“President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile into Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv’s use of advanced weapons provided by the U.S. and U.K. earlier this week, marking another escalation in the intensifying war. In a televised statement, the Russian president claimed the new missile, nicknamed ‘Oreshnik,’ struck an industrial complex in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Putin said that ‘as of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon,’ asserting that the new missiles move at 2.5-3 kilometers (1.6-1.9 miles) per second — a speed he claimed air defense systems used by the U.S. and Europe ‘cannot intercept.'” (11/22/24)
“We are still operating under many of the trade policies Trump set during his first term. After campaigning in 2020 against the broad-based and damaging tariffs Trump imposed, President Biden maintained and even expanded U.S. trade restrictions and other forms of economic nationalism. The motivation for such consistency, however, was in large part political: It was an open secret in Washington that Biden’s advisors, needing ‘Rust Belt’ votes to win reelection and facing a vocally protectionist opponent in Trump, viewed economic nationalism as the only viable approach. Now unburdened by such concerns and facing the reality of a failed political strategy, Biden has a short time to remedy past policy errors and improve the United States’[s] economic and geopolitical prospects before Trump takes office.” (11/21/24)
“Bitcoin came within a whisker of closing above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday as the election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president spurred expectations that his administration will create a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading between $98,000 and $99,000 in late afternoon trading in the U.S. on Thursday, after briefly touching $99,073. Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was voted in as the next U.S. president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected to Congress.” (11/21/24)
“The debate over disinformation today reveals a fundamental divide not merely between Republicans and Democrats, but between two philosophies of human nature that both trace their lineage to the Enlightenment. Those advocating government suppression of disinformation believe that individuals are products of their environment, molded by the inputs they receive. Confident that society can be perfected by carefully controlled influences, they envision a government capable of shaping an informational landscape that fosters collective well-being. Opponents, however, see this ambition as profoundly misguided. They believe in the individual’s capacity for self-direction and doubt the wisdom giving the state the authority to impose or encourage such controls. This clash is not just political; it is philosophical, reflecting a deep-seated disagreement about man’s potential and his autonomy.” (11/21/24)
“Donald Trump started over on his search for an attorney general on Thursday, ending up with former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi hours after Matt Gaetz’s surprise withdrawal. … Allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz, combined with a very poor whip count in the Senate, proved too big to overcome: The former congressman, who resigned from Congress the day Trump announced his intention to nominate him as attorney general, said Thursday on X that it was ‘clear’ his ‘confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.'” (11/21/24)
“The US Constitution forbids the US government to regulate immigration with the sole exception of imposing a small head tax …. The US Constitution forbids government at all levels to infringe the right to keep and bear arms …. Laws repugnant to the Constitution are void …. QED, when someone attempts to abduct, cage, or deport an immigrant, even under color of one of those void unconstitutional ‘immigration laws,’ that person is just a common criminal …. The prospective victim, and/or others acting in the defense of the prospective victim, are entitled by both right and constitutional protection to resist, up to and including the use of deadly force. … I’d rejoice if the country’s ICE agents and such voluntarily handed in their gang colors and returned to useful jobs in the private sector. But if they need stronger incentives to straighten up and fly right, that’s on them.” (11/21/24)
“A man convicted in the 1994 killing of a female hitchhiker in Alabama was put to death Thursday evening in the nation’s third [prisoner killing] using nitrogen gas. Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama following the use of the new death penalty method. He was one of four teens convicted of killing Vickie Deblieux, 37, as she was hitchhiking through Alabama on the way to her mother’s home in Louisiana.” (11/21/24)
“Admittedly, Stewart’s hard-edged perfectionism and nuclear-powered drive had created some tension with her product, the ‘soft’ home arts of cooking, flower arranging and chair reupholstering. But did she had to be destroyed? … She was tenacious. So, what? Male executives wore that badge proudly. This woman built a business empire based on creating artistic cheese trays and making wreaths from dry leaves. Try that, Elon Musk.” (11/21/24)
