October 1, 2024

The Stuttering Lede, October 1st 2024

36 days until we know if we can stop fascism

“It doesn’t start with Kristallnacht. It doesn’t start with gas chambers. It doesn’t start with concentration camps. It starts with saying immigrants eat your pets.” Andrea Junker

Today in History

On this day in 1946: The Nuremberg Trials conclude, holding Axis leaders and others accountable.

85 years ago today: "Reich and Soviet Russia jointly demand peace for Europe:" - in a declaration Stalin and Hitler demanded that Great Britain and France stop fighting against Germany.

Happy 100th birthday to Jimmy Carter whose life spans ~40% of the history of our Republic. Jimmy's birthday is closer to the John Quincy Adams inauguration than today.

Election 2024

• This says so much about Trump but even more about the people who still support him.

• About what Trump's promise of deporting 30 million ppl would actually mean.

• The Trump/Vance GOP have been associating with pro-Nazi, pro-Hitler, anti-semitic, Holocaust-denying, 9/11-denying extremists.

• It’s happening again, clear as it was at this time in 2020. Donald Trump is telling election lie after election lie - at least 12 different ones recently - to lay the groundwork to reject the legitimacy of a possible 2024 defeat.

• Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson says she won't endorse Trump

  "I have a real struggle with people who do know better and should know better at the top of Republican politics, who are sowing doubt and chaos and confusion for political gain."

• Question: What actions will you take to ensure that our jobs stay in America? Trump: I was honored as the man of the year. Maybe 20 years ago. The fake news heard about it and said, it never happened…

Politics

• Biden-⁠Harris Administration’s Continued Response Efforts to Hurricane Helene.

• There's a budding conversation about 'Breeding For Britain' at the Tory party conference.

• FTC's investigation into the Chevron-Hess merger uncovered statements from CEO John Hess that conveyed support for OPEC efforts to limit production, which can inflate gas prices for Americans. Our order would ban Hess from serving on the Chevron board.

• The secretive alliance between the Post and Eric Adams.

• Over the past 20 years, Republican counties have become increasingly reliant on the government assistance. Those voters seem not to be aware that their party is trying to cut the programs that they rely on.

• Voter suppression in Georgia's October 26th election is intensifying.

• This is just funny. Liz Truss: Tories would have done better in UK election if I had stayed PM.

• The Hungarian far right now funding the Spanish far right. I wonder whose money it really was.

Russia/Ukraine

• Biden may review the status of Ukraine's NATO bid before the end of his term. I would not hold my breath, but I will hope and cross my fingers.

• Jimmy Rushton visited Ukrainian controlled Sudzha, in Russia's Kursk Oblast, for The Telegraph. He found a Russian town slowly being demolished by Russian drones and artillery.

• 20 years of Putin: How Russia's younger generation have lost the capacity to imagine another future.

• Most foreign observers view Russia’s Wildberries drama as local inside baseball. Folks who dismiss it as that are missing out on an incredible story of North Caucasian clan war. Kevin Rothrock talked to Transparency International’s Ilya Shumanov about it.

• Ukraine is facing its darkest moment in the war. And President Zelensky faces increasing pressure from western allies to pursue negotiations, despite skepticism about Russia’s willingness and concerns over Kyiv’s weak position.

• “Ukrainian women fight, volunteer, struggle, support, work in important and difficult jobs, keep families together in conditions of long-term separation, give birth to children, love in spite of everything, wait, act, steadfastly endure all trials and believe that everything will be all right.”

• Is the US military learning enough from Ukraine?

Middle East

• Israel begins ground operations in Lebanon. The Israeli government that now promises a "limited" and "targeted" invasion of Lebanon is the same Israeli government that has spent nearly a year refusing to even talk about an exit strategy for its war in Gaza.

• An Israeli military court today ordered Palestinian journalist Mujahed al-Saadi from Jenin, to be held in administrative detention for six months, according to his lawyer.

Tech

• Fidelity has cut its estimate of X’s value by 79% since Musk’s purchase.

• It’s time Elon Musk makes a choice. Be a US Contractor, or Russian. Not both: Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone.

Misc.

• Orcas are the oceans’ apex predator, even outranking the great white shark, but their hunting behaviors are still not fully understood by scientists.

• This is probably the best “sorry just now seeing this” I’ve ever seen.

Humor