Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the Texas National Guard and state troopers to Austin ahead of a planned “No Kings” protest Saturday.
The governor in a post on X described the protest as “Antifa-linked.” He didn’t say how Antifa is connected to the scheduled protest.
Antifa is a far-left extremist group that originated under the Soviet Union and functioned as the violent wing of Germany’s Communist Party to target political rivals. The group generally labeled its perceived enemies as “fascists.” Antifa’s mission is to stop people it deems to be fascists by “any means necessary,” including violence, its leaders say.
Abbott’s action follows President Donald Trump’s designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist group on Sept. 22. Trump also signed a presidential memorandum on Sept. 25 with the aim of dismantling what he said are left-wing terrorism networks in the United States. The presidential actions were taken after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at an event at a university in Utah on Sept. 10.
“No Kings” protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants are also planned for Saturday in Dallas, Houston, and other locations across Texas and the United States.
“Texas will not tolerate chaos,” Abbott wrote on X. “Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested.”
In a statement, Abbott said that the surge in troops will support the thousands of Texas Department of Public Safety troopers already stationed throughout the state.
However, the governor didn’t specify if guardsmen would be sent to other Texas cities involved in the protests, such as Houston, Dallas, and Lubbock.
The state’s Homeland Security Division is actively monitoring the planned protest in Austin, as well as any other potential violent demonstrations across the state, according to the statement.
“These law enforcement officers and soldiers will be supported by aircraft and other tactical assets,” Abbott’s release stated.
“DPS will investigate any links to known terrorist organizations and swiftly bring charges against those who engage in unlawful activity.”
In June, Abbott sent guardsmen to “No Kings” protests statewide after anti-ICE riots broke out in Los Angeles.
Masses of demonstrators participated in “No Kings” protests in cities across the United States on June 14, rallying against Trump’s agenda.
Organizers of the protests said millions had marched in hundreds of events.
Earlier this month, Abbott also deployed 400 Texas National Guard members to Chicago in support of Trump’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations.
Santos pleaded guilty to inflating fundraising figures and falsifying donor names to secure the Republican Party’s financial support during the 2022 election cycle.
He was expelled from the party in December 2023.
“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our country who aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Therefore, I just signed a commutation, releasing George Santos from prison IMMEDIATELY,” he added.
Trump said that he decided to commute Santos’ sentence after he was reminded of other lawmakers who falsified their backgrounds, including Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal who lied about serving in Vietnam.
“[Blumenthal] stated for almost twenty years that he was a proud Vietnam Veteran, having endured the worst of the War, watching the Wounded and Dead as he raced up the hills and down the valleys, blood streaming from his face,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“He was ‘a Great Hero,’ he would leak to any and all who would listen — And then it happened! He was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL FRAUD.
“He never went to Vietnam, he never saw Vietnam, he never experienced the Battles there, or anywhere else,” Trump continued.
“His War Hero status, and even minimal service in our Military, was totally and completely MADE UP. This is far worse than what Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to always vote Republican.”
Trump has previously pardoned other criminals, including 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.
When her youngest child was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Dunlap’s whole family stopped eating sugar and grains. By eliminating these foods, her older son, John – whose behavioral and social struggles hadn’t been resolved with various therapies or medication – was suddenly like a different person.
“He brought home A [grades]. All of his teachers were happy. He was organized. His constipation went away. All sleep issues went away. There were no peer problems anymore. It was literally like a light switch,” Dunlap said. [ZH: we’re sure John appreciates the world knowing about his constipation, thanks Mom…]
Removing certain foods from a child’s diet appears to be a promising therapeutic approach for those with ADHD. Diet is not likely to be recommended in a conventional setting because special diets are among lifestyle modifications that are often dismissed for too little evidence or benefit to recommend. However, there is evidence for guidance elsewhere.
Power of Elimination
Some children with ADHD may benefit from eliminating foods from their diet, according to a review on the role of nutrition in managing ADHD. Published in Current Nutrition Reports, the review found scant evidence to support supplementing with micronutrients, probiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids.
However, a diet described as a “few-foods diet” may become a therapeutic option for children with ADHD. The strategy involves eliminating most foods from the diet for a period of time and then slowly reintroducing them one at a time to see whether they trigger ADHD symptoms.
Up to 60 percent of those using the diet responded positively, the authors wrote, revealing the role food intolerance may play in ADHD symptomatology.
“This promising personalized nutrition-based approach to the management of ADHD deserves further systematic investigation and should be considered in all children with ADHD,” the authors stated.
The review noted several double-blind placebo-controlled studies that have linked foods to ADHD triggers and the few-foods diet to improvement of symptoms. The few-foods diet eliminates all but easily digestible, plain foods, such as lamb, turkey, rice, butter, corn, potatoes, honey, and some vegetables.
Other research has shown that hyperactivity in children is associated with artificial food colors and chemical preservatives.
Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ treatment recommendations highlight diet modification among non-medication treatments for ADHD that have either too little evidence to recommend or have little or no benefit. The academy didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ question about whether recommendations have been updated to include diet.
Official Recommendations
Currently, conventional treatment for children with ADHD offers a dichotomy of either behavioral therapy starting in preschool-age children or medication.
Medication should not be a first-line treatment for preschoolers. Instead, younger children should receive behavioral classroom interventions as the first line of treatment.
Parent training in behavior management is so effective for all children that the guidelines suggest it be recommended before pursuing an ADHD diagnosis.
Methylphenidate, a nervous system stimulant known by brand names such as Concerta and Ritalin, can be used for 4- and 5-year-olds if behavioral interventions don’t result in significant improvement and if there is moderate to severe functional disturbance.
“The clinician needs to weigh the risks of starting medication before the age of 6 years against the harm of delaying treatment,” according to guidelines.
There is concern, however, that medication might be given too soon in many cases. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open found that among preschool-age patients who visited their primary care doctor for ADHD at eight U.S. health systems, 68.2 percent were prescribed medication, and 42.2 percent had medications prescribed within 30 days of their diagnosis.
The guidelines note that methylphenidate is the only ADHD medication that can be used for preschoolers, as it has the best safety and efficacy record. Nevertheless, the guidelines said that the drug does not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use in preschool-age children. Methylphenidate can cause low appetite, sleep disruption, headache, increased heart rate, and other side effects.
Proper Use of Medication
Dunlap was less concerned with the official guidelines and more focused on following her intuition when John was young. That meant avoiding medication as long as possible.
The wild one of her three children, John, often got into trouble, lost friends, and was kicked off a team sport. His teachers frequently complained, and after various vitamins, cognitive behavioral therapy, coping skills, and meditation failed, Dunlap finally relented to the medication she’d been avoiding. By then, he was in the fourth grade.
John tried several stimulant medications until he ended up on Concerta, which she describes as “the best of the worst.” Still, the drug wasn’t a panacea. He struggled emotionally and didn’t have optimal sleep or bowel movement habits.
Reflecting on John’s journey, Dunlap was frustrated that nutrition or diet was never addressed at any of the appointments John had over the years, particularly after failed cognitive behavioral therapy and continued struggles.
“It’s just so easy to label everybody, and it’s too easy to hand out these prescriptions,” Dunlap said. “Parents aren’t told, ‘Hey, let’s check some other avenues and see why your kid is behaving this way.’”
Food as a Root Cause?
It’s conceivable that poor, sugar-laden eating patterns are driving symptoms that mimic or exacerbate ADHD, psychotherapist Karen A. Dwyer-Tesoriero told The Epoch Times.
One common scenario is children who eat sugary cereals for breakfast, starting their school day with a sugar crash that causes them to act out or become lethargic and inattentive, she said.
Psychologists and researchers Bonnie J. Kaplan and Julia J. Rucklidge recommend dietary changes before counseling and family therapy.
In their book, “The Better Brain,” they recommend that mental health clinics educate all new referrals on nutrition and how to shop for whole foods. They estimated that one-third of mental health referrals, including ADHD, would need no further services if they adjusted their diets.
“Given that all our mental health resources are stretched very thin, isn’t this a good-news story?” they wrote, adding that in years of practice, clients reported that they could better implement therapeutic strategies once they began eating more whole foods.
The Ease and Affordability of Diet
A good start is eliminating artificial dyes, flavors, and additives, according to Julie Matthews, certified nutrition consultant and author of “The Personalized Autism Nutrition Plan,” a book that also covers ADHD.
From there, parents can consider a gluten-free or dairy-free diet, or the Feingold diet, a whole-food diet with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives that is also low in naturally occurring salicylates, a toxin produced by some plants, she told The Epoch Times.
In an observational study she authored on various healthy diets in children with autism, the Feingold diet was found to reduce hyperactivity by 45 percent.
“It comes down to what is bothering the individual and removing that,” Matthews said. “It’s a bit tragic that something so simple could make such a profound difference, and yet people are not hearing about it when it’s such an easy thing to change.”
In some cases, she said, there may be imbalances in the gut microbiome or other nutritional changes that are more complicated to pinpoint. However, in many cases, it boils down to eating a healthier diet with fewer additives.
A plant-based Mediterranean diet, for instance, has proven beneficial for brain health, among other lifestyle interventions such as sleep and exercise.
Careful Integration of Guidelines
Medication is helpful, and it holds a place among other tools.
Integrative pediatrician Dr. Joel “Gator” Warsh told The Epoch Times that a careful application of ADHD recommendations should involve earnestly trying behavioral therapy and parent training before medication, particularly in younger children, as the guidelines suggest.
Cognitive behavioral therapy begins with a diagnosis that identifies a child’s unique struggles and then involves tools that target that child’s specific struggles, such as improving focus or reducing impulsivity.
Parent training is used to educate parents on the way their child’s brain works and how to best support deficiencies with tools learned in therapy.
“When symptoms remain severe—impacting safety, school performance, relationships, and daily functioning—medications can have an important role,” Warsh said. “In those cases, short-term use of stimulants, carefully monitored, can give children the ability to focus, follow routines, and begin building healthier work and life habits.”
The goal is to use the lowest effective dose for the shortest time necessary while continuing to work on behavioral, educational, and lifestyle changes, he added.
Other Options
Besides behavioral and parental training, experts said there are plenty of other ways to deal with symptoms such as hyperactivity, behavioral outbursts, and lack of focus that are common in young children.
Warsh suggested offering daily opportunities for vigorous play, creating more structured routines, reducing screen time, and optimizing sleep. Additionally, there could be underlying contributors such as anxiety, learning differences, and poor gut health.
Be cautious about trendy programs, he added, such as mindfulness apps and broad elimination diets, in which evidence is mixed. Consider asking about an individualized education program at school.
Dwyer-Tesoriero suggested some strategies that can work in the morning and evening when parents are most likely to be with their children:
Identify an exercise or movement like dancing or stretching that your child likes and encourage it daily.
Encourage kids to hyperfocus on something they love.
Calmly tell your children, if they start misbehaving, that there will be consequences, rather than reacting to intense emotions.
Pick one battle at a time, such as working on closing cabinet doors after use. Don’t work on other behaviors until they’ve mastered one.
Substitute immediate rewards for behavior charts, such as offering time for video games when you notice they’ve completed a task without asking or behaved well.
Use visual checklists for routine expectations, such as getting dressed and ready to leave the house or for brushing teeth.
It’s helpful to remember that not all ADHD traits are negative, Dwyer-Tesoriero added, noting that some are actually quite useful.
“There are a lot of careers out there that really lend themselves to ADHD,” she said. “Our society is filled with adults who have ADHD, and it is not, for lack of a better word, like the kiss of death.”
* * * [ZH] The first two weeks are the hardest. We recommend this channel for more.
Youth sport participation among boys in the United States has been declining rapidly over the past ten years. The cancellation of sports seasons during the unscientific and draconian COVID lockdowns has only exacerbated this devastating trend.
According to a survey conducted earlier this year by The Sports & Fitness Industry Association, the percentage of boys who regularly competed in sports dropped by nine points over the past decade—while the participation rate for girls, while still less than boys, has increased slightly.
The increased youth participation rate among girls should obviously be applauded, but the significant drop among boys is cause for alarm.
So, what exactly is to blame?
There are several contributing factors, including a disturbingly high increase in screen time, with most of that time being spent on social media and video games.
According to Pew Research, 85 percent of U.S. teens say they play video games, and about four in ten do so daily.
The top five reasons that youth athletes play sports are for the enjoyment of competition, meeting new people, getting in better shape, having fun, and building teamwork.
But by the age of thirteen, a staggering 70 percent of youth athletes quit playing sports altogether. The primary reason (surprise, surprise) is that sports competition stops being fun. Other reasons include not getting to play, being scolded by coaches and parents, loss of interest, burnout—particularly among athletes who play one sport year-round, too much of a time commitment, too much emphasis on winning, and too much pressure to perform at a high level.
It is certainly understandable why an adolescent who has spent the majority of their childhood rushing off to soccer or tennis tournaments might one day decide they would rather spend their weekends hanging out with friends in a less competitive environment. Likewise, it is also understandable why a less athletically gifted athlete might decide they would rather devote their time to an activity where they feel more confident and better about their ability.
I get it. Not everyone loves playing sports, not everyone enjoys competition, and not every sport is easily accessible or affordable.
We don’t all have homes slopeside in Park City or within minutes of Pebble Beach.
That being said, in this day and age, it is unlikely that there isn’t at least one sport that an individual can excel at without bankrupting their family. Sorry, Wii golf doesn’t count!
The average monthly YMCA membership cost for a child ranges from $15 to $30 for youth memberships and $70 to $100 for family memberships. Sometimes, half the battle is just showing up and trying something new.
Respectfully, just because you can’t hit a baseball, serve a tennis ball, or catch a football does not mean that there isn’t a sport or physical activity out there for you. It’s also not an excuse to be lazy. Swimming, biking, karate, rock climbing, or, dare I say, pickleball, are just a few of many alternatives.
Yes, it’s true that some parents and coaches can put too much pressure on young athletes to succeed. But the goal does not necessarily need to be “collegiate recruit or bust.” The point is, by failing to even participate in an athletic endeavor, not only are our youth destroying their health, developing lazy habits, and becoming more socially isolated, but they are also missing out on valuable lessons that sports can teach.
Baseball, as in life, teaches you that it’s okay to fail. Even the best hitters only get a hit three out of ten times. But just because a player strikes out in their previous at-bat does not mean they won’t have a more positive result the next time up. Having the right attitude and confidence in your ability to execute is almost as important as having the right mechanics and strong eye-hand coordination. As an aside, there is almost nothing more fun than sitting in a dugout and laughing with your teammates. Even if you can’t hit or field, maybe you can still boost player morale!
Basketball teaches you to trust your teammates as much as you need to trust yourself. Most players will never shoot or dribble as well as Stephen Curry or grow to be seven feet tall, but that does not mean that you can’t still prove that you belong on the court. Maybe you know how to move without the ball and trust your teammates to find you, making a backdoor cut under the basket—for an easy layup. Or maybe you can take pride in being a great rebounder or a strong lockdown defender who makes it difficult for your opponents to score. Talent is important, but so are communication, effort, and hustle.
If team sports aren’t your cup of tea, then why not give tennis a try? Yes, it’s lonely out there, especially when your serve is misfiring, the timing on your backhand is off, and you’re standing flat-footed like you’re in quicksand. But is there a better feeling than problem-solving, honing in on your opponent’s weakness, refusing to miss, and chasing down every single shot until the guy on the other side of the net starts screaming in an inaudible language at anyone and everything in his direction?
Finally, there’s golf, which teaches preparation, patience, and mental toughness. Although it may not be as accessible as other sports, there are still plenty of public courses that are relatively inexpensive. If the course is in rough shape, that’s even more of a reason to learn how to keep it on the fairway, which is what the driving range is for. Yes, it may be one of the most frustrating games ever invented—but at the end of the day, you’re outside with nature, and if you stick with it, there are very few things more rewarding than hitting a hole-in-one.
I could go on about the benefits of playing other sports, but I think you get the idea.
Aside from the obvious fact that physical activity is better for your mental and physical well-being than spending hours sitting in a dark room on a beanbag chair, eating Cheez-Its, and screaming through a headset while playing Fortnite, it is also true that it improves your sense of time management, teaches discipline, and provides camaraderie.
It sure would be nice if the adults in the arena spent less time worrying about promoting the ‘pronoun Olympics’ and more time promoting the obvious benefits of youth sport participation.
Head Of Russia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Pitches “Putin-Trump” Undersea Tunnel Linking Russia-US
President Trump confirmed a “very productive” phone call with Russian President Putin on Thursday, according to a post on Truth Social. The two leaders are now expected to meet in the near term in Budapest, Hungary, with discussions centered on potential pathways to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s latest threat to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles may have been a key driver prompting Moscow’s sudden willingness to engage in talks at the highest level. While full details of the call remain undisclosed, the tone shift signals possible upcoming breakthroughs in negotiations to end the three-year war in Eastern Europe, which has resulted in some casualty figures on both sides at 1.4 million, according to a recent New York Times report, citing U.S. and British government estimates, among other sources.
What comes out of Budapest remains to be seen. But already, Russian sovereign wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev is posting on X about Elon Musk’s Boring Company potentially building a 70-mile undersea rail tunnel linking Russia and Alaska through the Bering Strait – a proposed $65 billion megaproject.
Dmitriev called the potential megaproject the “Putin-Trump Tunnel,” pitching it as a symbol of renewed unity after the Trump-Putin phone call this week.
This type of rhetoric from the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund wouldn’t be seen on his personal X page unless he saw potential pathways for peace emerging ahead.
Let’s begin with Dmitriev’s first post on X about the proposed tunnel project that could reshape global supply chains and be completed for $8 billion by Musk’s Boring Company within eight years. It’s important to note that a megaproject of this scale would likely capture Trump’s attention, while neocons and Democrats would be howling in protest if it ever got off the ground.
.@elonmusk, imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel – a 70-mile link symbolizing unity. Traditional costs are $65B+, but @boringcompany‘s tech could reduce it to https://t.co/boCVb8xqjl pic.twitter.com/QXmTYAduqm
Dmitrie noted, “From the Soviet JFK docs released by @RepLuna : Kennedy–Khrushchev World Peace Bridge “could and should be built between Alaska and Russia at once,” adding, “With modern @boringcompany technology this can become a Putin-Trump tunnel connecting the Eurasia and Americas for .”
From the Soviet JFK docs released by @RepLuna: Kennedy–Khrushchev World Peace Bridge “could and should be built between Alaska and Russia at once.”
With modern @boringcompany technology this can become a Putin-Trump tunnel connecting the Eurasia and Americas for pic.twitter.com/c84VK75rh5
“Isn’t it better to link Africa–Eurasia with the Americas, Russia and the US via an Alaska–Russia tunnel than to increase the risks a WW3?” Dmitrie continued. Well, Dmitrie, do you think America’s energy-industrial complex – Trump’s friends – would like the very idea of cheap Russian energy being transported to the U.S.? Also, Ukrainian special forces might take an interest – like they did with Nord Stream.
In other words, if a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine materializes, a so-called “peace tunnel” linking the U.S. and Russia could serve as a trade pact that helps promote lasting stability. Otherwise, what’s the alternative as both countries, actually the world, gear up for the Arctic, more conflicts and war?
We know one person who is not a fan of the idea:
Trump: “This came up yesterday, a tunnel from Russia to Alaska. That’s interesting. What do you think of that, Mr. President [Zelensky]? Do you have any ideas? How do you like that idea?”
Zelensky: “I’m not happy with this idea.”
Trump can’t help but laugh: “I don’t think he liked it. I don’t think he liked it.”
🇺🇸🇷🇺 TRUMP: TUNNEL FROM RUSSIA TO ALASKA
ZELENSKY: NOT A GOOD PLAN
Trump:
“This came up yesterday, a tunnel from Russia to Alaska. That’s interesting.
What do you think of that, Mr. President [Zelensky]? Do you have any ideas? How do you like that idea?”
Certainly an interesting development to track, as it could be one of the most geopolitically transformative infrastructure undertakings of our generation if it ever gets off the ground. Rewiring global supply chains for the 2030s.
The officer, Adm. Alvin Holsey, is leaving his job as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees all operations in Central and South America, even as the Pentagon has rapidly built up some 10,000 forces in the region in what it says is a major counterdrug and counterterrorism mission.
It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is suddenly departing, less than a year into what is typically a three-year job, and in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career. But one current and one former U.S. official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that Admiral Holsey had raised concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats.
“Prior to Trump, I can’t think of a combatant commander who left his or her post early, ever,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was even more pointed in his criticism.
“At a moment when U.S. forces are building up across the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela are at a boiling point, the departure of our top military commander in the region sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command,” Mr. Reed said in a statement.
Since early September, U.S. Special Operations forces have struck at least five boats off the Venezuelan coast that the White House says were transporting drugs, killing 27 people. American officials have privately made it clear that the main goal is to drive Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, from power.
As a matter of international law, for a nonstate group to qualify as a belligerent in an armed conflict — meaning its members can be targeted for killing based on their status alone, not because of anything they specifically do — it must be an “organized armed group” with a centralized command structure, and engaging in hostilities.
The size and scope of the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean region is significant. There are now about 10,000 U.S. troops, most of them at bases in Puerto Rico, but also some 2,200 Marines on amphibious assault ships. In all, the Navy has eight warships and a submarine in the Caribbean.
Trump Authorizes CIA Covert Operations in Venezuela
President Trump has authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert action in Venezuela, while also floating the idea of land strikes, in a broadening campaign against alleged drug trafficking.
“I authorized for two reasons,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House, alleging Venezuelan leaders have “emptied their prisons into the United States of America” and “we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela.”
The authorization enables the CIA to operate clandestinely in the country and potentially take action against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, his government and drug traffickers, according to an administration official. Covert action, which is authorized in what is known as a presidential finding, can involve a range of secret activities including paramilitary and lethal operations meant to influence political, economic or military conditions in foreign countries.
The move by Trump comes amid the biggest U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean in decades.
The administration is facing questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the legality of the boat strikes. It has argued that Trump’s designation of the gangs as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year grants the Pentagon authority to use military force against them, an argument that many experts say isn’t legally sound.
Covert Operations
Am I the only one who finds it amusing that we are announcing “covert” operations.
A covert operation is a secret military or political activity where the identity of the sponsoring government is concealed or publicly denied. Unlike a clandestine operation, which emphasizes concealing the action itself, a covert operation primarily aims to obscure its source.
Venezuela is moving troops into position on the Caribbean coast and mobilizing what President Nicolás Maduro asserts is a millions-strong militia in a display of defiance against the biggest American military buildup in the Caribbean since the 1980s.
The strongman’s regime has cranked up its propaganda machine. On state television, radio and social media, announcers are telling Venezuelans that the U.S. is a rapacious Nazi-like state that wants to dig its claws into the country’s oil wealth but that the Venezuelan military, the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, are positioning to repel any invasion.
The regime’s aggressive posturing obscures the vulnerability of its armed forces against the world’s most powerful military. Experts say the U.S. buildup isn’t enough to support an invasion of Venezuela but would be sufficient to support sustained strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs to the U.S. or the bombing of targets on Venezuela’s soil, as President Trump has warned.
What’s Being Deployed
Guided-missile destroyers
F-35B jet fighters
MQ-9 Reaper drones
Special operations ship
Eight Navy warships
An attack submarine
P-8 Poseidon spy planes
Army’s secretive 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the “Night Stalkers”
B-52 bombers
10,000 troops
Deployment bullet points compiled from the preceding links.
Is That enough?
Trump said Wednesday that strikes could take place on suspected drug smugglers on Venezuelan soil.
“We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he told reporters.
Trump on Afghanistan
In September 2017, the Trump administration began deploying more than 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total number of US forces in Afghanistan to more than 14,000.
Biden finally ended the nonsense after Trump promised to and failed.
Biden made a big mess of the exit but at least he got us out after Trump failed to deliver. But now what?
President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that he is working to reestablish a U.S. presence at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, four years after America’s chaotic withdrawal from the country left the base in the Taliban’s hands.
Trump floated the idea during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he wrapped up a state visit to the U.K. and tied it to the need for the U.S. to counter its top rival, China.
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump said of the base in an aside to a question about ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we were going to leave it with strength and dignity. [Yeah right. Why didn’t you do it?]
More involvement in Afghanistan is madness.
And yet another ridiculous regime change operation is taking place in Venezuela. Shhh. This one is a covert secret.
With the arrests and federal indictments of two California men announced on Thursday, we’re now getting an idea of how California’s billions of dollars to “end homelessness” vanished without a trace. Instead of helping to solve the problem of rampant tent encampments filled with addicts on the beaches and streets in California, things got worse. Where did all that money go?
No one was watching the store. California and Los Angeles handed out billions of dollars approved by voters to help end homelessness, and when homelessness got worse, no one in government could answer where all that money went—because no one checked.
Now, the federal Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force has begun running down the homeless scams that possess all the hallmarks of the ones Californians saw in its COVID spending and the notoriously poorly vetted unemployment scam, in which Nigerian princes and prison inmates alike received federal and state unemployment money. And then came the $100 million FireAid scam. All of this happened on Gavin Newsom’s watch.
The Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which includes the IRS, FBI, and the Central California Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose nomination sits untouched by the U.S. Senate, announced the alleged scams that had escaped the notice of Los Angeles homeless officials and the State of California.
One of the scams was run by the former chief financial officer at a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing. Another was run by a property flipper who allegedly sold a property to a homeless housing developer for twice what he’d just paid for it, and lied to the original seller that he was going to develop the property for himself.
The former CFO of the affordable housing developer, Cody Holmes, is charged with mail fraud, which could land the 31-year-old man in federal prison for 20 years.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) “paid approximately $25.9 million in grant money – for a state homelessness project called “Homekey” – to Shangri-La Industries LLC, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing.” The money had to be used to purchase, construct, and operate a homeless housing development in Thousand Oaks. The company already had other homeless developments in the works as well.
In 2022, when Holmes was Shangri-La’s CFO, he “knowingly submitted fake bank records to HCD that purportedly showed approximately $160 million supposedly controlled by Shangri-La and its affiliates to prove that Shangri-La had the capacity to fulfill the homeless housing projects for which it had co-applied for grants from HCD, including the Thousand Oaks project.”
The bank accounts were fake.
Nobody double-checked proof of funds, apparently.
In the case of the property flipper, Steven Taylor, he is accused of constructing a labyrinth of bankers and lenders and lying to each of them to establish lines of credit.
Get out your scorecard; you’ll need one to keep up with this guy’s moves:
He is further alleged to have lied to Lender B in opening the $3 million credit line with Lender B, falsely telling Lender B that he had closed his $1 million unsecured line of credit with Lender C. He lied by fabricating and sending a document that purported to be an email from an employee of Lender C falsely confirming that the Lender C credit line was closed. In fact, Taylor continued to keep open and draw down on his line of credit with Lender C, even after he opened his $3 million line of credit with Lender B, and the email from Lender C was forged…
And then he’s accused of using “the fraudulently obtained lines of credit to make down payments on real estate that he also obtained with the fraudulent loans.” Whoa. Can’t stop, won’t stop.
He could go away for more than 30 years.
And now you know why billions have been lost in an effort to “end homelessness.”
Voters and appropriators use other people’s money to do what they think is good and then assume someone else will do the bean-counting. All programs like this must fund a program chief, an auditor, special master, and cops to keep watch over the cheaters, fakes, and bad guys. Any program that doesn’t at least have those guardrails can’t go forward.
California’s political class once again has beclowned itself and should be forced to undergo oversight and show a little humility. They’re the real scam in the state.
It’s hard to be on the straight and narrow when the people making the decisions are as corrupt and greedy as California as the inmates in state prison.
“Fueled By Billionaires”: No Kings Prepares Color-Revolution-Style Mobilization Against Trump
The Democratic Party’s dark-money NGO network, bankrolled by left-wing billionaires, is reportedly preparing to activate a coordinated, color-revolution-style mobilization across the U.S. this weekend – a replay of failed agitation attempts seen earlier this year targeting President Trump and Elon Musk. The operation, marketed under the “No Kings” banner and portrayed publicly as a grassroots movement, in reality functions as a professionalized protest-industrial complex. Its composition includes a blend of paid activists, white boomers suffering from Stage 4 Trump Derangement Syndrome, and a smaller contingent of organic, unhinged leftists who recite MSNBC talking points by heart.
A grown man with severe Trump Detanglement Syndrome beats a Trump doll at the Beverly Hills, California ‘No Kings’ protest. pic.twitter.com/IeVjQ9O9dh
Little do these white boomers know, the “No Kings” movement, supposedly against “kings and billionaires”, is, in reality, funded by leftist billionaire kings themselves. In truth, No Kings is bankrolled by far-left foundations backed by the same billionaire class that has been waging a political war against President Trump since his first term. Essentially, one faction of billionaires hates another, so their woke non-profit soldiers create a front group, brand it “No Kings,” and bankroll an army of paid protesters and unhinged left-wing activists. This is America in 2025: the permanent protest-industrial complex of hate and chaos, financed by the left.
🚨 BREAKING UPDATE: This Saturday, Oct 18 — “No Kings 2.0” goes GLOBAL. Organizers claim to stand against “kings and billionaires.” But new @peterschweizer team research into ‘Riot, Inc.’ shows the unrest is FUELED BY BILLIONAIRES. 🔥 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/13HdjFPVKe
“We traced $294,487,641 to the official No Kings 2.0 partners & organizers…all funneled through the same “Riot Inc.” dark-money networks: Arabella network $79.7M+ Soros network $72.1M+ Ford network $51.7M+, Tides $45.5M+, Rockefeller $28.6M+, and Buffett $16.6M+,” Bruner wrote on X.
📊We traced $294,487,641 to the official No Kings 2.0 partners & organizers…all funneled through the same “Riot Inc.” dark-money networks:
💰 Arabella network $79.7M+
💰 Soros network $72.1M+
💰 Ford network $51.7M+
💰Tides $45.5M+
💰 Rockefeller $28.6M+
💰 Buffett $16.6M+ pic.twitter.com/b6zFla79UP
Soros’s Open Society network directly contributed $72 million+ to official No Kings 2.0 organizers & partners. Soros is a primary architect of the “Riot Inc.” political protest model and a master of “color revolutions.” pic.twitter.com/nOLLmeHNZm
Zuck orgs funneled $50 million+ into the Riot Inc. dark-money network through Arabella- and Tides-linked foundations. His money helps underwrite the same protest infrastructure now powering “No Kings 2.0.” pic.twitter.com/iPNT6irpHo
💸 Billionaire #3: HANSJÖRG WYSS
The Swiss-born mega-donor is the largest foreign financier of the U.S. protest complex. GAI traced $245 million+ from Wyss to the Arabella network — the operational hub behind “No Kings 2.0.” pic.twitter.com/OPUemwyjZo
💸 Billionaire #4: BILL GATES
Gates Foundation pumped $100 million+ into the same Arabella–Tides–Ford infrastructure funding this weekend’s global protests. pic.twitter.com/36F8OwUehQ
Salesforce billionaire funds added $20 million+ to the mix. Together: $294.4 million from billionaire-backed networks fueling the “No Billionaires” protests. 🔥💰 pic.twitter.com/pDA2BzR66f
Bruner concluded, “OBVIOUSLY “No Kings 2.0” isn’t grassroots. This level of coordination requires serious funds. 👇🏻 The protestors should just own it! Instead they hold up anti-billionaire signs funded by…billionaires. Are they being dishonest or ignorant?”
🚨🪧OBVIOUSLY “No Kings 2.0” isn’t grassroots. This level of coordination requires serious funds. 👇🏻 The protestors should just own it! Instead they hold up anti-billionaire signs funded by…billionaires. Are they being dishonest or ignorant? 🥀 pic.twitter.com/z5q1KWyHeH
Recall that Bruner and Schweizer penned a note (read here) in mid-June that revealed more than $100 million was plowed into No Kings and partners via the Arabella dark money network.
Dark-Money Network Funneled Millions Into ‘No Kings’ Nationwide Color Revolution Operation https://t.co/VDDFccxAN5
By late summer, the Gates Foundation abruptly severed ties with the Arabella network due to political pressure regarding funding for color revolution-style operations on city streets.
Last week, during the Antifa roundtable at the White House, Bruner briefed President Trump (read here): “We have identified dozens of radical organizations, not just the decentralized Antifa organizations, but dozens of radical organizations that have received more than $100 million from the Riot Inc investors.” In fact, tackling Antifa is not the proper strategy, as Bruner told Trump, start with dark-money NGOs.
White House releases names funding Antifa, protests and violence in America
We paid for our own protests with over $100 million laundered by Democrats
“We found a network of NGOs”
– George Soros, the Open Society Network
– Arabella Funding Network
– The Tides FIShing Network
-… pic.twitter.com/93FZsh9qnv
NANO Nuclear To Begin Drilling for KRONOS Microreactor At University of Illinois
Amid a broader shift to advanced nuclear energy which we have been documenting for the past 18 months, NANO Nuclear Energy announced a major step in developing its KRONOS micro modular reactor (MMR), confirming that geotechnical drilling and site characterization with its development partner, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will begin on October 24, 2025.
At a time when electricity bills are exploding across the country to feed ravenous AI data centers using conventional sources of electricity which are woefully insufficient to power the chatbot revolution, new technologies are coming online to power the grid at a much lower cost.
Developed to meet the demand for “resilient, modular, and clean energy solutions for artificial intelligence and data centers, industrial projects, military applications, remote communities, and other commercial applications” Nano Nuclear, KRONOS MMR is a stationary, high-temperature gas-cooled microreactor designed to deliver 15 MWe (45 MWth) of carbon-free power, for multi-decade use across multiple industries and environments. More importantly, it allows its power to feed a unique, discreet target, keeping overall generation costs low.
More importantly, multiple KRONOS MMRs can be synergistically used to achieve any desired power level. Using meltdown-resistant TRISO fuel and passive helium cooling, the KRONOS MMR is being designed to shut down and remain in a safe state automatically without any human intervention or external power (so called “walk-away safety”) while seeking to ensure the ability to disconnect from the main grid and operate autonomously during outages or other disruptions (so called “full island-mode microgrid” capability).
Next week’s launch event, hosted at The Grainger College of Engineering, marks the first physical phase of construction and is a key milestone toward securing an NRC construction permit in early 2026.
Executives Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman, James Walker, CEO, and Dr. Florent Heidet, CTO, will join university and government leaders at the ceremony next Friday. Global engineering firm AECOM will conduct the site work to inform reactor design and regulatory submissions.
The October 24th event is set to highlight site characterization and drilling activities performed by global infrastructure leader AECOM and serve as an essential milestone ahead of NANO Nuclear’s planned submission of a construction permit application in or around Q1 2026.
James Walker said, “This event represents an important milestone for NANO Nuclear, underscoring our expanding role in the nuclear technology sector and reinforcing confidence in our capacity to deliver on ambitious initiatives.” Dr. Heidet added that the Illinois hub will “anchor the company’s reactor development and accelerate progress toward commercial deployment.”
Project lead Professor Caleb Brooks noted that site data “will support the construction permit application as it undergoes rigorous safety and environmental impact review by the NRC.”
NANO Nuclear also announced plans to establish a manufacturing and R&D facility in Illinois, investing over $12 million with support from the REV Illinois program, which includes $6.8 million in incentives and will create 50 new full-time jobs.
“I’m proud to welcome NANO Nuclear to Illinois’ growing clean energy economy,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “With support from REV Illinois, this critical investment from NANO Nuclear will create new jobs for hardworking Illinoisans and promote innovative strides in clean energy solutions.”
NANO Nuclear’s new 23,500-square-foot facility in the Chicagoland area will support collaboration with the University of Illinois on the KRONOS MMR system. “This new hub will play a central role in our work to construct, demonstrate, and ultimately commercialize our KRONOS MMR Energy System,” said Walker.
Dr. Heidet added, “With the strong presence of nuclear utilities and R&D institutions in Illinois, this is the ideal ecosystem for us to thrive.” Dean Rashid Bashir emphasized that the partnership “reinforces our leadership in this critical sector.”
Chairman Jay Yu said the commencement of fieldwork “is an enormous step toward the construction of our high technology readiness level and patented KRONOS MMR, advancing our progress and bringing us closer to deploying this pivotal technology.”
Tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, you might have heard, is this year’s culminating “No Kings” protest demo all over land.
We’ve been to a couple of these curious spectacles since springtime here in the Hudson River Valley, in the next town over.
The crowd there was just about entirely made up of aging Boomers, joyfully re-living the halcyon days of the Vietnam protests. It was kind of like a street production of the old Broadway hit Hair, only with a cast of 75-year-olds. Let the sun shine in! But this rural, small-town corner of America is overwhelmingly geriatric. There is next to nothing for young people to do around here, so they flee at the earliest opportunity. The catch is: turns out that opportunity is rather scarce elsewhere, too.
For sure, many of these hippie elders have children, even grandchildren now, who are exactly those who are not thriving in the places they have fled to. Deep down, they don’t really know who to blame. Something has gone wrong in this country. But their placards said “Resist.” Resist what? We asked. Trump, of course. Trump, Trump, Trump, we go a’marchin’.
He’s Stealing our democracy!
Meaning: Trump is the one responsible for our country’s decades-long descent into economic failure, political animus, and social degeneracy.
You had to wonder who is paying them to yell an empty slogan that Nancy Pelosi has repeated a million times. We are going to find out.
Tomorrow’s “No Kings” action is apt to be a bit livelier in the crisp fall weather, at least in the cities where the under-employed, debt-oppressed, hormonally-driven younger gen folk gravitate into organized cadres more prone to physically acting-out their discontents — groups like Antifa. The street action lately in places like Portland, Oregon, Chicago, and Los Angeles has gotten quite a bit rowdier since last spring.
Positions have hardened, largely because the Democratic Party is going extinct. As that occurs, its tactics wax more desperate, tending more towards riots and violence. A lot of the recent violence is in service to the project of rescuing illegal immigrants from deportation. Democratic Party leaders such as LA Mayor Karen Bass say the protesters are defending “the community.”
Community is a magic word in the argot of The Resistance. Community is a giant, warm, welcoming amoeba that absorbs all comers into its gelatinous folds, conferring solidarity and safety from outside threats such as the US immigration laws. Of course, the reason that the Democrats are so desperate to rescue illegal immigrants is that millions were allowed to enter the country on-purpose by “Joe Biden” in order to provide a gigantic legion of fresh voters inclined to elect Democrats, so the party won’t go extinct. Thus, expelling them, as the professors might say, is problematic.
Flooding the land with illegal immigrants for four years was a deliberate program, then. It was melded with such devices as the motor-voter process that automatically registers to vote anyone who applies for a driver’s license. All a state had to do was declare that anyone, citizen or not, is eligible for the driver’s license. . . and, cazart. . . newly-minted voters by the millions! It was so arrantly in-your-face that you have to wonder why nobody has moved to stop it.
But they didn’t. Not even the hated Trump, at least not yet. But we have reason to hope that motor-voter and the other devices for rigging elections can be disassembled before the 2026 midterms. Surely the mail-in ballot has lost its justification — if it even had any — now that the Covid op is bygone. How can any state justify not requiring voter ID based on proof of citizenship at registration? It’s a sign of how generally psychotic — or nefariously careless —our culture had become that there should be any question about proof of citizenship.
You might have heard the good news that the Dominion Voting Machine company was sold last month to Liberty Vote, a Missouri-based company. Dominion machines had been used in twenty-eight states, including states with the sketchiest election results: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. Dominion was previously owned and based in Canada, a country lately captured by crypto-Marxists in thrall to European banking interests. The Dominion machines have long been accused of containing modems enabling connection to the Internet, and thus to hacking. Plus, they’d contained lines of Chinese software. The new owner promises major changes in the way that votes are tabulated.
Don’t be surprised if tomorrow’s “No Kings” demo descends into violence, arson, and looting. The Democratic Party needs this happen so it can provoke the president to invoke the Insurrection Act, so they can label him “Hitler” again. It is another absolutely in-your-face move. Mr. Trump has discussed the possibility of having to invoke the act. Such a dynamic course of events will backfire badly on the desperate Democrats. More than half the country has had enough of Woke Marxist roguery. They will probably be glad to see extraordinary measures used to stop it, and to override the rogue judiciary that lets it loose on the nation.
It can’t be hard at all to discover who has been paying for this Resistance uprising that includes the “No Kings” demos. It is relatively easy to track the money trails from one bank to another, or many banks to many others, and to see which NGOs are sending all the dough. . . and then who among the operational units are receiving it. It is all going to be shut down. People will be charged and indicted, perhaps even mayors and governors. The charges will be serious. Stand by to see how all this unspools tomorrow.
* * *
Coming in two weeks: JHK’s new novel, a comedy set during the week of the JFK assassination, November, 1963. JD Salinger makes his debut as a major character in American fiction. You can pre-order here !
