"She later cast doubt on the suicide ruling, saying his death had been 'a big mistake' and that they had planned out their life together."

"Mr Thompson penned what friends believed was a suicide note, which was published by Rolling Stone soon after his death. 'No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun,' the note, which was addressed to his wife, read. 'No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax — This won’t hurt.'"

From "FBI to re-examine suicide of Hunter S Thompson at wife’s request/Anita Thompson wants fresh inquiry into death after writer was ruled to have shot himself 20 years ago, leaving a note that was published by Rolling Stone" (London Times).

There's no new evidence of foul play. It just seems to be a widow's interest in seeing the self-shooting as an accident. I'd say I don't see why the FBI should expend its resources on this, but the article doesn't mention the FBI, only the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. That's the kind of confusion I wade into when I look for news of America in the London Times. Maybe they don't call anything the "Bureau of Investigation" over there. Anyway, it seems to me that the written note should be the last word. Yes, it's humorous, but that doesn't mean it was only a joke.

"The last time Senate Democrats found themselves taking the blame for a government shutdown, they quickly caved..."

"... and raced to reopen federal agencies in 2018, as their more moderate members demanded a fast resolution after only three days. This shutdown could be different. The Democrats from red states who decried the shutdown strategy as a foolish miscalculation and pressed for an immediate reversal in the showdown with President Trump seven years ago are long gone. The ideological makeup of the party has shifted to the left, and Democrats are now bracing for an extended confrontation with the White House and congressional Republicans, despite the clear political risks. The same dynamic is at play in the G.O.P., which has lurched to the right under Mr. Trump and no longer sees room for compromise."

Writes Carl Hulse, in "Democrats See No Need to Capitulate, Nor Republicans to Cut a Deal/The last time Senate Democrats found themselves taking the blame for a government shutdown, they quickly caved. That’s less likely to happen now" (NYT).

How does spending some time in shutdown achieve anything? Doesn't everyone know everything they need to know before the shutdown even begins? Are they just waiting to annoy and otherwise torment us so they can then poll us to see who we blame? I think they already know that everyone blames the party they started out disliking more. Nevertheless, we must endure the bad political theater.

Cranes celebrate the arrival of October.

Video by Meade on this lovely first day of October, the most beautiful month of the year here in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ezra Klein and virtually everything.

I'm just trying to get through this New Yorker interview with Ezra Klein, "Ezra Klein Argues for Big-Tent Politics":

I agree with Ta-Nehisi [Coates] on virtually every view he has on things that Charlie Kirk had said. ... I have poured virtually every ounce of myself into preventing everything that Kirk poured himself into creating. For more people than I had understood, the sense that we are in any way in community together—the sense that we are still in a place where we are all practicing and doing politics—has already eroded. Something that’s very alive for me is a feeling that we are not that far from national rupture. So many things that we like to say “can’t happen here” have already been happening here.

[And who do you blame for that?]

I mean, I blame Donald Trump quite specifically for that. I think that the way he has acted in the aftermath of Kirk’s murder has been an exhibition of virtually everything that is wrong....

Klein had said something gracious about Kirk. Coates attacked him. And Klein adopted this strange way of talking about himself. It's so effusive yet vague. Instead of saying "I think we are close to a national rupture," he says "Something that’s very alive for me is a feeling that we are not that far from national rupture." He sounds like a comic character in a play.

Maybe you've seen the recent podcast with Klein and Coates going head to head. I don't know if you can bear to listen to that, but I highly recommend this commentary on it from AntifascistDad, who focuses of Klein's Buddhist turn:

"I was there to see it all. Total Scum!!! President DJT."

Wrote Trump, on Truth Social, just now.

That intense outburst is presented as a reaction to the NY Post article: "FBI surveilled Rep. Scott Perry before seizing his cell phone as part of ‘Arctic Frost’ probe into 2020 election."

"Bad Bunny’s critics have zeroed in on his criticism of Trump’s agenda, his exclusively Spanish-language lyrics, his gender-fluid fashion choices and..."

"... his comments in a recent interview sharing that part of the reason he was not touring his latest album, 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos,' in the U.S. mainland was out of concern his concerts would become a target for Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids."

From "Why Bad Bunny’s selection as the Super Bowl halftime headliner is sparking MAGA fury/The Puerto Rican recording artist opposed Trump in 2024 and is not offering tour dates in the U.S. mainland to avoid exposing his fans to ICE raids" (WaPo).

"Mr. Combs’s lawyers acknowledged that their client had assaulted women in his life, but they argued those actions did not suit the crimes he was charged with."

"Given the jury’s verdict, they have asserted that testimony about violence should play no role in the judge’s decision. 'The court cannot use acquitted conduct in any way to enhance Mr. Combs’s sentence,' they wrote in a recent filing, saying that referring to that conduct in determining the sentence would raise serious constitutional issues. Prosecutors have argued just the opposite. They asked the judge to consider the full evidence at trial when determining Mr. Combs’s sentence. 'Even with the conviction on just these two charges, there is serious, serious, relevant conduct here that will merit a lengthy period of incarceration,' Maurene Comey, one of the prosecutors, told Judge Subramanian during a bail hearing after the verdict was announced. (Ms. Comey was later fired from the Justice Department without explanation and has sued the Trump administration over her termination.)"

From "What to Know Before Sean Combs’s Sentencing/The music mogul will be in court on Friday when a judge is scheduled to announce Mr. Combs’s penalty for convictions on two prostitution-related offenses" (NYT).

The prosecution wants at least 11 years and 3 months in prison, though the probation officials say the guidelines put the upper limit at 7 years and 3 months. The defense — which says that the crimes he was convicted of involved only consensual sex — is asking for 14 months at the most. He's already been in the detention center for a year.

Sunrise — 6:35, 6:41, 6:56, 6:57.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

And please do your Amazon shopping going in through the Althouse portal — here. Thanks!

"The Trump administration’s push earlier this year to arrest and deport international students for their pro-Palestinian activism was illegal, a federal judge ruled Tuesday..."

"... calling the crackdown a 'truly scandalous and unconstitutional suppression of free speech.' In a sweeping rebuke, U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston said that the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department sought to target non-citizens 'for speaking out' with the 'goal of tamping down pro-Palestinian student protests and terrorizing similarly situated' students. Young [a Reagan appointee] decried the administration’s conduct in striking terms, quoting President Ronald Reagan’s declaration that freedom must 'be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.”

From "Trump administration illegally targeted pro-Palestinian protesters, judge rules/The efforts to detain and deport noncitizen activists earlier this year represented an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendment, the ruling says" (WaPo)(gift link).

Best bad headline from the Hegsethathon.

The award goes to The New Republic: "Hegseth Summoned Military Leaders to Say 'FAFO' in Disturbing Speech."

I think it's ludicrous for a journalistic article to call it a "disturbing speech."  Who is disturbed? The headline writer? Were the military leaders disturbed? All of them? Some of them? Don't create fake objectivity. Someone needs to have been disturbed. I want to know who and why.

From the article:

“To our enemies: FAFO,” Hegseth said, using an acronym that translates to “Fuck around and find out.”

Hegseth ordered hundreds of U.S. military officials around the globe to meet him at a spontaneous assembly in Virginia.... The message shocked members of the U.S. military, who could not recall another instance in which a defense secretary summoned so many commanders for a sudden in-person meeting—especially without a clear rationale.

Was it a "disturbing speech" because of what Hegseth said or was a "disturbing speech" because it was disturbing to have to travel and sit in the audience to hear?

"Even brands are acknowledging the stakes of putting yourself out there — a hallmark of cringe — when things could turn out poorly."

"Earlier this month, Nike reworked its longtime tagline 'Just Do It' into a new campaign called 'Why Do It?' The ad, narrated by Tyler, the Creator, depicts athletes, many of them mid-game, as he asks why they are trying if failure is an option.... Reflecting on how her phrase, cringe mountain, had spread, [creator consultant Erin] Mallett said it was already a common feeling that was in need of a name. 'I gave them a personal mantra and maybe just an opposing excuse,' she said. 'If someone goes, "Oh, but you shouldn’t do that." Now my excuse is, "But I can, because it’s OK." You can’t get to the land of cool without first climbing cringe mountain.'"

From "Climbing Cringe Mountain With Gen Z/Raised online and under constant scrutiny, young adults are leaning into embarrassment as a necessary part of growing up" (NYT).

"It’s about generational politics; mothers against daughters; an older, tougher feminism versus 'woke' millennials."

"It’s about whether 'being kind' is truly important or just another way to get women to be submissive.... Here we have what we so rarely see in movies, two powerful women in a showdown over something other than a man...."

From "Why did J K Rowling pick now to hit back at Emma Watson? The author has posted a withering statement about the actress’s views on trans issues, says Helen Rumbelow."

"Under the agreement, $22 million will be paid on Trump’s behalf to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to constructing a $200 million ballroom that Trump is building at the White House."

From "YouTube forced to pay Trump $22m for new White House ballroom/The settlement with the Alphabet-owned company totalled $24.5m and was related to suspending the president’s account following the US Capitol riot" (London Times).

Humberto wooed Imelda away from the Carolinas.

Link.

What a crazy picture this afternoon of Hurricane Humberto and Imelda flirting. pic.twitter.com/qRDnJTKH1D

— Max Velocity (@MaxVelocityWX) September 29, 2025

Sunrise stairway.

This morning, at 6:58, on the shore of Lake Mendota.

"Sources suggest that there are no other parties involved and that it was a lack of intimacy that led to the split, citing their busy schedules...."

"More significantly, there are suggestions that Urban was frustrated not just by their physical separation (after all, this is not the first time he’s been on tour and she’s been on location) but by Kidman’s unavailability in a broader sense. He’s said to have 'called her out' (allegedly in the presence of friends) and challenged her, telling her he was unhappy with the growing space between them. It seems that he instigated the split and it is he who has moved out of the family home. She is said to be blindsided."

From "What led to Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s shocking split/A few months ago, the country music singer was publicly telling his actress wife, ‘I love you, babygirl.’ Now their 19-year marriage seems over" (WaPo).

ALSO: "We all recognised that her marriage to Urban — a beta male by comparison [to Tom Cruise] — was a vote for something closer to normality, and moving to Nashville confirmed that."