Good evening, everyone. I hope your Saturday is going well. In the past hour we learned that Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Defense to prepare for war with Nigeria. He has also declared attacking him to be “likely illegal.”
At the same time, ICE is reportedly hiring bounty hunters to target immigrants, and agents have been wearing horror masks during raids this Halloween weekend.
The attacks on the First Amendment are ramping up fast. As censorship grows more aggressive, I need your help to keep the truth visible and make sure people stay informed about what is really happening in our nation. They are flooding the zone with noise, hoping you will miss the facts.
Donald Trump declared that Seth Meyers’ show was likely illegal because it was too anti-Trump in a major attack on the First Amendment.
Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to prepare fo war with Nigeria.
A New York Times investigation revealed that President Trump’s fund-raisers have been soliciting millions in anonymous donations for the construction of the “President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,” a White House expansion project managed through the Trust for the National Mall, allowing contributors to remain undisclosed indefinitely.
The report identifies major corporations and wealthy individuals — including BlackRock, Nvidia, Jeff Yass (TikTok investor), Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Comcast, Ripple, Tether, and Lockheed Martin — among those connected to the effort, many of whom have active business before Trump’s administration or could benefit from favorable policy decisions.
According to the Intercept,ICE is planning contracts with private companies to “skip-trace” and physically surveil large batches of immigrants—receiving government case files in bundles of 10,000 (with increments up to 1,000,000) and using commercial data, social media, location tools and off-the-shelf surveillance to confirm addresses (prioritizing residence, then workplace), provide time-stamped photos/observations, and deliver documents — with an incentive-based pay structure that would award monetary bonuses for fast or highly accurate results and the government possibly awarding work to multiple vendors.
Homeland Security confirmed that ICE agents in Los Angeles were seen wearing horror masks, such as “Chucky” and “Momo,” while conducting raids on Halloween, responding dismissively with “Happy Halloween!” when questioned; critics including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker condemned the move as “distasteful,” urging a holiday pause in immigration enforcement—which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem rejected, insisting operations would continue and even increase, calling Pritzker’s request “shameful.”
ProPublica reports that the Trump administration plans to rewrite Social Security disability rules, ending age-based advantages for workers over 50 and tightening eligibility, a move that could disqualify up to 1.5 million mostly blue-collar Americans—many in red states—from benefits; critics warn it would devastate older manual laborers while doing little to fix Social Security’s finances.
Donald Trump’s Gatsby-themed party is now being compared to the Hunger Games celebration:
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson is refusing to support a mid-decade redistricting effort despite mounting pressure from Governor Wes Moore, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and national Democrats, arguing the votes aren’t there and warning that the growing partisan redistricting “arms race” across states is unsustainable and threatens democratic stability.
After King Charles stripped Andrew (formerly Prince Andrew) of his royal title, U.S. lawmakers renewed calls for him to testify about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, citing newly released email exchanges between the two; some Democrats want to subpoena Andrew, though such action faces obstacles without Republican support.
Amid the ongoing government shutdown, severe air traffic controller shortages have led to widespread flight delays across major U.S. airports, with nearly half of control facilities understaffed and 90% of controllers in the New York area out; officials warn the situation is worsening as unpaid controllers face financial hardship, mandatory overtime, and burnout, disrupting the aviation system nationwide.
In California’s Shasta County, election skeptic Clint Curtis—appointed to oversee voting despite no prior experience—has sparked controversy ahead of a key redistricting vote that could add five Democratic U.S. House seats; his changes, including reduced ballot drop boxes and hiring known election deniers, have deepened mistrust, leading to local backlash, state scrutiny, and warnings from experts about his qualifications and transparency claims.
An airman at Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base was fatally shot when a fellow airman, Marcus White-Allen, allegedly pointed his M18 pistol at him “as a joke”; White-Allen later pressured two others to lie about the incident before his own death in October, leading to brief suspension of the M18 pistol at nuclear sites and guilty pleas from the two airmen for making false statements.
A missing 13-year-old Louisiana girl was rescued from a box in the basement of a Pittsburgh home, where police say 26-year-old Ki-Shawn Crumity had trafficked and sexually assaulted her after meeting her on Snapchat; Crumity and two other men were arrested in the multi-state investigation, which authorities called a stark example of online grooming and human trafficking dangers.
A Data for Progress poll shows former Alaska congresswoman Mary Peltola running neck-and-neck with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a hypothetical 2026 U.S. Senate matchup—just a one-point difference within the margin of error. The same poll found Peltola leading a crowded field in a potential governor’s race, ahead of Republican contenders Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson.
