AUSTRALIA - A recent Australian court decision sends a chilling message to parents who transgress the new gender orthodoxy: Refusing to validate a child’s “transgender” identity may be “emotional abuse” and put parents at risk of losing custody of their child. There’s a larger message here too: If parents are no longer free to acknowledge biological reality, speak the truth to their children, or refuse consent for ideologues to experiment on their children, then gender ideology has put freedom and truth on the chopping block — for everyone. As gender ideology permeates law and culture across the globe, vulnerable teens and their families will continue to suffer devastating harm, defenseless against the power of states captured by a poisonous ideology.

USA - They insist everything will be fine as we face shortages of chicken, coffee, diapers, fish sticks, frozen meals, carbonated drinks, etc. Officials in Washington continue to assure us that we don’t have anything to be concerned about, but meanwhile the shelves just continue to get even emptier. On Friday, #BareShelvesBiden was the number one trending topic on Twitter, and I am sure that the Biden administration must have been thrilled by that.

POLAND - Poland’s prime minister has penned a letter to the European Union warning that the bloc is at risk of becoming a “centrally managed organism, run by institutions deprived of democratic control”. PM Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday wrote to EU leaders, institutions and member state governments claiming that “unfortunately, today we are dealing with a very dangerous phenomenon whereby various European Union institutions usurp powers they do not have under the Treaties and impose their will on Member States”. The Polish PM also listed several major challenges that the EU faces, including Brexit, a financial crisis “that threatens to weaken or even collapse the euro area”, and the gas and energy crisis which “threatens poverty for millions”. “The fate of our Union in recent years is not a chronicle of success. If we want to avoid further crises, we must change our ways,” Morawiecki warned. Last week Morawiecki lashed out with accusations that EU institutions impinge on the rights of its member nations, remarking that “democracy is being tested” and that “we are at a crossroads” in the bloc’s history.

USA - Service members from all five branches of the US military, federal employees, and federal civilian contractors have joined in a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Defense over its COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The 24 plaintiffs “face a deadline under the Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate to receive a COVID-19 vaccine that violates their sincerely held religious beliefs, and have been refused any religious exemption or accommodation,” according to Liberty Counsel, the Christian legal firm that filed the lawsuit.

USA - A crowd of 100 people wreaked havoc in downtown Portland, Oregon, this week – smashing storefront windows, lighting dumpsters on fire and causing at least $500,000 in damage – but police officers didn't stop them. Portland Police Bureau officials say that's because of legislation passed by Oregon lawmakers this year, which restricts the tools they can use to confront people vandalizing buildings and causing mayhem. “The reason that we did not intervene goes back to what we talked about last month with House Bill 2928 and the restrictions placed on us in a crowd control environment,” KOIN reports that Portland Police Lieutenant Jake Jensen said in a neighborhood meeting Thursday. “The law clearly allows Portland Police to use effective tools necessary to control violent crowds,” House Minority Leader Christine Drazan told The Associated Press on Friday. “However, activist attorneys are deliberately misinterpreting legislation to prevent police from intervening. They have no business putting law enforcement and community safety at risk.”

CHINA - China has fired a hypersonic missile around the globe with the US left reeling by the terrifying display of military strength. US intelligence and military officials were reportedly left stunned after China launched a rocket in space carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle which circled the globe before before speeding towards its target. The nuke-capable missile missed its target by about two-dozen miles when it was secretly launched in August, intelligence sources told the Financial Times. But the chilling test has alarmed US officials and shows how China has made astonishing progress on the development of its hypersonic weapons, sources said.

USA - Since the dawn of civilization, humans have had only one world in which to live: the real one. But tech visionaries say we’ll soon have an alternative: a virtual world where our digital avatars and those of people in our communities and around the globe come together to work, shop, attend classes, pursue hobbies, enjoy social gatherings and more. Immersive videogames and virtual concerts have given us a taste of this world. But visionaries say the metaverse, as this world has been dubbed, will be far more engaging and robust, not only mirroring the real world in all its three-dimensional complexity but also extending it to allow us to be and do what previously could only be imagined. Walk on the moon in your pajamas? Watch a baseball game from the pitcher’s mound? Frolic in a field of unicorns—or be a unicorn yourself? In the metaverse, tech visionaries say, just about anything will be possible.

GERMANY - Supermarkets in Frankfurt and the surrounding region can now implement rules that only allow vaccinated and Covid-recovered people onto their premises. The new Covid health pass entry rules announced by the central state of Hesse have upped the pressure on the unvaccinated by allowing all shops to implement the so-called 2G rule at their doors. The 2G rule refers to public places being given the option to allow entry only to vaccinated (geimpft in German) or people who’ve recovered from Covid (genesen). and has so far been allowed in half of Germany’s states for certain public places like bars, restaurants, nightclubs and cinemas. The government in Hesse said that it had taken the decision to go a step further and allow shops to bar entry to the unvaccinated “at the request of the sector”.

USA - All active-duty Navy personnel must be vaccinated by November 28 or face separation, according to a Navy administrative message released Wednesday. Any active-duty Navy service members who do not get fully vaccinated or do not have an approved or pending exemption will be processed for an honorable separation without involuntary separation, according to NAVADMIN 225/21, released by Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Lescher and Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell. Service members in the Ready Reserve Navy will need to be fully vaccinated by December 28. Those who are separated for refusing the vaccine will be discharged with no lower than a general discharge under honorable conditions, according to the Navy release.

CHINA - Apple has taken down a Quran app and a Bible app in China at the request of Chinese officials, the company confirmed to the BBC. The apps, which are called Quran Majeed and Bible App by Olive Tree, were first reported as having been taken down by activist website Apple Censorship on Tuesday. Apple directed the BBC to its Human Rights policy, which says: "We're required to comply with local laws, and at times there are complex issues about which we may disagree with governments and other stakeholders on the right path forward. " Apple told the BBC that Chinese officials had said the apps breached laws on hosting illegal religious texts. Quran Majeed has over 5 million downloads on the Google Play Store, while Bible App by Olive Tree has just over 1 million.

USA - Lake Tahoe's water levels have dropped about half-an-inch below its natural rim as experts warn that another dry winter could put the body of water at risk of becoming 'terminal' - meaning the lake will no longer be able to supply its only outflow, experts say. The severe drought conditions across California and the Sierra Nevada mountains have taken their toll on the lake. Water is no longer flowing from the lake into the Truckee River and salmon are unlikely to spawn in a major tributary this year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Boat ramps and docks remain hundreds of feet from the water line while clumps of stringy algae have been washing ashore. 'Water flows over the rim, down to the dam, it can be impounded and controlled. Once the lake drops enough, it hits that natural rim, basically the natural lake is full but the reservoir is empty you can't get any water out of the lake to the dam and out the river,' Chad Blanchard, the US District Court Water Master, told News 4 TV. While experts say it's still not a full-blown crisis, a lot will depend on just how much rain and snow California will get this winter.

USA - The trucking issue with California LA ports, ie the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB), is that all semi tractors have to be current with new California emissions standards. As a consequence, that mean trucks cannot be older than 3 years if they are to pick up or deliver containers at those ports. This issue wipes out approximately half of the fleet trucks used to move containers in/out of the port. Operating the port 24/7 will not cure the issue, because all it does is pile up more containers that sit idle as they await a limited number of trucks to pick them up. THIS is the central issue.

USA - The deputy secretary at the US Treasury has put Americans on notice that the only way to end the plague of empty shelves around the country is for every resident to be vaccinated. The frank warning came off as a threat to many. Wally Adeyemo, the Biden administration’s second-highest official in the Treasury Department, appeared to publicly blackmail the still-sizable portion of Americans who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 during a Thursday ABC interview, seemingly blaming them for the ongoing shortages of consumer goods that have led many to mock the president as ‘Empty Shelves Joe’. Despite viral photos depicting thousands of cargo ships lined up at the Port of Los Angeles ready to unload their goods, Adeyemo claimed that the supply chain issues plaguing so many US retailers are an international issue and will only let up when a sufficient percentage of the country has been vaccinated. However, many truckers working for shipping companies have balked at the idea of mandatory vaccination, leaving their firms’ fleets woefully understaffed, and others have gone on strike to demand better working conditions.

UK - The death of Sir David Amess was today being treated as a terror attack 'linked to Islamist extremism' as officers raided two homes in London and a British Muslim man of Somali descent remained in police custody.Sir David was holding a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, when a knifeman in the church building launched a frenzied attack. The 69-year-old politician was wounded at least 12 times and died at the scene. Horrified constituents waiting to see the veteran MP, who has campaigned to help refugees, watched in horror as the assailant leapt on him just after midday. Shortly after midday, the knifeman waited calmly in line after booking in at the constituency surgery before launching the fatal attack, according to witnesses. At 12.05pm yesterday, the police were called and say they were on scene 'in minutes'. Witnesses described how the knifeman made no attempt to leave the scene and waited for police to arrive at which point members of the public described him as being compliant.

GREECE - Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias underscored the persistent “threat of war” with Turkey in a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the signing of a deal to upgrade defense cooperation between Athens and Washington. “Greece is facing a casus belli, a threat with war if it exercises its sovereign rights and, I have to say, Greece is facing daily provocation,” Dendias said Thursday at the State Department. “Greece is committed to resolve disputes with diplomacy and always in accordance with international law.” Turkey and Greece have competing economic claims in the eastern Mediterranean, the danger of which was dramatized in a “mini-collision” between two frigates attempting to enforce the claims of the capitals. NATO officials established a “deconfliction” mechanism to avoid an outright conflict between the two countries, which went on to maintain “a quiet summer,” to the gratification of US officials.