SINCERETALK

South Africa takes charge of the G20, the powerful group of 19 countries plus the EU and the AU. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/AHBja36 via sinceretalk

I can totally relate to tiredness of life. Guess what? I saw a beautiful sunrise yesterday morning, acknowledged it, and couldn’t care less if I saw another one. Nina* is a 72-year-old woman in reasonably good health. She talked to one of us (Sam) recently about her life – and in particular, the sense that she had grown tired of being alive and was ready for the exit. Nina wasn’t feeling suicidal or filled with anxiety and depression, but she was certain that she was ready to die. Living, she said, had become a burden. In Nina’s case, not only did this mean that she felt like a burden to society, but also that life felt a burden to her. You know, other people [family and friends] don’t get it. But I believe this is actually a positive thing, because it means I am less and less attached to Earthly things – to being alive. In our interviews with older people over the past 15 years, some have described the phenomenon of “tiredness of life” in this matter-of-fact way – as though t...

In the days following Donald Trump's presidential victory, an alarming surge in misogynistic rhetoric and threats against women has emerged online and in real life, according to a report from the Associated Press . Dubbed the 'emboldened manosphere', the trend has left many women feeling unsafe and compelled to take protective measures. Sadie Perez, a 19-year-old political science student in Wisconsin profiled in AP's report , now carries pepper spray with her on campus. Her mother ordered self-defense kits for her and her sister. This reaction stems from the rise of right-wing 'manosphere' influencers who have seized on Trump's win to amplify misogynistic content online. A troubling trend is the appropriation of the pro-choice slogan "My body, my choice" into " Your body, my choice ," a phrase that has spread rapidly online. Attributed to a post by far-right figure Nick Fuentes , it garnered 35 million views on its first day on X. T...

Fox News personality Pete Hegseth has a new problem complicating his goal of being confirmed to lead the United States military next year: His own mother. The New York Times recently reported on new details that emerged from the aftermath of Hegseth's divorce from his former wife, Samantha, which took 10 months to finalize between 2017 and 2018. In 2016, Hegseth had an affair with Jennfier Rauchet, who was one of his coworkers at Fox News. The affair resulted in the two having a child out of wedlock. Hegseth married Rauchet in 2019. Three months before his divorce from Samantha was finalized, Hegseth's mother, Penelope, wrote him a lengthy email in which she confronted him about how he treated his ex-wife and other women. She insisted that Samantha was "a good mother and a good person," and that Hegseth's arguments that his mother had taken the side of Samantha were "bunk." READ MORE: 'He goes out and gets drunk': Ex-Fox News colleague unl...

President-elect Donald Trump broke with the tradition of not having a White House dog during his first administration, and will likely continue bucking that tradition in his second term. And he reportedly disliked then-Vice President Mike Pence's pets living in the official residence. But those are the most vanilla dog-related fact of the incoming Trump administration in comparison to his Cabinet, according to one columnist. In her latest essay for the Daily Beast , columnist Jill Twiss delved into the multiple disturbing stories about several of Trump's Cabinet appointees that pertain to dogs, pointing out that four high-profile nominees each have scandals involving dogs. She asked readers: "What the f— does the Trump administration have against dogs?!" "[I]t’s not just Trump," she wrote. "There’s a disturbing trend in his senior political appointees. And before they are confirmed, we need to figure out exactly what the f— is going on." READ ...

Despite Republicans keeping the House of Representatives and flipping control of the Senate, some are acknowledging that extending President-elect Donald Trump's tax cuts in 2025 will be a tall order. In a recent Politico article , several Republican members of Congress expressed worry that renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA) of 2017 could be difficult given its $4.6 trillion price tag. While the initial legislation came with an estimated cost of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, Politico reported that extending the approximately 40 provisions in the law would come in at a cost of $4 trillion over that same time period, with another $600 billion in interest. The bulk of those tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich. According to CNN, an analysis from July found that if the TJCA was extended next year, the richest 5% of taxpayers would reap almost half the benefits . Those making $450,000 and up would see their incomes increase by 3.2%, while the richest 1% — who make $1 milli...

Several House Democrats have been subjected to bomb threats and swatting in recent days, and the threats all reportedly included President-elect Donald Trump's catchphrase. On Friday, the Washington Post reported that three lawmakers — Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.) — were " targeted with bomb threats. " House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the threats ranged from “detailed threats of a pipe bomb placed in mailboxes to swatting," the latter of which is the term used for an anonymous caller alerting police to a situation at an address that requires an immediate armed response. Jeffries noted that the threats were "all signed with 'MAGA' at the conclusion of the message." "[The threats are] unacceptable, unconscionable and have no place in a civilized society,” Jeffries said. “All perpetrators of political violence directed at any party must be prosecuted to the full extent of the la...

Extortionists in the Eastern Cape have expanded their scope and are targeting initiates in the bush, demanding protection fees from their helpers. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/3JNFUzr via sinceretalk

A social media post Dr. Mehmet Oz — who Donald Trump nominated to lead the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare — published on Wednesday "suggests that he may continue to serve as pitchman for dubious miracle cures even when he’s in government," according to Rolling Stone . While Oz's X account notes that he is a shareholder for, and serves as "global adviser" to iHerb — a "leading online store dedicated to trusted health products" — the MAGA nominee wrote, "Thanksgiving is a perfect excuse for practicing gratitude — which also happens to be a proven way to reduce stress. You can also reduce stress with adaptogens like ashwagandha from a trusted source like @iHerb. Happy Thanksgiving!" Rolling Stone notes, "It’s not clear if or how Oz will seek to disentangle his many and significant financial ties to pharmaceutical and health tech companies to avoid conflicts of interest as the administrator of CMS, which works closely with and regul...

Former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, Frank Figliuzzi, on Wednesday laid out the "real national security dilemma" President-Elect Donald Trump will cause by making the FBI "his own personal police department." Speaking to Figliuzzi, MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace said, "The New York Times reports that while after weeks of delay the Trump transition team has finally signed a transition agreement," 'Trump's team has so far refused to sign an agreement with the Justice Department to allow the FBI to do security clearances for transition members.'" She also noted that "Trump has turned down federal funding for his transition, which then allows him to raise unlimited private funds, including from foreign nationals, with zero requirement to disclose where they come from. Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed the announcement on social media writing, "This announcement fails to answer key questions about national sec...

A popular petroleum analyst is warning Donald Trump his plan to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada will backfire. Patrick De Haan, known as the “Gas Buddy Guy,” has “analyzed and tracked oil markets and fuel prices for nearly two decades,” and “is often quoted during gas price gyrations and fuel disruptions by almost all U.S. and international media outlets,” according to his bio . De Haan pointed to a news report from The Guardian on Tuesday that says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “under pressure to stand up to Trump on tariffs.” It also notes that members of the Canadian parliament are calling on Trudeau “to ready a ‘war room’ for the coming battle over tariffs with the United States.” That article quoted the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, telling the Prime Minister, “The only thing a bully responds to is strength.” “So where is our plan to fight back?” Singh asked. “Where is the war room?” READ MORE: ‘Confused the United State...

Donald Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt took to X on Tuesday night, saying she was enraged that a Washington Post reporter would ask her to comment on an alleged hate crime two days after the election. In the incident in question, Dawn Hines, who is Black, found "I hate n-----s sorry not sorry" spray-painted on her fence — which prompted an outpouring of support and solidarity from the mostly-Black community in Lawnside, located in southern New Jersey near Philadelphia. The reporter, Emmanuel Felton, reached out to Leavitt for comment about his article on the incident. "What happened in Lawnside was part of a wave of racial incidents that occurred in the days following Trump's reelection," wrote Felton. "Around the same time that Hines's fence was sprayed, Black people across the country were receiving text messages that said they'd been 'selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.' And at the same time that Lawnside resident...

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on Tuesday explained the impact Donald Trump's new tariff plan could have on American families, predicting the countries that fall under the president-elect's tariff enforcements will likely retaliate. Speaking with Reich on the latest episode of MSNBC's The ReidOut , host Joy Reid noted that some economists say under Trump's tariff plan, "The average American household is going to spend $2600 a year." However, Reich corrected the MSNBC host, saying: "That $2600 family estimate was made in August, before we knew how large the tariffs are going to be." The ex-labor secretary added, "I think the actual per family estimated cost is probably closer now to $4000." READ MORE: GOP senator admits he's 'concerned' about a Trump trade war: report Reid then noted that America's largest trading partners include China, Canada, Mexico — all of which fall under the MAGA leader's tariff plan. ...

Former US senator Claire McCaskill no Tuesday said "good-bye to guacamole" following President-Elect Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement, in which he plans to impose tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, China and Canada.' "Can i just say, a sad good-bye to guacamole?" McCaskill said, speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and Michael Steele. You know, i love my freaking guacamole." Wallace replied, "I do too. Chips and guac — hat's what I'd live on until the end of time." READ MORE: Biden must use 'preemptive pardons' to protect these 6 people Trump singled out: columnist The ex-Democratic senator declared "Avocados are going to go to $10 a piece!" "The only people that will be able to afford guacamole are Elon Musk and all of his children that are named after a mathematic formula. People in middle America — people in middle America, they are out of luck when it comes to guacamole or avocados. It...

An Iowa Republican senator acknowledged he was "concerned" Tuesday about the threat of a trade war following inflammatory statements from Donald Trump , but downplayed the president-elect's comments as merely a "negotiating tool." Trump on Monday said he plans to impose a 25% impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada , and a 10% tariff on goods from China on his first day in office. The move is meant to stem the flow of drugs coming over the border and illegal border crossings. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday called the threats a " negotiating tool ," Politico reported. Even so, he admitted feeling apprehensive about the prospect of a trade war. “I think you got to see it as a negotiating tool,” Grassley told reporters Tuesday morning, according to the report. However, he said he felt "concerned about the potential of it,” when asked whether he was worried about a trade war. “But right now, I see everything th...

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) issued a dire warning to CNN's Alex Marquardt about the dangers of confirming Tulsi Gabbard as Donald Trump's director of national intelligence — and urged Senate Republicans to step up and do what's right. "I want to ask you about another national security pick, Tulsi Gabbard, former Democrat, former Democrat from the House, a very unorthodox choice for the director of national intelligence," said Marquardt, playing a clip of Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) expressing his own misgivings about the choice. "Well, we'll have lots of questions," said Lankford in the clip. "She met with Bashar al-Assad. We'll want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was as a member of Congress. We'll want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she's made and get them into full context. So, sure, there's comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story....

President-Elect Donald Trump has endorsed two Florida officials even ahead of their official congressional bids, according to Politico. Per the repor t, the MAGA endorsements for Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and state Sen. Randy Fine (R) for the House "are widely considered to be the coveted golden ticket to getting elected in Districts 1 and 6, respectively, given their deep-red electoral makeup." Additionally, Politico notes, Trump's move paves the way for "a potential collision course with Gov. Ron DeSantis," who "has already been tasked with appointing a new senator given that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is expected to be confirmed easily as the next secretary of State." READ MORE: This SCOTUS precedent could derail Trump’s dream of ending birthright citizenship: legal scholars Trump's daughter-in-law, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, is in the running to replace Rubio. Miami Commissioner Kevin Cabrer...

Dr. Mehmet Oz — who Donald Trump nominated last week to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS — holds "stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the healthcare sector, such as Amazon," according to the Los Angeles Times. Per the report, The investments — which are regulated by CMS — could be worth "millions of dollars." The Times also noted that when Dr. Oz was asked whether "he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate," the Trump nominee refused comment. READ MORE: Ex-FBI official explains why it doesn’t get 'much more disturbing' than Trump’s AG pick "That’s a problem because if Oz is confirmed and he still holds the investments," the Daily Beast reports. "it won’t be clear if he’s making decisions based on what’s best for Medicare and Medicaid ...