(1) First, a disclaimer. I knew nothing about Jensen Huang until the current scandal broke. And even now I only know the bare outlines. But the thing about the story that interests me most is this: why would he risk so much? Was the sex that good? Somehow I doubt it, but it must have been good enough for him to assume the risk. After all, as Kissinger said, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Huang probably was quite accustomed to assuming a certain amount of risk or he wouldn’t have secured the career position he occupied – plus he probably (and foolishly) felt immune from exposure for whatever reason.

(2) Some people in Maine are waking up to the fact that Susan Collins was able to get a great many financial advantages for Maine, and when she leaves office her replacement, Troy Jackson, will almost certainly lack the same clout. Too late, folks. You should have thought of that sooner.

Maine is not a rich state, either. As Google AI says:

• Maine ranks near the bottom (around 44th) for forward-looking economic outlook and low in real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, largely due to an aging population and a declining base in traditional manufacturing and timber.

• Financial Hardship (ALICE): While standard poverty numbers look moderate, about 40% of Maine households fall below the ALICE threshold (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), meaning many working families struggle to afford basic housing, utilities, child care, and food.

(3) And speaking of Maine, they will have Paul LePage to kick around some more. LePage is an ex-governor of the state, an outspoken Republican who was an embarrassment and a scourge to its liberals. He has now managed to do the nearly-impossible in this election: he flipped a Congressional district from blue to red, and now bears the honor of being the sole Republican in Congress from all of New England.

LePage will be representing Maine’s 2nd Congressional district, which covers the huge northern and more rural part of the state (see this). As with much of New England, the northern part of Maine is more conservative than the southern part, but state population clusters in the southern part. More:

It is the largest district by area east of the Mississippi River, and the 24th largest overall. It is the second-most rural district in the United States, with 72% of its population in rural areas, and it has the second-highest proportion of non-Hispanic White residents (90.9%); only Kentucky’s 5th congressional district exceeds it in the two categories.

(4) France is not known for freedom of speech. Just ask author Michel Houellebecq, who is being investigated for saying mean things about Islam. And it’s not the first time, either:

The French novelist Michel Houellebecq — author of Whatever and Atomised among other books, and a perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature — has been placed under formal investigation in France for “complicity in provocation to discrimination, hatred or violence against a group of people because of their origin”.

This is the second time Houellebecq has faced prosecution over his opinions. In 2002, he was tried on charges of racial hatred after calling Islam “the dumbest religion”. The charges did not stick. Now, though, he has been indicted over various comments he made in 2022 to Popular Front about Muslims in France.

“The wish of the native French population,” Houellebecq said, “is not that Muslims assimilate but that they stop robbing and assaulting them. Or, another solution, that they leave.” “When entire territories come under Islamist control,” he predicted, “I think acts of resistance will take place. There will be attacks and shootings in mosques, in cafés frequented by Muslims, in short, Bataclans in reverse.” Finally, Houellebecq claimed that the “great replacement” theory “[is] not a theory, it’s a fact. It’s statistical evidence.”

Whether or not you agree with all those sentiments is not the point. The point is whether he should be prosecuted for them. Also, in describing retaliatory attacks on Moslems, he is making a prediction rather than advocating such violence.

And by the way, in case you’re wondering, there have indeed been quite a few prosecutions in France of people who have made anti-Semitic remarks.

(5) From Homan, on keeping the border secure:

The bottom line is, again, we got the most secure border in the history of this nation. Congress may be more blue. Texas may be more blue. But the White House is red. Bright red. And again, President Trump created the most secure border in history. These caravans can come to the border all they want. They’re not to be released into the United States. They’re going to be turned around, or, be prosecuted, then turned around, because we will charge them with a crime. So they can sit in jail, serve their sentence before they’re deported. But we’re not giving one inch on this border. This is the most secure border in history, we’re going to keep it secure, because we got President Trump in the White House, who’s not going to let this border become chaotic again. And neither will I.

Time will tell.