White House Dossier's

Trump’s Surge Past Biden Blunts His GOP Rivals’ Primary Argument Against Him . . . The predominant argument against Donald Trump throughout this odd primary season has been one of electability. Nobody motivates the other side quite like Trump as evidenced by the 2020 election, so the argument goes. Yet polls in recent weeks have shown a decided shift to the former president. According to RealClearPolitics.com, Biden enjoyed a stretch of 11 straight major polls over the summer showing him tied or leading by as many as six points. But the month of September has been a disaster for the current president on multiple fronts, prompting even some of his allies on the left to urge him not to seek reelection. Messenger

Trump fires back after GOP opponents take turns bashing him in Republican debate . . . Former President Donald Trump, responding to heated criticisms from his primary opponents during the second GOP debate, said it was "much more important" for him to work to "save" autoworkers Wednesday night than to appear at the debate due to his massive lead in the primary polls, while dismissing Chris Christie’s "Donald Duck" nickname for him. Fox Business

McCarthy options on shutdown endgame shrinking . . . Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is running short on viable options to get House Republicans some wins while averting a shutdown. Outside the House, the Democratic-controlled Senate — with the help of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — has aimed to take the reins on a continuing resolution (CR), advancing a stopgap that Republicans say is dead on arrival in the House. The Hill

Democrats Have Become The Party Of Authoritarianism. They Only Understand Power . . . The same survey found that a third of Democrats think Americans “have too much freedom,” and a majority of them “approve of the government censoring social media content under the rubric of protecting national security.” Worse, about three-quarters of surveyed Democrats think the government has a responsibility to limit “hateful” posts on social media, and they are far more likely than Republicans or Independents to support censorship of political views. Federalist

U.S. strategic oil reserve at lowest level in decades, even as tensions with China mount . . . The Biden administration has sharply reduced oil stocks in the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the lowest levels in decades while China bolsters its oil reserves and ratchets up tensions over a potential conflict with Taiwan. U.S. government oil in the reserve decreased by nearly half after the administration adopted a plan to curb soaring domestic gasoline prices. U.S. officials say the high fuel prices last year resulted from supply shocks caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not Mr. Biden’s push for clean energy and discouragement of the use of fossil fuels. China, meanwhile, is stockpiling large amounts of low-cost crude oil from Russia as it prepares its military forces for a potential military move against Taiwan. Washington Times

Chinese hackers nab 60,000 emails in State Department breach . . . The officials, who included State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher, told attendees the focus of the hack was on Indo-Pacific diplomatic efforts, with nine of the 10 email accounts breached at the State Department belonging to individuals working on those issues. The other official was focused on Europe. Among the most sensitive information stolen, the staffer said, were victims’ travel itineraries and diplomatic deliberations. Fletcher also said that 10 Social Security numbers were viewed — or could have been viewed — via the hack. Politico

Why the Pentagon’s ‘killer robots’ are spurring major concerns  . . . As the Defense Department is pushing aggressively to modernize its forces using fully autonomous drones and weapons systems, critics fear the start of a new arms race that could dramatically raise the risk of mass destruction, nuclear war and civilian casualties. The Pentagon and military tech industry are going into overdrive in a massive effort to scale out existing technology in what has been the Replicator initiative. It envisions a future force in which fully autonomous systems are deployed in flying drones, aircraft, water vessels and defense systems — connected through a computerized mainframe to synchronize and command units. The Hill

Biden impeachment inquiry launches with focus on 3C's: Corruption, Credibility and Coverup . . . House Republicans on Thursday officially launch their impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, hoping to convince Americans that the 46th U.S. president presided over a family influence peddling scheme that collected at least $24 million from foreign interests, ran a campaign that deceived voters in the 2020 election and oversaw a Justice Department that covered up crimes by his son and possibly others. Just the News

Who’s Gaining Ground in Ukraine? This Year, No One . . . 
Both sides started the year with lofty ambitions: Russia wanted to capture the eastern Donbas region, while Ukraine aimed to split Russian forces with an attack in the south. Neither offensive has gone to plan. The front line, after months of grueling combat and heavy casualties, remains largely unchanged. Although both sides have launched ambitious offensives, the front line has barely shifted. After 18 months of war, a breakthrough looks more difficult than ever. New York Times

Saudi Arabia and Russia Win Big in Gamble on Oil Cuts . . . Saudi Arabia and Russia have raked in billions of dollars in extra oil revenues in recent months, despite pumping fewer barrels, after their production cuts sent crude prices soaring. The cutbacks were a risky strategy, both financially and politically. But they appear to be paying off for the two most important members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, or the OPEC+ cartel. Price increases are more than making up for the reduction in sales volume, according to calculations by consulting firm Energy Aspects. Wall Street Journal

All Quiet on the Brussels’ Front . . .  Another round of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, held in Brussels on September 14, ended unsuccessfully. Such a result was expected. For many reasons. For the autocratic regime of Serbian President Vučić, the success of the negotiations is probably no longer a desirable outcome. If it ever was. If an agreement is reached with Kosovo, Vučić does not gain much. The acceleration of the European integration process, which is the promised reward for the success of the negotiation process, lost its appeal long ago. Partly because it is increasingly visible that there is no political will for enlargement in the EU itself and in certain founding member states. Also, because in Serbia, unlike other countries in the region, there has never been a clear majority of voter support for EU membership. AntenaM

Obesity drugmaker’s expansion raises dominance worries for Denmark . . . Ozempic, a diabetes treatment that celebrities take to lose weight, and Wegovy, an anti-obesity medication, have propelled Novo Nordisk to become Europe’s most valuable company and single-handedly stopped Denmark from falling into recession. At $410bn, Novo Nordisk’s market capitalisation is now larger than Denmark’s annual GDP of $400bn last year, raising concerns among officials and business figures that the country’s fortunes have become too closely tied to a single company. Financial Times

Money

New revelations about Bidens include China payments, Delaware coverup . . . Laptop deniers are having a tough time trying to explain away the damning evidence pouring out of congressional committees investigating Biden corruption and the DOJ’s coverup. New documents from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley released by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday spell more trouble for the Bidens, and maybe for Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother” Kevin Morris, who paid the First Son’s $2.8 million tax bill and funded his lifestyle in Malibu. New York Post

 How $1M From China-linked Groups Oiled New York Politics . . . Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) once declared a "President An Quanzhong Day" in her congressional district to honor the China-born businessman's work for his Chinese hometown association in New York—while her campaign took thousands of dollars in donations from An. Newsweek

New York remains top financial centre, London clings to second place, survey shows . . .  New York has easily remained the world's top financial centre with London still second and gaining some ground, but also facing a tougher fight with Singapore and Hong Kong, the Global Financial Centres index showed on Thursday.

New York, in the top spot since deposing London in September 2018, remains well in the lead with 763 points based on surveys of 147 factors covering 121 centres provided by third parties, including the World Bank, OECD, and the United Nations. Reuters

Culture

Ozempic Is A Permanent Treatment To A Preventable Problem That Already Has A Cure . . . The latest health craze to sweep the nation features new injections for a preventable condition that already has a cure. Semaglitude, a popular type 2 diabetes medication, is being prescribed off-label to patients eager to lose weight. About 33 percent of American adults 18 and older are categorically obese, and another 34 percent are overweight. About 1 in 5 children have already reached the same deadly metabolic milestone, a rate that’s tripled over 30 years.

Ozempic brings consequences of its own. A study from 2020 that examined patients who took once-weekly injections over a 52-week period found that while users of Semaglitude lost 7.4 pounds of fat, they also lost 5 pounds of muscle. It’s hard to describe a weight loss drug where 40 percent of the weight lost is muscle as some kind of “miracle” elixir. The medication has reportedly led to a spike in emergency room visits with patients suffering blurred vision, pancreatitis, malnutrition, and drooping faces. Federalist

Wegovy, other weight-loss drugs scrutinized over reports of suicidal thoughts . . . - Dawn Heidlebaugh felt trapped in a disturbing pattern while taking Ozempic, the popular drug used to treat diabetes and obesity. Each Sunday for more than a year, the 53-year-old Ohio real estate agent took her weekly injection to help control her blood sugar. Then every Tuesday, she felt lethargic, depressed and sometimes suicidal, thinking her husband and four children might be better off without her. These feelings would last a few days, and the cycle repeated every week — except when she skipped a dose. “I knew it was the drug,” said Heidlebaugh, who said she had not previously suffered from depression. Reuters

The New Science on Making Healthy Habits Stick . . . Any healthy choice seems doable for a day. Building consistent good habits around exercise, sleep and nutrition in the long term is harder. Recent research is uncovering how long it takes to cement different kinds of habits—and gives fresh insight into how to make them stick. Simple health habits like handwashing, for instance, take a couple of weeks to develop, while more complicated ones like going to the gym take four to seven months, according to a recent study. Wall Street Journal

Nikki Haley offered glowing blurb for Vivek Ramaswamy's book before 'dumber' debate attack . . . Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley offered one of the most brutal attack lines of the night against her GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy at the second Republican presidential debate, but before their on-stage feud she offered him high praise on the back cover of his book, saying his 'honesty, intellect, and foresight are exactly what we need'. Fox Business

Biden’s Social-Media Censorship Harms Us All . . . The Supreme Court will decide as early as Wednesday whether to stay the lower courts’ injunction against the administration’s social-media censorship in Missouri v. Biden. One of the solicitor general’s arguments in the government’s defense is that the well-documented injuries to the plaintiffs, who were direct targets of the censorship, don’t justify a broad injunction that “covers the government’s communications with all social-media platforms . . . regarding all posts by any person . . . on all topics” (emphasis in original). Wall Street Journal

FBI Arrests Air Force One Stairs For Plot To Assassinate Biden
U.S. . . . The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today it has arrested the Air Force One stairs and charged them with a plot to assassinate the president. "After an extensive investigation, we now believe stairs are a credible threat to the President's life," said FBI spokesperson Ed Leslie. "Suspicion arose after repeated incidents in which the president nearly lost his life entering Air Force One. We are proud to say the threat has been neutralized." Babylon Bee