On December 2, Hezbollah and its allies escalated attacks against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from southern Lebanon in support of the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah fighters targeted the Israeli military sites of Al-Raheb, Ruwaisat al-Alam, Jal al-Alam, al-Marj and al-Matula as well as the headquarters of the IDF’s 91th Division in the Pranit barracks on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

On December 2, the Mossad spy agency said that the Israeli negotiating team that engaged in talks with the Palestinian Hamas Movement in Qatar had been ordered home with talks on extending a ceasefire reaching a “dead end.”

“Due to the dead end in negotiations, and following instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad head David Barnea ordered the negotiating team in Doha to return home,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office issued on behalf of the agency.

“The Hamas terror group did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement that included releasing all the women and children that were on the list provided to Hamas that had authorized it,” the statement explained.

“The head of Mossad thanks the head of the CIA, Egypt’s intelligence minister, the prime minister of Qatar for their partnership and the tremendous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 women and children from Gaza, in addition to 24 foreign nationals,” it added.

Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has blamed his successor Vladimir Zelensky for border guards refusing to allow him to leave Ukraine on Friday.

Poroshenko is a member of parliament and leader of the small opposition party European Solidarity. He said he was trying to travel to Poland on official business to champion Kiev’s cause in Warsaw and Washington.

“I have a business trip [order] signed by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, but the border guards did not let me through,” Poroshenko said on his Telegram channel. “Everyone can guess who canceled the document signed by the Speaker of the Parliament.”

“What happened today at the border is not a minor mischief. This is anti-Ukrainian sabotage” and “a blow to Ukraine's defense capability,” Poroshenko insisted.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram continues to struggle with its algorithms enabling child molesters on its platforms, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. 

Earlier this year, the Journal and researchers at two US universities revealed that Instagram algorithms were helping connect accounts “devoted to the creation, purchasing and trading of underage-sex content.” Meta responded by setting up a child-safety task force and developing software tools to deal with the issue. 

Five months later, the company is “struggling to prevent its own systems from enabling and even promoting a vast network of pedophile accounts,” the Journal noted.

Earlier this week, the Journal cited research by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, showing that Instagram algorithms still recommended pedophile content. While some pedophilia-related hashtags have been banned, the system just spits out new ones with minor variations, they said.

According to the Canadians, a “network” of Instagram accounts that had up to 10 million followers apiece “has continued to livestream videos of child sex abuse months after it was reported to the company.” Another group, the Stanford Internet Observatory, flagged several groups “popular with Instagram’s child sexualization community” to Meta back in June, and said that some of them are still operating. 

After seven weeks of relentless Israeli bombing throughout Gaza, according to the modest estimates of the UN as of November 23 (right before a humanitarian ceasefire came into effect), more than 14,800 people have been killed in the enclave, including about 6,000 children and 4,000 women.

While these Israeli attacks on Gaza are by far the worst yet, with Israel dropping a reported 40,000 tons of explosives in less than two months, it is worth recalling that Israel has repeatedly waged assaults against the Palestinians of Gaza over the past 15 years.

Living in Gaza for years between late 2008 to March 2013, I was witness to two major Israeli assaults (and countless smaller ones over the years). Here, I will highlight what I saw and documented, to show that the horrific Israeli war crimes we are seeing coming out of Gaza are not new, even if they are exponentially worse this time around.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Israeli authorities to “more precisely define” the end goals of the war with Hamas, while arguing that the stated aim of totally eliminating the Palestinian militant group may result in a years-long conflict.

Macron’s comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Saturday to continue with the ground offensive in Gaza until “all its objections” are achieved, namely rescuing remaining hostages and completely “obliterating Hamas.”

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN COP28 climate conference in Dubai, Macron questioned whether “anyone thinks it's possible” to wipe out Hamas.

“If it is the aim, the war will last for 10 years,” he argued.

“There can be no long-term security for Israel in the region, if that security comes at the price of Palestinian lives, affecting the public opinions in the region,” he continued.

If there was every any question that Benjamin Netanyahu has been a bloodthirsty warmonger from day one, a recently circulating video with footage of the Israeli Prime Minister over the decades repeatedly calling for regime change wars, whether with Iran, Iraq or Libya. One clip even shows Netanyahu demanding, and receiving, a standing ovation from the U.S. Congress over his bellicose rhetoric.

Webmaster addition: Guess who Netanyahu wants to per for and fight in all these wars!

The Il-76MD-90AE modification is a major overhaul of the well-proven Il-76MD military transport aircraft. The main designation of the aircraft is to transport and airdrop military and civil bulky cargoes, military equipment, including tanks and personnel. Maximum payload of the aircraft is 60 tons, it is equipped with modern, reliable engines with FADEC-type digital control system. The Il-76MD-90AE fully complies with the current ICAO requirements and can be operated around the world without restrictions.

Russia has started sending the first batches of free grain to struggling African nations under a deal announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. This week, Somalia became the first to receive a shipment of 25,000 tons of grain. 

Extreme snowfall and sub-zero temperatures led to chaos in the Bavarian state capital of Munich on Saturday as a winter storm paralyzed air and rail travel, led to road traffic accidents, and forced the cancellation of a Bundesliga football match. 

With much of Germany in the grips of icy temperatures for the past several days, Saturday’s snowfall in Munich was the most intense yet. More than 16 inches (40cm) of snow fell between Friday night and early on Saturday, weather services said, blanketing the Munich metropolitan area, home to around 6 million people. 

Webmaster addition:

Britain created Israel to safeguard it’s interests in the Middle East. But as its empire faded another took over, America.

If the United States has aided and abetted Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the European Union’s role has been one of quiet complicity.

In a special edition of The Listening Post, we examine the discourse around the conflict in three EU countries: Germany, where shows of support for the Palestinians have been heavily suppressed; France, where television news channels have distorted the debate to suit their own agendas; and the outlier that is Ireland, where there has been probing criticism of Israel’s actions - from politicians and in the media.

This week, in testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Federal Government, journalist Michael Shellenberger revealed that "US And UK military contractors worked to both censor and use sophisticated psychological operations and disinformation tactics developed abroad against the American people. The Supreme Court ruled that the government may not induce, encourage, or promote private persons to accomplish what the government is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish. Yet, there was a regular organized stream of communication between the FBI, DHS, and the largest tech companies to flag content in enormous numbers involving spreadsheets of accounts that ran into the hundreds of thousands of pages."

"Now, Jack Smith, the Department of Justice attorney prosecuting Donald Trump for allegedly inciting the January 6 'insurrection' is also targeting everyone who likes or forwards his tweets on social media," Shellenberger added. "The scope, power, and law-breaking of the surveillance and censorship for the purpose of election interference are worse than ever."

Webmaster addition: This surveillance of everyone who reposts or comments or likes or forwards a Trump post is a blatant attempt to intimidate Trump supporters going into the 2024 election season!

The holiday season is here, but software firms are still busy issuing fixes for major security flaws. Microsoft, Google, and enterprise software firm Atlassian have released patches for vulnerabilities already being used in attacks. Cisco also patched a bug deemed so serious, it was given a near-maximum CVSS score of 9.9.

Here’s everything you need to know about the patches released in November.

In a recent development, Brian Laundrie, the prime suspect in the murder of his fiancée Gabby Petito, is alleged to have hired a high-profile defense team in Wyoming over a week before Petito was reported missing.

This information is part of the latest amended complaint filed in the lawsuit by Petito's family against Laundrie's parents and their attorney.

The lawsuit, brought forward by Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, accuses Chris and Roberta Laundrie and their attorney Steve Bertolino of knowing about Petito's death and the location of her remains. The complaint alleges that they gave Petito's parents false hope of her being found alive while trying to protect their son, causing severe emotional distress.

On Friday, House Republicans called for the release of all correspondences between Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Merrick Garland, concerning the decision to indict former President Donald Trump.

In June, Jack Smith, who has been described as a representative of the Deep State, indicted Trump on 37 federal counts in Miami. The charges against Trump included 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and six other process crimes, which were linked to his discussions with his attorney.

In August, Smith further charged Trump with three additional counts related to an investigation into classified documents stored at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. The superseding indictment, filed in the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Trump was involved in a scheme to erase security footage from Mar-a-Lago.

The IRS penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes is up sharply this year, with self-employed and freelance workers at the biggest risk of getting hit.

The penalty, calculated quarterly based on the Federal Reserve's benchmark rate, hit 8 percent on October 1, up from just 3 percent in early 2021, when Fed rates were near zero.

The penalty rate applies to shortfalls in estimated taxes, which self-employed workers pay the IRS quarterly based on their earnings for the period.

If you’ve ever bought an engagement ring, or any other diamond jewelry, you likely know about the “Four Cs”: carat, cut, color, and clarity, which between them determine the quality of a gem. The unofficial fifth C is certification—paperwork from an independent authority validating the qualities and authenticity of a stone. Now, however, a UK startup is aiming to bring yet another C into the mix: code.

Opsydia, a company spun out in 2017 from research conducted at the University of Oxford, is pioneering the laser inscription of near-invisible identifier codes—what it calls “nano-IDs”—inside diamonds.

Each nano-ID consists of a series of submicron-size dots that are imprinted a fifth of a millimeter beneath the gem’s surface, the dots forming a numerical code that’s linked to official certification documents or (increasingly) blockchain ledgers.

Crucially, such an identifier doesn’t come close to registering as the kind of mark that would impact a stone’s quality. Magnification of at least 200X and specifically designed illumination is needed just to spot these subsurface codes. For comparison, specialists in diamond grading laboratories work with between 40X and 80X magnification; a jeweler’s loupe offers considerably less.

Last week ended the way all weeks have been ending: with the stock market raging higher based on future expectations of rate cuts that (1) have not happened yet (2) probably won’t happen until next year, unless a market crash happens first and (3) won’t make their way through the economy for another 18 to 24 months.

But nonetheless, the S&P is looking to finish the year nearing astronomical 20% gains, something that I would have thought to have been impossible with rates raging higher over the last 2 years. But, then again, remember as I wrote in September — rate cuts are usually the signal for the market to crash — not rate hikes: Fed Rate Cuts Should Scare The Shit Out Of You

Is that something I wish I had understood better heading into the last few years? Absolutely. Have I taken an ass whooping betting on volatility and being mostly net short? Absolutely. Does that mean I’m going to be deadass wrong again in 2024?

Not necessarily.

While world leaders spoke at a 'global warming' conference in Dubai, located in the heart of the Arabian Desert, discussing the usual: banning gas stoves, cow farts, and petrol-powered vehicles, a powerful snowstorm grounded all flights at Munich Airport in Germany. 

"Private jets in Munich on the way to Dubai global warming conference are literally frozen on the runway, which has turned into a glacier," said Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former NOAA chief scientist. 

Webmaster addition:

Tuam, a quiet town in the west of Ireland. Tuam, a name that traumatised the whole of Ireland in the spring of 2014, when an unimaginable story was revealed. A hidden mass grave containing the remains of some 800 children was discovered on the former grounds of a home for single mothers, a hell on earth where children died from ill treatment, and were shamefully buried in secret and forgotten. Up until the 1990s, dozens of these detention centres were run by religious orders, but the country is still reluctant to confront the ghosts of its past.

Webmaster addition: Long but worth it. Claire actually wrote a song about this incident. It's the third song down on this page from her website.

If I were going to commit a genocide, I’d make sure to kill as many women and children as possible to eliminate the future generations of the people I was trying to wipe out. Come to think of it, I guess I’d basically do what Israel is doing in Gaza.

Liz Gunn issues plea for help: New Zealand police are raiding home of whistleblower who leaked COVID-19 vaccine mortality data!

Steve Kirsch @stkirsch writes (12/02/23):

"BREAKING: Emergency video from Liz Gunn about the situation in New Zealand. They are arresting the person who wants data transparency. They should be arresting the corrupt members of the New Zealand Ministry of Health who are refusing to look at the data and prove it is safe."

A long-standing agreement between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to process claims for migrant medical care is drawing scrutiny from veterans’ advocates, who are concerned that it could jeopardize the agency’s mission of caring for veterans in the midst of an ongoing border crisis and existing complaints about veterans’ care.

“I’d like to understand why the VA is involved,” Russ Duerstine, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America and a veteran of the United States Air Force, told Fox News Digital.

In June 2022, Liz Cheney and the sham Jan. 6 Select Committee brought in Mark Meadows’ former junior staffer Cassidy Hutchinson as a “surprise witness.”

Democrats and their media lackeys billed this as an “explosive development” in their hopes to jail President Donald Trump based on a heaping pile of lies.
The fake news mainstream media GLADLY aired young Cassidy as she lied through her teeth to the J6 Committee and America. She fit in nicely with Liz Cheney and her committee.

Democrats, the FBI, the mainstream media, Big Tech, and Liz Cheney all believed Cassidy. They agree that Donald Trump and his supporters must be publicly humiliated and ruined for trying to save this country from their failed policies and tyrannical ambitions.

Obviously, this doesn’t count most of the foreigners.

How is this acceptable?

Why does anyone accept it?

Shifting to a target "rnge" is how the inflation target will be moved higher, from 2% currently to "2–3%" for example.

The recent spell of inflation appears to have shifted medium term inflation expectations structurally higher (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T5YIFR), where it has not declined despite tighter policy.

“I don’t think most people are aware of how possible it is to stop and reverse the current demographic changes occurring. A lot appear to have given up and accepted it as fate.

In July, the UN Chief declared the ‘Era of global boiling has arrived’, in a year marked by heatwaves and wildfires. COP28, an important UN Climate Conference, is currently taking place in Dubai, where world leaders will come together to discuss the urgent action needed.

Heavy winds and snow have hit parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, spawning travel chaos and leaving behind a winter wonderland.

"Global boiling"