A ceasefire is supposed to mean no more shooting

But corporate media has been desperate for a reason, no matter how spurious, to heap praise on Trump.

On October 10, a ceasefire was declared in the Gaza Strip, where more than 67,000 Palestinians were officially killed in just over two years of Israel’s United States-backed genocide. With an estimated 10,000 bodies still buried under the all-consuming rubble, and indirect deaths unaccounted for, this number is almost certainly a drastic underestimate. Shortly after the ceasefire took effect, US President Donald Trump pronounced the war in Gaza “over,” proclaiming that “at long last we have peace in the Middle East.”

In the ten days following the implementation of the ostensible truce, the Israeli military reportedly killed at least 97 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 230, violating the ceasefire agreement no fewer than 80 times. One might have expected, then, to see a headline or two along the lines of, I dunno, “Israel Violates Ceasefire”—or maybe “So Much for ‘Peace’ in Gaza.”

No such headlines turned up in the Western corporate media—not that there weren’t some pretty spectacular violations to choose from. - FAIR

This year's Social Security bump won't come close to cutting it

Yet far too many seniors impacted by all this will remain part of the Trump cult. But we don’t need all that many to just stay home, to help contribute to a couple of blue wave elections along the lines of 2006 and 2008.

The Social Security Administration on Friday announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for beneficiaries, a small increase that advocates said would be mostly or entirely offset by surging healthcare premiums and other price hikes fueled by President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies and Republican legislation passed earlier this year.

The 2.8% raise—the second-smallest since 2021—will amount to just over $50 extra per month for the average Social Security recipient. The projected 11.6% increase in Medicare Part B premiums next year would wipe out around 40% of the COLA increase for seniors…

“ACA premiums are projected to skyrocket next year, with those over 50 hit hardest,” (Nancy Altman, president of the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works) said. “For many of these beneficiaries, the COLA increase won’t come close to covering their increased healthcare premiums.”

Another factor that could eat into the Social Security COLA is the impact of Trump’s tariffs on prescription drug prices, which are already far higher in the US than in other wealthy nations. - Common Dreams

Have fun giving AI your credit card

To be clear, the title of this post is deliberate sarcasm.

As marketing researchers who study how AI affects consumer behavior, we believe we’re seeing the beginning of the biggest shift in how people shop since smartphones arrived. Most people have no idea it’s happening…

For three decades, the internet has worked the same way: You want something, you Google it, you compare options, you decide, you buy. You’re in control…

Soon comes “autopilot AI,” where AI makes purchases for you with minimal input from you. “Order flowers for my anniversary next week.” ChatGPT checks your calendar, remembers preferences, processes payment and confirms delivery.

Each phase adds convenience but gives you less control. - The Conversation

States can make up for some Trump cuts

Even some of the reddest states are doing so, believe it or not. Which isn't to suggest that the federal cuts shouldn't be reversed, at the earliest opportunity.

In March, the Trump administration pulled the rug on $1 billion in funds for the Local Food for Schools (LFS) and Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) programs. The two programs provided funding to schools and food pantries to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and meats from local farmers.

For the farmers, schools, community organizations and tribal nations involved, the programs were a win-win situation. Small farmers earned reliable income through government contracts. Schools could provide children with fresh, local and oftentimes organic produce that would usually be out of budget for a school cafeteria…

Nineteen states operate farm to school food purchase programs similar to LFS. After the federal program was cut in March, states, including Vermont, Connecticut, Alabama, Oklahoma and Minnesota stepped in to increase their funding. - Barn Raiser

Crypto concerns are likely driving a lot of Trump “policy”

By Paul Krugman. I very much share his entirely well-grounded suspicions.

By now it’s obvious that Donald Trump suffers from CBS — Cowardly Bully Syndrome.

On Friday, Trump blasted China’s new export controls on rare earths, declaring them a “moral disgrace” which were “obviously a plan devised by them years ago.” And he threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on China, on top of the already high existing tariffs.

Less than a day later he was groveling…

This was the largest one-day crash crypto has experienced so far. My question, however, is why the prospect of an intensified trade war caused a crypto crash…

The answer, I believe, has little to do with economics and everything to do with politics. These days crypto derives its value largely from the support of politicians and government officials — in particular, officials who can be bribed. As a result, at this point crypto is largely a Trump trade. And crypto fell because the backlash against the potential trade war threatened to weaken Trump politically. - The National Memo

China's clean tech exports are crushing US filthy fossil fuels

The gap will likely only widen. Works for me.

Recent reports out of think tank Ember on China’s record-breaking $20 billion in August clean technology exports and the underlying data have stimulated discussion online. Electrek focused on the EV exports that are driving much of the growth. Meanwhile, Bloomberg put the numbers together with DOE and EIA data to show how China’s cleantech exports are outpacing US fossil fuels (reposted in Energy Connects). We also published a piece on it a few hours ago: “Renewables Drive A Stake Through The Cold, Dark Heart Of King Coal.”

…Of course, comparing fossil fuel exports to cleantech exports is like comparing apples to oranges. The two categories are significantly different. However, the differences indicate a substantial shift in how the world approaches energy and the global dynamics that drive trade. - CleanTechnica

The EPA is being gutted even worse than you think

This is of course being underreported in corporate media because its owners are loving it.

Combining EPA data on staffing changes with conservative estimates of the pending cuts, the initiative has calculated that 25% of EPA staff are already out of the agency.

That calculation does not include other announced cuts, including a third round of deferred resignations taking effect at the end of September 2025 and December 2025. Those cuts may see the departure of similar numbers of full-time equivalents as in the past two rounds – approximately 500 and 1,500.

The agency has also reportedly planned to be cutting as much as two-thirds of research staff.

With those departure figures included, the initiative estimates that approximately 33% of staffers at the agency when Trump took office will be gone by the end of 2025. That would leave, at the start of 2026, an EPA staff numbering approximately 9,700 people, a level not seen since the last years of the Nixon and Ford administrations. - The Conversation