Politics

Tough Act

The annual UN General Assembly kicked off last Monday, and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine will attempt to persuade an array of countries to back Kyiv against the Kremlin. He’ll have to make use of his prior acting skills to convince hesitant leaders that the money is worth shipping out.

It could prove to be very difficult as many of the nations Zelenskyy will be asking for aid have taken a neutral stance regarding the war in Ukraine. Regardless, Ukrainian officials believe they have to make their case.

Who else is in attendance?

Four out of the five countries that hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council will not be attending: this means France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia will be absent (much like the G20 summit we covered last week).

This means President Biden is the only member of the Security Council who will be attending, giving him more time than usual to drive the narrative of the Assembly and hopefully enhance his administration’s struggling effort to improve America’s image internationally.

[Il]legal Tendencies

This will be interesting. Hunter Biden, the recently indicted son of President Biden, sued the IRS. The President’s son was indicted on gun charges just days before filing a lawsuit against the IRS, adding to the plethora of indictment headlines we’ve seen as of late.

Biden filed the lawsuit last Monday, accusing IRS agents of publicly sharing his private tax return information while they investigate him on criminal charges. Biden is looking for cash compensation of $1000 for each of the disclosures that were unauthorized.

Nearly two months ago, Biden reached a plea deal on misdemeanor charges for not paying $1.5 million in federal taxes between 2017 and 2018. During this time, he was reportedly already prepared to agree to another deal relating to the gun charges.

While he continues to plead not guilty on tax charges, his attorneys agreed the gun charges were valid.

Government

The Gold Standard

A politician receiving bribes? I never would’ve thought. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez - chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - is facing federal charges for… well, corrupt foreign relations.

Both Menendez and his wife, Nadine, are accused of using his political influence to benefit three New Jersey businessmen, along with pushing the US to send hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt in exchange for monetary bribes. They were both indicted Thursday with conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion.

Both Menendez and his wife deny any wrongdoing, however, federal prosecutors stated a raid on the Menendez home uncovered more than…

• $550,000 in stashed cash

• 81.5 ounces of gold bars

• And a Mercedes-Benz convertible

All of which are believed to be bribes. 

Menendez evaded corruption charges back in 2015 and is (somehow) the first sitting senator to be indicted twice on separate criminal charges. Luckily, he’s up for reelection in 2024!

Canada Accuses India of Killing on Canadian Soil

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was investigating “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government had killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who advocated Sikh separatism, in British Columbia in June.

Trudeau had raised the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit last week and expelled a top Indian diplomat last Monday. Tensions continue to escalate as each side puts up their own defenses:

• Canada expelled India’s top intelligence diplomat. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government responded by expelling a senior Canadian diplomat from India and has called for more Canadian diplomats to leave.

• India also suspended all new Canadian visas, who were the country’s fourth-largest group of tourists.

Tensions between the countries have been mounting for years over the Canadian Prime Minister’s sympathy for the Sikh separatist movement, which India considers a grave threat.

The United States, the UK, and Australia are attempting to find the balance between taking Canada’s accusation seriously, while simultaneously keeping their diplomatic relationships with India afloat.

Grab Bag

They Lost a What?

Find a U.S. 5th generation stealth F-35 fighter jet in your backyard? You may be entitled to compensation. Just this last week, the United States military lost a top-of-the-line F-35B Lighting II. Yes. You read that right.

Apparently, the world-renowned stealth technology is working too well, as even the most funded, technologically advanced military in the world couldn’t find their own aircraft. After a pilot had to eject due to a ‘mishap’, the F-35 went missing, having a nearby military base turn to X (formerly known as Twitter) to enlist help from civilians in the area.

Apparently, the jets tracker stopped working, and the craft (described by Lockheed-Martin as the ‘most advanced fighter jet in the world’) was made to be undetectable with radar, leaving the military scrambling to find it. The jet was left on autopilot after the pilot ejected, leaving many worried about the whereabouts of the plane.

Luckily, the plane was found with no civilian casualties reported.

Anyone Want a Free Brain Implant?

A few months after getting approved by the FDA for human trials, Neuralink is looking for its first human test subjects. The trial will take place over six years and was dubbed ‘the PRIME Study’ by Elon Musk. The company is looking for subjects with quadriplegia or ALS who are over the age of 22 to test the first-ever commercial brain-computer implant.

Once implanted, the user can utilize the Neuralink app, which translates brain signals from the implant to the software, to render computer actions straight from their brain.

Just to be clear, this is not the same all-encompassing brain computer Elon had talked about on Joe Rogan’s podcast, it is used to help those with paralysis use computers the same way you or I would.

Regardless, this is a huge step for Neuralink, and possibly an inside look into the future of human connections with computers.

Happy Little Trees

The first ever painting Bob Ross made on his TV show, “A Walk in the Woods” (1983) is up for auction. His iconic TV show, The Joy of Painting, which ran on PBS for 11 years, is still inspiring many years later.

The painting is up for auction in Minneapolis, Minnesota, asking for a cool $9.85 million.

Fun Fact: Bob Ross has become the most searched artist on Google, surpassing the likes of Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.

Snippets

Rodent Residual: A hamster named Mr. Goxx is out-investing Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and the S&P 500, here’s a video on how he does it.

Double time: The XFL and USFL are in talks to merge, signaling non-NFL ratings are tight.

Cute Companion: “I hope he never forgets my face,” A man fleeing Venezuela had to say goodbye to his pet squirrel after a nearly 3,000-mile journey.

Deadly Directions: Google was sued by the widow of a man who died after driving off of a collapsed bridge while following the company’s GPS directions, which hadn’t been updated.

Stoned Sheep: A flock of sheep in Greece made their way into a greenhouse, eating 600 pounds of marijuana plants being cultivated for medical use.

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