MY VOTER GUIDE IS HERE!!!
Thanks to everyone who asked me to do this. Though I'm not sure you'll thank me when you see how long the document is. I put a LOT of work into it for you, primarily about ballot measures. (I don't have a lot to say about candidates because most of the decisions are fairly easy and most seats are not really competitive.)
Just One Thing: One year after October 7
It's become a date that doesn't need the year attached, like 9/11 or "January 6".
As I write these words on Sunday afternoon, it has just become October 7 in Israel, a year since the worst day in the nation’s history, and the worst single day for Jews since the Holocaust. Even though it would be predictable in its symbolism, I hope that Israel attacks Iran today; just how they do so is way above my pay grade. Following the brutal tragedy of October 7, 2023, Israel has upended the power structure in the Middle East, reasserting itself as more than capable of defending itself and at least somewhat defanging the evil serpent that is the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian people don’t support their Islamofascist government. I hope the rest of the world can help those people destroy the ayatollahs. Israeli retribution against Iran, not just Hamas, for October 7 should arrive soon.
PLEASE READ THIS: Can Israel Win Back What October 7 Took? | The Free Press (thefp.com)
AND THIS: Things Worth Remembering: Jonathan Sacks on the Improbability of Israel | The Free Press (thefp.com)
Don't forget, this remains a multi-front war for Israel: Israeli forces redeploy to northern Gaza to quell Hamas resurgence - JNS.org
One Year Since Oct. 7, Iran Is in Israel’s Crosshairs - The American Spectator
Israel supporters cover UK Tube with Hamas 'rape' maps - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
I don't know what this says about me, but this story made me smile: Hezbollah operatives were duped into holding pagers with 2 hands, causing worse injuries | The Times of Israel
Let's hope they got this terrorist-criminal: Who is Esmail Qaani, Iran's Quds Force commander ? | Reuters
Today's Guests
Joel Rosenberg is a best-selling author of (mostly) fiction and non-fiction and one of the best-connected people you'll ever meet when it comes to power players in the Middle East. He's the proprietor of All-Israel News and we're proud to call him The Ross Kaminsky Show's Middle East Correspondent, although Joel is actually in Colorado today visiting family and friends.
His next book in the fabulous Markus Ryker series will be coming out next March.
Joel C. Rosenberg (joelrosenberg.com)
The Beijing Betrayal (A Marcus Ryker Thriller) (March 2025)
My friend Lenina was at the Trump rally in July in Butler, PA at which the former president was nearly assassinated. She (and thousands of others) returned to Butler on Saturday to hear Donald Trump again, this time joined by Elon Musk. Lenina joins us to describe the day. (See her pictures just below...)
Ben Glasner is an economist at the Economic Innovation Group and co-author of a fascinating new paper about how so many Americans have become (horrifyingly, from my perspective) dependent on receiving other people's money: The Great Transfer-mation Project 2024 - Economic Innovation Group (eig.org)
More about Ben: Ben Glasner - Economic Innovation Group (eig.org)
Some pics taken by Lenina at the Trump rally in Butler, PA yesterday:
1 of 5 Still 4 hours before Trump speaks at Butler, PA rally on 10/5/24Photo: Lenina C
2 of 5 MAGA sign on semi-truck at Donald Trump's Butler, PA rally on 10/5/24Photo: Lenina C
3 of 5 Lenina's favorite T-shirt of the day at Donald Trump's Butler, PA rally on 10/5/24Photo: Lenina C
4 of 5 Better prepared than last time at Donald Trump's Butler, PA rally on 10/5/24Photo: Lenina C
5 of 5 Elon Musk joins Donald Trump at Donald Trump's Butler, PA rally on 10/5/24Photo: Lenina C
And then there's The Jump:
Excellent political trivia from Bruce Mehlman
Other Stuff
Jimmy's on the case: Tina Peters deserves what she got | Jimmy Sengenberger | Opinion | gazette.com
Advances in medicine are, and will continue to be, mind-boggling: World-first therapy using donor cells sends autoimmune diseases into remission (nature.com)
There's a documentary out now about James Carville. (It's on CNN.) Part of it is about how he and his very conservative, Republican wife, Mary Matalin, have made such a great and durable marriage despite such massive political differences. The same day that I learned about the documentary, I saw this: This couple's divided on politics, but bound together by love | AP News
And it occurs to me: It didn't used to be remarkable (in the literal sense of worth being remarked on) that there could be a couple with divergent political views. Why is it remarkable now?
Will this well-intended "improvement" turn into a disaster? Businesses brace as construction begins on Denver's Colfax rapid transit project - Axios Denver I am extremely skeptical of large mass-transit projects. I have no idea why the city thinks there's enough demand for riding buses that it's worth taking a lane of traffic and reducing parking. Furthermore, I have no idea how much this will cost taxpayers every year going forward as the odds of it generating enough in fare revenue to cover cost of operations are exceedingly low.
I'm very happy for Bubbles the turtle: 'Deformed' Turtle That Looks Like A Duck Gets 2nd Chance At Life At 70 | Riverhead, NY Patch
Can't a Republican do better than this? The Fiscal Impact of the Harris and Trump Campaign Plans-Mon, 10/07/2024 - 12:00 | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (crfb.org)
Interesting angle I hadn't thought of: Denver’s double standard on immigration | Opinion | gazette.com
Modern-day Luddites: How Bad Are U.S. Ports? The Best Is 53rd Worldwide - WSJ
A potentially worse-for-Florida hurricane may be on the way: Florida prepares to evacuate millions of people ahead of another hurricane - POLITICO
I probably won't share any of this on the air, but Tim Walz is just not impressive and WOW does he lie a lot. About Trump and an abortion ban, about manufacturing jobs, about tax cuts only going to the rich.: And, if you watch this, that the heck was the "we have the safest roads" comment about?
If only bears could read the news and know not to do this stuff. But really, this is a very sad story for everybody. I'm sure the guy who was attacked also didn't want this outcome: Bear with 3 cubs attacks man after breaking into Colorado home (kdvr.com)
I do believe we've gone from kids who don't want to read that much to kids who truly can't, and it's going to hurt them and hurt this country: The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books - The Atlantic
Dragon asked this question last week: Why is it "left, left, left right left"? Why do we start with the left? Why does the military start marching on the left foot? Is this the same all over the world? - Quora
A couple things I didn't get to last week:
Manufacturing employment as % of total employment keeps dropping, even with tariffs: Strain-AESG-Exec-Summary.pdf (economicstrategygroup.org)
Melania comes out 100% pro-choice (and I think it's good for Trump, though not a big difference-maker):
An incredible story of survival: Climbers rescued after three days on mountain in India (bbc.com)
Today's Videos
An interesting video by Rick Beato, one of the biggest YouTube dudes in the world of music...and how despite having over 1.5 BILLION views of his videos, he still can't seem to get to a lot of big rock stars to have them on his (great) sh
An NBA first: Father and son playing at the same time
Lebron James and Lebron "Bronny" James Jr played about 4 minutes together (for the LA Lakers) in the 2nd quarter of a pre-season game yesterday.