VATICAN CITY " Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election, casting a mail-in ballot in a contest that will decide America's future as the Trump era slowly comes to an end.
President Donald Trump canceled upcoming rallies in Kansas and Iowa, two states with unexpectedly competitive Senate races, with less than a week to go in the midterm elections, the Republican National Committee announced Oct. 29. Trump is stepping back from the campaign trail after weeks of constant rallies that thrust him into the center of the midterm contests. The cancellations mark an abrupt shift in his campaign schedule on the eve of an election where Democrats are threatening to wrest control of Congress from the GOP.
In a priceless troll, a man attending a Trump rally in South Carolina stunned Fox News viewers on live TV. Read more
Europe looks past rioters to their parents and the apps in their pockets
Dockworkers in 22 countries will strike on Friday, protesting against war and the use of ports for arms exports in action organisers say could disrupt over 40% of Mediterranean cargo and snarl over $2 billion worth of freight. 'WE WILL NOT WORK FOR WAR' Read more
New Yorkers enrolled in SNAP will be able to earn 40% more in Health Bucks, a program that matches what SNAP beneficiaries spend at farmers markets and farm stands. His Honor also launched a new SNAP and Medicaid Resources webpage to help New Yorkers navigate new federal work requirements, determine whether they qualify for exemptions, and to maintain access to the food assistance and health care they rely on. Statewide, recent polling indicates that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, an Islamophobic champion of ICE and good-for-nothing political hack, is behind double digits to incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul (D).
"Great job, Zohran!!"
At a Dummkopf Trumpf political rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, an attendee floored a Faux News reporter during an interview, as follows:
Senile Satan
A prominent Georgia Republican and Newnan businessman has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a wire fraud charge connected with a massive Ponzi scheme, prosecutors say. Edwin Brant Frost IV had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with a federal investigation that began after First Liberty Building and Loan, the company he led, collapsed last June. According to officials, Frost's company said it was a lender making high-interest short-term loans to businesses, paying investors between 8 and 18 percent from the repayment of the "Bridge Loans." Instead, prosecutors say Frost stole millions of dollars for himself, using the money to rent a vacation home in Maine, buy jewelry and watches, pay off over $2 million on credit card bills, and spend over $570,000 on political contributions.
A critic of President Donald Trump trolled Fox News in a now-viral clip, telling a reporter for the news station that he came to the president's South Carolina rally because he wanted to see a "cult." Lucas Tomlinson, a reporter with the pro-Trump network, was interviewing members of the MAGA crowd gathered in Rock Hill Thursday to hear Trump stump for Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, as she goes up against Democrat Annie Andrews on Election Day. Tomlinson asked a man, who gave his name as Tom, why he was at the rally " and was left shocked by the unexpected answer. "Well, in the late 70s, I was a little too young to get involved and go to South America for the Jonestown Massacre, but this is as close as I'll ever get, so that's why I'm here," Tom says.
Novelist Patricia Highsmith (1921 " 1995), who gave us The Talented Mr. Ripley, neatly summarizes America in this paragraph from Strangers on a Train (1950). This suspense novel was published decades before NYS Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Dummkopf Trumpf to "unconditional discharge" (10 Jan 2025). Here, protagonist Guy Haines reveals to his fiance Anne his disgust with his soon-to-be ex-wife Miriam (p. 44): She's everything that should be loathed ... .Sometimes I think I hate everything in the world. No decency, no conscience. She's what people mean when they say America never grows up. America rewards the corrupt ... .. This excerpt explains how abolitionist John Brown could be caught, tried, sentenced, and executed, all within an astonishing 45 days (18 Oct - 2 Dec 1859), yet treasonous Jefferson Davis could outlive A. Lincoln unscathed by 24 years or how Jeffrey Epstein or Senile Satan could get away with their evil for so long: Corruption in America.
NPR Business: The U.S. economy grew faster in the summer compared to the spring, driven by consumer spending as well as investments in AI. Gross domestic product, which broadly measures economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 3.4% July through September, according to a report from the Commerce Department released Thursday. The previous quarter GDP grew at a 2.2% annual pace. A big driver for GDP growth in the third quarter was the strong investments from AI companies, which continue to build out data centers and spend big money in developing the technology. Meanwhile, consumer spending was another of the big drivers of GDP growth, led in part by higher-income Americans who are better able to withstand stubbornly high inflation. Read more
JACKSON, Tenn. -- A federal judge has ordered Austin Elrod, 30, of Somerville, Tennessee, to surrender his hunting license for 5 years and to pay a total of $60,000 for an illegal deer hunting operation, according to West Tennessee U.S. District Attorney, D. Michael Dunavant. An investigation by several law enforcement agencies revealed that Elrod was guiding white-tailed deer hunts in the Fayette County area without the required guiding license. The guided hunts were advertised on Facebook and resulted in the illegal harvesting of seven deer throughout the 2021 and 2022 hunting seasons. Elrod's clients included out-of-state hunters from Georgia. One of these hunters was Thomas Boswell, 39, of Barnesville, Georgia. Boswell participated in the guided hunts without a Tennessee hunting license and was responsible for the illegal harvesting of five of the deer. The harvested deer would then be transported to Georgia. Read more
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has accused a newly ousted three-star general of leaking sensitive information to the media just hours after officials confirmed his removal from a top military planning post. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia as head of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a defense official said late Wednesday. Typically, the general in the position and their staff are responsible for generating and coordinating military plans for both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the president. Read more
U.S. Supreme Court justices turned down a request to pause an agreement between Texas and the Department of Justice that removed a Biden-era rule allowing immigration judges to suspend some deportation proceedings.
A record 33 members have been expelled from China's Communist Party as it concluded a major annual political gathering, which had the most empty seats ever seen.
Sixteen of the 33 members expelled are from the military, according to a communique issued on Thursday, which marked the end of the four-day closed-door gathering held at a hotel in Beijing.
The latest expulsions bring the total number of members removed under Xi's third term to a record 51, up from 35 and five in his first and second terms respectively.
Beyond the plenum, China's top anti-corruption watchdog reported that 680,000 people across the party apparatus have been disciplined in the first nine months of this year.
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine straining on state finances, President Vladimir Putin is reaching for cash to fund his government and the war, squeezing tax revenue from an economy that's increasingly skewed toward the military -- while civilian needs take a back seat.
