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Monday, November 17, 2025

US Hits Three More Narco-Terrorists in Boat in Pacific

Fox News reports: U.S. forces carried out a lethal strike Saturday on a narcotics vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in the Eastern Pacific, killing three suspected narco-terrorists in international waters, according to U.S. Southern Command. The strike brings the total number of suspected narco-terrorists killed to 82, with three survivors, in an ongoing U.S. campaign targeting drug-smuggling vessels tied to designated terrorist groups (Fox News). Ward Clark of RedState: Now there’s a masterpiece of military understatement, in describing the strike as a “lethal kinetic operation,” when most would have simply said, “blown up.” The Navy’s Southern Command counted coup on their official X channel, with newly-declassified video: “On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization” …. In these operations, the United States Navy is once more proving that old military truism: There is no problem that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives (Red State).

US to Designate Maduro’s Cartel de los Soles a Foreign Terrorist Organization

Maduro must feel like he’s operating in an increasingly confined space with limited time remaining. Secretary of State Marco Rubo: .@StateDept intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Headed by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe (Rubio). Eric Daugherty: Maduro is COOKED…. The USS GERALD R. FORD has recently arrived in the Caribbean. The pressure on Venezuela is palpable (Daugherty).

A Tariff Dividend to American Families Before the 2026 Election?

Many who are against such an idea in principle would find it quite attractive in practice. New York Post reports: President Trump’s proposed $2,000 tariff dividend checks for American citizens are coming, he promised — but no date has been finalized yet. The president gave an update on the timing of the potential payouts on Friday, saying they won’t come in time for the Christmas shopping season. Instead, he said he’s planning to dole them out in 2026 as he grapples with a tough midterm election cycle. “It will be next year. The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Mar-a-Lago (New York Post). Such a move would need Congressional approval. Alabama Senator Katie Britt indicated a warmth to considering such a proposal: “I sure hope that we take a look at these types of things and how we can make sure that the American people have more of their hard-earned money back in their pocket,” Britt told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” (The Hill).

Russian Military Intelligence Ship Spotted Off Coast of Hawaii

Yet more evidence that Putin is not to be trusted. Dmitri Bolt for Townhall: A Russian military intelligence ship was spotted off the coast of Hawaii and has been under continuous Coast Guard surveillance since October 29, officials said Thursday: “Russian spy ship caught lurking just 15 miles off Honolulu! U.S. Coast Guard confirms a Russian Navy Vishnya-class intelligence vessel (AGI Kareliya) was detected and actively monitored only 15 nautical miles south of Oahu on Oct 29. HC-130 Hercules aircraft and Coast Guard Cutter William Hart immediately responded, conducting overflights and close transits while the ship operated dangerously close to U.S. territorial waters. ‘The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring this Russian vessel to protect our maritime borders and defend our sovereign interests,’ said Capt. Matthew Chong” (Townhall).

Ukraine Scrambling to Limit Damage From Corruption Scandal

It’s a horrible look for the warn-torn nation fighting to retain support from U.S. and European allies. Politico reports: Top officials are rushing to reassure Kyiv’s Western partners, after the alleged $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector — which implicated current and former top officials, and some close associates of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — troubled allies. “We must act quickly and decisively on the battlefield and act equally in vital areas within the state. The government’s task is to show Ukrainian society and partners that under no circumstances will we tolerate corruption and will respond quickly to any facts,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told POLITICO…. The corruption scandal rocked Kyiv at an awkward moment, as Ukraine is urging EU partners to take a huge risk and agree on a €140 billion reparation loan taken from seized Russian assets. It needs financial assistance to survive likely the harshest winter since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. And allies who still want to back Kyiv also want answers on corruption (Politico).

Trump to Sue BBC—Perhaps for Up to $5 Billion

The BBC issued a formal apology—but the major broadcaster is preparing for a costly legal fight. New York Sun: The BBC will have to “batten down and hire the best lawyers in Florida” if President Trump goes ahead with his threatened lawsuit against the U.K.’s national broadcaster, says a former senior executive quoted on the network’s own website. Mr. Trump has indicated he is planning to do just that, telling reporters on Friday evening aboard a flight to Palm Beach, Florida, from Washington, D.C., that he might even jack up his demand for $1 billion in damages. “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” Mr. Trump said a day after the storied broadcaster announced it had “sincerely” apologized to the president but would not offer any financial compensation. “I think I have to do it,” Mr. Trump added. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.” … “The people at the top of the BBC should be fully concentrating on what is, in normal times, a fundamental moment for the corporation,” [culture and media editor, Katie Razzall] writes, noting that “the details of its very existence” must be determined in time for a new charter at the start of 2028. “Now top BBC brains will be diverted, to game out its next moves in what could be a very damaging, even existential fight with Donald Trump. The legal fees alone could get very expensive,” she says(New York Sun).

Israel: No, There Will Not Be a Palestinian State

Salem News Channel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state after protests by far-right coalition allies over a U.S.-backed statement indicating support for a pathway to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu spoke two days after Israel’s key ally the United States and many Muslim-majority nations endorsed a draft U.N. resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying the process offered a route to Palestinian statehood (Salem News Channel). Israel Defense Minister Katz was particularly blunt: “Israel’s policy is clear: there will be no Palestinian state. The IDF will remain on Mount Hermon [on the Syrian frontier] and in the security zone. Gaza will be demilitarized down to the last tunnel. Hamas will be disarmed — in the Yellow Zone (the buffer area) by the IDF, and in Gaza City and the northern Strip (‘old Gaza’) by an international force or by the IDF itself” (Israel War Room).

Post-War Gaza and American Engagement in the Region

The aid and support from the American administration has also created some tension or perhaps a feeling in Israel that Uncle Sam is in their small and very dangerous backyard. YNET: Since October 9, the new reality in Gaza has also become clear. Behind Israeli declarations of having not withdrawn from the entire Strip lies the fact that the dominant actor in the post‑war zone is no longer Israel but the Americans. The command post established in Kiryat Gat is to serve as Washington’s forward base for unprecedented involvement in the conflict. According to multiple reports, a large U.S. base is also planned on the Gaza border…. Israel now stands at a strategic junction and must recognize it faces only two realistic choices: confront Trump and set red lines (a feasible path, but one that risks a heavy price) or accept the changing reality and attempt to preserve maximum operational freedom (especially the right to strike emerging threats, such as in Lebanon), and retain a veto over decisions that sharply conflict with Israeli interests (YNET).

Peter Thiel Dumps AI Stock Nvidia

Stirring questions about the solidity of the AI powerhouse. The Street: Billionaire Peter Thiel’s latest 13F didn’t show off a mere trim, but a full-blown exit from AI bellwether Nvidia (NVDA). It comes at a surprising point when Wall Street’s been busy declaring the chipmaker as virtually untouchable. Although Nvidia recently surpassed a $5 trillion valuation, Thiel walked away completely, shrinking his fund’s equity book by roughly two-thirds while building it around three megacap names. That’s far from being a rebalance and more of an emphatic statement. Thiel had previously warned about AI’s hype cycle running far ahead of its real economics, and his Q3 portfolio shakeup aligns with that view…. The fund didn’t just trim Nvidia, it eliminated it. Over 537,000 shares, which represent nearly 40% of the entire portfolio, just vanished from the 13F. Vistra Energy, another 19% chunk, was wiped out as well (The Street).

10.

The Destructive Cost of Sports Gambling; “It's time to call off the bets”

Josh Hammer on the increasing prevalence of sports gambling—and how it’s destroying what is intended to bring us together: The human toll is staggering. Countless young men — already increasingly despondent and disconnected from faith, family and community — are now glued to their phones, obsessing over point spreads. The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction. Betting lines crawl across sports broadcasts; ESPN anchors often sound more like casino hosts than sports analysts. A beloved national pastime that once fostered civic unity and wholesome escape has thus become yet another arena for atomistic consumption and decay. Just as bad, the innocence and integrity of sport itself has been hopelessly corrupted, as recent high-profile legal cases involving both the NBA and MLB make abundantly clear…. We must have the courage to say enough is enough. The societal stakes are far higher than any given point spread. It’s time to call off the bets (Hot Air).

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