Happy Halloween👻🎃. Fun fact: Americans are projected to spend a record $10.6 billion on the holiday this year, up from $10.1 billion in 2021 and $8 billion the year prior.

Want one more fact for the road? This year's most popular costume (per Google) is a witch, followed by Spider-Man, then a dinosaur. And there has to be a joke in there somewhere.

In today’s edition:

• 🏛 The attack on Paul Pelosi
• 🐦 What Elon’s been up to at Twitter
• 💰👀 Salary transparency is coming to NYC

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.81 minutes to read.

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

–Mary Schmich (b.1953)

Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was attacked in the couple’s San Francisco home early Friday morning by a 44-year-old male intruder, who shouted “Where is Nancy?” before assaulting Mr. Pelosi with a hammer, law enforcement officials said. Mrs. Pelosi was in D.C. with her protective detail at the time of the attack.

• Mr. Pelosi underwent surgery at a nearby hospital for a skull fracture and other injuries. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

📰 More details… The intruder is set to be arraigned tomorrow on felony charges, including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, threatening a family member of a public official, and burglary. Police haven’t identified a motive for the attack.

• Many of the intruder’s recent public activities and posts on social media offered support for right-leaning conspiracy theories about QAnon, Covid, and the 2020 election, per multiple sources across the political spectrum.
• The WSJ also reported the intruder was formerly affiliated with progressive causes like nudism and gay rights.

📸 Zoom out: There’s been a 140+% increase in credible threats of violence against members of Congress between 2017 and 2021, per Capitol Police data (4,000 → 9,600). Some notable examples:

• In 2017, a Bernie Sanders supporter opened fire as Republican members of a congressional baseball team held a practice, injuring Rep. Steve Scalise.
• Earlier this year, a man upset over the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade was arrested with weapons outside conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home.
• Last week, three men were convicted of supporting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) over her Covid restriction policies.

📊 Flash poll: What do you think is most responsible for the recent increase of political threats/violence in America?

Growing distrust in public institutions

Echo chambers and radicalization fueled by social media algorithms

The “Primary Problem” – aka increasingly partisan candidates & politicians

A rise in mental health issues

All of the above

Unsure/other

🇰🇷 At least 153 people were killed, and dozens more injured, in a stampede at a Halloween parade in South Korea. Those killed or hurt were mostly teens and people in their 20s, local officials said. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a national day of mourning yesterday, and vowed to investigate the cause of the accident and review all relevant safety protocols. While Halloween isn’t a traditional holiday in South Korea, costume parties at bars and clubs have become popular among teens and young adults in recent years, the AP reports. The event drew an estimated 100,000 revelers.

🇧🇷 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will become Brazil’s next president after defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. Lula had 50.8% of votes compared with 49.2% for Bolsonaro with 99+% of votes counted, enough to "mathematically define" the outcome of the race, per the country’s elections board. Lula previously served as Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010, but was later jailed for 19 months on bribery convictions that were overturned by the county’s Supreme Court last year. He’ll be sworn in as Brazil’s leader on January 1, 2023 – though as of this writing, Bolsonaro has yet to concede.

🇷🇺 Russia is indefinitely suspending a UN-brokered deal ensuring safe passage of Ukrainian grain exports. Officials in Moscow said the move came about because Russia can’t "guarantee safety of civilian ships" after an alleged series of Ukrainian drone attacks on its Black Sea fleet. Ukraine accounted for ~10% of the world’s grain exports pre-invasion (60+ million tons). Since its deal with Russia was reached in July, Ukraine has exported nearly 10 million tons of grain and other food products.

+Elsewhere: An estimated 232 million people in China are currently under Covid lockdown, per a new survey from Japanese bank Nomura, up from 225 million people last week.

🌵 Bass Reeves: a man of God, Family, Duty, and Sacrifice – all the hallmarks of an American legend. And now you can get your hands on the complete 136-page graphic novel, Bass Reeves: West of Hell.

Published by Allegiance Arts and Entertainment, everything in this extraordinary tale of the feared bounty hunter packs a hard-hitting wallop of action and adventure. Back the campaign and upgrade your perk with a signed copy from series artist David Williams, or lay your claim to swag so killer it needs a wanted poster of its own.

🗣 The buzz circulating the graphic novel about the former-slave-turned-lawman is high, given the number of on-screen productions soon to hit theaters and streaming outlets. Actor Isiah Washington, who plays Bass in his film Corsicana, recently tweeted that Allegiance's Bass comics have been a source of inspiration for his portrayal of the legendary lawman.

Bass Reeves always got his man, and now you can, too! All you have to do is “haul a** for Bass."

Get Your Copy of Bass Reeves: West of Hell.

Elon Musk closed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter late on Thursday night. Since then:

• At least five execs, including the company’s CEO, CFO, general counsel, policy chief, and chief customer officer, were fired “for cause” (allowing the company to potentially avoid paying out tens of millions in severance and bonus pay).
• Twitter’s homepage has changed; logged out users visiting Twitter.com are now redirected to the Explore page instead of being faced with the signup form it previously showed – a change that would’ve previously taken weeks of internal debate to finalize, The Verge reports.
• Musk, the world’s king troll🧌, fought/is fighting off an organized group of other trolls. Following his takeover, a group of accounts began tweeting slurs and other derogatory terms in an organized effort to make users think Twitter changed its content policy, the company’s security chief revealed yesterday. But according to Musk, no decisions on content or reinstating of accounts will occur until a “content moderation council” is put in place.

👀 Looking ahead… More layoffs are expected to come soon. Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, a small investor in the deal, told the NY Times he was told by Musk’s family office to expect ~50% of the company to be laid off, though other reports peg that number at 15%-30%.

+In the know: Twitter engineers – real ones, this time – were asked on Friday to compile recent code contributions from the last 30 to 60 days to be reviewed by Musk, a stickler for code-writing, and Tesla engineers.

The Portland Thorns defeated the Kansas City Current to win ​​their third National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) title on Saturday night, the most by any team in the league’s 10 years of existence.

But that’s not why this win is so memorable. The Thorns’ championship comes after a tumultuous year-long period, during which the team’s management became the center of a league-wide scandal over the sexual abuse and harassment of players by a now-former head coach.

📝 Background: An independent investigation published earlier this month, prompted by a 2021 report from The Athletic, found sexual misconduct, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse have "become systemic" across the league, especially within the Thorns organization. In response, Thorns owner Merritt Paulson resigned from his role as CEO – and the US Soccer Federation committed to implementing the recommendations included within the report, including forming a safety task force consisting of at least one-third membership of athletes.

• The NWSL and its players’ association are also conducting an ongoing investigation, with results expected by the end of the year.

⚽ Now, back to the team: The Thorns were led all season by 22-year-old striker Sophia Smith, who scored a club record 14 goals in 18 games on her way to becoming the youngest MVP in league history. She also scored the winning goal in Saturday’s championship game.

+In the know: The Thorns are one of the most popular and commercially successful women’s franchises in the world, averaging ~20,000 fans per home game pre-pandemic – higher than many NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS teams.

💬 Quoted…​​ “We’re very much at the two-minute warning of this law going into effect.”

Large New York City employers (JPMorgan, Macy’s, American Express, etc.) are starting to comply with a new city-wide salary transparency law for all companies with 4+ employees.

• Starting tomorrow, those firms will be required to include a pay range if they hire in NYC or advertise for remote roles that could be done in the city. Similar measures have been approved in other states, including California, Colorado, Washington, and Rhode Island.

🏥 Stat of the Day: Half of all Americans aged 18 to 34 have at least one chronic health condition, while 1 in 4 have at least two. (Source: CDC via Harper’s)

🤯 Did You Know?... There are 40+ buildings in NYC that have their own zip codes due to high volumes of mail, per USPS.

📖 Worth a Read: TikTok: Trojan Stallion → (No Mercy/No Malice)

📊 Poll Results: Yesterday, we asked if y’all think the US is doing too much, too little, or about the right amount to combat climate change?

• 22% said too much, 58% said too little, and 18% were unsure or had a more nuanced opinion.

See the full 360° view.

• ☝️ NYC’s annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival took place last weekend.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US stocks surged across the board on Friday, with the Dow on track for its best month since 1976. (Dow: +2.6% | S&P: +2.5% | Nasdaq: +2.9)
• 🛒 US consumer sentiment increased slightly in October, per the University of Michigan’s monthly index, though it still remains below the historical average.
• 📱 Twitter founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey launched a beta of his new blockchain-based social media platform, called Bluesky.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Black Adam topped the domestic box office for the second weekend; the Dwayne Johnson-led superhero film has now earned $139 million in domestic sales and $250 million globally.
• 👋 Henry Cavill is leaving his role as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher after the upcoming season 3; he’ll be replaced by Liam Hemsworth.
• ⚾🏈 Results: The Phillies overcame a 5-run deficit to win Game 1 of the World Series in extra innings on Friday, while the Astros took Game 2 on Saturday. | Georgia remains on top of this week’s AP Top 25 poll, with Tennessee and Ohio State both tied for second.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ​​☄️ Sp00ky szn: A skyscraper-sized asteroid is projected to fly by Earth’s atmosphere tonight.
• 🦠 A newly-discovered bacteria in the gut may be responsible for rheumatoid arthritis, per a new peer-reviewed study published in Science.
• 🌎 NASA scientists recently identified more than 50 spots around the world emitting major levels of methane, using a tool designed to study how dust affects climate.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🏥 The number of legal abortions fell ~6% in the first two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, per a new report from nonprofit Society of Family Planning.
• ⚖️🎓 The Supreme Court will hear arguments in a pair of cases challenging the use of affirmative action in higher education later today. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 📉📈 Where is the US stock market headed? Six pros take their best guess.
• ☝ How About This – Free newsletter with notebook nerdery, creativity, reading, writing, and realizing, plus a dash of current events/pop culture. And it’s cooked in the best type of sauce – curious Atlantic Canadian. Subscribe here for free.*

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Monday: Game 3 of the World Series; Happy Halloween!

Tuesday: National Authors' Day

Wednesday: The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 0.75%

Thursday: Weekly unemployment claims

Friday: October's jobs report released

+This weekend: Daylight Savings Time ends; Dolly Parton, Eminem, and others will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Earlier this month, we featured the amazing story of a blind airplane pilot in Positive DONUT, another newsletter of ours that we send out weekly (like that shameless plug? 😉).

Today, we're bringing you the story of Dan Mancina, a blind skateboarder who's also breaking boundaries for the visually impaired community. 

❤️ Don't sacrifice your passions... Dan has been skateboarding since he was seven years old. When he lost his vision in his twenties, he feared he'd never be able to ride again. But after lots of dedication and practice, Dan was able to get back on the board and shred the courses once more. 

• “Some people think it’s crazy and not possible to skate [while blind]," he shared. "It’s not that crazy … in my head. It’s just, I enjoy skating. So I’m going to do it. So I encourage people to think that way – don’t let other people dictate your life and decide what you can and can’t do. You know, it’s all up to you.”

As noted in today's intro section, Americans are projected to spend $10.6 billion on Halloween this year. Can you place the following four categories in order from most money spent to least?

1. Candy
2. Greeting cards
3. Costumes
4. Decorations

(keep scrolling for the answer)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

1. Costumes ($3.6B)
2. Decorations ($3.4B)
3. Candy ($3.1B)
4. Greeting cards ($0.6B)

Source → (National Retail Foundation)