FEMA lays groundwork to shift disaster burden to states politi.co/4hY8ogw

Lawyers for the Minnesota congresswoman asked federal prosecutors to return items seized this week from her Washington residence.

On Friday, a family member of President Donald Trump revealed the president is “trapped” in a world of sad lies cultivated by his broken father, and aggravated by a legion of flacks who are willing to feed his delusions. “How many times have we watched the Congressional hearing in which somebody in Donald's orbit has been asked a direct question only to watch them look down at their notes for the person or institution they're supposed to blame in order to deflect, instead of answering the question?” Trump asked on her Friday podcast. “The pattern is unmistakable. When confronted with an uncomfortable question Donald or somebody in his orbit always redirects the accusation outward.” Sometimes she said they combine projection with deflection and attack the person who asked the question. Trump himself likes to tell female reporters they don’t smile enough, or he calls her “piggy.” She said he also likes to call people he doesn’t like “stupid, nasty, crooked or corrupt.” All of this, she said amounts to an effort to shift attention away from the question Trump hates to answer and the fact that he fails to answer it. “Projection is a very basic and quite common defense mechanism in which a person attributes thoughts, feelings, impulses and characteristics they find unacceptable in themselves to somebody else,” said Mary Trump, adding that this isn't exactly hypocrisy because projection is “unconscious” much of the time. “When Donald says that somebody is ‘stupid’ or ‘low IQ’ or ‘corrupt’ or ‘criminal’ or ‘traitorous,’ he's literally talking about himself,” said Trump’s niece, who said she recognized the behavior in her uncle early in life. “He just isn't aware of it because acknowledging those shortcomings about himself is unthinkable to him. Acknowledging those shortcomings would be to admit that he is nothing he claims to be, which is smart, strong, sophisticated, successful. The list goes on. Projection is a way of making one's problem,” she said, “… especially if the thing about themselves as humiliating. Mary Trump said her uncle was trained early by his father, Fred, to believe vulnerability, dependence and failure were dangerous. So, what Donald Trump learned to deny those feelings and bury those characteristics. This is a pity, she said — because these characteristics are particularly prominent in her broken, ailing uncle. “Donald doesn't have to convince the entire country of his delusional framework because the truth of the matter is it's really just himself he's trying to convince,” she said, adding that unfortunately “there's a significant minority of people who are willing to go along with his delusional framework … because he is also expert at convincing very weak people that they’re responsible for assuaging his pain and supporting him, no matter what.” “Even if it's to the detriment of their country and, quite frankly, their own detriment,” she concluded. - YouTube www.youtube.com

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Susie Wiles helped set up Fox interview ahead of press secretary’s exit politi.co/3U6BuT0

The New York Times and NPR recently failed to convey just how extreme the former Fox host's views have become.

The New York Times reports signs are emerging that Russia and other foreign governments are once again seeking to influence American voters — in favor of Trump and Republicans. An online influence operation backed by the Russian government has been ramping up efforts to use Israel as a political wedge and sow division among U.S., according to a new study by an independent company that tracks digital threats and foreign propaganda campaigns. The “Doppelgänger” influence operation created a flood of social media posts amplifying perceptions that Democrats have retreated from supporting Israel. “In appearing to target Democrats with negative content, the Doppelgänger push is just the latest effort by Russia to harm the party and support President Trump since his first run for office in 2016,” reported the Times. “… Doppelgänger is run by Russia’s Social Design Agency, a public relations firm. Both the U.S. government and the European Union have imposed punitive sanctions upon it.” Sources speaking with the Times said U.S. intelligence officials tried to provide a classified briefing to state officials on the midterm election threats on Thursday—the first of its kind in more than two years. However, Trump administration officials were unable to establish a secure virtual connection to the election personnel, said the sources. On Wednesday, social media platform X announced it banned 13,000 accounts linked to Iran, Russia and China, said the Times. But, nothing stops Russian and Chinese-backed trolls and software from simply opening new accounts from which to sow division and animosity among voters. The Times reports international operations have “grown more difficult to track” thanks to a broad pullback by many social media firms. That reversal of fake site subversion happened after condemnation and outcry from conservatives and MAGA elements, who accused the companies of collaborating with the U.S. government to stifle free expression. Lisa Kaplan, the founder of Alethea, told the Times that the volume of posts in the current campaign, and replies under postings that had high engagement, “indicated that the messaging was likely getting in front of people.” The campaign included more than 50 fake personas, posing as Israeli women, that posted in “synchronized waves” beginning on Oct. 7, the three-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. The Ties reports a separate network of more than 1,000 accounts then inserted those posts into high-traffic conversations, creating an estimated stack of 150,000 posts. The Times added that U.S. intelligence findings and numerous reviews have “consistently found that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has favored Trump over Democrats, most of whom are more sympathetic to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.” In September, for example, a network linked to Kremlin trolls posted a series of AI slop social media videos churning out baseless claims against Democrats running in closely contested Senate races. The campaigns “give us a glimpse of what their objectives are,” said Jean le Roux, a senior researcher at Graphika. “They’re not targeting Republican candidates in the same way.”

YouTube video by Katie Phang

The aurora has a low chance to be visible from some states along the U.S.-Canadian border on Sunday night.

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