White House Dossier's

Largest Christian university in the nation alleges it's being unjustly targeted by federal agencies . . . The president of Grand Canyon University (GCU), the nation's largest Christian university, told Fox News Digital in an interview that he believes the university is unfairly being targeted by the Department of Education (ED) and other federal agencies. GCU President Brian Mueller was asked if he believes the federal government's investigations are religiously motivated, to which he answered he hopes that is not the case. "Well, they haven't said it is, and I certainly haven't said it is. And I hope that it's not, but that the two largest Christian universities in the country are being investigated," Mueller told Fox News Digital, referring to an ED probe into Liberty University in Virginia. "And so is that [a] coincidence? I don't know." Mueller's comments came in the midst of the Arizona-based university facing a number of investigations from ED and other federal agencies. Fox News

Warfare by Immigration . . . The  global Communist movement, allied with the Islamic World seeks to destroy America and the West. They have little reason to doubt that they are winning. In London, 100,000 protestors, most of them Muslim immigrants, defended the attack by Hamas on Israel. American cities have seen similar displays. It bears repeating for this generation that the goal, now as then, is the destruction of the West. Israel was, and is, an outpost of the West and a defender of human freedom. Terrorist campaigns to destroy Israel were useful to animate certain parts of the Islamic world on behalf of the protracted war the Communists were waging against human freedom.

Some of the protestors are themselves Palestinians who have imported their grievances to the United States. Others are Communists, Marxists, Leninists, Muslims, and Muslim immigrants who are emboldened to defend openly the use of terrorism as a legitimate political act. It should be perfectly clear they have rejected the principles of the United States and embraced the nihilistic death cult that is global Islamic terrorism. American Mind

‘Certainly Has Been A Trend’: Trump Continues To Beat Biden In National, Swing-State Polls . . . Former President Donald Trump appears to be trending ahead of President Joe Biden in a series of recent national and battleground state surveys ahead of a potential 2024 rematch between the two. Trump is beating Biden in several key swing-states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and is leading anywhere from two points to five points nationally, according to recent surveys. Several polling analysts acknowledged that the former president appears to be leading Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, but some aren’t convinced the trend is predictive of the 2024 outcome. Daily Caller

Speaker race shows limits, lengths of Trump’s influence . . . For Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s “Complete & Total Endorsement” was not enough to rally the House Republican conference behind his bid for the Speaker’s gavel. But for Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the No. 3 ranking Republican in the House, Trump’s public opposition was enough to effectively end his time as the party’s Speaker nominee hours after it began. The scramble among House Republicans to elect a Speaker, which concluded Wednesday, illustrated both the depths and limits of Trump’s influence over the conference. The Hill

5 challenges facing new Speaker Mike Johnson . . . Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) ascended to the role Wednesday, three weeks and one day after eight GOP House members ignited chaos by ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Johnson is a staunch social conservative, as well as a strong ally of former President Trump. Johnson aided Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 election result. The Hill

Prosecutor says Biden bribery claim was credible enough for further investigation, but FBI resisted . . . In bombshell testimony, the federal prosecutor who initially probed the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine told Congress his team had corroborated enough of an FBI informant’s claim of an alleged bribery scheme involving Joe Biden to merit further investigation but he encountered unprecedented foot-dragging and “reluctance” inside both the FBI and the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office that took over the case, Just the News has learned. Just the News

U.S. ammo supplies feel the pinch as Ukraine and Israel draw down depleted inventory . . . Two hot wars and a potential crisis in Taiwan raise fresh questions on industrial defense base. Conflicts in Ukraine and Israel have required some logistical backing and filling with uncertain end dates for planners. In January, the Pentagon dipped into a little-known stockpile earmarked for Israel to help Ukraine meet its urgent need for artillery ammunition to continue its nearly year-old fight against Russian invaders. The munitions were intended to support future U.S. and allied military needs in the Middle East. Then came Oct. 7, when Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip launched a devastating rampage across southern Israel. Now, the Defense Department is scrambling to direct the artillery ammunition back to Israel to support an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Washington Times

The Return of Nuclear Escalation . . . How America’s Adversaries Have Hijacked Its Old Deterrence Strategy. Nuclear weapons once again loom large in international politics, and a dangerous pattern is emerging. In the regions most likely to draw the United States into conflict—the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Strait, eastern Europe, and the Persian Gulf—U.S. adversaries appear to be acquiring, enhancing, or threatening to use nuclear weapons. North Korea is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the United States; China is doubling the size of its arsenal; Russia is threatening to use nuclear weapons in its war in Ukraine; and according to U.S. officials, Iran has amassed enough fissile material for a bomb. Many people hoped that once the Cold War ended, nuclear weapons would recede into irrelevance. Instead, many countries are relying on them to make up for the weakness of their conventional military forces. Foreign Affairs

U.S. Worries About Escalation in Pacific as Chinese Military Steps Up Confrontation . . . China’s jet fighters are harassing American military aircraft and stepping up sorties around Taiwan. Its coast guard is confronting a U.S. security treaty ally in the South China Sea, leading to a recent collision. Amid the tensions, talks between the U.S. and Chinese militaries remain largely frozen, which leads Washington to worry that a misstep could trigger a dangerous escalation. Wall Street Journal

What’s Happening in Israel and Gaza Today . . . The Israeli military carried out what appears to be its biggest incursion into the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Wall Street Journal

Hamas Fighters Trained in Iran Before Oct. 7 Attacks . . . In the weeks leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, hundreds of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s fighters received specialized combat training in Iran, according to people familiar with intelligence related to the assault. Roughly 500 militants from Hamas and an allied group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, participated in the exercises in September, which were led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign-operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the people said. Senior Palestinian officials and Iranian Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Quds Force, also attended, they said. Wall Street Journal

Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum . . .  Roughly 11 days after Hamas launched a murderous attack on Israel, a message posted to a newly created Telegram channel claimed that the computer systems at Israel’s Nevatim Air Force Base had been breached. What appeared to be a pro-Palestinian group claimed to have collected information about the facility’s pilots, other personnel and their families. The message included screenshots and videos purportedly taken from security cameras near the base. “You will NOT be safe,” a caption on one of the images read. Cyber Scoop

Hamas is playing for time . . . Hamas leaders know that once the Israeli counter-offensive starts, they will lose their greatest asset: their inter-connected tunnels. This vast warren conceals the vital operations for the manufacture, storage and launch of their rockets, and shieldsheadquarters and rest areas from detection and air strikes. The discovery that Hamas was going all out to build these tunnels marked the start of the Israeli army’s education in the arcane art of finding, conquering (“clearing” is reductive) and quickly demolishing them. But tunnel warfare, it swiftly discovered, is not for amateurs. Nor is it even for highly accomplished but generic “commandos” including its top echelon Sayeret Matkal. It requires specific detection and monitoring skills, ultra close-combat skills and weapons (even compact assault rifles are too long), specialised shields and respirators, as well as the very quick reactions that all first-rate soldiers must have. UnHeard

Why Did Hamas Conduct a Terrorist Attack on Israel and Why Now? . . . On October 7th, the day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Hamas launched its deadliest terrorist, military, and hostage-taking attack ever on Israel. The attack comprised complex, multi-dimensional terrorism and other assaults using intelligence, ground, air, sea, rocket-missile, cyber, and propaganda capabilities. 

The entirety of October 7th reflects years of planning, training, and compartmented rehearsing on the part of Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades and relied on foreign assistance of diverse types over years from Iran, probably Iran’s proxies, such as Hezbollah, and others, and involved the secreting of resources and materiel, underground manufacturing, an amalgamation of new and hodgepodges of weapons, and much more. Cipher Brief

Qatar’s super-fixer role in Israel-Hamas war brings praise and scrutiny . . . One day, it was US secretary of state Antony Blinken flying into Qatar to secure Doha’s support in releasing hostages seized by Hamas and preventing the militant group’s war with Israel escalating into a regional conflict. The next, it was Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amirabdollahian touching down in the Gulf state condemning Israel and warning that its bombardment of Gaza risked broadening the conflict. Amirabdollahian then met Ismail Haniyeh, the Doha-based political leader of Hamas, and lauded the “Palestinian victory”, referring to the militant group’s October 7 attack that triggered the war. The visits this month, coupled with a flurry of phone calls with world leaders, underlined how Qatar is once more on the diplomatic front lines of an international crisis — a role that has brought the gas-rich state both praise and scrutiny. Financial Times
 

Ukraine moves to ban Orthodox churches over alleged Russian ties . . . The Ukrainian legislature is moving toward a ban on its historic Orthodox church due to concerns about Russian ties. Law 8371 would grant the Ukrainian government power to investigate and ban Ukrainian religious authorities with connections to Russia. It was overwhelmingly approved with a vote of 267-15. Fox News

Money

Billionaire predicts 'probably recession' in 2024, suggests US entering '7 lean years' of Pharaoh's dream . . . Omega Advisors billionaire CEO and chairman Leon Cooperman warned Wednesday that while the U.S. economy is "doing fine" at the moment, there is risk of a recession in 2024. Cooperman said a recession in 2024 would be due in-part to the effect inflated energy prices and quantitative tightening would have over that time. Fox Business

With House speaker installed, US Congress returns to spending battles . . . The morning after U.S. House of Representatives Republicans united around new Speaker Mike Johnson, lawmakers on Thursday returned their attention to spending bills urgently needed to avert a government shutdown and respond to crises overseas.

Congress has just over three weeks until a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded runs out on Nov. 17, and Democratic President Joe Biden is also pushing for $106 billion in new spending to aid Israel and Ukraine, and beef up enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reuters

Culture

‘I Was Fired for Setting Academic Standards’ . . . Sure, you could study hard to get a degree. But at Spelman, where I taught, you could also get a top administrator to change your grades. Grade inflation is now widespread at American universities. When I accepted a tenure-track position in the economics department of Spelman College in the spring of 2021, handing out bogus grades was the last thing on my mind. Spelman, after all, has a great reputation. Based in Atlanta, it’s a women-only historically black college, one of the oldest in the country; for the past 15 years, it’s been rated the number one HBCU by U.S. News & World Report. Free Press

Oregon Moms Union slams removal of standardized test from high school graduation requirement: 'Not surprising' . . . An Oregon-based parental rights group said it was "not surprising" that the Oregon State Board of Education decided to remove the requirement to show proof of mastery in reading, writing, and math through a standardized test in order to graduate from high school. Fox News

Meet the Student Leader of the Group Behind the Viral Anti-Semitic Incident at George Washington University . . . The president of the student group that projected pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic messages onto a George Washington University library gave a speech in May glorifying Palestinian terrorist "martyrs" for making the "ultimate sacrifice" and called for violent "resistance" against Israelis, according to a video of the event. Free Beacon

Mentally ill gun expert Robert Card on the loose after killing 18 in hail of bullets at bar, bowling alley . . . A mass shooter went on a horrifying rampage in Maine Wednesday night, murdering at least 18 people at a bar and a bowling alley and sparking a massive manhunt, according to law enforcement sources and reports. Over a dozen people were wounded in the two separate shootings in Lewiston, the state’s second-largest city — which was put under a shelter-in-place order following the bloodshed that began just before 7 p.m., police and sources said. New York Post

Adult ADHD may take a toll on the brain. Here’s what to know . . . 
Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often misunderstood, and people who struggle with it are often viewed as quirky, disorganized, creative or forgetful. Many people go a lifetime without receiving a diagnosis or treatment. Untreated ADHD is a risk factor for a number of challenges, including unsafe driving, substance abuse and a higher risk of early death, according to a growing body of research. Now, new research is showing that adult ADHD may take a toll on the brain and is linked to a higher likelihood of developing dementia. A study published in JAMA Network Open reported that being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult is associated with a 2.77-fold increased risk of dementia. Washington Post

The Cannabis That People Are Using for Anxiety Is Probably Making It Worse . . . Lots of people with anxiety are counting on cannabis’s ability to treat their symptoms. There’s a problem: The science shows that it probably doesn’t help, and it may make those symptoms worse. Cannabis companies have promoted their products as helpful for anxiety, making for a potentially lucrative market.  nxious consumers have turned to weed and edibles for relief as treatments for their ailments have become harder to find. The number of available and affordable therapists badly lags demand and traditional medications don’t work for everyone. Driving both users’ and businesses’ hopes is a belief that pot can make us less anxious. Yet little independent scientific evidence shows that cannabis is an effective treatment for anxiety problems, and some studies have found it can worsen symptoms. Researchers say this is particularly true for products high in THC, the substance responsible for marijuana’s intoxicating effects. Wall Street Journal

Smoke Rises Over Capitol Indicating Congress Has Resumed Setting Taxpayers' Money On Fire . . . Smoke rose from the Capitol building early this afternoon, indicating that Congress had resumed shoveling taxpayer dollars into a giant bonfire. "They're back at it," said local resident Milton Dennings, watching the cloud of smoke rise. "Well. All good things must come to an end. Babylon Bee