Vox party. He left Vox shortly after a failed attempt to win a European parliament seat in 2014.
As part of his political career, Vidal-Quadras has been aligned for decades with the Iranian opposition in exile, an involvement that was noticed by Tehran.
In January, the Iranian foreign ministry announced it had imposed sanctions on Vidal-Quadras along with others who had ties with the exiled People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq), accusing them of “supporting terrorism and terrorist groups”.
The group began as a Marxist organisation opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It claimed, and was suspected of, a series of attacks against US officials in Iran in the 1970s, which it now denies.
In mid-September, addressing a conference organised by the group in Brussels, Vidal-Quadras criticised EU officials and leaders for not being strong enough in their opposition to Iran and in their support for the exiled opposition.
In the past, Iran’s state-run media, citing reporting by the Spanish daily newspaper El País, has alleged Vidal-Quadras’s Vox party received MEK money. It described the payments as “terrorist money”.
The MEK leader, Maryam Rajavi, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “The Iranian Resistance sees Iran’s ruling religious fascism as the first suspect accused in this case, as Prof Vidal-Quadras has dedicated an important part of his life to fight against it.”
The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, said: “Thank God it seems that Alejandro Vidal-Quadras is out of danger.”
Iranian foreign minister threatens ‘inevitable’ expansion of war against Israel
By: Toi Staff
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has reportedly told his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, that the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war is “inevitable.”
“Due to the expansion of the intensity of the war against Gaza’s civilian residents, expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable,” Iran’s Press TV quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying in a phone call Thursday.
Iranian reports on the call stated that the two diplomats strongly condemned “the attacks of the Zionist regime against civilians,” and discussed ways through which they could “end the brutal attacks of the Israeli regime.”
Iran and its terror proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq have been threatening a regional conflict since the start of the war, sparked by Hamas’s brutal October 7 assault on southern Israel that killed some 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and saw some 240 people taken hostage in Gaza.
Following Hamas’s onslaught, Israel vowed to eliminate the terror group from the Gaza Strip, which it has ruled since 2007, and launched an operation from the air and the sea, and on the ground.
An estimated 9,500 rockets have been fired at Israel since October 7, 3,000 of them during the first day of the war alone. While the majority have been fired from inside Gaza, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has been conducting and overseeing daily assaults on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
On Friday, November 3, the terror group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, made his first speech since the outbreak of war, and expressed solidarity with the Palestinians and their “martyrs.”
While he predicted that Israel would fail, Nasrallah did not announce any explicit plans to broaden his Lebanese terror group’s involvement in the war, saying that “Some would like Hezbollah to engage in an all-out war, but I can tell you: What is happening now along the Israeli-Lebanese border is significant, and it is not the end.”
Elsewhere on Israel’s borders, a drone is believed to have been launched from southern Syria on Thursday, crossing into Israel via Jordan before hitting a school in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat. In response, the IDF confirmed it had carried out airstrikes inside Syria.
Israel has also faced attempted missile strikes from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, although all of the attempts were either intercepted or missed their targets. The latest incident on Thursday saw a rocket fired from Yemen downed by Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system.
Abdollahian’s warning is not the first to be uttered by Iran in recent weeks. On October 29, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza “may force everyone” to act.
“The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action,” Raisi wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel.”
At the same time as Israel faces threats from Iranian-backed groups, US troops stationed across the Middle East have also come under fire. Since the start of the war last month, a series of rocket and drone attacks have targeted military bases hosting US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
According to the Pentagon, US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria had been targeted by drone or rocket attacks 38 times since October 17, injuring 45 US personnel.
Amerton Farm petting zoo horror as three calves killed and mutilated by intruders
By: Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas
A farmer has spoken of their horror after three calves were slaughtered by intruders at their petting zoo.
The baby cows were killed by a suspected gang at their home at Amerton Farm - where managing director Eunice Finney described a scene of "carnage". She said the animals had been "mutilated" overnight.
The horrific incident is believed to have happened between 5.30pm on Monday, November 6, and 7am, Tuesday, November 7. The alarm was first raised when blood was found, along with signs of forced entry at the gate.
While the carcasses had been removed, parts of the calves' bodies and blood had been left at the farm in Stowe-by Chartley, Stafford. Eunice told Stoke on Trent Live: "Somebody has broken into our field and killed three calves. They were part of the farm, and they weren't very old. They were Hereford cross cows. They were fine on that night but then we found the carnage. They were mutilated. It has to be a gang that did it because they didn't know anything about animals to have done it like that. I'm distraught."
A police investigation is now underway, with officers visiting the site on Wednesday for a forensic examination of the area. It follows a similar incident in the area last month, where a cow was killed on a farm a mile away in the village Grindley. Police said the owner found the cow at the scene at 5.05pm on Wednesday 18 October, and that parts of the animal had been "harvested for meat".
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/three-calves-killed-mutilated-intruders-31406384
Mobsters charged in international plot to control New York garbage truck industry, DOJ says
By: Michael Ruiz
The plot turned out to be garbage.
Ten New York-based mobsters and another six in Italy have been charged in an international conspiracy case that alleges they conspired to dominate the Big Apple's trash hauling and demolition industries while scamming unions and beating up people who got in their way, according to the Justice Department.
The suspects, all alleged members or associates of the Gambino crime family, face federal racketeering charges on allegations that include extortion, arson, multiple assaults and union fraud.
The alleged ringleader is Joseph Lanni, according to court documents, also known as "Joe Brooklyn" and "Mommino," a purported mob captain who the Justice Department alleges was involved in the unrelated beating of a man and woman who owned a New Jersey restaurant in September.
In one reported incident, alleged Gambino "soldier" Diego Tantillo, alleged Sicilian mobsters Vito Rappa and Francesco Vicari as well as Gambino associate Kyle "Twin" Johnson were accused of targeting a New York City carting business owner by threatening him with a bat, lighting his front porch on fire and having someone vandalize his trucks.
They also allegedly beat up one of his associates before cornering the victim and his father-in-law.
According to federal prosecutors, a wiretap recorded Rappa telling Vicari that he'd coerced the father-in-law into acting "like the ‘Last of the Samurai’" and threatening to cut the business owner in half in order to extract extortion payments.
US troops face further attacks in Iraq
By: Staff
United States troops in Iraq have been targeted in new attacks using drones and explosives, military and security sources reported.
Three attacks took place on Thursday, the sources told Reuters. The incidents add to the more than 40 assaults that US and allied troops based across the Middle East have come under since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7.
As well as two drone assaults at bases, a US-led coalition convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the vicinity of Mosul Dam.
The security sources said the patrol was accompanied by Iraqi counterterrorism forces and that a vehicle in the patrol was damaged. Three US troops sustained minor injuries but had returned to duty, the official added.
Drone attacks targeted American and coalition forces at the Ain al-Asad airbase west of Baghdad and al-Harir airbase in Erbil. Both drones were destroyed before reaching their target, the sources said.
A statement from Iraqi Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service added that the attack at al-Harir had caused a fire at one of its fuel depots, but added that US-led coalition forces had evacuated the airbase on October 20.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40 times in Iraq and Syria. So far, 56 American personnel have been injured in these attacks, although all have returned to duty, according to the Pentagon.
The US has accused Iran of “actively facilitating” rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on its forces in Iraq and Syria.
Tehran denies these claims, saying groups engaging in the attacks were doing so on their own accord.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that Tehran “neither gives orders to the resistance groups across the region, nor stop them from taking decisions in their own countries based on their own interests”.
On Friday, he stated that it is “inevitable” that the scope of the war in Gaza will expand.
The groups in Iraq who have targeted US military assets say the attacks will continue as long as the US supports Israel in its war on Gaza.
The US has occasionally retaliated against Iranian-backed forces in the region, including a strike on October 26 in Syria.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/10/us-troops-attacked-in-iraq-2
Brazil questions Israeli terrorrist attack claim
By: Staff
Brazilian authorities have warned against jumping to conclusions after Israel claimed to have foiled a terrorist attack by an Iran-funded Hezbollah cell in the South American country. The case is ongoing and must not be used by outside governments to promote their own interests, Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino said.
In a social media post on Thursday, Dino called the claim that a cell linked to Lebanon-based Hezbollah had plotted to kill Jews in Brazil a “hypothesis,” stressing that no foreign agency could presume the outcome of the investigation.
“We appreciate appropriate international cooperation, but we reject any foreign authority that would consider directing Brazilian police bodies, or use investigations in our responsibility for the purposes of promoting their political interests,” the minister said, without directly mentioning Israel.
The remarks appear to be a reaction to claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said his country’s Mossad intelligence service had helped Brazil stop “a terrorist attack… planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran.”
“Given the backdrop of the war in Gaza against the Hamas terrorist organization, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime are continuing to operate around the world in order to attack Israeli, Jewish, and Western targets,” Netanyahu declared on Wednesday.
Dino stressed that the Brazilian investigation had started “before the outbreak of the ongoing tragedies on the international scene.”
The Brazilian Federal Police issued a similar statement, highlighting national authority over the probe and pledging it would follow the facts rather than be directed by expectations from elsewhere.
Police executed 11 search and seizure warrants and two temporary arrest warrants on Wednesday as part of Operation Trapiche. The case involves alleged attempts to recruit people to carry out “extremist acts” in the country, officials said.
Citing court officials, the Agencia Brasil public news agency reported on Thursday that the tip about the suspects’ alleged activities had come from the FBI, which mentioned their possible links to the Hezbollah militant movement.
Compared to some other nations in Latin America, Brazil has taken a relatively restrained stance on Israel’s anti-Hamas military operation in Gaza and the civilian death toll it has caused. Bolivia, Colombia, and Chile have either cut diplomatic ties with Israel or recalled their ambassadors.
However, Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party has publicly criticized Israel for not allowing some 30 Brazilian nationals to leave the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
Cartels Lose Tactical Advantage as Texas Clears Border Island
By: Bob Price
Mexican cartels lost a major tactical advantage along the Texas border as state military units completed the clearing of an island located along the Rio Grande. The cartels have used the formerly brush-covered island for years as a staging area for human and drug smuggling.
This week, crews with the Texas National Guard completed the leveling of Fronton Island, Texas, to remove a long-standing tool from the Mexican drug cartels operating in the area. Texas Military Department soldiers and officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety began clearing the brush-covered island along the Rio Grande border with Mexico in October.
“For decades, Fronton Island has been utilized by the Mexican Drug Cartels as a refuge when fleeing from rival cartels and the Mexican Military,” Texas DPS spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez told Breitbart Texas. “Still, it has primarily been used to facilitate transnational criminal activity involving human and drug smuggling.”
“With the authorization through Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the State of Texas has taken over the island by clearing and fortifying it, allowing DPS and the National Guard to gain operational control in preventing cross-border crime,” Olivarez stated.
Commissioner Buckingham told Breitbart on Thursday, “It has been my promise to Texans to do everything in my power to help stop illegal immigration and trafficking along the Texas-Mexico border.”
Major Film Studio Won’t Release Finished Film That Starred John Cena
By: Alexander Pease
Warner Brothers will let a completed film that starred John Cena collect dust — permanently.
The CG-heavy live-action movie “Coyote vs. Acme” wrapped principal photography in New Mexico in 2022, but the Cena performance won’t be lighting up silver screens, or even laptop screens, according to a report published Thursday.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the budget for the film, which Warner will now claim as a tax write-off, soared as high as $60 to $80 million.
Despite Warner Bros. not moving forward with the feature, the studio has reportedly expressed willingness to work with the director Dave Green in the future, the Reporter noted. Other big names attached to the project include former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Will Forte — who was set to play an unspecified role, according to IMDb — and DC Studios co-head and “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn, who was a producer and contributed to the story.
“With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement, per the Reporter. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme.”
The statement also expressed the studio’s “tremendous respect” for everyone involved in the shelved film, the outlet noted.
The expected release date was set for summer 2022, but no official trailer ever surfaced in the meantime, per the Reporter. By April of that year, the studio had scrubbed the July 21 release date and replaced it with the smash hit “Barbie,” the outlet noted.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/11/09/warner-brothers-john-cena-coyote-versus-acme/
Houston boy, 14, dies after suffering brain injury in football game
By: Ryan Morik
An eighth grader died last week after suffering a brain injury during a football game earlier in October.
Cain Lee was 14 when he got injured in a Southwest Football League game in the Houston area on Oct. 11. The Houston Chronicle reports that Lee was in a coma for three weeks. The boy died on Oct. 30.
A celebration of life was held in his honor on Wednesday at the Friendswood Methodist Church, where his father, Cody, told a story of how his son had been giving his own clothes to a student in need.
"We were in Wellington living for a short period, and Cain was a friend to everyone," the father told the Houston Chronicle. "I noticed a young man wearing a sweater, and I don't know all the kids' clothes. I probably don't even know all my clothes. And I said, 'He's got a sweater like you.' He said, 'Well, he didn't have anything nice, Dad. So, I've been sneaking clothes from home to give him my clothes so he wouldn't be embarrassed when he was in school.'"
"He went on to endear himself to many friends, and he was recognized by others as a talented athlete and a natural leader," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said, reading from the resolution. "Whereas Cain demonstrated character and compassion far beyond his years, those traits combined with his deep devotion to his faith, his family and his country made him a source of inspiration to everyone around him."
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/houston-boy-14-dies-brain-injury-football-game
Former GOP Sen. Martha McSally Says She Was Sexually Assaulted While Out Jogging
By: Frances Floresca
Former U.S. Sen. Martha McSally claimed Tuesday that she was sexually assaulted while out jogging that morning.
A man allegedly came up behind the former senator along the Missouri River, “engulfed” her in a “bear hug” and then “molested and fondled” her until she “fought him off,” according to a video McSally posted to Instagram.
“I then chased him down,” she said in the video. “In this moment, I was in a fight, flight or freeze, and I chose to fight.”
McSally said she ran after her assailant and even threw her water bottle at him as he ran and hid in the brush.
As the man was hiding she called 911 and “waited for the police to come,” McSally said.
“I don’t think they found him, and I’m okay,” she continued in the video. “In this case, I felt like I took my power back. He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him, and he was running from me instead of the other way around.”
The incident happened near Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa, according to a report shared with HuffPost by the City of Council Bluffs Police Department.
On Wednesday, she wrote in a follow-up post that she was “a bit wired” for the rest of the day following the assault and that at one point the trauma overwhelmed her as she waited to board a flight. “A wave of emotion came up. I didn’t push it away. Tears came. I didn’t care what people around me thought. This is my journey,” she wrote.
In 2019, McSally said during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing that she was raped by a superior officer while serving in the United States Air Force.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/11/09/former-gop-senator-sexually-assaulted-run-martha-mcsally/
Bo Hines launches second North Carolina congressional bid
By: Associated Press
A North Carolina congressional candidate who narrowly lost in the state's only U.S. House swing district in 2022 is running in 2024 for a seat in another part of the state.
Republican Bo Hines on Thursday filed candidacy papers with federal elections officials and released a video for his bid in the 6th Congressional District. The district covers all or part of a half-dozen Piedmont-area counties, including portions of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Concord.
The 6th District is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning, but a redistricting map enacted last month by the GOP-controlled General Assembly retooled its lines so that the district now leans Republican, according to past election results.
Hines, 28, ran in the current Raleigh-area 13th District in 2022, but lost in the general election to Democrat Wiley Nickel by 3 percentage points.
Hines, a business owner who grew up in Charlotte, played college football and went to Wake Forest University law school, said in a news release that he's running because "I cannot sit on the sidelines and watch the nation I love decline any further."
"I will fight D.C.’s reckless spending, work to restore America’s standing in the world, and strive valiantly to put America first every day," Hines said.
Manning announced her intention to seek reelection before the new map was drawn last month. Announced Republicans in the 6th District field include former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, who represented the Greensboro area for six years through 2020 and Christian Castelli, a retired Army officer and Green Beret. Walker and Castelli criticized Hines on Thursday. Primary elections are March 5.
Hines had endorsements from President Donald Trump and the powerful Club for Growth PAC during the 2022 GOP primary in the 13th District, and said at the time he backed severe restrictions on abortion.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bo-hines-launches-second-north-carolina-congressional-bid
COVID Left Her Blind & Took Her Dad, But This Texas Mom Keeps the Faith
By:Bobby Ross, Jr.
“Amazing Grace” welcomed Samuel Souder to his first church service.
Derek and Della Souder softly mouthed the words of the beloved hymn as they changed their newborn’s diaper and soothed his tears.
Through the nursery glass echoed the sweet sound of the Cold Springs Church of Christ in Lancaster, Texas, praising God.
Della lost her eyesight during a lengthy battle with COVID-19, so the famous lyric “was blind, but now I see” presents a certain irony. Still, the 34-year-old mother has no doubt amazing grace has led her through “many dangers, toils and snares.”
Samuel — 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches long — arrived a few weeks before the recent Sunday morning assembly. His Sept. 21 birth blessed a Christian family that had endured two years of tribulation before the unexpected pregnancy.
“This was not planned at all,” Della said with a chuckle. “In July last year, we gave the baby bed away. We donated everything, even all the infant toys. And then in February, we found out we were having a baby.”
For the Souders, who also have an 8-year-old son, Ely, Samuel was a miracle to remind them of the goodness of God.
The family’s home congregation, with deep roots dating back to 1845 in this community about 15 miles south of Dallas, shared in their joy.
“Blessings come out of tragedies for sure,” Della said.
https://julieroys.com/covid-left-della-souder-blind-took-her-dad-but-this-texas-mom-keeps-the-faith/
Biden-Backed Direct Air Capture Company Opens First Facility
By: Nick Pope
A direct air capture (DAC) firm backed with subsidies from the federal government opened its first facility in California on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
Heirloom Carbon, which aims to remove 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2035, opened the facility to considerable fanfare, with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reportedly planning a visit to mark the occasion, according to the NYT. The company is poised to receive massive subsidies from the federal government to suck up carbon from the atmosphere and repurpose it by sealing it permanently into concrete.
The facility that opened Thursday, located in Tracy, California, is capable of absorbing a maximum of about 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year, which is equivalent to the exhaust generated by about 200 cars annually, according to the NYT.
The company has already agreed to a deal with Microsoft to remove 315,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which could be worth more than $56 million worth of $180-per-ton tax credits made available by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill, according to the NYT. Heirloom has not publicized its costs, but many experts approximate that DAC costs between $600 and $1,000 per ton; the company is aiming to eventually have its costs land at about $100 per ton.
Heirloom pledged in October that it will refuse any investment from oil and gas firms or deploy its technology in ways that further enable the use of fossil fuels. Two months prior, in August, the Energy Department announced that Heirloom as one of the companies it had chosen to receive some of the $1.2 billion of taxpayer money it is shelling out to stimulate DAC projects.
However, DAC is still an unproven technology at scale, and some reports suggest that it may not be the climate solution that some in the Biden administration believe it to be. Past attempts to develop carbon capture and storage facilities have failed, and nearly 90% of the proposed carbon capture capacity in the global power sector failed at the implementation stage or was suspended earlier than scheduled, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
DAC may actually emit more carbon dioxide than it captures while relying on toxic chemicals, according to a January report from Food and Water Watch, a climate-focused nonprofit group that advocates for green policies. DAC technology is also more costly per ton of removed carbon dioxide than other emissions mitigation techniques, largely because of the energy-intensive process of separating carbon dioxide from ambient air using chemical products, according to a May 2022 report from the World Resources Institute, a group that seeks to “fundamentally transform the world’s food, land and water,” according to its website.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/11/09/biden-backed-direct-air-capture-company-opens-first-facility/
Was Biden's latest response to ceasefire question a gaffe, or was it intentional?
By: BlazeTV Staff
Joe Biden has a trick he likes to pull whenever a tough question comes his way.
The trick is called “being senile,” and he just used it again. Unfortunately, a trick doesn’t work when you use it too much — and he’s used it so many times, one might assume it's not a trick at all.
Biden dropped his latest gaffe on a trip from the White House to the Showroom in Washington to tour science and technology demonstrations. The event is called “Demo Day,” and Biden toured exhibits on topics ranging from prosthetic arms to heat pumps.
As the president was walking out, a reporter attempted to ask the president about the “ceasefire” he had called for between Israel and Hamas.
His response to the question appeared to simply be “heat pumps,” before smiling and pointing his thumb toward a heat pump advertisement.
After his initial two-word response, it appeared Biden quickly attempted to explain that he didn’t have the information he currently needed to answer the reporter's question at the moment.
Biden then began talking to a woman before cutting her off and walking away.
The woman’s eyes got big as she turned around and made a face to a colleague.
The White House then cut the feed.
“It looks like a doddering buffoon,” Pat Gray comments.
“‘Cause that’s what he is,” Keith Malinak adds.
Greece to investigate handling of mass-casualty migrant boat wreck
By: Associated Press
Greece's state ombudsman said Thursday that it's launching an independent investigation into the coast guard's handling of a maritime tragedy in June in which hundreds of migrants trying to reach Europe in an overloaded boat are feared to have drowned.
The independent authority said it took the decision following "the expressed denial" of the Greek coast guard to initiate a disciplinary investigation in response to the ombudsman's written requests.
The Council of Europe, the continent’s most important human rights group, welcomed the move.
The council's human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatović, said an independent probe to establish what happened and, if necessary, lead to the punishment of those responsible, is "of paramount importance."
"The initiative taken today by the Greek Ombudsman institution is a very important contribution to this effort," she said in a statement.
A military court with jurisdiction over Greece's navy and coast guard is also conducting a preliminary investigation into the June 14 shipwreck, from which 104 survivors and 78 bodies were recovered.
Up to 750 people were believed to have been on the rusty fishing vessel, mostly below decks, when it sharply listed and quickly sank in the night. That would make it one of the worst disasters of its kind in the Mediterranean.
The court is also handling a lawsuit by 40 survivors, who accuse the coast guard of failing to prevent the shipwreck and loss of life.
Activists and human rights groups have strongly criticized the coast guard for its handling of the operation, even though a patrol boat escorted the trawler for hours and was present when it sank in deep waters 45 miles off southwestern Greece.
The coast guard said that the sinking appeared to follow a mass movement of people on deck to one side, which tipped the overcrowded trawler over. It also said the migrants, who were trying to get from Libya to Italy, had earlier refused assistance.
But some survivors said that the ship foundered during a botched attempt to tow it — which the coast guard strongly denied.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/greece-investigate-handling-mass-casualty-migrant-boat-wreck
Restoration Video: Dr. Simone Gold, America’s Frontline Doctor
By: Frontpage Editors
Transcript:
Dr. Simone Gold:
First of all, I want to thank Michael Finch and his whole team. It’s just been a fire, a firepower of an event. I really look forward to the Horowitz Freedom Center events. I just think that they’re unique. So as you’ve heard. Yes. I’m a Stanford educated University attorney, by the way. Not all of those press commentaries were positive.
I just want to put that out there and and also, I think, you know, the reason I have mentioned that I haven’t been mentioned in any malpractice lawsuits or anything like that is because the California medical board is coming after me hard. And it was really quite an accomplishment to have practiced 25 years in inner city emergency departments and never been cited for anything. That’s why I mentioned that.
Anyway, so what happened in 2020 when SARS was unleashed on the world? I started researching and reading everything I can get my hands on, and I assumed other doctors were doing the same thing, but I was wrong. My peers were mainly lazy, uninformed and incurious. That is what propelled me to the national stage. 1:06
I collected truth telling doctors to talk to the American people directly. That was the summer of 2020, when we frontline doctors stood on the steps of SCOTUS and we talked directly to the world. So it’s especially lovely to be in a room of such well-informed people. It’s not common. As I listen to speaker after speaker today, I’m struck by the fact that all the thought leaders that are resisting the collapse of civilization, are really all in the same fight. Just each of us in different lanes. I would like to share with you what I’ve learned over the past three and a half years about actually taking courageous action. And then because I am an emergency physician, which means I’m part MacGyver, I’ll give you the solution. So the first step to taking courageous action is to actually speak the truth and speak the truth.
It turns out that speaking the truth itself is quite rare. When I said the doctors are lazy, uninformed, and incurious, I mean about the easy steps, the medical course and treatment. Forget hoping that doctors were even thinking about the harder stuff like why and how all this happened. Doctors were all pretending this was so complicated, such challenging science. No, it was not. Let us have a little context into what is medically complex in my specialty. I know how to do a CRICO, craniotomy, arterial endotracheal intubation, emergency C-section, treat a stroke, heart attack, dislocation, heart failure, kidney failure, and a thousand other conditions. It was not complicated. The treatment for SARS 2, I could have trained anyone in this room how to do it in about a minute.
During COVID, many people credited me with saving their life or the life of their loved ones. But when people asked me what my superpower was, how I knew the truth, how I knew what to do when other doctors didn’t. My superpower was that I knew how to read. My goodness, it was that simple. By the time I became nationally known, there were already more than 57 studies across the world showing that early treatment worked. I was not a genius. Maybe a little. But this did not require a genius level intellect. It did not require any superpower speaking truth required. Being curious and speaking the truth required an indifference to being popular. Remember what Seth Dillon said at lunch? How powerful conformity is? People often know the truth. They just need someone to say it first. So when you seek and speak truth, you will become a role model, a role model to others. How to take courageous actions. I’ll return to the subject of truth telling in a moment. Step two After seeking and speaking, the truth is to reexamine your motives.
When you speak the truth, there are consequences. We heard from James O’Keefe today, and my life story is at least equally interesting. In my case, I was deplatformed and canceled. And by canceled, I mean defame, slandered, mocked, propagandized, massively censured, criminally charged, investigated by Congress, served time in a maximum security prison and attacked by multiple medical boards. I’ve been busy.
You must really examine why you are fighting back. In my case, there was a clear crossroads I had and in many ways still had the option of going back to a very comfortable life pre-COVID. I was a golden child, pun intended. Impeccable credentials and reputation. So why do I continue to speak truth to power? It’s because I know what motivates me. For me, it was never about the shot or the fake science. For me, free speech is the civil rights issue of our time. It is the Constitution, the First Amendment, the Bill of Rights. Free speech is the linchpin to human freedom and human greatness. To successfully continue on the road less traveled, you must know your motivation. Then step three is to take bold action. Having clarity makes the next step. This action step is easy. Once you are certain of the importance of your mission, you can’t help but have the courage to be bold. A chef said at lunch he recognized that Twitter’s demand to self censor was an act of subjugation, and he was not interested in playing that game.
And once you have that clarity, it’s easy. I doubled down. I want more venues, more allies, and more publicity. I became more bold, not less. I am motivated to continue because what I am fighting for is important. In the words of Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice. But there must never be a time when we fail to protest. I am a daughter. I am a daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Propaganda kills. Censorship kills. When I spoke out about the shoddy science and the useful idiots in the media, people mistook my words for being about the shoddy science or the useful idiots. It wasn’t. I speak out because government propaganda and censorship is an existential threat to human freedom. Now let us return to the first step seeking truth and speaking truth. People frequently ask me, How do I even know what’s true? There is a way, but it’s counterintuitive. Most people are gluttonous consumers of information. But the solution is the opposite. It requires you to be on a strict diet about what you ingest. Your job is to carve away information, not add information.
We must start to think of acquiring information the way Michelangelo’s thought of sculpting David, which is removing content. Michelangelo was famous for saying that I did not carve David out of marble. Rather, I had a vision of David in my mind, and I carved away everything that was not David. Anyone who wants to have clarity of thought must do the same. Remove the excess. You don’t need more words. You need less. This is going to sound radical, but if you want to speak and speak truth, your default position must be to reduce incoming information to what I have called two sources. The first is your direct experiential knowledge. As long as you have a backbone—also a problem these days—you should not be able to be propagandized on content that you know from your own experience. If you are a doctor or a cook or a mom, you have a tremendous amount of experience. Experts don’t know more than you on subjects in which you have direct experiential knowledge. Hold fast to your reality because the globalists are aggressively trying to convince you not to rely on yourself, which will not end well for you. Henry David Thoreau said almost 200 years ago, If you don’t think for yourself, others will think for you without thinking of you.
The only other source of accurate information other than your own direct experiential knowledge is a source that you have personally vetted for accuracy for millennia. For most people, that has been the Bible. But whether you include the Bible or not, find a handful of sources that you personally verify for accuracy. Rely on those, and no others; rely on no others.
My opinion is the more important part of that sentence. Mark Twain observed, if you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. And if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. It’s just as true today. All the chatter, social media and news is like the excess marble that Michelangelo had to purge to reveal David. It’s mostly garbage. Most people allow the garbage in because they overestimate their ability to decipher the good from the garbage. Here is where I would use a real world example. My role as a physician is to demonstrate why most people are wrong to think they can discern David from a block of marble. As an emergency physician, I was often the first person to detect something abnormal. For example, I might see a spot on an X-ray that might be possible cancer. I tell the person this may be cancer. But the next doctor, the pathologist, does a biopsy determines it’s not cancer. Over the time, the patient does not recall who said what. What was the better source of information. But they remember the word cancer. It is a universal human failing that people tend to not remember the source of the words they hear. So doctors must be disciplined in their speech, not because the doctor’s words are inaccurate, but because human memory forgets the source long before it forgets the content.
But it turns out the source of the content is the single most critical fact about the content, not the content itself, because we typically don’t remember the source. It’s critical not to allow inaccurate information inside our minds. We have all mostly forgotten this critical concept, which all humans used to know instinctively. This universal human failing forgetting who said what is critical to why you must limit the content you ingest instead of allowing everything in and think you’ll sort it out based on your own fine intellect.
I really recommend that you only allow in sources that you have vetted. I have been doing this for years and it’s likely why I was much less vulnerable to propaganda than the average American and the average physician. All of us have limited time and different interests, so your list is slightly different than mine. But my incoming sources, number one, is the Bible. It’s not abstract for me as a doctor. The Bible has eternal truths and complicated medical subjects like abortion, euthanasia and gender issues. And from that truth, right? From that truth, then I can seek the science. For current news, my news or my organization is Frontline News. Pardon me. I think it’s the best in the business. Epoch Times, Prager, U, etc. Or I’ll find the most reliable expert on a particular subject like Matt Walsh on the transgender issues. But I don’t let everything in. This fact of human memory to remember the content, but not the source is a huge societal problem in our times. Not only have we forgotten how important a concept of sourcing is in general, but we live in an era of infinite unsourced information.
Just as humans do not do well with access to infinite food. We don’t do well with access to infinite information. We must be just as disciplined with our eyes and our ears as we are with our mouths. We cannot let the junk words in. Stop thinking you have to be informed on every issue. You cannot discern the truth in the lies without exposing yourself to tremendous disinformation.
So be very careful what you allow in. Now, if you trust me to be an accurate source, then listen to what’s following, otherwise, cover your ears. I’m going to give you an example of the five biggest lies right now. I’m doing this as examples to teach you how to recognize, but I call CPA censorship propaganda and amnesia. Censorship, propaganda and amnesia.
Lie number one, The biggest lie about the Middle East is what I call doublespeak propaganda. Here are three examples, and our speaker mentioned it earlier today. The word Palestinian and its progeny. Palestinian rights was co-opted by Arafat in the seventies in a moment of utter marketing genius. Every person is entitled to universal human rights. But there was never an independent Arab nation west of the Jordan River.
The Arabs, east of the Jordan River, became Jordanian citizens, and the Arabs, west of the Jordan River, were denied citizenship by the neighboring Arab nations. They became a political football called the Palestinians.
Number two, on the Middle East. Throughout history, there’s only been three independent governments in that area, circa 1000 BCE, 500 BCE, And currently all of these governments have been Jewish. None have been Arab.
And number three, the Jews have offered the Palestinians peace multiple times. Surely you remember Bill Clinton hosting Ehud Barak and Arafat at Camp David, at which time Israel offered Arafat virtually everything he said he wanted. And Clinton famously said: Arafat was here for 14 days and said no to everything. Now, I give you these examples as a caution to watch your own contribution to double speak.
If you haven’t endorsed that Pakistan should commit suicide, then stop being silent when people say Israel should. They were birthed at the same time. Except unlike the new nation of Pakistan in 1947, Jews have always lived in the land. Jews were the only people who ever had a government in the land. And of course, God made a covenant with the Jews.
Your silence condones the double speak. If one side is morally bankrupt and entirely ignorant of the facts, say so. The biggest lie about the science is that there was a consensus. This was censorship. There was never a consensus. Just one example is that there were 1 million doctors, scientists and epidemiologists worldwide who signed what is known as the Great Barrington Declaration.
Another example is millions of doctors. Americans voted with their wallets and purchased early treatment from, for example, organizations I endorsed. Another example is that the medical journals were filled with debate. Remember when we used to get a second opinion? Yeah. If something sounds like B.S., it is. Don’t be afraid to say so. The biggest lie about the election is the media bias.
That was censorship. Remember all the complaining about after 2016 that there was election fraud, Russiagate election fraud, etc.? I’m sure you remember the equally robust news coverage about the movie 2000 Mules and all the fine investigative journalism they did detailing the lawsuits following 2020. Right! All the reporting goes one way, and the direction of the reporting determines public pressure.
That’s an example of censorship—one of my favorite—the biggest lie about climate change is that it’s about the climate. Yeah. Yes, this is about propaganda. It’s about wealth redistribution and rich Westerners feeling so guilty for good lives that they should meekly and voluntarily subjugate themselves for penance. And yeah, the biggest lie about transgender politics is the amnesia that this is new and or a large phenomenon.
Transgender concerns are not new nor large medical phenomena. It’s only newly politicized. The same thing happened in 2020. SARS-2 was 78% identical to SARS-1 from 15 years earlier, but it was sold to the world as a new medical phenomenon. It wasn’t new. It was newly politicized. What do we do about all these, what I call censorship propaganda?
Step one stand with the truth tellers. It doesn’t really matter what someone is lying about. If someone is lying about one issue, they’re going to be lying about other issues. Is anyone really surprised? Greta Thunberg is pro-Hamas? Where do you think the transgender groomers stand on election fraud or climate change? Find a few accurate sources and allies and do not ingest the other content.
Number two, we dedicate yourself to your life’s mission. Who are you? There will be a price to pay for pursuing your vision and purpose. You must find out why. And it must be more valuable than the cost you’ll pay. I know that we’re in an existential crisis for humanity. So I will pay any price.
And step three, be bold. We have all been awakened to the depth of deception and evil. It’s infuriating. We feel angry and isolated and helpless. But we cannot afford to stay in that place. We cannot afford to see only the numerous things that we have no control over. We must use our God-given creativity to find answers. And that brings me to the most uplifting part, which is a talk about the solutions.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/restoration-video-dr-simone-gold-americas-frontline-doctor/
Running On Censorship: A California Candidate Seeks To Ride The Anti-Free Speech Wave
By: Tyler Durden
It is not easy to unseat an incumbent in Congress, but Will Rollins believes that he has hit on a guaranteed winner to galvanize Democratic support in California’s 41st congressional district.
He is pledging to push for greater censorship to stop those “profiting by spreading division based on lies.”
Of course, the former assistant U.S. Attorney suggests that he will know who is lying and who should be allowed to speak freely.
Rollins is also running on his role “prosecuting insurrectionists” from January 6. While most of us condemned the riot on that day and supported the prosecution of those who broke into the Capitol, polls show that most Americans do not view what occurred as an actual insurrection or rebellion.
That, however, is a legitimate matter of debate and people of good faith can differ in how they view the crimes committed that day. What is far more serious is the embrace of censorship as a political cause.
Rollins pledged to stop people saying things that “erode our democracy.” His policy platform promises “accountability” for tech platforms that “spread conspiracy theories” and do not yield to demands for censorship. It appears to be a pitch to restore censorship systems on sites like X but also pledges to go after “media outlets.”
He is not alone in such efforts. Democratic members caused a firestorm previously by writing to cable carriers like AT&T to ask why they are still allowing people to watch FOX News. Rollins promises to crackdown on “propaganda networks to protect the public’s right to be informed.” He does not identify which networks would be targeted, but the assumption is that it is not MSNBC. (For full disclosure, I am a legal analyst on Fox News). However, he wants ramped up penalties for anything that he considers “harmful lies and conspiracy theories.”
Of course, one person’s “conspiracy theory” is another person’s news. It is again unlikely that Rollins will be pursuing the Washington Post which recently reaffirmed that it is standing by past false claims made about Lafayette Park, the Hunter Biden laptop, and Russian collusion. Rollins is not likely referencing the false conspiracy theories funded by the Clinton campaign like the Alfa Bank allegations.
As someone who was raised in a liberal, politically active Democratic family in Chicago, I remember when the party championed free speech as a touchstone of the party. Now it is often treated as an existential threat to democracy.
In recent hearings on the government’s censorship programs, Democratic members and pundits attacked witnesses as “Putin lovers” or supporters of “insurrectionists” in opposing censorship.
President Joe Biden is now arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams. His administration is unabashedly and unrepentantly pursuing the silencing of those with opposing views. Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, extended her agency’s mandate over critical infrastructure to include “our cognitive infrastructure.” That includes combating “malinformation” – described as information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”
Democratic members have warned social media companies that they will not tolerate any backsliding after Elon Musk dismantled the massive censorship system at Twitter.
In one hearing, tech CEOs appeared before the Senate on past censorship. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) pushed back on statements from the witnesses suggesting an effort to protect free speech and reminded them that “the pandemic and misinformation about COVID-19, manipulated media also cause harm” as well as “climate change misinformation policy” and “climate denialism.”
It did not matter that many censored over their views on the efficacy of masks or the necessity of shutting down schools have been vindicated. Even raising the lab theory on the origin of Covid 19 was denounced as a conspiracy theory. Even after the theory was embraced by government agencies as possible or the most likely explanation, science and health reporter for the New York Times, Apoorva Mandavilli, continued to denounce the theory as “racist.”
The concerning aspect of Rollins’ campaign is that censorship was largely used as a political tactic in Washington to silence critics and opposing views. It is now an actual political campaign. It shows how speech regulation has become popular with the rank-and-file in the party. It now defines the party.
Campaigning for censorship should be a warning sign of the breakdown of democratic values. Limiting free speech is akin to cutting off oxygen to the body politic. It produces atrophy in a system, the breakdown of our political tissues. That is also reflected in a recent poll that shows that 52% of Biden supporters say Republicans are now a threat to American life while 47% of Trump supporters say the same about Democrats. Roughly 40% of both parties believe violence is now justified and roughly a quarter of both parties now question our system of government.
Embattled Mexican women's prison reports 8 suicides in under 5 months
By: Associated Press
A women’s prison in Mexico plagued by food poisoning and poor medical care has now been hit by a wave of eight suicides in the last 4 1/2 months, authorities confirmed Thursday.
The federal prisons bureau confirmed the suicides in a statement, and said it was taking steps to improve the situation at the women's prison in the state of Morelos, south of Mexico City.
The office said it had changed prison managers and increased sports, cultural and handicraft activities for the prison’s approximately 1,000 inmates.
Reports from earlier this year found that conditions were harsh at the prison, with inmates often served rotting food. The governmental National Human Rights Commission said 400 inmates suffered food poisoning in outbreaks in 2022.
That report said the women were not given appropriate medical care after falling ill; many were not given medications because none were available.
A statement issued in July by a coalition of rights and advocacy groups said the lack of medical care constituted "a systematic violation of imprisoned women's right to health care," and said it was "a serious violation of human rights and dignity."
https://www.foxnews.com/world/embattled-mexican-womens-prison-reports-8-suicides-5-months
US will run out of paper to print dollars – Kremlin
By: Staff
The US national debt has risen so high that Washington will no longer be able to print any more dollars to service it, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
He was commenting on a statement made by his US counterpart John Kirby on Wednesday, that the US has already spent 96% of the funds allocated for Ukraine since early 2022, when its long-running tensions with neighbor Russia turned to armed conflict. When a reporter suggested that Washington could just print money indefinitely unless the printing press breaks down, Peskov pointed out that there will simply be no paper left.
“I read recently that the United States spends about $200 million an hour on servicing its debt,” he said. “They will run out of paper soon,” he added.
Currently, US outstanding public debt amounts to roughly $33.6 trillion, after it exceeded its $31.4-trillion debt ceiling in January.
According to Congressional Budget Office data released earlier this year, interest payments on the national debt amounted to $475 billion in fiscal year 2022. That translates to about $1.3 billion per day and approximately $54.2 million per hour.
Over the past year the federal government’s borrowing costs have increased rapidly due to a series of interest-rate hikes, and will continue growing, the CBO warned.
Why Democrats Aren’t Really Worried About The 2024 Election
By: George Rasley
Recently, the Leftwing media, always hungry for headlines and clicks, has been awash in bold print screaming about how Democrats are panicking about the 2024 election.
The latest round of panicky headlines was set off by New York Times polls that show Joe Biden losing almost every swing state to Donald Trump, which prompted immediate comparisons to other one-term Democrat presidents.
NBC News reported, “Pick a metaphor: President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is a ‘five-alarm fire.’ It’s a cardiac case in need of a ‘defibrillator.’ Or a lemming on course to ‘slowly march into the sea and drown’.”
And David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama, argued Biden should weigh whether it is in his best interest or the country’s to run in 2024. He made waves Sunday with a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, suggesting that Biden drop out of the race, reported Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano of The Hill.
Walter Shapiro of the New Republic spent a lengthy article explaining why Biden is not “Jimmy Carter 2.0,” claiming Carter’s woes “only have a cursory resemblance to the political winds buffeting Biden.”
While pundits and other click-seekers may be panicking, the Biden campaign is strangely serene. Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said that the campaign isn’t worried about a poll a year out, citing the better-than-expected midterm results Democrats had in 2022 and the so-called MAGA Republicans on the other side of the aisle, reported Messrs. Samuels and Gangitano.
Perhaps the Biden campaign is so serene because it doesn’t matter who the GOP nominee is, they’ve looked at the opposition and seen the same three problems we see with the Republican Party.
The first problem is that, especially compared to the Democrats, the GOP is glaringly short of leadership.
The Democrats have a deep bench of ideologically committed leaders who have built effective organizations to motivate and turnout their voters. Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Valerie Jarret, the entire team at Arabella Advisors (most of whom you’ve never heard of), and a lengthy list of longtime consultants and strategists who are focused on minority outreach, digital strategies and election technology.
The last time Republicans had leaders of that caliber was 1992 when Newt Gingrich’s team took back the House with the Contract with America. Today, Republicans have no one who matches them in terms of ideological commitment, strategic vision, and grasp of election technology.
At the national level the GOP has outsourced the Party to rent-seeking consultants who run content-free campaigns designed to maximize their fees while staying away from anything remotely resembling the issues that motivate the Party’s populist conservative base and could attract low propensity center-right voters. (See the Youngkin operation’s hopelessly disconnected message on tutoring for an example.)
At the state and local level the GOP is hamstrung by aging chairs and precinct committee members who no longer lead, but stay on for the title, not the work, and inept amateurs more interested in fighting among themselves than leading their organizations to turn out the vote in the 21st century.
All too often those rare local leaders who do want to learn and work are starved of money by national and state organizations that have been captured by the consultants who have no interest in grassroots politics, because there’s no commission in organizing precincts, training volunteers and equipping them with election technology.
The second reason Democrats are not really worried about the 2024 election is that Republicans have no vertically integrated message.
Democrats, from Joe Biden down to the candidates they back for school board have a “tune you can whistle.” They have a vertically integrated message: Republicans are haters, MAGA extremists who want to overthrow elections, steal “our democracy,” ban books, takeaway a woman’s right to choose and oppress minorities – people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ++.
No one ever stormed the Bastille demanding increased tutoring. So, what do Republicans stand for?
Well, ask any ten national Republican “leaders” and you will get eleven different answers as to what the Republican agenda is or should be: Cutting spending, not on Mitch McConnell’s watch. Closing the border, no way according to Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and other GOP Senators. The right-to-life, not according to Joni Ernst, Dan Sullivan, Mitt Romney, and the other Republicans trashing Tommy Tuberville. How about keeping porn out of schools, or bills to protect children from pornography and sexual exploitation? Republicans can’t organize themselves to get the votes to pass such bills through both houses of Congress, even when there’s huge public support behind them.
Finally, Democrats aren’t worried about the 2024 election because they largely control the election machinery in the swing states any Republican needs to win the presidency.
This control gives them an advantage that goes beyond the potential for vote fraud, which is very real and which Democrats will use shamelessly to retain power and prevent Biden from losing.
And of course, there will machine problems to add chaos to the counting process, such as the “coding error” this year in Northampton County, Pennsylvania that caused votes to be flipped on a ballot question that asked whether a pair of incumbent state appeals judges should be retained and the machine “breakdown” in Arizona in 2022 that suppressed the vote in Republican precincts.
What’s more, Democrats will decide where precinct voting machines are located, and they will make sure there are lots of machines and short lines on college campuses, in minority neighborhoods and liberal precincts – and the opposite will be true in conservative suburbs and rural areas. Democrats will spend millions of taxpayer dollars reminding their low propensity voters to vote, they will place drop boxes in their key precincts and neighborhoods, mail millions of unsolicited mail-in ballots and then use taxpayer dollars to remind voters to return them – and it will all be perfectly legal.
https://www.conservativehq.org/post/why-democrats-aren-t-really-worried-about-the-2024-election
Nearly half of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s response to Israel-Hamas war – poll
By: Toi Staff
WASHINGTON — Nearly half of Democrats disapprove of how US President Joe Biden is handling the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research — showing a deep divide within his party over the war that erupted with the Hamas terror group last month.
The poll found that 50 % of Democrats approve of how Biden has navigated the conflict while 46% disapprove — and the two groups diverge substantially in their views of US support for Israel. Biden’s support on the issue among Democrats is down slightly from August, as an AP-NORC poll conducted then found that 57% of Democrats approved of his handling of the general Israel-Palestinian conflict and 40% disapproved.
The October 7 Hamas attack by over 3,000 terrorists who invaded from the Gaza Strip killed some 1,400 people in Israel, the majority civilians. At least 240 people were abducted and taken hostage to Gaza. In response Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and see it removed from power in Gaza, where it has been in control since 2007. As the Israeli military strikes Gaza and presses on with a ground incursion, Hamas and other terror groups have rained rockets on Israeli population centers, causing more deaths and displacing some 200,000 people.
The developments have created a political tightrope for Biden, who has strongly supported Israel’s right to self-defense since the attack but also pressured Israel’s government to try to limit civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The war could complicate Biden’s reelection effort as he faces having to balance factions of his party with very different views on the conflict.
Nearly 7 in 10 Democrats who approve of Biden’s management of the conflict think the US provides the right amount of support to Israel currently. Of those who disapprove, 65% say the US is too supportive of Israel. That gap between Democrats who approve and those who disapprove has widened substantially since the poll conducted in August.
Of Democrats who approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, 76% say Hamas has a lot of responsibility for the war and 32% say the same about the Israeli government, according to the AP-NORC poll taken this month. Democrats who disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict are equally likely to say that the Israeli government (56%) and Hamas (55%) have a lot of responsibility.
Majorities of Democrats younger than 45 (65%) and nonwhite Democrats (58%) say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict. Most Democrats 45 and older (67%) and white Democrats (62%) say they approve.
“Knowing that our tax money could be paying for the weapons that are murdering children by the thousands over there, it’s getting harder to be supportive of our president and our country in general,” said Brie Williamson, a 34-year-old Illinois resident. Williamson said she “couldn’t see voting for a Republican” but would consider other options next year.
Dem governor complains as migrant surge strains her 'right-to-shelter' state's resources
By: Brianna Herlihy
As Massachusetts housing facilities brace for maxed-out capacity as early as this week, the governor of the "right-to-shelter" state is suggesting there are "a lot" of other places in the U.S. migrants should be sent.
Gov. Maura Healy announced this week there are 40 to 50 new families arriving in the state every day and seeking state assistance with housing, and the influx of people to Massachusetts — many without a lawful presence in the U.S. — has pushed the state’s shelter system close to its 7,500-family limit, according to a report in the Boston Herald.
Massachusetts has a "right-to-shelter law," which entitles migrant families to taxpayer-funded emergency shelter. The Bay State is the only one in the country with a statewide right-to-shelter law, signed into law in 1983 by Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Healy, a Democrat, said she hopes the crisis doesn’t devolve into homeless people sleeping at Boston's Logan Airport or in emergency rooms. She also suggested other states should consider accepting migrants.
"There are a lot of places in the country where people can go once they cross into the United States," Healy told a local news outlet earlier this week.
The state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities reported that, as of Monday, there were 7,439 families in the emergency shelter system, with 3,729 in hotels and motels, 3,648 at traditional sites and 62 in temporary shelters like Joint Base Cape Cod.
On Wednesday, Healey announced that the state can no longer accommodate them and will instead place families on a waitlist, prioritizing those with the highest needs.
Under Healey's plan, women, young children and those with acute medical needs and health issues will be given priority. The state is also considering limiting how long a family can stay in a shelter, Healey said.
More than 1,400 families were living in shelters where National Guard troops were providing services. The Healey administration said it plans to raise the number of Guardsmen available to work unstaffed shelter sites across the state to 375, according to a report in the Boston Herald.
On Tuesday, nonprofit United Way of Massachusetts Bay announced it will take $5 million in federal funds from the Healey administration to set up overnight shelter sites for families and pregnant women with no alternative shelter options.
EU court advisor recommends new ruling in Apple tax case
By: Staff
The landmark case is one of the most fierce battles between the European Commission and big tech, dating back to 2016 when the EU's executive arm accused Ireland of allowing Apple to escape 13 billion euros in taxes.
The EU claimed that, between 2003 and 2014, Apple parked untaxed revenue earned in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India in Ireland, which is the European hub for big tech.
Brussels alleged that this amounted to illegal "state aid" by Ireland.
The opinion of Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella is not binding on the court, but it will be influential and taken as a sign of the direction the case is taking.
The bloc's highest court heard the commission's appeal earlier this year against a 2020 decision by the EU's lower General Court to annul its order that Apple repay the money.
But according to Pitruzzella, the General Court "committed a series of errors in law", and therefore he recommended setting aside the previous judgement.
"In the Advocate General's opinion, it is therefore necessary for the General Court to carry out a new assessment," the ECJ said in a statement.
A final decision by the ECJ is expected within a few months but the judges are not bound by Thursday's opinion.
Apple has pushed back against the commission's claims.
"The General Court's ruling was very clear that Apple received no selective advantage and no state aid, and we believe that should be upheld," Apple said in a statement.
During a hearing in May, the commission's lawyer, Paul-John Loewenthal, told the ECJ there had been a "breach of procedure" and "numerous other legal errors" when the lower court heard the case.
Apple's lawyer Daniel Beard pushed back against Loewenthal's claims at the time. "Apple has paid the taxes that were due under the Irish tax code," Beard said.
Apple has been present in Ireland since the 1980s.
Germans commemorate 'Night of Broken Glass' terror as antisemitism is on the rise again
By: Kristen Grieshaber
BERLIN – Across Germany, in schools, city halls, synagogues, churches and parliament, people came together Thursday to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht — or the “Night of Broken Glass” — in 1938 in which the Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s main Jewish leader, Josef Schuster, spoke at an anniversary ceremony at a Berlin synagogue that was attacked with firebombs last month.
“Jews have been particularly affected by exclusion for centuries,” Scholz said in his speech.
“Still and again here in our democratic Germany — and that after the breach of civilization committed by Germans in the Shoah,” they are being discriminated against, the chancellor added, referring to the Holocaust by its Hebrew name.
“That is a disgrace. It outrages and shames me deeply,” Scholz said. "Any form of antisemitism poisons our society. We do not tolerate it.”
The commemoration of the pogrom comes at a time when Germany is again seeing a sharp rise in antisemitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, which started with an Oct. 7 Hamas incursion in southern Israel that killed 1,400 people. Israel responded with a relentless bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians.
On Nov. 9, 1938, the Nazis killed at least 91 people and vandalized 7,500 Jewish businesses. They also burned more than 1,400 synagogues, according to Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.
Up to 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, many of them taken to concentration camps, such as Dachau or Buchenwald. Hundreds more killed themselves or died as a result of mistreatment in the camps years before official mass deportations began.
Kristallnacht was a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews that eventually led to the murder of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust.
“I was there during Kristallnacht. I was in Vienna back then,” Holocaust survivor Herbert Traube said at an event marking the anniversary in Paris on Wednesday.
“To me, it was often repeated: ‘Never again.’ It was a leitmotif in everything that was being said for decades,” Traube said, adding that he is upset both by the resurgence of antisemitism and the lack of a “massive popular reaction” against it.
While there’s no comparison to the pogroms 85 years ago, which were state-sponsored by the Nazis, many Jews are again living in fear in Germany and across Europe, trying to hide their identity in public and avoiding neighborhoods that were recently the scene of some violent, pro-Palestinian protests.
Jews in Berlin had the Star of David painted on their homes, and Jewish students in schools and universities across the country have experienced bullying and discrimination.
Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said that “something has gone off the rails in this country. There is still an opportunity to repair this, but to do so we must also admit what has gone wrong in recent years, what we have been unable or unwilling to see.”
Pakistan, Turkey, Iran leaders visit Central Asia in diplomatic push
By: Staff
Leaders of Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan are all making stops in Central Asia as global powers seek to expand their influence in the traditionally Russia-dominated region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on Thursday morning for talks with his counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The trip comes just a week after French President Emmanuel Macron also paid a visit there, hoping to “accelerate” economic cooperation.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, and Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar are visiting Uzbekistan on Thursday for a regional economic summit.
The flurry of engagement shows how the former Soviet countries are opening up to new partnerships as Russia’s grip on the region wanes.
Putin and Tokayev nevertheless praised their countries’ relationship before their planned meeting in Astana.
“Our strategic partnership is truly forward-looking,” Putin said.
Tokayev hailed an “alliance with a rich past and a bright future”.
But more than 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with Russia locked in a bloody, 20-month war with Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian nations are eyeing partnerships with other world powers.
Picasso painting of his ‘golden muse’ sells for $139.4m in New York
By: Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent
A portrait of Pablo Picasso’s “golden muse” and secret lover has sold for $139.4m (£114m) at auction in New York, making it the second most valuable work by the 20th-century artist.
Femme à la montre, painted in 1932, was described by Sotheby’s as the “prized jewel” of about 120 artworks owned by Emily Fisher Landau, one of the greatest art collectors of the 20th century, that were sold on Wednesday evening.
The portrait comfortably exceeded Sotheby’s estimate of at least $120m but fell short of the record for a Picasso at auction, held by Les femmes d’Alger, which sold for $179.4m in 2015. Four other works by Picasso have sold for more than $100m in the past 20 years.
Picasso painted Femme à la montre during his explosive “year of wonders” as he prepared for his first large-scale retrospective in Paris at the age of 50.
By 1932, his clandestine affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter had been under way for several years. The relationship began when the artist, then 45, spotted the 17-year-old through the window of Galeries Lafayette in Paris. She inspired paintings, drawings and sculptures, some of which are considered the greatest works of Picasso’s eight-decade career.
The portrait was bought in 1968 by Fisher Landau, one of the greatest art collectors of the 20th century. She hung it above the mantelpiece in the living room of her New York apartment. By the time she died, aged 102, earlier this year, her art collection could have filled several museums.
Fisher Landau began collecting art in earnest after a burglar made off with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires that had been gifts from her husband. Instead of replacing the jewellery, Fisher Landau decided to use the substantial insurance payout to buy paintings and sculptures.
She acquired works by Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee and others. Andy Warhol painted her portrait.
The Fisher Landau sale on Wednesday kicked off the autumn auction season, which is expected to include more than £2bn of art sold by the big three auction houses Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips.
Thwarted Thai PM candidate Pita vows to run again: AFP interview
By: Staff
The 43-year-old led his Move Forward Party (MFP) to a shock first-place finish in May's general election, buoyed by young and urban Thais weary of a near-decade of military rule – only to be prevented from becoming premier by royalist and pro-military blocs opposed to his reformist agenda.
MFP's former allies Pheu Thai then formed a coalition government with army-linked parties, leaving the progressive challengers back on the opposition bench – and Pita perhaps in the political wilderness.
He also faces a legal challenge thrown at him after the election that could see him banned from running for years.
But in an interview with AFP, he vowed to take another tilt at the premiership.
"Of course. I'm not giving up, and it's just a matter of time," he said when asked if he planned to run again.
But a number of roadblocks remain, not least his suspension as an MP.
MFP won the most seats in the May 14 poll but fell short of an outright majority and joined forces with Pheu Thai.
However, a candidate needs a majority across both houses of parliament to become prime minister and Pita could not muster enough votes to overcome opposition in the junta-appointed Senate.
He lost a first vote, then was blocked from running in a second ballot for the premiership and suspended as an MP by the Constitutional Court over his ownership of media shares, prohibited for lawmakers under Thai law.
Pita denies any wrongdoing and said he was "very confident" about the case.
"It was the old guard, someone who found a loophole that they can use constitutional hardball," he said of the media share case.
- Warning the 'old guard' -
This "old guard" a powerful establishment of senior military, royalists and super-wealthy business clans has dominated Thai politics for decades, both overtly and behind the scenes.
MFP's campaign promises to reform the army, soften royal defamation laws and break up monopolies cut to the heart of this elite's interests.
While much of the resistance to Pita's mooted premiership cited his lese majeste pledges, accusing him of undermining the monarchy, he said this was a "shield" covering the other "two Ms" – monopolies and the military.
Pita said he remained optimistic and said "everything can be changed" despite the setbacks.
Thai voters had shown that they were looking for an alternative "and they're willing to go with a road less travelled", he said.
He pointed to South Korea and Indonesia, which transformed from long periods of military rule to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s.
Myanmar military regime says northern fighting could break country apart
By: Staff
Myint Swe, appointed as Myanmar’s president after the coup, has warned this month’s gains by an alliance of ethnic armed groups in areas bordering China risk breaking the country apart, in the military regime’s first acknowledgement of the challenge it is facing.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance, a powerful ethnic armed grouping, launched a coordinated attack on a dozen military outposts in the northern Shan state, along the country’s eastern border with China on October 26, capturing the border town of Chin Shwe Haw.
Updates on November 7 said the alliance continued to gain ground and had taken control of more military posts, seizing weapons and military equipment.
The military had responded by sending in fighter jets to bomb the area, it said.
The offensive is the most serious test for the generals since they seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
It has also energised the civilian People’s Defence Forces that have been fighting for months, sometimes alongside ethnic armed groups, to overturn the coup with fighting reported in other parts of the country.
“If the government does not effectively manage the incidents happening in the border region, the country will be split into various parts,” Myint Swe told a national defence and security council meeting in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar. “It is necessary to carefully control this issue.”
The newspaper said coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing had opened the meeting, saying the military had “successfully regained control of the situation” after “dealing a significant blow to the MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army”.
Citing Ming Aung Hlaing, the report said the MNDAA had suffered a “large number of casualties”.
The MNDAA is one of several groups within the alliance, which also includes the Ta’Ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA).
The members of the alliance said they had mounted the offensive to eradicate “oppressive military dictatorship” as well as to put an end to the booming business of cyber-scamming.
DeSantis Holds Hard-line Position on Abortion, Haley Wants to 'Find Consensus'
By: Javier Manjarres
MIAMI—After Republicans endured seismic losses in the polls this past week due to the issue of abortion, it was a foregone conclusion that the moderators of the NBC News Republican Presidential debate were going to ask the candidates where they stood on the issue.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently signed a 6-week abortion ban into law, did not say if he would support a national 15-week ban on abortion.
“I Stand for a culture of life,” said Gov. DeSantis, adding that Americans were “better off when everybody counts.”
DeSantis asserted that Republicans were losing the “referenda” on abortion.
While DeSantis appeared to have dodged the question, Ambassador Nikki Haley addressed it head-on, taking more of a moderate and populist position,” saying that abortion was a “personal issue for every woman and every man.” Haley also said that the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade was "a wrong that was made right."
The right to have an abortion is now up to the states, and many of these states, like Ohio, are now putting the controversial wedge issue on the ballot.
Haley added, “No Republican president can ban abortions,” and that she wants Americans to “find consensus” on the issue instead of taking a hardline position.
“Stop the judgment. We don’t need to divide America over this issue anymore,” added Haley.
Senator Tim Scott pushed for a national 15-week national ban on abortion, and went as far as to call out both Haley and DeSantis to join him in supporting a “15-week federal limit” on abortions.
During the second presidential debate in Simi Valley, California, DeSantis stated the he supported a 15-week ban on abortion.
DeSantis’s remark could be seen as pivot away from his support of the controversial 6 week abortion ban he signed into law.
Polling shows that most Floridians support a woman’s right to choose and believe that abortions should be available to residents.
DeSantis’s Senior Advisor Jason Johnson told The Floridian that “Pro-lifers were “caught flat-footed” on the issue and that Republican candidates nationwide— past and present— “had not done a good job of articulating the extreme position that the Democrats take on abortion.”
Johnson added that Democrats refuse to take a position on how late in a pregnancy a woman can have an abortion.
DeSantis Press Secretary Bryan Griffin added that DeSantis was sticking to his support of a 15-week national abortion ban.
Tennessee Kicks Off Budget Season With Experts Predicting Stagnant Revenues
By: Adam Friedman
The days of skyrocketing tax revenues are likely over, multiple budget experts told Tennessee’s panel in charge of predicting revenue growth.
The financial experts predict the state and national economy will grow but at a slower pace over the next two years. This, combined with the state’s business tax cuts enacted earlier this year, will slow the state’s revenue, making them harder to predict.
For the past five years, Tennessee’s revenue has grown from $17.4 billion to $24.7 billion. This has allowed the state to spend more money on projects and keep up with the growing wages for employees.
The revenue projections made by the state funding board are crucial as programs boosted by federal coronavirus relief funds expire, leaving the state with the option of whether to cut them or fund them from its own revenue. The projections will also factor into whether the state can afford to fund any new programs or whether it can cut taxes.
If the panel goes with a negative growth rate, the state would have to cut its current spending, dip into its reserve funds or increase revenue with new taxes.
The funding panel heard presentations from economic experts at East Tennessee State University, the state Department of Revenue, the Federal Reserve, the Tennessee General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee and the University of Tennessee.
The various officials detailed Tennessee’s economic outlook, giving out projections for future tax revenue over the next two years. The funding board will use these predictions as it sets the revenue projections for state officials to use when developing next year’s budget.
Tennessee’s budget hearings start Tuesday, and the governor will submit his proposed budget to state lawmakers before his State of the State address in late January or early February of 2024.
Several of the experts pointed out that part of the reason Tennessee’s revenue isn’t growing as fast is because of a significant business tax cut already leading to a slowdown in franchise and excise tax collections. From July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, these taxes missed projections by around $61.4 million.
Most of the state’s revenue gain over the past five years has been driven by the ability to collect taxes on internet sales and an enormous growth in franchise and excise tax collections. Budget data shows that nearly two-thirds of the increase in state revenues came from these two areas.
LinkedIn co-founder's PAC may challenge Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush
By: Eric Revell
A Democrat-aligned political action committee (PAC) largely funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman could fund primary challenges against progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., who have sparked controversy with their criticism of Israel in the wake of Hamas’ terror attack.
Dmitri Mehlhorn, Hoffman’s longtime political adviser, reached out to the Mainstream Democrats PAC to gauge a potential primary challenge from more moderate candidates capable of defeating Tlaib and Bush in their deep blue districts. The news was first reported by CNBC, and Mehlhorn later confirmed his thinking to Forbes and Jewish Insider.
"One of the very, very small silver linings of this horrible moment is that it does modestly increase the likelihood that we can remove some of these members of Congress," Mehlhorn told Jewish Insider.
He told the outlet that like-minded donors have since reached out to him in support of the effort, saying that he believes there’s "a winning electoral coalition, a large governing majority of Americans who want their leaders to be able to condemn violent atrocities and mass rape."
FOX Business reached out to Mehlhorn for comment but did not receive a response prior to deadline.
Unseating Tlaib and Bush would likely require a successful primary challenge as they both represent safe and reliably Democratic districts in Michigan and Missouri, respectively.
Democratic presidential candidates received at least 60% of the popular vote in Tlaib’s district, which is centered on portions of Dearborn and Detroit, in every election dating back to 2000; while they received at least 75% of the vote in Bush’s St. Louis-area district in that time frame. Tlaib’s district has been represented by a Democrat since 1965, while Bush's has been a blue seat since 1949.
Tlaib on Tuesday became the fourth member of the House of Representatives to be censured by the chamber since 2010.
In a bipartisan vote of 234-188 with 212 Republicans and 22 Democrats voting in favor, the House formally rebuked Tlaib for "promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel."
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/linkedin-co-founders-pac-may-challenge-rashida-tlaib-cori-bush
Russia sending 25,000 tons of free wheat to Africa – customs service
By: Updates
The humanitarian shipment has already set sail from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk
A Russian ship carrying 25,000 tons of free wheat has set sail for Africa from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, the Russian Federal Customs Service announced on Telegram on Wednesday.
The vessel has already left the Russian port and is now on the way to its destination, although the statement did not specify in which African country it would be arriving.
“A vessel arrived at the maritime port of Novorossiysk to load 25,000 tons of wheat. The cargo is intended for one of the African countries as humanitarian aid,” it read.
According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, “customs officers, as a priority matter, carried out the necessary operations and released the goods.”
It is the first ship destined for Africa under arrangements for the supply of 200,000 tons of grain free to African countries, which were put in place after the Black Sea Grain Initiative was terminated.
According to Sputnik Africa, the new arrangements will see ships carrying 25,000 tons of grain first arrive in Turkey, where the grain will be processed in private flour mills. The flour will then be shipped and distributed among African countries.
During the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Forum in St. Petersburg in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an agreement to provide free food to six African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Each will receive between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of grain, and all transportation costs will be covered by Moscow.
A total of 11.5 million tons of grain were exported to Africa by Russia in 2022, and it has transported almost 10 million tons to African countries in the first six months of this year.
Lung cancer pill shows 'earth-shattering' results in 5-year study: 'An optimistic time'
By: Melissa Rudy
Many lung cancer patients now have access to a potentially life-saving medication.
Osimertinib, sold under the brand name Tagrisso, is available to patients with Stage 1B-3A lung cancer who have a certain genetic mutation and have had surgery to remove cancerous tumors.
Among those patients, Tagrisso was shown to reduce the five-year risk of recurrent cancer by up to 73% and the risk of death by up to 51%, according to research published in The New England Journal of Medicine over the summer.
"In the world of oncology, that is earth-shattering," Dr. Faiz Y. Bhora, chief of thoracic surgery and central region chair of surgery at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital.
"In the past, medical oncologists were happy with 5% or 10% — and now we're talking about in excess of 50% improvement in survival."
Bhora, who has prescribed the medication to several of his lung cancer patients, spoke about the "groundbreaking" results he's seen in his own practice.
"We're truly in the era of personalized medicine," Bhora also told Fox News Digital. "We now have a lot of targeted therapies that work well for patients who have mutations in their tumors."
For this particular medication, patients who have a genetic mutation called EGFRm — and who have already had surgery — are viable candidates for Tagrisso.
"The pill helps prevent recurrence once the tumor is removed with surgery for those with the genetic marker," he said.
Patients with stage 4 lung cancer are also eligible for the pill if they have the EGFR mutation, even without having had surgery, the doctor noted.
To determine if a patient has the mutation, a tissue sample is extracted from the tumor and tested. Results are typically obtained within 10 to 14 days.
A blood test is also available, Bhora said, with those results available within five to 21 days.
When the Gaza war goes underground
By: Charles Knight
With Israeli Defence Forces now reportedly surrounding Gaza City, the most densely packed part of the Gaza Strip, their fight against Hamas has entered a new phase focused primarily on urban warfare – some of it underground.
Sappers are the soldiers who clear paths through obstacles with machines and explosives, enabling other troops to overwhelm the enemy. They also create such obstructions and lay traps and mines when trying to defend a position.
Tunnels are a sapper’s job, too. Indeed, this is where the word comes from: the ancient technique of “sapping” beneath the surface to approach an enemy position protected from their arrows, bullets or shells.
As part of their plan for defense, Hamas sappers have excavated a huge series of tactical tunnels. Some are interlinked, some isolated. Some have been dug far below where bombs can reach, some are near the surface to allow access.
Tunnels and “mouseholes” in walls also allow for undetected movement between buildings. Hamas fighters expect they can emerge from these holes to attack Israeli soldiers before disappearing again.
In addition, Hamas sappers have likely prepared many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – some hidden in walls to detonate when armored vehicles pass by and other, larger explosives buried under roads.
Some tunnels may also be set as traps to entice Israeli soldiers to enter as they search for hostages.
https://asiatimes.com/2023/11/when-the-gaza-war-goes-underground/
Three rights groups file ICC lawsuit against Israel over Gaza ‘genocide’
By: Staff
Three Palestinian rights groups have filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging the body to investigate Israel for “apartheid” as well as “genocide” and issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday by human rights organisations Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, called for “urgent attention to the continuous barrage of Israeli airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas within the Gaza Strip”, which have killed more than 10,500 Palestinians, almost half of them children, according to Gaza health officials.
The document also asked the body to expand its ongoing war crimes investigation by looking into “the suffocating siege imposed on [Gaza], the forced displacement of its population, the use of toxic gas, and the denial of necessities, such as food, water, fuel, and electricity”.
These acts amount to “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”, including “genocide”, the lawsuit said.
The three groups want arrest warrants to be issued against Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) opened an official investigation into the situation in Palestine in 2021 after determining that “war crimes have been or are being committed by Palestinian and Israeli actors in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip”.
However, the group has faced criticism from rights groups and activists who say its response to ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza have been tepid.
In the latest ICC filing, the rights groups’ lawyer, Emmanuel Daoud, referenced the ICC’s ruling against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, and said there was “no room for double standards in international justice”.
“Whether war crimes are committed in Ukraine or Palestine, the culprits should be held to account,” said Daoud.
This is not the first time a file against Israel has been brought to the ICC during its one-month war in Gaza.
On October 31, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) submitted a complaint to the body alleging Israel had perpetrated war crimes against journalists in Gaza.
As of Thursday, Israeli attacks have killed at least 39 journalists since October 7, according to figures from press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 34 of whom were Palestinian, four were Israeli, and one was Lebanese.
Gen Z Democrat ditching Biden as family struggles with high costs: Our wallets are 'speaking louder'
By: Taylor Penley
Voters appear to be growing increasingly frustrated with the nation's trajectory under the Biden administration as new polling shows former President Trump leading President Biden in several key swing states.
Jahmiel Jackson, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, is among them. He joined a panel of voters on "FOX & Friends" Wednesday to discuss why polls have flipped in Trump's favor and why he's rethinking backing Biden in 2024.
"We have something that's changing during the Biden presidency, and it's creeping into my family, and it's creating an atmosphere of stress," he said.
"I think it's only for so long that we can just say, ‘Back the party, just be Democrats and vote for whoever they tell us to,’ when our wallets, when our streets, when our family condition is speaking even louder to ourselves."
Jackson said before Biden took office his family "didn't have to talk about politics" and was able to afford two refrigerators and keep them both full.
But two years into Biden's presidency, the story has changed.
"My mother realized, she said, 'I'm having trouble even keeping one of those refrigerators full.' She even said, 'The gas station around the corner… it's $4 [per gallon] and it's not going down. So, even through those little conversations, politics slowly entered my family."