LIFE AFTER DEATH: The lawyer for 50-year-old Christa Pike, who survived a Tennessee execution by lethal injection, said when she woke up, “Where am I and who are you?” She was in a hospital with a blood clot in her arm, pneumonia, and an inability to eat. 

  She was described as angry and confused, able to walk but forgetful.

  Executioners botched the job of putting Pike to death for the satanic murder 30 years ago of a 19-year-old Job Corps classmate. A state judge yesterday ordered officials to preserve evidence of the failed execution including syringes, drugs, and IV lines.

THE WAR ROOM: Despite claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s western Donbas region will fall soon, Ukrainian forces have clawed back dozens of square miles as the war moves toward the freeze of winter.

  Russian gains have been marginal this year although they already occupy 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea which was annexed in 2014. But Ukrainian air strikes in recent weeks have seriously damaged Russian oil production, causing shortages and a crimp in oil income to help fund the war. The Ukrainian Ministry of defense claims to have disabled 51 percent of Russia’s oil production capacity.

WESTERN CIVILIZATION: In what may have been his first speech in a run for president to extend the international politics of Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking in Athens called on Western countries to maintain their dominance in a world of wars, economic uncertainty, and technological change.

  “We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was here millennia ago,” he said.

  Citing Greek philosophers, military and political leaders like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, he criticized countries that had opened their borders … without actually mentioning immigrants … and said, “The next decade will write the story of the next century. The course we take will determine whether the West maintains its place at the head of the world, or resigns itself to a future of atrophy, servitude and decline.”

INFINITE SCROLL:

— President Trump spoke at a rally in San Antonio in support of Ken Paxton for senate but spent his speech talking about himself.

  In a brief attack on Paxton’s opppnent, James Talarico, Trump said, “A vote for Talafreako is a vote to turn Texas into a dirty, failing, crime-ridden, third-world dumping ground, and a vote for Ken Paxton is a vote to save Texas and defend everything that make Texas great and makes America great.”

— Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered its agents this week to increase immigration arrests nationwide by 1,000 people every day, bringing the daily goal to 3,000, CNN reports. ICE detained 51,000 people in August.

— President Trump plans tomorrow to preside over the installation of a statue of Christopher Columbus at the White House. Trump has joined the culture war over re-naming Columbus Day to “Indigenous Peoples Day.” He said earlier this year; “The Italian people are very happy about it. Remember when you go to the voting booths, I reinstated Columbus Day.” 

STORMY WEATHER: Tropical Storm Isaias has become the first Atlantic Hurricane of the season. Gathering strength in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s expected to hit from coastal Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle, with a storm surge of 5 to 7 feet, 3 to 7 inches of rain, and wind gusts of up to 90 mph. 

THE OBIT PAGE: Bill Harris, a Marine Corps veteran who in 1974 was one of the primary kidnappers of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in his role as a leader in the radical left underground Symbionese Liberation Army, died last month in San Francisco. He was 81.

  In the politically wild 1970, the SLA was led by a man who went by the name Cinque, whose slogan was: “Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people.”

  As the hunt for Hearst proceeded, the case took a bizarre when Hearst was photographed wielding a machine gun in an SLA bank robbery. 

  Harris spent about eight years in prison, divorced his then wife, re-married and went on to live a normal life.

  Hearst was indicted in the bank robbery. Despite arguing that her mind had been twisted during her captivity, she was convicted and spent 22 months in prison before she was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter. 

THE SPIN RACK: The FBI arrested an 18 year old man who they say bought an AK-47 assault rifle and planned an attack at the Mall of America outside Minneapolis. They say they had been monitoring Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud since 2024. — Young teenagers are less likely to identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual than they were a few years ago, according to an analysis of data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analysis did not provide a reason for the drop. — Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. 

BELOW THE FOLD: President Trump is proposing to turn his West Palm Beach golf club into a southern “Camp David” retreat for all past, current, and future US presidents.

 A letter from the golf club’s lawyer to the Palm Beach County commissioners said the club would pay for building the presidential lodging.

  “This is a gift that the President would like to share with his successors, the people of America, and his fellow Palm Beach County residents,” attorney Harvey Oyer said.  “It should be noted that President Trump will be out of office before this proposed project could be completed so this is a gift to his successors.” As if Trump would do something that doesn’t benefit himself.

  The retreat, if it’s ever created, doesn’t have a name yet but you can bet it will have “Trump” in it.

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