The same judge who said the DOJ was being too hard on the assassin who attempted to gun down people at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner has now dismissed the charges against the FBI officials who lied to congress about the Hunter Biden laptop investigation.

One look at U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui and we can see the ideology.

(VIA Fox News) – A federal judge tossed criminal charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden investigation Monday, delivering a blistering rebuke of the prosecution and accusing the Trump administration’s Justice Department of weaponizing the justice system.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the criminal complaint against former FBI officials Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides from the bench, sharply criticizing the government’s handling of the prosecution.

“What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization,” Faruqui said, describing the case as a “rush job” directed by President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel.

[…] The ruling capped a series of hearings in which Faruqui questioned the government’s decision to pursue the case through a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment and blasted prosecutors for attempting to add another charge without first securing judicial approval. (read more)

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Against the background of the Oleshky ceasefire, Fox News’ Trey Yingst sat down with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the current situation in the ongoing NATO proxy conflict with the Russian Federation.

Zelenskyy’s recent attacks into Russia, or at least to the extent we can call them ‘Zelenskyy’s attacks’ when we really don’t know what interests are directing the targeting, have been hitting very specific Russian energy infrastructure. Ukraine targeted Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery, and another big refinery in the Samara oblast owned by the Russian state energy giant Rosneft.

Then came another major drone strike. According to ASTRA on November 1, a drone attack targeted the LUKOIL refinery, also known as NORSI, in the city of Kstovo. The facility is among Russia’s five largest oil refineries and has an annual processing capacity of approximately 15–17 million metric tons of crude oil.  The NORSI refinery produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, and other petroleum products. It is Lukoil’s largest facility.

You can see from the insert (image above) the drone attacks into the city of Kstovo travelled a considerable distance to reach their LUKOIL target.  It should also be noted that since the time of the Trump administration’s requests to stop targeting Russian oil refining capacity, Ukraine has actually expanded those attacks specifically targeting refining capacity.

The attacks against Russian oil refining in the Samara region happened at the same time western media attention was following the ceasefire in Oleshky, southern Ukraine. The full geopolitical context here needs to be considered.

Ukraine officials told the Kyiv Independent newspaper they never agreed to a request from President Trump, Emissary Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to pause refinery strikes for 30 days. The raids on Russia restarted during the ceasefire in Oleshky apparently as Zelenskyy sought to take advantage of the media distraction. As a consequence, Kremlin officials said, Kyiv was “simply ignoring” US wishes.

The strikes deep into Russia also restarted immediately following statements last week by Zelenskyy about the full restoration of their ability to use Starlink satellite guidance systems. The timing cannot be simply coincidental.

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::BUMPED::  Interestingly, as expected, the various social media platforms and internet connectivity therein are sketchy and intermittent as the critical USA midterm election nears.

As we have done in the past, today we solicit reader feedback on the sentiment in/around your area as the midterm election nears. What is your local sense of the tone, voter intent, enthusiasm or lack therein, in the last 72 48 hours before election day on Tuesday.

This request comes with a very important and specific qualifier, DO NOT USE social media to gauge or report your sense of where things stand.  The reasoning is simple; the algorithm you are exposed to is not necessarily the reality of your environment.  The information being fed into the data system that holds your specific attributes, is purchased and created specifically to provide you a specific sense.

Whether you realize it or not, your algorithm is the culmination of specific identifiable definitions of your personage and your interests.  That algorithm id may or may not represent you, but it is sold and used in order to influence your decision-making on a variety of aspects from commerce (purchasing decisions) to behavioral modification (influences).

As a consequence, the best view of the reality in your vicinity is what you personally experience in real life, not during your travels on the internet.  With that thought in mind, what is your sense of the voting intent in/around your proximity?

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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President Donald Trump paused in Iowa to give an impromptu press conference to the assembled pool of reporters. President Trump was asked about a variety of current events including the endorsement by Democrat Haley Stevens for the Republican candidate Mike Rogers in the Michigan senate race.

President Trump noted with the mindset of violence that permeates the leftists and socialist movement, Ms. Stephens is courageous considering the threats she is sure to encounter.  Trump was also asked about, Jensen Haung and the Chinese operative/spy that was infiltrating his orbit; democrat senator Chris Murphy’s recent stroke; the trade discussion with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; the possibility of a U.S-Canada trade agreement with no tariffs against U.S. imports and much more.  WATCH:

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For the second rally of the day, President Trump will close out Midterm Election 2026 in Salina Kansas.  The anticipated start time for President Trump’s remarks is 8:00pm ET.  Livestream Links Below:

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Today, the final weekend before the midterm election, President Trump will be holding two rallies.  One in Dubuque, Iowa, and a second in Salina, Kansas.  President Trump is anticipated to speak in Iowa at 4:00pm ET.  Livestream Links Below:

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It is a factual datapoint that will not change.  A fully vested Free Trade Agreement with the European Union does not align with an FTA with the United States.  It’s a fact that doesn’t change no matter how much spin is applied.  The EU has structural rules and regulations (climate, energy, net zero, carbon trading) that create distance in any trade effort with the USA.

That said, much to the chagrin of Prime Minister Mark Carney and EU head Ursula Fond-of-Lyin, last Friday the major economies within the EU, specifically Germany, rejected any possibility of an “Associate Member” status for Canada.  Simultaneously, Canadian media realized a trade deal with Europe would subject Canada to carbon taxes that are larger and more economically intrusive than Trump’s tariffs.

Well, whaddyaknow…. This happens:

[SOURCE]

Go figure!

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This is an interesting potential shift in energy position for the European Union. There has been zero investment by the EU nations in oil refining capacity. Simultaneously, Europe is now realizing they need diesel and jet fuel.

Under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), refineries have an ever-diminishing cap on carbon emissions, and they receive fewer ‘free’ pollution allowances over time.

This means oil refining costs go up steadily, increasing the cost of operating the dirty carbon facilities, while these same refineries must adhere to stricter environmental rules and pollution limits under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). The entire regulatory system was created to eliminate gasoline, diesel and eventually jet fuel.

As the EU is now discovering, their climate change policies have been executed but the global and EU drop in demand has not occurred at the same pace. The EU is now in a position where the percentage of their own oil refining production is lower than their needs. More energy dependency has been created.

With the EU energy analysts now saying they don’t have the fuel capacity to support the political demands for a war with Russia, in combination with President Trump continually affirming the U.S. will not get involved in any expanded conflict, the European Union is now reevaluating how to increase domestic fuel production.

EUROPE – Over the past couple of decades, Europe has pursued some of the world’s most ambitious clean energy policies, aiming to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Hardly surprisingly, Europe is now further along the clean energy transition compared to its western peers, with renewables accounting for roughly half of the continent’s power mix compared to about 26% by the U.S. However, Europe is now being forced to reckon with its decision to ditch some of its fossil fuel assets as yet another global energy crisis unfolds just years after the 2022 energy crisis.

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