Source: CNN
“North Korea tested a ballistic missile on Thursday as it warned the United States of a ‘fiercer military counteraction’ to Washington’s bolstered defense [sic] ties with South Korea and Japan amid rising regional tensions. In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the US’[s] strengthening of extended deterrence [sic] to allies in the region ‘is gambling for which it will certainly regret.’ The greater the US defense [sic] presence in the region, ‘the fiercer (North Korean) military counteraction will be, in direct proportion to it,’ Choe said. … The KCNA statement said the warning was in response to trilateral talks between the US, South Korea, and Japan on Sunday during the ASEAN summit. ” (11/17/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/asia/north-korea-ballistic-missile-intl-hnk
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Americans worried about the status of reproductive rights earned a breather last week when voters amended several state constitutions to protect access to abortion and turned away ballot proposals to criminalize the practice. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning federal protections for abortion access, those are incremental wins for pro-choicers. But the matter remains unresolved elsewhere. Among the tactics pro-choice advocates could adopt is one popular among champions of other controversial liberties: jury nullification.” (11/16/22)
https://reason.com/2022/11/16/resistant-jurors-can-help-protect-abortion-rights-no-matter-what-the-law-says/
Source: Axios
“The Respect for Marriage Act, a bill to codify protections for same-sex and interracial marriage, on Wednesday cleared a major procedural hurdle in the Senate after garnering enough support from Senate Republicans. A motion to proceed to debate on the bill passed 62-37, more than the 60 votes needed to break a Senate filibuster, signaling the legislation has the support to pass the chamber. A dozen Senate Republicans voted with all Democrats to pass the bill.” (11/16/22)
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/16/respect-for-marriage-act-senate-vote
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Samuel Gardner-Bird
“Despite the National Security Strategy’s recent declaration that ‘the post-Cold War era is definitively over,’ the United States is still unwilling to state what the international system has become in its wake: increasingly multipolar. Rather than rethinking first order assumptions about foreign policy, the United States appears destined to press on its quest for global hegemony — committing thousands of troops to Europe, preparing for a ‘strategic competition’ with China in the Indo-Pacific, and rubber stamping a bloated military budget. Unfortunately, as yesterday’s panelists revealed, the rest of the world is unlikely to join in any U.S. crusade to ‘defend democracy’ or line up to support a ‘rules-based order’: a phrase riddled with too many inconsistencies to remain credible.” (11/15/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/11/15/the-unipololar-moment-is-over-when-will-the-us-get-it/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Four people have been sentenced to death on the charge of ‘enmity against God’ in connection with the recent anti-government protests in Iran. Revolutionary Courts in Tehran said one of the unnamed ‘rioters’ hit and killed a policeman with his car, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency said. The second possessed a knife and a gun, and the third blocked traffic and caused ‘terror,’ it alleged. The fourth was convicted of a knife attack, Mizan reported late on Tuesday. Human rights activists condemned the death sentences — which brought the total to five since Sunday — saying they were the results of unfair trials. … At least 348 protesters have been killed and 15,900 others arrested in a crackdown by security forces on what Iran’s leaders have portrayed as foreign-backed ‘riots,’ according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which is also based outside the country.” (11/16/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63648629
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Patrick Carroll
“Todd [Maxon] likes to fix up cars, and he keeps a number of vehicles on his property. For years the Township has been going after the couple for zoning violations, accusing them of illegally storing ‘junk’ on their property. But here’s the kicker. The cars can’t even be seen from outside the property … that is, unless you fly a drone overhead. And that’s exactly what the Township did. Without even attempting to get a warrant, the Township hired a contractor to fly a drone as low as 150 feet over the Maxons’ property multiple times over two years. The Township is now trying to use the pictures taken by the drone as evidence that the Maxons are violating a local zoning ordinance.” (11/16/22)
https://fee.org/articles/governments-are-using-drones-to-spy-on-americans-here-s-how-people-are-fighting-back/
Source: Deadline
“A law that would limit employers’ use of non disclosure agreements to keep victims of sexual harassment silent overwhelmingly passed the House on Wednesday and now will head to President Joe Biden for signing. The legislation is a next step from a law Biden signed earlier this year that ended forced arbitration in such cases. The president is expected to sign the new bill. … The bill only applies to instances before a dispute arises, not afterward, and does not cover other workplace misconduct like age and race discrimination. The bill also would not apply to NDAs signed as part of settlements of sexual harassment lawsuits …. Instead, the legislation covers the kind of ‘forced’ NDAs that employees face as conditions of employment.” (11/16/22)
https://deadline.com/2022/11/sexual-harassment-ndas-house-of-representatives-gretchen-carlson-1235174210/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The deadline for the release of the CIA’s long-secret JFK-assassination records is rapidly approaching. The deadline is December 15. As I have previously predicted though, the CIA will demand that President Biden continue its cover-up of its November 22, 1963, regime-change operation, and President Biden will comply with that demand. There is no reasonable possibility that those 60-year-old records will be revealed to the public — ever. The notion that ‘national security’ would be grievously threatened is, of course, patently ludicrous. The United States will not fall into the ocean or even be taken over by the communists if the records are released.” (11/16/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/11/16/whats-not-in-the-cias-still-secret-jfk-files/
Source: Babylon Bee
by staff
“In a stunning outcome to a highly scrutinized race, Katie Hobbs, the charismatic leader and official vote counter of Arizona, has emerged victorious after 108% of the state’s voting precincts reported in. Though mathematicians were puzzled by the plausibility — and, indeed, possibility –of the results, Democrats were quick to hail Hobbs’s win as a victory for democracy itself. ‘We knew things looked really bad for weeks leading up to election night, what with abysmal approval ratings for our party, Americans feeling negatively about the overall direction of the country, and Ms. Hobbs being afraid to debate her opponent or even appear in public,’ said Hobbs’s campaign spokesperson Hailey Barber-Berger-Jorgensen. ‘But we felt very confident that once we got our vote tallies from all 108% of precincts, including those in other states and overseas, we would come out victorious.'” [editor’s note: Once again, “satire” (and conspiracy theory) today, truth in a few weeks? – SAT] (11/16/22)
https://babylonbee.com/news/katie-hobbs-projected-to-win-arizonas-governors-race-with-108-of-precincts-reporting
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Georgia’s Alisha Thomas Searcy on School Choice, Teacher Unions, & Elections.” (11/16/22)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/podcast/georgias-alisha-thomas-searcy-on-school-choice-teacher-unions-elections/
