RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/November 2016

November 2016
Obama decides to leave Trump with an even larger, unaccountable military force. Trudeau approves Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. Three California mosques receive letters praising Trump and threatening genocide. Slovakia toughens church registration rules to bar Islam. Officer has charged a Black pedestrian for bumping his shoulder. WikiLeaks has released half a million US diplomatic cables from 1979. Turkish spy in Bremen, Germany plotted murder of 2 Kurds. Turkey detains BBC journalist reporting on mine disaster. Barrett Brown leaves prison still chained to a crime he didn't commit. Watergate-era Church Committee staffers urge leniency for Snowden. ACLU-obtained emails prove that the Federal Bureau of Prisons covered up its visit to the CIA’s torture site. FBI to gain expanded hacking powers as Senate effort to block fails. A woman dies in ICE custody in Arizona. 4 people, including an infant, have died in Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke’s jail. Sanctuary cities in Texas vow to oppose Trump’s deportations. Far-right nationalist march on Poland’s independence day. Obama’s white-collar overtime pay mandate blocked by a judge. An airline used by Amazon wins an order to end cargo pilots’ strike. In an unrelated incident, an Amazon employee tried to kill himself after he was put on an employee-improvement plan which can lead to termination. Norwegian police arrest 20 men in pedophile network probe; Norwegian authorities say at least 51 people are involved. 7 dead, at least 53 injured in Tennessee wildfire. (Autoplay video) Trump abandons campaign promise to penalize outsourcing, offers tax breaks instead. Even as the public acknowledges the need for more trustworthy reporting, newsrooms are being decimated. Trump’s cabinet choices only get worse. His health policy picks are Tom Prince, a “health freedom” advocate, for the Department of Health and Human Services and Seema Verma for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, whose consulting firm made it harder for the poor in Indiana to benefit from Obamacare. His Treasury Secretary is Steven Mnuchin, an ex-Goldman Sachs banker who has worked with George Soros. His national security adviser, Michael Flynn, facilitated the murder of civilians in Afghanistan. A petition urging the Electoral College to elect Hillary Clinton reaches almost 4.7 million signatures. - That's more than double her popular vote lead. [https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-source-says-elaine-chao-transportation-pick-164900671--finance.html Elaine Chao, wife of Mitch McConnell, is picked for Secretary of Transportation. ] Sweden's Yule Goat burns down in record time Toronto's "left-of-centre" student newspaper provides a good summary of the current "social justice" movement, in context of the Jordan Peterson controversy, in Drowning out Discourse. A Japanese theme park thought it was a good idea to freeze 5,000 dead fish in a skating rink The Green Party Jill Stein files for a recount of votes in Wisconsin. There has been an influx of "progressive" whites to the DAPL protest, who are treating it all like some counter culture festival. A Black woman in a wheelchair was tased by Texas cops for not stopping the recording of her daughter's arrest. James Means, a Black teen, was shot and killed by White man who called him “another piece of trash”. Three years after the EuroMaidan protests, Ukrainians continue to be disappointed by the government's corruption. 12 Yemeni civilians have been killed as the Saudi-led coalition continues to bomb civilian targets with arms supplied by the US. The US Navy's new, $4 billion advanced warship the USS Zumwalt has broken down for the second time. Employees of John N. Kapoor’s Insys Therapeutics bribed doctors to prescribe large, off-label doses of painkiller, prosecutors charge. At least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra activists killed in chilling crackdown. A third of the refugee children removed from Calais have gone missing. According to a report by the Lancet, smugglers have forcibly sedating refugees with deadly shots of fuel and parasites ahead of their long refugees; their organs have also been harvested to be sold on the black market. Porn websites in the UK will be banned from showing a huge range of sex acts and check to confirm that its users are 18 under proposed new law. The Trump Foundation admits to violating ban on self-dealing in a new IRS filing. Trump will allow corporations and wealthy individuals to make large donations to fund the activities surrounding his inauguration. Protests keep Israel’s bulldozers away from Bedouin village The US Army Corps of Engineers orders eviction of Dakota pipeline protesters' camp. Meanwhile, Dakota Access workers lay a razor wire fence on the Native American burial ground. (Video) Fidel Castro, the [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/fidel-castro-cuban-dictator-dies-at-xxx/2016/11/26/f37bf3bc-b399-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html? former Communist dictator of Cuba, has died at the age of 90]. Maybe now he can duke it out with Kennedy in heaven. A manhunt is underway in the South of France after a masked man entered a retirement home for retired Catholic monks and killed a member of staff. Police protecting the Dakota Access pipeline are using [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/21/standing-rock-protest-hundreds-clash-with-police-over-dakota-access-pipeline? teargas, rubber bullet, mace, concussion grenades during the standoff], as well as spraying protestors with water cannons in freezing temperatures, and have arrested one protestor. One woman protesting the pipeline was hit by a concussion grenade (Graphic photos) and may lose her arm. (Video showing the crackdown.) Medics at the protest explain the abuse further. Trump has recently met with his Indian business partners, supposedly asked Argentine President Mauricio Macri for help with building permit in Buenos Aires, and urged Nigel Farage to oppose Scottish wind farms near his country club (Autoplay video); cases like these are raising ethical concerns about Trump's international business empire; his international ties include a $150K speech to a Ukrainian oligarch and various foreign banks. Richard Painter, Dubya's formerethics lawyer, says that such conflicts of interests may violate the emolument clause of the Constitution. Meanwhile, he has had an off-the-record, private meeting with [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-network-anchors-meeting_us_583333f6e4b058ce7aac3fc0? media executives and anchors] and has donated thousands to Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, so don't expect any resistance to his business dealings. Update: Trump's response, what did you expect. Trump's breaks another campaign promise by pledging to continue the US's military cooperation of South Korea. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's possible Secretary of State pick, has accepted money from the Iranian terrorist group, Mujahidin e-Khalq. A new Rutgers report reveals the University's ties to slavery & displacement of Native Americans. The Chilcot inquiry was meant to avoid accountability. The FTC will now require homeopathic "treatments" to be labelled as ineffective. US homeless has dropped nationally but there is reason to be skeptical. Betsy DeVos, wife of the president of Amway, is appointed as Secretary of Education. Nikki Haley has been picked as the UN envoy. Moralized Rationality a concept that seems to describe the skeptic community at large. Bernie Sanders urges progressives to rise above "shallow" identity politics. Some other thoughts he has the Democratic party and identity politics. Anti-Muslim assaults reach 9/11 era levels, FBI data show Trump disavows and condemns the Alt-right Most middle school children are unable to distinguish between real and fake news sources, a Stanford University study suggests. Something else Trump doesn't understand: how ambassadors are appointed. Au revoir, monsieur Sarkozy! Child refugees forced to work for nothing after leaving Calais. Driving while Black means getting pulled over and searched for many African-Americans. (Autoplay video) The North Pole is an insane 36 Fahrenheit degrees warmer than normal as winter descends. [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/15/more-than-7m-britons-in-precarious-employment? More than 7 million Britons now in precarious employment.] Thousands of Canadians protest the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion in Vancouver. $25 million settlement reached in Trump University lawsuit. Update: Trump will likely get a $25 million tax write-off becuase of course he would. Mike Pence wants his email communications limited from public access. NASA tests the EM Drive, and it seems to be working. In Libya, a monkey stole a schoolgirl's head scarf, sparking days of tribal violence with 16 people dead and dozens injured so far Michigan could not be bothered to provide clean water to the residents of Flint. Donald Trump has selected Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, a an opponent to civil rights, and white nationalists are ecstatic. Mike Pompeo also appears to be his pick as head the CIA. A Muslim man was firebombed while driving on a Texas highway. Chios island refugee camp in Greece attacked. [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/18/slovenia-adds-water-to-constitution-as-fundamental-right-for-all? Slovenia adds water to constitution as fundamental right for all.] Briton who reported rape in Dubai could face jail for extramarital sex. The British have passed the snooper charter which forces internet providers to store browsing data for up to a year. A huge trove of Remington's rifle documents is made public showing that the company sold their rifle knowing that its defective trigger would cause misfires. Immigration hardliner says Trump team preparing plans for wall and mulling a Muslim registry. A look at Australia's exploitation of migrant farm workers. (Autoplay video) No DAPL protests are held in about 300 cities across the US. (Autoplay video) Senator Bernie Sanders joined protestors outside the White House. Obama administration cancels oil and gas leases on Blackfeet tribe’s sacred grounds. EU declares right to boycott Israel is protected by free speech, but the foreign policy chief maintains that EU rejects the BDS campaign. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/16/chagos-islanders-denied-right-to-return-home? The UK Foreign Office will deny the Chagos Islanders their right to return to Diego Garcia, the island they were forcibly removed from in order to allow the US to establish a military base.] An ICC report finds that US armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2014. Obama has no plans to tighten "rules" for assassinating individuals on kill lists. Hate crimes against American Muslims have surged 67% since 2015, but Jews remained the most frequent target of religious-based hate crimes in the US. A new report finds that in many of Boston's communities of color, incarceration rates are much more elevated than crime rates. (The report itself) Ireland performs poorly in EU social justice survey. Sarkozy [http://en.rfi.fr/france/20161114-sarkozy-proposes-carbon-tax-us-goods-if-trump-scraps-paris-climate-pact? proposes EU introduce carbon tax on U.S. goods] in case the new U.S. administration discards the Paris climate agreement. Muslim teaching assistant objects to graphic video footage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks being shown to a special needs class of 11-12 year olds; fired for allowing her religion to get in the way of work, in spite of her claim that it isn't about her religion. Leaked memos reveal that British officials hope to exploit Trump's political inexperience and that Theresa May still has no plan to complete Brexit. China has executed Jia Jinglong, a villager who murdered a CCP official for demolishing his house. AJC and ISNA launch the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council. Russia's economy minister, Alexei Ulyukayev has been detained over a $2-million bribe. Donald Trump plans to appoint Steve Bannon as his chief strategists; everyone, from the US media to the Israeli media and AIPAC, seems to refuse to denounce Bannon's white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Trump says that he is okay with the possibility of women having to go to another state to get an abortion if his SCOTUS nominee helps to overturn Roe v. Wade. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/abortion-rights-orgs-after-trump? Pro-choice groups react to his statement.] A man suspected of working for Dakota Access has run over two people and shot at protesters. Video also shows that the company has fenced wild Buffalo in an 8ft trench without food or water. [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/chelsea-manning-asks-obama-to-cut-sentence-to-time-served.html? Chelsea Manning is petitioning Obama to release her on time served.] Israel seeks to ban mosques from using loudspeakers and legalize settlements in the West Bank. Trump won't rip up Iran deal, adviser confirms. 2016 will be the hottest year on record UN says. Good thing the US just elected to the most powerful office in the world, a man who believes in climate change and intends to be proactive about it. Oh, what's that you say? Oh no! Meet the “Reichsbürger” movement: a pseudolaw conspiracy theory with a German flavour. The average US checking account fee costs $1,000. Congress appears to be abandoning the TPP after Trump's win. Donald Trump says he will end the US support for the Syrian rebels. Donald Trump plans to immediately deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records; to no one's surprise, there aren't that many undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Update: The LAPD will not help Trump deport immigrants. According to the Times of Israel, the United Nations of all things, have rated the emergency medical team of the Israel Defense Force the best in the world. Supermoon 11/13-14. There have been over 200 incidents of harassment and intimidation since the US election. Such incidents include a hate speech against a Muslim teacher in Georgia, a Black doll hung as an effigy at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, a substitute teacher telling a student that their parents will be deported in Los Angeles, California, and a large amount of racist graffiti. Obama’s final arms-export tally is more than double Bush’s. Indian tea workers' conditions remain very poor. Amazon delivery drivers feel compelled to defecate in vans to save time. Wages of Hispanic women decline nearly 21 percent in Wisconsin. Calexit? Millions sign a petition urging the Electoral College to elect Hillary Clinton. America under Trump: Trump has released his plan for his first 100 days and he has released his cabinet picks which include Social Security privatisers, lobbyists, and an architect of Bush's torture program. TransCanada hopes to push through the Keystone XL pipeline while fears are raised that Trump will approve the Dakota Access pipeline due to his [http://www.ecowatch.com/dakota-access-pipeline-trump-2089412641.html? personal investments in the project.] At least he says he [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKBN13628S? might keep parts of Obamacare.] The Dakota Access will drill their pipeline under the Missouri River in weeks despite protests. Luckily for them, Obama will likely approve it. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-directs-pentagon-to-target-al-qaeda-affiliate-in-syria-one-of-the-most-formidable-forces-fighting-assad/2016/11/10/cf69839a-a51b-11e6-8042-f4d111c862d1_story.html? Obama has finally begun targeting Al Qaeda in Syria.] US-led coalition strike kills 20 civilians near Raqqa. Donald Trump launches a government website to facilitate the transition to his presidency. Nigerian preacher TB Joshua deletes prophecy of Clinton win Assaults on members of the LGBT community and damage to their property have been linked to Trump supporters, but it's still too early to know if this is evidence of a trend.. There are attacks on Muslim students on college campuses as a result of the Trump election, underscoring the criticism that Donald Trump's harsh anti-Muslim language was emboldening extremists. Donald Trump in keeping his word to kill climate change policy, reportedly will appoint Myron Ebell, a notorious climate change denier. Nigel Farage, interim leader (still) of UKIP, takes credit for Trump's electoral success; jokes about the prospect of Trump raping Theresa May. Crazification factor just went up to 47.5 percent.

A BBC investigation of a military charity finds them raising funds through offensive merchandise. While the staff can try to defend themselves as only mocking Jihadists with their Anti-Islam gear, it doesn't quite explain the Nazi paraphernalia. Glenn Beck isn't the raving lunatic he used to be. Janet Reno, first female Attorney General of the United States, has died at age 78. A bunch of idiots, misled by a demagogue with fascistic overtones, in a display of total misunderstanding and/or ignorance of the independence of the judiciary, will march on the British Supreme Court on the date of the Brexit legal challenge hearing. The Clinton Foundation confirms that it failed to report Qatar's $1 million birthday gift to Bill Clinton while Hillary was at State Dept. A Chicago officer fatally shoots a Black man after road rage incident in Mount Greenwood. Documents reveal US marines are amassing information on Japanese protesters and journalists in Okinawa. Chelsea Manning has tried to kill herself a second time while in solitary confinement which was used to punish her for her first suicide attempt. Video shows a nurse in a Texas jail allowing a woman to die in a diabetic coma after refusing to test her blood sugar. [http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/03/500215155/in-pakistan-illegal-kidney-trade-flourishes-as-victims-await-justice? The illegal kidney trade continues to flourish in Pakistan despite ban.] Priests molesting children or voting for Democrats. Which is a mortal sin? A Catholic church in San Diego has told its parishioners which action will condemns one's soul to suffer everlasting hellfire. Climate change is causing low oxygen levels in the ocean which could lead to losses in fisheries and a collapse of marine ecosystems.

[http://metro.co.uk/2016/11/04/bbc-just-trolled-a-conservative-mp-brilliantly-with-god-save-the-queen-6234486/ BBC brilliantly trolls jingoist prick of an MP who demands it play "God Save The Queen" every night! ]Yep. This is where we are. You see, Americans, we have our own Louie Gohmerts. We're just better at ignoring them most of the time! Human Rights Watch has released a report that shows Belgium has committed abuses such as beatings, prolonged solitary detention, and reviewing suspects’ phone records without judicial approval after the ISIL terrorist attacks. Khaled Al-Omair, a Saudi activist arrested in Saudi Arabia for protesting the 2009 Gaza war, has begun a hunger strike over his torture and seemingly indefinite detention. Such abuse is not rare as the Gulf states 140 prominent political activists. Erin Schrode, an activist journalist, was shot by police with a rubber bullet while she was giving an interview at the Dakota Access pipeline protest. Net worth of White households in D.C. is 81 times that of Black households. House Republicans are preventing Dr. Eugene Gu from researching how to grow human organs in animals in order to save infants because he is using aborted fetal tissue. Turkey has now detained at least eleven MPs from the People's Democracy Party (HDP); this includes pro-Kurdish leaders, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag. [http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/starbucks-new-unity-cup-draws-fire-ahead-election-n676521 Starbuck's new coffee cup sparks "War on Christmas" outrage... Again. It's the most wonderful time of the year!] UK High Court decides Parliament must have final say on Brexit! Update: Jeremy Corbyn has announced that the Labour Party will still push for Brexit. (Autoplay video) Back To The Future II was a year off. Saudi Student Beaten to Death in Wisconsin As the Dakota Access pipeline nears completion (Video), the police continue to violently suppress the protesters. (Video) A DAPL security contractor tried to infiltrate the protesters with his AR-15 as an agent provocateur; the company and State Historical Society also failed to notify North Dakota government officials that they had found protected Native American artifacts. President Peace Prize has broken another record: most immigrants detained for deportation. (Hard paywall) A UN study has found that peacekeepers in South Sudan failed to protect civilians from rape, torture, and murder during the violence in July. The Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi has been burned and vandalized with "Vote Trump". [http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-11-01/fbi-surprises-with-files-on-bill-clinton-01-pardon-of-marc-rich? The FBI has released its 129 pages on its investigation of Bill Clinton's 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a Democratic political donor.] (Autoplay video; the files themselves) Storms and flooding, caused by global warming, are damaging or destroying a growing share of the US's 1.1 million public housing units forcing residents to flee. Two police were killed in "ambush-style" shootings in Des Moines, Iowa. The suspect in the shootings, a 36-year-old white male has been taken into custody. The suspect has a history of racism and of run-ins with the police including assault harassment.