Extra, Extra

Targeted Attack: “UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed Wednesday morning in what police said was a ‘brazen, targeted attack‘ outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference.” As I’m writing this, police are still searching for the gunman. Here’s the latest from CNN.

+ Pick Axed: “Over the last 24 hours, Donald Trump lost his pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. His choice for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is struggling to gain support from Senate Republicans. The president-elect is now even considering his onetime rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis, to lead the Pentagon.” Trump’s transition was supposed to be a show of force. What happened? Meanwhile, the picks keep coming. Trump picks Peter Navarro, who went to prison for defying Jan. 6 committee subpoena, as top trade adviser. And Vox on Kash Patel: I listened to hours of Trump’s FBI pick on Steve Bannon’s podcast. Oh boy. “Kash Patel believes a lot of wild — and disturbing — stuff.”

+ French Toast: “The minority government of Michel Barnier has lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, making it the first administration to be ousted in such a way since 1962 and the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic.”

+ K Flop: “South Korea’s opposition lawmakers have begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law.” (In some democracies, coups are still frowned upon.)

+ Scotus Operandi: US supreme court conservatives appear reluctant to overturn Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care.

+ From Vlad to Worse: “Russia’s president and senior Kremlin officials have financed and facilitated the transport of at least 314 Ukrainian children in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into coerced foster care and adoptions since the 2022 invasion.”

+ Sales Epipany: “The Pew Research Center found that about 28% of adults in the U.S. now consider themselves religiously unaffiliated.” But everyone else is buying a whole lot of bibles. Sales of Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions. (We Jews have a slightly different definition of what constitutes a new version…)

+ Fool’s Gold: “The idea is simple. Once a game, a manager gets to put his best batter at the plate regardless of where the batting order stands. So imagine, as a pitcher facing the Dodgers, you get Shohei Ohtani out in a high-leverage situation. Then Dave Roberts plays his golden at-bat card, and you have to face the best hitter in baseball all over again.” What is Rob Manfred’s ‘golden at-bat’ idea, and how would it change baseball? (This is such a bad idea. Baseball needs to put a pitch clock on their brainstorming sessions.)

+ Pump Up Prices: Coffee has reached its highest price in 47 years. (As long as it’s still cheaper than cocaine, I remain a buyer.)