Wednesday, November 5

Russell Brand

 

TimcastIRL

 

Iris

 

Headlines



Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images





Mamdani will be NYC’s next mayor after big night for Democrats. The Associated Press called the race for Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, at 9:34pm ET. The 34-year-old received 50.4% of the votes with 91% of ballots counted, beating former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (who ran as an independent), who received 41.6% of the vote, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, who received 7.1% When sworn in on Jan. 1, Mamdani will become the city’s first Muslim mayor. He’ll also be the first person of South Asian descent to lead the city. Democrats won the other major contests around the country, including for the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey. In California, the Proposition 50 redistricting measure, put forward in response to Texas’s midcycle redistricting, passed handily. In remarks after its passage, CA Gov. Gavin Newsom reflected on Democrats’ success, saying, “Tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared.”—HVL



Dick Cheney died at 84. The cause of death was complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from his family. Perhaps the most powerful and polarizing US vice president in history, Cheney was considered the architect of the US’ response to 9/11 and the chief strategist of the “war on terror” under President George W. Bush. He pushed for the US to invade Iraq based on false claims that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, infamously predicting that American troops “will be greeted as liberators.” He wielded far more influence than typical vice presidents, reportedly striking an unspoken deal with Bush that in exchange for quelling his desire to be president himself, he’d get to shape the administration’s policies. Following Jan. 6, 2021, Cheney and his daughter, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, became vocal critics of fellow Republican President Trump.—AE

Major Tesla shareholder will vote against Musk’s $1 trillion pay package. Elon may not be booking any vacations to Oslo any time soon. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund—one of Tesla’s biggest investors—announced it will vote against the Tesla CEO’s proposed $1 trillion stock award at the company’s annual meeting tomorrow. “While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk,” the fund said in a statement. Musk has threatened to leave the company if shareholders do not approve the compensation, which will only be awarded if Tesla hits certain goals over the next decade. Proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have also urged investors to reject the package, prompting Musk to label them as “corporate terrorists” on a call with analysts last month.—AE

Robert Reich


The True Test of our Progress
Trump has put America into reverse


FDR’s Second Inaugural Address, 1937 (right)





Friends,

The Democrats had a great day yesterday. It’s crucial that they hone their economic message for next year’s midterms on affordability, based in fairness.

Trump is doing the opposite. Although a federal court ordered Trump to continue to provide food stamps to about 42 million low-income Americans who depend on them, Trump yesterday threatened to deny them anyway until the end of the government shutdown.

In a post on social media, he said benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps, “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

How low Trump has sunk.


At A Glance


Explore how differently men and women spend their days.

Ranking the world's most beautiful train stations.

The high school student who accused Bob Dylan of song stealing.

Meet the jeweler who made Taylor Swift's engagement ring.

See the shortlist for Close-Up Photographer of the Year.

Study highlights the benefits of social relationships in aging.

Fleet of police Cybertrucks will patrol Las Vegas.

German art museum sells out tours by a grumpy tour guide.

Clickbait: Tom Brady's new dog is a clone of his late pet.

Historybook: "Gone with the Wind" actress Vivien Leigh born (1913); Writer Sinclair Lewis is first American to win Nobel Prize for literature (1930); Franklin D. Roosevelt is first and only US president elected to third term (1940); Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death (2006); Google unveils Android (2007).

Eat These Foods Daily To Lose Weight Effortlessly

Quick Clips

 








In The NEWS


Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Actress Diane Ladd, a three-time Oscar nominee known for "Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore" and "Wild at Heart," dies at age 89 (More) | Singer Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, the Grateful Dead's only female performer, dies at age 78 (More)

> 2025 Gold Glove Award, which honors MLB's best defensive players, given to 20 players, including nine first-time awardees (More)

> Comedian Jon Stewart renews "The Daily Show" contract with Comedy Central through December 2026 (More)


Science & Technology
> Waymo to expand robotaxi service to Detroit, Las Vegas, and San Diego; Alphabet-owned company aims to offer 1 million trips per week by end of 2026 (More)

> Neurologists link roughly 3,000 or more daily steps to slower cognitive decline in older adults at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease; benefits plateau around 5,000 to 7,500 daily steps (More)

> Researchers stimulate chromosome errors tied to maternal age in mouse eggs, a step toward understanding and extending women's reproductive longevity (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq +0.5%); tech-heavy Nasdaq rises on AI optimism (More)

> OpenAI signs $38B seven-year cloud computing deal with Amazon as part of first partnership between the two; shares of Amazon rise to record high (More) | Microsoft to invest roughly $15B in the UAE over next four years (More)

> Huggies and Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark to acquire Tylenol maker Kenvue in more than $40B cash-and-stock deal (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Two US citizens allegedly inspired by ISIS are charged in 72-page complaint, accused of plotting to carry out a thwarted terror attack on Halloween (More) | Suspect behind UK train attack charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, including over separate same-day incident (More)

> Medieval tower in Rome, known as the Torre dei Conti, partially collapses while under renovation, trapping a worker inside (More)

> The Netherlands' prime minister says the country will return a 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt following the Grand Egyptian Museum opening (More) | See previous write-up (More)


SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Routines

 

Every day, I wake up basically at the same time, even though I am retired, which is about an hour or so later after I would have awoken had I been working.  My waking time is around 7:30 - 8:30 am.  

I then given the cats their morning treat, dress, take my thyroid pill, make coffee, clean out the litter box and start watching Fox news which I watch until about 10:00 am.  during that time, I am working on my blogs, preparing them for the next day, and posting current information.

Breakfast comes next, followed by the ten pills I take each morning.  My breakfast can be raisin bran cereal and milk, or frozen waffles heated and Strawberry Jelly, or scrambled eggs, vege sausage, and instant grits.  However, the latter meal causes me more time and more dishes to wash.

Right now, it is really close to noon, so I begin any inside work or outside work that i need to accomplish depending upon the weather conditions outside.  These chores and/or tasks might take me 1-3 hours...  The rest of the afternoon and early evening is spend researching and writing on whatever novel is currently in progress.

While writing on my novel, I may take an hour or two break by watching 1-2 episodes of a BBC Series.  I tend to prefer BBC over American series for some reason, and it is not just the acting...  there is just something different that I like about them...  maybe they are more real.

This activity takes me to around 8:00 pm and for the next hour or two, I surf various social media forums like facebook, truth social, x, bluesky, and global news on google.

This routine is always interrupted by:
  • Grocery shopping
  • doctor appointments
  • medical exams
  • visits by neighbors
  • window shopping
  • haircuts
  • going out to eat

Somewhat Political

 




Helion gives behind-the-scenes tour


EVERETT, Wash. — In an industrial stretch of Everett is a boxy, windowless building called Ursa. Inside that building is a vault built from concrete blocks up to 5 feet thick with an additional layer of radiation-absorbing plastic. Within that vault is Polaris, a machine that could change the world.

Helion Energy is trying to replicate the physics that fuel the sun and the stars — hence the celestial naming theme — to provide nearly limitless power on earth through fusion reactions.

The company recently invited a small group of journalists to visit its headquarters and see Polaris, which is the seventh iteration of its fusion generator and the prototype for a commercial facility called Orion that broke ground this summer in Malaga in Central Washington.

READ MORE...

The Band - Forever Young

Tuesday, November 4

The River Boat

 

VINCE

 

Dinesh D'Souza

 

Darkness Reigns

 

Amber May Show

 

Bongino Report

 

Diamond & Silk

 

HAT

 

Russell Brand

 

The Big MIG

 

TimcastIRL

 

Flowerbox

 

Brookings Brief


Stabilizing Latino entrepreneurs amid federal policy volatility

The Big THINK


Letting go of perfectionism

Bridge

 

Headlines


UGC/Getty Images




Trump administration says it will partially fund SNAP benefits this month. With the federal government shutdown on track to become the longest ever tonight, the Trump administration told the Rhode Island federal judge who ordered the continuation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that it would use all of the $4.65 billion from a contingency fund “to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.” It was not immediately clear when the 42 million Americans who use the food assistance program will receive their monthly benefits. Before the judge’s ruling, the USDA had said last month that SNAP benefits would not be paid at all in November, which has not happened during previous shutdowns.

OpenAI and Amazon made a $38 billion cloud deal. The seven-year deal marks the first partnership between the two tech giants. OpenAI bought $38 billion worth of capacity from Amazon Web Services, allowing it to access hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s graphics processing units at Amazon’s data centers. The companies inked the deal less than a week after OpenAI revised its agreement with Microsoft to let OpenAI get more computing resources without first offering the business to Microsoft. It’s much smaller than OpenAI’s $250 billion cloud deal with Microsoft and its $300 billion deal with Oracle, but it still represents a significant new relationship.

Coke doubles down on AI-generated holiday advertising. Coca-Cola, the company whose marketing department cemented the modern image of Santa, released a new AI-generated ad yesterday, even though last year’s attempt evoked more jeers than holiday cheer. In 2024, the company’s AI-made holiday spot prompted backlash, both for its uncanny valley dwelling AI-produced humans, and for the tech’s potential to take jobs away from the creative professionals who would otherwise be creating ad imagery. But it garnered billions of impressions, and the company said this year’s offering—which features animals, not humans—is better.—AR


At A Glance


New data on DINK—dual income, no kids—couples.

How delivery cannibalized American restaurants.

What does life expectancy really mean? (via Instagram)

Timothée Chalamet look-alikes unite.

How to die young at a very old age.

What microwaves do to your food.

... and how much healthy eating costs around the world.

Forget the man cave, these spouses want Lego rooms.

Clickbait: Rats are snatching bats out of the sky. (w/video)

Historybook: Journalist Walter Cronkite born (1916); Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes first woman elected governor in the US (1924); Former first lady Laura Bush born (1946); Iran hostage crisis begins (1979); Barack Obama becomes first African American elected US president (2008).