Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend to become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)

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Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston at 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community radio

On this show, we discuss local, state, national, and international stories that may have slipped under your radar. At my website, THINKWINGRADIO-dot-COM, I link to all the articles I read and cite, as well as other relevant sources. Articles and commentaries often include lots of internet links for those of you who want to dig deeper.

This begins the 23rd week of Trump’s National Guard troops in Los Angeles; the 14th week of Trump’s military occupation of Washington DC; A federal law enforcement occupation in Chicago; and 5 weeks since Trump deployed National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee.

1. More on the November election; by Charles Kuffner | OFFTHEKUFF.COM | Posted on November 6, 2025. TAGS: Election 2025, Amanda Edwards, At Large #4, Bitcoin, CD18, CD29, Christian Menefee, Congress, Democratic primary, early voting, Election 2017, Election 2019, Election 2021, Election 2023, Election 2025, Harris County, Hood County, Houston, Houston City Council, Jarvis Johnson, Jolanda Jones, Leigh Wambsganss, polls, runoff, SD09, Senate, special election, Sylvia Garcia, Taylor Rehmet, Texas, turnout,
   1. Charles Kuffner did his usual commendable discussion of the results for last week’s elections. I’ve digested that down to a few basic statistics, but you can click on his blog post link for his full analysis that I’ve included in this show post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com.
   2. Turnout for Harris County was 16.55%.
   3. CD18 [Previously served by Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner] had an 18.66% turnout.
   4. Harris County overall had a 16.55% turnout, while Harris County minus CD18 had a 16.16% turnout.
   5. City of Houston had an 18.04% turnout. Harris County minus Houston had a 15.34% turnout.
   6. Kuff also has some news breakdowns for Texas HD147, Texas SD-09, US CD18, and US CD29.
   7. MIKE: Sadly, these numbers are not bad for an off-off-year election.
2. Results on the 2025 Texas Constitutional Propositions;
   1. Unfortunately, they all passed, as I suspected they would.
   2. So now, the Texas State Constitution has been amended well over 500 times, which seems ridiculous.
   3. Did you know that, unlike the US Constitution, there is no provision in the Texas Constitution for a “Constitutional Convention”? It can only be amended.
   4. That means that the many amendments that should have been simple legislation — many of which are objectively bad amendments — and that have been inserted into the Constitution can only be ‘repealed’ with more amendments.
   5. While a federal Constitutional Convention terrifies me, I’m somewhat more sanguine about a state convention because it should be somewhat constrained by federal law.
   6. At the very least, I believe that no amendment to the State Constitution should pass without the participation of some minimum percentage of registered voters; say, maybe at least 50%. In 2024, 61% of registered Texas voters cast ballots. At the very least, that would require the Texas legislature to put State constitutional amendments on the ballot only during presidential years, when a major fraction of voters will participate.
   7. In this current election, almost 15% of registered Texas voters cast ballots. That should not be enough to approve constitutional amendments.
   8. REFERENCE: Mike’s Voter Guide: Recommendations on the 2025 Texas Constitutional Propositions;
3. Residential land in Friendswood rezoned for community shopping center; By Rachel Leland | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:27 PM Nov 6, 2025 CST/Updated 3:27 PM Nov 6, 2025 CST. TAGS: Friendswood City Council. Zoning, Residential Zoning, Retail Zoning,
   1. A parcel of land on West Edgewood Drive in Friendswood will be developed for a community shopping center following a change in the city’s future land use map.
   2. … Friendswood City Council voted unanimously to approve a zoning change for 401 W. Edgewood Drive to reclassify 4 acres of land from single-family residential to community shopping center at its 3 meeting.
   3. Earlier in the meeting, City Council voted to amend the city’s future land use map from low-density residential to retail, according to city documents.
   4. Over the past decade, the zoning for this parcel of land, which is currently bordered by retail on one side and single-family homes on the other, has changed from residential, commercial and multifamily classifications roughly six times, council member Joe Matranga said at the meeting.
   5. [Matranga said,] “It’s back to not wanting anybody with a commercial building to be looking into anybody’s backyard.”
   6. … Future developers will be required to install an 8-foot opaque fence and a 10- to 25-foot tree buffer on the land’s border with residential properties, Director of Community Development Aubrey Harbin said.
   7. MIKE: I thought this was an interesting article to discuss because it’s about city zoning, a topic that rears its head periodically in Houston.
   8. MIKE: A basic argument for zoning — at least, what I consider a basic argument for zoning — is predictability for people or businesses that purchase property or structures in an area.
   9. MIKE: It would seem that the Friendswood City Council doesn’t subscribe to my reason for zoning, because the residential owners who abut this parcel bought their homes expecting more single-family homes to be near their single-family homes.
   10. MIKE: To which the Friendswood City Council has effectively said: Oops. Sorry. Never mind.
   11. MIKE: While the article doesn’t speculate on the reasons for the change, I suspect that property tax revenue was a motivator.
   12. MIKE: Residential homes have various tax carve-outs, like homestead exemptions. Commercial, high density residential, or retail properties do not. Plus, those land uses tend to have higher tax appraisals per square foot of improved land.
   13. MIKE: I’ll further speculate that some person or entity has inquired to one of more people in the Friendswood city government about this property, and their intentions for it would be for a retail center or business.
   14. MIKE: If my speculations are on target, I certainly wouldn’t consider that to be political corruption. I would see it as more like business as usual, whether you like it or not.
   15. MIKE: I’ll give the Friendswood City Council at least one attaboy. They have required a high privacy fence and tall tree buffer along the retail property line that adjoins the residential properties.
   16. MIKE: But I’m sure that all the nearby homeowners will be crossing their fingers about what kind of retail neighbors they may soon have.
   17. MIKE: As to the Houston connection that I mentioned at the top of my comments that I consider relevant to this story, it’s this: Even zoning is no guarantee of what may be built near you if the city council can change it any time they want.
4. Houston looks to launch an early childhood development program for low-to-moderate-income families; By Angela Bonilla | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:09 PM Nov 5, 2025 CST/
   Updated 2:09 PM Nov 5, 2025 CST. TAGS: Quality of Life Committee. SEARCH Homeless Services, Houston Housing and Community Development Department director,
   1. Members of the Quality of Life Committee reviewed $100,000 in grant funds during a Nov. 3 meeting for its SEARCH Homeless Services to create an early childhood development program for low-to-moderate-income families in Houston.
   2. … According to the presentation, the program will provide comprehensive early childhood education to 20 children, ages 21 months to 5 years, and will include support services to families such as case management, counseling and referral services, transportation and parenting classes designed to reduce barriers and increase household financial stability.
   3. Michael Nichols, [Houston] Housing and Community Development Department director, and Assistant Director Melanie Parr recommended the grant through SEARCH’s Foshee Family House of Tiny Treasures, a nationally accredited preschool program that provides developmentally focused early childhood education in Houston.
   4. The program’s terms will be from Dec. 1, 2025, to Oct. 31, 2026, according to the agenda packet. …
   5. … Parr also recommended providing up to $376,669 in Emergency Solution Grant and Community Development Block Grant funds to the Rapid Re-housing Case Management services to a minimum of 100 households experiencing homelessness.
   6. [Nichols said,] “Rapid re-housing is for those people who are not really eligible for permanent housing; they’re not disabled, they’re not elderly, and they need two years to really get on their feet, but again, it’s never given without services going around,”.
   7. … Both items will be brought to the Houston City Council meeting Nov. 19 for a vote.
   8. MIKE: Some of you may initially feel that a program that could benefit 20 children might seem like a drop in the ocean compared to the city’s needs for affordable early childhood education, and I can sympathize with that.
   9. MIKE: But that brings to mind the anecdote about a storm that washed thousands of starfish up on the beach, and a child tossing some back into the surf. Someone observes this and points out to the child that with thousands of starfish stranded in the sand, tossing a few back doesn’t make much difference, to which the child responds, “It makes a big difference to the ones I throw back.”
   10. MIKE: Sometimes it pays to keep that sentiment in mind.
5. Harris County commissioners formally adopt FY 2025-26 property tax rate increase; By Melissa Enaje | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 4:01 PM Nov 5, 2025 CST/Updated 4:01 PM Nov 5, 2025 CST. TAGS: Harris County Commissioners, Property Tax Rate, Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Hospital District, Port Of Houston Authority,
   1. Harris County commissioners unanimously approved an increase in the county’s fiscal year 2025-26 no-new-revenue property tax rate during the Nov. 4 court meeting.
   2. … While commissioners adopted the $2.76 billion FY 2025-26 general fund budget and tax rates for the Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Hospital District and the Port of Houston Authority on Sept. 24, the no-new-revenue rate was expected to be adopted near the end of October, according to Laura Lucas with the county administration office.
   3. … The four rates together make a combined county property tax rate of $0.6241 per $100 of valuation, an increase from the FY 2024-25 tax rate of $0.6038 per $100 of valuation. ….
   4. … The county’s tax rate document states the no-new-revenue tax rate will raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year’s tax rate. The 55% increase will raise taxes on a $100,000 home by approximately $2.42, the document states.
   5. MIKE: I’ll admit upfront that I’m no math wizard, but that .55% increase number didn’t seem right to me. I tried to calculate the increase several different ways, and I come up with a tax rate increase of 3.36%. The starting rate was 60.38¢ per hundred dollars valuation. The increase is 2.03¢ per hundred. You can calculate from there.
   6. MIKE: I personally don’t have a particular objection to such a small increase, since my mantra is always that you get the government you pay for.
   7. MIKE: The fact that this new rate is a “no new revenue” rate should mean that some folks won’t actually pay more taxes in spite of the higher rate, while others may pay a bit more.
   8. MIKE: Also, keep in mind that for cities incorporated in Harris County such as Houston and Bellaire, the county rates are in addition to city tax rates, as well as various school district taxes.
   9. MIKE: Just saying …
6. Harris County commissioners choose not to restrict panhandling, roadside solicitors; By Emily Lincke | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 12:33 PM Nov 6, 2025 CST/ Updated 12:33 PM Nov 6, 2025 CST. TAGS: Harris County Commissioners, Texas House Bill 2012, Panhandling, Roadside Solicitors,
   1. Harris County commissioners opted not to draft regulations on roadside vendors and panhandlers in unincorporated areas of the county in a split vote 30.
   2. … In May, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 2012, which allows counties to curb roadside and parking lot soliciting, according to the Texas Legislature Online. The bill permits restrictions on people asking for money or selling food or merchandise, including animals, along roadways.
   3. During Harris County commissioners’ 30 meeting, a motion to pursue drafting panhandling and roadside soliciting regulations failed, with Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones voting against the measure; Judge Lina Hidalgo was absent from the meeting.
   4. … During Harris County Commissioner Court’s 16 meeting, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey brought the motion to create new guidelines on roadside vendors.
   5. At Ramsey’s request, the county attorney would have worked with court offices to draft an ordinance including: Clear prohibitions on panhandling that affects traffic lanes, medians and other areas that pose safety risks; A focus on improving traffic flow and quality of life by creating designated safety zones away from busy traffic; [and] Opportunities for individuals experiencing homelessness to be directed to resources.
   6. … Ramsey and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia were in favor of creating a policy governing panhandlers and roadside vendors. Garcia said the policy could be debated once it was actually drafted.
   7. [Ramsey, a Republican, said,] “The merit of this is really safety. Those folks that are at the intersections and … they’re in the median. … they really do need help, but they don’t need to be able to stand in the road and collect.”
   8. Ellis expressed a desire for the county to collect data on how panhandling and roadside vendors are impacting Harris County before pursuing a policy. Briones, [a Democrat,] said she appreciated Ramsey’s emphasis on adding compassion into the policy but felt regulation could be a “slippery slope.”
   9. [Briones said,] “Yes, we care about safety and yes, we care about the unhoused, but I don’t want to create a regime where we’re criminalizing or creating even more suboptimal outcomes for these individuals.”
   10. … On Aug. 26, a ban on roadside vendors in unincorporated areas of Montgomery County was passed by county commissioners, as previously reported by Community Impact. According to Montgomery County’s ordinance, the goal is to address traffic and safety hazards caused when drivers engage with roadside solicitors.
   11. [Precinct 4 Chief of Staff Josh Pascua said via email Sept. 24,] The rules will also prevent puppy mills, and other live animal sellers, from operating at roadsides … .
   12. MIKE: I can see both sides of this issue, and both have legitimate concerns ranging from panhandler safety, to those with financial needs, to concerns about traffic flow and traffic safety. There are also animal safety and animal cruelty concerns.
   13. MIKE: Republican Commissioner Ramsey and Democratic Commissioner Briones have valid points and concerns.
   14. MIKE: But I also think that Democratic Commissioner Andrian Garcia made the best point when he said that it probably is reasonable to see what a proposed ordinance might look like before taking time to debate it only in theory.
   15. MIKE: I’m sure that this is to be continued.
7. Dan Patrick pledges $1 million in campaign funds to install Turning Point USA at every Texas college and high school; by Alejandro Serrano | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Nov. 7, 2025, 10:40 a.m. Central. TAGS: Gov. Dan Patrick, Turning Point USA,
   1. Gov. Dan Patrick said Friday he is committing $1 million from his campaign coffers to put chapters of Turning Point USA, the group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, on every Texas college and high school campus.
   2. In a social media post, Patrick said that he spoke with Turning Point executives on Thursday about the idea. The state has more than 1,200 school systems that educate roughly 5.5 million schoolchildren and more than 200 colleges.
   3. [Patrick said,] “I had not planned to make a donation before the call, but the Lord put it on my heart to make a meaningful contribution to kick start the Texas project. Texas has the size and the heart to open more chapters than any other state and more than most countries. Let’s get it done for Charlie, and for Texas.”
   4. Kirk, 31, was assassinated in September while he spoke at a Utah college campus. He started Turning Point as an 18-year-old with a vision of corralling young conservatives at colleges across the nation to get involved in politics and champion their views unapologetically …
   5. As Kirk’s voice grew louder, his comments drew backlash and criticism from people who felt he dehumanized already marginalized people, pointing to Kirk’s own words on race, women and LGBTQ+ people.
   6. Since Kirk’s death, momentum has surged through young Republicans across the state and nation. Patrick announced that he will also speak at a Turning Point event Tuesday night at the University of Houston alongside Attorney General Ken Paxton.
   7. Paxton, currently vying to win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, has become a frequent guest at Turning Point events in recent weeks. This week he was the main speaker at one such event at the University of Texas at Austin.
   8. [Paxton said in a statement Friday,] “Texas college campuses should be places of open debate, not indoctrination. I applaud these young conservatives at the University of Houston who have the courage to speak truth boldly, defend freedom, and challenge the leftist echo chambers that try to silence them.”
   9. MIKE: For Paxton, or any Conservative to say that “Texas college campuses should be places of open debate, not indoctrination,” is too ironic for words since that’s exactly the game plan that Conservatives have been trying to play for decades.
   10. MIKE: It’s just more evidence that modern Conservatives talk a good game about liberty and education, but they really only support the liberty and education that they like.
8. Elon Musk wins $1 trillion pay package tying him to Tesla for a decade; By Faiz Siddiqui | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | Updated November 6, 2025. TAGS: Tesla, Elon Musk, Executive Compensation,
   1. Tesla shareholders overwhelmingly approved a $1 trillion pay package intended to keep Elon Musk in charge of the company for the next decade, as the automaker enters a new phase defined by bets on artificial intelligence.
   2. The measure had met unusual public resistance from investors, advisers and activists who argued it was excessive or unmerited, pointing to Musk’s recent track record of work outside Tesla — including his time overseeing the U.S. DOGE Service — some of which has hurt the brand. But Musk also presided over historic gains, turning the company into the world’s most valuable automaker and becoming the world’s richest person.
   3. Now he is poised to take the company into its next phase, defined by its shift from an auto manufacturer to a firm pursuing massive software bets and a foray into robotics.
   4. Musk triumphantly took the stage at the company’s headquarters in Austin, to steep applause and chants of his name.
   5. [Musk announced,] “What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla but a whole new book.”
   6. Musk laid out a product road map including Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, its Cybercab autonomous vehicle, and an existing fleet of Teslas that, through software updates, the company hopes to one day make autonomous. He declared the company’s new mission: “to achieve sustainable abundance,” a shift from its prior pursuit “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
   7. Musk, who has a track record of overpromising, laid out far-reaching ambitions for the robot, from industrial applications to home assistance to health care. He said the number of such robots could eventually stretch into the tens of billions. …
   8. The pay package is a vote of confidence from shareholders that Musk is the man to take Tesla to those new heights, heralding a new era of compensation, even among CEOs with sky-high pay. Its only close comparison is Musk’s prior deal with Tesla, a $56 billion pay package that is before the Delaware Supreme Court after another Delaware judge invalidated it, citing an allegedly unfair process.
   9. Rohan Williamson, professor of finance at Georgetown University, said Musk’s argument for commanding such a vast paycheck is largely unique to Tesla — though similar deals may become more prevalent in an age of founder-led start-ups.
   10. “No matter how you slice it, it’s a lot,” Williamson said. But the deal seeks to emphasize Musk’s central — even singular — role in the company’s rise, and its fate going forward.
   11. [Williamson summarized Musk’s argument as,] “I drove this to where it is and without me it’s going to fail.”
   12. Tesla and its shareholders mounted an unusual offensive in recent days to win backing for the deal, arguing the unprecedented pay package was necessary to keep Musk at the helm during a “critical inflection point” defined by artificial intelligence. …
   13. [Tesla] Board Chair Robyn Denholm took the stage Thursday, her voice hoarse, and … hinted at the work that had gone into securing the deal. …
   14. Ultimately, Tesla announced that Musk’s pay package had been approved with more than 75 percent support.
   15. The pay package would be awarded in 12 tranches, most requiring Musk to grow Tesla’s valuation in $500 billion increments and hit certain operational goals, such as delivering Tesla’s 20 millionth vehicle. It allows the board discretion on certain terms of the stock awards, leading critics to argue the milestones are suggestions rather than mandates.
   16. The package comes as Tesla’s profits have declined and the company has faced business challenges stemming, in part, from unprecedented backlash to Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration. A Yale University study estimated that Musk’s political activity cost Tesla more than 1 million vehicle sales.
   17. Tesla and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
   18. Tech company chiefs can command salaries in the tens of millions. Their wealth is often built off stock holdings derived from shares accumulated before the companies have matured and secured massive valuations.
   19. The offer to Musk, meanwhile, has the potential to balloon his net worth to around the entirety of Tesla’s current market capitalization of nearly $1.5 trillion.
   20. [Said Ross Gerber, a Tesla investor who has become a prominent Musk critic in recent years,] “That’s just the craziest thing. It’s so absurd. … You’re giving him a hundred percent of the value of the company today.”
   21. Musk’s pay package exceeds the earnings of even the highest-paid CEOs in the world of tech and business more broadly. According to an AFL-CIO database of CEO compensation, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was paid just over $79 million in 2024. Apple CEO Tim Cook took home about $75 million that year. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol’s pay came in at just under $96 million. The packages each include stock awards worth tens of millions of dollars. Musk has forgone a traditional salary at Tesla.
   22. Like Musk, Cook and Nadella have presided over massive stock gains in the past decade. Both Microsoft and Apple are worth more than double Tesla’s valuation.
   23. [Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, wrote in a report on the proposal, after asking its 1 million members to tell their state treasurers to oppose the deal,] “The arena of executive compensation will unhappily face a new frontier of exactly how absurdly much the CEO could be paid.”
   24. But Musk has played hardball, saying he is “uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control.” He threatened to turn his attention elsewhere — perhaps to his artificial intelligence start-up xAI — if he didn’t get his way.
   25. During Tesla’s quarterly earnings call last month, Musk said the company’s life-altering ambitions, not greed, drove his push.
   26. [He said on the call, citing grand plans to turn Tesla into an artificial intelligence and robotics juggernaut,] “It’s not like I’m going to spend the money. I don’t feel comfortable building a robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.”
   27. [MIKE: To my mind, that Musk says he’s not going to spend it — that in fact, it would be impossible for any human to spend it — is a valid reason not to give the richest man in the world a $1 trillion payday. More on that at the end. Continuing …]
   28. The deal doesn’t guarantee Musk becomes a trillionaire; it relies on Musk hitting the set of performance milestones launching Tesla’s valuation to $8.5 trillion. In most cases, for each $500 billion added to Tesla’s valuation, along with certain operational goals, Musk would unlock an additional 1 percent of Tesla shares — growing a stake that is already more than 15 percent of Tesla, exceeding $200 billion in value. The board retains some discretion to award the tranches, a setup that has caused some concern.
   29. [Said Nell Minow, a corporate governance expert who is chair of ValueEdge Advisors,] “While it purports to be tied to some very ambitious goals, in fact it gives the board discretion to award him the amount of shares, whether he meets those goals or not. That’s a very ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ kind of proposal.”
   30. Minow, a Tesla investor, voted against the pay package proposal. …
   31. MIKE: To spend a billion dollars earning no interest, a person would have to spend $10 million per year for 100 years. A trillion is 1 thousand billion. Do the math.
   32. MIKE: Once, during an interview, Musk blew off any advertisers not happy with what he was writing on X by saying, “You think you can threaten me with money? F— you!”
   33. MIKE: Musk’s current pay package of $56 billion is already obscene. This new one is exponentially more obscene, but there’s really no word for it.
   34. MIKE: If Musk was paid $1 billion a year for 10 years, think what the other $990 billion could do? Pay higher wages. Cut prices to consumers. Pay the government more taxes for the public welfare. And all of that money would still cycle through the economy multiple times, adding even more wealth to all Americans, including the rich, because most people would be spending it on economy-driving consumables.
   35. MIKE: Charles de Gaulle is credited with saying that, “The graveyards are full of indispensable men.” Elon Musk will one day join them, as will we all.
9. Cruz, Cornyn push new retaliatory legislation that blocks U.S. water from going to Mexico; by Berenice Garcia | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Nov. 7, 2025, 5:00 a.m. Central. TAGS: John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Water Supply, Mexico,
   1. S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn want to limit the U.S.’s engagement with Mexico after the country failed to deliver water to Texas under a 1944 international water treaty.
   2. [MIKE: I added a link in the story to that treaty, in case anyone is curious. That’s something that the Texas Tribune probably should have done, but in any case, continuing …]
   3. The Texas senators filed legislation Thursday that would limit the U.S. from sending Mexico future deliveries of water and would allow the U.S. president to stop engaging with Mexico in certain business sectors that benefit from U.S. water.
   4. The treaty requires the U.S. to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River to Mexico every year. In exchange, Mexico is required to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. every five years, or 350,000 acre-feet per year, from six tributaries.
   5. The delay in water continues to frustrate local farmers and ranchers who depend on water for their irrigation needs. Water received from Mexico is typically stored at two international reservoirs. When water is released, it feeds into the Rio Grande.
   6. However, combined levels at the reservoirs reached a record low last year and continue to be in limited supply due, in part, to lack of rainfall.
   7. [MIKE: The story doesn’t say what the other part is. Continuing …]
   8. When reservoir water is in short supply, irrigation water for farmers is the first to be cut off. This has had a devastating impact on the Rio Grande Valley’s agricultural community, prompting the shutdown of Texas’ last sugar mill in Santa Rosa, though investors announced they plan to revive it.
   9. [Cruz said in a statement,] “The Mexican government exploits the structure of the treaty to defer and delay its deliveries in each individual year until it becomes impossible for it to meet its overall obligations, and it continues to fail to meet its obligation … under the 1944 Water Treaty. These failures are catastrophic for Texas farmers and ranchers, who rely on regular and complete deliveries by Mexico under the treaty and are on the front lines of this crisis, facing water shortages that threaten agriculture and livestock.”
   10. Mexico has struggled to meet its obligations. When the most recent five-year cycle came to an end on Oct. 24, Mexico still owed 865,136 acre-feet of water. Because of drought conditions, Mexico has the next five years to pay back its debt.
   11. The bill would try to compel Mexico to make minimum annual deliveries instead of allowing Mexico to pay what it owes at the end of the five years.
   12. It also requires the U.S. secretary of state to submit a report to Congress on the status of Mexico’s water deliveries within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. The report would determine whether Mexico had delivered at least 350,000 acre-feet of water the previous year.
   13. The report would also assess whether Mexico is capable of delivering the full 1.75 million acre-feet of water by the end of the five-year cycle, and would identify economic sectors and activities in Mexico that benefit from the water it receives from the U.S., and from water from the six tributaries managed by the treaty.
   14. If Mexico fails to deliver at least 350,000 acre-feet in the previous year, the bill would require the president to deny all emergency requests from Mexico for the delivery of water under any amendments to the treaty.
   15. However, exceptions would be made if the water were used exclusively for an ongoing ecological, environmental, or humanitarian emergency or if fulfilling the request is vital to U.S. national interests.
   16. The president may also limit or terminate engagement with Mexico related to those sectors or activities that benefit from the water it gets from the U.S., or from the six tributaries. Exceptions would be made for engagement that relates to countering the flow of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
   17. Hoping to enact consequences for failing to comply with the water treaty, the Valley’s congressional delegation — including U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Edinburg, Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, and [Senator] Cornyn — said they favored including the water treaty in trade talks next year when the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is up for review.
   18. [Cornyn said,] “Mexico has repeatedly failed to uphold the 1944 Water Treaty, including last month when they missed the five-year deadline to deliver the 1.75 million acre-feet of water owed to the United States. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation alongside Senator Cruz, which will put added pressure on Mexico to live up to its obligations under the Treaty, ensure the South Texas agriculture community has the water it needs, and impose harsher penalties on Mexico should they choose to continue withholding the water we’re owed.”
   19. The bill could potentially work faster to add an enforcement mechanism to the treaty if it is passed. …
   20. MIKE: I believe that it’s in our national interest to ensure that the United States has cordial and peaceful relations with both Canada on our northern border and Mexico on our southern border.
   21. MIKE: Water disputes between nations are not trivial. Wars have been fought over access to water, and fairness or legality have not necessarily been important details in such conflicts. When survival is at stake, what is necessary is done.
   22. MIKE: I’ve said for literally decades that I consider Canada and Mexico to be — or should be — our #1 national foreign relations priorities. With their cooperation, our three nations have the longest demilitarized borders in the world. This not a benefit to take lightly.
   23. MIKE: Our peaceful relations with Mexico were important enough for WW1 Imperial Germany to attempt to disrupt them by hoping to persuade Mexico to attack the United States. According to the Wikipedia article, “in 1917, Germany secretly offered Mexico U.S. territory, specifically Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as an incentive to attack the United States during World War I. … Mexico’s President, Venustiano Carranza, considered the proposal but ultimately decided against it, as a military commission concluded that Mexico did not have the military strength to succeed in a war against the U.S.”
   24. MIKE: Keep in mind, in 1917, the Mexican-American War was only 69 years in the past. Further, the US deployed forces to the Mexican border in 1911 during their civil war, and literally invaded Mexico again in 1916.
   25. MIKE: When Germany wanted to make a deal with Mexico in 1917, all that was within the living memory of people, including by some people who had experienced the 1848 war.
   26. MIKE: Given that feelings were still raw among many Mexicans at the time, another war with Mexico was a near thing.
   27. MIKE: Then, in the interwar period from the 1920s to 1939, there were contingency plans to invade Canada in case of a war with Britain. They were called War Plan Red, and the plans were only declassified in 1974.
   28. MIKE: And yes, I’m providing links to those details in this show post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com.
   29. MIKE: All relationships require maintenance work, whether they’re between people or between nations.
   30. MIKE: So if we need to have talks with Mexico about access to water or adjustments to the 1944 water treaty we have with them, and if drought, climate change and global warming have changed conditions under which Mexico is able to meet its treaty obligations, then both nations need to be realistic and pragmatic about what can be done and how to do it.
   31. MIKE: Perhaps the US and Mexico will need to cooperate on international desalination projects to help make up for shortfalls in river water caused by drought. Maybe we need to bring Canada into the discussions and see if they can spare water for their neighbors to the south. Maybe infrastructure will have to be built by concerned parties.
   32. MIKE: It’s essential that this water dispute between nations be resolved peacefully, constructively, and with mutual understanding and respect. If the United States decides to approach this problem by bullying Mexico, I can predict that it will not end well in the long run.
   33. REFERENCE: Treaty relating to the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande — WIKIPEDIA.ORG
   34. REFERENCE: Zimmermann telegram — WIKIPEDIA.ORG
10. Speaking of our relations with our North American neighbors, from NATIONAL SECURITY JOURNAL — Canada’s F-35 Fighter Debate Summed Up in 3 Words; By Jack Buckby | NATIONALSECURITYJOURNAL.ORG | Published Oct. 30, 2025. TAGS: Canada, Defense, Fighters, JAS 39, JAS 39 Gripen, Military, Stealth, Lockheed Martin F-35,
    1. … Swedish defense manufacturing firm Saab is reportedly considering moving at least part of its Gripen fighter jet assembly lines to Canada as part of a plan to ramp up production for Ukraine – but the move could easily be interpreted as an attempt to win over the Canadian government ahead of an anticipated decision on the future of the country’s procurement deal with Lockheed Martin for 88 F-35s.
    2. Ottawa is expected to announce in the coming months whether the Lockheed Martin deal will continue or whether Saab will provide the remaining 72 aircraft that have not yet been delivered, giving Canada a mixed fleet of … fighter jets.
    3. Saab CEO Michael Johansson confirmed in recent press interviews that Kyiv’s recent interest in purchasing over 100 Gripen fighter jets would double the company’s current production capacity, forcing a decision on how to expand production.
    4. Reuters reported that Johansson said the company is now looking for a way to increase its manufacturing capacity, and that Canada and some European countries are in the running to receive the contract.
    5. Speaking to reporters at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said that it was “good news” and that she had talked to Johansson about the company’s plans earlier that day.
    6. [Referencing the GlobalEye multi-role airborne early warning and control platform also built by Saab for Canada, Joly said,] “I’ve been actively working with Saab to see what can be done to do more partnerships with Canada, and it starts with the GlobalEye, but also we’re willing to see what we can do to help support Ukraine.”
    7. … On the surface, Saab’s announcement that it is considering Canada for a final assembly site of its JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets, in the wake of a potential order from Ukraine, appears to be a supply-chain move.
    8. But in Stockholm and Ottawa, the timing and framing suggest something far more strategic: Saab is signaling to Canada’s government that there is a credible industrial alternative to the F-35 Lightning II deal already in the works. Saab lost out to Lockheed Martin once before, but is looking to win the contract now that Prime Minister Mark Carney appears intent on loosening Canada’s dependence on the United States.
    9. By floating the idea of building in Canada — something Saab promised to do if Ottawa decides to purchase 72 new Gripens instead of going ahead with its Lockheed Martin deal — the Swedish company is showing Canada that it is committed to both the platform and the country.
    10. It puts the Canadian government in an interesting position, too. If Canada continues with the F-35 deal, it may lose out on the opportunity to build long-lasting jobs in its country with Saab.
    11. The announcement also comes at precisely the moment when Prime Minister Carney’s government prepares to make a public decision, after the official review of the F-35 deal already came to a close.
    12. The decision may well have been made behind the scenes, but no announcement has been made publicly – and this could be Saab’s last chance to win them over.
    13. … While Saab is pushing hard to win over Carney, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has already made it clear that fielding a mixed fleet of F-35s and Gripens would be a bad idea. This was made clear when Lockheed Martin first won the contract, and has been reiterated by Canadian Air Force officials repeatedly ever since.
    14. From a military and logistics perspective, operating two fundamentally different aircraft types is unwise: it will present serious cost and operational efficiency issues.
    15. There would be multiple pilot training tracks (after pilots have already spent years learning to use the F-35), it would mean double the maintenance infrastructure and planning, and separate supply chains and access to spare parts.
    16. All of these things translate into higher sustainment costs, greater complexity, and increased risk. It’s a logistical nightmare for Canada, but between Saab whispering sweet nothings into Carney’s ear and the ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, ultimately, the RCAF may find itself losing the argument.
    17. Beyond economics, though, there’s also a significant compatibility risk – and this is something Carney cannot ignore.
    18. The F-35’s stealth, sensor fusion, and networked warfare suite ensures interoperability with the U.S. Air Force and other allies who also rely on the same platform.
    19. Fielding a second, non-stealth platform in the fleet, however, would make the force less effective overall and harder to integrate with U.S. fleets and operations.
    20. The Swedish fighter is undoubtedly flexible and affordable, but it’s just not the same, and it’s still a generation behind in key areas. …
    21. MIKE: Trump has unnecessarily instigated Canada’s quandary with his verbal and economic attacks against our friendly northern neighbor. It’s another example of how Trump and his Republican followers are nihilists, destroying useful programs and international relationships built over decades with nothing better to replace them.
    22. MIKE: It’s been my observation — and obviously just my opinion — that an important difference between Conservatives and Liberals is that Liberals try to create programs that work and then look at quantifiable results to evaluate them. Conservatives, on the other hand, are always talking about “Conservative values”, and want programs in place that follow those values whether they subsequently work or not.
    23. MIKE: In other words, Liberals are mostly results-driven while Conservative are mostly ideology-driven.
    24. MIKE: Trump has flipped this script somewhat because he doesn’t have an actual ideology. His policies are almost entirely ‘gut-driven’. If Trump has an ideology, it’s mostly about hate, resentment, revenge, and retribution.
    25. MIKE: His ‘gut’ has poisoned our relations with Canada to the point that they are at least entertaining the idea of disconnecting their military from us to some extent as a matter of their national security.
    26. MIKE: I can’t blame them. After Trump, the US will probably have to go on what will amount to an extended apology tour to all our allies and friends in an effort to rebuild what Trump and his Republican sycophants have severely damaged.
11. In related Gripen news from Reuters — Sweden can help fund Ukraine’s Gripen deal, defence minister says; By Johan Ahlander | REUTERS.COM | November 6, 202510:23 AM CST/Updated November 6, 2025. TAGS: Sweden, Ukraine, Gripen Fighters,
    1. Sweden and Ukraine are making progress on financing for a major deal that could include Kyiv buying up to 150 Gripen E fighter jets, Sweden’s defence minister told Reuters on Thursday, adding that Stockholm could fund part of the deal via military aid.
    2. Sweden signed a long-term cooperation agreement in October with Ukraine for air defences that includes the possibility of exporting the fourth-generation fighter jets, in what would be Sweden’s biggest aircraft order yet.
    3. The cost of the potential deal has not been disclosed but manufacturer Saab (SAABb.ST) … sold four Gripen aircraft in the third quarter to Thailand in an order valued at 5.3 billion Swedish crowns ($563 million), raising questions over Ukraine’s ability to finance the purchase.
    4. … [Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson said,] “[The financing] is moving forward and we’re working closely with the Ukrainian side,” adding that Ukraine’s ability to finance the planes from its budget after the war would be a central part of the deal but that there were other ways as well.
    5. [Jonson added,] “We can look at export credits, the frozen Russian assets and our framework for Ukraine aid, which is 40 billion crowns next year and 40 billion in 2027.”
    6. Jonson said that Sweden had presented the deal to the so-called coalition of the willing, a group of 16 European countries determined to help fund Ukraine’s war against Russia, and that some of them might be willing to help fund the planes.
    7. [Jonson said,] “It could be that countries who have subcomponents in the Gripen system may have extra incentives to help finance the deal.”
    8. Gripen is fitted with engines from General Electric, and also many components made in Britain.
    9. Jonson said Sweden was pushing hard in negotiations with other EU countries to use 200 billion euros of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
    10. [MIKE: At current exchange rates, for the purposes of this story, 200 billion euros equals about 2.2 trillion Swedish crowns. Continuing …]
    11. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Reuters in October that the jet deal with Ukraine was “very realistic” but that a lot of work remained, and first deliveries could take place in three years’ time.
    12. Saab has said it can ramp up Gripen production to meet demand, and that it was considering cooperation with Ukraine, Canada and other countries to add to the production in Sweden and an assembly line in Brazil.
    13. Jonson is hosting his Ukrainian counterpart … in Stockholm on Thursday.
    14. Gripen is seen by analysts as a low-cost alternative to more expensive fifth generation warplanes, such as the F-35.
    15. MIKE: From what I’ve read, the Gripen may be an almost ideal fighter aircraft for Ukraine, even compared to the US F-16. The Gripen was designed by Saab specifically in the event of a war with Russia, so it’s extremely well-suited to Ukraine’s circumstances.
    16. MIKE: It’s just unfortunate that initial deliveries might take 3 years or more.
12. Next is an interesting story from August where environmentalism meets military tactical doctrine. From POLITICO-dot-EU — From Kyiv to the Suwałki Gap, bogs return as Europe’s defensive shield; By Zia Weise, Wojciech Kość and Veronika Melkozerova | POLITICO.EU | August 26, 2025 4:45 am CET. TAGS: Agriculture , Baltics , Borders , Carbon removal , Climate adaptation , Climate change , Conservation , Defense , Emissions , Environment , History , Infrastructure , Military Military strategy , NATO , Nature restoration, Pollution , Tanks, War , War in Ukraine Water, Estonia, Finland,, Germany Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, NATO,
    1. In February 2022, as Russia marched on Kyiv, Oleksandr Dmitriev realized he knew how to stop Moscow’s men: Blow a hole in the dam that strangled the Irpin River northeast of the capital and restore the long-lost boggy floodplain.
    2. A defense consultant who organized offroad races in the area before the war, Dmitriev was familiar with the terrain. He knew exactly what reflooding the river basin — a vast expanse of bogs and marshes that was drained in Soviet times — would do to Russia’s war machinery.
    3. [Dmitriev said,] “It turns into an impassable turd, as the jeep guys say.” He told the commander in charge of Kyiv’s defense as much, and was given the go-ahead to blow up the dam. 
    4. Dmitriev’s idea worked. [He said,] “In principle, it stopped the Russian attack from the north.” The images of Moscow’s tanks mired in mud went around the world. 
    5. Three years later, this act of desperation is inspiring countries along NATO’s eastern flank to look into restoring their own bogs — fusing two European priorities that increasingly compete for attention and funding: defense and climate. 
    6. That’s because the idea isn’t only to prepare for a potential Russian attack. The European Union’s efforts to fight global warming rely in part on nature’s help, and peat-rich bogs capture planet-warming carbon dioxide just as well as they sink enemy tanks. 
    7. Yet half of the EU’s bogs are being sapped of their water to create land suitable for planting crops. The desiccated peatlands in turn release greenhouse gases and allow heavy vehicles to cross with ease. 
    8. Some European governments are now wondering if reviving ailing bogs can solve several problems at once. Finland and Poland told POLITICO they were actively exploring bog restoration as a multipurpose measure to defend their borders and fight climate change. 
    9. [The country’s defense ministry said in a statement that] Poland’s massive 10 billion złoty (€2.3 billion) Eastern Shield border fortification project, launched last year, “provides for environmental protection, including by … peatland formation and forestation of border areas.”
    10. [Said Tarja Haaranen, director general for nature at Finland’s environment ministry,] “It’s a win-win situation that achieves many targets at the same time.”
    11. … In their pristine state, bogs are carpeted with delicate mosses that can’t fully decompose in their waterlogged habitats and slowly turn into soft, carbon-rich soil known as peat. 
    12. This is what makes them Earth’s most effective repositories of CO2. Although they cover only 3 percent of the planet, they lock away a third of the world’s carbon — twice the amount stored in forests. 
    13. Yet when drained, bogs start releasing the carbon they stored for hundreds or thousands of years, fueling global warming. 
    14. Some 12 percent of peatlands worldwide are degraded, producing 4 percent of planet-warming pollution. (To compare, global aviation is responsible for around 2.5 percent.)
    15. In Europe, where bogs were long regarded as unproductive terrain to be converted into farmland, the picture is especially dramatic: Half of the EU’s peatlands are degraded, mostly due to drainage for agricultural purposes. As a result, EU countries reported 124 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution from drained peatlands in 2022, close to the annual emissions of the Netherlands. Some scientists say even this is an underestimate. 
    16. Various peatland restoration projects are now underway, with bog repair having gained momentum under the EU’s new Nature Restoration Law, which requires countries to revive 30 percent of degraded peatlands by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. 
    17. The bloc’s 27 governments now have until September 2026 to draft plans on how they intend to meet these targets. 
    18. On NATO’s eastern flank, restoring bogs would be a relatively cheap and straightforward measure to achieve EU nature targets and defense goals all at once, scientists argue. 
    19. “It’s definitely doable,” said Aveliina Helm, professor of restoration ecology at the University of Tartu, who until recently advised Estonia’s government on its EU nature repair strategy.
    20. [Helm added,] “We are right now in the development of our national restoration plan, as many EU countries are, and as part of that I see great potential to join those two objectives.” 
    21. … As it happens, most of the EU’s peatlands are concentrated on NATO’s border with Russia and Kremlin-allied Belarus — stretching from the Finnish Arctic through the Baltic states, past Lithuania’s hard-to-defend Suwałki Gap and into eastern Poland. 
    22. When waterlogged, this terrain represents a dangerous trap for military trucks and tanks. In a tragic example earlier this year, four U.S. soldiers stationed in Lithuania died when they drove their 63-ton M88 Hercules armored vehicle into a bog. 
    23. And when armies can’t cross soggy open land, they are forced into areas that are more easily defended, as Russia found out when Dmitriev and his soldiers blew up the dam north of Kyiv in February 2022. 
    24. [Dmitriev recounted that,] “The Russians … in armored personnel carriers got stuck at the entrance, then they were killed with a Javelin [anti-tank missile], then when the Russians tried to build pontoons … [we] shot them with artillery.”
    25. Bog-based defense isn’t a new idea. Waterlogged terrain has stopped troops throughout European history — from Germanic tribes inflicting defeat on Roman legions by trapping them beside a bog in A.D. 9, to Finland’s borderlands ensnaring the Soviets in the 1940s. The treacherous marshes north of Kyiv posed a formidable challenge to armies in both world wars. 
    26. Strategically rewetting drained peatlands to prepare for an enemy attack, however, would be a novelty. But it’s an idea that’s starting to catch on — among environmentalists, defense strategists and politicians. 
    27. Pauli Aalto-Setälä, a lawmaker with Finland’s governing National Coalition Party, last year filed a parliamentary motion calling on the Finnish government to restore peatlands to secure its borders and fight climate change. …
    28. Discussions on defensive nature restoration are advancing fastest in Poland — even though Warsaw is usually reluctant to scale up climate action. 
    29. Climate activists and scientists started campaigning for nature-based defense a few years ago when they realized that Poland’s politicians were far more likely to spend financial and political capital on environmental efforts when they were linked to national security. 
    30. [Said Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak, a Polish activist who helped initiate the country’s Fridays for Future climate protests,] “Once you talk about security, everyone listens right now in Poland. And our peatlands and ancient forests, they are the places that are going to be very important for our defense once the war gets to Poland as well.” 
    31. After years of campaigning, the issue has now reached government level in Warsaw, with discussions underway between scientists and Poland’s defense and environment ministries. …
    32. MIKE: There’s quite a bit more that I’ve had to cut for time, but you get the general idea. I’ve linked to the article in today’s show post if you want to read the rest of it.
    33. MIKE: Not all European nations are on board with this strategy yet. It depends on their geography relative to Russia as well as their political, agricultural, defense and environmental priorities, but the idea is now being widely actively discussed.
    34. MIKE: I don’t have much more to say on this topic, but I thought it was worth sharing.
13. Meanwhile, in news I personally found surprising from Reuters — US to establish military presence in Damascus under Syria-Israel peace plan; By REUTERS | JPOST.COM (JERUSALEM POST) | NOVEMBER 6, 2025 12:55/Updated: NOVEMBER 6, 2025 21:01. TAGS: Syria, United States, ISIS, Donald Trump, Pentagon, Ahmed al-Sharaa,
    1. The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
    2. The US plans for the presence in the Syrian capital, which have not previously been reported, would be a sign of Syria’s strategic realignment with the US following the fall last year of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran.
    3. The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarized zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
    4. … Trump will meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a Syrian head of state.
    5. Reuters spoke to six sources familiar with preparations at the base, including two Western officials and a Syrian defense official, who confirmed the US was planning to use the base to help monitor a potential Israel-Syria agreement. …
    6. A US administration official said the US was “constantly evaluating our necessary posture in Syria to effectively combat ISIS (Islamic State) and (we) do not comment on locations or possible locations of (where) forces operate.”
    7. The official requested, [and] Reuters has agreed, to not reveal the exact location.
    8. A Western military official said the Pentagon had accelerated its plans over the last two months with several reconnaissance missions to the base. Those missions concluded the base’s long runway was ready for immediate use.
    9. Two Syrian military sources said the technical talks have been focused on the use of the base for logistics, surveillance, refueling and humanitarian operations, while Syria would retain full sovereignty over the facility.
    10. A Syrian defense official said the US had flown to the base in military C-130 transport aircraft to make sure the runway was usable. …
    11. It was not immediately clear when US military personnel would be dispatched to the base.
    12. … The new US plans appear to mirror two other new US military presences in the region monitoring cessation of hostilities agreements: one in Lebanon, which closely watches last year’s ceasefire between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel, and one in Israel that monitors the Trump-era truce between Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Israel.
    13. The US already has troops stationed in northeastern Syria, as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there combat Islamic State. In April, the Pentagon said it would halve the number of troops there to 1,000.
    14. Sharaa has said any US troop presence should be agreed with the new Syrian state. Syria is set to imminently join the US-led global anti-ISIS coalition, US and Syrian officials say.
    15. A person familiar with the talks over the base said the move was discussed during a [September 12 trip to Damascus] by Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) … .
    16. A CENTCOM statement at the time said Cooper and US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack had met Sharaa and thanked him for contributing to the fight against IS in Syria, which it said could help accomplish Trump’s “vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors.” The statement did not mention Israel.
    17. The US has been working for months to reach a security pact between Israel and Syria …
    18. A Syrian source familiar with the talks told Reuters that Washington was exerting pressure on Syria to reach a deal before the end of the year, and possibly before Sharaa’s trip to Washington.
    19. MIKE: This is a highly consequential development. It would mean that American forces would be in Syria by agreement of the existing Syrian government, which is not a small thing.
    20. MIKE: It would also be quite a poke in the eye to Russia and Putin, who were rather ignominiously asked to leave Syria in the not-so-distant past after what they thought were triumphant occupations of former US bases in Syria.
    21. MIKE: History is a remarkable thing. The wheel is always turning. Or put another way, sometimes your history’s bug, and sometimes your history’s windshield.
    22. MIKE: It’s fascinating to note how history can change suddenly and dramatically, after long periods of relative immobility. The most consequential examples within the last 100 years were the two World Wars. After that, the collapse of the USSR reshaped the world order.
    23. MIKE: This most recent example with major regional implications was the Hamas-Israel War. My understanding is that Hamas was hoping to provoke a unified response from the regional alliance against Israel — built and named by Iran, the “Axis of Resistance” — with the hope that it might result in Israel’s destruction.
    24. MIKE: But as the old axiom goes, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. The war provoked by Hamas has changed the geopolitical order in that part of the world in ways that Hamas couldn’t have anticipated.
    25. MIKE: As a result, Hamas may be nearly destroyed (time will tell); Hezbollah in Lebanon has been severely weakened, creating an opportunity for the Lebanese central government to retake control of all of its territory for the first time in a half century, along with at least some talk of a treaty with Israel; the government in Syria was toppled and Syria has been substantially disarmed by Israel; Syria is realigning itself more with the West after kicking out Russia, with a possible peace treaty with Israel in the offing; and Iran’s multi-decade investment in paramilitary pro-Iran structures has been severely weakened.
    26. MIKE: For good or ill, we are living through interesting times.

There’s always more to discuss, but that’s all we have time for today. You’ve been listening to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig from KPFT Houston 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. We are Houston’s Community radio. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show and found it interesting, and I look forward to sharing this time with you again next week. Y’all take care!