“German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said damage to two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea looks like an act of sabotage and a ‘hybrid action,’ without knowing who is to blame. A 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany was severed in the early hours of Monday, while a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday. The incidents came at a time of heightened tension with Russia and Pistorius said ‘nobody believes that these cables were cut accidentally.’ The Swedish and Lithuanian defence ministers said they were ‘deeply concerned’ that the cable connecting their two countries had been cut. ” (11/19/24)
“Journalist unions in Greece launched a 24-hour strike Tuesday, joining broader labor unrest ahead of a nationwide general strike planned for Wednesday. Public and many private media outlets across the country, including print, broadcast, and online platforms, halted operations in solidarity with demands for better wages. Unions are demanding that the conservative government fully restore collective bargaining rights that were scaled back during a 2010-18 financial crisis and successive international bailouts.” (11/19/24)
“She’s trying to have her cake and eat it, too. Comedian Whoopi Goldberg is still playing the victim at the expense of a New York bakery she claims refused to prepare her birthday desserts over her left-wing political views. Holtermann’s Bakery — a Staten Island institution in business since the tail end of Reconstruction — was thrust into the national spotlight after Goldberg claimed she wasn’t served due to her ‘politics’ last week. ‘There seems to be a lot of talk about the dessert I requested for my birthday show,’ the actress and ‘The View’ co-host said on her Instagram …. She reiterated the technicality that she ‘never mentioned the name of the bakery or the location’ — despite its name being revealed in the press within hours as a direct result of her tirade — before retreading the same evidence-free complaint.” (11/19/24)
“Move over, Santa Claus: Beyonce will be making an appearance in homes this Christmas as part of Netflix’s latest foray into the world of live sports. The streaming giant announced that Queen Bey would perform during halftime of an NFL Christmas Day matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans in her hometown of Houston. The announcement comes two days after Netflix’s livestream of a boxing event featuring a headline bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which was riddled with technical difficulties. … Despite the struggles, Netflix reported that 60 million households tuned in to watch the Paul-Tyson fight, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams.” (11/18/24)
“Google has said it would harm consumers and businesses if it is forced to sell Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will propose the measure to a judge on Wednesday, Bloomberg has reported. Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google operates an online search monopoly in August, and has been considering what remedies or penalties to impose. The DOJ has not commented on the report — but Google has made clear it is a proposal it opposes. ‘The DOJ continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,’ said Google executive Lee-Anne Mulholland in a statement. Google will also reportedly be asked [sic] to establish new measures around its artificial intelligence, Android operating system and use of data.” (11/19/24)
“Tens of thousands have rallied outside New Zealand’s Parliament to protest against a bill that critics say would hurt the rights of Maori people. An estimated 42,000 people demonstrated on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to reject the Treaty Principles Bill, which was introduced earlier this month by the libertarian ACT New Zealand party. While the legislation, proposed by the junior partner in the centre-right coalition government, lacks the support needed to pass, critics worry that it threatens to divide society. They say it seeks to reverse decades of policies aimed at empowering Maori, who make up about 20 percent of the 5.3 million population but have higher levels of deprivation and incarceration and worse health outcomes than the broader population.” (11/19/24)
“It was a ‘f–k you’ heard ’round the world. Brazil’s first lady Janja Lula da Silva, 58, set off a diplomatic firestorm after she delivered an expletive comment to Elon Musk at a panel on disinformation and regulating social media at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. After a ship’s horn sounded, she made what was apparently meant to be a quip, saying: ‘I think it’s Elon Musk. I’m not afraid of you, f–k you, Elon Musk.’ The comments reminded her audience of the bitter battle waged between the tech billionaire and Brazil’s Supreme Court over free speech on Musk’s X platform earlier this year, which saw it banned in the country between August and October.” (11/19/24)
“A Las Vegas family is condemning police after an officer shot and killed a man who called for help during a home invasion. … The victim, 43-year-old Brandon Durham, was one of multiple people who called police Tuesday about a shooting at his home, the police department said. … Durham was inside his home with his 15-year-old daughter when multiple people entered his home through the front and back doors, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said at the press conference. … Alexander Bookman was the first officer to enter the home after kicking the door open, Koren said. … he saw Durham and a woman, 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, struggling over a knife. Bookman told the pair to drop the knife, then shot his gun, hitting Durham and sending the homeowner and the alleged intruder to the floor.” (11/18/24)
THANK YOU to supporters PD and SZ — their total of $35 in support for the freedom movement’s daily newspaper yesterday brings our year-end fundraiser total (as of 5:30am eastern time on Tuesday, November 19) to $1,892!
That leaves us only $783.50 short of the halfway point ($2,675.50) … which is ALSO the finish line (supporter GL is “matching funds” for the second half once we’ve raised the first half).
If we raise an average of $261.17 per day for the next three days, I can announce, on Friday morning, that this fundraiser is OVER.
Will you be one of 100 readers donating $7.84, or one of 50 readers donating $15.67, or one of 25 readers donating $31.34, or one of ten readers donating $78.35? You can donate any of those amounts (or any other), and help us close this thing out, at:
“More than 40 of Hong Kong’s best known pro-democracy figures have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges, in the biggest single blow to the city’s already shrinking political freedoms following Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on dissent. Among those handed sentences on Tuesday was Joshua Wong, a former student leader and poster child of the city’s once thriving pro-democracy movement, who shouted ‘I love Hong Kong’ before he left the dock. All 45 defendants – including former high-profile lawmakers, activists, unionists and journalists – received prison sentences ranging from 50 months to 10 years in the largest single prosecution to date under a national security [sic] law imposed by Beijing four years ago.” (11/19/24)
