Thank You, Xi Jinping

How President Xi has made us appreciate our own flawed system compared to the Chinese alternative.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/opinion/china-xi-jinping.html

Surprise! Kyle Rittenhouse has a new YouTube Channel.
https://youtu.be/dNxDpY73rHA

The US Department of Education has started accepting applications for loan cancellation. Loan cancellation may begin as early as 10/23.

Cancellation is capped at $10,000 ($20,000 for those with low-income family Pell grants) and is only available for those with incomes under $125,000 per year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/business/student-debt-cancellation-applications.html

Help right-wing Billionaire Peter Thiel move to Malta. Vote against JD Vance and Blake Masters in November. 😉
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/technology/peter-thiel-malta-citizenship.html

The Van Gogh painting attacked by protestors at London's National Gallery, today, is protected by glass and undamaged.
https://en.as.com/latest_news/is-van-goghs-sunflowers-painting-protected-by-glass-tomato-soup-thrown-over-masterpiece-n/

Elon Musk under federal investigation over his conduct in connection with the Twitter acquisition.
https://www.ft.com/content/138584ea-ed30-488d-ba54-c468382d22da

US inflation(CPI-U) through September.

Republicans are expected to take control of the House, in the midterm elections, and to provoke a crisis in order to force reductions in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
#Medicare #SocialSecurity #Medicaid
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/republican-plan-cut-medicare-social-security-debt-ceiling-crisis.html

After Ye's account on Instagram was locked, for posting an anti-Semitic trope, he was welcomed back on Twitter by Elon Musk and quickly had his account locked for posting the same trope.

Musk says he talked to Ye about the post, but as recently as May has said, “If the citizens want something banned, then pass a law to do so, otherwise it should be allowed." Explicitly anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic speech is not illegal in the US.
#Twitter #Musk #moderation #Ye
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/10/kanye-west-antisemitic-tweet-musk-texas/

The Libertarian Party is collapsing. Here’s why.

The author thinks the Libertarian Party has been taken over by the alt-right, funded by donors close to Donald Trump, because it siphons votes from Republicans, and that the goal is to destroy the party.

Trump would have won in 2020 had every Libertarian voted for him. #Trump #Libertarian #alt-right
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3680007-the-libertarian-party-is-collapsing-heres-why/

Gary Kasparov on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its likely failure in the spring, and what is likely to happen to Russia when it fails.
#Kasparov #Russia #China #Ukraine
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/garry-kasparov-on-the-war-in-ukraine-everyone-who-is-still-in-russia-is-part-of-this-war-machine-a-ce9b5c68-7ba4-4b97-8bb2-6f71525486ea

Federal Election Update: 538 shows Democrats with a 71/100 chance of losing the House. Control of the House rests with roughly a dozen competitive races, such as Virginia's 2nd District and New York's 19th District.

Democrats are slightly favored to retain control of the Senate.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/house/

Pennsylvania Senatorial candidate, Dr. Oz, gave a campaign fundraising speech in California, yesterday, with Hitler's car in the background.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mehmet-oz-speech-hitlers-car_n_634076aae4b0e376dc0192cd

Talk of civil war growing on the right.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/us/politics/civil-war-social-media-trump.html

I hope COSO's ready for the onslaught of new members. It looks like Elon Musk is buying Twitter after all.
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/04/elon-musk-twitter-settlement

Putin is reputed to be in declining health and crippling pain.

It's unlikely the Russian war on Ukraine will end while Putin is still in power, but in his current physical and mental state he's unpredictable and dangerous.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/cancerstricken-putins-body-language-reveals-hes-in-crippling-pain/news-story/a53bb5b886a216507438bd06adce6784

Got another wannabe spy -- Jareh Dalke for trying to sell information to an unspecified foreign government.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-us-intelligence-employee-arrested-espionage-related-charges-rcna50075

When powerful government officials hide actual or potential conflicts of interest, corruption isn't far behind -- Supreme Court Justices included. That includes not just business interests of working spouses, but also expensive gifts and entertainment by groups with interests in the outcome of cases.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/29/justices-spouses-conflict-of-interest-disclosures-00059549

Ukraine is applying for "accelerated" membership in NATO after Russia annexes occupied regions.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-application-nato-russia-annex-regions-b1029399.html

The US embassy in Russia issued a security alert, on 9/27, advising Americans to leave Russia "immediately." It stated that Russia may conscript dual nationals, deny their access to consular assistance and prevent them from leaving Russia. American citizens have been arrested for participating in demonstrations. Land routes to leave Russia are still open.
https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-for-u-s-citizens-in-russia/