“Colorado officials are reviewing the death of journalist Hunter S Thompson, 20 years after it was ruled a suicide, at the request of his widow. Thompson died at the age of 67 at his home in Woody Creek, Colorado, a small town north of Aspen, in February 2005. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday that it was conducting a ‘case review’ of the 2005 investigation into his death, though the agency said this was not as a result of new evidence. ‘By bringing in an outside agency for a fresh look, we hope to provide a definitive and transparent review that may offer peace of mind to his family and the public,’ Colorado Sheriff Michael Buglione said. He added that Thompson had had ‘a profound impact’ on his community and beyond. Thompson was a renowned writer and journalist who wrote for dozens of outlets including Rolling Stone, Playboy, and ESPN.” (10/01/25)
“The White House is withdrawing the nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics amid criticism of the pick from across the political spectrum. The decision to pull the nomination was confirmed Tuesday by two people with knowledge of the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel decisions. President Donald Trump tapped Antoni, a Heritage Foundation economist, to lead the agency after he fired former Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following a soft jobs report last month. William Wiatrowski, who’s been deputy commissioner since 2015, has served as the acting commissioner at the agency since McEntarfer was removed.” (09/30/25)
“The Jane Goodall Institute said in a post on Instagram Wednesday that the renowned primatologist has died. While living among chimpanzees in Africa decades ago, Goodall documented the animals using tools and doing other activities previously believed to be exclusive to people, and also noted their distinct personalities. Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans’ closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness. … In her later years, Goodall devoted decades to education and advocacy on humanitarian causes and protecting the natural world.” (10/01/25)
“The United Nations Security Council has voted to expand an international [occupation] force deployed to Haiti and transform it into a so-called ‘Gang Suppression Force.’ The resolution passed by the council on Tuesday provides a clear mandate for the force to work with local authorities to ‘neutralise, isolate, and deter’ [rival] gangs, secure infrastructure, and seek to secure institutional stability. It would raise the personnel ceiling from 2,500 in the current mission, first approved in 2023, to 5,550 personnel.” (09/30/25)
Last year, our goal was $5,351. This year it’s $5,501. More than last year because, you know, inflation. $5,501 because I like prime numbers.
The good news: As has been the case for several years now, a generous reader is offering “matching funds” for half of that goal … meaning that all of our several thousand OTHER daily readers on the web, via email, and on social media, only need to come up with $2,750.50.
And once we’ve hit our goal, you will hear not a single word from me about money for the rest of the year, and only the occasional “we’re reader-supported” mention for another nine months after that.
So: The quicker the better, and the beatings will continue until morale improves! That URL again:
PLEASE: DO NOT MAIL CHECKS WITHOUT EMAILING ME ([email protected]) FIRST!
Why? Well, they need to be made out to a particular person (we’re not incorporated, we’re not a non-profit, etc.) in order to be cashed. And, I will hopefully be moving during the fundraiser; my address will change when I do move.
I’m sure I’ll be making the case for helping us out many times between now and hitting our goal, so I’ll keep it to one sentence this time:
We’ve been doing this since the mid-1990s, and we’ve never charged a mandatory fee, but we gotta eat.
“A senior Hamas official said Wednesday the group is ‘likely’ to reject U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced 20-point peace proposal for Gaza, a plan that Washington and Jerusalem maintain could end the fighting and secure the release of the remaining [48 Israeli hostages held by Hamas and some, but not all, Palestinian hostages held by Israel]. The official, speaking to the BBC, argued the framework ‘serves Israel’s interests’ while ‘ignoring those of the Palestinian people,’ and added that Hamas will neither disarm nor accept the deployment of an international stabilization force — both central requirements of Trump’s initiative.” (10/01/25)
“The US government shut down [sic] on Wednesday, after congressional Democrats refused to support a Republican plan to extend funding for federal departments unless they won a series of concessions centered on healthcare. The GOP, which controls the Senate and the House of Representatives, repudiated their demands, setting off a legislative scramble that lasted into the hours before funding lapsed at midnight, when the Senate failed to advance both parties’ bills to keep funding going.” (10/01/25)
“Bitcoin has broken through the $116,000 mark, climbing 2% in the past 24 hours and briefly reaching as high as $116,600. The rally is unfolding against a backdrop of a U.S. government shutdown and record-setting strength in gold, which is trading near $3,900. Ether is following suit, jumping nearly 4% in the same 24-hour period to trade at $4,287.” (10/01/25)
“A Ukrainian diver suspected of being involved in causing undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022 has been detained in Poland. The diver, identified as Volodymyr Z under Germany’s privacy laws, was detained on Tuesday near the Polish capital, Warsaw, local radio station RMF FM and his lawyer said. The lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, said he would challenge his client’s transfer to Germany, where investigators had launched a case into the attack, which was described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage.” (09/30/25)
“The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Robert Luna, claiming the department violated county gunowners’ 2nd Amendment rights by delaying thousands of concealed carry permit application decisions for ‘unreasonable’ periods of time. In a statement, the Justice Department claimed that the Sheriff’s Department ‘systematically denied thousands of law-abiding Californians their fundamental Second Amendment right to bear arms outside the home — not through outright refusal, but through a deliberate pattern of unconscionable delay.'” [editor’s note: Requiring a “permit” at all violates the 2nd Amendment – TLK] (09/30/25)
