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As the calendar turned to November, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ traded at record highs, with the DJIA on the verge of doing the same. The most significant economic development moving forward

An initial US-China trade deal possibly occurring this month
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The Federal Reserve pausing, not continuing interest rate cuts
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Manufacturing now the smallest share of the US economy in seven decades
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China/Russia/EU nations shifting away from the US dollar as reserve currency
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Total votes: 0
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Forty years ago this week, then-President Jimmy Carter froze all Iranian assets in the US and in US banks abroad in response to the Tehran embassy hostage crisis. The next chapter in the US-Iranian saga

A “prisoner exchange” that Iran’s Foreign Ministry has suggested is in the works
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The Trump Administration issuing civil nuclear waivers for Iranian nonproliferation work
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A US response to a missile/drone attack bearing an Iranian connection, or a US drone being shot down
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Shots fired in the Persian Gulf between Iranian gunboats and US naval vessels
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A meeting between President Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
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Total votes: 0
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This week in 1863, Abraham Lincoln spoke of a nation created for the proposition “that all men are created equal.” America’s most recent “four score and seven years ago”?

Unprecedented economic expansion vs. the Great Depression
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A global military presence vs. isolationist reluctance
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Advancements in gender and racial equality
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The seeming permanence of federal entitlements
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Improvements in science and medicine improving longevity
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Radio/print/postage supplanted by television and streaming
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Total votes: 0
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Fifty years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools in the South had to desegregate “immediately” instead of the previously decided “with all deliberate speed.” The worst divide in today’s society

Income inequality
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Housing inequality
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Judicial inequality
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Healthcare inequality
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Racial inequality
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Educational inequality
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Total votes: 0
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This month in 2001, President George W. Bush established the precursor to today’s Department of Homeland Security, which now encompasses a dozen high-level departments and offices. To the extent that DHS should be “right-sized”

Move the U.S. Coast Guard to the Department of Defense
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Return the U.S. Secret Service to the Treasury Department
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Return FEMA to its past status as an independent agency
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Make INS, Border Patrol, Customs Enforcement their own agencies
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Abolish the Department of Homeland Security altogether
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Total votes: 0
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Fifty-five years ago this week, the People’s Republic of China detonated a Hiroshima-level atomic bomb, joining the U.S., Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union as the world’s only nuclear-armed states. The current greatest nuclear threat

North Korea threatening to resume nuclear, long-range missile tests
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Iranian claims of more advanced centrifuges for uranium-enriching
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Russia building and more aggressively deploying nuclear submarines
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Uranium-powered spacecraft leading to nuclear proliferation in outer space
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A nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan causing a “mini” nuclear winter
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Total votes: 0
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The first Monday in October begins a new Supreme Court term. The most significant issue facing justices

President Trump rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA)
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LGBTQ employees and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (employment discrimination based on race/sex/religion)
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The Second Amendment and New York City’s ban on transporting handguns outside city limits
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Louisiana’s law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges
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State programs benefiting religious institutions (i.e., tax credits for sending children to secular schools)
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Whether a state may constitutionally eliminate any defense of insanity to criminal charges
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Total votes: 0
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As the calendar flips to the tenth month of the year, the most likely of “October Surprises”

A Wall Street meltdown, similar to the 1987’s and 1929’s shockers
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A catastrophic natural event in the US (hurricane, earthquake)
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An armed clash between US and Iranian military forces
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A dramatic turn of events in the Trump impeachment inquiry
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Total votes: 0
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This week in 1908, New York Giants’ rookie Fred Merkle cost his team a victory when he failed to advance a base on what should have been a game-winning hit. Speaking of mental lapses

Bernie Sanders thinking 2019 would go as smoothly as 2015
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President Trump dismissing trillion-dollar budget deficits
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The Federal Reserve approving a rate cut of one-quarter point
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Justin Trudeau’s recently discovered history of face-painting
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Boris Johnson promising to deliver Brexit by Halloween “do or die”
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Apple bidding farewell to smaller, less expensive iPhones
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Any NFL team giving thought to signing Antonio Brown
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Total votes: 0
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This week in 1850, California became the 31st state in the union. The Golden State stands out today because it is home to

The world’s fifth largest economy; 113 straight months of job growth
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Technology (Silicon Valley) and entertainment (Hollywood)
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Some of America’s most spectacular vistas (beaches, deserts, valleys, mountains)
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High taxes and a vast wealth disparity
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Chronic homeless populations and deteriorating urban conditions
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A burgeoning housing crisis featuring a lack of available, affordable homes statewide
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Total votes: 0
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