Florida’s DeSantis Takes Aim at America’s ‘Ruling Class’ . . . President Joe Biden and the “entrenched political class” are ruining America with the help of a corrupt and partisan corporate media, says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who promised to lead the fight against the current regime. In a 40-minute speech Thursday to about 800 conservative supporters of The Heritage Foundation, the Florida governor tackled a range of issues where Biden and his left-wing allies want to transform America. DeSantis reserved some of his strongest criticism for the “elites” and “globalists” who he said have led America astray. 

“Biden really represents potentially the culmination of—or, I mean, hopefully, the coup de grâce of—this entrenched political class that has really ruined a lot about our country over the last generation. It’s not limited to just Democrats,” DeSantis said. “There’s a uni-party in Washington, D.C., and they look out for themselves more than the rest of the American people.”  Daily Signal

 

 

Biden Signs $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Into Law . . . President Biden signed into law a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair the nation’s aging roads and bridges, upgrade the electrical grid and expand access to broadband internet. The legislation, the largest federal investment in infrastructure in more than a decade, is a central component of Mr. Biden’s domestic-policy agenda and marks a rare bipartisan policy win for the White House. “The bill I’m about to sign is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results,” Mr. Biden said Monday afternoon during a ceremony at the White House that included lawmakers, state and local officials, and business leaders. A roughly $2 trillion healthcare, education and climate-change package, another broad plank of Mr. Biden’s agenda, is still being debated by Democrats in Congress.  Wall Street Journal

 

 

 

 

Russia warned of serious consequences from any hostilities against Ukraine . . . Russia will face “serious consequences” if it threatens Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Paris and Berlin have warned, as ministers held meetings to discuss the threat posed by a build-up of troops on the country’s border. In a joint statement, Heiko Maas and Jean-Yves Le Drian, the foreign ministers of Germany and France, pledged “unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” after meeting their counterpart from Kyiv. Their words came after Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, called on Moscow to ease tensions with Ukraine and be transparent about its military activities as he warned of “unusual concentrations” of Russian troops near the country’s borders. The US briefed allies last week on intelligence indicating Moscow was preparing for a possible invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has dismissed the fears as “alarmist” and accused Nato of inflaming tensions in the region with its own unplanned exercises. Financial Times

 

As most military agencies fail annual audit, comptroller claims ‘steady progress’ . . . The Pentagon’s fourth annual audit saw just eight of 24 military agencies likely to receive a clean financial bill of health, the same number as last year, signifying only incremental improvements and a long road ahead to the military-wide passing grade sought by good government groups and members of Congress. Still, Mike McCord, the Pentagon comptroller, told press ahead of the audit’s release Monday night that the department is making “steady progress” towards its goal without taking any steps back year over year. Of the 3,482 issues identified in last year’s audit, the department has remedied over 450 of them, or 13%; when the audit is fully finished, that number is expected to rise to 19%. Breaking Defense

 

Israel Is at the Center of a New International Security Order . . . Iran couldn’t have been happy to see forces from Bahrain, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. Navy training together for the first time in history. Last week’s five-day drill in the Red Sea was intended to enhance interoperability among the countries, but also sent a strong message to Tehran: There’s now a large, organized bloc of countries opposed to its ambitions of regional hegemony. The bloc’s nexus is Israel. The Abraham Accords—which Israel, the U.A.E. and Bahrain signed in September 2020—smoothed the way for last week’s joint exercise.

 

Since the Cold War, Israel has been a part of the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility rather than that of Central Command, which stretches from Egypt to Kazakhstan. Though it makes more geographic sense for Israel to be included in Centcom, doing so would have upset the many countries in that area of responsibility that until recently didn’t recognize Israel. If the Centcom forces trained with Israel, many other regional allies would have refused to conduct joint exercises. The Abraham Accords altered the geopolitical landscape. In January the U.S. announced Israel would become a part of Centcom’s area of responsibility, making it easier for the U.S. to organize joint military drills in Israel. Wall Street Journal

 

 

Arab spy chiefs found an inner circle in Cairo, embrace Syria with US nod . . . A group of Arab intelligence directors got together for a secret rendezvous in Cairo last week, DEBKAfile’s sources reveal. The project was initiated by the US CIA and Egypt’s president Abdel Fateh El-Sisi. Prominent as a special guest was Syria’s Maj. Gen. Hussam Luka (see photo), who is currently President Bashar Assad’s favorite intelligence persona. The meeting kicked off the foundation of a club of Arab intelligence chiefs to be followed up in the coming months.
Although the Americans were involved, Israel was not given a look-in on the project. Its initial purpose, our sources reveal, was to bring together the head of Saudi General Intelligence Khaled Al-Humaiden and his Syrian counterpart, after a decade-long disconnect. It signaled a step towards mending the rift between the royal house in Riyadh headed by Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman and the Bashar Assad regime over the atrocities committed by the latter in Syria’s bloody civil war. DEBKAfile

 

Germany suspends certification of Nord Stream 2 pipeline . . . Germany’s energy regulator said it had “temporarily suspended” certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, dealing a setback to the Kremlin-backed gas project and sparking a rise in UK and continental European gas prices. The regulator said it could not yet approve the project, led by Russia’s Gazprom, because its owners had chosen to create a German subsidiary branch that was not yet properly set up according to German law. The suspension comes at a critical time for European gas supply, with prices surging across the continent. Gazprom has been accused by some countries of restricting exports to western Europe to increase pressure on Germany and accelerate approval of the project. Financial Times

 

No Breakthrough After First Virtual Summit for Biden and Xi . . . President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping did not reach any “breakthrough” on issues concerning both nations, after their first virtual summit as heads of state on Nov. 15.
Biden said the United States will work to “a​​dvance an international system that is free, open, and fair,” raising concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights record and abuses he was aware of in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.
According to the White House, Biden used the talks as an opportunity to “speak candidly and straightforwardly” to Xi about the intentions and priorities of his administration across a range of issues. Epoch Times

 

Amazon Reaches ‘First-of-Its-Kind’ Settlement With California Over Claims It Concealed COVID Cases . . . Amazon reached a “first-of-its-kind” settlement with California’s attorney general on Monday over claims it concealed COVID-19 case numbers from workers and local health agencies. The online retail giant left workers “in the dark” and unable to track the spread of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, while failing to adequately notify warehouse workers and local health agencies of the number of cases, the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. In Bonta’s initial complaint, the attorney general alleged there were “multiple instances” in which Amazon did not notify workers within one business day about potential exposure to the virus, as required by California law. Wall Street Journal

 

Biden's spending bill drops key child tax credit requirement that could pay out billions to illegal immigrants . . . President Biden's massive $1.75 trillion spending bill would drop a component of the child tax credit program that could lead to billions in payouts to illegal immigrants.  Tucked away on page 1,647 of the Build Back Better Act, the Democrats' social spending package, is a provision that would repeal the Social Security number requirement to obtain child tax credits. This change would expand child tax credits to parents of illegal immigrants who don't have Social Security numbers. Steven Camarota, a Center for Immigration Studies researcher, estimated that eliminating the requirement could result in up to $2.3 billion in additional child tax credit payouts to illegal immigrants.  Fox News 

 

Bush Family Scion Sponsors Event With Blacklisted Chinese Company . . . A scion of the Bush family is lending his influence and family name to boost a Chinese government contractor blacklisted by the U.S. government for its links to the Chinese military. Neil Bush, the son of President George H.W. Bush, is a cosponsor of the International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology that begins Nov. 18 in Beijing. Three co-chairmen of the forum are executives with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), a state-controlled contractor that builds China's military and space equipment. A subsidiary of CASC reportedly developed a hypersonic missile that the Chinese military tested in August. American officials called the nuclear-capable missile a "national security crisis" because of its ability to evade detection. Washington Free Beacon

 

Democrats Still Don’t Understand Asian American Voters . . . A rightward shift is underway for immigrant neighborhoods in New York City. The 2020 election had seen both Latino and Asian American populations swing toward the Republican Party. To some liberals, this might have seemed counterintuitive given Donald Trump’s rhetoric that is interpreted by some as anti-immigrant. But anyone who actually spends any amount of time in these ethnic enclaves or bothers to talk to immigrant parents could have seen this coming. A strategy of broad but, ultimately, shallow antiracism talk by the Biden campaign wasn’t going to attract voters who either care much less about racial issues than many might assume or may even see its egalitarianism as anathema to both their American dream and the pathways to success for their children. There are great disparities among so-called Asian American voters, which certainly makes sense given their wide range of countries of origin, class status and geographic location. But one thing they have in common is that they generally have been ignored by both parties in terms of outreach. New York Times

 

Top 10 Reasons You Should Just Turn Your Guns Over To The Government TODAY
 . . . So, you still have guns in your house, huh? Shame on you. Here's a list of reasons you should just turn in your guns right now. 
1) The government is very trustworthy and would never hurt anyone: Also, they have nukes. Resistance is futile. Just hand 'em over! 

2) With your gun safe empty, you now have a neat place to hide when robbers break into your home: Let your gun safe keep YOU safe!

3) Instead of shooting clays on Thanksgiving, you can play great games with your family, like Monopoly!

4) The government will donate your guns to a noble cause: Like drug cartels and insurgents in the Middle East.

5) You can rest assured knowing that criminals will turn in their guns too.

6) You'll be a rich man not having to buy ammo. Babylon Bee