Financial Analyst for over 40 years Treat social media like it is a Russian agreement, Question & Verifyhttps://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvslftpsrk24"Politics have no relation to morals." - Niccolo Machiavelli18 Sep 2026 16:25 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvslftpsrk24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvskarpcck24Heard in a North Carolina speech "It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done." —Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters that rising gas prices, as a result of the Iran war, were worth it.18 Sep 2026 16:04 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvskarpcck24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsk6dcxpc24Donald Trump’s call for Irish unification leaves a “trough of embarrassment” for the British government and unionists—those in favour of Northern Ireland remaining part of Britain, writes Alex Kane in the Irish Times, a newspaper. But although Mr Trump has “done unionists no favours”... 1/218 Sep 2026 16:02 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsk6dcxpc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsjx2pkas24Much of the fun of presidential summits lies in the anticipation. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet in Washington next week for a trade summit, and neither side wants to jeopardize the event by doing anything rash beforehand. That wariness has helped keep many of their festering trade... 1/2 https://www.economist.com/china/2026/09/17/china-and-america-are-likely-to-keep-the-trade-peace?utm_campaign=r.us-newsletter&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=9/18/2026&utm_id=223112518 Sep 2026 15:58 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsjx2pkas24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsjqmf2xc24A Democratic senator blocked a bill that would encourage tech companies to pay for the additional infrastructure associated with data centers. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico bunged up the legislation, which was designed to protect American bill-payers from shouldering the cost through higher... 1/218 Sep 2026 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsjqmf2xc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsjn4epqc24Most Senate Democrats wrote to Pete Hegseth demanding that he provide Congress a detailed breakdown of costs for the war against Iran. They accused the secretary of war of failing to provide “basic information” about how “tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars” had been spent. 1/218 Sep 2026 15:53 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsjn4epqc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsjk7t4as24Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican representative from Florida, criticized Mr Trump’s immigration crackdown in an election ad, suggesting it is increasingly viewed as a liability for the approaching midterms. In the address, Ms Salazar warned that “the same Hispanics” who helped Mr Trump... 1/218 Sep 2026 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsjk7t4as24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsjepq5vc24Mr Trump withdrew his nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No reason was given. Mr Schroyer is an ally of Markwayne Mullin, who leads the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. His confirmation vote stalled... 1/218 Sep 2026 15:48 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsjepq5vc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsisenvqc24A federal judge said the Trump administration must give at least 30 days’ notice if it intends to demolish the Kennedy Centre after Donald Trump was photographed looking at a poster which appeared to show plans to raze it. The president had previously warned that the center could be... 1/218 Sep 2026 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsisenvqc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsiocbyr224The Democrats look increasingly likely to win control of both houses of Congress in November’s midterms, according to The Economist’s latest analysis of polling data. The midterm forecast now gives them a 92% chance of flipping the House of Representatives... 1/2 https://www.economist.com/interactive/2026/us-midterms/prediction-model/house?utm_campaign=r.us-newsletter&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=9/18/2026&utm_id=223112518 Sep 2026 15:36 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsiocbyr224https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsihknak224"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." - Lewis Carroll18 Sep 2026 15:32 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsihknak224https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsicydsus24"Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine." - Lord Byron18 Sep 2026 15:29 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsicydsus24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsi2ztipk24The making of Bowie A decade after his death, David Bowie’s vault of old recordings continues to surprise. “The Shel Talmy Recordings”, a new compilation from 1965, will be released on Friday. The collection includes ten previously unheard tracks from the start of Bowie’s career, when he was... 1/418 Sep 2026 15:25 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsi2ztipk24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvshqjd7qs24NATO’s internal debate on Russian aggression NATO’s most senior military leaders are gathering in Copenhagen for an annual conference on Friday. The event will be overshadowed by the worsening air war in Ukraine and a succession of security incidents close to the alliance’s borders. 1/418 Sep 2026 15:19 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvshqjd7qs24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvshiygj2224Washington has no good way to rein in AI America is gripped by existential dread. This week bosses of big American AI labs, including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic, agreed on the need to restrict the technology before it causes real damage. Donald Trump hates that idea... 1/418 Sep 2026 15:15 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvshiygj2224https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvshcbqo3c24Treasury’s crusade for a stronger yen “I am the house now,” Scott Bessent declared this month as he warned traders against betting on a weaker yen. America’s treasury secretary has demonstrated a firm commitment to backing Japan’s currency—in part to discourage Japan from selling treasury bonds. 1/418 Sep 2026 15:11 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvshcbqo3c24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsfue5a5k24Russia’s staged vote Three days of voting for the Duma, Russia’s parliament, begin on Friday. Russians are calling the ballot a “special electoral operation”, by analogy to the “special military operation” that is the government-mandated term for the war against Ukraine. Ultimately Russia’s... 1/418 Sep 2026 14:45 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsfue5a5k24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsfofbey224Scientists discovered a new cat species in Bolivia’s Yungas forest, the first such discovery in more than a century. The light brown, spotted feline, named Leopardus tilcayo, belongs to a group of “tiger cats” found across Latin America. Smaller than the average domestic cat, it long went... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:42 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsfofbey224https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsflxrva224An independent cyber-security group managed to hack into OpenAI using Anthropic’s Claude software, according to the Wall Street Journal. It broke into an OpenAI employee’s ChatGPT account while testing security vulnerabilities. A string of recent AI-led intrusions have raised concerns that... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:41 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsflxrva224https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsfjzptjc24A 16-year old gunman opened fire at a high school in Banga, in the southern Philippines, killing at least two people and injuring several others before taking his own life. Classes were suspended across the municipality. It is the country’s third school shooting since June. Gun-ownership... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:39 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsfjzptjc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsfhyvohs24The yen fell by more than 1% to 157.7 against the dollar after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates from 1.0 to 1.25%, the highest level since 1995. Figures released earlier in the day showed that the country’s core consumer-price index had risen by 1.7% in August from a year earlier... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsfhyvohs24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsffx6frs24The European Union will disburse €3.3bn ($3.8bn) to Ukraine on Friday to procure missiles and drones, said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president. Earlier, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, warned there was a “real risk” of Russian drones and missiles entering a NATO... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsffx6frs24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsfdofifc24A UN fact-finding mission said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that America had committed war crimes in Iran. It cited strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd in February, which killed more than 170 civilians. An official from the State Department... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:36 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsfdofifc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsf5bjv3s24The Trump administration approved the sale of dozens of F-35 warplanes to Saudi Arabia, valuing the proposed deal at $24.3bn. Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, asked Donald Trump for the advanced fighter jets last year. Congress must still okay the sale... 1/218 Sep 2026 14:32 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsf5bjv3s24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvsekr4zxc24If Trump had even a basic understanding of trade he would know that when the US has a trade deficit with another country it does not mean that the US is throwing money down a rat hole, it means that the US received more goods and services than they sold to the other country.18 Sep 2026 14:22 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvsekr4zxc24https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvqhg3j6cd25When others are "clutching their pearls" it means that they are reacting with exaggerated shock, horror, or disapproval. When republicans are "clutching their pearls" they are actually covering their naughty bits like a soccer player defending against a free kick because they still back Trump.17 Sep 2026 20:08 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvqhg3j6cd25https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvq7x2vjn325Professor Scott Lucas joins Maddie Hale to discuss Trump being rattled by Canada, Carney’s pivot to Europe, his mounting economic problems, tensions with Saudi Arabia over the Houthis, Trump Jr.’s Russian oligarch controversy, Hegseth’s Pentagon troubles and Tucker Carlson’s Epstein cover-up claim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLd4JW2UHlY17 Sep 2026 17:54 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvq7x2vjn325https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvq7v4joh325The U.S. House of Representatives has passed sweeping new sanctions legislation targeting Russia and Iran, known as the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The bill, which now awaits President Donald Trump's signature, could significantly escalate economic pressure on... 1/2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K02WTjdSJI417 Sep 2026 17:53 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvq7v4joh325https://bsky.app/profile/alter-idem.bsky.social/post/3mvq7k74y7t25Heard in the Rose Garden "Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job, and the secretary of war doesn’t just go off and do things." —Todd Blanche, the attorney-general, defended Pete Hegseth after Thomas Massie brought a surprise impeachment resolution against him.17 Sep 2026 17:47 +0000at://did:plc:kfssuxckyyqzf7u7drufejdf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvq7k74y7t25