MY WRITING JOURNAL

Thursday, November 6

Trump’s tariffs faced Supreme Court skepticism. Even members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared open to the idea that President Trump may have exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on goods from nearly every country, asking pointed questions during more than two hours of oral arguments over the legality of the president’s signature economic policy yesterday. The justices pressed the government’s lawyer on whether tariffs are a tax that must therefore be put in place by Congress. The Trump administration has said that overturning the tariffs would weaken the US and could require it to refund $750+ billion. But oral arguments do not always preview the court’s ultimate decision, which in this case is expected by June.

Finally, some good news about the labor market. Private companies added a stronger-than-expected 42,000 jobs last month, according to ADP. That breaks a two-month streak of declines and provides a glimmer of hope about the labor market, even as several big companies have recently announced large layoffs. It’s also likely to be the only data about jobs that the Fed has to go off of when deciding whether to cut interest rates again next month, as the ongoing government shutdown means there’s unlikely to be official numbers released.

Details emerge about UPS plane crash that killed at least 12. The cause of Tuesday’s deadly crash, in which a UPS cargo plane’s left wing caught fire and its engine detached shortly after takeoff, is still being investigated. Authorities said the death toll could continue to rise. But new information began to come out about the plane involved, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the MD-11 plane was 34 years old and had undergone major repairs to its fuel tank in September. Though there is no indication that the plane’s age was a factor in the crash, the WSJ reports that both UPS and rival FedEx still use the model—which is no longer used as a passenger plane—but are phasing it out.—AR

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Robert Reich

What’s “news” under Trump?

Friends,

“TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT, according to Pollsters,” Trump posted after Tuesday’s blowout, not naming the pollsters.

Yet the media obediently repeated Trump’s words, as if they were news.

They aren’t news. They’re postures. His words and thoughts add nothing to our understanding of anything. Yet the media reproduces them as if they did.

He says whatever happens to be in his brain at the moment. He posts about whatever annoys him at the moment. He constantly changes his mind. His brain wanders in ways that cause many to question whether he — who will be 80 in June, and whose family has a history of dementia — is all there. He lies like most people breathe. He is impetuous and capricious. He has the attention span of a fruit fly.

With Trump in the Oval Office, “news” should no longer be defined as what the president of the United States says or writes or thinks, because the president of the United States is incapable of coherent thought.

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At A Glance

The most popular baby names this year.

Google’s new hurricane model is really good.

Why don't we ride zebras?

Why Congress doesn't have term limits. (w/video)

Oreo releases Thanksgiving dinner-inspired cookies.

... and Amazon offers five-person Thanksgiving dinner for $25.

Listen to relaxing sounds from around the world.

Scientists can't agree on why some leaves turn red.

Clickbait: The Swiss seek a "yodel-ay-hee-hoo" from the UN.

Historybook: Abraham Lincoln elected 16th president of the US (1860); Basketball inventor Dr. James Naismith born (1861); The UN formally condemns apartheid in South Africa (1962); Hollywood great Gene Tierney dies (1991).

HEALTHY EATING HABITS for weight loss | a diet-free approach!

Quick Clips

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Ohio State tops first edition of 2025 College Football Playoff rankings (More) | How playoff seeding has changed this year (More, w/video)

> Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. changes name to USA TODAY Co., a nod to its flagship publication (More) | Condé Nast to fold Teen Vogue into Vogue.com, following Vogue Business' move to the platform last week (More)

> Soccer star David Beckham knighted by King Charles III for contributions to sports and charity (More) | English actor Jonathan Bailey becomes People magazine's first openly gay Sexiest Man Alive (More)

Science & Technology
> Stability AI largely wins landmark UK intellectual property lawsuit brought by Getty Images (More) | Amazon threatens legal action against Perplexity AI to block Comet browser from making online purchases on behalf of users (More)

> Scientists observe most distant and powerful flare yet from supermassive black hole—10 billion light-years away and 30 times brighter than previously observed flares (More) | Black holes 101 (1440 Topics)

> Researchers determine Antarctic glacier retreated faster than any other in modern history; nearly 50% of the glacier disintegrated in two months, a pace comparable to retreats at the end of the last ice age (More)

Business & Markets
> US stock markets close down (S&P 500 -1.2%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -2.0%) (More) | Pinterest shares fall 20% in after-hours trading after missing earnings-per-share estimates, providing weak guidance (More)

> Norway's wealth fund to reject Elon Musk's $1T Tesla pay package at annual shareholder meeting scheduled tomorrow (More)

> Papa John's shares close down nearly 10% on reports of Apollo Global withdrawing offer to take the pizza chain private (More) | Pfizer and Novo Nordisk escalate bidding battle for weight-loss drug startup Metsera (More)

Politics & World Affairs
> Former Vice President Dick Cheney dies at age 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease; he was known for his role in advocating for the US war with Iraq and was also defense secretary and a congressman for a decade (More)

> FBI arrests two men in connection with Saturday's explosion at Harvard Medical School; the men, aged 18 and 20, do not attend the university (More)

> Federal government shutdown becomes the longest on record, entering Day 36; see live updates (More)

SOURCE: 1440 NEWS

Memories

My earliest memory, without any thinking or prompting was in the THIRD GRADE. I was eight years old and was told by my father that I had a baby brother. However, I cannot remember if I liked or disliked the news as I am sure I hardly knew what that was going to mean to our family.

I have plenty of memories regarding the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades but not very many memories of my first two years in college or may last two years in college after being discharged from the military.

The memories of my first marriage are selective as well, recalling fewer positive memories than negative ones; but, during the first few years of our separation and divorce, recall a little more; however, I recall more about my second marriage than my first.

From age 60 until my present age of 78, I was and still am under treatment for two kinds of cancer, and my only vivid memories of those 18 years are the weekend of sickness I endured once a month for a 6-month period of time.

Looking back, I seem to have NEGATIVE MEMORY rather than POSITIVE MEMORY.

There were numerous times during my last SEVENTY YEARS (78-8 years of no recall at all) that were very positive for me.

moving to Cairo, Egypt for 4 years
high school graduation
traveling through Europe
first marriage
honorable discharge from military
birth of daughter
college graduation
grad school graduation
second marriage
traveling with second wife
teaching
survivor of cancer - so far
retirement

I'm sure there are more, but I am just thinking off the top of my head without concentrating...

It bothers me that my first thought of memories are always negative.

Somewhat Political

First Shape Found That Can’t Pass Through Itself

Imagine you’re holding two equal-size dice. Is it possible to bore a tunnel through one die that’s big enough for the other to slide through?

Perhaps your instinct is to say “Surely not!” If so, you’re not alone. In the late 1600s, an unidentified person placed a bet to that effect with Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Rupert — a nephew of Charles I of England who commanded the Royalist forces in the English Civil War — spent his sunset years studying metallurgy and glassmaking in his laboratory at Windsor Castle.

Rupert won the bet. The mathematician John Wallis, recounting the story in 1693, didn’t say whether Rupert wrote a proof or bored a hole through an actual cube. But Wallis himself proved mathematically that, if you drill a straight tunnel in the direction of one of the cube’s inner diagonals, it can be made wide enough to allow another cube through. It’s a tight squeeze: If you make the second cube just 4% larger, it will no longer fit.

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Platters - Only You

Wednesday, November 5

Coastline Horses

VINCE

Face

Shannon Joy Show

Dinesh D'Souza

Hammock

Sarah Westall

Bongino Report

Camping

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

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