85.8 F
Chicago
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Home Blog Page 875

If Demographics Are Destiny… We’re Screwed!

0
If Demographics Are Destiny… We’re Screwed!

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

Demographics don’t lie. The governments of the world and their captured bureaucrats can manipulate inflation data, unemployment data, GDP data, and numerous other data based figures to make things appear better than they are. It’s called propaganda and manipulation to create a false narrative beneficial to their interests. But, demographic data can’t be massaged to provide a happy ending for the psychopaths in suits, running the show.

They can ignore the data and pretend it doesn’t exist, but you can’t change the ages of the people inhabiting this planet.

The data is dire for the Western world and Asia, particularly China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore.

The U.S. fertility rate is at an all-time low, down 55% from its peak in 1957. It is down 40% since the early 1970s, when women, brainwashed by feminist tripe, joined the workforce in droves, and murdered 63 million of their unborn children, in the name of women’s rights.

This is what the woman’s movement, created by the globalist cabal to advance their agenda of destroying the western world and replacing it with their one world order, has wrought.

Their plan has been to replace the educated white people in western countries with low IQ 3rd world parasites, as a means to their end of controlling the masses in a digital prison of their making. Feminism was designed to convince women to stop having children, stop marrying strong men, and believing their lives were more fulfilled working 60 hours a week rather than raising children. The cultural destruction of America is almost complete.

Our globalist overlords have succeeded spectacularly in destroying the social fabric and community mores of our nation and other “developed” countries. And, as designed, the gene altering Pfizer/Moderna jabs are causing global fertility rates to plummet further, exacerbating the already dire trend. I wonder why very few 3rd worlders received the toxic covid jabs. Maybe the globalist controllers wanted to keep their fertility rates high.

The charts and maps below paint a bleak picture for the citizens of the world, but an absolute windfall for the totalitarians seeking to imprison us in their social credit, CBDC techno-gulag world of the future. The illiterate, mud hut dwellers are pumping out more illiterate 3rd worlders at a rate five to six times as high as the rich developed world countries. With a required replacement rate of 2.1, in order to maintain a static population, the U.S. and most of the countries in the developed world are in a self imposed death spiral. With 6,000 Boomers dying per day, the U.S. spiral is accelerating.

Via Visual Capitalist

The world’s fertility rate continues its steady decline, averaging 2.25 children per woman, a 6.2% drop from 2019. The map reveals a striking global divide: countries in sub-Saharan Africa still record some of the world’s highest birth rates, with Chad leading at 6.03, while nations in East Asia and Europe see record lows, led by South Korea at just 0.73.

Despite this overall slowdown, some countries have bucked the trend. UzbekistanBulgaria, and Armenia saw notable increases, while NigerUganda, and Kuwait experienced the sharpest declines.

These shifts reflect the complex mix of economic, cultural, and policy factors influencing family planning worldwide.

As more countries fall below the population replacement rate of 2.1, the implications for labor forces, ageing populations, and future economic growth are becoming increasingly clear; signaling that the world’s demographic balance is rapidly changing.

The elimination of high IQ, highly productive whites and Asians, and replacing them with low IQ parasitical african and muslim dregs, guarantees the degradation of our society, culture, and financial viability. The open borders and purposeful importation of the riffraff, scum and rabble from Africa and Middle East is part of the Great Reset agenda. The social welfare costs of maintaining these lazy good for nothings will bankrupt the developed world, causing a global financial Armageddon. This will lead to the masses begging their overlords for CBDCs, a living stipend, tiny government issued hovels, and technological monitoring of all their communications.

You will come to love your servitude in this brave new world.

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”

– Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

We took the world we had for granted. Now we will pay the price.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 22:35

Our ‘Great Ally’ Saudi Arabia Will Be Getting F-35s: Trump Ahead Of MbS Visit

0
Our ‘Great Ally’ Saudi Arabia Will Be Getting F-35s: Trump Ahead Of MbS Visit

The first US ally to typically get whatever it wants from Washington is Israel. The second is Saudi Arabia. And so in the same order…

“President Trump said Monday that he will approve the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, making the kingdom the first country in the Middle East other than Israel to obtain the advanced fighter jets,” Axios reports Monday.

USAF image

Trump made the following public comments to reporters in the Oval, “They want to buy. They are a great ally. We will be doing that. We will be selling them F-35s.”

A day ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MbS) White House visit, Trump hailed the kingdom as a “great ally”.

But ironically, the Israelis aren’t thrilled about this development, as it has long sought to maintain total technological superiority over other countries in the region.

“We told the Trump administration that the supply of F-35s to Saudi Arabia needs to be subject to Saudi normalization with Israel,” one Israeli official was quoted in Axios as saying. “It takes minutes for an F-35 to fly from Saudi Arabia to Israel,” the official complained.

The Gaza War has indefinitely derailed the prospect of Saudi normalization with Israel. But it’s possible the Trump administration could be using the F-35 transfer to induce Riyadh into seeing the Abraham Accords as ‘back on’ as a real possibility.

The Saudis and Israelis do have a recent history of covert cooperation in Syria, where both sought to topple Bashar al-Assad, and disrupt the ‘pro-Iran axis’ – which eventually happened in December 2024.

According to F-35 producer Lockheed Martin, the advanced fighter represents total air dominance:

The F-35 is essential to securing air dominance and ensuring mission success across every domain. As the most lethal, survivable, and connected fighter aircraft for America and its allies, it acts as the quarterback of the skies—integrating air, land, sea, space, and cyber operations to lead the fight and deliver a decisive advantage.

More than a fighter jet, the F-35 is a force multiplier. Its unmatched ability to gather, process, and share data empowers joint forces, strengthens global partnerships, and keeps pilots ahead of emerging threats—all while helping them return home safely.

Interestingly, Israel has also of late been lobbying against Turkey ever acquiring the F-35. It’s deeply ironic that Saudi Arabia will get the fighters far ahead of NATO-member Turkey ever will.

As we featured earlier, MbS is interested in a defense deal with the United States which outshines Qatar’s: AI chips and AI-powered drones, and potentially, even American nuclear weapons stationed in his country. Probably the Saudis will eventually get many of these things, as years after the brutal murder Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom keeps failing up.

* * *

More info on the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jet:

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 22:10

Inside The Growing Trend Of Digital Detoxing

0
Inside The Growing Trend Of Digital Detoxing

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The concept of digital “detoxing” has entered the mainstream, with wellness experts and scientists highlighting its considerable health benefits. Research from BMC suggests that even modest reductions in daily digital engagement can help alleviate symptoms of depression, enhance sleep quality, and lower cortisol levels for many people.

People with their phones in New York City on June 13, 2024.Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Studies examining the advantages of reducing or limiting different types of digital habits have gained momentum in recent years. Promising new results published by researchers at the University of Applied Sciences consistently show a link between less screen time and improved states of wellness.

BMC’s three-week analysis of 125 students who engaged in reduced screen time showed improvements in depressive symptoms, stress, sleep quality, and overall well-being. Once the control trial ended and digital engagement reached normal levels, researchers noted that the initial values of mental health symptoms began rising in lockstep.

Too much time spent online, particularly on social media platforms, has long been linked with negative mental health outcomes. However, evidence from a study produced by researchers from three Turkish universities suggests this extends to all types of digital connections.

Research from Cureus identifies this as “technostress,” a negative byproduct that stems from screen time. Examples include anxiety, irritability, frustration, and exhaustion. This is often associated with the psychological condition known as “fear of missing out,” or FOMO. The FOMO phenomenon is also a problem within the career space, according to the Turkish study, driving excessive smartphone engagement after the workday ends.

Harmony Healthcare IT conducted a smartphone screen time survey of more than 1,000 Americans and found that 60 percent who expressed a desire to cut back on their phone usage plan to replace phone time with a different activity, while 57 percent planned to delete “time-wasting” apps. Overall, 53 percent said they wanted to cut down on their smartphone usage in 2025. This represents a 33 percent increase from 2023.

Negative effects from excessive online activity aren’t disputed, but some experts say reduced screen time only carries lasting benefits if the lifestyle changes match.

Learning to Unplug

Digital detoxing is not a quick fix. Screen use is a deeply ingrained habit, and lasting change comes from small, consistent adjustments rather than short periods of complete abstinence,” neuroscientist and author Emma Louth Als told The Epoch Times.

Louth Als said the problem with screen time isn’t necessarily the screen itself, but what it replaces. If digital engagement takes the place of proper socializing or rest, that’s when negative impacts on mental well-being start to appear.

“Screens are highly stimulating. They’re designed to keep you engaged, as the brain craves novelty and stimulation,” Louth Als said. “Taking time away allows your brain to slow down and recover.”

She said the pressure to always be “on” means the brain never truly rests. Reducing screen time gives your mind space to relax and lower stress levels.

Psychotherapist John McGuirk has also found this to be true when working with clients on digital detoxing.

“First, the quality of digital engagement itself can produce stress, such as repeatedly consuming negative news articles or finding oneself in online conflicts. This kind of engagement produces stress, low mood, or anxiety,” McGuirk told The Epoch Times.

“Secondly, the quantity of digital engagement can end up leaving very little time for other positive activities that might help improve well-being.”

Meta has unveiled plans to launch an ad-free subscription option for UK Facebook and Instagram users Alamy/PA

In his observations, McGuirk said this cycle prevents recovery from negative feelings.

“So, cortisol levels rise and stay high, and this negatively impacts heart rate, blood pressure, mood, and so on,” he said.

The amount of time people spend online has continued increasing since 2013, with overall screen time rising nearly 8 percent, according to an Exploding Topics analysis. On average, U.S. residents spend 7 hours, 3 minutes per day looking at digital screens.

Another Exploding Topics analysis showed U.S. teenagers spend almost half of their waking hours—7 hours, 22 minutes per day—looking at screens.

“When the brain is overloaded with notifications or content that leans on comparison, cortisol goes up in a state of hyperarousal until the nervous system gets a chance to settle,” psychologist Nick Bach told The Epoch Times.

Bach said his clients who take breaks from their devices report sleeping better, less irritation, and greater mental clarity within just a few days.

I usually recommend that my clients try short and daily rituals such as the ‘screenless first hour’ or having an area in the home that is considered a tech-free zone. These shortcuts create a reset for someone without feeling deprived,” he said.

Jumping onto a smartphone first thing in the morning has been associated with increased stress and anxiety as well as reduced productivity, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

McGuirk said creating “digital engagement windows,” such as five minutes at the end of every hour, is a healthy way of reducing screen time without creating too extreme a change.

However, he also believes it’s important to identify positive alternatives to being perpetually plugged in.

“This is vital and often missed. Just stopping leaves a huge window for ‘what do I do now?’ This can result in the old habit of ‘I’ve nothing to do, so I’ll just go online.’ Identifying good alternatives can include exercise, creativity, journaling, meditation, socializing [in real life], and going out into nature,” McGuirk said.

People run past the Department of State building in Washington on March 28, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Cainan Oliver, co-founder of wellness center Found Recovery, also takes this approach to digital detoxing.

“We don’t remove technology. We help people fill that space with something more real: connection, movement, art, time outside,” Oliver told The Epoch Times.

In his work with mental health and addiction, Oliver has observed a pattern.

“When clients start feeling grounded again, their relationship with screens shifts naturally,” he said.

Oliver believes that more people are starting to crave stillness over stimulation.

“We’ve spent years in overdrive, and our bodies are asking for balance,” he said. “Digital detoxing isn’t about rejecting technology. It’s about remembering how to feel connected to real life again.”

The Center for Internet & Technology Addiction reported the average smartphone user checks their phone 142 times per day—a 12 percent increase from 2024. The center also noted a 39 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses linked with “digital multitasking,” and social media users are more than three times as likely to experience depression.

Changing Habits

Louth Als says it’s difficult to change behavior patterns while in the same environment surrounded by the same cues. Eventually, people still need to check their work emails, upload homework assignments, and complete a multitude of other daily tasks that require screen time.

She emphasized that despite the benefits of a short-term digital detox, a one-off event won’t “reset the brain.”

“My husband and I have tried before but quickly fell back into old habits,” she said.

That’s because habits take time to change, according to Louth Als.

“Let’s say you eliminate digital engagement for a week or two. And then you reintroduce screens. You may keep it down for another week or so, but ultimately, you will come back to the same usage. Why? Because you have deeply ingrained neurocircuitry that finds it rewarding to interact with screens,” she explained.

Louth Als said real change comes from reshaping daily routines over weeks or months.

This is where daily digital reduction strategies come into play. Resetting the brain in a retreat setting is a great way to get rid of “mental clutter and physical tension,” according to Bach. However, small daily adjustments can help build a better mental health balance between the digital and physical world.

McGuirk gave an example, saying, “Set times when digital engagement is ruled out, like no digital engagement after 10 p.m.”

“I encourage people to think about their whole day and identify where screens take over. Once you spot those patterns, you can replace them with something more meaningful,” Louth Als said.

In the office, she suggests people turn off their email notifications and only look at emails when they’re ready to answer them.

“Otherwise, they cause stress,” she said. “When you read an email but don’t answer it, your brain uses energy thinking about it and remembering to answer it later. Too many small tasks like this cause stress.”

McGuirk said, “I regularly do digital detoxes and restrict my digital engagement. … I am much happier when my digital engagement is both quantitatively reduced and qualitatively improved.”

Bach also takes a quarterly 48 hour break from all devices, which allows him to come back feeling “grounded and ready to deeply connect with others and myself.”

Oliver said, “When I take time off my phone, I notice how quiet life actually is. My thoughts clear, and I start paying attention to the world again.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 21:45

Man Stabbed In Broad Daylight In Times Square Collapses While Yelling “Save The Children”

0
Man Stabbed In Broad Daylight In Times Square Collapses While Yelling “Save The Children”

Zohran Mamdani’s election is already making Manhattan safer…and more sane. A man believed to be homeless was stabbed twice in Times Square in broad daylight on Saturday, then staggered around shouting “save the children” as he bled heavily, according to the NY Post

The 30-year-old was attacked around 11:40 a.m. outside 1501 Broadway near West 44th Street, where a suspect stabbed him in the left ribs and arm.

A nearby vendor said the victim, shirtless and bleeding from the chest, kept yelling after being wounded.

He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition but was described as “highly uncooperative,” leaving police unsure of the motive. The attacker fled and was last seen wearing a black jacket and dark pants. Blood was left pooled on the sidewalk outside the Raising Cane’s restaurant in the middle of Times Square.

The Post writes that according to NYPD data, felony assaults in the 14th Precinct are up 1% this year, rising to 476 from 471.

Felony assaults are down 0.2% citywide, and major crime has fallen 3% compared with this time last year, according to NYPD data.

But with new Mayor-elect Mamdani’s well-known anti-police stance, the stability of that trend is far from guaranteed — and who knows how long any decline will last. Our guess: probably not long.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 18:00

ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

0
ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched an initiative aimed at protecting 450,000 unaccompanied children (UAC) who were illegally smuggled into the United States, and then placed with unvetted sponsors during the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Nov. 14.

A migrant child awaits to be processed by Border Patrol agents in Otay Mesa, Calif., on Feb. 29, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

ICE is carrying out the UAC Safety Verification Initiative in partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies under the 287(g) program, DHS said. The 287(g) program allows local and state law enforcement to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law.

The primary focus of the initiative will be to carry out welfare checks on nearly half a million children to ensure they are living safely and are not subject to any exploitation, DHS said.

The department blamed the Biden administration’s open border policies for having “empowered” human and sex traffickers and stated that the Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” to such trafficking rings.

Between Jan. 21 and Oct. 31 this year, there were 106,134 total enforcement encounters along the southwest border compared to the monthly average of 155,485 encounters under President Joe Biden, according to a DHS statement on Nov. 5.

The UAC Safety Verification initiative kicked off on Nov. 10 in Florida and will soon roll out to other parts of the country, DHS said in its recent statement.

Among the many sponsors already arrested by ICE for criminal activity are a Honduran immigrant sponsor from Florida who has been convicted by state authorities for assault, a Guatemalan sponsor from Georgia convicted of domestic violence by authorities, and an El Salvadoran sponsor from Michigan who was convicted of drug trafficking.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is “leading efforts to rescue and stop the exploitation of the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden administration lost or placed with unvetted sponsors. Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said that the Trump administration has so far located over 24,400 of these children across the country.

We’ve jumpstarted our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children,” McLaughlin said.

An August 2024 report from the DHS Office of Inspector General found that 323,000 illegal immigrant children were unaccounted for in the country.

As of May 2024, this included more than 32,000 children who were served notices to appear in court but failed to do so. In addition, the safety of an additional 291,000 children could not be verified, according to the report.

The Trump administration has faced legal challenges regarding illegal unaccompanied minors.

In October, advocacy groups American Immigration Council and the National Immigrant Justice Center filed an emergency motion in court, seeking to enforce a 2021 ruling that prohibits ICE from transferring unaccompanied immigrant children to adult detention centers once they hit the age of 18, according to an Oct. 4 statement from the council.

When unaccompanied children enter the country, they are initially placed in shelters operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and later released to family members or vetted sponsors and not ICE’s detention centers, the council said, adding that “these policies recognize that children need care and support, not punishment.”

Locking up these young people in ICE jails rife with overcrowding and hazardous conditions, and far from their support systems, does nothing to make our communities safer; it only inflicts more harm on vulnerable youth,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the council, said. The emergency request was granted by the court.

According to ICE, its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is tasked with managing the civil immigration detention system. ICE clarified that it does not detain unaccompanied children except in certain rare instances.

The responsibilities regarding the care and custody of these minors lie with the ORR, an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, it said.

“In accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, ERO coordinates closely with inter-departmental partners to ensure the timely and safe transfer of unaccompanied alien children from DHS to HHS ORR custody,” the agency said.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 17:40

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

0
Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Building on Tucker Carlson’s reporting about President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, and what increasingly appears to be a major FBI cover-up of Crooks’ political leanings and far-left radicalization, a new New York Post investigation reveals even more disturbing details, including a strange “furry” obsession strikingly similar to that of Charlie Kirk’s suspected shooter. 

Sixteen months after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Carlson dropped bombshells of Crook’s online history, including dozens of social media posts that show the young man was radicalized in just a few short years to a radical leftist who apparently had a weird obsession with furry culture

Here’s more color on NYPost’s reporting of Crooks’ furry fetish:

When told of Crooks’ online threats, he said there was no way the FBI would not be aware of the teenager.

Among the 17 accounts uncovered by our source, only one, on PayPal, was operated under an alias: “Rod Swanson.”

Rod Swanson is a former senior FBI agent who was the chief of investigations for the state of Nevada during the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

. . . 

“No matter how ridiculous the allegation, no matter if it’s COVID or not, somebody is going to knock on somebody’s door,” Swanson said. “If they investigated that kid there’s a record of it and there’s an assessment that some leader made that this was not a threat or it rose to a level and they did something else.”

He also said that “if the FBI had that information [about his name on the PayPal account], I can’t even imagine they would not have reached out to me right away.”

. . .

He described himself with the pronouns “they/them” on the platform DeviantArt, which is one of the biggest online hubs for “furry” art and the “furry” community. (A furry is someone who has an interest in anthropomorphized animal characters, often as a sexual fetish.)

. . .

Two accounts linked to Crooks’ primary email were found on DeviantArt, under usernames “epicmicrowave” and “theepicmicrowave.” The account suggests he had an obsession with scantily clad cartoon characters sporting muscle-bound male bodies and female heads.

What’s especially troubling is that Crooks’ radicalization, along with his embrace of furry culture and gender-identity experimentation, reflects the same pattern of behavior seen in Charlie Kirk’s accused shooter, Tyler Robinson.

On Friday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) made a bold claim during an interview with Benny Johnson, saying, “Crooks was groomed by the CIA through MKUltra-style mind-control programs and dark intelligence operations for the sole purpose of taking out President Trump in Butler, PA.

Related: 

The real question we should all be asking:

  • What in the world is happening to America’s kids?

  • How are they being radicalized online in such a short span of time?

  • What is triggering young people to carry out such heinous acts driven by what can only be described as a kind of nihilistic accelerationism?

Mike Benz warns: “something in the water…” 

Right. 

Even the Deep State-controlled media outlet The Atlantic had to point out “Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise.” 

The bigger question is, why did the FBI cover up Crooks? It becomes incredibly apparent by now.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 17:20

Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users’ Private Communications

0
Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users’ Private Communications

Authored by Lear Zhou via The Epoch Times,

Google LLC is accused in a civil lawsuit of using its artificial intelligence program Gemini to collect data on users’ private communications in Gmail as well as Google’s instant messaging and video conference programs.

Until around Oct. 10, the Gemini AI assistant required the user to deliberately opt into its feature. After that date, the feature was allegedly “secretly” turned on by Google for all its users’ Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts by default, enabling AI to track its users’ private data in those platforms “without the users’ knowledge or consent,” according to the complaint filed Nov. 11 in federal court in San Jose.

The class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Google is violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law that prohibits surreptitious wiretapping and recording of confidential communications without the consent of all parties involved.

Although Google provides a way for users to turn off the feature, it requires users to look for it in the privacy settings to deactivate it, despite never having agreed to it in the first place, the complaint said.

The AI feature is categorized in “Google Workspace smart features” in Google settings. Once turned on, it means the user consents to the program using “Workspace content and activity” across Workspace or in other Google products.

When the feature is turned on, Gemini can “scan, read, and analyze every email (and email attachment), message, and conversation on those services,” according to the complaint.

Technology writer Ruben Circelli wrote in a PCMag article that Gemini is “downright creepy” in diving deep into his personal history, analyzing 16 years’ worth of emails after he signed up for a more advanced pro feature.

In a series of tests by Circelli, Gemini told him one of his character flaws and even knew who his first crush was in elementary school.

“This invasion of privacy wasn’t just disconcerting, though; it was unexpected,” Circelli wrote.

“Google didn’t explain what this integration would do before I signed up for its AI Pro plan, nor did it give me a way to opt out at the start.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Google for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

“We do not use your Workspace data to train or improve the underlying generative AI and large language models that power Gemini, Search, and other systems outside of Workspace without permission,” the company has stated.

Thomas Thele, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated in the complaint that he suspected his private information, such as medical records, employment records, religious and political affiliations and activities, and more has already been exposed to Gemini.

“The data from these communications enables Google to cross-reference and conduct unlimited analysis toward unmerited, improper, and monetizable insights into users’ private lives, including their social, professional, and other relationships,” the court file states.

In late October, Google agreed to pay $1.37 billion to settle multiple lawsuits with the state of Texas. The lawsuits alleged that the company violated residents’ privacy rights through location tracking, biometric identifiers, and other means.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 17:00

US Designates Venezuela’s “Cartel Of The Suns” As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

0
US Designates Venezuela’s “Cartel Of The Suns” As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday that the State Department would be designating the so-called Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” – though many analysts and reporters have questioned whether the group actually exists.

“Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary,” the official US statement said. “Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government.”

Via Associated Press

At a moment of unprecedented US military build-up off Venezuela, including the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group, Rubio’s statement laid out, “Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.”

But AntiWar.com’s Dave DeCamp outlines the case for skepticism:

The term “Cartel of the Suns” was first used in the 1990s, before Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power, to describe two Venezuelan military generals with sun insignias on their uniforms who were involved in the drug trade. One of the generals was working with the CIA at the time, according to a 1993 60 Minutes report.

Today, the term is used to describe Venezuelan military and government officials who allegedly profit from drug trafficking, but the Cartel of the Suns doesn’t exist as a structured organization.

And according to the investigative source, InSight Crime, quoted in AFP: “Rather than a hierarchical organization with Maduro directing drug trafficking strategies, the Cartel of the Suns is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers.” Further: 

Yet in March, the latest US State Department report on global anti-drug operations made no mention of the “Cartel de los Soles” or any connection between Maduro and narco trafficking.

Typically mainstream media parrots whatever US national security officials say when it comes to Venezuela or any other ‘official enemy’; however, there’s lately been a surprising degree of MSM pushback on the “Cartel of the Suns” moniker…

Trump admin officials spent the weekend in media interviews also resurrecting the “Hezbollah in Latin America” threat, a talking point which hearkens back to when Mike Pompeo was Secretary of State during Trump’s first term.

Currently Hezbollah and Iran are alleged to be colluding with alleged Venezuelan narco-trafficking in a vast global plot, but which as usual comes without much or any in the way of concrete evidence. While Hezbollah and Iran may have at one time been active in establishing working relationships in this region, the current reality is that Hezbollah’s leadership was decimated starting last year in the war with Israel, and Iran too finds itself on a backfoot facing multiple crises at home.

Neither entity is likely capable of currently projecting power in the Caribbean region or stands to gain much by provoking Washington’s wrath, especially with such a large American force presence. 

This weekend also saw a second round of US military exercises based out of American regional ally Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the drills as “irresponsible.”

“The government of Trinidad and Tobago has once again announced irresponsible exercises, lending its waters off the coast of Sucre state for military exercises that are intended to be threatening to a republic like Venezuela, which does not allow itself to be threatened by anyone,” Maduro said from Caracas.

The so-called Cartel de los Soles is a concept that is so loose that it simply encompasses the Venezuelan state leadership itself..

Via The Sun

His government has further announce a “massive” retaliatory deployment as the US carrier group arrived. This involves a large civilian militia force being put on high alert, though these are mostly unarmed and untrained local citizens.

As for the “Cartel of the Suns” designation, it is scheduled to go into effect on November 24. “Once the designation takes effect, all property and interests in property belonging to the named individuals or entities that fall under US jurisdiction will be blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC),” one international media source explains. “Entities owned 50% or more — directly or indirectly — by one or more blocked persons will also be subject to the same restrictions.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 16:40

Judge Says ‘Government Misconduct’ By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

0
Judge Says ‘Government Misconduct’ By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

A federal magistrate judge on Monday said that “government misconduct” may have tainted the DOJ’s case against former FBI Director James Comey, and has ordered prosecutors to turn over records of secret grand jury proceedings to Comey’s defense counsel as they seek to dismiss the false-statement and obstruction-of-Congress charges pending against him in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

“The Court recognizes this is an extraordinary remedy,” wrote judge William Fitzpatrick in a 24-page opinion. “but given the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government’s conduct and the prospect that government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of grand jury materials under these unique circumstances is necessary.”

The decision came after Fitzpatrick personally reviewed records of the grand jury proceedings that led up to Comey’s Sept. 25 indictment on charges that he lied to Congress in 2020. The indictment was signed by lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan – who Trump picked for the job, and who was installed by AG Pam Bondi after other prosecutors resisted pursuing the Comey case. 

Fitzpatrick accused the DOJ of flouting attorney-client privilege and potential “fundamental misstatements of law” – and also noted unexplained irregularities in the grand jury transcript. 

Specifically, the judge laid out a timeline of the day the two-count indictment of Comey was handed up, noting that Halligan claimed to the court that she last had contact with the grand jury at 4:28 p.m., while the panelists were deliberating.

However, the grand jury rejected one additional count against the former top lawman, necessitating prosecutors to draw up a second indictment for Halligan to sign. 

The interim US attorney’s declaration stated that she learned that one count had been rejected at 6:40 p.m. and the hearing on the return of the indictment began seven minutes later. –NY Post

Based on timing evidence, Fitzpatrick finds it nearly impossible that the prosecution team:

  • Learned of the grand jury’s vote,

  • Drafted a new indictment,

  • Presented it to the grand jury, and

  • Received a vote in the 7–12 minute window before it was filed in court.

“The short time span between the moment the prosecutor learned that the grand jury rejected one count in the original indictment and the time the prosecutor appeared in court to return the second indictment could not have been sufficient to draft the second indictment, sign the second indictment, present it to the grand jury, provide legal instructions to the grand jury, and give them an opportunity to deliberate and render a decision on the new indictment,” Fitzpatrick wrote. 

If the prosecutor is mistaken about the time she received notification of the grand jury’s vote on the original indictment, and this procedure did take place, then the transcript and audio recording provided to the Court are incomplete,” he added. “If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory in that the indictment returned in open court was not the same charging document presented to and deliberated upon by the grand jury … and provides another genuine issue the defense may raise to challenge the manner in which the government obtained the indictment.”

Warrants Under Scruitny

Fitzpatrick also criticized prosecutors’ handling of four search warrants executed by the FBI in 2019 and 2020 as part of the bureau’s Arctic Haze probe into how classified information was leaked from Comey’s FBI to news outlets.

The warrants targeted Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor and friend of Comey – and sought information from Richman’s iPhone, iPad, iCloud account and hard drive. 

According to Fitzpatrick, while the government allowed Columbia, Richman and his attorney to identify privileged content among those devices and iCloud account, they “never engaged Mr. Comey in this process even though it knew that Mr. Richman represented Mr. Comey as his attorney as of May 9, 2017, and three of the four Richman Warrants authorized the government to search Mr. Richman’s devices through May 30, 2017, 21 days after an attorney-client relationship had been formed.”

Will Comey get off scot-free?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 15:40

“People Love It”: Trump Talking To Dems About ‘Direct Payment’ Health Care Plans

0
“People Love It”: Trump Talking To Dems About ‘Direct Payment’ Health Care Plans

President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he’s spoken with congressional Democrats about a plan to hand people cash that they can use to purchase their own health insurance

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One as he departs for Florida from Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Oct. 31, 2025. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

I’ve had personal talks with some Democrats,” Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach, FL before returning to DC, adding that he talked to the dems “about paying large amounts of dollars back to the people.

Trump appears to be talking about a plan floated by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) – chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who want to overhaul Obamacare by creating individual accounts that would direct money to people rather than insurance companies. Last week Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he supports the idea. 

“People love it,” Trump said of the idea. “The insurance companies are making a fortune. Their stock is up over a thousand percent over a short period of time. They are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not really putting it back, certainly not like they should.”

When asked about the idea, Trump told Ingraham that he wants “the money to go into an account for people where the people buy their own health insurance.”

“The insurance will be better. It’ll cost less. Everybody’s going to be happy. They’re going to feel like entrepreneurs,” he told the host, adding that the plan could be called “Trumpcare,” while slamming Obamacare over skyrocketing premiums in recent years

Democrats made extending an enhanced ACA (Obamacare) credit central to their refusal to reopen the government earlier this month – refusing to go along with a short-term spending bill that didn’t include that priority until they ultimately caved after Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised them a December vote on the matter. 

A group of eight Democrats then cut a deal with Republicans to reopen the government without winning a concession from the GOP to extend the subsidies.

Retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), one of the eight, has led negotiations between a group of 10-12 Republicans and Democrats, but many GOP senators say they are opposed to the premium subsidies. A Senate aide familiar with the negotiations told The Hill that roughly 20 Democratic offices have put out feelers on a potential deal to extend the subsidies. -The Hill

Will ‘Trumpcare’ render that moot?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 15:20