Trump’s use of National Guard troops on American streets is bad enough. This could be worse.

Present and former military alarmed at Trump's misuse of National Guard and federal troops

By Joan Johnson-Freese, Rhode Island Current

I saw some of my former Naval War College colleagues at the recent No Kings rally in Providence. Given that National Guard troops and protestors had clashed in Los Angeles at an earlier June rally protesting ICE raids, we wondered whether we would see National Guard troops as we marched, where they would be from, and their mission? 

We didn’t. That doesn’t mean, however, that there is no need for concern about the future.

The National Guard is unique to the U.S. military given it is under the authority of both state governors and the federal government and has both a domestic and federal mission. 

Governors can call up the National Guard to help when states have a crisis, either a natural disaster or a human-made one. Federal authorities can call on the National Guard for overseas deployment and to enforce federal law. 

President Dwight Eisenhower used both federalized National Guard units and regular U.S. Army units to enforce desegregation laws in Arkansas in 1957. But using military troops to intimidate citizens and support partisan politics, especially by bringing National Guard units from other states has never been, and should never be, part of its mission.

But that’s what is happening now.

A host of Democratic U.S. senators, led by Dick Durbin of Illinois, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and 25 others has called for an inquiry into the Trump administration’s recent domestic deployment of active-duty and National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and Memphis, Tennessee. 

In an Oct. 17 letter to the Defense Department’s Inspector General, the senators challenge the legality of the domestic troop deployment and charge that it undermines military readiness and politicizes the nation’s military. 

Ostensibly, the troops have been sent to cities “overrun” with crime. Yet data shows that has not been the case. Troops have been sent to largely Democratic-run cities in Democratic-led states. 

The case for political theater being the real reason behind the deployment certainly was strengthened when largely Republican Mississippi sent troops to Washington D.C., even though crime in Mississippi cities like Jackson is higher than in D.C. Additionally, there is an even more dangerous purpose to the troop presence  — that of normalizing the idea of troops on the streets, a key facet of authoritarian rule.

There are fundamental differences in training and mission between military troops and civilian law enforcement, with troop presence raising the potential for escalation and excessive force, and the erosion of both civil liberties and military readiness.

Shut up

In direct defiance of two court orders

Is it a bad thing or a good thing that no one seems to be taking him seriously

By the way, Nigeria is a US ally on most issues (not immigration) and our second-largest trading partner in Africa

While this Nigeria threat may be bullshit, Trump has amounted an impressive record of global aggression.

Countries Trump has threatened to attack since he began his second term:

Canada

Mexico

Greenland

Panama

Venezuela

Colombia

He has threatened to take over Gaza to build a Trump Resort, removing the Palestinians to parts unknown in the process.

He has actually mounted major military attacks on Iran and Yemen

Plus. we're blowing up boats and killing people in international waters without any legal basis.

Finally, we're in a self-destructive trade war with nearly every country on the planet. Except Russia.

Future of nation’s energy grid hurt by Trump’s funding cuts

Trump's mindless vendetta against green energy is causing widespread havoc

Roshanak (Roshi) Nateghi, Georgetown University

The Trump administration’s widespread cancellation and freezing of clean energy funding is also hitting essential work to improve the nation’s power grid. That includes investments in grid modernization, energy storage and efforts to protect communities from outages during extreme weather and cyberattacks. Ending these projects leaves Americans vulnerable to more frequent and longer-lasting power outages.

The Department of Energy has defended the cancellations, saying that “the projects did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.” Yet before any funds are actually released through these programs, each grant must pass evaluations based on the department’s standards. Those included rigorous assessments of technical merits, potential risks and cost-benefit analyses — all designed to ensure alignment with national energy priorities and responsible stewardship of public funds.

I am an associate professor studying sustainability, with over 15 years of experience in energy systems reliability and resilience. In the past, I also served as a Department of Energy program manager focused on grid resilience. I know that many of these canceled grants were foundational investments in the science and infrastructure necessary to keep the lights on, especially when the grid is under stress.

The dollar-value estimates vary, and some of the money has already been spent. A list of canceled projects maintained by energy analysis company Yardsale totals about US$5 billion. An Oct. 2, 2025, announcement from the department touts $7.5 billion in cuts to 321 awards across 223 projects. Additional documents leaked to Politico reportedly identified additional awards under review. Some media reports suggest the full value of at-risk commitments may reach $24 billion — a figure that has not been publicly confirmed or refuted by the Trump administration.

These were not speculative ventures. And some of them were competitively awarded projects that the department funded specifically to enhance grid efficiency, reliability and resilience.

Only unprocessed, nutrient-rich plant foods protect the heart. Ultra-processed options offer no benefit.

Is Your “Healthy” Plant-Based Diet Secretly Harming Your Heart?

By INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment

Eating more plant-based foods is linked to better cardiovascular health, but only when those foods are high in nutritional quality and minimally processed. This conclusion comes from a team of researchers at INRAE, Inserm, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, and Cnam, who analyzed health data from 63,835 adults. Their findings were published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

Earlier research has shown that consuming large amounts of ultra-processed foods increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, while other studies have found that diets rich in well-balanced, nutrient-dense plant-based foods can help lower that risk.

To better understand how diet affects heart health, the INRAE and Inserm team went beyond the basic comparison of plant-based versus animal-based diets. They examined not only the ratio of plant to animal foods but also their nutritional composition—such as levels of carbohydrates, fats, antioxidant vitamins, and minerals—and the extent to which they were industrially processed.

The study drew on data from participants in the French NutriNet-Santé cohort. On average, participants were followed for 9.1 years, with some tracked for up to 15 years. Dietary information, including foods and beverages consumed over at least three days, was gathered through online questionnaires. This detailed dataset allowed researchers to categorize diets based on the proportion of plant versus animal foods, their nutritional quality, and their level of processing.

Communications experts try to figure out Trump's crazy social media posts

Troll or loony? Both?

Andrew Rojecki, University of Illinois Chicago and Tanja Aitamurto, University of Illinois Chicago

Two Instagram images put out by the White House. White House Instagram

A grim-faced Donald J. Trump looks out at the reader, under the headline “LAW AND ORDER.” Graffiti pictured in the corner of the White House Facebook post reads “Death to ICE.” Beneath that, a photo of protesters, choking on tear gas. And underneath it all, a smaller headline: “President Trump Deploys 2,000 National Guard After ICE Agents Attacked, No Mercy for Lawless Riots and Looters.”

The official communication from the White House appeared on Facebook in June 2025, after Trump sent in troops to quell protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles. Visually, it is melodramatic, almost campy, resembling a TV promotion.

A June 2025 Facebook post from the White House. 
White House Facebook account

The post is not an outlier.

In the Trump administration, White House social media posts often blur the lines between politics and entertainment, and between reality and illusion.

The White House has released AI images of Trump as the pope, as Superman and as a Star Wars Jedi, ready to do battle with “Radical Left Lunatics” who would bring “Murderers, Drug Lords … & well-known MS-13 Gang Members” into the country.

Most recently, on the weekend of the No Kings protests, both Trump and the White House released a video of the president wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet, from which he dispenses feces onto a crowd of protesters below.

Underpinning it all is a calculated political strategy: an appeal to Trump’s political base – largely white, working-class, rural or small-town, evangelical and culturally conservative.

As scholars who study communication in politics and the media, we believe the White House’s rhetoric and style is part of a broader global change often found in countries experiencing increased polarization and democratic backsliding.

Trump posted a video on the weekend of the No Kings protests of him dropping feces on a crowd of protesters.

The triumph of bullshit

Internet conspiracy theories are now official government policy.

Liz Dye

During the first Trump administration, Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler documented more than 30,000 lies by the president. Now Trump’s back in the White House and Kessler is gone, as the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos seeks to make the storied paper more MAGA-friendly.

The nature of lies in MAGA-world has changed, too. We’re a long way from “covfefe” and tumescent hurricanes Sharpied® on a weather map. This is an era of lies as policy, where government priorities are based on right-wing conspiracy theories and fear-mongering. The federal agencies that survived Elon Musk’s wrecking ball are now captured by the echo chamber of his social media platform, with cabinet secretaries staring furiously into a digital funhouse mirror to divine the will of the most internet-addled members of the MAGA base.

Harmeet Dhillon, a former Trump lawyer placed in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, even bragged to the Wall Street Journal that she “wakes up around 6am and begins her workday scrolling through X, searching for claims of discrimination … After spotting ‘a list of new horrors,’ she said, ‘I text my deputies, and we assign cases, and we get cranking.’”

Dhillon’s office has been bleeding staff, since experienced lawyers are largely disinclined to waste their time chasing down the latest target of conservative ire. But she did find someone to harass the Portland Police Bureau for daring to arrest conservative provocateur Nick Sortor during a demonstration in which he stole a burning flag from a protester. Sortor was invited to the White House the following week, where he held forth alongside Jack Posobiec, of Pizzagate fame, and online propagandist Andy Ngo, a former Dhillon client.

The message was clear: The White House is fully occupied by conspiracy theorists, and their maniacal postings will inform federal policy.

Stupid election day MAGA posts

Not a MAGA post, but my favorite of the day. From the Onion:

South County Rising meets November 7

New poll reflects broad American distrust in health agencies and their advice

RFK Jr.'s mission to destroy public health seems to be working

Jim Wappes

Americans' trust in federal health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its childhood vaccine recommendations is declining, and more than twice as many people think the administration's policies have made the country less healthy as those who think they have made the nation healthier, according to the latest Axios/Ipsos American Health Index poll.

The poll included 1,125 representative US adults and was conducted from October 10 through 13 by the Ipsos Knowledge Panel.

Trust in CDC drops from 66% to 54%

The survey found that 54% of respondents trust the CDC, down from 60% in June and 66% in December 2024, before Donald Trump took office. Trust in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) likewise has ebbed, from 60% last December to 52% in the current poll.

This increasing mistrust is primarily driven by Democrats, whose trust in these agencies has dropped since June. "There certainly is an erosion of trust, primarily driven by Democrats, but Republicans are not immune," said Mallory Newall, Ipsos vice president for US public affairs, in an Axios news release.

Among all adults surveyed, 74% agree that parents should follow the CDC's child immunization schedules, down from 81% in March. The share who "strongly agree" has fallen from 51% to 39% over that period, "likely reflecting both shifts in trust toward the CDC as well as in attitudes about childhood vaccines," according to the Ipsos news release.

Scientists Reveal the Surprising Innermost Secrets of Spaghetti

Spoiler: salt

By Lund University

What prevents spaghetti from falling apart when cooked in boiling water? According to recent research, gluten is the key factor. The quantity of salt added to the cooking water also plays a surprisingly important role.

To investigate, scientists used advanced analytical methods to examine the internal structure of store-bought spaghetti in both regular and gluten-free forms. Their results indicate that gluten is essential for maintaining the pasta’s structure while it cooks.

“We were able to show that the gluten in regular spaghetti acts as a safety net that preserves the starch. The gluten-free pasta, which contains an artificial matrix, only works optimally under exactly the right cooking conditions – otherwise the structure easily falls apart,” says Andrea Scotti, senior lecturer in physical chemistry at Lund University.

Scotti used both small-angle neutron scattering and X-rays in the research. These methods make it possible to study foods at the microscopic level – down to a billionth of a meter – and link these findings to product characteristics such as texture, shelf life, and glycaemic index.

The new study also concludes that the salt in the pasta water plays a role in the end result.

USDA Tells Grocery Stores They Can’t Give Discounts to People Hit by Trump’s Food Stamp Freeze

Does Trump have a special advisor to find new ways to be cruel - Stephen Miller maybe?

Stephen Prager

As the Trump administration continued its illegal freeze on food assistance, the US Department of Agriculture sent a warning to grocery stores not to provide discounts to the more than 42 million Americans affected.

Several grocery chains and food delivery apps have announced in recent days that they would provide substantial discounts to those whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been delayed. More than 1 in 8 Americans rely on the program, and 39% of them are children.

But on November 2, Catherine Rampell, an anchor at MSNBC, published an email from the USDA that was sent to grocery stores around the country, telling them they were prohibited from offering special discounts to those at greater risk of food insecurity due to the cuts.

On Halloween, the night before SNAP benefits ended,
Trump held a Great Gatsby themed party at Mar-A-Lago.

“You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the email said. “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently from any other customer. Offering discounts or services only to SNAP-eligible customers is a SNAP violation unless you have a SNAP equal treatment waiver.”

The email referred to SNAP’s “Equal Treatment Rule,” which prohibits stores from discriminating against SNAP recipients by charging them higher prices or treating them more favorably than other customers by offering them specialized sales or incentives.

Rampell said she was “aware of at least two stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email.”

She added that it was “understandable why grocery stores might be scared off” because “a store caught violating the prohibition could be denied the ability to accept SNAP benefits in the future. In low-income areas where the SNAP shutdown will have the biggest impact, getting thrown off SNAP could mean a store is no longer financially viable.”

Blowing Up Fishing Boats Won’t Win the Drug War

No evidence, no legal basis for murder on the high seas

How would the US react if another country did this to us?

By Sanho Tree

The Trump administration has been blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean — and now one in the Pacific — claiming without evidence that they’re “drug boats.”

These are extrajudicial executions outside any system of law. And there’s a reason we shouldn’t allow drug warriors to act as judge, jury, and executioner: because over the years, they’ve made many, many tragic mistakes and killed lots of civilians.

I’ve seen countless tragedies like these in my decades studying drug policy. Two were particularly egregious.

In 2001, the United States was using local air forces to shoot down alleged trafficking planes over the Peruvian Amazon. In this case, a surveillance plane flown by CIA contractors misidentified a pontoon plane and had it shot down. Instead of traffickers, they killed a missionary from Michigan named Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter.

The second case was an incident in Honduras in 2012, where the DEA and local forces mistakenly opened fire on a water taxi, killing four people — including two pregnant women — and then tried to cover it up.

What makes these strikes so appealing to Trump is that it gives him the godlike power to look down from above and smite anyone who displeases him, without consequence. He’s even told sick jokes about local fishermen in the Caribbean now being afraid to get in their boats.

If he’s allowed to normalize this kind of international extrajudicial killing, I don’t think it’s a far leap for him to try it domestically.

I know nothing