It's Your Week: 60 years since Cuban Missile Crisis, again a nuclear threat
Sixty years ago this Sunday, the Cuban Missile Crisis began. We are now at the highest risk of a nuclear "Armageddon" since then.
Sallee Ann here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers.
This week, we talk about nuclear threats, scammers getting a taste of their own medicine and horror movies. All good stuff.
But first, don't miss these stories made possible with your Paste BN subscription:
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'Peak nuclear threat'
When President Biden said the world is now at the highest risk of nuclear "Armageddon" than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, domestic security correspondent Josh Meyer already had the story.
"I have some long-time trusted sources who I consider to be visionaries in their field, and when one of them, former CIA weapons of mass destruction chief Rolf Mowatt-Larssen said we are at 'peak nuclear threat' – worse than any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis – I thought that would be a smart way to report on Vladimir Putin’s saber rattling about the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine," Meyer said. "I was already deep into my reporting when President Biden echoed Mowatt-Larssen’s concerns, almost word for word, and scrambled to retool the story to reflect that."
The Cuban Missile Crisis took place when President John F. Kennedy, after determining that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had shipped ballistic missiles and trainers to its ally Cuba, blockaded the island just south of Florida. This put the two superpowers on the brink of nuclear war. Khrushchev ultimately capitulated and dismantled the missiles, while Kennedy disbanded U.S. missile sites in Turkey.
Biden's modern-day warning followed talks among Russian officials about the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly alluded to using his country's vast nuclear arsenal.
"The more I reported, and the more people I talked to, the more I realized there were important parallels between the two superpower showdowns that would help educate Paste BN readers about the current threat we face, and offer some possible insight into what might happen next and what it would mean," Meyer said.
Now read this, too:
- History shows there's potential: Times the world came close to nuclear disaster
- Life became suffering. Illustrated stories from the siege of Mariupol.
- Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Scamming the scammers
Have you ever wanted to get revenge on all those scam calls that junk up your phone? Well, there are folks that do just that. It's called "scambaiting."
"I stumbled across the scambaiting world by accident when a video popped up on my social media feed," consumer news reporter Bailey Schulz said. "I got curious and started digging into it."
Schulz found there is a growing community of content creators who “scam the scammers” to prevent people from falling victim to the cons.
Some scambaiters go the pranking route, using voices and playing characters to waste scammers’ time and entertain viewers. Others go more extreme, sharing information with law enforcement or hacking into call centers to gain access to security camera footage (the latter being illegal).
"The YouTubers I spoke with for this story say their methods are effective because they waste the scammers’ time and spread awareness, but some academics argue that these videos do little to take down scammers," Schulz said.
Whether or not their tactics are that productive, it can be cathartic to watch if you're tired of scammers trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty.
Avoid being scammed:
- 4 red flags you'll spot in emails, texts and websites
- Fraud, scam cases rising on Zelle, Senate report finds
- Is that student loan phone call a scam? How to get debt relief safely.
- 4 risky online behaviors that could make you a victim of fraud
It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare
"Halloween Ends," the final chapter of the "Halloween" franchise, hit theaters (and streaming) this weekend.
Movie critic Brian Truitt interviewed famous "final girl" Jamie Lee Curtis about saying goodbye to her character Laurie Strode and killer Michael Myers.
“I guarantee you there will be one day when all of this dies down, all of this Laurie love (and) I will be sitting with my little dog, who will be very happy to have me home, and I will sob and sob and sob," she said, choking up. "I'm too close to it. It's too personal and it's why it's so good, but it's also why it hurts so much.”
- Read Brian Truitt's review of "Halloween Ends" here.
- Horror movie expert? Take our quiz to see if you'd make it to the credits
- Watch this: Kid dressed as Michael Myers stays in character after toppling off hay bale
📊 Poll corner!
Last week, I asked you: How are you feeling about the upcoming midterm elections?
- Confident and ready: 63.1%
- Unsure or confused: 31.1%
- Indifferent: 5.8%
One "confident" reader wrote in, "Voting is an important right to me. Everyone should do it conscientiously." An "unsure" reader wrote, "Both parties have issues that I feel are deal breakers."
Want to study up on the elections and issues before November? Sign up for our On Politics newsletter. And make sure you know your rights with our voting guide.
Now for this week's poll! I'm not going to ask you about nukes or scammers, don't worry. Let's keep it festive in honor of our girl Jamie Lee Curtis.
😱 Do you like horror movies? Click the link that best fits.
Results will be shared in an upcoming edition.
Thank you!
Thank you for being a Paste BN subscriber. Your support allows us to keep you informed and protected – whether it's from nuclear weapons, scam calls or Michael Myers. Thank you and have a great week!