Elon Musk said on X Monday that he will give one of his shares of his company SpaceX to every kid in America in 2027, adding that "This will be the first of many."
Share Value: The latest US Census Bureau data showed approximately 73 million children under the age of 18 living in the US. With SpaceX shares closing Friday at $146.03, this could mean Musk would be giving away roughly $10.5 billion in stock.
'Musk Urged Anthropic': Some outlets on the right like Fox Business (Lean Right bias) highlighted Musk's plan as a response to an announcement on X from AI company Anthropic, saying that the company is "committing a portion of Anthropic's shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new wholly owned entity dedicated entirely to the public benefit. It will start off with 5% of our shares. For every 50% increase in the company's value over a set baseline, we can contribute up to an extra 2%, subject to our board's discretion." Anthropic further explained that "this means that roughly 20% of Anthropic's shares are committed to the public good." The article highlighted Musk responding to the announcement, saying "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public." Fox Business said that after "Musk urged Anthropic to distribute shares directly to the public," he "indicated that he intended to follow that approach himself."
'Failed To Give': Outlets on the left like The New York Times (Lean Left) and CNN Business (Lean Left) tended to frame coverage around scrutiny both Musk and his company SpaceX came under following restrictions on SpaceX satellite internet services that Ukraine depended on for battlefield operations against Russia. The Times article also highlighted Musk being a "signatory of the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world's richest people to give away half of their fortunes," and mentioned that "he has expressed skepticism of traditional philanthropy." According to the article, Musk's "nonprofit, the Musk Foundation, had more than $14 billion assets at the end of last year, but over the past four years has failed to give away the minimum amount required by law."
For Context: Over the past three months, Musk given $276 million to Republican super PAC's and organizations. Outlets on the right, like The New York Post (Right) highlighted what the article called an "eye-popping, nine-figure sum." Conversely, some outlets on the left like The New York Times called the effort a "Midterm rescue mission." At the beginning of last month Michael and Susan Dell began dispersing a total of $6.25 billion to the Trump Accounts of children born from 2016-2024 in ZIP codes where the median income is under $150,000.
O 12º Congresso Vitafor Science será realizado em Fortaleza nos dias 6 e 7 de novembro de 2026, reunindo profissionais de nutrição e áreas afins para atualização científica e aplicação prática.
Organizado pela Vitafor Science, unidade do Vitafor® Group, o evento acontecerá no Hotel Gran Mareiro, localizado na Praia do Futuro, e oferecerá duas jornadas de palestras, debates e networking. A proposta é aproximar conhecimento científico e rotina clínica, com apresentações direcionadas aos desafios encontrados pelos profissionais no atendimento.
Os temas programados incluem saúde da mulher e estética, saúde mental, saúde endócrina e metabólica, nutrição esportiva, longevidade, saúde intestinal, odontologia integrativa e estratégias de biohacking.
Entre os palestrantes confirmados estão Annette Marum, Daniel Coimbra, Danielle Lodetti, Frederico Maia, João Motarelli, Luana Manoso, Luisa Wolpe, Marcio Souza, Michele Barrella, Murilo Pereira, Nathercia Percegoni, Neiva Souza, Olivia Fernandes, Patricia Arraes, Patricia Cattaccini, Pedro Perim, Ricardo Sodré, Roberta Carbonari e Vânia Mattoso.
A programação de nutrição esportiva, chancelada pelo American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), contará com Andréia Naves, Guilherme Rosa, Dr. Gustavo Santos e Braian Cordeiro, visando aproximar a ciência das rotinas clínicas.
"O congresso não é apenas um encontro para atualização científica; é o maior evento sobre suplementação nutricional do Brasil, promovendo troca de experiências e networking", afirma Débora Dutra, diretora de marketing da Vitafor® Group.
Além das sessões científicas, os participantes terão acesso a degustação de produtos Vitafor, kits congressistas e informações sobre a empresa, que atua há mais de 20 anos no mercado de suplementos nutricionais e recentemente expandiu operações para a Europa.
Informações e ingressos: science.vitafor.com.br/12o-congresso-vitafor-science
Sobre a Vitafor® Group
A Vitafor® Group é uma empresa 100% brasileira, está há mais de 20 anos no mercado e é considerada uma das principais marcas em suplementos nutricionais do país. Possui um portifólio de suplementos nutricionais que ultrapassa 270 itens para todas as fases e necessidades da vida, com o objetivo de promover bem-estar e saúde.
Recentemente, a marca expandiu sua atuação para a Europa com o lançamento da Vitafor Europe, instalando-se em Portugal com e-commerce para atender o consumo internacional, além do lançamento da marca Fitzei, marca de snacks saudáveis do grupo.
A empresa também mantém um portal científico, o Vitafor Science, para apoiar o profissional de saúde com informações atualizadas e confiáveis sobre os principais avanços nutricionais.
A Vitafor® Group tem sede em Araçoiaba da Serra, interior de São Paulo, onde está a fábrica com mais de 22 mil metros quadrados de área e o laboratório de análises próprio, o VLabor.
A combination of maritime fuel blockades, power grid collapses, and legal indictments deepens economic hardship across the island nation.
Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration, the United States’ relentless hostility toward Cuba has been on the rise. This friction has centered on unilateral sanctions, trade restrictions, and direct legal actions against former Cuban government leaders.
2026 brought to Cuba a series of severe economic challenges, particularly regarding its energy sector. U.S. executive orders and maritime monitoring actions aimed at restricting oil shipments to state-owned Cuban entities contributed directly to fuel shortages across the island. These restrictions affected power generation, agricultural transport, municipal services, and health sector logistics.
In May, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal jury indictment in Miami charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants with conspiracy and murder related to a 1996 aerial shootdown.
Cuba Fuel Restrictions and the Energy Infrastructure Crisis
On January 29, Trump issued an executive order stating that the U.S. would impose tariffs on any country that sent oil to Cuba. The U.S. government authorized certain fuel shipments exclusively to private commercial entities, while blocking access to state-managed refineries and power facilities.
This policy created severe fuel deficits for public utilities responsible for national electricity generation. A deficit that led to recurring shutdowns across the National Electrical System. On March 16, 2026, the national grid suffered a complete collapse after a major boiler leak occurred at the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant in Matanzas. By October 2026, another mechanical breakdown left up to 75 percent of the country without power.
The energy deficits extended beyond residential electricity. In February 2026, fuel shortages forced Cuban aviation authorities to suspend refuel operations for foreign air carriers. Consequently, airlines such as Air Canada, Rossiya, and Nordwind suspended flights to the island. International tourist arrivals dropped by approximately 58 percent by June 2026 compared to prior operational benchmarks.
Public sanitation and healthcare systems reported operational disruptions due to the fuel deficit. In Havana, local authorities reported that only 44 of 106 municipal collection trucks were operational in early 2026 due to empty fuel tanks.
In June 2026, United Nations human rights monitors showed a 60 percent decline in agricultural production caused by fuel shortages for farming equipment and transport vehicles.
🇨🇺 96,000 Cubans are waiting for surgery as a result of lack of fuel and lack of energy. Among them, 11,000 children.
The U.S. is denying oil to Cuba through a fuel blockade, despite that it’s perfectly legal for any country to export fuel to Cuba. @CarlosFdeCossiopic.twitter.com/DnHW2TONJ5
Hybrid Operations and International Diplomatic Positions
Throughout 2026, the U.S. diplomatic campaign was accompanied by increased military surveillance, intelligence monitoring, and diplomatic warnings. Reports documented an increase in U.S. military reconnaissance flights operating over international airspace near the Cuban coastline.
Cuban defense officials countered that the frequency of these flights constituted deliberate psychological pressure and surveillance of national infrastructure.
In parallel with maritime and aerial activities, U.S. diplomats engaged with governments in Latin America and Europe to restrict economic partnerships with Havana.
The U.S. State Department urged partner nations to terminate bilateral agreements involving Cuban medical professionals. Several governments, including Guatemala, Honduras, and several Caribbean nations, subsequently reduced or phased out participation in Cuban medical exchange programs.
In August 2026, UN human rights rapporteurs released a joint statement concluding that unilateral fuel restrictions and financial blockades exacerbated severe shortages of basic goods, medicine, and food.
The Legal Prosecution of Raul Castro and the 1996 Case
On May 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants with conspiracy, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.
The legal push escalated further on October 19, 2026, when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement secured a state arrest warrant for Castro, charging him with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Both prosecutions center on an incident that took place on February 24, 1996, when Cuban military MiG fighter jets intercepted and shot down two civilian Cessna 337 aircraft. The planes were operated by Brothers to the Rescue (Hermanos al Rescate), a Miami-based organization founded by José Basulto.
The group initially focused on search-and-rescue operations for Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits, but later expanded its activities to include dropping political leaflets directly over Havana.
The 1996 aerial interception resulted in the deaths of four crew members: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. U.S. federal and state authorities asserted that the civilian planes were destroyed over international waters without legal justification.
Florida state prosecutors cited military chain-of-command statements from the period in which Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, authorized commanders to shoot down unauthorized aircraft over the sea without prior consultation.
In response, the Cuban government stated that the civilian aircraft had repeatedly violated Cuban sovereign airspace despite official diplomatic warnings issued to the U.S. State Department prior to the incident.
Cuban authorities and foreign affairs analysts characterized the revival of thirty-year-old charges as a coordinated exercise of extraterritorial judicial power. Officials in Havana rejected the dual legal actions as politically motivated efforts to criminalize Cuba’s historical leadership and create legal grounds for continuing trade and financial sanctions.
U.S. state of Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Cuban Revolution leader Raul Castro on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder linked to the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft. https://t.co/FyQMk8L6E6pic.twitter.com/TDb95dNOk8
The Cuban government and civic organizations responded to the rising external pressures through formal diplomatic rejections, official government statements, and public mobilizations.
Following the unsealing of the May 2026 U.S. indictment against former President Raúl Castro, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla rejected the legal action in an address to international media and diplomats.
Rodríguez Parrilla characterized the indictment as a politically motivated maneuver designed to justify economic sanctions and interfere with Cuban domestic jurisdiction. President Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated this position, stating that national sovereignty and historical decisions regarding territorial air defense remain non-negotiable under international law.
In urban centers across Cuba, including Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Matanzas, civil organizations and neighborhood committees organized rallies opposing external interference and economic restrictions.
At the same time, state ministries implemented emergency measures to manage reduced fuel supplies and maintain essential public services. Municipal governments established scheduled electricity rotations, prioritized available diesel fuel for medical facilities and water distribution pumps, and expanded the use of draft animals and non-motorized transport in agricultural regions.
On the international stage, Havana received diplomatic backing from several multilateral organizations and regional governments. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) issued a joint declaration condemning unilateral coercive measures against Cuba’s energy sector.
During the United Nations General Assembly in September 2026, representatives from non-aligned nations called for an immediate end to the trade embargo, citing its negative impact on civilian health, infrastructure, and human development.
Analysis of Coercive Strategies and Long-Term Impacts
The events of 2026 reflect an intensification of U.S. policy toward Cuba through a combination of trade restrictions, infrastructural pressure, and legal mechanisms targeting state leadership.
The strategic focus on restricting fuel imports significantly affected Cuba’s national power grid, agricultural logistics, and public transportation. Simultaneously, the unsealing of a thirty-year-old indictment against Raúl Castro added a significant legal dimension to bilateral relations.
Economic data, energy assessments, and reports from international monitors demonstrate that the primary burden of fuel deficits and infrastructure instability falls directly on the civilian population. The disruptions to medical supplies, food distribution, and municipal sanitation illustrate the direct impact of unilateral economic sanctions on daily life.
Despite persistent resource constraints and structural deficits, the Cuban government has maintained state operations and institutional control through domestic conservation strategies and international partnerships.
#Russia | Moscow condemned a US arrest warrant against Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft, calling the charges politically motivated. Russia warned that escalating pressure on Cuba could destabilize Latin America and the Caribbean.#RaulCastro#Cuba… pic.twitter.com/PhmRslPWFq
Un botiquín despejado permite identificar con rapidez los productos de uso cotidiano y revisar aquellos que ya no deben conservarse. La depuración periódica de medicamentos, cosméticos y accesorios evita que objetos sin uso ocupen un espacio destinado al cuidado personal.
Antes de desechar fármacos, conviene consultar las pautas de la autoridad sanitaria local o de una farmacia. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) indica que la eliminación debe ajustarse a las normas nacionales y locales.
Además, el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA) advierte que las plantas de tratamiento no fueron diseñadas para retirar todos los compuestos farmacéuticos presentes en las aguas residuales. Por eso, no corresponde tirar medicamentos al desagüe salvo que la regulación local lo establezca.
Revise fechas de vencimiento y condicionesde conservación indicadas en cada envase.
Separe los productos que requieren consulta profesional antes de descartarlos.
Conserve solo lo que integra la rutina actual y está en condiciones de uso.
1. Frascos vacíos ya no cumplen una función
Los envases de recetas terminadas suelen acumularse por la posibilidad de reutilizarlos para viajes o piezas pequeñas.
Si no existe un uso concreto e inmediato, retirarlos libera lugar y reduce el desorden visual. Antes de descartarlos, quite o cubra las etiquetas que contengan datos personales.
2. Maquillaje antiguo requiere una revisión regular
Máscaras de pestañas, delineadores y otros productos líquidos pueden permanecer guardados durante meses sin utilizarse.
Una revisión mensual o cada pocos meses permite retirar los que vencieron, cambiaron de olor o textura, o dejaron de formar parte de la rutina. Los artículos vigentes deben conservarse según las instrucciones de su envase.
3. Productos vencidos no deben permanecer disponibles
La OMS define la fecha de vencimiento como el límite hasta el cual un producto médico conserva las especificaciones previstas, siempre que haya sido almacenado en las condiciones definidas. Tras esa fecha, no debe usarse.
La guía del organismo también señala que los productos caducados deben identificarse de forma regular y manejarse mediante procedimientosde descarte seguros.
4. Objetos ajenos a la rutina diaria ocupan espacio útil
El botiquín tiene capacidad limitada. Productos para una temporada determinada, herramientas de peinado de uso ocasional o reservas que no se necesitan a diario pueden trasladarse a otro lugar seco y ordenado. Así, los elementos habituales quedan a la vista y se localizan con menos demora.
5. Herramientas de aseo deterioradas conviene reemplazarlas
Pinzas, limas y otros utensilios desgastados o que ya no funcionan deben salir del gabinete.
Mantener solo herramientas en buen estado simplifica el cuidado cotidiano y evita confundir artículos útiles con otros que necesitan reemplazo.
6. Muestras y artículos de viaje generan acumulación
Los envases pequeños obtenidos como muestras o durante viajes suelen multiplicarse y dificultan encontrar los productos de uso regular.
Es útil revisar cuáles se emplearán realmente y descartar los demás cuando hayan vencido o no estén en condiciones de uso. Esta selección también incluye duplicados olvidados.
7. La humedad del baño puede afectar productos sensibles
El calor y la humedad no resultan adecuados para todos los medicamentos, cosméticos o fragancias. La OMS establece que los productos médicos deben conservarse conforme a las condiciones de su etiquetado y los sensibles a la humedad requieren ambientes que la controlen.
Leer la indicación del fabricante ayuda a decidir si el botiquín es el lugar apropiado.
8. Artículos guardados “por si acaso” merecen una decisión concreta
Lociones a medio usar que no agradan, elásticos y horquillas sueltos, hisopos sin envase y productos repetidos suelen quedarse sin una finalidad definida.
Una revisión permite determinar qué se utilizará y qué debe salir. Los objetos sueltos que se contaminaron con derrames tampoco deben mantenerse.
9. Papeles médicos antiguos no necesitan ocupar el gabinete
Recordatorios de turnos, folletos y documentación cuya información perdió vigencia pueden retirarse.
Los documentos clínicos que sí deban conservarse necesitan un sitio seco, separado de cosméticos y medicamentos, para evitar que se deterioren o se extravíen entre artículos de higiene.
10. Aparatos dentales anteriores exigen consulta antes de desecharse
Retenedores u otros dispositivos dentales reemplazados pueden requerir una indicación específica. Antes de quitarlos del botiquín, corresponde consultar al odontólogo u ortodoncista para confirmar que ya no son necesarios. Solo después de esa verificación se puede liberar el espacio que ocupan.
La eliminación de fármacos debe seguir los canales autorizados en cada lugar. El PNUMA advierte que compuestos de medicamentos pueden alcanzar sistemas de agua dulce y océanos a través de las aguas residuales, un motivo adicional para verificar las opciones de recolección sanitaria disponibles.
Foursquare cofounder Dennis Crowley wrote that "watching the company slowly decay has been a grind on my soul."
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Foursquare cofounder Dennis Crowley said the company's acquisition paid $0 to equity holders.
"I am sorry the Foursquare story ended in such a way," he wrote to employees.
Crowley said the company decayed after a private equity investment.
Foursquare's acquisition left its cofounder sad and angry.
Dennis Crowley helped launch the location technology company in 2009. Seventeen years later, Foursquare was acquired by Infillion. Crowley wrote on Substack that one point of the acquisition left him "heartbroken."
Foursquare's acquisition earned equity holders exactly $0, Crowley wrote, with no money offered for preferred or common stock.
"To our ~1600 former employees over 17 years, I am sorry the Foursquare story ended in such a way that makes it seem like our collective efforts were worth… nothing?" Crowley wrote.
Crowley left the CEO role in 2016, though he continued to lead Foursquare's research and development lab through 2021. After that, Crowley kept a seat on the board.
Foursquare raised capital from The Raine Group, a private equity firm, in 2019. Less than two years later, Gary Little became CEO. Little was one of The Raine Group's managing directors.
"Leadership was unable to preserve the value it inherited or create new value during those six years," Crowley wrote.
Foursquare employees reached out to Crowley to express their frustrations with leadership, he wrote. He cited the company's Glassdoor reviews, which rate it 2.1 stars out of 5. The Raine Group did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Crowley also wrote that the $0 equity outcome was buried in a 125-page PDF for Foursquare's legal team. "No single individual stood up to own (or even acknowledge) the outcome," he wrote.
Calynn Krieger, an executive vice president of marketing for Infillion, told Business Insider in an email that Foursquare had "remarkable technology and a talented team."
"We have nothing to say about Foursquare's former leadership, but we're glad the business and its value continue, and we're committed to creating even more of it," Krieger said.
The lesson Crowley learned
Crowley took responsibility for his role in the lead-up to Foursquare's $0 outcome for equity holders. His decisions as CEO led to the need for a private equity investment, Crowley wrote, and he said he wished he were louder on the board.
His takeaway: "Maybe the biggest mistake I've made in my career is falling in love with this company."
Crowley was too loyal to "making it work," he wrote, and stayed longer than he should have. "Watching the company slowly decay has been a grind on my soul," he wrote.
"It's okay to fall in love with the company you're building, but don't deny yourself the ability to get closure and move on just because the company itself hasn't yet experienced an exit or ending," he wrote.
Julia Manchester / The Hill: Trump deflects on potential Vance endorsement — President Trump did not say whether he would endorse Vice President Vance for a 2028 presidential bid on Tuesday after Vance said on Monday that he believed his boss would back him if he were to run. — “He's a very talented person and he's …
Julia Manchester / The Hill: Trump finds ominous campaign message in French riots — President Trump is issuing an ominous message to supporters, warning that Democratic control of Congress would lead to chaos and destruction in his closing midterm pitch two weeks out from Election Day.
The Atlantic: Trump Jr. Privately Breaks With His Dad — Sign up for Inside the Trump Presidency, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump term. — Donald Trump Jr. had a simple vision for his father's foreign policy during the 2024 presidential campaign: If elected, Donald Trump …
Michael Gold / New York Times: If Democrats Win Congress, Could the G.O.P. Refuse to Seat Them? — A changing of the congressional guard in January could leave room for meddling, though most legal scholars doubt it would happen. — President Trump's unfounded claims of large-scale voter fraud have Democrats bracing …
UPDATE (Tuesday Oct. 20, 2026 10:10 p.m. ET): On Tuesday night the Ramaswamy campaign confirmed it was behind the attack ad targeting Amy Acton.
Two weeks before Election Day, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is facing fresh criticism for yet another controversial attack ad against his opponent, Democrat Amy Acton. The Ramaswamy campaign did not initially say if it was responsible for the unaired ad that features Acton’s estranged mother, who defended her husband after he was accused of sexually abusing Acton when she was a child. It put out a statement saying the candidate’s mother “is clearly warning Ohioans not to vote for her.” (Ramaswamy previously faced backlash for an earlier ad that showed a man later identified as a sex offender; the man was later removed from some versions of the ad.) Later on Tuesday, however, the campaign confirmed it had in fact produced the spot and, despite bipartisan backlash, would be spending millions of dollars pushing it to voters throughout the state.
Incredibly, Ramaswamy’s campaign may still be facing bigger problems; a Marist poll published on Tuesday showed Acton leading him by 7 points. MS NOW’s polling data with partner FiftyPlusOne shows Acton with a 5-point edge. And a major source of his campaign woes centers not on questionable attack ads, but on Ramaswamy’s pedigree as a billionaire entrepreneur — and the corporate interests that seem to be alienating more and more everyday Ohio voters.
For the Republicans who ran for office in 2024, cozying up to America’s most powerful corporations was one of the best ways to ensure victory at the polls.
For the Republicans who ran for office in 2024, cozying up to America’s most powerful corporations was one of the best ways to ensure victory at the polls. It wasn’t just that large companies showered the GOP with more than $270 million in contributions that year. Big-business cash also proved prescient: According to data compiled by the Federal Election Commission and The Associated Press, a whopping 77% of the candidates who received hefty corporate donations went on to win their elections.
But in 2026, the mood is very different. Voters facing sky-high prices at the pump and the grocery store have focused their anger on the corporations reaping record profits and a government they perceive as serving the interests of the nation’s executives over everyday people. A survey conducted over the summer found that a quarter of Americans wanted CEOs to “stop being greedy,” while a record 89% of Americans viewed their government as hopelessly corrupt.
The numbers get even worse when voters think about the Republicans who run that government. Over half of Americans — and a 62% supermajority of independent voters — view President Donald Trump as “corrupt,” while also describing the broader Republican Party as “working for big corporations instead of the people” by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. GOP candidates in Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and elsewhere in the country are suddenly realizing that the corporate connections that once bolstered their campaigns have become their biggest political liabilities.
In Ohio, Ramaswamy has been one of the state’s loudest voices for corporate interests, especially in encouraging the building of more artificial intelligence data centers. At an April 2025 Lincoln Day dinner in Geauga County, he declared himself “strongly in favor” of the “AI data center boom in the state of Ohio.” Two weeks later, he urged Ohio lawmakers to weaken the regulatory “red tape” slowing construction of new data centers.
Ramaswamy failed to mention his own multimillion-dollar investments in data center companies, or the campaign donations he accepted from a super PAC connected to Vistra Corp., an energy company powering one of Meta’s Ohio-based data center projects. Those revelations didn’t sit well with the 78% of Ohioans who support a temporary ban on new data center construction, and Ramaswamy abruptly switched to a more skeptical posture over the summer.
Ramaswamy’s close ties to big business have worked against him in an election cycle where most voters view excessive corporate power as a major problem. Despite recent efforts to pivot his campaign to a message of quick tax cuts, Ramaswamy stumbled into a new headache last month when it was revealed that a group of out-of-state billionaires, including data center investors Ross Stevens and Ratmir Timashev, transferred $37 million to a super PAC backing his candidacy.
In a headache for Republicans who expected the state’s conservative slant to carry Ramaswamy to victory, he in fact spent most of September trailing his Democratic opponent, Acton. Ramaswamy’s consistently bad numbers were enough to trigger alarm bells in Washington, with both Vice President JD Vance and Trump racing to Ohio earlier this month in an effort to avert the GOP’s looming political wipeout.
Ramaswamy isn’t the only candidate getting hurt by corporate ties. In Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan’s close relationship to wealthy industrial fisheries has made him a public enemy among Alaska’s struggling small fishermen in a state where commercial fishing generates just over 7% of the state’s wealth. Local fishermen warn that Sullivan’s recent bill to reduce bycatch — the accidental capture of unwanted fish — is actually packed with government handouts that only apply to the corporate fisheries that contributed nearly $400,000 in contributions to his campaigns throughout his career.
Backed by a flurry of powerful TV ads featuring fishermen threatened by Sullivan’s bill, his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, now boasts a 7-point lead in the latest New York Times polling. Here, Trump proved unable to control his temper, blasting the Alaska GOP as “stupid” and adding a campaign visit to boost Sullivan. Democrats were quick to frame Trump’s emergency stop as validation of Peltola’s strength.
Embattled Republicans like Ramaswamy, Sullivan and Hinson may be hoping for a last-minute campaign reset, but polls suggest that their constituents aren’t buying the rebrand.
“It doesn’t matter who flies in to try and save Dan Sullivan from his abhorrent record, Alaskans will still hold him accountable for his price hiking agenda this November,” a spokesperson for Peltola’s campaign told Newsweek.
Back in the Lower 48, Iowa GOP Senate candidate Ashley Hinson is facing accusations of corruption following allegations that her husband, Matt Arenholz, quietly brokered meetings between insurance industry lobbyists and the state’s Republican congressional delegation. Rep. Hinson, who has framed herself as a warrior against special interests, never publicly disclosed her husband’s position as a government affairs employee for the lobbying group Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, despite attending meetings he arranged.
And despite Hinson’s launch of her senate campaign with an ad in which she defiantly declares that “health insurance companies are ripping you off,” her financial disclosures reveal a politician with deep financial interests in insurance companies. Hinson reported that she and Arenholz hold an interest of up to $5 million in High Street Insurance Partners, while The Washington Sun reported that in 2021 Arenholz sold stock in a private insurance company for more than $1 million. When health insurance companies “rip off Iowans,” Hinson reaps the benefits — and voters are noticing.
Hinson’s attempt to line her pockets while selling herself as a fighter against insurance company abuses has fallen flat with the Iowans facing an increase of up to 16% in the cost of their health carecoverage. So far, Hinson hasn’t been able to change a narrative that is moving in Democrats’ direction: A Suffolk University poll published Oct. 4 found Hinson trailing her Democratic opponent, Josh Turek, by 4 points. A month ago, she led Turek by 1.
Embattled Republicans like Ramaswamy, Sullivan and Hinson may be hoping for a last-minute campaign reset, but polls suggest that their constituents aren’t buying the rebrand. With just two weeks left until voters flock to the polls, Republicans are discovering that they aren’t so quick to forget the candidates’ legacy of putting big business first. If the polls are any indication, even the most salacious attack ads are unlikely to change that.
Greg Ip / Wall Street Journal: Yes, the Fed Can Kill the AI Boom — Plus, AI slop comes for the government, why large families are a status symbol, and lessons from Jerome Powell's calendar — Back in 2000, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, entrepreneurs and investors surfing the internet wave insisted it didn't matter.
Coconut oil’s health benefits are so numerous, that it should be the #1 dietary oil in everyone’s kitchen. The U.S. Government continues to demonize it through their USDA dietary recommendations simply because it is a saturated fat, and the FDA doesn’t like it either because it potentially takes away market share from many patented drugs.
One of the best places to find information on the benefits of coconut oil to contradict the negative propaganda from the U.S. Government, is in their very own database on their National Library of Medicine’s website, listing peer-reviewed journal articles published on the health benefits of coconut oil.
Public health advisory guidelines caution against the consumption of saturated fats, especially coconut oil (CO), yet CO is widely consumed in regions with low inflammatory bowel disease prevalence (IBD) and is often perceived as beneficial by IBD patients.
CO is rich in medium-chain saturated fatty acids, notably lauric acid (C12:0) and myristic acid (C14:0) which are negligible in mammalian tissues without dietary intake.
Because IBD is linked to saturated fats consumption, here we tested and unexpectedly found that CO and its saturated fatty acids are beneficial suppressing intestinal inflammation in SAMP1/YitFc mice, a chronic IBD model of Crohn’s disease-like ileitis.
In young mice, the early exposure to a high-dose CO-based diet prevented ileitis in 63.64% of animals (95%CI = 30.79-to-89.07%). Importantly, comparable protection was observed at lower doses amenable for human translation.
Although CO did not reverse established disease in adult mice, when combined with steroids, it prolonged the period of steroid-induced remission illustrating its therapeutic benefits in IBD.
Disease prevention was associated with myristic acid and correlated with anti-inflammatory microbiota shifts and enhanced regulatory T-cell responses, without adverse effects.
Findings challenge current dietary advisories against CO and support reevaluation of CO and myristic acid as anti-inflammatory dietary adjuvants for the prevention and management of established IBD.
Background: Chronic stress, often exacerbated by improper lifestyle, long-term physical confinement, and emotional distress, these are the major contributor to neuropsychiatric disorders, mostly through hippocampal dysfunction. Though synthetic drugs offer symptomatic relief, their side effects prompt a growing interest in natural plant-derived nutraceuticals.
Virgin coconut oil (VCO), rich in medium-chain fatty acids, polyphenols, and antioxidants, has demonstrated preliminary neuroprotective activity; however, its pharmacological basis in hippocampal dysfunction induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS) remains inadequately characterized.
Herein, we investigated the neuroprotective activity of VCO by administering it in a time-staggered manner (Pre-Treatment, Co-treatment, and Post-Treatment) and assessed its effects through physiological, behavioral, antioxidant, and histopathological analyses. Our secondary objective was to profile the phytoconstituents of VCO using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were randomized into six groups (n = 6): Control, CRS, VCO-alone, Pre-VCO, Co-VCO, and Post-VCO. VCO was administered in a time-staggered manner to delineate its prophylactic, adjuvant, and therapeutic potential. Animals underwent physiological, behavioral (Sucrose Preference Test, Elevated Plus Maze, radial arm maze), biochemical (corticosterone, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase), and histopathological assessments (Nissl staining). Lastly, we performed phytochemical characterization using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
Results: VCO significantly enhanced spatial learning and memory while attenuating anhedonia and anxiety-like behavior. Biochemically, VCO reduced corticosterone and lipid peroxidation levels, restored antioxidant markers, and reinstated hippocampal neuronal morphology, collectively indicating modulation of neurobehavioral activity and restoration of redox homeostasis.
Pre-VCO demonstrated superior neuroprotection, suggesting stronger prophylactic and adjunctive pharmacological activity. GC-MS identified caprylic acid possessing the most abundant chromatographic peak alongside polyphenolic compounds, supporting a plausible mechanistic basis for the neuroprotective effects of VCO.
Conclusion: VCO demonstrates significantly higher neuroprotective efficacy when administered as Pre-treatment in CRS rats. Overall, these findings establish VCO as a dietary functional food with measurable prophylactic and adjunctive neuroprotective efficacy. These may plausibly be due to the major content of the MCFA-like caprylic acid in VCO mitigating oxidative stress and hippocampal neuronal dysfunction.
This study provides GC-MS-based compositional evidence and in vivo functional validation supporting VCO’s translational potential as a dietary strategy to mitigate the chronic stress-associated neuropsychiatric burden in human populations.
Background: Preterm neonates have an immature skin barrier, increasing their susceptibility to moisture loss and impaired skin integrity. However, evidence regarding the most appropriate topical moisturising agent for this population remains limited.
Purpose: This trial aims to investigate the effects of applying coconut oil and a moisturising lotion to the skin of preterm neonates on their skin moisture, skin pH, skin integrity, and vital signs.
Methods: This randomised controlled trial was conducted with 90 preterm neonates with a gestational age of 320/7-376/7 weeks who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit between December 2024 and December 2025. The sample consisted of two intervention groups and one control group [Moisturising Lotion (ML) group (n = 30), Coconut Oil (CO) group (n = 30) and Control group (n = 30)]. The data were collected using an Infant Information and Monitoring Form, a skin moisture meter, a skin pH meter and the Neonatal Skin Condition Score (NSCS).
Results: Following the application, skin moisture rates in the abdominal, arm and leg regions significantly rose in the intervention groups compared with the control group (p < .05). A significant rise was found in intra-group skin pH values on the 3rd and 5th days in the ML group and on day 5 in the CO group (p < .05). The NSCS score significantly dropped over time in both intervention groups (p < .001). Effect size analyses indicated a more pronounced improvement in skin condition scores in the CO group (p < .001; η2 = 0.551).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that interventions of coconut oil and moisturising lotion may be effective in improving skin moisture and supporting skin integrity in preterm neonates. As coconut oil has a greater effect on the skin integrity of premature infants, using it as a moisturising topical agent is recommended.
Practice implications: Coconut oil and moisturising lotion may be considered low-cost and safe nursing interventions to support skin hydration and skin integrity in preterm neonates.
CNBC: Mike Bloomberg spent $80M to boost Democrats in midterms: NYT … Mike Bloomberg spent $80 million in September and October to help Democrats regain majority control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing his team.
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