Via Middle East Eye

“Mossad agents” and “warmongers” are pushing the US into a conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Those lines aren’t coming from state-run news agencies in Tehran, but some of US President Donald Trump’s closest media allies and supporters. 

Last week, conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson featured a senior Department of Defense official who he claimed was ousted because he was seen as an obstacle to the US bombing Iran.

Dan Caldwell, a top advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was removed from the Pentagon earlier this month on charges that he allegedly leaked classified information about Hegseth’s use of a Signal chat, according to several media outlets.

Not so by Carlson’s telling, who has unparalleled access to Trump. “You did make maybe one career mistake by giving on-the-record interviews describing your foreign policy views…that are out of the mainstream among warmongers in Washington,” Carlson said to Caldwell, adding, “Then I read all of a sudden that you are a traitor.”

On Sunday, another conservative podcaster, Clayton Morris, a former Fox News anchor, said pro-Israel voices were “working overtime” to destroy the “anti-war team” that Trump has assembled at the Pentagon.

“We’ve learned here at Redacted that former Israeli Mossad agents are working overtime on social media and behind the scenes trying to discredit Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth,” Morris said, referring to his show. He didn’t name the so-called former agents. 

Trump’s administration is divided between more traditional Republicans like US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security advisor Mike Waltz, and “America First” isolationists like White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Some of Trump’s most vocal defenders in the media, who exercise unprecedented influence in communicating his worldview, are media figures like Carlson and former advisor Steve Bannon.

The firing of Caldwell and two other senior Pentagon officials appears to have energized America First anti-interventionists. Their slamming of the pro-Israel voices and former Mossad agents is unprecedented within the Republican Party. It reflects just how far Trump has taken the party from its traditionally hawkish worldview. 

Pro-Trump media personalities have singled out Merav Ceren, who was nominated to head Iran and Israel at the White House National Security Council, for criticism. 

Ceren was born in Haifa, Israel, and worked in the Israeli Ministry of Defense. On his show, Morris, who co-hosted a Fox morning news show with Hegseth, said that, “Neo-con Mike Waltz has now hired basically a dual citizen and former IDF official to work under him.”

The coverage reflects a growing trend in the US to view Israel with skepticism, which has intensified since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel, which sparked the Israeli invasion of Gaza and a simmering Middle East war. 

According to a Pew Poll published in April, 53 percent of Americans now express an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up from 42 percent in March 2022. The shift in negative sentiment has been notable among young Republicans under 50, who are more likely to tune into podcasts like Morris’s Redacted and Carlson’s show.

Dan Caldwell, a top advisor to Defense Chief Pete Hegseth, was escorted out of the Pentagon after being named in a Department of Defense leaks investigation.

Caldwell didn’t toe the usual line on foreign policy. He openly challenged the Washington consensus on Israel, saying the… pic.twitter.com/O2ZoVSNmXd

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 15, 2025

The criticism comes as Trump tries to square his muscular foreign policy instincts with his pledge to refrain from starting new Middle East wars. On Iran, Trump’s closest envoys have been left contradicting themselves. 

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy who has emerged as his go-to global troubleshooter, suggested earlier this month that Washington would allow Iran to enrich uranium at low levels. After backlash from pro-Israel voices, he flipped, saying that Tehran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment program fully.

This week, Secretary Rubio said the US could re-enter a deal that sees Iran keep a civilian nuclear programme – so long as it halts enrichment, and instead ships it in from abroad. 

American and Iranian technical teams met in Oman on Saturday for their third round of talks. Trump told reporters on Monday that the talks are going “very well” and that “a deal is going to be made there”. “We’ll have something without having to start dropping bombs all over the place,” he said.

For some in Chicago, Universal Basic Income came early…

Such was the case when approximately $300,000 was reported stolen last week after bags of cash tumbled from a Brinks Home Security Company truck in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, according to a police complaint, the New York Post and NBC. 

Brinks stated that the truck’s rear door opened by “unknown means,” causing three bags filled with U.S. currency to spill out. 

While driving south on Austin Boulevard last Tuesday, a Brinks driver lost three bags of cash, according to a police complaint. When the driver returned, 50 to 100 people were seen grabbing money and fleeing. Brinks estimated the loss at $300,000. As of Friday, Oak Park officials said no arrests had been made.

We’re sure whoever opened the door was “just looking for bread to feed their family”, to borrow AOC’s parlance…

…and hey – wait til they found out those dollars have already lost 9% of their purchasing power…but we digress.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Congressional Democrats said on April 29 that the Trump administration has blocked about $430 billion in federal funding and that they are chronicling how it is stopping the flow of funds.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrats on the Senate and House appropriations committees, released a tracker on April 29 to “shine a light on President Trump’s vast, illegal funding freeze and how it is hurting people in every zip code in America.”

“Instead of investing in the American people, President Trump is ignoring our laws and ripping resources away,” said Murray and DeLauro. They said the funding that was cut or frozen by the Trump administration had been approved by Congress.

The powerful Appropriations committees in the House and the Senate, where Republicans have majority control of both chambers, draft the annual funding bills that Congress passes and sends to the president’s desk for his signature to become law.

Since taking office in January, Trump has said that he wants to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government while seeking to terminate various programs that don’t align with his administration’s priorities.

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created via an executive order in January by the president and is tasked with those efforts. According to its website, DOGE says it has saved an estimated $160 billion, or around $993 per taxpayer.

The White House, which has not responded to the Democrats’ claims, did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment.

In a news release on Tuesday, Democrats highlighted some programs that were slashed under the Trump administration, including $1 billion for HeadStart, which provides early childhood education, health, and nutrition services.

They noted $12 million in canceled funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program that gives grants to nonprofits to “prevent housing discrimination.” They also cited nearly $1 billion for the Green and Resilient Retrofit program; $10 million for the Citizen and Integration Grant program; $80 million in grants and contracts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more.

The Trump administration is in court fighting to keep many of the administration’s cuts to federal agencies.

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” said Musk, a senior presidential adviser and special government employee, in an appearance at the White House in February. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

This past week, after Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla posted lower-than-expected profits and revenue for the first quarter of 2025, Musk told investors on a call that his work with DOGE will drop significantly in the next month or so. In any case, as a special government employee, Musk can work only 130 days for the government before departing.

Musk said he will continue to support the Trump administration and DOGE “to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back.”

In a statement released by the White House, Trump said that DOGE is designed to bring “accountability and transparency to federal spending, ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and effectively,” which he said, “has already saved taxpayers billions of dollars.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Authored by Jeffrey H. Anderson via RealClearPolitics,

Many Americans of Generation X and older will recall the red, white, and blue American Freedom Train that was a centerpiece of America’s glorious Bicentennial celebration. But few know that the Freedom Train, pulled by a steam locomotive and filled with American historical artifacts, was the brainchild of none other than John Wayne. As we fast approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, it’s time to get Wayne’s American Freedom Train back on the tracks as part of the quarter-millennium celebration.

Ross Rowland, who spearheaded the American Freedom Train effort as a young man, recently told me how Wayne came to have the idea. Rowland had run away from home in the 1950s and fortuitously ended up working as a groundskeeper for Wayne. The Duke befriended Rowland and eventually convinced him to return home. Rowland, whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all been railroad men, had success on Wall Street and then commemorated the centennial of the 1869 “golden spike” – the completion of the transcontinental railroad – by having a steam train travel from New York City to Salt Lake City.

Wayne joined Rowland for the final leg of that journey (and arranged to have “True Grit” premiere in Salt Lake City the night before). As they rode in an open-air train car, observing the large crowds as they passed, Rowland says Wayne told him something to the effect of, “You know, Ross, we’ve got America’s 200th birthday coming up. We should do this for that.” And they did. Rowland handled most of the planning and execution, Wayne got support from Bing Crosby and others in Hollywood, and President Nixon agreed to let the train carry artifacts usually housed at the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and National Archives.

The American Freedom Train was a tremendous success. During the bicentennial period, it traveled to all 48 contiguous states, stopped 138 times, and had an average of more than 50,000 visitors board at each stop. Riding along a moving walkway, visitors saw such artifacts as Paul Revere’s saddlebags, George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, the actual Louisiana Purchase document, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Babe Ruth’s bat, John F. Kennedy’s handwritten copy of his inaugural address, and enough more to fill 12 display cars. 

The American Freedom Train, perhaps more than anything else, tied the national and local bicentennial celebrations together. John Warner, who headed up the congressionally created American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, said the train was “the most visible” of the bicentennial offerings and was able to “sew together” various festivities. President Ford said it “brought the story of America to the people.”

During the recent period of peak wokeness, from around 2020 to 2024, it looked like the nation’s 250th anniversary risked becoming more of a condemnation than a celebration of American history. Donald Trump’s defeat of Kamala Harris largely ensured that the occasion will be a celebration. Yet there is a very real danger that this milestone anniversary – perhaps the best chance in 50 years to reset how Americans view our nation’s founding – might barely register with the public, making it a massive lost opportunity.

Planning for the quarter millennium is woefully far behind where planning was at this stage for the bicentennial. The official planning entity, created by Congress during the Obama administration, is useless and focused on DEI. President Trump wisely created Task Force 250 to fill this void, but it faces a severe shortage of time. 

Fortunately, the American Freedom Train could hit the tracks in the first half of 2026. Rob Gardner, president of the American Steam Railroad, told me the “sister engine” of a locomotive that pulled the train during the bicentennial is being restored and will be ready for action. All that’s really needed is for President Trump to authorize the use of federal artifacts at the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and National Archives, consistent with his recent executive order telling the Smithsonian to stop denigrating America and instead “remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage.” Everything else would quickly fall into place.

There’s still a chance to make the quarter millennium anniversary a spectacular and unifying event like the bicentennial was a half-century ago. Reprising the American Freedom Train is a big part of that. Let’s bring back John Wayne’s rolling tribute to America’s finest.

Jeffrey H. Anderson is president of the American Main Street Initiative. He served as director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2017 to 2021.

The Washington Commanders are officially returning to Washington, D.C., after securing a $3.7 billion deal to redevelop the RFK Stadium site, according to DC News Now. Announced Monday, the agreement ends months of negotiations between city leaders and the team’s ownership.

The project will transform the area into a modern stadium complex surrounded by restaurants, hotels, housing, and green space.

“As a native Washingtonian who grew up three blocks from RFK stadium, I’m actually happy that the team is moving back to those hallowed grounds,” said Landover resident Frank Marshall.

The move marks the end of the Commanders’ decades-long stay at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. Maryland officials, including Gov. Wes Moore (D), had tried to keep the team by proposing a major redevelopment plan but prepared for the possibility of the team’s departure. “Our priority has always been ensuring that the Landover community will see a transformative new development in the years ahead, regardless of the stadium decision,” Moore said.

The report says that an earlier memorandum of understanding ensures the Commanders will oversee demolition of the old stadium and maintain the property until it is redeveloped. “We’re looking at different proposals around mixed-use developments, also we’re looking at other sports venues that could potentially go there,” said Prince George’s County Council Chair Ed Burroughs III.

Moore emphasized that Maryland’s leaders will work closely to guarantee the site is revitalized and the community benefits: “In other words, we will not be left with another RFK Stadium.”

The D.C. Council must still approve the new stadium plan this summer. Construction at the RFK site is expected to begin in late 2026.

Instead of a ticker tape parade if they win the Super Bowl, does this now mean they get a red tape parade?

Authored by Steve Cohen via RealClearDefense,

The Trump administration seems serious about resurrecting a domestic shipbuilding industry and increasing the size of the Navy. Both are admirable objectives, and neither is possible without the other – assuming that Congress could put aside partisan trench warfare long enough to agree on a multi-year Defense appropriation. There is broad agreement that the Navy needs about 85 additional ships to do the jobs the nation expects it to do. This will cost nearly $1 trillion. That is about $40 billion annually for 25 years – about double what Congress has appropriated annually for the last five years.

The President’s Executive Order establishing the Maritime and Industrial Capability Office – colloquially known as the shipbuilding office – within the National Security Council focusses almost exclusively on commercial ships. And while it doesn’t explicitly address what most knowledgeable observers already know – that we have too few yards, antiquated technology at many of them, and inadequate workforce – it makes some very good suggestions, and calls for a comprehensive Maritime Action Plan within 210 days. (That’s seven months for us history majors.)

The Administration’s focus of commercial ships and yards is fine: without a larger, more predictable flow of both commercial and Navy construction, shipbuilders won’t be able to attract or retain a skilled workforce or have the right financial incentives to invest in new technologies and infrastructure. It is well documented that many of the recent Navy cost overruns were the result of frequent construction errors which had to be corrected. Similarly,  with  virtually no demand for building commercial ships domestically, the few remaining shipbuilders have failed to make adequate investments in technology or infrastructure.

No discussion of Navy shipbuilding delays or cost-overruns could survive a smell test without upfront acknowledgement of the Navy’s complicity. Choose a construction program: the Ford, the LCS, the DG-1000, the new Constellation class frigate – and its history is replete with recurring mistakes: from failures to agree on capabilities, or design, or adequately proving new technologies or just changing direction midstream – the Navy’s track record is not impressive.  The 800-pound gorilla in the room, of course, is that there has been very little high-level accountability for such behavior.

Ever an optimist, I’m hoping that the Maritime Action Plan will rub off on the Navy. Whether it can evolve into a mini-Operation Warp Speed is unclear. But I believe the White House needs to take on one more challenge simultaneously, or the commitment to build more ships will be for naught: we must figure out how to man not only the new ships, but our existing fleet.

For years, the Navy has been unable to meet its recruiting goals. The Navy needs approximately 332,300 sailors and officers to man its current fleet of 295 ships. Because people retire and leave the service, the Navy needs 40,600 new recruits annually. And it has missed that target in two out of the last three years. In 2024, it hit its mark partly because it lowered its standards. Moreover, there is a shortfall of about 20,000 operational gaps at sea.  Moreover, if the Navy ever achieved a fleet size of 355 ships, it would need an additional 50,000 sailors.

Staffing quasi-Navy ships is a problem too. The Navy has 61 U.S. Naval Service ships oilers, supply ships, transports, pre-positioned support vessels, two hospital ships – operated by the Military Sealift Command. Although owned by the Navy, they are crewed by civilians. Last summer, thee MSC announced plans to temporarily mothball 17 Navy support ships  because it didn’t have crews to man them.

The Navy is not alone in its recruiting problems: the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard have all been having trouble meeting their targets. So, while it is encouraging that the Navy has met its most recent recruiting numbers, lowering standards is not a smart nor sustainable strategy, especially for a fleet that continues to get more technologically complex.

Some observers argue that crewed ships and airplanes with actual pilots are a thing of the past; and given the difficulty in attracting young people to serve in the military, we should just go all-in on drones. But a larger number of unmanned aircraft and vessels are already part of mix for the fleet of the future, and that is not going to ameliorate the need for people to join the military.

Just as President Trump tasked his National Security Advisor to deliver a Maritime Action Plan within seven months, he (or Congress) should demand a similar plan on how we are going to get people to serve in the armed forces. Nothing should be off the table, beginning with whether we still want – and can deliver – an all-volunteer military.

One top newspaper editor I recently spoke with said his paper supports the return of the draft. A retired advertising executive complained to me about the inanity of the Navy’s recent ad campaigns – “Can anyone explain what ‘Forged by the Sea’ means?” – but doubted a new tag line would be enough to connect with Gen Z’ers or the younger Gen Alphas who follow. And last week, a freshman at Yale called me to brainstorm about how to get support for mandatory national service. (He had read several articles I had written arguing for a mandatory program of 18 months  where a voluntary option would be voluntary.)

We need to build more ships, and we need to do so smarter, faster, and cheaper. But if we don’t also figure out how to man them, we will be building a ghost fleet.

Steve Cohen is an attorney at Pollock Cohen in New York, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the United States Naval Institute.

US President Donald Trump in a recent interview with conservative show host Glenn Beck expressed doubt whether the White House can actually achieve a comprehensive peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump has made Ukraine peace the top foreign policy priority of the early part of his administration, and on the campaign trail and within his first hundred days expressed continual confidence that the US can successfully mediate, but this confidence appears to be fading with each passing week.

In the interview he noted his belief – not for the first time – that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to making a deal on Ukraine, and is actually easier to deal with than Zelensky.

“When Zelenskyy was in the Oval Office. I was talking about getting it done, and he starts screaming, ‘but we need security’, meaning security, after the fact, I said, ‘security’? I don’t even know if we can get this deal done,” Trump told Beck.

That’s when he expressed rare doubt, saying he’s not sure “if we can get this deal done.”

Referencing Zelensky, Trump continued: “He’s asking for more, just more and more and more. And he doesn’t have the cards. He doesn’t have the cards, so hopefully he’s going to get it done,” Trump said. 

And in reference to Putin, Trump explained, “I think he had the idea of going all the way through” if Trump were not in the Oval Office. “I think he’s [Putin] willing to make a deal. And I would say thus far, he’s been easier to deal with than Zelensky,” Trump added.

Another interesting section of the interview came as follows:

Glenn Beck: Yeah, is he the problem? Is Putin the problem? Or is Europe the problem?

DT: So, look: Russia is a very big military force, and Ukraine isn’t. Without Ukraine — and I’m the one that supplied the Javelins [anti-tank missiles] to them, so, you know, I did a lot for them, because the tanks got stuck in the mud, and then they got Javelined, right? And they always say, “Trump gave the Javelins,” and it was, in that case, “Obama gave sheets.” He gave sheets! They said nothing.

But Biden gave money like nobody’s ever seen — $350 billion! He gave military equipment, gave storage. We had massive storage bins full of ammunition — buildings as long as the eye could see.

And in a separate ‘100-day’ interview published in The Atlantic on Monday, Trump said that without a peace deal Ukraine will soon be crushed:

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he believes Ukraine will be “crushed very shortly,” as it is up against Russia’s “big war machine” that it cannot defeat.

“I think I’m saving that nation. I think I’m doing a great service to Ukraine. I believe that,” he said in an interview with The Atlantic published April 28.

Trump argues it has been easier to deal with Putin than Zelensky pic.twitter.com/TsajLRSaBB

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) April 29, 2025

Trump admin officials have called this week “very critical” for determining whether lasting peace in Ukraine can be forged:

Rubio said that the coming week will be “very critical” for the White House as it makes a “determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in.”

“There are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic,” Rubio said, adding: “We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”

“Throughout this process, it’s about determining, do both sides really want peace and how close are they or how far apart they are after 90 days of effort here … that’s what we’re trying to determine this week,” Rubio said of negotiations.

Will the US stop arming Ukraine if no peace deal is reached? Will more sanctions simply be piled onto Moscow? Or perhaps Washington will simply step aside and let Europe lead the way in fueling the proxy war.

Already NATO is said to be making plans to fill the sizeable gap of US leadership in the Western military alliance, anticipating the a US drawdown of support.

Authored by Zena le Roux via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Ergothioneine (ERGO), a potent antioxidant made by fungi and soil microbes, is making waves in the world of nutrition. However, many may wonder what it actually is.

Research shows ERGO is important for brain health. When animals are deprived of ERGO, it harms both brain cell growth and cognitive function. People with dementia also tend to have lower levels of ERGO in their blood compared with healthy people of the same age.

Fungi are a vital source of ERGO and typically grow in the rich, healthy soil of forests.

However, as farming practices deplete the soil, we lose its vitality and the nutrients that nourish our food—leaving us reliant on forest-grown mushrooms and improved soil care to help restore healthy ERGO levels.

‘Longevity Vitamin’

ERGO is primarily produced by soil-borne microbes and fungi. Humans cannot produce it, so it must be obtained through diet. Researchers discovered that mammals have a specific transporter protein for ERGO, enabling its absorption from food into red blood cells. These cells then distribute it to tissues throughout the body, where it has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects—emphasizing its biological importance.

In 2018, Bruce Ames, a renowned biochemist, proposed that ERGO could be classified as a longevity vitamin. These vitamins are essential for the function of longevity proteins that support long-term health and aging. Ames suggested that a deficiency in ERGO could harm long-term health.

Robert Beelman, a professor of food science and director of the Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health at Penn State University, has advanced the understanding of ERGO.

“ERGO is actually an amino acid, but not one that’s found in proteins,” Beelman told The Epoch Times. Unlike other amino acids that build proteins, ERGO acts as an antioxidant with special benefits for brain and organ health. This is one reason why ERGO is linked to aging and cognitive health, and why it stands apart from other amino acids.

“It appears to mitigate many of the chronic diseases associated with aging,” he added.

Cognitive Health and Healthy Aging

Based on limited data, Americans are suggested to consume less ERGO, about 1.1 milligram per day (mg/day) than people in four European countries which take up to 4.6 mg/day, such as in Italy. These lower intakes were associated with a higher prevalence of chronic neurological diseases of aging and lower life expectancies.

ERGO levels in human blood naturally decline with age, but decrease even more rapidly in people with cognitive decline. Beelman highlighted that people with low levels of ERGO in their blood face a higher risk of developing chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

*  *  *

 If you’re into powerful antioxidants, try IQ Biologix Astaxanthin (read more here).

Beelman and his team have estimated ERGO consumption across five countries—the United States, France, Finland, Ireland, and Italy.

“Our findings showed a strong association between higher ERGO consumption and longer life expectancy, as well as a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” Beelman noted.

While there is no official recommended daily intake for ERGO, Beelman suggested starting with 5 mg/day as a general guideline. For example, 100 grams of oyster mushrooms can provide roughly that amount.

Agricultural Practices, Soil Health, and Nutrient Levels

Why are ERGO levels so low and potentially declining over time?

The answer lies in modern farming practices—how our food system prioritizes affordability and crop yield over the health of consumers, plants, animals, and the environment, according to Beelman.

“Healthy soil is the foundation of healthy plants,” Alison Steiber, a registered dietitian with a doctorate in human nutrition, told The Epoch Times.

Modern agricultural practices often rely on chemical additions to control pests and diseases, but these chemicals can harm the microbial populations in the soil that plants rely on for nutrition, said Steiber. These practices also reduce the organic matter in soil, lowering its ability to retain water and making the soil more susceptible to drought, she added.

Plants and soil share a symbiotic relationship, with soil microbes playing a critical role in delivering nutrients to crops. However, certain agricultural practices, such as intensive tillage, can disrupt this relationship. Tillage reduces the diversity of soil bacteria and fungi, particularly damaging the root-like fungal structures that help plants absorb minerals, Steiber said.

“Intensive tillage can decrease ERGO concentrations in crops like oats, soybeans, and corn by as much as 30 percent,” Beelman said.

While macronutrient levels, like carbohydrates and proteins, may not differ much between conventional and organic farming practices, there is clear evidence of differences in micronutrient levels—vitamins, minerals, and compounds like ERGO.

“Shouldn’t the focus shift to consider the interconnected health of all these elements?” Beelman asked.

Mushrooms: A Powerful Source of ERGO

As soil quality declines and many people fall short of getting enough ERGO in their diets, increasing mushroom consumption offers a simple and effective strategy to bridge the gap.

ERGO is only made in nature by fungi, cyanobacteria—blue-green algae—and a few bacteria, Beelman said. Since mushrooms are the part of fungi that release spores to reproduce, they are by far the richest source of ERGO in our food supply, he added.

While most foods contain small amounts of ERGO, thanks to fungi in the soil transferring it to plants through their roots, mushrooms stand out as a particularly potent source. Varieties like maitake, porcini, king oyster, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms are especially rich in ERGO, Beelman said.

Better Soil, More Nutrients

Another approach to boosting ERGO levels is to adopt regenerative farming practices that can enhance ERGO and other nutrients in our food. These practices include minimal or no tillage, crop rotation, cover crops, and reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers.

Farming practices directly impact soil health, which in turn affect the uptake of essential micronutrients by plants. By improving soil quality, farmers can enhance the nutrient content of their crops—creating a win-win for both the farmer and the consumer, Beelman said.

“I’ve seen firsthand over the past 50 years the relentless drive to improve crop yields, often at the cost of long-term health. The focus on yield, without considering nutritional quality, has likely contributed to poor health outcomes and rising health care costs. Someone needs to step up to help bring about change.”

Over 100 illegal immigrants were arrested at a Colorado Springs underground nightclub allegedly frequented by members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua (TdA) on Sunday.

“Rocky Mountain led a multi-agency enforcement operation along with our local and federal partners early this morning. @DHSgov has taken more than 100 illegal aliens into custody. Drugs and weapons have also been seized at this underground nightclub in Colorado Springs,” read a post from the Rocky Mountain branch of the DEA.

#DEA Rocky Mountain led a multi-agency enforcement operation along with our local and federal partners early this morning.@DHSgov has taken more than 100 illegal aliens into custody. Drugs and weapons have also been seized at this underground nightclub in Colorado Springs. pic.twitter.com/R4Smb3voAg

— DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) April 27, 2025

The video shows the moment that approximately 300 federal and local agents breached the facility – after which dozens of people can be seen streaming outside the club only to be met with orders to get down. 

In another post, the Rocky Mountain DEA said that 200 people were in attendance at the club, of which over 100 were in the custody of ICE.

💥 200+ inside an underground nightclub in CO Springs had their illegal party upended this am.#DEA RMFD, ⁦@ERODenver⁩, ⁦@FBIDenver⁩, ⁦@ATF_Denver⁩, ⁦@HSIDenver⁩, ⁦@CSPDPIO⁩, ⁦@EPCSheriff⁩ & others seized drugs/guns. 100+ illegals arrested. pic.twitter.com/L5FOOyAlX3

— DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) April 27, 2025

“DEA partners and @DHSgov placed patrons (in the U.S. illegally) on buses for processing and likely eventual deportation,” read a subsequent post.

🥂 Part of busting up the underground nightclub in Colorado Springs included the arrest of 114 illegal aliens.#DEA partners and @DHSgov placed patrons (in the U.S. illegally) on buses for processing and likely eventual deportation. pic.twitter.com/aLyQUdy5YN

— DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) April 27, 2025

As the Epoch Times notes further, photos posted to the account show containers of beer and unidentified drugs. The DEA also said that they found “tusi,” a substance laced with ketamine and other drugs, said to be a “calling card” for MS-13.

At an April 27 news conference following the raid, DEA Rocky Mountain Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said that inside the illegally-operated club was “significant drug trafficking, prostitution, crimes of violence.”

“We seized a number of guns in there. We had active-duty service members who were running security at the club and involved in some of these crimes,” Pullen added. He said that more than a dozen such service members were detained, including both staff and patrons.

“Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer community today,” Pullen said.

President Donald Trump praised the raid and the arrests in a post on Truth Social.

“A big Raid last night on some of the worst people illegally in our Country—Drug Dealers, Murderers, and other Violent Criminals, of all shapes and sizes, and Judges don’t want to send them back to where they came from. If we don’t win this battle at the Supreme Court, our Country, as we know it, is FINISHED!”

Trump referenced ongoing injunctions and other orders from the judicial branch that have slowed his implementation of mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

Two major cases currently pending at the Supreme Court, which both name Trump as the respondent and don’t name the plaintiffs directly, concern Trump’s attempts to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport foreigners judged to have ties to MS-13 or TdA, both of which have been named terrorist organizations by the administration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi weighed in on the raid as well, saying in a post on X, “This morning @DEAHQ apprehended over 100 illegal aliens at an underground night club frequented by Tda and MS-13 terrorists. Cocaine, meth, and pink cocaine was seized. 2 people were also arrested on existing warrants.”

“As we approach his 100 days in office, @POTUS Trump’s directive to make America safe again is achieving results!”

A low-profile government complex in northern Virginia – long rumored to be a CIA spook site – briefly appeared on a federal real estate for-sale list last month, only to disappear from the market within hours, in a mysterious vanishing act worthy of a spy novel.

The nondescript Parr-Franconia warehouse complex, tucked just off I-95 a few miles from the Pentagon, popped up on a Trump administration list of “non-core” federal properties slated for potential sale, Bloomberg reports, noting that the list was yanked down less than 24 hours later – including more than 400 other buildings and offices, some housing cabinet-level agencies.

But it was the Springfield cluster that raised eyebrows — 14 buildings, some going by names like “Franconia Building B” and “Butler Building 12,” which don’t appear on any other public database of government real estate.

The CIA’s official response? A non-denial denial.

“The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence” of records related to the proposed sale, the agency said Monday in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Bloomberg News – deploying its classic “Glomar” language, coined during a Cold War submarine recovery op in 1974.

That’s spy-speak for: Don’t ask us – we’re not telling.

The site, which dates to 1952, has been the subject of decades of local speculation. Foreign Policy once identified it as a heavily guarded compound used to store “classified files, equipment, and supplies.” Marc Ambinder of The Week called it “perhaps the worst-kept secret in Springfield,” where neighbors talk openly about the strange security measures and rotating surveillance.

“It’s been identified in numerous public forums. The bad guys know it exists; the CIA and the Air Force often assign counter-surveillance teams to the area,” wrote Armbinder.

Even Fairfax County assigns a hefty valuation: the 1.2 million-square-foot property is tax-exempt but carries an appraisal of over $115 million.

The Trump administration has made waves with its effort to trim the government’s bloated real estate portfolio, but this listing — along with the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which Secretary Scott Turner famously slammed as “the ugliest building in DC” — may have gone a step too far.

In the end, the administration backtracked on all 443 proposed sales, citing a need for further review. But the sudden appearance of a shadowy Springfield site, potentially connected to U.S. intelligence, suggests someone in the bureaucracy might’ve hit “publish” without reading the fine print — or the classification stamps.

Neither the CIA nor the General Services Administration will say more — not even to confirm the property exists. Which, in the world of cloak-and-dagger real estate, probably says everything.