Donald Trump ‘shied away from criticising Nick Fuentes’

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/28/donald-trump-shied-away-from-criticising-nick-fuentes

Donald Trump repeatedly refused to disavow the outspoken antisemite and white supremacist Nick Fuentes after they spoke over dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort, rejecting the advice from advisers over fears he might alienate a section of his base, two people familiar with the situation said.

Trump has had a long history of delaying or muting criticism of white supremacy, drawing moral equivalency in 2017 between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters at the deadly unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, and refusing to denounce the far-right Proud Boys group at a 2020 presidential debate.

Steve Bannon Blasts Trump Staff Over Nick Fuentes, Kanye West Dinner

https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-blasts-trump-staff-over-nick-fuentes-kanye-west-dinner-1762539

 Bannon, a former Trump strategist, questioned during an episode of his War Room podcast on Saturday why Trump's staff allowed the controversial meeting to take place, describing it as a setup to tarnish Trump's image.

"Did the staff think that this was a good idea?" he asked, describing the dinner, in which West, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, offered Trump a spot as his running mate on his own presidential run as a "trolling operation."

White Nationalist Nick Fuentes Admits The TRUTH About Trump

POLITICO Playbook: Trump world reels after white nationalist dinner

 https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/11/26/trump-world-reels-after-white-nationalist-dinner-00070831

Trump’s unwillingness to criticize those who’ve been complimentary towards him is nothing new — even when condemnation is merited, and even when his refusal to do so explodes in his face, as with his comment that there were “some very fine people on both sides” after white nationalists marched on Charlottesville, Va.

Trump's former US ambassador to Israel blasts meeting with Ye, Nick Fuentes: 'You are better than this'

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-former-us-ambassador-israel-blasts-meeting-ye-nick-fuentes

Prominent Jewish leaders are slamming former President Donald Trump after he hosted a dinner at his Florida estate that included rap artist Kanye West, also known as Ye, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Both have been accused of antisemitism after comments they made about Jewish people.

"To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this," David Friedman, who served as Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2017-2021, posted on Twitter Friday.  "Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable."

Trump team does damage control after he dines with Ye and white supremacist Nick Fuentes

 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/f-ing-nightmare-trump-team-damage-control-dines-ye-white-supremacist-n-rcna58780

Even the two Trump advisers winced at how a Holocaust denier like Fuentes was able to wind up with Trump at dinner — even if it was by mistake — along with the rapper, who had just had his Twitter account restored but lost major endorsement deals for making antisemitic remarks.

Nick Fuentes Turns on Donald Trump, Calls for New 2024 Candidate

 https://www.newsweek.com/nick-fuentes-turns-donald-trump-calls-new-2024-candidate-holocaust-denier-1762519

But 24-year-old Fuentes, a vocal supporter of the MAGA movement, has now turned on his former hero. He said: "Conservative media speculates that Ye and I are being used to hurt Trump. It is the other way around.

"Trump and MTG (Marjorie Taylor Green) are being used as bait to lure the base back into supporting people like Kevin McCarthy, Ronna McDaniel, and Rick Grenell. I didn't leave the MAGA movement. The MAGA movement left me."

Israelis shunned at Qatar World Cup: 'You are not welcome'

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-723449

Multiple Israelis have reported an atmosphere of hostility and hatred at the World Cup in Qatar, with fans refusing to speak to Israeli journalists, waving Palestinian flags in the background of their videos and yelling at them.

Moav Vardy, KAN's foreign affairs reporter, was yelled at by a Saudi fan, who told him that "You are not welcome here, this is Qatar, this is our country, there is only Palestine, no Israel."

"We didn't want to write these words, we are not the story here. but after ten days in Doha, we cannot hide what we are going through. We are feeling hated, surrounded by hostility, not welcomed."

Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder: ‘There are quite a few areas where physics blurs into religion’

 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/26/physicist-sabine-hossenfelder-there-are-quite-a-few-areas-where-physics-blurs-into-religion-multiverse

You write that a lot of research in physics, such as hypotheses for the early universe, is “religion masquerading as science under the guise of mathematics”. Could you elaborate on that?

There are quite a few areas where the foundations of physics blur into religion, but physicists don’t notice because they’re not paying attention. It’s a lack of education in the philosophy of science in general. For example, the most commonly accepted story about the beginning of the universe is the big bang, and to some extent this is really just the simplest way you can extrapolate the equations into the past – and then you can add inflation, which is an exponential phase of expansion; or, like Roger Penrose, you can make it a cyclic universe. But maybe it was a big bounce, or it started with the collision of membranes. These ideas are all possible – they’re all compatible with the observations that we have. But I would call them ascientific – the kind of idea that evidence says nothing for nor against.

Also, it worries me that we always talk about how science supposedly self-corrects, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. They’re just trying the same thing over and over again.

Tributes paid after Dayan Ehrentreu dies aged 89

 https://www.thejc.com/news/news/tributes-paid-after-dayan-ehrentreu-dies-aged-89-2vKUKGF8cz5y5ihC9lLZKR

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has led tributes to one of the most influential Orthodox rabbis in Britain in the past 50 years, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu.

The former head of the London Beth Din, who was born in Frankfurt in 1932, died on Thursday morning aged 89.

Trump puts his ego before everything - NY Post editorial

 https://nypost.com/2022/11/26/trump-puts-his-ego-before-everything/

Having driven away every capable aide through paranoia or his bitter fixation on losing the 2020 election, this is now the company Trump keeps. The Groypers, the Proud Boys — Trump won’t denounce any of them. They like him, so how bad can they be? And so — again — Trump puts his own ego before common sense, before tolerance, before judgment, before country. 

Could Herschel Walker be Disqualified From Georgia Runoff Over 'Tax Fraud?'

 https://www.newsweek.com/could-herschel-walker-disqualified-georgia-runoff-over-tax-fraud-1762365

Herschel Walker has been accused of claiming a "principal residence" tax exemption for a property in Texas, despite registering to vote in Georgia which he hopes to represent in the Senate.

The Trump-backed Republican faces a runoff against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock on December 6, after neither candidate secured an absolute majority in the November 8 midterm vote.

Based on an analysis of tax records, CNN reports Walker received a homestead tax exemption this year for a house in Dallas, saving him around $1,500.

To do this, the former NFL star declared the property to be his "primary residence," despite registering to vote in Georgia last year.

Pennsylvania House impeaches Philly DA Larry Krasner over policies

 https://www.abc27.com/this-week-in-pennsylvania/pennsylvania-politics/pennsylvania-house-impeaches-philly-da-larry-krasner-over-policies/

 Philadelphia’s elected Democratic prosecutor faces a state Senate trial and possible removal from office after the Republican-led state House voted Wednesday to impeach him over progressive policies he has enacted amid rising crime in the city.

Lawmakers voted 107-85 to impeach District Attorney Larry Krasner, setting the stage for what would be the first Pennsylvania Senate impeachment trial in nearly three decades. Republicans currently have a 29-21 majority in the state Senate, going to 28-22 early next year, and a two-thirds vote would be required to remove Krasner.

Krasner, who was overwhelmingly reelected by Philadelphia voters last year, is not accused of breaking the law. Instead, Republicans argued that he should be removed from office for various reasons, including his failure to prosecute some minor crimes and his bail request policies, his staff oversight and reports that his office didn’t adequately notify crime victims about certain matters. They also alleged that Krasner obstructed the House’s investigation of his office.

“They have impeached me without presenting a single shred of evidence connecting our policies to any uptick in crime,” he said.

Progressive Prosecutors Are Not Tied to the Rise in Violent Crime

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/progressive-prosecutors-are-not-tied-to-the-rise-in-violent-crime/

In cities across the country, rising violent crime rates have spurred polarized political discourse around what truly keeps Americans safe in their communities. Overall violent crime and homicide rates rose significantly in 2020—increasing by 5 percent and nearly 30 percent, respectively. Despite crime data limitations for 2021, multiple sources report a slowing of these troubling trends. Critics of efforts to reform the broken criminal legal system have capitalized on public fears around rising crime to advance the unfounded claims that progressive prosecutors are to blame. But the evidence simply does not back up these accusations.

A new study led by researchers at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto—in collaboration with researchers from Rutgers University, Temple University, Loyola University of Chicago, and University of Missouri, St. Louis—rebuts claims by media outlets and elected officials that progressive prosecutors have caused crime in cities to rise. This comprehensive analysis finds no evidence linking progressive prosecutors to rising homicide rates in major cities during the coronavirus pandemic or prior to it. As researchers, policymakers, and the general public continue to investigate the causes of rising violent crime in recent years, this study contributes to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that progressive prosecution is not among them.

Violent crime is having real and devastating impacts on communities across the country, particularly communities of color, where resources and opportunities have been disinvested for decades. Rather than looking for real solutions that would make everyone safer, some politicians have taken aim at progressive prosecutors, casting blame where it does not belong. The causes of crime are complex, but one thing is clear: This study finds no evidence linking progressive prosecutors to recent rising crime rates in the major cities studied. Research on progressive prosecution should further investigate the effect their policies may have on the administration of justice, reducing poverty, and increasing the trust in the institution of government.