Friday, October 31, 2025

Reporting From Hell

 At Safe Remove,


  Russia has lagged in the public relations war, but lately has started pre-empting Ukrainian and US PR initiatives. Ukraine is to officially release an EU-supported 12-Point Peace Plan today or tomorrow, which has been leaked, and might be seen as an opening position for negotiations of some sort. It basically says to freeze all Russian advances and let's talk for a long time, while Russia returns vital assets like nuclear power plants and mines.
  Donald Trump keeps complaining that there is too much killing and that Russia and Ukraine don't want to end it enough.
  Russia has now offered a 6 hour ceasefire in 3 surrounded eastern Ukrainian cities where over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are being bombarded to death with no hope of escape, and orders not to surrender. 
  Reporters from any country will be allowed in and out with Russian protections at entry and exit.  They will see Hell, with exhausted, bleeding, wounded and infected soldiers who are about to die, and saying goodby to their families far away.
  Ukraine has rejected the offer, and implied that Russians would kill journalists who would enter the surrounded cities. "Russians can't be trusted."

​  Russia says ceasefire possible in 3 areas to allow journalist access to encircled Ukrainian soldiers
 ​The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that it received an order from President Vladimir Putin to halt combat operations in areas near the cities of Pokrovsk, Dymytrov, and Kupiansk to provide a safe passage for foreign journalists to a group of encircled Ukrainian soldiers.
​  "The Russian command is ready, if necessary, to cease hostilities for 5-6 hours in these areas, as well as to provide corridors for the unhindered entry and exit of groups of representatives of foreign media, including Ukrainian ones, subject to security guarantees for both journalists and Russian military personnel," the ministry said.​   
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/russia-says-ceasefire-possible-in-3-areas-to-allow-journalist-access-to-encircled-ukrainian-soldiers/3730984

​  Don't die for nothing, guys:  Putin asks Ukraine to order encircled troops to lay down their arms
Putin ordered his commanders to continue efforts to persuade Ukrainian troops to abandon the resistance and surrender.​   https://www.telesurenglish.net/putin-asks-ukraine-to-order-encircled-troops-to-lay-down-their-arms/

Ukraine Rejected Ceasefire​ - Russians Increase Pressure On Cauldrons​, Military Summary 2025.10.31​   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQuxZaPyYQ

​  Ceasefire in a day and control of territories: Radio Liberty reveals details of the EU plan
Europe's 12-point plan is divided into two parts: first, a frontline freeze and ceasefire, and then negotiations​  

​  John Helmer, THE THREE STAGES OF TRUMP WAR BEGIN WITH THE FIFTH COLUMN
​ source in a position to know says: “The rate of east-to-west Ukrainian migration will accelerate and there will be disintegration of the frontline with a breakthrough on any one of the critical axes that will undermine the entire Ukrainian defence east of the Dnieper. Ouster of [Vladimir] Zelensky and [Andrei] Yermak will follow when the Ukrainian commanders cannot order their forces to continue fighting, holding their ground.  There will be Russian satisfaction with the new regional lines and the depth of the demilitarized zone westward to Kiev.  Of course, Banderite terrorism will continue, but so will the electric war strikes, as well as assassinations from the Russian side in reply. The rump Ukraine will be dysfunctional to the point where day-to-day survival will trump warfighting in terms of allocation of resources.”​...
​..A second Moscow source in a position to know says:  “There has been no real breakdown in talks with the US. In the back channel the Americans have said ‘we are not going to win your four regions for you.’ There is general understanding, however, that the four [regions] will be won, leaving four points to be agreed: all of the Ukraine will be a DMZ; no NATO bases, advisors, troops;  a ceasefire to be monitored by neutral units along the contact line; a Russia-US treaty to be negotiated by Putin and the president to be elected in 2028.  For the time being, Trump is mocking Putin over his slowness to complete the takeover of the four regions. There are no missile game-changers – no Tomahawk from the American side, no Oreshnik from the Russian side. Until next spring we will be accumulating the materiel and manpower to finish off, softening them up to the point where the final blows will be decisive.”​   
https://johnhelmer.net/the-three-stages-of-trump-war-begin-with-the-fifth-column/#more-92651

​  Kremlin Walks Back 'Nuclear Test' Claims As Trump Orders US Atomic Weapons Testing
The new Russian missile completed a multi-hour flight that covered 14,000km, and is touted as able to evade any modern anti-air defense system. While Russia first disclosed the test on Sunday, it actually took place on October 21 according to the Kremlin announcement.
​  But Trump's warnings didn't deter the Kremlin, as it was only on Tuesday that Russia's military conducted yet a second nuclear-related test, this time of a long in development nuclear-capable state-of-the-art underwater drone named the 'Poseidon'.
​  "For the first time, we succeeded not only in launching it from a submarine using its booster engine, but also in starting its nuclear power unit, which provided energy to the vehicle for a certain period of time. This is a tremendous success," Putin 
described Wednesday of that test. Western media sources even noted the weapon could potentially unleash radioactive tidal waves against coastal targets.
​  All of this meant that Russia conducted two significant 'nuclear weapons tests' in under a week; however, nowhere in Russian statements was it suggested there was a detonation of atomic warheads. But Trump's order to his Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to start resume nuclear [explosives?] tests could mark a first since 1992 (that last test was an underground detonation) and the end of the Cold War - and has clearly alarmed and rattled the Kremlin.
​  Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is apparently seeking to de-escalate, by walking back the nuclear aspect to the recent Russian tests, describing that given these newly tested weapons only feature nuclear-propulsion systems - and that there was no warhead test.   
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kremlin-walks-back-nuclear-test-claims-trump-orders-us-atomic-weapons-testing

​  Russia’s 9M730 Burevestnik Missile Reactor 1000 Times Smaller than Submarine Reactor
​ In a compact nuclear engine, much of the reactor’s heat is lost during conversion into mechanical energy. Assuming an efficiency between 25% and 35% — realistic for a small thermal-to-jet system — Burevestnik’s useful propulsion power would range between 47.5 kW and 66.5 kW, or roughly 64 to 89 horsepower.
​  That power range is modest when compared to conventional jet engines, yet it offers one critical advantage: endurance.
 A reactor generating continuous power in this range could, in theory, allow the missile to stay airborne for extremely long durations, limited only by airframe fatigue or guidance constraints.​   
https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Russias9M730-Burevestnik-Missile-Reactor-1000-Times-Smaller-than-Submarine-Reactor/

​  Mike Mihajlovic at Black Mountain Analysis, Burevestnik - Part I [i]​  The Russian Storm Petrel (or stormbringer)
​ On 26 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on a test of the nuclear-powered, purportedly unlimited-range cruise missile known as Burevestnik (Буревестник “Storm petrel“). Designated 9M730 in the GRAU index and identified by NATO as SSC-X-9 Skyfall, Russian authorities have presented the system as capable of defeating contemporary air- and missile-defense architectures and of delivering a nuclear payload across intercontinental distances.
​  Western analysts and media responded to the Burevestnik tests with notable alarm and skepticism. Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear-nonproliferation scholar at Middlebury College, described the system provocatively as a “little flying Chernobyl,” calling its emergence “a bad development” for the United States and arguing that the weapon would be “destabilizing and difficult to address within arms-control frameworks.” The New York Times characterized President Putin’s announcement as “a stark signal to the West” following the collapse of a planned summit with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Norwegian military intelligence publicly confirmed that the tests occurred in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean; Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensenes, head of Norway’s intelligence service, stated that Norway “can confirm that Russia conducted a new test launch of the Burevestnik long-range cruise missile on Novaya Zemlya.”... 
​..Publicly available evidence supports the conclusion that a nuclear-powered cruise-missile concept exists and that flight and reactor-module testing have been undertaken. Yet significant obstacles remain before the concept can be translated into a fully operational, reliably deployable weapon. Key technical challenges include reactor miniaturization and thermal management, qualification of high-temperature structural and fuel materials, development of reliable closed-loop or low-emission propulsion architectures, and robust navigation and guidance for long-endurance missions. Equally salient are ecological, legal, and diplomatic constraints associated with prolonged reactor operation in atmospheric flight.
​  The trade-offs are substantial: a reactor-driven cruise missile potentially offers endurance and routing flexibility beyond the reach of fuel-limited systems, but at the cost of greater complexity, expense, and environmental and political risk. Until such challenges are resolved and independently verifiable performance data are published, claims of operational invulnerability should be treated with caution.​   https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/burevestnik-part-i-i

​  Russia’s Doomsday Weapon says Go Ahead and Make my Day
​ Basically, Poseidon is a deep-sea vehicle, essentially an underwater drone.
It has a nuclear power plant on board, which allows it to cover long distances.
​  Furthermore, it can carry various warheads, including nuclear ones. When approaching its target, it can travel at a depth of 1 km and reach a speed of approximately 200 km/h.​   
https://michaelwalshwriter.com/2025/10/29/russias-doomsday-weapon-says-go-ahead-and-make-my-day-video/

Putin Confirms Sarmat ICBM to Enter Combat Duty Soon, World’s Most Powerful Nuclear Weapon Nears Deployment​   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Putin-Confirms-Sarmat-ICBM-to-Enter-Combat-Duty-Soon-Worlds-Most-Powerful-Nuclear-Weapon-Nears-Deployment/#google_vignette

​  Moon of Alabama, A Nuclear Delivery Vehicle Is Not A Nuclear War Head
A Truth Social tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump on nuclear weapons has led to some confusion and, as I assume, misinterpretations...
​..Trump said “Because of other countries testing programs” and “start testing … on an equal basis” both in reference of nuclear delivery vehicle tests of other countries.
​  Trump thereby likely meant to order the DoD to test its nuclear delivery vehicles, just like Russia has recently done. He did not order the DoE to test nuclear war heads.
​  The testing of nuclear delivery vehicles, like intercontinental missiles, is a routine that has been done every year since those exist.​ It is nothing to panic about.​   
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/10/a-nuclear-delivery-vehicle-is-not-a-nuclear-war-head.html

​  Trump Draws Down U.S. Troop Numbers on Ukrainian Border. 
The United States has informed NATO allies it will reduce its troop presence in Europe, particularly along the eastern border with Ukraine, to focus on other global security priorities...  About 1,000 U.S. troops will remain in Romania.​   https://thenationalpulse.com/2025/10/29/trump-draws-down-u-s-troop-numbers-on-ukrainian-border/

​  Trump – Putin meeting in Budapest is now officially canceled by the U.S. side
​  I still maintain that Trump has been messaging Putin in various ways that he must end the war as soon as possible and that he, Trump, does not care if this means wreaking total destruction on Kiev here and now. This is what all the delays in applying secondary sections on Russian oil exports were all about. The sanctions themselves will start to bite very soon and that is heavy pressure on Putin to do what is needed.​   https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/10/31/trump-putin-meeting-in-budapest-is-now-officially-canceled-by-the-u-s-side/

​  Russia claims France plans to send up to 2,000 soldiers to Ukraine
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service says core of formation will consist of stormtroopers from French Foreign Legion, predominantly from Latin America​   
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/russia-claims-france-plans-to-send-up-to-2-000-soldiers-to-ukraine/3729323

​  Charles Hugh Smith points out the naked emperor:  Yes, Everything Crashed--Just Not For You When people stop participating in their own servitude, then things change.   https://charleshughsmith.substack.com/p/yes-everything-crashed-just-not-for

​  Simplicius,​ Trump-Xi Face Off for All the Marbles in South Korea
China stood its ground and scored​; even ​... a draw is already a Chinese moral victory and signifies the symbolic arrival of China on the world stage as coequal which the US can no longer push around at whim.
​  Once again we’re reminded that most of these overtures are just geopolitical posture sessions on a grand scale: virtually none of it has any real consequence on the disaster brewing for the US economy.
​  The United States is facing a consumption crisis. One of the world’s largest food producers, Kraft Heinz, states that the US is approaching the worst downturn in history, as consumers are not even buying basic food products.
​  “We currently have one of the worst consumer sentiments in decades,” said CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera on Wednesday during a conference call with analysts. Kraft Heinz shares fell 4.3% on Wednesday — down 17% since the start of the year, while the S&P 500 index rose 17%. Other major food companies have also pointed to pressure on American buyers, especially low-income families. Mondelez International said on Tuesday that consumers in distress are focusing on essential goods.​ American restaurants are also facing problems with customer turnout.​   
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/trump-xi-face-off-for-all-the-marbles

​   China will buy some soybeans, but can stop at any time.  'Signatures As Soon As Next Week': U.S.-China Deal Close, Bessent Unveils Major Victory For American Farmers   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-hails-amazing-xi-meeting-trade-concessions-us-soybean-farmers-win-china-eases-rare

  John Helmer,​ CHINA’S TEN NOES – SUN TZU HAS SWALLOWED THE FROG AND IS KEEPING HIS SMILE TO HIMSELF
A review of the Xi-Trump summit by Russian sources has identified Xi’s ten noes as a discreet way of contrasting Putin’s approach with Trump at the Anchorage meeting, their subsequent telephone call, and the exchange of remarks about each other in the press:  
​  No Chinese congratulations for Trump’s peacemaking in the Middle East or Asia.
No Chinese nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize.
​  No Chinese promise to invest in US.
No Chinese agreement to cut its oil trade with Russia.
​  No discussion of territorial concessions in Ukraine and Taiwan.
No agreement on TikTok sale, ban on Nvidia’s Blackwell chips.  
​  No US port sanctions on Chinese vessels.
No bribes — no Trump golf course, hotel, and crypto deals.
​  No dates for exchange of state visits.
No smiles.          
​  Tsargrad, the television and internet medium of Russian nationalism, has been the least reticent of the Moscow media in its summing up. “After a triumphant – in words – visit to Japan, which refused to stop buying Russian oil, and the ‘bummer’ (облома) in South Korea, which will not invest $ 350 billion in the US economy if they themselves do not give this amount to Seoul, Trump met with Xi Jinping in Busan. And he lost a big one.​"   
https://johnhelmer.net/chinas-ten-noes-sun-tzu-has-swallowed-the-frog-and-is-keeping-his-smile-to-himself/#more-92679

​   Ellen Brown, How a Fed Overhaul Could Eliminate the Federal Debt Crisis, Part II: Curbing Fed Independence
 In the 1930s and 1940s, before the Fed officially became “independent,” it worked with the federal government to fund the most productive period in our country’s history.​..
​..Printing money is not inherently inflationary. It depends on what the money is used for. If it funds speculation, it inflates bubbles. If it funds production, it builds prosperity. The vaunted independence of the Fed is not a constitutional mandate but is a political choice.​  https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/30/ellen-brown-how-a-fed-overhaul-could-eliminate-the-federal-debt-crisis-part-ii-curbing-fed-independence/ 

​  Tuesday: Netanyahu Orders ‘Immediate and Powerful’ Attacks on Gaza, Over 100 Killed
Air strikes overnight across the Palestinian territory killed 104 people, including 46 children
, according to local health officials   
https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/28/netanyahu-orders-immediate-and-powerful-attacks-on-gaza/

Tuesday; Absurdly, Israel claims Hamas is the one violating terms – This is ceasefire? Day 18   https://israelpalestinenews.org/absurdly-israel-claims-hamas-is-the-one-violating-terms-this-is-ceasefire-day-18/
  Wednesday, Celia Farber, Ceasefire Resumes Today, After "Skirmishes" Yesterday At Least 104 Killed In Gaza, Including 46 Children
JD Vance: "The Ceasefire Is Holding."​   https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/ceasefire-resumes-today-after-skirmishes

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls Out Israel for Slaughtering Dozens of Children in Gaza​   https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/29/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-calls-out-israel-for-slaughtering-dozens-of-children-in-gaza/

​  Over 400 casualties in Gaza since start of US-backed ceasefire
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended a deadly Israeli airstrike
 that hit Gaza over the weekend, saying Washington ‘does not view that as a violation’​   
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/33948

​  'Disregard for safety and security of the peacekeepers': UNIFIL ​reports Israeli grenade attack
UNIFIL ​reported that an Israeli tank fired a shot towards UN peacekeepers on the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday.​   
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-871736

Lynch Mobs, Arson, Slaughter of Herds: West Bank Faces Unprecedented Israeli Violence​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/west-bank-faces-unprecedented-israeli-violence/

UN Human Rights Office Warns Israeli Settler Violence in West Bank Is ‘Surging’​   https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/28/un-human-rights-office-warns-israeli-settler-violence-in-west-bank-is-surging/

Settler terror devastates West Bank olive harvest​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/olive-harvest-west-bank-settlers/

The IDF Can’t ‘Protect’ Palestinians From Settler Attacks. Settlers Are IDF Auxiliaries​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-idf-cant-protect-palestinians-from-settler-attacks/

Why Is Trump’s ‘Peace Plan’ Focused on Deradicalizing Palestinians, Not Israelis?​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/deradicalize-israeli-peace-plan/

‘Nothing has changed’: Gaza health workers report almost no medical aid entering the strip​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/gaza-health-workers-report-almost-no-medical-aid-entering-the-strip/

Iran ‘is not and was not’ developing nuclear weapons, says UN’s nuclear chief​   https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620798/middle-east

US Bombs Four Alleged Drug Boats in the Eastern Pacific, Killing 14​ - Hegseth said there was one survivor being rescued by Mexican authorities​   https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/28/us-bombs-four-alleged-drug-boats-in-the-eastern-pacific-killing-14/

​  Fact check: Do quarter of US’s ‘drug boat’ searches find nothing?
A 2024 Coast Guard report found 27 percent of drug boat searches came back empty-handed
, but what does this mean for Venezuelan boat strikes?​   
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/27/fact-check-do-quarter-of-uss-drug-boat-searches-find-nothing

US Intelligence Offered Maduro's Pilot Huge Reward To Divert Plane To Awaiting Federal Agents​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-intelligence-offered-maduros-pilot-huge-reward-diverting-plane-awaiting-federal

  ​S-300 parts? Oreshniks? Secret Russian Cargo Plane Lands in Caracas Amid Tensions Between the US and Venezuela
Il-76 RA-78765 completes multi-stop flight to Caracas, signaling growing Russia-Venezuela cooperation.​   https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/10/30/russian-cargo-plane-lands-in-caracas/#google_vignette

Trump Reacts To Headlines Of 'Imminent' Land Attack: 'No Strikes On Venezuela'​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-military-attacks-venezuela-imminent-just-hours-or-days-away

​Caitlin Johnstone, It's Just Wall-To-Wall News Stories About The US And Its Allies Abusing The World   https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/its-just-wall-to-wall-news-stories

​  Trump’s approval rating hits a new low as poll shows him 19-points underwater
Despite the president’s brag to the contrary, his overall favorability is down again in latest survey of public opinion about his performance as commander-in-chief​   
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-low-approval-rating-october-b2854656.html

​  No! We are not going to look at other countries involvement!  Kash Patel shuts down Charlie Kirk foreign intelligence probe in explosive feud with Trump’s counterterror chief 

FBI Director Kash Patel crushed efforts by Tulsi Gabbard's closest advisor to see if a foreign power was involved in Charlie Kirk's assassination.
​  The head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, analyzed FBI files to determine whether Kirk's alleged killer received assistance from a foreign power.
​  Kent's investigation alarmed Patel, who believed the counterterror chief was overstepping by interfering with an ongoing FBI investigation [cover-up] . ​   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15238181/Charlie-Kirk-White-House-Patel.html

​  Why Did Michael McCoy Make Call and Walk Away Less Than One Second After Charlie Kirk Was Shot?
Did instant communication of shooting yield an advantage to someone?​   
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/why-did-michael-mccoy-make-call-and

​This drone attacks air-defense and targeting radar. China’s PLA Unveils ASN-301 Anti-Radiation Drone in First-Ever Radar Strike Simulation   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Chinas-PLA-Unveils-ASN-301-Anti-Radiation-Drone-in-First-Ever-Radar-Strike-Simulation/#google_vignette

North Korea Flexes With Missile Test While Trump Tours Asia​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/north-korea-flexes-missile-test-while-trump-tours-asia

​No, Trump wants it back to spy on China and Russia!  India Reportedly Offered Control of Bagram Airbase by Afghanistan, Why Taliban Offered   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/India-Reportedly-Offered-Control-of-Bagram-Airbase-by-Afghanistan-Why-Taliban-Offered/#google_vignette

Poland, Slovakia, Hungary Defy EU By Keeping Bans On Ukraine Imports​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/poland-slovakia-hungary-defy-eu-keeping-bans-ukraine-imports

  Celia Farber on asking "useless eaters" nicely if they'd like to die,  Canada's Killing Fields: 15 Million Openly Marked For Death Over The Next 20 Years To Balance Budget; Canadians Who Are Poor and Lonely Or Have A Disability ROUTINELY Offered Euthanasia By Doctors!
​  Elderly, Disabled, Poor, Lonely, Indigenous, "Mentally Ill," all Targeted. Sound Familiar? 15,343 Canadians Were Euthanized in 2023 And Numbers Are Climbing Steeply​   https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/canadas-killing-fields-15-million

​  Open season for pimping 12 year old girls on the street... Newsom's Prostitution Law Creates Disturbing New Sex Market in LA
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's pimp shield law, pushed by Democratic legislator Rep. Scott Weiner, has helped foster a disturbing new sex market on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, featuring prostitutes as young as 12 and 13 years old. For far too long, the "kiddie stroll," as it's known, has gone unreported because major media outlets refused to cover it.​   https://pjmedia.com/michaelcantrell/2025/10/28/newsoms-prostitution-law-creates-disturbing-new-sex-market-in-la-n4945357

Like the homeless-funds: Fund Advisor Responds: California's Retirement Fund Lost 71% Of $468M Investment In Clean Energy And Won't Say How   https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/californias-retirement-fund-lost-71-468m-investment-clean-energy-and-wont-say-how

Gov't Shutdown Chaos: Air-Traffic Controller Shortages Snarl Airports As Paychecks Go Blank; Airline CEOs Urge Dems To Back GOP-Led Clean CR​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/govt-shutdown-chaos-air-traffic-controller-shortages-snarl-airports-paychecks-go-blank

These States Lose Most If Federal Food Aid Runs Out​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/these-states-lose-most-if-federal-food-aid-runs-out

​The full debit cards will still work: What happens to SNAP benefits already loaded to EBT cards in November   https://www.axios.com/2025/10/28/ebt-cards-november-snap-benefits

​  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency due to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program being suspended on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown and a lack of funding.
​  The decision means that $65 million in state funds will be allocated for emergency food assistance to provide for 40 million meals statewide, her office said in a statement. Around 3 million people in the state receive SNAP benefits, known as food stamps.​   
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-york-declares-emergency-over-looming-pause-food-stamps

Biden's Jack Smith 'Enemies List' Scandal Widens As 400 Republican Targets Revealed​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-jack-smith-enemies-list-scandal-widens-400-republican-targets-revealed

​  "Avoid houses with Trump signs" was the memo: FEMA Systemically Withheld Disaster Aid to Conservative Victims under Biden, DHS Probe Finds
Besides its lengthy history of incompetence, the federal agency created by Jimmy Carter to provide the nation with disaster relief singled out conservative victims and withheld aid to survivors who displayed signs and flags the agency’s liberal workforce disagreed with, including those supporting President Trump.   https://www.judicialwatch.org/fema-withheld-disaster-aid/

​   CNN Drops a Bombshell: The Shutdown Is Backfiring on the Democrats Big Time
Rather than inflicting political damage on the GOP, Schumer's obstruction strategy appears to be backfiring spectacularly.​   
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/10/28/the-shutdown-is-backfiring-on-the-democrats-and-cnn-is-admitting-it-n4945359

​  All of them: Biden’s autopen pardons are null and void due to ‘mental decline’, House Oversight Committee says
Republican-led panel claims former president’s ‘cognitive decline’ was so severe he may not have been aware what he was signing and his clemency orders are therefore ‘null and void’ and should be reviewed​   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-pardons-void-autopen-b2853682.html

​Delusions of intelligence: AI use makes us overestimate our cognitive performance, study reveals   https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-ai-overestimate-cognitive-reveals.html#google_vignette

​  Teen sues artificial intelligence company over fake nude pics
​ Fox News reported that the lawsuit claims a male classmate used ClothOff to remove the clothes the plaintiff was wearing in a picture she posted on social media when she was 14. The outlet noted that the artificial intelligence-generated photo included the real face of the plaintiff, which made the fake nude picture look real. According to Fox News, the lawsuit states that the fake image of the plaintiff was circulated on social media and through group chats...
​..The “Take It Down Act,” which was signed into law earlier this year by President Donald Trump, “prohibits the nonconsensual online publication of intimate visual depictions of individuals, both authentic and computer-generated, and requires certain online platforms to promptly remove such depictions upon receiving notice of their existence.”   
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2025/10/teen-sues-artificial-intelligence-company-over-fake-nude-pics/

​  A Midwestern Doctor, The Mystery of Transplanted Consciousness: When Organs Transfer More Than Function
Exploring the Profound Evidence That Memories, Personalities, and Skills Can Transfer from Donor to Recipient
​  Dr. Paul Pearsall's groundbreaking research documented 73 heart transplant cases where recipients experienced dramatic personality changes, food preferences, sexual orientation shifts, and even acquired new skills that perfectly matched their unknown donors.
​  Approximately 10% of heart transplant recipients report experiencing emotions they believe come from their donor, with the most sensitive individuals sharing specific personality traits like being highly creative, body-aware, and psychically sensitive.
​  The most extraordinary cases include an 8-year-old girl who received a murdered child's heart and provided police with accurate details that led to the killer's conviction, and recipients who suddenly developed artistic abilities matching their donor's talents.​   
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-mystery-of-transplanted-consciousness

​  Dr. Paul Alexander, Did Yonker et al. study published in CIRCULATION looking at blood from 16 patients who were hospitalized at Massachusetts General for Children or Boston Children's Hospital for myocarditis, presenting with chest pain with elevated cardiac troponin T after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, actually find markedly elevated levels of full-length spike protein (33.9±22.4 pg/mL), unbound by antibodies, detected in the plasma of individuals with postvaccine myocarditis, whereas no free spike was detected in asymptomatic vaccinated control subjects (unpaired t test; P<0.0001)?
  Yes, Yonker et al. found markedly elevated levels of full-length spike protein (33.9±22.4 pg/mL), unbound by antibodies in plasma of individuals with postvaccine myocarditis.   
https://palexander.substack.com/p/did-yonker-et-al-study-published

​  Dr. Andy Wakefield Vindicated: “The Parents Were Right — The Doctors Were Wrong."
McCullough Foundation’s landmark autism report overturns 25 years of lies — and vindicates Dr. Wakefield after decades of attacks for exposing vaccine risks.​   
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/dr-andy-wakefield-vindicated-the

​Meatier second half: The Pfizer Job​ How Pfizer carried out the biggest pharma trial heist ever - and the regulators swallowed it hook, line and sinker.    https://www.arkmedic.info/p/the-pfizer-job

​  BREAKING: Dr. Steven Hatfill — Senior HHS Advisor Fighting mRNA Corruption — Has Been Fired in Apparent Coup Attempt
Dr. Hatfill says he was fired in “a coup to overthrow Mr. Kennedy,” led by Chief of Staff Matt Buckham.​   
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-dr-steven-hatfill-senior

Texas AG Paxton Sues Tylenol Maker for Not Warning Pregnant Women of Risks.​   
https://thenationalpulse.com/2025/10/28/texas-ag-paxton-sues-tylenol-maker-for-not-warning-pregnant-women-of-risks/

​  Meryl Nass MD, More on the Farming Crisis
 For Sanders, the biggest challenge this season isn’t just market volatility — it’s the relentless rise in input costs. And this isn’t a phenomenon that started in 2025. While many reports want to turn the situation into a political blame game, thin-to-negative margins have been a reality for southern farmers since 2021.
​  “Electricity and fuel are always high, but the cost of repairs has gone through the roof,” he says. “Parts that used to be $20 or $30 are now $70 or $80. Everything’s gone up, but crop prices haven’t.”​    https://merylnass.substack.com/p/more-on-the-farming-crisis

​  Harvard Scientist Accuses NASA of Coverup About Mysterious Comet
​  The comet, designated 3I/ATLAS, has exhibited several unusual characteristics that have fueled speculation. Unlike typical comets, it displays jet-like emissions directed toward the Sun rather than away from it, a phenomenon that defies standard models of cometary outgassing, the New York Post reports. Additionally, 3I/ATLAS lacks a visible cometary tail and has been observed spouting nickel without accompanying iron that compositions not commonly seen in natural solar system bodies.
​  Loeb has previously speculated that the Manhattan-sized object could be of alien origin, though he tempers this with caution. In his view, the more probable explanation is "terrestrial stupidity" rather than evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Nonetheless, the comet's non-gravitational acceleration and its trajectory raise questions. Loeb has suggested these features could indicate reconnaissance activity if the object were artificial, though he emphasizes this as a low-probability scenario.
​  “If 3I/ATLAS is a massive mothership, it will likely continue along its original gravitational path and ultimately exit the Solar system,” 
Loeb wrote in a blog post in September. “In that case, the Oberth maneuver might apply to the mini-probes it releases at perihelion towards Solar system planets.”​   
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-scientist-accuses-nasa-coverup-about-mysterious-comet

​Geophysicist Stefan Burns: 
Before the perihelion: 3I/ATLAS is Moving into Position for an Unprecedented GALACTIC ALIGNMENT   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygfVPgnRG9A

And after the perihelion: 3I/ATLAS has Brightened DRAMATICALLY as the Biggest Burst of Solar Activity in DECADES Ramps Up   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwzAvSInps

Terrestrial Life Form Watering in arugula and spinach seeds, with brassicas in foreground)


Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Living Dangerously

 Eternally Vigilant,


  Simplicius with Ukraine war update:  SITREP 10/27/25: Pokrovsk Reaches Its Final Arc as Russian Bulldozer Plows Ahead
The ​[Economist] piece centers on the massive disappointment that Western drones have brought with them on the Ukrainian battlefield.​.. The West was hoodwinked into drinking its own bathwater by the so-called “success” its drones experienced in total mismatch “wars” like Iraq and Afghanistan​...
..The article only passingly mentions something quite interesting and important, which I have harped on many times in the past. That one of the reasons Western companies and ‘innovators’ in general may be refusing to fully commit to creating wonder-weapons for Ukraine is the shaky ‘long-term business case’...
..The [Ukrainian] drones which reach extremely deeply into the Ural zone, such as the strike on an Orenburg refinery earlier in the month, end up doing very little damage due to their small warhead size. Their main purpose appears to be a ‘psychological effect’, and the ability to merely rouse headlines sporting new “high score” counts of 1500km, 2000km+, and more into the Russian heartland. Further, since only a couple kinds of Ukrainian drones can even make it that distance—like the Lyuti—these long-range attacks are extremely limited compared to the hits on refineries much closer to the Ukrainian border...
.."Drones, however, can carry only a limited payload, which is why Ukraine is also developing its missile program."
​  Unfortunately, this so-called “missile program” doesn’t really exist.
 Ukrainian MP Roman Kostenko had just recently explained the ‘Flamingo’ missile program has no money, has not started any kind of real production, and the missile itself has never even been tested at more than 50% of its claimed flight range...
..Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev also explained what the real result of the refinery hits and energy sanctions on Russia will be—in short, higher oil prices which will lead to Russia simply selling less oil for more, and making roughly the same bank...
..Trump’s new ‘sanctions’ on Russia are mostly for show. According to him, the sleight-of-hand actually resulted in the sanctioning of US companies buying Russian oil...
..The fact that Russia is destroying far more of the Ukrainian energy sector and infrastructure in general also gets only a passing mention...​   https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-102725-pokrovsk-reaches-its

​   Big Serge has a fine view of the progress of the Ukraine war to date​: Living Dangerously​ - Russo-Ukrainian War: Autumn 2025   ​                                        The Russo-Ukrainian War seems to have been engineered in a laboratory to frustrate people with repetition and analytic paralysis. Headlines appear to be circulating on a choreographed loop, all the way down to the place names. Kaja Kallas at the European Commission recently announced, without a hint of irony, that Europe’s new sanctions package - the 19th one - is the toughest yet. Ukraine’s supporters are insisting that Tomahawk missiles are the weapons system that will finally change the game and break the war decisively in Kiev’s favor - reiterating the same grandiose claims that they made about GLMRS, and Leopards, and Abrams, and F-16s, and Storm Shadows, and ATACMs, and virtually every other piece of military hardware in NATO’s inventories...
​..The analytic frameworks applied to the war have also changed relatively little, buried and obfuscated by the nebulous concept of attrition. On the Ukrainian side, there is continued insistence that Russia is suffering exorbitant losses and straining under the pressure of Ukrainian deep strikes, while Ukrainian setbacks are blamed in large part on the failure of the United States to expand its largesse and give Ukraine everything it needs. Many pro-Russian lines of thinking mirror this and suppose that the AFU is on the verge of disintegration, while the Kremlin is accused of failing to “take the gloves off”, particularly in regards to the Ukrainian energy grid, Dnieper bridges, and dams...
..This is an extraordinarily high-intensity ground war. Both armies remain in the field, holding hundreds of miles of continuous front after years of bloody fighting. Both armies are (depending on who you ask) taking unsustainable casualties which ought to lead to collapse soon, and yet Moscow, Keiv, and Washington are all (again, depending on who you ask) guilty of failing to take the war seriously enough. All of this is maddeningly repetitive, and one could be forgiven for tuning out entirely...
​..Few would argue that the trajectory of the war changed in an obviously dramatic way in 2025... 2025 has been the first year of the war in which Ukraine launched no ground offensives or proactive operations of its own. This fact is not only a hint at the threadbare state of Ukraine’s ground forces, but also a testament to the way Russian forces transformed “attrition” from a buzzword into a method of persistent pressure across a variety of axes this year...
..After years of insisting that it would achieve maximal territorial integrity - an outcome which would require the total and decisive defeat of Russia’s ground forces - Ukraine has reframed its path to victory mainly as a process of inflicting strategic costs on Russia that mount until the Kremlin agrees to a ceasefire. Consequentially, the debate about arming Ukraine has shifted from a conversation about armor and artillery - equipment useful for retaking lost territories - to a discussion about deep striking weapons like Tomahawks, which can be used to shoot at Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure...
..Notwithstanding Ukraine’s attempts to jumpstart indigenous production, it is inevitable that Ukrainian capabilities will be largely determined by the largesse of western sponsors. This aspect of the war took a sudden turn at the beginning of the October when fresh reporting began to circulate that Tomahawk missiles might be on the table for Ukraine...
..The “problem” with Tomahawks does not relate to any “problem” with the missile itself, but with its availability and Ukraine’s technical capability to launch them. The Tomahawk is conventionally a ship-launched missile (there is no extant air-launched variant) with a few novel options for ground launch. Ukraine, obviously, would require ground launch systems, and the problem is that these systems are essentially brand new and available in very limited quantities: more importantly, American service branches are in the process of trying to build out these capabilities throughout the decade...
..Tomahawk itself is a fine missile, the systems for ground launch are so new and available in such limited quantities that equipping Ukraine with Tomahawks would require either the US Army or the Marines to materially alter their force structure in the near term (through 2030, essentially)...Tomahawk ground launch is a brand new capability that is in the middle of deployment and buildout for the first time...
..Broadly speaking, then, the issue is not so much that the United States is in immediate danger of running out of Tomahawks, but that procurement schedules are so slow that even relatively minor expenditures can erase multiple years worth of deliveries...
..In comparison to Tomahawks, then, ATACMs are both vastly more strategically expendable, produced in larger numbers, and easier to deploy. Despite all these points in their favor, the United States provided Ukraine with just 40 ATACMs. Even if the Army could be pressured into handing over one or two of its brand new Typhon launchers, it is difficult to imagine that more than few dozen Tomahawks could be spared for Ukraine: a token inventory far too small to wage a sustained strike campaign in the Russian heartland...
..On the other side of this equation, it is a common complaint from the Russian perspective that Moscow has done too little to “deter” the United States from empowering Ukraine’s strike campaign - both by directly providing munitions and supplying the planning, ISR, and guidance systems. This, however, rather misses the point. Russia has done nothing of note to deter the United States because both Moscow and Washington understand fully that there is essentially no appetite (on either side) for a direct confrontation...
..The basic pattern here is well established. The United States has done what it can to backstop Ukrainian strike capabilities, but it has held them at a level where Ukraine’s damage output falls far short of decisive levels. So long as that is the case, Russia has clearly demonstrated that it will simply eat the punches and retaliate against *Ukraine*. Hence, when the United States helps Ukraine target Russian oil facilities, it is Ukraine that receives the reprisal, and it is Ukraine which has its natural gas production annihilated as the winter approaches. In a sense, neither side is really trying to deter the other at all. The United States has raised the cost of this war for Russia, but not enough to create any real pressure for Moscow to end the conflict; in response, Russia punishes Ukraine, which is something the United States does not really care about...
..In the case of Tomahawks, the risk-reward calculus is just not there. Tomahawks are a strategically invaluable asset that the United States cannot afford to hand out like candy. Even if the launch systems could be provided (highly doubtful), the missiles could not be made available in sufficient quantities to make a difference. The range of the missiles, however, significantly raises the probability of miscalculation or uncontrolled escalation...
​..The biggest risk of sending Tomahawks is not that the Ukrainians will blow up the Kremlin and start World War Three. The bigger risk is that the Tomahawks are used, and Russia simply moves on after eating the strikes. Tomahawks are arguably one of the last - if not *the* last - rung in the escalation ladder for the USA. We have rapidly run through the chain of systems that can be given to the AFU, and little remains except a few strike systems like the Tomahawk or the JASSM. Ukraine has generally received everything it has asked for. 
​  In the case of Tomahawks, however, the United States is running the most serious risk of all: what if the Russians simply shoot down some of the missiles and eat the rest of the strikes? It’s immaterial whether the Tomahawks damage Russian powerplants or oil refineries. If Tomahawks are delivered and consumed without seriously jarring Russian nerves, the last escalatory card will have been played. If Russia perceives that America has reached the limits of its ability to raise the costs of the war for Russia, it undercuts the entire premise of negotiations. More simply put, Tomahawks are most valuable as an asset to threaten with...
..Tomahawks are simply more valuable to the United States as a tool to threaten escalation, rather than as an actual kinetic asset in Ukrainian hands, and so long as Trump keeps his powder dry he can re-raise the issue later...
..At this point, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to say anything meaningful about the actual operational progression on the ground. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, the war has now gone on so long and is consistently moving at such an apparently glacial pace that most people simply do not care at this point whether Russia holds Yampil or not, or whether they have advanced past the rail line in Pokrovsk. There is severe fatigue (or perhaps boredom is the better word) with the status of an interminable sequence of apparently small settlements, industrial complexes, and forestry plantations, and as a result most people have essentially checked out...
..It should be understood and appreciated that Ukraine has lost essentially all battlefield initiativeIn 2024, the AFU was able to assembled a mechanized reserve and launch their operation into Kursk. This operation ultimately failed and resulted in severe Ukrainian losses, but this is unrelated to the fact that Ukraine was still able to accumulate forces and pursue offensive operations on its own initiative...
..There is a very clear pattern at play here, with Ukraine’s offensive punch progressively shrinking before disappearing entirely in 2025. This was a year of essentially uninterrupted Russian initiative...
​..Putting Ukraine permanently on the backfoot is a significant Russian achievement, and it is owed to a few converging factors. Obviously, the attrition of Ukrainian forces is a major factor...​ Ukraine’s ability to husband forces for offensive operations appears to be severely degraded. Russia has exacerbated this problem by pressing steadily on a variety of different axes. At the moment, there are no fewer than seven Russian axes of attack, pressuring a slew of cities all along the line. This creates a series of defensive emergencies, maintains the burn rate on Ukrainian forces, and fixes them on the line...
..The main point that I want to impress is essentially as follows: rather than fixating on Pokrovsk, Russia’s advances across Southern Donetsk and on the inner bend of the Donets River ought to be thought of as vital operations which have severely disrupted the coherence of both the Ukrainian front and their logistics. This has the triple effect of preventing the Ukrainians from launching offensives of their own, accelerating the attrition of Ukrainian forces, and shaping the front for the coming operation to capture the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration...
..Broad Russian pressure across a half-dozen axes maintained a steady burn rate on Ukrainian forces and prevented the accumulation of forces for proactive operations..​.
..The frontline has yielded no real good news for Ukraine at any point this year. Beyond the broader strategic point, that Ukraine has lost the initiative and does not seem capable of getting it back, Russia is in the process of capturing two important urban centers (Russian troops are in the city centers of Pokrovsk and Kupyansk), it has begun the assault on at leas two more (Lyman and Kostyantinivka), it has rolled up half of the southern front, and cleared most of the inner Donets-Oskil bend...
..One thing that has become apparent over the last year is that Kiev has abandoned previous notions of outright victory on the battlefield and adopted a new strategic framework predicated on imposing unacceptable costs on Russia, so that Moscow will agree to freeze the conflict.
​  This is a subtle and unspoken yet extremely important distinction. It is easy to miss, because both Ukrainian leadership and Ukraine’s western backers continue to speak of Ukrainian “victory” and the possibility of Ukraine “winning” the war. What is crucial to understand is that the “victory” that they speak of now is categorically different than the victory of 2022 and 2023...
​..Today, with the Ukrainian army stuck in a permanent state of reactivity and slowly receding defense, it no longer makes any sense to speak of Ukrainian victory in the most straightforward sense, which is to say victory on the battlefield - no matter how tenaciously or bravely the Ukrainian rank and file continues to fight in essentially intolerable circumstances. Instead, Ukrainian “victory” has been transmogrified to mean essentially that Russia absorbs such exorbitant costs that it agrees to some sort of ceasefire without preconditions...
..Trump’s suggestion that Tomahawks may be on the table for Ukraine must be seen as a constituent element of this new strategy and theory of victory. And this, ultimately, is very important to understand. Tomahawks are not being bandied about because anybody (in Kiev or Washington) believes that 50 cruise missiles will allow Ukraine to defeat the Russian Army and recapture the Donbas. Tomahawks were mentioned because the Ukrainian alliance is threatening to cripple the Russian fossil fuels industry (through a mixture of sanctions and kinetic strikes on production facilities) unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire.
  This is why it is wrong to be surprised that Trump abruptly cancelled his meeting with Putin and instead announced more sanctions. There’s nothing abrupt or erratic about this. Threats to Russian oil are now, without exaggeration, the main lever that the Ukrainian bloc has against Russia...
..We have fundamentally reached an impasse when it comes to negotiations. For Moscow, negotiations with the United States are essentially a way to string Washington along. Moscow feels that it is winning on the ground, therefore a diplomatic impasse suits Russian interests...                                      ..The sense of urgency that Washington feels to end the war - mainly by yanking furiously on the oil lever until the Kremlin cries uncle - stems from the fact that this is now the only sort of victory that Ukraine can hope to win. The ground war has been written off as a total loss, and all that remains is to lob missiles and drones at Russian refineries, sanction Russian firms and banks, and harass shadow tankers until the costs become intolerable. The longer the Ukrainian ground forces can hold the line the better, but this is merely a matter of limiting the downside. The fact that Russia can retaliate disproportionately against Ukraine barely factors into this thinking.
  The key point here, however, is that the concept of Ukrainian victory has been completely transformed. There is now no real discussion of how Ukraine can win on the ground. For the Ukrainian bloc, the war is no longer a contest against the Russian Army, but a more abstract contest against Russia’s willingness to incur strategic costs. Rather than preventing Russian capture of the Donbas, the west is testing how much Putin is willing to pay for it. If history is any guide, a game predicated on outlasting Russia’s strategic endurance and willingness to fight is a very bad game to play indeed.​   
https://bigserge.substack.com/p/living-dangerously

​  Words ​vs. a nuclear powered ​long-range missile?​ 'Not Playing Games': Trump Responds To Putin Testing 'Invincible' Nuclear Cruise Missile​   
"They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores," Trump posited in response. "We don’t need to go 8,000 miles. Putin ought to end the war — a war that should’ve taken one week is now in its fourth year," he continued. "That's what he ought to do instead of testing missiles." ...​ "They are not playing games with us. We are not playing games with them either. We test missiles all the time," he said.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/not-playing-games-trump-responds-putin-testing-invincible-nuclear-cruise-missile

​  About those US subs near Russia: Russia secretly acquired Western technology to protect its nuclear submarine fleet
Russian Secrets, a new cross-border investigation, reveals the shadowy procurement network behind Russia’s surveillance program Harmony.​   
https://www.icij.org/investigations/russia-archive/russia-secretly-acquired-western-technology-to-protect-its-nuclear-submarine-fleet/

​   U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Hungary to Cut Off Russian Oil
​ The U.S. official made clear that the United States expects Hungary to cut off Russian oil imports in the future and come up with a plan to do so.  
​  “There’s a lot of planning that our friends in Hungary should do and we’re going to help them obviously, as a good ally, to make those plans and execute them to get them off of Russian oil and gas,” Whitaker told Fox News...
..Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban suffered diplomatic setbacks last week after the U.S. called off a Trump-Putin meeting in Hungary’s capital ​... Orban suggested that “The battle is not over yet” over Hungary’s choice of oil supply.​   
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Steps-Up-Pressure-on-Hungary-to-Cut-Off-Russian-Oil.html

​  Zelensky Declares Expansion Of Long-Range Attacks On Russian Oil Refineries
The past couple of months have seen Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites and oil depots become an almost nightly phenomenon.​  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-declares-will-expand-long-range-attacks-russian-oil-refineries 

​  Andrew Korybko, The US Is Weaponizing Energy Geopolitics In A Bid To Break Apart BRICS
It might succeed in terms of optics, but this won’t make any substantive difference in reality.
​  The US’ latest sanctions against Russia, the first under the second Trump Administration, are intended less as a weapon against the Russian economy and more as a means of weaponizing energy geopolitics in a bid to break apart BRICS, especially its Russia, India, China (RIC) core. This assessment is based on India and China’s close trade ties with the US in spite of its respective 50% and 55% tariffs on them, their continued rivalry despite their incipient rapprochement, and their triangulation with Russia.
​  In the order that they were shared, India’s and China’s trade with the US is much larger than their trade with Russia, but Russia importantly supplies a significant share of their energy.​..
..Nobody should assume that India and/or China will totally stop importing Russian energy, let alone right away. There simply isn’t enough supply on the market right now for them to do so. Even if others ramp up production, those two might still only gradually wean themselves off of Russian energy, which would then likely be sold at an even steeper discount to incentivize them to retain some purchases. Everything will therefore likely balance itself out.
​  Nevertheless, the US could still highlight India’s and China’s reduced imports under duress (the first’s confirmed by its top buyer and the second’s only reported) to debunk the BRICS myth of them all (especially RIC) working in harmony against the US, which Trump has complained about before. It doesn’t matter that such information warfare would have no tangible effect on global processes since all that’s important to Trump is the perception of the US having broken BRICS’ (and especially RIC’s) unity.
​  On that note, Russia’s special operation wouldn’t be curtailed even in the political fantasy that India and China soon dump its energy for good since the Kremlin has a big enough war chest to keep financing its side of the conflict for at least the next few years, though this might come with some opportunity costs. The takeaway is that the US is indeed weaponizing energy geopolitics in a bid to break apart BRICS, which it might succeed with in terms of optics, but this won’t make any substantive difference in reality.​   
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-us-is-weaponizing-energy-geopolitics

As Gaza ​'Ceasefire​' Surpasses Two Weeks, Israel Ramps Up Strikes In Lebanon​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gaza-ceasefire-surpasses-two-weeks-israel-ramps-strikes-lebanon

​  Hamas hands over remains of captive as Israeli drone strike kills two
The Israeli military says the captive’s remains were being transported to its troops by the Red Cross.​   
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/27/hamas-hands-over-remains-of-captive-as-israeli-drone-strike-kills-two

Israel and US Scorn ICJ Ruling Against Starving Civilians as Method of Warfare​   https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/25/israel-and-us-scorn-icj-ruling-against-starving-civilians-as-method-of-warfare/

​  Israel Launched Airstrike in Gaza on Saturday After Getting US Approval​ - The IDF has killed at least 93 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect​   https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/26/report-israel-launched-airstrike-in-gaza-on-saturday-after-getting-us-approval/

​  Around 20,000 unexploded ordnance endangering Gaza: rights group
Tens of thousands of UXOs left behind from two years of war will continue to put civilians' lives at risk in the Gaza Strip despite the war ending​   
https://www.newarab.com/news/around-20000-unexploded-ordnance-endangering-gaza-rights-group

​  'Unmapped minefield': Experts warn removing unexploded bombs from Gaza can take 30 years
Unexploded ordnance has killed and injured dozens of Palestinians returning home after the ceasefire announcement​   
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/33862

​ 'Disgraceful': Israel uses Gaza as dumping ground for construction waste
The military has been dumping tonnes of construction waste inside Israeli-occupied Gaza
 in an operation one officer described as 'disgraceful'.​  
https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-uses-gaza-dumping-ground-construction-waste

Israeli defense minister orders army to continue demolitions in Gaza​ Yisrael Katz says move coordinated with US to dismantle Hamas, destroy tunnels​   https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-defense-minister-orders-army-to-continue-demolitions-in-gaza/3726815

​  Gaza officials formally accuse Israel of organ theft, demand international probe
Dozens of Palestinian bodies returned by Israeli authorities were 'blindfolded, bound, crushed under tanks, and missing corneas, livers, and limbs,' officials denounced​   
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/33754

​  Netanyahu says Israel to decide which foreign troops acceptable to secure Gaza truce
​  While the Trump administration has ruled out sending US soldiers into the Gaza Strip, it has been speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and Azerbaijan to contribute to the multinational force.
​  “We are in control of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate,” Netanyahu said.​   
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620333/middle-east

​  52% of Israeli citizens now believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not run in the next national elections, according to a recent poll by Channel 12’s Friday Study segment. This Netanyahu rejection poll marks a pivotal moment in Israel’s political landscape — one defined by deep public dissatisfaction, institutional instability, and rising demands for a leadership overhaul.​   https://www.telesurenglish.net/netanyahu-rejection-poll/

​  Used to be called "invasion": Israeli forces enter Syrian towns, fortify military outposts
Israeli forces have continued incursions into towns in the southern Syrian governorate of Quneitra, as soldiers bolster the army's outposts in the area.​   https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-forces-enter-syrian-towns-fortify-military-outposts

UN, France slam Israel after attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon​   https://www.arabnews.com/node/2620487/middle-east

  ​(Correlation or causation, I ask?) David Stockman on How the Fed’s Money Printing Broke American Industry—and What Comes Next
​ That’s right. The US manufacturing economy has been shrinking in real physical terms for the past 18 years, notwithstanding the fact that during that interval the Fed has printed nearly $6 trillion in brand, spanking new money that it snatched from thin air.
​  So something big and bad happened after the Fed went all in on money-printing in response to the stock market meltdown in the fall of 2008. After all, during the 28 years between 1972 and 2000 the very opposite occurred. Manufacturing output in the US rose by nearly 150%, which translates to a 3.3% growth rate per annum.​   
https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-how-the-feds-money-printing-broke-american-industry-and-what-comes-next/

People need to survive. "A National Disgrace": Largest Federal Worker Union Sides With GOP Plan To End Shutdown​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/national-disgracer-largest-federal-worker-union-sides-republican-plan-reopen-government

Treasury Secretary Warns US Won't Be Able To Pay Military By Nov. 15​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/treasury-secretary-warns-us-wont-be-able-pay-military-nov-15

​The accounts will become inactive November 1, even with funds "in" them:  Food Stamps To Be Paused For 42 Million Americans: What To Know...   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/food-stamps-be-paused-42-million-americans-what-know

This seems futile, a PR move: States Sue Trump Admin To Try To Stop Suspension Of Food Stamps   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/states-sue-trump-admin-try-stop-suspension-food-stamps

​  Ignoring Accountability for the COVID-19 Shot Leads to Diminished Trust in the Military Under the Leadership of War Secretary Hegseth
​ In the fall of 2023, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the helm of Department of Defense (DoD), J.M. Phelps carried out an independent survey targeting both enlisted members and officers of the various branches of the military.
​  One of the key issues addressed in the anonymous survey was the probability of service members suggesting military service to their family or friends. To that end, over 98 percent, specifically 225 out of 229 people, expressed their reluctance to encourage their children, relatives, or friends to join the military, 69 percent specifically citing Austin’s tyrannical enforcement of the COVID-19 shot mandate as their reason.   
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/10/ignoring-accountability-covid-19-shot-leads-diminished-trust/

Army To Bring Nuclear Microreactors To Its Bases By 2028​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/army-bring-nuclear-microreactors-its-bases-2028

US Air Force to Lease 3,000+ Acres of Base Land for Private AI Data Centers​   https://thedefensepost.com/2025/10/24/ai-data-center-lease/

"Need To Be Lean": Amazon Cuts 14,000 Corporate Jobs In Major AI-Era Restructuring​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/amazon-plans-axe-30000-corporate-jobs-cuts-begin-tuesday

The Hidden Architecture Of Debt: How Private Banks Captured The Global Economy​    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hidden-architecture-debt-how-private-banks-captured-global-economy

​  Buying The Rumor​ - Thursday will be the critical day this week for the trade negotiations. That is the day that Presidents Trump and Xi are set to meet on the sidelines of the APEC conference to sign the agreement nutted-out by their respective underlings. In an interview with CBS Bessent said that he expected China to defer its stringent export control regime on rare earths and resume buying US soybeans. He also said that the US would not be changing its export controls directed at China, which restricts the sale of high-end AI chips, software applications and certain aerospace components.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/buying-rumor

China Buys American Soybeans Before Trump-Xi Meeting​   https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/china-buys-american-soybeans-trump-xi-meeting

Trump Says Willing To Extend Asia Tour For Meeting With North Korea's Kim​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-willing-extend-asia-tour-meeting-north-koreas-kim

​  Trump Praises Japan As Key Ally, Signs Rare-Earths Deal And U.S. Investment Boost
Trump framed the fund as one the U.S. could "invest as we like," while Japan described it as loans and guarantees backing Japanese firms' U.S. operations. Both sides emphasized coordination on permitting, financing, and resource mapping, but the White House acknowledged that the agreements remain ill-defined.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-praises-japan-key-ally-signs-rare-earths-deal-and-us-investment-boost

Trump Secures Trade Deal With South Korea As China Signals Willingness To "Cooperate" Ahead Of Bilateral Talks​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-secures-trade-deal-south-korea-china-signals-willingness-cooperate-ahead-bilateral

​  Trade Secrets Vs. Rare Earths: EU Faces Chinese Pressure As U.S. Moves​, Thomas Kolbe
China is responding increasingly aggressively to mounting trade pressure from Washington. The practice of forcing even German companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for rare earths exposes the Chinese leadership’s coercive stance.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trade-secrets-vs-rare-earths-eu-faces-chinese-pressure-us-moves

Chinese organized crime has ​deeply penetrated Canadian politics: Canada Hails ‘Strategic Partnership’ with China as Trump Cuts Trade Talks​   https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/10/24/canada-hails-strategic-partnership-with-china-as-trump-cuts-trade-talks/

​  Two US Navy aircraft from the USS Nimitz — a Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet — crashed during separate “routine operations” over the South China Sea on Sunday, with all five crew members rescued and in stable condition as the Navy investigates both incidents.​   https://nypost.com/2025/10/26/world-news/us-navy-sea-hawk-helicopter-f-a-18f-super-hornet-fighter-jet-go-down-in-separate-south-china-sea-incidents/

Trump: "Bad Fuel" Suspected in Two U.S. Military Aircraft Crashes In South China Sea​   https://www.zerohedge.com/military/trump-bad-fuel-suspected-two-us-military-aircraft-crashes-south-china-sea

(And Cuba next) Trump Unleashes the CIA on Venezuela​ - A war against drugs and migrants also includes regime change​   https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-unleashes-cia-venezuela/5903960

Venezuela Alleges It Detained CIA Group, Accuses U.S. Of Orchestrating "False Flag" Attack​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/venezuela-alleges-it-detained-cia-group-accuses-us-orchestrating-false-flag-attack

​Trying to light up their air-defense systems?  Pair Of US Long-Range Bombers Buzz Venezuela's Coast For 2nd Time In A Week   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pair-us-long-range-bombers-buzz-venezuelas-coast-2nd-time-week

India and Russia Set to Approve BrahMos-II Hypersonic Missile Featuring Russian Propulsion and Indian EW-Resistant Avionics​   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/India-and-Russia-Set-to-Approve-BrahMos-II-Hypersonic-Missile-Featuring-Russian-Propulsion-and-Indian-EW-Resistant-Avionics/

​Andrew Korybko on the strategic Bay of Bengal, The Great Nicobar Island Project Is The New Lynchpin Of India’s Act East Policy   https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-great-nicobar-island-project

  Globalists put locals on their back foot: ‘It’s only going to get worse’ – Irish teen girl delivers passionate speech warning against mass immigration
Welcome to the new "normal" in Europe, where a 15-year-old girl is terrified to take the bus or go running alone due to mass immigration​   https://rmx.news/article/its-only-going-to-get-worse-irish-teen-girl-delivers-passionate-warning-against-mass-immigration/

​  Brazil Launches AI-Driven “Platform of Respect” to Prosecute Gender Speech Offenses and Track Online Dissent
Brazil’s government has unveiled what it calls the “Platform of Respect,” a project that critics of censorship say pushes the country further toward criminalizing dissent.
​  Promoted as a tool to combat “hate speech” and “disinformation,” the new system effectively establishes a mechanism for prosecuting anyone who challenges state-approved gender ideology.
​  The initiative, presented by the Ministry of Human Rights in partnership with the NGO Aliança Nacional LGBTI+, received R$300,000 (about $56,000) in funding through a parliamentary amendment from Erika Hilton, a politician identifying as transgender.
​  The basis is an artificial intelligence system named Aletheia, which, according to its website, is designed to “track the origin of disinformation, report its impact, and enable accountability for authors and disseminators.”​   
https://reclaimthenet.org/brazil-to-prosecute-gender-speech-offenses-and-track-online-dissent​   
​  Tulsi Gabbard details arrest of cartel 'baby trafficker' who was selling newborn babies
Gabbard described an operation in which intelligence provided to Mexican law enforcement led to the arrest of an alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) associate known as “La Diabla.” The individual is accused of leading a criminal network involved in human trafficking, illegal medical procedures, and the sale of newborns.​   
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/gabbard-details-arrest-cartel-baby-trafficker-who-was-selling-newborn

About one year from now: MAHA’s Moment To Prove Itself: The 2026 Midterms​   https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/10/24/mahas_moment_to_prove_itself_the_2026_midterms__153441.html

​  Eat fresh and fermented foods and avoid ultra-processed foodlike-products with RoundUp:  How Gut Microbes Drive Cancer Risk - And What You Can Do to Restore Balance   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/how-gut-microbes-drive-cancer-risk-and-what-you-can-do-restore-balance

  This is the report we expected last month, when we got the Tylenol curveball:  BREAKING — Landmark Report Finds Vaccination Is the Dominant Risk Factor for Autism Spectrum Disorder
​  McCullough Foundation’s authoritative analysis of more than 300 studies provides the most comprehensive synthesis to date on the possible causes of autism.​   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-landmark-report-finds-vaccination

​At perihelion, on the other side of the sun today; Astrophysicist Stefan Burns: The Critical Time has Come What Will 3I/ATLAS Do on October 29th?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS337W7ui54

Approaching Winter (pictured again, prepping fall/winter garden)