Before a Crisis Hits

When the Federal Aviation Agency grounded flights nationwide on Friday, it was a reminder how vulnerable our interconnected communication and transportation systems are to disruptions from many different causes.

More than 8,200 flights — or over 31 percent of those scheduled for yesterday — were canceled, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.

This came on the heals of another major failure earlier in the week that affected millions of users of Microsoft technology.

There’s very little the average person can do in response to these infrastructure failures, even though they could on occasion prove catastrophic. So what can we do to prepare ahead of time for something that may or may not occur?

Those who study these things have long advocated stocking up on emergency supplies and refreshing those supplies on a regular basis. It actually results in one less thing to worry about, so if you can afford to, consider storing some extra food, water, medicines, batteries, matches, cash, travel toiletries, coffee sticks, a deck of cards, travel games, a survival kit of tools, and so on.

New York Magazine has a handy list of 77 items for someone who is a serious survivalist, but that’s way too much for most of us. (It might be a good place for a few gift ideas however.)

Whenever I grow complacent about preparing for emergencies, I remember the call that came from my oldest daughter when Covid hit.

“Do you happen to have any toilet paper? Canned foods? Instant coffee?”

I had lots, so I packed those items and made the trek up here 36 miles north to her house. That’s been six-and-a-half years ago now, and those supplies are long gone. But I’m still here.

And now we order supplies in bulk.

Resources: 

• “The best supplies for an emergency kit, according to FEMA and the CDC” (NBC)

• “The Best Items to Stock for Any Emergency, According to Survivalists” (NYMag)

• “Amazon Survival Kit” (AMZN)

HEADLINES:

• Disruptions Persist as Air Travel Recovers from Nationwide Ground Stop (NYT)

• Flight shutdown highlights a network crisis (Reuters)

• Microsoft outage shows we all suffer when networks break (MJC)

• Stockpiling for disaster: What does the Pentagon know that it isn’t telling us? (The Hill)

• Was AI involved in Friday’s FAA nationwide ground stop? (Verge)

• Device deemed ‘credible threat’ triggers evacuation around ethanol plant in Peoria, Illinois (NBC)

• Trump, Putin and Xi plan historic joint meeting in China next week, White House says (BBC)

• Wholesale inflation rose in October to highest annual rate in nearly four years (CNN)

• Trump-backed Maga firebrand Lauren Boebert defeated in Colorado congressional race (Guardian)

• Trump’s GOP was all they knew. Now some wonder if MAGA is dead. (WP)

• A Mystery Businessman Introduced Jensen Huang to His Paramour. It Was Her Husband. (WSJ)

• The NVIDIA story is a BFD (Silver Bulletin)

• Jensen Huang shows the risk of becoming an indispensable leader (BI)

• Alito says Supreme Court is caught between the president and a Congress that can ‘turn off the lights’ (NBC)

• Supreme Court Set to Hear Trump’s Ban on Asylum Claims at Border (NYT)

• Russia evasive after the US says Europe will join next Ukraine talks (CNN)

• River Cruise Boat with 129 Passengers on Board Capsizes After Collision with Tanker (People)

• Afghan women told to ‘go home’ after de facto ban on male doctors treating them (Guardian)

• California Could Face 50-Foot Waves as Storms Slam Its Coast (NYT)

• Researchers say wood segments recovered in Turkey are from Noah’s Ark (NewsNation)

AI NEWS:

• The great Generative AI unraveling (Marcus)

• Why is Google cutting off Search from AI-free schools? Here are some theories (NPR)

• Exclusive: OpenAI disbands its stand-alone robotics team as its general models start running robots (Fortune)

• OpenAI Board Member Tells Audience an AI Accident Is the Most Likely Thing to Kill Them (Gizmodo)

• The Fed chief said AI would tame inflation. His colleagues disagree. (WP)

• Fallout from the Nvidia scandal may dampen the exuberance around the AI boom (AP)

• With Jensen Huang Out, the A.I. Industry Loses Its Strongest Booster in Washington (NYT)

• Oklahoma Bans Marrying For Love (Oklahoma)

When a Game Turns Into a Business

One of my favorite pastimes is watching college sports. When I was starting out my career, I considered sports reporting as an option, but I peaked in that regard in my role as Sports Editor of The Michigan Daily in 1968.

That was long before money was allowed in college sports. Athletes played all four years for their school's team and were forbidden from making money, which occasionally led to scandals involving over-zealous alumni channeling them secret payments, which in turn led to sanctions by the NCAA.

We covered all that and more at the Daily.

But in 2021, under “Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL) program, the amateur era of college sports came to an abrupt end. Just this week, for example, a Mississippi State football player signed a deal to be paid $7.5 million for the upcoming season. 

The median amount earned by student athletes is still only around $1,000 from NIL, and just one percent of them earn above $50,000. And so far, those landing million-dollar deals number in the dozens, but this tremendous new disparity between the stars and everyone else may be undermining team dynamics on a number of levels.

One of tne scholars who believes there is a corrosive effect, Anna Agafonova at USC’s Sports Conflict Institute, reports that:

• In Power Five programs, starting quarterbacks command seven-figure deals while offensive linemen, whose protection enables those quarterbacks’ success, receive nominal compensation. This disparity doesn’t just create jealousy; it fundamentally alters team dynamics.

• When teammates invest equal time, effort, and sacrifice yet receive vastly different compensation, cognitive dissonance emerges.

• This tension manifests in reduced effort during practice, diminished sacrifice for teammates, and fractured locker room relationships.

• This can result in a “thief of joy” for the players. This disconnect between contribution and compensation violates fundamental fairness principles that underpin team cohesion.³

Perhaps this is a partial explanation for something I’ve been wondering about as a fan. Is it just me, or does there seem to be a perplexing instability with our college teams these days? As long as they are winning, all is good, but when the wins stop coming, their team chemistry just seems to collapse. 

That chemistry depends on leadership and the ability of young people to learn to band together over time, and in overcoming adversity in the form of injuries, mistakes and bad luck. The best college coaches know how to promote this and strive for resiliency among the athletes they supervise.

Back when everyone was equal in terms of compensation (none), and players stayed with the same team for their entire college career, building chemistry through resilience was still difficult. But now, with star players frequently switching schools chasing the big money, it seems infinitely harder to achieve. The best coaches can still forge it, but they too are now on the move, seeking ever-larger paychecks as well.

Nevertheless, there may be a silver lining to NIL deals. 

The official online reporting portal for monitoring third-party collegiate financial deals is NIL Go. And although money in college sports has generally increased the disparity between male and female athletes, recently there has been a large surge in NIL deals for women basketball players. 

They now rank third in overall NIL earnings across all collegiate sports, and female athletes average a 5.5 percent engagement rate on social media, generating up to seven times more social engagement per deal than their male counterparts. [1]

Other high-earning women's categories include softball (which is the fifth-ranking across all sports), as well as golf, tennis, and gymnastics. [1, 2, 3] Overall team chemistry seems stronger among the women's teams, and that is probably due to differences in the way genders play and compete in general.

HEADLINES: 

• The NIL Paradox (SCI)

• Trump orders Vance to focus on “corruption” in Democrat-run areas, not Iran (Axios)

• JD Vance and the VP curse (Silver Bulletin)

• Hegseth awards medal to soldier who reprimanded his group at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (CBS)

• Bessent points finger at Lutnick over Nvidia chip exports as Trump advisers discuss possible Commerce Secretary ouster (CNN)

• Bessent blames Lutnick’s commerce department for failure to blacklist Megaspeed (FT)

• Howard Lutnick Needs Friends After Spending Two Years Making Enemies (WSJ)

• Van Hollen Says He Will Challenge Schumer for Senate Majority Leader (NYT)

• Why are there so many security incidents linked to US military in Britain? (CNN)

• ‘No war, no peace’: Can Iran break the deadlock with the US? (Al Jazeera)

• Mexicans wary of Stephen Miller’s plans for them (Politico)

• In his words: Stephen Miller is an immigration hardliner and a bombastic critic of Democrats (PBS)

• New Trump Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s Perverse Xenophobia (Money Trail)

• How X-rated content shaped the internet (Economist)

• California’s first major November storm arrives. Here are the latest updates (SFC)

AI NEWS:

• Advocacy groups sue AI giants to freeze new models, warning of 'catastrophic' risks (AP)

• Jensen Huang built Nvidia into a behemoth. His resignation puts the entire AI boom in jeopardy. (MarketWatch)

• Jensen Huang Hired a PR Firm Known for Handling Sex Scandals Last Year (Wired)

• Major Investors Are Skeptical Anthropic IPO Can Achieve $1.5 Trillion Valuation (WSJ)

• eBay is restricting third-party AI agents (Verge)

• New Amazon Drone Hovers Above Customer Until They Order   Something (Onion)

Hiding Things

“It appears Donald Trump has something to hide.” — Rep. Robert Garcia

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the incoming Chair of the House Oversight Committee, is promising a wide array of investigations into Trump administration officials and their policies.

“Let’s be clear: Congress’ authority comes from Article I of the Constitution, not from the permission of the White House. Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight, an authority inherent in the power to legislate,” Garcia said in a statement Wednesday.

Garcia’s statement was in response to the White House threats of a criminal investigation into the Democrats’ efforts at oversight.

“The Trump administration continues to weaponize the government with threats of unconstitutional attacks on Congress,” Garcia said. “We are a coequal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from a weaponized D.O.J. or from the president’s lawyers.”

Peter M. Shane, who teaches public law at the New York University School of Law and is an author of a separation-of-powers casebook, told the New York Times that the Trump administration’s threat is legally baseless. “Our Constitution protects legislators from the threat of criminal prosecution while performing official duties as an essential bulwark to repel executive overreach and defend checks and balances.”

Everybody should be clear about what is going on here. There is abundant evidence that the Trump administration has been involved in an unprecedented amount of corruption and abuse of power. Trump attacks anyone, but especially members of Congress and the press, whenever they seek to provide accountability.

But the new Congress under Democratic control will not buckle to Trump’s threats.

And neither will the press.

HEADLINES:

• White House threatens criminal investigation into Democrats’ oversight efforts (Politico)

• White House Threatens Congress, Saying Aggressive Investigations Could Be Crime (NYT)

• White House readies aggressive fight against planned investigations by Congress (WP)

• Video shows soldier reprimanding Hegseth and advisers at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (CNN)

• Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate race, breaking the GOP’s grip on the state (NBC)

• How Scott Colom defied doubters to make Mississippi a battleground (CNN)

• The Case Against Chuck Schumer (TNR)

• Peltola surpasses combined Dan Sullivan votes after latest drop (The Hill)

• What Talarico’s Win Reveals About Christianity in Texas (NYT)

• Jensen Huang is out at Nvidia. The longtime Nvidia CEO has resigned after two affairs and an internal investigation that he may have been the subject of a foreign intelligence effort. (BI)

• The Temptation of Jensen Huang (WSJ)

• The phantom life of Alice Huang, alleged Chinese spy who had affair with Nvidia CEO (WP)

• ICE Officer Involved in Maine Shooting Expressed Hatred of Immigrants (NYT)

• CDC chief says agency will not change measles response if US loses elimination status (Reuters)

• An Iran-backed trio is accused of plotting attacks on a U.K. base hosting U.S. jets (NPR)

• Five People Are Shot in Washington, D.C., Officials Say (NYT)

• Brooklyn building collapse in Flatbush live updates: 8 dead, 17 hurt as search goes on (ABC)

• SEC Enforcement Penalties Fall to 18-Year Low (WSJ)

• Bill Gates Reassess Climate Change (Forbes)

• Russia-Ukraine talks turn to post-war security but end without breakthrough (BBC)

• NATO is experimenting with amphibious robots that can cross ice and water in the Arctic (BI)

• Nigerian court orders journalist kept in custody over report, renewing concerns over media freedom (AP)

• Clashes in Barcelona as thousands join Spain general strike (BBC)

• France warns Germany its missile programme ‘could accidentally provoke nuclear war with Russia’ (Independent)

• The S.S. United States, a Historic Supership, Heads to the Ocean Floor (NYT)

• Kacey Musgraves on Taking Risks, Speaking Her Mind and Finding Happiness: ‘I Have the Freedom to Really Be Me’ (People)

AI NEWS: 

• Why Do A.I. Agents Go Rogue? Because They’re ‘Incorrigible.’ (NYT)

• Winnebago ho! The pandemic popped the RV industry’s tires. Then came the data centers. (BI)

• The Anthropic-OpenAI Valuation Gap (The Information)

• OpenAI lets you claim your business in ChatGPT and set up a custom agentic AI customer sales rep (VentureBeat)

• Piggybacking to the Frontier (ChinaTalk)

Sitting Ducks

Pete Hegseth has dodged a bullet, for now, but his days are numbered. In the wake of the overwhelming Democratic victory at the polls, a number of officials besides Trump and Hegseth are lame ducks.

Names often mentioned for possible impeachment include Robert Kennedy, Jr. at HHS and Kash Patel at the FBI. But Hegseth remains at the top of the list, so while the GOP’s Rep. Thomas Massie could’t get his impeachment effort through the lame duck House yesterday, the Democrats will likely finish the job in January.

I’m not sure that a string of impeachments is the best strategy for the Democrats to pursue when the majority of Americans say they are tired with the endless party wrangling and want affordability to be the new priority.

But voters did identify “government corruption” as another major concern. At the White House, Trump seems ready to rumble. He is circling the wagons by naming Stephen Miller as his chief of staff, which was followed by congressional Republicans naming Jim Jordan as their new leader in the House.

Meanwhile, Trump’s grand arch project, already under a delay by a judicial order, has drawn a lawsuit by the family of John F. Kennedy, saying the arch would block sunlight from reaching the assassinated President’s grave and eternal flame.

This brings me back to what I call that project — the (Lame) Duck Stop on the Potomac. Now they are all lame ducks, perhaps Trump and his fellow impeachables can gather at the proposed site and commiserate.

HEADLINES:

• For Trump and America, a Clear Election Verdict Leaves a Murky Future (NYT)

• Republican-led House rejects Hegseth impeachment effort (NBC)

• Secretary on defense (Politico)

• Pete Hegseth’s Failure to Learn (Bulwark)

• Republicans defeated an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday by using a procedural vote to derail an impeachment resolution by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Massie was the only Republican who voted in favor, and a whopping 11 Democrats didn’t even show up― an embarrassment for House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) called the absences ”shameful” and said it “hurts.” [HuffPost]

• House Republicans Pick Jim Jordan, a Close Trump Ally, as Their Next Leader (NYT)

• Bernie Sanders won’t support Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, saying it’s time for change (AP)

• American soldier arrested on Russian spying allegations (Economist)

• U.S. moves military aircraft from British base amid Iran threats (NBC)

• Iran lifts 2,000km limit on its ballistic missiles: What that means (Al Jazeera)

• Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that 71% of Americans support legislation ending conflict with Iran. (Reuters)

• First day of Ukraine peace talks constructive, Zelensky says (BBC)

• Kennedys Move to Block Trump’s Arch, Saying It Would Disturb J.F.K. Gravesite (NYT)

• California’s billionaire tax fails, but other ‘tax the rich’ measures succeeded around the country (Yahoo)

• US national debt keeps rising after years of tax cuts – and this will make policymaking all the more difficult (The Conversation)

• At least 19 ICE recruits named in DHS hack were hired despite red flags (WP)

• The Affair That Turned Into a National Security Nightmare (WSJ)

• Despite Denial, Trump Was Told on Trip to China About Spying on Nvidia Leader (NYT)

• Trump says FBI probing Nvidia CEO Huang as China controversy deepens (Reuters)

• The Spy Who Leased Me (China Talk)

• The strange, sordid case of Trump, China and the AI chips (WP)

• The vaccine limbo in the US is worsening the measles outbreak (Guardian)

• Gas prices dip below $4 but inflation remains stubbornly high (NPR)

• Bill Gates Wants to Stop Global Warming. He’s Earned Billions From Climate-Polluting Landfills. (ProPublica)

• A gay sex ban is overturned in Trinidad and Tobago. What the ruling says about LGBTQ+ rights and post-colonial identity (CNN)

• Greta Thunberg warns ‘everything we love is at stake’ as she arrives at UN climate talks (AP)

• Elon Musk makes $47.8 billion in a day, almost as much as Africa’s richest man Dangote is worth (BI)

• Thick smog shrouds New Delhi after Diwali firecrackers add to seasonal pollution (AP)

• Amazon’s Ring unveils flying drone and robot to patrol homes and businesses (CNBC)

• 3 dead, 3 critically injured after vehicle smashes into pedestrians in Los Angeles (NBC)

AI NEWS:

• Anthropic Prepares to Push Ahead With IPO Despite Market Jitters (WSJ)

• Just say no to Anthropic’s IPO (Marcus)

• Bay secures $50M to secure AI (Axios)

• A New AI Tool From Google DeepMind Proved the Signal Protocol Is Secure (Wired)

• Is Your Chatbot Conscious, or Just Code? (NYT)

• The beginning of the end of the AI bubble? (Money Trail)

• Does Claude have a soul? Ask God, not Anthropic. (WP)

• A.I. Turned Mundane Chipmakers Into Tech Celebrities (NYT)

• Trump Gathers Cabinet In Situation Room To Watch Porn (Onion)

 

Christian Left v. Christian Right

With the victories by Democratic Senators-Elect James Talarico (Texas) and Adam Hamilton (Kansas), there will be two new deeply Christian voices on the national political stage.

During recent election cycles, most of the candidates who spoke often about their Christian faith were Republicans.

So this is a new twist.

After spending more than 35 years as a United Methodist pastor and growing the Church of the Resurrection into one of the largest mainline congregations in the country, Hamilton says his public service is an extension of his pastoral calling rather than separate from it.

"I can't not talk about my faith” he says. “It's just, it's my life. It's what I eat, sleep, drink and breathe... [But] my job in the Senate is not to be a chaplain or America’s pastor. Instead, I intend to be a senator who strives for decency, brings people together, and practices the core principles of my life." [1, 2]

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and former Sunday school teacher, bases his progressive politics directly in his Christian faith. [1, 2, 3] He frequently challenges the Religious Right, arguing that dominant political movements warp and weaponize religion to accumulate power, control bodies, and ignore core biblical calls to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and welcome the stranger. [1, 2]

In his victory speech after flipping the Texas U.S. Senate seat, Talarico reflected on his grandfather's teachings about the barefoot rabbi's two primary commandments, emphasizing that every person is holy and that he is called to love all neighbors—regardless of appearance, prayer style, or vote—the way he loves himself. [1]

A recent survey found that a majority of Republicans (56 percent) are Christian Nationalism supporters. So will the emergence of these two articulate leaders on the Democratic side of the aisle lead to a battle with the right-wing Christian Nationalists.

If so, perhaps we will see a battle of Biblical proportions. Or. as we Boomers call it: “Twist and Shout.”

HEADLINES:

• Republican Massie Calls Up Impeachment Charges Against Hegseth (NYT)

• The trap in Trump’s Hegseth defense (CNN)

• Hegseth’s Office Kept Secret Files of Internet Printouts to Block Admiral Promotions: Report (Military.com)

• Hegseth denied promotions to military members who promoted DEI and the Covid vaccine: report (Independent)

• Congress returns for lame-duck sprint after bruising midterm losses for GOP (CBS)

• Senate weighs sweeping energy legislation in first major action since midterm elections (AP)

• Trump fails to learn midterm lesson with Stephen Miller chief of staff pick (The Hill)

• It’s Roy Cohn All Over Again (NYT)

• Will Jensen Huang resign? Trump and tech leaders sound off on whether Nvidia’s CEO will keep his job. (BI)

• Mississippi and Alaska Senate races remain uncalled. See results (USAToday)

• Even this blue wave probably won’t wash tariffs away (The Hill)

• Protests Erupt as ICE Agents Block Ambulances From Hospital — Los Angeles Mayor-elect Nithya Raman joined the protests. (TNR)

• Gina Hinojosa Takes on the Texas Government Republicans Built (NYT)

• U.S. Overture to Russia on European Security Sparks Alarm (WSJ)

• Russia, Ukraine and US meet for Abu Dhabi talks as Trump says war can ‘end soon’ (ABC)

• Britain says its bases are safe after US refuelling planes evacuated (Reuters)

• WarTalk: Lame Duck War, Pete on Notice, Team Yankee (China Talk)

• A covert Russian network sought to exploit last month’s riots in France by using social media to blame the unrest on uncontrolled immigration and portray the government as having lost control, according to an internal EU assessment seen by Reuters. Read our exclusive. (Reuters)

• Gunman with far-right views who killed 6 in Poland shooting rampage dies in hospital, police say (NBC)

• Prominent government critics across Africa are facing treason charges. It’s often to silence them, according to rights groups (AP)

• Banana producers in Latin America want better pay to cope with effects of climate crisis (Guardian)

• The Collapse of America’s Most Consequential Institution — Without a functional Department of Justice, no one can ensure that Americans will be treated equally under the law. (Rachel Maddow - Atlantic)

• Meet the legal startup generating $150 million in revenue without chasing Big Law (BI)

• As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards (NPR)

• SpaceX now fundamentally an “infrastructure company,” senior official says (ArsTechnica)

• Biggest waves in years to slam California coast — including San Francisco (SFC)

• Michigan up to No. 2 in AP women’s poll after beating UConn; South Carolina No. 1 (ESPN)

AI NEWS:

• Anthropic to Seek $1.3 Trillion Valuation in IPO (WSJ)

• Trump Official Who Wants Data Centers on Public Lands Has Tens of Millions Invested in AI Industry (ProPublica)

• Caltech robot makes history by building a structure in space (ScienceDaily)

• Anthropic must face lawsuit over Claude subscription marketing (Reuters)

• 1 in 4 data centers run in area with stressed water supply, study finds (WP)

• Verified Compute Allocation Disclosures as a Foundational Governance Tool (AI Futures Project)

• GOP Criticizes Trump For Promoting Stephen Miller Over Other, More Qualified Necrophiles (Onion)

A Medicare Moment

Health care is both intensely personal and a contentious public issue at the same time. Yet’s a fair bet that many Americans don’t know that most of the cuts to health care in Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” start kicking in on January 1, 2027, which is, like, tomorrow.

The cuts I’m referring to are $1.02 trillion to Medicare, the closest thing we have to a universal health care system in this country. (BTW, if cutting costs is the issue, we could achieve that $1.02 trillion by simply cutting Elon Musk!)

Fortunately, now that Democrats will be in control of both houses of Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders “Medicare for All Act” can finally come back into focus. It would restore Trump’s cuts and expand coverage for the most vulnerable. 

Until now, this visionary solution to our country’s crisis in health care seemed out of reach, but along with the historic blue wave in this week’s elections comes perhaps its best chance in a generation.

And even if only a partial reform can be achieved at first, that will represent a much-needed move in the right direction. Below is a summary of Bernie’s idea:

Medicare for All Act

• Covers all U.S. residents and covers items and services that are medically necessary or appropriate to maintain health or to diagnose, treat, or rehabilitate a health condition.

• Prohibits cost-sharing (e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments) and other charges for covered services, with the exception of prescription drugs. 

• Health insurance exchanges and specified federal health programs terminate upon program implementation, except for coverage provided through the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Indian Health Service. 

• Establishes a requirement that HHS negotiate prices for prescription drugs and create a formulary.

• Individuals who are age 18 or younger may enroll in the program starting one year after enactment of this bill; other individuals may buy into a transitional plan or an expanded Medicare program at this time, depending on age. 

• The bill’s program must be fully implemented four years after enactment.

While all of this may not be achievable at first, it seems like a good starting point. You can contact your representative in the U.S. House here. You can contact your U.S. Senators here.

HEADLINES:

• The Truth About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare (CAP)

• Medicare for All Act (Congress.gov)

• Congress returns for crowded lame-duck session as Hegseth impeachment, government funding deadline loom (ABC)

• House poised to impeach Pete Hegseth after GOP midterm defeat (Axios)

• Election Drubbing Complicates Vance’s Calculation on Whether to Run in 2028 (WSJ)

• Potential Vance challengers smell blood in the water after brutal GOP losses (WP)

• Republicans blame Israel for their defeat (Economist)

• Trump set to lurch further right, claiming US took ‘giant step back’ in elections (Guardian)

• Trump calls for DOJ investigation into Democratic calls for oversight (Politico)

• Blanche says Oversight Democrats should be ‘very worried’ after Trump ordered DOJ probe (CNN)

• House Democrats will start their majority focused on boosting healthcare and ending the Iran war (AP)

• Scott Colom and Black Mississippians stand on the cusp of Senate history as vote count stretches on (PBS)

• In America’s measles epidemic, RFK Jr. is now on trial (Politico)

• The American Dream Is No Match for Climate Change (Mother Jones)

• Trump says White House press secretary offer to UFC’s White was a joke (ESPN)

• ‘On par with what the DoD pursued during the Cold War’: Pentagon’s war stockpile plan hits a minerals wall (Fortune)

• Elizabeth Holmes Look-Alike Contest Draws Mass of Black Turtlenecks to Lafayette Park (SFist)

AI NEWS:

• Nvidia investigating reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence (AP)

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Sunday admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife and took "full responsibility" for his actions, after a media report alleged he had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed information to Beijing. The company said that while its board had no reason to believe that either U.S. national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry would examine all available information. [Reuters]

• Jensen is cooked (Marcus)

• Bosses loved AI at work — until they drowned in slop (BI)

• AI nearly had US troops attack a Chinese ship. Nobody could check its work. (The Hill)

• Why the Cyberpocalypse Might Hit China Harder (ChinaTalk)

• Interior Department Approves Plan For Trump Commemorative Eagle (Onion)

If Elon Musk Were a Country...

Here’s a fun fact for you: Elon Musk’s fruitless spending on the election of some $470 million was the equivalent of the annual GDP of Romania. It’s also larger than the GDPs of Pakistan, Egypt, Chile, Peru and the Czech Republic, etc. — three-quarters of the countries on the planet.

This isn’t his net worth; it’s just the money he spent on the elections. If he were his own country, Musk would have somewhere around the 21st largest national economy in the world. On a bad day at the stock market, he loses the equivalent of a Sri Lanka or two Cambodias, three Lebanons or four Nicaraguas.

On a good day, he might pick up the equivalent of a dozen Sierra Leones.

Now before somebody complains that I’m comparing apples to oranges, I admit that an individual’s net worth is not the same thing as a country’s gross domestic product. 

So which is more: A trillion apples for one guy or a trillion oranges for 100 million?

The point is that never in human history has there been such a shocking disparity in wealth between this right-wing weirdo and virtually everyone else here on earth.

And in case anyone thinks we should try and do something about it before Musk takes over the entire world, you can find him these days in Texas, where he went to escape the reach of the Democrats.

Uh oh.

HEADLINES:

• Unfazed by Midterm Rebuke, Miller Is Poised to Push the Limits of Trump’s Power — The president’s new chief of staff has already demonstrated his intention to forge ahead with an agenda that many voters rejected. (NYT)

• The tech billionaires who fled California are facing a new blue Texas (WP)

• How Elon Musk Frittered Away Nearly $500 Million on the Midterms (NYT)

• Risk of Iran war escalation remains high despite Democratic sweep in U.S. midterm elections (CNBC)

• UFC’s Dana White says he will meet with Trump Monday over offer to be White House press secretary (NPR)

• Who Is Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli Tasked With Forming a Government? (NYT)

• US offers $20m reward for information about Iran’s nuclear programme (BBC)

• Vance builds a new identity (Reuters)

• Wiles is the latest high-profile woman to leave Trump administration (USAToday)

• A new group of senators from both parties will vote on how to save Social Security. Here’s what they’ve said about it (Fortune)

• DC official urges incoming Democratic governors to withdraw National Guard (The Hill)

• US Senator Abdul El-Sayed launches ‘Habibi’ political action committee (Al Jazeera)

• Four women and two men killed in Krakow shooting as police say suspect wore ‘military-style attire’ (BBC)

• How a Soldier’s Beating Helped Desegregate the Military (Reveal)

• Why Bolsonaro says U.S. took him in: Trump ‘convinced’ Brazil is no longer a democracy (WP)

AI NEWS:

• The Fridge-Hacking Spree Is an Internet-of-Things Wake-Up Call (Wired)

• Why a new report on Anthropic automating AI development is alarming researchers (Verge)

• ChatGPT can now build custom apps for you in seconds, without any coding — I tried making 6 of my own, and the results surprised me (TechRadar)

• Why investors are dumping AI company stocks after Democrats’ election sweep (WP)

• Uncarved Pumpkin Struggling With Survivor’s Guilt (Onion)