For more than eight years, we've seen a familiar news cycle. Trump or someone connected to him pushes a ridiculous story. It is widely shared by his supporters and it is widely trashed by Team Reality. Then the mainstream media posts articles with evidence that debunks the false claim. Meanwhile, we've spent another news cycle debating something utterly ludicrous. Since the playbook never changes, the claims have to become more extreme, more absurd, and often more racist and xenophobic, to go viral. No matter how often these lies are refuted, discredited, or disproved, the messenger who delivers them is still treated like just another politician sharing a viewpoint. That's how we got to the latest claim being pushed by Team Trump: That Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are kidnapping and consuming your pets. Next, you're gonna tell me that children are undergoing transition-related surgeries during their school day. Oh wait, Trump already suggested that over the weekend. First come the weird, fake social media posts from some obscure account. Then that lie gets shared. Then it gets boosted, bigly. JD Vance himself tweeted: "People have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country." (Because really, if you're going to have your pets abducted and eaten, it should only be by people born and raised right here in the U S of A!) Then come the major media headlines debunking the story. NBC News: Ohio police have 'no credible reports' of Haitian immigrants harming pets, contradicting JD Vance's claim. Once it becomes clear that the heinous story was a flat out lie, then the spreaders of that lie apologize profusely. Ha ha. Even today, JD Vance is suggesting that his office has received many inquiries from actual Springfield residents who have said their neighbors' pets have been abducted, adding, "It's possible, of course, that all these rumors will turn out to be false." Vance is just playing his part in the scheme. He, "however, is hardly alone. The Haitians-are-eating cats meme was seized upon by all the usual suspects — Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Elon Musk, the Trump campaign, and even the official account of the House Judiciary Committee GOP — who also 'fell' for the bogus tale." These stories are not actually rumors. As Charlie Sykes explains, They Didn't "Fall" for Anything. This story is the latest example in a never-ending misinformation campaign that keeps on keeping on because the media keeps covering a serial liar and convicted criminal like he's an ordinary candidate and, in some bizarre quest to be unbiased, has normalized nonstop lies as if they were a regular part of everyday political discourse. And all the little lies, along with the one very Big Lie, are remarkably effective. Consider this: Republicans are more likely to trust Trump than official election results. If someone predicted we'd still be seeing polls like this 4 years after the insurrection, I would have said, "If that happens, I'll eat my cat."

+ Tom Nichols on the absurdity of even holding a debate that includes a person who rejects the foundations of the American system of government. "Debates are based on good faith and shared assumptions about democracy. Trump bellows at us, over and over, that he couldn’t give a damn about any of that. He’s running because he wants to stay out of prison, get revenge on his enemies, exercise untrammeled power, and gain access to even more money. Are we really expecting a give-and-take about, say, child care (a subject on which Trump was spectacularly incoherent a few days ago) between a candidate who will govern as a traditional president and a would-be junta leader who intends to jail his opponents—including, possibly, the woman standing next to him and the reporters grilling him?"

+ One interesting tidbit about tonight's debate. It's the first time Trump and Harris will meet face-to-face. (It's also the first time in years I'll be forced to hear Trump's voice without immediately changing the channel.)

2

Brain Storm

"Scientists at the university's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) began the study using MRIs in 2018 to see how the brain structure of 160 teens from the Seattle area developed over time. The participants, a nearly equal number of boys and girls, ranged in age from 9 to 19 at the start of the study ... they couldn’t do brain scan follow-ups until 2021. So they shifted the focus of the study to learn how the lockdowns had affected adolescent brain structure." Teen brains 'aged' during Covid lockdowns, new research suggests. I'm not sure how accurate this study is, but I am sure we haven't really dealt with the traumatic impact that the pandemic had on all of us. (Maybe that's because 2020 still hasn't really ended.)

3

Seeds Assessment

"Susan Horton had been a stay-at-home mom for almost 20 years, and now—pregnant with her fifth child—she felt a hard-won confidence in herself as a mother. Then she ate a salad from Costco." Crazy story from Reveal and The Marshall Project: She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away. "Horton didn’t realize that she would be drug tested before her child’s birth. Or that the poppy seeds in her salad could trigger a positive result on a urine drug screen, the quick test that hospitals often use to check pregnant patients for illicit drugs. Many common foods and medications—from antacids to blood pressure and cold medicines—can prompt erroneous results."

4

Arctic Circle Jerks

"For the past few years, civilian life in northern Norway has been under constant, low-grade attack. Russian hackers have targeted small municipalities and ports with phishing scams, ransomware, and other forms of cyber warfare, and individuals travelling as tourists have been caught photographing sensitive defense and communications infrastructure. Norway’s domestic-intelligence service, the P.S.T., has warned of the threat of sabotage to Norwegian train lines, and to gas facilities that supply energy to much of Europe. A few months ago, someone cut a vital communications cable running to a Norwegian Air Force base." To quote Allen Iverson, we talkin' about practice. The New Yorker: Russia’s Espionage War in the Arctic. "For years, Russia has been using the Norwegian town of Kirkenes, which borders its nuclear stronghold, as a laboratory, testing intelligence operations there before replicating them across Europe."

+ "We’ve warned Iran publicly, we’ve warned Iran privately, that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation." Iran didn't heed those warnings from Antony Blinken. U.S. says Iran is sending ballistic missiles to Russia in a 'dramatic escalation.'

5

Extra, Extra

Mail Pattern Boldness: "The effort is part of a nationwide legal campaign that the GOP has waged since 2020 to reject mail-in ballots. Republicans say the litigation is aimed at enforcement of election law, down to the letter. But critics see a strategy that has nothing to do with election integrity and everything to do with disqualifying voters who cast ballots by mail, an overwhelming majority of whom support Democrats." WaPo: Trump, Republicans push swing-state courts to reject mail-in ballots. (Vote for people who want you to vote.)

+ Hill's Street Blues: "Newly released body camera footage of the detainment of Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill shows Miami-Dade police officers pulling the star player out of his car and forcing him to the pavement before putting him in handcuffs."

+ Crypt and Punishment: "The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world make cryptocurrency an attractive vehicle for criminals, while creating challenges to recover stolen funds." Americans lost $5.6 billion last year in cryptocurrency fraud scams, the FBI says.

+ Reading the Tea Leaves: Amazon is allowing Audible narrators to clone themselves with AI. "The company says performers will retain creative control over their AI voice and will be compensated on a ‘title-by-title basis.’" (Did I mention that my book was narrated by Peter effin' Coyote!)

+ The Voice: A few decades ago while I was watching James Earl Jones playing the part of Troy in Fences on Broadway, Jones threw down a large bag of hay and a bunch of it landed on my lap. I considered it an honor. That performance as Troy, like so many others he brought us, was unforgettable. James Earl Jones, Authoritative Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93. And from Variety: James Earl Jones, Voice of Unquestionable Authority, Titan of the Stage and Ideal Elevator Companion.

+ Country Club: For anyone missing their tennis fix after the last major of the year, here's a pretty solid list of 50 Parting Thoughts From the 2024 U.S. Open.

+ Photo Finish: Here are some pretty great, inspiring photos from the Paralympics. And here are some pretty great, but less inspiring, photos from the UK Hobby Horse Championships.

6

Bottom of the News

"It’s the stories that draw people in: A bride feeling upstaged on her wedding day; the woman whose husband insists on bringing his sister with them on their honeymoon; an airline passenger who wonders if she should have given up her first-class seat for a stranger’s child. These are all tales of questionable behavior from r/AmItheA**hole. AITA, as it’s known for short" How "Am I the A**hole?" ate the internet.

+ How we discovered that people who are colorblind are less likely to be picky eaters.