Health
Board-certified anesthesiologist Madhava Setty, who trained at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and has practiced for 24 years, said a CHOP program that gives children flu shots under anesthesia is stunningly irresponsible. He argued that extra agents make it harder to identify the cause of a rash, fever, or allergic reaction among anesthetics, antibiotics, and other drugs, and that flu shots cause fever in 11 to 16 percent of cases. Malignant hyperthermia also presents as high fever. Unresolved reactions can linger on a child’s record and complicate later anesthesia, according to Setty. CHOP reported administering 2,054 influenza vaccine doses in the 2025-2026 season, with about one-third of families stating their child would not otherwise have received the vaccine, and American Academy of Pediatrics News noted no serious post-vaccine complications in a similar reporting period.
European Politics
The BBC’s Bitesize platform, used by nearly 1.7 million schoolchildren weekly, hosts a Roblox game called Increasing Immigration for ages 11 to 14. In the game, deporting migrants without proper visas reduces economic and public health scores, while amnesty increases those scores and is described as making them very happy. Players are warned that deportation can be potentially dangerous for immigrants. Easy borders earn points, and rejecting that option as too radical earns none. Materials list twice as many migration benefits as disadvantages and treat job-loss concerns as likely prejudice, according to descriptions of the content. Conservative MPs, including Laura Trott and former BBC controller Danny Cohen, said the game breaches impartiality. The BBC said it does not accept the characterisation of the content and that players are not rewarded for particular political positions.
In other news, an Irish government campaign produced with the Dublin Rape Crisis Center reminds grandparents to ask for consent before hugging their grandchildren. The advertisement was later removed after Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan called it inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents.
When it comes to public infrastructure, Mani Basharzad of the Institute of Economic Affairs argues Britain has become a vetocracy in which agencies and interest groups can block almost any project. Examples cited include a high-speed railway that required a £100 million covered structure to protect Bechstein’s bats, fish-protection measures at Électricité de France’s new nuclear station in Somerset that cost more than $926 million (including underwater speakers known as the fish disco), Britain’s failure to build a major conventional reservoir in three decades, a rate of 446 homes per 1,000 people (the second-worst in Europe), and Chelsea residents’ opposition to expanding a cancer hospital over property prices.
Economy
Data covering more than 70,000 U.S. firms show 1 percent of companies account for 80 percent of OpenAI and Anthropic business spending. The median venture-backed startup spent $76 per employee per month on AI, versus $7 at private-equity-backed firms. Token volumes rose while dollar spend was flat for two months as prices fell. Anthropic’s top 1 percent generated 46 percent of August revenue, and two unnamed customers produced nearly a quarter of 2025 revenue. Anthropic’s realized price dropped to $0.83 per million tokens from more than $1.70 in mid-September.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin said investors are almost certainly in an artificial intelligence bubble as companies open Anthropic and OpenAI bills. Anthropic’s draft S-1 listed $16.3 billion in first-half 2026 revenue, an $80.7 billion GAAP loss with about $8.7 billion underlying, and more than $600 billion of mostly noncancelable compute contracts, with talks toward $750 billion. Goldman Sachs said AI capital spending is about half of S&P 500 earnings growth and that market breadth is near its narrowest since the dot-com years. BlackRock’s Larry Fink said building too slowly would be more inflationary. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said he does not see a bubble in AI.
Meanwhile, rare earths continue to make headlines. Ex-China neodymium-praseodymium prices are up 23 percent year to date, while producers are down 28 percent. China controls supply. Japan has warned of a severe yttrium shortage by year-end. A $110 per kilogram U.S. floor has pulled Chinese Neodymium-Praseodymium toward that level, but Rotterdam dysprosium is about $1,074 a kilogram versus $227 in China, and European yttrium oxide about $740 against a Chinese average near $8. More than 90 percent of magnet metallization remains Chinese-controlled. China’s Foreign Ministry said the export controls follow Chinese laws and aim to prevent remilitarization, while its position on keeping global critical-mineral supply chains stable remains unchanged.
Separately, the CME Group plans the first tungsten futures in early 2027, settled on Fastmarkets’ Western ammonium paratungstate price, which hit $3,000 a ton after Chinese restrictions. From January 2027, U.S. defense rules bar tungsten from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea even if processed in a third country. Conflict-free mines are about 13 percent of supply. Almonty Industries said Sangdong in South Korea has begun production and presented a widening deficit around 2030.
US Politics
Minnesota rapper Tufawon, Rafael Gonzalez Jr., appeared with Greta Thunberg at French protests, performed No One Is Illegal, and led anti-ICE chants. At home, he wrote that white people need to raise hell if they want revolution. He later said the posts were figurative speech not intended to incite violence. Heritage’s Mike Gonzalez called the rhetoric dangerous. Code Pink, backed by Neville Singham, set a Washington taxpayer uprising for November 10 to 12. Tufawon said the trip was a spontaneous vacation inspired by student activists facing underfunded schools similar to conditions in the US.
In other news, parents across Texas received mailers addressed to children from the Texas Transgender Student Union on hormones, out-of-state care, emancipation, and what to do if parents do not support them, ending with the line that children do not have to convince their parents and that groups can become a found family. The Transgender Education Network of Texas, named on the brochure, said the mailers were not authorized or distributed by it. The return address maps to an Amazon warehouse, while an archived TENT page listed a nearby UPS mailbox store. The Texas Transgender Student Union was registered as a Wyoming LLC in September 2026 with no apparent Texas operations, and the true sender remains unidentified.
Energy
In Nevada Energy’s 2026 plan, three geothermal offers at $105 to $107 per megawatt-hour came in below $114 for 11 solar-plus-battery bids, mostly with 4-hour storage. Geothermal produces around the clock. Google is backing up to 150 MW of Ormat geothermal through the utility, and Amazon 100 MW from Zanskar. Geothermal keeps tax credits for projects starting construction through 2033. New wind and solar that missed a July 4 start must be in service by the end of 2027.
Privacy & Surveillance
Chinese-made rental cars used by Norway’s Armed Forces during the mid-September Operation Hovedstad exercise in Oslo recorded soldiers, routes, and gate codes. The vehicles came from Hertz Norway under a 2024 agreement worth up to 350 million kroner through May 2028. Hertz Norway’s ownership chain leads to China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Lieutenant Fredrik Blanck said the footage showed who entered the cars, where they went, and codes typed at gates that also require a key card. The cars remained in use for lack of alternatives. Hertz Norway said customer data is not shared with manufacturers or third parties without explicit legal grounds, and the Norwegian Armed Forces indicated there were no indications that information left the vehicles.
Geopolitics
President Trump said the United States is not negotiating with Iran and that developments are coming “fairly soon.” U.S. and Israeli militaries have reportedly developed plans for renewed strikes after the midterm elections. It remains uncertain whether President Trump will approve any operation.
Sources
BBC Game Docks Kids Points for Deporting Illegals, Rewards Amnesty
The BBC’s education platform, used by nearly 1.7 million schoolchildren every week, is gamifying open borders.
Why Can Nothing Be Built in Britain?
A vetocracy is a democracy that has accumulated so many opportunities to say no that it has lost the practical ability to say yes.
The Great Rare Earth Disconnect: Prices Up 23%, Miners Down 28%
The numbers are stark: year to date, the ex-China NdPr price is up 23%, while Canaccord’s rare earth developers are down 17% on average and its producers are down 28%.
CME Plans First Tungsten Futures as Missile Boom Risks 2030 Crunch
It shows a widening structural tungsten deficit emerging around 2030.
Texas Kids Mailed Transition Guides as Named Group Denies Sending Them
Children across Texas were just mailed instructions on how to “transition” and parents are ticked
Geothermal Flippening: Firm Power Undercuts Solar-Plus-Storage in Nevada
To all the geothermal believers out there, the flippening has come.
Source | Submitted by Redneck Engineer
Anesthesiologist Calls CHOP Flu Shots Under Anesthesia “Stunningly Irresponsible”
This is stunningly irresponsible.
Source | Submitted by IrishPrince
Chinese-Owned Hertz Cars Filmed Norwegian Troops and Gate Codes in Oslo Drill
Chinese-owned rental cars used by the Norwegian Armed Forces reportedly recorded soldiers, their movements and security codes during a major military exercise in Oslo
Source | Submitted by Redneck Engineer
Minnesota Rapper Back From French Riots Tells White Americans to ‘Raise Hell’ for Revolution
Go f–k s–t up white people. It’s your time.
Source | Submitted by thc0655
1% of Firms Drive 80% of OpenAI and Anthropic Spend as Growth Stalls
Just 1% of companies account for 80% of all business spending on OpenAI and Anthropic
Ken Griffin: AI Is “Almost Certainly” a Bubble as Corporate America Opens Its Anthropic and OpenAI Bills
I think all of Corporate America is looking at their bills from Anthropic and OpenAI and going, ‘Okay, we need to think about how to make sure we’re getting productivity out of this.’
Ireland Tells Grandparents: Get Consent Before Hugging Grandkids
I didn’t consent to having your moral standards of consent thrust upon me, government of Ireland.
Trump: No Iran Talks, Developments Coming ‘Fairly Soon’
Trump says US not negotiating with Iran, signals developments ‘fairly soon’
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: The Sun, Daily Mail, The Irish Times, BBC, Global Times, ZeroHedge, Bloomberg, CBS Texas, Snopes, New York Post, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, AAP News, AFP, and The Times of Israel.
by 2retired 
