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Denver mayor says he’s prepared to go to jail over opposition to Trump deportations of illegal immigrants

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston says that he is prepared to go to jail over his opposition to President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plan – even as he walked backed comments predicting a “Tiananmen Square moment.” Johnston had been asked last week about his opposition to the Trump plan to significantly ramp up deportations of illegal immigrants when he enters office next year. Johnston predicted police deployment and a “Tiananmen Square moment” if federal immigration officials attempted to do their job. “More than us having DPD stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Johnston said. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. DENVER MAYOR MIKE JOHNSTON SAYS TRUMP’S MASS MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS WILL CREATE ‘TIANANMEN SQUARE MOMENT’ “And you do not want to mess with them.” But in a subsequent interview on Friday with 9News, he walked back those comments. “Would I have taken it back if I could? Yes, I probably wouldn’t have used that image,” Johnston said. “That’s the image I hope we can avoid. What I was trying to say is this is an outcome I hope we can avoid in this country. I think none of us want that.” But he said he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – including the use of military force – and was then asked if he was prepared to go to jail for standing in the way of policies enacted by the administration. “Yeah, I’m not afraid of that, and I’m also not seeking that,” Johnston said. “I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems.” He expressed support for limited deportations of those convicted of “serious crimes.” He also said they would be a “ready partner” if the plan was only to focus on violent criminals. TRUMP’S ICE NOMINEE DECISION COULD BE IMMINENT AS DEPORTATION PLAN TAKES SPOTLIGHT  “I think our line is clear,” Johnston said. “We think if you are a violent criminal that is committing serious crimes like murder or rape in Denver, you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and you should be deported. We support that, we have always supported that, we’ll continue supporting that. We’ve worked with previous administrations on that; we will do it going forward.” The incoming administration’s plan to ramp up deportations has already brought opposition from Democratic officials in a number of states. The governors of Illinois, Arizona and Massachusetts have said they won’t assist the administration in the operation. Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said her state will not be helping in what she called a “misguided” plan. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS   “What I will unequivocally say is that, as governor, I will not tolerate efforts that are part of misguided policies that harm our communities, that threaten our communities, that terrorize our communities, and Arizona will not take part in those,” Hobbs said. But some Republican states have offered support, with Texas offering more than 1,400 acres of land to stage mass deportations near the border.  “I am 100% on board with the Trump administration’s pledge to get these criminals out of our country, and we are more than happy to offer our resources to facilitate those deportations of these violent criminals,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told Fox News Digital last week.

Flooding in Gaza compounds hardship of people displaced by Israeli attacks

Heavy rains have flooded tent encampments of displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, adding misery to communities already devastated by 13 months of war, as Israeli forces stepped up attacks in the enclave. Downpours overnight inundated tents and in some places washed away the plastic and cloth shelters used by displaced people in the enclave, most of whom have been uprooted several times during the war between Israel and Hamas. Some placed water buckets on the ground to protect mats from leaks and dug trenches to drain water away from their tents. “We left the north and survived the bombings. We left after the siege. But now the rain and cold are killing us. I’ve been sick for three days,” Ahmad, a displaced resident of Jabalia, northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera in a tent camp in Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City. “We were affected by the rain. Our children were soaked. Our clothes got wet and we have nothing to protect ourselves, just the tent,” said Um Mohammad Marouf, a displaced Beit Lahiya resident. Many tents used in the early stages of Israel’s war in Gaza have now worn out and no longer offer protection. The price of new tents and plastic sheeting has also shot up beyond the means of displaced families. On Monday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement that about 10,000 tents were either washed away or damaged due to the storm, appealing for international help to provide displaced families with tents to shield them against the rain and cold. “According to government field assessment teams, 81 percent of the displaced persons’ tents are no longer usable. Out of 135,000 tents, 110,000 are completely worn out and urgently need replacement,” it said. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said many tent sites are near the coast and are not designed to withstand “these horrific conditions”, especially as colder weather approaches. “The rising tide has damaged many of these tents, leaving people with little hope and no dry clothes to protect themselves,” he said. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that half a million people across the besieged enclave are at risk in areas hit by flooding. “The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike,” the agency said on X. Meanwhile on Monday, Israeli attacks intensified across the enclave. In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli air attack killed at least four people, medics said, while tanks deepened their incursions in Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia – the largest of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps. Medics said seven Palestinian people were also killed by two Israeli air attacks in Jabalia. Residents in Gaza said Israeli planes also dropped new leaflets on Beit Lahiya ordering remaining residents to leave the northern city for the south, saying the area would come under attack and providing them with a map. Palestinian people say Israel appears determined to depopulate the area permanently to create a buffer zone along the northern edge of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied this accusation. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians and wounded 104,638 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive. Adblock test (Why?)

Could protests by Imran Khan supporters lead to more political instability?

Security forces seal off Islamabad as demonstrators demand former Pakistani prime minister be released from jail. Pakistan is witnessing arguably the biggest protest since February’s disputed elections. Security forces have been deployed to stop Imran Khan’s supporters from marching into the capital. They are demanding the former prime minister be released from jail and the government resign. Can the government in Islamabad survive? Could Khan be freed? Presenter: Bernard Smith Guests: Azeema Cheema – political economy specialist and founding director of the Pakistani think tank Verso Consulting Hassan Akbar – Pakistan fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center who previously worked in national security and strategic policy for the Pakistani government and in the private sector Fahd Humayun – visiting scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University Adblock test (Why?)

Pakistan’s capital in lockdown as Imran Khan supporters protest

NewsFeed Supporters of ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Iman Khan are descending on Islamabad, demanding an end to what they say is political persecution of the popular political leader. Published On 25 Nov 202425 Nov 2024 Adblock test (Why?)

NY Dem Rep. Ritchie Torres dubs Gov. Kathy Hochul ‘the new Joe Biden,’ warns of potential 2026 election loss

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., referred to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as “the new Joe Biden,” warning that Democrats could lose the 2026 gubernatorial election just like they lost the 2024 presidential contest. “Kathy Hochul is the new Joe Biden. She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee. A Democratic incumbent who is less popular in New York than Donald Trump is in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026 – an outcome not seen in 30 years,” the congressman said in a post on X. “Waiting until it’s too late gave us a Republican President in 2024 and could give us a Republican Governor in 2026. Let’s avoid repeating history and avoid sleepwalking toward impending disaster and defeat,” he suggested. NYC DEMOCRAT DEMANDS FIRINGS AFTER VIOLENT CRIMINAL IS RELEASED EARLY, THEN ARRESTED IN TRIPLE SLASHING Fox News Digital reached out to request comment from the offices of Hochul and Torres, but neither immediately responded. Torres told Spectrum News NY 1 that he is considering a gubernatorial bid, and noted that he plans to do a “listening tour” beginning in December and January. The congressman, who won re-election to the House of Representatives earlier this month, said in “mid-2025” he will make his “final decision.”  NEW YORK DEM WARNS ‘VILIFYING VOTERS OF COLOR AS WHITE SUPREMACISTS’ PUSHES ‘THEM FURTHER INTO TRUMP’S CAMP’ The lawmaker has accused the “far left” of turning people off from the Democratic Party. “Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party with absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’ or ‘From the River to the Sea’ or ‘Latinx,’” the congressman opined in a post on X earlier this month. “There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world. The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling,” he added.

Trump planning to lift Biden’s LNG pause, increase oil drilling during 1st days in office: report

President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly planning to focus heavily on two policy changes to boost natural energy production during his first days in office, according to a new report. As his second-term agenda takes shape, the president-elect is eyeing immediate changes to current policies on liquefied natural gas (LNG) permits and oil and gas drilling leases, sources familiar with the transition plans told Reuters. President Biden initiated a pause on new LNG export permits in January, a move which has been widely criticized by the oil community and bipartisan lawmakers in the House. The National Association of Manufacturers conducted a study on the ban that found nearly 1 million jobs would be threatened by the LNG pause over the next two decades if the restriction remains in place, Fox News Digital previously reported. However, Trump reportedly “plans to go strong on the issue” of LNG exports when he assumes office, sources told Reuters. BIDEN ADMIN’S LNG EXPORT BAN PUTS NEARLY 1 MILLION JOBS AT RISK: STUDY The Republican president-elect plans to lift Biden’s pause and allow permits for new LNG exports next year, fulfilling a promise he made frequently while on the campaign trail. Trump will also seek to increase lease sales for drilling along the coast, expedite permit approval, and expand drilling on federal land, the outlet learned. TRUMP TAPS LIBERTY ENERGY CEO CHRIS WRIGHT FOR DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: ‘LEADING TECHNOLOGIST AND ENTREPRENEUR’ The latest report comes as several of Biden’s climate-focused initiatives appear to be in jeopardy under the incoming Trump administration.  Trump has talked for months about his plans to roll back Biden’s green policies, such as the tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. He also plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord for the second time, expand fracking, and revive the Keystone XL pipeline, which was canceled on Biden’s first day in office.  “It’s a breath of fresh air. We’re running on cloud nine,” former Keystone Pipeline worker Bugsy Allen said on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” on Sunday – amid news of Trump’s potentially reviving the pipeline that transported crude oil from Canada to the U.S. “It will make a big difference as far as your energy cost, your food cost, your gas that you put in your cars. It is actually going to be the primary start of bringing everything … down for the American people that we have suffered so much in the last administration.”

ICE group praises Trump for Homan, Noem picks to lead immigration team: ‘Fired up’

FIRST ON FOX: A law enforcement association made up of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees is backing President-elect Donald Trump’s choices to head his immigration team next year as it seeks to launch an ambitious mass deportation plan — with the group saying ICE agents and officers are “fired up.” In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, the Executive Board of the National ICE Officers Association said it offers its “strong support” for the appointment of former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan as border czar, and the nomination of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security. “Former Director Homan is one of us and knows exactly what it takes to do the job and make our communities safe,” the statement said. TRUMP’S ICE NOMINEE DECISION COULD BE IMMINENT AS DEPORTATION PLAN TAKES SPOTLIGHT  The group is a newly established law enforcement association for members of ICE who serve in the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) branch. It was established this year and is in the process of seeking to become the exclusive union for the agency.  The group similarly praised the selection of Noem as the Department of Homeland Security nominee. WHO ELSE COULD BE ON PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION ‘DREAM TEAM?’  “As one of America’s toughest governors and someone who has kept her citizens safe, we have complete and total confidence that Gov. Noem will bring about the changes we desperately need to do our jobs and protect the American people,” the group says. “The men and women of ICE ERO are fired up and ready to go get to work.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS ICE will be in the spotlight next year as the Trump administration moves to ramp up deportations of illegal immigrants across the U.S. The transition team has already been eyeing a significant expansion of detention in order to facilitate the operation, with an increase in beds and expanded detention capacity near major metropolitan areas. Those efforts are already drawing significant opposition from Democratic officials in some states. The governors of Illinois, Arizona and Massachusetts have said they would not assist the administration in the operation. However, some Republican states have offered support, with Texas offering more than 1,400 acres of land to stage mass deportations near the border. Fox News Digital reported last week that an announcement of who President-elect Trump will pick to lead ICE is expected imminently. The transition team is understood to be looking for someone with a deep law enforcement background to lead the agency. 

New study finds DEI initiatives creating ‘hostile attribution bias’

New research from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Rutgers University reveals that some diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training methods may cause psychological harm. The study, released on Monday, shows significant increases in hostility and punitive attitudes among participants exposed to DEI pedagogy covering subjects like race, religion and caste. This hostile attribution bias may contribute to increased intergroup hostility and authoritarian behavior in the long run, according to study co-author and NCRI Chief Science Officer Joel Finkelstein. “What we did was we took a lot of these ideas that were found to still be very prominent in a lot of these DEI lectures and interventions and training,” said Finkelstein in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And we said, ‘Well, how is this going to affect people?’ What we found is that when people are exposed to this ideology, what happens is they become hostile without any indication that anything racist has happened.” TRUMP’S CHOICE FOR FCC CHAIRMAN SAYS AGENCY ‘WILL END ITS PROMOTION OF DEI’ NEXT YEAR A Pew Research Center study from 2023 found that 52% of American workers have DEI training events or meetings at work and, according to Professor Iris Bohnet with the Harvard Kennedy School, $8 billion is spent annually on such programs. As DEI programs have become a major area of investment in recent years, their actual effectiveness remains a topic of debate, with NCRI’s study suggesting they may exacerbate tensions rather than alleviate them. The study measured “explicit bias, social distancing, demonization, and authoritarian tendencies” with both the DEI materials and control materials. CONSERVATIVE WATCHDOG RELEASES ‘TOOLKIT’ TO HELP PARENTS FILE COMPLAINTS WITH THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Their study included sharing anti-racist DEI materials from thought leaders like Ibram X. Kendi and “White Fragility” author Robin DiAngelo with participants involved. Specifically, the NCRI focused on materials which emphasized awareness of and opposition to “systemic oppression,” popularized by texts such as Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist.” Those exposed to anti-racist materials were linked to heightened perceptions of racial bias in the study. Participants were also more likely to support punitive measures against perceived offenders of so-called “microaggressions,” even in the absence of evidence. TRUMP’S CABINET PICKS LOOK TO DITCH DEI IN THE MILITARY “And when people are supposed to see anti-racist material in the ideology, it looks like what happens is that they become more likely to punish for any evidence of wrongdoing,” said Finkelstein. “That includes protesting people, calling for dismissal, demanding public apologies, receiving people calling for their relocation. These punitive measures are, in some cases, costing people their jobs.” DEI programming psychological harms go beyond race according to NCRI’s study, spanning to religious identities as well. According to the study, anti-Islamophobia training led participants to detect bias against Muslims in neutral scenarios. The NCRI used materials from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), which “provides objective research and education about American Muslims to support well-informed dialogue and decision-making,” according to its website. IBRAM X. KENDI’S ANTIRACISM CENTER SAW POOR FINANCIAL ADMIN DECISIONS, FORMER STAFFERS SAY: REPORT These results suggest that anti-Islamophobia training inspired by ISPU materials may cause individuals to assume unfair treatment of Muslim people, even when no evidence of bias or unfairness is present. This effect highlights a broader issue: DEI narratives that focus heavily on victimization and systemic oppression can foster unwarranted distrust and suspicions of institutions and alter subjective assessments of events. One key takeaway from Finkelstein in the NCRI study is that the authoritarianism that comes from hostile attribution bias looks different in the 21st century.  According to Finkelstein, those who are likely to carry hostilities are “people who are higher in what’s called left-wing authoritarianism. This is now a steady phenomenon. We the people have been studying right-wing authoritarianism since World War II. It’s really only in the past 10 or 15 years that people have started saying, ‘Wait a minute, this is on the left, too.” Across all groupings, instead of DEI materials reducing bias, the study discovered they engendered a hostile attribution bias amplifying perceptions of prejudicial hostility where none was present. “They’re bad ideas, because they’re hurting people; and that appears from research and appears to be far more prevalent and is shockingly public, these harms can be extremely widespread,” said Finkelstein. “So I think that is grounds to believe that from this research, and it suggests that we need to be focused on this data, and we need more data like it. [But we can] start evaluating what’s happening here, and I don’t think this is about speech. I certainly think it’s about people’s civil rights.” Representatives DiAngelo did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP When reached for comment, Kendi slammed both Fox News and the study, calling it “pseudoscience.”  “It comes as no surprise that Fox News would broadcast this pseudoscience that isn’t peer-reviewed, misrepresents my work, and is based on anchoring bias,” Kendi said. “This so-called study will end up in the historic landfill of pseudoscience alongside other attempts to bring scientific legitimacy to racist propaganda that anti-slavery and civil rights then, and DEI and antiracism now have been harmful.” Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

PETA protests Biden turkey pardon with ‘Hell on Wheels’ display, subliminal messaging to make people go vegan

An animal rights group will bombard the streets of D.C. with visceral cries of distressed turkeys and subliminal messages urging people to go vegan as the White House participates in its annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon tradition on Monday. The distressing animal cries and subliminal messaging are part of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) “Hell on Wheels” turkey truck, which has been traveling to 30 different states across the country since as early as October, stopping at grocery stores, busy downtown areas and eventually the presidential turkey pardon. The truck, which is intended to look like a realistic turkey transport truck covered with images of birds crammed into crates, was posted on Sunday evening outside the Willard Hotel, where the birds were housed ahead of the ceremony. On Monday, the truck set up shop outside the White House.  THIS THANKSGIVING, NEARLY 35% OF AMERICANS SURVEYED ARE TURNED OFF BY TURKEY “It’s a life-sized Turkey transportation truck, and it’s covered with images of real sickly turkeys. And if people listen very closely, they will hear a subliminal message to go vegan every 10 seconds. And that’s because we want people to listen closely and watch closely, because every turkey is an individual,” Amanda Brody, assistant manager in PETA’s international grassroots campaigns department, told Fox News Digital.  “No one needs to eat meat, dairy or eggs to be healthy, and everyone can help stop this needless suffering by simply going vegan today or enjoying a vegan roast at their Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday.” DR. SIEGEL’S FOOD SAFETY TIPS FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER Earlier this month, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter to President Biden urging the “lame duck president” to cancel what she described as the “wretched” turkey pardon tradition. Newkirk argued the tradition is “a humiliating meat-industry stunt that uses the White House as its public relations backdrop.” “Turkeys are devoted parents who purr to their chicks, and whose skin changes color to express their emotions, yet in the meat industry, they’re treated as unfeeling objects, crammed into filthy sheds, and slaughtered, often while they’re still conscious,” Newkirk said Monday. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is sending a strong signal that it’s beneath the Oval Office to shill for the meat industry and appealing to the public to please give birds a break by choosing vegan this Thanksgiving and beyond.” The history of the presidential turkey pardon is a little murky, with some believing it first began when President Abraham Lincoln granted “clemency” to a turkey in 1863. Others have suggested the tradition began much later with President Harry S. Truman. Meanwhile, according to NPR, the turkey pardoning tradition was formalized in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy declines donation of Rs 100 crore from Adani group

Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Special Chief Secretary to the Government Commissioner for Industrial Promotion, issued an official statement on behalf of the government.