“Imagine this: humanity in its time on Earth has already come up with two distinct ways of destroying this planet and everything on it. The first is, of course, nuclear weapons, which once again surfaced in the ongoing nightmare in the Middle East. (An Israeli minister recently threatened to nuke Gaza.) The second, you won’t be surprised to learn, is what we’ve come to call ‘climate change’ (fka ‘global warming’): the burning, that is, of fossil fuels to desperately overheat our already flaming world. In its own fashion, that could be considered a slow-motion version of the nuking of the planet. Put another way, in some grim sense, all of us now live in Gaza. (Most of us just don’t know it yet.)” (11/26/23)
“A showdown is due at Scotland’s most famous country music club over its controversial use of the American Confederate flag. Officials at Glasgow’s Grand Ole Opry banned the flag last month, but members are now voting on its reinstatement. The flag dates to the Civil War era of the 1860s when it was used by slave-owning states in the South. Many Americans now view it as a racist symbol although others defend it as an emblem of southern heritage. The Confederate flag had been the centrepiece of a flag-folding ceremony held at the end of each night at the venue. … A decision to remove the flag had been made by club officials on 9 October — a move that led to the club’s president resigning.” (11/27/23)
“The world is a dangerous place. Even in America, where we’re blessed to live in relative peace compared to many other regions of the world, there are always threats to our safety and well-being. It’s a reality that we must all accept and prepare for. One place to start is to be equipped and trained as a responsible gun owner to protect ourselves and our families. Many anti-gun politicians in Washington would prefer to ignore the data, but the reality is that millions of Americans who are seeing violence unfold around the world or in their own neighborhoods are stepping up and becoming responsibly armed citizens. In the last two years, the United States has consistently witnessed over 1 million monthly firearms sales, as evidenced by the 1.3 million federal background checks conducted in October.” (11/27/23)
“The United Nations ambassadors of the United States and North Korea sparred at the Security Council on Monday over Pyongyang’s first spy satellite launch and the reasons for growing tensions in a rare, direct, public exchange between the adversaries. After a nearly six-year absence, North Korea again started sending its U.N. envoy to Security Council meetings on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in July. The 15-member body met on Monday over the Nov. 21 spy satellite launch. At the end of the meeting, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and North Korean Ambassador Kim Song made unplanned remarks, engaging in dueling rights-of-reply across the council table, each arguing that their countries are acting defensively.” (11/27/23)
“The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday. Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property. Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia. ‘Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication,’ she said.” (11/27/23)
Source: Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon & Jeff Cohen
“Over the weekend, Politico published the latest in a tidal wave of stories about President Biden’s dwindling prospects for re-election. Under the headline ‘The Polls Keep Getting Worse for Biden,’ the article pointed out that Biden is trailing the presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in a large majority of the latest polling. The trend is dire, Politico reports: ‘The president’s standing in head-to-head matchups with Trump is falling: Among the latest surveys this month from 13 separate pollsters, Biden’s position is worse than their previous polls in all but two of them.’ He continues to slip in key swing states. The outlook is now grimmer than ever, but the big divide between Biden’s low popularity and public support for the Democratic Party overall was clear a year ago, despite the hype giving Biden credit for midterm election results in November 2022.” (11/27/23)
“‘We have closed this bank today.’ That’s the opening line on an explanatory poster, plastered on dozens of Barclays branches across the United Kingdom on Monday. ‘Barclays has been on the wrong side of history for centuries,’ the poster continues. ‘Financing the Atlantic slave trade, apartheid in South Africa, weapons, and fossil fuels. $190 billion in finance for fossil fuels since 2015. Time to change. Barclays are choosing short-term profits over a livable future and a lot of us are sick of the measly progress they’re making.’ The posters were left overnight by activists with Extinction Rebellion (XR), sister organization Money Rebellion, and allied groups, who superglued the doors shut at nearly 50 branches, inspired by a 2020 Greenpeace action targeting the bank.” (11/27/23)
Source: Association of Mature American Citizens
by Aaron Flanigan
“Despite Joe Biden, the mainstream media, and their Democrat allies sparing no effort to sell the supposed successes of ‘Bidenomics,’ an overwhelming majority of Americans still believe the economy is doing poorly. AMAC Newsline spoke with Casey Mulligan, a professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and the former chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump White House, to find out the truth about how the economy is doing and why most Americans don’t share the White House’s cheery outlook. Though Biden administration officials generally point to metrics like the unemployment rate and GDP growth as proof that the economy is doing well, Mulligan said it remains understandable why ‘people aren’t buying that.'” (11/27/23)
“Two women have been slapped with hate crime charges for allegedly attacking a Jewish person who confronted them on the Upper West Side for tearing down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas, cops said Monday. Mehwish Omer, 26, surrendered to police Monday morning and was charged with assault and criminal mischief — both as hate crimes …. Her alleged accomplice, Stephanie Gonzalez, 25, was cuffed a week earlier and also faces a hate crime assault rap, as well as an attempted robbery charge, cops said. The duo allegedly assaulted the victim — ripping off her Star of David necklace and knocking a cellphone out of her hand — after she challenged them for ripping the ‘Missing Persons’ posters from a light pole at the intersection, according to police.” (11/27/23)
“President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil said Monday that he chose Justice Minister Flavio Dino to fill an empty seat on the country’s top court. Many allies of the leftist leader hoped he would pick another woman to replace Minister Rosa Maria Weber, who stepped down in September after turning 75, the age limit for the nation’s Supreme Federal Court justices. Weber’s departure as chief justice left one remaining female jurist on the 11-person court. The Brazilian Senate is expected to vote before the end of the year on Dino’s nomination, which requires a simple majority for confirmation. Dino, 55, governed the impoverished state of Maranhao between 2015 and 2023 before becoming Lula’s justice minister. He is a former federal judge and was seen for many years as one of the most vocal adversaries of former President Jair Bolsonaro.” (11/27/23)
