Dinesh D'Souza

 

The Hat

 

The White House

 

The Big MIG

 

TimcastIRL

 

Native Americans

 

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Bitcoin had a bad day. Amid a wider crypto (and overall market) selloff, bitcoin plunged yesterday, briefly dipping below $85,000 before regaining some ground to end its worst day since March. With markets volatile, the digital currency is down more than 30% since its record high in October. Traders use liquidation data to get a sense of risk appetite, and Bloomberg reports that nearly $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated yesterday. Other digital coins, including ether, also fell sharply as macroeconomic concerns—among them whether the Fed will cut interest rates this month—continue to loom large for investors.

NYC poised to get three casinos. New Yorkers may soon no longer have to find out what happens in Vegas, as a state gaming board signed off on three casino licenses yesterday, paving the way for its first facilities. One license will go to Mets owner Steve Cohen and the Hard Rock to open a gaming den, hotel, and event complex next to Citi Field in Queens. Another will go to gaming company Bally’s, which plans to open a casino on a former Trump Organization golf course in the Bronx (which could net the president’s company $115 million), and the other is for Genting Group, which will add gaming to its racetrack in Queens. The projects—which supporters say will generate billions worth of economic activity—still need one final approval, but they’re all expected to get it.

White House says second strike on alleged drug boat was lawful, despite lawmakers’ concerns. With lawmakers on both sides of the aisle supporting an investigation into the legality of the US ordering a second strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela that killed two survivors of a prior lethal attack (with at least one legislator calling it a potential war crime), the White House yesterday backed the decision to order the strike. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Navy admiral who gave the order acted “well within his authority and the law.” On Sunday, President Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had told him he did not directly order the second strike.—AR

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Robert Reich

The Monetization of Rage
Why We’re So Polarized (II)





Friends,

The publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary has named “rage bait” its phrase of the year.

Call it the monetization of rage. Rage has become a valuable commodity. (Always follow the money.)

A growing number of online creators are making rage bait. Their goal is to record videos, produce memes, and write posts that make other users furious: conspiracy theories, lies, combustible AI-generated video clips — whatever it takes.

The more content they create, the more engagement they get, the more they get paid.

The rage bait market is worldwide. Since X, Facebook, and Instagram pay certain content creators for posts that drive engagement, people all over the globe have a financial incentive to share material that feeds the anger of American users and will therefore get reposted.

Last week a new feature on X permitting users to see where accounts originate showed that a number of high-engagement MAGA accounts that claim to be those of patriotic Americans are in fact from Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Nigeria, Thailand, and Bangladesh.

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At A Glance

 

White House gets festive with 51 trees and 120 pounds of gingerbread.

"Rage bait" among 2025's words of the year.

Teens pioneer groundbreaking Lyme disease research.

Could Homer Simpson support his family in today's economy?

Record-breaking 75-year-old albatross prepares to lay eggs.

The 20th-century giant sponge craze, captured in vintage photos.

... and the sticking power of the $13 lunch bowl craze.

No one—not even Santa—owns the North Pole, and other Arctic facts.

Clickbait: The real-life Krusty Krab.

Historybook: Abolitionist John Brown dies (1859); Scientists achieve first human-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction (1942); Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace born (1946); US Environmental Protection Agency is created (1970); Britney Spears born (1981); Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is killed (1993).

1440 Trivia: What's older: the United States or Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Check back tomorrow (or dig for it here) to see if you were correct.

Quick Clips

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin leaves the team to accept position coaching LSU Tigers (More) | See rivalry week results (More)

> Oscar- and Tony-winning playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at age 88; Stoppard wrote "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," "Leopoldstadt," and "Shakespeare in Love," among other works (More)

> Miss Universe Africa cuts ties with the organization amid ongoing allegations of vote rigging, with co-owners investigated for alleged drug ties (More)


Science & Technology
> Overheated data center forces the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the world's largest derivatives exchange operator, to suspend global trading Friday for roughly 10 hours (More)

> Internal FDA memo claims at least 10 children died from complications due to the COVID-19 vaccine between 2021 and 2024; experts accuse agency of not providing details, misusing data from the unverified VAERS reporting platform (More)

> Genetic analysis suggests domesticated cats originated in North Africa and spread to Europe and East Asia roughly 2,000 years ago, more recently than previously believed (More)


Business & Markets
> Markets rise Friday (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq +0.7%) during shortened holiday trading week; analysts peg possibility of coming Federal Reserve interest rate cut at 80%-85% (More)

> US online sales hit an estimated $11.8B on Black Friday, up more than 9% from last year; order volume down 1%, with higher average sales prices (More) | The best resources we found researching Black Friday (1440 Topics)

> Switzerland rejects 50% inheritance tax for gifts and assets exceeding about $62M; wealthy entrepreneurs threatened to leave country (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> US halts all asylum decisions, pauses visas for Afghan citizens after Afghan who was granted asylum shoots two National Guard members in Washington, DC, one fatally (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Hondurans vote in presidential election as US President Donald Trump threatens to cut aid to the country if right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura loses (More) | The US gave Honduras $194B in aid in 2023, the last fully reported year (More)

> Twelve young Muslim girls freed after abduction in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, near hideout used by Islamist militant group Boko Haram (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

The Radical Left

 

Democratic Socialists or the radical left as they are sometimes called, are meticulous, patient, and annoying.  They are playing the LONG GAME and hoping no one is paying attention.

The long game to them, is planting several people in various districts in RED STATES and have these people run for the State Legislature.  Once inside the State Legislature, they can begin to convince other politicians of their political views that would turn this country farther and farther into SOCIALISM.

Not just State Legislature seats but Mayoral seats as well, like what has recently happened in NYC.

The OLD DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS DEAD...  The new Democratic party is comprised of DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS who want government to own the MEANS OF PRODUCTION.

What does that mean?

Example: 

All the farms are owned by individuals or by large corporations, so they for the most part control production and control the prices  of the food they produce.

Now, if the government owned those farms, they could reduce the prices because the govternment has no reason to make a profit.

ERGO - CHEAPER FOOD.

The same logic can be applied to:

• Housing
• Apartments
• Clothes
• Furniture
• Automobiles
• Computers
• Cell phones
• WIFI
• Artificial Intelligence
• Robots

If the government OWNED EVERYTHING, then they could reduce prices

UNFORTUNATELY,

just about every country that has tried this has failed but it has taken several years sometimes several decades for this to happen.  The slowly the failing process is, the more destructive it becomes for the country.

CAPTIALISM has made the USA number one in the world today, economically...  not socialism...

Somewhat Political

 

Graphene’s Superconductivity

Scientists studying ‘magic-angle’ graphene have captured the clearest evidence yet of the electronic signature behind its superconductivity, cutting through years of speculation over what actually drives its exotic behaviour.

‘When superconductivity was first discovered in magic-angle graphene, it was surprising,’ says Jeong Min Park at Princeton University. ‘Graphene by itself was not a superconductor, yet simply twisting layers turned it into one.’

This is because when two or more graphene layers are twisted at a very specific angle – the magic angle – electrons in the system slow down dramatically. ‘When [this happens], they interact with each other much more strongly, and this gives rise to … new behaviours that don’t exist in the individual layers,’ says Park.

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THE GRASS ROOTS(VIDEO CLIP)- "MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS"(LYRICS)

Clarity

 

Sarah Westall

 

Alex Jones

 

TimcastIRL

 

Three Faces

 

Headlines

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Over 12k flights delayed yesterday due to winter storm. Our long Thanksgiving travel nightmare is not yet over. FlightAware reported 12,008 delays into or out of the United States yesterday, as well as 977 cancellations into or out of the US, mostly due to a major winter storm that has impacted the Midwest, the western Great Lakes, and parts of the East Coast (which will get hit with another storm today and tomorrow). According to the National Weather Service, affected areas received six to 12 inches of snow and endured gusty winds and other hazardous travel conditions. The FAA reported that the airports of Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Rochester, BWI, and Ronald Reagan all had to deice planes. Airlines for America had predicted that a record-breaking 31 million passengers would fly for the Thanksgiving holiday, with 3.4 million expected to pass through the airports yesterday, before the weather disruptions.

Witkoff to meet with Putin in Russia following Rubio meeting with Ukraine. Steve Witkoff, special envoy to President Trump, is headed to Russia today to meet with President Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, a Ukrainian delegation met with Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Florida to continue discussing terms to end the war. Both the Ukrainian and US sides called that meeting productive, though few details were disclosed. It was the first gathering without Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff, who was instrumental in softening a draft proposal circulated by the Trump administration that was seen by the international community as heavily favoring Russia. Yermak resigned on Friday, the same day his home was raided, amid a $100 million embezzlement scandal rocking Zelensky’s inner circle. Yermak’s quick departure was intended to keep the focus on negotiations without risking the US extracting heavy demands from Ukraine in light of the revelation.

Zootopia 2 dominated the Thanksgiving weekend. A PG-rated movie sequel centered on a dynamic partnership in a world of talking animals trounced box-office records—but it’s probably not the film you were expecting. Zootopia 2 earned a slew of superlatives, including the highest global debut of 2025 and the No. 1 movie globally, domestically, and internationally for the weekend. Its domestic receipts tallied $156 million since Wednesday, including $96.8 million over the traditional weekend, according to Variety. Wicked: For Good did pretty all right, though, bringing in $93 million over the weekend. But Zootopia 2 also garnered more encomiums from critics than the second installment of Wicked did. It’s Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 91%.—HVL

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Robert Reich

Winner of this week’s Joseph Welch Award
For standing up to tyranny. In honor of attorney Joseph Welch, who represented the U.S. Army in the Army-McCarthy Hearings of June 1954.

Former federal judge Mark L. Wolf

Friends,

Today I want to share with you a statement by former federal judge Mark L. Wolf explaining why he resigned from the federal bench in early November. I found it sobering and troubling. The statement appeared in The Atlantic.

By way of background, Wolf served in Gerald Ford’s Justice Department at the same time I did, under Attorney General Edward Levi, who had been president of the University of Chicago. (I was assistant to the solicitor general; Wolf was special assistant to then-Deputy Attorney General Laurence Silberman — later a federal appeals court judge — and Edward Levi.) It was a time when Levi and the department struggled to recover public trust after the Watergate scandal.

Wolf went on to lead the public corruption unit at the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, securing more than 40 convictions, including of officials close to Democratic Mayor Kevin White. Ronald Reagan named Wolf to the federal bench in 1985. He has been considered a conservative jurist.

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At A Glance

Ranking America's most and least sinful cities.

The difference between yams and sweet potatoes.

Fame may cause singers to die four years younger than peers.

Do people really look younger than they used to? (w/video)

China's epidemic of "young rat people."

Reuters' top photos of the year.

... and portraits of every Native tribe across the US.

Japan unveils a human washing machine.

Clickbait: Pocket-sized vinyl records.

Historybook: First moving assembly line introduced by Ford Motor Company (1913); Rosa Parks arrested in Alabama for refusing to give up her bus seat (1955); Author and activist James Baldwin dies (1987); World AIDS Day commemorated for first time (1988).

1440 Trivia: Which look-alike contest inspired Bill Nye to pursue a career in entertainment? Check back tomorrow for the answer (or dig for it here).

LIGHTENED UP EGG SALAD | healthy recipe with Greek Yogurt (No Mayo!)

Quick Clips

 

In The News

A Light in the Dark
How bioluminescence works
Bioluminescence is the process by which an organism produces its own light due to a chemical reaction. It is sometimes mistaken for biofluorescence, the re-emission of absorbed light in a new color.

Though commonly associated with fireflies and glowworms, the phenomenon is rare in land species. By contrast, an estimated 75% of all ocean animals exhibit this ability themselves or through a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria, which they use for self-defense, hunting food, mating, and communication.

The light comes from binding oxygen to one of several molecules called luciferin. Different species have different luciferin varieties, producing various types of oxyluciferin, a light-emitting molecule, in the reaction. The variety of oxyluciferin results in the variety of observed bioluminescent colors.

Scientists have used bioluminescent proteins to create tools to observe cellular biological activity and identify biochemical signals within cells for drug discovery.

... Read our full explainer on the phenomenon here.

Also, check out ...
> How humans have used bioluminescence as a military advantage. (More)
> See a photo gallery of bioluminescent creatures. (More)
> Watch shrimp escape predators by releasing bioluminescent chemicals. (More)
> Scientists and artists paired up to create art from bioluminescence. (More)



Rockefeller Center's Origin
Who are the Rockefellers?
The Rockefeller family is one of the wealthiest families in American history, with influential legacies in business, art, architecture, and philanthropy. John D. Rockefeller, born in 1839 into relatively modest circumstances, became the world’s first billionaire in 1916 after creating the first major business trust. By some accounts, he is still the richest man to have ever lived. Their cumulative net worth today is $10.3B.

The Rockefellers created the Standard Oil Company, which contributed to innovations in scaled business practices (namely, through trusts) amid the Industrial Revolution in the US, catalyzing a shift toward market centralization and monopoly. They've also financed American institutions such as New York City's Rockefeller Center, Colonial Williamsburg, and more.

Their modern-day influence mostly involves charitable giving to causes like higher education, the environment, and national parks. Their moneyed reputation has outlasted John D. Rockefeller himself: Taylor Swift, for instance, recently referenced the Standard Oil fortune in a popular song.

... Read our full write-up on the family here.

Also, check out ...
> See Rockefeller Center's Christmas trees since 1931. (More)
> The Rockefellers funded the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg. (More)
> How Standard Oil used vertical integration to grow their business. (More)
> John D. Rockefeller's father was a well-known con artist. (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

December

 

For some reason, I like to acknowledge either the beginning or the end of a month, and sometimes I remember to do both.

WELCOME TO DECEMBER 2025 - we will never see this month again in our lifetimes...  time moves forward never backwards...  although, there are some who believe time travel is possible.

According to the CLAUDE (an AI program):

Time Travel to the Future
This is not only theoretically possible—it's experimentally verified and happens routinely. There are two main mechanisms:

• Time dilation from velocity: When you move at speeds approaching the speed of light, time passes more slowly for you relative to stationary observers. This is a prediction of Einstein's special relativity that's been confirmed countless times. For example, astronauts on the International Space Station age slightly slower than people on Earth (though only by milliseconds due to their relatively modest speeds).
• Time dilation from gravity: Time passes more slowly in stronger gravitational fields. This is confirmed by general relativity—clocks at sea level run slightly slower than clocks at higher altitudes. GPS satellites have to account for this effect to work properly.

Time travel to the past, is theoretically possible, but much more problematic, therefore, there is a high probability it will never happen.

So, my comment stands...

we will likely never see December 2025 again.

Now, with this detail resolved, just what do you think of DECEMBERS?

Like___  Dislike___  No Opinion___

Personally...

I don't really care for Decembers because they are the last month for potential warm weather until late March; of course, this is predicated upon geographical location...  and East TN is close to being in the middle between REALLY COLD and REALLY WARM weather during the fall and winter months - more so winter than fall.

For me, December represents the HYPOCRITICAL HOLIDAY OF CHRISTMAS.

Christmas is basically commercial and economic and has little to do with faith, religion, and belief for most people.  

Christmas is a time where families say nice things to each other in the spirit of the holidays and don't mean a word of it.

While my wife and I were working, it was a time for us to be off from work (with pay) for a couple of days; however, since we have been retired for 10 years, we are off from work 365 days each year, so the holidays mean very little now, except presents, making food, and eating too much.  ALTHOUGH, we are always with family and friends which is positive.

When I speak of family and friends, I speak of my wife's family and friends because my family wants little to do with me because I have a different lifestyle and beliefs than they do.  Ever since our father died, we got together and reached out a little less; then when our mother died, pretty much all communications ceased, including those with my daughter from my first marriage.

DECEMBER is just a transition month into WINTER...  and an always unpredictable NEW YEAR.

Somewhat Political

 

Scientists Uncover Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Common Foods

The study uses an advanced QuEChERS–GC–MS detection method to uncover hidden carcinogens in cooking oils and meats.


Many people today are placing greater emphasis on their overall health, turning daily workouts and calorie-tracking tools into regular habits. As part of this shift, more individuals are choosing diets that feature nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables.


Although these foods are widely viewed as healthy, they can still contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (hydrophobic organic compounds comprising multiple fused aromatic rings) when exposed to contamination or when cooked through heating, smoking, grilling, roasting, or frying. PAHs can enter plant-based foods (such as fruits and vegetables) through atmospheric deposition from vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, irrigation with contaminated water, or uptake from polluted soil, where they may accumulate on the surface or within edible tissues.

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Three Dog Night "Never Been To Spain" on The David Frost Show