By J.C. Bruce
We are now one month away from Election Day, and tomorrow is a critical deadline for voters.
Most of you reading this are already registered to vote, and many of you have already received your vote-by-mail ballots.
However, if you haven't registered—or if you know someone who hasn’t—Monday, Oct. 5 is the deadline.
It’s also the last day to check that your name hasn’t been purged from the voter rolls, which can happen in Florida if you haven't returned address-confirmation letters or haven't voted recently.
Checking your voter registration status is easy. Just go to this link:
For more information, you can also check out the new News2Use section on the Tropic Press website.
That Was the Week That Was
18 billionaires have funded the Florida governor race. 17 gave to Donalds
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, has a single-digit lead in the polls, but he’s raised eight times as much money as his opponent, Democrat David Jolly.
Donalds has raised $131 million, compared with the $16 million Jolly has raised. That fundraising largesse comes from outsized contributions from billionaires and big businesses across the country.
And more of Donalds’ money has come from outside Florida.
More than $39 million, about 30%, of the Republican nominee’s haul has come from outside the Sunshine State. For Jolly, just 19% has.
Former GOP Rep. David Rivera sentenced to 10 years for secret Venezuela lobbying
A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela’s behalf during the first Trump administration.
Republican David Rivera has been jailed since jurors found him guilty in May on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of his work for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
AI firms investigated for possible risks to consumers
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other artificial intelligence companies over dangers their technology may pose to consumers.
In recent months, the AI giants and other tech companies have disclosed examples of their AI agents going beyond human instructions, finding their way onto the internet and hacking external websites.
An FTC spokesperson confirmed the investigation but declined to comment further.
Miami to get brand new university thanks to gift
Carnegie Mellon University announced Wednesday that hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion, with the bulk of the money for a new campus in Miami focused on societal challenges.
The Pittsburgh-based private research university said the gift is the largest ever single gift to a U.S. university.
Justice Department still hiding Epstein Files
Sen. Ron Wyden is accusing the Justice Department and FBI of withholding a key Epstein record. In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee demands they immediately produce every FBI 302 report, the bureau’s official record of a witness interview, tied to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
Wyden says his investigators recently learned the FBI possesses a 302 memorializing an interview with a banker tied to Epstein, conducted as part of a criminal investigation into Epstein and his associates. That report was not included in any of the documents DOJ has released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“The existence of this FBI 302, and its exclusion from the publicly released EFTA files, has heightened my concerns that the DOJ and the FBI are withholding key documents from Congress and the public,” Wyden wrote.
Hegseth Announces Elon Musk and Newt Gingrich Will Help Lead Military
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Elon Musk, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and right-wing entrepreneur Palmer Luckey as the new heads of “Project Meridian”—a massive upcoming study on the “future of warfare.”
Hegseth made the announcement at his “State of the Force” address, describing the trio of Trump loyalists as “the best forecasters of future conflict.”
What could possibly go wrong?
Meme of the Week
Quote of the Week
“Why would I want to abolish the police when I want you arrested and in jail for stealing $10 million from sick kids? BFFR.”
—Rep. Angie Nixon, the Florida Democratic nominee for Senate, responding to her opponent, Sen. Ashley Moody’s, claim she wants to defund the police. BTW, BFFR means “be f***ing for real.”
Letter of the Week
I read the report that David Jolly refused to debate a liar who set the ground rules for the debate. No live audience and the debate would be recorded and edited and played for the media at a later date. That's not a debate that's a made for TV fantasy. I have a better idea. Use an AI bullshit detector in a live debate with a statistically politically comprised audience (this is called stratified sampling ). These AI programs already exist and I would love to see AI applied this way.
— Greg Gargan
Looking Ahead
When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)
Oct. 5. Voter registration deadline.
Oct. 6. National Taco Day. Historians believe the first soft corn tortilla tacos were eaten between 1000 and 500 B.C. by Mesoamerican native communities. Now you know.
Oct. 7. The famous assembly line was first tested on this date in 1913. Henry Ford’s innovation soon cut down the time it took to assemble a Model T Ford from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes.
Oct. 8. Who was the dog who accompanied Army Lt. Belvin W. Maynard when he won the first transcontinental air race, which began on this date in 1919? Trixie. I’m sure that was your first guess.
Oct. 9. John Lennon, who played the rhythm guitar for Ringo Starr’s famous group, The Beatles, was born on this day in 1940.
Oct. 10. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office on this date in 1973 after being accused of tax evasion, bribery, extortion, and criminal conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the tax evasion charge and served three years on probation.
Oct. 11. Kraken Day. This holiday recognizes legendary sea monsters. The Kraken was inspired by actual giant squids that can grow up to 43 feet long.
Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines
In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
Just what we need--some super intelligence. Now if we could only get it in the White House
We now have a website to navigate questions about our government. I tried it out
Everything you need to know about the White House today in three disturbing images
Democrat running for Florida attorney general has a history of fighting corruption
DeSantis staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure the Hope Florida settlement
Thanks for your support
Since launching a year ago, thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making it one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.
Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.
If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.
Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.
Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.
Thanks.
J.C. Bruce
