Track 5: The House  passed a bill to force the railroad freight companies and their unions to accept a negotiated agreement that would avert a crippling strike and keep the trains running. 

  The strike would start on December 9^th and President Biden said in a statement that “a rail shutdown would be devastating to our economy and families across the country.” 

  This is the first time since the 1990s that Congress would invoke its power under the Railway Labor Act to head off a national rail labor strike.

  Democrats worried about offending the unions that rejected the contract also pushed through a bill requiring the rail companies to grant seven days of paid sick leave a year. Paid sick leave, which they don’t have, has been a critical issue for the unions.

  The bill, however, is meeting a wary reception by Senate Republicans who are reluctant to interfere with negotiations between companies and their unions.

Housekeeping: House Democrats chose New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to be Minority Leader. Come January, the 52-year-old Jeffries will be the first Black person to head either the Democratic or Republican party in Congress. 

  Looking ahead, Jeffries said, “more must be done to combat inflation, defend our democracy, secure reproductive freedom, welcome new Americans, promote equal protection under the law and improve public safety throughout this country.”

  Jeffries replaces California’s Nancy Pelosi, who led the House Democrats as Minority  Leader and Speaker for 20 years.

Tik Tok: South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has caused a social stir banning state employees from using the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok on state-owned electronic devices. 

  The presumption … not unreasonable … is that the Chinese government uses TikTok to gather information about Americans. “South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” Noem said in a statement.. “The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform.”

  Noem encouraged other states and the federal government to follow her example. China has the ability to use TikTok as a spyglass to identify everything from political trends, to labor unrest, environmental activism, and even real time information about the Ukraine war.

Econ 101: The S&P 500 rose three percent yesterday, reversing its losses earlier in the week, after  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed is likely to ease off on interest rate hikes. Stocks are now in Bull Market territory after climbing 20 percent above their 52-week low.

  In a separate development, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday compared the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX to the historic 2008 crash of the Lehman Brothers investment firm and called for more regulation of the crypto industry.  Speaking at The New York Times DealBook summit, Yellen said of the crypto exchanges, “I have been skeptical, and I remain quite skeptical.” 

The Long Count: In the gun culture of Arizona, the two Republicans on the Cochise County Board of Supervisors sure know how to shoot themselves in the foot. Amidst claims of fraud and incompetent election administration, they voted 2-1 not to certify the November 8th election results in their Republican-dominated county. In the unlikely event that their decision stands, they would eliminate thousands of Republican votes in their congressional district, tipping the vote toward a Democrat for Congress. 

On the Pitch: Lionel Messi and the Argentina soccer team beat Poland yesterday to advance into the round of 16 in the World Cup. Poland also advances because of the screwy way the World Cup determines standings.

 For instance, Saudi Arabia lost to Mexico 2-1, but Mexico goes home because of something called the “goal differential.” That’s the difference between their cumulative goals scored, and goals against. Mexico’s differential was greater than Saudi Arabia’s.

  It’s enough to make a soccer player fall down and scream like he’s broken several bones but — oh, wait, they do that all the time.

The Obit Page: Christine McVie, the British singer and songwriter whose voice was up front for the band Fleetwood Mac, has died at age 79 after what family described as a short illness.

  McVie’s vocals were at the heart of the band’s hits “You Make Loving Fun” and “Everywhere.” Eight of her songs were on Fleetwood Mac’s 1988 “Greatest Hits” album. 

  One of her best known songs is “Don’t Stop,” about the breakdown of her marriage to bandmate John McVie, which, ironically, Bill Clinton used as his 1992 presidential campaign theme song.

The Spin Rack: While running for Senate from Georgia, Herschel Walker might not actually live in the state he wants to represent. The former football star listed his Atlanta home as a rental as recently as 2021 while receiving a homestead exemption in Texas. Oddly though, the Constitution says you don’t have to live in the state in which you’re running until after you’re elected. — The owner of Club Q in Colorado Springs, the site of a mass shooting in which five people died, said he plans eventually to re-open the club that caters to an LGBTQ clientele. — Students and residents held a candlelight vigil last night for the four murdered University of Idaho students. 

Below the Fold: While preserving world peace, the United Nations also keeps a list of cultural heritage items that it would like to see preserved; things like the Saudi Arabian art of camel calling, Hungarian string bands, and Cuban light rum.

  The latest addition is the French baguette, that long loaf of bread you can stick under your armpit while riding a bicycle and wearing a beret. In the past 50 years as many as 400 traditional French bakeries have closed. You can still buy a baguette in France, it’s just harder to get a good one. The UN cultural agency chief, Audrey Azoulay, said the decision honors the “savoir-faire of artisanal bakers.” Without them, it’s not really a baguette.

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