Weekly Review

The British prime minister, Liz Truss, fired her friend, Kwasi Kwarteng, from his post as the chancellor of the exchequer after her plans for unfunded tax cuts roiled the economy, caused government borrowing costs to increase, and sent the value of the pound plummeting; following a statement from Kwarteng’s replacement, Truss failed to appear in a session of Parliament that included a question about Kwarteng’s dismissal.^{1 2 3} “Well, the prime minister is not under a desk, as the honorable lady says,” replied the leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the Council to a Labour MP who said that Truss was “cowering” in her office.⁴ Court filings revealed that Donald Trump registered a company called “Trump Organization II” on the day that he was sued for fraud by New York State, and the January 6 commission announced plans to subpoena the former president.^{5 6} “This lion, he’s the king of the jungle … huge mane, he’s so big, he’s so hot,” said the voice-over of a nature-style documentary Trump posted to his social media site.⁷ Alex Jones was ordered to pay one sixth of what the Sackler family paid to settle lawsuits brought against Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis—or one 240th of the fines North American banks have paid since the 2008 financial crisis—to the families of Sandy Hook massacre victims.^{8 9 10} “Do these people actually think they’re getting any money?” said Jones, who arrived at his trial by private jet and stayed for its duration in a rented villa with a pool and tennis court. The Parkland shooter was spared the death penalty, a teenager fatally shot five people in North Carolina, and an incel who googled “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt” pleaded guilty to plotting to shoot women in Ohio.^{11 12 13} New York was reported to have changed the rules of a gun buyback program after a man with a 3D printer netted $21,000 in gift cards.¹⁴

In the run-up to next year’s elections, the Turkish parliament approved legislation allowing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government to imprison journalists and social media users who spread information deemed to be false; later, Turkey was accused of stripping 92 migrants naked and sending them to Greece.^{15 16} Weeks before the midterm elections, the Biden Administration announced that it would expand a Trump-era rule to expel Venezuelans to Mexico and announced a narrow humanitarian parole plan that would accept Venezuelans who can show that someone in the United States will support them financially for two years.¹⁷ Days before a Communist Party congress that was expected to give Xi Jinping an unprecedented third term as leader, protesters unfurled banners on a Beijing bridge criticizing Xi; the government responded by censoring the words “brave man,” “courage,” “bridge,” and “Beijing” on social media.¹⁸ Elon Musk, after suggesting that Taiwan submit to Chinese rule, received tax exemptions from the Chinese government for Tesla electric vehicles.¹⁹ Musk, who had also suggested that Ukraine cede the Crimean Peninsula to Russia, agreed to continue providing critical satellite internet service to Ukraine after complaining about the cost and made $1 million from the sale of a perfume called Burnt Hair, which he branded as “the essence of repugnant desire.”^{20 21 22 23} Twenty nations at risk from climate change said they might stop paying $685 billion in debts and argued that the money should be invested in conservation, and a report found that populations of monitored vertebrates had declined by an average of 69 percent since 1970.^{24 25} New Zealand announced a plan to address global warming by taxing cow burps, and climate protesters threw tomato soup at van Gogh’s Sunflowers.^{26 27} 

A legally blind man sued the city of Memphis after, without any verbal warning, he was bitten by a police dog.²⁸ “It looks really bad on us,” said an officer in body cam footage. “We didn’t intend to sic a dog on some guy, make him a fucking snack.” A German man was detained after biting a police dog.²⁹ A woman who claimed that she embodied an Indian goddess and who forced devotees to eat human feces was hit with 50 charges in Singapore, and a South Carolina youth pastor was placed on leave after giving out stickers to students that read i ♥ hot youth pastors.^{30 31} Researchers found that people who view sex as a leisure activity had more and better sex during the pandemic, and a study revealed that 42 percent of adults admit to misleading others about their vaccination status or adherence to COVID-19 safety measures.^{32 33} A Manhattan congressional candidate released a sex tape, and urologists released a case report about a man who became allergic to his own orgasm.^{34 35} Scientists announced that they had taught brain cells in a dish to play Pong, and a YouTuber announced that he planned to claim a $498.54 video game weapon as a tax deduction.^{36 37} “We thought we were doing the right thing, and we realized maybe we were wrong,” said the manager of a Maryland restaurant that stayed open while a dead body lay in the bathroom.³⁸ It was reported that in Tampa, two fathers had shot each other’s daughters in a road rage incident.³⁹ A Washington appeals court determined that a mother’s love has no monetary value.⁴⁰ —Jon Edelman