Vulture equity funds buying up housing globally

 

Hundreds of protesters gather outside Spain’s Parliament, demanding action over soaring rents and a lack of affordable housing. 

The eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal fueled days-long protests, and now her death has stoked that anger ahead of snap elections. 

What is the deal with the new 'Moon race'?

So the new 'nuclear space race' is on. The US team verses Russia and China. What are they after? Helium-3 for potential power back on Earth and using the moon as a military staging base to control the 'Earth-Moon gravity well' as a way to decide which nations and private corporations can move into space to mine the planetary bodies. 

We should recall that Obama signed a law to give American companies and wealthy individuals the 'right' to mine planetary bodies essentially in violation of the Outer Space and Moon treaties that said the planetary bodies were the province of all humankind.

This is the kick-off of the race to carry the 'bad seed' of greed, war, domination, and colonization that was long ago planted into the soil on Earth into the heavens. The taxpayers have paid the R & D for these programs and now that the space tech has advanced, the self-centered capitalists are intent on grabbing all they can for themselves. 

This will move the Earth-bound global war system into the heavens. When they add nuclear power into the equation these people are asking for trouble.

In addition to reactors on the moon they will next want nuclear reactors to power orbiting battle stations to 'protect their assets' on these planetary bodies. This is largely what Trump's 'Golden Dome' is all about. Not so much about projecting us from attack back on Earth. It's more about controlling the pathway on and off our planet Earth. Deciding who can go out and mine the sky. Like the front gate of a military base.

In the end its a disaster in the making. From the Earth, where the Department of Energy has a horrible track record of worker, air and water contamination while fabricating space nuclear devices, into space this entire nuclear system is a tragic mistake.

The nuclear industry views space as a new market. They don't give a damn about the dangers involved. These greedy aerospace corporations are salivating as they look at the profits to be made.

Bruce  

Masters of Space: Deep Space Strategy in the Age of Trump

This article was written during the first Trump administration on June 25, 2020 soon after the creation of the US Space Force was announced. Much as changed since then as additional billions have been added to the budget for the nuclearization and weaponization of space. In addition Trump has announced the full bore campaign to build the massively expensive and destabilizing 'Golden Dome' program to deploy orbiting battle stations just above the Earth. Our work is more needed than ever.

By Karl Grossman

The United States “must be capable of winning wars that extend into space,” asserts a just-released “Defense Space Strategy” report. It is the first space strategy document issued by the U.S. since President Donald Trump, after declaring that the U.S. must achieve “dominance in space,” signed a measure this past December authorizing establishment of a Space Force.

The U.S. space strategy is highly aggressive.

“The Department of Defense is embarking on the most significant transformation in the history of the U.S. national security space program,” the report says. “Space is now a distinct warfighting domain, demanding enterprise-wide-changes to polices, strategies, operations, investments, capabilities, and expertise for a new strategic environment.”

“The Department,” it continues, “is taking innovative and bold actions to ensure space superiority and to secure the Nation’s vital interests in space now and in the future. Establishing the U.S. Space Force as the newest branch of our Armed force and the U.S. Space Command as a unified combatant command, as well as undertaking significant space acquisition reform across the DoD, has set a strategic path to expand space power for the Nation. It is a path that embraces space as a unique domain of national military power that, together with the other domains, underpins multi-domain joint and combined military operations to advance national security.”

A rationale for the strategy is the claim in the report that “China and Russia each have weaponized space as a means to reduce U.S. and allied military effectiveness and challenge our freedom of operation in space.”

However, China and Russia, for decades now, have sought to expand the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, put together by the U.S., the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union and now signed on to by most nations on Earth, declaring space a global commons to be used for “peaceful purposes” and outlawing weapons of mass destruction in space. China and Russia along with U.S. neighbor Canada have been seeking to widen that to ban all weapons in space under a Prevention of an Arms Race in Space (PAROS) treaty. But the U.S. has voted no to the proposed PAROS treaty, affectively vetoing its enactment at the United Nations.

The new U.S. Defense Space Strategy is “aggressive,” said the Russian foreign ministry in a statement following the report’s release on June 17th. “This document confirms the aggressive course by Washington in the space sphere,” it said.

“Space is seen by the U.S. side as an arena of war,” it continued, calling this a “destructive” approach which “provokes an arms race in space.”

“Russia holds the diametrically opposing position, giving priority to using and study space only for peaceful purposes,” said the Russian foreign ministry statement.

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space  commented that “this ‘new’ Pentagon Space Strategy is really nothing new. At least since the 1997 U.S. Space Command’s ‘Vision for 2020’ report, Washington has been declaring that it will ‘control and dominate space’ and ‘deny other nations access to space.’ The big difference is that in 1997 there were actually no real competitors to U.S. in space as the former Soviet Union had recently collapsed and China had not fully grown into the economic and military rival it is today.”

As for the PAROS treaty, “the idea” has been “to close the door to the barn before the horse gets out.” But the U.S. during “both Republican and Democrat administrations” have taken the position: “There are no weapons in space—we don’t need a new treaty.”

“Of course, this is disingenuous and this blocking posture is largely motivated by the aerospace industry which views space as a vast new market for profit,” said Gagnon. “The nuclear industry similarly views space as we see the current drive to ‘privatize’ space so wealthy resource extraction corporations can ‘mine the sky.’ They are planning nuclear-powered mining colonies on celestial bodies and nuclear-powered rocket engines providing heavy lift capability to get to Mars and beyond.”

He said, “The aerospace industry has long maintained that an arms race in space, ‘Star Wars,’ would be the largest industrial project in human history. Some years back the aerospace publication, ‘Space News,’ ran an editorial stating that the industry needed to come up with a ‘dedicated funding source’ to pay for all its desired projects in space.” It said, Gagnon related, that the aerospace corporations were “sending their vast team of lobbyists to Washington to defund the ‘entitlement programs’ that officially are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and what is left of the social safety net.  The industry is like a pirate—grabbing the national treasure chest so they can be the ‘Masters of Space.’”

“So what are Russia and China to do? We know that whomever controls space will control the planet below and also be able to control the pathway on and off the planet. Moscow and Beijing have requested new treaties, asked for stability, and warned that they cannot allow the US to ‘control and dominate’ space,” said Gagnon. “So today we hear the Pentagon screaming that Russia and China are now trying to dominate space and that the Pentagon needs even more of our tax dollars to ‘defend’ the heavens from these ‘existential enemies.’ The plan is in motion, the U.S. is leading the pack to weaponize space, and ever so ‘innocently’ accuses its primary competitors of doing what Washington itself is doing. Thus, we are on the edge of a cliff and the aerospace industry is pushing the whole planet into a chaotic abyss.”

To challenge this, “to beat this insane and provocative plan,” said Gagnon, “we must starve the beast. We can do that by fighting for social progress—programs like health care for all and funding to deal with our real problem today called climate crisis.”

The “Defense Space Strategy” report also declares: “Great power competition defines the strategic environment. Space is both a source of and conduit for national power, prosperity, and prestige. As a result, space is a domain that has reemerged as a central arena of great power competition, primarily with China and Russia. More than any other nation, the United States relies on space-based capabilities to project and employ power on a global scale. Today, U.S. reliance on space has increased to the point where space capabilities not only enhance, but enable our way of life and war of war.”

It says: “The creation of new space-focused organizations in DoD offers an historic opportunity to reform every aspect of our defense space enterprise. The USSF [U.S. Space Force], the newest branch of the Armed Forces, will bring unity, focus, and advocacy to organizing, training, and equipping space forces.”

Under a heading “Strategic Approach,” the report says the Pentagon will “pursue the following prioritized lines of effort….1) Build a comprehensive military advantage in space. 2) Integrate military spacepower into national, joint, and combined operations. 3) Shape the strategic environment. 4) Cooperate with allies, partners, industry, and other U.S. Government departments and agencies.”

“Specific objectives,” the report continues, “include: Build out the U.S. Space Force. Develop and document doctrinal foundations of military spacepower. Develop and expand warfighting expertise and culture.”

In its “Conclusion,” the report says: “Successful implementation of this strategy requires embracing space activities as a unique source of national and military power and incorporating the principles of joint warfare into space operations.”

~ Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, and is the author of the book, The Wrong Stuff: The Space’s Program’s Nuclear Threat to Our Planet. Grossman is an associate of the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion.

Pistol Pete's space rap during 'Arsenal of Freedom' tour

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a nationwide Arsenal of Freedom tour stop at Sierra Space in Louisville, Colorado on Feb. 23, 2026.

This is the speech where Hegseth declared that the US must have 'orbital dominance - plain and simple'. He claimed he was not interested in 'orbital equity or orbital parity'.  (This part begins around 9 minute mark.) 

You can get a real feel for the arrogance and pure stupidity of the leadership inside the White House, Congress, the Pentagon and the aerospace industry.

They are like drunken gamblers at the bar, ready to punch the face of anyone who challenges their big shot talk and tough guy swagger. 

It's easy for Hegseth to talk like this when Trump stands behind him encouraging this bullshit.

I've long said the only good thing that will come from Trump's presidency is that he will show the whole universe what the US has always been about. And at the same time reveal to any US-American, if they are willing to look deeply, our own individual complicity with this colonial imperialism.

Some past presidents hid it better - but Trump in a way is more honest, but also more dangerous, as he takes great pleasure in this psychopathic behavior. 

These people must be stopped - now. It's beyond Hitler.

Bruce

Space launch impacts on Mother Earth

A deep dive by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space into the impacts of space launches on our Mother Earth..

It's not good.

We are often told that space launches are helping gather info to protect life on Earth.

Sadly it's the other way around.

Take a peek and help us keep space for peace and protect our planet from military and corporate space launch degradation.

Bruce

Space week events at Reva University, Bengaluru, India

 

I was invited to be a keynote speaker on space issues at a conference by the School of Legal Studies at Reva University in Bengaluru, India by Global Network board member Dr. Aruna Kammila. She directs the Legal Department and is hosting this Space Law conference.

As a preliminary activity her department had first year students make posters about the need for vigorous space law in small groups of 2-4 each. They presented the posters with clear explanations to MB and I. We were asked to pick one as the best of them all.  We couldn't do it. So I took them one at a time and said this one is the best - one after the other. The students faces lit up as they saw each of their creations rewarded.

Yesterday I spoke to about 60 third year law students and answered questions. And tomorrow the formal conference begins where I will give my talk to a larger group.

We heard that 150 papers were submitted, many from students wishing to address the conference from India and other nations including from the African continent. I'm not certain how many were accepted but it will be a moving day to hear from these very bright young people.

It is an honor to be with them all.

Bruce 

History lesson: South Korea Joins US Space Force

A growing citizen movement (People Opposing Space Militarization and Rocket Launches) throughout South Korea is now underway to stop their nation from becoming an agent in the overall US global space warfare coalition.

Because of the massive cost of space militarization, one key Pentagon strategy has been to recruit the allies to become 'partners' in the program.

But the US will remain in command of the 'tip of the space warfare spear'.  

Check out our Global Network video library on YouTube for many more short space videos covering the many new angles of the story.

They Want You to Believe This: The 'Hero' Pilot Story Exposed

"There is no oversight of the CIA today - zero", says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. 

Blast from the past: Big Brother is watching the Global Network

 

(This article was first posted here on October 19, 2005.)

Yes, big brother is watching and we should be careful what we say! Or should they just take a hike and leave us the hell alone?

While I was recently in Wichita, Kansas an op-ed of mine on the Pentagon's plans for weapons in space was published in the local paper. Wichita is a company town. Boeing has major operations there and has been developing the Airborne Laser at that location.

Not long after my op-ed was published, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency did a response to my piece in the local paper. They challenged my "contention" that there are now plans to put weapons in space.

(Geepers, who would have thought that I had a crystal ball in 2005. Or as my wife MB says, 'did you just begin to understand the Pentagon's Modus Operandi'?)

Now maybe I have missed something. Maybe I've been teleported to another planet or have been seeing all this in my dreams. Maybe my 20 years of work on this issue never happened. Maybe my subscriptions to Aviation Week & Space Technology and Space News, which I thought regularly report on Pentagon efforts to produce weapons for warfare in the heavens, never arrived at my door. Could it be that the Space Command's Vision for 2020, Strategic Master Plan, Joint Doctrine for Space Operations, U.S. Air Force Doctrine: Counterspace Operations (all of which are available in full on the home page of the Global Network's web site) actually do not make the case for U.S. "control and domination" of space and the need to "deny" other countries access to space?

It is nice, I guess, to know that the Missile Defense Agency feels that it must respond to one of my lonely op-ed's. I suppose it is reassuring to know that with all those hundreds of billions of our tax $$$$$$ they actually do something inside the Pentagon. But why deny to the citizens of Wichita that they are working on space weapons? What is the Pentagon, and aerospace corporations like Boeing, trying to hide by saying they are not working on offensive systems for space control and domination. And why do they want to deny they are working on systems like 'Rods from God' and the military space plane that would give them the capability to hit targets on Earth from space?

Could it be that they want the public to think this whole Star Wars program is only about 'DEFENSE'? And do they fear that if people learned the truth, that Star Wars is really about offense, then people might not support the massive waste of their tax $$$$$$ for offensive warfare in space?

Big brother has a lot of $$$$$ riding on keeping the people ignorant about Star Wars. Big brother wants us to keep our traps shut! I should remember that a whole bunch of people are making big $$$$$$ from the plans to put weapons in space. People like me, and others in the Global Network, stand in the way of their fancy cars, fancy homes, fancy vacations and country club memberships.

Big brother is a frightened little boy.

Bruce

Trump & Israel want control of Brazil; U.S. wants control of Moon

• G-7 agrees to release oil reserves to reduce fuel prices after U.S. pressure. The agreement involves the release of 100 million barrels of diesel and oil over four months.

• Sovereignista: Pilots in appropriate simulators are recreating the so-called massive dive of the FlyDubai airplane and saying, NO WAY, cannot be real as this airplane would have disintegrated in the air. The formal words: “The dive was structurally unsurvivable.” Then, a plumber who learned how to do it from movies, broke open the cockpit door and pulled the aircraft out of the dive. Pilots in simulators say .. NO WAY. Then video is in, and people are walking up and down in the airplane quite normally on a level plane, while the aircraft is in a terrible steep dive – NO WAY. There is no sign of cabin crew. Let’s skip the whole story of the immediate availability of two new pilots (in the front seats) and pieces of the story being created by Israeli Press and Bibi and where the airplane eventually landed with a diplomatic row as to which airplane from which country will fly the Israeli’s back to Israel. Then Bloody Bibi arrives to interview the plumber who remained in bloody clothing for eight hours, waiting for his interview. YEAH RIGHT! Then, none of the passengers, after that airplane dived, really have injuries – they did not even knock their heads. The general feeling is oh boy, give us better false flags.

• According to Tabnak, the UAE has transferred 4 Iranian prisoners to Israel, with the transfer taking place via Abu Dhabi.
• Nobody should forget about Gaza, the West Bank, Free Syria, and Lebanon. The US leaving Iraq but really just moving next door to Jordan but not leaving the oil revenue accounts. 

• Defense News: Ukraine needs a “new Manhattan Project,” former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told a standing-room-only crowd of self-proclaimed tech nerds at IT Arena in Lviv, the country’s biggest annual technology conference. Then he played an AI-generated clip of what he meant: a robo-punk mix of humanoid and crab-like ground robots skittering across a barren front line. The video laid out Fedorov’s vision for an Army of Robots, a force of two-legged upright and other ground robots that would take over many of the front line’s most dangerous but necessary jobs from soldiers. “Our idea is to combine engineers, startups and capital into one ecosystem so we can launch humanoid-like robots on the battlefield,” Fedorov told Defense News. All aimed at Russia on behalf of US-NATO.

• Ukraine will need to embrace a neutral, non-nuclear status, reject its nationalist (NAZI) policy course and recognize the four new Russian regions for a long-lasting political settlement, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in an interview.  “If this does not happen, we will do it militarily,” he concluded.

• 'More oil is going through the Strait of Hormuz today than before the conflict even started, because incredible pilots control the airspace,' declares Pistol Pete Hegseth, after downing a gallon of hillbilly moonshine. 

• Sovereignista: France is in chaos. Those that remember the period of the Yellow Vests will recall that France cares nothing about social messaging and people. They have strong police presence and would rather beat up their own people. Student protests have spread to Liege, Belgium, raising fears of wider unrest across Europe. 

• Sovereignista: In Brazil, even if Lula pulls off a win in the run-of, the harsh right wing with their US and Zionist supporters will most probably make governing impossible. This is a critical point for not only Latin America, but for the world, who needs to take the lessons here because they did not take them from Venezuela. Nevertheless, Lula acknowledged the result and said his campaign would immediately regroup for the October 25 second round. Lula described rival Flávio Bolsonaro as representing “uncertainty for Brazil” and said his campaign would seek to expose what he alleges are Bolsonaro’s links to organized crime. This is the exact same playbook, using organized crime and drug trafficking to win right wing elections in Latin America over the past election season. Locals understand exactly that right wing means colonialism. The US, Israel and collective west want Latin America and the Caribbean for tribute. It also indicates that the US is getting for themselves a massive new young military. In South America, Brazil is the only holdout. The US has no other business in this world than to create new colonies for itself. The Bolsonaros are in full presence. Michelle Bolsonaro (Jair’s wife) was elected senator, Carlos Bolsonaro secured a Senate seat, and Jair and Renan Bolsonaro were elected as deputies. Since Trump’s return to the White House, no left-wing candidate has won a presidential election in Latin America. Rigged media and rigged voting machines.

• New York Times: Superpowers Race to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon. In late August, NASA asked contractors to prepare to build a nuclear reactor that could survive a space voyage and run without maintenance near the moon’s south pole. The agency wants it ready to be launched by December 2030. There is a reason for the rush. Russia aims to have a lunar reactor running by 2036 as part of a partnership with China. NASA has already sped up its schedule to beat its rivals. All parties want to be first to establish a moon base, to search for resources like frozen water, [helium-3] and to launch missions deeper into the solar system. Both superpowers believe a nuclear reactor is the centerpiece of this ambition. The countries plan to turn on their reactors only after they reach the moon. But leading scientists caution that governments are moving too quickly in an era of space exploration that has seen some notable disasters. In the last six years, multiple Chinese, American and Russian rockets have failed and exploded, and a Russian lander has crashed into the moon. Space junk regularly tumbles to Earth. Failures could cause a chain reaction with dire consequences. Falling reactor debris could scatter radioactive material, as happened in Canada in the late 1970s. An explosion or a meltdown on the moon’s surface would risk turning entire regions into no-go zones.            

The long, sordid history of RAF Fairford

We never get to hear the truth. The recent capture of five persons at Fairford (who were released) has led to a series of claims by the US and British media and politicians that Iran was attempting to blow up Fairford. Total BS. The western colonizers always lie about their false flag events.

If Iran wanted to hit Fairford they would have sent a long--range missile not five inept men who waited and waited til they got caught by a local farmer.

RAF Fairford is actually a US air warfare base.

All the way back to the repeated US-UK war$ on Iraq this base hosted B-52 bombers. These same planes aoong with B-1 & B-2 bombers were sent from Fairford to bomb Iran.

The US has many bases throughout the UK with even more on the way.

Why Trump’s Golden Dome must be opposed

Video interview from No Cold War with Bruce Gagnon on space issues - including Trump's 'Golden Dome'.

How Elon Musk conquered Louisiana

Elon Musk just took over 130,000 acres of public land in the southern state of Louisiana.

After secret deliberations conducted behind the cover of Non-Disclosure Agreements, Governor Landry just handed SpaceX a beautiful parcel of land, a $27.5 billion tax break, and legal immunity.

Musk would not be liable for anything - rocket fuel contamination of local waters, space debris harming humans or wildlife after launch pad explosions, major air pollution and more. The taxpayers of Louisiana would have to cover the tab.

Locals say the claimed 30 rockets a day the site would launch will devastate the pristine coast, while the richest man in the world reaps the profits.  

What happened to government for and by the people? The oligarchs have taken over the nation and they can get what they want - anytime they want it.

We've all become serfs. Is this what we want?

Sunday song

Space week protest at Bath Iron Works in Maine

Keep Space for Peace Week protest at Bath Iron Works in Maine where Navy Aegis destroyers are built.

These destroyers are for offensive operations and are today deployed off the shores of China, Russia and Iran. They fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles and 'missile defense' interceptors - the sword and the shield.

In 2008 one of these warships fired an interceptor missile into space and destroyed an old US military satellite, in Operation Burnt Frost, proving these weapons could serve the role as an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT).

We arrived just before hundreds of workers poured out of the shipyard for their short lunch break. Two of our folks handed out flyers explaining our protest and calling for the conversion of the shipyard to building things like commuter rail, tidal power systems, and offshore wind turbines all of which would create more jobs than military production.

Currently BIW is undergoing a massive construction expansion to accommodate parking and additional workspace for over 5,000 workers. They are building 6-7 new destroyers. We are witnessing the preparation for endless war.

Bruce

BIW in Maine builds destroyers for Space Warfare

Navy Aegis destroyers built at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Maine are outfitted with 'missile defense interceptors' and first-strike attack Tomahawk cruise missiles. So these destroyers are the Pentagon's 'sword and shield'.

These warships are currently deployed just off the coasts of Iran, Russia and China.

BIW is currently building a slew of these new destroyers as the US ramps up its aggressive war fighting capability.

In order to pay for all this expensive technology, the US government is cutting social spending, education and environmental programs.

BIW is owned by the General Dynamics Corporation. 

the funnies

Trump preparing for more Iran war; Election rigging in November?

• EU extends Ukraine military training mission mandate to 2028: Kaja Kallas announced that EU member states agreed on extending the mission for Ukraine by two years. A coordination group will be established in Kiev to study combat lessons and strengthen military education. The EU Commission President also proposed funding the modernization of two training centers in Ukraine and thanked the Netherlands for contributions that close existing financing deficits. 

• In a new revelation, the mother-in-law of Iran’s leader says Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei was present at Imam Reza's shrine during the burial of his father, the martyred Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei. 

• According to a recent Fox News poll, 71% of registered voters in the US believed that the Trump administration lacked “a clear strategy for ending the war with Iran,” while 60% said the US had made the wrong decision to launch military action. The poll also found that 47% of respondents believed military action against Iran would make the US less safe, while 32% said it would make the country safer.

• The US has imposed sanctions on Iran’s Rail and Automobile industry with the aim to “isolate” Iran further. USS Theodore Roosevelt departed San Diego on Sunday bound for West-Asia to replace the USS George Washington reports Al-Monitor.
• Wired: Google, SpaceX, and a host of startups are all planning to build data centers in space. But for those plans to work, they’ll need power. Lots of it. Star Catcher, a startup based in Jacksonville, Florida, aims to provide it by concentrating the sun’s energy and using lasers to beam it to satellites’ waiting solar panels. The company is preparing to launch its prototype system aboard a SpaceX rocket this week that will transmit energy to another satellite in orbit.

• RT: Over the past few months, there’s been a noticeable surge in reports regarding Germany’s interest in missiles – ranging from ballistic and cruise missiles to land- and sea-based systems. Various partners are involved in the initiative, including the US, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Israel. Berlin’s financial commitment to advancing military programs has reached unprecedented levels. The country is significantly ramping up defense spending. Between 2024 and 2025, approximately 200 new defense industry companies emerged in Germany, and another 100 have appeared since November 2025. But why is Germany showing such interest in missiles?

• CNN: The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program. The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said. It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was. The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.

• 'It is impossible to defeat a country like Russia, so victory will undoubtedly be ours' - Russian President Vladimir Putin. Other statements made by the president at a meeting with the leaders of the parties that won seats in the Russian State Duma: 'Courage, bravery, and heroism have been demonstrated in Donbass and Novorossiya; It will not be possible to intimidate such people and it is impossible to defeat such people or such a country; All attempts to disrupt the election campaign and interfere in our internal affairs have completely failed; The state will provide assistance to the families of those killed in the attacks on the elections in the border regions and will award the heroes posthumously; The elections confirmed the respect Russians have for the Special Military Operation (SMO) troops.' 

• Pistol Pete Hegseth just fired the professors at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. Not because they did anything wrong. Because they have job security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo Tuesday ending civilian tenure at all US military service academies — ordering West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy to stop appointing civilian faculty to tenured positions immediately. Hegseth's reasoning in his own words: "Civilian academic norms dilute our focus on lethality."

• US-led military operation shifts headquarters to Jordan after Iraq withdrawal. The US-led Operation Inherent Resolve has shifted its headquarters to Jordan following the completion of the coalition’s military withdrawal from Iraq, US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated. In some ways it is merely a symbolic move at this point, given that the US is still fully entrenched in West Asia with bases throughout the region, so the occasion is really more a milestone for Iraq and its own national sovereignty, rather than a momentous geopolitical juncture.  

• Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of U.S. Senate seats, some 470 contests in all, will be decided Nov. 3, and the War Department will help ensure foreign actors don't meddle in those elections. "As we approach this election cycle, we must prove that we can and will protect the integrity of our democratic processes from any threat," said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. "In my role as secretary of war, the Department of War will effectively wield its capabilities to protect and uphold the reliability of America's voting mechanisms against external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors, while maintaining the fundamental freedoms that characterize our country." [I'm not worried about foreign actors. I'm worried about AIPAC, ICE, Palantir, the War Department, etc. Right now the US is fiddling in the coming elections in Brazil as it has been doing lately all over Latin America, along with Israel. If the Repubs are declared the winners in November then we know they rigged the elections which they can easily do. Bruce]