“Ahead of the verdict, Nadezhda Buyanova was led, handcuffed, into the courtroom and locked inside a glass and metal cage. Through the glass, the 68-year-old paediatrician told me what she thought of her predicament. ‘It’s absurd, just absurd,’ the doctor said. ‘I can’t get my head around what’s happening to me. Perhaps later I’ll be able to.’ The paediatrician had been reported to police by the mother of a 7-year-old boy she’d been treating. The woman had claimed that the doctor had made negative comments about the boy’s father, a Russian soldier, who had been killed fighting in Ukraine and that the doctor had said Russian servicemen there were legitimate targets. Ms Buyanova denies making such comments and there is no audio or video recording to prove she made them.” (11/12/24)
“The results of the 2024 election have confirmed a reality that is too frequently denied by Democratic Party leaders and strategists: The American working class is angry — and for good reason. They want to know why the very rich are getting much richer, and the CEOs of major corporations make almost 300 times more than their average employees, while weekly wages remain stagnant and 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. They want to know why corporate profits soar while companies shut down factories in America and move to low-wage countries. They want to know why the food industry enjoys record breaking profits, while they can’t afford their grocery bills. They want to know why they can’t afford to go to a doctor or pay for their prescription drugs, and worry about going bankrupt if they end up in a hospital. Donald Trump won this election because he tapped into that anger.” (11/12/24)
“Democrats and their media enablers are trying to make sense of last Tuesday’s election – the biggest shift to the right since Ronald Reagan became president in 1980 – searching for where they went wrong. The good news for the GOP is that they haven’t got a clue. The main disconnect is that they fail to acknowledge that tens of millions of Americans actually like Donald Trump; many even love him. Democrats are so blinded by hatred (there’s a reason that Republicans have coined the TDS label) they literally cannot fathom that Trump is personally popular.” (11/12/24)
“The main UN aid agency in Gaza says Israel has failed to meet a US deadline to boost aid to the territory or risk a reduction in American military aid. Last month, in a strongly worded letter, the US secretary of state gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to ensure more aid trucks reached Gaza daily. The deadline expires on Tuesday. The amount of aid getting into Gaza is at its lowest level in a year, the UN says. … In his letter on 13 October, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel needed to allow a minimum of 350 lorries a day into Gaza, every day, by 12 November.” (11/12/24)
“One of the least productive Congresses in history will wrap up starting today, with unified Republican government likely looming on the other side. Since Republicans will perceive any bill proposed now as inferior to the better deal they can get later, expect the same level of inactivity in these final weeks. That’s not to say there is nothing to do, or that could be done, if Democrats, particularly in the Senate, had the stomach for it. That doesn’t look to be the case. … The defense authorization bill has a reputation of always passing at the end of every year, so something is likely to happen there, with both parties angling to attach their favored pieces to it.” (11/12/24)
“Former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is angling to become defense secretary in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, The Post has learned. The Pentagon post is at the top of Gabbard’s wish list, four sources told The Post Tuesday, but the soon-to-be 47th president has yet to make his final decision. One GOP insider said Gabbard ‘was going to privately petition Trump early this week’ about becoming defense secretary, though the source added that the 43-year-old could also be interested in becoming CIA director. A source close to the transition told The Post that Gabbard, who is serving as an adviser to that team, is believed to be interested in the defense job — but faces competition from former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, who is leading the transition’s Pentagon team.” (11/12/24)
“Throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, I would pop in to the Beach White House to see how the people who know him best, people who stand to profit off his existence, thought about the president of the United States. Honestly, no one in Rehoboth Beach really cared. Sure, his so-called ‘main’ residence was in Wilmington, but the president barely ever went there. It was always seaside in Rehoboth, maybe because there are so many ice cream shops there. Whatever the case, whatever the draw … Joe was seemingly always there.” (11/12/24)
“Police in South Carolina announced that five more monkeys that escaped from Alpha Genesis research facility in Yemassee have been recaptured, bringing the total number of monkeys caught to 30. Thirteen research monkeys still remain on the loose as of Monday evening. Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told the police that all recovered primates appear to be ‘in good health.’ ‘Efforts to safely capture the remaining primates will continue throughout the evening and as long as necessary,’ police said in their update, advising residents and the public to avoid the area and refrain from operating drones there ‘as they can startle the animals and cause further stress.’ Forty-three rhesus macaques monkeys, described as ‘very young females weighing approximately 6-7 lbs,’ escaped from Alpha Genesis, a primate research facility in Yemassee, a small town about 60 miles west of Charleston, around 1 p.m. last Wednesday, according to the Yemassee Police Department.” (11/12/24)
“A California vegan meat company is paying $7.5 million to settle allegations that it exaggerated the amount of protein in its products. The El Segundo-headquartered company Beyond Meat, Inc., produces plant-based meat substitutes, such as artificial burgers, sausages and steak. The company was named in multiple class action lawsuits filed between May 2022 and January 2023 that accused Beyond Meat of overstating the amount of protein and the quality of the food. The lawsuits were consolidated and a settlement agreement was reached on July 8, a company spokesperson told SFGATE in a statement. Beyond Meat denies the allegations of misleading advertising but is offering the hefty payout to ‘avoid the costs of further litigation,’ the spokesperson said..” (11/12/24)
“It was a little after 1 a.m. when I left The Real News Network studio in downtown Baltimore. Our team spent the whole night there, anxiously watching the election results roll in. With each update — Republicans win a majority in the Senate, Trump wins North Carolina, then Georgia, then Pennsylvania — reality began setting in, hardening like concrete. Nervous optimism gave way to worry, worry gave way to disbelief, disbelief gave way to anger, anger gave way to fear — and then grief. The race was still too close to call at the time, and as I got into my car, running through the remaining-but-rapidly-shrinking paths to victory that were still, for the time being, open to Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democrats, my phone dinged with a social media notification: ‘@maximillian.alvarez saved this post to laugh at you hahahaha hope you’re crying tonight. 2024 trump LFGGGG.'” (11/12/24)
