Category: News / Information
Right-Wing’s Riley Gaines Grift Exposed
Riley Gaines turned a 5th place tie, not even in the top ranking, into a political money making bigot gig. She has made hundreds of thousands of dollars pushing people to hate trans athletes using misinformation and lies. She is a favorite of republicans to have testify in front of legislatures to help them justify making trans kids lives miserable. Wonder who is funding her? Religious bigots like billionaire Betsy DeVos. The DeVos made their money on pyramid schemes and selling Amway. All in the name of their god they lie, make things up, and misinform the public about trans people. I don’t understand the hate and bile they have for non-straight non-cis people. Makes their god look ugly. Hugs
From Open Secrets:
(Embedded beneath the title with their code. Click through on the title to see the tables.)
As lobbying revenue grows at record pace, Trump-aligned firms reap the biggest rewards
Lobbying firms with close ties to President Donald Trump are raking in staggering amounts of revenue, and K Street spending is growing at the fastest pace since the federal government instituted quarterly reporting requirements in 2008.
While changes in administration shift which lobbying firms attract the most clients, Trump’s second term has introduced outsized growth among businesses that normally lag far behind the top-earning firms.
This year’s lobbying expenditures are growing at the fastest pace since quarterly reporting began in 2008. The first three quarters of 2025 saw a 13.1 percent increase in lobbying spending as compared to 2024. Adjusted for inflation, the year-over-year growth for the first three quarters was 7.7 percent. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
While third-quarter lobbying tends to be quieter as Congress takes its August recess, Q3 of 2025 saw an 11.8 percent increase in non-adjusted spending when compared to 2024, the largest increase since 2009.
In total, the first nine months of 2025 saw $3.8 billion in lobbying spending. During the same period in 2024, lobbying spending totaled $3.3 billion.
Record increases in spending have coincided with Trump’s sweeping changes to policies and government institutions.
Top lobbying firms
Trump’s second term has been marked by the explosive growth of lobbying firms that have close ties to the president. Leading the pack is Ballard Partners,
Ballard dethroned the previous top-earning lobbying firm, Brownstein, Hyatt, once year-to-date numbers were updated with Q3 earnings. Ballard has been paid $59.5 million for lobbying services in 2025, compared to the former lobbying king’s $54 million. Brownstein, Hyatt had earned the most revenue every year from 2021 to 2024.
In last year’s third quarter, Ballard Partners took in $4.7 million and ranked 16th. This year, it made over five times that, bringing in $25 million in just the third quarter.
The firm’s founder, Brian Ballard, was chairman of the Trump Victory PAC in 2016 and 2017. During President Joe Biden’s term, Ballard remained close with Trump while his lobbying firm lost nearly a dozen clients not even a year into the administration. In the first three quarters since Trump returned to office, the firm gained 135 clients, nearly doubling its roster.
A number of former Ballard Partners lobbyists are now serving in the White House as senior officials, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Ballard Partners isn’t the only firm profiting from the new administration. Among the top 20 earners of the third quarter, the firms that saw the most year-over-year growth in the first three quarters all have ties to Trump.
- BGR Group, which reported $51.4 million in lobbying revenue for the first three quarters of 2025, employs former Trump campaign adviser David Urban and previously employed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The firm ended the third quarter with the second-largest revenue among all firms. Last year, it had the fifth-largest revenue in the third quarter.
- Miller Strategies’ revenue in the first nine months increased fourfold between 2024 and 2025. The firm is headed by Jeff Miller, who served as finance chair on Trump’s second inaugural committee. The firm ranked 36th in last year’s third quarter in terms of revenue. This year, it finished fifth.
- Headed by former Trump adviser Carlos Trujillo, Continental Strategy has multiplied its revenue by over 22 times in the first three quarters of 2025 in comparison to the same period in 2024. It reported $18.2 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, a staggering jump from the same period last year when it took in about $800,000.
- A practically brand new firm, Checkmate Government Relations, which reported its first quarter of revenue at the end of 2024, has had a meteoric rise in Washington. The firm is led by Ches McDowell, a hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr.
- Mercury Public Affairs, where Wiles formerly served as co-chair, reported a total of $19.1 million in revenue in the first three quarters of 2025, over double what it earned in the same period last year.
Top issues
Businesses and foreign governments flocked to Trump-connected lobbying firms amid confusion and concern over which imports and countries would be affected by tariffs. As a result, the number of clients who hired lobbyists to address tariff policy more than tripled between the first three quarters of 2024 and 2025, reaching 342. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Lobbyists have said that the strategies to affect trade policy have changed since the first Trump administration. To have influence, lobbyists need to have close personal relationships with the president and those serving under him.. Brian Ballard attributed the growth of his firm to attracting clients concerned about tariffs.
Along with tariffs, trade lobbying has also seen an increase in clients, with the number of clients in the first nine months of 2025 increasing 40 percent compared to the same period last year, rising to 1,570. Trade was also the fifth most lobbied issue from Q1 to Q3 in 2025.
The issues with the most lobbyists in the first three quarters of 2025 were the federal budget and appropriations, health issues and taxes.
Top industries
The miscellaneous health industry, which includes health organizations that aren’t health professionals, health services and HMOs or pharmaceuticals, more than doubled its lobbying spending in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid and a potential lapse in funding for the Affordable Care Act have spurred more lobbying activity. In the first nine months of 2025, the industry spent $13.8 million on lobbying. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
The industry’s top spender was Kidney Care Partners, which spent $945,000. The groups the organization represents include dialysis providers and pharmaceutical companies. In 2025, they’ve hired lobbyists to consult on Medicaid and Medicare issues and other health issues.
Lobbying in public education policy has come primarily from “school choice” advocacy groups, followed by organizations focused on strengthening or reforming public schools. The industry spent $902,000 in the first nine months, a 97 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Invest in Education Policy, a conservative organization that works to advance school choice, was the highest spender in public education policy. The group spent $500,000 to lobby for the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 and the One Big Beautiful Bill. The Educational Choice for Children Act was included in Trump’s OBBB package passed earlier this year. It will provide a tax credit to generate money for families’ educational expenses, including private school tuition.
The industries that spent the most on lobbying in the first nine months of this year are the pharmaceuticals & health products industry, the electronics manufacturing and equipment industry, and the securities and investments industry, which spent $341.3 million, $226.3 million and $136.4 million, respectively.
This article was originally published by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. View the original article.
Two clips about horrific ICE actions from The Majority Report
You MUST Know This About Filming ICE
Trump’s Ice Terror Campaign Invades Charlotte
Just One
I do want to add a content alert; there is little to nothing horrible in Annie’s post, but there is a link to testimony that could be at the least disturbing. This is such an important story, and it really is on us to make sure this stuff stays out front all the time until there is justice.
1st Indochina War Begins, Dr. Huet-Vaughn Refuses, 100,000 Chechnyans Link In Protest, & The State of VT Wins Over Baker, All In Peace & Justice History for 11/20
| December 20, 1946 The morning after Viet Minh forces under Ho Chi Minh launched a nighttime revolt in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, French colonial troops cracked down on the communist rebels. Ho and his soldiers immediately fled the city to regroup in the countryside. That evening, the communist leader issued a proclamation that read:  Ho Chi Minh, Paris 1946 “All the Vietnamese must stand up to fight the French colonials to save the fatherland. Those who have rifles will use their rifles; those who have swords will use their swords; those who have no swords will use spades, hoes, or sticks. Everyone must endeavor to oppose the colonialists and save his country. Even if we have to endure hardship in the resistance war, with the determination to make sacrifices, victory will surely be ours.” The first Indochina War thus began. |
| December 20, 1960 North Vietnam announced the formation of the National Front for the Liberation of the South (usually known as the National Liberation Front or NLF), designed to replicate the success of the Viet Minh, the umbrella nationalist organization that successfully liberated Vietnam from French colonial rule.  National Liberation Front flag Ho Chi Minh biography (2 separate links) |
December 20, 1990 Kansas reservist Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn refused orders to serve in the first Gulf War (Desert Storm) and was later sentenced to prison. The Kansas medical board withdrew her hospital privileges.“The issue was not whether I belonged in the military but whether the military belonged in the Middle East waging war. I did not want to focus on the personal decision. I was trying to focus on the decision for which each and every American would have to be responsible.” — Yolanda Huet-Vaughn What if they gave a war and nobody came? |
| December 20, 1994 100,000 Chechnyan civilians linked hands in a 65 km-long human chain (40 miles) to protest the Russian invasion of their country and attack on their capital, Grozny. Read more (It’s a NYT; if you can’t get it see it at Wikipedia.) |
| December 20, 1999 The Vermont Supreme Court rulled in Baker v. State of Vermont that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex. History of the Freedom to Marry |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december20
Some Effects of Medicaid Cuts
This Is Unsettling.
So, it should be shared. I’m sorry.
Far-right group with links to neo-Nazi leader offers online military training
Experts say Observations Group’s connections to the Base and Rinaldo Nazzaro present ‘urgent danger’
In the underworld of accelerationist neo-Nazis, where talk of attacks against western governments are commonplace, the spread of illegal weapons manuals and tradecraft on drone warfare are proliferating. Experts say, in some cases, that classes are being taught online with the input of leadership from proscribed terrorist groups with links to Russian intelligence.
Authorities have been warning, on both sides of the Atlantic, about the accessibility of drone technologies and military veterans on the far right with the knowhow to use them, presenting a grave national security threat.
“Offering military-style training materials, including drone tradecraft, to the extreme right indicates that this is for prepping purposes,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst with close to a decade of experience tracking militant movements. “[To] improve the capacity of extremist networks to commit violence, or to encourage acts of violence specifically.”
Fisher-Birch says a well-connected and dangerous network called the Observations Group has emerged with a following among internationalist neo-Nazis and bills itself as a “paramilitary project to prepare people for modern warfare”.
Part of its operations, so far, is promoting militant course materials through its closed chat groups.
On its open Telegram channel, however, the group is already bragging about its online “military course” which it says covers “basic command training, and for those with no military experience, the course will cover the basics of preparing a soldier”, and can be purchased using a cryptocurrency wallet it uses for fundraising.
Observations Group continues: “You will receive the latest information on drones […] Nato and [war] doctrines, techniques for engaging in war on both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict […] the integration of modern communications technologies and military concepts of future armies.”
The leader of the network told the Guardian that “I myself am in Russia” but that his “units are autonomous and located in different countries”. Its posts are in English and Russian, making clear it is not an American-based group, but says it is allied with an accused Kremlin spy and leader of the Base – an internationally designated neo-Nazi terrorist group, originating in the US.
“Good news: Norman Spear (leader of the paramilitary group ‘The Base’ and a former FBI analyst) is participating in the development of the first course as a military strategist,” it said in a post, referring to Rinaldo Nazzaro and one of the aliases he uses to mask his legal name.
Over the summer, former members of his group criticized Nazzaro for being an agent of Russian intelligence services – a charge he repeatedly denies – while the Ukrainian cell of the Base claimed responsibility for the July assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv.
Fisher-Birch explained how, “given Nazzaro’s likely connection to the Russian intelligence services or similar entities, it further indicates that the [Observations Group] project is potentially similarly connected”.
Nazzaro, reached on Telegram, did not deny his connections to the group.
“The Base has its own organic European network,” he said. “But we’re always open to collaboration with like-minded groups that recognize strength in unity.”
The Base, recently named to the European Union’s terrorist list, has been aggressively expanding on the continent in lockstep with an uptick in Russian sabotage operations, which have relied heavily on the online recruitment of operatives – often through Telegram.
Initially, Observations Group planned its course to be an in-person training camp in Czechia, but changed it to an online seminar where it is “already live”. The group declared new partnerships with an unnamed American extremist group and “in the future, our project will be able to officially conduct exercises and training sessions in the USA”.
“This situation,” Fisher-Birch said, “certainly benefits the Russian government.”
Lucas Webber, a senior threat intelligence analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, says the group and its connections to a real-world actor like the Base show it is part of an “urgent danger” on the far right.
“Extremist groups that learn from foreign war zones pose a dangerous contagion threat, channeling battlefield experience into domestic or transnational contexts,” he said, pointing out the use of cryptocurrency is another alarm bell.
“Relying on cryptocurrency for fees and circulating combat manuals masks the group’s financial operations and strategic plans, making detection and disruption more difficult for law enforcement.”
Multiple national security sources previously told the Guardian the FBI has major concerns about terrorist organizations eyeing the use of easily purchasable, first-person view drones for domestic attacks in the US. From Mexican drug cartels to Islamic State – drones are being incorporated into paramilitary strategies all over the world.
Evidence has already emerged that military-trained neo-Nazis in the US, with relevant drone skillsets, have begun advising others within the movement. A writer and alleged former marine has a popular Substack among extremists and claims to be a former member of the now-defunct Atomwaffen Division – another hyper-violent, proscribed terrorist group aligned with the Base and connected to murders in the US.
“I am a drone operator, one of the first in the infantry,” wrote the anonymous writer. “The future is cheap, 3D-printed drones with a [high-explosive] round zip tied to it.”
Webber believes accelerationists on the far right, who view acts of terrorism as a means of setting off a domino effect taking down world governments, are already implementing drones into potential operations.
“Preventing the shift from virtual coordination to tangible violence requires both monitoring of illicit financial flows and a commitment to taking down key digital channels that facilitate recruitment and training,” he said.
“Failure to intervene could allow these battlefield-inspired tactics to spread further, potentially leading to high-impact attacks against civilian or governmental targets.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/17/far-right-paramilitary-the-base?CMP=share_btn_url
Wow.
MTG is a piece of work (as we know.) This is from Talking Points Memo, linked just beneath this. Then, there’s a video with that Bluesky post next; you’ll want to click through. I didn’t listen; her voice is slightly more pleasant than POTUS’s.
Quote of the Day
In a reality TV presidency, you need beefs, heels, betrayals, prodigals returning, and all manner of plot tricks to sustain the manufactured artificial drama. Who knows where this plot twist ends up going:
BASH: We have seen these attacks from the president at other people. It’s not new. And I haven’t heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I think that’s fair criticism. And I would like to say, humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.
[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 16, 2025 at 8:31 AM
https://morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com/i/179152267/quote-of-the-day
My Kinda Town-
Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that’s now a model for other cities
By SOPHIA TAREEN and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Updated 10:14 AM CST, November 16, 2025
CHICAGO (AP) — Baltazar Enriquez starts most mornings with street patrols, leaving his home in Chicago’s Little Village on foot or by car to find immigration agents that have repeatedly targeted his largely Mexican neighborhood.
Wearing an orange whistle around his neck, the activist broadcasts his plans on Facebook.
“We don’t know if they’re going to come back. All we know is we’ve got to get ready,” he tells thousands of followers. “Give us any tips if you see any suspicious cars.”
Moments later, his phone buzzes.
As an unprecedented immigration crackdown enters a third month, a growing number of Chicago residents are fighting back against what they deem a racist and aggressive overreach of the federal government. The Democratic stronghold’s response has tapped established activists and everyday residents from wealthy suburbs to working class neighborhoods.
They say their efforts — community patrols, rapid responders, school escorts, vendor buyouts, honking horns and blowing whistles — are a uniquely Chicago response that other cities President Donald Trump has targeted for federal intervention want to model.
“The strategy here is to make us afraid. The response from Chicago is a bunch of obscenities and ‘no,’” said Anna Zolkowski Sobor, whose North Side neighborhood saw agents throw tear gas and tackle an elderly man. “We are all Chicagoans who deserve to be here. Leave us alone.”
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, walks with a Chicago Public School’s student walkout in protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents around Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague)
The sound of resistance
Perhaps the clearest indicator of Chicago’s growing resistance is the sound of whistles.
Enriquez is credited with being among the first to introduce the concept. For months Little Village residents have used them to broadcast the persistent presence of immigration agents.
Furious blasts both warn and attract observers who record video or criticize agents. Arrests, often referred to as kidnappings because many agents cover their faces, draw increasingly agitated crowds. Immigration agents have responded aggressively.
Officers fatally shot one man during a traffic stop, while other agents use tear gas, rubber bullets and physical force. In early November, Chicago police were called to investigate shots fired at agents. No one was injured.
Activists say they discourage violence.
“We don’t have guns. All we have is a whistle,” Enriquez said. “That has become a method that has saved people from being kidnapped and unlawful arrest.”
By October, neighborhoods citywide were hosting so-called “Whistlemania” events to pack the brightly colored devices for distribution through businesses and free book hutches.
“They want that orange whistle,” said Gabe Gonzalez, an activist. “They want to nod to each other in the street and know they are part of this movement.”
Midwestern sensibilities and organizing roots
Even with its 2.7 million people, Chicago residents like to say the nation’s third-largest city operates as a collection of small towns with Midwest sensibilities.
People generally know their neighbors and offer help. Word spreads quickly.
When immigration agents began targeting food vendors, Rick Rosales, enlisted his bicycle advocacy group Cycling x Solidarity. He hosted rides to visit street vendors, buying out their inventory to lower their risk while supporting their business.
Irais Sosa, co-founder of the apparel store Sin Titulo, started a neighbor program with grocery runs and rideshare gift cards for families afraid of venturing out.
“That neighborhood feel and support is part of the core of Chicago,” she said.
Enriquez’s organization, Little Village Community Council, saw its volunteer walking group which escorts children to school, grow from 13 to 32 students.
Many also credit the grassroots nature of the resistance to Chicago’s long history of community and union organizing.
Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said Chicago area residents were so familiar with their rights that making arrests during a different operation this year was difficult.
So when hundreds of federal agents arrived in September, activists poured energy into an emergency hotline that dispatches response teams to gather intel, including names of those detained. Volunteers would also circulate videos online, warn of reoccurring license plates or follow agents’ cars while honking horns.
Protests have also cropped up quickly. Recently, high school students have launched walkouts.
Delilah Hernandez, 16, was among dozens from Farragut Career Academy who protested on a school day.She held a sign with the Constitution’s preamble as she walked in Little Village. She knows many people with detained relatives.
“There is so much going on,” she said. “You feel it.”
A difficult environment
More than 3,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws have been arrested during the so-called “ Operation Midway Blitz.” Dozens of U.S. citizens and protesters have been arrested with charges ranging from resisting arrest to conspiring to impede an officer.
The Department of Homeland Security defends the operation, alleging officers face hostile crowds as they pursue violent criminals.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who’s brought controversial tactics from operations in Los Angeles, called Chicago a “very non permissive environment.” He blamed sanctuary protections and elected leaders and defended agents’ actions, which are the subject of lawsuits.
But the operation’s intensity could subside soon.
Bovino told The Associated Press this month that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will target other cities. He didn’t elaborate, but Homeland Security officials confirmed Saturday that an immigration enforcement surge had begun in Charlotte, North Carolina.
DHS, which oversees CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has said operations won’t end in Chicago.
Interest nationwide
Alonso Zaragoza, with a neighborhood organization in the heavily immigrant Belmont Cragin, has printed hundreds of “No ICE” posters for businesses. Organizers in Oregon and Missouri have asked for advice.
“It’s become a model for other cities,” Zaragoza said. “We’re building leaders in our community who are teaching others.”
The turnout for virtual know-your-rights trainings offered by the pro-democracy group, States at the Core, doubled from 500 to 1,000 over a recent month, drawing participants from New Jersey and Tennessee.
“We train and we let go, and the people of Chicago are the ones who run with it,” said organizer Jill Garvey.
Awaiting the aftermath
Enriquez completes up to three patrol shifts daily. Beyond the physical exertion, the work takes a toll.
Federal agents visited his home and questioned family members. A U.S. citizen relative was handcuffed by agents. His car horn no longer works, which he attributes to overuse.
“This has been very traumatizing,” he said. “It is very scary because you will remember this for the rest of your life.”
Scottie's Playtime 