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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: The Flamin' Groovies

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features San Francisco blues-rock band The Flamin' Groovies. Enjoy!

^{The Flamin' Groovies – Jumpin' In The Night}

"There never was a good war or a bad revolution."

-- Edward Abbey

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News and Opinion

The Trumpanyahu Administration Is Preparing Another Iran Attack

Well, it looks like they’re going to attack Iran again. Might be after the US midterms. Might be sooner.

President Trump is telling the press that he is done negotiating with the Iranians and that something will be happening “fairly soon”, while America’s other president, Benjamin Netanyahu, proclaims that the time has come to topple Tehran once and for all.

Haaretz reports that Netanyahu is calling for “preemptive strikes” on Iran, which is empire-speak for “attack completely out of the blue without any provocation or justification whatsoever”.

The New York Times reports that the US and Israel are preparing for an attack after the midterms, with sources claiming that “targets would likely include Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenal” inflicted with the goal of collapsing the Iranian economy.

All this could perhaps be dismissed as empty bluster, except that NBC News is reporting that US troops are being evacuated from their posts in the middle east — exactly what happened in the lead-up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran last February.

Iran is warning that it will hit new targets and expand its strikes geographically in the event of a US/Israeli attack, saying “cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and numerous other sites will be destroyed” in order to damage US economic interests.

So I guess this is happening. Another brazen assault in an evil war of aggression that makes life harder for people all around the world.

The US empire must end.

Aipac halts candidate endorsements amid US backlash against Israel

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most prominent pro-Israel lobby group in the US, announced on Wednesday that it would stop endorsing candidates or make direct contributions to them, its many critics were quick to hail the development as Aipac’s admission of how toxic its brand had become. The announcement marked a significant reversal that underscored just how profoundly US public opinion of Israel has shifted over the latest war in Gaza, and how political candidates’ once reflexive support for Israel has increasingly become a liability.

But Aipac, which only launched its political action committee and started endorsing candidates three cycles ago, is hardly getting out of US elections. It pledged to maintain the work of its deep-pocketed Super Pac, United Democracy Project, and to continue to funnel millions of dollars to prop up pro-Israel candidates through individual donors and Aipac members. The shift in strategy was a sign it was adapting to a changing political landscape, not that it was giving up its efforts to shape it.

“Historically, AIPAC sustained an aura of invincibility that ensured it won most battles by walkover – if you are perceived as invincible, the other side doesn’t even bother to fight you,” the political analyst Trita Parsi wrote. “Rather than invincibility, AIPAC’s name now carries such toxicity that the group doesn’t want its own name on its political donations.”

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Aipac, which normally backs Democrats, was planning to give as much as $9m to a Pac supporting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. The group had already spent $32m seeking to defeat El-Sayed, an outspoken critic of Israel, in the primaries. But the announcement that it would stop directly backing candidates going forward was seen as tacit recognition that Aipac’s open support risked hurting pro-Israel candidates more than it helped them.

“[Aipac] has already been experimenting with ways to make their support more untraceable,” said Hamid Bendaas of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, one of the groups behind the Reject Aipac campaign. By dropping endorsements and direct contributions, Aipac was giving up one tool available to lobby organizations to signal to politically-aligned donors who may not be active members which candidates to back. Aipac had calculated that approach was more risky than worth it, he added, but it had plenty of other tools available. “It’s akin to an animal that chews its leg off to get out of a bear trap. It’s a last resort choice to survive and stay relevant, which they will on both counts,” Bendaas added. “Aipac is going to continue influencing elections. If you’re someone who wants Aipac out of politics entirely, this is not that.

Amb. Chas Freeman: BREAKING: Iran's Plan to Black Out the Gulf—and Hit Dimona in a US War

Iran threatens to strike oil and AI facilities across Gulf if US and Israel renew attacks

Iran will strike oil facilities, undersea cables, datacentres and AI facilities across as many as seven countries in the Gulf in the event of a fresh US-Israeli attack, Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, has said. Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Mohammad Ghalibaf, the hardliner who led Iran’s negotiations with the US to end the conflict between the two countries, said Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed in principle on an attack, but could not guarantee a successful outcome. He added: “We see the next conflict as an existential threat. The third war in two years means a threat to existence. Our strategy is ‘zero red lines’.”

Mohammadi said: “We break the temporal and spatial dimensions of the conflict. The war will continue longer and in a wider geographical area than the enemy anticipates.” Iranian media reported that Rezaei had declared: “In the event of a war, cables, datacentres and artificial intelligence facilities could also be targeted. If the conflict breaks out again, we will have a broader plan. There can be no arrangement in which Iran’s economic lifelines come under attack while the economic architecture enabling those attacks is considered untouched and immune.”

According to recent reports in US media, US military advisers have drawn up a detailed list of targets for a fresh joint US-Israel assault on Iran to be implemented after the US midterm elections on 3 November. Foreign ministers from three European countries, as well as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt, will meet in Istanbul on Friday to establish agreed policies on the linked Iranian, Yemini and Palestinian crises. There is alarm that a further war is now the working assumption in Tehran and Washington.

Reza Nasri, an international lawyer close to the Iranian foreign ministry, said: “A third wave of war would not stay contained. Power grids, desalination plants, refineries and ports across the region would burn. Tens of millions would be left without water or electricity, and a massive wave of refugees would move from Arab countries towards Europe. Hormuz would close completely, oil would spike, and the global economy would tip into recession. Israel’s economy, already bled by mobilisation and missile fire, would not survive a prolonged war of attrition. And Trump would be trapped in a crisis that consumes the rest of his presidency and leaves a wreck for his successors,” Nasri said.

Fars news agency, which is close to the IRGC, said Iran had issued directives to its various military and operational units “stipulating that in the event of a new widespread war, involving the assassination of Iranian officials and the killing of civilians, the Iranian response will not be limited to military targets, but will also include political targets”.

The Dollar, Sanctions & Bombs Can't Bring it Back /Alastair Crooke

Oil prices jump to five-month high as attacks threaten global supply

Oil prices jumped to a five-month high on Thursday after ​attacks in Saudi Arabia and hits to tankers in the strait of Hormuz threatened further disruptions to the world’s crude supply. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by 3% to hit $112 a barrel for first time since 18 May.

Yemeni Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, hit several targets in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, with two people killed and eight more wounded in a civilian airport in Dammam, and two people killed in a drone attack on a Saudi oilfield.

Elsewhere the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four vessels involved in “illegal” oil transfers in the northern ​Gulf were hit and caught fire after being tracked by its forces on Wednesday.

It said three more vessels collided with mines west of the strait of Hormuz, and warned the US that continued provocations could lead to a wider response against its regional bases.

NETANYAHU ORDERS FULL LOCKDOWN AND IDF TO ENTER THE WEST BANK - w/ Cenk Uygur

US Called to Stop Shipping Taser Weapons to Israel After Horrific Abuses of Palestinian Detainees Reported

America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization is calling for the US-based manufacturer of Tasers to stop supplying them to Israel following the publication of a harrowing investigation into their use to torture Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, The Guardian and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism reported on allegations from four Palestinian detainees who said they were restrained and tortured using electroshock weapons made by Axon Enterprise, formerly Taser International.

One man identified as Essa, who had both his feet amputated after being injured in an Israeli missile attack on his home, said that while in custody at Israel’s Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank, soldiers shot him with rubber bullets, tied him up, and blasted him with the stun gun, leaving marks that are still visible a year after his release.

Another detainee said his body was doused with water to intensify the shock before he was hit with a Taser in 2024. He said he still suffers from visual impairment, spasms, and fainting spells.

An investigation suggests that the "American company Axon still supplies Israel with Taser weapons despite evidence they have been used to torture prisoners." https://t.co/y8OKf8zWwV

— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) October 22, 2026

These new accounts are not the first allegations of electroshock devices being used to torture Palestinian prisoners. The United Nations Human Rights Office has documented other cases, while Amnesty International has called for restrictions on their use in Israeli prisons.

Israel’s military found that soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp in 2024 had used electric shocks to torture him during the attack. The military dropped the charges against the five soldiers in March 2026.

That month, UN experts identified five more accounts of detainees being shocked by electric batons or similar devices.

In November 2025, the UN Committee Against Torture reported that torture, including the use of electric shocks, had “escalated sharply since October 7, 2023,” when Israel launched its genocidal war in Gaza following Hamas’ attack. The committee noted that electric shock devices were frequently used in “sexualized forms of torture.”

Despite concerns raised by human rights organizations, The Guardian found that Axon likely continues to supply Israeli authorities with electric shock devices and has been documented showcasing its latest models to the nation’s security agencies.

“It is unconscionable that equipment manufactured by an American corporation is reportedly being used to carry out acts of torture and abuse against detained Palestinians,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday in response to the report.

“Axon must immediately halt all current and future contracts, shipments, and servicing of electroshock weapons to Israeli authorities,” the organization said. “Furthermore, the US Department of Commerce must rigorously enforce export oversight criteria to block the transfer of technologies to governments implicated in systemic human rights violations.”

Laith Marouf: Middle East on the BRINK: Saudi Collapse & The Suez Canal Nightmare

Israeli settlers suspected of attacking journalist and diplomats released

Nine of the 10 Israeli settlers arrested on suspicion of attacking a Washington Post photojournalist and European diplomats over the weekend have been released from custody, Haaretz reported on Wednesday. A Jerusalem District Court released five suspects on Wednesday, while police released another. Three others had been released on the day of their arrest on Monday, according to the report.

The court found that police had presented evidence linking the suspects to the attacks. However, the judge said the incident took place “in the midst of a much larger event of massive stone-throwing” by Palestinians. Four of the suspects, all settlers from the occupied West Bank, were released by the court despite police requests to extend their detention.

The releases came just two days after the 10 settlers were arrested in a joint operation involving police, the military and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency. Police suspect the settlers were involved in an attack on veteran photojournalist Heidi Levine in the village of Abu Falah on Friday, which left her hospitalised, as well as an assault on a European delegation visiting the village of Taybeh on Saturday.

The only suspect still in custody is Nadav Cohen Tzemach, an Israeli reservist accused of running over a Palestinian who was praying by the roadside near Ramallah last year. The court extended his detention until Monday.

Pepe Escobar: Europe is in a Terrible Spot Right Now - This is Sad

Macron bans ‘illegitimate’ protests in France as he tries to get a grip on unrest

Emmanuel Macron has said “illegitimate” demonstrations will be banned over the coming days as France seeks to get a grip on civil unrest after some of its worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost of living protests at the weekend.

Speaking after a ​meeting with intelligence officials and senior ministers, the French president said on Thursday that demonstrations organised by recognised groups would be allowed to go ahead, although their routes could be changed. Protests requested by “individuals or groups with no legitimate authority” would be banned, Macron said. Requests by organisations such as trade unions would be “examined in accordance with the law” but they might have to use alternative routes.

The measures were necessary to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings, he said, adding: “The rules are simple and I think they’re commonsense. The general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations in the coming days.” Macron blamed much of last weekend’s unrest and looting on rioters who came expressly to loot, but said the worst of the violence was due to “political and seditious acts by ultra far-left groups who aimed to bring down the republic”.

An initial police ban on a student protest planned in Paris for Thursday was overturned by a court, but marches also scheduled for the day in Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon were halted. Authorities have already declared a ban on “all protests” on Saturday in the centre of Lyon, France’s third-biggest city, where between 200 and 300 shops were ransacked and looted last weekend and the tourist office was set ablaze. Authorities in Marseille, Nice and Toulon announced similar bans for Saturday. In Paris, a march planned for Saturday to be held in the east of the capital, starting at the Place de la Bastille, was authorised but banned from heading into the city centre.

However, a separate march through the capital planned for Saturday by students and some members of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, whose protests over fuel prices rocked France in 2018 and 2019, would not be permitted, authorities in the capital said.

Trump just triggered the Ukraine endgame

Sharp drops for AI stocks overwhelm markets worldwide as oil prices jump

The latest shudder for stocks in the AI industry pulled markets lower worldwide on Thursday, while oil prices hit their highest levels since May on worries about the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its worst day since July, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2.6%. The weakness for tech stocks was so overwhelming that it masked strength for the rest of the US market, in which the majority of stocks actually rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 11 points, or less than 0.1%.

AI-related stocks have been swinging on worries that their boom may be under threat because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money to build datacenters and buy more AI chips. Concerns also remain that their prices shot too high following a years-long frenzy, even though companies in the industry continue to report growth.

Meta Platforms, which is pushing its Muse AI agent, lost 7% after reporting stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, shedding tens of billions in market value, though its profit fell short. The company behind Facebook and Instagram also said it was creating a new class of stock to raise money to pay for AI investments and other expenses. Tesla fell 3.1% after reporting a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected, though its revenue was weaker than forecast.

The global tide against AI stocks knocked Nvidia down 4.4%. Because the chip giant is the largest company on Wall Street by total value, movements for its stock carry more weight on the S&P 500 than any other, and it was the single strongest force pulling the index lower.

US Panic: $1.2 Trillion Wiped Out in a Day as China Dumps $27.3B in US Debt

Department of Justice opens criminal investigation into Corey Lewandowski

Corey Lewandowski, a former political adviser to Donald Trump and ⁠top aide at the Department ⁠of Homeland Security, ​is under criminal investigation over allegations he profited off his role in the US government, three US officials and a fourth person familiar with the matter told Reuters ⁠on Thursday.

The investigation began with a criminal referral to the justice department from the internal watchdog at DHS, according to the four people. The DHS inspector general’s office has been investigating ⁠Lewandowski’s involvement in the handling of certain government contracts, according to one of the people, a DHS official.

The DoJ has not yet issued subpoenas or other legal demands in the criminal investigation, according to one of the people. All four of the people spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The justice department under Trump has investigated several prominent critics of the president, including the former FBI director James Comey and the New York attorney general Letitia James, but investigations of people close to Trump have been rare. The department has also moved ‌to dismiss several existing cases involving Trump allies, including supporters charged in connection with the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

US judge orders Trump administration to halt noncitizen voting investigation

A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote. US district court judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in Oakland found the government’s effort was relying on data that is full of errors and that it was leading to intimidation of groups performing voter assistance efforts. She said it should be halted until polls close on election day on 3 November.

She put her ruling, which was made on Wednesday, on hold until Friday to give the administration a chance to appeal. The ruling applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

It comes as the Trump administration has been hunting for noncitizen voters throughout the country in the months leading up to the midterm elections. The administration has signaled that it is a widespread problem, when in fact it is quite rare, as even its own investigations have shown.

The lawsuit was filed by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara county.

According to legal filings in the case, investigators were told to target naturalized citizens to see whether they had voted before they became US citizens. The lists of voters to check came from sources that included state and local governments and publicly available information. Martínez-Olguín called them “voluminous and unreliable”.

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When Both Parties Serve the Rich, What Are You Voting For?

Midterms BLOODBATH? Dems SHOCK in Deep Red NC w Richard Ojeda

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‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre

Behind a wire fence lies a vast gaping wound of earth. Before Google’s arrival a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees occupied the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone. After the tech company illegally stripped the entire area to build a datacentre – taking even the top soil with it – all that remains is a vast expanse of mud indented with the trail marks of machinery, puddles and mounds of earth, roots and branches. Residents say that brown water flowing off the site is going into a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River.

With 145 new datacentres at various stages of planning, Finland has found itself at the forefront of the tech companies’ latest push. As well as its relative geopolitical and geological stability and abundance of land, the cool climate makes it especially attractive for saving on energy costs. Earlier this month, Google was ordered by the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) to temporarily stop work on Muhos and another site about 100km south-east in the village of Otanmäki after it failed to complete the necessary environmental impact assessments before clearcutting the land. The news has prompted widespread outcry and a national reckoning over what role, if any, the country should play in the global rush to build datacentres to keep up with rapid AI development.

The Finnish government, which has presided over deep spending cuts, has encouraged the investment. Last month, when the Google plans were announced, the country’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said attracting investment was a “top priority” and “the value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment”. He said the Google deal would “deliver lasting benefits for both parties”. But the revelations over Google’s misconduct have prompted public concern over what these deals mean for nearby communities, energy prices for Finnish households and Finland’s natural environment, a national source of pride. The datacentre push is likely to become a key election issue when Finns go to the polls in April.

Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of SLL’s board, said she had been incredulous when she discovered Google’s law breaking. “At first I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I have never heard that any company has done anything like this in Finland.” She said the system depended a lot on trust, which she believes Google took advantage of. “They bought the vast land area and they just started to cut it, just like that,” she said. “It’s pure arrogance and it’s amazing.” The speed of developments had shocked the country, she said. “Many people are just watching the news and asking each other: ‘What’s happening now? What can we do about it? And do we have to take all these datacentre projects in Finland?’”

Jussi Kangasharju, head of computer science at the University of Helsinki, said that while datacentres brought a limited number of jobs, potentially boosting the local economy, the benefits on a national level were minimal. “Really, for Finland, there are no benefits,” he said. “They are international companies serving international customers. Very little corporate taxes go to Finland. Datacentres ultimately have very little benefit for others except the datacentre operator.”

Marine life in Gulf of Mexico has still not fully recovered from 2010 BP oil spill

Marine life in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted by about 60% after BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and has still not fully recovered, according to a new study. The April 2010 explosion of an offshore drilling unit 50 miles off the Louisiana coast triggered the largest marine oil spill in history, releasing 134m gallons of oil into the ocean. According to the study published Monday in PNAS, the disaster – which also killed 11 people and injured 17 others – led to the “sudden, severe and persistent declines in the abundance” of marine life for more than a decade.

Conducted using acoustic sonar, multi-depth trawling nets and genetic studies, the study revealed dramatic population drops across the gulf between 2011 and 2015: fish declined by 63.5%, macrocrustaceans including shrimp and krill fell by 62% – severely affecting a primary food source for whales – and cephalopods such as squid and octopus dropped by 59.7%. Researchers found that the post-spill population crash outpaced any decline recorded in similar waters over the past 60 years. They also noted that natural factors like temperature, oxygen and food availability did not vary with the decline, confirming the spill as the primary cause.

The marine species most severely affected were also among the most vital to open-ocean ecosystems and global food webs. Krill, a primary food source for deep-sea fish and shrimp, plunged by 72.8%. Bristlemouths – likely the most abundant backboned animals on Earth – fell by 69%. Meanwhile, lanternfishes, which sustain seabirds, dolphins, sharks and commercial fisheries, dropped by 62.9%. A 2023 survey of the area found that many of these populations have not recovered sustainably. Because large amounts of marine species were instantly killed or affected due to chemicals stored in their eggs, this led to sharp reductions in population sizes, in turn leading to reduced genetic variations, the study found.

The study also examined chemical dispersants applied during the oil spill cleanup. While these agents break oil into smaller droplets, they also spread polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – among crude oil’s most toxic components – deep into the water column, increasing toxicity exposure for mid-water and deep-sea marine life. Six years after the spill, researchers found elevated levels of PAHs in deep-sea fish eggs and cephalopod tissues, which severely impaired reproduction. The study further highlighted that residual oil – even at sublethal concentrations – may have hindered the ability of certain species, including damselfish and stingrays, to locate mates through olfactory cues.

In 2015, BP agreed to pay a record $18.7bn in penalties and damages after the US justice department and four states sued the company over the spill. The disaster also affected coastal communities in Mexico, which, as of 2020, had yet to receive any compensation. BP has denied that the oil from the spill reached Mexican waters.

Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet faces ecosystem collapse by 2075, UN advisors say

Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075 because of global heating, according to an assessment by United Nations nature advisers.

About 24% of the planet’s reefs across more than 80 countries are already critically endangered, the assessment said, but when the expected impacts of global heating were added this rose to 96%.

Coral reefs are known as the rainforests of the sea. A quarter of all known marine species are found in and around them and they support hundreds of millions of people with food, as well as protecting shorelines and supporting tourism.

Overfishing, pollution, coastal development and global heating have already caused declines in the ecosystems over the past 50 years, measured by the loss of live coral as well as changes in fish populations, the assessment said.

But the scientists said while the prognosis was dire, the findings should serve as a “wake-up call” because reefs could survive with rapid cuts to fossil fuel use and strong conservation action at local levels.

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some of which defied fair-use abstraction.

Saudi Attacks in Yemen Have Killed 155 Civilians Since July: Health Ministry

Iran War: Iran Believes Attack Imminent as Netanyahu Reported to Persuade Trump to Launch Before Midterms ; Global Stocks Fall as Oil Price Increases Continue

Was the MOU meant to be trashed?

Israel Threatens Total War on the West Bank

Pentagon Installs New Economic Spying And Sabotage Units

There Aren’t Actually A Lot Of Places For Billionaires To Run

Strongmen like Trump would destroy the planet out of pure spite – and Brazil shows we’re all in peril

Video footage of Kohen Wiley shooting released after toddler’s death deemed ‘justified’

Rappers for US Regime Change

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A Little Night Music

Flamin' Groovies – Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu

The Flamin' Groovies – High Flyin' Baby

Flamin' Groovies – House Of Blue Lights

Flamin' Groovies – Buddy Can You Spare A Dime

The Flamin' Groovies – Absolutely Sweet Marie

The Flamin' Groovies – Have You Seen My Baby?

Flamin' Groovies – Shake Some Action

Flamin' Groovies – Move It

The Flamin' Groovies – 32-20

The Flamin' Groovies – Tallahassee Lassie

The Flamin’ Groovies Live at Keystone, Palo Alto, California - 1979 (audio only)

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