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fortune gems tricks Saudi Arabia banned film for 35 years. The Red Sea festival is just one sign of the industry's riseJonah Goldberg Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. Political cartoonists from across country draw up something special for the holiday In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along. Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch: thedispatch.com . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!

The 3G shutdown: Lessons from Australia and the worldPHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday she’s suing a for allegedly violating a public nuisance law, contending that its groundwater pumping threatens the public health, safety and infrastructure of local communities in a rural western county. The complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court alleges that the pumping at a Fondomonte Arizona, LLC. alfalfa farm has had widespread effects in the Ranegras Plain Basin of La Paz County, harming everyone who depends on basin water by drawing down supplies, drying up wells and causing the ground to crack and sink in some areas. The lawsuit is the latest action by Arizona against foreign companies that use huge amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty forage crops for export because of climate challenges in other countries. Rural Arizona is especially attractive to international businesses because it has no groundwater pumping regulations. The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Fondomonte has extracted huge amounts of water that accelerated depletion of the basin’s aquifer. The company is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co. “We find the allegations of the Attorney General totally unfounded, and we will defend any potential action against Fondomonte and our rights vigorously before the competent authorities,” Fondomonte said in a statement Wednesday. “The company has invested significantly to bring the latest conservation technology and applies environmentally sustainable practices on these long-established farms,” it said. “Fondomonte has continued to develop responsibly during its time farming in the state and the company complies with all state regulations. ” across the West, particularly in states like Arizona, which relies heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater — long used by farmers and rural residents without restriction — even more important for users across the state. Mayes told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona Legislature has done nothing to fix the groundwater problem despite knowing about the problem for years. “While laws regulating groundwater pumping could have prevented this situation, the legislature’s inaction has allowed the crisis to grow,” Mayes said. “When the legislature fails to protect our most basic resources, the attorney general must step in.” La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin, a Republican, commended Mayes, a Democrat, for attempting to address what she described as her community’s “most challenging” concern. “I know that my constituents will be thrilled over this, that somebody is actually paying attention to the real problems here,” Irwin said during Wednesday’s news briefing via a video conference call. Mayes’ lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte’s actions are a public nuisance under a state statute that prohibits activity that injures health, obstructs property use, or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a community. Mayes called the company’s groundwater pumping “unsustainable” and said it caused “devastating consequences” for people in the area. “Arizona law is clear: no company has the right to endanger an entire community’s health and safety for its own gain,” she said. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the company from further groundwater pumping it says is “excessive” and require that an abatement fund be established. Arizona officials have been targeting Fondomonte for more than a year over its use of groundwater to grow forage crops, by not renewing or canceling the company’s leases in in western Arizona. Some residents there had complained that the company’s pumping was threatening their wells. ___ Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Gabriel Sandoval And Anita Snow, The Associated Press

Pens, Habs going in opposite directions ahead of matchup

A few days after losing re-election in 1980, President Jimmy Carter attended a tribute to Aaron Copeland that included his Fanfare for the Common Man . If any president embodied that work, it was Carter. Citizen, veteran, farmer, governor, president, Sunday school teacher, peace promoter, home builder for those without shelter. Carter was the antidote to the disgraced president Richard Nixon and all the damage he inflicted on America’s democracy. Carter projected honesty, compassion, religious rectitude, morality, racial justice and public service. Rosalynn, his life partner in marriage and governance, his wife of 77 years and First Lady, was as devoted to public service as her husband. President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd while walking with wife Rosalynn and their daughter Amy to the White House following his inauguration on January 20, 1977. Credit: AP//Suzanne Vlamis Carter’s virtues embroidered his presidency. He worked so hard. His ambitions were noble. Carter’s approval rating was 75 per cent in his first months in office in 1977. But a series of events overtook him. Carter’s highest priority, a national energy plan, took 18 months to enact and was only a marginal success. In 1979, the US was hit with an oil shock spurred by Iran and OPEC that cut supplies and drove up prices. There were petrol lines everywhere. That summer, the country was gripped by a sense of profound drift. For 10 days, Carter retreated to Camp David for meetings and consultations with experts and citizens to help him find answers to the country’s deepening malaise. Carter came down from the mountain and delivered a sermon to the country on what was wrong: “It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.” A few days later, Carter fired five members of his cabinet. His approval rating sank to 30 per cent. The American people’s loss of confidence was in the president and his ability to govern. In November 1979, following the return of Ayatollah Khomeini and the overthrow of the Shah, who was aligned with the West, the US Embassy in Tehran was seized and 52 American diplomats were taken hostage. A rescue mission failed spectacularly in April 1980, with American service members lost when their helicopters crashed in the desert. The Iranians, intent on further humiliating America and its leader, did not release the hostages until moments after Carter ceased being president. Those were the depths of Carter’s presidency. The fights over his policy agenda were agonising. It got to a point where many Democrats in Congress took more relish in attacking and criticising the White House than in attacking and beating the Republicans. Inflation would hit an all-time high of 14.6 per cent in the election year of 1980, accompanied by even higher interest rates. Those wars inside the party led many Democrats to support Ted Kennedy, the last surviving brother after JFK and Bobby, to aim for the White House and reclaim the Kennedy mantle. The party was torn down the middle. Carter prevailed and won renomination, yet his presidency was fatally weakened. He was crushed by Ronald Reagan. The Carter presidency continues to shape America’s destiny today. The reason Democrats were able to pass so much legislation under President Joe Biden is because they remembered that disunity was death to Carter’s domestic policy agenda. During his presidency, Carter never visited Australia but met prime minister Malcolm Fraser three times. The leaders faced momentous events. In 1978, the US recognised China and severed ties with Taiwan. Australia formally joined the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Jimmy Carter with Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser in 1979. Credit: Fairfax Media Most Americans at that time judged Jimmy Carter’s presidency as a failure. Yet his profound virtues and decency, his compassion for humanity, the noble principles he stood for and sought to fulfil, his exemplary conduct as a former president, and his all-encompassing marriage to Rosalynn are being remembered and celebrated today, more than four decades later. On taking office as governor of Georgia in 1971, Jimmy Carter declared: “The time for racial discrimination is over.” As with his southern predecessor in the presidency, Lyndon Johnson, Carter fought segregation and was irrevocably committed to civil rights, racial justice and racial equity. Carter’s last public act was to live long enough, at age 100, to redeem his fundamental values with his vote to make Kamala Harris the first Black woman to take the oath of office. Jimmy Carter met a moment in American politics when the country was yearning for honesty, fidelity to basic American values, a restoration of faith in good government, and a belief that the country could go forward together. He could not fulfil his goals as president, but what Carter stood for endures. Bruce Wolpe is a senior fellow at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre. He has served on the Democratic staff in the US Congress and as chief of staff to former prime minister Julia Gillard.

Chandigarh: With Punjab govt set to unveil Bhagat Singh’s statue at Chandigarh international airport in Mohali on Wednesday, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday hit out at BJP for playing politics over the alleged delay in unveiling of the statue. Replying to a question, Mann said: “The statue will be formally unveiled on Dec 4. A team from Bengaluru will come with the special veil for the event. There should not be any controversy on this issue. Bhagat Singh belongs to everyone. We wanted to hold the function on the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary (Sept 28) but could not do it because of the code of conduct for the panchayat elections. The land where the statue is located falls in a village area of Mohali. That led to a little delay.” He also said: “It is for the first time that a 30-35 feet tall statue of Bhagat Singh has been built. The Inquilab Park will also give information about the contribution of the freedom fighter.” The CM was talking to the mediapersons on the sidelines of the oath-taking function of three newly-elected MLAs. A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city, the BJP, led by state vice-president Subhash Sharma and the district president Sanjiv Vashisht, the protesters marched from Airport Chowk on Monday, accusing the state govt of disrespecting the martyr. Meanwhile, CM Mann did not reply to a question on the pronouncement of punishment to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal by the Sikh clergy. We also published the following articles recently CM Yogi unveils statue of Veerangana Rani Durgavati Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a statue of Veerangana Rani Durgavati at Banda medical college, emphasizing her bravery and sacrifice. He announced forthcoming initiatives for the district and urged timely completion of projects. Yogi also visited Chandrashekhar's ancestral home to offer condolences for his mother's passing. Punjab: 3 newly-elected AAP MLAs administered oath Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan administered oath to three newly elected AAP MLAs from Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, and Chabbewal. The AAP now holds 94 seats in the 117-member Assembly, with the Congress having 16 seats. The bypolls were held on November 20 after previous MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. Aabir Vyas brings Bhagat Singh to life on the New York stage Aabir Vyas, a trained method actor from India, portrayed Bhagat Singh in the play Katha at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre, New York City. Directed by Preeti Gupta, the performance depicted Singh's final days and his poignant jail letter, reflecting his ultimate sacrifice and revolutionary ideals. Aabir researched extensively to deliver a powerful tribute to the iconic freedom fighter.

What OpenAI's Sora means for the future of truth

Welcome back to Kotaku ’s Weekend Guide, the post-Game Awards edition! If you missed out on last night’s pretty-darn-good awards show , we have a wrap- up of everything cool we saw, and a summary of all the awards won . But if you’re also looking for some great game recommendations to fill your weekend with, we most certainly have you covered here. This weekend we’ve got a GOTY nominee, some wild fun multiplayer shenanigans, and a super-fun 2D platformer. Let’s dig in! Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV) Current goal: Reach the Mad Mall The first time I saw Antonblast I thought it was Pizza Tower . The second time I saw Antonblast I thought it was Pizza Tower . And the third time I saw Antonblast I thought it was Pizza Tower , too. I have now played Antonblast and can confirm that while it shares similar Wario Land vibes and ‘90s DNA with last year’s crowd-pleasing, lightning-quick 2D platformer , Antonblast is definitely its own thing. It’s more challenging, even faster, and shares some familiar tropes from the slippy-slidy obstacle course racing of Crash Bandicoot , including stampeding through boxes, hitting a cache of explosives, and dying. The idea is to breeze through levels as quickly as possible, smashing through all kinds of colorful junk littering each stage, and survive the gauntlet of hazards and boss fights placed in your path. It’s loud, chunky, and occasionally gives me a headache with all of the screenshake. It’s also a firehose of satisfying arcade action and chaotic animations. I keep going back for more. — Ethan Gach Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV) Current goal: Start over! Back in 2015, I had worked my way pretty far into The Witcher 3 , only to find that I was capital-L Lost. I didn’t know what was going on. Barely understood the universe, and that’s to say nothing of my sloppy knowledge of the mechanics. So I restarted the game from the beginning with the intention of going through it nice and slow and, look at that, it became one of my favorite games of the 2010s. Now, on the cusp of 2025, I find myself in a similar situation with GOTY-nominated RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio . Whether it was my diving in while in a, um...high state of mind or simply that the game is so heavy—a little too heavy, in my opinion—on the fantasy political lore, I’m a bit too lost at this point to grasp what’s going on. But I do know that this game has had me intrigued since I decided to temporarily shelve it in favor of Forbidden West and I knew I was going to have to revisit it. So my goal for this weekend is to get a fresh start! I’m really excited to start unpacking Metaphor’s themes of, well, metaphors. I’m particularly intrigued by how the game plays with the ways fiction serves as important inspiration, offering a way to envision a better world. And I’m a sucker for anything with turn-based combat. The game is also visually delightful, so if I still struggle to keep up with the plot, well at least I’ve got something pretty to look at. — Claire Jackson Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV) Current goal: Turn my brain off I don’t know if it’s just the state of the world or if it’s seasonal depression or what, but I have been feeling really out of it lately. It didn’t feel great to be stuck at home while a lot of folks I know were gathered in Los Angeles for The Game Awards, and with my usual Marvel Rivals teammates MIA, I didn’t even play the games I’d normally play because it just felt bad to solo queue. This weekend, I’m gonna try to fight my inclination to avoid the game and instead play the Not- Overwatch until I pass out. I have to travel next week for the holidays, so getting started on something really involved right now wouldn’t be the best play. Instead, I’m gonna flank randos with Star-Lord’s ultimate until I get a clip. — Kenneth Shepard Play it on: Current goal: Level up my battle pass some more! And so, another weekend in which I’m planning to play more Fortnite is upon us. I’m starting to worry that people reading these every week might assume it’s the only game I play. It’s not! At this point in my life, though, I have to admit that Epic’s free-to-play battle royale is one of my most played games, likely beating out Skyrim, Half-Life 2, and even Halo . The number of hours I’ve put into Fortnite is probably starting to get close to surpassing the time I’ve spent with GTA Online . Scary to think about. Anyway, every few months Fortnite gets some new mode or event and I spend a few bucks to buy a skin or whatever and have a ton of fun playing it with my wife. Yeah, I know gamers playing the same four games and nothing else are slowly eroding the industry and destroying everything, but it’s not my fault that no other game lets me kill Goku while dressed as Spider-Man with Grogu on my back. Come on Ca ll of Duty , are you even trying? — Zack Zwiezen And that wraps our picks for this week! Happy gaming!