“One of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team picks to advise on community safety is an author who once penned a book titled ‘The End of Policing.’ Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor, was among those tapped on Monday to help staff Mamdani’s committee on community safety amid the mayoral turnover. ‘I’m excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC,’ Vitale posted on X touting the news. The liberal professor is behind the 2017 anti-cop book — that decries ‘broken windows’ and other proactive policies. ‘The problem is not police training, police diversity, or police methods. The problem is the dramatic and unprecedented expansion and intensity of policing in the last 40 years, a fundamental shift in the role of police in society,’ a description of the book reads.” (11/25/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It was a surprisingly exhilarating adventure packing up poster books and mailing them off to my readers. This was my first time ever physically interfacing with my audience in large numbers to any extent, and it was so beautiful going through everyone’s names and addresses and getting to send them all physical things that I could put my love into. I made so many expensive rookie mistakes and had to solve a million problems figuring out how to do this thing that I’d never attempted before, but I loved every minute of it. It filled me with so much appreciation for all of you who’ve made it possible for me to do this weird, crazy job all these years and undertake these strange projects every so often.” (11/25/25)
“The brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points at ages nine, 32, 66 and 83, scientists have revealed. Around 4,000 people up to the age of 90 had scans to reveal the connections between their brain cells. Researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that the brain stays in the adolescent phase until our early thirties when we ‘peak’. They say the results could help us understand why the risk of mental health disorders and dementia varies through life. The brain is constantly changing in response to new knowledge and experience – but the research shows this is not one smooth pattern from birth to death. Instead, these are the five brain phases: Childhood (from birth to age nine); Adolescence (nine to 32); Adulthood (32 to 66); Early ageing (66 to 83); Late ageing (83 onwards).” (11/25/25)
“We have a lot of problems in this country, as we always have. But, just for a minute, imagine we had a political class interested in addressing those problems in a way that benefited as many Americans as chose to avail themselves of the opportunity to improve their lot in life? That’s a wordy way of saying that the government should serve as a plow to clear the road ahead for everyone (of red tape, foreign and corporate interference, and anything else in the way) so everyone has a chance to make whatever they can, or would like, out of their lives. Instead of that plow, we have half the political establishment staring at the ground, shuffling their feet and, like a bad stage actor, unsure what to do with their hands. The other half is actively throwing as many obstacles as possible in that road …” (11/25/25)
“President Donald Trump is directing the federal government to combine efforts with tech companies and universities to convert government data into scientific discoveries, acting on his push to make artificial intelligence the engine of the nation’s economic future. Trump unveiled the ‘Genesis Mission’ as part of an executive order he signed Monday that directs the Department of Energy and national labs to build a digital platform to concentrate the nation’s scientific data in one place. It solicits private sector and university partners to use their AI capability to help the government solve engineering, energy and national security problems, including streamlining the nation’s electric grid, according to White House officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to describe the order before it was signed. Officials made no specific mention of seeking medical advances as part of the project.” (11/24/25)
“French police arrested four further suspects on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the audacious Louvre jewel heist last month, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. The suspects are two men aged 38 and 39 and two women aged 31 and 40, and were being interrogated by police, the statement said.” (11/25/25)
“Next year, an estimated 5 million people will be priced out of health insurance in the United States. I am one of them. When I went to renew my family’s policy, I was shocked to discover my premium had gone up to $2,600 per month, a price my household of four simply cannot afford. For the first time in my adult life, I will be uninsured, joining the millions who have navigated this risky reality for years. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, especially when health insurance already makes access to healthcare costly with extremely unrealistic deductibles and high out-of-pocket costs. Yet, as a woman in my 40s with a family history of breast cancer, going without coverage is a gamble with my life. After some number-crunching, we concluded that we could afford to carry insurance for only 2 of the 4 of us.” (11/25/25)
“The U.S. government imposed visa restrictions on Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, accusing him of supporting gangs and other criminal organizations in a move expected to deepen the country’s political instability. The U.S. did not name the person it sanctioned in its announcement late Monday, but Jean confirmed it was him, telling The Associated Press on Tuesday that he rejected those accusations. The U.S. also accused Jean of obstructing Haiti’s fight against ‘terrorist gangs,’ without details. Gangs control 90% of Haiti’s capital and swaths of territory in the center of the country, where they extort businesses, kill civilians and fight for territory, using military-grade weaponry. Haiti is due to hold elections by Feb. 7, when the nine-member council is supposed to step down.” (11/25/25)
“It was, by any measure, a lot of red ink. When Volkswagen announced its third-quarter profits at the end of October, the German auto giant said it anticipated heavy losses for this year. The reason? It is taking a 5 billion-euro hit from tariffs imposed in the American market. Likewise, the German sportswear manufacturer Adidas warned of a 120 million-euro hit to its earnings, in part because the levies its sneakers now face in the United States, while Toyota warned of a $9 billion hit from tariffs. For anyone following the corporate earnings season over the last month, a clear theme has emerged from the giants of European and Asian industry: President Trump’s tariff regime is starting to significantly reduce their profits. But hold on. Weren’t we told that tariffs would simply be passed straight on to American consumers in the form of higher prices? That they were a tax on ordinary working people?” [editor’s: Yes, that’s what we were told — and we were told correctly – TLK] (11/24/25)
“Iowa Democrat Christina Bohannan has built her campaign for Congress around the image of a hard-working, middle-class advocate who understands what it’s like ‘to struggle to put food on the table.’ However, her real estate portfolio and financial disclosures paint a very different picture — one of expensive homes, a Florida waterfront condo and lucrative stock investments that place Bohannan among the wealthy elite she claims to want to fight against in Congress. ‘You know, I know what it’s like to work so hard and to, to still struggle to put food on the table,’ Bohannan previously told a crowd at the Iowa State Fair. Throughout her multiple campaigns … she has touted her history of growing up in a trailer park and being forced to choose ‘between putting groceries in the cart and filling prescription drugs.'” (11/25/25)
