“A U.S. Navy warship sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait shot down a drone launched from Yemen, a U.S. official said Wednesday, in the latest in a string of threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The official said according to initial reports, USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, deemed the drone — an Iranian-made KAS-04 — to be a threat and shot it down over water in the southern Red Sea as the ship was moving toward the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation not yet made public. The Wednesday shootdown comes a day after an Iranian drone flew within 1,500 yards of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier as it was conducting flight operations in international waters in the Arabian Gulf.” (11/29/23)
“The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter as businesses built more warehouses and accumulated machinery equipment, but momentum appears to have since waned as higher borrowing costs curb hiring and spending. The growth pace, which was the quickest in nearly two years, however, likely exaggerated the health of the economy last quarter. When measured from the income side, economic activity increased at a moderate pace. Nevertheless, the report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday indicated the economy continued to grow despite fears of a recession that have persisted since late 2022. ‘No sign of darkening skies for the economy in today’s report, but growth is cooling,’ said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York. ‘There’s simply not as much wind in the economy’s sails in the final quarter this year.'” (11/29/23)
“Social media giant TikTok should be demonetized in the U.S. unless the Chinese government hands over its algorithm, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Wednesday. ‘It’s not about banning it, it is about allowing [TikToks] not to be monetized,’ Rubio said at CNBC’s CFO Council Summit in Washington, D.C. Rubio has previously said that demonetizing TikTok was tantamount to banning it, and he introduced legislation last year to do precisely that. … More than 150 million Americans use TikTok and nearly five million businesses advertise on the platform, according to the company. … Rubio’s bill would prohibit financial transactions from social media companies located in, or ‘under the influence of’ China, Russia and several other U.S. adversaries. Rubio said the transaction block should remain in place ‘unless [China is] going to transfer the algorithm to the U.S., which they can’t and won’t do, because Chinese law doesn’t allow it.'” (11/29/23)
“‘We’re not at war.’ That’s what U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) claimed during a Wednesday hearing about controversial legislation backed by Republicans and right-wing Democrats that would create a so-called fiscal commission for the U.S. debt. Making some on-the-fly additions to his prepared remarks, Arrington said, ‘120% debt to GDP—this is the highest level of indebtedness in the history of our country surpassing World War II and we’re not at war, we’re in relative peace and prosperity.’ And yet, a report published Wednesday by the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs shows that since 2021, the U.S. military has conducted counterterrorism operations (including training and assistance, military exercises, combat and detention, and air and drone strikes) in at least 78 countries.” (11/29/23)
“Researchers at Google DeepMind have used artificial intelligence to predict the structures of more than 2 million new materials, in a breakthrough that could have wide-reaching benefits in sectors such as renewable energy and computing. DeepMind published 381,000 of the 2.2 million crystal structures that it predicts to be most stable. The breakthrough increases the number of known stable materials by a factor of ten. Although the materials will still need to be synthesized and tested, steps which can take months or even years, the latest development is expected to accelerate the discovery of new materials, which will be required for applications such as energy storage, solar cells, and superconductor chips.” (11/29/23)
“Deadspin accused a young boy this week of ‘hating black people and Native Americans,’ saying he wore blackface and a headdress during the Chiefs-Raiders game on Sunday. However, we already know from publicly available photos that the fan was not wearing blackface. He was instead wearing red and black face paint in support of the Kansas City Chiefs. Deadspin only showed one side of his face. So, the boy doesn’t ‘hate black people.’ Nor does he hate Native Americans. In fact, he is Native American. His mother, Shannon Armenta, commented on the coverage of her son in several Facebook posts on Tuesday, pointing out her son’s heritage. ‘This has nothing to do with the NFL,’ she wrote …. According to the Post Millennial, the kid’s grandfather, Raul Armenta, sits on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, California.” (11/29/23)
“The U.K. government on Wednesday called on crypto users to voluntarily [sic] disclose any unpaid capital gains or income taxes to avoid penalties, and published guidance on how to pay them. The tax disclosures should reflect capital gains or income from exchange tokens like bitcoin (BTC), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and utility tokens. Users who have already made crypto tax disclosures to the U.K. Treasury have 30 days from the disclosure date to make all necessary payments. If the deadline is not met, the Treasury will take steps to recover the money, and users may face penalties, the post said.” (11/29/23)
“Bank of America has shuttered or plans to shutter nearly two dozen Bay Area branches or ATMs, according to recent filings. Banks are legally required to report closures to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at least 90 days before their scheduled shuttering, so customers will know if they’ll be impacted. (The San Francisco Business Times first reported on the filings). Bank of America spokesperson Colleen Haggerty said via email that the bank maintains nearly 200 financial centers in the Bay Area and that, in making cuts, it evaluated ‘where centers are located in close proximity to one another, or where client traffic has diminished significantly.’ The popularity of mobile banking has also contributed to the decrease in locations, Haggerty said. ‘We remain confident in this mix of robust retail presence and mobile capabilities that our clients tell us they prefer,’ Haggerty said.” (11/29/23)
“Finland is temporarily shutting down its 1,340-kilometre long eastern border with Russia after seeing an abnormally large number of migrants arrive this month — a situation its prime minister describes as a ‘hybrid attack’ orchestrated by Moscow. Finnish officials have accused Russia of guiding third-country migrants to its border crossings to manufacture a crisis, as a possible retaliation for joining NATO earlier this year. … Moscow has denied the allegation and Finland’s move may not be acceptable under international law.” (11/29/23)
“Frank Tammaro, a 94-year-old Army veteran, loved the senior center he’d called home for five years until he was told to find somewhere new to live. ‘I felt horrible,’ Tammaro told Fox News. ‘It’s no joke getting thrown out of a house.’ Months later, after two moves and an injury that put him in the hospital, the senior was living with his daughter when he learned migrants were moving into his old residence, free of charge. A lifelong New Yorker, Tammaro says he grew up in the ‘slums’ of the Lower East Side during the ‘30s and ’40s. ‘I do get upset when I see them handing out all this money and all these things, and I’m paying taxes and getting kicked out,’ he said. ‘I’ve never got anything from the city. Or the state.'” (11/29/23)
