“Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to ‘outlandish threats’ by the United States after Washington raised the bounty for his arrest to $50 million and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. ‘This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory — militias that are prepared, activated and armed,’ Maduro announced on state television. Official figures say the Venezuelan militia, founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez, contains about 5 million people — though the actual number is believed to be smaller. Venezuela’s total population is around 30 million. … Two sources briefed on the matter told the Reuters news agency that three U.S. destroyers will arrive off the coast of Venezuela soon.” (08/19/25)
“U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday accused India of profiteering from its sharply increased purchases of Russian oil during the war in Ukraine, saying Washington viewed the situation as unacceptable. Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil now accounted for 42% of India’s total oil purchases, up from under 1% before the war, and contrasted that with longtime buyer China, whose Russian oil purchases had increased to 16% from 13%. … ‘India is just profiteering. They are reselling,’ Bessent said. ‘What I would call Indian arbitrage — buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it as product has just sprung up during the war — which is unacceptable,- he said.” [editor’s note: “Unacceptable” to whom? What business is it of DC’s where India buys and sells its oil? Presumably a different US official will be picked to whine about it each day (yesterday it was Peter Navarro – TLK] (08/19/25)
“Google signed a deal to purchase electricity from a non-water-cooled nuclear reactor in Tennessee to power its data centers, marking the first commercial agreement for a new generation of nuclear technology that promises to eliminate meltdowns and slash construction costs. The agreement between Google, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and nuclear startup Kairos Power made TVA the first US utility to commit to purchasing electricity from a Generation IV reactor, a fundamentally different nuclear design that addresses safety and cost concerns that have plagued traditional nuclear power. … This design eliminated the risk of nuclear meltdown, the scenario that has driven public fear of nuclear power since accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, according to the Kairos Power report.” (08/19/25)
“Chicago community leaders and longtime residents say the Obama Presidential Center risks washing away the neighborhood’s fabric, warning that proposed luxury developments tied to the project could price out families who have long called the South Side home, according to a report. They also say the sprawling 19.3-acre site in historic Jackson Park, with its 225-foot-tall concrete museum, has become an eyesore that disrupts the natural landscape and all locals are getting in return for the unsightly structure is soaring rents and higher tax bills. … The Obama Foundation secured a 99-year lease for the public parcel for $10 in 2018 and promised to revitalize the area.” (08/19/25)
“Texas Democrats who ended a walkout found themselves shadowed by law enforcement officers to keep them from repeating the protest that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts and fulfill President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps. Republicans in the Texas House forced returning Democrats to sign what the Democrats called ‘permission slips,’ agreeing to around-the-clock surveillance by state Department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor. However, Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier, of Fort Worth, refused and remained on the House floor Monday night. The Democrats’ return to Texas puts the Republican-run Legislature in position to satisfy Trump’s demands, possibly later this week, as California Democrats advance new congressional boundaries in retaliation.” (08/19/25)
“Launching a US Senate run to unseat five-term Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, oyster farmer Graham Platner on Tuesday made clear in his inaugural ad that beating the ‘fake’ moderate also means taking on the power-hungry billionaire class that has helped keep her in power all these years. The enemy that the vast majority of Americans and Mainers have in common, said Platner, ‘is the oligarchy’. ‘It’s the billionaires who pay for it,’ he added. ‘The politicians who sell us out. And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins.’ Platner … spoke in the ad about how Maine has ‘become unlivable for working people.’ ‘Nobody I know around here can afford a house,’ said Platner. ‘Healthcare is a disaster, hospitals are closing. We have watched all of that get ripped away from us, and everyone’s just trying to keep it all together.'” (08/19/25)
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to accelerate the expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal, condemning ongoing United States-South Korea military exercises as a sign of ‘hostile intent,’ according to state media. Kim, who made the remarks during a visit to a naval destroyer, called the drills ‘an obvious expression of their will to provoke war,’ according to a report published on Tuesday. He insisted North Korea must ‘rapidly expand’ its nuclear weapons programme, pointing to the inclusion of what he called ‘nuclear elements’ in the drills.” (08/19/25)
“Indigenous leaders from across the Amazon are urging South American presidents meeting in Bogota this week to turn promises to protect the region’s rainforest into concrete action, and to give indigenous groups more say in the region’s future. The Fifth Presidential Summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, opening Tuesday in the Colombian capital, brings together leaders alongside scientists and Indigenous representatives. The agenda includes public forums, cultural events and high-level meetings, culminating Friday with a joint declaration setting regional priorities on environmental protection and climate policy. Indigenous leaders hope to meet with national leaders face-to-face for the first time at such a summit. Indigenous groups from all eight Amazonian nations issued a statement Monday evening, calling the rainforest a global lifeline that provides about one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and acts as one of the planet’s largest carbon sinks, absorbing vast amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.” (08/19/25)
“Gen. David Allvin has announced he is retiring early as the U.S. Air Force chief of staff, making him the latest high-ranking military member to leave the armed services amid the second Trump administration. Allvin announced his plans to retire, effective Nov. 1, in a statement Monday. … Allvin is two years into his four-year term, which began on Nov. 2, 2023. He was appointed by former President Joe Biden. He is the fourth chief military officer to leave the military since Trump’s inauguration in January.” (08/19/25)
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the Trump administration is weighing plans to apply part of the tariff revenue toward lowering the national debt. ‘I think at a point we’re going to be able to do it,’ Bessent said during an interview with CNBC, adding that he and President Donald Trump were ‘laser-focused on paying down the debt.’ ‘I think that we’re going to bring down the deficit-to-GDP, we will start paying down debt, and then at a point that can be used as an offset for the American people,’ he said. The nation’s debt, which is the amount of money the U.S. [regime] owes its creditors, is nearing $37.2 trillion as of Aug. 18, according to the Treasury Department. The staggering figure has intensified the long-standing debate in Washington over government spending, taxation and efforts to rein in the ballooning deficit.” (08/19/25)
