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Today's Headlines: This weekend has brought a lot, some would say too much, disturbing news. A lab worker at an anti-plague research institute in Siberia died after breaking a test tube containing pneumonic plague, with around 200 people placed under medical observation and several hospitals under quarantine — and yes, Kash Patel's Russia trip is coming up soon, which is a fun coincidence. Speaking of Russia, a different sanctioned Russian oligarch from the one who funded Don Jr.'s wedding is donating to Trump's White House ballroom, and a company linked to that donor subsequently received Treasury authorization to acquire a company owned by a sanctioned Russian bank, interesting. Trump is diverting the $20 million in taxpayer-funded campaign ads from the portion of the DHS budget specifically allocated for border security, anti-drug trafficking, and memorials for law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty — which is documented in federal spending records under "commemorative events." In more shenanigans, Trump doxxed Republican Senator Tom Cotton by posting his personal cell phone number on Truth Social to pressure him into supporting the permanent Daylight Savings Time bill, which is a new use of the presidential platform. On the Epstein beat, the whistleblower who alerted Congress to emails between Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein — emails Lutnick had emphatically denied existed — died by suicide this weekend, two months after sharing the evidence with the House Oversight Committee, not suspicious at all. Anthropic has apparently been lobbying the Vatican and religious leaders to argue that Claude may be a conscious being with a soul and moral status, Pope Leo responded by tweeting that algorithms "lack the spark of humanity," and Sam Altman tweeted that treating AI like a religious force is a "real safety issue" — which is rich coming from the man building it. And finally, The September jobs report added only 29,000 jobs with unemployment rising to 4.2% and wage growth hitting its lowest point since 2021, so interest rates aren't coming down anytime soon.
Resources/Articles mentioned:
EuroNews: Has plague returned to Siberia? Panic in Russia after death of lab worker
Politico: FBI Director Kash Patel plans Russia trip
Axios: Scoop: White House monitors suspected plague outbreak in Russia
Esquire: A Wealthy Russian Businessman Is Helping Fund Trump’s Stupid Ballroom. Nothing Sketchy About That, Right?
WaPo: Trump says Secret Service wants him to ‘take down’ Oval Office
WaPo: Trump ads use money for border security and slain officers' memorials
NY Post: Furious Trump doxes Sen. Tom Cotton, releases personal cell number, over bill to end daylight savings
THe Daily Beast: Whistleblower Who Exposed Trump Goon’s Ties to Epstein Found Dead
NYT: Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them.
Business Insider: Sam Altman: Don't Treat AI Like a 'Religious Force' - Business Insider
CNBC: Jobs report September 2026
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