“The US has been criticised by humanitarian organisations for deciding to supply Ukraine with landmines, as the war in eastern Europe rages on. In an interview with the BBC, Human Rights Watch director Mary Wareham said the decision marked a ‘shocking and devastating development’ for those working to eradicate anti-personnel landmines. The approval from Washington is an attempt to slow down Russian troops, who have been steadily advancing into Ukraine’s east in recent months. … Ms Wareham’s stance was echoed by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which condemned the US decision ‘in the strongest possible terms.’ ‘These horrific, indiscriminate weapons were banned by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty given the devastating impact they have on civilians’ lives and livelihoods,’ the statement from the ICBL’s director, Tamar Gabelnick, added.” (11/20/24)
“Earlier this year, in one of the most absurd court rulings in modern times, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated U.S. antitrust law by gaining a monopoly in the search engine markets. In the days or weeks ahead, the courts will decide whether to break up one of America’s most iconic companies or to sell off some of its activities and products. The latest reports are that the courts may require Google to sell off its popular Chrome browser. … Google is one of the five most profitable companies in the world. It got there by offering a search engine service FOR FREE to hundreds of millions of customers. This may be the largest benefit to consumers of any company in world history. Yet the courts ruled that: ‘Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.'” (11/20/24)
“A group of progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders'[s] joint resolutions of disapproval that would block sales of American weapons to Israel as its troops continue to lay waste to the Gaza Strip. Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the six resolutions in September and plans to force a vote on Wednesday. In a statement led by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the House members said that ‘if given the opportunity to do so, we would vote in favor of S.J. Res. 111, S.J. Res. 113, and S.J. Res. 115.'” (11/20/24)
“Elon Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy are already looking at what parts of the government could be slashed as they team up to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Tesla CEO on Wednesday pointed to famed economist Milton Friedman’s opinion from decades ago about how bloated the government had become. ‘Milton Friedman was the best,’ Musk wrote in a post on X, sharing an interview the late Nobel laureate gave, wherein he went through a list of entire federal agencies that should never have been created in the first place, as well as those that he felt were important.” (11/20/24)
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s list of disqualifications for the role of secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is long and well documented. He is the founder of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, vowed to remove fluoride from drinking water, and spewed race science, claiming that Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people are immune from COVID-19. But despite all of the above, RFK Jr. seems to appeal to many not just on the political right, but also on the left. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who has been firm in his post-election commitments to insulate Coloradans from the Trump administration, wrote on X on November 14: ‘I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA.'” (11/20/24)
“A Pakistani court granted bail Wednesday to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a graft case, his lawyer said. But with a slew of other charges pending against him, the opposition leader is staying behind bars. Still, the order by a superior court in the capital, Islamabad, was a boost for Khan in the case in which he is accused, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi, of keeping and selling state gifts in violation of government rules when he was in power. Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022, has denied the charge. The hearings in the trial on the graft charges started in July and are still ongoing. Khan has so far been embroiled in over 150 cases and has been sentenced in several, including to three years, 10 years, 14 years and seven years to be served concurrently under Pakistani law.” (11/20/24)
“It’s been 14 days since the Democrats have had to face the truth. They stink worse than the Capitol’s men’s room after Jerry Nadler’s lunch of curry clam soup. Poor Jerry. We’ve talked about what the winners can do now. What about the losers? And there are losers. But it’s not the ones having public meltdowns. They’re victims, too. They’re no different than a hypochondriac being told that their pimple is a tumor. I’m talking about the party elites like Jamie Raskin, Adam Schiff or David Muir, the idiots who fueled all those lies. So, normally, we don’t give advice to people who hate us, but we’re only doing this because we want them to be as happy as we are, or at least as bubbly as Brit Hume.” (11/20/24)
“Members of the House Committee on Ethics deadlocked on releasing a report of its investigation into attorney general-designate Matt Gaetz, the panel’s chairman said Wednesday. Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) told reporters that the 10 members reached ‘no agreement on releasing the report’ into the probe of whether Gaetz violated congressional rules against sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other transgressions. Prior to the committee’s closed-door meeting, which lasted more than two hours, Guest said he had ‘reservations’ about releasing the report, which he said was ‘an unfinished work product’ and still in the ‘final review’ stages. Guest did not clarify whether the committee had voted on either releasing the report or transmitting it directly to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to consider Gaetz’s nomination to lead the Justice Department early next year.'” (11/20/24)
“Researchers have created an early map of some of the human body’s estimated 37.2 trillion cells. Each type of cell has a unique role, and knowing what all the cells do can help scientists better understand health and diseases such as cancer. Scientists focused on certain organs — plotting the jobs of cells in the mouth, stomach and intestines, as well as cells that guide how bones and joints develop. They also explored which cells group into tissues, where they’re located in the body and how they change over time. They hope the high-resolution, open-access atlas — considered a first draft — will help researchers fight diseases that damage or corrupt human cells. ‘When things go wrong, they go wrong with our cells first and foremost,’ said Aviv Regev, co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas consortium who was involved with the research.” (11/20/24)
“There is a power that dumb things have in this world. It is not the power of imperviousness to criticism, but rather of being so permeable that all criticism passes through with no effect, like the invisible neutrinos that stream through our bodies every second. Grappling with the dawn of the Second Trump Era will require an acceptance of the disquieting truth that Dumb Things and Important Things are about to merge into a single excruciating category of existence. Donald Trump is an ignorant, overconfident, narcissistic, grievance-ridden man — a dumb man, who over time has attracted around him an asteroid field of dumb allies who are but lesser versions of himself.” (11/20/24)
