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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This fight is for everything.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Consistently wrong since 2002

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

People are weird.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

When we show up, we win.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

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Open Thread:  Hey Lurkers!  (Holiday Post)

Open Threads

You are here: Home / Archives for Open Threads

November? How Did It Get to Be November?

by WaterGirl|  November 1, 202510:58 am| 65 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

It feels like fall is over and we are moving into winter.  Do not want.

The only redeeming thing about winter is snow, and we no longer get enough of that!

Okay, just one more good thing about winter.  Sometimes (only sometimes!) on a clear winter night, the sky is amazing.  I first noticed that when I returned home late at night after babysitting when I was 13.  Other than those two things, winter can go jump in a lake.

How about you guys?  Favorite season?  Least favorite season?

For Henry, his favorite season is “we have company!”

World Series 2025 – Game 5! 1

Followed by sad Henry after company left on Wednesday.

Open thread.

November? How Did It Get to Be November?Post + Comments (65)

Saturday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  November 1, 20255:49 am| 189 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

Partying like the gilded age the night before you condemn 40 million people to hunger is.. a choice.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:39 PM

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one wonders whether there is a single person in the administration who has, for even a moment, considered the optics of appealing these specific rulings

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— GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) October 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM

dem AGs: you're legally required to spend these funds to keep people from starving
white house: no we're not
judges: yes you are
white house: no we're not, let them starve

— GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) October 31, 2025 at 2:52 PM

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BREAKING: Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) October 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM

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#SNAP makes Page One in Austin, Cincinnati, Houston, Milwaukee

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 7:49 AM

Page One
@washingtonpost.com

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 7:43 AM

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This clip should be everywhere Democrats can get it. This is how we need to learn to speak to the press.

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— Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST (@chathamharrison.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:27 AM

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Remember – Sharing is caring!

What’s draining tax dollars isn’t SNAP, it’s corporate welfare and billionaire tax breaks.
FACT: Even people working two jobs still need SNAP.
Where’s the outrage about that?!

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— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) October 29, 2025 at 9:38 PM

show full post on front page

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There is more than enough funding for SNAP. The Trump administration is using food insecurity as a political weapon.

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— StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻🚫👑 (@strictlychristo.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 12:36 AM

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Speaker Johnson admits Trump & Republicans are forcing millions of kids to go hungry for political leverage. He says funding SNAP would "reduce the pressure" on Democrats. Disgusting.

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— Senator Patty Murray (@murray.senate.gov) October 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM

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I maintain that every one of these people should be forced to live on SNAP for a month.

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— Kingfisher & Wombat (@tkingfisher.com) October 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM

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The official Massachusetts state webpage for SNAP benefits now has an alert that says, “President Trump is currently choosing to not issue November SNAP benefits that help you and many families put food on the table.”
#SNAP
www.huffpost.com/entry/snap-w…

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— RoseMarie (@rosesbloom24.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 6:04 PM

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tapper goes full "how much does a banana cost michael? ten dollars?" on dems suing to keep snap going for anotehr month

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— ?????? [spooky pun] ???????? (@danmynrd.bsky.social) October 29, 2025 at 11:22 AM

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fyi, the SNAP eliminations are a Project 2025 mandate.
SNAP recipients didn’t lose benefits during prior such shutdowns.
Pay attention.

— Jay (@johnathanperk.bsky.social) October 29, 2025 at 9:22 PM

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The expiration of SNAP benefits isn't going to move a lot of Republicans because they think SNAP shouldn't exist

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— Cooper Lund (@cooperlund.online) October 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM

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Let’s all remember the $40 billion for Argentina as Trump shuts down SNAP for Americans.

— Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (@whitehouse.senate.gov) October 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM

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Damn that’s crazy

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— rimidar (@rimidar.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:19 PM

Saturday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (189)

War for Ukraine Day 1,345: Outgoing!

by Adam L Silverman|  October 31, 202510:30 pm| 11 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

I’m still recovering from my very long week and am deeply fried. So I’m going to keep this on the shorter side so I can rack out.

Ukraine has launched a massive response to Russia’s attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure over the past several days.

Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels report approximately 700 drones heading toward Russian regions, including Moscow region.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:25 PM

🚨 Drone threat in Moscow, Lipetsk, Tambov, Belgorod, Voronezh, Tula, Ryazan, Oryol, Kursk, Bryansk, Rostov, Volgograd, Samara, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM

Moscow region. Black out 🙃

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 6:43 PM

More from Moscow region 🤩💥

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:50 PM

👀👀👀

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:50 PM

Putin was warned. He was given an explanation. Nevertheless, he persisted.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

show full post on front page

We Are Working to Ensure Good News for Ukraine – And It Will Come – Address by the President

31 October 2025 – 20:40

Dear Ukrainians!

Today we have new sanctions decisions – over 50 individuals, the majority of them Russians who work for the Russian war against Ukraine, for the Russian military production, and also for propaganda. Of course, we will share our sanction decisions with partner countries as well, so that they support this entirely justified pressure on Russia for its war. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has also carried out preparatory work to synchronize the 19th EU sanctions package within our jurisdiction. And the Europeans are already preparing the 20th sanctions package – we have submitted proposals to our partners. I held a coordination meeting – a recap of this year’s sanctions. Together with the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our state, and the Foreign Intelligence Service, we identified the key tasks to be completed by the end of the year: targeting the Russian tanker fleet, Russian energy companies, and all enterprises and entities that help sustain the Russian military production. It is important that partners take our arguments into account when preparing their pressure.

I want to especially thank our warriors for their long-range sanctions against Russia – there have been more than 160 hits on enemy fuel infrastructure since the start of this year alone, with hundreds more operations carried out directly against their war machine. I thank all our special services for this: the Security Service of Ukraine, the intelligence agencies, and the army. Ukrainians are most effective when we act together and align our goals.

Our Foreign Intelligence fulfilled the task of locating specific, precise addresses of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We are providing our partners with lists – lists of children who must be returned. This is a sensitive issue, with a great deal of quiet diplomatic work underway. And to foil any Russian attempt to claim they supposedly know nothing about these children, we are ensuring that addresses are included as well. The first such list –containing over 300 surnames, first names, and addresses of the abducted children – will be on the desks of all the leaders assisting us in this effort.

There were many military reports today – detailed updates from the front. Of course, Pokrovsk is our priority. We continue to destroy the occupier, and that is what matters most – to stop Russian strikes wherever and whenever possible. The Russians want to turn our entire country into what they are doing to Pokrovsk, what they are doing to Kupyansk, and other towns and communities. They must be halted where they have reached – and destroyed there. I thank each of our units, every soldier, sergeant, and officer who defends our positions and defends our state.

One more thing.

Today I held several meetings on our foreign policy activity for the week ahead – covering weapons for Ukraine, financial support, and our shared political outcomes in relations between Ukraine and the European Union. We are working to ensure good news for Ukraine – and it will come. I am confident. We thank everyone who is helping us! I thank everyone who is fighting for our state, for Ukraine, as they would for themselves.

Glory to Ukraine!

He also did a press conference today. Here’s the video:

Georgia:

Day 338 of #GeorgiaProtests

The symbolism of blocking the Rustaveli Avenue continues despite some more arrests.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM

Theology PhD and Georgian Orthodox priest Fr. Aleksi Kshutashvili also helped block Rustaveli Ave today. He told Publika:

“An unjust law is not justice. By blocking the street, we show these so-called laws are unjust — breaking them is, in fact, upholding justice.”

📷 Publika

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:21 PM

Brave Georgian protesters have blocked the Rustaveli Ave for the 338th night in a row, standing against a repressive, pro-Russian, illegitimate regime.

Blocking the road now carries a 15-day sentence and up to two years for repeated ‘offenses’. ~100 have already been arrested.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 1:40 PM

1/ Because he crossed Rustaveli Avenue in protest, police have arrested Giorgi Tsikarishvili, former head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Department of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:04 PM

2/ In just 15 days, more than 130 protesters have been detained, and at least 57 have received administrative arrests under Georgian Dream’s new protest-restricting laws.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:04 PM

Anastasia Zinovkina, a Russian anti-Putin activist, is being tortured in a prison in Georgia. She is in terrible pain, medically and even physically neglected (she fell down and was not aided to get up for 3 hours), and kept in an unsanitary condition.

1/

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:50 AM

Her fiancé Artem Gribul, who is also under the unlawful detention of trumped-up drug charges, heard Anastasia’s condition through the media, and begins a hunger strike with the demand to expose, dismiss, and hold accountable all the workers of the N5 prison responsible for Anastasia’s torture.

2/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:50 AM

My heart breaks for the couple…

Not to mention that the Georgian Dream would never be able to mistreat Russians if only there had been no direct or indirect Kremlin encouragement for it.

3/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:50 AM

They have 0 security checks for Russians entering, but if someone’s anti-Putin, they are either refused entry, unsafe, or even tortured now.

#TerrorinGeorgia #GeorgiaProtests

4/4.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:50 AM

1/ “I do not recommend reading this text to sensitive readers,” writes Aliona Zaitseva, a friend of prisoner of conscience Anastasia Zinovkina, sharing details from Zinovkina’s recent phone call.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

2/ Publika contacted the Press Service of the Penitentiary Department regarding the matter; the article will be updated if a response is received.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

3/ Below is Zaitseva’s account in full:

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

4/ “A political prisoner, Russian citizen Anastasia Zinovkina, who is held in Rustavi Prison No. 5, called and described how she was humiliated in prison yesterday. I do not recommend reading this to sensitive readers.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

5/ Nastia has serious back problems. She is regularly given painkillers but receives no treatment. She is denied an orthopedic mattress and pillow. She tried to purchase them in prison — at first she was promised she could, then told it would not happen.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

6/ Yesterday, her back condition worsened.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

7/ In the morning, a doctor came and gave her an injection. Around 12:30, the pain became so severe she could no longer get up. She screamed and called for help for eight hours.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

8/ Nastia is in a single cell, meaning no one can help her stand. The guards opened the window and told her they couldn’t do anything.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

9/ Yesterday was shower day, but she couldn’t go. The guards wrote in the record that she had refused to shower.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

10/ Nastia lay there for eight hours, unable to stand or reach the toilet. At 9 p.m., a nurse entered but didn’t help her get up – she threw a diaper at her and left.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

11/ Nastia tried to stand to put the diaper on, fell to the floor, and lay there until midnight.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

11/ Nastia tried to stand to put the diaper on, fell to the floor, and lay there until midnight.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

13/ At 6 a.m., she managed to crawl to the toilet and dispose of the used diaper. Using available cloths, she made a makeshift corset for herself and managed to call to tell this story.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

14/ At 10 a.m. today, the same doctor came again and said she needed a neurologist. The only thing he could offer was a stronger painkiller, which required approval from a psychiatrist. After that, the call was cut off.”

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:09 AM

“Give Anastasia Zinovkina access to a clinic — at long last.”

A picture from today’s protest in Georgia.

📷 Mo Se

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM

Several arrests tonight in Georgia, among them Zura Menteshashvili (70+) who finished serving his 5-day administrative detention yesterday. Today, this is his second arrest for allegedly blocking the road, which could mean a criminal sentence of up to 1 year.

📷 Publika

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM

In Rustavi, the shelter for children who ended up in the street criminal word out of economic distress is closing down.

The “state” doesn’t fund it, and all donors are now banned from funding anything, so…

I bet all the “anti-CIA” lefties and right-wingers on X are happy.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:33 PM

Lithuania:

Lithuania suspended rail transit of Russian oil products to Kaliningrad to avoid secondary US and UK sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft, with the ban effective 21 November, Lithuanian Railways announced.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:39 PM

The US:

“A National Guardsman has been charged with trying to send photos of sensitive U.S. military technology to Russia.” – Fox

🫠🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
www.foxnews.com/us/national-…

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:33 AM

From KWCH 12 News:

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A National Guardsman accused of agreeing to spy for Russian intelligence appeared in federal court Thursday in Kansas, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Canyon Anthony Amarys, 28, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested on October 28 for attempting to violate the Export Control Reform Act, which restricts the export of certain defense goods without a license from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The indictment states that in February 2025, Amarys met with someone he believed to be a Russian intelligence agent and signed an agreement to establish a covert relationship. He agreed to photograph a military installation at Fort Riley, Kansas, and procure a helicopter radio for the Russian military.

In March 2025, Amarys purchased the helicopter radio and traveled to Kansas to export it to a purported recipient in Romania, aware that it would be illegally diverted to Russia. Investigators later recovered the radio during a court-authorized search.

The FBI Kansas City field office is investigating the case with support from various federal and military agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask and Trial Attorney David Ryan are prosecuting the case.

Now we know who is withholding tomahawks from Ukraine.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:11 PM

Druzhkivka, eastern Ukraine

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— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:01 PM

Back to Ukraine:

At least 100 Russian officers have been “nullifying” their own comrades—killing, torturing them to death, and sending them on assaults from which they are unable to return alive – big investigation by Vyorstka!

verstka.media/obnuliteli

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 11:13 AM

Ukrainian “Bulava” loitering munition strike on the Russian military truck 40km from the frontline t.me/blacksky_3br…

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:22 AM

HUR, SBU, and SZR destroyed one of three Russian Oreshnik missile systems at the Kapustin Yar test site in a joint operation during summer 2023, SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk announced.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 9:52 AM

Ukraine has used the Flamingo cruise missile nine times in real operations, Le Figaro reports citing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the technical director of Fire Point company.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:49 AM

Russian strikes on October 30 damaged substations vital to nuclear safety, causing South Ukraine and Khmelnitsky plants to lose one external power line each while Rivne plant reduced two reactor units, IAEA reported.
www.iaea.org/newscenter/p…

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:44 AM

Sumy:

Overnight, russia carried out multiple strikes on Sumy, targeting railway infrastructure and residential areas. Eleven people were injured, including four children.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:23 AM

“Aftermath of Russian Shahed drone strikes on railway infrastructure in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 8:33 AM

Kherson:

Russia shelled Kherson again, killing at least 2 people and injuring 7 others.

Russian forces are attacking Kherson mercilessly giving civilians no respite, hunting them with drones, killing them with artillery and glide bombs.
Here, they murder civilians for sport.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:46 AM

Kharkiv:

​A mall in Kharkiv is packed for a Halloween costume contest, filled with people who live in a city where bombings are routine. They live where sleepless nights from explosions are just a fact of life, not a reason to cancel plans, and where death always lurks just out of sight.

​

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:06 PM

And still, they came. They are here because they refuse to let anyone take joy from them or the holidays from their children. They refuse to compromise on life ❤️‍🩹

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:06 PM

Kyiv:

Specialists at the Amosov Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery in Kyiv performed a complex operation to remove a metal fragment lodged in a man’s heart after he was injured during russian bombing of Chernihiv.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM

The fragment had become embedded near a coronary artery, but thanks to the skill of the medical team, it no longer poses a threat to the man’s life. His heart is now beating steadily, the institute reported.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM

I’m deeply proud of our medics and grateful they’re here but the very fact that they, and their patients, are forced to endure such trauma because of our deranged neighbor’s imperial delusions is beyond comprehension.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM

Udochne, Donetsk Oblast:

Donetsk region, Udachne near Pokrovsk. All that’s left of the Pokrovske mine administration.

Once, people worked here, but russia destroys everything.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:50 PM

Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast:

UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter operations transporting infantry to the front line in the Pokrovsk direction.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Situation in Pokrovsk is difficult but stable with no encirclement, Russian forces advanced only 7 km in year losing tens of thousands killed while concentrating 170,000 troops there after failing to take Sumy and Kupyansk, Zelensky and SBU chief Maliuk say.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 7:48 AM

❗️🇺🇦 Budanov is in Pokrovsk (!) and personally directs the operation on the spot, — sources of ZN. UA.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 6:20 PM

Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast:

Ukrainian Su-27 pilots conducted a GBU-62 strike on a concentration of Russian occupying forces in Kupiansk in support of ground troops.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 12:47 PM

Russia:

This is a sign that the West should impose and strictly enforce even more sanctions on fascist Russia – the sooner the Kremlin loses the capacity to wage its war of aggression, the sooner the war comes to an end.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 4:29 AM

Vladimir Oblast, Russia:

Vladimir Oblast, Russia. 💥🔥

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 10:54 PM

Bryansk and Oryol Oblasts:

Ukrainian Navy units carried out a precise missile strike using Neptune cruise missiles, targeting the Orlovskaya thermal power plant and the Novobryansk electrical substation, Ukrainian Navy press release reported 👀🔥

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 11:36 AM

From EuroMaidan Press:

Ukrainian naval forces carried out precision strikes inside Russian territory using Neptune cruise missiles, targeting the Orlovskaya thermal power plant in Oryol Oblast and the Novobryansk electrical substation in Bryansk Oblast, the Ukrainian Navy reported.

The strikes highlight Ukraine’s expanding ability to strike critical infrastructure deep inside Russia, targeting energy facilities that sustain military operations. By disrupting power to key military enterprises, Kyiv aims to degrade Russian logistical capacity and hinder their operational effectiveness.

Both facilities supply electricity to Russian military enterprises, making their destruction a significant disruption to enemy logistics and operations.

The Navy emphasized that the operation demonstrates Ukraine’s growing ability to strike critical infrastructure far from the frontlines. “Ukrainian forces continue to show that no enemy rear is safe,” the military statement said.

The strike follows a series of Ukrainian attacks on energy and logistics hubs in recent months, aimed at weakening Russia’s capacity to sustain military operations and disrupt supply chains across multiple regions.

More at the link.

Oryol Oblast, Russia:

One of three cooling towers at a thermal power plant in Oryol, Russia, was damaged following an overnight attack.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:19 AM

Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia:

Satellite image of the ‘Plastmass’ ammunition factory in Kopeysk, Russia, following a detonation in one of the workshops.

Officially, after the explosion, 23 workers will never return to producing any kind of ammunition ever.

[image or embed]

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 6:37 PM

Satellite imagery of the aftermath of the explosion at the Russian military plant in Kopeysk

[image or embed]

— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:27 PM

Rostov Oblast, Russia:

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces destroyed a Buk-M3 air defense system and damaged a Nebo-U early warning radar in Rostov region, Russia, overnight on 28 September, the forces reported. The operation was conducted in cooperation with the Russian insurgent movement Chernaya Iskra.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 6:55 AM

Belgorod Oblast, Russia:

FPV drones struck multiple Russian military targets in Borysivka district of Belgorod region, Russia, including a UAZ Pickup equipped with electronic warfare systems and several soldiers, footage geolocated near Baitsury village shows.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 5:17 AM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron.

There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.

Dog and Cat Commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stay in close contact with their human counterparts [at command level or just where needed] for coordination and belly and/or head crawl.

t.me/s/GeneralSta…

[image or embed]

— Merrick Garland is a criminal (@hrismode.bsky.social) October 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM

War for Ukraine Day 1,345: Outgoing!Post + Comments (11)

Friday Evening Open Thread: Shoes, Dropping

by Anne Laurie|  October 31, 20255:38 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republicans in Disarray!, Trumpery

Nobody warned us this blade has two edges!…

Brooke Rollins: "My message to America is your government is failing you right now … we have failed you."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 31, 2025 at 10:26 AM


(Big, strapping broad sent out to deliver unpleasant message; tiny manling hastily shoves her aside ‘to clarify’… )

Mike Johnson immediately tries to clean up for Brooke Rollins: "When she says 'we have failed you,' she means 'we, the Democrats,' okay?"

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 31, 2025 at 10:27 AM

Trump’s Agriculture Secretary Rollins & Johnson called 42 million Americans losing SNAP benefits a “silver lining” because it sparked “a national conversation.”
Imagine being so detached from hunger that you see families skipping meals as a PR opportunity.

[image or embed]

— Jennifer C (@thejenniwren.teamlh.social) October 31, 2025 at 10:48 AM

===

Jeffries: "Understand, until Donald Trump tells them what to do, Republicans in the House and Senate are going to be unwilling to find a bipartisan path forward because this version of the Republican Party, they don't work for the American people. They work for Donald Trump."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 31, 2025 at 4:17 PM

===
“IT’S THEIR FAULT!” Democrats, of course — but also ‘his’ Republicans, and probably the weak-willed voters who don’t appreciate him:

Another entry in the "interesting how dramatically their tone has changed" folder.

[image or embed]

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 3:05 PM

===
Punchbowl, for readers who find Politico insufficiently ‘savvy’:

When you REALLY don’t get out much.
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) October 31, 2025 at 1:44 PM

===
Some Repubs are restless…

Rep. Ryan Zinke: "Our economy is not great."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 31, 2025 at 8:05 AM

Friday Evening Open Thread: Shoes, DroppingPost + Comments (122)

Immigration Is a Good Thing

by WaterGirl|  October 31, 20254:04 pm| 90 Comments

This post is in: Breathtaking Corruption, Breathtaking Criminality and Lawlessness, Immigration, Open Threads

Can Something Good Come Out of Something Awful? 3

From Dan Pfeiffer

Can Something Good Come Out of Something Awful? Can Something Good Come Out of Something Awful? 1 Can Something Good Come Out of Something Awful? 2

This shift is happening at the exact moment Trump, Stephen Miller, and the rest of the GOP are waging their loudest anti-immigration crusade. That tells us something profound:

Trump’s mass deportation agenda is so cruel, so extreme, and so visible that it is actually making Americans more pro-immigration.

This could be a foundational shift in American politics. If it continues (a big if), the next Democratic president could be positioned to:

  • Restructure and reform ICE from the ground up
  • Purge its leadership
  • End the cruelty baked into its enforcement practices
  • Pass comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border and provides a path to citizenship for millions

Democrats must undo the political damage of the Biden years and rebuild trust with the electorate on immigration, but if we do we can make incredible progress on fixing immigration.

And that would be the ultimate irony.

The US will never be a world power again in the way that it was – but it’s pretty clear to me that we no longer deserve to have the role we had before.  Beacon of democracy?   I don’t think so.

Still, I know I have more hope than some of you.  All the flaws that have been identified?  All the things in the constitution that relied on the enemy not being within?  Those things can be changed, and we might just come out of this with a stronger democracy than before.

 

Immigration Is a Good ThingPost + Comments (90)

How Republicans Messed Up on Project 2025 (Paul Krugman)

by WaterGirl|  October 31, 202512:18 pm| 150 Comments

This post is in: Breathtaking Corruption, Breathtaking Criminality and Lawlessness, Open Threads

How Republicans messed up on Project 2025 (Paul Krugman) 1

Their hate, their greed, their short-sightedness – and the law of unintended consequences – will be their undoing.

(The line above is my opinion.  The rest of this is Paul Krugman.)

Federal funding for SNAP, the nutritional aid program still often referred to as food stamps, ends tonight. This will have catastrophic impacts on 42 million Americans, the great majority of them children, elderly or disabled.

Millions more Americans are about to discover that health insurance has become vastly more expensive, in many cases unaffordable.
Why are these terrible things happening? At a basic level they’re happening because Republicans want them to happen. Drastic cuts in food stamps and health care programs were central planks in Project 2025, which is indeed the Trump administration’s policy platform, and were written into legislation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed last summer.

But the consequences of these cruel intentions weren’t supposed to be this obvious, this early. The harshest provisions of the OBBBA were backloaded, set to kick in after the midterm elections. For example, draconian work requirements for Medicaid — which would effectively throw millions off the program, largely by imposing paperwork burdens low-wage workers can’t overcome — weren’t scheduled to take effect until the end of 2026.

Why the backloading? Presumably Republicans believed that by the time Americans woke up to what was happening, the G.O.P. would have effectively consolidated one-party rule, making future elections irrelevant.

Instead, however, the mask is being ripped off right now, well ahead of schedule.

I guess it’s possible that Republicans will manage to limit the political damage by claiming — completely falsely — that the suffering about to hit millions is being caused by Democrats who want to lavish benefits on illegal immigrants and pay for sex change operations. That’s not hyperbole. Here’s the banner currently at the top of the Agriculture Department’s SNAP data page — its data page!

In the past it would have been unthinkable to display political propaganda, let alone grotesquely dishonest propaganda, on government data sites. But we’re in a new world.

We’ll just have to see how all this plays politically. But it’s clear that Republicans messed up badly on the implementation of Project 2025. Immense cruelty was always part of the plan, but policy wasn’t supposed to get this cruel, this soon.

So what went wrong? I’d attribute it to a combination of policy ignorance, visceral hatred of doing anything that helps people in need, and the Epstein files. (Seriously.)

Read the whole thing.   It’s really very good.

 

How Republicans Messed Up on Project 2025 (Paul Krugman)Post + Comments (150)

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  October 31, 20255:46 am| 249 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Space, World's Best Healthcare (If You Can Afford It)

The International Space Station is marking 25 years of nonstop human presence in orbit. Nearly 300 people have lived aboard the scientific outpost.

[image or embed]

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) October 30, 2025 at 1:00 PM

===

You don't hear so much anymore that Democrats should have demanded more, or different things, because the Democratic messaging ("Americans need affordable Healthcare") is good and genuine and working, despite GOP and media efforts against it.

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— ike, son of mike (@i-bresnick.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 3:19 PM

===

NEW: "If this all sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it is. Republicans have been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act law since the day former President Barack Obama signed it….But every single time, the conversation leads to the same place: What do Republicans propose to do instead?"

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— Adam Keiper (@adamkeiper.com) October 28, 2025 at 8:31 PM

===

Everyone who claimed Dems would cave to prevent a shutdown OR that they’d cave shortly after that to keep the shutdown brief OR that they were stupid to make the ACA tax credits the flagship issue can apologize any minute now.

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— Charles Ghoul-ba ?? (@charlesgaba.com) October 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM

===

For the third time this week, the Senate passed my legislation to reject Trump’s senseless tariffs that raise costs for consumers, create chaos for businesses, and weaken our economy. Now it’s the House’s turn to undo the biggest tax increase in a generation.

— Senator Tim Kaine (@kaine.senate.gov) October 30, 2025 at 4:09 PM

The problem with Politico laundering republican talking points is that it makes it easy for Dems to get their dunks in.

[image or embed]

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 2:07 PM

===

Here Trump takes his entire theory of governance to its logical conclusion by demanding Democrats improve the parts of government he keeps trying to destroy

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— Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST (@chathamharrison.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 9:13 PM

===

Immediately, six months, next quarter, next year.
lmao

[image or embed]

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM

Believe me, this shit while the president is building ballrooms and giving 40b to Argentina does break through.

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM

TGIFriday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (249)

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