China Syndrome:  Rare and dangerous protests against the government erupted in Chinese cities over the weekend as people have become frustrated with the draconian “zero covid” restrictions. Some Chinese critics blame the Covid lockdown for an apartment fire that killed 10 people.

  The government’s Covid policy has frozen everyday Chinese life, prevented travel, and caused small businesses to fold.

   At Tsinghua University, in Beijing, where students have been prohibited from leaving campus for weeks, a crowd chanted “Democracy and rule of law. A video of a protest in Chengdu, showed  people shouting, “We want freedom, we want democracy.”

   It’s a crime to criticize the government or the Communist Party in China, but in Shanghai the crowd called for the party and  its leader Xi Jinping, to step down. 

  Workers at China’s largest iPhone factory also confronted police in hazmat suits wielding riot shields in Zhengzhou. In the footage now blocked from the internet workers complained about pay and sanitary conditions in the Foxconn plant. They claimed the company stiffed them on a promised bonus.

Trump World:  Former President Donald Trump blasted  the Supreme Court last week for allowing the Treasury Department to hand over his tax returns to the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee.

  Posting at 1:15 one morning on his “Truth Social” site, Trump whined that the Supremes “always” rules against him despite his having appointed three of the nine current members. The man who would be president is always someone’s victim. “It is unprecedented to be handing over Tax Returns, & it creates terrible precedent for future Presidents,” Trump said.

  Every president since Richard Nixon has willingly revealed his taxes. Trump obviously won’t disclose his taxes because he doesn’t want anyone to know what’s in them. Last week in the New York criminal trial of Trump’s company, accountant Donald Bender testified that Trump reported losses on company tax returns every year for 10 years, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010. 

  “There are losses for all these years,” Bender said. He was granted immunity for his testimony.

  The Trump Organization is charged with helping top executives dodge income taxes on company-paid apartments, luxury cars, and tuition payments.

  And finally, former columnist E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for battery and defamation under a new New York law that allows adults claiming sexual assault to file suit years after the attack. That’s the second lawsuit Carroll has brought against Trump, seeking to punish him for her accusation that he raped her in the mid-1990s in the dressing room of a New York department store. 

  Part of her lawsuit is for defamation after Trump posted on social media, 

“It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years. And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!” 

The Long Count: Arizona’s defeated Republican candidate for governor is not conceding her loss as she takes up election denial on her own behalf. In a video posted on Twitter, Lake says, “We know we won this election.” 

  She has focused in particular on the state’s most populous Maricopa County where she says there was “mass voter disenfranchisement.” She has correctly pointed out that there were long lines and problems with tabulation machines, but she has produced no evidence that the difficulties turned the result against her.

  As for the long lines, early voting and vote-by-mail in Arizona began on October 12^th. And voters who were on line when the polls closed still had the right to vote.

  In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola defeated one-tine vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin by 10 points to take the state’s at-large congressional seat. Peltola will be the first Alaska native to serve in Congress.

On the Pitch: Iran has called for the US soccer team to be ejected from the World Cup for posting an altered picture of the Iranian flag on the internet. A spokesman for US Soccer said the Iranian flag stripped of Iran’s emblem and two lines of Islamic script was intended to show support for Iranian women, who have been protesting social restrictions. 

  In the competition, the US is still in the game, having tied twice. They have to beat Iran tomorrow to reach the next round. Canada has been eliminated after losing two. 

The Obit Page: Singer and actress Irene Cara, who made hits out of the  title tracks for the 1980s movies, “Flashdance” and “Fame,” has died at age 63. No cause was given. Both movies chronicled the aspirations of young entertainers like Cara herself at the time.

The Spin Rack: A single engine plane flew into an electrical transmission tower in Montgomery County, Maryland last night, trapping the pilot and passenger in the power lines. Service was knocked out for 117,000 customers but the two were rescued with serious injuries. — Rapper Kanye West declared himself a 2024 candidate for president. He got 70,000 votes in 2020 and didn’t claim the election was rigged. — Editor’s Note: We don’t cover the Christmas shopping story.

Below the Fold:  The big 3D sequel to the James Cameron hit “Avatar“ hits the theaters on December 16^th with an intimidating financial goal. The original “Avatar” has earned $2.9 billion, making it the highest grossing movie of all time. But thirteen years ago the 3D technology that required a special pair of glasses was a novelty. Now, “Avatar: The Way of Water” will have to gross $2 billion just to break even. 

  Cameron told GQ the movie is “very f–king” expensive and could be “the worst business case in movie history.”  He said, “You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.” 

  Sorry, we’re busy that night.

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