Just One Thing: What's the Israeli "Iron Beam" system?
Although it’s not without its weaknesses, I hope that the new Israeli Iron Beam system, currently scheduled to be activated a year from now, will significantly increase Israeli security, lower their cost of national defense, and, importantly, be a system that other allies of the US might use to defend themselves against rockets and missiles and drones. In short, Iron Beam uses high-powered lasers to destroy these incoming airborne weapons. The machine costs around $500 million but is close to free to operate, unlike Iron Dome and similar systems that fire rockets at the incoming weapons at a cost of at least tens of thousands of dollars per shot. The major weakness of Iron Beam is that it won’t work in bad weather, including rain, fog, dust storms, and low clouds. So I guess we know when the attacks will come.
Two videos below about the Iron Beam. First is latest news. Second is longer but two-year-old explainer about the system:
Dodgers win World Series (thanks to three Yankees errors in one inning)
Congrats to the LA Dodgers who've been trying to prove themselves to the baseball world since their 2020 World Series win in the COVID-shortened season that had people saying it wasn't a real championship. Signing Shohei Ohtani, who became the first player ever to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season, seems to have paid off. The Dodgers were already up 3 games to 1 but the Yankees had a 5-run lead going into the 5th inning last night...when their defense absolutely collapsed. Three errors in one inning...videos of the three just below...leading to an eventual 7-6 Dodgers win at Yankee Stadium and their becoming the 2024 World Series champions.
Dodgers defeat Yankees in World Series after Game 5 comeback - ESPN
Yankees' season ends in heartbreak as they choke away Game 5 of World Series
(And a sorta fun story from Game 2: Japan surpasses the US in historic World Series viewership - Yahoo Sports)
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Today's Guests
Mike Rosen is a friend and a mentor and I wouldn't have a job at iHeart without him. We disagree about "party trumps person" but we agree about most other political things about the proper role of government. One of our areas of disagreement this year is about Proposition 131, which would bring open primaries and ranked-choice voting to many (but not all) Colorado elections. I support it. Mike is against it. I thought it would be "fair and balanced" (even though I've had at least one other opponent of 131 on the show) to have Mike on to discuss/debate the issue with me.
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Other Stuff
Halloween is tonight. We haven't bought any candy. Very few kids in our neighborhood so we might not bother. Feeling very lazy this year too.
Speaking of scary stuff: The most common nightmares — and how to cope with them
And this is just sad: Halloween May Not Be as Chocolatey This Year
Good political notes from National Review. Especially interesting to see the first one from Rich Lowry who is not a Trump fan and who runs a publication that was famously "Never Trump" in 2020 but is far less so now.
Strongest Donald Trump We’ve Seen, Six Days Out from Election | National Review
The Democrats’ Failure to Self-Scout | National Review
I keep not getting to this because it's long and I want to give it a lot of time on the show. I keep getting caught up in other topics that are necessarily timely and this one remains good for a longer time but I'll try again: We Are in Need of Renaissance People | The Free Press
I wonder if this is true: Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos wants conservative writers
I find it hard to believe that Bezos wasn't involved in the Washington Post's decision not to issue an endorsement in the presidential race. Still, I hope I'm wrong and I also hope the second story is true:
Opinion | Jeff Bezos: The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media - The Washington Post
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos wants conservative writers
I have no idea what to think of this but I’m sharing with you anyway. Dual-enrolled high school students drive Colorado community college growth - Chalkbeat
Be careful! The Little Sins We Commit at Work—and the Bosses Who Are Cracking Down - WSJ
As a former (small-scale) coin collector, I love this story: 1652 New England threepence graded by PCGS and set for sale
A rare coin from colonial New England up for auction, $1M expected
Useful information for this Sunday's time change:
We’ll see whether they get away with this. Might make Jared Polis happy but not most of the rest of us: The Battle Brewing Over How Much Red Meat You Eat - WSJ
Useful to keep in mind about the election and polling: Trump and Harris are both a normal polling error away from a blowout - ABC News
But they look like such wholesome characters! Suspects arrested in shooting of Broncos WR Josh Reynolds | Crime & Justice | denvergazette.com
Now that's love: Chinese Man Carries Paralyzed Mother on His Back as They Travel the Country
Today's Videos
I don't normally put political stuff here but this is somewhat amusing, as Trump and his surrogates do everything possible to remind voters that Joe Biden called Trump supporters "garbage." Yes, I know Biden says he didn't actually say that and his people say he didn't mean that, but his words are his words. What a gift to Team Trump...
And just for fun