“There was a very X-Files vibe to a congressional hearing into unidentified anomalous phenomena on Wednesday. Witness testimony included eyebrow-raising claims about the existence of UAPs and alien technology on Earth. The hearing was focused on testimony with little substantive evidence behind some of the more extraordinary claims. The House Oversight Committee joint subcommittee hearing was called ‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth.’ The hearing aimed ‘to further pull back the curtain on secret UAP research programs conducted by the United States government, and undisclosed findings they have yielded.’ The four witnesses were retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondo, NASA UAP independent study team member Michael Gold and journalist Michael Shellenberger.” (11/14/24)
“Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Hezbollah-controlled areas in Beirut for a third consecutive day on Thursday, hitting locations in the capital’s southern suburbs early in the morning after a night of heavy bombardments. Plumes of smoke rose over Beirut as the strikes continued, while raids also reached southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, where overnight airstrikes and artillery shelling inflicted heavy damage on buildings and residential complexes, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). Five people were killed in airstrikes on the towns of Bazourieh and Jumayjimah, NNA reported.” (11/14/24)
As of 5am Eastern time on Friday, November 15, our total remains at $1,787, which leaves us $888.50 short of our $5,531 goal (once we reach $2675.50, supporter GL will “match funds” for the other half).
So far this year, I’ve kept the tone lighter than usual, because progress has been faster (or at least that’s my impression — I haven’t actually compared numbers closely).
But, in the interest of having this thing over, I shall now impersonate Oliver Twist and offer you my most pitiful “please, sir, I want some more,” while relentlessly flogging the link through which you can support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper:
But seriously: Once we reach our goal, I stop talking about money entirely for the rest of the year and mostly until next October. It seems to me that this coming Monday is a better time to wrap things up than, say, December 31.
Bonus reason for making your best contribution ASAP: When GL “matches funds,” he usually does so in Bitcoin … which I expect to go up considerably in value over the next few weeks. So getting this done early means that that SECOND $2,675.50 COULD end up being $3,912.24 or $5,211.97 by the time we spend it. Instead of your donations merely being MATCHED, they could be MULTIPLIED.
But before that can happen, we need to actually get those donations, in the amount of $888.50, and sooner is better. So pretty please, kick in at:
“A California teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday in a case involving the swatting of a Florida mosque among other institutions and individuals, federal prosecutors said. Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, entered the plea to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another, the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.” (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)
“A 65-year-old American tourist was arrested for allegedly etching letters onto a traditional wooden gate at a Tokyo shrine, police said on Thursday, the latest example of bad behaviour by visitors flooding back to Japan post-pandemic. Steve Hayes, who arrived in Japan for a holiday with his family on Monday, reportedly used his fingernails to scratch one of the gate’s pillars as a prank at Meiji Jingu, one of the capital’s most famous shrines. Hayes is suspected of carving five letters of the Latin alphabet in a space measuring roughly 5cm by 6cm on the structure at around 11:20am on Tuesday.” (11/14/24)
“The FBI has raided the New York City home of betting website Polymarket’s founder and chief executive, according to reports. The search of Shayne Coplan’s property was conducted Wednesday morning, The New York Times and the New York Post reported. … In 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission entered an order fining Polymarket $1.4 million and preventing it from operating in the United States for failing to obtain registration. The raid was part of a criminal investigation into whether Polymarket was allowing U.S.-based persons to use its services in violation of the 2022 order, The Times reported.” (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)
“A Pakistani court on Thursday rejected a plea for acquittal from former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been held in prison for more than a year in a graft case, a defense lawyer said. The court order was another blow to Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, who were accused of retaining and selling state gifts in violation of government rules when he was in power. The couple will be formally indicted in the case on Nov. 18 when the next court hearing is held. Khan and Bibi have denied the charges, saying they were not involved in any wrongdoing.” (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)
