October 18, 2024
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Welcome to the news for independent thinkers
Leading the News . . .
After a yearlong hunt, Yahya Sinwar's killing came down to chance . . . For a year, Israel's military and its intelligence agencies scoured Gaza in a relentless hunt for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. And for a year, the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks eluded them. The moment that changed the war in Gaza came around 3 p.m. when the trainees searching for Hamas tunnels in the southern city of Rafah saw three armed men leaving a building. The soldiers opened fire. One of the men fled into a nearby building. Soldiers sent a reconnaissance drone in after him. The video feed showed the militant wounded and alone, sitting in a chair. The man hurled a chunk of wood at the drone, before the soldiers opened fire again—and the house collapsed on him. Wall Street Journal
The haunting final moments before Sinwar was killed . . .
Politics
Trump takes sharp jabs at Harris during keynote at Al Smith dinner . . . Former President Donald Trump took the dais at the 79th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Thursday evening, cracking jokes and taking shots at Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping the bipartisan political event that typically adds a bit of levity to the campaign trail each presidential election cycle. "If you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis, and she would have been here, guaranteed. She would have been guaranteed," Trump quipped. Fox News
Critics drag Harris for 'cringe' pre-recorded video aired during Catholic charity dinner
A few of Trump's greatest hits at the Al Smith dinner last night . . .
Harris took credit for policy that paid for killer's sex change operation . . . A man who killed a couple by tying them to a boat anchor and throwing them overboard two decades ago will be transferred to a women's prison thanks to a California policy Vice President Kamala Harris helped implement that provides taxpayer funding for inmate sex change operations. Skylar Deleon was sentenced to death for masterminding and carrying out the gruesome 2004 murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. Deleon recently obtained a publicly funded sex change operation under a California policy Ms. Harris claimed credit for implementing as California attorney general a decade ago. Washington Times
Your tax dollars at work for you!
Legal experts shred Harris' offer of $20 billion in 'forgivable' loans for Black entrepreneurs . . . Vice President Kamala Harris sought to drum up enthusiasm among minority voters by offering "fully forgivable" federal loans to Black entrepreneurs, but courts have rejected previous attempts to hand out federal funds based on race. The Democratic presidential candidate's "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men" would provide "1 million loans that are fully forgivable" — in other words, grants — of up to $20,000 each for "Black entrepreneurs and others to start a business." Washington Times
Judge Chutkan denies Trump's request to delay release of Jack Smith's Jan. 6 evidence
Democratic candidates flee Kamala . . . Several Democrats running for key Senate seats have distanced themselves from Vice President Kamala Harris and her bid for the presidency as polling continues to tighten between her and former President Donald Trump. Democrats such as Texas Rep. Colin Allred, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Montana Sen. Jon Tester have been largely quiet about Harris's bid for President or have even skipped campaign events for Harris in their own states. Daily Caller
Musk stumps for Trump in Pennsylvania
Walz says 90-year-old mom lives off social security check during North Carolina rally . . . On the first day of early voting in North Carolina, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz hit the campaign trail in Durham on Thursday evening, making a personal revelation about his mother. During his campaign rally, Walz said that his mother has to wait for her social security check every month to feed herself. According to Forbes, Walz has an estimated net worth of over $1 million. Fox News
Tragic stinginess.
Trump takes on junk food after RFK endorsement . . . Trump, a fan of hamburgers from McDonald's, has picked up Kennedy's goal to take on ultra-processed food, environmental toxins and a healthcare system Kennedy argues is more designed to treat illnesses than prevent them. "Everybody is sick, and something really fundamental is wrong with our country in terms of the food and water," Kennedy said. Wall Street Journal
Culture
Democrats abandon colorblindness for tribalism . . . As the civil rights movement gathered steam, colorblindness was the endgame. Ballots could not identify candidates by race. Employers could not ask for the racial identities of applicants. As success approached, the Democratic Party was terrified of losing a wedge issue. Democrats thus changed the game from colorblindness to racial or gender preferences for nonvictims of discrimination. Even as the U.S. Supreme Court embraced colorblindness as a constitutional imperative, the Democratic Party continued marching in an opposite direction. Daily Signal
International
South Korean intelligence says North has sent troops to aid Russia's war in Ukraine . . . South Korea's spy agency said Friday that North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine, a development that could bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West. The National Intelligence Service said in a statement that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from Oct. 8 to Oct. 13. It said more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia soon. Associated Press
Money
Wealthier Americans are driving retail spending and powering US economy . . . It's a trend that has surprised many: Why, despite being squeezed by high prices, have Americans kept spending at retail stores and restaurants at a robust pace? One key reason is a relatively simple one: Wealthier consumers, boosted by strong gains in income, home equity and stock market wealth, have increasingly driven the spending. That trend, documented by Federal Reserve research, represents something of a shift from the pre-pandemic period. And it suggests that consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy, could help sustain healthy growth this year and next. Associated Press
So let's tax the hell out of them! That will make the liberal elite feel great about themselves and cause . . . a recession? "Trickle down theory" is widely panned even when evidence suggests it's true.
Partnership between Microsoft and Open AI shows signs of fraying. . . Over the last year, OpenAI has been trying to renegotiate the deal to help it secure more computing power and reduce crushing expenses while Microsoft executives have grown concerned that their A.I. work is too dependent on OpenAI. Mr. Nadella has said privately that Mr. Altman's firing in November shocked and concerned him, according to five people with knowledge of his comments. Since then, Microsoft has started to hedge its bet on OpenAI. New York Times
You should also know
Texas Supreme Court halts execution of man in shaken baby case after lawmakers' last-minute appeal . . . The Texas Supreme Court halted Thursday night's scheduled execution of a man who would have become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The late-night ruling to spare for now the life of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, capped a flurry of last-ditch legal challenges and weeks of public pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say he is innocent and was sent to death row based on flawed science. Associated Press
Woman thought to have been with Nelson Rockefeller the night he died is dead . . . Megan Marshack, the journalist and aide to former vice president Nelson Rockefeller, has died in California at the age of 70. After decades of silence, Marshack used a self-penned obituary to sensationally reveal new details about her links with the former New York governor. While she neither confirms or denies an affair, Marshack, who was at the centre of a storm of speculation about Rockefeller's sudden death in 1979, dropped a stunning clue about their relationship. She ends the obituary with a quote from an 'A Chorus Line' song: '... won't forget, can't regret what I did for love.' Daily Mail
Guilty Pleasures
Annual wife-carrying championship attracts competitive couples to Maine . . . More than 30 couples competed in the North American Wife Carrying Championship, a 278-yard (254-meter) race during which contestants splash through water, leap over logs and trudge through mud — all while carrying their partner like a sack of potatoes. The sport's origin story isn't exactly politically correct. It's based on a 19th century Finnish legend involving a man known as "Ronkainen the Robber," whose gang was known to pillage villages and carry away the women. Associated Press
But of course, this is the USA circa 2024. The competing couples didn't have to be married, nor did they have to be a man and a woman.
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