Putin’s senior aide Nikolai Patrushev gave an interview to Arguments and Facts about Japan on the 80th anniversary of its unilateral surrender in World War II in early September that’s important to raise wider awareness of after the appointment of its new ultra-nationalist prime minister. He began by reminding everyone that “Tokyo zealously cultivated an open racism that surpassed German Nazism in its absurdity and inhumanity. And the sovereignty of other countries was considered an empty phrase there.”
Patrushev then touched upon Imperial Japan’s failed geopolitical plot to turn the Sea of Japan into an inland sea and even seize Kamchatka so as “to gain undivided possession of the Sea of Okhotsk” too. He assessed that Japan’s current campaign for “’justice’ on the issue of the so-called ‘northern territories’” is just a disguise for a similar plot to obtain control over new marine (seafood and mineral) resources. Patrushev accordingly warned that it’s planning to make new claims to Russian maritime territory.
The emerging trend of misportraying Imperial Japan as the “victim” of Soviet aggression in 1945, despite the Allies having agreed in advance that the USSR would open up the Manchurian Front three months after the Nazis’ defeat, is meant to lend false legitimacy to these claims. This threat shouldn’t be downplayed, Patrushev warned, since Japan’s “Self-Defense Forces” de facto function as national armed forces, are NATO-backed, and are “systematically building a powerful and ultra-modern submarine fleet”.
In his words, “Japan is one of the most powerful naval powers in the world today. Its fleet is capable of solving almost any task even in remote areas of the World Ocean. The Japanese Navy closely cooperates with the NATO fleet, and at any moment they can be integrated into Western coalition formats.” Even more concerning are Japan’s nuclear breakthrough capabilities: “it is capable of creating its own nuclear arsenal and means of delivery in a few years” if the decision is made, according to Patrushev.
Nevertheless, these threats shouldn’t be exaggerated either since Russia is “building up defensive potential in the Far East and strengthening our naval power in the Pacific Ocean”, thus meaning that it’s more than capable of defending itself from Japan. Rather, “The threat lies not so much in the destroyers and missiles, but in the fact that the national consciousness of the Japanese is shifting from pacifism to rabid revanchism”, which he attributed to a long-running “aggressive propaganda” campaign.
The purpose is to precondition the population to accept the risks associated with Japan more actively advancing US interests in the region via the “Squad” (those two, Australia, and the Philippines), which is envisaged as the core of AUKUS+, the US’ desired NATO-like regional analogue. Japan’s place in the US’ Chinese Containment Coalition just rose as a result of the unexpected Sino-Indo rapprochement, prior to which the US wanted India to play a complementary role, so Japan is now at the forefront of this effort.
The trend is that New Cold War’s focus is shifting from US-led NATO’s containment of Russia in Europe to US-led AUKUS+’s containment of China in Asia, all while the TRIPP Corridor injects Western influence into the Eurasian Heartland to stir trouble for both. India’s Pakistani rival is also poised to play a supportive role on the Central Asian front if tensions with the Taliban abate.
Altogether, Poland, Japan, Turkiye, and possibly Pakistan are now the US’ top containment allies, which isn’t lost on Russia, India, and China.
Virginia Governor Declares Emergency Over Looming Loss Of SNAP Benefits; USDA Warns Funds Running Out
USDA Warns It Can’t Use Contingency Funds To Cover SNAP In November
The federal government shutdown entered Day 25 on Saturday, with cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket showing odds in the single digits that Democrats and Republicans will reach a resolution before November 3. The market currently assigns a 15% probability that the shutdown will end between November 12 and 15.
We have warned readers of the potential for major disruptions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if the federal government remains closed. Betting odds markets and limited political chatter in the Capitol Beltway this weekend (so far) suggest a resolution to the shutdown remains muted for next week.
In 2025, around 42 million people relied on SNAP benefits, which accounted for 12% of the population. This is more than enough people to create chaos should SNAP funds run dry in the coming weeks.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned:
Due to Congressional Democrats’ refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), approximately 42 million individuals will not receive their SNAP benefits come November 1
The USDA states that SNAP’s contingency fund cannot legally be used for regular monthly benefits during a lapse in appropriations. That fund is intended for emergencies such as Disaster SNAP after hurricanes or floods, not to replace missing federal funding. The agency also warned that shifting money from other food programs would undermine school meals and WIC (infant formula and nutrition support), adding that states cannot step in to front the money, because SNAP benefits are fully federally funded and there is no legal way for states to be reimbursed.
The ongoing government shutdown will cause low-income residents in the state to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits starting Nov. 1 if lawmakers are unable to reach an agreement to pass a budget bill and reopen the government.
Over 850,000 residents in the state could lose benefits, according to the governor, a Republican, who blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
“This is an extraordinary action and is only necessary because of the shamelessness of congressional Democrats,” Youngkin said in a statement.
The declaration allows Youngkin to spend state emergency funds to protect the “health, welfare, and safety of Virginians,” according to the governor.
Virginia’s poverty rate is about 10 percent, according to the latest census. The national rate is 12.4 percent.
The federal nutrition program provides monthly payments to eligible low-income households, allowing them to buy food. The average monthly payment is about $332 per household, with most living at or below the poverty level. Households with children receive an average of $574 per month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Four out of five households that receive SNAP payments include either a child, an elderly person, or someone with a disability, the USDA reported.
Other states have also taken emergency action over the looming loss of SNAP funds.
California announced Wednesday that the state was fast-tracking up to $80 million in state funds and deploying the National Guard and state volunteers to support food banks during the shutdown. About 5.5 million Californians are expected to lose SNAP benefits in November.
“This is serious, this is urgent—and requires immediate action,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said on Oct. 22 that he has requested that state lawmakers consider using up to $10 million of the state’s general fund to support food banks and pantries.
Multiple states have also warned SNAP holders they need to prepare to lose benefits next month.
In Washington on Thursday, the Senate failed to pass a bill to pay U.S. troops and active federal workers during the shutdown. The Republican-led “Shutdown Fairness Act” failed on a cloture vote of 54–45, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
The SNAP program is set to change Nov. 1. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July, recipient work requirements will apply to adults 18 to 65, unless they are unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation. Other changes to exemptions will also apply.
Despite calls for many Democratic politicians and pundits to temper their inflammatory rhetoric, this week has proven a further escalation in this dangerous form of rage rhetoric.
DNC Chair Ken Martin just told MSNBC’s “The Beat” that “we may be nearing” the moment when “elections don’t matter and then the resistance looks completely different.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on people to “forcefully rise up.”
With political violence on the rise, these leaders are clearly fueling the mob in hopes that they and their party can ride the wave of rage back into power.
History suggests that it is a foolish delusion. Today’s revolutionaries quickly become tomorrow’s reactionaries.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who pictures himself brandishing a baseball bat has previously called upon people to “fight in the streets.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom previously declared, “I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.”
In his podcast with co-host Al Hunt, James Carville was again spewing unhinged hate. He returned to treating Trump and others as Nazis and their supporters as “collaborators.” I previously criticized Carville for that analogy. He later attacked me.
Doubling down, Carville declared
“You know what we do with collaborators? I think these corporations, my fantasy dream is that this nightmare ends in 2029 and I think we ought to have radical things. I think they all ought to have their heads shaven, they should be put in orange pajamas and they should be marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and the public should be invited to spit on them.”
To be sure that his menacing words were not lost, he then added “The universities, the corporations, the law firms, all of these collaborators should be shaved, pajamaed and spit on.”
There was no later push back by his co-host Hunt or anyone else associated with the podcast.
[ZH: Carville later ratcheted up the Trump hysteria with a full-blown doomer meltdown, raging that Trump “hates the United States” and that Americans should be living in fear.
“You have to be scared…there is no hope…there is fear…I know I’m an old man, but I’m one scared dude.”]
James Carville ratchets up Trump hysteria, has full blown doomer meltdown: Rages that Trump “hates the United States” and that Americans should be living in fear.
“You have to be scared…there is no hope…there is fear…I know I’m an old man, but I’m one scared dude.”… pic.twitter.com/TbLob8cbsc
As one of those Carville has already attacked, I expect he has a haircut and public humiliation in mind for me and a significant number of others deemed insufficiently committed to the resistance.
Even with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the attempts on Trump and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, these politicians and pundits are still fueling the madness. Even with the sniper attack on ICE officers, they are still calling these law enforcement officers “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”
“What few today want to admit is that they like it. They like the freedom that it affords, the ability to hate and harass without a sense of responsibility. It is evident all around us as people engage in language and conduct that they repudiate in others. We have become a nation of rage addicts, flailing against anyone or anything that stands in opposition to our own truths. Like all addictions, there is not only a dependency on rage but an intolerance for opposing views. … Indeed, to voice free speech principles in a time of rage is to invite the rage of the mob.”
The appearance of guillotines has become commonplace in left-wing protests. From protests against Trump to those against Israel, the symbol of the Terror is being rolled out as a warning to those with opposing views: “We got the guillotine, youbetterrun.”
It is the ultimate expression of an age of rage. There is no question that it is protected speech. However, it is part of what I have called “rage rhetoric,” and it is meant to inflame others. It suggests that the only solution to these issues is what the French called “the razor of the Republic.”
In the French Revolution, the irony is that those who turned the guillotine into the symbol of revolution were themselves beheaded on the same platforms. Robespierre and others would ultimately be dispatched in the same atmosphere of rage and revelry.
As my new book discusses, most revolutions are driven by establishment figures who seek to capitalize on the wave of popular rage to gain power. We are seeing that today with many Democratic leaders using rage rhetoric to appeal to the far extremes of their political bases.
In the end, today’s pseudo-revolutionaries are likely to find themselves tomorrow’s reactionaries. Leading mobs is rarely a safe place to be as more radical elements take hold of a movement. The result is an inexorable pattern that runs throughout history as revolution devours its own.
* * * YOU CLEANED US OUT OF CREATINE (resupply in two weeks)
US Slaps Extensive Sanctions On Colombian President & Family Over Narco-Trade
Amid an ongoing verbal spat and back-and-forth between Washington and Bogotá, the United States on Friday announced extensive sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, along with his family and a senior cabinet minister.
The Trump White House has accused the Colombian administration of enabling drug cartels and facilitating narcotics trafficking to North America, at a moment of immense US military build-up near Venezuela and Latin America.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that ever since Petro took office in 2022, “cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest level in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans.”
He hailed Trump’s “decisive action to protect our nation” which sends “a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated.”
The sanctions also target First Lady Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García, Petro’s son Nicolás, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti – all alleged to be the Colombian leader’s “accomplices.”
American citizens and companies are now effectively barred from doing any business with these listed entities, and they will also see any assets held in the US frozen.
Petro has loudly denounced and rejected the accusations against his country, saying he’s long aggressively fought the significant drug trade in his country.
The NY Times notes that a rise in illegal drugs out of the country has been a trend which began before Petro took office, though the cocaine trade has continued to worsen under his leadership.
“The cultivation of coca, the base product in cocaine, has soared since Mr. Petro took office in 2022. It also soared under his predecessor, Iván Duque, a conservative and close ally of Washington Republicans,” the publication writes.
“In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would cooperate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy wouldn’t mean a thing to us.”
-Former CIA Agent Philip Agee
‘In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would cooperate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy wouldn’t mean a thing to us’
Mr. Petro, a leftist, is one of few leaders in Latin America who have been vocal in their criticism of Mr. Trump’s decision to bomb boats carrying people his administration says are drug traffickers. The bombings have killed dozens of people, and Mr. Petro has said that Colombians have been among them and has accused the United States of committing murder.
Mr. Trump has responded by calling Mr. Petro “an illegal drug leader” and said that he would cut off aid to Colombia. About $377 million was designated to Colombia in the 2024 fiscal year, according to the Congressional Research Service. About a third of that money is meant for law enforcement and narcotics control.
But when it comes to the many decades-long so-called ‘war on drugs’ – there’s plenty of blame to go around. The CIA has at times even participated in it at times, to raise funds for the Nicaragua Contras in the 1980s, for example.
Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to record high rates, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans. President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, President Trump is… https://t.co/8ONvbFFPFr
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 24, 2025
Days ago the US for the first time attacked alleged drug smuggling boats on the Pacific side of South America for the first time, suggesting these operations could geographically expand at any time.
US Says First Day Of China Trade Talks “Very Constructive”
Amid mounting trade war tensions which saw the market suffer its biggest drop since April two weeks ago following a post on Trump’s Truth Social in which he threatened a fresh surge in Chinese tariffs over its retaliation with rare earth minerals, the latest round of talks between the two superpowers in Malaysia started off on the right foot after the US said it held “very constructive” discussions with China as President Donald Trump began his trip to the region including a meeting with the Chinese leader next week.
As Bloomberg reports, Chinese and American officials met in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for a new round of talks aimed at defusing a standoff between the world’s two largest economies. A spokesperson for the US Treasury gave a brief description of the exchange and said it will resume Sunday.
The Chinese delegation made no public remarks after the 5.5-hour-long meeting at Merdeka 118, the world’s second-tallest building. Vice Premier He Lifeng led the Chinese side and was joined by Trade Representative Li Chenggang and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent headed the US team.
As a reminder, two weeks ago, when the trade relations between the two countries suddenly collapsed, Bessent lashed out at Chenggang calling him “unhinged”, as he announced the US is planning “price floors” and “forward buying” to prevent future supply chain disruptions by Beijing’s export controls. Bessent made the remarks five days after President Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods in response to Beijing’s rules requiring companies to seek permission to export products made with rare-earth or critical minerals, reducing the flow of batteries, magnets and semiconductors to the US.
Bessent revealed more of the backstory behind China’s surprise rule changes announced Oct. 9, claiming that the bellicose Li Chenggang “showed up uninvited” in DC on Aug. 28 and threatened that “China would unleash chaos on the global system” if the US didn’t abandon docking fees for Chinese ships.
“There was a lower level trade person who was slightly unhinged here in August … threatening, saying China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees on Chinese ships, and this is something they clearly were planning all along,” Bessent said during CNBC’s “Invest in America” forum.
We expect many questions why China decided to deploy Chenggang again, knowing well it would antagonize the US Treasury Secretary, unless of course that was its intention.
Bessent and He, a longtime associate of Xi, face the task of negotiating down new escalatory measures imposed by their countries against one another. They are also setting the stage for expected talks on Thursday between Xi and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in South Korea.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he and Xi have “a lot of things to discuss” and expects both sides to make compromises, although he won’t put odds on getting a deal.
“They have to make concessions. I guess we would too. We’re at 157% tariff for them. I don’t think that’s sustainable for them, and they want to get that down, and we want certain things from them,” Trump said Friday on his way to Asia.
Asked what odds he would put on imposing the additional 100% levies on China, Trump said: “I don’t know. I have no odds. I don’t think they would want that. It would not be good for them. I wouldn’t like to see it.”
The US president will meet with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday to discuss trade, investment and security. Bloomberg News previously reported he looks to sign economic agreements and critical minerals deals with trading partners during the trip, the first to the region during his second term.
Ahead of his meeting with Xi, Trump said he wants to extend a pause on higher tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing resuming American soybean purchases, cracking down on fentanyl and backing off restrictions on rare-earth exports. Earlier in October, Trump lashed out against Beijing’s vow to broaden controls on rare-earth elements, raising the prospect of setting a sky-high tariff rate on Chinese goods and even canceling his first in-person meeting with Xi since he returned to the White House this year. His comments sparked a painful if short selloff.
At stake is a trade truce that’s set to run out on Nov. 10 unless extended. Months of tentative stability in the US-China relationship have been upended in recent weeks after Washington broadened some tech restrictions and proposed levies on Chinese ships entering US ports.
China responded with parallel moves and outlined tighter export controls on rare earths and other critical materials. On Monday, the Ministry of Commerce convened an unusually large meeting in Beijing with foreign businesses, in an effort to reassure them that its latest export controls aren’t meant to restrict normal trade.
The global ripples of China’s export controls underscore how the trade war has injected uncertainty into the world economy and trade. Chinese shipments to Southeast Asia and the European Union have jumped this year as US tariffs soared, which may pressure local manufacturers.
After meeting south-east Asian leaders in Malaysia on Sunday, Trump will fly to Japan to meet Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister.
In a post on X on Saturday, Takaichi said that she had held a “good and candid” with Trump. Takaichi, who became prime minister this week, added that she would seek to strengthen Japan’s alliance with the US.
Had a good and candid conversation with @realDonaldTrump today and truly appreciated his warm congratulatory message on my appointment as Prime Minister. Together with him, I am determined to elevate the Japan–U.S. Alliance to even greater heights.
On Friday, she announced plans to increase Tokyo’s defence spending, in a move that analysts said would give her scope to pledge further expansion of the military budget during Trump’s visit.
Speaking at the Mount Fuji Dialogue forum in Tokyo on Saturday, US ambassador to Japan George Glass said Trump was visiting Japan “at a time of rising tensions in the region”.
“This is a very tough neighbourhood,” Glass said. “The US-Japan alliance and our partners face determined and dangerous adversaries, adversaries that will do whatever it takes to undermine our alliance and weaken our regional partnerships.”
The data are in: The United States is getting older and welcoming fewer babies. This decades-long phenomenon is creating a demographic squeeze that some anticipate will affect nearly every aspect of the nation’s economy and infrastructure over the next couple of decades.
“I see a total reshuffling of our economy and society, brought about by historic demographic turnover,” regenerative medicine specialist Dr. David Ghozland told The Epoch Times.
In a report for the American Enterprise Institute, economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde called falling U.S. fertility rates “the true economic challenge of [the] time.”
The number of adults aged 65 and older is forecast to hit 82 million by 2050 and will make up 23 percent of the population, according to the Population Reference Bureau. That is a 42 percent increase from 58 million people aged 65 and older in 2022.
Meanwhile, the general fertility rate—the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age—has dropped to record lows. The North American rate plummeted from 3.1 in 1950 to 1.6 in 2023, according to a McKinsey Global Institute analysis published in January.
Ghozland said he believes that this population inversion will force structural changes at the budget and care level, potentially leading to what he called a “cruel choice” in the next 10 years.
“We will experience a regulated destruction of safety nets such as Medicare,” he said, calling the rapidly aging population the “primary political and economic competition of [the] era.”
Health Care Upheaval
Ghozland said he is already seeing a dramatic change in the health care industry.
“We are currently observing the boom of the longevity business, which is going to become a multibillion-dollar industry exceeding 30 trillion [dollars] that will integrate biotech, wellness, and regenerative medicine,” he said.
Medicine and wellness care focused on supporting longevity is no longer a niche industry, according to Ghozland. However, he said this new economic driver in the health care sector hides a “great threat.”
Ghozland said that population inversion, aside from putting more pressure on existing U.S. health care resources, will lead to the long-term disintegration of the “social contract.”
Aspen Economic Strategy Group Director Melissa S. Kearney wrote in a September 2024 essay for The Dispatch: “We should not blithely declare that falling birth rates are of no real consequence, or even something to be celebrated. An increasingly aging and childless culture poses problems for individuals, families, and nations.”
Staffing shortages within the health care sector are already creating challenges. A recent AAG Health report on staffing statistics stated that the United States is already short 500,000 nurses this year, with a 10 percent shortage projected to last through 2027. Based on current industry trends, the United States could face a dearth of 3.2 million health care workers by 2026.
In a 2024 study published in the journal Aging, researchers said the health care system, as it stands, is “underprepared for the onslaught of demands this aging population will impose.”
In his work in reproductive care, Ghozland has seen the other side of the U.S. population inversion.
“There is a greater social-psychological cause of declining birth rates that I term ‘procreative dissonance,’” he said.
“My patients maintain the optimal levels of health and are biologically young even in their 40s. This creates a robust yet untrue feeling of suspended biological time, which comes into conflict with the fixed timetable of female ovarian aging.”
Ghozland said he believes that this contradiction—between readiness to have children and the biological window of time in which to have them—is “a dividing line” that prevents many couples from starting a family. Data also support his observation.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed a decline in birth rates among females in the 15 to 34 age category, while women in the 40 to 44 age category showed an increase in births. This tracks with the established national trend of declining teenage pregnancies, which fell by 28 percent between 1990 and 2002.
Moreover, some evidence suggests that adults are not simply waiting longer to have children; many are opting out of parenthood entirely. A 2024 Pew study reports that the number of adults younger than 50 without children who say they are “unlikely to ever have kids” rose by 10 percent between 2018 and 2023.
While some researchers say the dangers of this demographic shift are overstated, others believe that it will have a massive effect on the economy.
The McKinsey analysis stated that younger generations will inherit “lower economic growth and shoulder the cost of more retirees, while the traditional flow of wealth between generations erodes.”
At the same time, according to analysts, nations, including the United States, need to raise fertility rates to avoid a passive “depopulation.”
Economists and the Social Security Administration have warned for years that more beneficiaries and fewer people paying into the program will make it insolvent. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, in a 2022 report, stated that by 2034, Social Security costs will exceed Social Security revenue to the tune of $437 billion.
Labor Market Transformation
The labor market will also undergo a drastic transformation as fewer people enter the workforce over the next several decades. Meanwhile, adults are choosing to work longer into what traditionally would have been their retirement years. Some are even reentering the job market.
“It’s not so much the average age of the population that will be … important, [but rather] the average age of the workforce,” Scott Siff, CEO of Pivoters, told The Epoch Times. Pivoters helps match job seekers older than 55 with employers seeking talent.
“At the moment, there are around 110 million people in the population over 55, and only about 37 percent are working,” Siff said. “But 74 percent of them want to be working.”
Figures vary, but the number of U.S. adults older than 55 is estimated to be near 103 million, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
“The biggest change we can look for is that the entire concept of retirement will change dramatically, and perhaps fade away entirely,” Siff said.
Siff said he believes that as overall population growth begins to slow, millions of adults older than 55 will start reentering the workforce en masse—and only partially because of lack of retirement savings.
While they need to work for financial reasons, “increasingly, they also want to work because of the dramatic positive impacts work has on longevity, happiness, health, and sense of purpose,” he said.
“The median savings today for people reaching so-called retirement age is about $50,000, but now that people can live decades past this notional retirement age, estimates are that people need to have $1 million saved for retirement,” Siff said.
Annual retirement costs for more affordable states in the Midwest and South run to about $50,000, according to a Visual Capitalist analysis. Consequently, this puts many in the age range of 55 and older in a financial bind.
An appeals court in Florida paused a lawsuit Wednesday over the South Florida Detention Center, also known as Alligator Alcatraz, after the Trump administration argued its attorneys were furloughed during the ongoing government shutdown.
Judges on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the federal government’s motion to halt litigation and directed the administration to let them know when it can continue.
Environmental groups sued the government in June, alleging that authorities rushed to build the facility without public comment or an environmental review, a process typically required under federal law.
The same appeals court blocked a federal judge’s order to dismantle the facility in an earlier ruling issued in September.
In August, a district court sided with environmentalist groups, including Friends of the Everglades and Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, finding that the federal government had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in failing to conduct an environmental impact review before construction of the facility.
The district court also ruled that the operation of the facility was not in the public’s best interest, nor would closing it result in irreparable harm.
The appeals court disagreed with both of these rulings in a 2–1 decision, with circuit court judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch siding with the defendants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Lagoa said the defendants were likely to demonstrate on appeal that they did not violate NEPA or the APA, because the court found no evidence that federal funding had been formally committed to the project.
The Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental organizations suing the administration over the illegal immigrant detention center, alleged that the government was further harming the environment with the request to pause the lawsuit.
“With this delay, the government is dodging accountability and imposing even more harm on the fragile Everglades,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.
The group said it was determined to shut down the facility to protect Florida’s environment.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians will join the Friends of the Everglades and other protesters in a demonstration outside the center’s gates in the Big Cypress National Preserve on Sunday.
The Friends of the Everglades also plans to hold a weekly vigil.
The groups said the Everglades is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. It was designated as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010.
Walmart’s Thanksgiving Meal Deal Returns To 2019 Low Price Levels
The average retail prices for gasoline in the U.S. are nearing the sub-$3 mark, but food inflation has remained sticky as the Trump economic team embarked this week to correct the worst cattle shortage the nation has experienced in a generation, a crisis that sent prices sky-high well before Trump’s second term. The good news this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday season won’t be the absence of American spirit at the White House, but also Walmart offering an affordable holiday meal package at price levels not seen since 2019.
Earlier this week, Walmart revealed its annual Thanksgiving meal basket will be the most affordable yet. This basket consists of 20 items, including a Butterball turkey priced at $0.97 per pound, which is the lowest price since 2019. The entire basket serves 10 people for under $40.
“We are really excited about what we have planned for this year at Thanksgiving,” U.S. Walmart CEO and president John Furner told Good Morning America on Wednesday, “This is a time of year when people are busy. They don’t want to sacrifice quality, and we want to do all we can to help them celebrate the holiday any way they want. And we want to do it in a way that’s very affordable with a lot of value.”
WATCH: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos tries to get Walmart’s U.S. CEO to bash Trump and claim the economy’s in a tailspin. CEO John Furner was not having any of it.
First, Stephanopoulos tried to argue turkey prices are way up, but Furner replied Walmart’s turkeys will be their… pic.twitter.com/mI6acOdNQ6
Butterball Turkey, 13.5 lb. ($0.97/lb. – lowest price since 2019)
Kinder’s Fried Onions, 4.5 oz.
Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup, 10.5 oz. (1 can)
Stove Top Turkey Stuffing, Twin Pack 2 x 6 oz.
Great Value Dinner Rolls, 12 ct.
Fresh Russet Potatoes, 5 lb.
Fresh Cranberries, 12 oz.
Great Value Baby Carrots, 2 lb.
Great Value Corn, 15 oz. (3 cans)
Great Value Green Beans, 14.5 oz. (3 cans)
Great Value Artisan Macaroni & Cheese, 12 oz. (3 boxes)
Great Value Brown Gravy Mix, 0.87 oz. (2)
Great Value Pie Crusts
Great Value Evaporated Milk, 12 fl. oz.
Great Value 100% Pure Pumpkin, 15 oz.
Last week, discount grocery chain Aldi revealed that its Thanksgiving meal deal to feed 10 people will cost around $40. There appears to be a meal deal war amongst grocery chains for this upcoming holiday season amid mounting consumer pressures. UBS analysts warned in recent weeks that “lower-income consumer weakness is spreading to at least middle-income consumers.”
The outage is “catastrophic.” So arrived the message from a server that hosts a service that is important to my life.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the world came to an end for a full day until power was restored.
What was the reason?
I don’t know the particulars but it is usually always the same. An update in one software was inconsistent with another. A line of code got through that didn’t work as planned. Some third-party software stopped communicating with the main server. A cascade of effects followed that messed up everyone’s lives.
This is becoming more and more common. Two days earlier, all the servers hosted by Amazon went down. This wrecked countless social sites, financial services, airline reservations, and banks. Whole industries ground to a halt, and for exactly the same reasons.
Everything about the digital age works great until it doesn’t. Neither you nor I can fix it when it does break. We don’t likely know people who can. We are all vulnerable. Our hands are tied. We can only sit and wait for the administrators of the services to kick the machines, tug on the wires, revert the codes, reboot this and that, and otherwise somehow find out what’s wrong.
I was a server administrator in the early days so I have my experiences with outages. You are staring at black screens. So the mind begins to wander. The problem could trace to one of dozens of possible causes. Or maybe hundreds or thousands. Or millions.
The only way to get through it is to be very calm and rational. It’s a process of elimination and that requires disciplined logic. And quiet.
Meanwhile, everyone around you is screaming for a fix. The boss is freaking out. Emails and phone calls are flying everywhere. Online communications are blowing up. It’s like the world is ending. And yet you have to be the clear-headed one, even as the heat is on. When you find out the real issue, it seems perfectly obvious. Then people wonder what took you so long.
Here is the real problem we face. The whole of civilization embraced digital technology as the new shiny object. It seemed like the thing to do. Mostly it worked. But there has been a tremendous neglect of basic principles of engineering such as creating redundancy. When things go wrong, you need a backup plan. In principle, code architects know this. In practice, creating redundancy is the most neglected feature of the digital age, because doing so does not pay the bills.
Think of how centralized the Amazon servers are. Millions of businesses and connections rely on them, and they are mostly very reliable. Indeed, they have a near-perfect record. But the trick is the “near” part. You never know what part will break and when, and what the consequences will be.
The key problem is that the people most affected by breakage are powerless to do anything about it. We are completely at the mercy of the digital masters. And with artificial intelligence (AI) it is even worse. The digital masters are themselves machines that absolutely no one fully understands. When AI starts to break, we are going to rue the day that everyone and his dog threw themselves into this without so much as a thought.
Often I think back to when I was a kid. My brother and I took apart a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle. Yes, I was too young to participate much but I helped. Every piece of the car was disassembled, reassembled, and put back together again. True, it never really started well after that but you could roll it with your foot and give it a kick.
The point is that we were able to do it. That is not possible these days.
To be sure, that cannot be the whole standard by which we judge technology. The division of labor is real and meritorious. In a market society, we are always going to take advantage of the ability to cooperate with providers of goods and services that we cannot, even in principle, replicate.
That said, surely there is a balance here. Do we really want to live in a world where no one can fix anything? When all the services you need are down and there is no one to call?
Keep in mind that these digital systems control your ability to open your front door, start your car, heat your home, and have access to your money. When they go, you are without a home, transportation, and money. This is a terrifying reality and yet here we are.
More and more, it is not possible even to navigate the world around you without a cellphone. Personally, I cannot stand this. I will always ask for a real menu, use a printed out ticket, and even try to figure out directions to places without the aid of GPS (which is a serious challenge in my case). But doing all of this is essential now that the world is so fragile.
This is hardly my own opinion, by the way. I’m not a lone crank. I’ve spoken at length with top engineers at major companies and universities. They express the same worries. The problem is that no one really knows what to do about it.
Meanwhile, outages are increasing even as systems are growing more complex, thus increasing the intensity of consequences. Our lives are ever more dependent on systems that no one controls. This happened recently at the airport when I had a physical ticket but the system listed me as not having fully checked in. Everyone in charge wanted me on the plane but the gods of technology said no. Guess who won the struggle: the machines. I had to miss my flight, leaving me stranded and missing appointments.
That was only the beginning of the problems on that trip. Every single one of them traced to the same source: technology that was not cooperating with the wishes of the employees and the managers of the system.
Everyone has stories like this. It is getting alarming. You take for granted that something works. Suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, it does not work. You never quite recover your sense of security once you face this.
What can be done? Systems administrators can eschew total dependence on clouds and AI and adopt technology more slowly, building in redundancy at every stage. As consumers, we can be more attentive to preparing for the worst by reducing our reliance on digits. I will always choose analog over digital when possible.
A scene pops into my mind when thinking about this subject. It is the cobbler in my neighborhood who is still repairing shoes with machines made back in the 1920s. These machines have lasted 100 years and still get the job done. Nothing today is built this same way. We are on three-year cycles of buy and throw away. This is not a sign of genuine progress but the way the world ends.
Stock up on silver dimes and firewood. Meet some real farmers. Go back to physical locks. The time could come when you need them.
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Wall Street’s Bonus Pool Will “Break Records” This Year
Wall Street bonuses are on track to hit new records this year as profits surge and dealmaking rebounds. Profits at the 130 New York Stock Exchange firms reached $30.4 billion in the first half of 2025, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who said they could reach the “highest level on record” if the trend continues.
Compensation expenses rose nearly 10% from last year, signaling another jump in payouts after 2024’s record $244,700 average bonus, according to Bloomberg.
“While uncertainty remains around interest rates, inflation and the broader economy, Wall Street looks to have another strong year,” DiNapoli said.
Major banks — including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo — reported $15.4 billion in third-quarter trading revenue, the most in at least five years, fueled by AI-linked stock rallies and tariff-driven volatility.
Bloomberg writes that New York City tax collections from the securities industry climbed 35.1% to $6.7 billion, with the average industry salary up 7.3% to $505,630, about five times higher than the citywide average.
DiNapoli emphasized Wall Street’s importance to public funding: “However you feel about Wall Street, good or bad, the reality is the services that we provide… significantly rely on the profits of Wall Street.”
The gains come amid political debate over wealth inequality, as communist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani campaigns to tax the rich and use the funds to knock down luxury housing and replace it with Section 8 housing (OK, we’re being hyperbolic here…but not much).
