A 155-millimeter shell fired during a live-fire demonstration for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday prematurely detonated, dropping fragments of the shell on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and motorcycle that were part of Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail, according to a patrol report.

No officers were hurt in the mishap, which dropped shrapnel onto the vehicles parked on a ramp to a major freeway that had been ordered closed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor had objected to the plan to fire over the freeway, Interstate 5, and ordered a 17-mile stretch closed — against the guidance of military officials, who had said it was safe for it to remain open.

According to the patrol report, one officer described what sounded like pebbles hitting his motorcycle and the area around him, and two others saw a two-inch piece of shrapnel hit the hood of their patrol vehicle, leaving a small dent. The report says shrapnel was also found on the road near the motorcycle.

Mr. Newsom had warned that the Marine Corps’ plans to fire artillery shells over Interstate 5, the West Coast’s main north-south artery, could pose hazards for motorists on the stretch between Los Angeles and San Diego. The closure he ordered on Saturday caused significant backups on the portion of the interstate, which is used by approximately 80,000 people daily.

Full Article Text

A 155-millimeter shell fired during a live-fire demonstration for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday prematurely detonated, dropping fragments of the shell on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and motorcycle that were part of Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail, according to a patrol report.

No officers were hurt in the mishap, which dropped shrapnel onto the vehicles parked on a ramp to a major freeway that had been ordered closed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor had objected to the plan to fire over the freeway, Interstate 5, and ordered a 17-mile stretch closed — against the guidance of military officials, who had said it was safe for it to remain open.

According to the patrol report, one officer described what sounded like pebbles hitting his motorcycle and the area around him, and two others saw a two-inch piece of shrapnel hit the hood of their patrol vehicle, leaving a small dent. The report says shrapnel was also found on the road near the motorcycle.

Mr. Newsom had warned that the Marine Corps’ plans to fire artillery shells over Interstate 5, the West Coast’s main north-south artery, could pose hazards for motorists on the stretch between Los Angeles and San Diego. The closure he ordered on Saturday caused significant backups on the portion of the interstate, which is used by approximately 80,000 people daily.

“We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time, the vice president and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless with people’s lives for their vanity projects,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times.

Lt. Col. Lindsay Pirek, a spokeswoman for the First Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, said the Corps was aware of the report of a possible airborne detonation, and an investigation was underway.

“We are committed to determining the incident’s root cause and applying findings to future missions,” Colonel Pirek said. The statement did not provide additional detail on the munitions used during the exercise.

A spokesman for Mr. Vance declined to comment and referred reporters to the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

According to the report filed by the California Highway Patrol, the artillery round was fired at 1:46 p.m. from White’s Beach, approximately three-quarters of a mile south of Las Pulgas Road, where the highway patrol officers were parked after escorting Mr. Vance to the event.

The exercise — which the report said was expected to include the firing of approximately 60 155-millimeter shells — was terminated after the round prematurely exploded, the patrol said. Patrol officers checked the interstate for shell fragments but found none, and declared it clear before reopening it to vehicular traffic at 2:20 p.m.

The demonstration was part of a larger exercise marking the Corps’ 250th anniversary, attended by Mr. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. A Marine spokesman accompanying reporters witnessing the exercise was pulled aside by another Marine after the initial volley was fired by M777 howitzers, then told members of the news media that the initial plan for multiple volleys had been scaled back. The spokesman, Lt. Col. Brian Coleman, noted that there had been a lengthy back and forth between officials in the days leading up to the event, but gave no further information.

The decision to fire live artillery shells from the oceanfront training area was described as unusual by an active-duty Marine artillery officer and a former Marine artillery noncommissioned officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared reprisal. Those Marines said the only howitzer training they had previously observed at Camp Pendleton had taken place at approved artillery ranges on the main side of base, east of the interstate, which they said were a much safer option for training.

A highway patrol official based in the area also described it as an “unusual and concerning situation.” Tony Coronado, the highway patrol’s border division chief, said in a statement, that “it

is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur near an active freeway.”

Such mishaps are exceedingly rare, according to an active duty Marine who has spent more than 20 years as an artillery officer. The Marine, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the most likely explanation for such a mishap was a fault in the projectile’s fuze — a mechanical or electromechanical device fitted to the nose of the shell that causes it to explode.

The Marines fired howitzer shells across Interstate 5 on Friday evening as a rehearsal, evidently without incident.

The Marine Corps said before the event that the exercise would occur on “approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols” without the need to close public roads.

“All air, surface and ground movements are scripted and rehearsed in accordance with standard operating procedures and established safety checklists,” the Marines said.

... ok, I feel like I am taking crazy pills.

Too tired to cut out summarize, here's my written attempt at... comprehending this... :

As part of a big military training excercise / publicity stunt / 'morale booster', Hegseth orders the Marines to fire live artillery rounds from Camp Pendleton on a trajectory that goes over I5, the busiest, main highway in California...

... and one of the shells detonates prematurely, and rains shrapnel down on JD Vance's security detail motorcade, on I5.

After Newsom closed I5 down for safety, after being told that would be unnecessary.

...

Yeah.

Sure.

... why not.

Accident?

Not so subtle 'fuck you' from the Marines, who now have less funding than ICE, whose 250th Anniversary isn't actually until November 10th?

???

Fucking mark this timeline zero, dude, this is over the line.

If the government shutdown continues into November, about 42 million low-income people could face severe disruptions to their food stamp benefits, the Agriculture Department warned in a letter to state agencies last week, saying that the federal government would have “insufficient funds.”

More than a dozen states have since warned that food stamp recipients may experience significant delays in obtaining benefits next month, see their aid reduced or not receive assistance at all.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, said that the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service (...) directed state agencies to pause sending vendors the electronic files typically used to load the benefits for November.

“We’re going to run out of money in two weeks,” Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown.”

(...)

Nearly 42 million people participated in the food stamp program in May, the month with the latest available data. They received an average of $188, at a total cost of about $8 billion.

Tried my best to summarize down to most direct and pertinent facts via cutting out with (...) elipsis, but also, here's the whole text in case NYT paywalls you:

Entire Article Text:

If the government shutdown continues into November, about 42 million low-income people could face severe disruptions to their food stamp benefits, the Agriculture Department warned in a letter to state agencies last week, saying that the federal government would have “insufficient funds.”

More than a dozen states have since warned that food stamp recipients may experience significant delays in obtaining benefits next month, see their aid reduced or not receive assistance at all.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, said that the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service, which operates the food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was exploring contingency plans. But it directed state agencies to pause sending vendors the electronic files typically used to load the benefits for November.

“We’re going to run out of money in two weeks,” Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown.”

In a statement, a White House official said that Democrats “chose to shut down the government knowing that programs like SNAP would soon run out of funds.”

Such a disruption would be the first in recent decades. Benefits have remained available through every shutdown in the last 20 years, said Carolyn Vega, the associate director of policy analysis for Share Our Strength, a nonprofit that supports antipoverty programs.

“We are in uncharted territory,” she said.

Nearly 42 million people participated in the food stamp program in May, the month with the latest available data. They received an average of $188, at a total cost of about $8 billion.

Nutrition policy experts pointed to several other funding sources for the food stamp program, and noted that the Agriculture Department could also provide partial benefits for November. The agency could tap into a contingency fund of about $6 billion, but that would still fall short of covering full benefits for the month.

To fund a federal nutrition program for mothers and children known as WIC, the Trump administration used money collected from customs duties. It is possible that the Agriculture Department could use that same source, known as Section 32, but the account is largely used for school lunch and other child nutrition programs, and is unlikely to be sufficient to fund both food stamps and WIC.

The agency also has regulations on how to reduce benefits based on need and household size. For example, higher-income families could see their November benefits reduced by a larger percentage than lower-income ones.

The Agriculture Department could also turn to a specific interpretation of existing law to justify continuing to fund food stamps, said David A. Super, a law professor at Georgetown University. Under that theory, food stamps are an entitlement program, like Medicare, that is not subject to the annual appropriations process.

“The simplest approach for the U.S.D.A. would be to recognize that language in the Food and Nutrition Act makes SNAP an entitlement independent of appropriations, and continue paying benefits on the strength of that language,” Mr. Super said.

Several states, such as Illinois and New York, have already stated that they cannot provide funding from their own coffers. And at least one state is already warning that October benefits, too, may be affected. Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families said on Friday that it could not guarantee the availability of benefits before Nov. 1 for new enrollees.

Still, Ms. Vega cautioned against panicking, emphasizing that eligible people should still apply. She called for more clarity and a quick resolution from officials in Washington.

“While a delay is certainly better than not issuing November benefits at all, even that can be really significant to a family that is counting on that money and already has a tight budget,” she said.

So uh yeah, ~42 million people set to start starving in about two weeks... uh... good luck everyone!

Hedge funds in the Cayman Islands held more Treasuries at end-2024 than US official data show, with their ownership likely to be $1.4 trillion higher than reported, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve.

The funds’ holdings had increased by $1 trillion since 2022 to reach $1.85 trillion by end-December, the researchers including Daniel Barth and Daniel Beltran wrote in an Oct. 15 note. A report from the Department of the Treasury put the funds’ ownership at $423 billion.

The Fed researchers said their figures showed the Cayman Islands is the largest foreign owner of US government securities, ranking ahead of China, Japan and the UK.

Protesting the direction of the country under Donald Trump, people will gather Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest.

It comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, introduced a bill that would punish any local or state government that celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day.

Called the “Italian Heroes and Heritage Act,” Rulli’s bill would prohibit federal funds to local or state governments that have replaced Columbus Day, which is Monday, with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Rulli’s bill doesn’t address local or state governments that celebrate both, stating it would apply to those that celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day “in lieu of Columbus Day.”

Rulli, an Italian American, said the day recognizes the “generations of Italian Americans whose courage, sacrifice and hard work have helped shape the United States.”

Rulli, whose 11-county district has Mahoning as its most populous, said, “For years, the extreme left has desecrated statues of Christopher Columbus and sought to erase Columbus Day, replacing it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This is not about inclusion, it is about erasing the contributions of millions of Italian Americans who helped build this nation. Indigenous peoples deserve recognition, but this day was created to honor us.”

Columbus Day was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1934 in the United States on Oct. 12 and then moved to the second Monday in October starting in 1971.

Rulli’s bill mentions that President Benjamin Harrison founded the day in 1892 — 400 years after Columbus’ arrival in the Americas — to honor that voyage and the lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans because of their heritage.

Harrison’s recognition was a one-time national celebration.

Stephen Miller may have just accidentally confirmed that he, not President Donald Trump, is the one calling the shots in regard to deportation raids and National Guard deployments.

“Illinois governor says we’re provoking actions that are unlawful,” Miller said on CNN on Monday. “Why would the mere presence—just think about this for a second. If I put federal law enforcement and National Guard into a nice sleepy Southern town, is anyone gonna riot?”

The $20 billion U.S. bailout of Argentina provided major benefits to hedge fund billionaire Rob Citrone and his fund Discovery Capital, which had made heavy investments in Argentine debt and equity closely tied to the country’s economy. Citrone is personally connected to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and multiple sources report that Citrone lobbied Bessent for rescue measures when his bets on Argentina soured as the country's economy deteriorated under Milei.

The bailout’s timing and structure allowed Discovery Capital and similar investors to avoid catastrophic losses using U.S. taxpayer money.

Key Details

• Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital invested heavily in Argentine assets on the bet that President Milei’s economic reforms would spur recovery.
• As Argentina’s economy faltered, Citrone reportedly pressed his friend Bessent (now U.S. Treasury Secretary) to arrange financial support.
• The $20 billion bailout, primarily involving the U.S. buying pesos and offering swap lines, propped up Argentine asset prices, enabling hedge funds to exit or mark up their positions.
• High-profile critics, including Nobel economist Paul Krugman and Senator Elizabeth Warren, accused the Trump administration of channeling aid in a manner that disproportionately aided Bessent’s hedge fund “buddies," particularly pointing out Citrone’s privileged role and lobbying—in line with classic crony capitalism.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/28309599

In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Boston said the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to systematically intimidate certain campus demonstrators into silence.

By Zach Montague
Reporting from Washington
Sept. 30, 2025 Updated 7:32 p.m. ET

https://archive.ph/qZZCZ

The Justice Department sued participants in a confrontation at a New Jersey synagogue that devolved into violence. An official said there might be more such cases to come.

By Jonah E. Bromwich
Sept. 29, 2025

The Trump administration is repurposing a law traditionally used to shield reproductive health clinics to pursue a civil case against pro-Palestinian demonstrators, taking a side in a dispute that roiled New Jersey last year.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Monday filed a lawsuit against two New Jersey advocacy groups and six people who protested outside a synagogue, accusing them of engaging in a “coordinated effort to intimidate and disrupt Jewish worshipers at a religious event.”

https://archive.ph/LlLS8

Anyone else thinking this can only be a bad thing? Maybe a loyalty test to try and purge any of the leadership deemed “disloyal”? We can only hope our top brass remember Oath to defend the CONSTITUTION against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC. Stay vigilant!

The abrupt programming decision quickly morphed into a flashpoint for free speech in America under the Trump administration.

https://archive.ph/8buhg

By John Koblin, Brooks Barnes, Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum
Sept. 18, 2025

Mr. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, and Dana Walden, his head of television, were also hearing from skittish advertisers and employees who had begun to receive threatening messages. When the team reviewed Mr. Kimmel’s planned remarks, they grew concerned that his monologue would only inflame the situation further.

So they made the call: “Jimmy Kimmel Live” would temporarily go dark.

That decision — the product of a spider’s web of interlocking political and financial pressures placed atop one of the country’s biggest corporations — quickly morphed into a flashpoint for free speech in America. Many Democrats, actors and comedians cried foul as right-wing activists celebrated. On a diplomatic trip in Britain, President Trump knocked Mr. Kimmel for “bad ratings” and proclaimed that ABC “should have fired him a long time ago.”