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  4.    <title>ZeroHedge News</title>
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  9.    <item>
  10.  <title>The Hidden Architecture Of Debt: How Private Banks Captured The Global Economy</title>
  11.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hidden-architecture-debt-how-private-banks-captured-global-economy</link>
  12.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;The Hidden Architecture Of Debt: How Private Banks Captured The Global Economy&lt;/span&gt;
  13.  
  14.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.realitybooks.co.uk/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Mark Keenan via RealityBooks.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  15.  
  16. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How debt-based money quietly became the engine of global control — and what real reform could look like...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  17.  
  18. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/man-puppeteer-manipulates-planet.jpg?itok=EbQuV7Z8" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/man-puppeteer-manipulates-planet.jpg?itok=EbQuV7Z8"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cc5f44ef-c8cf-499a-95bb-f920a6af2c49" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/man-puppeteer-manipulates-planet.jpg?itok=EbQuV7Z8" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  19.  
  20. &lt;h2&gt;Introduction: Why Money Power Matters&lt;/h2&gt;
  21.  
  22. &lt;p&gt;Most people graduate school knowing trigonometry but not how money is created. We learn to vote for parties but rarely examine who shapes the economic terrain those parties must walk on. Yet for more than a century, the power to &lt;strong&gt;create money as interest-bearing debt&lt;/strong&gt; has quietly concentrated economic and political control in private hands. The result is a world where nations strain under compounding obligations, public debate revolves around the margins of policy, and whole societies become dependent on a credit system they neither designed nor fully understand.&lt;/p&gt;
  23.  
  24. &lt;p&gt;This essay distills key arguments and quotations (historical and contemporary) about how modern banking actually works, why debt has become the engine of governance, and what that means for sovereignty, prosperity, and even our moral compass. The aim is not to recycle slogans but to clarify mechanisms: how money enters circulation, who benefits first, who bears the risks, and why the system almost always demands &lt;strong&gt;more growth, more extraction, and more debt&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  25.  
  26. &lt;h2&gt;1) The Core Mechanism: Money as Debt, Not as Value&lt;/h2&gt;
  27.  
  28. &lt;p&gt;A century of central banking and commercial credit has normalized a simple but profound fact: &lt;strong&gt;most new money is created when banks make loans&lt;/strong&gt;. As former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert B. Anderson put it in 1959, when a bank issues a loan, it credits a deposit that did not exist the moment before; the new deposit is “new money.” In practice, this means the money supply expands primarily through private lending, not public issuance.&lt;/p&gt;
  29.  
  30. &lt;p&gt;That mechanism is turbocharged by &lt;strong&gt;fractional-reserve banking&lt;/strong&gt; and today by capital-based banking rules: banks do not lend out pre-existing savings one-for-one; they expand deposits by creating credit. Interest is attached to that credit, meaning the system &lt;strong&gt;requires continual new borrowing&lt;/strong&gt; to service past borrowing. If credit creation slows materially, defaults rise, asset prices wobble, and political pressure mounts to “stimulate” again. In short, we live inside a treadmill that is far more &lt;strong&gt;credit-driven&lt;/strong&gt; than most civics textbooks admit.&lt;/p&gt;
  31.  
  32. &lt;p&gt;Critics from Henry Ford to John Scales Avery have argued that this arrangement is structurally unjust because it privatizes the &lt;strong&gt;seigniorage&lt;/strong&gt; (the profit of creating money) and socializes the fallout (inflation, asset bubbles, austerity). Whether or not one accepts every claim these critics make, the underlying math is hard to ignore: when money arrives as interest-bearing debt, the system has a built-in bias toward &lt;strong&gt;ever-expanding leverage&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  33.  
  34. &lt;h2&gt;2) From Private Credit to Public Power: How We Got Here&lt;/h2&gt;
  35.  
  36. &lt;p&gt;Modern banking’s political leverage grew alongside institutions like the &lt;strong&gt;Bank of England&lt;/strong&gt; and, later, the &lt;strong&gt;U.S. Federal Reserve&lt;/strong&gt; (established in 1913). Whatever the intention of their founders, central banks now sit at the junction of state and finance: they are &lt;strong&gt;publicly mandated&lt;/strong&gt; yet &lt;strong&gt;operationally insulated (and privately owned)&lt;/strong&gt;, coordinating liquidity to stabilize the system while commercial banks originate most money-like claims.&lt;/p&gt;
  37.  
  38. &lt;p&gt;This hybrid design has real consequences. It allows a &lt;strong&gt;small circle of decision-makers&lt;/strong&gt; to set the price of money (interest rates), backstop private balance sheets in crises, and influence fiscal choices by making some policies financially easy and others expensive. Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan once emphasized the institution’s independence; the flip side of that independence is &lt;strong&gt;low democratic visibility&lt;/strong&gt; over choices that shape every mortgage, job market, and public budget.&lt;/p&gt;
  39.  
  40. &lt;p&gt;Beyond national central banks lies the &lt;strong&gt;Bank for International Settlements (BIS)&lt;/strong&gt; in Basel — often called the “central bank of central banks.” Through standards (Basel accords) and coordination, it helps align global banking rules. Critics argue this produces a technocratic layer of control over national economies with little public oversight. Whether one views that as prudent stewardship or as democratic deficit, it underscores a theme: &lt;strong&gt;the architecture of money governance is largely opaque to the public&lt;/strong&gt; it governs.&lt;/p&gt;
  41.  
  42. &lt;h2&gt;3) Debt as an Organizing Principle: Nations on the Hook&lt;/h2&gt;
  43.  
  44. &lt;p&gt;If money is introduced mainly through borrowing, then borrowers become the gearwheels of the system. This is true of &lt;strong&gt;households&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;firms&lt;/strong&gt;, and crucially &lt;strong&gt;governments&lt;/strong&gt;. National debts have exploded over decades. Interest on those debts is neither a schoolbook abstraction nor a harmless line item: it diverts tax revenue from public goods to &lt;strong&gt;creditor claims&lt;/strong&gt; year after year.&lt;/p&gt;
  45.  
  46. &lt;p&gt;Concrete examples illustrate the point. Countries such as &lt;strong&gt;Ireland&lt;/strong&gt; have paid billions annually in debt interest, amounts that can reach a significant share of national profits in strong years. Canada has spent tens of billions per year on interest at various points. The United States services &lt;strong&gt;hundreds of billions&lt;/strong&gt; annually. The deeper the debt stock and the higher the rates, the more fiscal space narrows — and the easier it is for outside creditors and institutions to demand &lt;strong&gt;policy concessions&lt;/strong&gt; as the price of liquidity.&lt;/p&gt;
  47.  
  48. &lt;p&gt;International lending reinforces the pattern. When a country is pulled into a crisis, the usual medicine involves &lt;strong&gt;austerity and privatization&lt;/strong&gt; in exchange for financing — effectively transferring public assets and future cash flows into private hands. Even when such programs stabilize a currency, they often leave a legacy of &lt;strong&gt;reduced sovereignty and social strain&lt;/strong&gt;. Either way, the organizing principle remains: &lt;strong&gt;service the debt first&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  49.  
  50. &lt;h2&gt;4) Why Perpetual Growth Feels Non-Negotiable&lt;/h2&gt;
  51.  
  52. &lt;p&gt;Once you grasp that interest-bearing credit is the dominant source of new money, the politics of “growth at any cost” make more sense. If economies &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; expand to service past obligations, then policymakers are incentivized to chase GDP even when the ecological or social returns are negative. This is why governments of every stripe tend to converge on similar policies when growth stalls: tax incentives to borrow and invest, financial repression to keep rates low, deficit spending to plug holes, and pressure on central banks to ease again.&lt;/p&gt;
  53.  
  54. &lt;p&gt;Critics like Roy Madron, John Jopling, and John Scales Avery have argued that this growth-dependency &lt;strong&gt;crowds out other goals&lt;/strong&gt;: equitable distribution, environmental stewardship, and cultural stability. It also explains why mainstream debates often avoid the &lt;strong&gt;root structure&lt;/strong&gt; and instead focus on the speed of the treadmill. We argue about 2% vs. 3% inflation rather than who issues money, who captures seigniorage, and who eats the losses when cycles turn.&lt;/p&gt;
  55.  
  56. &lt;h2&gt;5) The Federal Reserve: Public Mandate, Private Origins&lt;/h2&gt;
  57.  
  58. &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Federal Reserve&lt;/strong&gt; occupies an unusual space: a public mandate (stable prices, maximum employment) implemented through a system &lt;strong&gt;owned by member banks&lt;/strong&gt; at the regional level. Court language has long acknowledged that Federal Reserve Banks are &lt;strong&gt;corporate entities&lt;/strong&gt; with private shareholders (commercial banks) electing many directors. The Board of Governors is a federal agency, but the operational plumbing marries public purpose with private infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;
  59.  
  60. &lt;p&gt;From an accountability standpoint, this hybrid model raises fair questions:&lt;/p&gt;
  61.  
  62. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  63. &lt;p&gt;Who ultimately benefits when the Fed backstops markets?&lt;/p&gt;
  64. &lt;/li&gt;
  65. &lt;li&gt;
  66. &lt;p&gt;How do we balance &lt;strong&gt;public interest&lt;/strong&gt; with the stability of private balance sheets?&lt;/p&gt;
  67. &lt;/li&gt;
  68. &lt;li&gt;
  69. &lt;p&gt;Why is the &lt;strong&gt;creation and allocation of money&lt;/strong&gt; largely engineered by institutions that citizens do not vote for?&lt;/p&gt;
  70. &lt;/li&gt;
  71. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even defenders of the status quo should concede that the &lt;strong&gt;communications gap&lt;/strong&gt; is vast: the average citizen has little idea how reserves, repos, and facilities translate into real-world wealth effects. That lack of transparency naturally makes people suspicious — even when the suspicion isn’t always justified — because it means the public has little idea how major financial decisions are made or who benefits from them. In the end, this secrecy prevents ordinary citizens and their representatives from openly debating choices that affect everyone’s livelihoods.&lt;/p&gt;
  72.  
  73. &lt;h2&gt;6) Usury, Inflation, and the Cost of “Stability”&lt;/h2&gt;
  74.  
  75. &lt;p&gt;When money is predominantly debt, &lt;strong&gt;interest&lt;/strong&gt; is not a side note; it is a structural tax on all who need money to transact. Banks, by creating credit, &lt;strong&gt;collect streams of interest&lt;/strong&gt; that compound through the system. Meanwhile, inflation — the dilution of purchasing power — often becomes a necessary byproduct of keeping debt-loads serviceable. In practice, inflation acts as a &lt;strong&gt;stealth transfer&lt;/strong&gt; from savers and wage earners to those closer to the spigot of new money (large financial institutions and asset owners).&lt;/p&gt;
  76.  
  77. &lt;p&gt;This is not an argument to abolish credit; modern economies need flexible financing. It is an argument to &lt;strong&gt;name the trade-offs honestly&lt;/strong&gt;. When we call monetary loosening a “stimulus,” we should also disclose who absorbs the loss in purchasing power and who gains from asset inflation. When we raise rates to “fight inflation,” we should admit the cost in jobs, bankruptcies, and public budgets. Stability is never free; it is &lt;strong&gt;reallocated volatility&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  78.  
  79. &lt;h2&gt;7) The Global Layer: Coordination Without Consent&lt;/h2&gt;
  80.  
  81. &lt;p&gt;Beyond national systems lies a web of &lt;strong&gt;global coordination&lt;/strong&gt; — standards, swap lines, and lender-of-last-resort arrangements that knit economies together. Institutions such as the &lt;strong&gt;BIS&lt;/strong&gt;, the &lt;strong&gt;IMF&lt;/strong&gt;, and development banks shape the terms of liquidity and restructuring. Supporters say this is necessary to prevent contagion; critics counter that it allows a transnational financial class to &lt;strong&gt;set conditions&lt;/strong&gt; on democratic societies in moments of maximum vulnerability.&lt;/p&gt;
  82.  
  83. &lt;p&gt;Both views can be true. But whichever side you take, the outcome is similar: &lt;strong&gt;creditors hold leverage&lt;/strong&gt;, and policy follows balance-sheet realities. The deeper the debt and the tighter the markets, the narrower the options for governments and citizens. This is not a conspiracy; it is a &lt;strong&gt;design choice&lt;/strong&gt; we rarely discuss.&lt;/p&gt;
  84.  
  85. &lt;h2&gt;8) Sovereignty, Media, and the Narrative Problem&lt;/h2&gt;
  86.  
  87. &lt;p&gt;The power to create money and allocate credit inevitably spills into &lt;strong&gt;media and politics&lt;/strong&gt;. Owners of major financial claims own or influence the platforms that shape public narratives. This does not mean that every newsroom takes orders from a bank; it does mean that &lt;strong&gt;structural critiques&lt;/strong&gt; of debt-money systems are often marginalized, while surface controversies get saturation coverage.&lt;/p&gt;
  88.  
  89. &lt;p&gt;The result is a public perpetually debating &lt;strong&gt;symptoms&lt;/strong&gt; — inequality, housing bubbles, wage stagnation, austerity — without interrogating the &lt;strong&gt;monetary architecture&lt;/strong&gt; that channels outcomes. Representative democracy then becomes a choice between parties that manage the same treadmill at different speeds.&lt;/p&gt;
  90.  
  91. &lt;h2&gt;9) The Ethical Dimension: Stewardship vs. Exploitation&lt;/h2&gt;
  92.  
  93. &lt;p&gt;Strip away the technicalities and we’re left with a moral question: &lt;strong&gt;What is money for?&lt;/strong&gt; If it’s a public utility that measures and mobilizes real work and resources, then its creation and allocation should be &lt;strong&gt;transparent, accountable, and aligned with the common good&lt;/strong&gt;. If money is something sold for profit and interest instead of managed for the public good, then we should at least admit we’re living in a world where banks’ claims on our future work matter more than people’s well-being today.&lt;/p&gt;
  94.  
  95. &lt;p&gt;Across traditions — secular and spiritual — there runs a consistent thread: wealth is &lt;strong&gt;stewardship&lt;/strong&gt;, not ownership. “Dominion” over the earth does not mean permission to strip-mine the future; it means responsibility for the living systems that sustain us. Any economic architecture that demands perpetual extraction to service compounding claims will eventually collide with &lt;strong&gt;ecological limits&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;human dignity&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  96.  
  97. &lt;h2&gt;10) What Reform Could Mean (Without Utopian Promises)&lt;/h2&gt;
  98.  
  99. &lt;p&gt;This essay does not prescribe a single fix, but it points toward &lt;strong&gt;principles&lt;/strong&gt; that reformers across the spectrum could evaluate:&lt;/p&gt;
  100.  
  101. &lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  102. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monetary transparency:&lt;/strong&gt; Citizens deserve clear explanations of how money enters circulation, who receives it first, and on what terms.&lt;/p&gt;
  103. &lt;/li&gt;
  104. &lt;li&gt;
  105. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seigniorage for the public:&lt;/strong&gt; Explore mechanisms by which the gains from money creation serve public priorities rather than accruing primarily to private balance sheets.&lt;/p&gt;
  106. &lt;/li&gt;
  107. &lt;li&gt;
  108. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Counter-cyclical buffers:&lt;/strong&gt; Policies that reduce boom-bust extremes (e.g., stricter leverage in booms; automatic stabilizers in busts) can mitigate the human cost of credit cycles.&lt;/p&gt;
  109. &lt;/li&gt;
  110. &lt;li&gt;
  111. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sovereign capacity:&lt;/strong&gt; Restore and protect national capacity to issue money or public credit directly for real-economy projects, with independent audits to curb abuse.&lt;/p&gt;
  112. &lt;/li&gt;
  113. &lt;li&gt;
  114. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ethical limits:&lt;/strong&gt; Recognize that any system demanding infinite growth on a finite planet is mathematically fragile and morally shortsighted. Design for &lt;strong&gt;resilience over hype&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  115. &lt;/li&gt;
  116. &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p&gt;These are not radical ideas; they are overdue discussions in a world where nearly everyone is a debtor, directly or indirectly, to a machine that few understand.&lt;/p&gt;
  117.  
  118. &lt;p&gt;I explore these dynamics in greater depth in my book &lt;em&gt;The Debt Machine: How Private Banks Engineered Global Control&lt;/em&gt;, which traces how private money creation became the hidden architecture of global power — and how sovereign nations can reclaim control over credit and policy.&lt;/p&gt;
  119.  
  120. &lt;h2&gt;Conclusion: Seeing the Machine&lt;/h2&gt;
  121.  
  122. &lt;p&gt;If you remember only one thing, let it be this: &lt;strong&gt;money is not neutral&lt;/strong&gt;. How it is created, who controls its issuance, and what claims attach to it determine the shape of our economies and the boundaries of our politics. We can disagree about the best reforms, but we can no longer afford civic illiteracy about the monetary plumbing that governs our lives.&lt;/p&gt;
  123.  
  124. &lt;p&gt;In a healthy society, the architecture of money would be a &lt;strong&gt;public conversation&lt;/strong&gt;, not a specialist’s secret. Until then, the treadmill will keep turning — and those closest to the controls will keep deciding how fast the rest of us must run.&lt;/p&gt;
  125.  
  126. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  127.  
  128. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mark Keenan&lt;/strong&gt; is a former United Nations technical expert and the author of The Debt Machine: How Private Banks Engineered Global Control and Climate CO₂ Hoax: How Bankers Hijacked the Environment Movement. His work examines how global finance and policy networks shape the modern world behind the scenes.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  129. &lt;/div&gt;
  130.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  131. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T23:15:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 19:15&lt;/span&gt;
  132. </description>
  133.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 23:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  134.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
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  136.    </item>
  137. <item>
  138.  <title>Venezuela Alleges It Detained CIA Group, Accuses U.S. Of Orchestrating "False Flag" Attack</title>
  139.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/venezuela-alleges-it-detained-cia-group-accuses-us-orchestrating-false-flag-attack</link>
  140.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Venezuela Alleges It Detained CIA Group, Accuses U.S. Of Orchestrating "False Flag" Attack&lt;/span&gt;
  141.  
  142.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Venezuela has accused the United States and Trinidad and Tobago of orchestrating a covert operation to destabilize the Caribbean&lt;/strong&gt;, escalating tensions in a region already strained by geopolitical rivalries, according to a report by &lt;a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312660489.html"&gt;The Miami Herald&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  143.  
  144. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/maduro%20pointing_1.jpg?itok=vNRXen9f" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/maduro%20pointing_1.jpg?itok=vNRXen9f"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9f9000d7-dfe2-4b37-b7e8-7b7066e9cddf" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="240" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/maduro%20pointing_1.jpg?itok=vNRXen9f" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  145.  
  146. &lt;p&gt;On Sunday, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced&lt;strong&gt; the alleged capture of “mercenaries” linked to the CIA,&lt;/strong&gt; describing the arrests as part of &lt;strong&gt;a “false-flag operation” intended to provoke a military confrontation with Venezuela&lt;/strong&gt;. The government provided no details on the number of suspects or the circumstances of their detention, leaving the claims unsubstantiated.&lt;/p&gt;
  147.  
  148. &lt;p&gt;Venezuela also accused Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of surrendering her nation’s sovereignty to U.S. interests, effectively turning the country into a “military colony.”&lt;/p&gt;
  149.  
  150. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Maduro regime also criticized the joint military exercises between the U.S. Southern Command and Trinidad&lt;/strong&gt;, labeling them a “hostile provocation” that threatens regional stability.&lt;/p&gt;
  151.  
  152. &lt;p&gt;“By aligning herself with Washington’s militarist agenda, Persad-Bissessar not only seeks to attack Venezuela and break our historical bonds of brotherhood, but also violates the United Nations Charter, the CELAC declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, and the principles of CARICOM,” the Venezuelan government’s statement read.&lt;br /&gt;
  153. Venezuela also claimed, without evidence, that Trinidad was responsible for human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.&lt;/p&gt;
  154.  
  155. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;We do not seek war with anyone. We have never declared war on anyone,&lt;/strong&gt;” Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello told &lt;a href="https://www.ntn24.com/noticias-actualidad/diosdado-cabello-amenaza-con-un-contraataque-devastador-en-alusion-al-despliegue-de-ee-uu-en-el-caribe-581283"&gt;NTN24&lt;/a&gt;. “&lt;strong&gt;But we have learned to defend ourselves, and we have also learned to carry out devastating counterattacks when necessary.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  156.  
  157. &lt;p&gt;The accusations come amid a significant U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to combat drug trafficking, &lt;strong&gt;with a particular focus on the Cartel de los Soles&lt;/strong&gt;, which U.S. officials allege is led by Maduro. The ongoing operation has resulted in the killing of 43 alleged drug dealers and two captures, according to &lt;a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312660489.html"&gt;The Miami Herald&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  158.  
  159. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This kind of sounds like a repeat of 2024&lt;/strong&gt;, when Venezuela announced that it had detained &lt;strong&gt;four US citizens&lt;/strong&gt; and a handful of other foreign nationals, who they say were working with the CIA and Spanish intelligence to overthrow Maduro - something both western governments have denied. &lt;/p&gt;
  160.  
  161. &lt;p&gt;Last week, Trump has signaled the possibility of expanding operations, including potential ground interventions in Venezuela, a move which could anger the non-interventionist supporters.\“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump said recently. “We’ve almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we’ll stop it by land.”&lt;/p&gt;
  162.  
  163. &lt;p&gt;Last month, Trump posted a video on Truth Social of a video showing women, some appearing overweight, training with guns for what was claimed to be the Venezuelan militia.&lt;/p&gt;
  164.  
  165. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115248712390172467/embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0" width="600"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  166. &lt;/div&gt;
  167.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  168. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T22:50:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 18:50&lt;/span&gt;
  169. </description>
  170.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 22:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
  171.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  172.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078617 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  173.    </item>
  174. <item>
  175.  <title>Victor Hanson: The Left Is 'Bleeding Kansas'</title>
  176.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/victor-hanson-left-bleeding-kansas</link>
  177.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Victor Hanson: The Left Is 'Bleeding Kansas'&lt;/span&gt;
  178.  
  179.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/27/the-left-is-bleeding-kansas/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  180.  
  181. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the late 1850s, “Bleeding Kansas” was the term used to describe the escalating cycle of violence,&lt;/strong&gt; when surrogates for the Union and soon-to-be Confederacy fought each other over whether Kansas would be admitted as a free or slave-owning state.&lt;/p&gt;
  182.  
  183. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_11-59-04.jpg?itok=DqGcUYgQ" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_11-59-04.jpg?itok=DqGcUYgQ"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0666f301-f3e8-4ddd-b3a6-6ed1ca43f707" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="294" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_11-59-04.jpg?itok=DqGcUYgQ" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  184.  
  185. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As the assaults and killings increased, radicals set the agenda. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  186.  
  187. &lt;p&gt;The logical next step was the nightmares of Fort Sumter and Bull Run.&lt;/p&gt;
  188.  
  189. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Those calling for restraint and peaceful resolutions were considered weak and traitorous. &lt;/strong&gt;The thuggish and violent, instead, were praised as the true idealists and patriots, the real “base” of their respective parties.&lt;/p&gt;
  190.  
  191. &lt;p&gt;We have witnessed a growing wave of left-wing assassins and would-be assassins in the last few years: James Hodgkinson, Luigi Mangione, James Crooks, Ryan Routh, Elias Rodriguez, and Tyler Robinson, who have targeted Republican House leaders, CEOs, Donald Trump, Jews, and Charlie Kirk. For months, leftists vandalized or torched anything to do with the Tesla brand, and with virtual impunity, they sometimes went after individual Tesla owners. Jews walked in the shadows on campuses, where mobs cheered Hamas killers.&lt;/p&gt;
  192.  
  193. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From June through October 2020, Antifa- and BLM-led rioting led to 35 deaths, $2 billion in damage, 14,000 arrests, and 1,500 injured police. On January 6, violence left five dead, four from the protesting side. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  194.  
  195. &lt;p&gt;But whereas the federal government immediately and often excessively jailed both violent and peaceful 2021 protesters, almost all of the 14,000 protesters and rioters of 2020 were released by left-wing blue-city and federal prosecutors and judges.&lt;/p&gt;
  196.  
  197. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ICE officers and facilities remain under siege in a number of major cities. &lt;/strong&gt;In this current left-wing legitimization of violence, the Democrat Party is now embracing an eerie channeling of an earlier, pre- and post-Confederate ethos. Nonstop Democrat grandees call for their resistance to hit the street, if need be, to go lower than the “gutter,” and to “let your rage fuel you.”&lt;/p&gt;
  198.  
  199. &lt;p&gt;The demagogic, anti-ICE bluster of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson is nullificationist and state-rights supremacy to the core.&lt;/p&gt;
  200.  
  201. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New York mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani, in the spirit of Jefferson Davis, recently summed up the left’s resistance best, bragging that he hoped to disconnect New York local governance from federal government authority entirely—at least in the obligatory rather than beneficiary sense.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  202.  
  203. &lt;p&gt;But do not left-wing states’ righters also applaud rogue lower-court federal judges who create and apply all sorts of edicts to stop the enforcement of federal law?&lt;/p&gt;
  204.  
  205. &lt;p&gt;The Democrat-appointed judges confidently and accurately assume:&lt;/p&gt;
  206.  
  207. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  208. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;1) that they will certainly be reversed but can successfully continue to fabricate laws and make up jurisdictions and rules to delay and obstruct the administration;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  209.  
  210. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;2) that unlike their Democrat supporters who opportunistically ignore federal authority, the targeted Trump administration will abide by their federal rulings until they are reversed; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  211.  
  212. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;3) that any loss of judicial reputation by their biased and unsound rulings is more than made up by their new folk status among Democrats as fanatic Never Trumper activists.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  213. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  214.  
  215. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blue-state elected officials, both local and statewide, believe not only that the federal government has no jurisdiction to enforce the laws of the land in their locales, but that they themselves have the right, and indeed the duty, to use their own resources to impede them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  216.  
  217. &lt;p&gt;But blue states and cities have a peculiar notion of “states’ rights.” Under the Obama administration, Democrats once cheered on the federal government’s blockage of former Arizona governor Jan Brewer’s efforts to use state resources to enforce federal immigration law, which an open-borders Obama White House had refused to fully do.&lt;/p&gt;
  218.  
  219. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How odd, then, that the left supports federal supremacy when it chooses not to enforce its own laws but opposes it when it follows and enforces federal statutes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  220.  
  221. &lt;p&gt;Of course, should any red city, county, or state declare itself immune from a Democrat-run federal government—for example, local authorities ignoring federal gun registration laws or endangered species mandates—then the left would use the full force of the federal law to crush such “state-righters.”&lt;/p&gt;
  222.  
  223. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This new one-sided, left-wing, states’-rights movement also took off during the first Trump administration. &lt;/strong&gt;Then, some 600 state and local “sanctuary city” jurisdictions declared that they would not hand over arrested criminal foreign aliens residing unlawfully in the U.S. to federal authorities.&lt;/p&gt;
  224.  
  225. &lt;p&gt;Currently, local Democrat officials from Chicago to Los Angeles unabashedly boast that not only will their own police forces not aid in the deportation of apprehended or criminal illegal aliens, but they will also often actively oppose federal law enforcement—whether by offering street sanctuary to violent anti-ICE protesters in Portland or ordering Chicago-area police not to come to the aid of embattled and blockaded ICE officers.&lt;/p&gt;
  226.  
  227. &lt;p&gt;An unhinged Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) now brags she wants local California officials to arrest federal ICE officers. But the former Speaker of the House does not elaborate on what sort of “encounter” will follow when the latter federal, armed officers are lawfully enforcing the law, and the former armed state officers are breaking the law in trying to stop them. Bleeding Kansas? A mini-Fort Sumter?&lt;/p&gt;
  228.  
  229. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The last time we saw such brazen state efforts to nullify federal law took place in 1957 at Little Rock, Arkansas (President Eisenhower versus Governor Orval Faubus); in 1962 at Oxford, Mississippi (President Kennedy versus Governor Ross Barnett); and in 1963 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (President Kennedy versus George Wallace). &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  230.  
  231. &lt;p&gt;Like their current counterparts, all such governors pleaded states’ rights, damned federal intrusion into their own affairs, and counted on their own state residents to protest and intervene for their shared anti-federalist and nullificationist agendas.&lt;/p&gt;
  232.  
  233. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Social media is now ablaze, as are street protests, with attacks on federal officials and with defiant calls from state and local residents to use any means necessary to stop federal enforcement.&lt;/strong&gt; State officials smear federal officers as “Nazis” and “Gestapo”—and then up the ante by creating electronic “ICE trackers” so that illegal aliens and their supporters can evade federal officers, dox them, and put them in physical jeopardy. The logical end to the violent designs of California nullificationist officials will be either wounded or dead ICE officers.&lt;/p&gt;
  234.  
  235. &lt;p&gt;That 80-90% of currently arrested cohorts of illegal aliens either have prior criminal records or past-due deportation orders seems irrelevant. The cause of the current nullificationists is not so much illegal immigrants per se but rather using state resources to defy the Trump federal administration, as it acts lawfully as representatives of the U.S. government.&lt;/p&gt;
  236.  
  237. &lt;p&gt;No wonder the antebellum firebrand and killer John Brown has become a popular blue-state rights icon—precisely because he was willing to kill his opponents. The violent left-wing “John Brown Gun Club” is now mainstream. Howard University professor Stacey Patton recently urged white liberals to “be like John Brown. Ask yourself, what am I willing to burn so somebody else can breathe?”&lt;/p&gt;
  238.  
  239. &lt;p&gt;She apparently was advocating the sort of violence that characterized Brown’s armed raid on Harpers Ferry that helped ignite the Civil War, or his earlier 1856 Pottawatomie Massacre, where he oversaw the execution of five pro-South settlers.&lt;/p&gt;
  240.  
  241. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The escalating violence in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland bears an eerie resemblance to the precursors to the “Bleeding Kansas” madness of the late 1850s, in which, eventually, local law enforcement often ignored or joined in the violence of ad hoc thugs, sometimes in opposition to the federal government.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  242.  
  243. &lt;p&gt;As in the bloodletting of 19th-century Kansas, the current activist left, in the street and on social media, makes no effort to hide their glee over Charlie Kirk’s death, to mask their disappointment that Trump survived two assassination attempts, or to deny that assassin Luigi Mangione is now a popular left-wing icon.&lt;/p&gt;
  244.  
  245. &lt;p&gt;L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, whose incompetence and left-wing blinders ensured the L.A. fire, seems unconcerned with her failed city, as she daily poses on the barricades as a resistor of federal law.&lt;/p&gt;
  246.  
  247. &lt;p&gt;Governor Gavin Newsom has no answers for his multibillion-dollar high-speed rail catastrophe. He remains indifferent to the state government’s responsibility for dozens of horrific forest and brush fires.&lt;/p&gt;
  248.  
  249. &lt;p&gt;Perennial candidate Newsom is unconcerned with the state’s crippling costs of insurance, gas, and electricity, or California’s record high gas and income taxes, or its now chronic multibillion-dollar budget deficit, or its $1.6 trillion in unfunded liabilities.&lt;/p&gt;
  250.  
  251. &lt;p&gt;Instead, Newsom only comes to life to post that the federal Homeland Security Secretary will soon have a “bad day” (“Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today. You’re welcome, America”), or that he is willing to smack the mouth of the President (“We are going to fight back and we’re going to punch this bully in the mouth.”) or to strike his Republican opponents (“We are going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.”).&lt;/p&gt;
  252.  
  253. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In sum, officials both threaten and sanction violence against ICE.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  254.  
  255. &lt;p&gt;When challenged by federal officers, violent street thugs run to the protection of sympathetic local police.&lt;/p&gt;
  256.  
  257. &lt;p&gt;If an ICE officer is besieged, he has no assurance that local or state officers will come to his aid and confront his attackers.&lt;/p&gt;
  258.  
  259. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Assassins are praised; their victims are slandered.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  260.  
  261. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So we are Bleeding Kansas.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  262.  
  263. &lt;p&gt;Democrats and the left nevertheless press ahead—even as they know where their madness ultimately leads.&lt;/p&gt;
  264. &lt;/div&gt;
  265.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  266. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T22:25:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 18:25&lt;/span&gt;
  267. </description>
  268.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 22:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
  269.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  270.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078619 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  271.    </item>
  272. <item>
  273.  <title>Mid-Atlantic Lawmakers Unite In Push To Stop "Climate Cultists" As Power Bill Crisis Worsens </title>
  274.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/mid-atlantic-lawmakers-unite-push-stop-climate-cultists-power-bill-crisis-worsens</link>
  275.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Mid-Atlantic Lawmakers Unite In Push To Stop "Climate Cultists" As Power Bill Crisis Worsens &lt;/span&gt;
  276.  
  277.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://x.com/MDFreedomCaucus"&gt;Maryland Freedom Caucus&lt;/a&gt;, a coalition of conservative Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates, is preparing to go on the offensive alongside other state lawmakers across the Mid-Atlantic area in a new regional alliance to combat and break the stranglehold that far-left lawmakers have had on regional politics for decades, which they argue has torpedoed the regional power grid with failed climate change policies and triggered the worst power bill crisis in a generation. &lt;/p&gt;
  278.  
  279. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/PJM%20Utilities.jpg?itok=WsdGGkUQ" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/PJM%20Utilities.jpg?itok=WsdGGkUQ"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ff0bb0e3-897e-431b-b2a3-2f4549b70268" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="641" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/PJM%20Utilities.jpg?itok=WsdGGkUQ" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  280.  
  281. &lt;p&gt;"Politicians and special interest groups have traded energy independence for a &lt;strong&gt;delusional climate cultist ideology&lt;/strong&gt;, and every Maryland family is paying the price with skyrocketing bills and a rapidly dwindling energy supply," Maryland Delegate Brian Chisholm told &lt;a href="https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/maryland-freedom-caucus-forms-regional-coalition-energy-costs-shortages"&gt;local TV station Fox Baltimore&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  282.  
  283. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  284. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Here is a clip of Trump speaking at the UN on green energy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  285. Should we dive into the amount of money the Biden administration and democrats gave to NGOs just for adding “environment” or “climate” into their purpose for their grant application.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  286. One of them literally says,… &lt;a href="https://t.co/pRxszWW8zp"&gt;https://t.co/pRxszWW8zp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/vg4L6pK3pM"&gt;pic.twitter.com/vg4L6pK3pM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  287. — SKDoubleDub (@SKDoubleDub33) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SKDoubleDub33/status/1970520828971491718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;September 23, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  288. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chisholm continued, "&lt;strong&gt;We stand firmly united with our colleagues in neighboring states to deliver real, adult solutions and finally put an end to the childish nonsense impacting our state."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  289.  
  290. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  291. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="pl" xml:lang="pl" xml:lang="pl"&gt;ICYMI: &lt;a href="https://t.co/IXynLYD8o4"&gt;https://t.co/IXynLYD8o4&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/PzQsOpnP3F"&gt;pic.twitter.com/PzQsOpnP3F&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  292. — Maryland Freedom Caucus (@MDFreedomCaucus) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MDFreedomCaucus/status/1981474626925711678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 23, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  293. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Powering the Mid-Atlantic plans to hold hearings in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. The state delegates are joining forces because their states all share the same grid and transmission lines and have seen power bills skyrocket due to backfiring climate change initiatives, such as retiring reliable fossil fuel power plants for unreliable solar and wind. In return, PJM (Mid-Atlantic) remains critically tight, with limited spare capacity. We've outlined this alarming development last summer (&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/price-spikes-blackouts-americas-power-crisis-just-getting-started"&gt;read here&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;
  294.  
  295. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-09-08_09-42-12.png?itok=Lbm-5uII" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-09-08_09-42-12.png?itok=Lbm-5uII"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7867ac17-d4c6-4126-93a8-d9ed66eeec7d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="433" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-09-08_09-42-12.png?itok=Lbm-5uII" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  296.  
  297. &lt;p&gt;"Pennsylvania is poised to lead the energy revolution," said Representative David H. Rowe, chairman of the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee. "Aligning energy policies with our neighboring states has been some of the most productive collaboration I've experienced this session. I commend my colleagues in the Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia delegations and look forward to working toward a balanced solution for a balanced grid."&lt;/p&gt;
  298.  
  299. &lt;p&gt;The coalition of lawmakers comes as the &lt;strong&gt;power bill crisis spread across the Mid-Atlantic this year&lt;/strong&gt;, from Maryland to New Jersey, putting Democrats who control these states at serious risk in future elections. &lt;/p&gt;
  300.  
  301. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  302. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Power Bill Crisis Sends Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's Approval Plummeting &lt;a href="https://t.co/uQebt96XLa"&gt;https://t.co/uQebt96XLa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  303. — zerohedge (@zerohedge) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1955348606430445866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;August 12, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  304. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;With Election Day in New Jersey just days away, Republicans in the state &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/flip-switch-nj-republicans-launch-ad-blaming-democrats-power-bill-crisis"&gt;launched an all-out blitz against Democrats&lt;/a&gt;, unveiling a new ad that pinpoints progressives for their epic mismanagement of the grid.&lt;/p&gt;
  305.  
  306. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  307. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Electricity prices are OUT OF CONTROL and leaving New Jerseyans HOT under the collar. 😉&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  308. Are you tired of getting burned by the New Jersey Democrats?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  309. Then it’s time to tell your friends &amp; neighbors to flip the switch. VOTE Republican on Tuesday, November 4th! ⚡️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/IOQLTiLuPE"&gt;pic.twitter.com/IOQLTiLuPE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  310. — Mike Testa (@TestaForNJ) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TestaForNJ/status/1981692397990850971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 24, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  311. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;We've told readers...&lt;/p&gt;
  312.  
  313. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  314. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;In one year, this will be the most popular chart on this site &lt;a href="https://t.co/h93gWXMoNL"&gt;pic.twitter.com/h93gWXMoNL&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  315. — zerohedge (@zerohedge) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1954980347030163526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;August 11, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  316. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Backfiring climate change initiatives have collided with the era of data center hookups across the Mid-Atlantic area. The Trump administration has rushed to bring retired fossil-fuel power plants back onto the grid to increase desperately needed spare capacity, while nuclear power won't be a major story until the 2030s.&lt;/p&gt;
  317.  
  318. &lt;p&gt;Perhaps Republican lawmakers in the Mid-Atlantic have a breakthrough to communicate to voters just how terrible Democrats have become with their left-wing policies. Meanwhile, Democrats in these states have spent more time catering to illegal aliens, DEI, and other Marxist-aligned policies instead of finding proper solutions to fix this power mess. Sounds like people in these states are about to vote with their empty wallets.&lt;/p&gt;
  319. &lt;/div&gt;
  320.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  321. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T22:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 18:00&lt;/span&gt;
  322. </description>
  323.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 22:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  324.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  325.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078613 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  326.    </item>
  327. <item>
  328.  <title>MAHA's Moment To Prove Itself: The 2026 Midterms</title>
  329.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mahas-moment-prove-itself-2026-midterms</link>
  330.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;MAHA's Moment To Prove Itself: The 2026 Midterms&lt;/span&gt;
  331.  
  332.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/10/24/mahas_moment_to_prove_itself_the_2026_midterms__153441.html"&gt;Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearPolitics&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  333.  
  334. &lt;p&gt;President Trump leafed through the MAHA report moments before its public release, scanning the document that laid the blame for chronic disease in children on everything from ultra-processed foods and a lack of exercise to toxic chemicals and overprescription of medicines.&lt;/p&gt;
  335.  
  336. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/700449_80_0.jpg?itok=15ygspiG" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/700449_80_0.jpg?itok=15ygspiG"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="675cafc2-194c-4bda-a605-34254a71eeea" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="348" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/700449_80_0.jpg?itok=15ygspiG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  337.  
  338. &lt;p&gt;He asked only one thing when he looked up &lt;a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/maha/"&gt;from his reading:&lt;/a&gt; How many of its recommendations could be implemented and how quickly?&lt;/p&gt;
  339.  
  340. &lt;p&gt;Cabinet members replied that they were prepared to move quickly. Trump signaled his satisfaction but, according to sources in the East Room that day last May, delivered a warning. Before staff opened the roundtable discussion to the press, the president told his people, &lt;strong&gt;“If you don’t get it done, you’re fired.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  341.  
  342. &lt;p&gt;The celebrity president often recycles his famous catchphrase from his era in reality television, but while he became famous for rather unceremoniously firing members of his first administration,&lt;strong&gt; he has not given anyone the boot during his second White House season&lt;/strong&gt;. Whether it was a quip or a threat, the message was received. Trump is serious about cementing the MAHA movement into the greater MAGA coalition, especially before the coming midterms.&lt;/p&gt;
  343.  
  344. &lt;p&gt;Between 4 and 6% of non-Trump voters backed him for the first time last November precisely because he adopted the vow of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “make America healthy again.” As Republicans now look down ballot, they hope &lt;a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/24/rfk-jr-maha-strategy-2026-midterms"&gt;to bottle that “MAHA bounce”&lt;/a&gt; to save their congressional majorities. Sources inside the administration and allies outside of it believe that embracing the movement would not only deliver new voters but also give the GOP a ready answer on how to talk about health care.&lt;/p&gt;
  345.  
  346. &lt;p&gt;“It is just an incredible gift to the Republican Party,” Tony Lyons who now leads MAHA PAC – the political action committee most associated with the movement – told RealClearPolitics.&lt;strong&gt; Trump doesn’t believe it came with a gift receipt. He has already embraced, and personally advanced, much of the movement’s agenda.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  347.  
  348. &lt;p&gt;Trump brought the Presidential Fitness Test back to public schools and advertised the gym exam as &lt;a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Trump+Presidnetial+Fitness+Test+Youtube&amp;oq=Trump+Presidnetial+Fitness+Test+Youtube&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDUwODVqMGo0qAIAsAIB&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&amp;vld=cid:c5daae1d,vid:nlzR2X0ZQbw,st:0"&gt;“a wonderful thing.”&lt;/a&gt; His administration has pressured corporations to ditch artificial food dyes, &lt;a href="https://www.hhs.gov/hhs-big-wins-maha/index.html"&gt;taken steps to make sugary drinks and soda ineligible for food stamps&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/fda-to-remove-ingestible-fluoride-drug-products-for-children.html"&gt;banned the prescription of ingestible fluoride for children.&lt;/a&gt; He floated a disputed theory about the connection between the painkiller acetaminophen and childhood autism, telling pregnant women to “tough it out” rather than take Tylenol.&lt;/p&gt;
  349.  
  350. &lt;p&gt;Some of the moves have been more controversial than others. Kenvue, the manufacturer of Tylenol, for instance, disputed Trump’s claim, citing “independent, sound science.” But a senior administration official heralded Trump all the same for “embracing messy conversations around agriculture, vaccines, and pharmaceutical product.” It was evidence, the official told RCP, that the administration is willing to “touch the hot stove” if it means fostering a debate about the health of the nation.&lt;/p&gt;
  351.  
  352. &lt;p&gt;It is also a signal to some health-conscious voters, many of whom voted Democratic prior to 2024, that they have a home in the Republican party. “Right now, these Trump voters – the GOP is just renting them,” Trump pollster John McLaughlin told RCP. Speaking of the coalition Trump cobbled together consisting of disaffected Democrats and traditionally liberal constituencies, he added that Republicans “need to make a decision if they’re going to make them permanent.”&lt;/p&gt;
  353.  
  354. &lt;p&gt;After Trump brought MAHA voters into the fold, according to a senior administration official, the question now is whether “it is a credible statement to say that MAHA is an important tool to broaden the Republican coalition and win future elections.” The GOP will have to swim alone in populist waters someday, the official added, while explaining the urgency on the right to solidify the realignment that Trump achieved in 2024: “There’s a growing sense that we need to have MAGA outlast Trump.” Hence, the efforts to keep MAHA onboard ahead of the midterms.&lt;/p&gt;
  355.  
  356. &lt;p&gt;Republicans are still trying to figure out MAHA. The sentiment is simple enough. The movement is new as a political force and hardly a monolith. It is a patchwork of factions worried about everything from food safety to the pharmaceutical industry. One corner obsesses over the use of pesticides in agriculture. Another focuses entirely on the alleged link between autism and childhood vaccines. To critics, it is a collection of cranks, kooks, and online hustlers looking to earn a quick buck.&lt;/p&gt;
  357.  
  358. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But the problems that the movement identifies &lt;a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/10/cancer-is-rising-among-younger-people-why/"&gt;have been&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/well/obesity-epidemic-america.html"&gt;undeniable&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/prediabetes-in-teens-cdc-says-nearly-one-in-three-teenagers-at-risk-of-type-2-diabetes/"&gt;for&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/"&gt;some time&lt;/a&gt;, even if the MAHA prognosis is not accepted.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  359.  
  360. &lt;p&gt;“This is about the future of America. We’ve become the sickest, fattest, most disease-ridden nation in the world,” said Gary Brecka, host of “The Ultimate Human” podcast with a following in the millions. “We shouldn’t be proud of the fact that we spend $5 trillion a year on health care, and yet, we lead the world in things like morbid obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and multiple chronic diseases in a single biome.”&lt;/p&gt;
  361.  
  362. &lt;p&gt;That is, not coincidentally, the same conclusion that the MAHA presidential coalition reached in a report authored by Secretary Kennedy. The kids are not all right, the HHS secretary concluded, calling them “the sickest generation in American history.”&lt;/p&gt;
  363.  
  364. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;The pandemic rattled the cage of the world and certainly of America,&lt;/strong&gt;” Brecka told RCP as he explained how the health focus that used to be predominantly a mainstay of blue enclaves like Brooklyn crossed over into red, and often rural, America. As far as the criticism goes, he replied, “The basic premise of science is a hypothesis, which is a question, right? And it’s very fascinating to me, that by asking questions about ‘the science’ that is somehow anti-science, when, in fact, it’s actually the very foundation of science itself.”&lt;/p&gt;
  365.  
  366. &lt;p&gt;Credentialed experts will quibble with, and have already criticized, that sentiment. Those focused on the business of political science, namely winning elections, report that MAHA will be potent in the midterms.&lt;/p&gt;
  367.  
  368. &lt;p&gt;The movement remains popular across the political spectrum, including among Hispanic and black voters, according to a survey conducted over the summer by the Republican polling firm co/efficient. New polling released earlier this month by KFF (formerly Kaiser Family Foundation), meanwhile, &lt;a href="https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-the-washington-post-survey-of-parents-polling-insights-on-the-maha-movement/"&gt;found that nearly four in 10 parents, 38%, &lt;/a&gt;identify as MAHA supporters. Whether skeptics or disciples of the movement, parents overwhelmingly identified the same set of issues facing children’s health from social media to the prevalence of highly processed foods and the rise of obesity.&lt;/p&gt;
  369.  
  370. &lt;p&gt;Those numbers point to an opening, said Ryan Munce, president of co/efficient. Health care &lt;a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/651755/healthcare-remains-important-voting-issue.aspx"&gt;remains a perennial political issue.&lt;/a&gt; Republicans are historically very good at articulating what they oppose, namely Obamacare. Opposition to the Affordable Care Act helped sweep GOP majorities into Congress in 2010 and 2014 and Trump into the White House in 2016. Now Munce is encouraging candidates “top to bottom” to embrace MAHA as a positive platform.&lt;/p&gt;
  371.  
  372. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;If we don't have those mid- to long-term solutions to what’s truly not a health care crisis, &lt;em&gt;but a health crisis,&lt;/em&gt; in this country&lt;/strong&gt;, the rest of the conversation about ‘is my premium going to be 10% higher or lower,’ while very important in the everyday,” he said, will obscure “the overall story.” In a word, Munce and other MAHA political operatives told RCP they are stressing something holistic.&lt;/p&gt;
  373.  
  374. &lt;p&gt;Vani Hari agrees. “It is the answer,” she said, “because it’s the preventative answer, the answer to how you get out of a health care system that's killing you, that’s killing all of us.” A former Democrat who served as an Obama delegate at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, she built a brand as “the Food Babe,” attracting a social media following in the millions with her warnings about ingredients in food she considers toxic. But now it is Republicans, not Democrats, who are scrutinizing the food industry and setting themselves up for political gain, said the woman the New York Times dubbed &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/dining/food-babe-maha-vani-hari.html"&gt;“the Taylor Swift of the MAHA moms.”&lt;/a&gt; Hari describes the current moment, and next November, as “for sure a reckoning.”&lt;/p&gt;
  375.  
  376. &lt;p&gt;The GOP should not take that coalition as a given. While Trump and RFK Jr. have earned their support, Hari said that Republicans down-ballot still need to prove that they are on board. “We are going to do the side-by-side comparison for the candidates,” she told RCP, likening political analysis to the “side-by-side of ingredients” parents do in the grocery store when choosing between brands.&lt;/p&gt;
  377.  
  378. &lt;p&gt;Her question will be, &lt;strong&gt;“How MAHA are they?”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  379.  
  380. &lt;p&gt;The closest thing the movement has to a political nutritionist may be MAHA PAC, a super PAC founded by former RFK Jr. campaign staffers. Lyons, the leader of that organization, insists that the same voters who buoyed Kennedy in the Democratic primary, and later Trump in the general election, are about to prove themselves in the midterms. He believes the administration has delivered “dramatic wins” and made “incredible progress” acting unilaterally from the executive branch.&lt;/p&gt;
  381.  
  382. &lt;p&gt;“But the fight is far from over,” he said. “We need the support of lawmakers to complete the mission, and we can offer our support, backed by millions of voters for whom health is an existential issue and millions of dollars that we’re raising from passionate donors.”&lt;/p&gt;
  383.  
  384. &lt;p&gt;Among the MAHA faithful still waiting for more from Congress is activist Kelly Ryerson, who goes by “the Glyphosate Girl” on social media. The moniker is a reference to a key ingredient in some Roundup weed killers and a chemical culprit in certain cancers. Trump promised to crack down on pesticides. His administration has yet to rein in that industry, a fact that has disappointed some activists. First, the MAHA report seemed to go easy on the issue. Then, House Republicans advanced a spending bill that includes what critics call “a liability shield” for pesticide companies.&lt;/p&gt;
  385.  
  386. &lt;p&gt;More than 200 MAHA activists, including Ryerson, &lt;a href="https://unitedweeat.earth/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/President-Trump-Say-No-to-Pesticide-Liability-Shields-MAHA-Movement-letter-8-11-2025-2.pdf"&gt;penned an open letter to Trump&lt;/a&gt; warning that if Republicans do not crack down, “they risk losing both moral ground and political support.”&lt;/p&gt;
  387.  
  388. &lt;p&gt;They were not subtle. &lt;strong&gt;“Mr. President, creating broad liability protections for pesticides is a losing issue for your party and your coalition,” the undersigned added, “and may well cost you the House majority in the midterms.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  389.  
  390. &lt;p&gt;Ryerson clarifies that she is thrilled with the president. She met with the EPA, FDA, and USDA during the Biden administration but never saw the same kind of results. She described Trump 2.0 to RCP as “a completely different ballgame” and insisted she still had “confidence that the goal is still to basically detoxify our food system.” Her frustration is with Congress.&lt;/p&gt;
  391.  
  392. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And it could boil over.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  393.  
  394. &lt;p&gt;Ryerson reports that there have been early conversations among some in the MAHA movement about backing primary challengers “to challenge the Republicans who just are not coming along.”&lt;/p&gt;
  395.  
  396. &lt;p&gt;On Capitol Hill, Republicans have played nice with Kennedy. They have mostly welcomed the former Democrat into their ranks. He is, after all, the most popular member of the president’s cabinet at the moment. But the HHS secretary drew the ire of lawmakers with his plan to remake the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specifically its vaccine advisory panel.&lt;/p&gt;
  397.  
  398. &lt;p&gt;The MAHA crowd has consistently called for more oversight of vaccines. Some draw a direct link between an increase in childhood autism diagnosis and a vaccine schedule they deem too aggressive, though medical experts widely dismiss that allegation. A clash came in committee last month.&lt;/p&gt;
  399.  
  400. &lt;p&gt;Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician before politics, asked Kennedy if Trump deserved the Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the pandemic-era project that developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time and has been credited with saving millions of lives. &lt;strong&gt;The HHS secretary said yes. Why then, alleged Cassidy, had he consistently opposed mRNA technology both as a private attorney and a public servant?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  401.  
  402. &lt;p&gt;“As lead attorney for the Children’s Health Defense, you engaged in multiple lawsuits attempting to restrict access to the COVID vaccine,” Cassidy said. “It surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney, you attempted to restrict access to the COVID vaccine.” &lt;/p&gt;
  403.  
  404. &lt;p&gt;Kennedy countered that the COVID vaccine was effective against a particular mutation of the virus at a particular moment in time and noted that Trump had never supported a mandate. Cassidy then read from a letter from a medical colleague detailing confusion over which patients ought to receive the COVID shot. The FDA &lt;a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontechs-comirnatyr-receives-us-fda-approval"&gt;had just approved an updated vaccine&lt;/a&gt; for anyone age 65 and older, and any child six months or older with an underlying health condition that places them at increased risk of the virus.&lt;/p&gt;
  405.  
  406. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I would say effectively we are denying people vaccine,” the senator said.  &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  407.  
  408. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“You’re wrong,” the secretary replied.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  409.  
  410. &lt;p&gt;Cassidy was not the only Republican to voice displeasure. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a physician and the second-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, reminded Kennedy that “in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines.” The changes Kennedy had made at HHS and CDC, he concluded, had left him “deeply concerned.”&lt;/p&gt;
  411.  
  412. &lt;p&gt;It was a rare flashpoint between the administration and a generally accommodating Congress. But it isn’t likely to inspire Republican-on-Republican violence. Republican incumbents can breathe a sigh of relief as far as MAHA PAC is concerned. Lyons told RCP his organization isn’t looking to help mount a challenge from their flanks. He said that it wouldn’t be “the right move” for MAHA to tell lawmakers that “we’re going to primary them if they don’t do this or that.”&lt;/p&gt;
  413.  
  414. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The political message of MAHA, according to Lyons, is that the coalition wants “to educate people and we want them to see the enormous potential for winning in the midterms based on this issue.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  415.  
  416. &lt;p&gt;Tension still lingers under the surface as the realignment continues. Asked about the criticism from Barrasso and Cassidy, a senior administration bristled to RCP that the pair “have been accepting pharmaceutical donations all their life.”&lt;/p&gt;
  417.  
  418. &lt;p&gt;A Barrasso spokeswoman flatly dismissed that criticism, noting that the majority whip helped rally Republican support for Kennedy’s nomination both in committee and on the floor. They added that the senator-physician “has always been pro-vaccine but anti-mandate,” a position "no different” than that of Trump. Cassidy similarly voted for Kennedy and has also publicly praised several MAHA initiatives from &lt;a href="https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1915115163092504943?s=46"&gt;getting petroleum-based dyes out of foods&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href="https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1935096585601347654?s=46"&gt;demanding additional accountability&lt;/a&gt; from the pharmaceutical industry.&lt;/p&gt;
  419.  
  420. &lt;p&gt;Cassidy and Barrasso introduced a resolution earlier this week &lt;a href="https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/chair-cassidy-majority-whip-barrasso-nominate-president-trump-for-nobel-peace-prize-praise-historic-operation-warp-speed/"&gt;to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize&lt;/a&gt; for launching Operation Warp Speed. The MAGA crowd would love to see Trump win, but they have largely soured on the product of that initiative.&lt;/p&gt;
  421.  
  422. &lt;p&gt;Recent polling from the president’s own pollster, Tony Fabrizio, found tha&lt;strong&gt;t just 22% of Trump voters now believe it is currently “important” to receive the COVID jab&lt;/strong&gt;. They are, however, overwhelmingly supportive of vaccines in general. A clear majority of Trump supporters, 73%, agree with the sentiment that “vaccines save lives.”&lt;/p&gt;
  423.  
  424. &lt;p&gt;Trump still brags about Operation Warp Speed. He &lt;a href="https://x.com/senbillcassidy/status/1969162701420044427?s=46"&gt;recently called it&lt;/a&gt; “one of the greatest things a president has ever done for this country, and you could say the world.” According to a report by the White House physician when Trump underwent a physical at Walter Reed Medical Center this month, he received the flu shot and &lt;a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1977034436761075946"&gt;a COVID-19 booster shot.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  425.  
  426. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Democrats are already looking forward to the midterms and probing for fractures in the MAHA-MAGA alliance. Many of those voters, after all, once called the Democratic Party home.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  427.  
  428. &lt;p&gt;“Trump and RFK Jr. are actively putting Americans at risk. They’ve alienated huge swaths of Americans by making it harder to get popular and safe vaccines, shamed pregnant women for using Tylenol, and disregarded the advice of doctors and medical experts,” said DNC spokeswoman Kendall Witmer. “Meanwhile, Trump and RFK Jr. have broken key promises they made to the MAHA movement on everything from pesticides to pollution to childhood diseases,” she added. “With the midterms approaching, the coalition that put Trump in office is falling apart, as Trump and RFK Jr. become a liability to Republicans down ballot.”&lt;/p&gt;
  429.  
  430. &lt;p&gt;Some friction is to be expected between the GOP and the various MAHA sects. Ryerson chalked up the disconnect to a generational and ideological divide. Younger, health-forward voters recently brought into the Republican fold will have their differences with the old guard. But they aren’t likely to break with the right so long as Kennedy is at Trump’s side.&lt;/p&gt;
  431.  
  432. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;Each time there is a hearing, and you see Democrats just tear RFK Jr. apart,” Ryerson said, “it is a good thing for Republicans&lt;/strong&gt;.” This provides an opportunity for the GOP to reprise their role, she said, as “the MAHA component.”&lt;/p&gt;
  433.  
  434. &lt;p&gt;And in this way Trump hopes to cement that part of his winning 2024 coalition into the fabric of his newly realigned party. White House spokesman Kush Desai reiterated that Trump has “full confidence” in Kennedy and endorses the overall mission of MAHA.&lt;/p&gt;
  435.  
  436. &lt;p&gt;“The MAHA Agenda isn’t just a set of federal policy proposals, but a grassroots movement that’s revolutionizing the health decision-making of food companies, restaurant chains, and everyday Americans,” Desai said. “The administration is committed to building on this movement and uniting the Americans who want to restore American Greatness in every sense.”&lt;/p&gt;
  437.  
  438. &lt;p&gt;Ahead of the midterms, if some get their way, this means adopting the MAHA message as the GOP answer on health care.  &lt;/p&gt;
  439. &lt;/div&gt;
  440.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  441. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T21:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 17:40&lt;/span&gt;
  442. </description>
  443.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 21:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  444.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  445.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078330 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  446.    </item>
  447. <item>
  448.  <title>Latin American Political Earthquake: Milei's Midterm Victory In Argentina Puts Chile In Focus Ahead Of Elections</title>
  449.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/latin-american-political-earthquake-mileis-midterm-victory-argentina-puts-chile-focus</link>
  450.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Latin American Political Earthquake: Milei's Midterm Victory In Argentina Puts Chile In Focus Ahead Of Elections&lt;/span&gt;
  451.  
  452.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;After Javier Milei's surprise midterm victory in Argentina (&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mileis-chainsaw-austerity-big-beautiful-bailout-line-key-midterm-test"&gt;documented here&lt;/a&gt;), along with the market reaction (see the Goldman note &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/argentina-stocks-40-goldman-says-trade-has-just-started"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), attention now shifts across the Andes to Chile's first-round presidential election next month.&lt;/p&gt;
  453.  
  454. &lt;p&gt;Cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket shows a potential victory for conservative free-market candidate Jose Antonio Kast, who is politically aligned with Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Milei in Argentina. The trend suggests that socialist power in Latin America may be weakening. &lt;/p&gt;
  455.  
  456. &lt;p&gt;Chile Presidential Election:&lt;/p&gt;
  457.  
  458. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  459. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kast: Social conservative, focuses his campaign on crime and immigration. Promises spending cuts, but would need congressional alliances to govern, limiting drastic policy moves.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  460. &lt;/li&gt;
  461. &lt;li&gt;
  462. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Johannes Kaiser: Anti-establishment libertarian, similar to Milei, but with limited support.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  463. &lt;/li&gt;
  464. &lt;li&gt;
  465. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Jeannette Jara (leftist, Communist Party affiliation): Seen as market-negative. If she outperforms in the first round, Chilean assets could fall. However, like Boric, she would likely face institutional constraints.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  466. &lt;/li&gt;
  467. &lt;li&gt;
  468. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Evelyn Matthei (center-right): Viewed as the most investor-friendly but has struggled to differentiate herself. Could outperform polls as a moderate alternative.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  469. &lt;/li&gt;
  470. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Polymarket: Chile Presidential Election &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  471.  
  472. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_12-34-05.png?itok=zgoutTz7" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_12-34-05.png?itok=zgoutTz7"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ab223937-a3ce-4d90-b8c3-355216604a45" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="458" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_12-34-05.png?itok=zgoutTz7" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  473.  
  474. &lt;p&gt;Bloomberg noted that investors are pricing in a Kast win, expecting market-friendly governance. Chilean equities just set another intraday record, while the peso's implied volatility is ultra-low. &lt;/p&gt;
  475.  
  476. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_3bf6967d.png?itok=rroksMq1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_3bf6967d.png?itok=rroksMq1"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6f53efee-bf73-4ff5-914d-236cdc8d1166" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="275" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_3bf6967d.png?itok=rroksMq1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  477.  
  478. &lt;p&gt;However, a Jara surprise would likely unleash peso weakness and equity underperformance, given her communist allegiance. &lt;/p&gt;
  479.  
  480. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile...&lt;/p&gt;
  481.  
  482. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  483. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Following the recent election in Bolivia and the victory of centrist-right leader Rodrigo Paz, South America has officially shifted rightward with half of the continent now governed by conservative or center-right presidents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  484. Chile &amp; Colombia are next in line. &lt;a href="https://t.co/7E460ctdZb"&gt;https://t.co/7E460ctdZb&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/lnfkJsNZ15"&gt;pic.twitter.com/lnfkJsNZ15&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  485. — Eliant Capital (@eliant_capital) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/eliant_capital/status/1980319783242633529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 20, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  486. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;UBS analyst Roque Montero told clients, "And while a shift to the right seems possible in the Dec runoff with Kast (Republicanos, right-wing party) still ahead in the polls, we are uncertain if they will represent a structural turning point for the economy and markets." &lt;/p&gt;
  487.  
  488. &lt;p&gt;It appears Latin America is ditching socialism in real time...&lt;/p&gt;
  489.  
  490. &lt;p&gt;However, back in the U.S. ... Socialists and Communists are planning their takeover of NYC. &lt;/p&gt;
  491.  
  492. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  493. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;AOC: “We are not the crazy ones…. They want us to think we are crazy. We are sane.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://t.co/zch0baKHg6"&gt;pic.twitter.com/zch0baKHg6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  494. — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1982656802014773725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  495. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;. . . &lt;/p&gt;
  496. &lt;/div&gt;
  497.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  498. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T21:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 17:20&lt;/span&gt;
  499. </description>
  500.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 21:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  501.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  502.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078581 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  503.    </item>
  504. <item>
  505.  <title>Task Forces Launched To Eliminate Violent Crime By Foreign Gangs, Cartels</title>
  506.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/task-forces-launched-eliminate-violent-crime-foreign-gangs-cartels</link>
  507.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Task Forces Launched To Eliminate Violent Crime By Foreign Gangs, Cartels&lt;/span&gt;
  508.  
  509.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/task-forces-launched-to-eliminate-violent-crime-by-foreign-gangs-cartels-5934711"&gt;Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis ours),&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  510.  
  511. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have introduced new task forces cracking down on foreign gangs operating in the United States,&lt;/strong&gt; the FBI said in a &lt;a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/homeland-security-task-forces-target-transnational-organized-crime-on-us-soil"&gt;statement&lt;/a&gt; released on Oct. 24.&lt;/p&gt;
  512. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_80%28315%29_0.jpg?itok=k2nC6oq0" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_80%28315%29_0.jpg?itok=k2nC6oq0"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7db737e0-64fd-4a20-a04d-ab9d7dc5d7ff" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_80%28315%29_0.jpg?itok=k2nC6oq0" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;FBI agents patrol Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., on Oct. 5, 2025. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  513.  
  514. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;These new teams, known as Homeland Security Task Forces, bring together FBI and HSI personnel—as well as task force officers from local, state, and federal partner agencies&lt;/strong&gt;—to investigate transnational organized crime activity such as drug trafficking and human trafficking that occurs across all 50 states, the nation’s capital, and Puerto Rico,” the agency said.&lt;/p&gt;
  515.  
  516. &lt;p&gt;According to the FBI, the task force is focused on “rooting out violent crime committed by foreign gangs, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations impacting the United States.”&lt;/p&gt;
  517.  
  518. &lt;p&gt;In an Aug. 8 &lt;a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-houston-arrests-more-350-gang-members-past-6-months-who-illegally-entered-us-over"&gt;statement&lt;/a&gt;, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it had arrested 356 gang members in the first six months of the Trump administration, who combined had been convicted of nearly 1,700 criminal offenses and had entered the United States illegally more than 1,400 times.&lt;/p&gt;
  519.  
  520. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Arrested individuals included convicted murderers, thieves, child predators, and arsonists, the agency said. One individual was found to have illegally entered the country 40 times.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  521.  
  522. &lt;p&gt;In total, members from 40 different gangs were arrested, including 39 individuals from the Salvadoran gang MS-13 and 25 from Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.&lt;/p&gt;
  523.  
  524. &lt;p&gt;On Oct. 16, ICE &lt;a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-federal-partners-arrest-more-1400-illegal-aliens-massachusetts-during-patriot-20"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; it had arrested more than 1,400 illegal immigrants in Massachusetts, including those related to transnational criminal gangs. Six of the arrested individuals were documented members of these gangs, and several more were associates.&lt;/p&gt;
  525.  
  526. &lt;p&gt;In its recent statement, the FBI said the Homeland Security Task Forces will target criminal acts such as drug trafficking, homicide, extortion, money laundering, weapons trafficking, alien smuggling, kidnapping, and human trafficking.&lt;/p&gt;
  527.  
  528. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Targeted groups will include those recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the federal government.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  529.  
  530. &lt;p&gt;In February, the State Department &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-officially-declares-mexican-cartels-foreign-gangs-as-global-terrorists-5812758"&gt;designated&lt;/a&gt; multiple Mexican drug cartels and transnational criminal gangs as global terrorist organizations, including Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Sinaloa cartel.&lt;/p&gt;
  531.  
  532. &lt;p&gt;The FBI said that although immigration investigations are not the focus of the task forces, investigators may examine immigration-related aspects as part of their probes.&lt;/p&gt;
  533.  
  534. &lt;p&gt;In addition to the FBI and the HSI—an arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—task forces will include personnel from more than 15 federal agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of War (officially the Department of Defense), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.&lt;/p&gt;
  535.  
  536. &lt;p&gt;The task forces have been formed in response to a Jan. 20 presidential action &lt;a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-american-people-against-invasion/"&gt;signed&lt;/a&gt; by President Donald Trump, “&lt;strong&gt;Protecting the American People Against Invasion&lt;/strong&gt;.” The order highlighted the dangers posed by the influx of millions of illegal immigrants into the country who present “significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans.”&lt;/p&gt;
  537.  
  538. &lt;p&gt;It directed the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to jointly set up Homeland Security Task Forces in all 50 states.&lt;/p&gt;
  539.  
  540. &lt;h2&gt;Threat of Transnational Gangs&lt;/h2&gt;
  541.  
  542. &lt;p&gt;According to ICE, transnational &lt;a href="https://www.ice.gov/about-ice/hsi/investigate/transnational-gangs"&gt;gangs&lt;/a&gt; take advantage of differences in law enforcement capabilities and legal jurisdictions to avoid detection and prosecution.&lt;/p&gt;
  543.  
  544. &lt;p&gt;These groups focus on taking over the power and reach of other gangs, and competition between them leads to violence that affects the communities they operate in.&lt;/p&gt;
  545.  
  546. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The violence and intimidation unleashed by the gangs create an environment of insecurity and fear in communities, and people refuse to cooperate with law enforcement because of concerns about their personal safety,&lt;/strong&gt; ICE said.&lt;/p&gt;
  547.  
  548. &lt;p&gt;On Sept. 2, Trump &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-forces-strike-suspected-drug-boat-11-tren-de-aragua-members-killed-trump-5909309"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; that U.S. forces in the Caribbean fired on what officials said was a drug boat from Venezuela, which ended up killing 11 Tren de Aragua members.&lt;/p&gt;
  549.  
  550. &lt;p&gt;Talking about the incident during a Sept. 3 press &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-admin-designates-2-ecuadoran-gangs-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-5910386"&gt;conference&lt;/a&gt;, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said losing a small amount of drugs via seizures by U.S. forces was already factored into the economics of Mexican cartels and that stronger action is necessary to thwart such threats.&lt;/p&gt;
  551.  
  552. &lt;p&gt;“Interdiction doesn’t work,” he said. “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them. So they were designated as what they are—they are narco-terrorist organizations.&lt;/p&gt;
  553.  
  554. &lt;p&gt;“[Trump is] going to wage war on narco-terrorist organizations.&lt;/p&gt;
  555.  
  556. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;This one was operating in international waters, headed towards the United States to flood our country with poison, and under President Trump, those days are over&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;
  557.  
  558. &lt;p&gt;ICE deported several Tren de Aragua gang members, sexual predators, and other violent illegal immigrants from the United States back to Venezuela on Oct. 15, the DHS &lt;a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/24/dhs-deports-tren-de-aragua-gang-members-sexual-predators-and-violent-criminals"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; in a statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  559.  
  560. &lt;p&gt;“These public safety threats are out of the country and no longer pose a threat to Americans,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.&lt;/p&gt;
  561.  
  562. &lt;p&gt;Under the Trump administration, “more than 2 million illegal aliens have left the U.S.,” she said.&lt;/p&gt;
  563.  
  564. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, CBP reported that illegal border &lt;a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/trump-administration-delivers-5-straight-months-0-releases-border"&gt;crossings&lt;/a&gt; are now at historically low levels and that those who do cross are prosecuted swiftly.&lt;/p&gt;
  565.  
  566. &lt;p&gt;According to the agency, there have been zero parole releases in September, “compared to 9,144 released by the Border Patrol under the Biden administration along the southwest border in September 2024.”&lt;/p&gt;
  567. &lt;/div&gt;
  568.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  569. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T21:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 17:00&lt;/span&gt;
  570. </description>
  571.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 21:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  572.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  573.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078339 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  574.    </item>
  575. <item>
  576.  <title>"A National Disgrace": Largest Federal Worker Union Sides With GOP Plan To End Shutdown</title>
  577.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/national-disgracer-largest-federal-worker-union-sides-republican-plan-reopen-government</link>
  578.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;"A National Disgrace": Largest Federal Worker Union Sides With GOP Plan To End Shutdown&lt;/span&gt;
  579.  
  580.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The nation's largest union of federal workers &lt;strong&gt;has called on Congress to pass a 'clean' short-term funding bill &lt;/strong&gt;to immediately end the government shutdown which is now in its fourth week. &lt;/p&gt;
  581.  
  582. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/stand%20for.jpg?itok=2-HqveF2" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/stand%20for.jpg?itok=2-HqveF2"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3e43ea17-4f3c-4a4f-9036-0db53ab14f8b" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="259" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/stand%20for.jpg?itok=2-HqveF2" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  583.  
  584. &lt;p&gt;Representing over 800,000 federal and Washington government workers, the American Federation of Government Employees &lt;a href="https://www.afge.org/article/its-past-time-to-end-this-shutdown/"&gt;argued&lt;/a&gt; that the shutdown was an "avoidable crisis" that harms American families and workers nationwide.&lt;/p&gt;
  585.  
  586. &lt;p&gt;"Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight," said AFGE President Everett Kelly. "&lt;strong&gt;It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution&lt;/strong&gt; and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship."&lt;/p&gt;
  587.  
  588. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/johnson%203_3.JPG?itok=E7XyOUv7" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/johnson%203_3.JPG?itok=E7XyOUv7"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="287c11d3-4fbd-4d5a-b7b4-89dcb7cd16b0" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/johnson%203_3.JPG?itok=E7XyOUv7" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  589.  
  590. &lt;p&gt;Notably, &lt;strong&gt;Republicans have repeatedly pushed for exactly this - &lt;/strong&gt;a 'clean' continuing resolution that keeps the government open. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) &lt;strong&gt;has urged Senate Democrats to support it&lt;/strong&gt; with no success, while many other House Republicans support the clean CR &lt;strong&gt;that the House already passed&lt;/strong&gt; which would keep funding at current levels. &lt;/p&gt;
  591.  
  592. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Senate Democrats have repeatedly voted down these 'clean' CRs. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  593.  
  594. &lt;p&gt;"When the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin," Kelly said on Monday. "They’re looking for the wages they earned. &lt;strong&gt;The fact that they’re being cheated out of it is a national disgrace.&lt;/strong&gt;"&lt;/p&gt;
  595.  
  596. &lt;p&gt;While federal workers are guaranteed back pay once the government reopens, the Senate last week &lt;strong&gt;rejected a GOP-led effort to pay active-duty members &lt;/strong&gt;of the military and certain federal workers during the shutdown - with Democrats insisting that they would back a proposal to pay all federal workers &lt;em&gt;and prevent the Trump administration from firing anyone&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;during the shutdown. &lt;/p&gt;
  597.  
  598. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;strong&gt;It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people,&lt;/strong&gt; rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike," said Kelly. &lt;/p&gt;
  599.  
  600. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  601.  
  602. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/preparedness/anza-knives/blade-of-the-month/" data-image-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/preparedness/anza-knives/blade-of-the-month/" data-link-option="2" href="https://store.zerohedge.com/preparedness/anza-knives/blade-of-the-month/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7149c0c9-19bc-45e7-bfaf-f1ce91bf6c90" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="171" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/limited%20knives_0.jpg?itok=V7Q-36C7" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  603. &lt;/div&gt;
  604.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  605. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T20:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 16:40&lt;/span&gt;
  606. </description>
  607.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  608.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  609.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078590 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  610.    </item>
  611. <item>
  612.  <title>'Imagine That': 24 Years After 9/11, Democrats Are Running A Jihadi Communist For NYC Mayor</title>
  613.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/imagine-24-years-after-911-democrats-are-running-jihadi-communist-nyc-mayor</link>
  614.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;'Imagine That': 24 Years After 9/11, Democrats Are Running A Jihadi Communist For NYC Mayor&lt;/span&gt;
  615.  
  616.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.kunstler.com/p/antifa-out-mamdani-ascendant"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by James Howard Kunstler,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  617.  
  618. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Antifa Out, Mamdani Ascendant...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  619.  
  620. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  621. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“Protests are meant to be the voices of the unheard. Yet these protests are the voices of those who never shut up.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  622.  
  623. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Unnamed Observer of No Kings, reported by Roger Kimball&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  624. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  625.  
  626. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Over the weekend, you might have noticed, the Portland, OR, police cleared out the Antifa encampments down around the city’s ICE facility, carted away their lavish riot supplies, and warned them not to congregate on the street there.&lt;/strong&gt; For now, anyway. Hmmmm. . . . Why do you suppose that happened? Antifa has been rioting freely around federal buildings in Portland since the Summer of Floyd, 2020. Did the police suddenly notice that Antifa has been disturbing the peace?&lt;/p&gt;
  627.  
  628. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2897%29_2.jpg?itok=QvE_b6ii" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2897%29_2.jpg?itok=QvE_b6ii"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="de05868d-661e-468d-a204-84db54de3e27" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="294" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2897%29_2.jpg?itok=QvE_b6ii" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  629.  
  630. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So far, nobody in the news media has bothered to ask the Portland Police honchos about this sudden change of heart, nor did the honchos venture to say. &lt;/strong&gt;Did word come from higher up to finally put a stop to Antifa’s psychotic monkeyshines? Like, from Mayor Keith Wilson or Oregon Governor Tina Kotek? Wouldn’t you say those two have got some ‘splainin’ to do?&lt;/p&gt;
  631.  
  632. &lt;p&gt;After all, the Antifa actions at this particular address were not just &lt;em&gt;peaceable assemblies petitioning the government for redress of their grievances,&lt;/em&gt; as the Constitution has it.&lt;strong&gt; They were often violent efforts to interfere with federal officers going about their duties, namely, the expulsion of illegal border-jumpers. &lt;/strong&gt;Left unsaid by the aforementioned persons in authority was whether they were in on that interference.&lt;/p&gt;
  633.  
  634. &lt;p&gt;You can probably assume that they were. They represent the Democratic Party, and that is who allowed millions to jump the border between 2021 and 2025 under “Joe Biden,” evidently to lard their voter rolls and enable never-ending ballot fraud. The law is pretty clear about all that. If you come here without due process, you are subject to deportation.&lt;strong&gt; The gang behind “Joe Biden” tried to get around that by claiming that the millions flooding in were all “asylum seekers,” every last one, and thus here within due process of the immigration laws. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  635.  
  636. &lt;p&gt;That was simply not truthful. It was as fake as the “Joe Biden” presidency itself.&lt;/p&gt;
  637.  
  638. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of course, there is the looming matter of Mr. Trump’s proffer to send in federal troops to protect ICE officers while they see to their duties.&lt;/strong&gt; Also, days ago, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller remarked that state and local politicians who interfere with ICE operations could face arrest and prosecution for criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, or even seditious conspiracy. Is that conspiracy &lt;em&gt;theory&lt;/em&gt;? No, it just recognizes agreement between two or more parties to engage in criminal conduct, falling under federal statutes 18 U.S.C. § 371 plus 18 U.S.C. § 1503 (obstruction of justice) and 18 U.S.C. § 2384 (conspiring to levy war against the government, prevent, hinder federal duties, opposing federal authority, et cetera).&lt;/p&gt;
  639.  
  640. &lt;p&gt;The penalties for those crimes can be heavy. Governors such as Tina Kotek, or JB Pritzker, or Gavin Newsom, or my own Kathy Hochul here in New York could face up to twenty years in prison on raps like that. Mr. Miller is giving notice that the new administration is not fooling around. We have lived through an era when fooling around was allowed and promoted. It did quite a bit of damage to the nation. Things have changed.&lt;/p&gt;
  641.  
  642. &lt;p&gt;These moves by such bumptious pols also have the look of skirmishes preceding something that smells like Civil War, which is to say, insurrection.&lt;/p&gt;
  643.  
  644. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As a kind of sadistic object lesson, the Democratic Party is running a Jihadi communist for mayor of the nation’s premier city, New York.&lt;/strong&gt; Imagine that, twenty-four years after 9/11! The cheek! Zohran Mamdani has run his campaign on the credible issue that the city is unaffordable for the non-rich. He is surely correct about that, though he misunderstands why that is.&lt;/p&gt;
  645.  
  646. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2898%29_2.jpg?itok=ab2PDtrE" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2898%29_2.jpg?itok=ab2PDtrE"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="62f153f8-0ea5-47f4-a767-584d4913c9a3" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="341" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2898%29_2.jpg?itok=ab2PDtrE" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  647.  
  648. &lt;p&gt;I will tell you why that is: because &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;all the Leftist progressive (socialist / communist-inflected) policy of the past eighty years in New York City has made property ownership and management almost impossible&lt;/strong&gt;, including especially decades of their favorite ploy, rent control, and has created an artificial shortage of affordable housing in particular. &lt;/em&gt;Then, the Covid-19-era rent payment moratorium drove a stake through the heart of affordable housing. How can you take care of a building in which tenants do not pay any rent? How can that be a credible business? Do you understand that property management is a business? It has to pencil-out, cover its costs, make a profit.&lt;/p&gt;
  649.  
  650. &lt;p&gt;Zohran Mamdani wants more of that, &lt;strong&gt;affordability-by-decree, which means he will for sure get less affordable housing and more property that no one wants to take care of — which is what slums are.&lt;/strong&gt; That, plus a lot of other so-called policies aimed at persecuting anybody crazy enough to do business at any scale in New York. So, Zohran Mamdani and his delirious supporters are joyously marching into the wreckers’ ball for New York. Jihad is just the cherry on top of all that.&lt;/p&gt;
  651.  
  652. &lt;p&gt;Mr. Mamdani is apparently a sure thing to get elected on November 4. Of course, Hillary was a sure thing, too, back in 2016, so we’ll just have to stand by and see, but his two opponents in the race are about the sorriest figures ever seen in a city that has historically produced cavalcades of political rogues, morons, and scoundrels.&lt;/p&gt;
  653.  
  654. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The less obvious outcome, though, given Mr. Mamdani’s youth, lack of administrative experience, and cargo of hopeless ideologies, is that corruption and racketeering will run wild during his years in City Hall.&lt;/strong&gt; It will make the Boss Tweed era look like a political golden age.&lt;/p&gt;
  655. &lt;/div&gt;
  656.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  657. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T20:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 16:20&lt;/span&gt;
  658. </description>
  659.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  660.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  661.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078598 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  662.    </item>
  663. <item>
  664.  <title>Trump Says Willing To Extend Asia Tour For Meeting With North Korea's Kim</title>
  665.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-willing-extend-asia-tour-meeting-north-koreas-kim</link>
  666.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Trump Says Willing To Extend Asia Tour For Meeting With North Korea's Kim&lt;/span&gt;
  667.  
  668.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/trump-wants-to-meet-kim-jong-un-on-asia-tour/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via The Libertarian Institute &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  669.  
  670. &lt;p&gt;As President Donald Trump headed to Malaysia on the first leg of his Asia tour, he told the media to &lt;strong&gt;"put out the word" that he would like to meet with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  671.  
  672. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"They have a lot of nuclear weapons, but not a lot of telephone service,"&lt;/strong&gt; Trump &lt;a href="https://archive.ph/siX7o"&gt;said on Friday&lt;/a&gt;. The President met with Kim three times during his first administration. While the summits led to a significant decrease in tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Trump failed to make a deal with Kim. &lt;/p&gt;
  673. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/trumpkim_0.jpg?itok=Tk79aBOY" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/trumpkim_0.jpg?itok=Tk79aBOY"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a78aaa50-179a-40bf-ba6f-5da100d91f23" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="336" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/trumpkim_0.jpg?itok=Tk79aBOY" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;AFP via Getty Images&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  674.  
  675. &lt;p&gt;Since Trump returned to the White House, top North Korean officials have said that Kim is willing to meet the President again, but Washington must remove its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons.&lt;/p&gt;
  676.  
  677. &lt;p&gt;Secretary of State Marco Rubio has restated the long-standing policy in Washington that &lt;strong&gt;any deal with Pyongyang must include denuclearization&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  678.  
  679. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Wall Street Journal&lt;/em&gt; spoke with current and former US officials who admitted that North Korea was unlikely to give up its &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/trump-pitches-meeting-with-kim-jong-un-during-asia-tour-ba0c55ec?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqcvKGtgdMqGVghBaggkQHZX7qyWIJZiczxiLlZ6NlXe5p_-BEFbWP8dtAj3kno%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68ff95a4&amp;gaa_sig=QoEhICAwBGnp9vATwkH87YHMxCP2vxomj5X-RY4zaXwoOwh4C6WmZ4g5GjlKCVYbsCbI1j5ETB2-vkhoOMclDg%3D%3D"&gt;nuclear weapons&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  680.  
  681. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  682. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state would be a dramatic shift in U.S. policy, which for decades has aimed to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle its arsenal with a mix of economic and diplomatic pressure.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  683.  
  684. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ending that stance would usher in a new era in U.S. relations with North Korea, one where the two countries engage as fellow nuclear powers instead of fierce adversaries&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  685. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  686.  
  687. &lt;p&gt;Trump referred to North Korea as "sort of a nuclear power." He added, "I know how many weapons they have. I know everything about them. They have a lot of nuclear weapons."&lt;/p&gt;
  688.  
  689. &lt;p&gt;And on Monday, the Washington Post &lt;a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/27/trump-asia-trip/"&gt;reports&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  690.  
  691. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  692. &lt;p data-apitype="text" data-contentid="UCLBRKORGFHDJKHJG3RGK2Y3HM" data-el="text" dir="null"&gt;&lt;em&gt;So much so, Trump suggested aboard Air Force One on Monday, that he would extend his nearly week-long trip to make the meeting happen, if Kim agrees.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  693.  
  694. &lt;p data-apitype="text" data-contentid="AABEMFCJ55GQHPSZRELEII4S5M" data-el="text" dir="null"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“It’s our last stop, so it would be pretty easy to do,”&lt;/strong&gt; Trump told reporters on his way to Japan, when asked whether he would delay his return to Washington on Thursday if it meant meeting with the totalitarian state’s leader.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  695. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  696.  
  697. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  698. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Minutes after saying he doesn't want to meet with Mark Carney, Trump says "I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him, he liked me. If he wants to meet, I'll be in South Korea." &lt;a href="https://t.co/yw1sXW8XVa"&gt;pic.twitter.com/yw1sXW8XVa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  699. — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1982781355554427254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  700. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two US officials said that the &lt;strong&gt;US had not reached out to Kim before the summit&lt;/strong&gt;, and Trump’s statement was the first invitation to North Korea for a head-of-state meeting. &lt;/p&gt;
  701.  
  702. &lt;p&gt;While North Korea has not committed to meeting with the US, Kim has noted that he has a positive relationship with Trump.&lt;/p&gt;
  703. &lt;/div&gt;
  704.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  705. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T19:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 15:45&lt;/span&gt;
  706. </description>
  707.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  708.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  709.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078551 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  710.    </item>
  711. <item>
  712.  <title>Amazon Plans To Axe 30,000 Corporate Jobs, Cuts Begin Tuesday</title>
  713.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/amazon-plans-axe-30000-corporate-jobs-cuts-begin-tuesday</link>
  714.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Amazon Plans To Axe 30,000 Corporate Jobs, Cuts Begin Tuesday&lt;/span&gt;
  715.  
  716.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Late in the U.S. cash session, Reuters dropped a startling headline: Amazon is preparing to take a Javier Milei-style axe to its corporate workforce, planning to slash upwards of 30,000 jobs as soon as tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
  717.  
  718. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-targets-many-30000-corporate-job-cuts-sources-say-2025-10-27/"&gt;Reuters&lt;/a&gt;, citing three people familiar with the matter, said the 30,000 corporate job cuts set to begin tomorrow will amount to approximately 10% of Amazon's corporate workforce of about 350,000 employees. However, the cuts represent a relatively small share of the company's total workforce, which includes about 1.55 million warehouse and delivery workers.&lt;/p&gt;
  719.  
  720. &lt;p&gt;The planned layoffs are aimed at reducing costs and reversing pandemic-era overhiring.&lt;/p&gt;
  721.  
  722. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_3c645016.png?itok=6CEqxkTK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_3c645016.png?itok=6CEqxkTK"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6d23ce4c-6a3d-4152-bcfa-5a1f553dce18" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="272" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_3c645016.png?itok=6CEqxkTK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  723.  
  724. &lt;p&gt;If confirmed, this would be Amazon's largest round of layoffs since it cut about 27,000 jobs beginning in late 2022.&lt;/p&gt;
  725.  
  726. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/CS_Associate_1265_800x510._CB1679426133_-1.jpg?itok=PxIZrhcB" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/CS_Associate_1265_800x510._CB1679426133_-1.jpg?itok=PxIZrhcB"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0f99913f-4dad-4f36-adab-49c0a536ddde" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="319" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/CS_Associate_1265_800x510._CB1679426133_-1.jpg?itok=PxIZrhcB" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  727.  
  728. &lt;p&gt;Shares of Amazon fell after the report, reversing some gains in the cash session.&lt;/p&gt;
  729.  
  730. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_14-59-14.png?itok=nl2T600V" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_14-59-14.png?itok=nl2T600V"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="132c471e-1d6a-4288-9dd5-7cdbb78fdc98" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="306" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_14-59-14.png?itok=nl2T600V" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  731.  
  732. &lt;p&gt;Just wait until AI-related job losses begin to pick up for the e-commerce giant... &lt;/p&gt;
  733.  
  734. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  735.  
  736. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/iq-male-enhancement/" data-image-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/iq-male-enhancement/" data-link-option="2" href="https://store.zerohedge.com/iq-male-enhancement/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="492a2678-2743-40fd-a0c5-0801a7f6fb52" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="251" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image-2025-10-26-154205_0.jpg?itok=RZDC7hcP" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  737. &lt;/div&gt;
  738.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  739. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T19:10:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 15:10&lt;/span&gt;
  740. </description>
  741.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
  742.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  743.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078621 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  744.    </item>
  745. <item>
  746.  <title>Buying The Rumor</title>
  747.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/buying-rumor</link>
  748.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Buying The Rumor&lt;/span&gt;
  749.  
  750.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;By Benjamin Picton, Senior Strategist At Rabobank&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  751.  
  752. &lt;p&gt;The Dow Jones closed up more than 1% on Friday, the S&amp;P500 rose by 0.79% and stocks are set to close higher today following the release of a benign CPI inflation report and news that the USA and China have come to agreement on a new trade deal. Bitcoin caught a bid over the weekend and both the AUD and NZD are trading higher this morning as representatives from both sides indicated that progress had been made on export controls, port fees and fentanyl issues. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the 100% additional tariffs that the US was set to impose on Chinese imports from November 1st are “effectively off the table”.&lt;/p&gt;
  753.  
  754. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thursday will be the critical day this week for the trade negotiations.&lt;/strong&gt; That is the day that Presidents Trump and Xi are set to meet on the sidelines of the APEC conference to sign the agreement nutted-out by their respective underlings. In an interview with CBS Bessent said that &lt;strong&gt;he expected China to defer its stringent export control regime on rare earths and resume buying US soybeans&lt;/strong&gt;. He also said that the US would not be changing its export controls directed at China, which restricts the sale of high-end AI chips, software applications and certain aerospace components.&lt;/p&gt;
  755.  
  756. &lt;p&gt;Bessent also said that Trump and Xi are planning to discuss a global peace plan, where &lt;strong&gt;Trump hopes to gain support from Xi to end Russia’s war in Ukraine&lt;/strong&gt;. That would be quite the development because peace in Europe would allow the United States to focus its efforts on containing China in the Western Pacific, and so would seemingly run counter to China’s own vital strategic interests. If China does indeed agree to loosen controls on the export of rare earths and pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine, without extracting commitments from the US to lift its own export controls, it will look like capitulation on the part of the Chinese. In market parlance that would be XACO, not TACO.&lt;/p&gt;
  757.  
  758. &lt;p&gt;Over the weekend Trump also ‘Truthed’ that &lt;strong&gt;the USA will be applying an additional 10% tariff to imports from Canada in retaliation for a TV &lt;a href="https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/api/orgs/285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a/r/_1jV12OfYkSglCsYCOcCAAEAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DXWQRuRIxMBI%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%2C%222%22%3A%7B%22utm_medium%22%3A%22email%22%2C%22utm_term%22%3A%22N%2FA%22%2C%22utm_source%22%3A%22dynamics-rr%22%2C%22utm_content%22%3A%22Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumour%22%2C%22utm_campaign%22%3A%22SN%3A%20Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumo%207c52d5%22%7D%7D%7D&amp;msdynmkt_digest=lIijMZgzpYaiS9jOXFdveVOSTV9XqDdUCZMfSDorlbk%3D&amp;msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359"&gt;advertisement&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;run by the Province of Ontario that used audio from former President Ronald Reagan to criticise the use of tariffs in trade policy. The additional tariff follows an announcement from Trump earlier last week that he was terminating trade negotiations with Canada over the advertisement.&lt;/p&gt;
  759.  
  760. &lt;p&gt;Trump claimed that the advertisement was “fraudulent”, quoting criticism from the Reagan Foundation that claimed the ad was selectively edited and misrepresented Reagan’s views. PBS fact-check &lt;a href="https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/api/orgs/285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a/r/_1jV12OfYkSglCsYCOcCAAIAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.pbs.org%252Fnewshour%252Fpolitics%252Ffact-checking-claims-that-a-canadian-ad-was-misleading-about-reagans-tariff-warning%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%2C%222%22%3A%7B%22utm_medium%22%3A%22email%22%2C%22utm_term%22%3A%22N%2FA%22%2C%22utm_source%22%3A%22dynamics-rr%22%2C%22utm_content%22%3A%22Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumour%22%2C%22utm_campaign%22%3A%22SN%3A%20Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumo%207c52d5%22%7D%7D%7D&amp;msdynmkt_digest=IYaqqlDI9HIKjE5gasKcCG7i3iIaXmCWro9wR4kSUIA%3D&amp;msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359"&gt;disagrees&lt;/a&gt; with that assessment, but leaving accuracy to one side the decision to criticise the country that buys 75% of Canada’s merchandise exports (and who has a notoriously thin-skinned leader) in the middle of the World Series is a masterclass in the impolitic. CAD is this morning underperforming other high beta currencies and Toronto stock futures are conspicuous in their restraint as Canada cops the fallout of what market parlance might politely term the MAFO (mess around and find out) trade.&lt;/p&gt;
  761.  
  762. &lt;p&gt;In geopolitics news, &lt;strong&gt;Argentina appears to have handed a ringing endorsement to the laissez-faire policies of President Javier Milei in midterm elections&lt;/strong&gt;. With 92% of the vote counted the Wall Street Journal reports that Milei’s Freedom Advances party has won almost 41% of the national vote and will likely more than double its representation in Congress to win approximately 30% of the seats. That result exceeds the predictions of most polls and likely shores up deals with Washington for the USA to provide a $20bn USD currency swap facility and an additional $20bn in private loans. &lt;strong&gt;Trump had earlier tied that support to Milei’s prospects in the elections by saying “if he wins, we’re staying with him. And if he doesn’t win, we’re gone.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  763.  
  764. &lt;p&gt;Pundits regularly call the Trump style “transactional”, and the transaction here is monetary support in exchange for support of the US’s Monroe Doctrine foreign policy goals in South America. A huge part of that is supporting the role of the Dollar as the global reserve currency – &lt;strong&gt;highlighting the geopolitical importance of US Dollar swaplines in ensuring that Argentina trades in Dollars and not in... something else.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  765.  
  766. &lt;p&gt;While the USA seeks to bolster its own influence in what it sees as its geopolitical backyard, Beijing has been busy trying to internationalize the role of the Renminbi by converting Dollar-denominated development loans into CNY. Reuters &lt;a href="https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/api/orgs/285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a/r/_1jV12OfYkSglCsYCOcCAAMAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.reuters.com%252Fworld%252Fafrica%252Fkenya-converts-railway-loan-china-into-yuan-save-interest-2025-10-07%252F%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%2C%222%22%3A%7B%22utm_medium%22%3A%22email%22%2C%22utm_term%22%3A%22N%2FA%22%2C%22utm_source%22%3A%22dynamics-rr%22%2C%22utm_content%22%3A%22Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumour%22%2C%22utm_campaign%22%3A%22SN%3A%20Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumo%207c52d5%22%7D%7D%7D&amp;msdynmkt_digest=XUrIS8Jy8oEY3vC8RctpBKl5HCMB%2B9NetIXDoO0xw%2F4%3D&amp;msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359"&gt;details&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;a recent refinancing where a $3.5bn railway infrastructure loan to Kenya was converted to CNY, saving Kenya about $215m/year in interest repayments due to the lower yields associated with CNY lending&lt;/strong&gt;. Bloomberg &lt;a href="https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/api/orgs/285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a/r/_1jV12OfYkSglCsYCOcCAAQAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.bloomberg.com%252Fnews%252Farticles%252F2025-10-23%252Fchina-finds-costly-new-way-of-extending-xi-s-global-yuan-push%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%2C%222%22%3A%7B%22utm_medium%22%3A%22email%22%2C%22utm_term%22%3A%22N%2FA%22%2C%22utm_source%22%3A%22dynamics-rr%22%2C%22utm_content%22%3A%22Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumour%22%2C%22utm_campaign%22%3A%22SN%3A%20Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumo%207c52d5%22%7D%7D%7D&amp;msdynmkt_digest=gueNijKE2M7OTxnx6ZUZNCRfzXJlJHn8lld5kGqOOLM%3D&amp;msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359"&gt;reports&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;Ethiopia is considering a similar move to convert up to $5.38bn of Dollar-denominated loans into CNY to reduce financing costs.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  767.  
  768. &lt;p&gt;Of course, there is no free lunch here and Beijing is effectively accepting debt haircuts in order to expand the CNY’s role in global trade and settlement. &lt;strong&gt;The end game is to erode the global role of the Dollar, and reduce the US’s ability to exert influence via sanctions, the freezing of central bank assets or the extension/withdraw of Dollar swaplines. &lt;/strong&gt;China’s comparatively low interest rates give it an advantage in convincing other countries to borrow in its currency rather than Dollars.&lt;/p&gt;
  769.  
  770. &lt;p&gt;As it happens, there is a FOMC meeting scheduled for this week. A 25bp cut to the Fed Funds rate is now fully priced, as is a follow up cut in December (our full preview available &lt;a href="https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/api/orgs/285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a/r/_1jV12OfYkSglCsYCOcCAAUAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Feur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%252F%253Furl%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fpublic-eur.mkt.dynamics.com%25252Fapi%25252Forgs%25252F285245b1-7c6f-ef11-a66d-000d3a4b6c6a%25252Fr%25252Fmpw8FRgl3k6qSLNW4nQAAAEAAAA%25253Fmsdynmkt_target%25253D%2525257B%25252522TargetUrl%25252522%2525253A%25252522https%252525253A%252525252F%252525252Fmedia.rabobank.com%252525252Fm%252525252F4139bc43ae49608c%252525252Foriginal%252525252Fautopilot.pdf%25252522%2525252C%25252522RedirectOptions%25252522%2525253A%2525257B%252525225%25252522%2525253Anull%2525252C%252525221%25252522%2525253Anull%2525252C%252525222%25252522%2525253A%2525257B%25252522utm_medium%25252522%2525253A%25252522email%25252522%2525252C%25252522utm_term%25252522%2525253A%25252522N%2525252FA%25252522%2525252C%25252522utm_source%25252522%2525253A%25252522dynamics-rr%25252522%2525252C%25252522utm_content%25252522%2525253A%25252522Email%25252520FOMC%25252520Preview%25252520October%252525202025%25252522%2525252C%25252522utm_campaign%25252522%2525253A%25252522SN%2525253A%25252520Email%25252520FOMC%25252520Preview%25252520October%2525252020%25252520432b2b%25252522%2525257D%2525257D%2525257D%252526msdynmkt_digest%25253D1mgJ4TOoimm2hSkWyL%2525252Bb2qdZqIS1x1cwADu0qM6KMYs%2525253D%252526msdynmkt_secretVersion%25253D7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359%2526data%253D05%257C02%257Cbenjamin.picton%252540rabobank.com%257C7899f02db9424d4608b608de130a4399%257C6e93a6268aca4dc19191ce291b4b75a1%257C0%257C0%257C638969132054347589%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%25253D%25253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%2526sdata%253DU3bdyMsTcTQmJ81zIdeEO9kM99WxPVzwRGwAvs5gnnw%25253D%2526reserved%253D0%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%2C%222%22%3A%7B%22utm_medium%22%3A%22email%22%2C%22utm_term%22%3A%22N%2FA%22%2C%22utm_source%22%3A%22dynamics-rr%22%2C%22utm_content%22%3A%22Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumour%22%2C%22utm_campaign%22%3A%22SN%3A%20Global%20Daily%3A%20Buying%20the%20Rumo%207c52d5%22%7D%7D%7D&amp;msdynmkt_digest=hxewF1SMZxjWk31jBNArFKmjCTdC%2FW2B6whDpfLoX9Y%3D&amp;msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a5592b1359"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). With capital markets now clearly an open front in the geopolitical competition between the USA and China, &lt;strong&gt;you can bet your bottom Dollar that the Administration will be lobbying Powell and Co to go harder on cutting Dollar financing costs. Inflation is a secondary concern.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  771. &lt;/div&gt;
  772.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  773. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T19:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 15:00&lt;/span&gt;
  774. </description>
  775.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  776.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  777.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078615 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  778.    </item>
  779. <item>
  780.  <title>Zelensky Declares Expansion Of Long-Range Attacks On Russian Oil Refineries </title>
  781.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-declares-will-expand-long-range-attacks-russian-oil-refineries</link>
  782.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Zelensky Declares Expansion Of Long-Range Attacks On Russian Oil Refineries &lt;/span&gt;
  783.  
  784.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;Days after urging European allies in Britain that Ukraine urgently needs sufficient long-range weapons to change the course of the war, President Zelensky has declared Monday that he intends to expand strikes against Russian refineries.&lt;/p&gt;
  785.  
  786. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;After a meeting with his staff Zelensky indicated, "We reviewed the effectiveness of our long-range strikes over a defined period and the results achieved. Russian &lt;strong&gt;oil refining is already paying a tangible price&lt;/strong&gt; for the war—&lt;strong&gt;and will pay even more&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;We set tasks to expand the geography for the use of our long-range capabilities&lt;/strong&gt;."&lt;/p&gt;
  787. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/rssrefstk.jpg?itok=zF8qCbmA" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/rssrefstk.jpg?itok=zF8qCbmA"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fe4c3c87-66d7-434b-86a2-ea939c971e75" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="267" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/rssrefstk.jpg?itok=zF8qCbmA" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Getty Images&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  788.  
  789. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;This makes clear it's no secret how Kiev would use Tomahawks missiles if it received Washington's approval to get them; however, President Trump has appeared to resist so far.&lt;/p&gt;
  790.  
  791. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;The past couple of months have seen Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites and oil depots become an almost nightly phenomenon. Drones are very hard to defend against, given their small size, so the UAVs often hit their targets as they are often sent in large waves.&lt;/p&gt;
  792.  
  793. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;Recently, media sources have said the Trump White House has been actively giving intelligence assistance to Ukraine related to these long-range attacks on Russian energy. Still, there's as yet no indication Trump has approved Tomahawks.&lt;/p&gt;
  794.  
  795. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;The Ukrainians of lately been striking defense sector and manufacturing sites as well, sometimes with devastating and deadly effect. One recent 'mystery' blast more than a &lt;a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/27/death-toll-in-russian-artillery-ammo-plant-blast-up-to-13-a90952"&gt;dozen people&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  796.  
  797. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  798. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The death toll from an explosion at a Russian plastics manufacturing plant has increased to 13 people&lt;/strong&gt;, the Chelyabinsk regional administration&lt;a href="https://t.me/gov74/16608"&gt; said&lt;/a&gt; Monday.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  799.  
  800. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The blast &lt;a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/24/explosions-and-drone-strikes-hit-russian-regions-killing-12-a90904"&gt;occurred&lt;/a&gt; last Wednesday night at the Plastmass plant in the town of Kopeysk. The facility, known for producing artillery ammunition for the Russian military, is subject to Western sanctions.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  801.  
  802. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is unclear whether sabotage or other deliberate action caused the explosion&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  803. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  804.  
  805. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;But Russia has been hitting back hard, with a Monday an aerial attack on an important energy facility in Chernihiv region, resulting in a number of towns and settlements in the border area being without electricity.&lt;/p&gt;
  806.  
  807. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;Recently, Russia has been expanding its attacks in the capital region, also with reports of civilian manufacturing companies &lt;a href="https://www.kyivpost.com/post/63034"&gt;being hit&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  808.  
  809. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  810. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Russia’s ballistic attack on Kyiv damaged the production facilities of Idealist Coffee &amp; Co., Ukraine’s leading drip coffee manufacturer, on Oct. 25, the company reported on its Instagram profile.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  811.  
  812. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“&lt;/strong&gt;The State Emergency Service and other emergency teams are working to extinguish fires and mitigate the consequences,” Idealist wrote after the attack.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  813. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  814.  
  815. &lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;Ukrainian media reviews, "Idealist was founded in 2019 by Sergii Koretskyi, current CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned gas giant Naftogaz Group. According to the &lt;a href="https://idealistcoffee.com/ua/about-us/"&gt;company&lt;/a&gt;, Idealist Coffee &amp; Co is &lt;strong&gt;Ukraine’s largest drip coffee manufacturer&lt;/strong&gt;, using high-quality Arabica beans from Asia, Africa, and Latin America."&lt;/p&gt;
  816.  
  817. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  818. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;The US will "help" Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey (as they helped Germany) to cut themselves off cheap Russian oil and gas, and replace it with expensive American energy. With friends like these, who needs enemies... &lt;a href="https://t.co/edbbS0MtFv"&gt;pic.twitter.com/edbbS0MtFv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  819. — Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Glenn_Diesen/status/1982751534766248381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  820. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p data-v-4026719d=""&gt;Both warring sides' attacks on energy and manufacturing sites have seemed unrelenting. But in Ukraine Russia has the advantage of utilizing warplanes as well as ballistic missiles, often launched from naval ships in the Black Sea.&lt;/p&gt;
  821. &lt;/div&gt;
  822.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  823. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T18:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:45&lt;/span&gt;
  824. </description>
  825.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  826.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  827.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078575 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  828.    </item>
  829. <item>
  830.  <title>The Coming AI Debt Deluge</title>
  831.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/coming-ai-debt-deluge</link>
  832.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;The Coming AI Debt Deluge&lt;/span&gt;
  833.  
  834.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authord by &lt;a href="https://www.mbi-deepdives.com/the-coming-debt-deluge/"&gt;MBI Deep Dives&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  835.  
  836. &lt;p&gt;One of the core differences of the current AI revolution from the earlier bubble periods was that almost all of the funding so far has come from operating cash flow (OCF) of some of the most profitable companies on earth. Despite massive capex increases in recent years, all the major public companies (except Oracle) participating in this investment cycle has healthy Free Cash Flow (FCF) so far. Meta, for example, generated ~$50 Billion FCF in the last 12 months although one-third of it was just SBC. But cash is cash…if you need hundreds of billions over multiple periods to get to the promised land, there is still a healthy difference between OCF and Capex of some of these big tech. Investments funded by internally generated cash can go on for a long time as long as market remains receptive to such investments.&lt;/p&gt;
  837.  
  838. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/deep%20dives.jpg?itok=5GTCN9yY" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/deep%20dives.jpg?itok=5GTCN9yY"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c9e53d6b-b050-4dc6-b6ca-a810a97199ba" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="258" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/deep%20dives.jpg?itok=5GTCN9yY" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  839.  
  840. &lt;p&gt;However, &lt;strong&gt;we are starting to see some changes in funding mix as debt has gradually come to the scene&lt;/strong&gt;. One thing about debt entering the conversation is debt itself can be a great forcing function to manage the potential overinvestment cycle as interest payment obligations and balance sheet leverage can put some hard constraints to keep you disciplined.&lt;/p&gt;
  841.  
  842. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/ai%20private%20credit_2.jpg?itok=iuU6Y10I" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/ai%20private%20credit_2.jpg?itok=iuU6Y10I"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6795f3d7-c53c-405b-8e42-85833e270696" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="274" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/ai%20private%20credit_2.jpg?itok=iuU6Y10I" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  843.  
  844. &lt;p&gt;Big tech understands this and hence are resorting to some “helping hands” in their investment journey. For example, last week Meta &lt;a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/10/meta-blue-owl-capital-develop-hyperion-data-center/?ref=mbi-deepdives.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;entered&lt;/a&gt; in a Joint Venture (JV) with Blue Owl Capital for their $27-Billion Hyperion Data Center campus, of which Meta will own 20% and the rest will be owned by funds managed by Blue Owl Capital. Meta is signing an “operating lease” with an initial term of only &lt;strong&gt;four years&lt;/strong&gt;. They have the &lt;strong&gt;option to extend the lease every four years&lt;/strong&gt;, but they are not obligated to.&lt;/p&gt;
  845.  
  846. &lt;p&gt;To persuade the JV to accept the short four-year leases, Meta provided a &lt;strong&gt;“Residual Value Guarantee&lt;/strong&gt;” (RVG) covering the first 16 years of operations. If Meta decides to leave (by not renewing or terminating the lease) within the first 16 years, they &lt;strong&gt;guarantee&lt;/strong&gt; the campus will still be worth a certain amount of money (undisclosed). This payment is “capped” i.e. there is a pre-agreed &lt;strong&gt;maximum&lt;/strong&gt; limit to how much Meta would have to pay. Again, we don’t know the exact capped limit in this deal.&lt;/p&gt;
  847.  
  848. &lt;p&gt;The structure of this deal, featuring short 4-year leases combined with a long-term RVG on a highly specialized asset, closely resembles a financial tool known as a &lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_lease?ref=mbi-deepdives.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Synthetic Lease&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  849.  
  850. &lt;p&gt;In a synthetic lease, the tenant (Meta) gains the flexibility of short commitments and favorable accounting treatment (keeping the debt off their balance sheet). However, to convince investors (Blue Owl Capital) to fund the construction, the tenant must assume the &lt;strong&gt;majority&lt;/strong&gt; of the financial risks of ownership. The RVG achieves this risk transfer. To secure financing for such a massive, specialized asset, this cap must be set very high. While we don’t know the exact number, my guess is it’s likely somewhere between 80% to 90%. If we assume it to be 85%, for the $27 Billion Hyperion campus, Meta’s maximum possible exposure is $22.95 Billion.&lt;/p&gt;
  851.  
  852. &lt;p&gt;If Meta decides to terminate the lease within the 16-year RVG period, the payout is determined by the following calculation:&lt;/p&gt;
  853.  
  854. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guaranteed Value at time of exit - Actual Market Value = Shortfall&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  855.  
  856. &lt;p&gt;Meta pays the &lt;strong&gt;shortfall&lt;/strong&gt;, but only up to the agreed-upon cap (estimated at $22.95B). The guaranteed value is likely just a a &lt;strong&gt;pre-agreed schedule&lt;/strong&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;decreases&lt;/strong&gt; over the 16 years, representing the value the investors expect the asset to hold as they recoup their investment through Meta’s lease payments. Of course, actual market value (AMV) is the real variable here. If the specialized technology becomes obsolete or the market softens, the AMV could plummet.&lt;/p&gt;
  857.  
  858. &lt;p&gt;Given Meta’s backing, the bonds issued to fund this investment received investment grade credit rating. However, the bonds were &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/blackrock-etfs-among-biggest-investors-in-metas-giant-data-center-debt-deal-087fe671?mod=tech_lead_pos2&amp;ref=mbi-deepdives.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;issued&lt;/a&gt; at 6.58% yield which is closer to junk bond yield.&lt;/p&gt;
  859.  
  860. &lt;p&gt;Why is the yield so high? If the value of the data center catastrophically collapses due to obsolescence or for some other reasons, Meta’s RVG covers most of the loss, but the investors bear the portion &lt;strong&gt;exceeding&lt;/strong&gt; the cap. Moreover, the debt belongs to the project entity, it is “structurally subordinated” to Meta’s own corporate debt. Investors demand a higher yield to compensate for this “tail risk”.&lt;/p&gt;
  861.  
  862. &lt;p&gt;More importantly, the underlying collateral is a hyper-specialized AI data center. If Meta leaves, it’s likely that the facility cannot be easily repurposed. While the RVG mitigates the financial loss, the specialized nature of the underlying asset still influences the perceived risk and pushes the yield higher.&lt;/p&gt;
  863.  
  864. &lt;p&gt;My guess is Meta (and other big tech) will do more of these deals going forward. In fact, just yesterday, Oracle appears to be raising debt even larger than Hyperion deal: &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-23/record-38-billion-debt-sale-nears-for-oracle-tied-data-centers?srnd=phx-technology&amp;ref=mbi-deepdives.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;$38 Billion&lt;/a&gt; for building data centers in Texas and Wisconsin. If the deal goes through, it would be the largest debt deal &lt;strong&gt;so far&lt;/strong&gt; in AI infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;
  865.  
  866. &lt;p&gt;I am very curious to see what the yields will be for debts issued by Oracle, especially given their cash position and balance sheet leverage is considerably inferior than Meta’s. Moreover, if these companies keep doing these deals, the yield may only go higher as the risk for later debt deals will gradually increase for the bondholders. Perhaps AI infrastructure spree can cool a lot when the debt yields get close to double digit yield. Indeed, while debt funded infrastructure investments will certainly raise the risk profile of these companies, having some debt into the system can make everyone all on a sudden a lot more disciplined in their AI infrastructure investments.&lt;/p&gt;
  867.  
  868. &lt;p&gt;There are, however, compelling reasons for companies such as Meta to deploy less cash from their own balance sheet and get as much helping hand as they can get as long as the market remains receptive to such deals.&lt;/p&gt;
  869.  
  870. &lt;p&gt;While Meta is confident that the demand for compute will continue to grow massively, they are likely less certain about &lt;strong&gt;what kind of&lt;/strong&gt; compute infrastructure will be optimal in five or ten years. A data center is typically a 20-30 year asset. If Meta built and owned Hyperion, they would be committed to the physical footprint, power delivery, and cooling design made in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  871.  
  872. &lt;p&gt;I do want to note that in a separate blog post, Meta &lt;a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/10/metas-new-ai-optimized-data-center-el-paso/?ref=mbi-deepdives.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;indicated&lt;/a&gt; that their infrastructure is built in a way to accommodate &lt;strong&gt;flexibility &lt;/strong&gt;for their 1 GW data center project in El Paso, Texas:&lt;/p&gt;
  873.  
  874. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;em&gt;AI, and its inference and training needs, is still evolving, so our design needs to balance what we know today with what we might know in the future. Different AI configurations will require different approaches to hardware and network systems designs, so our new data centers are built to accommodate flexibility. For example, we’ve designed the El Paso data center to have systems that can support both the traditional servers of today and future generations of AI-enabled hardware&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  875.  
  876. &lt;p&gt;If they can build such flexible design, why is the obsolescence concern still valid? My guess is “flexible design” often means that a future retrofit is &lt;strong&gt;possible&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;not that it is easy or cheap&lt;/strong&gt;. At some point, the cost of retrofitting an old “flexible” design exceeds the cost of simply moving into a new facility optimized for the new technology. In any case, such flexibility likely only addresses the known unknowns and may not able to cater to unknown unknowns 5-10 years from now. The flexibility Meta is buying with the Hyperion lease structure is “strategic flexibility”. While&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;design flexibility lets you &lt;strong&gt;adapt the asset&lt;/strong&gt;, strategic flexibility affords you the ability to &lt;strong&gt;exit the asset&lt;/strong&gt;, but of course, at a price!&lt;/p&gt;
  877. &lt;/div&gt;
  878.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  879. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T18:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:20&lt;/span&gt;
  880. </description>
  881.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  882.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  883.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078348 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  884.    </item>
  885. <item>
  886.  <title>Goldman Spots Four Big Takeaways From Last Week's U.S. Auto, Industrial Tech Earnings</title>
  887.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/goldman-spots-four-big-takeaways-last-weeks-us-auto-industrial-tech-earnings</link>
  888.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Goldman Spots Four Big Takeaways From Last Week's U.S. Auto, Industrial Tech Earnings&lt;/span&gt;
  889.  
  890.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Goldman analysts highlighted several critical themes, including &lt;strong&gt;AI, autonomy, and robotics, alongside solid US auto demand&lt;/strong&gt;, after last week's earnings from &lt;em&gt;Tesla (TSLA), General Motors (GM), Ford (F), Visteon (VC), Gentex (GNTX), QuantumScape (QS), Mobileye (MBLY), Amphenol (APH), and Vertiv (VRT).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  891.  
  892. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-14-39.png?itok=VAwPaFXU" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-14-39.png?itok=VAwPaFXU"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9872304c-1aa3-472d-aff2-048c18bf51d0" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="254" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-14-39.png?itok=VAwPaFXU" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  893.  
  894. &lt;p&gt;Analyst Mark Delaney found that datacenter capex remains robust, as indicated by earnings reports from Amphenol and Vertiv. He said General Motors and Ford had solid earnings, suggesting that healthy consumer credit performance is tied to prime borrowers. However, he warned that the Nexperia-related mess in the chip industry could disrupt auto supply chains worldwide (&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/nexperia-linked-chip-shortages-ripple-through-global-auto-supply-chain-germany-japan"&gt;read here&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;
  895.  
  896. &lt;p&gt;Delaney outlined &lt;strong&gt;four key observations&lt;/strong&gt; after last week's earnings reports:&lt;/p&gt;
  897.  
  898. &lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  899. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Datacenter capex trends are robust per Amphenol and Vertiv;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  900. &lt;/li&gt;
  901. &lt;li&gt;
  902. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Auto demand is solid in the US, per GM and Ford;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  903. &lt;/li&gt;
  904. &lt;li&gt;
  905. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The export restriction on Nexperia (the former NXP standards product business) could lead to auto production disruptions in the coming weeks if there isn't a resolution among governments very soon;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  906. &lt;/li&gt;
  907. &lt;li&gt;
  908. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ford and GM are both seeing healthy trends in their financial services businesses (which are mostly tied to prime borrowers). We detail these topics in more depth later in this note.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  909. &lt;/li&gt;
  910. &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here are the &lt;strong&gt;top questions Delaney's team received from investors&lt;/strong&gt; last week, centered on the stocks covered in this note:&lt;/p&gt;
  911.  
  912. &lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  913. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The attainability of AV targets (e.g. can Tesla can take the safety monitor out of its robotaxis in Texas in 2025 as it plans);&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  914. &lt;/li&gt;
  915. &lt;li&gt;
  916. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The timing for humanoids including Optimus to ramp; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  917. &lt;/li&gt;
  918. &lt;li&gt;
  919. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What can happen to auto EBIT in 2026 at Ford and GM as emissions rules change and given the Novelis fire that will limit truck supply and potentially support market pricing;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  920. &lt;/li&gt;
  921. &lt;li&gt;
  922. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The sustainability of datacenter capex in 2026/2027 and beyond (and how good it needs to be for stocks like VRT to outperform).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  923. &lt;/li&gt;
  924. &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p&gt;An expanded view of the key themes from last week's earnings:&lt;/p&gt;
  925.  
  926. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  927. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Demand trends:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  928.  
  929. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  930. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Datacenter: Both Amphenol and Vertiv reported robust datacenter related demand. Amphenol's total orders grew 38% yoy and 11% sequentially, and Vertiv's orders increased organically by about 60% yoy and 20% sequentially. Amphenol's IT datacom segment sales were up 128% yoy organically, and Amphenol guided 4Q IT datacom segments sales to be up slightly sequentially. Both companies expect datacenter strength to continue. Importantly, Amphenol commented it expects to have a strong position on future AI platforms, which is consistent with our takeaways from a recent call with an industry expert.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  931. &lt;/li&gt;
  932. &lt;li&gt;
  933. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Auto demand remains solid. GM and Ford both had strong 3Q results, and both companies expect the US light vehicle SAAR to be more than 16 mn this year. GM and Ford also both expect industry pricing to rise slightly in 2025 (GM expects up 0.5% to 1% in North America, and Ford expects up about 0.5% in the US). &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  934. &lt;/li&gt;
  935. &lt;li&gt;
  936. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;US EV demand was strong in 3Q aided by the expiration of the IRA purchase credit at the end of the quarter. Tesla stated its North America EV deliveries were up 28% qoq (and we believe up &gt;10% yoy in the US in 3Q), GM's US EV sales were up 107% yoy and Ford's EV sales in the US grew 30%. Several companies have suggested EV demand will slow for at least a period of time post the IRA EV purchase credit expiration, with GM saying it has seen slower EV demand in October, and Ford commented that EV mix could decline to ~5% in the near term (note that EV mix for the US market has been high single digits in the US YTD and was a low double digit share of the market in 3Q per Motor Intelligence). Similarly, per media reports, Rivian is laying off &gt;600 workers (or about 4.5% of its workforce) reflecting the changing industry backdrop. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  937. &lt;/li&gt;
  938. &lt;li&gt;
  939. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;GM and Ford are both still investing in EV and battery technology. GM is working on LMR battery technology. In addition, GM announced plans last week to bring new technology to market in 2028 on the Cadillac Escalade IQ EV, including eyes-off driving capability and centralized compute. Ford commented it remains on track for its Universal EV platform to be out in 2027 with sourcing 95% complete, and that its Marshall plant is on track to start LFP production later in 2025. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  940. &lt;/li&gt;
  941. &lt;li&gt;
  942. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Growth over market a focus for auto tier 1s - Visteon undergrew its customer weighted production by 5% in 2Q driven by customer exposure/mix factors, but the company expects low single digit growth over market in 2025, and Visteon expects to return to outgrowth in the China market next year. Gentex's implied growth under market in its primary markets for 3Q was 8%. Gentex highlighted certain decontenting and mix headwinds, particularly in Europe as drivers of its growth under market for 3Q.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  943. &lt;/li&gt;
  944. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Supply Chain Risks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  945.  
  946. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  947. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Per comments from GM, Ford, Visteon, and Gentex - the auto industry could face disruptions from the Nexperia chip disruption if the government export control that began on 10/4 isn't lifted very soon. Companies spoke to typical inventory buffers being ~3-4 weeks. Several companies commented they are already working on alternative sources of supply, but there may be limits in the short-term to finding pin for pin compatible chips for everything Nexperia (the former NXP standard products business) provides. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  948. &lt;/li&gt;
  949. &lt;li&gt;
  950. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the impact from the Novelis aluminum plant fire, Ford expects a $1.5-$2.0 bn EBIT impact in 2025 (reflecting lost volume of 90-100k vehicles), but believes it will make up $1 bn+ in 2026 by increasing F-Series production by 50K+ units in 2026. Novelis posted an update, stating it now expects the hot mill to come back online by the end of 2025 (compared to its prior expectation of this occurring in 1Q26). GM commented it was not materially effected by this event.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  951. &lt;/li&gt;
  952. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Policy - tariffs and emissions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  953.  
  954. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  955. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Emissions rules: Both GM and Ford expect new emissions rules in the US to allow them to purchase fewer emissions credits and be able to better optimize mix next year. Conversely, Tesla expects reduced sales of regulatory credits going forward, but Tesla did enter into new contracts, and we expect international markets especially Europe to remain a source of regulatory credit revenue for the company. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  956. &lt;/li&gt;
  957. &lt;li&gt;
  958. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tariffs: The updated US auto tariff policy announced on 10/17 allowed both GM and Ford to reduce their assumption for tariff exposure in 2025 guidance (Ford now assumes a net headwind of $1 bn and GM a net headwind of about $2.6 bn). This updated policy not only extended the up to 3.75% MSRP tariff offset to be for five years (through April 2030), but allows credits to be used for a wider pool of parts and will also give credits for US made engines. Ford's guidance assumes tariffs in 4Q will be a net tailwind (we think as it can now recognize more credits including some for costs incurred in 2Q/3Q). While the exact treatment of the updated tariff order is not finalized, we see the potential for GM's tariff exposure to trend toward the lower end of its new guidance especially if a reduced Korea rate is finalized. Importantly, both Ford and GM believe tariffs in 2026 could be similar to the costs in 2025. Separately, the executive order from 10/17 also implemented tariffs on medium and heavy-duty vehicles, effective November 1st. Recall that Ford currently assembles all of its medium and heavy-duty vehicles in the US, and GM stated that it expects a minimal impact from this tariff (GM assembles heavy-duty trucks in Michigan).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  959. &lt;/li&gt;
  960. &lt;li&gt;
  961. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;However, per media reports, the Canadian government is cutting the amount of American-assembled vehicles GM can import tariff-free by 24% and reducing the amount for Stellantis by 50%, effective immediately. Based on vehicle sales and manufacturing data from Wards and IHS, we estimate that GM imported ~75-125K vehicles into Canada in 2024 from the US. While the media report does not cite a change in policy for Ford, for context, we estimate that Ford imported 200-225K vehicles into Canada in 2024.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  962. &lt;/li&gt;
  963. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Auto Finance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  964.  
  965. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  966. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Auto finance has been topical post insolvency issues at First Brands and Tricolor. Both GM and Ford shared that their financial services businesses remain healthy (the financing businesses of both companies are mostly exposed to prime borrowers), and EBT in 3Q for both companies at their financial companies was up yoy. Ford noted that high risk borrowers are only 3% of its portfolio, and its FICO scores are &gt;750. Ford Credit posted its 3Q25 results presentation, and characterized the business as strong and exhibiting typical seasonality. GM similarly stated that while its subprime book is very small, even in this part of its portfolio performance has been pretty consistent. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  967. &lt;/li&gt;
  968. &lt;li&gt;
  969. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We consider the reports from GM and Ford as directionally consistent with our recent deep dive on auto finance trends. Recall we found delinquencies had risen but this was driven mostly by subprime borrowers and in the used market. Prime delinquencies have risen somewhat for the industry but to a much lesser extent than subprime. The majority of lending for the new vehicle market is to prime borrowers. And we found by reviewing &gt;1K ABS filings that delinquencies/repossessions were well within typical ranges and low at both GM and Ford, and residual values of vehicles coming off lease remained positive. We appreciate that lending trends can quickly change, and we still believe this topic merits monitoring. However, we continue to view the new vehicle market as solid in the US.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  970. &lt;/li&gt;
  971. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AI, AVs and robotics topical on earnings calls and industry podcasts Autonomy and Robotaxis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  972.  
  973. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  974. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tesla reiterated its plan to take the safety monitor out of its AVs in Austin by year end, and also commented that it believes its new v14 series of FSD should be capable of reaching eyes-off functionality and allowing users to perform tasks such as texting. Mobileye commented it remains on track to start driver-out deployments of its Drive robotaxi solution in 2026 (Mobileye plans for its AV tech to be a part of both the Uber and Lyft networks). &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  975. &lt;/li&gt;
  976. &lt;li&gt;
  977. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Separately, GM announced it plans to bring eyes-off/hands-off driving to the market in 2028 with the Escalade IQ, and its management team emphasized in a podcast (with CEO Mary Barra and Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson) its focus on safety and track record with its L2 product Super Cruise. GM also intends to bring Gemini conversational AI into its vehicles starting in 2026, and plans to move away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in future vehicle launches. Separately, Andrej Karpathy, the former Senior Director of AI at Tesla (he departed Tesla in 2022) and a founding member of OpenAI, was on a podcast that was published on 10/17, and commented that AGI may be about 10 years away, but also that this technology is achievable. He added that truly solving self driving is nowhere near done in his opinion. Using the 'March of Nines' framework (i.e. the AVs needs to reach well over 99% accuracy to be deployed due to safety issues), he described getting the tech 90% right as only the first nine, and each nine can take as long as the last, and there are several more nines still left. He highlighted that there were very good AV demos as far back as 1986, and that an actual product is very different from a demo.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  978. &lt;/li&gt;
  979. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Robotics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  980.  
  981. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  982. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tesla commented that it expects to unveil Optimus V3 in 1Q26 with production potentially beginning towards the end of 2026. Recall the company had commented on its 2Q call that it expected to have a prototype late this year and scale production next year. Separately, recall that management has previously noted that it believes it can get to &gt;1 mn annual units per year for Optimus by the end of the decade. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  983. &lt;/li&gt;
  984. &lt;li&gt;
  985. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;GM's CEO and CPO commented on a podcast that GM has roughly 30K robots deployed in 11 sites where it has about 97K production workers, including AMRs and cobots, with development led by its Advanced Robotics Center (with labs in Warren, MI and Mountain View, CA). &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  986. &lt;/li&gt;
  987. &lt;li&gt;
  988. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We hosted Jabil for a virtual meeting on robotics and automation on 10/24. Rafael Renno (SVP, Global Business units) and Adam Berry (SVP, IR and Corporate Communications) joined for the webinar. Jabil believes that humanoids have promise (both for its own operations and to manufacture for customers), but thinks it could be 2-3+ years before humanoids are a meaningful part of its own operations due to safety, technology, and cost dynamics. The company also commented that there are other robots/cobots/robotic arms that work well today and not every robot needs to be bipedal. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  989. &lt;/li&gt;
  990. &lt;li&gt;
  991. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Separately, per a New York Times article, Amazon has a goal to automate 75% of its warehouse operations.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  992. &lt;/li&gt;
  993. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  994.  
  995. &lt;p&gt;Top and bottom 5 weekly performers in the GS coverage&lt;/p&gt;
  996.  
  997. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-10-43.png?itok=6Jt22YBg" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-10-43.png?itok=6Jt22YBg"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0bb02ba4-c207-420b-b05a-f492860515f7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="465" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-10-43.png?itok=6Jt22YBg" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  998.  
  999. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/premium"&gt;ZeroHedge Pro Subs&lt;/a&gt; can read the &lt;a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ml37r4dzretsw7b2e4ho9/US-Autos-Industrial-Tech_-5-days-in-5-minutes-1.pdf?rlkey=8f3ofxrxbej6yco01le9kmcv1&amp;st=2x4h2eri&amp;dl=0"&gt;full note in the usual place&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1000. &lt;/div&gt;
  1001.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1002. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T18:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:00&lt;/span&gt;
  1003. </description>
  1004.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1005.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1006.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078505 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1007.    </item>
  1008. <item>
  1009.  <title>David Stockman On How The Fed's Money Printing Broke American Industry... And What Comes Next</title>
  1010.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/david-stockman-how-feds-money-printing-broke-american-industry-and-what-comes-next</link>
  1011.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;David Stockman On How The Fed's Money Printing Broke American Industry... And What Comes Next&lt;/span&gt;
  1012.  
  1013.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-how-the-feds-money-printing-broke-american-industry-and-what-comes-next/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by David Stockman via InternationalMan.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1014.  
  1015. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can bet the 12 purported geniuses on the FOMC have never looked at the graph below.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1016.  
  1017. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/word-image-67971-1.jpg?itok=NjErUeFj" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/word-image-67971-1.jpg?itok=NjErUeFj"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="59615267-8e44-46f4-91c7-8f35f649c13f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="387" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/word-image-67971-1.jpg?itok=NjErUeFj" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1018.  
  1019. &lt;p&gt;It shows that for all their wild-ass money printing in recent years, the US index of manufacturing output stands at 101.39, which is nearly 5% below the level reached on the eve of the financial crisis in December 2007.&lt;/p&gt;
  1020.  
  1021. &lt;p&gt;That’s right. The US manufacturing economy has been shrinking in real physical terms for the past 18 years, notwithstanding the fact that during that interval the Fed has printed nearly $6 trillion in brand, spanking new money that it snatched from thin air.&lt;/p&gt;
  1022.  
  1023. &lt;p&gt;So something big and bad happened after the Fed went all in on money-printing in response to the stock market meltdown in the fall of 2008. After all, during the 28 years between 1972 and 2000 the very opposite occurred. Manufacturing output in the US rose by nearly 150%, which translates to a 3.3% growth rate per annum.&lt;/p&gt;
  1024.  
  1025. &lt;p&gt;Yet there is no mystery as to why manufacturing output abruptly went flatter than a board after the Financial Crisis. To wit, the mad money-printers in the Eccles Building simply inflated the bejesus out of the US economy at a time when what was urgently needed was a stern deflation of an already inflation-bloated industrial sector.&lt;/p&gt;
  1026.  
  1027. &lt;p&gt;Here’s the thing: the price of a Pilates studio session or dentist visit is mainly driven by supply and demand balances in local markets, but with today’s shipping and communications technology, the manufacture of durable goods is subject to ferocious global competition.&lt;/p&gt;
  1028.  
  1029. &lt;p&gt;Indeed, when you look at the current fully loaded (for fringes and benefits) wage rates among major foreign suppliers, it is no wonder that the output of US-manufactured goods has flatlined.&lt;/p&gt;
  1030.  
  1031. &lt;h3&gt;Average Fully Loaded Manufacturing Wages Per Hour in 2024:&lt;/h3&gt;
  1032.  
  1033. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  1034. &lt;p&gt;Vietnam: $3.50&lt;/p&gt;
  1035. &lt;/li&gt;
  1036. &lt;li&gt;
  1037. &lt;p&gt;India: $4.50&lt;/p&gt;
  1038. &lt;/li&gt;
  1039. &lt;li&gt;
  1040. &lt;p&gt;Mexico: $5.00&lt;/p&gt;
  1041. &lt;/li&gt;
  1042. &lt;li&gt;
  1043. &lt;p&gt;China: $6.00&lt;/p&gt;
  1044. &lt;/li&gt;
  1045. &lt;li&gt;
  1046. &lt;p&gt;S. Korea: $20.50&lt;/p&gt;
  1047. &lt;/li&gt;
  1048. &lt;li&gt;
  1049. &lt;p&gt;Canada: $22.00&lt;/p&gt;
  1050. &lt;/li&gt;
  1051. &lt;li&gt;
  1052. &lt;p&gt;Japan: $28.00&lt;/p&gt;
  1053. &lt;/li&gt;
  1054. &lt;li&gt;
  1055. &lt;p&gt;UK: $30.00&lt;/p&gt;
  1056. &lt;/li&gt;
  1057. &lt;li&gt;
  1058. &lt;p&gt;EU-27: $32.50&lt;/p&gt;
  1059. &lt;/li&gt;
  1060. &lt;li&gt;
  1061. &lt;p&gt;USA: $44.25&lt;/p&gt;
  1062. &lt;/li&gt;
  1063. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Well, for crying out loud! What’s the mystery?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1064.  
  1065. &lt;p&gt;The USA has priced itself out of the global manufacturing market, which is exactly why America has been running &lt;a href="https://internationalman.com/help/doug-casey-gold-video-preview/"&gt;chronic and massive trade deficits&lt;/a&gt; that reached the staggering annual level of $1.2 trillion in 2024. Indeed, the collapse of America’s trade balance has been relentless over the last 30 years, with the deficit rising by 10X, from $10 billion to $100 billion. Per month!&lt;/p&gt;
  1066.  
  1067. &lt;p&gt;And, no, POTUS, foreign trading partners did not suddenly turn into ever-worsening unfair trade cheats in the last three decades. The cause of the plunging line below is domiciled on the banks of the Potomac, not in foreign capitals.&lt;/p&gt;
  1068.  
  1069. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/word-image-67971-2.jpg?itok=0sndPcs6" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/word-image-67971-2.jpg?itok=0sndPcs6"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="048756bb-3b65-4516-a0f4-dfbd684f2533" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="387" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/word-image-67971-2.jpg?itok=0sndPcs6" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1070.  
  1071. &lt;p&gt;The vast gap between US manufacturing wages and those of our major trading partners has been building relentlessly since the early 1990s, when Greenspan put the Fed in the monetary central planning business. Back then, the fully loaded US manufacturing wage was about $18.50 per hour, meaning that it has risen in nominal terms by 2.4X since then.&lt;/p&gt;
  1072.  
  1073. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However, owing to the Fed’s relentless pro-inflation policies, the CPI index has risen by 124%, meaning that in 2024 dollars, the 1992 fully loaded manufacturing wage was $41.10 per hour.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1074.  
  1075. &lt;p&gt;Accordingly, workers who managed to keep their jobs gained barely 7% over one-third of a century from all of the Fed’s pro-inflation money printing, even as the ever-rising level of nominal US wages made blue-collar workers a sitting duck in global markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1076.  
  1077. &lt;p&gt;Again, for want of doubt, see the gaping fully loaded international manufacturing wage levels in US dollars shown above.&lt;/p&gt;
  1078.  
  1079. &lt;p&gt;Of course, the Fed’s fanboys on Wall Street say not to worry—productivity gains will offset the nominal wage gains. That was partially true for a few years during the technology-driven productivity boom of the 1990s, but no more. Since 2007 unit labor costs in US manufacturing have soared by +53%, which exactly coincides with the deep plunge in the US trade deficit in goods after the turn of the century.&lt;/p&gt;
  1080.  
  1081. &lt;p&gt;In short, what America really needed from the early 1990s onward, as the China export machine and its worldwide supply chain came to life, was zero inflation at worst and ideally a spell of price, wage, and cost deflation to offset the vast ballooning of US production costs after Tricky Dick Nixon severed the dollar’s link to gold in August 1971.&lt;/p&gt;
  1082.  
  1083. &lt;p&gt;Between that date and mid-1992, the general price level in the US rose by 250%, and now stands at 700% above its June 1971 level. Is there any wonder, then, that the US has priced itself out of the global manufacturing market?&lt;/p&gt;
  1084.  
  1085. &lt;p&gt;Of course, this sheer monetary insanity is justified by the Fed on the grounds that inflation is good for prosperity, at least to the extent of 2.00% annually, year in and year out.&lt;/p&gt;
  1086.  
  1087. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Except there is not a shred of historical evidence or sound economic logic to justify the Fed’s sacred 2.00% target. It’s just a handy excuse for running the printing presses at rates which please the gamblers on Wall Street and the Spenders in Washington.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1088.  
  1089. &lt;p&gt;Industrial production is the heart of the modern economy and the main source of sustainable gains in real output and living standards. Even a half-assed assessment of the world in 1990 would have told any honest and capable monetary central planner that wringing out some of the 250% increase in the domestic cost and price level that had accumulated since Camp David was imperative if the US was to remain competitive in global markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1090.  
  1091. &lt;p&gt;Alas, the Keynesian fools who took over the nation’s central bank under Greenspan’s leadership cooked up a closed bathtub style model of the US economy, and conferred upon themselves the Keynesian mission of keeping “aggregate demand” full to the brim via low interest rates and massive injections of fiat credits into the nation’s financial markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1092.  
  1093. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/manufacturing-decline-shuttersto.jpg?itok=qcuT9T_1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/manufacturing-decline-shuttersto.jpg?itok=qcuT9T_1"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1a562a79-dc86-49bf-8155-4e34ee86b4d4" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/manufacturing-decline-shuttersto.jpg?itok=qcuT9T_1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1094.  
  1095. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;That was a drastic error from the get-go, but the money-printing gospel is of such convenience to both ends of the Acela Corridor that this cardinal pro-inflation error rolls forward unquestioned by both wings of the UniParty.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1096.  
  1097. &lt;p&gt;Accordingly, with inflation stalled at more than 3.0%, when it should be zero or negative, the Fed has again sung the Einstein Chorus. That is to say, these “insane” apparatchiks seem to believe that doing the same thing over and over again—even after 700% inflation—will finally generate a positive outcome.&lt;/p&gt;
  1098.  
  1099. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  1100.  
  1101. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;As David Stockman makes clear, the Fed’s reckless monetary experiment has left America’s industrial core hollowed out and investors dangerously exposed to the next great reckoning. But every crisis creates its own opportunity—and those who understand the forces at work can still come out ahead. That’s why legendary investor Doug Casey has just released a &lt;a href="https://internationalman.com/help/doug-casey-gold-video-preview/"&gt;special video&lt;/a&gt; revealing what the mainstream media won’t tell you about gold—and why it may be the single most important move you can make before the next phase of this monetary storm hits. &lt;a href="https://internationalman.com/help/doug-casey-gold-video-preview/"&gt;Watch Doug Casey’s urgent briefing here—while it’s still available.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1102. &lt;/div&gt;
  1103.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1104. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T17:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 13:40&lt;/span&gt;
  1105. </description>
  1106.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1107.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1108.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078299 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1109.    </item>
  1110. <item>
  1111.  <title>Stellar 5Y Auction Stops Through, As Foreign Demand Jumps</title>
  1112.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stellar-5y-auction-stops-through-foreign-demand-jumps</link>
  1113.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Stellar 5Y Auction Stops Through, As Foreign Demand Jumps&lt;/span&gt;
  1114.  
  1115.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;90 minutes after the day's first auction, which saw foreign demand for $69Bn in 2Y paper slide, moments ago the Treasury concluded its second coupon auction of the day, and this one was far stronger. &lt;/p&gt;
  1116.  
  1117. &lt;p&gt;Pricing at a high yield of 3.625%, not only was this the lowest high yield since Sept 24, but also stopped through the 3.626% When Issued by 0.1bps, the first stop through for the 5Y tenor since May, in many ways a mirror image of what we said in today's earlier auction.&lt;/p&gt;
  1118.  
  1119. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/5y%20through%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=J__Uqu8N" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/5y%20through%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=J__Uqu8N"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bf8cb355-63d2-4fb7-b47a-8cc1fcb40ac9" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="297" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/5y%20through%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=J__Uqu8N" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1120.  
  1121. &lt;p&gt;The bid to cover - which has traded in an extremely narrow range in the past year between 2.30 and 2.50 - rose from 2.34 to 2.38, the highest since May, and above the 2.36 recent average. &lt;/p&gt;
  1122.  
  1123. &lt;p&gt;The internals were more impressive, with Indirects jumping from 59.42 last month to 66.84, the highest since May and above the 64.2% recent average: this sharp increase in foreign demand was also a mirror image to the slide in Indirects in today's earlier 2Y auction. And with Directs awarded 23.9%, or down from 28.6% and the lowest since May (a far cry from the near record Directs in today's 2Y auction, if above the recent average of 22.1%), Dealers were left with a modest 9.3% of the 5Y auction, below the recent average of 10.7%.&lt;/p&gt;
  1124.  
  1125. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/5Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=Eh4HW1l7" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/5Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=Eh4HW1l7"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a3f5c91e-6129-42c9-a529-a80bfe6bca6f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="317" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/5Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=Eh4HW1l7" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1126.  
  1127. &lt;p&gt;Overall, this was a much more solid auction than the earlier 2Y sale, and yields reflected this with 10Y yields dipping below 4.00% having risen as high as 4.04% earlier.&lt;/p&gt;
  1128. &lt;/div&gt;
  1129.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1130. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T17:32:47+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 13:32&lt;/span&gt;
  1131. </description>
  1132.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:32:47 +0000</pubDate>
  1133.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1134.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078591 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1135.    </item>
  1136. <item>
  1137.  <title>Between A Dock &amp; A Hard Place: Record Short Oil Positions Squeezed By Sanctions Despite Record Crude Glut On-Water</title>
  1138.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/between-dock-hard-place-record-short-oil-positions-squeezed-sanctions-despite-record-crude</link>
  1139.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Between A Dock &amp; A Hard Place: Record Short Oil Positions Squeezed By Sanctions Despite Record Crude Glut On-Water&lt;/span&gt;
  1140.  
  1141.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are some extreme dichotomies in the crude complex currently that are worth a quick look...&lt;/p&gt;
  1142.  
  1143. &lt;p&gt;Amid what &lt;a href="https://x.com/ericnuttall"&gt;Eric Nuttall &lt;/a&gt;coined as &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"the most anticipated oil supply glut in history"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;
  1144.  
  1145. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"&gt;
  1146. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Why "we remain bullish" on natural gas and a quick update on "the most anticipated oil supply glut in history"™️: &lt;a href="https://t.co/C5QK50nMVz"&gt;pic.twitter.com/C5QK50nMVz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1147. — Eric Nuttall (@ericnuttall) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ericnuttall/status/1981707128642621926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 24, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1148. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;... &lt;strong&gt;crude prices had fallen to 5-month lows just over a week ago. Then Washington unleashed sanctions &lt;/strong&gt;on two of Russia's oil giants, Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC (and India and China suggested it would cut back on Russian oil purchases, implying demand for alternatives), prices for oil surged back higher...&lt;/p&gt;
  1149.  
  1150. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm1DC4.jpg?itok=91LCH_-0" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm1DC4.jpg?itok=91LCH_-0"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5d72f5db-69a2-4299-ba00-c682cef1c47a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="342" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm1DC4.jpg?itok=91LCH_-0" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1151.  
  1152. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/India-Is-Intensifying-Its-Search-for-Oil-and-Gas-as-Import-Pressure-Builds.html"&gt;OilPrice reports&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;India imported 19.93 million tons of crude oil last month, a 1.7% increase from August,&lt;/strong&gt; the Economic Times &lt;a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/oil-gas/indias-september-crude-oil-imports-rise-1-7-m/m/articleshow/124842211.cms"&gt;reported&lt;/a&gt;, citing government data. The total is equal to roughly 4.87 million barrels daily.&lt;/p&gt;
  1153.  
  1154. &lt;p&gt;The annual increase in imports for September was more pronounced, at 6.1%, the data also showed.&lt;/p&gt;
  1155.  
  1156. &lt;p&gt;In oil products, the government’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell reported imports of 4.40 million tons, which was a 20.9% increase on September 2024. Product exports, on the other hand, fell by 4.8% to 6.18 million tons.&lt;/p&gt;
  1157.  
  1158. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But, the publication also reported that Russian exports of crude oil to India declined by 8.4% over the three months to September amid shrinking discounts and tighter availability of barrels.&lt;/strong&gt; The decline is expected to become sharper in the coming weeks, following the latest U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, targeting two of the largest exporters—Rosneft and Lukoil.&lt;/p&gt;
  1159.  
  1160. &lt;p&gt;India needs more local discoveries of oil and gas in order to be able to meet future energy demand, the secretary of petroleum and natural gas at the Indian energy ministry said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1161.  
  1162. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1163. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“One day, we will be looking at a situation where alternative forms of energy will increasingly matter more for incremental demand satisfaction than fossil fuels,” Pankaj Jain said, as &lt;a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/commodities/india-needs-major-hydrocarbon-discoveries-to-meet-energy-demands-petroleum-secretary/article70207032.ece"&gt;quoted&lt;/a&gt; by PTI.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1164. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1165.  
  1166. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additionally, supertanker freight futures surged on Thursday and Friday after the U.S. sanctions against Russia’s biggest oil firms created a rush to replace Russian barrels. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1167.  
  1168. &lt;p&gt;The front-month supertanker contracts on the route Middle East to China, the benchmark route, jumped by 16% on Thursday, to the highest level in nearly two years, according to data from the Baltic Exchange data cited by &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-24/rush-to-replace-russian-oil-sees-supertanker-freight-rates-jump"&gt;Bloomberg&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1169.  
  1170. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1171. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“We anticipate the rush for replacement crudes will be larger and more sustained because of the exhaustive list of Russian producers under OFAC sanctions,” &lt;/strong&gt;Anoop Singh, global head of shipping research at Oil Brokerage, told Bloomberg. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1172. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1173.  
  1174. &lt;p&gt;Supertanker rates were already &lt;a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Tanker-Rates-Soar-as-US-and-China-Escalate-Port-Trade-War.html"&gt;rising&lt;/a&gt; earlier this month due to the latest tit-for-tat fees on port callings in the U.S.-China trade spat.&lt;/p&gt;
  1175.  
  1176. &lt;p&gt;The port fees threaten to create additional vortexes in global oil flows. &lt;/p&gt;
  1177.  
  1178. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_ati0gs6p5x.jpg?itok=SsgygxK1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_ati0gs6p5x.jpg?itok=SsgygxK1"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="22f05734-9c5c-45b2-a7b7-4cfe2f790006" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="209" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_ati0gs6p5x.jpg?itok=SsgygxK1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1179.  
  1180. &lt;p&gt;Ahead of the rally, &lt;strong&gt;money managers boosted bearish positions&lt;/strong&gt; on the global benchmark by 40,233 lots to 197,868 in the week ended Oct. 21, according to ICE Futures Europe. &lt;strong&gt;That's the most on record... providing a lot of ammunition for a sizable short squeeze...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1181.  
  1182. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-43-13.jpg?itok=WpT-V87W" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-43-13.jpg?itok=WpT-V87W"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="929692bf-a163-4c1c-9720-400e90772791" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="323" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-43-13.jpg?itok=WpT-V87W" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1183.  
  1184. &lt;p&gt;...as traders worldwide bet on mounting evidence that a long-anticipated supply surplus is finally underway&lt;strong&gt; with a flotilla of crude oil on the world’s oceans expanded to a fresh high &lt;/strong&gt;as producer nations keep adding barrels and the tankers sail further for deliveries...&lt;/p&gt;
  1185.  
  1186. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm6E9E.jpg?itok=clSD0oeU" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm6E9E.jpg?itok=clSD0oeU"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ddca3dd7-f53e-4059-a5e4-fcd13d480154" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="341" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm6E9E.jpg?itok=clSD0oeU" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1187.  
  1188. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Production is rising from members of the OPEC+ group of nations, which are unwinding earlier output cuts &lt;/strong&gt;- as well as countries outside the group, predominantly in the Americas, where Guyana recently started pumping from a new offshore field and US output hit a new high.&lt;/p&gt;
  1189.  
  1190. &lt;p&gt;The build-up comes at a time when demand growth is slowing, with forecasters predicting a surplus that could rise to as much as 4 million barrels a day in the early months of next year.&lt;/p&gt;
  1191.  
  1192. &lt;p&gt;However, as Eric Nuttall reminds, &lt;strong&gt;inventory on land is much lower than expected&lt;/strong&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;
  1193.  
  1194. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1195. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"...onshore inventories have FALLEN by 39MM Bbls in the first 20 days of October, and are actually the tightest to the 5 year average in ~ 4 months. It wasn't supposed to be like this!"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1196. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1197.  
  1198. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-53-40.jpg?itok=nPjTzDU6" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-53-40.jpg?itok=nPjTzDU6"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="425a6838-632c-46f7-b6db-d26af0588681" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="318" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_09-53-40.jpg?itok=nPjTzDU6" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1199.  
  1200. &lt;p&gt;...and much of the oil-on-water is already headed to specific processing units.&lt;/p&gt;
  1201.  
  1202. &lt;p&gt;Finally, remember &lt;strong&gt;China is stockpiling 500k barrels-a-day&lt;/strong&gt; for its own Strategic Petroleum Reserve, so there's plenty of demand (for bulls to squeeze on), but &lt;strong&gt;any progress toward peace,&lt;/strong&gt; such as reviving Budapest meeting plans, may undermine the rally as will chatter that &lt;strong&gt;OPEC+ is currently expected to focus on reviving another modest sliver of oil production&lt;/strong&gt; in December as a base case when key members meet this weekend, according to two delegates.&lt;/p&gt;
  1203.  
  1204. &lt;p&gt;Domestic demand is booming too, as Bloomberg's Javier Blas notes, &lt;strong&gt;US oil consumption is heading toward a 18-year high&lt;/strong&gt; of 20.59 million b/d in 2025. And further increases are likely.&lt;/p&gt;
  1205.  
  1206. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/G39sbA5XYAADudx.jpg?itok=BJpSsSWA" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/G39sbA5XYAADudx.jpg?itok=BJpSsSWA"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="547322f6-b442-4db7-93f6-6f212eed1e12" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="363" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/G39sbA5XYAADudx.jpg?itok=BJpSsSWA" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1207.  
  1208. &lt;p&gt;That's a lot of supply, demand, and positioning extremes to consider.&lt;/p&gt;
  1209. &lt;/div&gt;
  1210.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1211. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T17:25:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 13:25&lt;/span&gt;
  1212. </description>
  1213.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1214.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1215.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078580 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1216.    </item>
  1217. <item>
  1218.  <title>Wrecking Ball Politics: Swalwell Calls for Destructive Pledge from Democratic Presidential Candidates</title>
  1219.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wrecking-ball-politics-swalwell-calls-destructive-pledge-democratic-presidential</link>
  1220.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Wrecking Ball Politics: Swalwell Calls for Destructive Pledge from Democratic Presidential Candidates&lt;/span&gt;
  1221.  
  1222.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2025/10/27/wrecking-ball-politics-swalwell-calls-for-destructive-pledge-from-democratic-presidential-candidates/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Jonathan Turley,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1223.  
  1224. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rep. &lt;a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/eric-swalwell"&gt;Eric Swalwell&lt;/a&gt;, D-Calif., did the impossible last week: he reached a new low in American politics. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1225.  
  1226. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/440px-Eric_Swalwell_114th_offici.jpg?itok=--FGSz_f" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/440px-Eric_Swalwell_114th_offici.jpg?itok=--FGSz_f"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4f00fbd9-90f4-46b3-8ec6-b16154e1ca2e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="640" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/440px-Eric_Swalwell_114th_offici.jpg?itok=--FGSz_f" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1227.  
  1228. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Previously, Swalwell &lt;a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2021/02/11/reckless-rhetoric-is-a-reckless-standard-for-an-impeachment-trial/"&gt;mocked a female senator&lt;/a&gt; after she complained about being threatened by leftists. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1229.  
  1230. &lt;p&gt;However, even on the Swalwell scale, it is hard to measure the depths of a member who calls for potential presidents to pledge to demolish the Trump ballroom as a litmus test for office.&lt;/p&gt;
  1231.  
  1232. &lt;p&gt;Consider that for a second.&lt;/p&gt;
  1233.  
  1234. &lt;p&gt;According to Swalwell, Democrats will only consider politicians who promise to destroy a $300 million building to appease the lowest common denominator of their party.&lt;/p&gt;
  1235.  
  1236. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/download-1_4.jpg?itok=XwE4T2Ji" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/download-1_4.jpg?itok=XwE4T2Ji"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="208eff36-d22b-49ca-8929-0a849437597d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="400" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/download-1_4.jpg?itok=XwE4T2Ji" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1237.  
  1238. &lt;p&gt;Swalwell went on X to declare:&lt;/p&gt;
  1239.  
  1240. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1241. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1242. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1243.  
  1244. &lt;p&gt;That is Eric Swalwell’s measure of a president: the willingness to destroy hundreds of millions of dollars in construction in an anti-Trump fit.&lt;/p&gt;
  1245.  
  1246. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One can object to the unilateral decision to tear down the East Wing, but Trump likely has the authority to do so.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1247.  
  1248. &lt;p&gt;Past presidents have ordered substantial alterations to the building. What is also clear is that the White House has long needed a ballroom. Trump is right that it is embarrassing to have guests at state dinners sit outside in a tent, since we are among the few major countries without such a space.&lt;/p&gt;
  1249.  
  1250. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Even t&lt;a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/washington-post-editorial-board-defends-trumps-white-house-ballroom-construction-project"&gt;he Washington Post has come out in favor of the ballroom&lt;/a&gt; and said that future presidents will value the addition. &lt;/strong&gt;However, Swalwell wants the next president to commit to destroying it as a political statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  1251.  
  1252. &lt;p&gt;The rhetoric continued to ratchet up over the ballroom last week. It is clear that Swalwell was not getting through, as people piled onto social media to denounce the move. He then came up with something that no sane person would demand.&lt;/p&gt;
  1253.  
  1254. &lt;p&gt;What is interesting is that he is right about one thing. Such a pledge would be useful for voters. Anyone taking the Swalwell pledge would instantly disqualify themselves from the office in the minds of most Americans.&lt;/p&gt;
  1255.  
  1256. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While it certainly worked to get Swalwell back in the news, it was for all the wrong reasons. &lt;/strong&gt;While Miley Cyrus may have ridden &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8"&gt;a wrecking ball to fame&lt;/a&gt;, Swalwell is unlikely to ride the wave of rage to relevancy in American politics.&lt;/p&gt;
  1257. &lt;/div&gt;
  1258.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1259. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T17:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 13:05&lt;/span&gt;
  1260. </description>
  1261.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1262.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1263.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078558 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1264.    </item>
  1265. <item>
  1266.  <title>Treasury Secretary Warns US Won't Be Able To Pay Military By Nov. 15</title>
  1267.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/treasury-secretary-warns-us-wont-be-able-pay-military-nov-15</link>
  1268.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Treasury Secretary Warns US Won't Be Able To Pay Military By Nov. 15&lt;/span&gt;
  1269.  
  1270.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/treasury-secretary-warns-us-wont-be-able-to-pay-military-by-nov-15-post-5935358?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1271.  
  1272. &lt;p&gt;Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that active military service members will miss their paychecks by Nov. 15 if the government shutdown persists, while suggesting that it’s not certain that all of them will be paid at the start of November.&lt;/p&gt;
  1273.  
  1274. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I think we'll be able to pay them beginning in November, but by Nov. 15 our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives aren’t going to be able to get paid,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Bessent said &lt;a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-bessent-treasury-secretary-face-the-nation-transcript-10-26-2025/"&gt;during&lt;/a&gt; CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning.&lt;/p&gt;
  1275.  
  1276. &lt;p&gt;The shutdown, which was initiated on Oct. 1, has furloughed around 750,000 federal employees and left others working without pay. Troops, however, have been paid by the Trump administration during the funding lapse after money was shifted money.&lt;/p&gt;
  1277.  
  1278. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-10-27T085509.701.jpg?itok=8hCLB9aK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-10-27T085509.701.jpg?itok=8hCLB9aK"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="193e7327-3a99-44b7-930f-2b9c190994d5" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-10-27T085509.701.jpg?itok=8hCLB9aK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1279.  
  1280. &lt;p&gt;A private donor also &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/donor-gives-130-million-to-cover-shortfall-in-troop-pay-during-shutdown-5934105"&gt;sent&lt;/a&gt; the government a $130 million check to help cover the paychecks of around 1.3 million active service members, confirmed President Donald Trump last week. The individual who made the donation doesn’t want to be named, he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1281.  
  1282. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1283. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“He called us the other day and he said, ‘I’d like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown. I’d like to contribute, personally, contribute any shortfall you have with the military, because I love the military and I love the country, and any shortfall, if there’s a shortfall, I’ll contribute it,’” Trump said in a a roundtable meeting with his Cabinet members.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1284. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1285.  
  1286. &lt;p&gt;The funding lapse that sparked the shutdown came about after members of Congress could not—and still are unable to—agree on funding the government.&lt;/p&gt;
  1287.  
  1288. &lt;p&gt;Democrats insist that a measure to reopen the government include a permanent extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. They also demand the reversal of provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July, that exclude asylum seekers, refugees, and those on certain visas from qualifying for Affordable Care Act coverage starting in 2027. Republicans have said that Democrats’ demands are akin to a hostage situation and said these issues should be debated separately, rather than as a condition for reopening the government.&lt;/p&gt;
  1289.  
  1290. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) &lt;a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hakeem-jeffries-democratic-leader-face-the-nation-transcript-10-26-2025/"&gt;told&lt;/a&gt; CBS that there is an urgent need to reopen the government.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1291.  
  1292. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1293. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“Which is why we continue to demand that Republicans sit at the negotiating table so we can enact a spending agreement that’s bipartisan in nature,” Jeffries stated. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1294.  
  1295. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“That’s what we’ve called for from the very beginning.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1296. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1297.  
  1298. &lt;p&gt;He added that Democrats’ ongoing intransigence over voting for a GOP-backed plan to reopen the government would effectively be them supporting a “spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people, in an environment where Republicans have already enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1299.  
  1300. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When Bessent was asked about the possibility of congressional Democrats having a meeting with Trump, the Treasury secretary said, “I don’t know what good it does.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1301.  
  1302. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1303. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“This is a Democratic-led boycott, and I’m just not sure what they’re doing,” Bessent also said, urging moderate Democrats to “be heroes” and join Republicans in voting to reopen the government without conditions.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1304. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1305.  
  1306. &lt;p&gt;Other than military pay, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and states have warned that the shutdown could imperil the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamps program starting Nov. 1.&lt;/p&gt;
  1307.  
  1308. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;the USDA recently &lt;a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; in a post on its website while chastising Democrats for refusing to vote to reopen the government.&lt;/p&gt;
  1309.  
  1310. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1311. &lt;/div&gt;
  1312.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1313. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T16:25:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 12:25&lt;/span&gt;
  1314. </description>
  1315.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1316.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1317.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078554 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1318.    </item>
  1319. <item>
  1320.  <title>Watch: Schwarzenegger Terminates Jake Tapper's Entire Argument Over Gerrymandering</title>
  1321.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-schwarzenegger-terminates-jake-tappers-entire-argument-over-gerrymandering</link>
  1322.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Watch: Schwarzenegger Terminates Jake Tapper's Entire Argument Over Gerrymandering&lt;/span&gt;
  1323.  
  1324.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gave &lt;em&gt;CNN&lt;/em&gt;'s Jake Tapper a sharp rebuke after the anchor suggested that &lt;strong&gt;gerrymandering is primarily a Republican issue&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  1325. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/G4MIDZ1WEAE1TsK_80.jpg?itok=Yr8tskxc" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/G4MIDZ1WEAE1TsK_80.jpg?itok=Yr8tskxc"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bd301f01-d7b3-47f9-8a96-8efacad9a1e5" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/G4MIDZ1WEAE1TsK_80.jpg?itok=Yr8tskxc" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via &lt;a href="https://x.com/emilybrooksnews/status/1982437121479586165"&gt;Emily Brooks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1326.  
  1327. &lt;p&gt;"No, Jake. There has been gerrymandering going on for 200 years," Schwarzenegger hit back, noting that &lt;strong&gt;both Massachusetts and New Mexico &lt;/strong&gt;are prime examples of it.&lt;/p&gt;
  1328.  
  1329. &lt;p&gt;"In a state like Massachusetts, it has like 40% of the people voting for Trump, they have zero representatives," he said. "The Republican Party has zero representatives sent to the House. Think about that."&lt;/p&gt;
  1330.  
  1331. &lt;p&gt;In New Mexico, "45% of the people voted for Trump and vote Republican, and zero is sent to the House, zero representatives from the Republican Party," he continued. &lt;/p&gt;
  1332.  
  1333. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"&gt;
  1334. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;NEW: Arnold Schwarzenegger claps back at CNN's Jake Tapper, calls out "extreme gerrymandering" in blue states.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1335. Tapper: "Do you believe that the Republican Party is starting this?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1336. Schwarzenegger: "No, Jake. There has been gerrymandering going on for 200 years."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1337. "There is such… &lt;a href="https://t.co/ovxGJ6ll8p"&gt;pic.twitter.com/ovxGJ6ll8p&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1338. — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1982528723674071061?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 26, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1339. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I think when he - &lt;strong&gt;when they say this is temporary, there is no such thing&lt;/strong&gt;. I mean, the longest programs are government programs that are temporary. Okay, &lt;strong&gt;just remember that if this is a tax program or if it is the redistricting program, anything that is temporary with government is permanent&lt;/strong&gt;," Schwarzenegger told Tapper. &lt;/p&gt;
  1340.  
  1341. &lt;p&gt;The former governor &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5477832-schwarzenegger-steps-back-into-political-arena-in-redistricting-crusade/"&gt;stepped back&lt;/a&gt; into the political arena&lt;/strong&gt; in August to crusade against partisan redistricting, joining former GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), donor Charlie Munger Jr., and state GOP legislators - in opposing a plan by California Governor Gavin Newsom &lt;strong&gt;to stage a special election this fall to bypass the Golden State's independent redistricting commission&lt;/strong&gt; so they can gerrymander mid-decade. &lt;/p&gt;
  1342.  
  1343. &lt;p&gt;The California plan would effectively nullify Republican redistricting in Texas.&lt;/p&gt;
  1344.  
  1345. &lt;p&gt;"In the year 2032 when the independent redistricting commission is supposed to come back, they‘re going to say, ‘Wait a minute. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Texas. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Ohio. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Florida. We have to continue with gerrymandering.’ This is what‘s going to happen. They will find an excuse. So therefore I don‘t think it is temporary. So that‘s total fantasy," Schwarzenegger said. &lt;/p&gt;
  1346.  
  1347. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And of course, Tapper brought up that Arnold's dad was a Nazi&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1348.  
  1349. &lt;p&gt;While discussing Senate Democrat hopeful Graham Platner's Nazi tattoo and the leaked Young Republicans group chat, Tapper said: "The reason I bring [these controversies] up is because you have spoken so movingly in the past about your father‘s membership in the Nazi Party—denouncing it. What is your message to anybody in politics today embracing or praising Nazis or Hitler in any way?"&lt;/p&gt;
  1350.  
  1351. &lt;p&gt;After a pause Schwarzenegger admitted that he didn't "know anything" about the scandals, but said "I can just tell you one thing... Anyone that idolizes Nazis, it‘s bad news. Because we have been there before, and we have seen the outcome."&lt;/p&gt;
  1352.  
  1353. &lt;p&gt;"There are no winners, okay? It‘s that simple. And I think that‘s not the direction we want to go."&lt;/p&gt;
  1354.  
  1355. &lt;p&gt;Schwarzenegger's father Gustav was a member of the Nazi party until he was wounded in the Battle of Leningrad in 1943. &lt;/p&gt;
  1356. &lt;/div&gt;
  1357.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1358. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T16:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 12:05&lt;/span&gt;
  1359. </description>
  1360.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1361.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1362.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078541 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1363.    </item>
  1364. <item>
  1365.  <title>2Y Auction Tails As Foreign Buyers Balk Ahead Of Rate Cut But Directs Soar To 2nd Highest Ever</title>
  1366.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/2y-auction-tails-foreign-buyers-balk-ahead-rate-cut-directs-soar-2nd-highest-ever</link>
  1367.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;2Y Auction Tails As Foreign Buyers Balk Ahead Of Rate Cut But Directs Soar To 2nd Highest Ever&lt;/span&gt;
  1368.  
  1369.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thanks to this week's accelerate bond auction schedule, the result of Wednesday's FOMC decision, moments ago we got the first of two coupon auctions scheduled for today when the Treasury sold $69 billion in 2Y notes in what was an ok auction.&lt;/p&gt;
  1370.  
  1371. &lt;p&gt;The offering priced at a high yield of 3.504%, down from 3.571% in September and the lowest since August 2022. The bond also tailed the 3.503% When Issued by 0.1bps, the first tail for the tenor since April.&lt;/p&gt;
  1372.  
  1373. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2y%20tail%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=kzHCaqp5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2y%20tail%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=kzHCaqp5"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="87d5591e-6aca-457b-a2e0-3fbae0fb559c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="295" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2y%20tail%20oct%2025.jpg?itok=kzHCaqp5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1374.  
  1375. &lt;p&gt;The bid to cover rose modestly from 2.513 in September to 2.590 which was just above the 2.581 six-auction average. &lt;/p&gt;
  1376.  
  1377. &lt;p&gt;The internals were interesting: while Indirects dropped to just 53.7% from 57.8% in September, the lowest since March 2023 (when banks were blowing up left and right), it was Directs that stole the show by taking down a whopping 34.8%, the second highest on record.&lt;/p&gt;
  1378.  
  1379. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2y%20direct.jpg?itok=6vKEesG3" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2y%20direct.jpg?itok=6vKEesG3"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="27a9a55a-3f2e-4039-a1ba-befb645ddf30" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="294" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2y%20direct.jpg?itok=6vKEesG3" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1380.  
  1381. &lt;p&gt;The left 11.6% for Dealers, right on top of the recent average of 11.5%.&lt;/p&gt;
  1382.  
  1383. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=PYl49nj7" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=PYl49nj7"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26f9bc74-2cfd-48a7-8618-68d4e71cb064" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="304" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2Y%20Oct%202025.jpg?itok=PYl49nj7" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1384.  
  1385. &lt;p&gt;Overall, this was a mixed auction, with the tail and drop in foreign demand negatives, but offset by the relentless demand for paper by domestic Direct bidders (i.e. everyone who is not a primary dealer), suggesting that demand remains solid if hardly stellar, especially with the Fed set to cut rates in 2 days. &lt;/p&gt;
  1386. &lt;/div&gt;
  1387.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1388. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T15:59:30+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:59&lt;/span&gt;
  1389. </description>
  1390.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
  1391.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1392.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078556 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1393.    </item>
  1394. <item>
  1395.  <title>Army To Bring Nuclear Microreactors To Its Bases By 2028</title>
  1396.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/army-bring-nuclear-microreactors-its-bases-2028</link>
  1397.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Army To Bring Nuclear Microreactors To Its Bases By 2028&lt;/span&gt;
  1398.  
  1399.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;By Eric Tegler of &lt;a href="https://www.twz.com/nuclear/army-to-bring-nuclear-microreactors-to-its-bases-by-2028"&gt;TWZ.com&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1400.  
  1401. &lt;p&gt;Army installations within the lower 48 states will have operating nuclear microreactors starting in the fall of 2028 if the Army’s &lt;a href="https://www.army.mil/article/288903/army_announces_janus_program_for_next_generation_nuclear_energy"&gt;Janus program&lt;/a&gt; moves forward on schedule.&lt;/p&gt;
  1402.  
  1403. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/reactor_0.jpg?itok=7n11iT22" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/reactor_0.jpg?itok=7n11iT22"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1825f2c5-f410-4357-a0f9-94b106f4ae51" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/reactor_0.jpg?itok=7n11iT22" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1404.  
  1405. &lt;p&gt;The addition of nuclear power will diversify the energy sources available on military bases and provide a critical enhancement to their resiliency, the Army says. &lt;/p&gt;
  1406.  
  1407. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“What resilience means to us is that we have power, no matter what, 24/7,” &lt;/strong&gt;Dr. Jeff Waksman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said during a media roundtable attended by &lt;em&gt;TWZ&lt;/em&gt; at last week’s Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual conference.&lt;/p&gt;
  1408.  
  1409. &lt;p&gt;Waksman’s comments followed a briefing earlier in the day at which Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Christopher Wright jointly announced the launch of the Janus Program. &lt;/p&gt;
  1410.  
  1411. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1412. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;This morning, I joined &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SecretaryWright?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@SecretaryWright&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ASArmyIEE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@ASArmyIEE&lt;/a&gt; Assistant Secretary Dr. Jeff Waksman to launch Janus Program, a major leap forward in bringing safe, mobile nuclear energy to the &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/USArmy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@USArmy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1413. In partnership with &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ENERGY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@Energy&lt;/a&gt; and top U.S. innovators, we’re building the future of… &lt;a href="https://t.co/lbHop10piT"&gt;pic.twitter.com/lbHop10piT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1414. — Secretary of the Army (@SecArmy) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SecArmy/status/1978133328969556084?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 14, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1415. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;“The U.S. Army is leading the way on fielding innovative and disruptive technology,” Driscoll said. “We are shredding red tape and incubating next-generation capabilities in a variety of critical sectors, including nuclear power.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1416.  
  1417. &lt;p&gt;Janus is the Army’s plan to realize President Donald Trump’s &lt;a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-09796.pdf"&gt;Executive Order 14299&lt;/a&gt;, titled “&lt;strong&gt;Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security&lt;/strong&gt;,” which directs the Department of War to commence operation of an Army-regulated nuclear reactor at a domestic military installation no later than September 30, 2028.&lt;/p&gt;
  1418.  
  1419. &lt;p&gt;Some time in the next few weeks, barring a long extension of the government shutdown, the Army will release an Area of Interest (AOI) solicitation with a draft request for proposals (RFP) attached, according to Waksman. An industry day event thereafter will give the Army feedback on potential microreactor approaches and contact with interested companies and startups. &lt;/p&gt;
  1420.  
  1421. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBu829Biwj4?si=GG4FNIPCSh4KDk77" title="YouTube video player" width="560"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1422.  
  1423. &lt;p&gt;A competition will follow, &lt;strong&gt;after which the Army expects to select multiple companies to build and deliver microreactor prototypes to an initial batch of base/installation sites (likely nine sites) yet to be determined&lt;/strong&gt;. The companies selected will each be given one Army site to deliver their prototypes to, and each firm will be required to build two reactors.   &lt;/p&gt;
  1424.  
  1425. &lt;p&gt;“They will build one, and then in a staggered fashion, build a second,” Waksman explained. “The reason why we’re doing that is because you have to get to Nth-of-a-kind to have a commercial product. [By Nth-of-a-kind Waksman means multiple units of a product or, in this case, reactor.] We want to see that these companies have a path to get from their first prototype to the second one and beyond to the Nth-of-a-kind.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1426.  
  1427. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9cc1j-MbVVA?si=nWtktkTdGRTMyYAI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1428.  
  1429. &lt;p&gt;The program is named for Janus, an ancient Roman god of beginnings, gates, and transitions. Accordingly, its approach is about transitioning from one-off prototypes to multiple-unit commercial systems, Waksman added. &lt;/p&gt;
  1430.  
  1431. &lt;p&gt;It dovetails with an initiative announced by the &lt;strong&gt;Defense Innovation Unit &lt;/strong&gt;(DIU) last April called &lt;a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2025/04/diu-selects-8-eligible-companies-for-nuclear-microreactors-that-could-power-us-bases/"&gt;Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI)&lt;/a&gt;. It also seeks to field nuclear microreactors that can supplement energy sources at DoW installations, whose power is typically drawn from commercial grids.&lt;/p&gt;
  1432.  
  1433. &lt;p&gt;DIU is a partner in Janus and will contribute funding to the program. It will also act as the contracting officer, and Janus will use its contracting authorities. However, the Army will conduct program management. Waksman says Janus will have different technical requirements than ANPI and reflect changes in the nuclear power market, including new entrants that have emerged since last spring. &lt;/p&gt;
  1434.  
  1435. &lt;p&gt;Hovering in the background is yet another nuclear project called &lt;a href="https://www.twz.com/40914/the-militarys-mobile-nuclear-reactor-prototype-is-set-to-begin-taking-shape"&gt;Pele&lt;/a&gt;, which emerged from &lt;a href="https://www.twz.com/26152/the-u-s-military-wants-tiny-road-mobile-nuclear-reactors-that-can-fit-in-a-c-17"&gt;the DoD’s Strategic Capabilities Office&lt;/a&gt; (SCO) in 2022. The stated intent there was to “design, build, and demonstrate a prototype mobile nuclear reactor within five years.” &lt;/p&gt;
  1436.  
  1437. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/pele%20nukes.jpg?itok=j0452gJC" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/pele%20nukes.jpg?itok=j0452gJC"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="485c2b96-6002-46c2-8b48-dc5fba7e86c1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="284" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/pele%20nukes.jpg?itok=j0452gJC" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1438.  
  1439. &lt;p&gt;Pele was envisioned as potentially transportable operational nuclear energy, and the project continues with integrator &lt;a href="https://www.bwxt.com/sectors/defense-space/land/project-pele/"&gt;BWXT&lt;/a&gt;, which is in the process of manufacturing and delivering the first advanced microreactor. The transportable nuclear reactors developed for Pele are designed to be transported within four 20-foot shipping containers, allowing them to be potentially moved to areas where the military or government may need to stand up power generation infrastructure to support military or other operations. &lt;/p&gt;
  1440.  
  1441. &lt;p&gt;While Pele is developmentally interesting, Waksman said, “We do not at this time see nuclear power as a tactical application.” This is largely because tactical reactor development drives up cost, and there is currently no need for megawatt power at the combat edge, Waksman explained.&lt;/p&gt;
  1442.  
  1443. &lt;p&gt;As such, Janus microreactors will go to domestic installations to bolster energy supply, and some certainly have unique needs for power beyond redundancy. For example, &lt;a href="https://www.twz.com/the-intricacies-of-f-35-operations-over-the-frigid-alaskan-frontier"&gt;remote Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska&lt;/a&gt; relies on a 70-year-old coal-fired power plant on the base for its primary energy needs. Since 2021, the Air Force &lt;a href="https://www.twz.com/42818/this-alaskan-air-base-will-host-an-experimental-mini-nuclear-reactor"&gt;has been working&lt;/a&gt; to at least &lt;a href="https://www.eielson.af.mil/News/Display/Article/4213214/microreactor-pilot-reaches-major-project-milestone/"&gt;demonstrate a small nuclear reactor at Eielson&lt;/a&gt; for exactly this reason.&lt;/p&gt;
  1444.  
  1445. &lt;p&gt;A next step beyond could see the deployment of small nuclear reactors to strategic support areas, which could range from the Indo-Pacific periphery, from Hawaii to Pacific islands, for instance, as well as other locales. However, Waksman stresses the need to complete the first phase before further extending the program. &lt;/p&gt;
  1446.  
  1447. &lt;p&gt;Energy resilience is the core of Janus. Waksman observed that on Army installations and other service installations, power resiliency is currently 100 percent provided by fossil fuels. Renewable power generation exists on some installations, but is not considered highly resilient, nor a primary source of energy. He added that every grid globally is reliant on a base-load power source – fossil fuel, geothermal, hydropower, or nuclear. &lt;/p&gt;
  1448.  
  1449. &lt;p&gt;“Unless you’re in one of the few places in the world where geothermal is viable or you have a dam nearby, your only choices are nuclear or fossil fuel at this time…There’s just no ability to have a grid that works solely on solar and wind and batteries at this point.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1450. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bwxt%20reactor.jpg?itok=QESADCpO" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bwxt%20reactor.jpg?itok=QESADCpO"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2f230426-be61-4b59-bc0f-6caa9c5e312a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="343" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bwxt%20reactor.jpg?itok=QESADCpO" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;The production platform for BWXT’s Pele prototype core reactor assembly. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1451.  
  1452. &lt;p&gt;“Anyone who’s seen big solar arrays on military installations knows that the moment that you have a &lt;a href="https://www.army.mil/article/284425/installation_exercise_paves_road_to_black_start"&gt;Black Start&lt;/a&gt; exercise and the grid goes down, those are immediately cut off. They do not provide power, so the resiliency is fossil fuels. You have a certain number of backup power days, but that is a huge vulnerability…”&lt;/p&gt;
  1453.  
  1454. &lt;p&gt;Black Start is a congressionally mandated requirement for DoW installations, testing their ability to operate without grid power in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;
  1455.  
  1456. &lt;p&gt;The microreactors that Janus will seek to deploy will be what commercial industry refers to as Generation IV or so-called “&lt;a href="https://www.ne.anl.gov/About/hn/logos-winter02-psr.shtml"&gt;Passive Reactors&lt;/a&gt;” which, by design, cannot melt down. Utilizing low-enriched uranium (to about 5 percent), they will generally not be higher than 20 megawatt plants. Even so, they’ll likely offer surplus power, which could potentially provide energy resiliency to local communities. &lt;/p&gt;
  1457.  
  1458. &lt;p&gt;“If everything goes black outside the fence, that’s where most soldiers live, where their families live and where a lot of critical infrastructure is,” Waksman said. “I’ve been to a lot of hardened [military] sites. I’ve yet to see one that is resilient to everything going down outside the fence line. Selling some of this [power] outside the fence line is something that we’re actively interested in doing.”  &lt;/p&gt;
  1459. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/pele%20reactor.jpg?itok=G0fUXoYf" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/pele%20reactor.jpg?itok=G0fUXoYf"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f55e593c-1ed2-43cb-88a2-d7a7150d835a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="310" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/pele%20reactor.jpg?itok=G0fUXoYf" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;A cutaway image of BWXT’s mobile microreactor for Project Pele.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1460.  
  1461. &lt;p&gt;Such a scheme is in a legal gray area, Waksman noted, but there is precedent — a military-based reactor sold energy to an adjacent community in the early 1980s. However, the Army believes it could offer excess power commercially with some limitations. Waksman said that the Department of the Army is currently negotiating with Congress on this issue and is seeing bipartisan support. &lt;/p&gt;
  1462.  
  1463. &lt;p&gt;Thanks to the &lt;a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/what-high-assay-low-enriched-uranium-haleu"&gt;low-enrichment nature &lt;/a&gt;of the small reactors, the Army does not expect a requirement for extra force protection at nuclear-powered installations. &lt;/p&gt;
  1464.  
  1465. &lt;p&gt;The United States’ existing fleet of reactors runs on uranium fuel that is enriched up to 5 percent with uranium-235, called Low-enriched uranium (LEU). U-235 — the main fissile isotope that produces energy during a chain reaction — is considered safe for use in commercial nuclear reactors.&lt;/p&gt;
  1466.  
  1467. &lt;p&gt;The ubiquity of LEU makes integration of small reactors on military installations more affordable, Waksman noted. Affordability is a major consideration within Janus. How much the military is willing to pay for resiliency is a hard question, Waksman admits. He offered that the Army doesn’t think nuclear power cost needs to be equivalent with fossil fuels, but just reasonably close. He cites the roughly 40 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) that consumers pay in Hawaii and Alaska, rather than the 10 to 12 cents per kWh paid in the continental U.S. to illustrate the point. At the 40 cents per kWh level, the Army expects there will be a significant commercial market over and above military nuclear power generation demand.  &lt;/p&gt;
  1468.  
  1469. &lt;p&gt;Hawaii and Alaska also illustrate the kind of environments, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, where there is current energy scarcity. Such scarcity makes moving a missile defense system, directed energy systems, large radars, or artificial intelligence data centers to an island or a remote Arctic site problematic. &lt;/p&gt;
  1470.  
  1471. &lt;p&gt;The strain on available local energy infrastructure imparted by these kinds of systems means they are often limited by ad hoc diesel power generation or other arrangements, Waksman explained. Installing advanced microreactors could potentially transform such locales from energy-scarce environments to a state of energy abundance, which could support defense and other infrastructure. This could be critical to U.S. success in the Pacific. &lt;/p&gt;
  1472.  
  1473. &lt;p&gt;There may be political challenges to placing microreactors on Pacific islands, other foreign territories, or even within the United States, Waksman acknowledged. But he opined that many places don’t necessarily oppose nuclear power. They oppose not being consulted about it. He says there will be pre-engagement discussion with any proposed local community. If they object, the Army won’t go there. &lt;/p&gt;
  1474.  
  1475. &lt;p&gt;“We’re not here to impose nuclear power on any local communities,” he added. Foreign placements would fall under Status of Forces Agreements. Waksman points to the fact that the Navy has successfully concluded these throughout the Pacific, “so it can be done”. &lt;/p&gt;
  1476. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/critical%20installations.jpg?itok=NC9Lrpw7" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/critical%20installations.jpg?itok=NC9Lrpw7"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d157838a-7572-4474-829e-2d71cf626195" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="280" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/critical%20installations.jpg?itok=NC9Lrpw7" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Critical installations, especially those where energy supplies are more scarce and vulnerable, are eyed as especially well-suited for microreactors. Pearl Harbor, seen above, could be one such facility&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1477.  
  1478. &lt;p&gt;Janus could also bring second and third-order benefits with it. Introducing advanced microreactors to military installations could kick-start the U.S. commercial nuclear power market and attract new blood to replenish the current critical shortage of nuclear engineers in America, Waksman said. &lt;/p&gt;
  1479.  
  1480. &lt;p&gt;The model being used for the Janus competition, he explained, is the NASA COTS (&lt;a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/sp-2014-617.pdf"&gt;Commercial Orbital Transportation System&lt;/a&gt;) model, which was the catalyst for the creation of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company made space engineering cool again, inspiring students to go into the rocketry/space field, Waksman says.  &lt;/p&gt;
  1481.  
  1482. &lt;p&gt;“There’s a feeling [that] nuclear needs a SpaceX. There are innovative, exciting startups, so we’re hoping to cultivate them in the same way that NASA cultivated SpaceX and make nuclear sexy again and encourage more top young engineering talent to go into the field.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1483.  
  1484. &lt;p&gt;Trump’s Executive Order has put the Army on a tight timeline to make Janus a reality. &lt;/p&gt;
  1485.  
  1486. &lt;p&gt;“We will do everything in our power to successfully meet the Executive Order,” Waksman affirmed. &lt;/p&gt;
  1487.  
  1488. &lt;p&gt;Brandon Cockrell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, also attended the roundtable and concluded the meeting by asserting that there is already significant competition among states and municipalities to get advanced microreactors at local bases.&lt;/p&gt;
  1489.  
  1490. &lt;p&gt;“There are some states across the U.S. that are already leaning forward heavily with tax deferments and resources… This is a whole concerted effort to get the nuclear industry to the next phase in the nation.”  &lt;/p&gt;
  1491. &lt;/div&gt;
  1492.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1493. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T15:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:45&lt;/span&gt;
  1494. </description>
  1495.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1496.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1497.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078346 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1498.    </item>
  1499. <item>
  1500.  <title>Business "Very Slow, No Uptick In Sight": Dallas Fed Respondents Turn Even More Apocalyptic-er</title>
  1501.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/business-very-slow-no-uptick-sight-dallas-fed-respondents-turn-even-more</link>
  1502.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Business "Very Slow, No Uptick In Sight": Dallas Fed Respondents Turn Even More Apocalyptic-er&lt;/span&gt;
  1503.  
  1504.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/dallas-fed-respondents-turn-apocalyptic-amid-trump-push-hammer-oil-prices"&gt;As we detailed in late September, &lt;/a&gt;President Trump's plans to bring down oil prices was hammering sentiment in the Dallas Fed region (among manufacturers) with apocalyptic comments from respondents...&lt;/p&gt;
  1505.  
  1506. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1507. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;"I may have to close the company. Orders have stopped coming in, and we do not know why. "&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1508. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1509.  
  1510. &lt;p&gt;And while today we see October's raw headline sentiment (General Business Activity) number improve very marginally (from -8.7 to -5.0 - still negative), under the hood it was not pretty with &lt;strong&gt;production flat, capacity utilization down notable, new orders still shrinking, shipments down, and hours worked and capex tumbling.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1511.  
  1512. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm37BF.jpg?itok=NNS2otDI" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm37BF.jpg?itok=NNS2otDI"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4dd11093-98f3-4c18-b9c5-23309f2b3aad" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="343" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm37BF.jpg?itok=NNS2otDI" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1513.  
  1514. &lt;p&gt;Worse still, forward-looking expectations are a shitshow...&lt;/p&gt;
  1515.  
  1516. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_08-16-16.jpg?itok=shcc7lnJ" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_08-16-16.jpg?itok=shcc7lnJ"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ac07fc07-c46d-4871-a240-e1b9e15df791" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="423" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_08-16-16.jpg?itok=shcc7lnJ" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1517.  
  1518. &lt;p&gt;The one silver lining in the report was the &lt;strong&gt;both input and output prices are falling&lt;/strong&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;
  1519.  
  1520. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_07-54-01.jpg?itok=xn4VpVtF" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-10-27_07-54-01.jpg?itok=xn4VpVtF"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1a31c7b5-a0cf-4954-b625-1e2905492585" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="531" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-10-27_07-54-01.jpg?itok=xn4VpVtF" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1521.  
  1522. &lt;p&gt;However, it's the comments from respondents that most noteworthy in that they just got more apocalyptic.&lt;/p&gt;
  1523.  
  1524. &lt;p&gt;Suffice it to say that the locals are hardly delighted with either tariffs, high interest rates, falling demand or general economic malaise, which is to be expected from a regional Fed that is largely dependent on the US energy industry (read Texas shale) which in turn has been crippled by Trump's demands to keep oil prices as low as possible if not lower, and has hammered the US oil E&amp;P industry. &lt;/p&gt;
  1525.  
  1526. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1527.  
  1528. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1529. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Overall &lt;strong&gt;uncertainty about the strength of the economy is our largest concern&lt;/strong&gt;. We believe the risk of a recession has increased, although it is hard to quantify. Lower economic opportunities, especially for younger people, is putting downward pressure on our future sales.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1530. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1531.  
  1532. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Computer and electronic product manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1533.  
  1534. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1535. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We are &lt;strong&gt;considering closing our company at the end of the year and filing for bankruptcy&lt;/strong&gt;. We have had a huge drop in sales, and I think it's due to the loss of government funding. I don't think I can recover the company from it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1536. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1537.  
  1538. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fabricated metal product manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1539.  
  1540. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1541. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Our sales outlook is slightly down for 2026.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1542.  
  1543. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Customers are delaying projects to 2026, and requests for quotes have decreased.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1544.  
  1545. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Our customers want to buy, but they lack cash on hand. Multiple competitor closures are funneling demand, but our customers lack liquidity to fund required deposits and interim payments.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1546. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1547.  
  1548. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Furniture and related product manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1549.  
  1550. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1551. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;There’s a &lt;strong&gt;slowdown of commercial construction&lt;/strong&gt; bid requests.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1552. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1553.  
  1554. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Machinery manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1555.  
  1556. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1557. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sales have been strong and steady over the past few months. We hope this trend continues.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1558.  
  1559. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The free market is prevailing despite the central planners' well-intentioned but misguided tariff policies.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1560.  
  1561. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Up and down, back and forth. We are thankful for the work, but the waves continue.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1562.  
  1563. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We expect some gain as well as some loss going forward in 2026 and through the remainder of the current year. We do believe the good will outweigh the bad overall. The DFW area continues to thrive, Texas remains a good place to do business, and the U.S. remains favorable for business as opposed to many world markets. We're thankful we are where we are─geographically and economically.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1564. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1565.  
  1566. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Miscellaneous manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1567.  
  1568. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1569. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tariffs. We manufacture in the U.S., but input materials come from China. &lt;strong&gt;We don't have $600 million to get relief from tariffs like some companies do&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1570. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1571.  
  1572. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paper manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1573.  
  1574. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1575. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Business is steady at very slow; no uptick in sight at this time.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1576. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1577.  
  1578. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primary metal manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1579.  
  1580. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1581. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We suspect other countries, including Mexico, Vietnam and Cambodia are cheating and not paying full Section 232 tariffs &lt;/strong&gt;on aluminum-extruded products coming into the U.S.  This has been reported to the Commerce Department. They are producing two invoices, one for the raw aluminum and another for the other portions of their prices resulting in not paying the full Section 232.&lt;strong&gt; If this is allowed to continue our industry will lose jobs and shutter equipment. &lt;/strong&gt;Most of the foreign countries are subsidizing exports to the U.S. to the detriment of our industry.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1582. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1583.  
  1584. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Printing and related support activities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1585.  
  1586. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1587. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We have gotten very slow and we worry about the general state of our industry.&lt;/strong&gt; We have a few large jobs that are keeping people busy in the plant, but soon if things don't change there will need to be some significant reduction in hours worked on the plant floor. There is just not much going on right now, and we believe it’s all tied to the chaos and uncertainty coming from Washington. We are hearing about significant price increases on materials coming soon due to the effect of tariffs.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1588.  
  1589. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tariff costs (a tax) are having an impact of slowing down economic activity in all sectors.&lt;/strong&gt; It’s all to do with economic uncertainty.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1590. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1591.  
  1592. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Textile product mills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1593.  
  1594. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1595. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We are very unsure of how the holiday season will play out.&lt;/strong&gt; Input prices continue to increase as duties and tariffs take effect and remain in place. We are unsure of demand, and we will also need to increase our prices due to rising costs.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1596. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1597.  
  1598. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transportation equipment manufacturing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1599.  
  1600. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1601. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The interest rate reduction is positive. There’s a need to improve the government shutdown and trade turmoil, and the outlook would be very promising.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1602.  
  1603. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Continued volatility with import tariffs and interest rates continue to stifle the trucking market. &lt;/strong&gt;Trucking companies continue to struggle, and there is a regular cadence of bankruptcies being reported.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1604.  
  1605. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Business is up, yet we are also affected by the government shutdown in our ability to work with regulators to approve next steps.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1606. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1607.  
  1608. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.dallasfed.org/research/surveys/tmos/2025/2510#tab-comments"&gt;Source: Dallas Fed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1609.  
  1610. &lt;p&gt;So, with President Trump doing everything in his powers to bring down the price of oil (and therefore gas), it appears the locals can't take it anymore.&lt;/p&gt;
  1611. &lt;/div&gt;
  1612.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1613. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T15:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:30&lt;/span&gt;
  1614. </description>
  1615.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1616.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1617.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078544 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1618.    </item>
  1619. <item>
  1620.  <title>Questions Surface After Zohran Mamdani Paints Muslims As Real Victims Of 9/11</title>
  1621.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/zohran-mamdani-paints-muslims-real-victims-911</link>
  1622.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Questions Surface After Zohran Mamdani Paints Muslims As Real Victims Of 9/11&lt;/span&gt;
  1623.  
  1624.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by &lt;a href="https://headlineusa.com/author/lcornelio"&gt;Luis Cornelio&lt;/a&gt; via &lt;a href="https://headlineusa.com/subscribe/"&gt;Headline USA&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1625.  
  1626. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New York City mayoral candidate &lt;a href="https://headlineusa.com/tag/Zohran-Mamdani"&gt;Zohran Mamdani&lt;/a&gt; brought himself to tears on Friday while talking about how Muslims supposedly suffered after the &lt;a href="https://headlineusa.com/tag/9/11"&gt;9/11&lt;/a&gt; terrorist attacks. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1627.  
  1628. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/AP25176170427563-e1750861752297.jpg?itok=249c2qyy" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/AP25176170427563-e1750861752297.jpg?itok=249c2qyy"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b3160f6c-aeb9-4eca-a532-ebf38b04e1f8" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="286" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/AP25176170427563-e1750861752297.jpg?itok=249c2qyy" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1629.  
  1630. &lt;p&gt;Mamdani raised the issue at a press conference meant to rebut attacks from opponents &lt;a href="https://headlineusa.com/tag/Andrew-Cuomo"&gt;Andrew Cuomo&lt;/a&gt; and Curtis Sliwa over his past comments about global jihad and his faith.  &lt;/p&gt;
  1631.  
  1632. &lt;p&gt;He invoked his late aunt, who he said felt targeted after 9/11, and recounted his own childhood experiences following the attacks to make his point. &lt;/p&gt;
  1633.  
  1634. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1635. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“I want to use this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City,” Mamdani said, through tears. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1636.  
  1637. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1638. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1639.  
  1640. &lt;p&gt;He then brought up his childhood, claiming that “growing up in the shadow of 9/11, I have known what it means to live with an undercurrent of suspicion in the city.” &lt;/p&gt;
  1641.  
  1642. &lt;p&gt;Mamdani continued: “I will always remember the disdain that I faced. The way that my name could immediately become ‘Mohammed’ and how I could return to my city only to be asked in a double-mirrored room in the airport, if I had any plan of attacking it.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1643.  
  1644. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the speech, he made no mention of the nearly 3,000 people who died on 9/11.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1645.  
  1646. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1647. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Zohran through tears: “My aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1648. Yes, she was the real victim of 9/11&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://t.co/aILr4JtVvF"&gt;pic.twitter.com/aILr4JtVvF&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1649. — Greg Price (@greg_price11) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1981785770659586431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 24, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1650. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mamdani’s comments come on the heels of his opponents warning about his radicalism in the race for New York City mayor. &lt;/p&gt;
  1651.  
  1652. &lt;p&gt;For instance, the self-described democratic socialist has refused to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” a slogan historically used to urge violence against Jewish communities. &lt;/p&gt;
  1653.  
  1654. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[ZH: Finally, Senator Ted Cruz has some questions...]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1655.  
  1656. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1657. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Um, wut? &lt;a href="https://t.co/v75hQG2Iz1"&gt;https://t.co/v75hQG2Iz1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1658. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1982625774969700405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1659. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;[ZH: So does Elon Musk...]&lt;/p&gt;
  1660.  
  1661. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1662. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Zohran is the future of the Democratic Party &lt;a href="https://t.co/qwkBimPBby"&gt;https://t.co/qwkBimPBby&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1663. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1982621696986317274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;October 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1664. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1665.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1666. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-10-27T15:15:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:15&lt;/span&gt;
  1667. </description>
  1668.  <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1669.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1670.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1078513 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1671.    </item>
  1672.  
  1673.  </channel>
  1674. </rss>
  1675.  

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