Jasmine is in hysterics while Gino plays Candy Crush in his car, and for some reason the producers need clarification about what’s going on.
“It’s Sunday,” Gino explains, not looking up from his phone. “What?”
Jasmine confesses she’s got abandonment issues because of her dad, who perceived her birth as a mistake, and ever since she’s struggled to trust men. She thought picking Gino would at least give her the satisfaction of being right, but she failed to account for the deflation powers of Michigan’s casual winter cruelty.
“I hate this coldness!” she sobs. “Why did you tell me daylight savings time changed the weather? Always you are lying to me, Gino!”
She tells Gino she wants a pre-marriage divorce with no prenup, and he suggests she berate him for suspicious lipgloss somewhere heated, after soothing her with a round of awkward patting.
The next day Jasmine’s still pissed, despite Gino’s insistence that the lipgloss must have got caught on his shoe somewhere, and she’s shelved her sobbing in favor of launching a “cleaning” operation similar to the average search warrant. After two hours of indiscretion treasure hunting, Jasmine’s evidence is sealed in plastic bags, and arranged on a table in time for the press conference.
“This is from his ex-wife,” Jasmine displays her first receipt. “It is a napkin with a heart that says D+G. This is his ex-wife’s initial. I found this buried sixty paces from the back door, under a large oak tree. Then, underneath the floorboards in a locked cashbox easily broken by a sledgehammer, I find this card: *To the man of my dreams, you turn me on in every possible way.* Wow, she’s lucky. I cannot say this about Gino.”
“Is she looking for a job?” Rebecca pauses PI work long enough to observe a fellow professional in the wild.
“Do you have tracking devices for cars?” Jasmine’s interested, but she’s not done. “Look at this book. *Sexual Positions, Kama Sutra.* All these positions. And we have practiced one.”
Stopping there would have been sufficient to secure 90DF legend status, but Jasmine also has evidence of language-learning effort (for Portuguese, not Spanish), and a notebook he used for Spanish vocabulary.
“Look at this,” Jasmine displays the notebook. “I shade a few pages with a pencil to see if he write down any passwords. Nothing. He only write down one word: *perras.* Bitches. What is that?”
“Plural?” Coco distinctly remembers arriving alone, save for mom.
“Look Coco. This is you, and this is his ex’s dog,” Jasmine presents Coco’s doggie doppleganger. “He’s trying to replace us!”
“No mommy you are so unique and special, and you are more beautiful than her!” Coco replies in a high-pitched voice that sounds suspiciously like Jasmine’s.
Gino returns home with big plans to butter-up Coco in case she discovered his side-bitch, and presents wooden dog steps to aid her ascent to the bed, and a special hat in case she opts to outfit-coordinate with doggy dad. He fully ignores Jasmine’s faux-cleaning and tosses shit on the floor.
“You’re always the giver, aren’t you,” Jasmine’s Stepford Wife has a touch of Wednesday. “So generous and kind.”
“Do you have knives behind your back?” Gino knows when to check.
Jasmine presents her findings, and Gino insists he was trying to learn Portuguese because he lived there for work, and the rest of the stuff is related to his former life.
“I wasn’t born on the day we met!” Gino insists.
“Is this still important to you?” She holds up the 40th birthday love-napkin.
“No, I’m just a slob!” He retorts.
Jasmine furiously rips it up into little tiny pieces, and tosses it in his face.
“OMFG!” this is more than the gaffer can handle, and he puts the boom down so he can run outside to guffaw.
“That microphone better not have been shaking at the end!” the producer chases after him, because if he fucked that up the best they can hope for is Coco furiously shredding the notebook and peeing on it.
Gino knows Jasmine’s still on his shady trail, so he gets busy building Coco’s steps so she can marvel at the magnetic holding power of his screwdriver and remember he’s an engineer. Jasmine takes off to get her nails done with Dana’s wife Michelle, and says they chipped putting on the hazmat suit required to clean Gino’s bathroom, and as soon as she remembers the name of that spray that shows body fluids under a blacklight, it’s back to work for her.
“Some people just break up,” Michelle suggests. “And a lot of people save love letters. Dana still has some, and I’m okay with it. Sometimes I even read them to try and remember why I like him.”
Michelle seems like a good friend for Jasmine, since she doesn’t you-go-girl paranoia, and Jasmine admits she’s over the top with her jealousy. Michelle thinks she should trust him as much as you can trust someone who previously shared her nudes, and suggests a fun girls’ night. Jasmine’s excited at the idea, and Michelle notes that since Gino already had his bachelor party, she sees nothing but greenlights for Jasmine to have hers.
“What?” Jasmine flatlines. “I already have one too, but what?”
Jasmine’s issue is less the party and more that he didn’t tell her, and she asks if Michelle knows if any of the women touched Gino, and if any had a prescription for red lipgloss. Michelle assures Jasmine that they probably didn’t touch him willingly, but it’s unlikely that he just sat there thinking about spam while a woman in a one-piece bathing suit whipped him.
“Huh,” Jasmine plans to stop on the way home for matches and gasoline.
When Jasmine returns, Gino’s nearly finished step-construction, which would have earned a shower of gold stars if not for new information. She asks what he did the night before she arrived, and Gino feigns confusion.
“I wasn’t really going to tell you unless you asked,” Gino accidentally tells on himself.
He quickly resumes lying and says he didn’t touch any girls, and yet 90DF has footage of him smacking asses and giving a stripper a horsey ride around the stage with a carrot in his mouth.
“I always have to discover things from other people!” Jasmine sobs.
“Why are you upset?” This is Gino’s only means of arguing. “I can’t marry someone who gets upset and angry like you. You’re overreacting, you’re way out of control. I think you need some help.”
“This should settle what gaslighting is once and for all!” Jasmine might be out a job, but she can’t stop teaching. “I’m tired of having to tell you that I’m sorry for the way that you make me feel!”
“It’s okay mommy, you are so unique and special,” Coco crawls into Jasmine’s lap for comfort, adding her own tiny crying noises that should grant her an elevated emotional support animal power-ranking, and nuke that rival dog into a submission pose.
Meanwhile, Sophie’s spending her time away from Rob staring at her phone, waiting for him to text something low-effort to stitch their relationshit back together.
Rob: *I miss you.*
Sophie: He’s still Rob.
She admits having no desire to return to his fungal dungeon of lukewarm depression, so he’s going to have to come to her if he wants to lie. Rob pillages the neighbor’s rose bushes for apology flowers, and she turns the hose on him quicker than usual, so he’s stuck with just the one.
“Your favorite color,” Rob looks for points during the hand-off, since red is hard to remember. “Nice place. Did you call your parents? Is this our new apartment?”
“I called my mom, and she called Virgin airlines,” Sophie responds.
Rob gets busy minimizing Sophie’s concerns while calling it an apology, and rebrands solicited sex videos as “junk mail” that bests another reminder about a Black Friday sale extension. Sophie reminds Rob that she previously told him if he junked mailed again she’d leave, and he says he knows that, but also knew she was bluffing.
“Someone loyal doesn’t do this, they just don’t,” Sophie’s still talking.
“Right,” Rob knobs. “Wait, was that a question?”
“What are you doing?” Jasmine has questions for Sophie. “Look, there are two choices, and one bear suit. I still have these matches…”
“The person I’ve been since the plane touched down is a million percent committed,” Rob’s not a salesman. “Have I not said I’m sorry?”
“Uh, no?” Sophie wonders what part of this reads as apology in knob-speak.
“I KNOW I HURT YOU AND I’M SORRY,” Apology, by Rob, coming soon to a Flagstaff shopping mall near Kody. “If you give me another chance I’ll make up something better next time, becuase I am sorry.”
This is all Sophie needs to cosign returning to Rob’s cave, and putting the ring sharing an ashtray with a blunt wrapper on the assigned finger. From there, Rob declares he has a surprise, and Sophie knows that can’t be good, but she follows his instructions for packing clothes anyway. Turns out Rob’s reserved a beachfront spot so they can pretend they live somewhere else for their romantic reunion.
“Wow, I feel like I’m in America now!” Sophie’s blown away.
Sophie says he hasn’t been romantic with her in awhile, and he used to send her long text messages about being struck by cupid’s arrow, and that actually worked on her. She says it’s not about spending money, but being devoted to her, but since he’s not going to do that they might as well check out the gas-powered fire pit.
“It was wrong, but it could have been worse, and it will never be that wrong again,” Rob mushes words around his mouth.
“I”m 23,” Sophie’s having an emergency.
The next day Sophie calls her mom with a status report from a bar that welcomes wifi pilfering to those uninspired to purchase a beverage. Mom sighs when Sophie predictably reports she’s going to give him another chance.
“Doing the same thing and expecting a different result, it’s called insanity,” mom voices her objection. “If he’s doing that, how do you know he’s not doing something more?”
Sophie kinda giggles, and details that three years ago she was nervous about getting into a sketchy taxi, so she and Rob shared locations, and Rob forgot to turn it off.
“He never leaves the house, and there’s no possible way he brought someone back there,” Sophie’s confident.
Mom’s sort-of pleased that Rob’s limited himself to online wank-sessions, and adds she’s been looking at flights. She promises she won’t be rude to Rob unless he’s rude to her, and if he is she’ll summon the powers of Grayskull and end him in a single blow.
“I’m a latchkey Gen-Xer,” Mom explains. “I’ve been training for this my entire life.”
Sophie hopes mom can teach Rob how to human so he’s more convincing to other people, and if she can’t then she’ll fold herself into mom’s carry-on bag and cry her way back to the UK in an overhead compartment.
Igor and Nikki take their constantly evolving fight club on the road, to a bazaar where they hunt for simple clothing Nikki can wear to re-meet his mom.
“She has that figure you know, from cartoon,” Igor reminds us again.
“I think Justin would be happy with me wearing a straight jacket,” Nikki hopes we’ll leave that one alone.
After writing off most of what’s available as granny fashion, Nikki spots a pink suit she’d wear and says she’ll try it.
“This looks nice, right sweetie?” Nikki nikkis, turning around and showing Igor her ass.
“Not for me,” Igor fans away her last sliver of confidence, and a sales person arrives to help him yikes his way out of this.
“My fiance thinks this is too sexy,” Nikki still believes English can find the right ears if spoken often enough.
The sales person’s eyebrows suggests she has a filing system for her judgements under the cash register, and Igor tells her he’s hoping to find something that hides more of Nikki.
“All of it?” She wonders what kind of burqa Igor had in mind. “We can do it more modest if you don’t want to see it?”
Nikki insists she did bring clothes that can be worn in the company of parents, and the next day she enacts revenge and stokes Igor’s anxiety by doing hair and makeup while wearing every undergarment fashioned during Madonna’s Truth or Dare tour. Igor practices English while he’s waiting, and says he’s been practicing 892 days.
“Did they teach you the word horny? You know, when your pee-pee gets like that?” Nikki sings her only note again.
Igor practices the word “stop” until Nikki disappears to dress herself, and she makes an entrance serving “sexy conservative” as promised.
“You look great!” is how compliments work. “Like a Fox News anchor before the sexual harassment lawsuit!”
“Now you look more like regular woman,” Igor says instead.
Nikki says she’s a little nervous, which worsens as Igor doubles-down on his “regular woman” comments. Nikki snaps and says she always looks like a regular woman, and he’s triggering her insecurity and feels unattractive to him. Igor protests that her touches are wild and he feels like she’s trying to eat him, and the sexual pressure is overwhelming.
“You can’t handle me,” Nikki concludes. “I’M PASSIONATE, YOU’RE COLD!”
All the same, they continue their passionate-cold trek, and both agree to shelve their fight until after mom. Stepdad Daniel greets Igor with a bro-hug, before locking emotional support dog Jessica to his chest to deflect Nikki. Then Igor’s mom Maia surfaces, and looks like a middle-aged Elsa. She says she wasn’t surprised that they got back together, even if it took him two years to overcome the stress of returning from the US a single man.
“Did anyone else notice she didn’t say anything about the trans thing?” Production pauses, feeling a reunion meltdown coming on.
To further the theory that she doesn’t actually know about Nikki, Mom says she doesn’t entirely understand what happened between them, but she saw the aftermath, and worried for her son’s mental health. She brings out an old photo album, which includes a few photos of Igor and Nikki when they first got together. Nikki jokes that she assumed all of those would be torn up, and Igor jokes back that you can see the start of a tear at the edges. Nikki and mom seem to get along easily, and Maia gets emotional over revisiting the past and needs a minute. Maia and Daniel disappear to retrieve the next round of delicious carbs, and while they’re gone Nikki coats her teeth *Bridesmaids* style, and these two actually laugh and enjoy each other for a second. Igor points to the kindness Nikki receives from Maia and Daniel, and remarks that Nikki should see the amount of work he’s put in to help them understand. Nikki agrees that his efforts have paid off, and says it means a lot to her, and she’ll try to be less difficult.
“Like regular woman,” Igor reminds her.
When they return, Nikki asks speciifcally how they came to accept that she’s trans, and Igor alters this translation to ask how Maia got comfortable with “different cultures,” and it’s unclear if he’s hidden this, or if he chose not to bring it up and risk derailing the peaceful interaction. Nikki’s inability to speak Romanian comes in handy, and she’s all smiles at Maia’s warm response, and requests their blessing to get married. They say yes, and agree to join everyone at the engagement party, where the trans issue that mom might not know about it bound to surface a second round.
Ashley and Manuel are still with the therapist, and Ashley says Manuel’s left her out of his family, and his kids know her as the person who took their dad away and makes Grandma cringe every time she calls her MIL. Manuel counters that he worries she’ll lose patience with his kids, since they’ve never had to parent an adult before, and the therapist suggests giving her a chance. Manuel drops that he needs to send at least $250 every month to those kids, and her likely response to that is part of why his chance-bank is empty.
“Children come with costs?” Ashley’s flabbergasted.
Manuel becomes progressively more dickish as the therapy session soldiers on, suggesting his own water bottle woobie has alcohol in it, and he agrees that Ashley has a lot of work to do, and that his own assignment sounds hard and like something not worth doing.
Afterwards they go out to a pub so Ashley can eat like a bird, and Manuel seizes the opportunity to call the therapist a clown. He says adults should be able to solve their own problems if they think about them, but he doesn’t want to, so.
“I’m not liking your attitude,” Ashley announces foreplay. “You are being a very grumpy kitty right now. You need a nap.”
Manuel longs for a second topic of conversation, while Ashley tells the producers that no one speaks to her like that, except for Manuel, who does it all the time. They leave the pub, and Ashley says she’s tired of hearing his mouth, and Manuel says he’s also tired of hers, so he’s going to walk home and enjoy the soothing sounds of traffic, since there’s no TV in the car to turn up and drown her out.
The next day Ashley tells Manuel to wear comfortable shoes for the errand marathon she’s planned for the two of them, with stop #1 being coffee. He points out that they’re at home, so it makes more sense to make coffee and bring it. Manuel says he loves coffee, but not the sugar-injected monstrosities she mainlines 3-4 times a day, and estimates she spends $8 a day on side-coffees to compliment her at-home brews.
“You don’t understand,” Ashley maths. “If I don’t spend $8 on coffee, I spend $8 on gas, so there’s no savings.”
“What?” Production joins Manuel on the Island of Lost.
Ashley’s efforts to ready herself for travel suggest Manuel wildly underestimates her daily caffeine intake, which is closer to 12 cups and/or $36. Getting into the car leads to a partial spill from a mason jar, rearrangement of a heated mug, and opening a can of espresso, with Manuel tasked with wrangling two of her containers while she fumbles for a fourth. At this point she’s basically doing speed, and is distracted enough to run a red-light, and Manuel is disgusted.
“What are you, an octopus?” Manuel asks after reviewing his wheel of beverages.
Ashley’s hurt by his annoyance, and thinks her driving can get worse if she tries, so she reaches in the back seat for a box of tissues and calls a friend on speakerphone to talk shit about him in English while he occupies the passenger seat.
“Is he with you in the car?” the friend asks.
“Yes, and this is all about coffee!” Ashley edits out her share of the blame to stay on brand.
The next day Manuel and Ashley meet up with Ashley’s friends Alysia and Solly to shop for custom-scented candles. The place is sort of like the paint-your-own-pottery joints, except everyone selects their favorite chemicals before injecting them into a candle and adding those aromas to the incense fireplace Ashley uses to warm her house. Manuel kinda can’t believe he’s capping the longest three weeks of his life with a bougie trip to a scent bar, and that he has to defend $300 a month to Ecuador when this is what Ashley does for fun.
Important note: Ashley’s payday for this season = $15K. Manuel’s = $0. Requesting $900 for 90 days out of a $15K payday is *not* unreasonable, especially when you’re talking about a future spouse.
Anyway, Solly asks if Ashley’s done anything to make Manuel more comfortable between errands, and Ashley says she’s been buying the food, which is sort of like cooking, but she lets him do that part. She also says she sent $250 to his family, which immediately raises their eyebrows, since Ashley used wisdom gleaned from the Come On Now School of Number-Witching and Wizardry to cast a spell on their capacity for reason.
Manuel sees what’s happening, and says he’s not happy about asking her to send funds while he’s unable to work, but knows in time the scales will balance, and she’ll find something else to hold over his head. Ashley admits that his children exist, but she’s never heard of child support before, and hopes one day she’ll get to meet them so she can tell them in person they’re expensive.
“We’ve never heard of child support either,” Alysia enables. “Can you pass me the whipped cream scent? I think it’ll go great with this bullshit.”
Manuel notes that what they send his children is none of their business, and Alysia objects and doesn’t understand why kids are more important than Ashley, when clearly she always needs juice and a snack too. Manuel gets up from the kid’s table before he’s asked to hold her bottle again.
“If she wants to get married, I have people who come with me,” Manuel yells. “She spends $130 on the vet, but I can’t send $130 to my kids?”
“That’s be $329,” the candle-seller has expert timing.
Manuel finally throws his hands up and leaves, announcing plans to walk home.
“But there’s natural air out there!” Ashley objects, and is excited to play long-suffering girlfriend until she gets home for the sex part.
Clayton is shocked to learn his pouty-face bids for intimacy have not resulted in actual ass, as Anali shoos him out of the sleeping nest so she can shower and blow dry her hair without batting at his hands. Clayton wants to take her someplace Kentucky, which means horses, and Anali reminds him she’s from Peru and spent summers riding horses with her grandparents, so this isn’t new territory. Clayton ignores this, as they arrive at a farm with petting-zoo vibes, where they’re coached onto the horses before a slow walk in a circle around a pen.
“Do I look macho?” Clayton asks.
“No comment,” Anali replies.
“You mean so good you don’t have words?” Clayton emerges as the only person on this show capable of banter.
Afterwards they sit down together, and Clayton brings up her concealing their relationship from her dad. She explains that initially she kept it quiet because they were engaged after four days together, and she couldn’t tell her dad things were moving that fast. Clayton thinks that’s nice, but they’ve been together for years, and this has evolved into a short story about that time she got a job in Kentucky and happened upon a guinea pig enthusiast who smelled like love. He reminds her they only have 90 days to get married, and with that looming level of commitment she should probably stop lying. Anali says this will all make sense if he uses logic, and suggests he transfer the $8 a day he spends on coffee to gas so they share a zero.
“What?” Clayton’s confused.
Clayton’s sister Brandi is in town and eager to meet Anali, so Clayton sets them all up for another great Kentucky tradition: bourbon.
“People say whiskey is what you drink before a brawl, and I like to think bourbon is what you sip and enjoy before a fatal duel,” Clayton details.
Anali is impressed by the bourbon and declares it delicious, and initially thinks Brandi is pretty and sweet, but is cautious since she’s heard about her history of being catty with Clayton’s girlfriends. Brandi notes that she’s seen pictures of Anali on Clayton’s social media, but not on Anali’s, and Anali explains that all her pictures of them together are invisible. Brandi demands to know if mom’s aware of Clayton being a secret, and this is news to mom, too, and Brandi asks if now is the right time to suggest a green card quest. Clayton laughs and says no one comes to Kentucky for a green card.
“No one comes to Kentucky for a job, either,” Brandi counters, and walks out, leaving family tension in her wake.
Clayton knows Brandi is wrong, but when she invites him and Anali to Indiana for an in-person apology Clayton accepts, and hopes this can double as an intimacy spark.
“I know you say in Kentucky you have horses and bourbon. In Indiana, what do they have?” Anali asks.
“Drugs and corn,” Clayton is the most accurate reporter in 90DF history.
They stop at an apple orchard to pick apples that aren’t as delicious as Evelyn’s, and Brandi knows she fucked up and explains that she learned everything all at once and suffered information overload, and apologizes. Anali accepts her apology, and adds that the green card accusation was especially hurtful, since her mother is sick, and she’d rather have Clayton in Peru. Suddenly everyone is crying, and Brandi says they both deserve love.
“Speaking of love,” Clayton remembers part B of this mission, “How did you manage to get pregnant while living with mom?”
“Like this,” Brandi bends over, which hopefully happens a second time in Shaun’s direction at the reunion.
Clayton and Anali arrive at the hotel, and Clayton requests time to prepare their room for romance. For Clayton, this means LED candles (with the regular lights still on), lube, and a rubix cube in case she falls asleep mid-coitus. Anali reportedly said something about looking forward to a massage, and Clayton hopes the minimal shoulder-rub he’s about to demonstrate prior to redirecting towards his dick explains why lube is necessary.
Anali comes up to the room, and says Clayton splayed out on the bed in his jeans and tshirt makes him look like a clothed cow, and she wonders what his trusty shower-wanking lube is doing on her night stand. She awkwardly agrees that she’s stressed and wouldn’t object to a shoulder massage, and it’s unclear if Anali is uncomfortable because she’s not keen to become 90DF’s next unpaid cam girl, or because her reunion with Clayton locked in at cringe. Either way, when he suggests they turn the lights off, she says sleep sounds super. Clayton once again present the pouty lip of seduction, which works exactly as well as it has since her arrival.
“Do you know what blue balls is?” Clayton studied science at the same school where Ashley studied math.
“No,” Anali admits. “But whatever it is, you must be used to it by now.”
Devin and Nick go to a Korean hanbok shop to put on traditional outfits and take some engagement photos together, and Devin wastes no time isolating the only floral print in a sea of gorgeous garments that looks like a mistake.
“That is for prostitutes,” Nick does what’s necessary to derail Devin’s fashion choices. Eventually they both pick winners, and Devin emerges from a fitting room looking adorable in pink and white.
“Like a Korean angel,” Nick declares.
“Yes, like regular woman…” Stay out of this, Igor.
Nick comes out in a hanbok of his own, and demonstrates how people used to walk before the grind was invented. They stroll towards a monument to take photos, and Nick suggests they throw the flying vagina symbol, and chase it with a tiny violin. Afterwards, Nick isolates the perfect spot for the classic 90DF dirty alleyway proposal. He offers his jacket for her to sit on, and rifles inside his pants pocket in a way that recalls Rob receiving junk mail. Then he gets down on one knee and proposes to Devin, who says of course, and poof, romance.
From there it’s off to the airport to meet a friendly wandering robot, before landing in Memphis, where Devin’s parents Kevin and Katrina wait to greet them with caps-lock enthusiasm.
“He’s not just this made-up person!” Katrina is That Mom.
Nick happily greets them and says he’s nervous but excited, and admits he’s not used to the accent, and appreciates it when Kevin says they’ll dehydrate him into a redneck in record time.
They walk to the car for the next leg of their journey, and mom suggests where they are right now is dangerous, but he should feel more comfortable once he’s in a dry county with a Christian college.
“Said no one ever!” Nick jokes, before realizing she’s serious.
“I’m the only Asian here. I’m the only one,” Nick braces for being accused of starting COVID in his garage.
“There are 401 in Searcy,” Katrina corrects, hoping Nick feels better already.
NEXT TIME: 90DF introduces a self-proclaimed redneck drug addict and his dream girl’s cop dad, Igor tests Gino’s techniques to convince Nikki his extracurricular dick activities = overreaction, Devin reveals open-mouthed eating is a family-wide disorder that isn’t cured by “piggy,” and Sophie has an anxiety attack over her bisexuality confession like Reagan is still president and she’s engaged to Rob.
Thank you patient readers and Patreon supporters!

Jasmine is in hysterics while Gino plays Candy Crush in his car, and for some reason the producers need clarification about what’s going on.
“It’s Sunday,” Gino explains, not looking up from his phone. “What?”
Jasmine confesses she’s got abandonment issues because of her dad, who perceived her birth as a mistake, and ever since she’s struggled to trust men. She thought picking Gino would at least give her the satisfaction of being right, but she failed to account for the deflation powers of Michigan’s casual winter cruelty.
“I hate this coldness!” she sobs. “Why did you tell me daylight savings time changed the weather? Always you are lying to me, Gino!”
She tells Gino she wants a pre-marriage divorce with no prenup, and he suggests she berate him for suspicious lipgloss somewhere heated, after soothing her with a round of awkward patting.
The next day Jasmine’s still pissed, despite Gino’s insistence that the lipgloss must have got caught on his shoe somewhere, and she’s shelved her sobbing in favor of launching a “cleaning” operation similar to the average search warrant. After two hours of indiscretion treasure hunting, Jasmine’s evidence is sealed in plastic bags, and arranged on a table in time for the press conference.
“This is from his ex-wife,” Jasmine displays her first receipt. “It is a napkin with a heart that says D+G. This is his ex-wife’s initial. I found this buried sixty paces from the back door, under a large oak tree. Then, underneath the floorboards in a locked cashbox easily broken by a sledgehammer, I find this card: *To the man of my dreams, you turn me on in every possible way.* Wow, she’s lucky. I cannot say this about Gino.”
“Is she looking for a job?” Rebecca pauses PI work long enough to observe a fellow professional in the wild.
“Do you have tracking devices for cars?” Jasmine’s interested, but she’s not done. “Look at this book. *Sexual Positions, Kama Sutra.* All these positions. And we have practiced one.”
Stopping there would have been sufficient to secure 90DF legend status, but Jasmine also has evidence of language-learning effort (for Portuguese, not Spanish), and a notebook he used for Spanish vocabulary.
“Look at this,” Jasmine displays the notebook. “I shade a few pages with a pencil to see if he write down any passwords. Nothing. He only write down one word: *perras.* Bitches. What is that?”
“Plural?” Coco distinctly remembers arriving alone, save for mom.
“Look Coco. This is you, and this is his ex’s dog,” Jasmine presents Coco’s doggie doppleganger. “He’s trying to replace us!”
“No mommy you are so unique and special, and you are more beautiful than her!” Coco replies in a high-pitched voice that sounds suspiciously like Jasmine’s.
Gino returns home with big plans to butter-up Coco in case she discovered his side-bitch, and presents wooden dog steps to aid her ascent to the bed, and a special hat in case she opts to outfit-coordinate with doggy dad. He fully ignores Jasmine’s faux-cleaning and tosses shit on the floor.
“You’re always the giver, aren’t you,” Jasmine’s Stepford Wife has a touch of Wednesday. “So generous and kind.”
“Do you have knives behind your back?” Gino knows when to check.
Jasmine presents her findings, and Gino insists he was trying to learn Portuguese because he lived there for work, and the rest of the stuff is related to his former life.
“I wasn’t born on the day we met!” Gino insists.
“Is this still important to you?” She holds up the 40th birthday love-napkin.
“No, I’m just a slob!” He retorts.
Jasmine furiously rips it up into little tiny pieces, and tosses it in his face.
“OMFG!” this is more than the gaffer can handle, and he puts the boom down so he can run outside to guffaw.
“That microphone better not have been shaking at the end!” the producer chases after him, because if he fucked that up the best they can hope for is Coco furiously shredding the notebook and peeing on it.
Gino knows Jasmine’s still on his shady trail, so he gets busy building Coco’s steps so she can marvel at the magnetic holding power of his screwdriver and remember he’s an engineer. Jasmine takes off to get her nails done with Dana’s wife Michelle, and says they chipped putting on the hazmat suit required to clean Gino’s bathroom, and as soon as she remembers the name of that spray that shows body fluids under a blacklight, it’s back to work for her.
“Some people just break up,” Michelle suggests. “And a lot of people save love letters. Dana still has some, and I’m okay with it. Sometimes I even read them to try and remember why I like him.”
Michelle seems like a good friend for Jasmine, since she doesn’t you-go-girl paranoia, and Jasmine admits she’s over the top with her jealousy. Michelle thinks she should trust him as much as you can trust someone who previously shared her nudes, and suggests a fun girls’ night. Jasmine’s excited at the idea, and Michelle notes that since Gino already had his bachelor party, she sees nothing but greenlights for Jasmine to have hers.
“What?” Jasmine flatlines. “I already have one too, but what?”
Jasmine’s issue is less the party and more that he didn’t tell her, and she asks if Michelle knows if any of the women touched Gino, and if any had a prescription for red lipgloss. Michelle assures Jasmine that they probably didn’t touch him willingly, but it’s unlikely that he just sat there thinking about spam while a woman in a one-piece bathing suit whipped him.
“Huh,” Jasmine plans to stop on the way home for matches and gasoline.
When Jasmine returns, Gino’s nearly finished step-construction, which would have earned a shower of gold stars if not for new information. She asks what he did the night before she arrived, and Gino feigns confusion.
“I wasn’t really going to tell you unless you asked,” Gino accidentally tells on himself.
He quickly resumes lying and says he didn’t touch any girls, and yet 90DF has footage of him smacking asses and giving a stripper a horsey ride around the stage with a carrot in his mouth.
“I always have to discover things from other people!” Jasmine sobs.
“Why are you upset?” This is Gino’s only means of arguing. “I can’t marry someone who gets upset and angry like you. You’re overreacting, you’re way out of control. I think you need some help.”
“This should settle what gaslighting is once and for all!” Jasmine might be out a job, but she can’t stop teaching. “I’m tired of having to tell you that I’m sorry for the way that you make me feel!”
“It’s okay mommy, you are so unique and special,” Coco crawls into Jasmine’s lap for comfort, adding her own tiny crying noises that should grant her an elevated emotional support animal power-ranking, and nuke that rival dog into a submission pose.
Meanwhile, Sophie’s spending her time away from Rob staring at her phone, waiting for him to text something low-effort to stitch their relationshit back together.
Rob: *I miss you.*
Sophie: He’s still Rob.
She admits having no desire to return to his fungal dungeon of lukewarm depression, so he’s going to have to come to her if he wants to lie. Rob pillages the neighbor’s rose bushes for apology flowers, and she turns the hose on him quicker than usual, so he’s stuck with just the one.
“Your favorite color,” Rob looks for points during the hand-off, since red is hard to remember. “Nice place. Did you call your parents? Is this our new apartment?”
“I called my mom, and she called Virgin airlines,” Sophie responds.
Rob gets busy minimizing Sophie’s concerns while calling it an apology, and rebrands solicited sex videos as “junk mail” that bests another reminder about a Black Friday sale extension. Sophie reminds Rob that she previously told him if he junked mailed again she’d leave, and he says he knows that, but also knew she was bluffing.
“Someone loyal doesn’t do this, they just don’t,” Sophie’s still talking.
“Right,” Rob knobs. “Wait, was that a question?”
“What are you doing?” Jasmine has questions for Sophie. “Look, there are two choices, and one bear suit. I still have these matches…”
“The person I’ve been since the plane touched down is a million percent committed,” Rob’s not a salesman. “Have I not said I’m sorry?”
“Uh, no?” Sophie wonders what part of this reads as apology in knob-speak.
“I KNOW I HURT YOU AND I’M SORRY,” Apology, by Rob, coming soon to a Flagstaff shopping mall near Kody. “If you give me another chance I’ll make up something better next time, becuase I am sorry.”
This is all Sophie needs to cosign returning to Rob’s cave, and putting the ring sharing an ashtray with a blunt wrapper on the assigned finger. From there, Rob declares he has a surprise, and Sophie knows that can’t be good, but she follows his instructions for packing clothes anyway. Turns out Rob’s reserved a beachfront spot so they can pretend they live somewhere else for their romantic reunion.
“Wow, I feel like I’m in America now!” Sophie’s blown away.
Sophie says he hasn’t been romantic with her in awhile, and he used to send her long text messages about being struck by cupid’s arrow, and that actually worked on her. She says it’s not about spending money, but being devoted to her, but since he’s not going to do that they might as well check out the gas-powered fire pit.
“It was wrong, but it could have been worse, and it will never be that wrong again,” Rob mushes words around his mouth.
“I”m 23,” Sophie’s having an emergency.
The next day Sophie calls her mom with a status report from a bar that welcomes wifi pilfering to those uninspired to purchase a beverage. Mom sighs when Sophie predictably reports she’s going to give him another chance.
“Doing the same thing and expecting a different result, it’s called insanity,” mom voices her objection. “If he’s doing that, how do you know he’s not doing something more?”
Sophie kinda giggles, and details that three years ago she was nervous about getting into a sketchy taxi, so she and Rob shared locations, and Rob forgot to turn it off.
“He never leaves the house, and there’s no possible way he brought someone back there,” Sophie’s confident.
Mom’s sort-of pleased that Rob’s limited himself to online wank-sessions, and adds she’s been looking at flights. She promises she won’t be rude to Rob unless he’s rude to her, and if he is she’ll summon the powers of Grayskull and end him in a single blow.
“I’m a latchkey Gen-Xer,” Mom explains. “I’ve been training for this my entire life.”
Sophie hopes mom can teach Rob how to human so he’s more convincing to other people, and if she can’t then she’ll fold herself into mom’s carry-on bag and cry her way back to the UK in an overhead compartment.
Igor and Nikki take their constantly evolving fight club on the road, to a bazaar where they hunt for simple clothing Nikki can wear to re-meet his mom.
“She has that figure you know, from cartoon,” Igor reminds us again.
“I think Justin would be happy with me wearing a straight jacket,” Nikki hopes we’ll leave that one alone.
After writing off most of what’s available as granny fashion, Nikki spots a pink suit she’d wear and says she’ll try it.
“This looks nice, right sweetie?” Nikki nikkis, turning around and showing Igor her ass.
“Not for me,” Igor fans away her last sliver of confidence, and a sales person arrives to help him yikes his way out of this.
“My fiance thinks this is too sexy,” Nikki still believes English can find the right ears if spoken often enough.
The sales person’s eyebrows suggests she has a filing system for her judgements under the cash register, and Igor tells her he’s hoping to find something that hides more of Nikki.
“All of it?” She wonders what kind of burqa Igor had in mind. “We can do it more modest if you don’t want to see it?”
Nikki insists she did bring clothes that can be worn in the company of parents, and the next day she enacts revenge and stokes Igor’s anxiety by doing hair and makeup while wearing every undergarment fashioned during Madonna’s Truth or Dare tour. Igor practices English while he’s waiting, and says he’s been practicing 892 days.
“Did they teach you the word horny? You know, when your pee-pee gets like that?” Nikki sings her only note again.
Igor practices the word “stop” until Nikki disappears to dress herself, and she makes an entrance serving “sexy conservative” as promised.
“You look great!” is how compliments work. “Like a Fox News anchor before the sexual harassment lawsuit!”
“Now you look more like regular woman,” Igor says instead.
Nikki says she’s a little nervous, which worsens as Igor doubles-down on his “regular woman” comments. Nikki snaps and says she always looks like a regular woman, and he’s triggering her insecurity and feels unattractive to him. Igor protests that her touches are wild and he feels like she’s trying to eat him, and the sexual pressure is overwhelming.
“You can’t handle me,” Nikki concludes. “I’M PASSIONATE, YOU’RE COLD!”
All the same, they continue their passionate-cold trek, and both agree to shelve their fight until after mom. Stepdad Daniel greets Igor with a bro-hug, before locking emotional support dog Jessica to his chest to deflect Nikki. Then Igor’s mom Maia surfaces, and looks like a middle-aged Elsa. She says she wasn’t surprised that they got back together, even if it took him two years to overcome the stress of returning from the US a single man.
“Did anyone else notice she didn’t say anything about the trans thing?” Production pauses, feeling a reunion meltdown coming on.
To further the theory that she doesn’t actually know about Nikki, Mom says she doesn’t entirely understand what happened between them, but she saw the aftermath, and worried for her son’s mental health. She brings out an old photo album, which includes a few photos of Igor and Nikki when they first got together. Nikki jokes that she assumed all of those would be torn up, and Igor jokes back that you can see the start of a tear at the edges. Nikki and mom seem to get along easily, and Maia gets emotional over revisiting the past and needs a minute. Maia and Daniel disappear to retrieve the next round of delicious carbs, and while they’re gone Nikki coats her teeth *Bridesmaids* style, and these two actually laugh and enjoy each other for a second. Igor points to the kindness Nikki receives from Maia and Daniel, and remarks that Nikki should see the amount of work he’s put in to help them understand. Nikki agrees that his efforts have paid off, and says it means a lot to her, and she’ll try to be less difficult.
“Like regular woman,” Igor reminds her.
When they return, Nikki asks speciifcally how they came to accept that she’s trans, and Igor alters this translation to ask how Maia got comfortable with “different cultures,” and it’s unclear if he’s hidden this, or if he chose not to bring it up and risk derailing the peaceful interaction. Nikki’s inability to speak Romanian comes in handy, and she’s all smiles at Maia’s warm response, and requests their blessing to get married. They say yes, and agree to join everyone at the engagement party, where the trans issue that mom might not know about it bound to surface a second round.
Ashley and Manuel are still with the therapist, and Ashley says Manuel’s left her out of his family, and his kids know her as the person who took their dad away and makes Grandma cringe every time she calls her MIL. Manuel counters that he worries she’ll lose patience with his kids, since they’ve never had to parent an adult before, and the therapist suggests giving her a chance. Manuel drops that he needs to send at least $250 every month to those kids, and her likely response to that is part of why his chance-bank is empty.
“Children come with costs?” Ashley’s flabbergasted.
Manuel becomes progressively more dickish as the therapy session soldiers on, suggesting his own water bottle woobie has alcohol in it, and he agrees that Ashley has a lot of work to do, and that his own assignment sounds hard and like something not worth doing.
Afterwards they go out to a pub so Ashley can eat like a bird, and Manuel seizes the opportunity to call the therapist a clown. He says adults should be able to solve their own problems if they think about them, but he doesn’t want to, so.
“I’m not liking your attitude,” Ashley announces foreplay. “You are being a very grumpy kitty right now. You need a nap.”
Manuel longs for a second topic of conversation, while Ashley tells the producers that no one speaks to her like that, except for Manuel, who does it all the time. They leave the pub, and Ashley says she’s tired of hearing his mouth, and Manuel says he’s also tired of hers, so he’s going to walk home and enjoy the soothing sounds of traffic, since there’s no TV in the car to turn up and drown her out.
The next day Ashley tells Manuel to wear comfortable shoes for the errand marathon she’s planned for the two of them, with stop #1 being coffee. He points out that they’re at home, so it makes more sense to make coffee and bring it. Manuel says he loves coffee, but not the sugar-injected monstrosities she mainlines 3-4 times a day, and estimates she spends $8 a day on side-coffees to compliment her at-home brews.
“You don’t understand,” Ashley maths. “If I don’t spend $8 on coffee, I spend $8 on gas, so there’s no savings.”
“What?” Production joins Manuel on the Island of Lost.
Ashley’s efforts to ready herself for travel suggest Manuel wildly underestimates her daily caffeine intake, which is closer to 12 cups and/or $36. Getting into the car leads to a partial spill from a mason jar, rearrangement of a heated mug, and opening a can of espresso, with Manuel tasked with wrangling two of her containers while she fumbles for a fourth. At this point she’s basically doing speed, and is distracted enough to run a red-light, and Manuel is disgusted.
“What are you, an octopus?” Manuel asks after reviewing his wheel of beverages.
Ashley’s hurt by his annoyance, and thinks her driving can get worse if she tries, so she reaches in the back seat for a box of tissues and calls a friend on speakerphone to talk shit about him in English while he occupies the passenger seat.
“Is he with you in the car?” the friend asks.
“Yes, and this is all about coffee!” Ashley edits out her share of the blame to stay on brand.
The next day Manuel and Ashley meet up with Ashley’s friends Alysia and Solly to shop for custom-scented candles. The place is sort of like the paint-your-own-pottery joints, except everyone selects their favorite chemicals before injecting them into a candle and adding those aromas to the incense fireplace Ashley uses to warm her house. Manuel kinda can’t believe he’s capping the longest three weeks of his life with a bougie trip to a scent bar, and that he has to defend $300 a month to Ecuador when this is what Ashley does for fun.
Important note: Ashley’s payday for this season = $15K. Manuel’s = $0. Requesting $900 for 90 days out of a $15K payday is *not* unreasonable, especially when you’re talking about a future spouse.
Anyway, Solly asks if Ashley’s done anything to make Manuel more comfortable between errands, and Ashley says she’s been buying the food, which is sort of like cooking, but she lets him do that part. She also says she sent $250 to his family, which immediately raises their eyebrows, since Ashley used wisdom gleaned from the Come On Now School of Number-Witching and Wizardry to cast a spell on their capacity for reason.
Manuel sees what’s happening, and says he’s not happy about asking her to send funds while he’s unable to work, but knows in time the scales will balance, and she’ll find something else to hold over his head. Ashley admits that his children exist, but she’s never heard of child support before, and hopes one day she’ll get to meet them so she can tell them in person they’re expensive.
“We’ve never heard of child support either,” Alysia enables. “Can you pass me the whipped cream scent? I think it’ll go great with this bullshit.”
Manuel notes that what they send his children is none of their business, and Alysia objects and doesn’t understand why kids are more important than Ashley, when clearly she always needs juice and a snack too. Manuel gets up from the kid’s table before he’s asked to hold her bottle again.
“If she wants to get married, I have people who come with me,” Manuel yells. “She spends $130 on the vet, but I can’t send $130 to my kids?”
“That’s be $329,” the candle-seller has expert timing.
Manuel finally throws his hands up and leaves, announcing plans to walk home.
“But there’s natural air out there!” Ashley objects, and is excited to play long-suffering girlfriend until she gets home for the sex part.
Clayton is shocked to learn his pouty-face bids for intimacy have not resulted in actual ass, as Anali shoos him out of the sleeping nest so she can shower and blow dry her hair without batting at his hands. Clayton wants to take her someplace Kentucky, which means horses, and Anali reminds him she’s from Peru and spent summers riding horses with her grandparents, so this isn’t new territory. Clayton ignores this, as they arrive at a farm with petting-zoo vibes, where they’re coached onto the horses before a slow walk in a circle around a pen.
“Do I look macho?” Clayton asks.
“No comment,” Anali replies.
“You mean so good you don’t have words?” Clayton emerges as the only person on this show capable of banter.
Afterwards they sit down together, and Clayton brings up her concealing their relationship from her dad. She explains that initially she kept it quiet because they were engaged after four days together, and she couldn’t tell her dad things were moving that fast. Clayton thinks that’s nice, but they’ve been together for years, and this has evolved into a short story about that time she got a job in Kentucky and happened upon a guinea pig enthusiast who smelled like love. He reminds her they only have 90 days to get married, and with that looming level of commitment she should probably stop lying. Anali says this will all make sense if he uses logic, and suggests he transfer the $8 a day he spends on coffee to gas so they share a zero.
“What?” Clayton’s confused.
Clayton’s sister Brandi is in town and eager to meet Anali, so Clayton sets them all up for another great Kentucky tradition: bourbon.
“People say whiskey is what you drink before a brawl, and I like to think bourbon is what you sip and enjoy before a fatal duel,” Clayton details.
Anali is impressed by the bourbon and declares it delicious, and initially thinks Brandi is pretty and sweet, but is cautious since she’s heard about her history of being catty with Clayton’s girlfriends. Brandi notes that she’s seen pictures of Anali on Clayton’s social media, but not on Anali’s, and Anali explains that all her pictures of them together are invisible. Brandi demands to know if mom’s aware of Clayton being a secret, and this is news to mom, too, and Brandi asks if now is the right time to suggest a green card quest. Clayton laughs and says no one comes to Kentucky for a green card.
“No one comes to Kentucky for a job, either,” Brandi counters, and walks out, leaving family tension in her wake.
Clayton knows Brandi is wrong, but when she invites him and Anali to Indiana for an in-person apology Clayton accepts, and hopes this can double as an intimacy spark.
“I know you say in Kentucky you have horses and bourbon. In Indiana, what do they have?” Anali asks.
“Drugs and corn,” Clayton is the most accurate reporter in 90DF history.
They stop at an apple orchard to pick apples that aren’t as delicious as Evelyn’s, and Brandi knows she fucked up and explains that she learned everything all at once and suffered information overload, and apologizes. Anali accepts her apology, and adds that the green card accusation was especially hurtful, since her mother is sick, and she’d rather have Clayton in Peru. Suddenly everyone is crying, and Brandi says they both deserve love.
“Speaking of love,” Clayton remembers part B of this mission, “How did you manage to get pregnant while living with mom?”
“Like this,” Brandi bends over, which hopefully happens a second time in Shaun’s direction at the reunion.
Clayton and Anali arrive at the hotel, and Clayton requests time to prepare their room for romance. For Clayton, this means LED candles (with the regular lights still on), lube, and a rubix cube in case she falls asleep mid-coitus. Anali reportedly said something about looking forward to a massage, and Clayton hopes the minimal shoulder-rub he’s about to demonstrate prior to redirecting towards his dick explains why lube is necessary.
Anali comes up to the room, and says Clayton splayed out on the bed in his jeans and tshirt makes him look like a clothed cow, and she wonders what his trusty shower-wanking lube is doing on her night stand. She awkwardly agrees that she’s stressed and wouldn’t object to a shoulder massage, and it’s unclear if Anali is uncomfortable because she’s not keen to become 90DF’s next unpaid cam girl, or because her reunion with Clayton locked in at cringe. Either way, when he suggests they turn the lights off, she says sleep sounds super. Clayton once again present the pouty lip of seduction, which works exactly as well as it has since her arrival.
“Do you know what blue balls is?” Clayton studied science at the same school where Ashley studied math.
“No,” Anali admits. “But whatever it is, you must be used to it by now.”
Devin and Nick go to a Korean hanbok shop to put on traditional outfits and take some engagement photos together, and Devin wastes no time isolating the only floral print in a sea of gorgeous garments that looks like a mistake.
“That is for prostitutes,” Nick does what’s necessary to derail Devin’s fashion choices. Eventually they both pick winners, and Devin emerges from a fitting room looking adorable in pink and white.
“Like a Korean angel,” Nick declares.
“Yes, like regular woman…” Stay out of this, Igor.
Nick comes out in a hanbok of his own, and demonstrates how people used to walk before the grind was invented. They stroll towards a monument to take photos, and Nick suggests they throw the flying vagina symbol, and chase it with a tiny violin. Afterwards, Nick isolates the perfect spot for the classic 90DF dirty alleyway proposal. He offers his jacket for her to sit on, and rifles inside his pants pocket in a way that recalls Rob receiving junk mail. Then he gets down on one knee and proposes to Devin, who says of course, and poof, romance.
From there it’s off to the airport to meet a friendly wandering robot, before landing in Memphis, where Devin’s parents Kevin and Katrina wait to greet them with caps-lock enthusiasm.
“He’s not just this made-up person!” Katrina is That Mom.
Nick happily greets them and says he’s nervous but excited, and admits he’s not used to the accent, and appreciates it when Kevin says they’ll dehydrate him into a redneck in record time.
They walk to the car for the next leg of their journey, and mom suggests where they are right now is dangerous, but he should feel more comfortable once he’s in a dry county with a Christian college.
“Said no one ever!” Nick jokes, before realizing she’s serious.
“I’m the only Asian here. I’m the only one,” Nick braces for being accused of starting COVID in his garage.
“There are 401 in Searcy,” Katrina corrects, hoping Nick feels better already.
NEXT TIME: 90DF introduces a self-proclaimed redneck drug addict and his dream girl’s cop dad, Igor tests Gino’s techniques to convince Nikki his extracurricular dick activities = overreaction, Devin reveals open-mouthed eating is a family-wide disorder that isn’t cured by “piggy,” and Sophie has an anxiety attack over her bisexuality confession like Reagan is still president and she’s engaged to Rob.
Thank you patient readers and Patreon supporters!

Finally caught up!
Jasmine is in hysterics while Gino plays Candy Crush in his car, and for some reason the producers need clarification about what’s going on.
“It’s Sunday,” Gino explains, not looking up from his phone. “What?”
Jasmine confesses she’s got abandonment issues because of her dad, who perceived her birth as a mistake, and ever since she’s struggled to trust men. She thought picking Gino would at least give her the satisfaction of being right, but she failed to account for the deflation powers of Michigan’s casual winter cruelty.
“I hate this coldness!” she sobs. “Why did you tell me daylight savings time changed the weather? Always you are lying to me, Gino!”
She tells Gino she wants a pre-marriage divorce with no prenup, and he suggests she berate him for suspicious lipgloss somewhere heated, after soothing her with a round of awkward patting.
The next day Jasmine’s still pissed, despite Gino’s insistence that the lipgloss must have got caught on his shoe somewhere, and she’s shelved her sobbing in favor of launching a “cleaning” operation similar to the average search warrant. After two hours of indiscretion treasure hunting, Jasmine’s evidence is sealed in plastic bags, and arranged on a table in time for the press conference.
“This is from his ex-wife,” Jasmine displays her first receipt. “It is a napkin with a heart that says D+G. This is his ex-wife’s initial. I found this buried sixty paces from the back door, under a large oak tree. Then, underneath the floorboards in a locked cashbox easily broken by a sledgehammer, I find this card: *To the man of my dreams, you turn me on in every possible way.* Wow, she’s lucky. I cannot say this about Gino.”
“Is she looking for a job?” Rebecca pauses PI work long enough to observe a fellow professional in the wild.
“Do you have tracking devices for cars?” Jasmine’s interested, but she’s not done. “Look at this book. *Sexual Positions, Kama Sutra.* All these positions. And we have practiced one.”
Stopping there would have been sufficient to secure 90DF legend status, but Jasmine also has evidence of language-learning effort (for Portuguese, not Spanish), and a notebook he used for Spanish vocabulary.
“Look at this,” Jasmine displays the notebook. “I shade a few pages with a pencil to see if he write down any passwords. Nothing. He only write down one word: *perras.* Bitches. What is that?”
“Plural?” Coco distinctly remembers arriving alone, save for mom.
“Look Coco. This is you, and this is his ex’s dog,” Jasmine presents Coco’s doggie doppleganger. “He’s trying to replace us!”
“No mommy you are so unique and special, and you are more beautiful than her!” Coco replies in a high-pitched voice that sounds suspiciously like Jasmine’s.
Gino returns home with big plans to butter-up Coco in case she discovered his side-bitch, and presents wooden dog steps to aid her ascent to the bed, and a special hat in case she opts to outfit-coordinate with doggy dad. He fully ignores Jasmine’s faux-cleaning and tosses shit on the floor.
“You’re always the giver, aren’t you,” Jasmine’s Stepford Wife has a touch of Wednesday. “So generous and kind.”
“Do you have knives behind your back?” Gino knows when to check.
Jasmine presents her findings, and Gino insists he was trying to learn Portuguese because he lived there for work, and the rest of the stuff is related to his former life.
“I wasn’t born on the day we met!” Gino insists.
“Is this still important to you?” She holds up the 40th birthday love-napkin.
“No, I’m just a slob!” He retorts.
Jasmine furiously rips it up into little tiny pieces, and tosses it in his face.
“OMFG!” this is more than the gaffer can handle, and he puts the boom down so he can run outside to guffaw.
“That microphone better not have been shaking at the end!” the producer chases after him, because if he fucked that up the best they can hope for is Coco furiously shredding the notebook and peeing on it.
Gino knows Jasmine’s still on his shady trail, so he gets busy building Coco’s steps so she can marvel at the magnetic holding power of his screwdriver and remember he’s an engineer. Jasmine takes off to get her nails done with Dana’s wife Michelle, and says they chipped putting on the hazmat suit required to clean Gino’s bathroom, and as soon as she remembers the name of that spray that shows body fluids under a blacklight, it’s back to work for her.
“Some people just break up,” Michelle suggests. “And a lot of people save love letters. Dana still has some, and I’m okay with it. Sometimes I even read them to try and remember why I like him.”
Michelle seems like a good friend for Jasmine, since she doesn’t you-go-girl paranoia, and Jasmine admits she’s over the top with her jealousy. Michelle thinks she should trust him as much as you can trust someone who previously shared her nudes, and suggests a fun girls’ night. Jasmine’s excited at the idea, and Michelle notes that since Gino already had his bachelor party, she sees nothing but greenlights for Jasmine to have hers.
“What?” Jasmine flatlines. “I already have one too, but what?”
Jasmine’s issue is less the party and more that he didn’t tell her, and she asks if Michelle knows if any of the women touched Gino, and if any had a prescription for red lipgloss. Michelle assures Jasmine that they probably didn’t touch him willingly, but it’s unlikely that he just sat there thinking about spam while a woman in a one-piece bathing suit whipped him.
“Huh,” Jasmine plans to stop on the way home for matches and gasoline.
When Jasmine returns, Gino’s nearly finished step-construction, which would have earned a shower of gold stars if not for new information. She asks what he did the night before she arrived, and Gino feigns confusion.
“I wasn’t really going to tell you unless you asked,” Gino accidentally tells on himself.
He quickly resumes lying and says he didn’t touch any girls, and yet 90DF has footage of him smacking asses and giving a stripper a horsey ride around the stage with a carrot in his mouth.
“I always have to discover things from other people!” Jasmine sobs.
“Why are you upset?” This is Gino’s only means of arguing. “I can’t marry someone who gets upset and angry like you. You’re overreacting, you’re way out of control. I think you need some help.”
“This should settle what gaslighting is once and for all!” Jasmine might be out a job, but she can’t stop teaching. “I’m tired of having to tell you that I’m sorry for the way that you make me feel!”
“It’s okay mommy, you are so unique and special,” Coco crawls into Jasmine’s lap for comfort, adding her own tiny crying noises that should grant her an elevated emotional support animal power-ranking, and nuke that rival dog into a submission pose.
Meanwhile, Sophie’s spending her time away from Rob staring at her phone, waiting for him to text something low-effort to stitch their relationshit back together.
Rob: *I miss you.*
Sophie: He’s still Rob.
She admits having no desire to return to his fungal dungeon of lukewarm depression, so he’s going to have to come to her if he wants to lie. Rob pillages the neighbor’s rose bushes for apology flowers, and she turns the hose on him quicker than usual, so he’s stuck with just the one.
“Your favorite color,” Rob looks for points during the hand-off, since red is hard to remember. “Nice place. Did you call your parents? Is this our new apartment?”
“I called my mom, and she called Virgin airlines,” Sophie responds.
Rob gets busy minimizing Sophie’s concerns while calling it an apology, and rebrands solicited sex videos as “junk mail” that bests another reminder about a Black Friday sale extension. Sophie reminds Rob that she previously told him if he junked mailed again she’d leave, and he says he knows that, but also knew she was bluffing.
“Someone loyal doesn’t do this, they just don’t,” Sophie’s still talking.
“Right,” Rob knobs. “Wait, was that a question?”
“What are you doing?” Jasmine has questions for Sophie. “Look, there are two choices, and one bear suit. I still have these matches…”
“The person I’ve been since the plane touched down is a million percent committed,” Rob’s not a salesman. “Have I not said I’m sorry?”
“Uh, no?” Sophie wonders what part of this reads as apology in knob-speak.
“I KNOW I HURT YOU AND I’M SORRY,” Apology, by Rob, coming soon to a Flagstaff shopping mall near Kody. “If you give me another chance I’ll make up something better next time, becuase I am sorry.”
This is all Sophie needs to cosign returning to Rob’s cave, and putting the ring sharing an ashtray with a blunt wrapper on the assigned finger. From there, Rob declares he has a surprise, and Sophie knows that can’t be good, but she follows his instructions for packing clothes anyway. Turns out Rob’s reserved a beachfront spot so they can pretend they live somewhere else for their romantic reunion.
“Wow, I feel like I’m in America now!” Sophie’s blown away.
Sophie says he hasn’t been romantic with her in awhile, and he used to send her long text messages about being struck by cupid’s arrow, and that actually worked on her. She says it’s not about spending money, but being devoted to her, but since he’s not going to do that they might as well check out the gas-powered fire pit.
“It was wrong, but it could have been worse, and it will never be that wrong again,” Rob mushes words around his mouth.
“I”m 23,” Sophie’s having an emergency.
The next day Sophie calls her mom with a status report from a bar that welcomes wifi pilfering to those uninspired to purchase a beverage. Mom sighs when Sophie predictably reports she’s going to give him another chance.
“Doing the same thing and expecting a different result, it’s called insanity,” mom voices her objection. “If he’s doing that, how do you know he’s not doing something more?”
Sophie kinda giggles, and details that three years ago she was nervous about getting into a sketchy taxi, so she and Rob shared locations, and Rob forgot to turn it off.
“He never leaves the house, and there’s no possible way he brought someone back there,” Sophie’s confident.
Mom’s sort-of pleased that Rob’s limited himself to online wank-sessions, and adds she’s been looking at flights. She promises she won’t be rude to Rob unless he’s rude to her, and if he is she’ll summon the powers of Grayskull and end him in a single blow.
“I’m a latchkey Gen-Xer,” Mom explains. “I’ve been training for this my entire life.”
Sophie hopes mom can teach Rob how to human so he’s more convincing to other people, and if she can’t then she’ll fold herself into mom’s carry-on bag and cry her way back to the UK in an overhead compartment.
Igor and Nikki take their constantly evolving fight club on the road, to a bazaar where they hunt for simple clothing Nikki can wear to re-meet his mom.
“She has that figure you know, from cartoon,” Igor reminds us again.
“I think Justin would be happy with me wearing a straight jacket,” Nikki hopes we’ll leave that one alone.
After writing off most of what’s available as granny fashion, Nikki spots a pink suit she’d wear and says she’ll try it.
“This looks nice, right sweetie?” Nikki nikkis, turning around and showing Igor her ass.
“Not for me,” Igor fans away her last sliver of confidence, and a sales person arrives to help him yikes his way out of this.
“My fiance thinks this is too sexy,” Nikki still believes English can find the right ears if spoken often enough.
The sales person’s eyebrows suggests she has a filing system for her judgements under the cash register, and Igor tells her he’s hoping to find something that hides more of Nikki.
“All of it?” She wonders what kind of burqa Igor had in mind. “We can do it more modest if you don’t want to see it?”
Nikki insists she did bring clothes that can be worn in the company of parents, and the next day she enacts revenge and stokes Igor’s anxiety by doing hair and makeup while wearing every undergarment fashioned during Madonna’s Truth or Dare tour. Igor practices English while he’s waiting, and says he’s been practicing 892 days.
“Did they teach you the word horny? You know, when your pee-pee gets like that?” Nikki sings her only note again.
Igor practices the word “stop” until Nikki disappears to dress herself, and she makes an entrance serving “sexy conservative” as promised.
“You look great!” is how compliments work. “Like a Fox News anchor before the sexual harassment lawsuit!”
“Now you look more like regular woman,” Igor says instead.
Nikki says she’s a little nervous, which worsens as Igor doubles-down on his “regular woman” comments. Nikki snaps and says she always looks like a regular woman, and he’s triggering her insecurity and feels unattractive to him. Igor protests that her touches are wild and he feels like she’s trying to eat him, and the sexual pressure is overwhelming.
“You can’t handle me,” Nikki concludes. “I’M PASSIONATE, YOU’RE COLD!”
All the same, they continue their passionate-cold trek, and both agree to shelve their fight until after mom. Stepdad Daniel greets Igor with a bro-hug, before locking emotional support dog Jessica to his chest to deflect Nikki. Then Igor’s mom Maia surfaces, and looks like a middle-aged Elsa. She says she wasn’t surprised that they got back together, even if it took him two years to overcome the stress of returning from the US a single man.
“Did anyone else notice she didn’t say anything about the trans thing?” Production pauses, feeling a reunion meltdown coming on.
To further the theory that she doesn’t actually know about Nikki, Mom says she doesn’t entirely understand what happened between them, but she saw the aftermath, and worried for her son’s mental health. She brings out an old photo album, which includes a few photos of Igor and Nikki when they first got together. Nikki jokes that she assumed all of those would be torn up, and Igor jokes back that you can see the start of a tear at the edges. Nikki and mom seem to get along easily, and Maia gets emotional over revisiting the past and needs a minute. Maia and Daniel disappear to retrieve the next round of delicious carbs, and while they’re gone Nikki coats her teeth *Bridesmaids* style, and these two actually laugh and enjoy each other for a second. Igor points to the kindness Nikki receives from Maia and Daniel, and remarks that Nikki should see the amount of work he’s put in to help them understand. Nikki agrees that his efforts have paid off, and says it means a lot to her, and she’ll try to be less difficult.
“Like regular woman,” Igor reminds her.
When they return, Nikki asks speciifcally how they came to accept that she’s trans, and Igor alters this translation to ask how Maia got comfortable with “different cultures,” and it’s unclear if he’s hidden this, or if he chose not to bring it up and risk derailing the peaceful interaction. Nikki’s inability to speak Romanian comes in handy, and she’s all smiles at Maia’s warm response, and requests their blessing to get married. They say yes, and agree to join everyone at the engagement party, where the trans issue that mom might not know about it bound to surface a second round.
Ashley and Manuel are still with the therapist, and Ashley says Manuel’s left her out of his family, and his kids know her as the person who took their dad away and makes Grandma cringe every time she calls her MIL. Manuel counters that he worries she’ll lose patience with his kids, since they’ve never had to parent an adult before, and the therapist suggests giving her a chance. Manuel drops that he needs to send at least $250 every month to those kids, and her likely response to that is part of why his chance-bank is empty.
“Children come with costs?” Ashley’s flabbergasted.
Manuel becomes progressively more dickish as the therapy session soldiers on, suggesting his own water bottle woobie has alcohol in it, and he agrees that Ashley has a lot of work to do, and that his own assignment sounds hard and like something not worth doing.
Afterwards they go out to a pub so Ashley can eat like a bird, and Manuel seizes the opportunity to call the therapist a clown. He says adults should be able to solve their own problems if they think about them, but he doesn’t want to, so.
“I’m not liking your attitude,” Ashley announces foreplay. “You are being a very grumpy kitty right now. You need a nap.”
Manuel longs for a second topic of conversation, while Ashley tells the producers that no one speaks to her like that, except for Manuel, who does it all the time. They leave the pub, and Ashley says she’s tired of hearing his mouth, and Manuel says he’s also tired of hers, so he’s going to walk home and enjoy the soothing sounds of traffic, since there’s no TV in the car to turn up and drown her out.
The next day Ashley tells Manuel to wear comfortable shoes for the errand marathon she’s planned for the two of them, with stop #1 being coffee. He points out that they’re at home, so it makes more sense to make coffee and bring it. Manuel says he loves coffee, but not the sugar-injected monstrosities she mainlines 3-4 times a day, and estimates she spends $8 a day on side-coffees to compliment her at-home brews.
“You don’t understand,” Ashley maths. “If I don’t spend $8 on coffee, I spend $8 on gas, so there’s no savings.”
“What?” Production joins Manuel on the Island of Lost.
Ashley’s efforts to ready herself for travel suggest Manuel wildly underestimates her daily caffeine intake, which is closer to 12 cups and/or $36. Getting into the car leads to a partial spill from a mason jar, rearrangement of a heated mug, and opening a can of espresso, with Manuel tasked with wrangling two of her containers while she fumbles for a fourth. At this point she’s basically doing speed, and is distracted enough to run a red-light, and Manuel is disgusted.
“What are you, an octopus?” Manuel asks after reviewing his wheel of beverages.
Ashley’s hurt by his annoyance, and thinks her driving can get worse if she tries, so she reaches in the back seat for a box of tissues and calls a friend on speakerphone to talk shit about him in English while he occupies the passenger seat.
“Is he with you in the car?” the friend asks.
“Yes, and this is all about coffee!” Ashley edits out her share of the blame to stay on brand.
The next day Manuel and Ashley meet up with Ashley’s friends Alysia and Solly to shop for custom-scented candles. The place is sort of like the paint-your-own-pottery joints, except everyone selects their favorite chemicals before injecting them into a candle and adding those aromas to the incense fireplace Ashley uses to warm her house. Manuel kinda can’t believe he’s capping the longest three weeks of his life with a bougie trip to a scent bar, and that he has to defend $300 a month to Ecuador when this is what Ashley does for fun.
Important note: Ashley’s payday for this season = $15K. Manuel’s = $0. Requesting $900 for 90 days out of a $15K payday is *not* unreasonable, especially when you’re talking about a future spouse.
Anyway, Solly asks if Ashley’s done anything to make Manuel more comfortable between errands, and Ashley says she’s been buying the food, which is sort of like cooking, but she lets him do that part. She also says she sent $250 to his family, which immediately raises their eyebrows, since Ashley used wisdom gleaned from the Come On Now School of Number-Witching and Wizardry to cast a spell on their capacity for reason.
Manuel sees what’s happening, and says he’s not happy about asking her to send funds while he’s unable to work, but knows in time the scales will balance, and she’ll find something else to hold over his head. Ashley admits that his children exist, but she’s never heard of child support before, and hopes one day she’ll get to meet them so she can tell them in person they’re expensive.
“We’ve never heard of child support either,” Alysia enables. “Can you pass me the whipped cream scent? I think it’ll go great with this bullshit.”
Manuel notes that what they send his children is none of their business, and Alysia objects and doesn’t understand why kids are more important than Ashley, when clearly she always needs juice and a snack too. Manuel gets up from the kid’s table before he’s asked to hold her bottle again.
“If she wants to get married, I have people who come with me,” Manuel yells. “She spends $130 on the vet, but I can’t send $130 to my kids?”
“That’s be $329,” the candle-seller has expert timing.
Manuel finally throws his hands up and leaves, announcing plans to walk home.
“But there’s natural air out there!” Ashley objects, and is excited to play long-suffering girlfriend until she gets home for the sex part.
Clayton is shocked to learn his pouty-face bids for intimacy have not resulted in actual ass, as Anali shoos him out of the sleeping nest so she can shower and blow dry her hair without batting at his hands. Clayton wants to take her someplace Kentucky, which means horses, and Anali reminds him she’s from Peru and spent summers riding horses with her grandparents, so this isn’t new territory. Clayton ignores this, as they arrive at a farm with petting-zoo vibes, where they’re coached onto the horses before a slow walk in a circle around a pen.
“Do I look macho?” Clayton asks.
“No comment,” Anali replies.
“You mean so good you don’t have words?” Clayton emerges as the only person on this show capable of banter.
Afterwards they sit down together, and Clayton brings up her concealing their relationship from her dad. She explains that initially she kept it quiet because they were engaged after four days together, and she couldn’t tell her dad things were moving that fast. Clayton thinks that’s nice, but they’ve been together for years, and this has evolved into a short story about that time she got a job in Kentucky and happened upon a guinea pig enthusiast who smelled like love. He reminds her they only have 90 days to get married, and with that looming level of commitment she should probably stop lying. Anali says this will all make sense if he uses logic, and suggests he transfer the $8 a day he spends on coffee to gas so they share a zero.
“What?” Clayton’s confused.
Clayton’s sister Brandi is in town and eager to meet Anali, so Clayton sets them all up for another great Kentucky tradition: bourbon.
“People say whiskey is what you drink before a brawl, and I like to think bourbon is what you sip and enjoy before a fatal duel,” Clayton details.
Anali is impressed by the bourbon and declares it delicious, and initially thinks Brandi is pretty and sweet, but is cautious since she’s heard about her history of being catty with Clayton’s girlfriends. Brandi notes that she’s seen pictures of Anali on Clayton’s social media, but not on Anali’s, and Anali explains that all her pictures of them together are invisible. Brandi demands to know if mom’s aware of Clayton being a secret, and this is news to mom, too, and Brandi asks if now is the right time to suggest a green card quest. Clayton laughs and says no one comes to Kentucky for a green card.
“No one comes to Kentucky for a job, either,” Brandi counters, and walks out, leaving family tension in her wake.
Clayton knows Brandi is wrong, but when she invites him and Anali to Indiana for an in-person apology Clayton accepts, and hopes this can double as an intimacy spark.
“I know you say in Kentucky you have horses and bourbon. In Indiana, what do they have?” Anali asks.
“Drugs and corn,” Clayton is the most accurate reporter in 90DF history.
They stop at an apple orchard to pick apples that aren’t as delicious as Evelyn’s, and Brandi knows she fucked up and explains that she learned everything all at once and suffered information overload, and apologizes. Anali accepts her apology, and adds that the green card accusation was especially hurtful, since her mother is sick, and she’d rather have Clayton in Peru. Suddenly everyone is crying, and Brandi says they both deserve love.
“Speaking of love,” Clayton remembers part B of this mission, “How did you manage to get pregnant while living with mom?”
“Like this,” Brandi bends over, which hopefully happens a second time in Shaun’s direction at the reunion.
Clayton and Anali arrive at the hotel, and Clayton requests time to prepare their room for romance. For Clayton, this means LED candles (with the regular lights still on), lube, and a rubix cube in case she falls asleep mid-coitus. Anali reportedly said something about looking forward to a massage, and Clayton hopes the minimal shoulder-rub he’s about to demonstrate prior to redirecting towards his dick explains why lube is necessary.
Anali comes up to the room, and says Clayton splayed out on the bed in his jeans and tshirt makes him look like a clothed cow, and she wonders what his trusty shower-wanking lube is doing on her night stand. She awkwardly agrees that she’s stressed and wouldn’t object to a shoulder massage, and it’s unclear if Anali is uncomfortable because she’s not keen to become 90DF’s next unpaid cam girl, or because her reunion with Clayton locked in at cringe. Either way, when he suggests they turn the lights off, she says sleep sounds super. Clayton once again present the pouty lip of seduction, which works exactly as well as it has since her arrival.
“Do you know what blue balls is?” Clayton studied science at the same school where Ashley studied math.
“No,” Anali admits. “But whatever it is, you must be used to it by now.”
Devin and Nick go to a Korean hanbok shop to put on traditional outfits and take some engagement photos together, and Devin wastes no time isolating the only floral print in a sea of gorgeous garments that looks like a mistake.
“That is for prostitutes,” Nick does what’s necessary to derail Devin’s fashion choices. Eventually they both pick winners, and Devin emerges from a fitting room looking adorable in pink and white.
“Like a Korean angel,” Nick declares.
“Yes, like regular woman…” Stay out of this, Igor.
Nick comes out in a hanbok of his own, and demonstrates how people used to walk before the grind was invented. They stroll towards a monument to take photos, and Nick suggests they throw the flying vagina symbol, and chase it with a tiny violin. Afterwards, Nick isolates the perfect spot for the classic 90DF dirty alleyway proposal. He offers his jacket for her to sit on, and rifles inside his pants pocket in a way that recalls Rob receiving junk mail. Then he gets down on one knee and proposes to Devin, who says of course, and poof, romance.
From there it’s off to the airport to meet a friendly wandering robot, before landing in Memphis, where Devin’s parents Kevin and Katrina wait to greet them with caps-lock enthusiasm.
“He’s not just this made-up person!” Katrina is That Mom.
Nick happily greets them and says he’s nervous but excited, and admits he’s not used to the accent, and appreciates it when Kevin says they’ll dehydrate him into a redneck in record time.
They walk to the car for the next leg of their journey, and mom suggests where they are right now is dangerous, but he should feel more comfortable once he’s in a dry county with a Christian college.
“Said no one ever!” Nick jokes, before realizing she’s serious.
“I’m the only Asian here. I’m the only one,” Nick braces for being accused of starting COVID in his garage.
“There are 401 in Searcy,” Katrina corrects, hoping Nick feels better already.
NEXT TIME: 90DF introduces a self-proclaimed redneck drug addict and his dream girl’s cop dad, Igor tests Gino’s techniques to convince Nikki his extracurricular dick activities = overreaction, Devin reveals open-mouthed eating is a family-wide disorder that isn’t cured by “piggy,” and Sophie has an anxiety attack over her bisexuality confession like Reagan is still president and she’s engaged to Rob.
Thank you patient readers and Patreon supporters! To join up: patreon.com/fractalfay or to tip because you’re bursting with generosity Venmo @fractalfay

Why? Because I feel like Avatar 3, Elio, Deadpool 3, Inside Out 2, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and every single Disney releases are going to be scrapped entirely for tax write-offs by Peltz/Trian/Perlmutter once they take full control of Disney, which, at least according to these articles and a lot of people in boxoffice, is 100% guaranteed to happen. In fact, is Disney even going to exist after this year? Because this is what's been happening over there lately:

Nelson Peltz's Trian to seek at least three Disney board seats, sources say
Activist investor Nelson Peltz is pushing ahead with plans to seek at least three board seats at Disney (DIS.N) as the firm is not satisfied with Disney CEO Bob Iger's changes, several people familiar with the matter said.
During a conversation on Thursday morning with Iger, Disney extended an offer for Trian to meet with the company's board but rejected the activist shareholder's request for seats on a board that will soon have 12 members, Trian said in a statement.
Trian, which owns roughly $3 billion worth of Disney stock, said it "intends to take (its) case for change directly to shareholders," signaling it will proceed to a second proxy fight and nominate director candidates when the window for nominations opens early next month.
"Investor confidence is low, key strategic questions loom, and even Disney's CEO is acknowledging that the company's challenges are greater than previously believed," Trian said in the statement. Shares in Disney, which has a market capitalization of $169 billion, are down 16% since Feb 9, when Peltz withdrew from his campaign to gain a board seat.
Investor enthusiasm lifted Disney stock 20% in the two-and-a-half months after Iger's return in November 2022 but lost most of the gains this year, closing on Thursday at $92.69 per share, less than a dollar higher than the price before Iger was brought back.
RESTRUCTURING, COST-CUTTING
Over the past 12 months, Disney has restructured the company and significantly reduced costs. It told investors earlier this month it is on track to achieve about $7.5 billion in cost savings – $2 billion more than its original target.
Disney said it will work to make its streaming business profitable, build ESPN into the "pre-eminent" digital sports brand, improve the performance of its film studios and "turbocharge" growth at its theme parks, through $60 billion in investment over the next decade.
Disney noted Peltz is allied with Isaac Perlmutter, a former Disney executive who was terminated earlier this year and has a "longstanding personal agenda" against Iger.
The company said Perlmutter's agenda "may be different than that of all other shareholders."
Despite Iger's efforts and Thursday morning's phone call, positions appear to have hardened this week.
Disney named soon-to-be-retiring Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman and veteran media executive and former group chief executive of Sky, Jeremy Darroch, to its board, a pre-emptive step companies targeted by activists often take.
The men will join early next year and former Illumina (ILMN.O) chief, Francis deSouza, will leave.
SHAREHOLDER SUPPORT
Another investor, Blackwells Capital, issued a statement of support for Iger and his restructuring of the company, as well as for the two new board members, Gorman and Darroch.
Blackwells said displacing these individuals with Peltz and other Trian nominees would deprive shareholders of "valuable, experienced voices in the boardroom at a critical time in the company’s history."
Trian said while the two new Disney directors did represent an improvement from the status quo, they "would not restore investor confidence or address the root cause behind the significant value destruction".
The Disney board on Thursday announced a cash dividend of 30 cents per share, payable on Jan. 10.
Disney said it will recommend shareholders support its slate of nominees. Investors and industry analysts are already calling the presumed battle Disney 2.0, but they note it might be tougher this time for Peltz to win over other shareholders.
Patrick Gadson, co-head of the shareholder activism practice at law firm Vinson & Elkins which is not involved, said proxy advisers will assess how much change Disney has accomplished.
"If they’ve made significant progress," Gadson said of Disney, proxy advisers "are more likely to allow for time to complete the transformation."

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/activist-investor-peltz-seeks-two-seats-disney-board-cnbc-2023-11-30/
...and Disney announced these plans:

Disney Reinstates Dividend, Amends Bylaws Amid Push By Nelson Peltz For Board Seat
Disney today announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share for the second half of its fiscal 2023, its first such payout since the dividend was halted three years ago during Covid.
It will be payable January 10, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 11. The company had said back in February that it planned to bring back the dividend this year.
“This has been a year of important progress for The Walt Disney Company, defined by a strategic restructuring and a renewed focus on long-term growth,” said Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board. “As Disney moves forward with its key strategic objectives, we are pleased to declare a dividend for our shareholders while we continue to invest in the company’s future and prioritize meaningful value creation.”
The dividend move comes as activist investor Nelson Peltz, backed by big Disney shareholder and former Marvel boss Ike Perlmutter, is seeking to join the board of the media giant — saying today he would bring the fight “directly to the shareholders” after Disney rejected his offer and named two new directors instead. This push by the founder of Trian Partners has led Disney to restate and amend its corporate bylaws that deal with outside candidates seeking board seats.
Shareholders elect directors at a company’s annual meeting. Companies list their nominated directors in a proxy statement ahead of the gathering and provide shareholders with a list of the names on proxy cards. Stockholders can also present other, outside candidates for director, not endorsed by the company, as Peltz says he intends to do. It’s not clear how many board seats he is gunning for. Disney’s fiscal year ends in September and its annual meeting is usually in sometime March. It was held a bit later this year, on April 3, as the company battled Peltz for the first time in the early part of the year. He withdrew from the fight in February, before the meeting. Prior to that, he had set up a dedicated website called Restore the Magic that detailed what he saw as Disney’s failings. Not clear yet what he’ll do this time around. Disney said earlier today that Perlmutter has a “longstanding personal agenda” against Iger.
The amendments laid out by Disney in an SEC filing today do the following:
-“Address recently adopted amendments to Rule 14a-19 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, by requiring that any person soliciting proxies in support of a director nominee other than the Board’s nominees provide a representation that such person will comply with Rule 14a-19 and deliver reasonable evidence to the Company that the Rule 14a-19 requirements have been met.”
This SEC rule from last year (14a-19) requires all parties use a “universal” proxy card that lists all director nominees presented by both management and shareholders for election at the annual meeting. It was meant to make it easier to get outside shareholders candidates on the ballot so some companies (not just Disney) have been amending their bylaws to make it not quite so easy,
-“Require that any person directly or indirectly soliciting proxies using its own proxy card use a proxy card color other than white.” The white card is typically used by management.
-“Enhance the procedural mechanics and disclosure requirements relating to…director nominations made by stockholders, including by requiring: certain additional background information, disclosures and representations regarding any proposing stockholders, any proposed director nominees and business and any other persons related to a stockholder’s solicitation of proxies; and any notice of director nomination be accompanied by all written questionnaires required of the Company’s directors completed and signed by any proposed director nominees.”

https://deadline.com/2023/11/disney-reinstates-dividend-amends-bylaws-nelson-peltz-board-seat-1235644175/

Disney Board Adopts New Rules for Nominating Directors in Wake of Nelson Peltz’s Announced Proxy Fight
Company also announces first cash dividend for shareholders in more than three years
The same day activist investor Nelson Peltz announced he was launching a proxy campaign to get seats on Disney’s board of directors, the company adopted amended bylaws covering nominations of directors by outside parties.
Meanwhile, in a bid to win shareholder favor amid the brewing proxy battle, Disney separately Thursday announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable Jan. 10, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 11, 2023. It’s the company’s first dividend payments to investors in more than three years, after Disney suspended them during the COVID pandemic.
On Nov. 30, Disney’s board “amended and restated” the company’s bylaws, which became effective as of Thursday, the company said in an SEC filing Thursday.
Among other things, the amendments “enhance the procedural mechanics and disclosure requirements relating to business proposals submitted and director nominations made by stockholders,” Disney said in the filing. That includes requiring “certain additional background information, disclosures and representations regarding any proposing stockholders, any proposed director nominees and business and any other persons related to a stockholder’s solicitation of proxies” and that “any notice of director nomination be accompanied by all written questionnaires required of the company’s directors completed and signed by any proposed director nominees.”
In addition, Disney’s revised bylaws “address recently adopted amendments to Rule 14a-19 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, by requiring that any person soliciting proxies in support of a director nominee other than the board’s nominees provide a representation that such person will comply with Rule 14a-19 and deliver reasonable evidence to the company that the Rule 14a-19 requirements have been met,” Disney said.
The SEC’s Rule 14a-19, which went into effect for shareholder meetings involving contested director elections held after Aug. 31, 2022, establish new notice and filing requirements for all soliciting parties, as well as formatting and presentation requirements for universal proxy cards. In addition, the rules require shareholders presenting their own director candidates in the contest to solicit holders of a minimum of 67% of the voting power of shares entitled to vote in the election.
Disney’s new bylaws also require that “any person directly or indirectly soliciting proxies using its own proxy card use a proxy card color other than white.”
The announced intention by Peltz’s Trian Fund Management to launch a proxy fight to get its directors on the board comes a day after Disney named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky chief Jeremy Darroch as new directors, with terms starting in early 2024.
Peltz’s Trian, which controls about $3 billion in Disney stock, issued a statement Thursday that after the Disney board rejected Trian’s request for board seats, including one for Peltz, the hedge fund will “take our case for change directly to shareholders.”
In response, Disney noted that 78% of the shares claimed to be beneficially owned by Trian are owned by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter. Disney said Perlmutter “was terminated from his employment by Disney earlier this year and has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, Robert A. Iger, which may be different than that of all other shareholders.” Perlmutter did not immediately have any comment, his rep said.
On Thursday, investment management company Blackwells Capital, a Disney shareholder since 2018, weighed in on the drama by issuing a statement of support for Iger’s leadership of the company and the board appointments of Gorman and Darroch. “Displacing these individuals or other members of the board with Mr. Peltz and other Trian-selected nominees would deprive shareholders of valuable, experienced voices in the boardroom at a critical time in the company’s history,” Blackwells said. “Blackwells is concerned that Trian’s campaign prioritizes Mr. Peltz’s ego over what is best for all Disney shareholders, and that its latest effort may cost Disney shareholders upwards of $50 million and serve only as a value destructive fog for Disney’s leadership and board.”
Blackwells chief investment officer Jason Aintabi said in a statement, “Mindless, drum-beating activism is not the right strategy for shareholders. Disney’s board is acting in the best interests of all shareholders and should be allowed the time to focus on driving value at one of America’s most iconic companies without this fatuous sideshow.”
Regarding the reinstatement of the dividend, Disney chairman Mark Parker said in a statement, “This has been a year of important progress for The Walt Disney Company, defined by a strategic restructuring and a renewed focus on long-term growth. As Disney moves forward with its key strategic objectives, we are pleased to declare a dividend for our shareholders while we continue to invest in the company’s future and prioritize meaningful value creation.”

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/disney-board-bylaws-nominating-directors-nelson-peltz-proxy-fight-1235815361/
And when it comes to dividend, one guy is pointing this out:

they have about 1.8 billion shares outstanding, so it's roughly a $550 million payout. the last time they paid a dividend was 2019, and they paid out $0.88 per share; roughly 3x as much.
just to put in perspective, disney is going to lose about $500 million in november alone from the marvels and wish flops.

https://old.reddit.com/boxoffice/comments/187u045/disney_brings_back_its_dividend_after_threeyeakbh01np/
Aren't these proofs that Iger knows that he will lose the proxy war for certain and will be ousted and get replaced by Peltz and/or Perlmutter as the next CEO?
Some people might be wondering why that would be a problem. Well, Peltz and Perlmutter are in their 80s, so it would go against the idea of passing the torch to newer generations of CEO, not to mention that there is also this about Perlmutter:

If Disney's stock price keeps falling, Iger also has to worry about agitating more investors.
Iger is already tangling with ex-Marvel exec Ike Perlmutter, one of Disney's biggest individual shareholders, who has joined activist investor Peltz's fight to try to improve Disney's results by getting a bigger say over its strategy and operations.
Perlmutter has told people he wants to break up Disney as much as he can and gain control of some of the IP, and "people underestimate Ike at their peril," said a source familiar with Perlmutter's conversations.
Disney's largely liberal stance on hot-button social issues could bring out other activist investors with political as well as financial motivations, like Paul Singer of Elliott Investment Management, a big GOP donor. There are people who "would love to take down the 'woke' company," the source added.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bob-iger-ceo-disney-return-insiders-anxious-losing-faith-2023-11
Once Peltz/Trian/Perlmutter take(s) control of Disney entirely, which according to those articles above, is 100% guaranteed because literally everyone despises Bog Iger, they might:

1. Fire Bob Iger and the entire Disney board and make themselves new CEO and fill up board seats entirely with Trian members and Perlmutter's goons.
   
2. Fire every single Disney creatives like Kevin Feige, Pete Docter, Jennifer Lee, and so on and replace them with Ethan Van Sciver, John Kricfalusi, Chris Savino, and so on.
   
3. Sell Pixar to Sony, sell Walt Disney Animation Studios to Paramount, sell Lucasfilm to Warner Brothers, sell Disney theme parks to Universal, sell 20th Century Studios to Daily Wire, and keep Marvel for themselves.
   
4. Scrap every single upcoming Disney releases including Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Inside Out 2, Deadpool 3, Elio, and Avatar 3 as tax write-offs just to spite Iger and Feige.
   
5. Close down every single Disney stores, so anime stores can take their places.
   

Besides, some people here might want Disney to cease to exist entirely, so anime series can take its place and Oscar judges having no choice but to give Best Animated Feature Oscar to an anime film every year since PixaWDAS would be no more, DreamWorks is too inconsistent, Illumination is rather generic, Sony Pictures Animation still has an unclear future after Spider-Verse series gets concluded, Netflix has whole direct-to-streaming baggage, and other animation studios don't have sollid footings yet.
Thoughts on this?

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-29-2023
[Edited to change AMP link]
In the final exchange of hostages taken by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel under the current truce, Hamas released 16 people—10 Israelis and four Thai nationals, along with two Russian-Israeli women in a separate release—while Israel released 30 people from its jails.
Negotiators from Qatar, Egypt, Israel, and the U.S. are rushing to try to get another truce in place, even as far-right Israeli leaders are pressuring Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart the assault on Hamas. Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned today that unless he does, Ben-Gvir’s faction will leave the government coalition Netanyahu leads. “Stopping the war = breaking apart the government,” Ben-Gvir said.
Losing that faction would not overturn the government, but it would weaken Netanyahu enough that he could have to call elections. Netanyahu, who remains under indictment for bribery and fraud, is eager to stay in power, but recent polls show his popularity is perilously low: only 27% of Israelis in one recent poll said they would vote for him. Two members of his staff told Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times he wants to avoid an election at all costs.
Shortly after Ben-Gvir’s statement, Netanyahu said: “There is no situation in which we do not go back to fighting until the end.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Israel today with a different agenda than Netanyahu’s. “We'd like to see the pause extended because what it has enabled, first and foremost is hostages being released and being united with their families,” Blinken said. “It's also enabled us to surge humanitarian assistance into the people of Gaza who so desperately need it. So, its continuation, by definition means that more hostages would be coming home, more assistance would be getting in.”
The foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization met today in Brussels, Belgium, where they met with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba as part of the NATO-Ukraine Council. Before the meeting, Kuleba noted that Ukraine is “pretty much becoming a de facto NATO army, in terms of our technical capacity, management approaches and principles of running an army."
A statement by the NATO-Ukraine Council agreed that it was deepening the NATO-Ukraine relationship, vowing that allies would “continue their support for as long as it takes” and declaring, “A strong, independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the Euro-Atlantic area.” In the statement, Ukraine also committed to reforming the government and security sector as it moves toward a future NATO membership.
David Andelman, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and CBS News who now writes Andelman Unleashed, noted today in CNN that President Biden has brought a very clear-eyed set of principles to foreign affairs, making him “one of the rare presidents who has accomplished something quite extraordinary: He has carefully defined and quite successfully defended democracy and democratic values before a host of existential challenges.”
In the Middle East he has defended Israel, which The Economist’s Democracy Index identifies as the only democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, while also trying to restrain the Israeli government and to get humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, all while (so far) keeping Iran and Hezbollah from spreading the conflict. Andelman also called out that Biden avoided the direct conflict with Russia that Russia's president Vladimir Putin so clearly wanted, supporting Ukraine but delaying its admission to NATO and ratcheting up military aid slowly enough that the U.S. did not get directly involved.
Biden is defending democracy where it has a foothold and can survive and then prosper, Andelman says, noting that he had little interest in continuing to send U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where it seemed clear democracy “never really took root.” Andelman writes, “Its ill-conceived and improbable ‘elections’ were little more than window dressing on a deeply flawed and corrupt kleptocracy that America had been backing with the bodies of thousands of its troops.”
Defending democracy “is something that makes [Biden] tick,” Andelman writes, “and remain appealing to others, as I’ve seen in so many parts of the world.”
The administration has also been crystal clear that its approach to governance at home is also designed to protect democracy by demonstrating that a democracy can do more for people than an authoritarian government, but in a speech at a campaign reception in Houston, Texas, Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that voters somehow don’t seem to understand that transformation.
Even as former president Trump threatened to use the government to silence press outlets he doesn't like, Harris noted the billions of dollars invested in infrastructure and clean energy, allowing the U.S. to be a global leader in new technologies; the cap of insulin at $35; rural broadband and the clean-up of lead pipes; and pointed out that all of the things the Democrats have accomplished are “incredibly popular with the American people.” The challenge, she noted, is getting people to understand these transformations, and which party is responsible for them.
“[T]here’s a duality to the nature of democracies,” Harris said. “On the one hand, …it is very much about strength—the strength that it gives individuals in terms of the protection of their rights and freedoms and liberties. When a democracy is intact, it is very strong in its capacity to lift the people up.” But, she added, “It is also very fragile. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.”
Today the Democrats’ economic program got another boost with the news that the economy grew faster in the third quarter than previously reported, coming in at a blistering 5.2%, and that a record 200.4 million shoppers visited stores and websites on the five days after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping period. That number reflects people’s confidence in their own finances, but also that the economy appears to be cooling and there are therefore bargains to be had.
A new analysis by the Treasury Department shows that the Inflation Reduction Act, which puts money into climate change technologies, is delivering investment to communities that have benefited least from the economic growth of the past few decades. Today, President Joe Biden presented his case for his economic policy directly to one such community in the Colorado district of MAGA Republican mouthpiece Representative Lauren Boebert.
Biden visited CS Wind, the largest wind tower manufacturer in the world, which is expanding its operations in Pueblo, Colorado, thanks to the IRA. Boebert voted against the IRA, calling it “dangerous for America” and saying it was her “easiest no vote yet.” But the new $200 million expansion will create 850 new jobs, and CS Wind has already hired 500 new employees. And a solar project in the district will bring both power and as many as 250 jobs.
The White House listed the many projects underway in the district thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including nearly $30.2 million to redesign and revitalize streets and $160 million for a 103-mile pipeline that will bring clean water from Pueblo to 50,000 people in southeastern Colorado. Boebert called the law “garbage” and “wasteful” and said it was “punishment for rural America.”
“President Biden made a commitment to be a President for all Americans, regardless of political party, and he’s kept that promise,” the White House said. “The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to deliver for workers and families in Colorado’s third congressional district and across the country—even if self-described MAGA Republicans like Representative Boebert put politics ahead of jobs and opportunities created by Bidenomics.“
Biden was even blunter. After listing the benefits the new laws have brought to Boebert’s district, he said: “She, along with every single Republican colleague, voted against the law that made these investments in jobs possible…. And then she voted to repeal key parts of this law, and she called this law a massive failure. You all know you’re part of a massive failure? Tell that to the 850 Coloradans who got new jobs.… It all sounds like a massive failure in thinking by the congresswoman and her colleagues.”
—
Notes:
https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-29-2023-57e73a26c647ecd97e77afe19c08e077
https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-29-23/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/29/world/middleeast/netanyahu-cease-fire-politics.html
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-threatens-to-tear-down-government-if-war-not-resumed/
https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-vows-to-stick-with-ukraine-as-long-as-it-takes/
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_220818.htm
📷Andelman UnleashedUnleashed Voices: In the Kremlin’s shadow—competing crisesThis is the latest compelling individual, to whom Andelman Unleashed has given voice, exploring the most critical issues of our time. RIGA, Latvia—The Baltic nations and Europe broadly find themselves today in a most difficult and dangerous convergence of crises: Torn by an existential conflict on their eastern flank when Russia invaded Ukraine, then a c…Read morea month ago · 10 likes · 5 comments · David A. Andelman
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/opinions/biden-democracy-israel-ukraine-taiwan-andelman/index.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/11/27/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-a-campaign-reception-houston-tx/
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-third-quarter-economic-growth-revised-up-52-2023-11-29/
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/28/black-friday-weekend-shopping-turnout-soars-to-a-record.html
https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-inflation-reduction-act-a-place-based-analysis
https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-29-23/h_fc79baece72d8ea572fbd715b093e663
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/11/29/president-biden-to-visit-largest-wind-tower-manufacturer-in-the-world-highlight-how-bidenomics-is-driving-record-investments-in-congresswoman-lauren-boeberts-district-2/
[Edited to change AMP link:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/politics/biden-gop-economy-boebert/index.html ]
Twitter (X):
JoyceWhiteVance/status/1729937862533972361

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-28-2023
On this fifth day of the pause in the fighting between Hamas and Israel, Hamas released 10 Israeli and dual-national hostages and two Thai nationals; Israel said it released another 30 Palestinians from imprisonment. An Israeli official told the Washington Post that they expect another two or three days of the pause and hostage-prisoner exchanges, “after which we either resume operations in Gaza or potentially reach a follow-on agreement.”
Central Intelligence Agency director William J. Burns arrived in the city of Doha, the capital of Qatar, today to meet with Qatar’s prime minister and Burns’s counterparts from Israel and Egypt: David Barnea, chief of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, and Abbas Kamel, director of Egyptian General Intelligence. They will discuss a broader deal for a longer truce between Israel and Hamas.
Also today, the U.S. airlifted more than 54,000 pounds of United Nations–provided medical supplies, food, and winter clothing to Egypt for delivery to Gaza. The administration took credit for the humanitarian aid transfers underway, noting that when Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel on October 16, Israeli policy was that it would shut Gaza off from water, fuel, and supplies until Hamas released all the hostages.
Blinken cut a deal for aid before Biden arrived two days later—the deal was a condition of his visit—and trucks began to travel into Gaza on October 21. Since then, deliveries have ramped up to 240 trucks a day of medicine, shelter, food, and supplies to keep infrastructure functioning. This is still not enough, an official told reporters: it is imperative to get commercial contractors back in service in Gaza. Fuel, which is crucial for purifying water to prevent disease, among other things, is also making it into Gaza, but not in the quantities required.
The pause in fighting has enabled supply deliveries to ramp up significantly. A White House official acknowledged that “from the President on down, we understand that what is getting in is nowhere near enough for normal life in Gaza, and we will continue to push for additional steps, including the restoration of the flow of commercial goods and additional basic services.”
Here at home, the 2024 presidential campaign is heating up. This morning, Katherine Faulders, Mike Levine, and Alexander Mallin of ABC News broke the story that former vice president Mike Pence had offered to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office new details about Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pence allegedly said he had told Trump that they had lost the election, but Trump turned to those lawyers who would tell him otherwise.
Pence also allegedly decided—briefly—that he would not attend the January 6 counting of the electoral votes because it would be “too hurtful to my friend,” Trump. But his son, a Marine, later reminded him that they had both taken the same oath to “support and defend the Constitution,” making Pence reconsider his plan to avoid the ballot counting.
Also on the topic of Trump’s attempt to overturn the election was a story by Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, and Elizabeth Stuart of CNN about a forthcoming book by former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY). The trio obtained an early copy of the book, which will be released on December 5, and say it outlines the many lawmakers and media figures who knew Trump had lost the election but lied about it.
“So strong is the lure of power that men and women who had once seemed reasonable and responsible were suddenly willing to violate their oath to the Constitution out of political expediency and loyalty to Donald Trump,” Cheney says. She notes that now-chair of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH) didn’t appear to care about rules or legal processes surrounding the election results. “The only thing that matters is winning,” he told her.
Cheney wrote of how she and then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi came to respect each other over their common defense of the Constitution, a nonpartisan stance that foreshadows her conclusion that Trump is dangerous to the country. “Every one of us—Republican, Democrat, Independent—must work and vote together to ensure that Donald Trump and those who have appeased, enabled, and collaborated with him are defeated,” she writes. “This is the cause of our time.”
Still, MAGA Republicans are defending the former president, in part by trying to launch an impeachment case against President Joe Biden. But that effort took a hit today. Representative Lisa McClain (R-MI), who sits on the House Oversight Committee that is out front on the impeachment effort, admitted on Fox Business that the committee has found no evidence that President Biden changed any policies after what Republicans claim was a bribe from China.
Also today, the lawyer for the president’s 53-year-old son Hunter responded to a subpoena from Representative James Comer (R-KY), chair of the Oversight Committee, for Hunter Biden’s testimony in what Republicans insist is business corruption (there is no evidence of such wrongdoing by either Hunter Biden or his father).
Although his lawyer noted that the committee appeared to be ignoring the business activities of the Trump family, whose members were actually in office whereas the younger Biden is a private citizen, he said that Biden agreed to testify but that he would do so in a public hearing, not in the closed-door session Comer wanted.
“We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and mislead the public,” Biden’s lawyer wrote, and indeed, Comer did not even attend the July closed-door deposition of Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer but nonetheless went on television to misrepresent Archer’s denial that Hunter Biden’s father was involved in the business. “If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about, then let the light shine on these proceedings,” the lawyer wrote.
Comer, whose previous hearings have tended to blow up in his face as well-prepared Democrats tear into the Republicans, rejected the idea of holding a hearing in public.
“Let me get this straight,” Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee, said. “After wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full Committee and the eyes of the world and to answer any questions that they pose? What an epic humiliation for our colleagues and what a frank confession that they are simply not interested in the facts and have no confidence in their own case or the ability of their own Members to pursue it.
“After the miserable failure of their impeachment hearing in September, Chairman Comer has now apparently decided to avoid all Committee hearings where the public can actually see for itself the logical, rhetorical and factual contortions they have tied themselves up in,” Raskin said. “The evidence has shown time and again President Biden has committed no wrongdoing, much less an impeachable offense. Chairman Comer’s insistence that Hunter Biden’s interview should happen behind closed doors proves it once again. What the Republicans fear most is sunlight and the truth.”
MAGA Republican lawmakers’ defense of Trump ran into another snag today as Americans for Prosperity Action, an anti-Trump super PAC backed by billionaire Charles Koch, announced it was backing former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. A memo from AFP Action said Haley offers “the opportunity to turn the page on the current political era.”
The AFP Action endorsement is a window on the reaction of pro-business Republicans to the party’s recent shift to embrace Christian nationalism. Today’s party rejects small government and a market economy, which was the rallying cry of the Reagan Revolution, in favor of laws based on right-wing religious ideology. As Florida governor Ron DeSantis showed with his attack on Disney for supporting LGBTQ+ rights, this ideology would require businesses to ignore market forces and instead bow to the will of a strong government.
AFP Action stayed out of the presidential races of 2016 and 2020, but now, saying that Haley’s policies are close to AFP Action’s free-market ideology, it is taking a stand against the MAGA movement. Even if Haley doesn’t win the nomination—and that looks unlikely considering Trump’s commanding lead—weakening Trump so he is defeated in the general election would get rid of the MAGA base and enable libertarian-leaning business leaders to regain control of the Republican Party.
—
Notes:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/11/28/statement-from-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-airlift-of-critical-humanitarian-supplies-to-egypt-to-support-aid-delivery-in-gaza/
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/11/28/world/israel-hamas-gaza-war-news
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-s-statement-on-chairman-comer-s-rejection-of-hunter-biden
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/28/politics/cia-director-qatar-meetings-israel-egypt/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/28/cia-william-burns-israel-hamas-hostages/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/28/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-hostages-palestine/
https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/americans-for-prosperity-action/C00687103/summary/2020
https://abcnews.go.com/US/pence-told-jan-6-special-counsel-harrowing-details/story?id=105183391
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/28/politics/liz-cheney-trump-mccarthy-book
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2023/11/27/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-humanitarian-aid/
https://apnews.com/united-states-presidential-election-9d4595ba4f3140c6bb6a3473a91f4a4c
https://apnews.com/article/hunter-joe-biden-impeachment-congress-subpoena-37fe9652539c2c501d8b8bd8c3cc8901
https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-comer-has-a-new-unlikely-story-for-missed-deposition
https://oversight.house.gov/blog/icymi-comer-on-hannity-archer-confirms-joe-biden-lied-when-he-denied-knowledge-of-hunter-biden-business-dealings%EF%BF%BC/
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000018c-161a-dbbc-a1de-7e7e397f0000
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-democrats-debunk-republicans-lies-distortions-and-fabrications-during
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/28/biden-impeachment-probe-republicans/
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/major-anti-trump-group-set-endorse-republican-rivals/story?id=105206338

"The economy added just 1,500 jobs in October." - Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), trying to dunk on Biden but missing a few zeros. Math is hard!

The Struggle Israel

The clock may be running out on the temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

• The extended pause in fighting to swap hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons continued on Wednesday, when the militant group released an additional sixteen hostages. Hamas claimed that a family of Israeli hostages—the youngest of whom was a ten-month-old baby—was killed during an Israeli bombardment, although that assertion has not yet been verified. Relatives of the family said they had been informed of the report and were “waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials.”
  
• Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners (16 minors and 14 women) on Wednesday night. The truce is now set to expire on Thursday morning, but Palestinian officials said that negotiations for a possible extension are ongoing. Before October 7, the United States had been trying to normalize relations between Arab states in the Persian Gulf and Israel. Now, those tentative ties are being strained. The U.S.-backed vision for regional cooperation in the Middle East that prioritizes economic ties over religious and political differences may have now become something of a Western diplomatic fantasy.
  
• Speaking of strain, the U.S. relationship with Iran continues to grow increasingly fraught, after Iranian-backed militias launched 70 rocket and drone attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria in the past seven weeks. The Pentagon responded with four rounds of airstrikes, killing at least 15 people, according to U.S. officials. National security officials fear that a single miscalculation amidst the escalating attacks could trigger a larger conflict in the region, despite the fact that both countries say they don’t want that to happen.
  

Back in Washington, Democrats are divided over next steps.

• The Israel-Hamas conflict has created tensions within the Democratic Party, and exposed a rift between the views of its base and those of elected officials. Now, Democrats in Congress are at odds with each other and the Biden administration over whether to condition aid to Israel. The decades-long practice in Washington has been to approve massive amounts of military funding for Israel with very few asterisks. But as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to soar, Democratic lawmakers are increasingly voicing concern about how U.S. tax dollars will be allocated.
  
• At a closed-door meeting at the White House on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with some 20 Democratic senators who have expressed such concerns, several of whom said that any aid package to Israel should increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and ensure that Israel is taking verifiable measures to minimize civilian casualties. The White House has requested $14.3 billion to fund Israel’s military campaign against Hamas as part of a national security package that includes additional billions to facilitate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
  

As the truce nears a possible ending, over 140 hostages remain in Hamas captivity. The civilian death toll in Gaza now likely exceeds 15,000.

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Don't forget, tomorrow Crooked is gearing up for another monster Group Thread event, this time covering the baffling-but-unmissable debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis. Your favorite Crooked hosts and staff will be on the Friends of the Pod Discord to watch, roast and provide real time commentary on the action. If you're not already a Friends of the Pod subscriber, head to https://Crooked.com/friends to learn more and sign up.

Under The Radar

The U.S. government disrupted a plot by an Indian government employee to assassinate a separatist dissident in New York City, according to U.S. prosecutors. The unnamed Indian official who allegedly orchestrated the plot is a self-described “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence. U.S. officials said an alleged middleman named Nikhil Gupta was tasked with hiring a hitman, and Gupta was arrested in Europe and has now been criminally indicted for attempted murder in the U.S.
The target of the alleged plot was a Sikh separatist who has advocated for the independence of part or all of the Indian region of Punjab. While he was not named by prosecutors, he was identified by senior Biden officials speaking to The Washington Post as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice. The group has advocated for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland, which its proponents call Khalistan.
The alleged link between the Indian government and an assassination attempt on U.S. soil raises fresh tensions between the U.S. and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The White House said it raised the issue with senior Indian government officials, who supposedly reacted with “surprise and concern.” But the incident comes soon after Canada claimed there was “credible” evidence tying India to the June murder of another Sikh activist in British Columbia. In both cases, Indian officials have denied any wrongdoing. Bumping off enemies of the regime is the kind of thing people associate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, rather than India’s Modi. But that may be changing.

What Else?

Henry Kissinger, the only official in U.S. history to serve as both National Security Advisor and Secretary of State at the same time, and who served under both the Nixon and Ford administrations, died at the age of 100 on Wednesday. He was associated with countless controversial policies like the bombing of neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War, orchestrating a coup in Chile, and support for Argentina’s brutal military junta. Some critics and historians have called him “cold-blooded,” “amoral,” and a war criminal. We see where they’re coming from!
Trump’s former U.N. Secretary Nikki Haley is making a steady climb in the GOP primary and has gotten a boost from a new influx of donors, but faces long odds to overtake her former boss on the road to the convention.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said he is considering dropping his ten-month blockade of military promotions “soon, but not today.” Wow, thanks for nothing!
President Biden’s approval rating dropped to a tie with his personal low, just 37 percent, with 59 percent disapproval.
Elon Musk got Big Mad at a question about companies who have boycotted advertising on his platform (because of the antisemitic posts and conspiracy theories he has amplified there). Musk responded that doing so was “blackmail” and told the companies, “Go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear?” I think we can all agree that men are too emotional to be running our nation’s businesses!
New GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has “real reservations” over expelling Rep. George Santos (R-NY). We also have reservations because without him, how will we be entertained???

Be Smarter

The average American household now has to spend an additional $11,434 per year just to maintain the same standard of living they had in January of 2021 before inflation soared to a 40-year high, according to a new analysis from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee. Take any GOP-led analysis with a large grain of salt, of course. But the numbers from federal government agencies do show that inflation, particularly in the past three years, has created significant hardships for many working Americans. Hourly pay for workers has increased 13.6 percent since January 2021, but even that boost lags behind the 17 percent increase in inflation over the same period. The very highest earners continue to amass the largest share of overall earnings distribution. Middle and low-income households have been hit the hardest. Inflation is cooling rapidly, but many consumers may not be feeling relief because most prices on basics like food have not declined. The major exception to this rule is gas prices, which have consistently fallen month-over-month. In order to lock in the gains made by wage increases, and continue real economic recovery and growth, it might be a good time for Congress to finally raise the federal minimum wage, which has been a shameful $7.25 an hour for almost 15 years.

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Light At The End Of The Email

High off of their historic wins with the Detroit Three automakers, the United Auto Workers union launched simultaneous public organizing campaigns at thirteen automakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen, and Tesla. A UAW spokesperson said thousands of workers have already signed union cards. Let’s gooooo!
U.S. economic growth swelled to 5.2 percent in the third quarter, faster than initially thought and the quickest in nearly two years.

Enjoy

amelia elizalde on Twitter: ""giddy up jinglehorse pick up your feet" would devastate me"

"This medium has become a gigantic global sewer, and we should continue to wade into it?" - Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo on her decision to quit Elon Musk’s X platform, making an excellent point to be honest!

The Struggle Israel

Almost two months after the conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted, a brief pause in fighting appears set to extend a little longer.

• Monday marked the fourth day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Qatari officials, the United States, and other allies. The terrorist group has released 69 hostages in total, mostly women and children. Hamas released 13 hostages on Friday, 13 on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. Among the 240 hostages taken by Hamas and other groups on October 7, ten were believed to be American.
  
• Israel and Hamas agreed on Monday to extend the temporary pause in the war for two additional days, at President Biden’s urging, to allow for the release of an additional 20 hostages. What happens when the pause eventually expires remains unclear. Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator and current official at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said: “Biden’s in a bind. He’s tethered himself to Israel’s war aims — eradicating Hamas. But in view of the rising humanitarian catastrophe and the exponential rise in Palestinian deaths, he’s looking for ways to de-escalate and eventually for an exit ramp.”
  
• Israel said it would agree to extend the pause in fighting by one day for each 10 additional hostages released. President Biden said in a statement on Monday that the humanitarian pause “has also enabled a significant surge in additional humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians who are suffering across the Gaza strip.” More than 100 Palestinians were released from Israeli captivity in the initial four days of the truce, again, mostly women and children.
  

Pressure to extend the pause is mounting, given the staggering death toll already incurred.

• United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday that seven weeks of fighting in Israel and Gaza has “taken an appalling toll that has shocked the world.” The rate of civilian deaths in Gaza has outpaced those of similar 21st century conflicts. At least 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to the Gaza Health Ministry, although the group has acknowledged that accurate death tolls have become more difficult to obtain due to the decimated communications infrastructure in the enclave.
  
• At least 1,200 Israelis were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack. In just seven weeks, Gaza’s death toll has outstripped the total number of civilian deaths in Iraq for the entire year in 2003. It’s also a larger toll than the nine-month battle to root out ISIS from Mosul in 2016 and 2017. The estimated 6,000 Palestinian children killed since October 7 is greater than the yearly totals for children killed in conflict zones for the past three years, according to the U.N.
  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that any extension of the pause in fighting will be short-lived, and has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is eliminated.

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Join Jon, Jon, Tommy and Dan along with more Crooked talent and staff this week on Thursday, November 30th for the biggest showdown that no one asked for! That’s right, we’re gearing up for another monster Group Thread event, this time covering the baffling-but-unmissable debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis. Your favorite Crooked hosts and staff will be on Discord to provide real time commentary on the action. To get access to this and more events like it, make sure you’re subscribed to Friends of the Pod. Head to https://Crooked.com/friends to learn more.

Under The Radar

A 48-year old man accused of shooting three male college students of Palestinian descent near the University of Vermont campus pleaded not guilty to attempted murder on Monday. He was arrested on Sunday by federal agents and was ordered held without bail. Officials searched his apartment and found a .380-caliber pistol—the same type used in the Saturday night attack. The suspect, Jason Eaton, purchased the weapon legally in April. The victims are Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all 20 years old, and students of Brown University, Haverford College, and Trinity College, respectively. According to legal filings, Awartani was shot in the spine, Ali Ahmad was shot in the chest, and Abdalhamid was shot in the gluteal area. All three remain in intensive care.
A lawyer for the victims’ families said he believes that Eaton targeted the men because they were wearing keffiyehs, a traditional Palestinian garment. Police previously said the three men were visiting the home of one of their relatives for the Thanksgiving holiday when they were confronted by a White man with a gun. The case is being investigated as a possible hate crime, which will be determined by the U.S. attorney’s office. Mayor of Burlington Miro Weinberger said he and President Biden had spoken on Monday morning.

What Else?

The state of Idaho petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday to allow its statewide abortion ban, which penalizes doctors who perform abortions, to take full effect. A district court had previously ruled that the law interfered with a federal Medicare statute.
As disgraced former president Donald Trump continues coasting to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, his former U.N. Secretary Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are knifing each other through the primary.
The Republican National Committee is starting to worry about its finances, because its small-dollar donation program has suffered, and donors have not been cutting those villainous, extra-large checks in recent years the way they used to.
Meanwhile, progressive organizers in Georgia, the state that determined President Biden’s victory in 2020, are also noting a cash crunch and are worried about voter apathy.
Intercepted audio from the front lines in Ukraine suggests that Russian soldiers are increasingly desperate to flee.
Democratic presidential candidate and host of “The Young Turks” Cenk Uygur has reportedly raised more than a quarter of a million dollars since launching his bid in early October, despite the fact that he is not legally eligible to be president as a Turkish-born naturalized citizen. Ultimately, gotta respect the grift!
World’s richest man, Tesla CEO and overall Terrible Guy Elon Musk met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday after endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He later joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a tour of the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7.

Be Smarter

Hundreds of right-wing protesters wearing masks and hoods rampaged through Dublin on Thursday evening, in some of the worst violence and destruction Ireland has seen in decades. The problems began after a knife attack outside of a school in the city center left a woman and three young children injured, with one in critical condition. Within hours, messages spread on social media claiming that the suspect was an immigrant from overseas, despite the fact that police still have not released details of the original suspect or his motives. Protestors set police vehicles ablaze and left a trail of incineration that was still being put out by firefighters on Friday morning. In total, about 500 rioters clashed with more than 400 police officers.
“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology…and engaged in serious violence,” Dublin Police Chief Drew Harris said. Mary Lou MacDonald, the leader of Ireland’s main opposition party Sinn Féin, attributed the riot to a “collapse in policing” that should have been preventable. “...hate-filled mobs have threatened and brought violence to our streets before, she said. Some of the protesters spewed bigoted chants, including some against Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Leo Varadkar, whose father was born in India. Today, about 20 percent of Ireland’s population was born in another country, a major shift from just a few decades ago when the country was predominantly White and Roman Catholic. Anti-immigrant sentiments coupled with cost of living and housing crises have fanned the flames of far-right ideology in Ireland recently, as they have in countless other Western countries. In response to the riot, the Irish government vowed to modernize its laws against hatred “for the social media age,” and to introduce legislation to increase police access to CCTV.

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Light At The End Of The Email

Republican rhetorical attacks on Electric Vehicles may not work in 2024, because swing states and red states are benefiting from tax revenue and employment that comes from President Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Dark Brandon rides again.
Joseph Gentiluomo, the 101-year-old Schenectady, NY man who invented the modern bowling ball, was inducted into the New York Veterans Hall of Fame on Monday. Gentiluomo is a World War II veteran and holds over 30 patents. Congratulations to Mr. Gentiluomo for over a century of making the rest of us look like lazy slobs!

Enjoy

Brandon on Twitter: "Mom, come pick me up, they're describing an age-old aspect of mass culture as a unique modern ill again."

A cavernous room lit predominantly by the ambient glow from a series of screens was the scene for a conference of paramount importance. The room's focal point was an enormous central screen displaying the faces of numerous high-ranking Coalition officials, each of them looking sober and somber, their expressions accentuating the weight of the situation.
​
The Coalition Commander adjusted his uniform slightly, took a deep breath, and initiated the videocall. "Ladies and gentlemen, the recent actions of Dirtywater in Distant Steppe threaten the stability of the entire region. Their audacity and aggression have escalated to a point where our usual diplomatic channels are rendered moot."
​
A female officer on the screen, with sharp features and a crisp voice, jumped in, "Their entrenched stronghold in Distant Steppe serves not only as a base of operations but also as a symbol of their defiance against us. They grow bolder by the day."
​
An older gentleman, with salt-and-pepper hair and a deep, resonant voice, added, "They've sown chaos, exploited our hesitations, and now they're consolidating their gains. If we're to maintain any semblance of control, a decisive move is imperative."
​
The ensuing discussion among the officials was intense, the weight of responsibility heavy in the air. Debates and counter-arguments ensued, but ultimately, the consensus was clear. The Coalition had had enough.
​
A stern-looking official, with a thin mustache, finally declared, "This won't look good with the interational community, but we have no choice. We vote to launch a full-scale assault on the Dirtywater stronghold. The time for half measures has passed."
​
Nods of approval, albeit grave, appeared across the screen.
​
As the videocall came to an end, the Coalition Commander turned to face the vast windows of his office. The enormity of the decision settled in, the lives at stake, the potential for irreversible change.
​
His introspection was interrupted by the door opening, revealing the familiar face of the Smuggler. "Heard the news," the Smuggler began, his voice a mix of curiosity and concern. "Quite a gamble you're taking. Calling in all the governors?"
​
The Coalition Commander, looking at the horizon, replied, "All except the Billionaire. He's got his head up his ass dealing with Devil's Peak still. But in the meantime, we'll need every asset, every resource. Distant Steppe is crucial, not just tactically, but symbolically. It's where we draw the line."
​
The Smuggler raised an eyebrow, "It's going to feel a bit crowded with all those personalities in one place. Governors can be... a handful. I'd know, after all."
​
The Coalition Commander smiled faintly, "Indeed. But right now, I need every hand on deck. Their regional forces might be our fallback if the assault doesn't go as planned."
​
The Smuggler nodded, "Alright, I trust your judgment. I'll ensure my teams are prepped for the influx."
​
The room's ambiance was filled with the weight of impending action and the knowledge that the next steps could shape the very fate of Distant Steppe. The Coalition Commander felt the weight on his shoulders but knew that this was the path they had to take.
​
​
The Smuggler's Governor’s Office in Distant Steppe was typically a quiet, calm place, reserved for behind-the-scenes dealings and covert operations. Now, however, it was bustling with activity. The office had been quickly converted into a makeshift war room, complete with screens showing satellite feeds and tactical maps of the region. The hum of conversation filled the room, a mix of concern, anticipation, and the occasional outburst of laughter – a reminder that even in times of war, the human spirit found moments of levity.
​
One by one, the governors arrived, each with their distinct personalities and entourages. The Civil Servant, always punctual, was the first, followed closely by The Economist, who seemed deeply engrossed in a series of charts. The General, The Banker, The Warlord, The Development Director, and The Tank Commander each arrived in turn, bringing with them their region's forces and an air of determination.
​
The Smuggler, watching them all, remarked sotto voce to the Coalition Commander, "Feels like a reunion of sorts, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
​
The Coalition Commander nodded, "Agreed. But at least they're here. We need them."
​
With everyone gathered, the Coalition Commander took center stage, a large holographic screen behind him displaying a detailed map of Distant Steppe. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice," he began, his voice commanding yet reassuring.
​
He continued, detailing the latest intelligence. "Our ARTEMIS satellites have provided clear imagery of Dirtywater's stronghold in the mountainous regions. Their defenses are formidable, a maze of tunnels, fortifications, and minefields." The screen showed zoomed-in images of the areas he described, highlighting the vast scale of Dirtywater's preparations.
​
"The situation is dire," the Coalition Commander went on, "Dirtywater, realizing the game had changed, has mounted an aggressive offensive. They’ve taken a significant portion of Distant Steppe, including crucial vantage points in the mountains."
​
He paused, allowing the gravity of the situation to sink in, then looked directly at The Tank Commander. "Your expertise will be invaluable. We've arranged for specialized tank treads for terrain adaptability, compatible with your tanks. These mountain passes won't be easy."
​
The Tank Commander nodded in acknowledgment, "My forces will ensure they’re deployed effectively."
​
With a deep breath, the Coalition Commander concluded, "We represent a unified force against Dirtywater. While the Coalition will lead, every single one of you is essential. If we falter, I need you all to be ready to step in."
​
A murmur of agreement went through the room, the weight of the situation palpable. Yet, despite the tension, a bond of trust and unity permeated the air. They were in this together.
​
​
Outside the Governor's Office, the vast plains of Distant Steppe stretched out, dotted with temporary Coalition encampments, military vehicles, and the controlled chaos of preparation. Tents had been erected as makeshift field hospitals and briefing zones. Soldiers from different Coalition nations mingled, exchanged stories, and prepared their gear.
​
The Coalition Commander stepped out into this maelstrom of activity, making his way to a raised platform. The seven battalions that had come under his command stood ready, an impressive display of the Coalition’s might. They represented diverse nationalities and backgrounds but were now united under a single cause.
​
As the Commander ascended the platform, a hush fell upon the troops. Thousands of eyes looked up at him with a mix of anticipation and anxiety. These were seasoned soldiers, many having faced Dirtywater before, yet the formidable stronghold ahead and the reputation of their adversaries weighed on their minds.
​
"Soldiers of the Coalition," the Commander began, his voice echoing across the vast expanse. "Today, we stand at the precipice of a significant challenge. Dirtywater has entrenched itself in this land, wreaking havoc, sowing discord. But today, that ends. Our ultimate target is a large Fortress Dirtywater have commandeered. This Fortress predates even the invasion, and is was built to be well suited to defend against invaders. Local rumor has it that any force that has ever held it has been victorious throughout the years."
​
He paced the stage, his gaze meeting those of his soldiers. "But to get to it, we have to fight all the way through the region. Like trying to kill a snake one bit at a time, starting with the tail. With their losing streak, Dirtywater is not hiding their desire to win. I won’t promise you that this will be easy. In fact, I guarantee it will be anything but. Dirtywater is cornered, and like a wounded animal, it will lash out with all its might. They plan to take as many of us with them as they can."
​
A murmur ran through the assembled troops, but the Commander raised his hand, silencing them. "But remember this – they may have the will to fight, but we have the resolve to win. We’re not just defending Distant Steppe, or our Coalition partners. We are standing up against tyranny, oppression, and terror. Each step we take, every zone we reclaim, is a testament to our commitment to peace and stability."
​
There was a tangible shift in the atmosphere. The weight of responsibility was still there, but now it was tempered with renewed determination.
​
"We move forward, not for glory or recognition, but for our brothers and sisters in arms, for the innocents who suffer, and to ensure that threats like Dirtywater can never threaten our way of life."
​
A deafening cheer erupted from the troops, their spirits lifted. The Commander’s words had galvanized them, forging their diverse backgrounds into a united front.
​
As the cheers died down, the Commander added, “Now, let’s take back what's ours. For the Coalition!”
​
The air was thick with anticipation as the soldiers readied themselves for the impending assault, their resolve unwavering.
​
​
Distant Steppe's landscape was a blend of rugged terrains, open plains, and dense forests, now marred with the scars of battle. As the Coalition forces mobilized, they approached the frontline where National forces held their defensive position against the advancing Dirtywater troops.
​
Amidst the trenches, sandbags, and temporary fortifications, the tired and weathered faces of the National soldiers were evident. They had been holding their positions against repeated Dirtywater assaults, with many having fought day and night with minimal rest.
​
The Captain of the National forces, a stern yet weary-looking woman with streaks of dirt on her face, approached the Coalition Commander as he arrived with his troops. She saluted, her movements precise despite her evident fatigue.
​
"Commander, it's about time you showed up," she said, her voice tinged with relief.
​
The Coalition Commander returned her salute, his eyes scanning the battlefield. "Captain, your forces have done a commendable job holding the line. But now, it's our turn. We'll take it from here."
​
The Captain looked hesitant for a moment, clearly wanting to stay and fight alongside the Coalition, but the exhaustion of her troops was evident. "Understood, Commander. We'll fall back and reinforce the secure zones."
​
“Good. Make sure your medics are on standby. We’ll be needing them,” the Commander added, nodding solemnly.
​
The National forces began their organized retreat, moving past the Coalition soldiers, who were now taking up positions in the trenches. The two groups exchanged nods of mutual respect and understanding. For a brief moment, the cacophony of war subsided, replaced by the shared camaraderie of soldiers.
​
But the lull was short-lived.
​
The Coalition Commander ordered the first battalion to secure the defensive line. "Hold this position at all costs! If it moves, shoot it! If it stops moving, shoot it again!" he commanded, emphasizing the critical nature of their defense.
​
The remaining battalions started their push into the Dirtywater-held zones. The battle began in earnest with the ear-piercing roars of artillery, the rapid-fire of machine guns, and the heart-pounding rhythm of boots on the ground.
​
Dirtywater forces, having become complacent with their initial gains, were momentarily stunned by the sheer size and intensity of the Coalition counteroffensive. But that momentary lapse was quickly replaced by their trademark tenacity and ruthlessness. Battles were fought for every inch of ground, with neither side giving an inch easily.
​
The woods became a maze of guerrilla warfare, with Dirtywater soldiers using the dense vegetation for ambushes. In the open fields, snipers from both sides sought dominance, their shots echoing ominously. The skies were streaked with tracer bullets, while the ground trembled with the impact of grenades and mortars.
​
Hours felt like minutes, and minutes felt like seconds. The intensity of the combat was such that many soldiers lost track of time, focusing only on the enemy in front of them and the comrades beside them.
​
The Coalition's superior equipment and tactics began to show, allowing them to reclaim zones slowly. But every victory was hard-fought and came at a cost. The field hospitals were soon filled with wounded, the medics working tirelessly to save as many lives as possible.
​
But amidst the relentless firefight and the din of battle, an unexpected transmission pierced through, bringing with it a new level of dread.
​
​
High above the chaotic battlefield, nestled among the stars, satellites from the Coalition's "Star Wars" program patrolled Earth's orbit. Operated by a team of elite technicians and overseen by the Satellite Commander, their primary objective was to monitor potential aerial and spaceborne threats to Coalition nations.
​
In the command center, far from the war-torn regions of Distant Steppe, a series of blaring alarms resonated, catching everyone off guard. Multiple screens started flashing a crimson hue, signifying imminent danger.
​
“Commander, we've detected a massive ballistic missile launch!” a technician cried out, panic evident in his voice.
​
The Satellite Commander quickly assessed the data on her screen. "How many are we looking at?"
​
“Several dozen, ma’am. And they’re all inbound to Distant Steppe.”
​
She didn't hesitate. "Activate the laser defense network. We need to intercept as many as possible."
​
Simultaneously, down in Distant Steppe, the Coalition Commander received the dreaded transmission, his communicator crackling with urgency. The voice of the Satellite Commander broke through, “Commander, we have multiple ballistic missiles inbound to your location. We're activating the anti-missile defense systems, but brace for impact. We can't guarantee total interception.”
​
For a brief moment, the world seemed to stand still for the Coalition Commander. Such a threat hadn't been on his radar, and the magnitude of the impending devastation was difficult to fathom. But his experience and training kicked in, and he immediately relayed orders. "All units, fall back and hunker down! Prepare for inbound missiles!"
​
Even amidst the deafening noise of battle, his orders echoed clear, prompting a rush of frantic movement. Soldiers dove for trenches, sought shelter in any structures they could find, and shielded themselves behind any available debris.
​
The skies lit up in a surreal display as the Star Wars satellites unleashed their lasers, each beam a concentrated bolt of energy hurtling towards an incoming missile. From the ground, it looked like a cosmic dance of light, with streaks of brilliant white intersecting the dark trajectories of the missiles. One by one, many of the missiles were intercepted, resulting in distant mid-air explosions that created awe-inspiring fireballs in the sky.
​
But not all missiles could be stopped.
​
Back at Coalition Headquarters, technicians and officials could only watch in horror as their screens displayed the missiles that slipped through the defense, each one bound for Distant Steppe. The atmosphere was tense, with everyone fully aware of the impending devastation.
​
In the heart of the combat zone, the Dirtywater forces, equally unaware of the missile strike, looked up in confusion. The sudden retreat of the Coalition troops was unexpected, and many Dirtywater soldiers openly questioned why they stopped their advance.
​
"Wha-? Hey! Why'd you guys stop? I swear chili night wasn't that bad!"
​
Their questions were soon answered as the first missile struck, illuminating the night in a hellish glow.
​
The earth shook, and the deafening roar of multiple explosions echoed across the landscape. The shockwaves from the explosions radiated outwards, flattening trees, demolishing structures, and throwing soldiers off their feet. The contested zones became apocalyptic wastelands in mere seconds, filled with fire, smoke, and unimaginable destruction.
​
​
As the dust settled, Distant Steppe bore the scars of a warzone that had seen a cataclysmic event. The air was thick with a mix of acrid smoke and the undercurrent of charred earth. The contested zones, once arenas of fierce confrontation, now lay silent and desolate, ravaged by the ballistic missiles' wrath.
​
Coalition forces, who'd been on the verge of reclaiming territory, now navigated the devastation with expressions ranging from shock to grim determination. Medics, distinguished by their red-cross armbands, scurried among the fallen, tending to the wounded and marking locations of those beyond help.
​
The Coalition Commander, his face marked by grime and a fresh gash on his forehead, grimly assessed the situation. Assisting a wounded soldier to a makeshift shelter, he pushed the soldier down just as a residual explosion rocked the vicinity. This act of selflessness, unfortunately, left the Commander open, and he bore the brunt of the blast. The edges of his vision began to blur from the pain and sudden blood loss.
​
Before the world went dark, he managed to bark a few last commands into his radio. "All medics, prioritize moving the injured to secure areas! Those still standing, regroup and prepare for another advance! We hold the line!"
​
Meanwhile, Dirtywater forces also reeled from the sudden attack. Their bravado severely dampened by the unexpected blow. Many of their mercenaries lay scattered amidst the craters, casualties to a foe they hadn't seen coming. Whispers spread among them— who had done this? And why?
​
In one stark tableau, an injured Coalition soldier and a Dirtywater mercenary, both sides of the conflict, found themselves side by side, having sought cover behind the same piece of wreckage. Their eyes met in a fleeting moment of mutual comprehension— adversaries through circumstances, but both victims to the same devastating surprise. They both looked up at the night sky, seeing the stars above for one brief moment before their vision went dark.
​
As the early light of dawn painted over the devastation, it unveiled a poignant image of Distant Steppe— destroyed machinery, soldiers from both sides scattered, and terrain that told tales of bravery, sacrifice, and unexpected turns in warfare.
​
Back at the distant Coalition headquarters, tensions ran high. Officials urgently debated the origins and possible motivations behind the missile assault. Was it an unexpected ally of Dirtywater? A third party with their own intentions? The speculations ran rampant, but concrete answers were elusive.
​
Yet one sentiment echoed unanimously: The stronghold of Dirtywater in Distant Steppe needed to be addressed, and the mystery of the missile attack unveiled. The stakes had never been higher.
​
​
In a makeshift command tent a few kilometers away from the impact zones, senior Coalition officers and lieutenants hastily convened. The tent was filled with the hum of radio chatter, the rustling of maps, and a palpable air of determination.
​
A tall, broad-shouldered major with piercing blue eyes took charge of the gathering. "We need a status update! Satellite imagery, troop positions, everything!"
​
One lieutenant hurried forward, pinning a satellite image onto a central table. The photograph, taken moments after the missile impact, displayed a wide-area view of Distant Steppe. Dark, smoky craters dotted the landscape, interspersed with remnants of buildings, vehicles, and other infrastructure.
​
"We've taken heavy losses in sectors two, four, and seven," she reported, pointing to the areas on the map. "Dirtywater forces are equally decimated in those zones, but they're regrouping quickly in the mountainous terrain."
​
Another officer added, "Our communications are still patchy. We need to re-establish links with the battalions and gauge the full extent of our situation."
​
Just then, the entrance to the tent was hurriedly pulled back, revealing a medic supporting the barely-conscious Coalition Commander, his face etched with pain but his eyes still burning with determination.
​
Helping the Commander onto a makeshift seat, the medic quickly started administering first aid. "He's taken a nasty hit, needs stitches, but he insisted on attending this briefing first."
​
Murmurs of respect ran through the assembled officers, but the Commander silenced them with a gesture. "Status?"
​
The major quickly summarized their current situation, the location of their remaining forces, and their limited intel on Dirtywater's movements.
​
"We have to assume Dirtywater also doesn't know who's behind the missile attacks," the Commander mused. "It gives us a slight edge. They're as in the dark as we are."
​
A communications officer approached, a tablet in hand. "Sir, we've intercepted some Dirtywater comms. They're panicking— confused about the attacks. Some even think we have some superweapon."
​
The Commander allowed a thin smile. "Let them believe that for now. Fear is a weapon too. But we need actionable intel. We need to find out who's behind this third-party attack. Before we make our next move, we must understand the full chessboard."
​
Orders were quickly dispatched. Satellites were retasked to hunt for launch sites. Signal teams were set to intercept and decipher any unknown communication channels. Recon squads were deployed to survey and report on both Dirtywater movements and any unfamiliar entities in the region.
​
As the sun began its descent, casting long shadows over Distant Steppe, both sides of the conflict found themselves facing a new, unknown threat, questioning alliances, motives, and the very ground they stood on. The battle for Distant Steppe had transformed from a two-sided conflict into a multi-dimensional strategic conundrum, and the Coalition had to adapt quickly to these unforeseen developments.
​
​
Amidst the smoky aftermath of the missile strikes, the few remaining Coalition soldiers stumbled to their feet. The eerie silence was disrupted only by occasional groans of wounded soldiers and crackling radio static. Majors and lieutenants barked orders, attempting to regain some semblance of organization amongst the chaos.
​
The Coalition Commander, his wounds now properly bandaged, directed medics to begin moving the wounded to makeshift medical camps set up in secure zones. "Set up triage, prioritize the critically wounded," he ordered. Surveying the remnants of his once formidable force, his heart ached, but his resolve strengthened. "Regroup everyone who can still fight," he continued, "We need to maintain a defensive perimeter. Dirtywater won't wait long before they come to investigate."
​
While the soldiers regrouped, the Smuggler's office became an unofficial war room. The governors, each a leader of their respective region, had congregated there, their faces a mix of concern and determination.
​
The Civil Servant was the first to break the silence. "This is unprecedented. They've never been this bold before. Who could've possibly fired those missiles?"
​
The Warlord added, "Regardless of who did it, our forces are in disarray. We have the manpower and the equipment to step in and lead the counter-offensive."
​
The Smuggler chimed in, "Agreed. With all due respect to the Coalition Commander, he's down, and it's time for us to take the lead."
​
As the room resonated with murmurs of agreement, a sharp chime from the videocall system interrupted them. The face that appeared on screen was not one they expected—a high-ranking Coalition officer, his uniform adorned with a myriad of medals and ribbons.
​
"Gentlemen, ladies," the officer started in a tone that brooked no argument. "Your presence and assistance in Distant Steppe has been invaluable, but this is still a Coalition-led operation. We appreciate your eagerness, but I must ask you to stand down."
​
The Development Director bristled, "Stand down? After what just happened? The Coalition Commander is injured. We're offering our forces and expertise."
​
The Coalition officer paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "The president of the Coalition wishes to address all of you directly. He'll be speaking with you soon... All I ask is that you wait until then."
​
The Economist, trying to maintain diplomacy, responded, "We await his message, but time is of the essence. Every minute we delay, Dirtywater gets stronger."
​
"We understand your concerns," the officer said, "Just hold your positions for now. The president will be with you shortly."
​
With that, the screen went blank, leaving the room in a tense silence. The anticipation was palpable, the weight of uncertainty heavy in the air.
​
The Banker finally voiced what many were thinking, "This changes everything."
​
​
As dusk approached, the horizon of Distant Steppe painted a somber picture. The land, once lush and vibrant, was now scarred with craters and strewn debris from the ballistic onslaught. Here and there, Coalition soldiers emerged from makeshift bunkers and from behind rubble, their uniforms torn and faces covered in soot.
​
In pockets, small groups began forming, weapons checked and supplies redistributed. The process was almost mechanical—soldiers instinctively helping one another, covering each other’s blind spots, ensuring everyone had enough ammunition.
​
Word had spread quickly about the Coalition Commander's condition, and the troops were anxious. The General, having gotten wind of the situation, decided to make his way to the hospital unit to see the Commander himself.
​
Inside the dimly lit tent, rows of beds were filled with wounded soldiers, medics rushing between them, doing their best to tend to the injured. At the far end, the Coalition Commander lay motionless, a myriad of machines and tubes connected to him, monitoring his vital signs. His injuries had turned out worse than he let on.
​
The General approached the bed slowly, his heart heavy. "Commander," he began softly, not sure if the man could even hear him.
​
The Coalition Commander’s eyes flickered open, weakly focusing on the General. "Ah, it's you," he rasped, trying to smile.
​
The General took a moment before replying, "You gave us quite the scare."
​
The Coalition Commander weakly lifted his hand, revealing his signature hat. "Take it," he whispered. "They'll need you now more than ever. Look after them... as I would have."
​
The General, visibly moved, took the hat, nodding solemnly. "Rest easy, old friend. I promise you, they'll be in good hands."
​
Exiting the tent, the General was met by a formation of Coalition soldiers, all standing at attention, saluting him. The second in command stepped forward, "General, sir. The Commander had a contingency in case he was incapacitated... Per his orders, we are to place ourselves under your command."
​
Taking a deep breath, the General put on the Coalition Commander’s hat and addressed the soldiers. "We've faced a setback today, one that tested our resolve and our spirit. We've lost comrades, friends, family. But our mission remains. And as long as we stand united, as one force, Dirtywater doesn't stand a chance. We regroup, we reassess, and then we retaliate. For the Coalition, for Distant Steppe, for the people that don't get to go home, and for each other."
​
A unified shout of agreement erupted from the soldiers, their morale visibly boosted by the General's words. They knew the fight ahead was far from over, but with leadership like this, there was hope yet.

This was first posted as a series of comments but here is the full post.
There is of course 'the long road' to this current conflagration in Israel and the Occupied Territories, going back to 1948 and beyond. But there is also the 'short road', which are the things in the last 8 years, directly tied to domestic American politics, that have fueled the tinderbox and helped set alight this latest disaster. American politics, especially in foreign policy, is in many ways encapsulated by the concept of 'blowback' or unintended consequences. And as more and more vested interests influence and even direct foreign policy, we see more and more blowback on ill-defined policy decisions that haven't been thought through.
And as well will see, trans-national organized crime and shady business interests are increasingly dominating how geopolitics plays out, especially in the Middle East, where the business interests of nations like Saudi, UAE and Qatar are indistinguishable from their countries foreign policy decisions. Those States are in effect gigantic global 'family businesses' that operate more like a mob conglomerate than a nation state. And Israel and the United States dealings with them are increasingly dominated by their own mob conglomerates and shady business interests.
In many ways the current blow up is directly connected to Trump's unbridled support for whatever the Netanyahu Govt did in the Occupied Territories - as payback for Israel's help in getting him elected. It helped create a powderkeg situation in the Occupied Territories. Trump's entire Presidency was defined by "vested interests" and "personal interests" - and that was none more so visible in his close dealings with Netanyahu and Israel. In this NY Times piece:

The moment Trump was elected, it unleashed a far more aggressive, vulgar and manipulative Netanyahu than we had seen before,” he added.>It was the “license” Mr. Netanyahu felt with Mr. Trump, Mr. Shavit suggested, that allowed him to attack the police chief and attorney general, both political allies until they pursued corruption charges against him; to abandon an agreement, enormously important to religiously liberal American Jews, to enhance non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall; and, most recently, to broker an alliance with a racist anti-Arab party, Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, whose ideology has been compared to Nazism.

The entire Russiagate story was also in many ways a misdirection, as the foreign country that probably helped Trump the most in the 2016 election wasn't Russia, it was Israel. The central foreign player in the 2016 campaign was always Israel, it was never Russia. Even Michael Flynn's infamous phone call to the Russians before Trump's inauguration -reported at the time as proof he was in bed with the Russians - was about gaining support for Israel at an upcoming UN vote.
Recognizing the Golan Heights and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital was simply Trump paying Netanyahu back, which is an unusual thing for Trump. But like many of Trump's business relationships, his "friendship" with Netanyahu went sour and fell apart when Trump lost the election - he perhaps thought Israel didn't do enough to help him win. He accused Netanyahu of disloyalty for congratulating Biden when Trump was still disputing the election results.
And in typical Trump fashion, Trump had come to be bitter because he believed that Netanyahu was getting more out of their deal than he was in return. And Trump had concluded that Netanyahu didn’t really want peace with the Palestinians and was using him on Iran - which of course was true.
But the Biden Presidency did nothing to try and reign in Israel and Netanyahu after it's 4 years of Trump feast. Settlements continued expanding, even faster under Biden. 2021 and 2022 were record years for new settlements. And the Biden Administration had become pre-occupied with Ukraine. And a key imperative for the Biden Administration was to shore up global support in an effort to try and isolate Russia. But again, blowback to those efforts likely had consequences. The Biden Admin was desperate to find new sources of gas and oil supplies to offset Russian supply. And Biden's relationship with Saudi Arabia was, at best, tenuous and strained in large part because the Saudis had backed Trump along with Israel. So Biden turned to Qatar and forged a gas supply and security deal in January 2022 - 6 weeks before the Russia invasion. Qatar of course was one of the primary sponsors of Hamas but at no time did the US seek to leverage Qatar's influence with the Palestinian group. Bigger interests were at play.
And the Biden Administration largely embraced and continued the Abraham Accords which was a major Trump,/Kushner initiative - which codified normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on September 15, 2020, and later between Israel and Morocco and Sudan. All of this in the absence of any deal for Palestinians. They were being isolated and forgotten.And while the Abraham Accords were touted as a "peace" initiative, they really weren't. None of the countries involved had actually been in direct conflict with Israel. What they were was a closening of business relationships between Israel and repressive Arab regimes that helped them crack down on any remaining vestiges of dissent in the region - and the Accords would facilitate investment in Israel's defense and cybersecurity industries while helping to minimize voices critical of its role in the region and its ongoing oppression of the Palestinians. And the Biden Administration, perhaps due to their preoccupation with Russia and Ukraine, broadly supported and continued this.
For a very large segment of the American establishment, the stability of these regimes is a key American objective, one that trumps considerations regarding democratic accountability or human rights. That applies to both Arab regimes but also to Israel. The rationale for turning a blind eye to oppression is usually couched in terms of "stabilizing" the region in order to isolate the influence of Russia, China, and Iran. But of course that's also far from the truth as all of these Arab regimes have continued building and deepening ties with Russia, Iran and China. That's the Achilles heel of America. Their competitors have worked out that dirty business is business and Americans will almost always turn a blind eye to repression, occupation etc if there is money to be made.
We can conclude that the absence of ties between the Abraham Accords signatories and Israel was not the cause of instability in the region: authoritarianism, occupation, and international intervention drove those trends. And the increasing global cooperation of trans-national organized crime that has itself become deeply intertwined with State structures, particularly State intelligence services and defence industries. To characterize the Arab-Israeli normalization and the expansion of the Abraham Accords as a way to increase stability or expand American influence is fantastical, at best. They were actually undermining American influence, which we are seeing the results of now.
And the more the Biden Administration blindly supports Israel's oppressive, brutal regime, it's simply undermining America's influence in the region and the world, particularly as the global south looks at the western position as pure hypocrisy and injustice. We are pushing much of the world into the arms of China and the BRIC bloc.
The Arab-Israeli normalization at the regional level has really been about the normalization of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. And the October 7 attack by Hamas was likely, at least in part, motivated by the timing of the planned Saudi-Israel normalization deal. As long as the US Govt supports these moves without conditions, Arab governments and Israel can ignore the need to find a solution to the Palestinian question - because no one actually cares that they are further endangering the Palestinian population. They all know it is held hostage by increasingly violent Israeli settlers backed by an extremist government that operates with almost complete impunity. It's all about dirty business that is increasingly dominated by trans-national organized crime. And the Abraham Accords have facilitated arms sales between the signatory countries, and especially since Israel’s defense industry is such a key driver of its economy.
So yes, it's inexplicable to me that Biden would bend over backwards and offer public unconditional support for the Netanyahu Government to pretty much do whatever they wanted in Gaza, given who are the people behind Netanyahu. So let's look at who the Biden Administration is supporting.
When the US Government and Biden White House unconditionally supports Israel, who is it they are actually backing? Who is behind Netanyahu and where do their interests lie and how might this affect the 2024 election?
The fact is that the ultra right wing Netanyahu government is closely aligned with many trans-national organized crime figures that have direct and close links to Vladimir Putin. And it appears clear that Israeli intelligence, likely under the direction of Netanyahu, were working behind the scenes to help Trump win the 2016 election.
The right wing 24 hrs news channel in Israel, Channel 14 (rebranded **Now 14l)** is the Fox News equivalent. It's acting as Netanyahu's main propaganda outlet in the same way that Fox News was a platform for Trump and the people behind Trump. It goes without saying that the owner of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, had an outsized influence over American politics and over Trump, in large part because of the effectiveness and reach of having a 24 hrs propaganda channel. Murdoch's interests were being served through Fox and Trump.
In the case of Israel's Channel 14) it is owned by a Georgian-Israeli Oligarch Yitzchak Mirilashvili. He, through his family links is thought to be a confident of Vladimir Putin. He was born in St Petersburg and he co-founded the Russian version of Facebook called VK, along with another Russian-Israeli Lev Leviev, who is also very close with Putin. The social network VK was funded by the same Russian VC that financed Twitter and Facebook - Yuri Milner's DST.
Yitzchak Mirilashvili, of Channel 14, is effectively running Netanyahu's propaganda operation. He also owns Israeli Channel 20 which also targets right wing conservative viewers. Mirilashvili was literally found to be financing Netanyahu cabinet members such as Aryeh Deri, who was a key lieutenant in Netanyahu's Security Cabinet. This resulted in a huge criminal corruption investigation.
And let's be clear who Mirilashvili is - he is directly connected to the Russian-Israeli Mafia. His father is Mikhail Mirilashvil one of the richest men in Russia, who owns the largest gambling corporation in St. Petersburg and has an early connection to Putin. Mikhail Mirilashvili is also the president of the Saint Petersburg Jewish Congress and has deep connections to Israel.
His father is known to be greatly feared in St Petersburg. Back in the period when Putin was the chairman of the committee overseeing casinos, Mirilashvili got into the casino business with none other than Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and CEO of the Wagner Group. Back then, casinos, as almost all private enterprises in Russia, paid off or otherwise had ties to organized crime. This is the period when Prigozhin and Putin first had dealings together. Prigozhin made a fortune from the gambling business with Mirilashvili. In 2000, Mirilashvili's elderly father was kidnaped, the kidnappers clearly not knowing who he was. He was safely returned two days later. But two weeks later, the dead bodies of those responsible for the kidnapping, along with their girlfriends and driver, were found dead. Mirilashvili was charged and found guilty of kidnappings and spent 8 years in prison.
Mirilashvili was a central mob figure in St Petersburg, effectively acting as an intermediary with people who wanted to business with the protection and/or help of the mob. He was also a former business partner of 90's Oligarch **Vladimir Gusinsky,** who owned Menatep Bank which was linked to the Russian Mafia money laundering scandal at the Bank of New York. Gusinsky fell out with Putin and went into exile in Israel. In 2013, father and son Mirilashvili sold a 40 percent stake in the Russian social media network VKontakte for $1.12 billion.
Ukraine has sanctioned Mikhael Mirilashvili, accusing him of supporting the Russian invasion.
Many of Russia's wealthiest and more important Oligarchs actually have Israeli citizenship and are known to be helping Netanyahu stay in power, such as **Lev Leviev,** who is thought to be the head of one of the world's largest criminal diamond laundering operations. And one of Netnayahu's confidents is Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger who has advocated transferring the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula. He has been accused with bribery, fraud, and money laundering. He was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to 4 years in prison. Mirilashvili is closely tied up with Rabbi Metzger - he gave the Rabbi $250 thousand for the wedding of the former chief rabbi's son. And of course former President Donald Trump is connected with many of these figures.
It was reported that Trump's US EPA signed a no-bid contract with Water-Gen, which Netanyahu mentioned in his speech at an AIPAC conference - it's a company owned by Russian-Israeli Mikhael Mirilashvili and it aims to create drinkable water out of air. **Alan Dershowitz** is also on the company’s board. One of Mirilashvili's old friends is casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who is also involved in Israeli media/propaganda.
**Israel Hayom i**s another key propaganda platform for Netanyahu, an Israeli national Hebrew-language free daily newspaper, that is owned and financed by Adelson - who is known to be a personal friend and benefactor of Netanyahu. Trump was also reported to have lobbied the Japanese Govt to help Sheldon Adelson - who was of course one of Trump's largest donors - get a coveted new casino license for Japan.
And this entire issue cannot also be discussed without recognizing the role and influence of Christian Zionism within the United States, at all levels of Government. It's estimated that 80% of evangelical Christians believe Israel plays a special role in the second coming of Christ, a key tenet in Christian eschatological belief. Jewish religious extremism in Israel are bed partners with Christian Zionism in the United States. They go hand in hand, which is all the more strange because it certainly appears they have been hijacked by the interests of trans-national organized crime and shady business interests. It's often the way, where religious belief is used a cynical tool for manipulation by powerful interests.
There is no question that the Biden Administration is between a rock and a hard place. One of the most powerful and important finance and influence blocs for the Democrats is the Israel lobby - and seemingly Democrats are in a strange position where they must placate and bend over for the lobby even when Israel's interests, often quite openly, are working against the Democratic Party.
But for any Democrats that are unconditionally supporting Israel, it's important you understand who you are supporting and empowering. The US Government is currently delivering money and arms to the Netanyahu controlled Government of Israel, which helps keep them in power of course. Many are rationalizing that this will be short term, as Netanyahu might be removed from the Government once the war comes to a conclusion. But that is perhaps wishful thinking, as Netanyahu has survived months and months of street demonstrations against him. The Hamas attack on October 7 has largely saved Netanyahu's political career and he may well ensure this war is never ending to keep his place.
Biden recently expressed a view that he supports a two state solution AND he supports the Palestinian Authority taking over Gaza. Netanyahu has firmly rejected both of those options. And nothing on the ground suggests that a two-state solution is even viable with the constant expanding of Israeli settlements.
Netanyahu always viewed the Obama/Biden Administration with tremendous suspicious, due to the Iran deal. In fact he viewed their Iran deal as Israel's biggest existential threat, implying he saw them as threats to Israel. Now that Biden is talking about re-installing the PA in Gaza, which Netanyahu is resolutely against, it is very very likely Netanyahu and his Israeli intelligence colleagues will be working to help ensure Trump is elected in 2024.

There has been an attempt to dilute and obfuscate the meaning of the word "fascism," which—despite expert's arguments over more nuanced details—has both a clear definition and historical context that can be used to frame the word and compare it’s meaning to current events. The Encyclopedia Britannica has a good deal to say on the subject, but I want to highlight a few particular phrases:
"Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from one another, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”), in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation."
Lets break that down:
"...extreme militaristic nationalism," [ie. Proud Boys, The Patriots, etc]
"contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism," [ie. Claiming false elections without evidence, committing actual election fraud, voter suppression by both individuals and lawmakers, and hateful, demonizing rhetoric against liberals that uses words like "communist" and "socialist" as slurs.]
"a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites," [ie. hero worship of the billionaire class, tax breaks for the rich, support of exploitative labor, and a free pass for immoral and illegal behavior by the party members in office.]
"and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”)," [ie. MAGA]
"in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation" [ie. forcing abortion bans, anti-LGBTQ, and laws decided by their false Christian ideals.]
The attacks on the LGBTQ community are right out of the Nazi playbook, although it should also be noted that the Nazis took inspiration for their laws against immigrants and people of color—and ideas on eugenics—directly from the US. We ignore our shameful past to our own detriment, allowing history to repeat itself. The Trump admin had a long list of attacks on civil rights and what the party has planned will allow for much worse.
There are clear reasons to objectively label the current Republican party as fascist in nature, even just based off the similar behavior shown here. There are more reasons to do so, however, that include what laws they have recently passed, their proposals for the future, and even their own words. Believe them when they tell you who they are.
I would first like to point out that the religious aspect is just a tool and completely unassociated with actual Christianity, the leaders of which have denounced them (Open Letter, Removal of Texas Bishop by Pope), as do the very words of the Bible they pretend to follow (1 Cor 5:12, John 18:36, Mark 12:17, Hebrews 13:17, 2 Cor 10:4). False prophets within Christian Nationalism have also been stoking violent rhetoric, pushing election lies and prophesying of times of “blood and death,” and “Shock and Awe” just before Jan6, while also demonizing the opposition with Satanic accusations. Their use of religion is and always has been only an excuse to gain power.
It is important to make clear that fascism is not truly a political party. They take part in the political process only as a means to an end, similar to their use of the judicial system. The goal is to seize power and then make that power absolute so that they must never concede it. Taittinger stated the mindset openly:

“We defend the hierarchy of classes.…Everyone knows that there will always be different social levels, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the governing and the governed.”

By this, of course, he meant that the rich and powerful should have free and unregulated ability to control and exploit everyone else. The ideals of liberalism and socialism is the opposite of this—that the people should work together towards bettering society, towards real progress and the sharing of resources. Thus, it is antithetical to everything the fascist movement seeks to accomplish and must be resisted at all cost. There is no “reaching across the isle” between a democracy that values individual liberties, human rights, and the social good, with that of a fascist movement that values only power over others. They are not just contradictory, they cannot coexist—one is always the destruction of the other. They cannot compromise the same as liberalism and conservatism within a democracy.
Because the goal is to gain ultimate power and the mindset is that the ruling class is inherently superior, any violence and criminal action is justified to achieve that goal; a fascist movement cannot and will not ever concede power or admit that they lost fairly. To do so is to subject themselves to the lawful consequences of their hateful, violent, and illegal actions carried out in an attempt to gain that power. This is crucial to understanding the next point; if Trump or any Nationalist should gain the White House, it will be the last presidential election of the country as we know it. Whatever happens, our country as it stands now will not survive and we will be forced to recreate something anew—or else live under fascist rule (at least for those they allow to live).
We have seen this to be true from their own words and actions. We have seen a systematic attempt to attack education via reduced funding and voucher programs (aka Education Savings Account Program). Voter suppression laws began hitting the books immediately after the failed insurrection of January 6th and have continuously called for raising the voting age to restrict the younger generation from voting against them.
Trump’s language has always been full of inflammatory dog whistles, including racism, intimidating witnesses, and even calling for vigilante retribution against the prosecutor and judge of one of his many court cases. Not only he has been unfazed by comparisons to Nazi rhetoric, he seems to welcome it. Trump telling people, “if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore,” was only the beginning. Calling the January 6th convicted “hostages” sets the stage to violently fight against the lawful consequences of those who listened to him the first time.
As we have seen with the Christian Nationalists currently leading the Republican party, it’s not just Trump—everyone is on board, Trump is just the current captain. Their willingness to excuse every crime and invitation to violence and insurrection, every incident of stolen documents, sexual assault, and misuse of government funds, every lie and disinformation campaign, every foreign donor, lobbyist bribe and conflict of interest, every Nazi flag and white supremacist, all shows how little they care for our country and its citizens. Insurrection 2.0 is coming and they already have plans for if they succeed.

Project 2025

The current efforts by Tuberville, Paul, and Vance to halt military, State Department, and DOJ appointees is to keep those positions open to be filled by extremists if Trump wins the next election. It’s the same playbook they used for the Supreme Court, which has worked out quite well for them. Then they will enact Project 2025, a sweeping revision not just of laws, but the entire structure of our government. They see Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society as detrimental to their vision of the future, two things that helped get this country through extremely difficult economic times—similar to what we’re facing now.
Not only that, but they want to dismantle or defund any and all accountability structures within the government, including the DOJ (which their man Clark argues should not be independent), the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Departments of Education and Commerce. Then they want to give what remains—including control of the FCC to allow disinformation—securely into the hands of the executive. Giving more and more power to the executive branch will weaken or destroy any remaining checks and balances, allowing them to maintain power indefinitely. By building a legal team of “conservative warriors,” they plan to squash any and all legal repercussions against this plan to blatantly establish a fascist system of control. A move that experts agree will involve carefully placing sycophants that will value the Party over the rule of law.
Russell Vought, Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget, tasked with implementing the Project 2025 policy program, has said that we have an “imperial Congress” and are holding “political prisoners” by jailing the January 6th insurrectionists. Vought says the plan is “to be thinking mechanically about how to take these institutions over,” by doing “whatever is necessary to seize control of the administrative state.” The plan is total control.
That control will be driven by their Conservative Governance Training, which aims to correct their longtime inability to actually govern. Something that will be necessary once they fire all of the honest government workers who have up till now refused to participate in their schemes. The term “conservative” is only a buzzword to draw in Republican constituents, the truth is that they are training die-hard party loyalists who will not balk at their abuse of the system (and the people) as they dismantle everything and rebuild it according to their grand fascist vision. The new party is unlikely to resemble anything that actual moderate conservatives value.
Vought claims that cutting social welfare programs like social security, the VA, Medicare and Medicaid are not the primary target, despite the party being vocal about doing just that. Probably because once they have complete control, they will be able to easily enact that agenda, by defunding or dismantling the agencies that handle them. It has only been put on the back burner because it’s so unpopular with even their own base, but that hardly means they’ve given up on the idea. Funding the rich at the cost of the poor has always been the plan.
Politico author Michael Hirsh thinks that little of the Project 2025 agenda is “even remotely likely” to happen, because of the problems it would cause and the inevitable collapse of our government as a result. One does not follow the other, however, just as the Soviet Union’s inability to govern did not stop them from trying and eventually collapsing. With a party that has repeatedly praised the leaders of US adversaries, particularly Vladimir Putin, undermined investigations into Russia’s influence, rejected aid for Ukraine, and held CPAC in Hungary, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that collapse may well be part of the plan.
However it plays out, one thing is certain, if a Heritage Foundation candidate—whether Trump or any other—manages to take the White House, it will be the last presidential election of our country as we know it. Even if we were to somehow remove the fascist regime from power, the process of doing so, coupled with their systematic dismantling of our governmental system, will leave us with little more than a husk. The union will be broken and we will have to recreate ourselves as a nation—if such is possible at all. Our current system is far from perfect; corruption in politics is rampant, with the oligarchy leading the majority of policy, police brutality continues largely unchecked, and we remain on a collision course with total climate collapse.
The way forward, though, does not come through destruction and scorched earth policies. In truth, the collapse and reconstruction of our system is something that would let the rich and powerful simply continue what they’ve been doing—exploit the planet and the poor both, entirely deaf to the consequences. Real change, actual progress, comes through refining the system, enforcing regulation, creating new anti-corruption laws and securing people’s basic human rights. All of which requires getting more progressive candidates in place, not giving up on the system entirely. We need to secure our democracy if we have any hope of securing a future for our children. Anything less will only result in chaos and destruction.

"...Stop going after innocent grandmothers and veterans who walked through the Capitol on January 6th." - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yelling at FBI Director Christopher Wray about the Very Innocent People who participated in January 6!

The Struggle Israel

A dramatic diplomatic breakthrough in the Israel-Hamas war could be in the works, according to The Washington Post.

• Hamas has tentatively agreed to a proposed deal to release at least 50 women and children of the about 240 hostages held in their captivity, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with negotiations. In exchange for the hostages, Israel would have to agree to a three-to-five day pause in fighting, increased humanitarian aid in Gaza, and the release of an unspecified number of women and children currently held in Israeli prisons. U.S. officials and associated parties reportedly spent most of Wednesday waiting for Israel’s response. Senior White House officials have said this week that the government remains engaged in “hour by hour” negotiations for a potential hostage deal with Israel and the government of Qatar, which serves as an intermediary for Hamas.
  
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there would be no halt in fighting until the hostages are released. Previous proposals have fallen apart, including some along similar lines as the reportedly approved by Hamas, according to diplomats familiar with the ongoing talks. The hope for such an agreement is that it would lead to further negotiations about freeing the remainder of the hostages. Hamas has previously indicated that it might keep Israeli military hostages to exchange later for Palestinian fighters held in Israeli prisons.
  
• The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution on Wednesday calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip.” The vote was 12-0 with abstentions from the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia. The final draft of the resolution changed the language for a humanitarian pause from a “demand” to a “call.” The resolution does not call for a ceasefire, nor does it mention the original October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, nor does it cite Israel’s retaliatory ground offensive and airstrikes. The resolution does ask that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children.” Of the over 11,000 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza according to the Gaza Health Ministry, an estimated 40 percent are children.
  

While lawmakers in Washington have largely remained united in support of the Israeli government, that sentiment diverges significantly from American public opinion.

• According to a new Reuters poll, some 68 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement that “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.” Only 32 percent agreed that the United States should support Israel, a nine-point drop in one month. About 75 percent of Democrats, and half of all Republicans in the poll supported the idea of a ceasefire, which both the Israeli government and the Biden administration have repeatedly rebuffed. Only 31 percent of Americans said they support sending Israel more weapons.
  
• Members of Congress who have criticized the Israeli government’s tactics and called for a ceasefire now find themselves in political crosshairs. The pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), was already the largest single-issue donor group in Democratic primaries, spending nearly $30 million in the 2022 midterm elections largely to knock progressives out of their primaries. That same election cycle, the group endorsed 109 January 6 insurrectionists running for Congress. In 2024, Slate reports that AIPAC is expected to spend at least $100 million trying to primary progressives, with members of “The Squad” like Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as top targets. AIPAC has already begun running incendiary ads in the districts of those members according to the Associated Press, Jewish Insider, and the Intercept.
  

**The conflict is far from over, but small cracks of hope in diplomatic talks are slowly emerging.

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

The Lovett or Leave It Errors Tour has one last swing! It’s not a physical, Cirque du Soleil swing, like Lovett requested, but we’re still gonna close this tour out strong. The final tour shows of the year are in Phoenix and Boulder, on November 30th and December 2nd. Guests include Joey Jay, Jaynie Parrish, David Gborie, CO Governor Jared Polis, and Congresswoman Caraveo. Get your tickets at https://crooked.com/events now!

Under The Radar

As anti-abortion organizations and candidates continue losing across the country in the year-and-a-half since the Dobbs decision overturned the federal right to abortion, the GOP has watched in panic as its plan to empower states to limit abortion has gone horribly awry. Now some anti-abortion die-hards are strategizing to sidestep the ballot box and push through a national abortion ban by any means necessary. A Republican president may be able to effectively ban most abortions using an obscure 19th century federal law. The Comstock Act of 1873 banned sending “obscene” material like pornography, abortion drugs, and contraception via the mail. The abortion provision remained, but was ignored in the half-century Roe vs. Wade was the law of the land.
The Heritage Foundation has proposed detailed policies for the next would-be GOP administration, one of which is enforcement of “federal law against providers and distributors of [abortion] pills.” Medication abortion is currently the most common method of abortion in the United States. The Biden administration’s Justice Department forcefully disagrees with this interpretation, and in a memo issued last year argued that the law does not prohibit mailing abortion medication when the sender expects it to be used lawfully. Because abortion has been such a lethal political liability for Republicans in the past few election cycles, it is unlikely any GOP candidate would openly embrace the Heritage Foundation’s proposal ahead of the 2024 presidential election, regardless of whether they would try to enact it in the future.

What Else?

Defying the plans agreed upon by Democratic National Committee (and co-signed by President Biden) to give South Carolina the first slot of the 2024 primary calendar, New Hampshire announced on Wednesday that it would hold its presidential primary on January 23.
Speaking of New Hampshire, Trump’s former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is surging in the polls (meaning she is up to 18 percent in the Granite State as opposed to Trump’s 49 percent).
The Israel Defense Forces said they found a command center and weapons belonging to Hamas in Gaza’s largest hospital on Wednesday.
Meta platforms will allow political ads on Facebook and Instagram to claim the 2020 election was rigged, overturning several restrictions the company has made on its platforms related to campaign advertising. Many thanks once again to all of the do-gooders in Silicon Valley!
Chicago’s civilian police oversight agency implemented a new policy banning Chicago Police officers from joining and participating in hate and extremist groups. So cool that we needed an official policy for that!
New GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he thinks that pesky old separation of church and state is just a big misunderstanding! He called it a “misnomer” because in his view, the idea is to protect religion from the government—not the other way around. Cool! Excited to see what horrors he wreaks upon our nation!
GOP Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) accused the FBI of using “ghost buses” to ferry federal informants to the Capitol on Jan. 6. The term sounds spooky and cool, but it just means… unmarked buses. The “ghost bus” imbroglio is the latest version of the sweeping conspiracy theory that somehow Trump’s people weren’t really responsible for the Capitol riot. (Rep. Higgins actually said: “These buses are nefarious in nature!”)
The government of Nepal banned social media app TikTok on Monday, saying it was disrupting domestic “social harmony.”
In an interview with NBC News, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he would “absolutely” consider a presidential run. We would absolutely be excited to not vote for him.

Be Smarter

President Joe Biden met with China’s President Xi Jinping for the first time in a year on Wednesday, at a country estate 30 miles south of San Francisco. Relations between the two countries are widely seen at a four-decade low—and there’s a lot to talk about. Biden is expected to press Xi to crack down on Chinese companies making fentanyl components. Xi reportedly wants a smooth summit to reassure those back home worried about China’s slowing economy. They’re likely to announce a forum for discussing how to keep artificial intelligence programs away from nuclear command and control (which, now that you mention it, does sound like a good idea). Then there’s Ukraine, Gaza and Taiwan—the first two convulsed by violence, and the third a possible future flashpoint. Much of the talks are going down behind closed doors. But there may be ways to read the tea leaves later.

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The best-selling car in the United States, the Toyota Camry, will become all-hybrid-only in 2025.
Muscogee Nation sued the city of Tulsa, OK on Wednesday over its refusal to stop prosecuting tribal citizens for traffic offenses. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in June that Tulsa does not have criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans because the city lies mostly within the Muscogee reservation, where only federal and tribal courts can try cases involving Native defendants.

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🍂🦃 Turkeith Nagy 🦃🍂 on Twitter: "Best headline I’ve seen of yesterday"

"These kids did nothing wrong." - Trump lawyer Alina Habba talking about Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump: ages 45, 42, and 39, respectively.

Pay It Please The Court

In terrible news for Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court issued an ethics code for the nine justices on Monday, after one too many reports of undisclosed gifts and ultra-luxurious fishing trips.

• The move comes after ProPublica spent most of the summer detailing the many ways Conservative billionaires like Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo have purchased the favor of some particularly-unethical Supreme Court Justices, namely Clarence Thomas. Chief Justice John Roberts and his eight colleagues signed a statement asserting that the absence of such a code “has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in the country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.” The joint statement implied that this new code of conduct was for the benefit of the public, not necessarily the Justices themselves.
  
• The code is broadly-worded and in some places downright vague. It includes sections on the justices’ interpersonal relationships, and restricting participation in cases that could financially benefit themselves or family members. It reiterates limits on participating in fundraising activities for special interest groups and accepting gifts. Justices will continue to make their own decisions about recusals and speaking engagements, a surprising continuity considering the fact that this “honor system” has been the source of so much controversy already.
  
• Crucially, there is no enforcement mechanism for compliance violations, and the new code largely leaves such determinations to the Court itself. One of the lead sponsors of ethics legislation for the Court, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), called the document important, but insufficient. “This is a long-overdue step by the justices, but a code of ethics is not binding unless there is a mechanism to investigate possible violations and enforce the rules…The honor system has not worked for members of the Roberts Court.”
  

Without a system in place to provide accountability—coupled with the fact that the Court will remain the central arbiter of its own ethics practices—the “new code” looks like little more than lip service to stave off pressure the Court has been under for increased transparency. Until the highest court in the United States is subject to the same ethics standards as any member of Congress or other lower-level judge, they can keep this recycled pinky-promise in the attic next to the rest of Harlan Crow’s gifts.

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Join Jon, Jon, Tommy and Dan along with more Crooked talent and staff on Thursday, November 30th for the biggest showdown that no one asked for! That’s right, we’re gearing up for another monster Group Thread event, this time covering the baffling-but-unmissable debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis. Your favorite Crooked hosts and staff will be on Discord to provide real time commentary on the action. To get access to this and more events like it, make sure you’re subscribed to Friends of the Pod. Head to https://Crooked.com/friends to learn more.

Under The Radar

Conditions in Gaza continued to worsen throughout the weekend, as Israeli airstrikes and dwindling stores of essential supplies left the already-threadbare medical system in the enclave in dire straits. Israeli forces advanced to the gates of the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, where Israel claims its forces are targeting Hamas fighters, but doctors warn of a humanitarian catastrophe. Inside Al-Shifa—Gaza’s largest hospital—patients are dying and corpses are decomposing without electricity or fuel, according to medical staff and health officials who spoke to The New York Times. Doctors are scrambling to keep premature babies warm now that incubators have been rendered useless. Three newborn babies have died, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights said on Monday that the Israeli government’s decision to cut power in Gaza has led to at least 12 deaths.
The head of the World Health Organization warned on Sunday that Al-Shifa is “not functioning as a hospital anymore” and is struggling to provide basic care to patients after three days “without electricity, without water, and with very poor internet.” Israeli officials claim that Hamas has built a large underground command complex under the hospital. Hamas has called the claim “propaganda.” Israeli forces have also moved in near the Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children, Al-Nasr Hospital, and Al-Quds Hospital. President Biden said on Monday that hospitals in Gaza “must be protected.”
UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said on Monday that a residential U.N. compound in Southern Gaza was hit by three direct strikes from Israeli naval forces on Sunday morning, causing extensive damage. Israel’s military told the Times that it “carried out a strike based on operational requirements, adjacent to a U.N. building,” without providing additional details. UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said, “The disregard for the protection of civilian infrastructure including U.N. facilities, hospitals, schools, shelters and places of worship is testament to the level of horror that civilians in Gaza are living every day.” UNRWA also reported that the fuel depot in Gaza has run dry and that within a few days the agency will no longer be able to resupply hospitals, renew sewage, or provide drinking water. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he envisions “overall military responsibility” in Gaza to be handled by Israel after the war, and sees no role for the Palestinian Authority in its current form. This puts him at odds with the Biden administration, which has said Israel must not reimpose its occupation of Gaza, which ended in 2005, and that Gaza must be governed by the Palestinian Authority.

What Else?

Because of Republican incompetence and nihilism we once again find ourselves staring down the barrel of a possible government shutdown. This could have major adverse consequences for millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving—the busiest domestic travel time of the year—and could force air traffic controllers and TSA employees to work without pay(!).
Secret Service agents assigned to President Biden’s granddaughter Naomi opened fire on Sunday night near her home after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is uncertain if he will run for his seat again after a year of unceasing personal and professional humiliation! (C’mon! Two more years, Kev!)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has brought back former Prime Minister David Cameron to serve as foreign minister on Monday after he sacked interior minister Suella Braverman over her inflammatory criticism of British police and their handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
The man who became infamous as the “Q-Anon Shaman” on January 6, Jacob Chansley, is—you guessed it—running for Congress in Arizona next year. We’re sure he will be GOP Speaker by 2026.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spuriously accused the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), of having “alleged ties to Hamas,” and “calling for genocide against the Jewish people.” Accusing another member of Congress of being a terrorist based only on her ethnicity sure does seem like the kind of thing that should actually result in a censure!
Protestors clashed with police over Atlanta’s controversial “Cop City” project. More than 400 people marched against the $90 million law enforcement training center, and were met with flash-bang grenades and tear gas. What better way to reassure everyone this big new police compound is here to serve and protect?

Be Smarter

Donald Trump Jr. took the stand again in his father’s (disgraced former president Donald Trump’s) grueling $250 billion fraud lawsuit in New York City on Monday. The ex-President’s dumbest eldest son spent much of the day praising his dad. “He’s an artist with real estate,” Jr. said, referring to one property as “a canvas.” Presiding judge Arthur Engoron dismissed this performance as “a whole morning of irrelevance.” But in spite of himself, Jr. did make an important point, when he said the future of the Trump Organization will largely depend “on what happens next November.” Trump is banking his freedom from criminal jeopardy on his return to the White House. And, Jr. seems to be saying, Don Sr. may hope to save his business empire that way, too. In yet another way, Trump’s campaign has become his legal strategy, and his legal strategy has become his campaign.

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When Sen. Kirsten Sinema (I-AZ) left the Democratic Party in a blaze of dark money glory, so too did her Democratic donors, but she hasn’t picked up that much GOP or Independent support to make up for it, either.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) suspended his presidential campaign on Sunday, surprising even his staff, and probably his Very Real Girlfriend, too (aka, the only remotely thought-provoking issue raised by his doomed campaign).

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✨ Mikey ✨ on Twitter: "bro what if your swole biceps wrapped me in a warm and tender embrace haha"

The consumption of ultra-processed food was directly linked to increased psychological distress in subsequent follow-up visits. This association was solely observed in individuals who consumed a significant amount of ultra-processed food, specifically those in the highest quartile.
More research is needed to identify the negative aspects of ultra-processed food and develop effective nutrition and public health approaches to improve mental health. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230517/Feasting-on-ultra-processed-foods-New-study-links-diet-to-surging-depression-rates.aspx
For instance, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) for 2023 prohibited the use of LLMs in submitted drafts. However, no tools are available to verify compliance with this rule.
Many scientific journals have updated author’s guidelines; for example, Springer Nature journals added that LLMs cannot be listed as authors and its use must be mentioned in methods or acknowledgments sections. These updated guidelines have also been implemented by Elsevier. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230517/ChatGPT-raises-concerns-of-AI-driven-infodemic-in-public-health.aspx
On April 16, students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University launched a small rocket to a maximum altitude of 47,732 feet (14,548 meters) — about 1.6 times higher than Everest, which stands 29,032 feet (8,849 m) tall. The feat also more than doubled the previous record set by U.S. undergraduate and collegiate amateurs, which was 22,000 feet (6,706 m).
"I fell to my knees, sobbing, from witnessing such an incredible feat," student Dalton Songer said in a May 11 statement (opens in new tab), evoking the 4,000 hours of work that went into the construction, testing and launch. https://www.space.com/record-breaking-amateur-rocket-flight-higher-mount-everest
If you have a Gmail account that that hasn't been used in a while, you might want to recover those login details.
Google says it will erase unused personal accounts that haven't logged into for two years or longer.
Here's whether your Google account could be affected and what that means for your emails, photos and documents. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-18/google-delete-old-unused-gmail-docs-how-to-keep-account-active/102360866
But while Lynch may be in the spotlight today, she and her alleged behaviors are, unfortunately, closer to business as usual in restaurant kitchens, where a culture of violence has been normalized.
Numerous articles and chef memoirs dating as far back as the late 1800s have detailed everyday forms of abuse in restaurants. For example, pioneering French restaurateur Auguste Escoffier wrote in his memoir that his first chef “believed that it was impossible to govern a kitchen ‘sans une pluie de gifles’”—without a shower of slaps. https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2023/05/17/abuse-baked-into-restaurant-industry/
report that gut microbiota contributes to intestinal T-cell homeostasis by producing pentanoate, a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) that promotes the uptake of intracellular iron required for the differentiation of regulatory T-cells. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230517/How-the-gut-microbiome-supports-iron-uptake-by-intestinal-regulatory-T-cells.aspx
One of the world's largest fundamentalist Christian education groups is teaching its students climate change denial as fact, and still presents the theory of evolution as an "absurd and discredited" conspiracy theory, finds a report by University College London (UCL) researchers.
Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) is one of the world's biggest providers of creationist science materials, consisting of reading programs and a core curriculum, for thousands of affiliated schools worldwide, including dozens across the UK and Europe.
There are currently 11 schools in England and Northern Ireland officially affiliated with ACE, although experts expect there to be many more as the schools are notoriously isolationist, conservative and don't advertise themselves widely. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-christian-textbooks-uk-schools-deny.html
Consequently, cells may lack the ability to further boost autophagy to defend against other dangers, such as smoke inhalation or a viral or bacterial infection. This may help explain why air pollution increases a person's risk for a number of acute and chronic lung diseases, including lung cancer, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
As part of the research, Crandall and his team also developed a new method of studying autophagy, which can support future studies on the subject. They used a combination of fluorescent dyes and a powerful imaging method, known as confocal microscopy, to document the amount of autophagy taking place inside individual cells.
"What's special is that we can now measure the autophagic activity of single living cells in real time. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-air-pollution-particles-trigger-cellular.html
10 pesticides toxic to neurons involved in Parkinson's With thousands of pesticides in use, the researchers' new screening approach could make it easier to determine which ones are linked to the disease https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230518120851.htm
An electric vehicle battery for all seasons New electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries performs well in frigid regions and seasons https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230518120853.htm
New research sheds light on the link between human-caused climate change and El Niño and La Niña events. https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2023/May/Climate-Change-affecting-El-Nino
Food preservative nisin: A gut game changer that safely alters microbiome composition https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230518/Food-preservative-nisin-A-gut-game-changer-that-safely-alters-microbiome-composition.aspx
Low-cost, recyclable powder uses sunlight to kill thousands of waterborne bacteria https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230518/Low-cost-recyclable-powder-uses-sunlight-to-kill-thousands-of-waterborne-bacteria.aspx
5 TikTok Creators Sue Montana Over Statewide App Ban https://www.ntd.com/5-tiktok-creators-sue-montana-over-statewide-app-ban_920479.html
Study hints at potential risk between unhealthy low-fat diets and postmenopausal breast cancer https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230519/Study-hints-at-potential-risk-between-unhealthy-low-fat-diets-and-postmenopausal-breast-cancer.aspx
Evonetix, which was ‘highly commended’ in the Technology Company of the Year category at the 2023 Cambridge Independent Science & Technology Awards held yesterday evening, has delivered the first chip-synthesised DNA produced on its desktop platform to the University of Cambridge.
Created at Cambridge Consultants in 2015, the synthetic biology company has been developing a desktop platform for scalable, high-fidelity and rapid gene synthesis. https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/business/stunning-evonetix-s-first-chip-synthesised-dna-created-for-9313399/
More than half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs are losing water — and climate change and human consumption are the main drivers, a new large-scale study warns.
Why it matters: About one-quarter of the world's population, or 2 billion people, lives in the basin of a drying lake — underscoring an urgent need to incorporate climate change and sedimentation impacts into sustainable water resources management, per the study, published in the journal Science https://www.axios.com/2023/05/19/study-lake-water-levels-drop
If you fear waking up one day and finding out that you’ve been cancelled by the people of the internet, here are three steps of emergency self-care that can help you handle the situation maturely. https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2023/05/18/what-to-do-when-the-internet-cancels-you-3-self-care-tips-from-a-psychologist/?sh=7e4cdfb3e7bc
What Is The Heaviest Element In The Universe?Uranium, plutonium, oganesson, one yet-to-be-discovered, or something completely different? https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-the-heaviest-element-in-the-universe-69017
"Some people have reported eating them, while others have reported gastrointestinal symptoms after eating them. So it's hard to be definitive," she said.
Ms Pouliot has co-authored a guide for foragers called Wild Mushrooming.
According to Atlas of Living Australia, Phlebopus marginatus are typically found in forests of south-eastern and south-western Australia.
One specimen found in Victoria reportedly weighed 29 kilograms. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-20/giant-mushrooms-limestone-coast-boletes-fungi/102355772
Using an ice-rink-sized outdoor testing arena in Zambia, researchers found that human body odor is critical for mosquito host-seeking behavior over long distances. The team also identified specific airborne body-odor components that might explain why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. The work appears May 19 in the journal Current Biology. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230519/Human-body-odor-critical-for-mosquito-host-seeking-behavior-over-long-distances-study-finds.aspx
Around 2003, the trees in Perth's Kings Park started to decline — their leaves yellowed and began to drop.
Key points:It took scientists decades to figure out what was going wrong and how to fix itThe cause was found to be in the iron-rich bore water Now the solution could help revive trees around the world https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-20/chlorotic-decline-syndrome-kings-park-trees/102359094
A federal court ruling this week has further cleared the way for the first major U.S. wind project to move forward. Photo: Michael Dwyer (AP)
Renewable energy scored a big win this week in Massachusetts. A federal judge in the state’s district court rejected a lawsuit brought by an alleged group of Nantucket residents, which sought to stop the first major U.S. offshore wind project from moving forward. https://gizmodo.com/judge-rejects-nimby-bid-to-shut-down-offshore-wind-in-n-1850456280
Several California Bills Die, Including New AI Regulations
This week, dozens of bills were quietly killed for the year. Among those that won’t become law this term was a proposal to reduce the potential for AI-based discrimination in areas like health care, housing and employment. https://www.govtech.com/policy/several-california-bills-die-including-new-ai-regulations
FDA Approves First Pill to Treat Moderate-to-Severe Crohn's Disease https://consumer.healthday.com/crohn-s-disease-2660293570.html
Palaeontologists have discovered two new species of dinosaur, with one set of fossil fragments coming from a creature thought to be one of the largest to ever exist.
Uncovered in Argentina’s southern Patagonia region, the gigantic species of long-necked herbivorous dinosaur would have weighed 50 tonnes and measured 30 metres in length – roughly equivalent to that of a blue whale.
Its bones were so big that they caused a van carrying them to a laboratory to tip over, with scientists naming the dinosaur ‘Chucarosaurus Diripienda’, meaning scrambled, after its remains were rolled around during the car accident. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dinosaurs-new-species-discovery-palaeontology-b2342085.html
analysed health data from over 92,000 people with a history of shiftwork (work that takes place outside the hours of 7am – 6pm on a fixed or rotating basis). It found that both men and women have a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome when working shifts – but that the risk is significantly higher for male shift workers than for women doing the same job. Female shift workers were also found to sleep better than their male counterparts. https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/women-body-clock-shift-work/
You can catch a glimpse of Burning Mountain if you visit the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, less than a four-hour drive from Sydney. Make sure you don’t light a cigarette here, though – the nature reserve’s website makes it very clear that this is a no-smoking area. https://www.iflscience.com/the-worlds-oldest-fire-has-been-burning-for-6000-years-69009
Vaccines and mosquito modification could help reduce dengue. Meanwhile, “there is new reason for hope” because of better surveillance systems and physician education that has already reduced dengue deaths, researchers write.
One day, combining techniques may reduce dengue even further. For now, dengue continues to put people in U.S. territories at risk. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/05/21/dengue-puerto-rico-territories/
Research carried out in conjunction with INTU, a manufacturer of boiling water taps, found there are minerals in hard water which inhibit flavour compounds forming.
But proteins in the milk lower the mineral content of the water, Professor Mackie says, and gives a brew extra flavour, especially when the water is hard.
'Flavour by and large is produced by the different compounds in tea including tannins in particular,' Professor Mackie says.
'The more minerals present in water the more difficult it is for these compounds to develop the flavour - resulting in the dull cuppas you get in hard water areas. . Edited.. drinking green tea for health utilizes a different method as in no protein anywhere near ...that includes your meal (meats..) when you drink tea, also they recommend drinking it first thing in the morning approximately half an hour before breakfast It's somewhere in here just don't have time to provide the link. K.O. .
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12094091/Scientists-reveal-make-perfect-cup-tea-agree-method.html
A Popular Sweetener Had A Worrying Impact on Generations Of Mice
Could the sweetened drinks we knock back make us feel a little more anxious? A 2022 study that looked at the effects of the artificial sweetener aspartame on mice suggested that it's a possibility that's worth investigating further.
Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1981, aspartame is widely used in low-calorie foods and drinks. Today, it's found in nearly 5,000 different products, consumed by adults and children. https://www.sciencealert.com/a-popular-sweetener-had-a-worrying-impact-on-generations-of-mice
A study led by researchers from Stanford University in the US has revealed cellular effects of the Mediterranean diet for the first time, based on how one of its healthy fats influenced lifespan in nematodes, also known as roundworms.
Finding this link is a big deal, the study's authors say, offering new insights on the health effects of various fats and the role diet plays in longevity. https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-reveals-how-the-mediterranean-diet-works-at-the-cellular-level
I am trained as a quantum engineer. Research in quantum mechanics is usually geared toward technology. However, and somewhat surprisingly, there is increasing evidence that nature – an engineer with billions of years of practice — has learned how to use quantum mechanics to function optimally. If this is indeed true, it means that our understanding of biology is radically incomplete. It also means that we could possibly control physiological processes by using the quantum properties of biological matter. https://www.inverse.com/health/quantum-physics-explain-mysteries-how-life-work
Fortunately, once I learned that it’s actually beneficial to do things you suck at, the only thing left behind was the sense of shame I’d attached to my perceived fitness failures. For present-day me, engaging in workouts that are just beyond my skill level now acts as a paradoxical stress-buster, toning my distress-tolerance muscle in tandem with my skeletal muscles.
Hear me out: If you find it distressing and humiliating to do workouts that conflict with your natural skill set, chances are those feelings come up in other areas of your life too, causing you to miss out https://slate.com/technology/2023/05/workout-avoidance-mental-challenge-fitness-routines.html
The Laws That Took Down Mobsters Are Being Turned Against Big Oil. Cities in New Jersey and Puerto Rico say oil companies are behind a conspiracy to deceive the public. https://gizmodo.com/the-laws-that-took-down-mobsters-are-being-turned-again-1850458097
The uniqueness here is due to the way that the comb jellies nervous system is built up. Instead of using gaps between synapses for communication, the comb jellies have a more fused nervous system.
It’s an intriguing discovery that completely changes how scientists look at the nervous systems found in animals, because we’ve never seen anything like this. Not only does it prove even more just how different animals can be at times, but it also shows that there are other ways for neurons to connect to each other. https://bgr.com/science/comb-jellies-look-like-bizarre-aliens-and-scientists-made-a-weird-new-discovery-about-them/
Beneath 1,350 square miles of dense jungle in northern Guatemala, scientists have discovered 417 cities that date back to circa 1,000 B.C. and that are connected by nearly 110 miles of “superhighways” — a network of what researchers called “the first freeway system in the world.”
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Scientist say this extensive road-and-city network, along with sophisticated ceremonial complexes, hydraulic systems and agricultural infrastructure, suggests that the ancient Maya civilization, which stretched through what is now Central America, was far more advanced than previously thought. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/05/20/mayan-civilization-pyramid-discoveries-guatemala/
The stakes are high, with screenwriters fighting for assurances that they won't be replaced with generative AIs churning out uninspired scripts.
Studios, however, have yet to cave to the Writers Guild of America's AI-related demands. But now, as Variety reports, several high-profile actors are throwing their weight behind the writers. https://futurism.com/the-byte/sean-penn-writers-ai-human-obscenity
Researchers revealed in a new study that mosquitoes are attracted to human body odour due to some of the acids which are found in cheese, milk, cream, and yoghurt.
The study — published in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and the School of Medicine collaborated with the Macha Research Trust in Zambia — looked at which human odours are more appealing to mosquitoes. https://www.geo.tv/latest/488436-which-body-odours-are-mosquitoes-most-attracted-to
New evidence for the presence of ancient lakes in some of the most arid regions of South Africa suggests that Stone Age humans may have been more widespread across the continent than previously thought.
Research jointly led by the University of Leicester argues that more archaeological work in the interior regions of South Africa -- a country renowned for its globally-significant archaeological record -- may reveal more about our ancient ancestors and their movements. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230519104542.htm
Recently discovered protein domain regulates collagen transport https://phys.org/news/2023-05-protein-domain-collagen.html
In a popular BuzzFeed article, Anne Helen Petersen describes how millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) became “the burnout generation”. She describes some of the stark consequences of edging towards burnout and identifies what she calls “errand paralysis”, marked by a struggle to do even simple or mundane tasks.
Many of the factors contributing to this burnout are rooted in the challenging job and economic conditions that millennials face, according to Petersen. She also describes “intensive parenting” as a contributing factor, because millennials have been relentlessly trained and prepared for the workplace by their parents. They have internalised the idea that they need to be working all the time or engaging in the never-ending pursuit of self-optimisation. https://theconversation.com/millennial-burnout-building-resilience-is-no-answer-we-need-to-overhaul-how-we-work-109759
Organisations that prioritise circumstances that encourage creativity – through a positive work environment and good manager-employee relationships, for example – have higher levels of productivity, competitiveness and overall performance through fostered innovation, problem-solving and adaptability.
In order for employees to be creative and innovative, they need to be able to have time to engage in different tasks. Through their so-called Fedex days, Atlassian, an Australian software company, did just that: employees were able to do whatever they wanted for a day. https://theconversation.com/rust-out-why-boredom-at-work-can-be-harmful-and-what-employers-can-do-about-it-205855
CARAUARI, Brazil (AP) — In a remote corner of the Amazon, Brazilian ecologists are trying to succeed where a lack of governance has proved disastrous. They’re managing a stretch of land in a way that welcomes both local people and scientists to engage in preserving the world’s largest tropical forest.
The goal is ambitious, counter the forces that have destroyed 10% of the forest in less than four decades and create something that can be replicated in other parts of the Amazon. https://apnews.com/article/brazil-amazon-jurua-sustainable-environment-pirarucu-50b4ae67212ebcf30f50ffc422c90b1a
Whether we realize it or not, advancements in artificial intelligence are increasingly influencing the paths of our careers.
Advancements in human capital management systems, more strategic and data-driven human resource and talent management practices, and increased attention to bias are all factors that are changing how people are hired, developed, promoted and fired.
I teach and work in talent management and leadership development. I’ve used these programs and practices in the real world and continue to learn and research how these practices are changing. Artificial intelligence and systems are already big business, grossing over US$38 billion in 2021. https://theconversation.com/ai-is-changing-how-americans-find-jobs-get-promoted-and-succeed-at-work-203318
What is a black box? A computer scientist explains what it means when the inner workings of AIs are hidden https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-black-box-a-computer-scientist-explains-what-it-means-when-the-inner-workings-of-ais-are-hidden-203888
Zebrafish share 70% of their genes with humans, while 84% of genes connected to human diseases have an equivalent among zebrafish. Aging among zebrafish is similar to that of humans, and is connected to age-related diseases such as arthritis, cachexia, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer. Credit: Oregon State University/Wikicommons
Is it possible to extend lifespan by simply slowing the aging of an organ, such as the intestine? CNRS researchers have discovered how to extend the life expectancy of zebrafish by reactivating a gene within intestinal cells. The results were published in the journal Nature Aging on May 4, 2023.
The intestine plays a crucial role in an anti-aging approach as well as general health. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-aging-intestine-fish-entire-scientists.html
Mammal evolution has been flipped on its head, according to new research that suggests marsupials are the more evolved mammals. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-marsupials-evolved-mammals.html
Gadgets such as Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to detect health issues such as dementia.
Experts believe the Amazon devices and AI programs could spot problems by hearing a person speak a single sentence. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/news/alexa-ai-programs-able-detect-30060090
Deadly "brain-eating" amoeba infections usually strike people in southern U.S. states, but thanks to climate change, the brain-invading organism has expanded its range northward. In light of this trend, the Ohio Public Health Association recently published a case report to raise awareness of the disease among health care providers in the state. https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/brain-eating-amoebas-are-a-new-concern-in-northern-us-states-health-officials-advise
Archaeologists discover cave paintings using drones https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/05/archaeologists-discover-cave-paintings-using-drones/147412
A robotic bee that can fly fully in all directions has been developed. With four wings made out of carbon fiber and mylar as well as four light-weight actuators to control each wing, the Bee++ prototype is the first to fly stably in all directions. That includes the tricky twisting motion known as yaw, with the Bee++ fully achieving the six degrees of free movement that a typical flying insect displays. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123706.htm
Researchers find new mechanism for sodium salt detoxification in plants. Newly discovered signalling pathway specifically protects the stem cells in the plant root from salt https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123716.htm
Vaccines against smallpox given until the mid-1970s offer continuing cross-reactive immunity to mpox (previously known as monkeypox), researchers report. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123725.htm
Modular builds may help construction industry weather a perfect storm May 23, 2023University of South AustraliaEngineers have calculated the potential cost savings for builders who opt for modular construction techniques to avoid lengthy and expensive holdups caused by poor weather. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123739.htm
A new greenhouse gas budget shows coastal ecosystems globally are a net greenhouse gas sink for carbon dioxide (CO2) but emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) counteract some of the CO2 uptake, according to researchers. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123742.htm
Researchers have recently developed a prototype calcium metal rechargeable battery capable of 500 cycles of repeated charge-discharge -- the benchmark for practical use. The breakthrough was made thanks to the development of a copper sulfide nanoparticle/carbon composite cathode and a hydride-based electrolyte. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123849.htm
an Africa-focused global investment platform for the energy sector, show that Kenya — which leads in biogas policies and investments in Africa and which has made the most progress towards establishing viable biodigester markets — has 17,000 household biogas digesters and 8,000 biogas plants. https://allianceforscience.org/blog/2023/05/east-africa-smallholder-farmers-adopt-bio-digesters-to-build-climate-resilience-and-get-clean-energy-for-cooking/
Heads up again... on Medpagetoday website reddit doesn't like it... just so you know .
....Between women who were screened and not screened based on either organization's criteria.
In their guidance, the ATA noted that pregnancy has a significant effect on thyroid gland function, and thyroid disease is common in women who are pregnant. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/acog/104682
Sudden infant death syndrome may have a biological cause
The condition may at least partly be caused by insufficient binding of a neurotransmitter to receptors in the brainstem https://www.newscientist.com/article/2375424-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-may-have-a-biological-cause/
In response, the need for timely vaccination communication called for more effective use of social media and digital technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and conversation technology26. Among different digital interventions, chatbots have become an increasingly popular tool in health communication and services due to their ubiquitous access points and potential for massive information dissemination. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-023-00843-6
How to eat your way to a better planet: buy and consume only what you need to stay healthy
Yvonne BuckleyThu May 25 2023 - 06:00
5-6 minutes
Locally foraged nettle soup, wild harvested venison and blackberry sorbet might sound like a menu from the latest bougie restaurant but could be part of eating our way to nature recovery. We need agriculture for food production, but unsustainable agricultural practices are the biggest threats to biodiversity through land conversion, intensification of land use and freshwater pollution.
No matter what you eat, planning your menu before you go shopping reduces food waste. https://www.irishtimes.com/science/2023/05/25/how-to-eat-your-way-to-a-better-planet-buy-and-consume-only-what-you-need-to-stay-healthy/
Mediterranean diet shown to be good for health and also the weekly budget https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Mediterranean-diet-shown-to-be-good-for-health-and-also-the-weekly-budget.aspx
Seaside residents and holidaymakers have felt it for centuries, but scientists have only recently started to investigate possible health benefits of the coast. Using data from 15 countries, new research led by Sandra Geiger from the Environmental Psychology Group at the University of Vienna confirms public intuition: Living near, but especially visiting, the seaside is associated with better health regardless of country or personal income. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Living-near-or-visiting-the-coast-associated-with-better-health.aspx
Inflammation leads to reduced lung function and disease in older adults. It also worsens their prognosis in cases of pneumonia and acute lung injury. However, the source of the inflammation and potential treatments are not fully understood.
In this study, researchers analyzed the gut microbiome and its impact on inflammatory signaling in aging lungs. Then, scientists tested the effects of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-;beneficial metabolites of the gut microbiome-;in mice https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Short-chain-fatty-acids-play-a-beneficial-role-in-the-gut-lung-axis-of-aging-mice.aspx
Daily multivitamin supplementation holds promise to protect cognitive health in older adults https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Daily-multivitamin-supplementation-holds-promise-to-protect-cognitive-health-in-older-adults.aspx
Now, two companies have created a full-sized digital model of the Titanic. The model was created by sending two undersea robots down to take pictures of the Titanic from all sides and angles. Above, a 3D scan of the bow (front) of the Titanic. (Source: Atlantic/Magellan.)
Over six weeks, the robots took high-quality videos and over 715,000 pictures. https://newsforkids.net/articles/2023/05/25/creating-a-3d-model-of-the-titanic/
Queen's University Belfast research suggests brain tumours could be treated with repurposed drugs https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2023-05-25/brain-tumours-could-be-treated-with-repurposed-drugs
Disagreements and tempers surge ahead of UN plastics meeting Advocacy groups criticize recent report that sets tone for meeting https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Disagreements-tempers-surge-ahead-UN/101/i17
William Brangham:
So, this was a unanimous ruling by the court that, in this Idaho case, the EPA had overstepped.
But the majority went much farther and went really a much deeper cut into the EPA's authority. What did they rule?
Coral Davenport:
Essentially, they said that the EPA, which, until yesterday, had the authority to regulate most of the wetlands in the United States to protect the wetlands and to punish anyone who had polluted them, sharply limited or sharply reduced the amount of wetlands that would be subject to federal protection.
It said, in order for a wetland to be subject to some — any kind of federal protection regulation, it has to directly join up to or be connected to a larger body of water. That might sound sort of obscure, but that decision really cuts out millions of acres, probably more than half the wetlands in the United States, from federal protection https://www.pbs.org/newshoushow/supreme-court-decision-weakens-epa-authority-scales-back-scope-of-clean-water-act
The FDA will apparently let Elon Musk put a computer in a human’s brain https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/25/23738123/neuralink-elon-musk-human-trial-fda-approval
Sometimes known as the "Atlantis of the North Sea," the sunken settlement was drowned beneath the waves of the North Sea by a storm surge in 1362 CE. For some time, people suspected that Rungholt might just be a fanciful local legend – but hard evidence is now showing that the town existed and really did suffer an untimely demise.
Thanks to a recent survey, researchers were able to locate traces of the Rungholt church. https://www.iflscience.com/long-lost-medieval-church-found-in-sunken-town-that-vanished-in-1362-69106
Are flours made with pulses better for us?
One of our most unhealthy collective eating habits in the West is not having enough fibre in our diets. A diet high in fibre is associated with numerous health benefits, including a decreased risk of heart disease and early death.
You might worry that boosting your intake of fibre through whole foods, including fruit, vegetables, pulses and wholegrains, means having to sacrifice some of your favourite foods. But in recent years, manufacturers have introduced higher fibre alternatives to many of our traditionally low-fibre staples – including pastas, crisps, breakfast cereals and cereal bars. But are they any better than the foods they replace? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230524-are-flours-made-with-pulses-better-for-us
Many regions of the deep sea are currently being explored for the potential to mine them for minerals, but it is still largely unknown what actually lives on the seabed.
Two new papers have looked at all the published records for the species found in one of these zones, and found that its sea floor is likely far more diverse than realised. They estimate that between 6,000-8,000 species are waiting to be discovered, but also note that this is likely an underestimate.
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is a huge area of the Pacific Ocean located between Hawaii and Mexico. A deep sea abyssal plain, the CCZ would be unremarkable in many respects, except for one thing: it is scattered with nodules of highly valuable minerals https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discovenews/2023/may/90-of-species-in-prospective-deep-sea-mining-zone-are-unnamed.html
ChatGPT-powered Wall Street: The benefits and perils of using artificial intelligence to trade stocks and other financial instruments https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-powered-wall-street-the-benefits-and-perils-of-using-artificial-intelligence-to-trade-stocks-and-other-financial-instruments-201436
Benee and producer Josh Fountain worked with scientists to anchor the song around musical elements likely to reduce anxiety, including a 4/4 time structure and a tempo of 60 to 80 beats per minute. The result is an ambient, lo-fi track with soft beats that incorporates spoken word. https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/this-is-the-most-relaxing-song-in-the-world-according-to-science-20230525-p5db85.html
At another site, a biologically female skeleton was interred with masculine grave goods such as a stone ax, a fishing hook, wild boar tusks, and flint blades.
Commenting on these findings in a statement, study author Dr Eleonore Pape explained that “historically, we can no longer frame non-binary persons as ‘exceptions’ to a rule, but rather as ‘minorities’, who could have been formally acknowledged, protected and even revered.” https://www.iflscience.com/non-binary-people-existed-in-prehistoric-europe-burial-site-study-suggests-69102
These in turn produced macronutrient ranges that are wider than the ones recommended by the Paleo Diet. The ranges we calculated are 14-35% protein, 21-55% carbohydrate and 12-58% fat, by energy.
These ranges overlap those recommended by Health Canada (10-35% protein, 45-65% carbohydrate and 20-35% fat) and the United States Department of Agriculture (10-30% protein, 45-65% carbohydrate and 25-35% fat).
That the macronutrient ranges of hunter-gatherer diets overlap government-approved macronutrient ranges casts doubt on the idea that the Paleo Diet is healthier than conventional recommended diets. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-paleo-diet.html
Ocean circulation in the deep waters around Antarctica has slowed significantly over the past three decades, posing a threat to the climate system, according to a new study.
Ocean circulation has kept climate change in check by drawing heat from the sea surface down to its depths. As polar waters freeze, they expel salt, causing surrounding waters to grow more saline — and thus, heavier — and sink to the ocean floor. But rising temperatures are increasingly melting polar ice, disrupting this process. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/antarctica-southern-ocean-circulation-slowing-climate-change
One respondent points out that the present generation has an ethical obligation not to harm future generations and suggests a very low discount rate. Conversely, another emphasizes that it is morally acceptable and sometimes even required "to give greater weight to the concerns of those nearer and dearer to us than to those further away."
Both examples represent ethical considerations, which should play a greater role in the climate-economic modeling. Economists shouldn't have a monopoly on policy recommendations, says Nesje.
"The aspects highlighted by the philosophers are already part of the public discourse https://phys.org/news/2023-05-philosophers-economists-climate-action-stress.html
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports has categorized migraine-associated odors into six groups and observed that odors of cleaning products can significantly increase migraine attacks in patients with chronic migraines. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230526/Study-identifies-six-odor-categories-associated-with-migraine-attacks.aspx
With approximately 500,000 L1 jumping genes, accounting for 17% of the human genome, they have long been recognized for their contribution to the evolution of the human species by introducing 'disruptive innovation' to genome sequences. Until now, it was believed that most L1 elements had lost their ability to jump in normal tissues of modern humans. However, this study reveals that some L1 jumping genes can be widely activated in normal cells, leading to the accumulation of genomic mutations over an individual's lifetime. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Groundbreaking-study-targets-jumping-genes-in-the-entire-genomes-of-the-human-large-intestine.aspx
Cancers often release molecules into the bloodstream that pathologically alter the liver, shifting it to an inflammatory state, causing fat buildup and impairing its normal detoxifying functions, according to a study from investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. This discovery illuminates one of cancer's more insidious survival mechanisms and suggests the possibility of new tests and drugs for detecting and reversing this process. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Tumors-in-distant-organs-remotely-reprogram-the-liver.aspx
Plant-based diets can play a significant role in reducing blocked arteries, study says https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Plant-based-diets-can-play-a-significant-role-in-reducing-blocked-arteries-study-says.aspx
Never fear – research from 2020 has shown that it's not so difficult. You just need to smile at them more. Not the human way, by baring your teeth, but the cat way, by narrowing your eyes and blinking slowly.
By observing cat-human interactions, scientists confirmed that this expression makes cats – both familiar and strange – approach and be more receptive to humans. https://www.sciencealert.com/study-confirms-that-you-can-really-communicate-with-your-cat-by-doing-this

Hey Everyone!
Let’s go….
Newly Covered Today:

1. This is ridiculously hilarious! Credit to Patrick for having such a good sense of humor about it. https://twitter.com/Padierfind/status/1722627306035036201
2. Hmmm...interesting observation. https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1722313807836360712
3. The Cardano Summit keynote. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1720398211800555792
4. The real birth of the Cardano Computation Layer. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2023/11/03/partner-chains-are-coming-to-cardano/
5. A 4th Gen blockchain. https://twitter.com/MidnightNtwrk/status/1720467276510761080
6. Charles on babel fees in Midnight. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1721613225320448477
7. Very interesting if true. https://twitter.com/JaromirTesastatus/1720365544828801118
8. My favorite new version of the Owl. https://twitter.com/AutismCapital/status/1722698098311680195
9. IOG is now the steward of NAMI. https://twitter.com/berry_ales/status/1719716647714382104
10. This sounds interesting! Paying with Cardano funds at Visa terminals with a ring? https://twitter.com/Tangem/status/1719724317045383353
11. Some wild reported accusations against some ETH founders? https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-insider-founders-fraud/
12. Here's the attorney's attorney commenting. https://twitter.com/mascotto89/status/171809476217402184
13. Now Patrick Byrne is jumping into the ring on the ETH accusations. Wild. https://twitter.com/PatrickByrne/status/172114558285979652
14. Accusations around Chinese control of ETH. https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-investigator-claim-chinese-entity-command/
15. The Dragon up to her favorite tricks: hating crypto and being wrong. https://twitter.com/SamLyman33/status/1719364757596057813
16. Sam put it well here: the Jade Dragon has fallen. https://twitter.com/samuelloh87/status/1722399455713112410
17. Reports of reality cutting against the Dragon's claims. https://twitter.com/nic__cartestatus/1719137811541205042
18. Crypto with receipts of the Dragon's folly. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1717535710838739139
19. Killing self-custody is a must win battle in their war plans. https://twitter.com/Coinicarus/status/1719411577013534774
20. Do you like sequels? Prepare for Mithril 2! https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1719314519636254899
21. Great post on input endorsers! https://twitter.com/LucasMacchia2/status/1719471805742583886
22. Cardano can support a Caradano Layerverse where any arbitrary set of tradeoffs can be elected to manage the trilemma and we can all benefit. https://twitter.com/pyro_ae/status/1719465525376671970
23. The UK treasury has released its Consultation Outcome on its Future financial Services Regulatory Regime for Cryptoassets. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-financial-services-regulatory-regime-for-cryptoassets

Previously covered, but still interesting:

1. Ritchie Torres making way too much sense. A true ally of crypto and a very impressive speaker and advocate on our behalf. https://twitter.com/FinancialCmte/status/1684275868636438538
2. FIT21 passed the House Agriculture Committee (which covers commodities). On to the full House of Representatives. https://twitter.com/HouseAgGOP/status/1684649912191893504
3. Charles dropped a video laying out some details regarding the MBO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_3WDIqRmm4
4. People have questions about the Worldcoin token distribution. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1683629987805683712
5. The backlash has begun! https://twitter.com/cryptograffiti/status/1684626995270004736
6. Looks like Milk holders got a little something. https://twitter.com/MuesliSwapTeam/status/1683841736798507008
7. Mithril on Mainnet! https://twitter.com/conraddit/status/1684572674578878465
8. It looks like human biology had a strategy for planned obsolescence of our politicians who refuse to give up the reigns. https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1684272379424301073
9. Drama over the House Financial Services Committee markup of the Stablecoin Bill. Sounds like McHenry and Waters had a deal but the White House is blocking it. So now, Waters is pumping the brakes. https://twitter.com/mud2monarch/status/1684582463287488514
10. Wow. Very cool. A searchable database of topics covered in Charles’s AMAs? https://twitter.com/matthewjura/status/1684585116658434048
11. Looks like the SEC was really out to kill crypto. https://twitter.com/ftfinancenews/status/1685863353393233920?t=e5TBhoiskBbdqt3oUkJEUA&s=19
12. People are not happy about what the SEC allegedly tried to accomplish. https://twitter.com/daveweisberger1/status/1685993625149157376?t=JN0KKdAq4tHTLKRgqdj5Bw&s=19
13. Very interesting, X. https://twitter.com/WhaleChart/status/1686133238509572096?t=eKvxPjdc-PeWiK4wtI7AEQ&s=19
14. Things are not going well for the SEC. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1686088695726653440?t=cEuc1Keq7KNLTJbjy3mOeA&s=19
15. Few will be shocked by this. https://twitter.com/SECGov/status/1686042971190272000?t=Cs0BpbfaogjCPFmmn2cXPA&s=19
16. I wonder what could make them think he spent it on luxury goods. https://twitter.com/TiffanyFong_/status/1686127582071451648?t=gPUgTsGnCAIppGZOIDBBZA&s=19
17. If this is true, things might get very interesting. https://twitter.com/jconorgrogan/status/1686036282470760448?t=YsQSqQ8rE9Z0VlkFZfHtnw&s=19
18. Looks like Curve has become latest victim of the robbery forest. https://twitter.com/jJosjuaThreatt/status/1685854681208066049
19. Looks like World Mobile is bridging to both ETH and BNB chains. https://twitter.com/wmtoken/status/1687092974721683457
20. Virtua has some interesting things going on. https://twitter.com/virtua_official/status/1687161412911554560
21. Looks like testing has begun in Cornucopias! https://twitter.com/copiboastatus/1686407578526396417
22. Pavia Playground is also still rolling out new functionality. https://twitter.com/Pavia_io/status/1687077732729901056
23. Today Coinbase will file to get their SEC case dismissed. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1687266550267670528
24. Torres Doctrine rejected by Do Kwon Case Court. https://twitter.com/BryanJacoutot/status/1686129859326533632
25. Apparently, Worldcoin has already pivoted to “Companies could pay Worldcoin to use its digital identity system…” https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1687225525230579712
26. Oh…Fitch’s downgrade is puzzling is it? https://twitter.com/SimplyBitcoinTV/status/1687079586360680448
27. She found the VP hack. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1687308591211134976
28. Great news from Etrnl! https://twitter.com/eternlwallet/status/1687361346298351616
29. Paul Grewal & Coinbase just did us in Cardano a tremendous solid. It also happens to be the correct move given Cardano's history. We'll see if this court agrees. https://assets.ctfassets.net/c5bd0wqjc7v0/7eaTxSOvCLrGR2frvCqS3Q/b98f952657b7bc821b218d1f601b9161/CoinbasevSEC12_c_Motion.pdf
30. We may regret this one day. https://twitter.com/wanchain_org/status/1687010491988606977
31. Cardano dApp usage numbers looking very nicehttps://twitter.com/timbharrison/status/1687534978819620868
32. RFK, JR on a possible CBDC slavery and no capital gains tax on crypto. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/07/30/biden-rival-rfk-jr-just-issued-a-shock-bitcoin-warning-about-a-looming-9-trillion-crypto-price-revolution/?sh=1ba0f4f05093
33. Yikes. https://twitter.com/lopp/status/1687533356320256000
34. Not a terrible use of your time right now if you haven't seen it. https://twitter.com/JoeConsorti/status/1687263238847651840
35. IOG is doing webinars with the Milken Institute. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1687409894305959936
36. Hard to paint this as not being pretty extensive penetration of certain social media platform companies by the IC. https://twitter.com/NameRedacted247/status/1687358111235932161
37. Ethereum ETF Filings https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1686766955699785728?t=6oBZ9PYvMxQutZnZeNOVUA&s=19
38. Possible Fraud Charges Against Binance. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1686784807102038023?t=o4fGHNtpVRu6qroGfUDDnw&s=19
39. Hard to claim you are protecting retail if you are simultaneously causing a crash. https://twitter.com/WhaleChart/status/1686803784066887708?t=d5zbcpfAN0R1LNQAmdIWNw&s=19
40. I hope Gensler negotiated some kind of huge reward for filling the role of the guy who has to do this on the record before the people of the US. https://twitter.com/yourfriendSOMMI/status/1688204514548191232
41. PayPal is issuing its own stable coin. https://twitter.com/PayPal/status/1688552795278872576
42. McHenry on the PayPal stable. https://twitter.com/FinancialCmte/status/1688541930752262144
43. Exactly. https://twitter.com/MatthewPlomin/status/1688730808540909569
44. Pretty much what we expect. https://twitter.com/The_BTC_Express/status/1688904993154207744
45. Kashkari’s not wrong. People should be asking the important question: why? https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/1570496615823319048
46. In case you somehow missed it, there was a bit of a MuesliSwap batcher controversy. https://twitter.com/MuesliSwapTeam/status/1688654897938395137
47. Vivek also thinks CBDCs are a grave threat to liberty in the US. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1689133619678183424
48. Fed announces new bank crypto activity supervision program. State chartered banks need Fed approval for stable coins. https://twitter.com/The_BTC_Express/status/1688904993154207744
49. Looks like we have a date for minPoolCost to 170: August 23, 2023. https://forum.cardano.org/t/jul-27-2023-voltaire-era-parameter-committee-intermediate-state/120517
50. Someone purporting to have worked on the PayPal stable trying to defend it from the critics. https://twitter.com/CarlKVogel/status/1688746524140863488
51. The PayPal guy really thinks Eth is the most decentralized? Doesn’t seem to be the case. https://twitter.com/JaromirTesastatus/1689214566192816128
52. Cardano Projects are experiencing good results with Aiken. https://twitter.com/SundaeSwap/status/1700641145410482484
53. Sometimes it's good to be the outsider. https://twitter.com/rovercrc/status/1700575710484541843
54. Report: G20 Nations are talking about implementing a Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) by 2027. https://twitter.com/CryptoKingKeyustatus/1700743057799586052
55. Outrageously screwing up BTC transaction fees is still a thing. https://twitter.com/WhaleWire/status/1700924492040544471
56. The SEC is still going after NFTs. https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/08/28/sec-nfts-securities-impact-theory-dapper-yuga-crypto-gensle
57. We still haven't seen the resolution of the whole Binance affair. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/08/31/september-is-going-to-be-crazy-a-new-secret-binance-filing-could-be-about-to-rock-the-bitcoin-ethereum-bnb-xrp-cardano-dogecoin-and-solana-price/
58. Turkey may not be the best place for crypto exchange founders who lose all the money. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-founder-thodex-prison-sentence-turkey-ozer-bankman-fried-ftx-2023-9
59. People already claiming DeFi has been illegal in the US for the last year. They might have been correct. https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1699912782416658605?t=fbtBWe3bAOq2gVwKlm6h4w&s=19
60. Things just got much easier for US lithium based battery production. Is it time for crypto based carbon banking in EVs? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12504841/Worlds-largest-lithium-deposit-McDermitt-Caldera-US.html
61. Looks like your Uncle Gary is still doubling down on his anti-crypto stance. https://twitter.com/taylorjbarstatus/1701319988177465702
62. IOG to bid on the Wyoming stablecoin project. Would be a huge leap forward for Cardano. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1699597043751166391
63. Just in case you didn’t see the mass of posts about Catalyst Fund 10 https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/campaigns/348/stage/stage-governancee61d9e/ideas/unspecified
64. Charles did a 1h40m Twitter space with Coin Bureau. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1697640514655240462
65. Ouch! https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1697761592136654928
66. Does this sound sustainable? https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1692914567158874382
67. Is he calling Ethereum a Lambo-ocracy? https://twitter.com/Pledditostatus/1693308988534739409
68. For years, it's been pointed out that there is no decentralization prong in Howey. Now projects are encountering that reality head on. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1692583761978736990
69. I have only heard this tiny clip out of context. But, damn! Cold as ice! https://twitter.com/ShillMoBaggins/status/1692818762586554630
70. This has been coming for years. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1692280581206290848
71. The whole point of crypto wrapped up in a response and a post. https://twitter.com/crypto_div/status/1692772166222110915
72. The latest swing of the pendulum in Chinese crypto law. https://twitter.com/CryptoKingKeyustatus/1697832617239023708
73. The DexHunter drama. https://twitter.com/beaumont_dvd/thread/1705563225511645217
74. Some explanation of the DexHunter drama. https://twitter.com/JSHyCS/status/1705976018580722150
75. A DexHunter response. https://twitter.com/onewisemelon/status/1705995935824720377
76. Connectivity is still so low in some parts of the world. https://twitter.com/WorldMobileTeam/status/1706006433089683555
77. People buying food at McDonalds with crypto. Not perfect…BTC not ADA…Lightning Network…etc. But, this is what we were all expecting a decade ago when I first got into crypto. https://twitter.com/CryptoTea_/status/1705932435731415481
78. Never forget what they said in 2007. https://twitter.com/dlacalle_IA/status/1705513577019330969/
79. Damn! https://twitter.com/TheBlock__/status/1702063134964322782?t=BAbOGhh-isPD247CM4r7Aw&s=19
80. More arrival of the herd. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1702325787049984186
81. Citi is excited they can take your money and give you back tokens they invented. Way better than regular banking...for them at least. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-18/citi-debuts-token-service-in-latest-foray-into-digital-assets
82. The maintstream financial press is recognizing the possible impacts of ETF approval. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/09/18/mind-bogglingly-massive-crypto-suddenly-braced-for-a-fed-shock-that-could-actually-pump-the-price-of-bitcoin-ethereum-bnb-and-xrp/
83. Arthur Hayes with an alternative theory on a fed rate hike's effects on crypto. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/09/18/mind-bogglingly-massive-crypto-suddenly-braced-for-a-fed-shock-that-could-actually-pump-the-price-of-bitcoin-ethereum-bnb-and-xrp/
84. This sounds ominous. But, who's actually left? Haven't they already hit every major exchange. https://twitter.com/WhaleWire/status/1704220817608077710?t=OaU4JpmgtyRXeUF4N5fXkA&s=19
85. Here’s the October Cardano 360 in case you missed it. https://youtu.be/OE4I1NtoVZE
86. Here’s our yearly check on native staking as TVL. Yep, defillama still doesn’t want to count one of the biggest defi applications in crypto. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1718669989803147680
87. Cardano TVL is looking good regardless! https://defillama.com/chain/Cardano
88. The SEC case against the Ripple execs is no more. But, it may be for less than crypto-friendly reasons. https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1715114705453252850
89. California Joining the crypto regulation party. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1713054622003184069?t=ahoL8LeNvqp_oTM9g5ugCw&s=19
90. ETH Relayer: "The network is much more centralized than folks realize and is on a trend to become more centralized. It’s going in the wrong direction..." https://blockworks.co/news/matt-cutler-interview-ethereum-centralized-blocknative
91. SEC: crypto = no inherent value. https://dailyhodl.com/2023/10/09/sec-says-crypto-assets-have-no-inherent-value-in-new-court-motion-against-coinbase/
92. Country Garden is defaulting on its debts. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/business/country-garden-default-china-real-estate-crisis.html
93. Sam Altman on Rogan on CBDCs. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/10/07/its-war-ceo-of-chatgpt-developer-openai-and-ai-pioneer-issues-stark-bitcoin-warning-amid-crypto-price-swings/
94. Interesting follow on to the Ardana affair. https://twitter.com/fresheyeball/status/1707377922607095991
95. Warnings have been coming for a long time regarding ETH liquid staking derivatives. Not a problem in Cardano where we have native liquid staking. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1706645057174904934?t=swi5q1idLo8BizOpWG1eSQ&s=19
96. Whether you agree or disagree, there are some very interesting graphs here in regard to one part of the traditional asset bubble. https://youtu.be/qs0BlZNHZ7E?si=_NT_f150ysWg6kRP
97. Reps. Torres, Emmer, et al. going to bat for us with the SEC on the Crypto ETF. https://cryptobriefing.com/sec-told-approve-bitcoin-spot-etf-immediately-congress/
98. Costco sold out of gold bars (which they apparently were selling). Good sign for the hardest money in the world: crypto. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/costco-sparks-frenzy-gold-bars-121305051.html
99. Rep. Ritchie Torres questions Gensler on "investment contracts". https://twitter.com/RepRitchie/status/1707117291349885103
100. Su Zhu of 3AC reportedly arrested in Singapore. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/technology/su-zhu-founder-crypto-three-arrows-capital-arrested.html

~Army of Spies
​

"Viktor Orban, Hungary, very powerful. He fronts on both Russia and Ukraine..." - Disgraced former president Donald Trump, geography expert

The Struggle Israel

The White House continues to press the Israeli government for a humanitarian ceasefire but has made little progress.

• The White House announced on Thursday that the Israeli government has agreed to a four-hour-per-day humanitarian pause in fighting in parts of northern Gaza. The pauses, which will be limited to specific areas, are meant to allow Palestinians a window in which to flee south along pre-approved routes. Israel has implemented similar pauses for the last few days, which the agreement is intended to formalize. Statements from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday did not mention such an agreement. When asked, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson Elyon Levy said only that Israel would continue to allow a “window for the evacuation of civilians” along a specific humanitarian corridor of the enclave. The agreement does not call for a pause in Israeli airstrikes, which have continued unabated.
  
• President Biden confirmed on Thursday that he had asked Netanyahu for a three-day humanitarian pause in a call with him on Monday, which Netanyahu rejected. Both men continue to oppose calls for a more comprehensive ceasefire. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We will not stop fighting as long as our hostages are in Gaza and as long as we have not completed our mission, which is toppling the Hamas regime and eliminating its military and governance capabilities.” Sources familiar with ongoing negotiations told The Guardian that, prior to the IDF’s ground invasion, Netanyahu had rejected a deal for a five-day ceasefire in exchange for which Hamas would have released all women, children, elderly hostages, and sick individuals among its hostages.
  
• The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said on Wednesday that both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes in their month of fighting. “The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October were heinous, brutal and shocking; they were war crimes — as is the continued holding of hostages,” he said, adding, ”The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians.” He continued, “In Rafah I have witnessed the gates to a living nightmare … where people have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling for water, for food, for electricity and fuel.”
  

The question of what happens in Gaza after Israel’s ground invasion has become a point of contention with the White House.

• In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said that he expected a period after the war is over “where Israeli forces will likely still be in Gaza and will have some initial security responsibilities,” but added that it was too soon to estimate the duration or to what extent that may be. Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel could take over Gaza security “for an indefinite period,” but President Biden and other senior White House officials have warned the country against a reoccupation of Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken towed a similar line to Kirby’s on Wednesday, saying, “there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict, but it is imperative that the Palestinian people be central to the governance of Gaza and the West Bank.”
  
• The third GOP presidential primary debate, held on Wednesday, served as an important illustration of the differences in the way the two U.S. political parties approach the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The Republican candidates used characteristically violent rhetoric and expressed support only for Israel’s military efforts. At no point did any of them signal that they would make efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza or that they held even a shred of concern for the climbing Palestinian death toll. They also made few meaningful distinctions between Hamas and the Palestinian people, and all of them categorized pro-Palestinian rallies as “anti-Semitic.” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) called for students who are visiting the country on visas who “are making common cause with Hamas” — which they seemed to imply included joining pro-Palestinian campus rallies — to be deported.
  

French president Emmanuel Macron went further than many of his fellow Western heads of state on Thursday when he called not only for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting, but also said, “we have to strive for a ceasefire.”

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Good news! You can still snag some Pod Save America tickets for New Orleans, Louisiana this Friday, November 10th! Come on out to see Pod Save America Live—what many people are calling the Mardi Gras of political podcast recordings. We’ll be joined by co-host Tim Miller, guest Devante Lewis, and more! Who knows, maybe Dan will throw some beads. Tickets are going fast! Head to https://crooked.com/events to get yours today.

Under The Radar

The strike is over! (If you want it.) One of the largest labor stoppages in Hollywood history is finally coming to an end. The Screen Actors Guild, or SAG-AFTRA, reached a tentative deal for a new contract with the Hollywood studios on Wednesday. Strikes by film and television writers and actors shut down the industry beginning in May, and the studios’ monthslong recalcitrance put almost two million Americans in the industry out of work. The Writers Guild of America reached a tentative agreement with the studios on September 24, and ended their 148-day strike three days later. SAG members will vote on their own tentative deal in the coming days. The deal reportedly includes substantial increases in compensation for streaming shows and films, better healthcare funding, and guarantees that studios will not use artificial intelligence to create digital replicas of their likenesses without payment or approval. However, SAG was unable to get the studios to agree to a 2 percent share of revenue generated by streaming series, an issue that SAG president Fran Drescher had made a priority. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers balked, but instead offered a new residuals model for streaming programs based on performance metrics, which SAG ultimately agreed to. The 118-day strike was the longest in SAG history.

What Else?

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced that he will not run for re-election in 2024. I guess he voted not to extend the child tax credit not fearing political retribution, but just for his personal love of child poverty!
A federal judge in New York will weigh final approval of JP Morgan Chase’s $290 million settlement with women who were reportedly abused by Jeffrey Epstein. The women claim that the largest U.S. bank looked the other way rather than address reports of his sex trafficking and abuse.
Jill Stein announced on Thursday that she is launching a 2024 presidential bid as a Green Party candidate. Gotta respect the commitment to the grift, babe!
The third GOP debate was another shitshow, but this time, the majority of the audience thought there was a clear winner: Trump’s former U.N. Secretary Nikki Haley.
Legendary feminist news and commentary outlet Jezebel shut down abruptly and laid off its entire staff after noted herb Jim Spanfeller said he couldn’t find a buyer for the site. Spanfeller has run G/O media — and presided over its wholesale destruction — since 2019, when private equity firm Great Hill Partners bought out the company, which owns Jezebel, Gizmodo, and Deadspin, among others.

Be Smarter

Recent polling has suggested that President Biden may lag behind Donald Trump in the general election next year among key voting demographics he needs. But on Tuesday, voters in states as conservative as Kentucky and Ohio showed up en masse to defend a woman’s right to choose, and thoughtfully took the time to vote in or reelect a whole ton of Democratic lawmakers while they were there. Ergo, the new Democratic strategy is to put lifesaving pro-choice measures on as many 2024 ballots as possible, ideally in swing states so that Biden can establish a kind of pro-choice firewall. Arizona, Nevada, and Florida are important gets — Florida has a punishingly-early deadline of February for any ballot initiatives, so Democrats need to mobilize quickly if they’re going to get all the requisite signatures. Republicans are already whining enthusiastically about being “mischaracterized” as extremists who don’t want anyone to have a legal abortion under even the most horrific circumstances. “A majority of Americans don’t like the rape and incest thing,” observed Lawrence Jones on Wednesday’s Fox and Friends. That’s SO true, Lawrence. They don’t.

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Light At The End Of The Email

President Biden backed the United Auto Workers’ effort to unionize Tesla and Toyota ahead of a meeting with UAW president Shawn Fain on Thursday.
European Union regulators have given YouTube and TikTok until November 30 to reply to an information request explaining how they intend to protect children from illegal and harmful content on their platforms.
Unemployment claims sloped downward last week, showing that layoffs are low and the job market remains strong despite recent signs of cooling.

Enjoy

Jackson Boaz on Twitter: "me to my friend: just be normal at the party, ok?. my friend at the party:"