“Back in 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland was actively trying to get Facebook lawyer Susan Davies installed as the head of his department’s Antitrust Division. Google counsel Karen Dunn, whose wedding Garland officiated and who prepped Garland for confirmation hearings, was also up for that job. Neither of them got it, regardless of the interests of the head of the department. Instead it went to Jonathan Kanter, a leading Big Tech adversary and anti-monopolist. In other words, in the Biden administration, the attorney general himself was not seen as someone with the kind of power to dictate personnel decisions for his own agency. That’s why I don’t have too much to say about Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, who apparently escaped the House right before a damaging Ethics Committee report was about to drop detailing sex with underage girls and illegal drug use.” (11/15/24)
“When young people in America are disgruntled with their economic prospects, they can vote against the ruling party. In the Nov. 5 election, for example, men under 30 years old opted against incumbent Democrats. Yet in China, where elections are nil, what do unhappy youth do? They ride bikes at night. En masse. On Nov. 8, more than 100,000 university students – many with grim hopes of finding a job – pedaled more than 30 miles from Zhengzhou in central China to the historic city of Kaifeng. The nocturnal spin, mostly on rental bikes, was for the joy it. At first, the Chinese Communist Party praised the spontaneous swarm of bright-eyed bicyclists. Kaifeng is known for its soup dumplings, its ancient temples, and a theme park. Tourists are welcomed. Yet many of the riders were also glad to be part of a mass movement that expressed their values.” (11/13/24)
“I thought I was done with free speech. For nearly two decades, I reported on it for the international magazine Index on Censorship. I wrote a book, Outspoken: Free Speech Stories, about controversies over it. I even sang ‘I Like to Be in America’ at the top of my lungs at an around-the-clock banned-book event organized by the Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression after the musical ‘West Side Story’ was canceled at a local high school because of its demeaning stereotypes of Puerto Ricans. I was ready to move on. I was done. As it happened, though, free speech — or, more accurately, attacks on it — wasn’t done with me, or with most Americans, as a matter of fact.” [editor’s note: The irony here is that it is the “progressive” forces that are the real enemies of free speech, and you can do little to “cancel” that truth – SAT] [additional editor’s note: “Conservatives” and “progressives” have proven themselves equally enthusiastic enemies of free speech masquerading as friends of same – TLK] (11/14/24)
“The number of people dying from drug overdoses in the US has decreased, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new report. Overall, overdose deaths declined by roughly 14% from June 2023 to June 2024. It’s an encouraging sign, experts say. Overdose deaths had been on a steady rise since the 1990s, with a jump during the pandemic, according to CDC data. More than 108,000 people died from overdose deaths in the 12 months leading up to both June 2022 and 2023, but by this June that number had dropped to 97,000. ‘While these data are cause for optimism, we must not lose sight of the fact that nearly 100,000 people are still estimated to be dying annually from drug overdose in the US,’ said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a statement to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.” (11/14/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“President Biden and President Elect Trump met at the White House on Wednesday and shook hands and exchanged pleasantries after an emotionally exhausting presidential race in which each side accused the other of presenting an immediate existential threat to the country. This is it. This is the real story. … They do not hate each other. They do not see one another as an existential threat to the nation. They are not enemies. They’re barely even opponents. When the show is over they hug and kiss like boxers after weeks of phony trash talk made solely to sell pay-per-views.” (11/14/24)
“After an unexpected landslide victory, Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States and Vice President Kamala Harris won’t. After elections there is always the temptation among the electorate to give up and check out of politics or to grandstand, based on whether your preferred candidate lost or won. This fails to recognize that politics isn’t something that occurs every four years on the first Tuesday in November. Politics happen constantly, and voting in an election is only one way that people can participate. There’s also the temptation to blame specific classes of voters for a loss, either for voting the ‘wrong way’ or not showing up to vote at all. That’s unhelpful.” (11/14/24)
“Amazon has launched a new outlet called Haul which caps the price of products on sale at $20 (£15.79), in an effort to take on low-cost retailers Temu and Shein. The online shopping giant unveiled Haul as a mobile-only experience available in its Shopping app for US customers on Wednesday. It says shoppers can expect ‘crazy low prices’ on Haul products that are ‘worth the wait’ of up to two weeks for delivery. Amazon’s Chinese e-commerce rivals have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years but also faced criticism over the environmental impact of making and shipping ever more cheap products. ‘Temu and Shein have faced backlash both for taking advantage of import loopholes and for being wasteful and environmentally irresponsible,’ Forrester retail analyst Sucharita Kodali told BBC News. ‘This effort seems to have the same challenges,’ she said of Amazon Haul.” (11/14/24)
“Fallout for the Biden-Harris administration and the broader Democrat agenda continues apace after a disastrous reelection bid. Over the weekend, news broke that federal relief workers were ordered to skip homes of people displaying support for Donald Trump. In an attempt to contain the ensuing backlash, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell released a statement providing that the supervisor responsible was fired and that her actions were reprehensible and in clear violation of ‘FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.’ If reports are true, then the Democrat-led administration not only violated ‘FEMA’s core values and principles,’ it blatantly discriminated against Americans during their vulnerable hour of need, on the basis of political viewpoint and in clear violation of core constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law and of free speech.” (11/14/24)
“Advance Auto Parts said Thursday it will close about 500 stores by mid-2025 and cut some jobs under a restructuring effort, as demand for vehicle parts takes a hit from fewer consumers opting to repair their cars. Shares of the auto parts retailer were up about 2% despite also reporting a surprise third-quarter adjusted loss of 4 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 49 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. The automotive industry has had a difficult second half of the year, burdened by inflationary headwinds and stiff competition from Chinese automakers putting out affordable yet feature-packed vehicles. Auto suppliers such as Aptiv PLC and BorgWarner cut their annual sales forecasts last month on expectations of lower vehicle production as consumers cut back on purchases.” (11/14/24)
“According to a report released Thursday, Wisconsin voters saw a record number of school referenda on their ballots in 2024 and approved a considerable number of the funding requests. The Wisconsin Policy Forum study found that school districts asked voters to sign off on a record 241 referenda, eclipsing the old record of 240 set in 1998. The referenda sought a total of $5.9 billion, a new record ask. The old records was $3.3 billion set in 2022. Voters approved 169 referenda, breaking the old record of 140 set in 2018. They authorized a record total of $4.4 billion in new funding for school districts, including $3.3 billion in debt. The old record, unadjusted for inflation, was $2.7 billion set in 2020. A total of 145 districts — more than a third of the state’s 421 public school districts — passed a referendum in 2024.” (11/14/24)
