Five points for anger, one for a ‘like’: How Facebook's formula fostered rage and misinformation … Five years ago, Facebook gave its users five new ways to react to a post in their news feed beyond the iconic “like” thumbs-up: “love,” “haha,” “wow,” “sad” and “angry.”

At least five former Trump White House staffers are talking to the House January 6 committee  —  Pelosi: Those who defy Jan 6 subpoenas should go to jail  —  (CNN)At least five former Trump administration staffers have voluntarily spoken with the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, CNN has learned.

Dave Chappelle Says Hannah Gadsby Is ‘Not Funny.’ The Laughter At Her Show Taping Suggests Otherwise  —  “Not only did I laugh, but I laughed so hard I might have peed a little,” one audience member told Jezebel.  —  Alerts  —  As Dave Chappelle moves into his third week of defending his Netflix special …

Fight over teaching ‘Beloved’ book in schools becomes hot topic in Virginia governor's race  —  RICHMOND — A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from 1987 has suddenly become the hottest topic in the Virginia governor's race, as Republican Glenn Youngkin charged that Democrat Terry McAuliffe blocked parents …

Top Democrats aim to strike a deal on Biden's social spending plan within hours  — Democratic leaders said they were closer than ever to reaching a deal on President Joe Biden's plan to invest in the social safety net and climate programs.  — Agreement on the bigger Democratic bill …

Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation  —  A new public benefit corporation backed by billionaires Reid Hoffman, George Soros, and others is launching Tuesday to fund new media companies and efforts that tackle disinformation.  —  Why it matters …

Men shot by Rittenhouse can be described as ‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ but not ‘victims,’ judge rules ahead of trial  —  Kyle Rittenhouse's lawyers can refer to the men he shot as “rioters” and “looters,” but prosecutors still may not call them “victims” at any time during the teen's upcoming murder trial, a judge ruled Monday.

‘Reasonable questions’ over financing of Donald Trump's Scottish resorts, court hears  —  There are “reasonable questions” surrounding the money used by Donald Trump to purchase his Scottish properties and the continuing source of the wealth used for their financing, a court has heard.

Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin describes sexual assault by US senator  —  Revelation of incident ‘buried’ by Abedin contained in new memoir Both/And, to be published next week  —  Huma Abedin, a longtime close aide to Hillary Clinton, has written in a new book that she was sexually assaulted …

Why I'll Keep Saying ‘Pregnant Women’  —  Who can get pregnant?  It sounds like a trick question.  For centuries, English speakers have talked about “pregnant women” without a second thought, but a vocal and growing movement wants to replace that phrase with the more inclusive pregnant people.

Pro-Trump Professors Are Plotting an Authoritarian Comeback  —  On Halloween, the second National Conservatism conference, or NatCon II, will kick off in Orlando, Florida.  It is hard to know quite what to make of the lineup for the three-day fest, which boasts a few household names …

Ron DeSantis' seeks COVID vaccine mandate special session  —  Nothing can hide Florida's descent into Crazyville.  Not the “Don't Tread on Florida” alligator signs held by Gov. Ron DeSantis' supporters at his latest COVID-19 policy proposal announcement.  Not the state's new Ivy League …

Manchin: I Convinced Biden That IRS Monitoring $600 Bank Transactions Is “Screwed Up” And Won't Be In The Final Bill  —  Sen. Joe Manchin, one of two Democratic holdouts still negotiating with the Biden administration about the “Build Back Better” budget bill, told the Economic Club of Washington …

Scoop: Biden plan expected to include at least $500B for climate  —  The White House is privately telling lawmakers the climate portion of President Biden's roughly $2 trillion social spending plan is “mostly settled” and will likely cost more than $500 billion, two sources familiar with the talks tell Axios.

U.S. Gives Harshest Public Rebuke Yet on Israeli Settlement Plans  —  In discreet talks held by senior government officials and the Prime Minister's office, U.S. State Department expresses ‘deep concern’ over plans to build 3,100 new units in the West Bank and opening bids up for over 1,300 further units

The Poison Frog Strategy  —  Preventing a Chinese Fait Accompli Against Taiwanese Islands … Introduction  —  How could Taiwan and the United States respond if China seized one of Taiwan's outlying islands, such as Pratas/Dongsha (hereafter Dongsha) in the South China Sea?

John McWhorter Argues That Antiracism Has Become a Religion of the Left … When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.  —  WOKE RACISM  —  How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America  —  Growing up in the 1990s, I was raised to be optimistic about American society.

Man arrested for allegedly threatening Matt Gaetz  —  A man was arrested last week for allegedly making a death threat to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) earlier this year, just days after the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.  —  Authorities arrested Eugene Huelsman last week in the Los Angeles area …

Covid Cases Keep Falling  —  Covid cases have been falling in every region of the U.S., offering hope.  —  It is time for one of The Morning's occasional updates on the state of the pandemic.  Today's is focused on the U.S. and organized around three main points.  —  1. Covid's retreat continues

FDA advisers back Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for ages 5 to 11, saying benefits outweigh risks  —  More than 10 months after U.S. adults started receiving coronavirus vaccines, the nation's younger children moved significantly closer to getting a shot of protection when advisers …

Republican Leaders Could Still Stop Trump.  They Just Don't Want To.  Trump wants to take over.  Republicans just want party unity.  —  If Terry McAuliffe holds on to defeat Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia governor's race, a large number of Republicans will blame Donald Trump.

Pushing election lies, TPUSA audience member asks Charlie Kirk when they can “use the guns” and “kill these people”  —  Audience member to Charlie Kirk: “When do we get to use the guns? ...  That's not a joke.  I'm not saying it like that.  I mean, literally, where's the line?

Growing share of Americans say they want more spending on police in their area  —  Amid mounting public concern about violent crime in the United States, Americans' attitudes about police funding in their own community have shifted significantly.  —  The share of adults who say spending …

The Department of Justice Is Letting the Coup Plotters Get Away  —  While Congress is investigating the events of January 6, why isn't the DOJ doing the same—and more?  —  Early yesterday, Rolling Stone published an explosive report which claims two of the people who helped plan the January 6 …

'It's absolutely getting worse': Secretaries of state targeted by Trump election lies live in fear for their safety and are desperate for protection  —  (CNN)"I am a hunter — and I think you should be hunted," a woman can be heard saying in a voicemail left for Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in September.

Texas House committee to investigate school districts' books on race and sexuality  —  Rep. Matt Krause, a candidate for state attorney general, asks school superintendents to confirm whether any books on a list of 850 titles are in their libraries and classrooms.  —  Copy link

Enes Kanter says Nike is ‘scared to speak up’ against China and wears ‘Modern Day Slavery’ shoes in protest of Uyghur treatment  —  (CNN)NBA star Enes Kanter has doubled-down on his criticism of China and has called on Nike to do more in fighting against injustice in the country.

Republicans Are Manufacturing Fake Fraud  —  Republicans have an election fraud problem.  No matter how hard they look, they can't seem to find any.  To say that voter fraud is vanishingly rare in this country is to overstate its frequency.  —  The crown jewel of right-wing fraud propaganda …

Dead Subjects  —  When pages get ripped from your Book of the Living  —  By now, readers of these missives have likely ascertained that I have no ambitions to become a Media Empire.  While I strongly encourage you to keep those subscriptions coming - Daddy's medicine, Maker's Mark …

The Oath Keepers Next Door  —  Rolling Stone identified nearly 40 Oath Keeper memberships linked to public-sector work credentials, including domains like nasa.gov  —  What kind of person signs up for an antigovernment militia with a government-issued email address?