Cross-Examination

• September jobs report: The jobs numbers in September were short of the 275,000 projection, coming in at 263,000 added. Meanwhile, the headline unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, less than the forecasted number of 3.7%. Yet that’s because labor force participation dropped down to 62.3% as the number of labors decreased by 57,000. Despite the number of workers hired, the number of job openings remains high, leaving an average of 1.7 jobs open per available worker. This demand for workers has helped to increase hourly wages, which are now on average 5% higher than they were at this time last year. However, the wage increase has still not caught up to the inflation rate, which stubbornly remains at a 40-year high of 8.3%. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising interest rates in an effort to bring down inflation, which Fed Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged would likely bring “some pain” economically. The Fed is anticipating the unemployment rate to rise as high as 4.4% in 2023 as a result. Long story short: The economy isn’t all that great.

• Biden warns of “nuclear Armageddon”: At a Democrat fundraiser Thursday, Joe Biden claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a guy I know fairly well” and that Putin is “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.” Biden then declared: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.” This is an incredible, though unintentional, self-indictment of his ineptitude and his empowerment of our most dangerous adversaries. Putin has been saber-rattling for weeks now, threatening to use nukes as he watches his military take major losses in Ukraine. Evidently, Biden has elected to go tit for tat in the nuclear rhetoric department, with the White House claiming to have warned the Russians that using a nuclear weapon would bring a “catastrophic” U.S. response. By the way, coinciding with Biden’s nuclear war warnings, HHS just ordered $290 million in anti-radiation drugs.

• Louisiana divests from BlackRock: The state of Louisiana, whose economy relies heavily on the fossil fuel industry, alerted the large banking firm and investment company BlackRock that it will be divesting from the company’s investment portfolio. The reason has everything to do with BlackRock pushing leftist anti-fossil fuel polices under its so-called environmental, social, and governance (or ESG) standards. As Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder explained in his letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: “Your blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana’s economy. This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from actions and polices that would actively seek to hamstring our fossil fuel sector. In my opinion, your support of ESG investing is inconsistent with the best economic interests and values of Louisiana. I cannot support an institution that would deny our state the benefit of one of its most robust assets. Simply put, we cannot be party to the crippling of our own economy.” The fossil fuel industry accounts for 8.1% of the state’s total GDP. BlackRock has been one of the leading companies pushing the leftist ESG standards as it seeks to force Western nations into transitioning to “net-zero” carbon emission economies. Louisiana is following the lead of West Virginia, which this past summer became the first state to counter banks pushing ESG policies. Several other states are considering similar measures.

Headlines

• Investigators believe they have enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax, gun crimes (National Review)

• Biden pardoning thousands convicted of marijuana possession under federal law (WSJ)

• Biden’s anti-drilling policies have cut oil supplies as much as OPEC+ decision (Breitbart)

• Kanye West praises Candace Owens, flames legacy media in wide-ranging interview with Tucker Carlson (Daily Wire) | Kanye: Clintons tried to use Kim Kardashian to manipulate me (National Review)

• Whistleblower claims hundreds of FBI employees resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations (Daily Wire)

• Senator Ben Sasse expected to resign from Senate to lead University of Florida (Yahoo)

• Colorado baker fighting ruling over “gender transition” cake (AP) | The never-ending persecution of Jack Phillips (The Federalist)

• West Virginia Supreme Court overturns circuit court’s decision to block school choice program (Fox News)

• Judge blocks New York’s ban on guns in Times Square, other “sensitive locations” (NY Post)

• Electric vehicles are exploding after water damage from Hurricane Ian (RedState)

• Former cop attacks Thai day care center, kills at least 36 (AP)

• Policy: Why a negotiated peace with Putin is the safest way out (David Von Drehle)

• Satire: Feds may have enough evidence on Hunter Biden to ignore it and do nothing just like they’ve been doing the last three years (Genesius Times)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.