Gone Nuclear: Iran’s top nuclear scientist was ambushed and assassinated as he rode in a vehicle on a desolate desert road, state media report. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was believed by both American and Israeli intelligence to have been at the center of Iran’s effort to develop a nuclear warhead.

  Iranian officials claim Israel carried out the killing. The US, if it was not involved, may have known about the plan in advance.

  Iranian officials say that gunmen waited along the road waiting for Fakhrizadeh, who later died in a hospital. A photo of the scene indicated the car was blown up, but a full explanation of what happened has not been given.

  “Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,” Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, wrote on Twitter. “This cowardice — with serious indications of Israeli role — shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators.”

  The killing might hinder efforts by Joe Biden, once he becomes President, to revive the Iran nuclear treaty President Trump abandoned.

The Loser Loses: A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania yesterday shredded President Trump’s claim that the vote in that state was corrupt and rigged. It was one of his last hopes for overturning what he claims was a plot to deny him a second term.

  Writing for the three-judge panel, “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy,” wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee. “Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

  Minutes after the decision was delivered, Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis tweeted, “The activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania continues to cover up the allegations of massive fraud.”

 Let’s just take a moment here to say that an “activist” judge is one who disagrees with a Republican.

  Trump tweeted yesterday that, “Biden can only enter the White House as President if he can prove that his ridiculous ‘80,000,000 votes’ were not fraudulently or illegally obtained.” 

Viral News: The death rate is spiking. Another 2,583 Americans died of the coronavirus yesterday and a stunning 315,000 people were diagnosed. The numbers are predicted to climb dramatically two weeks out from Thanksgiving when millions of Americans travelled  and got together in groups despite being warned not to do it.

In the Crosshairs: The President of the National Rifle Association improperly diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars for his personal use and has to pay it back, several news organizations report after examining a tax filing by the non-profit organization. The filing describes a “significant diversion” in 2019 and previous tax years.

  The organization says its Executive Vice-President and CEO Wayne LaPierre has already paid back nearly $300,000 plus interest. 

  The tax filing names eight current and former NRA executives who may have received “excess benefits.” A lot of the disputed expenses involve travel and personal spending. The NRA says that its board members “may have used first class or business class travel without authorization required under the NRA’s travel policy.”

Channel Change: President Trump certainly seems to have changed channels when looking for good news about himself. No longer bragging about his appearances and the praise of hosts on Fox News, the President is going with the upstarts Newsmax and One America News Network, both credulous followers of Trump.

  The President has been tweeting reports from both networks about election fraud. Neither network has called the election that Joe Biden won 306-232 in the Electoral College with 80 million popular votes.

Close Encounters: Shortly after a stainless steel monolith was found in the remote Red Rock desert in Utah, it became a destination for adventurers who just had to get there first. The internet is already populated with selfies of people posing with the artwork.

  A Reddit user tracked the flight path of the Utah state helicopter that set down next to the monolith after its crew saw it from the air. Then he used Google Earth to zero in on the exact location.

  One man who got to the monolith is  David Surber, a 33-year-old former Army infantry officer who drove six hours through the night. He told the BBC,  “I decided to go there first because I was drawn to the fact that this object had been there for five years, hidden in nature.” 

  The NY Times cleverly describes the monolith as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, buried in the desert” and speculates whether it is the work of an artist named John McCracken, who has a similar work in a New York gallery. The Times describes McCracken as “a Minimalist sculptor with an affinity for science fiction.” 

  McCracken’s son says maybe his father did it, but some fellow artists say no. McCracken can’t confirm or deny. He died in 2011.

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