News N Things
The U.S. recorded another record year for overdose deaths; rapper Young Dolph was murdered yesterday; Belarus' migrant crisis is 100% self-inflicted.
Top 3 Stories:
1) The U.S. Continues to Lose the War on Drugs:
“Fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and an increase in fentanyl use, the US drug epidemic exploded while Americans were locked down. From May 2020 through April 2021, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US, according to provisional data released Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a horrible new record for drug overdose deaths -- a near-30% rise from the same period a year earlier and a near-doubling over the past five years. The drug epidemic grew in tandem with the Covid-19 pandemic, which claimed about 509,000 deaths in the same period. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl -- a painkiller 50-100 times more potent than morphine -- accounted for the bulk of those drug overdose deaths: around 64,000.” (CNN)
2) Rapper Young Dolph Murdered:
“Young Dolph was shot and killed in Tennessee on Wednesday, according to the Memphis Police Department. The rapper, born Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., was 36. "The preliminary information indicates that the victim is Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr.," the police department tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "However, this information will be confirmed once the identification process is completed." "This shooting is another example of the senseless gun violence we are experiencing locally and nationwide," the department added. "Our hearts go out to the Thornton family and all who are affected by this horrific act of violence." Officers responded to a shooting around 12:24 p.m. at Makeda's Homemade Cookies, where a man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police did not release any information about a possible suspect. Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH … Just two days ago, he and rapper Key Glock gave away 200 Thanksgiving turkeys at Memphis' West Cancer Center.” (CBS NEWS)
3) Belarus’ Engineered Migrant Crisis is Collapsing:
“He has ruled with an iron fist for 27 years, surviving huge street protests, multiple rounds of Western sanctions and even alleged plots by his benefactor, Russia, to remove him. But a threat President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko has never before had to contend with is now taking shape in a squalid migrant encampment along his country’s border with Poland. Having helped funnel desperate migrants to Europe’s doorstep, Mr. Lukashenko suddenly has to deal with people like Bale Nisu, a 21-year-old Kurd from Iraq who has taken a liking to Belarus, and would like to settle here. Many of the more than 2,000 people marooned on the Belarusian side of the razor wire at Bruzgi, a large, shuttered border crossing, insist they won’t give up on trying to get into the European Union. But growing fears that they might instead get sent back to their home countries has made Mr. Nisu and others wonder whether staying put in Belarus could be their best option.” (NEW YORK TIMES)
Daily Verse:
Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
The President’s Schedule:
1:15 p.m. E.T. - The President participates in a bilateral meeting with The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada.
3:00 p.m. E.T. - The President participates in a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of the United Mexican States.
4:45 p.m. E.T. - The President hosts The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada, and His Excellency Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of the United Mexican States, for the North American Leaders’ Summit.
This Day in History
“On November 18, 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones leads hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. Many of Jones’ followers willingly ingested a poison-laced punch while others were forced to do so at gunpoint. The final death toll at Jonestown that day was 909; a third of those who perished were children.” (HISTORY)
Daily Quote:
“Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable." - Franz Kafka
Daily Joke:
I’ve asked so many people what LGBTQ stands for. So far no one has given me a straight answer.
Environment:
LOOK UP! A LUNAR ECLIPSE! “A partial lunar eclipse is expected to be visible before dawn on Friday, Nov. 19. The moon will look red as Earth’s shadow covers the full moon. But since it’s a partial lunar eclipse, a bright white sliver of the moon will still be visible. A lunar eclipse happens when Earth gets in the way of the light from the sun hitting the moon. The moon looks red during a lunar eclipse because of the Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters blue light and only allows red to pass through. Lunar eclipses occur about twice a year. Edward Murphy, an astronomy professor at the University of Virginia, recommends going out at 2:15 a.m. ET to see the Earth’s shadow start to creep into the full moon. He also recommends going back out at 4 a.m., when the shadow will almost cover the entire moon and be dark red. The website timeanddate.com is a reference to help find when the lunar eclipse will start or end in your area, and what it will look like at certain times, said Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.” (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Culture:
MEN CHARGED WITH KILLING OF MALCOLM X EXONERATED: “Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday will move to vacate the convictions of two men who served decades in prison for their alleged role in the assassination of Malcolm X, officials involved in the case said. The exonerations of Muhammad A. Aziz, 83, and Khalil Islam, who died in 2009, would come 56 years after the fiery civil rights leader’s murder on the stage of Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom. They are expected to provide a measure of closure in a case that has drawn deep skepticism among scholars and laypeople alike and inspired conspiracy theories about the possible culpability of law enforcement, particularly the New York Police Department. The decision to vacate the convictions also meets the demands of the moment in some ways: Malcolm X, who was both reviled and celebrated as a champion of Black people during his life, has become an icon for a younger generation of Black activists protesting high-profile killings of Black people by White police officers.” (WASHINGTON POST)
Sports:
KARDASHIAN HELPS TO SAVE AFGHAN WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM: “Members of Afghanistan’s women’s youth development soccer team arrived in Britain early Thursday after being flown from Pakistan with the help of a New York rabbi, a U.K. soccer club and Kim Kardashian West. A plane chartered by the reality star and carrying more than 30 teenage players and their families, about 130 people in all, landed at Stansted Airport near London. The Afghans will spend 10 days in coronavirus quarantine before starting new lives in Britain. English Premier League club Leeds United has offered to support the players. Britain and other countries evacuated thousands of Afghans in a rushed airlift as Kabul fell to Taliban militants in August. Many more people have since left overland for neighboring countries in hopes of traveling on to the West. Women playing sports was seen as a political act of defiance against the Taliban, and hundreds of female athletes have left Afghanistan since the group returned to power and began curbing women’s education and freedoms.” (ASOCIATED PRESS)
Health:
PFIZER SIGNS ANOTHER BILLION DOLLAR DEAL: “Pfizer Inc has signed a $5.29 billion deal with the U.S. government to deliver 10 million courses of its COVID-19 oral antiviral drug starting this year, the drugmaker said on Thursday. The oral drug could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Pfizer on Tuesday filed for U.S. authorization of the drug, Paxlovid, and said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022. "This promising treatment could help accelerate our path out of this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people who get sick with COVID-19," said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.” (REUTERS)