A harvest of distrust

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Food safety unravels apace as recalls and inflation mount in tandem, leaving Americans burdened with pricier, toxic provender. {Axios 7 September}

https://www.axios.com/2026/09/07/food-safety-concerns-grocery-inflation

From leader of the world unto shame of all the earth. Fewer inspections, laxer regulations, watchdogs muzzled or turned away entirely, and the ravishing effects of climate change have wrought sufficient ruin that it is, in essence, no longer safe to eat within these former United States. We may debate until our faces wax blue the relative safety and nutritional value of American victuals prior to the nihilistic, nation-slaying Trump 2.0 regime — set against those of other Western nations — yet hither have we come, and here now do we stand.

What y’all voted for, #Murica —

FTA: Plenty of Americans feel like they're forking over a fortune for groceries—only to get hit with a recall notice that forces them to throw that expensive food out.

Why it matters: While grocery prices are driven by complex trade and energy costs, the safety net meant to keep them safe to eat is fraying, creating a dual crisis of affordability and safety.

The average American household pays more than $10,000 on groceries every year, and two-thirds of Americans think they're spending too much.

Prices have increased by more than 18% since 2022, although some foods have seen sharper or smaller increases.

What they're saying: "It can be really, really scary out there," Lauren Borsheim, a food policy analyst at Food & Water Watch, tells Axios.

"The Trump administration since 2025 has really just dismantled many of the fundamental protections we need to keep our food supply safe."

"We have people that are really afraid that the U.S. is not doing a good job regulating our food supply. It's definitely a concern out there that as people are spending more money on their food, they are also fearful that that same food is going to cause them to get sick," Borsheim says.

By the numbers: Recalls are relatively on par with normal levels this fiscal year, according to FDA data.

So far, 5,504 products have been recalled in 2026. That's up slightly from the 5,461 products recalled last year, but down from the 6,524 products recalled in 2024.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Bridging the pariahs

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Russia opens its first road bridge with North Korea. {DW 7 September}

https://www.dw.com/en/russia-opens-first-road-bridge-with-north-korea/a-79142595

FTA: Russia and North Korea on Monday cut the ribbon on the first road bridge linking the two countries as Moscow and Pyongyang deepen their strategic partnership.

The crossing spans the Tumen River and marks another expansion of transport links between the two countries.

The road crossing is near the existing Friendship Bridge, a railway bridge commissioned in 1959 following the Korean War.

Russia and North Korea already have direct rail and air connections, but until now there had been no road bridge between them.

The new bridge is named after Soviet Red Army officer Yakov Novichenko, who is credited with saving North Korean founder Kim Il Sung's life. Relatives of Novichenko attended the opening ceremony.

Construction began in April 2025 after the project was agreed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea in 2024.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the new crossing should boost economic development, tourism and employment.

"I am convinced that the expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation," the TASS news agency quoted Mishustin as saying by video link at the opening ceremony.

Relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have strengthened considerably since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to help Russian forces repel a Ukrainian incursion launched in 2024.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Lost in the feed

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Just another day in Trumpistan: US president declares American ownership of the moon, vows to rechristen the state of New Mexico. {Huffington Post 7 September}

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-truth-social_n_6a9e3a64e4b00f094b1a67ea

FTA: Between 9:10 a.m. and 10:35 p.m., the president fired off more than 60 messages, links, memes, rants, personal attacks, endorsements, boasts, and AI slop creations.

Clearly, Donald Trump is not a well man; yet the very nation that descended into collective panic when President Joe Biden endured a mild senior moment during a debate now simply cannot trouble itself to care all that much, as this president decomposes before our eyes. Whence finds this orange-sprayed circus clown the leisure to dally, incessantly, upon social media? Hath he not a job of some considerable weight to perform? To all appearances, nobody is running the store at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — for all about us hastens headlong toward perdition. A mean-spirited dotard posts phantasmagorical videos of himself capering to ‘Y.M.C.A.’, heaps vilification upon such worthy men as Robert De Niro and the late Rep. John Dingell, repeatedly stabs our sister nation of Canada and other traditional allies squarely in the back, vows to rename an entire state on a whim, and the greater part of this dying realm either applauds the spectacle or merely shrugs it away. Meanwhile, we who never consented to this mountebank’s coronation are at once exhausted beyond all articulation and perpetually astounded — to be sure, exactly the design.

A further question presses: how doth Trump’s enfeebled mind even digest the ceaseless torrent of digital ephemera he both consumes and disseminates? He is all but brain dead at this pass. The sycophants about him feed him his daily pabulum of memes and assorted gaga, by day and by night. It seemeth their only real purpose is to keep this big baby amused. Anything to avoid having to govern in earnest: for he and they have proven, time out of mind, altogether incapable of it. All of this is happening on taxpayers’ dime, yet most tolerate or endorse it so long as they may continue to delude themselves into believing they are thereby ‘owning the libs’.

Ten years have this nightmare endured, and its blackest leaves remain yet unwritten. What y’all voted for, #Murica — and a certain gentleman seated in the Kremlin, together with every enemy of human liberty besides, do render y’all their most grateful thanks. 

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Wired for obedience

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No trust whatsoever in Hegseth’s severely compromised Pentagon: in an unprecedented move, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are subjected to polygraph tests over press leaks. {NYT 4 September}

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/us/politics/pentagon-staff-polygraph-tests.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-1A.T2lb.yfe3zweF0P0V&smid=url-share

FTA: U.S. government investigators have taken the extraordinary step of subjecting roughly 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, including about how the Iran war has created a shortage of crucial munitions, according to officials briefed on the move.

The investigators asked military officers and civilian employees on the Joint Staff if they disclosed classified information to members of the press, and about whether they provided information about diminished U.S. munitions stocks.

The polygraph tests were conducted in August after a flurry of news reports detailed diminished stocks of crucial munitions, including of long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors. The show of force appeared aimed at not just ferreting out anyone who may have shared information, but intimidating others who might do so in the future, according to people with knowledge of the effort.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 officers and officials work for the Joint Staff, which coordinates operations, policy and war plans with combatant commanders around the world.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that the department “does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”

“Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world,” he added.

The scope of the investigation is without parallel. Mass polygraph tests have never been administered to the top ranks of the U.S. military in modern history.

“I’ve never seen polygraphs employed this broadly or at this seniority level,” said Rear Adm. Donald J. Guter, a retired top judge advocate general for the Navy from 2000 to 2002. “In my experience, it’s unprecedented.”

The move comes as multiple news organizations have revealed details about how the war with Iran has drained munition stockpiles and reported on concerns inside the administration about the strategic direction of the conflict.

President Trump has pressured administration officials to aggressively hunt for those leaking information. But the president has gone further than merely trying to stop the flow of unauthorized information; he has labeled “treasonous” the media coverage that is critical of the U.S. handling of the war in Iran and the shortages of munitions.

The leaks have intensified an atmosphere of deep distrust and paranoia inside the Pentagon, one that current and former officials say has been fostered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Surrounded by a tight inner circle of loyalists, Mr. Hegseth has pushed out or blocked the promotions of at least 80 generals, admirals and other officials during his tenure. Since early last year, the Pentagon has been conducting a number of leak investigations in response to news coverage about his leadership, even as he faced criticism for sharing sensitive details about strikes in Yemen in a Signal group last year.

Mr. Hegseth has not given a briefing to the Pentagon press corps about the U.S. war in Iran since May 5 and has sought to limit the access of journalists at the Pentagon, a policy that The New York Times has challenged in court.

Last month, the Defense Department fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet that reports on the U.S. military, a move the journalists said was retribution for their coverage of the worsening conditions on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. Trump has stood by Mr. Hegseth, saying he is doing a “fantastic job,” despite growing concerns about the leadership turmoil inside the Pentagon.

Recently, some Republicans on Capitol Hill have begun publicly voicing criticism of the Pentagon secretary, saying he is mistreating top officials.

“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a social media post this week, calling on Mr. Trump to replace Mr. Hegseth.

“He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Mr. Tillis said.

Mr. Tillis was among the senators who voted to confirm Mr. Hegseth for the role in early 2025, despite having voiced concerns about his nomination.’

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The wilderness we betray

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Trump signs order ‘encouraging’ states to let ranchers kill gray wolves, gleefully proclaiming ‘you can shoot them as of today’. {Mediaite 4 September}

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-gives-reluctant-ranchers-the-go-ahead-to-take-care-of-endangered-species-you-can-shoot-them-as-of-today/

Understanding full well that there may be justifiable circumstances in which — and only after every other reasonable recourse hath been exhausted — a rancher must protect himself, his family, or his livestock from a dangerous wild animal, I do not believe this to be the primary motivation for Trump taking this action. Greasing the palms of the agriculture industry is a reason, certainly, yet the cruelty itself seemeth, more often than not, to be precisely the point of his public conduct. And I do not think the majority of American ranchers relish the prospect of shooting endangered species, as the president himself doth appear to — but it is grievous news for wildlife, and for every soul who harbours genuine concern for creatures other than ourselves.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The last watch before the storm

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The EU and NATO have exhausted nearly the whole of their available options in confronting the terrorist state Russia. {NYT 4 September}

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/world/europe/russia-europe-nato-sabotage.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-lA.bhtU.jLwng-1AzHWM&smid=url-share

All-out war appears an ever more serious prospect. —

FTA: Russia’s failed drone attack on a German airport was part of a dangerous pattern of escalation that, experts and officials said, risks sparking an open confrontation with NATO — whether the Kremlin wants it or not.

German officials declared this week that the Russian state was behind the attack, in which one explosive drone hit a parked Ukrainian cargo plane and another appeared to collide with a plane taking off. Both drones failed to detonate. If successful, the attack could have killed or maimed people and led to unpredictable consequences, officials said.

It was the most dramatic in a spate of such attacks that includes plots to place incendiary devices aboard DHL cargo planes, blow up railroad tracks in Poland, and burn down warehouses and shopping centers all over Europe.

Such attacks began occurring shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, part of an effort by President Vladimir V. Putin to bring the war to the West. But they have recently increased in frequency and intensity, Western security officials said. The attacks, along with recent reports citing Western intelligence services suggesting Russia could be planning some kind of military incursion or provocation along NATO’s eastern flank, have frazzled Europe and left officials there casting about for solutions.

And how shall the former United States and its people — now under the governance of those who are, inarguably, just a bit more friendly unto the Kremlin than were prior administrations, yet still a NATO member — react if and when a wider European war begins in earnest? —

FTA: Another challenge for NATO is keeping its 32 member countries aligned. After Germany’s announcement this week, a chorus of allies voiced support and solidarity, including the American ambassador to NATO, Matthew G. Whitaker. Notably, though, his statement did not mention Russia by name. By contrast, a statement by Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain named Russia three times.

The omission was an example of the failure by the Trump administration to hold the Kremlin accountable. Since taking office last year, Mr. Trump has occasionally dangled the possibility of imposing costs on Mr. Putin’s transgressions, but he has rarely followed through.

Last week at NATO headquarters, Elbridge Colby, a senior Pentagon official, also omitted any mention of Russia while pushing European countries to take the lead in supporting Ukraine, part of an effort to reduce U.S. military presence on the continent. And on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed Ukraine for high energy prices dragging down the global economy, citing its attacks on Russia’s oil industry. He did not mention that Russia started the war and has relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.

It is the threat of a united response, Western officials believe, that keeps the Kremlin in check. And it is that unity that Mr. Putin seems to be testing with each new attack. 

For now, Western officials insist that NATO retains its deterrent effect, though the ambivalence of the Trump administration has created uncertainty about whether it will continue to.                                                       

Personally, I do not believe Trumpistan shall remain within NATO for very much longer. Trump shall abandon the alliance when push cometh to shove, and hath said or implied as much on many occasions through the years. He was making noise of this during his first reign of terror, when there were more guardrails keeping in his lane than there are now. Alas, I see but little to encourage me that the majority of the American people would be outraged at such a move — the grave betrayal of European allies. Most citizens would be baying about not wishing to shed blood for the ‘Europoors’ — look about oneself, and one shall not have to look too hard: Europhobia is presently all the rage among #MAGA and ‘conservative’ Americans. We heard the incessant whining, whilst Mr Biden yet held office, about the billions in necessary military aid sent for the defence of Ukraine. Some years back it would have been unthinkable, but it is no longer hard to imagine the American public writ large being content to see their country break faith with its international commitments and collectively spit upon the face of all it hath purported to stand for since the Second World War. The likely consequences for such, on the other hand, are unimaginable.

What y’all voted for, #Murica.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The myth after the man: a cult shall outlive its king

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Trump, on the raising of monuments unto himself: ‘Nobody will do it once I’m gone’. {CNN 4 September}

https://www.kten.com/news/politics/trump-doesn-t-dispute-he-s-building-monuments-to-himself-nobody-will-do-it-once/article_c5df451c-87aa-5e20-94a4-af52c1035877.html

I would say the president doth exhibit a measure of genuine perceptiveness, for once, as most of us are not going to lament his eventual departure from the stage of life — though decrepit as he is now, it is going to be many years still as I am convinced God is employing this man as an instrument of chastisement against the United States of America for its manifold transgressions, and shall preserve him unto an absurd age purely to prolong our torment. Yet in truth, Trump may be mistaken (imagine that), for millions of #Muricans remain so far gone into this cult of personality that even after he be dead, they shall endeavour to deify him regardless — a diminished number, seeing as many others shall themselves have departed this earth within some twenty to twenty-five years, and supposing the planet hath not by then been reduced to ruin (looking like a big ‘if’).

Even should this constitute but a modest fraction of the population, they shall nonetheless venerate Donald Trump in death. Decades after his denunciation by Khrushchev, and long past even the collapse of the Soviet Union itself, no small number of souls within his native country of Georgia, and throughout Russia and other lands once Soviet, did continue to lionise Joseph Stalin. Maoist guerrilla movements remain active in parts of South Asia. And, naturally, there have always existed those neo-Nazis harbouring an affection for Hitler, together with a full disregard for the reasons that rendered Nazism so catastrophic a failure on every conceivable level — and their numbers, indeed, are expanding, as neo-fascist doctrine continueth to poison the minds of millions, whilst living memory of the Third Reich’s horrors fades away with the passage of time.

Whether Trump doth genuinely belong in the same company as brutal tyrants and suchlike, I shall not here address — nor do I believe, even now, that most of us wish in earnest to entertain whether any elected American president might be justly likened unto some of history’s worst monsters, howsoever we may hold a given president in contempt. At the very least, however, he is as reviled across the globe as almost any political leader within living memory. Perchance Vladimir Putin is held in worse regard, and that would be deserved. No matter: the world at large shall not mourn Donald Trump upon his day of reckoning, yet his hold upon the most fervent of his acolytes shall, if anything, only grow stronger. It mattereth not how corrupt and inept the man doth prove to be in our own time, for in fifty to seventy-five years hence, there shall doubtless remain those who account Trump a folk hero and cultural icon — assuming, once again, that the planet itself remains standing to bear witness. Nothing is guaranteed... save for more misery, so long as this whoreson knave and his cult maintain their stranglehold upon the rest of us.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Minting a monarchy

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Gold-plated Trump $1 coins enter circulation, contravening long-standing U.S. Code barring living figures appearing on currency. {WP 2 September}

https://wapo.st/4xKQCnq

As we have been discovering over the past decade, in a banana republic laws and traditions mean very little and do not apply to the political elite. —

FTA: The U.S. Mint said Wednesday that new golden $1 coins featuring President Donald Trump’s image are now in circulation, marking only the second time in U.S. history that a living president has appeared on U.S. coinage.

The Trump coins, intended to mark the United States’ 250th birthday, were first proposed last year and drew controversy and questions about their legality.

One side of the coin features an image of Trump’s face and is inscribed with “Liberty,” “In God We Trust” and “1776-2026.” The other side of the coin depicts an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows in its talons, along with a banner that reads “E Pluribus Unum.”

The U.S. Mint will begin selling the Trump coins on its website at noon Wednesday at a markup of more than 50 percent above their face value. Rolls of 25 coins will cost $61 and bags of 100 coins will cost $154.50, according to its website.

When the coins were first proposed last year, draft images showed Trump’s image on both sides of the coin. At the time, a bipartisan committee that reviews U.S. coin designs balked at taking up the proposal, with members saying that putting a sitting president on currency would break with democratic norms.

GOP and Democratic members of that committee — the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee — also warned the U.S. Mint not to move forward with any plan to put Trump’s face on coins.

“The CCAC has not been presented with a Trump gold coin for review. If they make it without our review, it will be illegal,” Donald Scarinci, a Democrat whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) named to the committee, told The Washington Post in June.

Mint officials argued that because the committee declined to consider the coin, the administration was not bound by its review, and pressed forward with the coin’s production.

Under a law passed in 2020, the Treasury Department can mint $1 coins during 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial.”

However, according to U.S. Code, “[o]nly the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities” — a law that sprung from a Colonial-era tradition against putting current presidents on American coins, to distance them from the British monarchy.

Treasury officials have defended the Trump coin’s design, noting that the image of President Calvin Coolidge appeared on a coin for the United States’ 150th anniversary.

In 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Presidential $1 Coin Act, directing the U.S. Mint to issue a line of dollar coins honoring past U.S. presidents in the order they served — but only those who had been deceased for at least two years. The U.S. Mint suspended issuing those presidential coins in 2011.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The reckoning in the Pentagon

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Republican Sen. Thom Tillis urges Trump to fire Pete Hegseth, says ‘I have never witnessed more inept management’ at the Pentagon. {Mediate 2 September}

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/republican-senator-urges-trump-to-fire-hegseth-i-have-never-witnessed-more-inept-management/

FTA: Republican Senator Thom Tillis is pushing President Donald Trump to show Pete Hegseth the door.

In a long-winded X post on Wednesday, Tillis thanked outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for his leadership, calling him “the right man at the right moment to lead our Soldiers and Army civilians.”

The Wall Street Journal reported late last week that Driscoll would step down before the end of the year amid “months of tension” with Hegseth.

Tillis then turned his attention — and some venom — to Hegseth.

“If we had a [Defense secretary] who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement,” Tillis wrote. “Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”

He added:

I served on Senate Armed Services for 8 years and as chair or ranking member of the Personnel and Readiness subcommittee. I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.

Concluding, Tillis delivered a final knockout blow, saying, “I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”

With his demand, Tillis has joined numerous other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have called for Hegseth’s firing.

Earlier Wednesday, The Atlantic reported that Trump “expressed concern” when Driscoll went to the commander in chief directly to tell him how many generals and other top officers had been fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotion under Hegseth.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

A fresh coat of whitewash

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Penn State University to honour the late, disgraced Joe Paterno — he who overlooked what his defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, was doing to children for years — with a museum exhibit. {ESPN 2 September}

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49804479/penn-state-open-paterno-family-football-experience

Should we be surprised in a country that allows a likely paedophile to be president? No matter, in any event. Whitewashing the tarnished legacy of their beloved ‘Joe Pa’, and that of the football programme itself, hath always appeared to matter far more to these people than confronting the full moral weight of the scandal. Those whose lives were forever ruined by Sandusky’s actions — and by the inaction of Paterno and numerous other culpable parties in State College — can just suck it up, I suppose. 

FTA: Penn State has announced it is opening the Paterno Family Football Experience Room in the All-Sports Museum inside Beaver Stadium on Thursday, a "permanent museum experience" the school says will celebrate Penn State's football history.

The museum will now include a Joe Paterno exhibit, featuring the former Penn State coach's original office desk and workspace, personal artifacts and a curated timeline documenting significant moments from his more than six decades with the Nittany Lions. The museum will also hold Penn State trophies, commemorating past achievements by individual teams and players.

"Penn State Football's history belongs to generations of student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters who helped build this program," athletic director Pat Kraft said in a statement. "This room gives us an opportunity to preserve that history, present it thoughtfully and create an experience that connects the proud tradition of Penn State Football with its future."

The museum exhibit will open a little over 14 years since the school removed Paterno's statue outside the stadium, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky's crimes. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant under Paterno, was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period and sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Paterno was fired in November 2011.

An internal report headed by former FBI director Louis Freeh later concluded that Paterno and other university leaders "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." The university and the Paterno family came to a settlement over the Freeh report in 2020. In that settlement release, the Penn State Trustees said the Freeh report contained "opinions about individuals and matters that are not shared by the university."

Paterno, who won 409 games from 1966 to 2011 at Penn State, died in 2012, just months after his firing. The Nittany Lions, under new coach Matt Campbell, open the season Saturday at home against Marshall.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The market above the abyss

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Historical precedent and Trump-related chaos suggest a US stock market crash is a legitimate possibility. {The Motley Fool 1 September}

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/stock-market-crash-imminent-under-082601339.html

FTA: The stock market has soared under President Trump. 

But these gains under President Trump have also occurred amid historic bouts of volatility. During the unforeseen COVID-19 crash, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 34% of its value in 33 calendar days. Likewise, the "tariff tantrum" in early April 2025 witnessed the S&P 500 lose more than 10% of its value over just two trading sessions.

It begs the question: Is a stock market crash imminent under President Donald Trump?

While short-term directional moves in Wall Street's major stock indexes can't be guaranteed, 85 years of historical precedent offers an answer -- and investors might not be thrilled with it.

Trump's second term has been packed with geopolitical/major events

Since Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, he's been somewhat of a magnet for major geopolitical and historical events.

There was the aforementioned tariff tantrum, involving the April 2025 unveiling of sweeping global tariffs and higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries deemed to have unfavorable trade imbalances with America. The U.S. also bombed nuclear facilities in Iran in June 2025, removed Venezuela's President, Nicolas Maduro, in early January 2026, and began military operations against Iran at the end of February 2026.

Shortly after the Trump-led Iran war began, Carson Group's Chief Market Strategist, Ryan Detrick, published a data set to X (formerly Twitter) examining the performance of the benchmark S&P 500 at various intervals following more than three dozen stock market shock events since the start of 1940.

Using data from S&P Dow Jones Indices, CFRA, and Carson Group's own research, Detrick and his team determined that, on average, the S&P 500 gained 3% one year after a market shock event officially began. Furthermore, the S&P 500 was higher following 65% of qualifying shock events.

Although a 3% gain is well below the long-term annualized return of the broad-based S&P 500, it's nevertheless a positive outcome amid heightened periods of uncertainty.

Based solely on the headline figure from Detrick's data set, a stock market crash doesn't appear likely under President Trump. However, there's a bit more nuance to Carson Group's data set than meets the eye.

One scenario makes stock market crashes likelier, and Trump is overseeing it right now

Though nearly two-thirds of geopolitical and major market shock events spanning more than 85 years were followed by S&P 500 gains after 12 months, several of the losing events shared a common theme: energy supply disruption.

In October 1956, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal, which Egypt had nationalized in July 1956. The closure of the Suez Canal disrupted oil shipments from the Middle East to Western Europe. The S&P 500 was lower by nearly 12% one year later.

The Oil Embargo of 1973 was an even bigger shock to Wall Street. Arab members of OPEC stopped selling oil to the U.S. and other allies of Israel, leading to a petroleum shortage and substantially higher fuel costs. The benchmark S&P 500 lost 35% of its value over the next year.

The ongoing Iran war features the largest energy supply disruption in modern history. Shortly after Trump approved military attacks against Iran, the latter closed the Strait of Hormuz to virtually all maritime traffic. This effectively halted the daily movement of a fifth of the world's petroleum liquids (about 20 million barrels/day).

Energy supply shocks are the one geopolitical/major historical event that history shows Wall Street struggles to put in the back seat. While this doesn't mean a stock market crash is in any way imminent or guaranteed under President Trump, the likelihood of an elevator-down move amid the largest energy disruption in modern history is certainly heightened.

Making matters worse, evidence is mounting that Iran-war-driven Trumpflation has spilled beyond the energy sector. The price stickiness of Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, which excludes volatile food and energy costs and provides economists with a clearer view of long-term price trends, has been stuck at roughly 3.3%-3.4% for months. This suggests that businesses are incurring higher production and transportation costs as a result of the Strait of Hormuz's closure, which are being passed on to consumers.

If Trump-driven inflation (i.e., Trumpflation) entrenches itself in the broader economy, persistently elevated inflation would make outsize stock market returns unlikely.

While there's no imminent threat of a stock market crash under Donald Trump, the historical puzzle pieces do suggest a heightened likelihood of an elevator-down move and/or a substantial pullback in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Blue hour in the neighbourhood

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Florida: an eleven-year-old boy menaces other children on the playground with a semi-automatic handgun. {WCJB/Gray News 31 August}

https://www.wafb.com/2026/08/31/11-year-old-threatens-children-with-gun-playground-deputies-say/

FTA: ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. (WCJB/Gray News) - Florida deputies arrested an 11-year-old boy accused of threatening other children with a gun at a neighborhood playground.

Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies say they were called to reports of an armed disturbance in a neighborhood near Eastside High School on Saturday morning. The incident, they said, did not happen on campus.

Two children told deputies that they were inside a home when they saw the 11-year-old suspect through their window on the playground.

An argument broke out, and they said the suspect grabbed a semi-automatic handgun. He then allegedly walked up to the victim’s window and knocked on it with the gun, threatening to shoot them.

An adult in the house called 911, and the suspect left the area. Deputies found the boy at his home and arrested him.

The 11-year-old was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intention to kill.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

In the shadow of the Himalaya

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Rescue efforts continue in Nepal and Tibet following deadly glacial flooding. {The Guardian 31 August}

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/31/nepal-tibet-floods-rescuers-hundreds-trapped-hydropower

FTA: Rescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 12 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, ​the ⁠country’s disaster ​management authority has said.

The death toll from the ⁠unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud ​and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 939 people, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border.

About 500 of the missing hydropower workers at projects damaged by the flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts are thought to be trapped in tunnels built to control the flow of water.

As rescue efforts drag on, experts fear the chances of finding survivors in tunnels are diminishing as oxygen levels fall.

Some workers called for help when flooding started on Wednesday and those who had managed to escape tunnels said many of their colleagues were still trapped, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, the president of the Nepal Independent Power Producers’ Association.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by difficult terrain, persistently high flood waters and difficult weather. With more than 40 bridges destroyed, rescuers are relying on helicopters, while India and China are sending prefabricated truss bridges to help restore access.

The swollen Trishuli River has also continued to change course unpredictably, making planning a challenge. Areas that were dry one day are flooded the next, and further floods are a constant concern.

Hundreds of bodies, many unidentified, that were swept down the mountains by the torrent, have been buried in shallow graves after DNA testing on the plains ⁠of the Himalayan region.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The narrative factory

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Ministers of propaganda: Pentagon found to be secretly installing right-wing military veteran ‘influencers’ in government roles. {WP 30 August}

https://wapo.st/4iExvH4

Hegseth must go. America doth not need this half-baked culture warrior directing the affairs of its armed forces; rather, it requires an individual genuinely competent in the duties and responsibilities attendant upon overseeing the world’s largest fighting force. The incompetence on display is sickening in and of itself, but that they should endeavour to dictate public opinion — at taxpayer expense — on top of it is stunning for its sheer arrogance and effrontery. We are not in World War II, nor in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and the Christian Nationalist agenda now being advanced remains nefarious and thoroughly un-American in every conceivable respect. — 

FTA: The Pentagon has secretly installed several conservative military veterans with large online followings in government roles, declining to disclose their assignments as they amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and attack those who scrutinize the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter and corroborating material.

At least some of the influencers have been assigned to civilian roles that could lead to changes in policy, the people familiar with the matter said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Neither the Pentagon nor those involved have disclosed the government roles despite the Trump administration’s claims that they are running the most transparent Defense Department ever.

Those involved include Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel, people familiar with the matter said. Pentagon records reviewed by The Washington Post show that both have active official government email addresses as of this past week and are assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The email addresses include a “.civ” suffix, meaning they are labeled as civilian employees, rather than as military personnel or contractors.

Both served for decades in uniform and, since retiring, have turned from the military to conservative commentary. Maness has more than 135,000 followers on X, while Schlichter has nearly 620,000.

Another retired Army colonel and influencer, Thomas Anderson, was listed in Pentagon records earlier this year with a “.civ” email address and assigned to Tata’s office, according to people familiar with the matter and records reviewed by The Post. An attorney, he writes online under the pen name Cynical Publius and has more than 323,000 followers on X. He was no longer listed in Pentagon records late this past week, the people familiar with the issue said.

The assignments for all three have not previously been reported. Questions have been raised online about influencers’ connections with the Pentagon, including in an article last week by the Bulwark.

Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to comment to The Post about whether any of the three are drawing a taxpayer-funded salary, what roles they have or how long those jobs are expected to last. Tata did not respond to a request for comment.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The web tightens

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‘Penetrate the elite’: documents reveal international criminal Andrew Tate urged the lowlifes taking his online courses to engage in espionage against the rich and powerful; also instructed them on ‘building a bottom b**ch’. {Straight Arrow News 28 August}

https://san.com/cc/manosphere-influencer-andrew-tate-faces-sexual-misconduct-charges-a-data-leak-is-exposing-his-secrets/

FTA: A leak of sensitive information from “manosphere” influencer Andrew Tate’s online empire reveals that his “War Room” program teaches men to accumulate wealth, attract and control women and “penetrate” the elite, including by exploiting the sexual misbehavior of wealthy acquaintances.

The data provide new insight into the business operations of Andrew Tate, a British-American citizen who has reportedly cultivated relationships with Donald Trump Jr., Barron Trump and other figures on the American right even as he and his brother, Tristan, have defended themselves against accusations of sexual assault in two countries.

Material included in the leak shows that the “Penetrating the Elite” class in Tate’s War Room program — little known outside the organization — offers “espionage” training for subscribers aimed at digging up secrets on wealthy individuals for leverage in business deals. Another class teaches participants to categorize women into “exploitable types” who can be manipulated — and, if they don’t follow rules, disciplined.

A security researcher provided the data to Straight Arrow and to the leak-archiving organization DDoSecrets. The researcher detected the leak as the Tate brothers — Andrew is 39; Tristan, 38 — are being held in a federal detention center in Miami while they fight extradition to the United Kingdom to face charges involving at least four alleged victims. In a hearing this week, a federal prosecutor said Andrew Tate is accused in the U.K. of choking and holding victims and raping them, and his brother is accused of human trafficking, money laundering and violence against minors.

“They promote incredible violence against women consistent with the allegations against them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abbie Waxman told the judge.

Material included in the leak shows that the “Penetrating the Elite” class in Tate’s War Room program — little known outside the organization — offers “espionage” training for subscribers aimed at digging up secrets on wealthy individuals for leverage in business deals. Another class teaches participants to categorize women into “exploitable types” who can be manipulated — and, if they don’t follow rules, disciplined.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The papers still fly

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Federal judge rules the Trump regime cannot deport foreign-born students for being critical of Israel. {AP 29 August}

https://apnews.com/article/israel-protests-deportations-ideological-d3694ba08ab714eb9441ca51a83fa57f

FTA: Judge Noël Wise, in a ruling Friday, delivered a victory for The Stanford Daily, the student newspaper at Stanford University, which has said some international students were afraid to speak out because of the deportation threat.

“Freedom of speech is illusory if we are only ‘free’ to express complementary views about the government and its leaders,” the judge wrote.

The decision largely piggybacks on findings from nearly a year ago by a U.S. district judge in Boston, who ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it targeted people who are not citizens for deportation solely for supporting Palestinians and criticizing Israel.

Wise wrote that the freedoms of speech and the press are “foundational to America’s enduring democracy.” The judge cited free-speech and vagueness flaws that violate the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment as she struck down portions of the provisions that the federal government follows regarding deportations.

Wise cited retaliation in March 2025 by U.S. immigration authorities against people who engaged in speech supporting the Palestinians and against Israel’s actions — which a growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said amount to genocide. The judge also cited retaliation against people who were critical of Charlie Kirk after the Turning Point USA co-founder was assassinated last September.

“Tomorrow, or perhaps even today, targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech to simply express opinions the government does not like,” the judge in San Jose said.

“This downward spiral is antithetical to our Constitution that recognizes our right to speak freely,” she added. “Here you can simultaneously hate the content of a person’s speech and love the country that cherishes the freedom to allow it. Zealous protection of our Constitutional right to free speech is a provocative demonstration of our country’s powerful lack of fear.”

The Justice Department did not respond Saturday to a message seeking comment on the decision.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Development at the edge of Eden

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“The political pressure being brought to bear is very unusual.” Trump eager to sell off land around Yosemite to developers. {The Telegraph 28 August}

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/d13546c1f3d93ab2

FTA: Donald Trump is reportedly considering selling off land in Yosemite National Park to a developer.

National Park Service staff were under pressure to transfer a quarter-mile strip of land inside the park to Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a real estate private equity firm, sources told Notus.

The plan has provoked alarm that Yosemite, the 1,200-square-mile park renowned for its granite cliffs and waters, which has been protected under legislation first signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, could be sold off for development.

“The political pressure being brought to bear is very unusual,” a person familiar with discussions within the administration told Notus.

Kingsbarn, according to government documents seen by the outlet, plans to develop two 40-acre parcels of land outside the park, located around five miles from one of its ancient sequoia groves, and build a road connecting the property to one of Yosemite’s main thoroughfares.

The road would give the company private access to the park that is otherwise almost entirely surrounded by national forests.

Kingsbarn would in return buy land of equivalent value, either near Yosemite or elsewhere in California, and hand it to the Park Service.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

A Kingdom on watch

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Russia’s former deputy foreign minister warns that Russia is poised to attack ‘legal targets’ in Great Britain. {Daily Mail 29 August}

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16090129/Russia-attack-British-drone-factory-missile-Kremlin-warns-described-UK-evil.html

FTA: Russia is poised to attack Britain – and has singled out a drone factory and a missile company as 'legal targets', it was claimed last night.

A senior adviser to Vladimir Putin warned that the 'highest levels of the Russian government' were considering a 'hybrid attack', such as sabotage or arson, rather than an 'outright military strike' that would unleash a response from Nato.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Andrei Fedorov, a former deputy foreign minister of Russia, described the UK as 'evil number one'. 

Among the Kremlin's targets is a drone factory owned by a British-Ukrainian firm, Ukrspecsystems.

Details of the company's premises next to RAF Mildenhall, in West Suffolk, were made public in April alongside five other European firms that make weapons and drones for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

On Saturday night, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'The reckless rhetoric and attempts at intimidation we have seen from the Kremlin in recent weeks reflects the weakness of Putin's position and we will not be intimidated.

'This has been a bad year for Putin. The front line has barely moved. Russian casualties continue to mount. The Russian people are paying a heavy price for Putin's war.

'It is also in our national interest that Putin's aggression must not be rewarded. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I are working together to mobilise support for Ukraine ahead of winter.'

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

No peace on the horizon

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Ukrainian intelligence: desperate Putin may be preparing ground assault on Kyiv, possibly involving Belarussian troops. {The Kyiv Independent 29 August}

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-planning-operation-in-northern-ukraine-including-kyiv-military-says/

FTA: Russia's military leadership had been tasked with preparing several operational scenarios for an offensive in northern Ukraine, with Kyiv and Chernihiv identified as key areas, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said on Aug. 28 during a closed-door briefing with journalists, Suspilne reported.

Palisa said the information had been verified and that the Presidential Office had received it from several intelligence sources, without specifying whether they were Ukrainian or foreign.

"Indeed, several options were considered (in Russia)," Palisa said at the briefing.

"The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has developed possible response scenarios, including measures to defend, protect, and counter these actions."

Palisa said no new offensive groupings are currently being detected in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions. Kyiv Oblast borders Belarus to the north, while Chernihiv Oblast borders both Belarus and Russia.

"Our top priority is to prevent the conditions from emerging that would allow Russia to launch any offensive operations at all," Palisa added.

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Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.