Insider reported:

The deployment of AI-controlled drones that can make autonomous decisions about whether to kill human targets is moving closer to reality, The New York Times reported.

Lethal autonomous weapons, that can select targets using AI, are being developed by countries including the U.S., China and Israel.

The use of the so-called “killer robots” would mark a disturbing development, say critics, handing life and death battlefield decisions to machines with no human input.

Several governments are lobbying the UN for a binding resolution restricting the use of AI killer drones, but the U.S. is among a group of nations — which also includes Russia, Australia and Israel — who are resisting any such move, favoring a non-binding resolution instead, The Times reported.

I guess it’s no surprise that Derek Chauvin has been stabbed almost to death in prison.

The Minneapolis cop convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020 has been thoroughly scrubbed of his personhood, let alone his rights. 

Nobody bothered to tell his family or his lawyer that another inmate had attacked him Saturday. 

Despite being the most notorious ex-cop in America, he wasn’t protected from violent prisoners.

The fact he was even in the ill-run federal prison in Tucson, Ariz., 1,638 miles from his family, speaks volumes.

Poland is poised to become Germany’s largest-ever vassal state upon former Prime Minister and European Commission President Donald Tusk’s likely return to the premiership following the liberal-globalist opposition coalition’s victory in last month’s elections. Those who are interested in learning more about how this is expected to unfold should review this analysis here, which focuses on how the interplay between EU, German, and NATO policies will likely lead to this geopolitical outcome.

Since that fateful vote took place, Polish truckers now even farmers have imposed a de facto blockade against Ukraine that the outgoing government hasn’t broken, which can be regarded as that party’s last power play aimed at giving their country a fighting chance at preserving some of its sovereignty. Here’s a collection of news items about this development from the beginning of the month in order to bring readers up to speed since the Western media hasn’t given it the attention that it deserves:

Earlier this month, a group of about 20 distressed White House staffers requested a meeting with President Biden’s top advisers, as Israel’s war in Gaza entered its sixth week.

The diverse group of staffers had three main issues they wanted to discuss with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, senior adviser Anita Dunn and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer: They wanted to know the administration’s strategy for curbing the number of civilian deaths, the message it plans to send on the conflict and its postwar vision for the region.

Zients, Dunn and Finer listened respectfully, but some participants felt they fell back on familiar talking points, said a White House official familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private exchange. The administration had to be careful not to criticize Israel in public so it could influence its leaders in private, the advisers said. U.S. officials were pushing Israel to minimize civilian casualties. And the president and his top aides were advocating for a two-state solution once the conflict was over.

The Democratic Party is united — for now. Fear and loathing of Donald Trump keeps the various Democratic factions in a precarious peace. But labor v. environment, Jewish vote v. Muslim vote, and center-left v. hardcore progressivism cannot remain at bay forever. The fiercest battle may well be the looming civil war between Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the party leadership once President Biden leaves the stage.

And it won’t be pretty.

When Biden named Harris his running mate, he conferred on her heir-apparent status. The pick made sense. VP nominees are mostly about pulling together party divisions or offsetting the nominee’s weaknesses. As an old, white male Catholic, Biden running with a minority female checked some important identity boxes. And, in 2020 with a campaign hobbled due to covid restrictions, Harris did just fine. The “not Trump” campaign worked.

New US House Speaker Mike Johnson struck a blow for liberty and justice last week when he finally authorized the release of all the tapes from the January 6, 2021 “insurrection.” We were told by no less than President Biden himself that this was the “worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”

The FBI was unleashed by the Biden Administration to hunt down hundreds of participants in this “insurrection” and lock them up in the gulag where they awaited trial in torturous conditions – many in solitary confinement.

A Congressional Committee was set up under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to “get to the bottom” of the “Trump-led insurrection.” It did not include a single Representative nominated by the opposition Republican Party, but rather two “Republicans” – Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – who could be relied on by Pelosi and the Democrats to toe the line.

In short, the whole thing was an old-fashioned Soviet show trial, where the evidence was kept secret and the pre-determined verdict – guilty – was to be used to tighten the grip of the ruling regime and intimidate any further dissenters into silence. The message was clear: “speak out against the ‘perfection’ of the 2020 election and you may find yourself in the gulag along with the insurrectionists.”

It was terrifying and profoundly anti-American.

For those who missed it or chose to ignore it, there was a large demonstration in Washington on Tuesday the 14th dubbed the “March for Israel” with many posters and signs featuring “Israel We Stand With You.” I have no big problem with Americans “standing with Israel” as long as they go over to Israel to do it and in some cases at least put their own lives at risk in so doing, but that is not the way they operate. What I do have a problem with is the cause they are supporting, namely the ethic cleansing of an entire nation or even, if required to do that, a military style genocide of the inhabitants of an area that was entirely populated by an ethnic group called Palestinians before Israel’s mostly European immigrants entered the scene and used foreign provided force majeur to steal the land and property. While so doing they were also killing thousands of locals and forcing three quarters of a million more to abandon their homes and spend their lives in refugee camps, a process of ethnic cleansing that has continued and been expanded through the creation of illegal settlements since the founding of the Jewish state 75 years ago.

The rally was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America in solidarity with Israel’s response to the October 7th Hamas attack. Apart from backing the Israeli government in its devastating counterattack on Gaza, the stated goals of the rally were to support Israel in general, to call for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas, and to combat antisemitism. “Rising antisemitism” allegedly followed the October 7th Hamas attack and the Israel reaction that marked the start of the war.

Webmaster addition: It turns out many of those at the March for Israel were paid to be there!

The recent political landscape in Europe reflects a notable shift, with nationalist sentiments gaining traction across several nations. 

AI is coming for all knowledge jobs. It will take the place of thinking and turn humans into “arms and legs” with no brain needed and eliminate a huge number of jobs. 

The 10-year Treasury yield set off roaring alarms about the U.S. budget when it surged to 5% last month. Now those warnings look like a fire drill. Federal Reserve rate hikes seem to be over for now, giving the bond market a reprieve and allowing a powerful S&P 500 rally to resume.

Enjoy it while it lasts. The next debt scare may be the real thing, and it could rock the U.S. economy and stock market.

Here's why: The Fed's historic turnabout, from enabling massive budget deficits to directing the sharpest rate hikes in 40 years, has seemingly broken the budget. Treasury market stress is almost certain to return.

The era of Fed quantitative easing and near-zero interest rates promoted carefree fiscal policies that led the U.S. to rack up $20 trillion in federal debt since the 2008 financial crisis.

Webmaster addition:

Five Palestinians were killed late on 25 November and early the next day during a brutal Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. 

Israeli troops stormed the city “from multiple directions … while opening gunfire indiscriminately, sparking confrontations with the local residents,” WAFA news agency reported. 

At least six other Palestinians were wounded as a result of the raid in Jenin. Among the five killed were members of the Jenin Brigade, one of the West Bank branches of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s armed wing, the Quds Brigades. 

United States President Joe Biden has said there is a “real” chance that a four-day pause in Israel’s war on Gaza could be extended.

“I think the chances are real,” he told reporters on Friday, while also refusing to speculate on how long the war that started on October 7 after a surprise Hamas attack inside Israel could last.

An ethnic minority armed group in Myanmar has seized control from the country’s ruling junta of a lucrative border crossing to China, local media and a security source said Sunday.

Clashes have raged across Myanmar‘s northern Shan state, close to the Chinese border, after an armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military in October.

The groups have seized dozens of military positions and a town important for trade with China, choking commerce routes for the cash-strapped junta.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday he hopes a meeting of Mediterranean officials will help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire.

The fragile pause in hostilities between Israel and the Hamas militant group continued Sunday with a third straight day of hostages and Palestinian prisoners released. It was originally scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

Safadi said the truce was holding up but that more effort was needed to reach at least 200 daily trucks bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, and for the pause in the fighting “to immediately develop into a permanent cease-fire.”

The minister spoke to The Associated Press on the eve of Monday’s Union for the Mediterranean gathering that will bring to Barcelona in northern Spain 42 delegations from Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, many of them represented by their foreign ministers.

In the wake of Trudeau Liberals’ decisions to cut funding to the Canadian military while allocating substantial aid to Ukraine, including a significant arms donation, Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre’s startling admissions reveal a military on the brink—shortages in personnel, urgent readiness rebuilding needed, low equipment serviceability rates, critically low ammunition, and deteriorating infrastructure. 

In a profound awakening, people are grappling with the bitter truth that their long-held beliefs, particularly within the Democratic Party, have not translated into tangible improvements in jobs, education, or community investments.

When I wrote my series on why Americans are moving away from organized religion, I didn’t focus specifically on those under 30, even though I knew they were the least religiously affiliated. I wanted to tell the full story that included different age groups because in recent decades, all age groups have seen a decline in religious participation. The sociological term for the unaffiliated is “nones,” a catchall for atheists, agnostics and those who say they have no religion in particular.

I also thought that for the youngest adults, the move away from traditional worship was just an extension of the overall trend: a combination of fewer of them being raised by religious parents, a greater social acceptance of not identifying as a person of faith and a cultural association between conservative political beliefs and Christianity that started years before the first Zoomer was born.

But after more reading, rumination and reporting, I think there’s something slightly new happening for Gen Z and the youngest millennials. So I turned again to Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University who is a pastor and the author of “The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are and Where They Are Going.” He told me: “The estimates vary on this, but it’s empirically defensible to say that at least 40 percent of Gen Z are nones now.”

The weakening pulse of corporate guidance is a stark reminder that even the stalwarts of the economic landscape are not impervious to the uncertainties of the current composition. Companies, usually the bedrock of economic health, are now sounding caution, adding a somber note to the economic melody.

Over three hundred migrants have been crashing at the San Diego International Airport as the border city has been hit with a surge of crossers. 

Overnight stays by migrants have become common at the airport, but in recent weeks the number has drastically risen. 

On Thursday, a bus dropped off dozens of immigrants at Terminal two, Fox 5 reported. 

Some of them reportedly arrived several hours or days before their scheduled flights, as local organizations have said that they believe that the people were transported there after being processed by Border Patrol. 

Motorists are thought to lose around 600,000 catalytic converters to thieves each year. But have they ever wondered just where the devices end up? 

For years, mystery has shrouded widespread theft of the car parts - which are designed to reduce the amount of harmful pollutants a vehicle emits and made from precious metals such as rhodium, platinum and palladium. 

A new investigation has dismantled the billion-dollar business of catalytic converter thefts which are stolen by crime rings, recycled and sold back to the very people who produce the devices for carmakers. 

It results in an endless cycle of metals being mined and sold to auto suppliers only to be stolen by thieves, recycled and sold back to metal refiners.

A major explosion and fire has torn through a Russian factory which makes engines for Vladimir Putin's tanks and armoured vehicles.

Dramatic footage shows the moment the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, which is in the Ural mountains close to the border with Kazakhstan, goes up in flames.

Locals reported a powerful 'explosion', and footage taken by passersby shows a fireball rising high into the sky as the factory burns.

The precise cause of the inferno is not yet known, although key Russian installations have repeatedly been hit by sabotage or kamikaze drone attacks.

Even though Israel and Hamas had agreed to a humanitarian pause, and Sunday marked the third day of the agreement, which also included a hostage swap, the Israeli army attacked the Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza, killing at least one Palestinian and injuring another, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Despite the humanitarian pause taking effect, the Israeli forces has recently targeted two farmers east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of one of them and the injury of another,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said in a statement.

There was no Israeli statement regarding the incident. Hamas has previously accused Israel more than once of violating the humanitarian pause.

From Norway's northern borders to the shores of Australia, over 900 US military bases across the globe underscore the pervasive reach of Washington's military influence and an oppressive foreign policy.

The US global footprint not only exemplifies the logistical capabilities of the US military but also serves as a tangible representation of its hegemony.

By establishing bases in nations from Greenland to Japan, the US maintains a persistent presence, enabling the rapid deployment of forces and threatening the whole world. This inescapable control is one of the reasons why more and more countries are realizing the value of sovereignty and taking steps to avoid American domination.

In a surprising twist, the purportedly savvy hedge funds, often deemed the “smart money” of the market, are facing a staggering $43 billion in losses. This downturn serves as a harbinger of shifting tides in the financial landscape, raising questions about the broader implications for investors.

The property market is at the epicenter of the storm, with policymakers applying unprecedented pressure on banks to address a monumental $446 billion funding shortfall. 

A new, fairer and more democratic system of international relations that meets the needs of the world majority is being formed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"It is obvious that the model of globalization, which was formed largely by Western states — naturally, in their own interests — has outlived its usefulness and is in a deep crisis. A new, fairer and more democratic system of international relations meeting the needs of the world majority is emerging," Putin said in his address to participants of the Primakov Readings forum in Moscow, published by the Kremlin.

Income inequality has surged to levels not witnessed in over a century, prompting discussions on its broader societal implications. Rising inflation expectations have raised questions about the stability of purchasing power, leading to a heightened focus on potential actions by the Federal Reserve to address economic conditions.