Saturday Report 10/25/25 — Welcome to Trump's Orwellian Ministry of Mayhem, where truth is optional, chaos is policy & resistance is the only sane response...

The Best of the Rest of the News with Opinion...

Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. — George Orwell

— Big Brother’s Doorbell: The FBI Comes for Thought crimes. Last month, Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which directs the FBI, DOJ, and over 200 federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces coordinated with local police forces across the country to investigate anybody who meet it’s “indica” (indicators) of potential terrorism. They include, as Ken Klippenstein reported: “[A]nti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, … extremism on migration, extremism on race, extremism on gender, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.” Now, apparently, the FBI is following up. Two agents visited the home of special-needs teacher Miles Serafini, 26, in Tuscon and spent an hour interrogating him about a protest he’d attended at a local ICE office. Their initial conversation was caught by Serafini’s Ring Doorbell. They seemed, Ken Klippenstein reports, particularly focused on determining who “organized” or “funded” the protest. Serafini was so rattled that he chose not to attend the No Kings protests the following day, which, of course, is exactly why Trump is ordering these Gestapo-style tactics. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested the anti-ICE protests were put on by “antifa,” threatening that “you’re seeing people with thousands of signs that all match… someone is funding it, we are going to get to the root of antifa and we’re going to find and charge all of those people who are causing this chaos.” Welcome to Amerika, land of the imprisoned and home of the terror police.

— The Great Maple Divorce: Trump’s Trade Tantrum Goes North. Both Donald Trump and Canadian PM Mark Carney have announced they’re done with each other. Carney gave a speech earlier this week announcing that because of how erratic and unpredictable Trump is, Canada was reaching out to the rest of the world to replace its collapsing trade relationship with America. That was followed by Ontario’s conservative premier Doug Ford running an ad during the baseball playoffs that has Ronald Reagan explicitly condemning tariffs like Trump’s, saying they hurt America, and the ad sent Trump into a child-like late-night tantrum when he pathetically posted on his Nazi-infested social media site: “Based on their egregious behaviour, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.” Carney’s response was basically a shrug, as he’s already in the process of planning Canada’s next steps toward independence from the US. Next week, Trump is heading to China where, if history is any guide, President Xi will play him for a fool the same way Putin does every time Trump goes to beg him for something.

— Inflation Nation: Trump’s MAGA-nomics Hits Main Street. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Trump’s tariffs have driven inflation in the US up to a solid three percent, with food and fuel the main drivers as the housing market softens (people don’t buy houses as often during recessions). Heading into the holiday season, toys and other gift items are going to produce sticker shock as retailers have largely hit the limit of how much of the tariffs they can eat. Were it not for the AI construction boom, most of the American economy would already be in a recession; 21 states are at this moment in or near to recession status. Will Trump’s crazy policies drive us into a second Republican Great Depression? I believe it’s an entirely plausible scenario.

— Trump’s Ministry of Injustice just issued a lengthy Orwellian manifesto. Surprised? Apparently ICE can mess you up, but you can’t fight back; the official DOJ X account posted a rant saying that if any state or local official or individual offers a “figurative” bounty on ICE agents, they will be pursued, arrested, and imprisoned. Apparently responding to a federal judge last week authorizing state and local police to arrest ICE agents when they break the law, Bondi’s agency wrote: “Anyone who places a bounty — figurative or real — on the head of a federal officer, whether directed by gang leaders or by California state or local officials, will be held accountable. The Department of Justice will not tolerate threats, intimidation, or interference with federal officers. Anyone who assaults, obstructs, or directs others to impede a federal officer carrying out the laws of the United States is committing a serious federal crime and will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. To California’s elected leaders: do not weaponize your police forces for politics. Ordering or directing state or local officers to act against federal agents risks violating federal law and endangering public safety.” Meanwhile, Stephen Miller floated arresting JB Pritzker for ‘seditious conspiracy.’ Somehow I doubt Newsome or JB are shaking in their boots. Get out the popcorn…

— States are pushing back against Trump’s new masked police state. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, rolled out his “Plate Watch” hotline, where people can report if they see ICE agents swapping out license plates to avoid being held accountable by Illinois authorities for their lawbreaking. “I have a big problem with that,” Giannoulias warned in a video posted on X. “Swapping out Illinois license plates on Illinois-registered vehicles is illegal, and as Secretary of State, I have zero tolerance for this type of illegal activity. We are investigating these allegations as we speak. No one, including federal agents, is above the law, and we intend to hold them accountable, especially while driving on our roadways. This is a matter of public safety and protecting the well-being of our communities.” Similarly, in response to a particularly brutal ICE attack on people in Manhattan, New York Attorney General Letitia James just launched an online portal where New Yorkers can upload photos and videos of ICE thugs breaking the law. In a press release, James said: “Every New Yorker has the right to live without fear or intimidation. If you witnessed and documented ICE activity yesterday, I urge you to share that footage with my office. We are committed to reviewing these reports and assessing any violations of law. No one should be subject to unlawful questioning, detention, or intimidation.” Finally, a protester who was following ICE and federalized National Guard troops playing the Darth Vader theme song on a bluetooth speaker was arrested and roughed up by the DC Metropolitan Police. He was released after a brief detention, but is now suing the individuals involved as well as the city for violating his First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights. Hopefully he makes out well…

— War Is Peace (Again): Trump’s Caribbean Crisis Theater. When Reagan was in trouble politically after the Beirut barracks bombing, he launched an invasion of Grenada to “save” some American medical school students who very much didn’t want to be saved. George HW Bush did the same with Kuwait/Iraq, and his son repeated the Republican election strategy by lying America into two wars to ensure his 2004 reelection. Now it appears that Trump, badly underwater in opinion polls all across the country, is preparing to have his own “little war,” this one with Venezuela. He’s positioned an aircraft carrier group and B-1 bombers near the South American country and said this past week that he’s considering “land strikes” to overthrow the Maduro government. Because, of course, that worked out so well for us in Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan…

— Geeky Science! How to find happiness and stay sane in a World of Doublethink & MAGA-stan. A remarkable 6-year study found, and replicated, the finding that having a sense of purpose is a “surprisingly simple route to happiness.” In one study, researchers had people give thought to the “purpose” they’d characterize as theirs in their lives, and gave them a small amount of money to distribute to others in ways that advanced that purpose. The changes in mental state were remarkable, and lasted for years after the initial intervention. The Washington Post, in an article summarizing the study, noted: “In [another] study, Kashdan had patients with social anxiety disorder describe what they saw as their purpose in life and then had them monitor their efforts toward this purpose every day. After two weeks, they exhibited higher self-esteem, sense of meaning and positive emotions. Days when they reported significant progress toward life purpose were also days with significant boosts in well-being.”

“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” — George Orwell