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Here's what's making headlines today: storms and scanner glitches disrupt Election Day voting, Trump says he will cut Israel aid, and more.
Today’s estimated reading time is 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
- The Daily Dip Editor
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**On this day in 1879, a saloon owner patented what invention to stop employee theft? **(answer revealed below!)
(hint: cha-ching)
In today’s issue:
Storms and glitches causeElection Day conspiracies. 🏛️Trump announcesIsrael aid cutoff. 🌍AI use on Steam hits50% of new games. 💻
Plus, take ** today’s poll** and check out the
Severe weather and equipment problems disrupted voting in several states on Tuesday. In Westchester County, New York, ballot scanners rejected paper ballots, which state officials tied to a programming update.
Voters used emergency ballots held under bipartisan oversight for later scanning, and officials said every valid vote would be counted. Katie Miller and Laura Loomer made unsupported claims of election fraud, while Republican Rep. Mike Lawler urged voters to stay in line.
**The backdrop:**Florida moved more than 20 polling places due to flooding. The DOJ sent a record 1,000 monitors to all 50 states to check compliance with voting rights laws, which some critics worried could intimidate voters.
President Trump said on Fox News Tuesday that the U.S. will end its roughly $4 billion in yearly aid to Israel after this year. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the change and that Israel no longer needs the money.
Trump gave few details. The existing U.S.-Israel military aid agreement provides $3.8 billion annually through 2028, and it remains unclear how his announcement would affect that commitment. He stated Israel could still buy U.S. weapons, and Netanyahu has previously said he wants to phase out U.S. military aid.
**The reaction:**Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Ro Khanna both called the timing an Election Day appeal to voters. Trump singled out Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, saying ending the aid would take away a Democratic talking point.
:📈
Today’s Poll:Holiday HopesStorms and scanner problems made voting harder for some people on Tuesday, renewing talk about how to make Election Day easier to fit into a workday.
What would make it easiest for people to vote?
About half of the games released on Steam last month disclosed using AI, up from under 2% in January 2024. That’s according to Reddit user u/ploz’s analysis of more than 63,000 releases since January 2024. The figures rely on developers’ self-reported disclosures.
AI disclosures were more common among games with fewer reviews, and artwork was the most frequently disclosed use. Some developers say the surge is crowding out human-made games and fueling copycats, while supporters argue AI could open up new kinds of games.
**The response:**Some studios have canceled public demos to avoid AI-generated clones. A Valve executive said the company doesn’t want to dictate which tools developers use and suggested they build strong communities and keep adding original features.
🐕 Animals: A stray dog named Stubby wandered into a U.S. Army training camp and became the most decorated dog of World War I, credited with waking soldiers before gas attacks. Very good boy, officially.
📅 Holidays: Veterans Day moved to a Monday under a 1968 law to create a three-day weekend, but it returned to Nov. 11 in 1978 after many states pushed back. The long weekend didn’t last.
🪖 Military: Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier take exactly 21 steps, then pause for 21 seconds, in honor of the 21-gun salute. Precision is the whole point.
🤯 WTF: During World War II, a Syrian brown bear named Wojtek was officially enlisted as a private in the Polish army and reportedly carried artillery shells at Monte Cassino. Rank: private. Species: bear.
TODAY’S QUIZ ANSWER:
The cash register
Dayton, Ohio, saloon owner James Ritty suspected his bartenders were stealing from him. He got the idea for a counting machine from a device that tracked a steamship’s propeller turns. He called it “Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier,” and the business later became the National Cash Register Company (NCR).
Did you take ** today’s poll**?
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