Friday Insights-October 18, 2024
Israel kills Hamas leader, Trump kills civility at Al Smith Dinner.
Israel’s war in Gaza came a step closer to ending with the death of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader and the man credited with planning the October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. President Biden said Sinwar’s death makes for “a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” It is impossible not to agree.
Americans, fortunately, played no direct role in Sinwar’s assassination. Israelis spotted him with a drone surveying damage to an apartment building and shot him before they realized who had been killed.
The sooner the war, both in Gaza and Lebanon, ends, the better. It would be great if the conflict ended before the new U.S. president was sworn in, but that seems overly optimistic given the desire of Benjamin Netanyahu to kill as many Palestinians as possible in the hope of avoiding a future October 7.
North Korea is sending 12,000 troops to Ukraine.
Russia will receive much-needed help from North Korea as it continues its war of attrition in Ukraine. Kim Jong Un has started sending troops to fight alongside the Russians. North Koreans will also fill in at factories, replacing Russians sent to the war or killed there.
This dangerous development will prolong the war and increase the risk of escalation.
Kamala Harris and Bret Baier.
Remember Republicans’ claim that Kamala Harris was afraid to do interviews or otherwise answer reporters’ questions? You don’t hear that anymore.
Harris agreed to an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier. The full 20-minute interview is worth watching. Harris took no guff from Baier. She called him out when he played a misleading interview about Trump’s references to “the enemy within.” She also did not allow Baier to interrupt her.
I’m not sure how many undecided voters watched the interview, but hopefully, some votes may have been won.
FTC and subscription cancellations.
On October 16, the Federal Trade Commission issued a new rule called “click-to-cancel.” It is long overdue and will be a major benefit to American consumers.
Earlier in the week, I realized I was still paying subscription fees for an internet telephone service I no longer used. To cancel, I visited the company’s webpage, signed in, and looked in vain for information on how to cancel the service. Only when I did a separate web search did I learn (not from the company) that consumers must telephone customer service to discuss cancellation.
I called the number given, and after three rounds of robotic questioning, I spoke to a human. The customer service agent was nice enough but argued with me for ten minutes about canceling the service. I was told I was making a mistake. After the “discussion,” she finally agreed to cancel the account.
With the new FTC rule, canceling subscriptions will be as easy as signing up.
Lina M. Khan, the chair of the FTC, said, “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.”
The FTC’s press release, including a link to the rule, may be found here.
Donald Trump at the Al Smith Dinner.
The annual Al Smith dinner in New York is a charity event honoring the first Catholic presidential candidate, Al Smith. Traditionally, the Democratic and Republican candidates for president attend. This year, Donald Trump attended, but Kamala Harris didn’t. Harris sent a short video instead.
Present at this year’s dinner were the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Governor Hochul, RFK, Jr., Melania Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, and others. Trump’s comments received wide press coverage, with some media suggesting they included profanity. In reading the transcript, I found less profanity than I had been led to expect, but I saw a lot of inappropriate material.
Here are two excerpts from Trump’s remarks. The first is about Doug Emhoff, who has been subject to an allegation that he slapped a nanny working in his home:
A major issue in this race is childcare, and Kamala has put forward a concept of a plan. A lot of people don’t like it. The only piece of advice I would have for her in the event that she wins would be not to let her husband Doug anywhere near the nannies. Just keep them away. That’s a nasty one. That’s nasty. I told these idiots that gave me this stuff, that’s too tough.
And one about himself:
You know, they say about presidents, they say that Andrew Jackson was the president that was the most meanly treated. His wife died. She died of heartache. She was heartbroken at the way they treated him.
And they say that second was Abraham Lincoln, but he was in charge of the Civil War. But those were the two. Andrew Jackson. Up until me. Now they say it’s not even close. There’s never been a president that’s been treated so badly as me. And our people weren’t happy about it. But I was treated a little bit rough.
The Moon.
Some Friday Insight readers may wonder what a photo of the moon is doing in today’s issue. That is a reasonable question. The moon smiled as I walked out to get the newspaper this morning. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots. They are not of professional quality, but they made me smile, so I am sharing them here.
Thank you.
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