Did the U.S. withhold warnings of a Russian strike in Ukraine?
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” President Donald Trump announced Sunday. Yet Vladimir Putin struck power plants in Ukraine early Tuesday, and Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil targets. Russia launched more than 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones, and sources say the U.S. failed to warn Ukraine. American officials blamed the failure on “bad weather,” but Ukrainian counterparts accuse the U.S. of “playing with the system.” Russia launched another attack early Wednesday morning, and the warning system appeared to be working again. U.S. officials claim they have not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine and that they faced some difficulties with Starshield, the U.S.-run military version of Starlink. Russian strikes killed six people and left 600,000 without power.
Harris: add states, expand SCOTUS if Dems win
Failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris is back in the news with the same old bad ideas. On the “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” podcast, Harris said she supports packing the U.S. Supreme Court if Democrats win the House and Senate in November. She went further, explaining that “we should be pushing for what is possible around changing the Electoral College, right?” As justification for her proposed constitutional amendment, Harris added, “It’s about the popular vote having to matter, right?” She also supports lowering the voting age to 16 and giving Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, statehood. Most of these proposals require a constitutional amendment or support from a supermajority of states, meaning Harris’s bad ideas are likely to go the way of her 2024 presidential campaign.
Talarico back on the campaign trail
During yesterday’s town hall in Fort Worth, Texas, Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico took questions from voters, defended his unusually long absence, and took shots at rival Ken Paxton. Some observers speculated that he had visited a mental hospital. “The responsible thing to do when you have something like the flu is to stay at home and not get other people sick,” Talarico said. “I opened up social media and learned that I apparently had dropped out of the race, had flown to a mental hospital in Ohio, that I had died. This is crazy.” Talarico said he wouldn’t have done anything differently. He called Paxton “the most corrupt politician in Texas” and asked for a debate, which Paxton has avoided, even though President Trump encouraged it. Talarico also confirmed that he would not attend Bernie Sanders’s Texas rally to avoid alienating moderate voters.
Jack Smith’s dragnet swept up 639k GOP donors
More information about Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost has been released, revealing that he seized the personal information of at least 639,000 Republican voters, donors, and supporters. Senator Chuck Grassley publicized the discovery on Wednesday, noting that the data Smith collected went far beyond what was conceivably necessary for his case, and that Smith’s team “aimed to map out the entire Republican Party apparatus.” The amount of information acquired was vast and included everything from basic personal information, like names, addresses, dates of birth, and emails, to donations to even MAGA hat sales and purchases. Smith seized data going back to 2005, well outside the scope of the review. Grassley’s team previously revealed that Smith had obtained 5,000 checks written by Trump donors and communication records from media outlets.
Albania engulfed in riots similar to France
On Wednesday, students in Albania protested for school reforms. The protests grew into violent riots as part of a larger anti-government movement calling for the resignation of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. In the capital of Tirana, protesters attacked banks, businesses, and government buildings. Hundreds of masked youths smashed storefronts and set fires. Police struggled to contain the violence. Officers in riot gear used tear gas and water cannons to hold back the crowd and disperse the protesters’ street barricades. Albanian President Bajram Begaj called for the violence to end. More than 20 people were injured, and more than 30 were detained. The violence mirrors the riots across France, reflecting the Left’s penchant for protests.
Clancy holdout juror speaks out again
Only one juror, Michael Desronvil, wanted to convict Lindsay Clancy of murdering her three children; the other 11 favored finding her not criminally responsible due to mental illness. In a Fox News interview that aired this morning, Desronvil said he had no reasonable doubt — the evidence showed that Clancy was “methodical” in executing Cora, Dawson, and Callan. He also wants to keep the focus on Clancy’s children. “I have a daughter myself,” he said. “So seeing these three kids, it’s emotional. You can see the innocence, the pure joy in them.” Listening to Patrick Clancy’s 9-1-1 call also moved him. After the mistrial in September, the other jurors attacked the holdout for disagreeing and accused him of disregarding reasonable doubt. Clancy’s lawyer also called for an inquiry, saying Desronvil obstructed the process.
OpenAI faces major safety and security issues
AI giant OpenAI has faced problems on multiple fronts. In the office, an employee was arrested for covertly bugging a conference room and other previously secure spaces. Abdulrahman Alfozan was the only Saudi employee and had significant ties to the Saudi government, so it seems likely he was trying to obtain information he or others outside the company were not supposed to know. Elsewhere, eight states sued the company over child safety issues. The respective attorneys general have argued that the current child protection laws are simply too loose and need to be better. Major lawsuits have become common for OpenAI, as it has drawn widespread concern.
The most common English surnames aren’t English
In Anglosphere nations, John Smith has long been the most common name, and for now that remains true. In a recent list of the top 10 most common English surnames, Smith still topped the list, but the second-, third-, and fourth-place names aren’t even English. Khan, Ahmed, and Ali are joined by Hussain in sixth place, Singh in seventh, Patel in ninth, and Kaur in tenth. Only two other names besides Smith are English in origin: Jones at fifth and Williams at eighth. Meanwhile, Muhammed has been the most common baby boy’s name in the UK for three years running. With even English names disappearing, the question arises: Has England ceased to be an English country?
Headlines
- Trump rules out live stream for Nidal Hasan firing squad execution (Fox News)
- Wholesale prices jumped 6.3% annually in September, biggest gain since 2022 (CNBC)
- Feds building case to deport Ilhan Omar (NY Post)
- Ninth Circuit delivers major setback to California’s anti-ICE law (Daily Signal)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, Jacob Geoffrey, Hudson Baldwin, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
