Days after President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threat, Mexican security forces made the largest fentanyl seizure in the country's history, impounding 1,100 kilograms of the synthetic opioid.  |
- Days after President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threat, Mexican security forces made the largest fentanyl seizure in the country's history, impounding 1,100 kilograms of the synthetic opioid.
- Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with several high-profile Republicans in both chambers of Congress.
- 📉 Job cuts in the United States accelerated in November, with employers announcing 57,727 layoffs, a 3.8 percent increase from October and 26.8 percent higher than the same month last year
- The University of Michigan has announced that it will no longer require diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statements for faculty hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions.
- The Peanuts cartoons can help today's youngsters rediscover happiness. Column after the news.
|
Good morning. It's Friday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. |
|
|
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, and his son after a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other lawmakers in Congress in Washington on Dec. 5, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) |
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with several high-profile Republicans in both chambers of Congress on Thursday. |
- After being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk and Ramaswamy will focus on cutting both spending and regulations.
- DOGE is technically only an advisory board, meaning that it will have limited authority on its own.
- Given Congress's control of the federal purse strings, a good relationship with lawmakers will likely be essential to Musk and Ramaswamy carrying out their mandate to achieve a substantial reform of government finance.
|
Musk attended meetings with the two most powerful Republicans in Congress: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). "It's the beginning of a journey," Johnson told reporters ahead of the meeting. "We have long lamented the size and scope of the government, that it has grown too large. Following the closed-door session, Johnson said it had been a "very productive meeting with Republicans from the Senate and House today." "We're still early in this process," Johnson added. (More) Deep Dive: With DOGE, Musk, Ramaswamy Confront the 'Immovable Object' Trump Appointments: The president-elect announced his picks for several new administration positions on Thursday night: |
- Trump will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" for his first network interview since he won the election.
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that it is unlikely the U.S. central bank will lose its independence under the incoming Trump administration.
|
Job cuts in the United States accelerated in November, with employers announcing 57,727 layoffs, a 3.8 percent increase from October and 26.8 percent higher than the same month last year, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago, Illinois-based global outplacement and career transitioning firm. The November figure marks the fourth-highest for the month since the financial crisis of 2008–09, as economic pressures mount across key industries. U.S. employers have announced a total of 722,566 layoffs year to date, a 5.2 percent increase compared with 2023, the report shows. Excluding the record-breaking job cuts of 2020, this year's total is the highest since 2009. In terms of industries most affected by layoffs, the automotive sector led with 11,506 job cuts in November, the highest monthly total since April, as the industry faces challenges such as potential tariffs, competition from Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, and shifting government subsidies. (More) More U.S. News |
- The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday its investigators found that the Memphis Police Department and the City of Memphis, Tennessee engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional policing, including excessive force, unlawful arrests, and discrimination against black residents.
- As the jury in the Daniel Penny trial continues its deliberations, Andre Zachery, the father of Jordan Neely—who died after Penny put him into a chokehold on a Manhattan subway last year—has filed a civil lawsuit against Penny.
|
As part of our special series on the U.S. presidential transition period, Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek is sitting down with Victor Suarez, a retired U.S. Army colonel who served for 27 years and saw, firsthand, serious problems with America's medical supply chains. Watch ➞ |
Mexican security forces made the largest fentanyl seizure in the country's history, impounding 1,100 kilograms of the synthetic opioid in the state of Sinaloa. Mexico's top security official, Omar GarcÃa Harfuch, said in a statement that more than a ton of fentanyl was seized by officials in Sinaloa state. Several guns were also seized, and two men were arrested, he said. "This is an investigation that has been going on for a long time, and yesterday, it gave these results," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a press conference on Dec. 4, referring to the fentanyl seizures. Violence has worsened recently in Sinaloa, where factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been engaged in bitter fighting that flared after the capture of kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in July. Sinaloa is home to the powerful drug cartel that bears the same name and was formerly headed by longtime drug lord JoaquÃn "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is currently incarcerated at the ADX Florence federal prison in Colorado. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump recently threatened to levy a 25 percent tariff against Mexico and Canada if either country didn't do enough to curb illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking into the United States. More World News: |
Protesters take part in a demonstration against the South Korean President in Seoul on Dec. 5, 2024. Ezra Acayan/Getty Images |
Our photography editors comb through the best images in the world every day. See their picks for today here ➞ |
In the song "Happiness," the Peanuts characters sing about the simple things they're grateful for. (moviestilldb) |
Studies reveal that Gen Z is struggling with happiness. Yet why is the younger generation wrestling with such feelings? |
- The presence of phones (i.e. social media addiction) and the absence of God are doing a lot to spur the unhappiness of the present generation, likely because both factors spur a purposeless life.
- Maybe Gen Z is struggling with unhappiness because we haven't taught them to value and express gratitude for the little things in life.
- They've come to believe—whether through social media or otherwise—that their lives are worthless unless they're doing the great things or experiencing the best life has to offer.
|
How can we teach our children otherwise? Charlie Brown's "Happiness" song gives us a clue. It shows the Peanuts gang expressing gratitude for life's simple pleasures, such as "pizza with sausage," "learning to whistle," or "climbing a tree." Think it's impossible to teach your children to value these little pleasures in life? Not if you raise your children the old-fashioned way. |
- Children aren't denied the good things in life; rather, they simply learn to wait, work hard, and find other paths than the normal ones through which to experience pleasure.
- And by doing so, they also learn to count their blessings and find joy and delight in the simple things in life—just like the Peanuts crew.
|
Read the full article by our colleague Annie Holmquist here. |
|
|
Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day. |
|
|
Copyright © 2024 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times. 229 W. 28 St. Fl. 7 New York, NY 10001 | Contact Us Our Morning Brief newsletter is one of the best ways to catch up with the news. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, unsubscribe here. |
|
|
|
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon