Just One Thing: Trump takes a (small) step toward pressuring Russia
US sanctions Russia oil firms after Trump cancels Putin summit
These sanctions are against two of the most important companies in Russia. It's unclear to me that this move functions as a lot more than symbolic, but probably a little more and it's serious symbolism, or at least it could be but recent history shows that Trump never sticks with a tough line against Putin, the Russian dictator who seems to play Trump like a fiddle most of the time.
In the above article it says, “(Trump) said one of the reasons he decided not to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine was that it takes six to 12 months to train on operating them.”
To me that’s a great reason to actually start moving in the direction of providing the weapons…you can let Russia (and the world) know you’re doing it (even if you don’t actually plan to follow through at the end) and in the meantime start the training process and there’s a good reason that none get fired at Russia for the better part of a year, a reason that won’t look like someone is showing weakness. Seems like good leverage and good optionality.
Meanwhile, earlier today the European Union passed additional sanctions against Russia and others who assist Russia in selling energy and avoiding existing sanctions: E.U. Approves Sweeping Sanctions Targeting Russian Gas and Crypto - The New York Times
EU press release: 19th package of sanctions against Russia: EU targets Russian energy, third-country banks and crypto providers - Consilium
Oil prices rose on the news: Oil rises nearly 5% on fresh US sanctions against Russia | Reuters
Russia says they don't care:
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A very bad look for GoFundMe
GoFundMe's response is not satisfying anybody: (55) Post | Feed | LinkedIn
GoFundMe Reversing Course On Nonprofit Pages - The NonProfit Times (They're not really reversing course yet...the headline is somewhat misleading.)
Hard to see how GoFundMe doesn't have to back down massively and apologize. Can you imagine if they took whatever time and money it cost them to set up 1.4 million pages and now have to take most of them down?
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Ballroom Pushback
What's turned into a minor dustup is becoming a bigger issue with news that the entire East Wing of the White House, rather than just part of it, will be demolished in order to make room for a massive new 90,000 sq ft ballroom (and other spaces above it, I presume).
For the record, I don't care much about this and I have no idea whether the proper process would have the demolition/construction reviewed and approved by any outside organization(s) including the National Capital Planning Commission. Team Trump argues that NCPC has jurisdiction over construction but not demolition. Clearly this other group thinks it should also be involved: Statement in Response to the Proposed Construction of the White House Ballroom | National Trust for Historic Preservation
While the price tag has ballooned from $200 million to $250 million and now to $300 million, it's all being paid for by private donors (including Trump himself).
President Trump explained a bit yesterday:
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Today's Guests
Kevin Flynn is a member of the Denver City Council who has been involved with tailoring the new policies surround the city's use of Flock license-plate readers.
Apart from the interesting privacy concerns, I did think the City Council overreacted some months ago when they panicked about how the system might be used to help ICE catch illegal aliens: Denver mayor extends Flock contract despite privacy concerns - Denver Gazette
More here from Axios: Mile Highlights: Flock contract extended
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David Zucker is (along with his brother) the writer and/or director of many movies including Airplane! and the Naked Gun series as well as Kentucky Fried Movie.
David, along with actor Robert Hays (who will be on the show next Monday) will attend a special screening of Airplane! at the Paramount Theater in Denver on Sunday, November 2: 97.3 KBCO: Airplane! Screening w/ David Zucker & Robert Hays Tickets Nov 02, 2025 Denver, CO | Ticketmaster
David's book: Amazon.com: Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!
David's comedy class: David Zucker's Master Crash: A Crash Course In Spoof Comedy
Was David involved in the Liam Neeson remake of the Naked Gun? Special Guest David Zucker — The Stunt List
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Alex DeMille has co-authored, with his legendary father Nelson DeMille, three thriller novels. The latest, The Tin Men, was completed after Nelson, who's been on my show a couple of times, passed away. That in itself is a story. And The Tin Men is a fun read about the potential downside of creating weapons out of humanoid robots powered by AI.
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Other Stuff
Elon Musk is in a "Mad Max" mood: Musk's battle with Sean Duffy puts Tesla and SpaceX at risk - The Washington Post
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How to win at Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Rock Paper Scissors Study from Zhejiang University - World Rock Paper Scissors Association
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Makes sense to me: Dairy Queen Blizzard Helped End Armed Standoff In Washington State | The Smoking Gun
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Can the French solve the crime of the century (or at least of the decade)? Traces of DNA recovered in helmet, glove left behind by Louvre jewel heist suspects: Police - ABC News
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I think marijuana should be removed from the list of substances that would prevent gun ownership (if such a list should exist at all): Supreme Court considers gun ownership for marijuana smokers | AP News
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I mentioned "I, Pencil" on the show yesterday and now Don Boudreaux has a new note about it. Worth reading for econ nerds: Rodrik Misses the Pencil's Point - Cafe Hayek
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Just keeps getting (not) better for this guy: Special Prosecutor Appointed in Jay Jones Reckless-Driving Probe | National Review
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Henrietta, RIP: Denver neighborhood mourns beloved wild turkey 'Henrietta' | 9news.com
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A handful of topics I didn't get to yesterday:
This is bad policy and bad law and I hope it gets overturned, and then there's the YouTube idiocy (at least it seems like idiocy to me but maybe I'm missing something): YouTube crackdown, Trump's "big, beautiful bill" threaten gambling
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This is a real issue but still it's hard to imagine MAGA abandoning Trump over almost anything: Trump's foreign policy focus undercuts his America First message
Here's an op-ed representing the viewpoint of people who don't like Trump's focus on foreign policy. (Subscription may be required.)
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This seems a lot like heroin: Spending hours on TikTok? Here’s how the app keeps you swiping. - Washington Post
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Sounds good to me! United Airlines flights from DIA equipped with speedier Wi-Fi
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Today's Video
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush talk about their new tour with their new drummer, Anika Nilles