Let's go! Redacted is back to work this week after a vacation with our children and both of our mothers. This is the best group photo we got and Natali ruined it by trying to get her hair out of her face.
Photo Credit: An 8 year-old child that Clayton asked to take a group photo
In Case You Missed It
🏛️ The government is shutdown for the 20th day today, making it the third-longest government shut down in U.S. history and no political progress towards solving it.
🇨🇳 China accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has been waging a "multi-year cyberattack on the Chinese agency responsible for keeping national time." That's probably true although I wish it weren't. I refer you to Edward Snowden's biography.
✊ Millions across all 50 U.S. states marched in the No Kings Protests against Donald Trump on October 18, 2025, decrying what they perceive as the second Trump administration’s slide toward authoritarianism.
🚢 President Trump says that the U.S. military destroyed a submarine in the Caribbean that was carrying drugs. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says that the bombing killed "innocent fishermen."
🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he will seek re-election in 2026 and that he does expect to win.
🤝 President Trump will meet with Russian President Putin in Hungary in the coming weeks.
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00AM.
Lead: “Ceasefire” Turns Deadly in Gaza
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Sunday was a bloody day in the so-called ceasefire in Gaza. At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and at least 2 IDF soldiers were also killed.
Some reports claim that the IDF soldiers were killed after driving over an unexploded bomb in the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to retaliate against Palestinians and blame Hamas for the explosion.
Once the strikes ended, the IDF announced that it had “begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire, in line with the terms of the agreement,” adding that it would “continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and respond firmly to any violation of it.”
Israel also reportedly began cutting off aid to Gaza, but the Trump administration intervened, urging them to reverse the move. Aid deliveries are expected to resume on Monday.
CNN calls this the "first major test" of the ceasefire and declared that both sides survived it. Fifty people died. That is a successfully passed test?
The WHO Is Using AI to Spy on You
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
The World Health Organization is using AI to track us all. What are they looking for? The next pandemic, of course.
The new WHO tracking software is called Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources 2.0 (EIOS). They say they need it for “pandemic preparedness.” It will automatically scan and analyze social media to detect possible outbreaks.
They’ll also be tracking for "ongoing events, whether they are linked to conflict, climate change, or new and re-emerging pathogens." In short: it’s not just disease surveillance. It’s narrative surveillance wrapped in the language of “global health security.”
Since 2020, the WHO has been warning about “infodemics,” which it describes as an overabundance of information, even accurate information, that makes it difficult for people to “adopt behaviors” the WHO deems necessary to protect public health.
So how much do you want to bet they’ll be using this AI surveillance to define and then censor the “infodemic”?
The WHO says EIOS is already active in more than 110 countries and is offered “free of charge” to member states. But can they just spy on the populations of WHO member states? They’re not supposed to — but by presenting it as “free of charge,” they get implied consent. And they’ve quietly expanded their ability to do this under the new International Health Regulations (IHR). Since their pandemic treaty collapsed, you can bet they’ll use the power they didn’t get at the negotiating table through the back door of “health security.”
Chips, Reimagined: No Seed Oils, Just Real Ingredients
Until the 1990s, fries and chips were cooked in tallow. Then big food cut corners with cheap seed oils—and today they’re about 20% of the average American’s calories, linked in studies to inflammation and poor metabolic health.
MASA decided to fix it. These are tortilla chips made with just three ingredients—organic nixtamalized corn, sea salt, and 100% grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils. No junk.
They’re not just “less bad”—they’re better: crunchier, tastier, sturdier (won’t snap in your guac). You feel satisfied and light—no crash, no bloat, no greasy hangover. The tallow actually makes them more satiating, so the binge-y spiral doesn’t happen.
Our current favorite flavor: MASA Original. Ready to give MASA a try? Go to MASAChips.com/REDACTEDNEWS and use code REDACTEDNEWS for 25% off your first order.
Prefer in-store? Starting in October, MASA will be at Sprouts nationwide. Grab a bag before they’re gone.
The CDC Warns About the Flu, but the Vaccine Missed It (Again)
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
The CDC says that last year's flu season was "high" in severity and the worst on record since the 2017-2018 season.
But why was it so bad? Could it be because last year's flu vaccine did not have the flu strains that made Americans so sick. Bingo!
But the strains that actually caused the majority of infections were newly drifted versions of H3N2, plus a strong showing of H1N1, which, while included, had already evolved enough to dull the vaccine’s punch.
The CDC notes that the flu death rate was high and that most child flu deaths were in children who had not received the vaccine. That suggests those children may have survived had they been vaccinated but that’s impossible to prove, especially if the vaccine didn’t match the fatal strain.
Still, the CDC recommends the flu vaccine to prevent this year's flu season from being "high severity." But how do we know that the 2025–2026 flu vaccine will be any better at preventing this year’s strains? We don’t. In fact, we can be fairly certain it won’t. The strains in that vaccine were chosen based on what was circulating last spring.
So what are we to make of this? Well, basically, the flu vaccine is like the pumpkin spice latte: it shows up every fall, whether it works or not.
What's Trending?
Photo credit: Netflix
The Louvre is trending because the famous museum was robbed of precious jewels on Sunday in what authorities call an "audacious seven-minute raid." It's like a real-life episode of Lupin!
F1 is trending because Max Verstappen dominated the U.S. Grand Prix, cruising to victory by nearly eight seconds ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, proving yet again that nobody can touch him this season.
Kim Kardashian is trending for wearing this to a gala over the weekend.
News By The Numbers
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
12%. That’s how many U.S. adults aged 50–80 met the criteria for ultra-processed food “addiction,” according to a new study. Women were more likely to be hooked than men — 17% vs. 7.5% — and adults aged 50–64 were nearly twice as likely as those 65–80 to meet the addiction criteria. Maybe that’s because people addicted to processed food don’t live that long.
$1.28 million. That’s how much Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jennifer Lopez’s new movie, has grossed at the box office in a little over a week. That is approximately $669 per screen across 1,331 theaters and well below its $30 million budget. That is a shockingly piddly debut for a global superstar and one of the lowest wide-release openings of the year.
Pickleball Eyes
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
People over 50 may want to think twice before they join the pickleball trend. A new study shows an increase in eye injuries from the popular sport including corneal abrasions, bruises, hyphema (bleeding in the eye) and even orbital fractures.
Actually, this is easy to prevent if you wear eye protection but most pickleballers don't. Other prevalent injuries include sprained ankles, wrist fractures, shoulder strains, and hip injuries from those slips, dives, and sudden pivots that the over-50 body just isn’t as eager to make anymore.
So why is the sport so popular? Maybe because, as one unnamed friend confided in me, it’s apparently rife with extramarital affairs. That's just my conjecture. I have never played pickleball.
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