Today’s Big Story

Trump Cries Foul, Early

Why the election fraud falsehoods sound so familiar

We’re about a month out from Election Day. And I actually just received my out-of-country ballot, mailed to me here in Tokyo. I’ll be sending it back to California ASAP in order to be counted by November 5th. In order to get it, I had to fill out a form and sign it (in ink), provide my driver’s license number and other relevant information. Once that was confirmed, my ballot was sent out. But Donald Trump recently claimed (without evidence) that anyone living overseas can get a ballot mailed to them—even if they are not eligible to vote. Of course, that’s not true.

According to ABC News, the former Republican president’s allegation focuses on the bipartisan 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which protects the rights of U.S. citizens living abroad, including members of the military and their families, to vote in federal elections by absentee ballot. The UOCAVA was amended in 2009 by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which added more protections.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, it seems. With just a small percentage of early votes cast in the 2024 presidential election, Trump—as in past elections—is making claims that the process is rigged against him. Trump is “escalating calls” to investigate election officials he says are “corrupt,” reports the New York Times. “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted,” he said in a social media post. But “election fraud is incredibly rare,” the Times noted.

There is a pattern at work here. In February 2016, Politico said, Trump lost the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz—and immediately charged fraud. “Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he illegally stole it,” Trump wrote on social media. Nothing came of the allegations. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College that fall—winning the White House—but lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes: He then made “unfounded” claims that “millions of people” voted illegally in the election, said NPR.

And now, Axios reports, he’s ramping it up even more. Through public remarks, Truth Social screeds and more than 100 preemptive lawsuits, Trump is assembling a detailed catalog of excuses for rejecting the results of the 2024 election—if he loses. The embattled former president, who risks jail time and more criminal trials if he doesn’t get back into the White House, keeps finding new ways to criticize the American voting procedures. He recently attacked the U.S. Postal Service as incompetent and untrustworthy—even as the GOP has pushed its voters to embrace the practice of mail-in ballots. Given the likelihood that the election once again will take days to call, it should be a tense couple of days.

Helene’s Aftermath

The storm leaves "unimaginable" destruction in 6 states as death toll rises

Hurricane Helene was one ugly and massive storm that resulted in nearly 100 deaths and a 500-mile path of destruction. Now comes the hard work of recovering. Short on supplies, short on power and short on patience, the people who survived have emerged to a new week, facing the daunting challenge of getting back to normal. But that could take some time.

In the days since the storm swept through, cellphone and internet signals in the region have been spotty—if working at all—making communication with the outside world a constant struggle. People shared posts on Facebook looking for friends and loved ones, or asking others to check on relatives. Major roads remain impassable. Power was slowly being restored across affected states. More than 480,000 people remain without power in North Carolina as of Sunday afternoon. In South Carolina, more than 800,000 people still don’t have electricity.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told CBS News Sunday that the states affected by the storm “are going to have very complicated recoveries, but we will continue to bring those resources in to help them, technical assistance as they're trying to identify the best ways to rebuild.” President Biden told Criswell when she briefed him on the ongoing impacts in the storm-affected states that he plans to travel this week to affected communities “as soon as it will not disrupt emergency response operations,” per a Sunday evening White House pool report.

Nintendo Opens a New Museum

Critics says it’s light on history, big on fun

Listen closely, and you can almost hear the theme song from Super Mario Bros. playing. When Nintendo announced it was building a museum dedicated to its 135-year history, it was easy to picture a cartoonish facility with lots of bright colors and cheery music that would be a thrill for young children and a nostalgia trip for their parents.

But, it seems, the museum which opens to the public on Oct. 2 in a sleepy neighborhood of Uji (about 30 minutes by train from Kyoto Station in Japan), offers plenty of fun but less history than many gaming critics were hoping for. There are jumbo-sized versions of different Nintendo controllers and consoles hanging from the ceiling, with all the hardware and software that Nintendo has produced over the years displayed beneath them. But IGN says that despite the abundance of products on display, “there are very few items like development materials, original drawings, or prototypes that you can’t find anywhere else, which was disappointing.”

The Verge agrees. The main floor has something of a theme park vibe. There are a handful of interactive exhibits, each meant to be a slightly modernized take on an older Nintendo product. “But I can’t say I learned much about the company from trying to use a huge N64 controller.” They do, however, appreciate that the company doesn’t skip over its failures. There’s a section dedicated to the Virtual Boy—attendees can stick their face into a wall-mounted headset to get the full black-and-red 3D experience. What’s missing, they say, is context. There’s no indication of the cultural impact of any of the products. “One section focused on Mario has copies of both Super Mario Bros. movies on DVD sitting in a corner, with no explanation. You wouldn’t know one was a historic flop while the other a massive hit.” Perhaps it’s the Japanese sensibility, letting the objects mostly speak for themselves.

What Are Dirty Sodas?

Soda spiked with cream and flavored syrup is everywhere

Despite the anti-sugar fearmongering and our collective obsessions with wellness and hydration, there are still millions of Americans who, at some point every day, drink a soda. (Coke Zero fans, where you at?!) And now more and more are consuming “dirty sodas”, a concoction of soda, coffee creamer and flavored syrups that’s gone mainstream thanks to—what else—TikTok.

But the sweet spiked sodas have a more pure beginning. According to Eater, the beverage was invented in Utah, as a sweet treat for Mormons who abstain from alcohol and caffeine. In addition to social media, the dirty sodas are currently having another moment in the limelight thanks to “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”. The Hulu reality series focuses on a group of Mormon influencers, including a few who regularly consume the trendy beverages.

Now, Utah is the starting point for a collection of shops that want to grow into a new, bubbly take on Starbucks. CNN reports Swig, founded in 2010, will be in 13 states by the end of the year and already has plans to open in two more in 2025. And competitors are catching up. FiiZ has opened around 60 shops, followed by Sodalicious at 25. Fast food drive-in Sonic began offering customers the Dr Pepper option to “make it dirty”. Coffee Mate even launched with Dr Pepper a limited-edition Coconut Lime creamer to make dirty sodas at home earlier this year. Have you tried one yet? Does it sound good … because I’m not sure.

Get Out of a Meeting

A useful tactic to get back some time

Often, you can predict which meetings are going to be unproductive from the moment you get that initial email invite. There's the “planning meeting” where you hash out ideas that probably should've been hammered out earlier or the “update meeting” that could likely be accomplished with a bulleted email or the always popular “brainstorming session” where extroverts spend most of the time shouting out random ideas.

Why not skip them? Have you ever even considered this as an option? Of course, some are harder to escape than others—especially if the invitation comes from your boss, a key client or a respected colleague. But there are ways to get out of a meeting that you know will be unproductive, or at least to limit the damage it will do to your productivity and time.

Don’t give up now.