NATIONAL PIZZA WITH THE WORKS EXCEPT ANCHOVIES DAY UPDATES

And Pepperoni. Not a Pepperoni Fan.

-The first wave of appointments/'nominees' have been announced from Mar-a-Lago, where reports are the place is swarming with job-seekers and hangers-on as if it was a ComiCon for MAGA lickspittles. And it has to be said that, at least in a few of the foreign policy appointments, those nominated seem to simply be cowing but not stark-raving mad or screamingly incompetent as expected, comparatively speaking.

-House members Elise Stefanik and Michael Waltz have been nominated for United Nations and National Security Advisor, respectively, and in the first shocker waterlogged Sen. Marco Rubio is apparently going to get the Secretary of State nomination. All share sycophancy and rabid pro-Israel views, sure (and will be abetted by the new nominee to be Ambassador to Israel, squirrel-eating evangelical Mike Huckabee), but Rubio in particular can actually sound human at times, even if one can place bets on how long he may stay in power given Trump's love of chaos and humiliation. So, why wouldn't his or any of these appointments not be measured in Scarramuccis?

-The truly horrible first wave of appointments have been made in connection with Trump's intent to bring back family deportations, being led by his former ICE Director Tom Homan, who will now run the new administration's effort to "expel" "illegal" "immigrants." His right hand will be Trump's right hand, the odious monster Stephen Miller, with the official title of Deputy Chief of Staff. They will be helped with Trump's second biggest WTF appointment so far, SD Governor Kristi Noem, fresh off bopping arrhythmically with Trump a few weeks ago and bringing with her vast experience defending the Southern border from the northern Plains where she protected the world from unbehaved puppies and goats to the party. (This also signals that Trump clearly intends to act on these 'promises' starting on Inauguration Day. Be ready …)

-Meanwhile, votes continue to be counted - and it may be academic at this point, but most projections are that Trump will wind up with tenths of a percent under 50% of the total popular vote, edging Kamala Harris in that metric by less than 1.5%. Counts from the West Coast are closing the gap and also is one of the reasons the House remains uncalled. There are 15-16 elections still undetermined, and MAGAts only need four seats to clinch a ruling trifecta - but the overall margin will remain in the 4-6 seat range if not smaller.

-That margin makes the previously mentioned selections of Stefanik and Waltz even more curious. Yes, they are in admittedly deep-red districts, but given how close the nation’s electorate continues to be despite news to the contrary, the success many Democrats had down ballot in states where their policies continued to get solid majority support, and the focus on special elections that off-year elections always generate, you never know until the elections take place who may hold control of the gavel. (Which is why stories are circulating that GOP leaders in Congress are grinding their teeth a little over what whoever is doing the hiring is doing by siphoning off Congrescritters on that side of the aisle. Too bad so sad.)

-After all, Congress still needs to vote on budgets, at the very least, so keep half an eye or so on this as you manage your reactions and gear up to fight and work as 2025 and beyond shapes up.

-On that score, Democrats are taking some heart from fighting words and actions from the largest blue states vowing to fight as best they can Project 2025 and Trump's threats involving everything from immigration to taxation to abortion rights and beyond. CA's Gavin Newsom, IL's JB Pritzker, NY's Kathy Hochul and MN's Tim Walz have all talked about combing through what The Federalist Society now labels as the "blueprint" for the incoming administration "line by line" and even have discussed withholding payment of federal taxes if it comes to that to defend and slow the fascist tendencies of the incoming administration. Indeed, experts who analyze fascist regimes note that the two-month gap between Election Day and Inauguration Day gives Trump opponents vitally-needed time to shore up legal, financial, political and security safeguards (or as many as states can erect) to whatever Trump does, for as long as they potentially can.

-Because as other commentators that are not spending time on cable news (as evidenced by record ratings drops for CNN and MSNBC post-election), Trump is all about chaos and capriciousness (uh oh - that's an elitist word, isn't it?!), and having no guard rails is terrifying for individual rights and safety, but also for goals and means by which his minions can try to achieve said goals. It's hard to do when the institution you are taking over is one that you fundamentally believe to your core it is a failure, right? The lack of predictability may be the only predictable element to the returning regime ...

-Speaking of Trump, he continues to uncharacteristically hide from even his favorite media sources. It is believed the bulk of the hiring right now is being made by Chief of Staff appointee and former co-campaign manager Susie (not Susan) Wiles, and many of those named - in particular Rubio - are being met with frustration by MAGA loudmouths (in other words, MAGA). He does meet with President Biden tomorrow, though. Gird your loins …

-Even odder is the continued presence in Mar-a-Lago by ... billionaire weirdo Elon Musk (did you think I was going to say "Melania?"). From phone calls to interviews he freely walks into (along with who knows how many other foreign agents) to inserting himself into ostensible family portraits with the Trump brood, Musk is showing up in so many spaces he is resembling the late John Belushi from the classic Saturday Night Live sketch THE THING THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE. (I am dating myself with that reference.) Particularly as the only person who has been less visible than Trump post-Election Day has been Vice President-elect JD Vance. (If you have seen him in the last 48 hours, please contact authorities.)

-Musk's actions have seemingly triggered what may be the final exodus of left/Democratic/Progressive writers and organizations from the once-vital social media site formerly known as Twitter - particularly after Musk's announcement that after November 15, posts on the site can be sold and used to generate AI content posts (because while Musk has reportedly made $300M since Election Day, is it ever really enough?). More intriguingly, the TwiX refugees are generally choosing not to go to the first post-TwiX social media site, Threads.

-Threads got an early lead as a TwiX alternative, but the Meta-owned site has been hamstrung by reports of political content being throttled in the run-up to November 5, chronic bugs involving basic functionality (posts do not reappear chronologically, no messaging option, occasional invasions from robotic pro-Trump and porn accounts), and the fact that you could not open a Threads account without also opening or having an Instagram account. Mark Zuckerberg's fawning congratulations to Trump (and by extension Musk) post-Election seems to have sealed its fate from many potential users.

-As a result, the second major TwiX alternative, BlueSky, has seen massive growth in usership in the last 72 hours. BlueSky was created by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey and was hamstrung by early memberships being limited to "accepting" invitations from the site that were very hard to get a year ago. However, that invitation no longer applies for new users, and Dorsey left BlueSky in May while promoting the site as an open source social network running on a decentralized system which theoretically makes it harder to hack into and easier for regular users to control - elements Twitter had once had but which no longer do post-Musk ownership. (Ironically, Dorsey asked users not to leave TwiX in May.)

-Bluesky now boasts a relatively glitch-free site users migrating from TwiX applaud as being close in spirit and functionality to the earliest days of Twitter. It allows easy blocking of potential trolling accounts which can be done through the use of self-created "packages" and "lists" that allow multiple blocks - and can populate your feed with similar lists and packages of users. This Substacker is on Bluesky (@jafedorko.bksy.social) and can vouch for its usability, and would love to build that user/follower list. I will also be staying on Threads (@jafedorko - no, not too creative) and bouncing back and forth, but this is all developing super-fast, so why not follow me in both places? (I have been suspended from Twitter for over five years owing to having offended too many racists. True story.) And thus far, no bots or porn or MAGAts in sight on Bluesky!

-So one may consider the Bluesky emergence as Good News for today. Here's another: audio hate-caster Alex Jones' entire set of earthly possessions are being liquidated in a matter of hours in an effort to pay off his fines owed to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims and the slanders he told about them and that mass murder. Jones was weeping about it on INFOWARS yesterday, and while he may continue to somehow spew, it is one legal and moral victory to celebrate. We need to celebrate them as we get them.

-This could be considered a third bit of Good News - or at least Karma, Baby: Fox News talking hater Jesse Waters - who, remember, got his gig by ambushing innocent people to mock them as a producer for Bill O’Reilly - revealed that his mother, a frequent guest and avowed Democrat, has not invited him to Thanksgiving dinner this year post-election. Maybe he knows someone that can get him a frozen turkey dinner for the day …

-And the final bit of Good News for today - at least in my world - comes from my birth city's basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. By defeating a tenacious Chicago Bulls squad 119-113 for their 12th straight win (I found my SPORTSWRITING FOR DUMMIES manual!), the Cavs become just the eighth team in NBA history to come out of the gate that strongly. And while it is only November and the fun if synthetic Emirates NBA Cup begins preliminary play this week, five of the previous seven teams to have won at least that many games to start the season have made it to the NBA Finals. Not predictive, but watching Evan Mobley elevate his game as Cavs fans have waited for while Darius Garland is returning to All-Star form and a locked-in-for-a-few-years Donovan Mitchell leading the way (heck, even George Niang is hitting threes!), new Head Coach Kenny Atkinson is allowing at least this fan to find some joy in these tough times.

-#LetEmKnow!

-On this date in 1927, Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party. On this date in 1942, the Battle of Guadalcanal began. On this date in 1954, Ellis Island closed. On this date in 1969, news of a massacre by American troops in the South Vietnamese village of My Lai broke. On this date in 1980, the Voyager I satellite reached the planet Saturn. On this date in 1982, Yuri Andropov became the leader of the Soviet Union. On this date in 1990, Tim Berns-Lee and Robert Caillau first proposed a network of computers that became the World Wide Web. And on this date in 2021, Britney Spears was freed from a 14-year conservatorship that her father imposed on her at the beginning of her career.

-Debuts on this date: a flying trapeze act without a net (1859), the leotard (1859 - yes, the two events are connected, as the trapeze act was performed by one Jules Leotard and that was what he wore!), BEN-HUR (1880), Abbey Road Studios (1931).

-Happy Birthday to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Auguste Rodin, Harry Blackmun, Roland Barthes, Kim Hunter, Grace Kelly, Norman Mineta, Mills Lane, Wallace Shawn, Al Michaels, Booker T. Jones, Neil Young, Tracy Kidder, Buck Dharma, Megan Mullally, Nadia Comaneci, Vic Chestnutt, Michael Moorer, Kathleen Hanna, Ryan Gosling, and Anne Hathaway.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Norman Bethune, William Holden, Eve Arden, Charles "Honi" Coles, Wilma Rudolph, Kenny Kirkland, Penny Singleton, Ira Levin, Mitch Mitchell, Liz Smith, David Pearson, and Stan Lee,

-Feed the Worms: Reagan/Bush funder and brewer of crappy beer Joseph Coors, and Charles Manson entered Earth on this date.

-Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, Naomi Wolf, Sammy Sosa, and Tonya Harding were born on this date. You decide whether they get a Happy Birthday or if they Feeds the Worms.