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When Did Obesity Become a Drug Deficiency?

Look at almost any photograph of an American crowd taken 60 years ago. It can be a baseball game, a high school graduation, a beach, an airport terminal, a factory floor, or simply people walking down a city street. Something is immediately noticeable to modern eyes, although almost nobody in the photograph would have considered it remarkable: most people are relatively thin.

They did not have continuous glucose monitors, smartphone applications that counted calories and macronutrients, wearable devices reminding them to stand, boutique fitness studios, bariatric surgery centers, or medications capable of producing 15 or 20 percent reductions in body weight. They were not necessarily more virtuous than we are, and they certainly did not possess superior genes. They lived in a different metabolic environment.

The data backs up what we see in those old photos. In the early 1960s, about 13 percent of American adults were obese. By August 2023, that number had jumped to 40.3 percent, with another 31.7 percent considered overweight and nearly one in ten classified as severely obese.[1] This trend isn’t just in the United States. A huge study of over 220 million people from 200 countries found a dramatic global rise in obesity between 1990 and 2022.[2] Our genes haven’t changed much in that time. Something else has.

We’re now at a turning point in medicine. Faced with one of the biggest and fastest changes in human health, we’re treating the results as a condition that needs lifelong medication. The newest drugs are very effective, and that’s important to recognize. Semaglutide and tirzepatide have led to weight loss that older nonsurgical treatments rarely matched.[3,4] Semaglutide has also reduced the risk of major heart problems in people with overweight or obesity and heart disease who didn’t have diabetes.[5] Tirzepatide has greatly improved sleep apnea in people with obesity.[6] These results are significant, and these drugs are much more than cosmetic weight-loss aids.

That’s why we need to look closely at what’s happening now. The problem isn’t that these drugs don’t work; they clearly do. The real concern is that they might work so well that we stop asking why so many people need them in the first place. We could be seeing a major medical breakthrough, but at the same time, we might be accepting that the effects of an unhealthy environment should just be managed with medication. The real question isn’t whether these “GLP-1” drugs are effective. It’s whether their success is making us stop looking for the root causes of the obesity epidemic.

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The $17 Trillion Tax Hike That Leaves Social Security Broke

If you take a look at your last pay stub, you will find a line marked OASDI. It stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, which is the formal name for Social Security. The tax on that line is 6.2% of your wages. What you do not see on that stub is that your employer paid a matching 6.2% of your paycheck directly to the U.S. Treasury. On a $60,000 salary, those two halves equal $7,440 a year. Exactly $0.00 of it went into an account bearing your name. Every single penny went out immediately as a check to a current retiree or a disabled American.

The entire system rests on a beautifully simple, multi-generational promise: Today’s workers carry today’s retirees, and tomorrow’s workers will carry us. For decades, more money came in than went out. But instead of saving the surplus, Washington borrowed the extra cash, spent it on daily government operations, and left a stack of non-marketable IOUs in a drawer. Federal bureaucrats call that paper a “trust fund.” In reality, calling it a trust fund is like putting an IOU in your kid’s piggy bank and telling them their college tuition is fully funded.

Since 2021, the program has paid out more than it takes in. To cover the shortfall, the government has been cashing those IOUs, forcing the Treasury to borrow massive amounts from the public. By 2034, the drawer for the combined retirement and disability funds will be completely empty. By law, that means every retiree’s check will instantly face a devastating 17% automatic haircut.

Enter Brian Poindexter, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 7th District. He claims he can fix it. Today, the Social Security tax stops once a worker earns $184,500 in a year. His plan calls for three dramatic shifts: remove that income limit so high earners pay on every dollar, let people collect full checks at a younger age, and make the checks bigger. Removing the cap, he confidently promises, “will instantly make it solve.”

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British chemical warfare commentator’s MI6 ties exposed in leaked emails

Private messages show show Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, a top British pundit on the Salisbury poisoning incident, was a close associate of the MI6 officer who handled the Russian intelligence defector at the center of the scandal — and reaped considerable benefits from his proximity to the case.

This September, a former British Army officer named Hamish De Bretton-Gordon filed a column with the UK Telegraph complaining that “Russian bots” had “tried to make out that I’m part of a security service conspiracy.” Having shot to prominence as a media commentator on chemical and biological weapons after the alleged poisoning of turncoat Russian spy Sergei Skripal, De Bretton-Gordon dismissed accusations that he collaborated with UK intelligence as the product of the “Kremlin’s malign tactics.”

Despite his fervent denials, leaked emails reviewed by The Grayzone indicate that De Bretton-Gordon has spent years privately coordinating his public statements with senior British military and intelligence figures. The correspondences show him training operatives in Turkey and instructing Israeli military figures on Syria’s still-elusive stockpile of chemical weapons, “and a bit of Novichok,” referring to the Russian toxin supposedly used to poison Skripal.

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Watch the Hosts of ‘The View’ Openly Campaign for Texas Democrat James Talarico on the Air

This week, Ana Navarro, Whoopi Goldberg, and the rest of the crew on ‘The View’ openly campaigned for far left Texas Democrat James Talarico on the air, in what seems to be a clear violation of FCC rules.

This has been happening a lot lately. Less than two weeks ago, Ana Navarro openly campaigned for a Democrat running for a House seat in Florida.

Trump’s FCC has been looking into these claims. It couldn’t be more obvious, could it?

The hosts are openly cheerleading for the Democrats to win.

Transcript via NewsBusters:

SUNNY HOSTIN: I think we will. I think we will see Texas go blue, actually.

I really do.

In September not only one but eight pollsters had Talarico ahead. 51 to 45 percent. That’s significant given a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office in 30 years. That same poll showed that he is leading Paxton among women, 56 percent to 40 percent. Among voters, 18 to 29, 66 percent to 22 percent. And among Hispanics 62 percent to 30 percent. We are talking about Texas. He is going to win this race.

GOLDBERG: We’ll see. We’ll see.

GOLDBERG: Remember. As – I’m sorry. As you guys pointed out the other day, we’ve seen this before. We have seen – I and suddenly some weird number comes out. And you’re going, ‘wait, what happened?’ So, fingers crossed.

ANA NAVARRO: You’re not kidding. 2016 left me scarred.

GOLDBERG: I know.

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Europe Simply Needs War

Merz does not care about the fate of Germany or its people. Here we are on precisely the week of October 5th and Merz is saying that Russia staged some armed attack on Leipzig airport. He is publicly stating that Germany is effectively at war with Russia. The EU is crumbling and the AfD has beaten Merz to a pulp, so its now time to go out with a bang and declare war has already begun.

Here is Merz declaring that Brussels is indeed very concerned about the rise of of what they call far-right parties that are anti-EU with the common thread being their migrant policies. The nature of that concern has also now shifted significantly. The current anxiety in EU institutions is not just about the imminent “exit” threat, but also I hear they fear a growing strategic objective by these parties to weaken and obstruct the EU from the inside.

They don’t worry the exit scenario, since they are pros at manipulating elections as they did in Italy, UK, Hungary and Romania or use the courts to block separatists as in Barcelona. They are now also examining the draft strategy document from AfD lawmakers, which shifts away from calling for an immediate German withdrawal from the EU and eurozone. Instead, it proposes prioritizing the reform of the EU into a “union of sovereign nations,” and advocates for a membership referendum only if those reforms fail. In other words – take back power like over migration.

This shift is partly pragmatic. The AfD is currently isolated in the European Parliament, and more moderate right-wing parties, like Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, have openly criticized the AfD’s “anti-European” stance. Dropping the exit demand makes the AfD a more palatable ally for these larger far-right groups.

This strategic change creates a more difficult problem for the EU than a simple exit campaign that they can fight with rigged elections. Here, a referendum requires a party to convince a majority to take a radical step. In contrast, internal disruption only requires enough power to block, dilute, and redirect policy from within the system. The EU’s existing tools, which were designed to reassure citizens about the benefits of membership, are ill-suited to counter this kind of internal gridlock. This is why they rigged both the Romanian and Hungarian elections.

Parties like the AfD and Hungary’s Fidesz can exploit unanimity rules to veto EU-wide decisions. For example, Hungary has blocked crucial sanctions and loans for Ukraine, and the far-right Patriots for Europe group has worked to dilute the Green Deal and the Migration Pact. This dysfunction then becomes campaign material for these parties, who position themselves as defenders of national interests against a “paralyzed” Brussels. This was why the Hungarian government has repeatedly accused Ukraine of interfering in its elections to remove Orban. Sources in Washington reveal that Ukraine is also interfering in US elections funding the opposition of anyone in Congress who is against sending money to Ukraine. Israel has been doing the same.

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European Parliament Adopts Resolution Calling for an EU Strategy Against “Islamist Entryism” and Muslim Brotherhood Networks

On Thursday, October 8, 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an EU strategy against “Islamist entryism” and Muslim Brotherhood networks.

“Entryism” means using charities, student groups, anti-racism work, and democratic language to gain influence in institutions and civil society.

The tally was 381 in favor, 167 against, and 15 abstentions.

The lead sponsor was Céline Imart, a French Les Républicains MEP in the center-right EPP group and a farmer from the Tarn, was the lead sponsor. Negotiators from Renew, the ECR, and the Patriots also backed the text. Imart noted the Socialists and the far left boycotted it.

Although the resolution is non-binding and does not ban any group by itself, Parliament asks the EU to:

  • Build a method for spotting Islamist entryism and related networks.
  • Tighten checks on EU funding, partnerships, and beneficiaries linked to political Islam, and publish an overview of funds already paid to people or groups suspected of Muslim Brotherhood ties.
  • Have the Council assess whether Muslim Brotherhood-linked entities, front groups, financial relays, youth networks, and coordinators should be added to the EU terrorist list.
  • Exclude FEMYSO (the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations), which the sponsors treat as a Brotherhood youth structure, from EU institutions and events.
  • Strengthen visa and residence controls, including an EU list of hate preachers, and work more closely with Europol and Eurojust.

Imart shared, “It’s done. And it’s historic.”

“The European Parliament has just adopted my resolution against Islamist entryism and the networks of the Muslim Brotherhood. I’ve broken a taboo that Europe has been dragging around like a chain: this victory signifies a major doctrinal shift in the institutions.”

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The War Cycle Is Turning Up

We have been watching October 5 on the War Cycle, and what has unfolded around that date deserves attention. This is no longer simply Russia and Ukraine trading artillery across a battlefield. The geographical footprint of this war is expanding, commercial shipping is being hit in the Black Sea, NATO aircraft are being scrambled, air defense is being moved closer to the front, and Europe is openly discussing nuclear deterrence. Nobody needs to invent World War III or exaggerate every drone that crosses a radar screen. What matters is the trend, and the trend is moving in precisely the wrong direction.

On October 5, a commercial vessel caught fire and sank outside Romanian territorial waters after leaving the Ukrainian port of Izmail. Two people died. Zelensky attributed the event to “a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel,” although Romanian authorities did not confirm the cause. Then on October 6, two more commercial vessels were attacked by drones inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. One sank and another caught fire, forcing the evacuation of 18 crew members, two of whom were seriously injured. Bulgaria has NOT established where those drones came from. These attacks cannot honestly be called deliberate Russian attacks on NATO territory based on the evidence presently available. Nevertheless, civilian shipping is now being dragged directly into the military confrontation around NATO’s Black Sea flank.

“This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law,” Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

At the same time, NATO aircraft are being forced into action. Two Spanish F-18s stationed in Romania under NATO command were scrambled after radar detected aerial targets operating in Ukrainian airspace close to the Romanian border. They did not enter Romanian airspace and there was no interception, but Romanian authorities issued warnings to civilians because of the danger of falling objects. These incidents are becoming routine, and that is precisely the problem. Wars expand through mistakes, miscalculations, and reactions to events that politicians insist nobody intended.

Ukraine has meanwhile launched an extraordinary drone assault deep into Russia. Russian authorities claim nearly 900 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight across Russia, occupied Crimea, and the Sea of Azov. Moscow’s mayor said 650 drones were directed toward the capital region overnight, followed by dozens more during the day. Two people were killed, while reports emerged that a major fuel installation in the Moscow region was burning. The fuel strike has not been independently confirmed. Zelensky is now warning that intelligence indicates Russia is preparing a massive retaliatory aerial attack. Each side responds to the last attack with something larger, and eventually somebody crosses a line that cannot be uncrossed.

Sweden announced that it will send Patriot air-defense systems and roughly 100 troops to Poland to protect the Rzeszow logistics hub, the primary artery through which Western military aid reaches Ukraine. Lithuania has now advanced a constitutional amendment that would remove its prohibition against nuclear weapons and foreign military bases. Lithuania borders both Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. This does NOT mean American nuclear weapons are suddenly being stationed in Lithuania, and another parliamentary vote is required. But Moscow has already warned that moving NATO military infrastructure and potentially nuclear weapons closer to Russia will be regarded as escalation.

Then France test-fired its new M51.3 submarine-launched ballistic missile on October 6. The missile carried no nuclear warhead, and the test was part of the certification of France’s strategic deterrent, so this should not be falsely portrayed as France preparing to attack Russia. Europe is increasingly talking about deterrence, nuclear capability, military readiness, and preparing populations for confrontation rather than negotiating an end to this madness.

Wars do not require somebody sitting in a room deciding that Tuesday morning would be a wonderful time to start World War III. The First World War emerged from alliances and mobilizations that transformed a regional crisis into a continental catastrophe. Politicians create commitments they believe will deter the other side, the other side responds with commitments of its own, and eventually everyone becomes trapped by the very deterrence system they created.

There is much concern over recent developments in the Black Sea. Commercial shipping cannot continually be attacked without consequences. Romania and Bulgaria are NATO members. Poland is becoming increasingly fortified as the principal logistics corridor supporting Ukraine. Lithuania is reconsidering restrictions on nuclear deterrence. Europe is pulling every move to prepare for war.

The War Cycle was never about predicting that politicians would formally declare World War III on a particular day. Cycles identify periods when geopolitical pressure and the probability of conflict rise. What has emerged around October 5 is therefore worth watching very closely. We have commercial vessels sinking, an unprecedented drone assault aimed deep into Russia, NATO fighters launching in response to approaching aerial targets, Patriot batteries moving into Poland, Lithuania opening the door to expanded NATO deterrence, and Russia warning that the continued movement of Western military infrastructure toward its borders will have consequences.

Watch the Black Sea. Watch Poland and Lithuania. And above all, watch what Russia does in response to this enormous Ukrainian drone attack. If the next retaliation spills deliberately onto NATO territory or kills NATO personnel, we will have moved into an entirely different phase of this war.

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Canada Slams Brakes On Euthanasia For Mental Illness Indefinitely, Then Votes Down Tory Bill To Ban It Outright

Canada will not extend medically assisted death to people whose only condition is mental illness, Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced Wednesday, as CP24 reports. The Liberals will table legislation this fall to make the exclusion indefinite, although the bill is still being drafted and has no date.

“Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code of medical assistance in dying in circumstances where mental illness is the sole basis,” Fraser told reporters on Parliament Hill. The expansion is set to take effect in March 2027, after the Trudeau government delayed it in 2024 until after the next federal election.

Fraser said the decision reflects the direction of a special joint parliamentary committee, which heard from more than three dozen witnesses and reported in June. He cited “very real concerns about people who live in communities with inadequate access to mental-health services” and testimony on “a lack of consensus when mental illness is irremediable.” He said the government had only “very, very recently finally formalized its position,” more than three months after the report, and that it was not “based on where we believe the politics is going to land.”

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AI Authoritarianism: A Government Without Constitutional Brakes

“United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation.”—President Donald Trump, Executive Order 14365

The era of small government is over.

Anyone who tells you differently is selling you a lie.

Case in point: Donald Trump promised to shrink the federal government.

But what if Trump’s pledge to cut the federal work force wasn’t really about eliminating government bureaucracy but outsourcing it to the AI tech sector?

What if Trump, with the backing of a self-serving industry eager to automate government, is instead helping to build a government that no longer needs as many human beings to operate it?

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are disappearing from the government payroll at the same time that Washington is racing to automate the work they once performed with artificial intelligence.

Since Trump returned to office, the federal workforce has shrunk by more than 270,000 employees, the result of hiring freezes, deferred resignations, early retirements and reductions in force.

At the same time, the Trump administration has embraced an aggressive campaign to automate government operations, with the General Services Administration instructing agencies to “eliminate, optimize and automate“ their work wherever possible.

This is not a return to smaller government.

It is a dangerous recalibration of government power.

What we are watching unfold is the construction of a government that requires fewer human beings to carry out its will, fewer human beings to question its orders, and fewer human beings to stand in the way when efficiency collides with legality, morality or constitutional restraint.

That is the real danger of automating government.

Human beings hesitate. Human beings question. Human beings object. Human beings refuse. Human beings blow the whistle.

Machines do not hesitate. They do not object. They do not blow the whistle.

For the most part, machines do what they are programmed to do. Until they don’t.

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“I Know The Truth”: Mother Breaks Silence On Daughter’s Mysterious Death At Russian Plague Lab

The mother of a Russian scientist who died under mysterious circumstances at a high-security plague laboratory is speaking out, accusing medical authorities of allowing her daughter to die as questions mount over what happened inside the facility.

Darya Shipilova, 28, died October 2 after developing a rapidly progressing illness while working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, a facility that handles some of the world’s most dangerous pathogens.

This week, Shipilova’s mother raised explosive questions about the Russian government’s official account.

“They simply let my daughter die,” Svetlana Shipilova alleged, according to the Independent.

The grieving mother also challenged reports suggesting her daughter accidentally broke a test tube containing hazardous biological material, arguing that the laboratory’s protective containers were virtually impossible to shatter.

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