The truce in Gaza has collapsed, and Israel has resumed their attacks on the civilians of Gaza. Over 14,000 people have died in Gaza, and about half are children. On Friday, the death toll is increasing once again after days of peace.

Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, recently was in the south of Gaza during the truce, and told the BBC that the families staying at a UN shelter that had been a vocational school number 35,000. According to Lazzarini, they are sleeping on bare concrete, without any blanket, and in the clothes they had on for the last 50 days.

Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Tawfieq Toameh, a Palestinian living in Los Angeles, California who is an expert on political affairs in the Middle East and the US. The questions ranged from Hezbollah, to hostages, and to the US occupation of Syria.

Steven Sahiounie (SS): Many were wondering if Hezbollah would open a war front against Israel in response to the Israeli attack on Gaza. In your view, why didn’t Hezbollah open a full war front on Israel?

Tawfieq Toameh (TT): Concerning Hezbollah getting involved in the war in Gaza: I don’t believe Hezbollah will open a full war front with Israel. There are things going on right now on the borders, but I don’t think it will turn into a full scale war between both sides. 

If Israel were to launch preemptive attacks against Hezbollah inside Lebanon, then Hezbollah might get involved in the war. 

Well, yeah, this is what I said they were going to do when they ended the ceasefire.

Fighting in Gaza City is difficult, and they’re really having a hard time with it.

Bombing refugees is very easy, however. It’s pretty much the easiest thing ever.

And the whole point of this “operation” seems to be to just kill as many people as possible.

At some level, it’s not complicated. Making civilians, including children, responsible for the acts of a guerrilla group should obviously be considered a crime. And that crime is functionally being supported by my country. In early November, after denouncing the acts of Hamas on October 7th as the crimes that they were, Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, added that “the collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians.” Unfortunately, the U.N. remains a remarkably powerless organization.

And no less sadly, despite the recent ceasefire in Gaza, ending (however briefly) the killing of civilians at historic rates in our time, little has changed there. Yes, during those ceasefire days, increased amounts of food, fuel, and water were delivered to Gaza to remedy the Israeli decision to cut off more than two million people (almost half of them children) from such essentials, whether they had anything to do with October 7th or not. Still, it remains a horror that what’s largely been delivered to Gazans, including those hundreds of thousands of children, has been disease, starvation, and water that’s unsafe to drink.

A top UN official who recently resigned from his post in protest of Israel's war on Gaza has described the brutal campaign as the "most clear-cut case of genocide".

Craig Mokhiber, who was director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resigned from his position on 28 October, saying that the UN had failed to stop a genocide from occurring in Gaza - where Israel has killed more than 15,500 people in less than two months.

Mokhiber doubled down on that position in an interview with The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, published Sunday.

It came after the Munich freezeout where the private jets of global elites were snowed-in. But apparently most made it to Dubai for COP28. Or more apt, the Cop-out meeting where the global elites meet eating caviar and guzzling champagne and telling us to die off, eat bugs and drive idiotic EVs that most Americans can’t afford. (A $100,000 Ford F-150 Lightning??)

On Thursday, the Remington Arms Company announced that it would be shutting down its iconic manufacturing plant in Ilion, New York in March of 2024, following major losses for the company after it was forced to settle with the families of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

As reported by The Hill, the letter from the company to union officials declared that “RemArms, LLC ( “the Company”) has decided to close its entire operations at 14 Hoefler Avenue, Ilion, NY 13357 (the “Ilion Facility”).”

“The Company expects that operations at the Ilion Facility will conclude on or about March 4, 2024,” the letter continues. “The Company did not arrive at this decision lightly.” Layoffs at the company as a result of this closure are expected to take place between March 4th and March 18th.

Ilion is the city where Remington, the oldest gun manufacturer in America, was first founded back in 1816. Having already filed for bankruptcy twice, Remington suffered a historic loss after it was forced to make a $73 million settlement with Sandy Hook families, after a judge determined that the gun manufacturer could be held responsible for its weapons being used in the Sandy Hook shooting. It was the first such settlement of its kind in modern American history.

Muslim Americans, some of whom live in crucial swing states, are set to launch a campaign that will officially oppose Joe Biden’s re-election bid in 2024.

Axios reports that the campaign, titled “#AbandonBiden,” launched on Saturday with a gathering in Michigan. It consists of left-wing Muslim Americans who oppose Biden’s support for Israel as the country wages war against the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas.

The gathering in Dearborn, Michigan consisted of Muslim leaders from the states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all of which were crucial in determining the outcomes of the presidential elections in both 2016 and 2020.

This #AbandonBiden 2024 conference is set against the backdrop of the upcoming 2024 presidential election and the decision to withdraw support for President Biden due to his unwillingness to call for a ceasefire and protect innocents in Palestine and Israel,” the group said in its own statement. “Leaders from swing states will work together to guarantee Biden’s loss in the 2024 election.”

Despite historically being the most technologically advanced military in the world, the Department of Defense (DOD) admitted recently that the American military is now struggling to keep up the pace with China when it comes to the current high-tech arms race.

According to Politico, the Pentagon is set to release its first-ever “National Defense Industrial Strategy,” compiled by the Pentagon’s acquisition chief William LaPlante. The study is set to be a comprehensive observation of what the DOD needs to catch up with China in the development of new military technology, including the possibility of cooperation with smaller tech firms and traditional companies.

At this time, the American military “does not possess the capacity, capability, responsiveness, or resilience required to satisfy the full range of military production needs at speed and scale,” the report’s draft, dated November 28th, reads in part.

The Untied States has struggled to finance its large military buildup in the Middle East, which began in early October in response to the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and various Palestinian militia groups based in the Gaza Strip. A primary issue has been a gridlock in the U.S. Congress, which has been unable to approve new funding due to disagreements between the Democratic and Republican parties over whether to include tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine in new spending packages. This has left several federal agencies, including the Department of Defence, operating under stopgap funding bills, which freeze all types of defence spending at levels seen in 2022. Such levels are considered insufficient to cover the U.S. Military’s expenses particularly due to the significant costs associated with overseas operations on such a large scale. Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood informed Politico that since the massive redeployment of U.S. forces to the Middle East was not planned in advance, the military “had to pull money from existing operations and maintenance accounts.” This resulted in less funding being available for previously planned exercises and deployments elsewhere. “We’re taking it out of hide,” he concluded.

Conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson and former Trump administration official Steve Bannon on Monday decried immigration policies that have upended cultures, eroded national sovereignty, and worsened economic woes. Carlson also pointed out that advocacy for abortion, euthanasia, and sterilizing transgender ideology by globalist elites and world leaders has coincided with policies permitting widespread immigration, which is rapidly altering the cultural landscape.

In an interview on Monday posted directly to X (formerly Twitter), Carlson and Bannon anchored their discussion in commenting on the recent horrific stabbing attack in Dublin, Ireland, which was allegedly committed by an Algerian immigrant and quickly triggered widespread anti-immigration riots.

Five people, including three children, were injured in the attack outside the Dublin school. The suspect, a 50-year-old Algerian immigrant who has lived in Ireland for over 20 years and is a legal resident of the country, was hospitalized after being subdued by passersby.

Peaceful protests in response to the incident later devolved into much-publicized riots Thursday night, in which hundreds took to the streets to torch vehicles and damage properties. The head of Ireland’s national police force blasted the rioters as “complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.”

The psychopathic General in charge of the Gaza Holocaust is Benjamin Netanyahu, the recipient of an unprecedented series of standing ovations in the US Congress.

The background and career of Benjamin Netanyahu, still Congress’s darling, personifies the merger of the political culture of Israel and United States as expressed now in the Zionist assault presently underway. Netanyahu received most of his education, including high school and university, in the United States. He renounced his U.S. citizenship upon entering Israeli politics and “Serving a foreign country”. 

Much of Netanyahu’s career was consolidated in helping to fortify the expansionary policies of Israel by manufacturing and exploiting the public imagery of Islamic terrorism largely through the manipulation of Muslim mercenaries, patsies, and assets. This approach, aimed at bringing about major policy objectives by generating and harnessing the political currency of public fear and loathing, has resulted in many false flag events including those that took place on 9/11.

The House is expected to hold a floor vote this week on legislation that would strike down pending federal regulations targeting gas-powered vehicles and prohibit any future electric vehicle (EV) mandate.

The Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act – introduced over the summer by Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga. – will be considered by the House Rules Committee on Monday before officially receiving a floor vote as soon as Tuesday. If the bill is passed, it would then be voted on by the Senate, where Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin recently introduced companion legislation.

"The House must pass the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act to block a radical and unattainable federal EV mandate that will cripple our auto industry and forever make our supply chain reliant on China," Walberg told Fox News Digital on Monday. "The American auto industry is at its best when they are free to innovate and listen to the will of consumers, and not constrained by bureaucracy." 

In a concerning economic landscape, bank liquidity and funding are rapidly declining, and the Business Term Funding Program (BTFP) is running out of time, with just three months left. The situation is exacerbated by subprime debt, comprising 21% ($332 billion) of outstanding auto loans, of which roughly $24.5 billion is severely delinquent.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. They had a double triumph by ruining both Pixar and Marvel. It takes true talent, dedication, and corruption to bring down the two best studios in recent memory.

The European Union’s sluggish progress in drastically increasing ammunition supplies to Ukraine has Baltic nation Estonia nervous about some member nations’ internal politics getting in the way, according to a senior Estonian defense official.

“On our part, we are constantly pushing different nations to not give up because the timeline of deliveries is next March, so we still have a couple of months ahead of us to either fully reach it or at least get as close to it as possible,” Tuuli Duneton, undersecretary for defense policy said, told Defense News in an interview.

“I wouldn’t say I am entirely pessimistic about the EU target, but a lot remains to be done,” she added.

Federal agents can resume a practice of cutting wire barrier placed near the U.S. border with Mexico by Texas National Guard troops after a judge on Wednesday ruled against a request from the state of Texas to stop them from doing so.

A temporary hold on cutting the barriers had been in place since October as part of an ongoing lawsuit that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed against the Department of Homeland Security that alleges cutting the barriers is damaging the state’s property. The temporary hold only protected barriers installed in the west Texas city of Eagle Pass, which has seen a steep increase in border crossings this year.

The fight between state and federal authorities at the border comes as record levels of migrants cross into the United States. Customs and Border Protection said it detained nearly 2.5 million people at the southwest border during fiscal 2023, which ended Sept. 30.

The dollar ticked higher on Monday, regaining some ground after falling for three straight weeks on bets that the Federal Reserve will soon be cutting interest rates, while bitcoin breached $42,000 for the first time since early 2022.

The euro was last down 0.2% at $1.0864, while the dollar index, which tracks the currency against six major peers, rose by 0.23% to 103.36.

"I think it's the fact that U.S. policy rate expectations have gone too far and will unwind more in December than rate expectations elsewhere," said Colin Asher, senior economist at lender Mizuho in London.

Last month the euro rallied 3% against the dollar and hit its highest since August at more than $1.10 as data showed U.S. inflation was cooling rapidly. The dollar index dropped 3.1% in November in its biggest monthly fall in a year.

An Arizona lawmaker has called for the National Guard to be deployed to help deal with the spiraling migrant crisis.

Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani's desperate please comes as the Tucson Border Sector grapples with a significant increase in crossings from Mexico.

That same day, CBP reported more than 9,400 migrant encounters in a span of 24 hours - 7,700 of whom were apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

Ciscomani - a 41-year-old conservative who was born in Mexico - called on Alejandro Mayorkas to 'immediately request the DoD deploy the Arizona National Guard to help with this dire situation.'

Venezuelans on Sunday approved a referendum called by the government of President Nicolás Maduro to claim sovereignty over an oil- and mineral-rich piece of neighboring Guyana, the country's electoral authority announced.

Few voters could be seen at voting centers throughout the voting period for the five-question referendum, but the National Electoral Council claimed to have counted more than 10.5 million votes. The council, however, did not explain whether the number of votes was equivalent to a voter or if it was the sum of each individual answer.

Venezuela has long argued the territory was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. But Guyana considers the referendum a step toward annexation, and the vote has its residents on edge.

As the Army attempts to adjust its structure to a smaller size, some have bemoaned the service’s reported decision to reduce special operations force (SOF) units by three thousand soldiers. Shrinking is always hard, and it’s hard to argue the utility of SOF across the spectrum of conflict. But these critics are missing the forest for the trees: the reason the Army must reduce its force structure is because they are losing the existential fight to recruit new soldiers. In 2021 the Army was authorized 485,900 active-duty soldiers. Today that number is 452,000, a drop of 33,900 and in fiscal year 2023 the Army was unable to recruit the necessary number of volunteers to maintain even that reduced size. So, policymaker’s focus shouldn’t be on a relatively small cut to Army SOF, what they should be focusing on instead is helping the Army (and other military services) deal with a manpower crisis with no end in sight.

Anecdotally you hear reports that squads in the 82nd Airborne Division---the nation’s 911 response force---are zeroed out due to personnel shortages or that Infantrymen have been pressed into service to man tanks due to a lack of armor crewman, just a few of the signs the Army is making difficult choices within a force already strained by the operational needs to deter Russia, China and others.  Combine these shortages with the need for the Army to grow new units in order to react to emerging battlefield realities such as counter-drone warfare and the need to deliver longer range fires, and you have the ingredients of a looming readiness crisis.

Sam Altman has appeared to lead credence to the theory he was fired from OpenAI over his company's super powerful, secret new AI system he helped build. 

Multiple employees reportedly warned the company's board of directors that this project, named Q* (pronounced 'Q star'), was becoming so advanced it could already pass math exams and perform critical thinking tasks. 

And they felt Altman was not taking their warnings seriously. 

In an interview this week, Altman did not deny the existence of the secret program that some employees said was responsible for his firing. 

Instead, he called the revelation of Q* an 'unfortunate leak.' 

Webmaster addition:

A mother in North Carolina used a tracking app to catch a teacher having sex with her son inside a parked car, according to prosecutors.

Gabriela Cartaya-Neufeld, 26, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with an 18-year-old student on Nov. 29, according to a statement released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Cartaya-Neufeld was charged with five counts of felony sexual activity with a student by a teacher. She was then taken to the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.

UPDATE: Igor Chudov has updated his post, having revised his initial “skeptical” opinion (scroll down).

Liz Gunn reports that the police descended on the homes of both the whistle-blower himself, and someone else involved with publicizing his testimony:

It could usher an era of limitless clean, safe and affordable energy to meet the world's demand. 

Now, the 'holy grail' of power production – nuclear fusion, which makes the sun and the stars shine – has come a step closer. 

Scientists have switched on JT-60SA, a £500 million fusion device measuring around 40 feet in diameter, located in Naka north of Tokyo, Japan.

JT-60SA contains swirling plasma heated up 200 million degrees Celsius (360 million degrees Fahrenheit). 

This is the threshold where hydrogen atoms can begin to fuse into helium, releasing sustainable energy in the process that could put an end to fossil fuels.