Wed:Christmas Comes Early for Democrats

How Would You React if You Were Drafted into the Russian Suicide Squad Army?

A Russian TikTok star appeared to collapse on stage after being handed a summons to join the army.

Xolidayboy, real name Ivan Minayev, was handed the papers at a southern Russian airport on Monday.

Shortly afterwards, he appeared to lose consciousness during a show in the southern city of Stavropol.

Mr Minayev was born in the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, occupied by Russia in 2014. He reportedly moved to Moscow in 2020.

Xolidayboy is known for his public image, which unusually for men in Russia includes wearing makeup and painting his nails.

He was brought to hospital after his collapse and was reportedly not in a serious condition.

If It's Lilly, Lilly, Lilly on the Label, Label, Label, You will Eat Less At Your Table, Table, Table.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Zepbound, a new weight loss drug from drugmaker Eli Lilly that was shown in clinical trials to help people lose up to 52 pounds in 16 months.

Zepbound is the latest entrant into the field of powerful new drugs that already includes Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy and Lilly's Mounjaro.

The FDA approved the drug for adults with obesity or who are overweight with at least one weight-related condition.

In the United States, 4 in 10 adults have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Zepbound is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which mimic a hormone that helps reduce food intake and appetite. However, Zepbound also imitates a second hormone, called GIP, which — along with reducing appetite — may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.

Zepbound shares the same active ingredient — tirzepatide — as Lilly’s popular diabetes medication Mounjaro.

In a phase 3 clinical trial, the new injectable led to an average weight loss of 22.5%, or about 52 pounds, surpassing all currently available weight loss medications on the market. The participants in the study had obesity or were overweight with at least one weight-related condition.

“This is the most effective form of pharmaceutical obesity treatment ever,” said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina.

He added that the weight loss seen from the medication is approaching the weight loss seen with bariatric surgery.

“That is a big deal,” he said.

Chirstmas Comes Early for the Democrats

House majorities are famous for taking what's known as "messaging votes" on bills that stand no chance of becoming law because they either can't clear the Senate or will ultimately get vetoed—or both.

The idea for the majority party is to use the votes as a way of signaling to voters all the important and popular policies they would prioritize if they had greater control of the government. Importantly, those votes are also designed to work to the advantage of the most vulnerable members of their caucus. In other words, the majority’s messaging bills boost its members’ reelection chances and, therefore, the prospect of maintaining the majority.

Unless, of course, the majority is held by an anti-democratic party living in a fantasy bubble where its members believe their deeply unpopular beliefs should rule the masses regardless of what the masses want. In other words, those messaging bills help the majority’s incumbents unless you're in the Republican Party—then your leaders schedule a bunch of messaging votes that Democrats can weaponize against you.

That's exactly the bind that more than a dozen vulnerable Republicans in Democratic-leaning swing districts find themselves in as whiz-bang Speaker Mike Johnson pushes through a series of spending measures that include everything from slashing critical programs to banning mail-order abortion pills.

The political malpractice is so glaring that Democrats can hardly believe their good fortune.

“It’s just very puzzling to us that they continue to put their members in positions to support these terrible cuts that are not going to become law,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California told Politico.

House Majority Forward, the nonprofit arm of House Democrats' super PAC, is already packaging up the GOP presents and deploying them in the home districts of Republicans they hope to unseat.

One of those members, Rep. Mike Garcia of California, who sits in a district that favored Joe Biden by 12.4 percentage points in 2020, may come to regret voting in favor of Johnson's funding cuts. Democrats have already sent mailers out claiming that “no family is safe from" the cuts Garcia approved.

“These mailers are going out — and these hit ads are going out — based on a first negotiation position,” Garcia told Politico, “which is probably more conservative than what we’re going to end up with.”

The QOP Continues to Promote Cancel Culture

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Tuesday pressed the Biden administration to ban TikTok and other applications owned by Chinese giant ByteDance, claiming the popular platform promotes anti-Israel content to further China’s foreign policy interests.

Just Because You Are Good At One Thing ...

Amazon.com is turning to Prime members to bolster its healthcare business, an industry where the company has sought to expand for years.

The tech giant on Wednesday revealed plans to offer its millions of Amazon Prime subscribers a low-cost annual membership to One Medical, the primary-care business Amazon purchased for $3.9 billion earlier this year. Amazon says Prime subscribers can now become One Medical members for $9 a month, or $99 a year. The typical cost to become a One Medical member is $199 annually.

“What we’re doing is applying our skill sets, our fundamentals, in a different industry,” said Neil Lindsay, the company’s senior vice president of health services. He added that the company is trying to create different paths for customers to reach primary care.

The move is the company’s latest to grow in the healthcare industry, including in primary care, pharmacy and even medical-drone deliveries after unsuccessful attempts in recent years to crack the market. Amazon executives including Chief Executive Andy Jassy have said healthcare is one of several new business areas that could become a pillar of the company.

After its purchase of One Medical, some analysts have suggested that Amazon’s ultimate ambition could be to eventually build an expansive healthcare offering that could compete with traditional primary care and employee medical plans.


Such an “Amazon Prime Health” product has yet to materialize. A One Medical membership provides patients access to some virtual-care services that are included in the annual fee, as well as in-person visits at clinics across the U.S. that require additional payments either through insurance plans or out-of-pocket. Other services including medical testing also are available. Amazon Prime members currently pay $139 annually to access perks including Amazon’s fast shipping service and Prime Video streaming.

While some employers currently pay the $199 One Medical annual membership cost for their workers, it is unclear how many Prime members will see the new lower fee as enticing. Several of the company’s earlier healthcare efforts didn’t work, including a joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase that ended after three years and a telehealth service named Amazon Care that it shut last year. The company in July laid off about 80 employees in its pharmacy unit.