Trending News
Health Canada approves Moderna's mRNA flu and flu-COVID combo vaccines - CityNews Montreal
Health Canada approves Moderna's mRNA flu and flu-COVID combo vaccines CityNews Montreal
'You'll know soon enough': Trump's warning on 'destroying' rest of Iran
During a press conference at the Oval Office, Donald Trump cautioned Iran regarding its nuclear ambitions, hinting at possible future actions while preferring to avoid escalation. He asserted that Iran must seek US approval for any developments in its nuclear program, showcasing America's ongoing influence. These statements highlight the escalating tensions and complex dynamics between the two nations.
Trump signs proclamation to try to prevent changes to gold-covered Oval Office
President seeks to make Oval Office a national monument to ensure designs are not 'ripped down by stupid people'Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he says will prevent future administrations from changing his design of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, spaces which he declared as national monuments that should be preserved.In the days since his party suffered historic defeats in the midterm elections, the president has seemingly turned his attention to the many renovation projects he has begun across the nation's capital. Sitting behind the Resolute Desk on Thursday, Trump declared the Oval Office a "national monument". Continue reading...
Judge's misconduct probe derails as Trump prosecutor puts crosshairs on DOJ boss
A prosecutor in President Donald Trump's Justice Department, ordered to testify in a judge's criminal probe of his office, raised the prospect of having his lawyer cross-examine his own boss.Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan made the request Thursday in a motion filed by his own lawyer, Shelly Kulwin, asking to join the case on his own behalf.On Monday, U.S. District Judge April Perry ordered Hogan, two other prosecutors, and their boss, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, to testify under oath Nov. 16 about whether they made false statements to her. Perry's probe grew out of the collapse in May of the "Broadview Six" case against protesters of Trump's immigration crackdown in Chicago.The DOJ prosecutor's attorney seeks the judge's answer about whether her client can have his legal team take an active part in the case. "[Hogan] seeks clarification as to who will be questioning the witnesses at that hearing; whether [his] counsel will be allowed to cross-examine all such witnesses and, if necessary, present his own evidence," Kulwin wrote.Perry's order lists Boutros, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, first among those witnesses."[I]t is quite possible that the government's interests, as well as some of the other proposed witnesses' testimony, 'may not be aligned' with his," Kulwin wrote, adding that Hogan does not know what the other prosecutors "or the United States Attorney" will say.If Perry agrees, a hearing meant to test what Boutros' office told her could pit its own prosecutors against one another, with the U.S. attorney taking questions from a subordinate's lawyer.Perry's first request for records targeted a statement Hogan signed."To be crystal clear, this specifically includes anyone in the White House and all components and offices of Main Justice," Hogan wrote in a March 30 filing, denying any outside communications about charging decisions. Main Justice is the department's Washington headquarters.Perry wrote Monday that the government's later "caveats and carve-outs" indicate that statement "was false."The department has said the statement was "true as it relates to pre-charging decisions," according to her order.Sheri Mecklenburg, the former lead prosecutor in the case, broke with Boutros in a Sept. 24 letter announcing her retirement and calling herself "a convenient target to be scapegoated.""[A]s a current DOJ employee, I am prohibited from filing anything to defend myself and will be disciplined and/or terminated if I do so," Mecklenburg wrote, describing what his front office told her lawyer. Boutros' office did not immediately return a request for comment on the letter, The Associated Press reported."[T]he stakes are very personal and very high, and I don't think the U. S. Attorney's Office necessarily will be aligned with each of the individual [prosecutors]," Perry said Oct. 1 as she let Mecklenburg join the case, according to a transcript excerpt in Hogan's motion. She promised the same for any other prosecutor who asked, and Hogan's motion quotes that promise.By her account, Mecklenburg had to retire to make her case to Perry. Hogan, who still works for Boutros, is making his while on the job.While the prosecutors under scrutiny hire their own lawyers, the department's leadership is arguing that Perry's inquiry should go no further and that the president could end any criminal case it produces."For the avoidance of doubt, the United States has not agreed to provide any information," Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr., the department's third-ranking official, wrote in an Oct. 30 filing. Perry's order notes he stepped in hours after the two Chicago prosecutors handling the office's side asked to withdraw."It is likewise well-established that the pardon power extends to criminal contempt," Woodward wrote, citing the president's power to "direct that the criminal be prosecuted no further." Criminal contempt is the crime of defying or obstructing a court.Under a Thursday order, the department has until 2 p.m. Monday to turn over the records Perry requested about its outside communications. She has said her findings will bear on "potential sanctions or criminal contempt."
'Genuinely excited': B.C.'s premier designate reacts to federal budget - CTV News
'Genuinely excited': B.C.'s premier designate reacts to federal budget CTV News
Blind Dems are already being led off a cliff — by the folks who got us into this mess
Would it surprise anyone to learn the party that can't seem to get out of its own way is, once again, on track for another historically tone-deaf move?The champagne hasn't even gone flat, and the Democrats are already figuring out how to squander their victory.After a record number of voters delivered an epic rebuke to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the Democratic leadership that helped get us into this mess in the first place, appears determined to interpret the historic results as just another election cycle. Rather than an overwhelming mandate for change.And what better way to celebrate a demand for said change than by handing the keys right back to the "old guard"? Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries?Seriously. This appears to be the plan.Americans have spent years watching their democratic institutions battered and betrayed, their constitutional safeguards tested, and their elected representatives struggle to mount anything resembling a coherent resistance. Millions of voters who turned to Democrats on Nov. 3 have already made it clear they didn't sign up for another season of inadequate leadership that fails to meet the moment. Case in point, the change.org petition to remove Jeffries' name from consideration that's already garnered over half a million signatures and counting.Voters want fighters. Fighters who recognize the gravity of this moment and fighters who don't attribute 'accountability' to 'revenge.'Voters definitely don't want another committee prepared to spend the next two years studying whether fighting might be appropriate. We already saw what happens when Justice is delayed. Right, Merrick Garland?Yet here we are, the euphoria from this monumental day of reckoning still very much being felt across the globe, and the Democratic establishment seems prepared to treat its leadership positions like reserved parking spaces. Schumer stays. Jeffries moves up. Everybody gets a better office. The consultants congratulate themselves, and the people who actually delivered the victory are expected to applaud politely.This is precisely how political parties lose the confidence of their own supporters. Which, should the Dems ignore the voices of their voters, is exactly what will happen. Start with Chuck Schumer.At a moment when the country desperately needs an opposition party capable of confronting Trump with urgency, clarity, and conviction, Schumer has too often seemed like a man waiting for the Senate to return to the collegial atmosphere of 1997.His willingness to entertain the possibility that Trump might somehow become more cooperative, more reasonable, or more interested in bipartisan governance is not merely naive. It's an astonishing failure to recognize the political reality staring everyone in the face. And, both he and Jeffries accept major donations from PAC's.How many times must someone demonstrate exactly who they are before Washington's leadership class stops pretending a transformation is just around the corner? Or worse. Completely ignores the demand for transformation of any kind?Trump isn't waiting for an invitation to a bipartisan luncheon. He understands power, confrontation, and the advantages of an opposition that spends half its time worrying about whether it sounds too confrontational.Schumer's instinct to preserve institutional norms might have made sense in an era when both parties generally agreed those norms were worth preserving. But, after billions in bit coin, an insurrection, illegal wars, a Justice Dept. that does the president's personal bidding, and trying to tamper with our elections on an hourly basis, those norms are out the window.Then there's Hakeem Jeffries.Jeffries is articulate, disciplined, and unquestionably skilled at navigating the Democratic caucus. But those qualities alone do not make someone the right person to lead a political movement through an extraordinary national crisis. The crisis of being ruled by the most criminally corrupt administration in history. And the new crisis of a possible Speaker who, in the immediate aftermath of the historic rebuke of the Mar-A-Lago Mafia, went on national television and said ""The American people don't want us to get even. They want us to get things done on their behalf, because life is way too expensive." He could not be more wrong. Or clueless.A Democratic victory should be an opportunity to rethink the party's leadership, priorities, and approach to power. Instead, the conversation seems focused on maintaining continuity.Continuity with what, though, exactly?The inability to communicate a compelling national message? The endless obsession with avoiding political risk? The reflexive deference to consultants who seem perpetually terrified that a forceful response might offend an imaginary undecided voter in suburban Pennsylvania?Democrats need to understand something fundamental: The voters aren't demanding a return to business as usual. We are demanding that somebody finally do something.That means aggressive oversight. Meaningful investigations. A willingness to use congressional authority rather than merely explain why using it might be complicated. It means confronting abuses of power directly and publicly, not burying them beneath procedural language designed to avoid making anyone uncomfortable. Should they ignore this, they face losing every election going forward for generations. As the faith in them - and the entire Democratic party will be lost.For years, Democrats have allowed Republicans to frame virtually any attempt to investigate wrongdoing as partisan retaliation. The result has been a political culture in which demanding consequences for misconduct somehow requires more justification than the misconduct itself.That needs to end today.And perhaps most importantly, Democrats need leaders who understand that the public's patience is not infinite. Millions of young voters just made their voices heard by electing candidates of all colors, shapes and sizes. If the Dems in the House and Senate think these outcomes translate to asking for more of the same, they will be in for a rude awakening come 2028. The party cannot keep asking voters to rescue democracy every two years while offering the same leadership in return.Nobody is suggesting that replacing Schumer and Jeffries would magically solve the country's problems. Leadership changes are not substitutes for policies, organization, or legislative competence.But leadership sends a message.Retaining the same people sends one, too.It tells voters that the establishment believes the problem was never its approach, only the number of seats it controlled.That's a dangerous conclusion to draw from an election fueled by frustration.There is no shortage of talented Democrats capable of bringing fresh energy, sharper messaging, and a more confrontational approach to Washington. The party should be encouraging a genuine competition of ideas rather than treating challenges to incumbent leadership as acts of disloyalty.Because loyalty to a political party should never require unquestioning loyalty to the politicians running it. Just look at what happened to the MAGA movement.Democrats have been handed an incredible opportunity at an amazing moment in our history. Whether they turn that opportunity into lasting reform, or another exercise in institutional self-preservation, remains to be seen.But if their first major decision is to reward the same leadership without demanding a fundamentally different strategy, they will have missed the most important lesson of the election:The voters didn't send Democrats to Washington to restore the status quo. They sent them to change it.And if Schumer, Jeffries, and the Democratic establishment cannot understand that distinction, they may discover that the cliff they're marching toward is considerably closer than they think.
Trump-backed Dan Sullivan threatened by brutal ballot twist buried in data: NYT
A twist hidden in ballot records is threatening to sink a Senate Republican whom President Donald Trump has spent months trying to rescue.Voters who backed doppelganger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher, in Alaska's Senate race mostly picked Democrat Mary Peltola, not incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK), as their next choice, according to a New York Times analysis published Thursday. The finding suggests Peltola is on track to take the seat.Peltola holds a lead of less than a percentage point with roughly three-quarters of the vote counted, according to Associated Press figures cited by The Times. Her edge is expected to grow once about 60,000 outstanding ballots, most of them cast by mail, are tallied in the coming days.If no candidate clears 50 percent, the race moves to ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18. The Times found that step would likely net the incumbent less than half a point, not nearly enough to close the gap.The surprise centers on Sullivan Jr., a candidate The Times reported last week had been recruited by Peltola allies to draw votes away from the senator. Trump seized on the scheme, insisting on Truth Social that Sullivan Jr.'s ballots "should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan" and ordering the Justice Department to investigate Peltola's campaign.But the ballot data undercuts the idea that those voters meant to support the senator. Roughly two-thirds of them ranked a second candidate, and Peltola came out well ahead of the incumbent among that group. Voters who ranked the senator first, by contrast, almost never listed Peltola second.The Times calculated that even if every Sullivan Jr. voter who skipped a second choice had secretly intended to back the incumbent, he would only pick up about one point in margin. That still falls short of the gains Peltola is expected to make from the remaining mail ballots.The analysis also leaves out about 10,000 hand-counted ballots, largely from rural areas where Peltola has run strong, meaning her position could be even sturdier than the numbers show.
Dolly Parton's manager moves to drop complaint accusing late singer's nephew of threatening estate
Dolly Parton's longtime manager moved to drop a complaint that accused the late singer's nephew of threatening her estate and its employees.
Mark Carney's quiet revolution rests on investment and affordability
"Maitre chez nous" was famously the rallying cry of Jean Lesage's Quiet Revolution, a period of rapid modernization and reform in Quebec in the 1960s. Mark Carney first tried it out a year and a half ago in the shadow of the United States and a newly anglicized version — "masters of our destiny" — adorns his government's second budget.
Wall Street bloodbath: $2.5 trillion wiped out as Nasdaq suffers worst crash in 18 months
Wall Street faced a dramatic selloff with technology stocks plummeting due to growing concerns about artificial intelligence spending. Investors reevaluated popular AI-related trades after midterm election results suggested potential tougher scrutiny in the industry. The Nasdaq dropped more than 5%, marking its worst session in 18 months and entering correction territory. The selloff spread to Asian markets, leading to declines in Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi.
On TV
Outlander: Blood of My Blood — 2x8: "The Dance" (STARZ)
Julia and Lovat attend an event honoring Loyalist Lairds who fought against Jacobites in the Rebellion; Ellen's longstanding plan to protect Leoch from the Crown is put to the test.
New Music

Sufjan Stevens — "Worst Christmas Ever!" (Asthmatic Kitty Records)

daine — "In Endless Awe & Agony" ()

In theaters
Being Heumann (127 minutes)
Scrappy, defiant, and done being treated like a burden, Judy Heumann turns her outrage into a revolution. In 1977, she and more than 100 disability rights protestors send a very loud message: The system is broken—not us.
I Play Rocky (128 minutes)
The electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn't just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told "no" at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds.
Launching today

Nothing launching today. Every rocket is staying grounded and behaving.

Useless Fact

Arabic numerals are not really Arabic; they were created in India.

The loonie
CAD → USD
0.7148
▼ 0.0014
CAD → EUR
0.6368
▼ 0.0006
Today In History
2012 — Tammy Baldwin Elected First Openly Gay U.S. Senator
American politician Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, became the first openly gay person to be elected to the U.S. Senate
1995 — Cleveland Browns Move to Baltimore
Art Modell, the owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, announced that he was moving the team to Baltimore, which enraged sportswriters and Cleveland fans. This controversial decision sparked outrage among the team's loyal fanbase and led to a long legal battle.
1984 — Ronald Reagan's Decisive Reelection in 1984
U.S. President Ronald Reagan won reelection in a landslide victory over Democratic candidate Walter F. Mondale
1917 — Bolshevik Seizure of Power in 1917 Russian Revolution
The second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917 began (October 25, Old Style) as the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. How much do you know about Russian history?
1888 — Benjamin Harrison Elected 1888 U.S. President
Benjamin Harrison of the Republican Party was elected U.S. president by an electoral majority despite losing the popular vote by more than 90,000 to his Democratic opponent, Grover Cleveland
1887 — Walter Johnson Born in Humboldt, Kansas
Professional baseball player Walter Johnson, who had perhaps the greatest fastball in the history of the game, was born in Humboldt, Kansas. See if Walter Johnson made our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all time UPI/Bettmann Archive
1860 — Abraham Lincoln elected president of the United States
On this day in 1860, Americans elected as their president Abraham Lincoln, whose victory led to the secession of Southern states and the long and bloody Civil War that lasted until 1865 and ended slavery in the U.S
1854 — Birth of Iconic American Bandmaster John Philip Sousa
American bandmaster John Philip Sousa, who composed 136 military marches, was born
1661 — Birth of Charles II, Last Habsburg Monarch of Spain
Charles II, who ruled Spain from 1665 to 1700 and was the last monarch of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, was born

This is today, boiled down to the essentials. The full stash lives at logicalchaos.ca. Go get lost in it.