Author: Admin

Axios   After years of wondering why there was a disconnect between how Americans feel about the economy (bad) and the actual state of the economy (pretty good), we may have the answer — it was politics all along. If politics is the main driver of consumer sentiment, then it’s no longer nearly as useful as an economic indicator. A real-time measure of consumer sentiment abruptly turned positive last week for the first time since June 2021, as Republican optimism surged on Donald Trump’s victory.  READ THE FULL STORY                 

The Hill   India has overtaken China as the top source of international students for U.S. colleges, according to a report from Open Doors. For the 2023-2024 school year, India saw a massive 23 percent increase in the number of college students sent to America, up to 331,602.   China, meanwhile, saw a 4 percent decrease in the number of students sent to U.S. colleges and universities, according to Open Doors, which is published by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Inside EVs   Engineering breakthroughs and improved chassis designs have made cars structurally safer than ever. Cars nowadays come loaded with standard safety features like multiple airbags, advanced cameras and sensors that can monitor surroundings and step in during emergencies. However, a new report highlights a troubling trend: rising levels of distracted driving undermine these safety gains and Tesla appears to be the most affected.  Automotive research and data analytics firm iSeeCars said the Tesla Model Y has a fatal accident rate of more than three times the average car over a billion miles driven. The Model S is twice more likely to result in a fatal crash than the average car. READ THE FULL STORY         

The Hill   Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults are considered overweight or obese, according to new research published Thursday from The Lancet.   The research points to a substantial increase in overweight and obese adults in the last 30 years as well as an especially large increase in adolescents aged 5-24, with forecasts showing little room for improvement leading up to 2050.   In 2021, 75 percent of adults were considered overweight or obese, and, factoring in how weight issues in adolescents rarely resolve, research predicts that number with rise to 80 percent, or about 260 million Americans. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Washington Examiner   President-elect Donald Trump tapped campaign spokesman Steven Cheung as his incoming director of communication and Sergio Gor as director of the presidential personnel office. “Steven Cheung and Sergio Gor have been trusted Advisors since my first Presidential Campaign in 2016, and have continued to champion America First principles throughout my First Term, all the way to our Historic Victory in 2024,” Trump said in a statement Friday. “I am thrilled to have them join my White House as we, Make America Great Again.” The combative Cheung previously worked in the first Trump administration as director of strategic response, while Gor ran the pro-Trump Super PAC, Right For America. READ THE FULL STORY                     

Breitbart   Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a farewell visit to the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday in which he repeatedly insisted that President Joe Biden would “push every dollar out the door that we have at our disposal” to Ukraine. Blinken met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Ukraine’s newly minted foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, asserting that the Biden’s administration secured $8 billion in Ukraine spending in September and would continue to find way to supply Ukraine with “the air defenses it needs, that has the artillery it needs, that has the armored vehicles it needs” to fight Russia. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shortly after Biden lifted sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which would have dramatically increased Russian natural gas exports to western Europe, particularly Germany. President-elect Donald Trump sanctioned the pipeline project during his first term as a means of depriving Russian strongman of the funds necessary to conduct more belligerent activity in eastern Europe; Putin initially invaded Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and colonized it in 2014. Biden’s move to rescind the sanctions prompted shock and condemnation in Kyiv, where President Volodymyr…

Axios   Bitcoin continued its blistering hot streak Wednesday, breaking through the $90,000 price threshold for the first time. The world’s oldest cryptocurrency is an element of the Trump trade that’s shown no signs of stopping. The president-elect adopted a love of the cryptocurrency industry on the campaign trail. READ THE FULL STORY               

NBC News   A triumphant President-elect Donald Trump huddled with House Republicans ahead of their leadership elections on Wednesday and threw his support behind Speaker Mike Johnson, a key ally, as the GOP prepares for unified control of government next year. Endorsing the Louisiana Republican for two more years as speaker, Trump said he is “with him all the way,” using such words as “tremendous” and “terrific” to describe Johnson, according to Republican sources in the closed-door meeting at the Hyatt Regency hotel near the Capitol. The 45th and future 47th president received multiple standing ovations from rank-and-file Republicans during the meeting. Introducing Trump on stage, Johnson called Trump the “Comeback King.” READ THE FULL STORY 

Reuters Donald Trump selected U.S. Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, sources said on Monday, putting the Florida-born politician on track to be the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat once the Republican president-elect takes office in January. Rubio was arguably the most hawkish option on Trump’s shortlist for secretary of state, and he has in years past advocated for a muscular foreign policy with respect to America’s geopolitical foes, including China, Iran and Cuba. Over the last several years he has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Trump’s views. The president-elect accuses past U.S. presidents of leading America into costly and futile wars and has pushed for a more restrained foreign policy. READ THE FULL STORY                 

The Blaze Blaze Media investigative reporter Steve Baker filed a late motion in U.S. District Court to delay all proceedings in his looming Jan. 6 criminal trial, citing the Department of Justice pausing its prosecution of President-elect Donald J. Trump. Judge Christopher Cooper quickly denied the motion. The lead defense attorney for Baker, scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 12, asked Judge Cooper “to vacate all dates and hearings in this case in the interests of justice, and to set a status conference in this matter for the week of February 2, 2025.” Cooper refused. William Shipley cited the DOJ’s motion to pause the criminal case against the president-elect in light of the Nov. 5 election “to afford the government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.” READ THE FULL STORY      

Fox News   Thomas Homan, who President-elect Donald Trump appointed as “border czar” on Sunday night, has a clear message for any Democratic governors who oppose the planned mass deportation operation. “If they’re not willing to help, then get the hell out of the way because [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] is going to do their job,” Homan, who was acting ICE director during the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital in an interview on Friday. Trump announced on Sunday that Homan will be appointed “border czar” and would be in charge of the borders and “all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their country of origin” in the new administration. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Politico   Special counsel Jack Smith’s decision to pause his prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump is no reason to do the same for members of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Justice Department argued Monday. Several Jan. 6 defendants have used Smith’s call for a three-week breather — quickly endorsed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — as proof that all criminal cases connected to the Jan. 6 attack deserve a similar slowdown. “To deny this motion, in the face of the Justice Department’s official position [in the Trump case], would run contrary to the interests of justice and likely subject the defendant to criminal convictions for no purpose other than expediency,” argued William Shipley, an attorney for Jan. 6 defendant Stephen Baker, who was set to begin a trial in his case Tuesday. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart   The Kamala Harris campaign reportedly shelled out $1 million to Oprah Winfrey for her involvement in the doomed presidential bid. Oprah Winfrey — who is estimated to be a billionaire — appeared alongside Kamala Harris in a televised townhall-style interview in September and later at a rally in Philadelphia the night before the election where the former talkshow queen fear-mongered toward women, claiming that if they did not show up to vote, they might never get the chance again. Winfrey also spoke during primetime at the Democratic National Convention in August, where she helped coronate Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee, shouting “J0000000yyyyy!” to the cameras in her trademark vocal vibrato. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Washington Examiner   Special counsel Jack Smith is in discussions with the Justice Department to end both federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. Smith, who has led two cases against Trump since he was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022, is planning to halt the 2020 election subversion case and the classified documents case against Trump in light of Trump’s decisive presidential victory, multiple outlets reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The developments were reported by Fox News and CNN. A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment to the Washington Examiner but highlighted the DOJ’s long-standing policy that states, “The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions,” according to a memorandum from October 2000. READ THE FULL STORY               

Breitbart   A new migrant caravan departed Mexico’s southern border in an attempt to reach the U.S. border before the arrival of a new Trump administration. Mexican immigration officials stood by as the caravan departed while police forces escorted them. On Tuesday morning, approximately 2,500 migrants departed from Tapachula, Chiapas, on their way to Mexico City. As in the case of other caravans, once the migrants reach Mexico City, they are expected to disband as they find various ways of quickly reaching the U.S. border, such as commercial flights, passenger buses, or other vehicles. Due to the size of the caravan, Mexican police vehicles escorted the migrants and directed traffic around them. READ THE FULL STORY             

The Hill   Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is slated to hold a potentially big role in a new Trump administration, said Wednesday there are “entire departments” within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that “have to go.” “In some categories … there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job, they’re not protecting our kids,” Kennedy said during an interview on MSNBC.   Kennedy endorsed President-elect Trump in August after initially running as a Democratic candidate for president, and then as an independent. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart   A detailed analysis of Wikipedia’s editing patterns has uncovered systematic changes to articles related to political content, revealing a focused effort to tie Donald Trump to fascism. The Wikipedia article on “Trumpism” contains 31 references to fascism, with more than half of the article’s content added by a single editor. PirateWires reports that recent investigations into Wikipedia’s editing practices have revealed significant patterns in how political content is being shaped on the platform, particularly regarding articles related to former President Donald Trump. The analysis shows that several interconnected articles have been created and modified with a specific focus on associating Trump with fascism. The investigation identified multiple Wikipedia articles, including “Trumpism,” “Donald Trump and Fascism,” “Fascism in North America,” and “Racial views of Donald Trump,” that demonstrate coordinated editing patterns. The “Trumpism” article alone contains 31 distinct references to fascism, with one particular editor, JJMesserly, contributing 50.5 percent of the article’s content. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Washington Examiner   House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) believes that neither party is likely to win a significant majority in the House in the 2024 election or soon in the future. With one week until Election Day, the top House Republican told the Washington Examiner that while Republicans have an opportunity to expand their slim five-seat majority, gone are the days for either party to hold a double-digit advantage over the other. That’s due to several reasons, including recent redistricting that has changed the electoral map and made several seats more competitive.  “We could get up to maybe double digits, like a 10-seat majority, but the days of a 30-seat majority are gone for either side. That’s just kind of where things are right now,” Scalise said. “But each race is so expensive. I mean, most of these races are $20 [million] to $30 million races.” READ THE FULL STORY 

The Hill   Half of Generation Z’s voters said they have lied about their votes, according to a new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll. Among the Gen Z voters in the survey, 48 percent said they had previously “lied to” those with whom they are close about which candidates received their votes, more than double the 23 percent of registered voters across all age groups that said they had previously done the same.   The survey took place Oct. 22-24, only a few weeks out from Election Day, which will follow a chaotic and heavily polarized campaign season. The 2024 general election brings with it multiple key Senate and House races, as well as a heated competition for the presidency between former President Trump and Vice President Harris. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Washington Examiner   Vice President Kamala Harris continued her campaign’s abortion extremism during an interview with NBC News’s Hallie Jackson on Tuesday. When asked about religious exemptions for abortion, Harris stated, “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body.” The Democratic nominee for president believes in forcing religious healthcare providers to perform abortions, a procedure that goes against many of their deeply held religious beliefs. It’s further proof a Harris administration would be authoritarian and infringe on religious rights while masquerading as freedom-loving and tolerant.  Harris has been radically pro-abortion during her entire political career. Her history shows she is more than willing to target religious healthcare providers with punishment for not bowing to societal pressure.  READ THE FULL STORY                 

Politico   North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia for training, some of whom are already moving toward the front lines near the Ukrainian border, the Pentagon warned Monday. “We are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk” region, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. The confirmation comes hours after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said North Korean troops were moving toward Russia’s Kursk region, which thousands of Ukrainian forces entered in August and where they continue to hold significant ground as Russian forces struggle to dislodge them. READ THE FULL STORY               

The Hill   A ballot measure to enshrine abortion protections in Florida’s Constitution does not have enough support to pass, according to a new poll.  The survey from St. Pete Polls conducted for FloridaPolitics.com showed a majority of voters support the measure — far more than those who would vote “no.” There were also nearly 8 percent who said they were undecided or wouldn’t answer. But Florida requires an unusually high threshold of 60 percent of voters to approve a ballot measure, and the poll showed the measure falling short with 54 percent.     The poll of 1,227 likely Florida general election voters was conducted from Oct. 23-25 with a 2.8 percentage point margin of error. Nearly 80 percent of Democrats said they were in favor of the amendment, while nearly 59 percent of Republicans said they were against it.   READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart   President Joe Biden is the nowhere man in the 2024 election race as Vice President Kamala Harris’s team simply ignores his entreaties to hit the campaign trail at her side, a report Sunday suggests. Three people told Axios the Harris campaign keeps saying they’ll get back to the octogenarian’s team on when to send him out into the field – and then simply move on. The Harris campaign views Biden as a political liability since his defenestration but doesn’t want to say directly they have no need for his efforts. READ THE FULL STORY          

New York Post  Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020 by Iranian security forces, has been executed in Iran after being convicted on terror charges disputed by his family, the country’s judiciary reported Monday. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported his execution took place Monday morning. Iran accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing. READ THE FULL STORY        

New York Post Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has reportedly given the newspaper a mandate to add more conservative voices to its opinion section — even as he remains silent over the broadsheet’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Bezos — the world’s second richest person with a fortune that Bloomberg Billionaires Index valued at $211 billion as of Monday — is keen on gaining a more ideologically diverse readership by expanding his newspaper’s reach among right-leaning audiences, according to a report in The New York Times. The Amazon founder, meanwhile, has remained silent over the non-endorsement controversy. He has not spoken publicly amid protests from high-level staffers and prominent figures such as Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. READ THE FULL STORY        

New York Post Neiman Marcus has quietly removed the word “Christmas” from its iconic, 98-year-old annual gift catalog – and some company insiders gripe that the stealthy switch smacks of woke politics, The Post has learned. The swanky retailer didn’t specifically discuss the pivot in a press release last week. But for the first time ever, it called the glossy catalog — long known for its extravagant gifts, from last year’s $975,000 electric Cadillac to his-and-her Egyptian mummy cases in 1971 — the “Holiday Book” instead of the “Christmas Book.” READ THE FULL STORY    

Axios   Former President Trump on Wednesday night blasted his former White House chief of staff John Kelly as a “lowlife” and “total degenerate” after Kelly gave a series of critical interviews about his former boss. Trump’s Truth Social posts mark his first public remarks about Kelly since his ex-chief-of-staff divulged the GOP presidential nominee’s alleged praise for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. “John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. READ THE FULL STORY               

New York Post   Kevin McCarthy could lead a new house soon, The Post has learned. The ousted former speaker of the House of Representatives is widely seen as a top contender to be former President Donald Trump’s first chief of staff if he retakes the White House following the Nov. 5 election, according to sources familiar with the deliberations. No final decision has been made and there is no sign that McCarthy is campaigning for the coveted role — though one person said the Californian has shown openness to being part of a second Trump administration in some capacity. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart   Mortgage rates climbed for the fourth straight week as a resilient U.S. economy continues to influence financial markets, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 6.54 percent this week, the highest level since early August. The latest figure marks a 10-basis-point increase from the previous week. In comparison, the rate on a 30-year mortgage stood at 7.79 percent a year ago, offering some relief to borrowers even as costs remain elevated. READ THE FULL STORY                 

Breitbart   “My gut says” former President Donald Trump will win the election, Nate Silver wrote Wednesday, with a warning not to trust “anyone’s gut” instinct. Silver, a statistician, writer, and poker player, says the election remains a “50/50” coin flip, a characterization that many political experts argue is true with just 13 days until Election Day. Newsweek reported on Silver’s history of predicting elections: 2008: Nate Silver successfully predicted the winner in 49 out of 50 states in the presidential election. 2012: He correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states. 2016: Although Donald Trump won in an upset, Silver’s model gave Trump the highest chance of winning (about 30%) compared to most other forecasters, who largely dismissed Trump’s chances. 2020: Silver’s model favored Joe Biden, which aligned with the final outcome, though it underestimated Trump’s performance in certain states like Florida. READ THE FULL STORY                      

The Hill   Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the Supreme Court for an injunction taking him off Wisconsin’s presidential ballot in an emergency request docketed Wednesday. Since suspending his independent presidential campaign and backing former President Trump, Kennedy has sought to remove his name in key swing states while remaining on the ballot elsewhere.  The Supreme Court previously denied Kennedy’s emergency request to restore his name on New York’s ballot. His petition there was rejected over residency issues.  READ THE FULL STORY                   

Politico   A new poll that includes large oversamples of young voters of color shows Donald Trump has massively increased his support among groups that he previously performed poorly with in 2020. It underscores some of the challenges Kamala Harris has had connecting with younger male voters — a demographic that typically breaks for Democrats, but is showing signs of shifting away from the party this election cycle. READ THE FULL STORY                

The Epoch Times Steve Bannon will serve the rest of his prison sentence, a federal judge ordered on Oct. 22. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected Bannon’s request to be released early from prison. “Whether viewed as a motion for reconsideration or not, the Court concludes that the relief the Defendant seeks is not warranted,” Nichols said in a minute order released by the U.S. District Court in Washington. READ THE FULL STORY      

CBS News   Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested Tuesday on charges of sex trafficking and engaging in interstate prostitution, prosecutors announced Tuesday. The indictment contains more than a dozen counts, and includes allegations of sex trafficking between December 2008 and March 2015. Jeffries allegedly leveraged his position as CEO of the company to lure young men into sex by suggesting they could become models for the fashion company, prosecutors said. READ THE FULL STORY