Kitchen Briefs

Kitchen Briefs - September 16, 2026 AM

• Approximately 100 people have been killed due to the collapse of a 6 story building after it was damaged by an Israeli bombardment
• A number of Palestinians have been wounded by an Israeli shelling that was targeting those filling water vessels at a camp
• Over the weekend, the US has a secret meeting with Yemen’s Houthis in Oman
• Saudi Arabia is accusing Houthi rebels of attempting to attack Mecca
• CBS has now obtained new photos that show more aircraft destroyed that haven’t been disclosed
• The EU wants Canada to become their first associate member
• Yesterday the House voted for a third time to end the war in Iran by approving a war powers resolution
• The current administration has cut or frozen a total of $177B in grant access across all 50 states since Trump came into office
• $84K is about to be spent on signs to go around the Smithsonian's American History museum accusing it of ideological bias
• In Los Angeles, the helicopter used by NBC and Telemundo crashed last night while covering a bus accident. The reporter and pilot on board died along with a person on the ground
• Russia is flooding social media with celebrity deepfakes that claim to put down Democrats
• Join my Sway Voting Group
• Thank you to Robert, Steve, Barbara, Julie and John who went above and beyond to let me know I’m their cup of tea and provide me with coffee!

Kitchen Briefs - September 15, 2026 PM

• The Israeli army claims to have killed another Hammas commander
• Israeli strikes on tents in southern Gaza have killed 2, including an 8 year old girl
• The US military says it open fired and destroyed two small Iranian boats who were trying to steal a drone ship in the waters off Iran
• The Pentagon has released their report on Operation Epic Fury aka the war in Iran and the total cost is $33.4B and they confirmed strategic inventory shortfalls
• The US is about to sell off $2.8B of bombs to Israel
• Oil prices in Europe are at $130 a barrel, while here it’s between $105 and $108 a barrel
• Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has filed articles of impeachment against Secretary Hegseth for alleged high crimes and misdemeanors
• The Senate blocked the Clarity Act after a procedural vote fell far short from passing
• The House killed the impeachment vote on Trump
• Kash Patel defended the recent policy change that allows some applicants who have engaged in prostitution and bestiality to be considered for employment
• The State Department has notified Congress that it will reprogram $52 million in foreign military financing from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia
• Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon are teaming up to sound the alarm on AI
• Trump's’s pick for Surgeon General has disclosed $270,000 in income from her own dietary supplement company along with investments in tobacco stocks
• The Kennedy Center has voted to close
• All of the opening acts for Ed Sheeran’s tour have quit

Kitchen Briefs - September 15, 2026 AM

• Three more people have died in Gaza due to Israeli attacks bringing the total to 73,789
• Lebanon says they cannot afford the reconstruction costs that Israel’s offensive has cost them which is between $3-4B
• Iran says it has shot down the 4th MQ-1 drone
• The Supreme Court has rejected the plan by the guy in the office to restrict mail in ballots with Alito and Thomas dissenting
• Kash Patel is in the hot seat today facing the Senate Judiciary Committee
• The Federal Reserve is expected to raise the short term interest rate tomorrow for the first time in 3 years
• The Senate is set to vote today on whether to move forward with legislation to create a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrency
• The Gates Foundation is warning that AI could widen inequality and has pledged $1B to expand access
• The FBI arrested 20-year-old Jonathan Hunter Kramer on Monday in Pennsylvania. He is charged with obtaining a firearm and ammunition to support a planned ISIS attack
• Yesterday a U.S. District Judge blocked DHS’s rule that would have capped F and J visas at four years and limited journalist visas to 240 days
• The US has confirmed for the first time that they have deployed space weapons into orbit which is a shocking admission but one expert thinks they’re more likely space jammers and not actual weapons
• The National Weather system has started updating its forecasts and maps renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America
• I shared with you yesterday how Don Jr’s wedding was funded by a Russian oligarch and now Congressman Robert Garcia is demanding an investigation
• Costco has started to ration motor oil and increased pricing on it
• Legendary costume designer Bob Mackie died yesterday at the age of 87
• Thank you to Julie in New Zealand for coffee

Kitchen Briefs - September 14, 2026 PM

• Surprise! Mitch is alive!
• The Houthis say they have seized two islands in the southern red sea and Saudi jets have launched 54 air strikes in the last 24 hours
• Treasury secretary Bessent says his department will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological or financial support to the Iranian regime
• A supertanker has caught fire after striking naval mines while attempting to pass through a restricted zone south of the Strait of Hormuz
• Israeli jets are striking two towns in southern Lebanon killing one and the Israeli army has expanded its incursion into southern Syria
• Congressman Al Green has announced he’s using a privileged resolution to force the House to vote on impeaching Trump
• Gavin says he’s not running if Kamala does
• The EPA announced today it is scrapping limits on emissions from coal and gas power plants saying it’ll save the US billions of dollars and reduce energy prices
• Trump is further dismissing AI concerns and says it’s all a hoax and a sick conspiracy
• Trump has nominated the wife of Lee Greenwood to be the US ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
• For those of you wondering what we got out of Trump going to Ireland on our dime, he’s lifted tariffs on Irish Whiskey
• San Jose, an update on Lindsay Hansen. She had been out on bail after threatening to kill a former coworker and their children back in March. For last week’s incident she’s been charged with felony stalking and committing a hate crime and doing so while out on bail. Her request for bail was denied and she remains in custody until her next court appearance on Sept 29th to enter pleas in both cases
• Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour because he spoke up against the genocide going on with Palestinians

Kitchen Briefs - September 14, 2026 AM

• The damaged Saudi oil pipeline will reportedly be down for several weeks
• Oil prices continue to surge and AI stocks are down
• The Israeli army have shot and killed a Palestinian man in southern Gaza and also attacked a makeshift camp wounding 10 others in Gaza City
• Houthi rebels have seized more key islands in the southern Red Sea
• The Houthis are claiming a large scale military operation on Saudi Arabia’s airbase
• The Kennedy Center is warning bankruptcy as early as this week unless the name of Trump returns
• Turns out the latest wedding of Don Jr was funded by a Russian oligarch named Umar Kremlev who is the head of the international boxing association
• DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother to facilitate immigration and could face deportation if investigators establish wrongdoing
• Yesterday Trump agreed to an ethics package for the crypto bill that authorizes state attorneys general to enforce provisions alongside the DOJ
• American officials secretly flew a diplomat accused of possessing indecent images of children out of Britain last month, bypassing standard extradition procedures
• An adult woman has died from the measles in Pennsylvania
• Big thank you to Thom for ensuring I treat myself to an extra special bottle of wine this week!

Kitchen Briefs - September 13, 2026

• Israel continues to storm and raid Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank
• Israeli forces are also striking a southern town in Lebanon
• Israel is also expanding their incursion into southern Syria
• Saudi authorities say the danger has now passed
• Saudi Arabia has 5 to 7 days of oil stored in their port in the Red Sea. The attack on the pipeline has disrupted 4% of the global oil supply
• An Iranian cargo vessel was struck off Qeshm Island killing one and wounding 4. No official word on who struck it and the US isn’t commenting
• Trump wants Ukraine to stop targeting strikes on Russian diesel
• Trump isn’t happy about the talk of AI ruining humanity and is calling them negative forces that are unfounded
• President Barack Obama spoke about AI being dangerous if left unmanaged and urged Democrats to tackle it
• Trump said today that the US could just stay in Iran and keep the oil
• Speaker Mike Johnson said he would work through a proposal with the guy in the white house to make the $5,000 payments
• Thank you to Jaclyn for sharing with me about Dope Soul Village. This is an etsy like online marketplace but it’s a women-only marketplace with one fee and the Profits and vendor fees directly fund Finally Free CIC, a non-profit working to build long-term, trauma-informed domestic abuse shelters for women, children, and their pets
• A reminder from Tupac who died 30 years ago today: Whatever you see you gotta keep a sense of humor; you gotta be able to smile through all the bull$hit.

Kitchen Briefs - September 12, 2026

• Israel continues to launch air strikes on southern Lebanon
• Emergency alerts are going off in Saudi Arabia warning of potential danger
• At least 10 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 48 hours
• Ireland’s president has told the guy in the white house that the normalization of war and genocide is not acceptable
• Iraqi investigators are searching for the drone launch sites after Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipeline was attacked. The attack is being blamed on Iran backed militias in Iraq
• The July Iranian missile that killed 3 US troops in Jordan utilize Chinese satellite technology
• A federal judge has blocked the administration from requiring civil service job applicants to answer a loyalty question as part of the Merit Hiring Plan
• A federal judge has ruled that the plan by Trump to cut FEMA by 50% was unlawful
• Trump is in Ireland
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claims the $5,000 Trump is promising American adults if Republicans win the midterms wouldn’t come from tax money
• Anthropic's CEO says the AI industry needs to give safety measures time to catch up
• Mississippi police have arrested one man in the murder of Tasia Fortune who was found last month hanging from a tree
• Ted Cruz was on ESPN’s College GameDay and you could hear the fans behind him chanting Ted you suck
• The conservative group called Defending Education has filed a complaint with the Dept of Education against an Oakland Unified program that offers mentorship and academic support to Latino male teenagers saying it discriminates against white students
• The CDC is claiming cyclospora is over
• A federal judge has just ordered ICE to halt construction on the proposed detention center in Gilroy
• For San Jose, I shared the arrest of Lindsay Hansen. She was arraigned yesterday and has a plea hearing on September 29th

Kitchen Briefs - September 10, 2026 PM

• Yemen’s UN representative says that the drones and missiles used by the Houthis to target Saudi Arabia and threaten shipping from the Red Sea “emanate from a single military structure that operates outside the institutions of the Yemeni state and is militarily and technically supported by the Iranian terrorist regime
• Two unknown vessels have been hit by projectiles off Oman coast
• Iran’s parliament speaker sarcastically posted his predictions that the Trump administration plans to contain oil prices
• The IRGC says they have attacked a US unmanned vessel in the Strait of Hormuz
• 4 people have been killed and 60 injured in a Russian strike on a shopping center in Ukraine
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of laws today aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots
• Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley opened a formal investigation yesterday into OpenAI's handling of the July Hugging Face breach
• Joe DiGenova who has been leading the DOJ investigation into whether former federal officials conspired against Trump has turned in his resignation
• Katie Miller has been posting negative things online about AI companies except for Elon Musk’s xAI and it turns out she owns $1M in stock
• LG smart TVs are secretly scanning users’ Wi-Fi networks to catalog connected devices, record conversations through built-in microphones, and track viewing habits, while appearing to be in standby mode and even when disconnected from the internet

Kitchen Briefs - September 10, 2026 AM

• Nine US military aircraft were damaged in overnight Iranian missile strikes in Jordan at the military base
• Another Israeli strike in Gaza has a husband and wife and their two daughters
• Israeli troops have advanced into Syria
• Israel has launched 3 more air strikes in southern Lebanon
• Saudi Arabia’s crude oil transit is facing a new threat after the Houthi’s are gaining traction along the Red Sea port
• Netanyahu is claiming election interference and that he’s the victim
• Trump has now said he will give every adult American $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms
• Democratic Senator John Fetterman sent in a video to the Republican Trumpalooza convention
• Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico will not air on broadcast TV because the FCC threatened Kimmel, ABC and more
• SCOTUS has blocked the Republican drawn Congressional map in Missouri
• Anthropic identified yet another that took place in January that gave AI models access to the open internet
• Thank you to Sharon for providing me with coffee this week!
• Programming note for tomorrow, Friday September 11th, I will be getting my first colonoscopy so there won’t be a morning brief

Kitchen Briefs - September 9, 2026 PM

• Israeli strikes have hit 3 more locations in Lebanon
• Marco Rubio is threatening to strangle Iran economically
• Iran’s foreign minister says Houthis are independent actors and not proxies of Iran
• Trump said that the war in Iran will end and oil prices will go down after the midterm elections
• Temporary Protected Status for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants was set to expire today but DHS didn’t make an announcement so technically right now protections remain in place
• Trump said he’d consider pardoning Michael Cohen
• Trumpalooza started today
• Elon Musk’s PAC has launched votersafe.org. DO NOT give your info to it
• The Tate brothers were denied bail
• South Park creators announced on Instagram that they will rename the show to South America
• Thank you to Susan for providing me with wine this week!