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When Ukraine built its wartime communications around Elon Musk’s Starlink, I remember thinking: um, this is not the guy you want in your foxhole when Putin is knocking. Each time Musk has restricted Ukraine’s access, Kyiv has found its way back. What else could it do? Starlink became essential battlefield infrastructure.
Now Volodymyr Zelenskyy says someone abruptly throttled Ukraine’s military access to Starlink, without warning, disrupting operations and putting Ukrainian lives at risk. Consider the arrangement: we have concentrated so much power in so few private hands that the security of millions of people, the fate of a country — and potentially the security of the NATO alliance — can hinge on decisions made by one former trillionaire in Texas.
Europe sees the problem. EU lawmakers are trying to build out European satellite capabilities and keep important frequencies in European hands. The question is why governments ever became comfortable outsourcing critical infrastructure to a handful of men we neither elect nor control. Ukraine is the emergency today. The warning is much bigger: once private technology becomes essential infrastructure, its owner starts to look an awful lot like a government — minus the elections, oversight and obligation to explain himself.
In today’s newsletter: Ukraine’s Starlink has a Musk problem. A judge rules on DOJ’s investigation of Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Mystery solved: Renovation broke the Reflecting Pool. About that law degree, Madam Press Secretary. Cornell’s faculty may have had enough. And a very important bear turns 100.
No Connection: Ukrainian officialssay new Starlink restrictionsare disrupting critical military operations. They accuse Elon Musk’s SpaceX of suddenly imposing limits on aPentagon-funded military versionof Starlink, the satellite internet service, without warning. The restrictions cut connections to drones traveling above certain speeds,disrupting missions in progress. A Zelenskyy adviser said Ukrainian forces were blindsided and lost one of their few ways to intercept Russianattack drones. Today Musksaidany limits “are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” That said, Musk hasrepeatedlyshut offUkraine’s access to Starlink in the past, and herecently saidPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy “has gone too far” by striking Russian oil refineries. The timing is noteworthy: Trump is warming to Putin again, pressuring Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries, and recentlysuggestedthe country replace Zelenskyy with a leader who would “make a deal” with Russia. The apparent conflicts here are not lost on European leaders, who aretrying to reducethe bloc’sreliance on Starlinkand Musk. The foreign minister of Poland, whichpays forUkraine’s Starlink,accusedMusk of “playing politics” with his products.To the Top: Starlink may not be the only critical support Ukraine is losing. Zelenskyy𝕏warnedthat multiple Russian strikes hit Ukraine without the early warning intelligence usually provided by the U.S., killing several people and leaving hundreds of thousandswithout power. Trump insists the U.S. is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine, though the Trump administration reportedlythreatenedto limit intelligence sharing to pressure Ukraine, a threat it hasfollowed throughon before. Zelenskyy maintains Ukraine has not hit Russian oil refineries since Trumpunilaterally declaredan “energy truce.” On the other hand, Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, in anattempt to collapseit and freeze the country into submission.Meddling: FranceaccusedMusk of orchestrating “massive online harassment campaigns” against European leaders in an attempt to influence the outcome of elections.
Mi Casa No Existe: Spain’s housing crisis has become a political crisis. Tens of thousands of peopletook to the streetsacross the country, with unions threatening ageneral strike,overthe country’s spirallinghousing crisis. The demonstrations were triggered bythe evictionof an 87-year-old woman from her home after an investment firm bought it;she diedshortly after. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tried to pass emergency housing measures, whichhe arguedwould “instill order and a sense of humanity in a market” that he warned “will destroy our society” unless reined in. Lawmakersrejectedthe measures, so Sanchez called a snap election for next month. That allowed him topush throughsome of the reforms, including a temporary ban on evictions and rent limits. The Bank of Spainestimatesthe country is short roughly 750,000 homes.Youth Shouts: France’sstudent protestsare growing, and so is the crackdown on them. Over 160,000 peopledemonstratedacross the country this week. Thousands have beenarrestedand hundreds injured, prompting at least10 investigationsinto potential police brutality. “If we don’t scream,” one student protestortold the BBC, “they won’t listen to us.”Forceful: In Albania,tens of thousandsof student demonstratorsfilled the streetsof the capital, setting two banks and a government building on fire. This unrest is also a continuation of anti-corruption protests sparked by the development of aluxury resortbacked by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.Affordability Slide. Americans are getting squeezed from both directions: prices are rising faster while inflation-adjusted wages are falling. Annual inflationrosemore than expected, hitting 3.7% in September, new data shows. Much of the increase was driven by rising energy costs. Tariffs and AI investment also contributed — as did profiteering, some economistssuggested, with price increases in some categories reaching record highs. The problem extends beyond energy and groceries. Core inflation, which excludes both categories, also rose more than expected, hitting 2.6%. Inflation-adjusted wagesdeclinedfor the sixth consecutive month. Real wages are effectivelyunchangedsince the beginning of Trump’s second term.Some Fiscal Responsibility, Please: The IMFwarnedthat economic growth won’t solve America’s debt problem. That directly challenges Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claim that the U.S. can “grow our way out of” the problem. The IMFalso warnedthat the consequences of an AI crash “could be global.”Numbers Don’t Add Up: 44% of Americans, and 71% of lower-income Americans, struggled to afford at least one basic necessity over the past year, according tonew researchfrom Pew. 60% of Americans, and 82% of lower-income Americans, say they aren’t earning enough.
More Security: More than 71 million Americans will get bigger Social Security checks next year — thoughsome sayit won’t keep pace with their costs. Benefitswill rise by3.6%, which equates to an average of about $75 extra per month. The cost of living adjustment is thehighestsince 2023, and may influence competitive midterm races where Social Security is akey issue.Can Happen to Anyone: Pope Leo XIV isrecoveringfrom surgery after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The Vaticansaidthe procedure to remove part of his lung containing a cancerous mass was “successful.”Free Press, Emphasis on Free: A federal judge says the Trump administration must allow CNN, MS NOW, and Politico access to the White House. This is anextension ofhis prior temporary ruling ordering the same. He noted the media outlets were “likely to succeed” in theirargumentthat the administration engaged in “unlawful viewpoint discrimination” in violation of their First Amendment rights.Lack of Confidence: In a statement this week, Cornell’s president Michael Kotlikoffapologizedto Jane Doe and promised “meaningful action” to protect students and support survivors of sexual assault on campus. In the meantime, the universitybannedall social events at fraternity houses for the rest of the academic year. The faculty senatebegan debatinga vote of no confidence in Kotlikoff today. “We have no confidence in how the administration has handled this,”one member said. “It’s a long-term systematic problem.” This goes beyond the current case: Over the past few years, nearly half of Cornell students found responsible for sexual assault avoided suspension or expulsion, according to aCNN reviewof school records.Reflect on This: The problems with the Reflecting Pool came from the renovation, not vandalism. To be exact, the Reflecting Pool failed in at least 85 places due to mistakes in the renovation process,according to an investigationcommissioned by the contractor responsible for the work that was obtained by the Washington Post. The Pool isbeing refilledagain this week, bringing an end — you would think — to a process that has gone roughlyten times overTrump’s initial budget estimate and taken months longer than he wanted.
Keep reading to find out…
Why the Treasury just issued a near-record anti-money laundering fineWhat happened to Kimberly GuilfoyleHow a judge shaped the DOJ’s investigation of Rep. Ilhan OmarWhy some think Trump’s new press secretary might not last longThe origin story of the world’s most beloved bear
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