Jerry Wendell

Independent news & economic updates. U.S. + global economy, world events & injustice. No party, no blind loyalty. Just facts, context and honest opinions.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Sen. Rand Paul blocked Sen. John Kennedy's AI "kill switch" bill on the Senate floor after Kennedy tried to pass it via unanimous consent.

The bill would require AI firms to build a company-controlled kill switch into their models to shut them down if they start acting dangerously not a federal controlled switch.

That's the detail that makes this interesting. This was pitched as the most industry friendly version of AI guardrails, and it still got blocked. It shows how hard any AI safety legislation is to move right now, and raises the bigger technical question of whether a true kill switch for frontier models is even feasible once they're deployed.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz told NewsNation the White House is not banning CNN, MS NOW or Politico, it just does not want those outlets “around” the president. He framed it as a contest: let the press defend itself and let the best argument win.

That distinction is the core of the current press access debate, between a formal ban on publishing and limiting physical proximity to the president. The White House can control who gets in the briefing room and who travels, but that access has traditionally been governed by the White House Correspondents' Association and viewpoint neutral criteria, not personal preference. The question courts have weighed before is at what point not wanting them around becomes viewpoint-based exclusion that triggers First Amendment scrutiny, especially when it targets specific outlets.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Emmanuel Macron landed in Saint Pierre et Miquelon to meet Mark Carney with two files on the table: France’s tightening fuel supply and Canada’s possible associate status with the EU. One in nine French stations is short of at least one product; diesel is near a record as Hormuz disruptions persist. Macron wants more Canadian LNG on Europe’s Atlantic coast and is pushing the G7 to tap refined-product reserves again.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@GuntherEagleman The most frustrating part is how the major networks just bury a story like this inside a massive multi-person package instead of actually digging into how the vulnerabilities happened in the first place, guess it doesn't fit the usual narrative.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@EricLDaugh @TreyYingst It’s wild how people still take every single hyperbole literally when it’s so obvious he’s just setting up a massive leverage point before sitting down with Pezeshkian, like love it or hate it the chaotic energy is literally a strategy to force a deal.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

the fact that people are genuinely debating the architectural logistics of a weaponized sniper arch in DC instead of realizing he's just throwing random buzzwords at the wall to see who reacts is honestly the funniest part of this whole timeline, like come on let's be real for a second

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@EricLDaugh it’s kind of funny because supreme intelligence sounds straight out of a comic book anyway, so dropping it makes sense, but thinking a simple name change is gonna bust an entire anti-AI wave is just wild optimism at its peak

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@FoxNews @TreyYingst honestly it feels like we’re constantly one headline away from everything shutting down over there, and now flights are getting canceled again because nobody can keep the peace for more than five minutes

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@KobeissiLetter Honestly who cares about the new home sales data anymore when the average person is completely priced out of the market regardless of what the monthly report says

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Barack Obama told a campus audience he could not imagine kicking Fox News out of the briefing room the way the White House just barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico. The comparison is landing because Trump’s move is public and immediate; Obama’s press fights were quieter.

The record still matters. His Justice Department brought more Espionage Act cases against leakers than every prior administration combined, and the White House quietly opposed a FOIA overhaul. Those tools chilled sources without ever pulling a network’s credential. The question now is which model travels: a visible ban that other outlets can fight, or a legal strategy that never makes the chyron. Watch whether the three banned organizations keep a pool seat through the traveling press or lose that too. That is the next concrete line.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

@visegrad24 it’s absolutely wild that it’s been a specific crime since 2014 and they’ve only managed seven convictions across the entire country, no wonder victims are too terrified to come forward when they see zero backup from the law

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told an Indonesian-hosted Global Town Hall that international law stops being law when great powers set it aside, and human rights stop being universal when they apply only to some nations. The remarks come days after a UN fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to treat two U.S. strikes in Iran including a school in Minab as possible war crimes. Washington rejected the report.

The argument is aimed at next week’s UN General Assembly, where Pezeshkian and Araghchi now have visas. The useful test is whether any Security Council member besides the usual allies is willing to treat the UN findings as more than a press release.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Jon Ossoff is using a new ProPublica report on Donald Trump Jr.’s May wedding to argue that the president’s family treats large foreign gifts as routine. Umar Kremlev, the IBA chief who stood with Putin in China two days earlier, covered hundreds of thousands of dollars for a private-island rental and fireworks through a Dubai entity. The couple called it a generous gift from a friend; the president now says the money has been repaid.

The legal line is whether a six-figure outlay from a Kremlin connected businessman is a personal present or something that should have been disclosed and screened. House Oversight has already asked for the receipts. The next useful document is not another speech from Amos. It is the wire transfer that shows if and when the check actually went back.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Stephen Miller used a Hannity special to describe Democratic policies as evil, sinister and morally indefensible, arguing no one can stay on the sidelines while the country is “saved” from that agenda. The chyron framed the night as Democrats bending the knee to the radical left standard midterm language after a string of progressive primary wins.

The argument is not about a single bill. It is a turnout frame: treat the other party’s platform as a moral emergency so sitting out November becomes the greater risk. That only works if swing district voters accept the premise. Watch whether GOP ads in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona copy this language or stay on prices and crime. The wording of those spots will show whether the White House thinks moral absolutism travels beyond the Fox audience.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Kelly Loeffler sat with Nicki Minaj on Fox to promote the SBA’s Million Dollar Pitch finale: five small manufacturers competing for a privately funded $1 million pool, judged by Minaj, Grant Cardone and Joe Gebbia. Loeffler used the moment to frame Minaj as a self made entrepreneur and the administration as the advocate for Main Street.

The format is familiar boardroom energy, celebrity judges, a cash prize but the platform is new. The SBA is treating a reality-style pitch night as part of its 250th anniversary messaging. The test is whether viewers remember the five companies or only the guest list. Watch who takes the $400,000 first prize and whether the October TV special actually drives traffic to those businesses, not just to the judges.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Laura Ingraham used her Friday show to contrast two midterm pledges. Democrats and a slate of actors released a Constitution Day video swearing to support and defend the document. A week earlier Trump had a Dallas convention crowd raise their hands and repeat a loyalty-and-turnout oath that included a joke about cheating “like they do.”

The distinction she draws is tone, not substance: one is framed as civic duty, the other as rally theater. Both are turnout devices aimed at voters who already agree with the speaker. The more useful test is whether either clip moves anyone who is not already watching Fox or following the American Constitution Society. Watch the next round of internal polling on celebrity messengers versus the candidate himself asking for a favor. That gap, not the wording of the oaths, will tell you which tactic actually scales.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Trump told reporters the Kennedy Center survives only because he secured $258 million from Congress and that lawmakers gave it “because it’s me.” The money is a one time capital appropriation in last year’s reconciliation bill for long-deferred repairs. A federal judge has blocked putting his name on the building; the board then voted to close the main halls, citing safety and a sharp drop in ticket sales and pledges after the naming fight began.

The useful distinction is between appropriated construction dollars, which sit unused until the legal fight ends, and the operating budget that actually pays artists and staff. Watch whether the $257 million starts flowing this month or stays frozen as leverage.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Trump called Pennsylvania’s governor “close to incompetent” in the Oval Office after RFK Jr. said Josh Shapiro had turned down CDC help on a measles outbreak that the state links to four deaths. Shapiro answered within the hour that incompetence is letting a once-eliminated disease return and then arguing about the numbers instead of pushing vaccination.

The fight is now part policy, part 2026 governor’s race. Shapiro is the heavy favorite against Stacy Garrity; Trump has already endorsed her and used the same briefing to undercut the incumbent’s reputation. Watch the next CDC dashboard update and whether Pennsylvania accepts any federal epi team. That single decision will decide whether this stays a health-story

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Trump was asked what message it sends that China remains one of the worst places on earth for journalists, right as Xi heads to Washington and the White House bars CNN, MS NOW and Politico over “fake news.” He replied that the United States is repressive too, then walked it back to “we don’t repress, they just write fake news.”

The distinction he is trying to draw is the one that actually matters. China jails reporters, blocks entire platforms and treats independent coverage as a national security threat. Restricting three outlets from the briefing room is a different tool, and one that previous administrations used more quietly. The timing still leaves the comparison sitting in the room when Xi arrives. Watch how both governments talk about “responsible journalism” next week; that language will tell you more than the ban itself.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

A reporter asked Trump about the attempted ban on CNN in his first term that didn't survive a court challenge. Trump responded that his administration didn't have to "take it too far" because the reporter in question "discredited himself" and "became a joke."

That's a reference to the 2018 CNN credential fight, Jim Acosta's press pass was revoked, then restored after a federal judge found the White House hadn't provided due process. The precedent from that case is why any new talk of banning outlets matters procedurally: courts didn't rule the White House can never regulate press access, but that it can't do it as targeted retaliation without clear standards. That's the legal filter any new restrictions would have to pass this time.

[Jerry Wendell @jerrywendell_]

Trump said it's not possible "in a world of rationality" that Jewish or Black voters would vote for Democrats.

It's a continuation of his argument that both groups should vote Republican based on his administration's record on Israel and economic policy, but it collapses very different voting blocs with different histories and priorities into a single rationality test. The political reality is more complex, Jewish and Black voters have consistently leaned Democratic for decades for reasons that go well beyond one issue, including domestic policy, civil rights history, and party infrastructure. The question to watch isn't the claim itself, but whether framing voting behavior as irrational moves any voters or just reinforces existing divides.