For one thing, the world continues to spin without your help, which is actually somewhat disappointing. And for another, you miss a lot. Which is why I’ve become so fearful of being too far from either my phone or my iPad. It’s all news, all the time.

I’m back now, after the Yom Kippur holiday. It’s already evening, so I can’t go in-depth on every item. But I thought I’d just give you an idea of some of the activity that took place when I wasn’t paying attention.

First, of course, there’s Russia, right up front as always. It seems that Vladimir Putin took a little trip to Turkmenistan, where he met with . . . wait, that can’t be right. But it is. He met in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on the sidelines of an international forum that both were attending, with the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss “the situation in the Middle East,” according to Russian state media. [Associated Press, October 11, 2024.]

Taken in conjunction with this past week’s warning from Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s MI5, of the rise in attempted assassinations, sabotage, and other crimes on UK soil by both Russia and Iran . . . well, to say that this does not bode well for the UK — or for Western Europe as a whole — would be a gross understatement at best. So we’ll have to hold onto this item for further follow-up and comment.

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And speaking of attempted assassinations, Donald Trump has understandably become more than a little nervous following his two recent experiences — so much so that his campaign has increased its requests for added security, including transport by military aircraft with deterrent systems to protect against surface-to-air missiles, as well as additional on-the-ground protection. Because he’s not just worried about America’s lunatic fringe. Apparently, Iran is out to get him too.

And President Biden has said Trump’s requests should be granted, “as long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s.” [Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand and Kaitlan Collins, CNN, October 11, 2024.] I assume that wasn’t a joke.

I certainly don’t begrudge either candidate all the security they need; but I do have just one question, and it’s a fairly obvious one: I want to know who’s supposed to foot the bill for the planes and the anti-SAMs. Considering the paltry 2.5% Social Security increase that’s just been announced for next year, it had better not be coming out of taxpayer money.

And I actually do have a second question. If Trump is granted use of military aircraft for the remainder of his campaign, and he’s due to speak in, say, Springfield, Ohio . . . is there going to be a place to land and take off again, without endangering the few remaining household pets that haven’t been eaten by the Haitian residents? Has anyone even thought about that, other than President Biden when he ruled out the use of the F-15s?

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Moving on: Elon Musk has unveiled yet another product he hopes will make him even richer: his robotaxi, named the Cybercab. I know these are supposed to be the wave of the future, but personally, you won’t find me volunteering for the test run of the prototype — or ever riding in anything without a steering wheel or pedals. And especially if it comes from Tesla.

Seriously . . . shouldn’t they iron the kinks out of their electric cars before they foist these new death machines on the public?

And as for the aesthetic, the car in the picture looks like one of my son’s Hot Wheels from many decades ago. I have serious reservations about your design team, Elon. Where’s the imagination? The creativity?

By the way, has anyone asked Musk why there’s no “X” anywhere in the name of his magnificent machine? Just wondering, as it’s something we’ve all come to Xpect.

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I did find one lovely piece of news, and that was the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, an organization comprised of survivors of the 1945 nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States.

The award was given to Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” [Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, October 11, 2024.]

I can’t think of a more worthy recipient. And I couldn’t ask for a happier sight than the reaction of Toshiyuki Mimaki, Co-Chairman of Nihon Hidankyo, when he heard that they had received the award.

Congratulations on an honor well earned!

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There’s more from today’s news, but I’ve come to realize that my readers can only take so much gloom and doom at one time. And since verbal diarrhea was one of the personal imperfections for which I attempted to atone earlier in the day, I really should call it quits now.

But you know I’ll be back with more, because I’m always

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/12/24