October 17, 2026

RAS & Akhilleus are amused/aghast that Trump can't find his ride & walks -- zigzag fashion -- right past it. Secret Service agents corral him moments later & lead him back to the Beast's open door, which he had just skirted. It's remarkable: ~~~

oh man remember when the media used to creatively edit videos to make it look like Biden was wondering off?

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— Henry (@henrythedog.bsky.social) October 16, 2026 at 9:33 PM

     ~~~ Marie: I get that these rallies are exhausting & it's all Trump can do to hang on for the hour or so of free-association ramblings. He won't have to do these rallies anymore, but I still don't see how he can last for two more years-plus. I told my local ACLU lady in December 2024 that I was afraid Trump would make it till maybe June 2028, then die or be 25th-ed out, leaving the presidency* to JayDee. Then all would be forgiven & everybody would vote for JayDee because they felt so sad about Trump. That remains my biggest fear.

Israel. Gerry Shih, et al., of the Washington Post: “ A group of European diplomats was assaulted in the West Bank on Saturday, allegedly by Israeli settlers, a day after an attack by settlers that seriously injured Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine near the Palestinian village of Abu Falah. Israeli police and military officials said they had opened an investigation into the incident involving the diplomats in Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, and about a half-hour drive south of Abu Falah. Video showed the delegation, including representatives of France, Belgium and Poland, being assaulted by masked figures.... U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Saturday called the attack on Levine 'vicious' and 'cowardly,' in a post on X.” A New York Times story is here; this is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Lucia Sang of CBS News: "A police investigation is underway after European diplomats said they were assaulted by Israeli settlers while visiting the occupied West Bank on Saturday, authorities said. Meanwhile, the prime minister's office urged caution before 'drawing conclusions,' and the reports come 'amid concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel.'"

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Madison Kircher of the New York Times: “'No Kings,' the coalition known for blanketing the country in protests against ... [Donald] Trump, is setting its sights on a new target as midterm elections approach: voter turnout. On Oct. 17, organizers around the United States will hold 'No Kings: Vote Early' events to promote early voting and help people form voting plans like requesting absentee ballots, checking on their voter registrations or finding neighbors to help them drive to the polls.... Over 2,500 are planned around the country. The organization is maintaining a live map for people looking to find events in their area. There is also a virtual option for those who cannot physically attend an event. Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, is among the speakers at that virtual event.” The link is a gift link.

⭐What Is an American? Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “For Trump and his movement, real Americans are defined by race and ancestry. The administration’s war on birthright citizenship stems from that belief. It’s the reason Trump, who accused immigrants of 'poisoning the blood' of our country, has limited refugee resettlement almost exclusively to white South Africans. JD Vance channeled the same idea last year when, attacking the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, he said, 'I think the people whose ancestors fought in the Civil War have a hell of a lot more claim over America than the people who say they don’t belong.' And now the Trump administration is attempting to strip Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia, of her citizenship so as to deport her. This is more than just another persecution of one of Trump’s political enemies. Rather, his government is tacitly declaring the citizenship of all foreign-born people provisional, their Americanness something that can be revoked. It’s a frontal attack on the idea of constitutional equality.” The link is a gift link. Read on. ~~~

~~~ Jeremy Roebuck, et al., of the Washington Post: “Lawyers for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) on Friday accused federal authorities of ignoring key restrictions that a judge placed on the search of the lawmaker’s D.C. residence this week and demanded the immediate return of all property seized from the home.... Among the restrictions the attorneys said agents did not follow were provisions requiring investigators to provide Omar’s lawyers with a copy of the warrant and to contact the House Office of General Counsel before carrying out the search. That would have given Omar the chance to consult with congressional attorneys on any legislative work product that might have been exempt from federal seizure, her lawyers said.” ~~~

~~~ Nicole Sganga of CBS News: "Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin [volunteered while a guest on a right-wing podcast Friday that] federal agents executed multiple search warrants on the same day they searched Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home.... Mullin described the ongoing investigation as a 'strong case' while suggesting cases of coordinated immigration fraud could be prosecuted under federal racketeering laws.... 'We had a judge sign it, and we expect to be able to take the case to a grand jury,' Mullin said.... 'But I will tell you, we wouldn't move forward, and President Trump didn't want to move forward either, unless we knew that it couldn't be politically driven.'... [Donald] Trump previously stated he didn't know anything about the investigation.... Mullin suggested that a racketeering prosecution could allow investigators to examine conduct extending back decades, arguing that statutes of limitations generally would not apply to such cases.... Under federal law, criminal RICO prosecutions are generally subject to a five-year statute of limitations, although in certain cases prosecutors can incorporate older acts...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Like Katie Zacharia, Markwayne is not a lawyer, but I guess he's playing one on podcasts now. At least Katie Z. studied law; I think Markwayne studied wrestling & plumbing for a while. While one certainly does not have to be a lawyer to express an opinion on a particular law or a particular case, a high-ranking government official who suggests he has insider information should be very discreet in offering opinions that could sway members of a jury pool & deprive a defendant of her rights. Anyway, from what little I know, the case against Omar doesn't sound like "a strong case," inasmuch as the events happened some 25 years ago when she was less than 18 years old & any substantive misstatements of fact may have been made by her father, who is deceased. Meanwhile, Markwayne has let on that Trump lied again when he claimed not to have knowledge of the case. (In fairness, Markwayne is not particularly familiar with standard English grammar & sentence structure, so here his remark requires interpretation & assumptions: "... unless we knew that it couldn't be politically driven"?? What does that mean exactly, Markwayne?) Until further notice, I'm sticking with Goldberg's theory of the case.

Implausible Deniability.

Marie: At various times yesterday, it looked as if cartoonist Mike Luckovich might have unfairly implicated one of the SOBs depicted in the cartoon above, a cartoon Luckovich released Thursday. Plus, another of the SOBs claimed no knowledge of how Ukraine's Starshield system just happened to go down at the very time he & President Zelensky were publicly feuding. On Thursday, Elon wrote on X, “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Seemingly backing up Elmo, Reuters reported that someone -- ID unknown -- in the White House ordered the Pentagon to slow down Starshield, thus imperiling not only Ukraine's war effort but also the lives of its residents, including some Americans. ~~~

~~~ But Friday, said POTUS* unequivocally claimed innocence: 

     ~~~ Mira Bhakta of the Hill: Donald “Trump claimed on Friday that neither he nor SpaceX founder Elon Musk caused Ukraine’s Starlink outage earlier this week as the president clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries. 'I didn’t do that. No, we didn’t do that at all. In fact, I don’t even think it was slowed down from what I understood. Because I just checked this morning,' Trump told reporters Friday while on his way to a campaign rally in Georgia. 'I heard about it from the news, the media. And we didn’t slow it down at all. And I think it’s probably functioning, from what I understand,' he continued. When asked by a reporter if Musk was involved, Trump said, 'I don’t know if there’s anybody because it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Elon, as I understand.'” ~~~

~~~ In yesterday Comments thread, RAS pointed out that if Trump didn't order the slowdown, he sure as hell should have known who in the White House did. Why doesn't he know what his own staff are doing, even in a life-or-death matter? In any normal White House, a real president (a) would have been fully briefed on the matter and would have had to give the final go-ahead on such a drastic action. Or (b) if a rogue staffer had made the call, it would have been easy to track her down. Is Trump not interested in finding the perp? His indifference is suspicious, innit? ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE, Erin Banco, one of the reporters on the Reuters scoop, appeared on MS NOW Friday and said that Reuters still was unable to determine who in the White House ordered the slowdown of Starshield. But, she said, SpaceX would have to have been involved at the operational level because SpaceX, not the Pentagon, controls the system. The Pentagon might have told SpaceX engineers to slow down the system, but Pentagon officials themselves could not have "flipped a switch" & effected the slowdown. So the mystery persisted. Until this: ~~~

~~~⭐"They Were Both In On It." Abbey Fenbert & Polina Moroziuk of the Kyiv Independent: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk approached ... Donald Trump with the idea of restricting Starlink speeds for Ukrainian forces, the Telegraph reported on Oct. 16, citing four sources familiar with the matter.... Conflicting reports about the reason for the cutoff — and who was responsible — have left Ukraine with questions even after Starlink service stabilized on the front lines. But the Telegraph on Oct. 16 reported that it was Musk who proposed the speed cap to Trump — and Trump 'agreed,' one source said.... [In denying responsibility for the slowdown,] Musk neglected to mention his own role in the change. A senior source told the Telegraph that after the chaos and violence that followed the restriction, Musk was concerned about negative consumer reactions in Europe. 'He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the U.S. administration that did it,' the source reportedly said. 'The reality is that they were both in it.' This account was confirmed by two Ukrainian sources and a high-ranking European official, according to the Telegraph." ~~~

     ~~~ Would you buy a used car from Elmo? See Akhilleus' comments on Musk in today's thread. ~~~

     ~~~ Heather Cox Richardson posts a pretty helpful narrative on how the tall tales went down. And who knows? maybe months from now, we'll get a definitive answer from the Pentagon's inspector general, thanks to a request from Democratic & Republican senators. ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: Earlier this week, we learned in a Washington Post report that four White House staffers were ready to finger Trump for choosing a completely incompetent, lying press secretary without even consulting his own chief-of-staff or arranging for the vetting of said incompetent liar. Now, once again, four people -- all of whom probably work in Trump's White House -- outed Trump for lying on an even more important matter. Same four? Probably not (though there could be a bit of overlap), because the two matters involve different White House ops. The Trump Train is jumping the tracks, car by car. And the cars, of course, are connected. 

The Traitorous Trump Mocks Congress. Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: Donald “Trump signed an executive order on Friday night exempting Russia from a new sanctions measure that Congress passed last month, offering another economic lifeline to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin as the United States turns to Russia for help in lowering gas prices. The sanctions were intended to target Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions, and were part of a law that was named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July after spending more than a year building support for the measure. The law, which is intended to squeeze the financial lifelines sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine, also provided Mr. Trump with additional tariff authority that he could use to punish countries that continue to trade with Russia.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: To be clear, Congress -- led by Republicans -- signed a law -- promoted by one of Trump's most ardent sycophants -- to sanction Russia. Trump signed the law, then promptly exempted Russia from the law. As ABC News puts it, "The move effectively neutralizes the law by lifting provisions that barred the president from removing sanctions against Russia and preventing a host of new sanctions and penalties from taking effect on Oct. 18 -- the deadline set by the law." 

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: Trump & Musk are "both fascist warmongers who want Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to succeed, and will do whatever they think is politically possible to achieve this." ~~~  

~~~ Kateryna Denisova of the Kyiv Independent: "President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 17 that ... Donald Trump was 'wrong' to further 'block' sanctions against Russia, while expressing hope that the U.S. leader would do 'everything possible' to stop the war.... 'Unfortunately, I don't think this is a way to stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. On the contrary, he feels joy that he has such support,' Zelensky told reporters. He described bipartisan support for the Russia sanction bill in September as 'a major victory,' calling the decision to 'scrap' it 'wrong.'"

According to a report in the Financial Times, E.U. leaders intended to urge President Zelensky to "tone down" his criticism of the Fat Fascist Liar & PutinPuppet. So perhaps that explains Zelensky's response when, at the European Council meeting in Brussels, a Sky News reporter asked him if he thought Donald Trump was making him a scapegoat: ~~~

We now take a break from reports of the usual Trumpian atrocities to briefly return to waiting room fare: Trump's Architectural Digest: ~~~

~~~ Arc de Trump News. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Friday released final plans for ... Donald Trump’s 250-foot-tall triumphal arch that do not include drones, snipers or other features of the 'military complex' that Trump said he would add to the project. The National Capital Planning Commission, a federal panel that reviews major construction projects, posted new renderings and accompanying documents provided by the Interior Department, which is overseeing the controversial project. None of the new documents mentions a military purpose for the arch, with officials instead offering information on planned tourist visits and other ceremonial functions. Asked Friday about the discrepancy between Trump’s announcement about a military complex and the newly posted plans, a White House official disputed that Trump’s plans had changed.... An Interior Department spokesperson, Katie Martin, wrote in an email, 'The current design of the Triumphal Arch is capable of accommodating the national security functions — and more — highlighted in the President’s Truth Social post.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you are confused or skeptical, then you just don't appreciate fascistic coded language & subordination of facts. Get with it! Meanwhile, look forward to seeing drone attacks from the observation towers. The children of some lucky visitors will get to launch drones on their own, and everybody can try out the weapons in the Arc-senal. If you hit somebody you claim is ripping up the lining of the Reflecting Pool, you win a MAGA-hat-wearing kewpie doll. 

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: “Less than three weeks from elections that could shift the balance of power in Congress, more signs are emerging that Russia and other foreign governments are once again seeking to influence American voters.... The influence operation known as Doppelgänger has created a flood of social media posts pushing themes of how bipartisan support for Israel is collapsing, according to Alethea, the threat intelligence company. Doppelgänger is run by Russia’s Social Design Agency, a public relations firm. Both the U.S. government and the European Union have imposed punitive sanctions upon it. On Wednesday, X, the social media platform, announced it had banned 13,000 accounts linked to three separate influence operations connected to Iran, Russia and China. The platform said the fake accounts amplified 'content about U.S. politics, targeting candidates and public figures across the political spectrum.'” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

They Really Don't Know What They're Doing. Shawn Hubler & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: “California election officials looking into Trump administration demands to verify the citizenship or block the votes of suspected noncitizens said on Friday that the government had sent them lists so sloppily compiled, and on such short notice, that it was difficult, if not impossible, to comply. Officials said that they received thousands of names lacking critical identifying information like Social Security numbers, and that many of the names were paired with California addresses over which they had no jurisdiction. 'It was basically a data dump' said Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Los Angeles County’s registrar’s office. The method by which the federal government transmitted the list — a thumb drive with a sticky note containing a password — also initially threatened the security of voter rolls, and made elections officials reluctant to use it, Mr. Sanchez said. The government later sent a spreadsheet that was an unsubstantiated jumble, he said.” The link is a gift link. 

Isaac Arnsdorf & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “The White House task force that ... Donald Trump charged with uncovering evidence of election fraud hasn’t produced any. Instead, it has shifted to releasing records that his administration is using to help build a public case against officials who investigated him. The president initially promoted the task force, led by pro-Trump journalist John Solomon, as part of a push to uncover election fraud. But more recently, the task force has been releasing law enforcement records from past investigations into Trump, including special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.... Trump allies ... view those materials as useful evidence in the ongoing Florida-based grand conspiracy case — the Justice Department’s most complex and ambitious effort to indict past administration officials who investigated Trump. Even with the fanfare around the release of the files, legal experts and former law enforcement officials said the records show investigators following normal, court-authorized procedures.”

Half Life of a Scaramucci = a Zacharia. Shawn McCreesh, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, was fired Friday, after less than a week on the job, according to three people familiar with the matter..... Neither the White House nor Ms. Zacharia responded to requests for comment. But Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday that he had encouraged Ms. Zacharia to 'reconsider' the job. 'Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,' he told reporters, recounting his conversation with his press secretary. He said he added: 'Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.' He said Ms. Zacharia might continue to work for him 'in some form, but maybe a more pleasant form.'... The end was nigh after she appeared on Fox News on Thursday night to be interviewed by the president’s friend Sean Hannity, who asked her a few tough questions and treated her with rare skepticism....

“The firing of the administration’s top spokeswoman capped off a week of remarkable upheaval inside Trumpworld. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the ambassador to Greece, was fired on television on Tuesday (during Ms. Zacharia’s only briefing). The president spent time in the Oval Office trying to get to the bottom of a vicious fight between two of his loyalists, Richard Grenell and Alina [Habba] Mildon. Paolo Zampolli, a longtime Trump confidant who claimed to have introduced the president to his wife, was pushed out at the State Department after one of his internecine feuds spilled into the press. And the daughter of Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, and others in her circle, came under scrutiny for their moneymaking overseas.” The link is a gift link.  (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most of us oppose fascism because of its cruel, dictatorial, dehumanizing, discriminatory, violent excesses. But it also doesn't work very well. ~~~

~~~ “A Sanctioned Hit.” Sophia Cai, et al., of Politico: “White House chief of staff Susie Wiles helped set up Katie Zacharia’s appearance on Fox News Thursday night, when the embattled new press secretary struggled to answer questions about her rocky first days on the job, according to two people familiar with the internal dynamics. She was ousted hours later on Friday. The interview with host Sean Hannity, which aired during prime time, turned into a pointed examination of Zacharia’s first press briefing and her legal credentials. One of the people ... described the appearance as a 'sanctioned hit' on Zacharia, who was not Wiles’ preferred choice for the role. '[White House spokesperson] Danielle [Alvarez] and Susie fed her to Hannity, a second person familiar with the matter said, noting that Wiles and Hannity are friendly and speak often. [Another White House official disagreed, saying that arranging a set-up was not Wiles' style.]... White House communications director Steven Cheung in a statement called the reporting on Wiles’ involvement 'speculation.'” MB: Probably an intentional, pointed non-denial denial. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic has fond memories of the hilarious days of Trump 1.0: "... what matters more than her press-secretarial contributions, or the ideas she stood for, is the period Zacharia represents: the Trump administration’s reversion to the hapless chaos of the president’s first term. Trump’s initial go-round was primarily a farce, setting bumbling aides against challenges such as finding the light switches in the Cabinet room, hurling burgers against the White House wall, and booking the wrong Four Seasons. Trump cycled through personnel like Spinal Tap drummers, as one hired helper after the next left in frustration or shame.... [In the second term,] Chief of Staff Susie Wiles turned the executive branch from an exploding fireworks factory into a machine relentlessly processing the president’s whims into law. Yet as the midterm elections draw near, the machine has begun to sputter." Chait's description of Zacharia's first only putative press conference is quite funny, and one would feel great empathy for Zacharia -- were she not a lying Trump troll. Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Zacharia were not such a dim bulb, she could get a book out of Smiling through Five Days in Hell, as Anthony Scaramucci did from his 11-day stint. But she'll need a brilliant ghostwriter.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “The board overseeing the National Institutes of Health research hospital delivered a harsh rebuke of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday, voting unanimously to support a statement by its chairman accusing Mr. Kennedy of undermining trust in science and politicizing the hospital’s work. The chairman, Jack Leslie, opened the board’s quarterly meeting by reading aloud a six-minute statement that said he was 'troubled' by Mr. Kennedy’s recent unannounced visit to the N.I.H., where the secretary held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new clinic to study vaccine injuries and led a round table discussion with patients who said they had been injured by vaccines. Mr. Leslie said that serious vaccine injuries are 'rare but real' and that rigorous research is required. But after Mr. Kennedy announced the initiative on social media last week, along with a video of the round table featuring signs that said 'Vaccine Injured,' Mr. Leslie said he grew concerned.... Mr. Leslie said the signs suggested a foregone conclusion to the research, ordered by a secretary who is openly critical of vaccination.” The link is a gift link. 

Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: “The United States budget deficit approached $2 trillion in the 2026 fiscal year, its highest level since the pandemic, as spending on the military, safety net programs and interest on the debt dwarfed the Trump administration’s cost cuts, Treasury Department figures showed on Friday. The widening gap between what the government spends and what it collects in taxes and other revenue comes at a critical moment. Investors are nervous about America’s surging debt load, along with stubborn inflation, and have driven up borrowing costs. Treasury bond yields, which influence interest rates for mortgages, credit cards and auto loans, hit their highest levels in two decades earlier this month before easing....

“The rising deficit, which increased to $1.99 trillion this fiscal year from $1.78 trillion in 2025, is notable because it comes at a time when the economy is growing steadily. The last time the deficit topped $2 trillion was in 2021, when the pandemic prompted Congress to approve a huge stimulus package to help keep the economy afloat. But there is not an immediate crisis that the nation is tackling. Instead, the shortfall stems from increased spending on the military, interest payments on the debt and Social Security benefits, coupled with falling corporate tax receipts as a result of the tax cut package.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

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New York. Debra Kamin, et al., of the New York Times: “The online campaign to unmask Jane Doe began with pleas on X. 'Please help me discover the Cornell girl,' Aidan Thompson, a 23-year-old man who regularly praises Hitler and disparages women on the social media platform, wrote in one of the first posts. 'I have a good lead, but I need your help.' Within hours of Mr. Thompson’s post, another user had offered a bounty of $5,000 for the name and photos of the woman who had sued Cornell University under the pseudonym, claiming she had been gang raped at a fraternity party. Within a day, commenters were circulating a woman’s name and images of her from a social media account. On the fringes of the internet, bigots, attention-seekers and trolls have long seized on polarizing legal cases to air anger and disgust at women — and boost their following. Now they were coming for Jane Doe. A little more than a week after Mr. Thompson’s post about the former Cornell student, more than 11,000 accounts had made almost 25,000 posts that purported to name her....” The link is a gift link. 

Oregon. The New York Times continues to liveblog developments following an elementary school shooting yesterday in Bend, Oregon. This is a gift link. From the pinned item at 5:00 pm Friday: “The man who cut short a deadly rampage at an Oregon elementary school by fatally shooting the 16-year-old attacker was the father of two students at the school. Officials had not yet identified the man on Friday, but family members, including his mother, confirmed his identity. The man, Kaylub Giamanco, intervened on Thursday as the teenage assailant attacked Silver Rail Elementary School with a shotgun, blasting through locked doors and killing a teacher and three children, ages 5, 8 and 11. A 7-year-old and another teacher were critically injured. Investigators have searched the home of the 16-year-old suspect, John J. Griffin II, according to a law enforcement official granted anonymity to discuss details of the case. His mother was cooperative, the official said, and investigators took the boy’s electronic devices under a search warrant. They believe the shooter used a weapon that belonged to his mother.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Anna Griffin, et al., of the New York Times: “As the makeshift memorial in front of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., grew Friday..., police and school officials began offering a clearer picture of how the attack unfolded — and how much worse it could have been.” The link is a gift link. The story recounts events. A CBS News report is here.

Virginia. Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post: “Just outside Richmond, along a two-lane road near a convenience store, cornfields stretch toward the James River. Thousands of years ago, Native Americans hunted and fished for shad and sturgeon here. It became the birthplace of Powhatan, the powerful Indigenous leader and father of Pocahontas. Now, the roughly 520-acre property is slated for a sprawling housing and retail development. But a coalition of tribes, historians and conservation groups is trying to stop the project, arguing that the land is a culturally significant and sacred place that could hold burial sites and undiscovered artifacts.... 'It’s like going to Mount Vernon and destroying that or building condos,' [Kevin Brown, chief of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe] said.”

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O, Canada! Voldymyr Zelensky is not the only world leader mocking Trump. This one is more talkative. Thanks to RAS for the link:  

The crowd absolutely erupts when Carney says the Pacific Link pipeline will reduce Canada's dependence on the U.S. Mark Carney: "Careful. They might think that's election interference. They're a little touchy down there. We're not. We're getting on with it."

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— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) October 16, 2026 at 12:06 AM

Israel. Suheir Hashimeh & Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: “Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villagers trying to gather their autumn olive harvest on Friday, setting groves on fire and slinging rocks in a coordinated assault that fits a pattern of accelerating settler violence across the occupied West Bank. They also attacked Heidi Levine, a veteran photographer for The Washington Post. Levine, wearing a protective vest clearly marked 'PRESS' on front and back, was knocked to the ground, kicked repeatedly and stripped of her cameras and phone. She was treated at hospitals in Ramallah and Israel for lacerations across her body, a broken rib and four broken vertebrae. She will need surgery on one hand after a finger was ripped open, exposing bone. People who were at the scene described a mass-coordinated attack in which dozens of men in black came down from a hilltop settlement near the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, where Palestinian families were picking their olives. Video of the incident corroborate the witness accounts.” The New York Times story is here; this is a gift link. Both accounts are horrifying.