“At the center of government in Palm Beach, Florida, plans are being hastily made for the next four years. Those of us outside the Mar-a-Lago walls have a framework for assessing these plans, one summed up in three little words: Personnel is policy. And so we scour the lists of cabinet announcements and read the tea leaves on the various contenders. I think that is the wrong way to look at things this time. Cabinet members have a degree of importance, I guess. Marco Rubio will be in charge of at least something at the State Department, along with Kristi Noem at Homeland Security, and Lee Zeldin at the Environmental Protection Agency.” (11/14/24)
“Satirical news publication The Onion has bought Infowars, the media organisation headed by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, for an undisclosed price at a court-ordered auction. The Onion said that the bid was secured with the backing of families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who won a $1.5bn (£1.18bn) defamation lawsuit against Jones for spreading false rumours about the massacre. A judge in Texas ordered the auction in September, and various groups – both Jones’s allies and detractors – had suggested they would bid for the company. Jones founded Infowars in 1999. He has vowed to continue broadcasting using a different platform.” (11/14/24)
“Justice for P’Nut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon! The two furry victims, adored by audiences online, were heartlessly euthanized after the state Department of Environmental Conservation raided the home of their owners, Mark and Danelia Longo of Pine City. The DEC initially claimed the euthanization was necessary — that the panicked P’Nut chomped the finger of an agent during the nutso hours-long raid, and testing for rabies requires decapitation. But the agency plainly spun that tail, er, tale, to squeak free of the loud and swift public backlash. That account has now proved a fat fib: On Tuesday, The Post reported that the DEC was already planning on having poor P’Nut and Fred put down before the raid. Does the agency have nothing better to do than send 10 agents to chase down critters that look like Disney supporting characters? Is this how hard-working New Yorkers want their tax money spent?” (11/14/24)
“President-elect Donald Trump told The Post on Thursday that he opposes Gov. Kathy Hochul’s revived plan for congestion pricing for vehicles that drive through certain parts of New York City, calling it ‘the most regressive tax known to womankind.’ The Democratic governor is proposing a $9 toll — after an earlier plan for $15 fees went down in flames amid a middle- and working-class outcry. ‘I have great respect for the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, and look forward to working with her to Make New York and America Great Again. But I strongly disagree with the decision on the congestion tax,’ said Trump, 78. ‘It has never worked, but especially so with a city, town, or village that is trying to come back from very rough times, which can certainly be said of New York City.'” (11/14/24)
“After an initial sighting almost a quarter century ago, scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have revealed a deep-sea discovery for the ages. On Monday, MBARI researchers announced the existence of an entirely new species of sea slug that lives in the deep waters off Monterey Bay known as the ‘midnight zone’. Introduced to the world formally as Bathydevius caudactylus, the translucent creature glides around in the darkest depths of the Earth, thousands of feet beneath the water’s surface. This seemingly alien form, nicknamed the ‘mystery mollusc’ by researchers, features ‘a large gelatinous hood and paddle-like tail, and lights up with brilliant bioluminescence.’ ‘When we spot something like that — we don’t know what it is and never seen anything like it before — it’s always exciting,’ MBARI senior scientist Bruce Robison told SFGATE from his Monterey lab Tuesday.” (11/14/24)
“The chairperson of a leading U.S. private prison corporation last week gushed over the ‘unprecedented opportunity’ presented by the prospect of Republican President-elect Donald Trump delivering on his campaign promise to begin the mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants on his first day in office. As Common Dreams reported, Trump’s campaign confirmed that ’the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrants’ ever is set to start immediately after the former president returns to the White House on January 20. GEO Group stock surged more than 56% from the close of trading on Tuesday, Election Day, to Friday’s closing bell. Competitor CoreCivic shares skyrocketed 57% over the same period. By contrast, GEO Group stock saw just a 21% rise in the three months preceding Election Day. CoreCivic inched up just 11% over the same period.” (11/14/24)
“This election offers plenty of lessons for those listening to the voices of the voters – but will the politicians listen? First, conservatives and moderates took their country back: Only about 25% of the voters classify themselves as liberal compared to 75% who are moderate and conservative. Out went progressive DAs, marijuana referendums, and ranked voting efforts (except in D.C.). Moderates and conservatives are done with being ruled by the 25 percent. Second, middle class economics mattered: Trump won a majority of the working- and middle-class voters, while Harris won only those making under $30,000 and those earning over $100,000 a year. Third, most voters felt worse off under Biden, suffering from inflation and wages that failed to keep up with the rising costs of food, gasoline and housing.” (11/13/24)
“Europe’s novel set of solutions to deal with waves of migrants arriving without papers may now pivot on a handful of individual cases in Italy. On Monday, a court in Rome ruled that seven asylum-seekers held in an Italian-run detention center in the nearby country of Albania must be brought to Italy. That follows a similar ruling last month involving 12 other migrants detained under similar circumstances. The two cases go to the crux of a problem affecting two parallel approaches to managing the influx of people seeking access to Europe without authorization. One rests on European countries processing asylum applications outside the boundaries of the European Union prior to arrival. The other depends on third countries detaining migrants and vetting their applications.” (11/12/24)
“Since the Daniel Penny trial kicked off, witness after witness has described the abject terror they felt while riding the uptown F train as unhinged homeless man Jordan Neely entered the car, snarling and threatening straphangers. One teen testified that she was so frightened, she thought she’d pass out. An older woman was ‘scared shitless.’ A 29-year-old man said he was ‘pretty terrified.’ All testified that they’d never before experienced that type of acute panic while riding the train. But on Tuesday, one was visibly petrified to be in that courtroom, with protesters outside and multiple Neely supporters inside. Scared to be on the stand. To be a party to a potential acquittal of Penny and what that would mean for the witness’s personal safety.” (11/12/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The way raw video evidence debunked the ‘Amsterdam pogrom’ narrative in real time in full view of the entire world is exactly why Israel hates journalists. It’s why it won’t let the western press visit Gaza, and it’s why it murders Palestinian journalists at every opportunity. … Trump’s ‘America First’ cabinet is being packed full of swamp monsters who want to pour American money into helping Israel destroy the middle east, pour American money into the unwinnable proxy war in Ukraine, and prepare American troops to fight a war with China to defend Taiwan. … And just as we’re reacting to the news of Trump filling his new cabinet with murderous warmongers, the Biden administration comes in with a helpful reminder that they too are evil blood-soaked monsters.” (11/13/24)
