Police cameras show confusion, anger over DeSantis' voter fraud arrests  —  Local police carrying out the arrests were patient, understanding — almost apologetic.  —  TALLAHASSEE — When police went to arrest Tony Patterson outside his Tampa home in August, he couldn't believe the reason.

Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn't a Priority  —  A New York Times/Siena College poll found that other problems have seized voters' focus — even as many do not trust this year's election results and are open to anti-democratic candidates.  —  Voters overwhelmingly believe …

Mike Lee's Golden Rule  —  “He's tasted the wine and he wants more and he loves power and thinks that means sticking with Donald Trump now, regardless of what he represents.”  —  Beseeching Mitt Romney for help—on Tucker Carlson's show of all places—would have been unthinkable to Sen. Mike Lee, even recently.

Retired U.S. brass cash in with Saudis, other repressive governments … More than 500 retired U.S. military personnel — including scores of generals and admirals — have taken lucrative jobs since 2015 working for foreign governments, mostly in countries known for human rights abuses …

More lethal strain of COVID created in Boston University lab, researchers say  —  ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY:  —  Researchers at Boston University say they have developed a new COVID strain that has an 80% kill rate following a series of similar experiments first thought to have started the global pandemic that began in China.

10/18/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … THE NATION'S STATUTORY BORROWING CAP WILL NEED TO BE LIFTED AT SOME POINT IN 2023, PROBABLY DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR.  —  MCCARTHY SIGNALED THAT REPUBLICANS WOULD AGAIN HOLD THE DEBT LIMIT UP FOR POLICY CHANGES.

We Surveyed America's Sheriffs.  Their Views May Surprise You. … Over the last decade, debates about police violence, mass incarceration and other criminal justice issues have generally focused on police chiefs and prosecutors.  But sheriffs demand equal attention.

EXCLUSIVE Iran agrees to ship missiles, more drones to Russia, defying the West-sources  —  Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface to surface missiles, in addition to more drones, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters, a move that is likely to infuriate the United States and other Western powers.

Ex-UK pilots lured to help Chinese military, MoD says  —  Former British military pilots are being lured to China with large sums of money to pass on their expertise to the Chinese military, it is claimed.  —  Up to 30 former UK military pilots are thought to have gone to train members of China's People's Liberation Army.

GOP to use debt limit to force spending cuts, McCarthy says  —  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that if Republicans win control of the House the GOP will use raising the debt limit as leverage to force spending cuts — which could include cuts to Medicare and Social Security …

Biden's Blessing  —  Biden's inner circle is pondering throwing their juice behind a Silicon Valley-inflected outside political group.  The move would represent a break with the past, and the unmistakable westward march of Democratic influence.  —  In the argot of today's soft-money political …

John Fetterman said he's ‘always supported’ fracking — he previously said 'I don't' and ‘never have’  —  Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Candidate John Fetterman said in a national television interview last week that he has always supported fracking in his state, but in 2018 Fetterman …

Andrew Cuomo to host new weekly podcast, leaves door open to politics  —  Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is launching a new podcast on the subscription podcast platform Quake, he told Axios. … - The show's first guest is former White House communications director and Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci.

Top Georgia journalist warns about Herschel Walker's political assets  —  Award-winning journalist and author Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution joined our show to talk about what lessons can be learned from the 2020 special elections in Georgia and shared wisdom about Herschel Walker's campaign.

Turnout on first day of Georgia early voting breaks midterm record  —  Competitive elections drive Georgia voters to the polls  —  The first day of early voting in Georgia set a new midterm turnout record, with nearly 123,000 in-person voters casting their ballots, an early sign of strong interest in this year's elections.

Why Wakanda might be a model for our future cities  —  Wakanda is a marvel.  The fictional country of the Marvel Universe is the most advanced civilization in the world, years beyond the rest of the world in technological learning.  —  But it's a little-noticed part of Wakanda that may predict …

Americans' Trust In Media Remains Near Record Low  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — At 34%, Americans' trust in the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly” is essentially unchanged from last year and just two points higher than the lowest that Gallup has recorded, in 2016 during the presidential campaign.

U regent Sviggum wonders if Morris campus is ‘too diverse’  —  A member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents is coming under fire for a suggestion he made that the Morris campus is “too diverse” and that diversity might be making it harder to draw students there.

Trump Says He Wants Marjorie Taylor Greene in His Next Administration  —  “Wouldn't she be great?” former president tells confidants of a person who mocked a school shooting survivor and blamed wildfires on a secret space laser … As he lays the groundwork for a 2024 presidential run …

French company fined $777 million and pleads guilty to paying ISIS as terror group killed Westerners  — Lafarge Cement is pleading guilty and has agreed to pay a fine of $777.8 million to resolve a criminal charge related to the French company's payments to the terror organization ISIS to keep a plant operating in Syria.

Saudi Arabia sentences U.S. citizen to 16 years in prison for tweets  —  The Saudi government has sentenced a 72-year-old U.S. citizen to 16 years in prison for tweets he posted while inside the United States, some of which were critical of the Saudi regime.

Lee Chatfield suspected of engaging in criminal enterprise  —  Lansing — Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield is under investigation in connection with an alleged “criminal enterprise,” potentially involving embezzlement, bribery, campaign finance violations and controlled substances …

What the eclipse of Tencent by a liquor company says about Xi's China  —  Kweichow Moutai has overtaken the tech group in market capitalisation thanks to the whims of one man  —  What would it say about US innovation and President Joe Biden's stewardship of the economy if America's largest beer company …

Blinken Says China Wants to Seize Taiwan on ‘Much Faster Timeline’  —  China has made a decision to seize Taiwan on a “much faster timeline” than previously thought, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, shortly after China's leader reiterated his intent to take the island by force if necessary.

Cross-Tabs for October 2022 Times/Siena Poll of Registered Voters … Do you think the United States is on the right track, or is it headed in the wrong direction?  —  REGISTERED VOTERS  —  AGE  —  GENDER  —  EDUCATION  —  RACE/ETHNICITY  —  RACE AND EDUCATION  —  REGION  —  COMMUNITY

Death toll rises to 13 after military bomber crashes into Russian apartment complex  —  Moscow says the crash was the result of an accident in which the plane's engine ignited at takeoff.  At least 19 people were injured.  —  The death toll from a Russian military bomber's crash …

White House to Tap Oil Reserve Again Amid High Fuel Prices  —  The Biden administration is moving toward a release of at least another 10 million to 15 million barrels of oil from the nation's emergency stockpile in a bid to balance markets and keep gasoline prices from climbing further, according to people familiar with the matter.