This week, we’ve seen: 🚨 MTG blame Republicans for the shutdown 🚨 Rand Paul call out Trump’s reckless attacks on alleged cartel boats in Venezuela 🚨 Laura Loomer blast Hegseth’s decision to let Qatar build a training base in Idaho (this is totally insane, by the way) The MAGA ranks are breaking.

This is the essential context for understanding how Qatar is getting an air force base in Idaho. bsky.app/profile/razz...

BARTIROMO: What is the function of this Qatar facility? People are wondering if this is an airbase. What are they developing in Idaho? VANCE: This is largely a fake story

Rats often flee ships & buildings moments before disaster. Their acute sensitivity to vibration, heat, & pressure let them detect danger long before they risk becoming trapped. The pattern is so consistent, the Navy entered it in maritime logs as empirical warning, not myth. Watch the rats 👀

Adelita Grijalva won her election 19 days ago and she still hasn’t been sworn in. The government has been shut down for 12 days with no end in sight. They can stall as long as they want but the Epstein files ain’t going away.

ICE GOONS, laughing and pepper spraying Pastor after shooting him in the face with pepper balls, proceeded to gas the crowd who were trying to protect him.

The level of kleptocratic corruption in this regime is breathtaking, e.g.: —Selling off Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae to big banks —Bribes from ABC & CBS —TikTok sale to Ellison —Everything Qatar: the plane gift, the Idaho military base —Whoever has bribed him by buying his scam meme coins

The worst use of quotation marks in the history of human civilisation is in.

Seems @Nigel_Farage is trying damage limitation on the Reform Russian Bribes scandal. He’s known Nathan Gill for 20 years, and claims he knew nothing. No one believes you, Nigel. Keep the story moving. Questions must be answered.

Nigel Farage could never be trusted to run Britain after getting Brexit so wrong'. Brexit is the biggest self-harm. UK economy hasn't recovered. Farage, the part-time MP, collects millions from 2nd/3rd jobs, full time MP pay+exps; often missing from the Commons. Pushes hatred to grab power.

You don't have to judge Columbus by the standards of today. His tenure as governor of Hispaniola was so horrific that he was dragged back to Spain in chains to answer for his many crimes. Plus he never set foot on any land that would ever be a part of the United States of America.

All facts

I saw the new George Orwell documentary last night. It’s called 2+2=5. I have been a little bit squeamish about applying the word totalitarian to Trump and the Republicans. Not anymore. We are experiencing a totalitarian movement. There’s no question.

Hannah Arendt distinguished totalitarianism “from other forms of political oppression known to us such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship” in that totalitarianism seeks to subjugate civil society and private lives, not just political opponents, using psychological, not just physical, repression.

This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky. No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.

Oh.

"I can't remember the quotation exactly, but it's like 'when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and wearing the cross.' Mike Johnson's the real embodiment of that." - @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social

Rather than it being a “hate-America” rally, Saturday’s No Kings rally is an opportunity for all of us who love America to express our determination that our nation’s ideals not be crushed by the Trump regime. Some thoughts... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/theyre-calling-it-a-hate-america

Claims he's just a regular journalist doing his journalising on behalf of the silent millions... checks out for me..

"Authoritarianism, it's a cancer. The symptoms are here, today... We thought it couldn't happen here... and now the disease is growing, metastasizing in America. But there is a cure—it requires you. On October 18, Americans will stand up, peacefully, for what makes America, America." nokings.org

"Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children." —MLK Jr.

While Trump blusters about "law & order," his regime has dropped or halted nearly 165 investigations into corporate wrongdoing. And Trump himself has pardoned dozens of his supporters, including Jan 6 rioters and others convicted of crimes like money laundering and bribery.

Breaking news: The Washington Post joined the New York Times, CNN and the Atlantic in refusing to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

🔺PICTURED: North Korea unveils nuclear weapon capable of striking US Kim Jong-un is said to be collaborating with Russia to achieve his ambition of launching ballistic missiles underwater

Crown Estate’s property managers reject claims by environmental group of exploiting a monopoly to charge hefty fees for seabed leases amid talk of legal action ⬇️

Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell was involved in talks that led to the Good Friday agreement, which bears similarities with Trump’s 20-point peace plan

The UN health agency found that one in six infections worldwide was resistant to the most commonly available antibiotics. “Antibiotic resistance is widespread and threatening the future of modern medicine,” one WHO official said.

Renewables are expected to overtake coal as the largest global source of electricity by next year despite the pullback of the U.S. “No one can stop the energy transition,” said the director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Palestinians returning to northern Gaza say they have no means to rebuild amid what they describe as indescribable destruction by Israeli forces, as limited aid trickles in but remains scarce, according to officials. 🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: aje.io/n5k3lj

Speaking aboard Air Force One en-route to Israel, US President Donald Trump said “the war is over,” crediting Qatar for its “tremendous help” in brokering the deal.

US President Donald Trump was briefly interrupted during his speech in the Knesset by Arab Israeli politician Ayman Odeh who was dragged out by security officials. Odeh has been critical over the ‘flattery’ Netanyahu has received, demanding accountability.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to lose his place during his speech to parliament, telling US President Donald Trump that the decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear site at Fordow was one of the ‘miracles’ of the Bible.

US President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament that PM Benjamin Netanyahu had often asked him for weapons during the Gaza war, including “some I’d never heard of.” More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Renewed fighting between rival leaders forces mass exodus across South Sudan's borders as fears of wider war rise.

Trump says the mega-donor, who spent more than $100m to help him win the 2024 US presidential election, 'loves Israel'.

Trump's plan has delivered a spectacular day - but has postponed harder decisions which now loom into view

“You cannot understand [Israeli opinion on the war] without understanding the kind of blindness that the Israeli media promotes.” While global news showed a humanitarian disaster, most outlets in Israel remained silent.

Trump is livid that he didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. But he should be thrilled, because the Nobels just tacitly endorsed his burgeoning war against Venezuela, writes @jeetheer.bsky.social. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Whether it was fueled by geopolitics, personal profit, or some mix of the two, Israel’s attack on Qatar appears to have been a spark that spurred Trump into action on Gaza.

Russian troops launched more than 3,100 drones, around 1,360 glide bombs and 92 missiles of various types on Ukraine in the past week, Zelensky said; Ukrainian troops have liberated the village of Mali Shcherbaky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; and more.

⚡️'Very dramatic moment' — Moscow concerned over possible Tomahawk missiles supplies to Ukraine. "The topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 12. “Just imagine: a long-range missile is launched and is flying and we know that it could be nuclear.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News that he sees hope that U.S. President Donald Trump can use the same pressure tactics he applied in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to push Russia toward peace in Ukraine.

⚡️Trump says he will urge Putin to end the war or face the US sending Tomahawks to Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 12 that he is prepared to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine but said he plans to first discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

⚡️Russia's largest oil depot in occupied Crimea on fire again, second Ukrainian drone strike in a week. The strike reportedly occurred around midnight, marking the second attack on the facility in a week — the previous one took place on Oct. 6, according to the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.

⚡️Around 25% of Ukrainians want Zelensky to stay president after war, poll shows. This result contrasts with the relatively high level of trust he continues to enjoy among the public, according to the KIIS poll.

⚡️ Zelensky to meet Trump in Washington on Oct. 17, FT reports. President Volodymyr Zelensky will reportedly travel to Washington on Oct. 17 to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

⚡️ NATO chief mocks Russia over malfunctioning submarine 'limping home from patrol.' "What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October. Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell spent several days documenting a drone crew from the International Battalion of Ukraine’s Azov Corps in Donetsk Oblast, where volunteers from across the world have joined the ranks and adapted to modern drone warfare.