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Canada Post strike threatens to impact healthcare charity, and patients, this holiday seasonTHE Presidential Security Command (PSC) on Saturday said it had "heightened and strengthened its security protocols" for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the first family following an "active threat" made by Vice President Sara Duterte. In a statement, the PSC said it was also closely coordinating with law enforcement agencies "to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family." Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.
WATER LINE Children wait for their turn as a volunteer fills containers with drinking water provided by the water filtration machine brought by Team Albay in Pandan, Catanduanes, on Saturday, Nov. 23. —Mox Rubio Mendones/Contributor LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY, Philippines — Catanduanes province continuous to face the harsh affects of last week’s Super Typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-yi), with many localities still without electricity, houses need to be rebuilt, and damages to agriculture and infrastructure now at P1.93 billion. Agriculture took most of the typhoon’s brunt, with damages initially reaching P1.3 billion, while infrastructure losses reached P631 million, according to Gov. Joseph Cua. READ: DICT deploys equipment as Marcos rallies help for Catanduanes Cua, in a phone interview Sunday, said the initial agriculture damage assessment included the destruction to abaca plantations, a key economic driver in the province. “We are in the process of recovering, and the aid coming from the government and various sectors has a great impact on us,” Cua said. While there are no longer any evacuees, 7,818 families who lost their homes still needed construction materials, he added. “We are now procuring GI sheets (100,000 pieces) and other materials needed for rebuilding the houses, but it’s not enough. For those residents whose houses were partially damaged, they were given tarpaulins,” he said. He said they were grateful that the assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Labor and Employment continued to pour in, as directed by President Marcos. Power still has not returned in most of Catanduanes since Pepito made landfall in the province’s Panganiban town at 9:40 p.m. on Nov. 16, and continued to dump more destructive winds in other parts of the island and later in northern Luzon from Nov. 17 to Nov. 18. Cua said electric cooperatives from different provinces across the nation have sent teams to his province to help restore their downed power lines. So far, only 64 of Catanduanes’ 315 barangays have electricity, Cua said. Help from various sectors also continued to reach the province, including those from the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon, Catanduanes’ neighbors in the Bicol region, that brought food, building materials, medical teams and, in the case of Albay, a water filtration machine. The Talino at Galing ng Pilipino (TGP) party list also came to the aid of the province, which distributed over 11,000 relief packages to the towns of Panganiban, Bagamanoc, Viga, San Miguel, Gigmoto, Bato, Baras, Caramoran, Pandan, San Andres and Virac on Friday. “We will be providing them with their needs, especially for those who lost their livelihoods, particularly abaca farming, after Pepito struck the province,” TGP party list Rep. Jose Bong Teves Jr. said by phone on Sunday. Clearing of roads, medical missions and psychosocial activities are still ongoing in the province, he added. Meanwhile, classes in public and private schools that were suspended since the typhoon struck will resume on Monday, according to Department of Education Bicol Director Gilbert Sadsad. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Classes will be held in schools and not in temporary learning spaces since evacuees have already vacated the school buildings, said Sadsad in a text message on Sunday.
Why is China—a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and a party-litigant (that chose to be legally in default but indirectly participated through official statements of its spokespersons) in the 2016 Arbitral Award—militarizing the South China Sea and why does it not recognize and obey the AA that invalidated China’s nine-dash line and upheld freedom of navigation in the SCS? And why does the United States—though not a signatory to Unclos and though not a party-litigant in the AA—enforce, together with its allies like Australia, France, Germany, and Great Britain, freedom of navigation in the SCS? So, I asked rhetorically in last Monday’s column (“The Maritime Zones Act, Asean, and China”). THE UNSAID SHORT AND SIMPLE ANSWER IS “NATIONAL INTEREST.” All states, including the Philippines, always act to protect and project what is beneficial to them and to their people. National interest is not constant. It shifts according to the present and future political, economic, security, and social aspirations of, and sometimes turmoil in, a country. For decades, China solemnly taught its people in its schools and in its media that the SCS and its fisheries and natural resources belong to them. While dormant in the past, this teaching has become prevalent in the country, such that any Chinese leader who refuses or neglects to protect and project this teaching would be deemed a traitor or a nincompoop to be ousted summarily. Moreover, China boasts of a robust civilization antedating many Western powers like Great Britain and Portugal that enslaved it and occupied portions of its territory under long-term leases like Hong Kong and Macau and that ignored its dormant but simmering desire to become a respected world power again. And indeed, it has meteorically risen from utter poverty and slavery to become the second biggest economy in the world that aspires to be on equal, if not better, footing with the West. And one way to achieve this ambition is to propel its military might to the Pacific Ocean through domination of the SCS. In the process, it has crossed the maritime entitlements of the states bordering the SCS—Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines that among themselves have separate territorial and maritime disputes. THE UNITED STATES, TOO, HAS CHANGED ITS ASPIRATIONS from neutrality (though covertly assisting the European powers) in the military aggressions of Adolf Hitler that started on Sept. 1, 1939, with the German blitzkrieg on Poland only to be drawn fully into it by the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy on Dec. 7, 1941. After the unconditional surrender of Germany and later of Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, the US, as the leader of the victorious allies, expanded its reach to all parts of the world thereby making Pax Americana and the institution of American-style democracy, libertarianism, capitalism, and free trade among both its allies and erstwhile enemies as its national interest. From then on, the US spent trillions of dollars—much of it borrowed domestically and, ironically, from China—and planted American boots on the battlegrounds of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Election after election since then, the American foreign policy and its perception of its national interest had not materially changed. But during the elections last Nov. 5, the Americans got tired of being the peacekeepers of the world and of gradually losing economic dominance to the surging Chinese. Now, Donald Trump emerged and advocated to “Make America Great Again” as their national interest and demanded that their allies share the cost of peacekeeping. So, too, Trump vowed to undertake mass deportation of illegal migrants whom he accused of stealing American jobs and of waging criminality in American cities, hills, and plains. Verily, he loves being a disruptor. IN 2016, THE FILIPINOS, TOO, GOT TIRED OF THE DEMOCRATIC IDEALS of compromise and free elections that were controlled by dynasties and “imperial Manila.” They welcomed the feisty, even autocratic, rule of Rodrigo Duterte. He veered to China as the true ally and abandoned the friendship and military protection of the US. But, lo and behold, his grip on power was limited to six years and a new leader emerged, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who reverted to America as our country’s ally in protecting and advancing our national interest especially in preserving our entitlements to the fisheries and natural resources in the West Philippine Sea. Clearly, our national interest shifted from America to China and back to America. This see-sawing shifts in our national interest seem to be backed up by the landslide victory of Duterte in 2016 only to be overcome by the even more lopsided win of Marcos Jr., who gathered, for the first time under our 1987 Constitution, an absolute majority (well over 50 percent) of the ballots cast in the 2022 election. With his overwhelming mandate, President Marcos can indeed lead in the protection and projection of our national interest vis-à-vis our Asean neighbors, China, the US, and the world. ————— Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Comments to [email protected]MPs have voted 415 to 47 to back the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which bans sales of tobacco products and cigarette papers to anyone born on or after January 1 2009. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the bill would “come down on the vaping industry like a ton of bricks” as he defended plans to create a “smoke-free generation” . The legislation also includes a ban on vape advertising and sponsorship, including displays seen by children and young people such as on buses, in cinemas and in shop windows, bringing them in line with tobacco restrictions. Read Next 'I started smoking at 11 - the tobacco bill would have stopped me getting cancer' The Liberal Democrats claimed the bill “raises issues of civil liberties” but ultimately allowed their MPs a free vote. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and former home secretary Suella Braverman were among the 47 MPs to vote against the bill, according to the division list. There was a free vote for Tory MPs, with former health secretary Victoria Atkins among the 23 Conservatives who voted in favour of the Bill, and 35 voting against it. The division list also showed seven Liberal Democrats and four Reform MPs opposed the Bill. Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said “banning things very rarely works”, and asked why people were not being allowed to make their own responsible choices. In reply, Streeting highlighted tobacco as “uniquely addictive, uniquely harmful”. He said: “There is no freedom in addiction, and the logical extension of the libertarian argument he puts forward would be the end of the ban on indoor smoking.” Conservative MP Bob Blackman called for the legislation to go further and include a levy on tobacco companies’ profits to hold them responsible “for the blight on our population’s health ”. Read Next Smoking bans are popular – whatever the Faragists say He said: “Both of my parents died from smoking-related cancer . My late mother was only 47, and she was a very heavy smoker all her life. I was then left as a 23-year-old with three younger sisters to bring up as a family. “I don’t want any families in this country to have to go through what our family went through then. So this for me is personal, as well as political.” Earlier in the debate, Streeting told the Commons that the Government would consult on banning smoking outside schools , hospitals and playgrounds as part of the bill, but that would not be extended to pubs and other outdoor hospitality spaces. The legislation also includes powers to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Shopkeepers found to be selling to anyone under age will receive on-the-spot fines of £200. Health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “Most retailers already follow recommended practice and regularly ask customers for ID. “We are stopping people from ever starting smoking, and 83 per cent of smokers start before the age of 20, this means that someone who has never previously smoked is highly unlikely to want to take up smoking later in life. “And our published modelling shows that smoking rates in England for 14 to 30-year-olds could be close to 0 per cent as early as 2050, with the measures in this bill.”
Molded Pulp Packaging Market is projected to register an impressive CAGR, Revenue, and Prominent Players By 2027 | Expert Review and Demand3 Killed, 30 Injured in Protest Against Mosque Survey in UP's Sambhal; Internet SuspendedWorld number one Luke Humphries retained his Players Championship Finals title with an 11-7 victory over teenager Luke Littler in Minehead. Littler, who won the Grand Slam of Darts last week, hit checkouts of 170, 164 and 136 as he threatened to overturn an early deficit, but Humphries held his nerve to win the last three legs. “I’m really, really proud of that one to be honest,” Humphries told Sky Sports. FOR THE SECOND TIME 🏆🏆 Luke Humphries retains his 2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, beating Luke Littler 11-7 in the final. pic.twitter.com/QUhxvSbGeu — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 “I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise, I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me, makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him. “He let me in really early in that first session to go 4-1 up, I never looked back and I’m proud that I didn’t take my foot off the gas. These big games are what I live for. “Luke is a special talent and he was right – I said to him I’ve got to get these (titles) early before he wins them all. “I’d love to be up here and hitting 105 averages like Luke is all the time but he’s a different calibre, he’s probably the best player in the world right now but there’s something about me that never gives up. “This is a great way to go into the worlds.” HUMPHRIES GOES BACK-TO-BACK! 🏆 Luke Humphries retains his Players Championship Finals title! Cool Hand puts on an absolute clinic to defeat Luke Littler 11-7 in an epic final! 📺 https://t.co/AmuG0PMn18 #PCF2024 | Final pic.twitter.com/nZDWPUVjWE — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 Littler, who lost the world championship final to Humphries last year, said: “It was tough, missed a few doubles and if you don’t take chances early on, it’s a lot to come back. “I hit the 170 and the 164 but just didn’t have enough in the end. “It’s been a good past two weeks. I just can’t wait to go home, chill out, obviously practice at home for the worlds. That’s it now, leading up to the big one.”
Elizabeth Arden's Red Door perfume that 'lasts all day' now £21 down from £65 in better than Black Friday dealWorld number one Luke Humphries retained his Players Championship Finals title with an 11-7 victory over teenager Luke Littler in Minehead. Littler, who won the Grand Slam of Darts last week, hit checkouts of 170, 164 and 136 as he threatened to overturn an early deficit, but Humphries held his nerve to win the last three legs. “I’m really, really proud of that one to be honest,” Humphries told Sky Sports. FOR THE SECOND TIME 🏆🏆 Luke Humphries retains his 2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, beating Luke Littler 11-7 in the final. pic.twitter.com/QUhxvSbGeu — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 “I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise, I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me, makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him. “He let me in really early in that first session to go 4-1 up, I never looked back and I’m proud that I didn’t take my foot off the gas. These big games are what I live for. “Luke is a special talent and he was right – I said to him I’ve got to get these (titles) early before he wins them all. “I’d love to be up here and hitting 105 averages like Luke is all the time but he’s a different calibre, he’s probably the best player in the world right now but there’s something about me that never gives up. “This is a great way to go into the worlds.” HUMPHRIES GOES BACK-TO-BACK! 🏆 Luke Humphries retains his Players Championship Finals title! Cool Hand puts on an absolute clinic to defeat Luke Littler 11-7 in an epic final! 📺 https://t.co/AmuG0PMn18 #PCF2024 | Final pic.twitter.com/nZDWPUVjWE — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 Littler, who lost the world championship final to Humphries last year, said: “It was tough, missed a few doubles and if you don’t take chances early on, it’s a lot to come back. “I hit the 170 and the 164 but just didn’t have enough in the end. “It’s been a good past two weeks. I just can’t wait to go home, chill out, obviously practice at home for the worlds. That’s it now, leading up to the big one.”
UN General Assembly overwhelmingly demands immediate Gaza ceasefireLittler, who won the Grand Slam of Darts last week, hit checkouts of 170, 164 and 136 as he threatened to overturn an early deficit, but Humphries held his nerve to win the last three legs. “I’m really, really proud of that one to be honest,” Humphries told Sky Sports. FOR THE SECOND TIME 🏆🏆 Luke Humphries retains his 2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, beating Luke Littler 11-7 in the final. pic.twitter.com/QUhxvSbGeu — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 “I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise, I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me, makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him. “He let me in really early in that first session to go 4-1 up, I never looked back and I’m proud that I didn’t take my foot off the gas. These big games are what I live for. “Luke is a special talent and he was right – I said to him I’ve got to get these (titles) early before he wins them all. “I’d love to be up here and hitting 105 averages like Luke is all the time but he’s a different calibre, he’s probably the best player in the world right now but there’s something about me that never gives up. “This is a great way to go into the worlds.” HUMPHRIES GOES BACK-TO-BACK! 🏆 Luke Humphries retains his Players Championship Finals title! Cool Hand puts on an absolute clinic to defeat Luke Littler 11-7 in an epic final! 📺 https://t.co/AmuG0PMn18 #PCF2024 | Final pic.twitter.com/nZDWPUVjWE — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 Littler, who lost the world championship final to Humphries last year, said: “It was tough, missed a few doubles and if you don’t take chances early on, it’s a lot to come back. “I hit the 170 and the 164 but just didn’t have enough in the end. “It’s been a good past two weeks. I just can’t wait to go home, chill out, obviously practice at home for the worlds. That’s it now, leading up to the big one.”
Greenwich Child Custody Lawyer Heidi L. De la Rosa Releases Article Discussing Special Needs Considerations in Family Law
Commerce minister chairs 10th Qatar-Iran Joint Economic CommissionKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Taylor Swift once raved about the sweet potato casserole served at a New York City restaurant and now that recipe pops up every now and again at Thanksgiving. The holidays encourage many of us to try new recipes. Social media right now is flooded with recipes for appetizers, side dishes and desserts. Anyone making that cornbread casserole from TikTok? While we might not get to share a Thanksgiving feast with Swift — is your name Blake Lively? — or other celebrities beloved by Kansas City, we can eat like them. So here’s the recipe for that casserole Swift loved so much, and favorite family side dish recipes from Donna Kelce and Eric Stonestreet. Enjoy. Travis Kelce's mother, Donna Kelce, seen here last year at her son's music festival, dined on a cheesesteak made by actor Bradley Cooper at QVC festivities in Las Vegas this week. (Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/TNS) If we tried to guess how many holiday dinner rolls Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, have scarfed over the years, would it be in the hundreds? Thousands? Their mom has spoken often about the batches of holiday crescent rolls she has baked over the years. Based on the recipe that won the 1969 Pillsbury Bake-Off, Pillsbury’s Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs , they’re now known as Mama Kelce’s Dinner Rolls. They blend the crescent roll pastry with marshmallows, cinnamon and sugar. Dinner roll or dessert? We bet they didn’t last long enough in front of Travis and Jason for that debate. Ingredients Rolls •1/4 cup granulated sugar •2 tablespoons Pillsbury Best all-purpose flour •1 teaspoon ground cinnamon •2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated Pillsbury Original Crescent Rolls (8 Count) •16 large marshmallows •1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted Glaze •1/2 cup powdered sugar •1/2 teaspoon vanilla •2-3 teaspoons milk •1/4 cup chopped nuts Directions Make the rolls 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 16 medium muffin cups with nonstick baking spray. 2. In a small bowl, mix the granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon. 3. Separate the dough into 16 triangles. For each roll, dip 1 marshmallow into melted butter; roll in the sugar mixture. Place marshmallow on the shortest side of a triangle. Roll up, starting at shortest side and rolling to opposite point. Completely cover the marshmallow with the dough; firmly pinch edges to seal. Dip 1 end in remaining butter; place butter side down in muffin cup. 4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. 5. When done, remove from the oven and let the puffs cool in the pan for 1 minute. Remove rolls from muffin cups; place on cooling racks set over waxed paper. Make the glaze and assemble In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls. Sprinkle with nuts. Serve warm. Eric Stonestreet attends 'Eric Stonestreet visits The SiriusXM Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles' at SiriusXM Studios on Oct. 8, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SiriusXM/TNS) Thanksgiving is one of the “Modern Family” star’s favorite holidays. Three years ago, as part of a campaign honoring hometown heroes , he shared one of his favorite recipe with McCormick Spices: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Butternut Squash . This recipe serves eight. Ingredients •1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved •1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-size cubes •1 tablespoon olive oil •1/2 teaspoon garlic powder •1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves •1/2 teaspoon salt •1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper •5 slices bacon, chopped •1 shallot, finely chopped •1/2 cup dried cranberries •1/4 cup balsamic vinegar •1 teaspoon whole grain mustard •1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional) •1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese, (optional) Directions 1. Preheat oven to 475°F. Spray large shallow baking pan with no stick cooking spray; set aside. Place Brussels sprouts and squash in large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper; toss to coat evenly. Spread in single layer on prepared pan. 2. Roast 16 to 18 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring halfway through cooking. 3. Meanwhile, cook bacon in medium skillet on medium heat about 6 minutes or until crispy. Remove using slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Add shallot to same skillet; cook and stir 2 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Stir in cranberries, vinegar and mustard until well blended. Transfer mixture to small bowl; set aside. 4. Arrange roasted Brussels sprouts and squash on serving platter. Drizzle with cranberry balsamic glaze and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with cooked bacon, toasted pecans, and crumbled blue cheese, if desired. Serve immediately. Donna Kelce, left, mother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce watched the game with pop superstar Taylor Swift, center, during the first-half on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. (Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star/TNS) Swift gushed about the sweet potato casserole served at Del Frisco’s Grille in New York City, a dish crowned with a crunchy candied pecan and oatmeal crumble. “I’ve never enjoyed anything with the word casserole in it ever before, but it’s basically sweet potatoes with this brown sugary crust,” she told InStyle. ”Oh my God, it’s amazing.” The media rushed to find the recipe, which Parade has published this Thanksgiving season . “Similar to T. Swift herself, we think this recipe is a mastermind, especially if you’ve been asked to bring the sweet potato side dish to this year’s Thanksgiving feast. It seriously begs the question: who needs pumpkin pie?” the magazine writes. Ingredients •4 lbs sweet potatoes •1⁄3 cup oats •12 oz unsalted butter, divided •1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar •1⁄2 cup toasted pecans •1⁄2 cup granulated sugar •1 tsp kosher salt •2 tsp vanilla extract •4 large eggs, beaten Directions Preheat oven to 375°F. 1. Scrub sweet potatoes. Pierce each several times with a fork and wrap tightly in foil. Place on a sheet pan. Bake 90 minutes or until tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle. 2. Meanwhile, place oats in a food processor; process 1 minute. Add 4 oz butter, brown sugar and pecans; pulse five times to combine. Spread mixture on a baking sheet; bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven, crumble. Bake 5 minutes or until golden brown. 3. Melt remaining 8 oz butter. Remove skin from cooled sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, whisk sweet potatoes, melted butter, granulated sugar and remaining ingredients until slightly lumpy. Transfer to a greased baking dish, smoothing surface evenly. Top with oat mixture. Bake 12 minutes or until heated through. Make-ahead tips •Sweet potato filling can be made up to 2 days in advance. Prepare the sweet potato filling, cool, place in a casserole dish and keep refrigerated. •Oat-pecan crust can also be made up to 2 days ahead. Make the crust according to recipe directions, cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Sprinkle over the sweet potato filling just before baking. With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food.Tony Finau withdrew Wednesday from the Grant Thornton Invitational, where he was scheduled to compete with Nelly Korda. Korda will now play alongside Daniel Berger in the mixed-gender event, which begins Friday. Finau also withdrew from last week’s Hero World Challenge, prompting rumors that he might be headed to LIV Golf. Finau told Golfweek that his absence from the Bahamas was because of offseason knee surgery. He said on social media Wednesday that his knee still wasn’t ready for tournament play. I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the @gtinvitational as I continue to recover from my knee injury. Playing with @NellyKorda in 2023 was one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to cheering her on this week, and am thankful for her support and understanding as I... pic.twitter.com/KJiCCPuArF The Grant Thornton Invitational features 16 two-person teams comprised of PGA Tour and LPGA players. The 54-hole event gets underway Friday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Wall Street dips as investors digest data after strong rallyThere are aspects of American life that nearly everyone knows are absurd but is too afraid to speak out against and feels powerless to reverse. It used to be said that if someone looked over his shoulder, he was about to tell an insensitive joke. Now people are worried about being overheard making what should be commonsensical observations. Below are the kinds of conversations that are happening all the time. The maternity-ward nurse in a low voice: "Where the form says 'birthing parent,' that means mother. They just changed it. It's crazy." The group of moms together at the local coffee shop, making sure that no one else can hear from a nearby table: "Did you see what happened in the high-school track competition? Why are guys competing against girls?" The staffer at a bank to a friend he can completely trust near the water cooler when he is absolutely certain no one else is around, "That training was ridiculous and a waste of time." It's a little like what it must have been like in, say, East Germany when no one believed in the system, but no one dared let on what they were really thinking. This phenomenon surely had an influence on the outcome of the recent presidential election. As the Financial Times has documented, progressive elites "hold views often well to the left of the average voter — and even the average Democratic voter — on cultural issues." "America's decades-long progress towards racial and sexual tolerance and equality," the paper notes, "has been a gradual shift, led by progressives with the center and right quickly following." The new cultural shifts are different. Largely driven by "the activists and nonprofit staffers that surround the Democratic Party," they "have been abrupt and are leaving the majority behind." For the longest time — national elections from 1948 to 2012 — the Democrats were considered the party of the working class and the poor, but now they are "seen primarily as the party of minority advocacy." Importantly, as the Democrats have traveled left, effectively making the center of American politics also further to the left, people who were in the middle might find themselves right-of-center without really moving. Properly understood, Donald Trump's opposition to trans surgeries for inmates and illegal immigrants, and to boys playing in female sports, aren't right-wing positions. They've only become perceived as such because progressives have embraced ideas that would — from the perspective of a decade ago or so — been considered unthinkable and been a matter of universal assent. When Republicans have raised objections to these ideas, they have been portrayed by the Democrats and many in the media as the "culture warriors" and extremists. Most people don't buy this construct, though. They know how wokeness has been pushed into their lives as a deliberate choice by authorities who don't care what they think or, worse, will punish them for thinking the wrong thing. Surveys show that many Americans are now afraid of speaking their minds, and for good reason. Livelihoods and reputations can be destroyed by an ill-considered comment or social media post, so the vast majority of people keep their heads down, even if they are mystified or appalled by what they are witnessing. Hence, the whispered conversations. But the voting booth is private. No one can overhear you voting, or punish you for how you vote. And this surely is one of the reasons Trump won. His candidacy was a rare opportunity to register an audible dissent from woke impositions that, otherwise, have had to be suffered in silence. Rich Lowry is editor-in-chief of National Review.
Tories urge PM to reject Netanyahu arrest warrant and alter ‘nonsensical’ stance
WASHINGTON: Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk’s net worth has surpassed $400 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, setting a new milestone Wednesday for the world’s richest person. The jump in wealth, the business news outlet reported, came after SpaceX and its investors agreed to purchase as much as $1.25 billion of insider shares in a transaction that valued the rocket and satellite company at about $350 billion. The transaction increased Musk’s personal wealth by about $50 billion to $440 billion, Bloomberg said. Musk’s wealth, largely based on the share price of Tesla and the valuation of SpaceX, already took a huge leap after Donald Trump won last month’s US presidential election. Tesla’s share price is up by about 65 percent since the vote in November. “What’s really crazy about this is that almost no investors wanted to sell shares even at a $350B valuation!” Musk wrote in a reply to a post on X referring to the Bloomberg report. He added that SpaceX has reduced the number of shares it bought back from employees in order to bring in some new investors. Musk has been a prominent political donor and advocate for Trump, pumping a staggering $270 million into the Republican’s campaign. He has been an ever-present sidekick for Trump since his election victory, inviting him to watch a rocket launch in Texas by his SpaceX company. Musk’s businesses all have varying degrees of interactions with US and foreign governments, and his proximity to Trump has raised concerns that Musk will be able to give advantage to his own interests. Musk is also expected to secure a reduction in regulations for Tesla as well as elimination of tax credits on electric vehicles that will punish the car-maker’s rivals. Trump has selected Musk to co-head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is set to deliver billions of dollars of cuts in federal spending and slash government red tape. Besides Tesla, Musk also heads brain technology startup Neuralink. Both SpaceX and Neuralink rely heavily on government regulation and policy and could benefit from a business-friendly administration. Musk also owns social media site X and tunnel builder The Boring Company. Musk is followed on the billionaires list by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – with a net worth of $243.7 billion, while Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is in the third spot with a net worth of $223.4 billion. — Agencies
Trump won about 2.5M more votes this year than he did in 2020. This is where he did it
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Have you seen claims that Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was shot on Dec. 4 in New York, was killed because he was about to testify against Rep. Nancy Pelosi for insider trading? It’s gone viral on several social media platforms over the past week. But it’s not true. The oldest example of this false claim that Gizmodo could find dates to the night of Dec. 6, two days after the shooting. The X account HustleBitch wrote “ BREAKING: Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was set to testify against Nancy Pelosi for insider trading.” From that claim around 10:00 p.m. ET, other X accounts that went viral seem to have made their posts about it a couple of hours later. Politifact also found the claim being made on Threads and Instagram, though those posts were made on Dec. 7, the day after the earliest tweets spreading the false story, which were happening well before the arrest of Luigi Mangione , who’s been charged with the murder and is currently fighting extradition to New York from Pennsylvania. But the claim that Thompson was killed over this motive related to a sitting congresswoman isn’t true. There’s no evidence Thompson was going to testify against Pelosi for insider trading or anything else. But, oddly enough, Thompson was himself accused of insider trading before he was killed. The Hollywood Firefighters Pension Fund filed a lawsuit against Thompson and other executives at UnitedHealth back in May . The lawsuit alleges that the executives sold about $120 million worth of UnitedHealth shares when they learned the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the company for anti-competitive practices. The stock went down only after it became publicly known the DOJ had opened an investigation. The suit states Thompson sold about $15 million worth of stock. Pelosi and other members of Congress have indeed received scrutiny over their activity trading stocks, and some Democrats have called for a ban, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who wrote back in 2021 , “There is no reason members of Congress should hold and trade individual stock when we write major policy and have access to sensitive information.” Some versions of the false claim on social media also use a video that purports to show Thompson talking about Nancy Pelosi providing help to UnitedHealth. The only problem, of course, is that the video doesn’t show the Thompson that was killed, as anyone with eyes can see. Matt Wallace , a conspiracy theorist who often spreads disinformation on X, helped spread the misidentified video along with several others. Wallace also made a video on Rumble claiming that Nancy Pelosi brainwashed the shooter with techniques from MKUltra, the mind control experiments of the CIA from the 1960s. There were also claims that the man who took a shot at Donald Trump over the summer in Butler, Pennsylvania. The CIA told Gizmodo after those claims went viral that any claims about MKUltra being involved in the assassination attempt were, “utterly false, absurd, and damaging.” Why are people online spreading this false story about Pelosi? We can only assume they’re either actively or unintentionally spreading false information that helps Trump. Many of the accounts that were sharing the false claim in its earliest iteration appear to have bios and images promoting the former and incoming president. HustleBitch, the account that appears to have shared the claim very early (if not possibly the first), has a history of sharing lies on the internet. That account was also one of the first to share a claim that a body double was actually used for Trump’s visit to watch a SpaceX launch with Elon Musk last month . But it’s not clear who’s actually behind the account. All we know for certain is that there’s no evidence that Thompson was killed because he was going to testify. And while Mangione’s lawyer has said his client intends to plead not guilty, all the available evidence seems to suggest that he may have been killed because his company makes billions of dollars in profits while denying life-saving medical coverage to Americans who are fed up with a broken healthcare system.How could Walmart change the Smart TV market with the acquisition of Vizio?Chargers QB Justin Herbert does not practice because of left ankle injury