Hard Pass

https://mas.to/@gabrielesvelto/114948741551941675

Dark magic is underrated

Actually insane.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6159125-trump-calls-new-mexico-new-america/

cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/us_politics@piefed.blahaj.zone/p/1040175/cnn-threatens-new-legal-action-saying-it-s-still-being-denied-access-to-air-force

Already embroiled in a tense legal standoff with the White House, CNN is threatening further action in the courts if its journalists continue to be denied access to Air Force One and the “pool” of journalists who accompany President Donald Trump when he travels.

The network has been entangled in legal action with Trump’s administration ever since the president issued its reporters a sudden ban from White House grounds a month ago, along with those from MS NOW and Politico, calling their content “fake news.” Last week, a federal judge granted the news outlets their request for a preliminary injunction against the government ban as the case moves through the legal system.

But that only addresses part of the problem.

The White House has continued to bar CNN from taking its place in TV pool coverage of Trump’s travel on Air Force One. And so the network may need to take additional action, said Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., an attorney for CNN, in a letter to Justice Department attorney Michael K. Velchik.

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/87378

cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/us_politics@piefed.blahaj.zone/p/1040178/zelenskyy-says-early-warning-system-for-russian-missile-attacks-resumes-following

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv is once again receiving early warnings from its partners following recent Russian missile attacks that he said occurred without enough notice.

For at least a week, the Ukrainian leader has said that his country’s military has not received early warnings about ballistic missiles aimed at the capital. He said such intelligence saves lives by allowing alerts to the public and giving military units time to try to intercept the missiles.

Zelenskyy said the change happened after talks with his American counterparts, including a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day.

“We are thankful that intelligence works now, and I’m speaking about early warning, which is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic is coming,” Zelenskyy said on a visit to Norway. “So we are thankful to American side now that it works.”

More in the article.

Today is Tuesday, 10/20 and the general US Elections are in TWO WEEKS.

As it stands right now, the current Senate composition is: 47 - Democrats
51 - Republicans
2 - Independents

Looking at the numbers, we COULD see a huge shift in the Senate this year, best case scenario would be:

52 - Democrats
45 - Republicans
3 - Independents

Chart Follows (hmmm,,, not sure why the table formatting is failing, will fix it later!)

| State | Current | Occupant | Status | D Cand | R Cand | Polling 10/18 | Outcome | Polling Direction |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :—: | :--- | :--- | :—: | :--- | :--- |
| Colorado | Democratic | Hickenlooper | Safe D | John Hickelooper | Mark Baisley | D+6 | | |
| Delaware | Democratic | Coons | Safe D | Chris Coons | Michael Katz | D+29.7 | | |
| Georgia | Democratic | Ossoff | Safe D | Jon Ossoff | Mike Collins | D+8 | | |
| Illnois | Democratic | Durbin | Safe D | Juliana Stratton | Don Tracy | D+20 | | |
| Massachusetts | Democratic | Markey | Safe D | Ed Markey | John Deaton | D+24 | | |
| New Hampshire | Democratic | Shaheen | Safe D | Chris Pappas | John E. Sununu | D+7 | | |
| New Jersey | Democratic | Booker | Safe D | Cory Booker | Justin Murphy | D+22 | | |
| New Mexico | Democratic | Luja | Safe D | Ben Ray Luján | Larry Marker | D+18 | | |
| Oregon | Democratic | Merkley | Safe D | Jeff Merkley | David Brock Smith | D+25 | | |
| Rhode Island | Democratic | Reed | Safe D | Jack Reed | Raymond McKay | D+20 | | |
| Virginia | Democratic | Warner | Safe D | Mark Warner | Bert Mizusawa | D+20 | | |
| Minnesota | Democratic | Smith | D | Peggy Flanagan | Michele Tafoya | D+4 | | |
| North Carolina | Republican | Tillis | D | Roy Cooper | Michael Whatley | D+10 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/1 |
| Alabama | Republican | Tuberville | Safe R | Everett Wess | Barry Moore | R+21 | | |
| Arkansas | Republican | Cotton | Safe R | Hallie Shoffner | Tom Cotton | R+9 | | |
| Florida | Republican | Moody | Safe R | Angie Nixon | Ashley Moody | R+5.2 | | |
| Idaho | Republican | Risch | Safe R | Withdrawn | Jim Risch | R+12.1 | | |
| Kentucky | Republican | McConnell | Safe R | Charles Booker | Andy Barr | R+9 | | |
| Louisiana | Republican | Cassidy | Safe R | Jamie Davis | Julia Letlow | R+4 | | |
| Mississippi | Republican | Hyde-Smith | Safe R | Cindy Hyde-Smith | Scott Colom | R+9 | | |
| Montana | Republican | Daines | Safe R | Alani Bankhead | Kurt Alme | R+16 | | |
| Nebraska | Republican | Ricketts | Safe R | Dan Osborn (I) | Pete Ricketts | R+1 | | R Momentum since 10/1 |
| Oklahoma | Republican | Armstrong | Safe R | N'Kiyla Thomas | Kevin Hern | R+28 | | |
| South Dakota | Republican | Rounds | Safe R | Brian Bengs | Mike Rounds | R+6 | | |
| Tennessee | Republican | Hagerty | Safe R | Marquita Bradshaw | Bill Hagerty | R+25 | | |
| West Virgiia | Republican | Capito | Safe R | Rachel Fetty Anderson | Shelley Moore Capito | R+21 | | |
| Wyoming | Republican | Lummis | Safe R | James Byrd | Harriet Hageman | R+23 | | |
| South Carolina | Republican | Graham | R | Annie Andrews | Darline Graham | R+1 | | R Momentum since 8/29 |
| Alaska | Republican | Sullivan | Tossup | Mary Peltola | Dan Sullivan | D+3 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 8/4 |
| Iowa | Republican | Ernst | Tossup | Josh Turek | Ashley Hinson | D+1 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 9/10 |
| Kansas | Republican | Marshall | Tossup | Adam Hamilton | Roger Marshall | D+1 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 10/1 |
| Maine | Republican | Collins | Tossup | Troy Jackson | Susan Collins | D+2 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 7/6 |
| Michigan | Democratic | Peters | Tossup | Abdul El-Sayed | Mike Rogers | D+3 | Possible R Flip | D Momentum since 8/17 |
| Ohio | Republican | Husted | Tossup | Sherrod Brown | Jon Husted | D+4 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/2 |
| Texas | Republican | Cornyn | Tossup | James Talarico | Ken Paxton | D+4 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/1 |

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/politics/p/1478609/americans-have-grown-more-pessimistic-about-the-country-direction-majority-of-americans

cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/us_politics@piefed.blahaj.zone/p/1040171/trump-and-vance-announce-25m-whistleblower-program-to-encourage-public-to-report-a

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday announced a $25 million program to encourage the public to blow the whistle on suspected fraud in the U.S. government as they ramp up efforts to end the abuse of federal programs and dollars.

The White House said that under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, or WHIP, anyone who submits a tip to fraud.gov that leads to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action is eligible to receive up to $30,000, and that the Justice Department will administer the program.

During the announcement, Trump said payments will work out to a 1% commission on the dollar amount of fraud the tip helps uncover. Trump also said he will decide who gets to collect reward money in cases where more than one person claims to have provided the tip.

“I will be the arbitrator of all these decisions,” Trump said during an Oval Office event Tuesday with Vance and other administration officials. “It’ll be a binding arbitration.”

Much more in the article.

Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, pushed back forcefully Tuesday against an unattributed ad circulating online in which her long-estranged mother calls her “a liar” and insinuates she has mental health issues.

...

Acton suggested Ramaswamy was behind the ad.

“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m complaining about, who today just released an ad using my birth mother, who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse,” she told Spectrum News, a cable news outlet in Ohio.

She said Ramaswamy was accused of similar personal attacks during his run for the GOP presidential nomination: “This is a lifelong pattern with my opponent.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign issued a statement that did not address whether he was responsible for the ad or disavow it. In the statement, campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck said Acton “has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of.”