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.)

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”^[7][8] ~ John F. Kennedy, “Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress,” White House reception for diplomatic corps of the Latin American republics, March 13, 1962. Public Papers of the Presidents – John F. Kennedy (1962), p. 223. Wikisource.  Audio-only portion is from remarks on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress, 13 March 1962. Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLvIDFC6rLc

 Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig, now in its 14^th year on KPFT from Houston 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, Livingston/Goodrich 89.9-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2. KPFT is Houston’s Community radio.

And welcome to our international listeners from China, Germany, France South Korea, and elsewhere.

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. I do try to fact-check myself and include the links I use to do so.

It’s now the 57th week of Trump’s military occupation of Washington DC; and 46 weeks since Tennessee Governor Bill Lee deployed National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee at Trump’s request, where they apparently remain for now.  The Guard apparently ended their mission in New Orleans, Louisiana at the end of August

The next gubernatorial election in Tennessee is in just a little over 8 weeks. I’ll be talking shortly about how that governor’s race is shaping up.

LAWFARE has a chart of where US troops are currently stationed around the US. The link is in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com.

Due to time constraints, some stories may be longer in this show post than in the broadcast show itself.

1. speaking of elections, while sample ballots are not yet available as of September 13, …
   3. Fair warning, our next election day is November 3.
   4. The last day to register to vote or to correct information on your registration is Oct. 5.
   5. Early Voting will run from OCT 19 – 30, 2026
   6. So early voting is just about 6 weeks away. Get yourself mentally prepared.
   7. Don’t be moved to overconfidence. The only poll that matters is the one on election day.
2. The Texas Tribune has helpfully created this year’s ballot for us. It’s important to note that this is not an official ballot, and neither the Texas Secretary of State nor the counties have put sample ballots online yet. The Texas Tribune story is helpful nonetheless, and it’s called — Here’s your 2026 Texas ballot for the November election; By Apurva Mahajan | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Sept. 1, 2026. TAGS: 2026 Elections, State Government, Congress, Texas Legislature, Politics,
   3. Midterm elections in Texas are on Nov. 3. …
   4. Statewide seats, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and comptroller are on the ballot. Voters will also elect officials for congressional and legislative offices, the State Board of Education and judicial seats.
   5. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5. In-person early voting runs from Oct. 19 to 30.
   6. [In the linked article] are all of the Democrats, Republicans and third-party candidates on November’s ballot [anywhere within the state of Texas].
   7. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name in this guide. Elections in Texas are run by its 254 counties, and each county determines the order of candidates on the ballots there. To see each county’s ballot order, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s site.
   8. … [There’s a link in the article that tells you] how to register to vote and everything you need to know about voting in the general election. …
   9. Texas’ U.S. House delegation will experience high turnover this election cycle because of retirements and redistricting-related changes. It also stands to get
   10. [MIKE: There’s a space in the article to get a personalized ballot.] If you share your address …, [the Tribune’s partner will] personalize the results for you by showing the state and federal races you get to vote in. (Don’t worry: [They] don’t sell your information.)
   11. Republicans redrew Congressional districts last year, in an effort to gain more seats. The U.S. House districts shown below are based on those new maps.
   12. MIKE: I tried the personalized ballot link. It’s somewhat helpful, but I’d wait for the official sample ballots to come online before making your selections for your mail-in ballot or for a sample to sample bring to the polls.
   13. MIKE: Note that you are allowed to bring in notes to help you make your selections, but you MUST take your notes with you when you leave.
3. From HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA[.]ORG — Fort Bend County approves budget, lower tax rate amid heated meeting as Democrats return to court; By Melissa Enaje | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | Posted on September 10, 2026, 9:46 PM (Last Updated: September 11, 2026, 12:21 PM). TAGS: Fiscal Year 2027, Fort Bend County, Fort Bend County Budget, Fort Bend County Commissioners, Fort Bend County Commissioners Court ,Fort Bend County Democratic Party, Fort Bend County Politics, Fort Bend County Republican Party, No New Tax Revenue,
   1. Amid uncertainty over whether Fort Bend County’s two Democratic commissioners would return to Commissioners Court and provide the quorum needed to approve next year’s budget and tax rate, both measures passed Thursday, including a tax rate lower than what was originally proposed.
   2. Their attendance meant the county did not have to fall back on the no-new-revenue tax rate, which finance officials said could have left Fort Bend County with roughly $21 million dollars less in revenue, forcing cuts to county services and employee pay.
   3. Instead, the $841 million budget passed along party lines, 3-2, with Democratic Commissioners Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy dissenting, while Republican Commissioners Vincent Morales, Andy Meyers and interim County Judge Daniel Wong voted in favor.
   4. They also approved a 1.2% decrease in the property tax rate, despite an earlier budget proposal calling for the rate to hold steady at 41.2 cents per $100 valuation.
   5. The tax rate passed 4-0, with McCoy abruptly leaving court and abstaining his vote after a heated argument between Meyers and Wong. Before Prestage recorded his vote on the tax rate, he asked Wong if he would recuse himself and remained silent for minutes before ultimately voting in favor.
   6. [Wong said during the Sept. 10 meeting,] “I believe we can do better for Fort Bend County taxpayers.”
   7. [According to the county budget office,] the budget includes a reduced cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, from 3 percent down to 2.5 percent.
   8. [MIKE: I’ll note that’s below the rate of inflation. Continuing …]
   9. Commissioners also approved changes to the county’s legal structure, including moving 11 staff members and funding from the elected County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson’s office to a newly created civil legal department under Commissioners Court. Funding for three associate judge positions is also being eliminated by the end of the year, reducing the number of funded associate judges from eight to five.
   10. [MIKE: There are some political legal shenanigans taking place in that part of the story. In an HPM story from August, it was reported that, “Wong, a former Sugar Land city council member, [is] contesting a lawsuit filed by Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson. The twice-elected Democratic attorney is challenging Wong’s authority to continue serving as the appointed county judge … , also arguing that decisions made by a commissioners court with Wong presiding over it could be challenged.”
   11. [MIKE: I think that puts the Fort Bend Commissioners court decision to move staff and funding from elected Democratic County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson’s office to the Republican-dominated commissioners court in a different and rather unflattering political light. Basically, if you don’t like the party of the independent county attorney and if she’s doing inconvenient investigations, just take power from her. Also, while I don’t know how or if reducing the associate judges from 8 to 5 figures into that, I expect it will lengthen court backlogs going forward. There’s more on this later in the story. Continuing …]
   12. The budget and tax-rate votes came amid an ongoing legal dispute over whether Daniel Wong has the authority to continue serving as county judge. The meeting was also marked by a heated exchange and a noticeably rowdy atmosphere, as tensions over the county judge’s position and the commissioners’ months-long absence continued to spill into court proceedings.
   13. Fort Bend County has been embroiled in political and legal turmoil since former county judge KP George was convicted of federal money laundering in June. The turmoil has centered, in part, on whether Wong has the legal authority to remain in office after he was appointed by a visiting Galveston County district court judge in April.
   14. Wong, the Republican nominee for Fort Bend County judge will face McCoy, the Democratic nominee, in the November election. He is expected to remain in the county judge role in an acting capacity until voters make their decision, as the legal case contesting his appointment plays out in district courts.
   15. Prestage, McCoy and several other local Democratic elected officials, including State Senator Borris Miles and State Rep. Ron Reynolds, held a press conference before Commissioners Court to address the commissioners return to court and concerns with county governance in their absence.
   16. [Democratic State Senator Miles said,] “Wong is also on the ballot for the permanent county judge position. … He therefore is currently holding the county judge seat under a dispute, temporarily appointed by campaigning for the permanent position. Think about that.”
   17. Under the approved budget, a new legal department reporting directly to commissioners court will be funded through fiscal year 2027, effectively transferring resources away from the elected, independent county attorney.
   18. [Democratic Fort Bend Commissioner McCoy said,] “What we have seen over the last few months is Trump’s playbook being enacted here in Fort Bend County. … Daniel Wong and his political cronies have found ways to seize power, to defund judges and our judicial systems, to gut the budgets of elected officials as acts of retaliation against political opponents, to unilaterally dismantle internal county accountability and transparency procedures so that the staff and public alike can no longer scrutinize, check or curtail their agenda.”
   19. [Republican Commissioner] Meyers told the court they’re not taking away statutory responsibilities from the county attorney’s office, just non-civil legal matters.
   20. [Meyers said,] “Over concerns of continued questionable counsel and partisan actions, Commissioners Court has decided to reallocate some of the county attorney’s budget. … This is about making sure Commissioners Court receives competent and reliable legal counsel to make critical decisions.”
   21. [County Attorney] Smith-Lawson was in the audience, visibly shaking her head several times during the argument.
   22. University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said the institutional shifting of legal powers will be something the next generation of Fort Bend County leaders will have to navigate.
   23. [Rottinghaus said,] “It really sets a precedent that, then you have attorneys who are beholden not to the county’s interest, but to the interest of the people who are appointing them.”
   24. Several Republican and Democratic Fort Bend County judges made impassioned public comments over the past court meetings, urging commissioners to maintain the current number of associate judges. The adopted budget cuts the number of positions from eight to five.
   25. Argie Brame, an associate district court judge in Fort Bend County, said eliminating three associate judge positions could put additional strain on the county’s court system and negatively affect public safety, including in the courts that handle serious civil cases.
   26. [Brame said,] “Those are all specialty courts designed to help people that are on felony probation be successful and help them complete probation and be a productive member of the community. … We potentially will lose state funding if we don’t have associate judges available to cover those dockets.”
   27. Democratic Judge Christian Becerra of the 434th District Court told commissioners that eliminating three associate judge positions could create a backlog, potentially delaying cases involving Fort Bend County families, including those dealing with child custody.
   28. [Becerra said,] “Let us show the leadership our citizens deserve, let us not let politics drive a non-partisan decision.”
   29. The commissioners did not publicly discuss why they eliminated the positions.
   30. MIKE: I don’t live in Fort Bend, but I’d love to hear the reasons for cutting judges from the county courts when there is so much public pressure to reduce case backlogs by increasing the ability of courts to hear cases as quickly and fairly as possible.
   31. MIKE: Justice delayed is justice denied, and as we’ve seen from Trump’s Supreme Court, letting harms continue while making sure that the wheels of justice turn as slowly as possible potentially denies justice to both plaintiffs and defendants.
   32. MIKE: There is no excuse for cutting judges from the courts with no explanation. It’s almost like Republicans are afraid of justice.
4. I said in the intro to last week’s show that I was going to discuss the current polling and political outlook in the Tennessee governor’s race, and I forgot, so this is the week. The next gubernatorial election in Tennessee is in little over 8 weeks. From NEWSCHANNEL9[.]COM in Chattanooga TN — New Tennessee poll shows [Republican] Marsha] Blackburn with big lead, Trump’s approval underwater; by WTVC | NEWSCHANNEL9.COM | Thu, September 3, 2026 at 3:19 PM/ Updated Thu, September 3, 2026 at 4:42 PM. TAGS: Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, Donald Trump, Beacon Poll, D. Vance, Bill Hagerty, Data centers, Artificial intelligence, Elections,
   1. A new poll from a right-leaning Tennessee think tank gives Republican Marsha Blackburn a commanding lead in the race for governor.
   2. But the same poll contains a potentially more surprising result in deeply Republican Tennessee: President Donald Trump’s approval rating is underwater.
   3. The latest Beacon Poll from Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee shows Blackburn leading Democrat Jerri Green by 21 percentage points among likely voters, 55% to 34%. …
   4. … Beacon’s numbers show Blackburn entering the general election with a substantial advantage.
   5. But Trump’s numbers moved in the opposite direction.
   6. The poll found 48% of Tennessee voters approve of the president’s job performance while 51% disapprove.
   7. Beacon says that’s the first time Trump’s approval has fallen underwater in its Tennessee polling since the organization began conducting the poll in 2023.
   8. [Beacon CEO Justin Owen said,] “This is a substantial development in a deep red state with a number of potentially competitive races this year.”
   9. Owen contrasted Trump’s current approval numbers with his 30-point victory in Tennessee two years ago, while cautioning that the poll still shows Blackburn and Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty in strong positions.
   10. Hagerty has an even larger lead in his reelection race. Beacon’s poll puts him 25 points ahead of Democrat Marquita Bradshaw, 58% to 33%, in a rematch of their 2020 Senate race.
   11. Hagerty defeated Bradshaw by 27 points six years ago.
   12. The poll also looked beyond this year’s election and asked Tennessee voters about a presidential race that’s still two years away.
   13. Vice President J.D. Vance dominates a hypothetical 2028 Republican primary in Tennessee with 56% support.
   14. Secretary of State Marco Rubio follows at 22%, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 11%.
   15. The potential Democratic field is considerably less settled.
   16. Former Vice President Kamala Harris leads with 30%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 18% and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 11%.
   17. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets 10%, followed by Sen. Mark Kelly at 8%, Sen. Jon Ossoff at 6% and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at 2%.
   18. The poll also ventured into an issue that’s becoming increasingly relevant here in Southeast Tennessee: artificial intelligence and data centers.
   19. Fifty-four percent of Tennesseans surveyed approve of the public having access to AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot, while 34% disapprove.
   20. Beacon found approval across political lines, including Republicans, Democrats and independents.
   21. But the poll suggests many Tennesseans know considerably less about the physical infrastructure behind that technology.
   22. Only 4% correctly answered that facilities now commonly called data centers have existed in some form for more than 50 years.
   23. Thirty-eight percent thought they had existed for five years or less, while 31% weren’t sure.
   24. And when asked how many data centers currently operate in Tennessee, 51% said they didn’t know.
   25. That comes as data centers have become a growing issue in communities across Tennessee, including recent proposals and debates in Bradley County.
   26. Beacon says it asked the questions because of the growing discussion about regulating the industry.
   27. MIKE: As of this show’s initial airing, the city of Memphis, Tennessee has been occupied by the Tennessee national guard for 46 weeks. That occupation was ordered by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee at Trump’s request, and I find it astonishing that the Tennessee gubernatorial election polls don’t reflect deep dissatisfaction about that, not only in Memphis, but in other cities in Tennessee. Is it possible that the people of Memphis are actually okay with National Guard in their streets?
5. That made me look into the situation in Memphis as is being reported locally. I found this story from September 8 by ACTIONNEWS5[.]COM in MEMPHIS TN — Where is the National Guard? Questions arise as Memphis presence dwindles; By Imani Williams | ACTIONNEWS5.COM (MEMPHIS TN) | Published: Sep. 8, 2026 at 9:27 PM CDT/Updated: 23 hours ago. TAGS: National Guard, Governor Bill Lee, Memphis TN,
   1. Where is the National Guard?
   2. Governor Bill Lee’s office said National Guard patrols in Memphis resumed after a brief pause for an “administrative day” nearly two weeks ago, but locals remain uncertain.
   3. A shooting on Labor Day in Court Square unfolded without National Guard members present, a contrast to previous scenes in Memphis where the Guard has been seen, including for patrols on Beale Street.
   4. One person was injured in Monday’s shooting, and one man was detained, according to the Memphis Police Department.
   5. On Aug. 28, an “administrative day” paused National Guard patrols, according to Memphis Safe Task Force leaders. When asked that same day if the National Guard was still working alongside local agencies, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said the Guard “continues to support the Memphis Safe Task Force,” but Memphians say they are unsure.
   6. [Said Kennan Woods, a downtown performer,] “A couple of months ago, Beale Street was swarmed with National Guard.”
   7. Woods regularly performs downtown and said the Guard’s presence has dwindled. …
   8. Action News 5 reached out to the White House, the Memphis Safe Task Force, the Governor’s Office, and the Tennessee National Guard, asking whether the Guard has resumed patrols. None responded.
   9. Lodging contracts for the Guard end on October 13, and there are no signs of renewal.
   10. Officials also failed to respond to questions about whether those hotel contracts will be renewed.
   11. It was brought to Action News 5’s attention that the fiscal year for the federal government ends on September 30, so contracts may be halted until then.
   12. At a recent city council meeting, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis discussed life after the task force but gave no clear timeline for when that transition would happen.
   13. [Davis said,] “We’ve been talking about this for months, that one day, things will go back to normal.”
   14. MIKE: This was as close as I could find to a recent story about the guard in Memphis, still leaving unanswered the question of how Memphians feel about the deployment.
6. The closest I could find to an opinion poll on this subject was from March 20^th by WREG in Memphis — POLL: How do you feel about the Memphis Safe Task Force?; by: David Royer | WREG.COM (Memphis) | Posted: Mar 20, 2026 / 10:07 AM CDT/Updated: Mar 20, 2026 / 12:46 PM CDT. TAGS: Memphis Safe Task Force, Memphis TN, National Guard, Tennessee State Troopers, ICE,
   1. MIKE: According to that story, in an unscientific poll from October of 2025 where random people could self-select to respond, 58% said they felt safer with the task force there, while 39% said they felt less safe, and 3% said they felt about the same.
   2. MIKE: In a similar unscientific poll from that station in March 2026, the numbers were similar: 57% said they felt safer with the task force there, while 28% said they felt less safe, and 15% said they felt about the same.
   3. MIKE: I can’t find anything more recent than that, and certainly no scientific polling.
   4. MIKE: But Tennessee is a deep Red state, so statistically unsound poll results are immediately suspect.
   5. MIKE: Frankly, it’s astonishing to me that there haven’t been reputable polls on this subject of Guard troops patrolling Memphis, both of Memphis residents specifically, and from Tennesseans generally and in other Tennessee cities.
   6. MIKE: Maybe the fact that I can’t find any polling is why the Republican Party doesn’t seem to be paying any price for the de facto federal occupation of Memphis.
7. That made me curious about the situation in New Orleans, where the governor similarly acceded to Trump’s request and sent National guard troops there, so I found this from FOX8LIVE[.]COM — Landry calls on New Orleans leaders to take responsibility for public safety as National Guard leaves; By Gabby Killett | FOX8LIVE.COM | Published: Aug. 21, 2026 at 5:35 PM CDT. TAGS: New Orleans, National Guard, Gov. Jeff Landry, President Donald Trump,
   1. New Orleans leaders say the National Guard is ending its scheduled deployment in and around the French Quarter and will start rolling out of the city Monday (Aug. 24).
   2. Meanwhile, Gov. Jeff Landry is calling on city officials to “take responsibility for public safety” with the Guard leaving.
   3. [Landry wrote in a social media post [on August 21^st], “I will continue doing everything within my authority to help keep New Orleans safe,” adding there are “clear limits to the state’s responsibility.”
   4. Landry said he and President Donald Trump have been committed to making Louisiana safer. His comments are the latest in a back-and-forth between city and state leaders.
   5. … Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche praised the Guard for likely contributing to the city’s drop in violent crime, which is down 70% since 2022.
   6. [Goyeneche said,] “There’s no question that the National Guard share… some of the credit for the reductions in crime. … Losing them is going to mean that the New Orleans Police Department and the Louisiana State Police are not going to have an important partner.”
   7. The Guard first came to New Orleans as part of the deployment at the end of last year on Trump’s orders. Trump sent National Guard members to cities nationwide in an effort to reduce violent crime.
   8. Glade Bilby, a longtime resident of the French Quarter, said he often sees the National Guard.
   9. [Bilby said,] “I see the National Guard almost every time I walk in the quarter, but it’s not like they’re walking up and down everybody’s block all the time. … They are a continued presence in the front of the quarter where it’s a little more touristic.”
   10. Bilby said he will miss the Guard’s presence but trusts the latest efforts by local police to keep his home safe.
   11. [Bilby added,] “I think the momentum that we’ve gathered with (the New Orleans Police Department), [and] Louisiana State Police will continue going forward.”
   12. … The city says all Guard members deployed as part of last year’s effort will be out of the city by Aug. 31.
   13. New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said in a statement Friday that she is grateful for the Guard’s deployment and that the city’s partnership with the National Guard will not end.
   14. We reached out to the Mayor’s Office about the governor’s comments but haven’t heard back.
   15. MIKE: Given that I was doing a weekly count of National Guard troops in cities, how is it that the National Guard troops left New Orleans a week ago, and I never saw a story about it until I made the special effort to hunt for updates?
   16. MIKE: These three articles forced me to see some of the Guard deployments in a different light, and in some ways actually made me much more annoyed at how little these deployments were covered in the Mainstream Media (MSM), both in terms of their ongoing operations and, in at least one case, their end-of-mission withdrawals.
   17. MIKE: It put me in mind of how the ABC news magazine NIGHTLINE got started.
   18. MIKE: According to POYNTER[.]ORG, NIGHTLINE was created by Roone Arledge, president of ABC News, in November 1979. It was originally entitled, The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage, with a daily count of days the crisis continued, to cover the Iran hostage crisis. It was first anchored by Ted Koppel, who became my journalistic interviewing hero. He never let an interviewee squirm out of a question without either an answer or being called out for dodging a question.
   19. MIKE: When Trump called out the National Guard to enter some cities to reputedly help reduce crime, it was initially covered in the US as it should have been: As a major news story about Guard troops that were either federalized or sent into cities at Trump’s request made to Republican governors. The media were constantly raising the question of what kind of law enforcement support they were expected to perform when there are constraints on domestic military law enforcement by the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
   20. MIKE: I’ve been publicly counting the weeks of these military occupations in US cities, but especially now, when some of the Guard troops are leaving cities, why isn’t this an important story? Why is it even barely being covered locally?
   21. MIKE: Why haven’t major media checked in on this story from time to time?
   22. MIKE: And perhaps equally important, why haven’t there been periodic stories and polling about local reactions to these troops in American cities?
   23. MIKE: I admit to being fascinated at how some localities actually feel that the mere presence of Guard troops was helpful in crime suppression, and often appreciated, though perhaps with caveats.
   24. MIKE: And to me, the big question is, how did National Guard troops on routine crime patrol in US cities become so normalized that there wasn’t some ongoing coverage of it over the past year?
   25. MIKE: I’m not necessarily expecting the daily coverage of NIGHTLINE with Ted Koppel, but maybe weekly or monthly updates?
   26. MIKE: Am I, with my little show, the only one doing weekly counts of how long US troops were in US cities?
   27. MIKE: FYI, according to an NPR story from July 15, 2026, the National Guard presence in Washington DC is scheduled to continue until January 20, 2029 — Inauguration Day — unless Trump cancels it earlier.
   28. MIKE: I think that there are some really important questions here about the kind of editorial choices news organizations are making in covering this very significant and long-running story that is without precedent since the post-Civil War Reconstruction.
8. Shifting to the US job market, there was this interesting story from August 8^th. There’s no reason to think that things are much different a month later. From WASHINGTONPOST[.]COM.— Unemployment improved — because thousands of workers disappeared. Where did they go?; By Steve Thompson and Lauren Kaori Gurley | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | August 8, 2026. TAGS: S. economy, Employment, Unemployment, Jobs,
   1. The U.S. economy shed jobs in July, yet the unemployment rate improved — an unusual pairing that points to a worrying story unfolding behind the numbers for some economists.
   2. That’s because even as the U.S. economy lost jobs, American workers left the labor market faster.
   3. [Said Stephen Moore, a conservative economist,] “This is one of the very, very few times where you see the number of jobs shrink but the unemployment rate falls.” The explanation, he said, is fewer people looking for jobs, [adding,] “That’s a big economic story: Where are the workers?”
   4. The share of adults working or looking for work slipped to4 percent in July, extending a weakening in the labor force participation rate this year. That rate has reached the lowest level since February 2021, during the pandemic.
   5. Employers shed 23,000 jobs in July, according to Labor Department figures released Friday, and the unemployment rate fell slightly to1 percent from 4.2 percent, due in large part to fewer workers in the labor market.
   6. The aging population is one of the bigger forces leading to fewer workers. As baby boomers retire, they pull down the share of adults either working or looking for work. But that doesn’t explain the full drop this year in the labor force participation rate.
   7. The share of workers in their “prime working years”, ages 25 to 54, fell sharply between May and June, and only partially recovered in July, leaving economists to fear that young and middle-aged people are abandoning job searches.
   8. Men in particular have been seeing a sharp decline in the workforce, with participation at an all-time low outside of the peak of the pandemic, at 66.8 percent in July, with both older men and the youngest men in the workforce driving the decline. That’s concerning for both social and economic reasons, said Moore, [adding,] “That is not a good trend. … We’re just not seeing males working as much, and I don’t have a good explanation for why that is.”
   9. A shifting economy plays one role. Most recent job growth has come in health care and private education, fields long dominated by women. Several male-dominated industries, including manufacturing, transportation and mining, have shed jobs over the past year. That leaves a mismatch between the skills many men have and the jobs available.
   10. The decline is a potential warning sign, many economists say.
   11. [Said Alexander Bick, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,] “We like to see the unemployment rate go down typically, right?”
   12. But that’s because it normally indicates employment is going up.
   13. Bick has watched the labor force participation rate fall for months, and he said it’s “a worrying trend.” The fear is that discouraged workers are giving up.
   14. But the picture is not yet clear, because other factors are also playing a role, including the Trump administration’s big push to seal borders, stop immigration, and deport immigrants, which has led to a decline in foreign-born workers.
   15. Teens and young adults have also fallen out of the workforce. The share of 16- to 19-year-olds working or looking for work has fallen this year, hovering near the lowest levels since the pandemic after teen employment surged in 2023 and 2024. The share of 20- to 24-year-olds in the workforce has also fallen in recent months.
   16. One reason some teens are not working: More are graduating high school, reflected in rising high school graduation rates, experts say. But another reason is weaker hiring in the hospitality and retail sectors, which tend to employ young people.
   17. Growth in artificial intelligence and other technologies may also be creating new barriers to entry-level roles. For example, self-service kiosks have taken the roles of many cashiers, said Sara Estep, an economist at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington. Also, AI applicant screening tools could be favoring more experienced workers.
   18. Estep said she worries young people are missing out on work experiences that could help them gain a foothold in the labor market for years to come.
   19. There is one bright spot from the latest jobs report, said Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, a Philadelphia think tank that studies the labor market. Even as workers have left the workforce, the number of people who say they want a job but have given up searching over the past month [from when this story was written] has ticked slightly down.
   20. Berger said “The things that would make me really worried about labor force exits aren’t showing up. … People aren’t telling us, ‘I want a job but can’t find one.’”
   21. MIKE: In this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com, I’m linking to a helpful graph from another story on this topic, titled “Who Are The Missing Workers”, that can help you to visualize the employment trends explained in this article.
   22. MIKE: I believe that Trumponomics and Republican policies on taxes, immigration, economics, et cetera, generally tend to benefit the oligarchy class, but can have dispiriting effects on the vast majority of Americans, whether they understand the source of their discouragement or not.
   23. MIKE: This story discusses employment, unemployment, and the demographics of these two questions. That’s how the problem can be viewed from a meta-economic standpoint, but what about from a societal and domestic tranquility perspective?
   24. MIKE: Let’s start by discussing the job prospects confronting young people.
   25. MIKE: Unemployed young people are often a fertile source of civil unrest in societies, but the reasons for their unemployment can differ widely, and that can make a difference.
   26. MIKE: Young people can be employed, and yet under The prospect of being chronically underemployed can lead to people dropping out of the job market.
   27. MIKE: Examples of underemployed would be people with 2-year degrees who have certifications in various specialties, but who are unable to find jobs in those specialties. Or people with 2- or 4-year degrees who can only find jobs in retail or service industries.
   28. MIKE: This can also apply to people with vocational or trade training who find that the market for their skills is weaker than expected, or worse: their skills are now suddenly outdated.
   29. MIKE: Post-COVID, “essential workers” have again been reclassified as “low-wage workers”. Do you think that might feed anger and resentment among those workers?
   30. MIKE: That’s even more the case when people can’t find jobs, or give up looking for work, which is a focus of the story I just read. Some young people can’t find suitable jobs and leave the job market out of frustration, or perhaps even depression. These people may be ripe for demagogic agitation.
   31. MIKE: Combining involuntary unemployment with under-employment can lead to the kind of frustration that leads to mass protests and even civil unrest.
   32. MIKE: Are AI or robotics taking the kinds of jobs that entry-level employees might perform?
   33. MIKE: Artificial Intelligences and robots are not creative thinkers. AIs are excellent at sorting and sifting through gigabytes of information, but they can only digest and present that information in ways that are consistent with their programming. At least, so far. I think the jury is still out on that one.
   34. MIKE: In any case, researching a question isn’t so different from the kinds of jobs entry-level employees are tasked with. In other words, learning to do the research, finding the data, and presenting it to the boss for use.
   35. MIKE: These new workers would be learning the basics: Showing up; staying on task; how to find specific information; how to present it; and with an appropriate mentor, what is ultimately done with that information and how it’s used.
   36. MIKE: What happens when AI does that and cuts out those basic jobs?
   37. MIKE: And what about the jobs taken by robots? There are machines that are taking jobs even from counter service personnel. Aside from the obvious, such as self-checkout cashiering machines, there are “robots” that serve us from touch screens.
   38. MIKE: As an example, when you go into a fast-food place and input your order from a touch screen and pay for it there, you’re reducing a human to simply handing the finished product to you, and how long do you think that will last? The order-takers used to be entry-level employees or part-time student workers. That need has now been slashed.
   39. MIKE: Even skilled and semi-skilled workers are not safe. Factories have been automating for decades. Now there are so-called “intelligent” robots that perform the skilled, but often mind-numbingly repetitive, tasks of welding or fastening or assembling products. And at some point, a labor-saving device will become a labor
   40. MIKE: None of these changes are intrinsically bad or good. They just “are”. But society and industries of all sorts need to figure out what other jobs entry-level workers can do. Not to mention how older workers can be employed in ways that use their knowledge and experience, and pay them a decent wage in return.
   41. MIKE: And that brings us to retirees. Mostly, Baby Boom retirees. Some older folks retire because they have some financial resources, and they can. But then there are the people that retire at the earliest possible age because they’ve given up finding suitable work. And keep in mind that I’m not necessarily using the term “retiring” to men “stopping working.”
   42. MIKE: This story and an article I linked to earlier in this discussion refers to “prime-age workers (ages 25 to 54)”. Let me dig into that statement a bit.
   43. MIKE: You may have heard expressions like “50 is the new 40”. Well, that’s not just true health-wise. It’s also true regarding employability.
   44. MIKE: When my dad was unemployed and turned 40 in 1957, he despaired of being able to find a decent job.
   45. MIKE: Well. “50 being the new 40” also means that now it’s 50-year-olds that despair of finding decent jobs that value the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired over decades, and the kind of pay commensurate with that. If you find yourself out of a job at 55, you are usually royally screwed.
   46. MIKE: Many over-50s end up taking what are almost entry-level jobs just to make ends meet. This is one of those examples of older people becoming their children; not in terms of health and dependency, but in terms of employability.
   47. MIKE: The fact is, most companies are willing to do without the experience and institutional knowledge of older workers in exchange for young workers that are paid much less.
   48. MIKE: Did you know that over a quarter of workers take Social Security at 62? That’s despite the permanent hit they take in benefits for “retiring” before 67. And I use the term “retiring” loosely. That doesn’t necessarily mean that these early “retirees” stop working. It can simply mean that they need the income supplementation that early Social Security payments can provide.
   49. In the 1990s, the number of people retiring at 62 was about 60%, but it changed as Congress mandated full benefits at 67 instead of 65, and increased the permanent benefit penalty for early retirement at 62.
   50. MIKE: But that’s a story for another day.
   51. MIKE: Getting back to the question of young people’s share of unemployment rising and the potential societal consequences of that, I’ll note that it’s usually rare to see retirees of any age protesting economics and the job market. That’s “young people work”.
   52. MIKE: Most young people want to build a satisfying career, be able to take an apartment without roommates, develop a household, acquire needed and wanted possessions, and importantly, they want to build and support families.
   53. MIKE: What if much of that begins to feel unattainable? What if some young people begin to feel protesting is the only kind of useful and satisfying work available to them? What if many of them do?
   54. MIKE: I feel that all kinds of frustration and unhappiness are building and spreading among the people of this country; young, old, and in between.
   55. MIKE: Electoral democracy is supposed to provide not just an outlet for expression of those kinds of feelings, but also a way to address them.
   56. MIKE: What happens when people feel that political gerrymandering, voter suppression, and maybe even election rigging thwart even that potential remedy?
   57. MIKE: In a few weeks, we may get a hint.
9. There was a NY Times story that I’d been thinking to read from August 8^th called Yemen Teeters on Civil War as Regional Stability Hangs in the Balance.
   1. MIKE: The question I had when I read it was, “Yemen teeters on civil war? When did the civil war in Yemen end?”
10. Well, this week, we got our answer. It’s explained in this next story from APNEWS[.]COM called — Saudi Arabia shuts down a pipeline as Houthis seize an island, opening a new front in the Iran war; By  FATMA KHALED, SAMY MAGDY and CARA ANNA | APNEWS.COM | Updated 5:52 PM CDT, September 11, 2026. TAGS: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Houthis, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea, Shipping Lanes, Oil, Oil Pipelines, Mokha City, Mayun Island, Iranian-backed Houthi Rebels, Middle East, Yemen Civil War,
    1. Saudi Arabia said Friday it shut down a major pipeline a day after it was attacked by drones, and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said, opening a new front in the Iran war.
    2. The Houthis made their biggest territorial gains in years along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s key shipping lanes. The advance could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.
    3. Saudi Arabia said it had shut down the East-West pipeline after it was attacked the day before. The Saudi Ministry of Energy called the shutdown “a precautionary measure.”
    4. The Saudi Foreign Ministry blamed the attack on several drones that came from Iraq. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom said it would not respond to give the Iraqi government “an opportunity to take the necessary measures.” The Iraqi government condemned the assault and ordered an investigation.
    5. Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iranian-backed militias in Iraq in July, after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities … [Responsibility for the attacks] had been claimed by the Houthis. Regional officials told The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and execute the attacks.
    6. … Built in the 1980s, the East-West pipeline has played an important role in Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil following the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. By early June, Saudi Arabia had more than doubled oil exports from the Red Sea port at the pipeline’s end to more than 5 million barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.
    7. The Houthi’s capture of Mayun, a tiny, barren volcanic island inside the strait also known as Perim, was confirmed by a senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by a Houthi official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
    8. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on the Red Sea to get its crude to market as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Houthi efforts to close the 28-kilometer-wide (17-mile) Bab el-Mandeb channel have made that route more complicated.
    9. In a statement Friday, the Houthi armed forces boasted of gains along the coast without mentioning the island [of Mayun,] [the city of] Mokha, or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. [The Houthis] vowed “escalation for escalation” in the confrontation with Saudi Arabia, while declaring that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.”
    10. Still, markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week soared again above $100 a barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.
    11. … The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, as well as hitting oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they acted in response to the kingdom’s years-long blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen.
    12. Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the port city of Mokha after the Houthis seized it Thursday, a Houthi broadcaster said. There were no reports of damage or deaths.
    13. Bottom of Form
    14. A senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government told the AP they were stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the strait. He assessed that Saudi Arabia didn’t get a green light from the U.S. to embark on a large-scale air campaign.
    15. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media, also blamed “lack of coordination” between Yemen’s army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave the Houthis “a priceless opportunity.”
    16. Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait had [already] fallen by about 60% since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
    17. Shipping increased this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
    18. That has forced Saudi Arabia to find yet another alternative, sending its oil north out of the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, either via the Suez Canal or a pipeline through Egypt, a far longer route for its clients in Asia. The Houthis have threatened that route as well, striking a Saudi vessel in the north of the Red Sea in late August.
    19. … Earlier Friday, Iran’s government called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi-held areas in a show of support for its ally. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also called for a return to negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
    20. In a sign of the Houthis’ importance to Tehran, the spokesperson for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday called for any negotiated settlement with the U.S. to include Yemen, the first explicit reference to that front.
    21. Saudi Arabia, which said it had always offered “opportunities for negotiation,” also said it has the right to defend itself.
    22. [Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi [PRON,: AB-awss   aah-RAWNG-chee] said on social media that the] foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke Thursday about diplomatic efforts to “restore stability.”
    23. … As the Houthis swept along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab el-Mandeb channel, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government called for international support.
    24. In a statement Friday from a meeting the previous day, its National Defense Council said it was on the front line of defending freedom of navigation and condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia.
    25. The escalating fighting threatens to end a fragile truce that had largely halted Yemen’s civil war since 2022. At stake are 40 million people in the Arab world’s poorest country. The conflict killed 150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine.
    26. [The U.N. migration agency said Friday that] The surge in fighting in the past week has sent over 46,000 people fleeing. …
    27. Those fleeing included doctors and other medical workers. Lou Cormack, Yemen coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said Friday that the aid group has prioritized keeping Mokha’s hospital open after most of its staff left.
    28. The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2014, when the rebels seized much of northern and central Yemen and the capital of Sanaa. Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year on behalf of the government.
    29. MIKE: So, while the Yemeni civil war has been simmering for a while, we can thank Donald Trump for re-igniting it and his Republican Party of sycophants, enablers, and cowards both for letting Trump start the war and letting Trump continue it.
    30. MIKE: Let us fantasize that this US-Iran War had some merit to begin with.
    31. MIKE: If that were the case, almost all of the consequences we have seen involving the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian attacks on our allies and partners in the Middle East, and even the Houthi involvement that has now expanded and that currently encompasses the Bab el-Mandeb channel, could all have been foreseen, and probably were foreseen by our more capable military planners.
    32. MIKE: That being the case, Trump made the same fundamental strategic error when he started his war with Iran that George W Bush made when he started the war in Iraq.
    33. MIKE: Namely, he failed to first gain the participation of the other countries in the region that had a stake in the start of the war, its consequences on the ground, and its long-term geopolitical implications.
    34. MIKE: The US and the Middle East region have been paying for George Bush’s hubristic mistake, and now the US and the region are paying for Trump’s negligent and hubristic — and dare I say stupid? — repeat of the same error, but in a typical Trumpian way.
    35. MIKE: I have no idea how we can disengage in this war, unless we take a page out of the Russian military doctrine. Namely, the US and an alliance of all the affected powers in the regions may have to join together and escalate the war in order to de-escalate it.
    36. MIKE: Until then, Iran and its allies may have little incentive to end it on internationally acceptable terms.
11. Last week I read a story that detailed polling in the October 27^th Israeli election. I didn’t have time in that show to read this story, which I think may end up being significant in that election. It’s from Haaretz on August 12^th. — Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Urges ultra-Orthodox Voters to Bring Down Netanyahu Bloc; By Aaron Rabinowitz | HAARETZ.COM | August 12, 2026. TAGS: Sephardic, Shas, Haredim, Israeli politics, Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir,
    1. Israel’s former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has asked his students and close associates not to vote for the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, of which he is a senior official, saying the ultra-Orthodox must help bring down the right-wing bloc, according to several people who spoke with Haaretz.
    2. Yosef, who served as Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi from 2013 to 2024, is the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas’ founding spiritual leader, who established the party to strengthen Sephardi religious and political identity. He remains a member of the party’s Council of Torah Sages and is one of the most influential rabbis in the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox community.
    3. His remarks mark a sharp escalation in his increasingly bitter conflict with Shas chairman Arye Dery [PRON.: ) ahr-YEH deh-REE], a dispute that has centered on both the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service and a broader struggle over the party’s character and direction.
    4. The rift has already spilled into Shas’ public events. Dery has largely stopped attending party rallies around the country for fear of being booed, according to people familiar with the dispute. At several recent events, demonstrators shouted “Dery, traitor” and “Dery, go home,” while signs accused him of betraying Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
    5. Several of Yitzhak Yosef’s students told Haaretz that he knew about and approved of the protests. [One student said,] “[ Yosef] was very happy with what we did.”
    6. Several students say Yosef has explicitly instructed them not to vote for Shas. [One student told Haaretz,] “The rabbi demanded that I promise him I would not vote for Shas, that I would ask my family not to vote for the party and that I would publicize his request to everyone I could.” Another student said Yosef made him and his friends swear not to vote for the party.
    7. MIKE: This kind of fight among the ultra-religious right could end up being decisive in Israel’s upcoming elections. We’ll have to see.
12. Finally, in more news about how Trump has made America less great again, from August 27^th in WASHINGTONPOST[.]COM — Putin sees U.S. as weakened by Iran war, intelligence reports say; By Warren P. Strobel | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | August 27, 2026 @5:26pm. EDT/Aug. 26@5:26 pm EDT. TAGS: Intelligence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, NATO,
    1. CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s mysterious trip to Moscow [during the 4^th week of August] was preceded by fresh U.S. intelligence indicating that the Kremlin sees the United States as weakened by the Iran war, offering Russia an opportunity to escalate action against American interests and allies in Europe, according to two people familiar with the matter.
    2. The details of Ratcliffe’s talks with his Russian counterpart remain secret, but one [source] told The Washington Post that the CIA chief warned Moscow against ramping up its war against Ukraine, arguing that such a move would backfire. This person and others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity.
    3. Ratcliffe flew to Moscow [early that week], the first known visit there by a CIA director since late 2021, when President Joe Biden’s spy chief, William J. Burns, attempted to [discourage] the Kremlin from an invasion of Ukraine.
    4. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, confirmed the Ratcliffe conversations, saying there was “nothing unusual” about the meetings.
    5. Ratcliffe did not meet [personally with] Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin.
    6. The CIA and the White House declined to comment on Ratcliffe’s trip.
    7. President Donald Trump on Thursday downplayed concerns that Putin would order an attack on U.S. allies in Europe.
    8. [Said Trump, who brushed off a question about the purpose of Ratcliffe’s trip,] “He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory.”
    9. The classified intelligence suggesting that Putin sees the U.S. as weakened by the six-month-old war in Iran follows reports of diminished troop readiness and munitions shortfalls as a result of the extended campaign against Tehran.
    10. S. military stockpiles of key weapons have been severely depleted, including Patriot and other air-defense platforms, as well as sophisticated offensive weapons like Tomahawk cruise missiles and the short-range Army Tactical Missile System [ATACMS], which is also in demand in Ukraine.
    11. The Post previously reported that the U.S. has lost roughly a quarter of its Reaper drones, which cost between $30 million and $50 million apiece, and are used for surveillance and targeting.
    12. The weapons shortages have alarmed allies in Asia, raising questions about Washington’s ability to deter a potential confrontation with China.
    13. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials have publicly denied that there are serious munitions shortages, even as they have pressed arms producers to rapidly build more weapons.
    14. The people familiar with intelligence collection on Putin’s assessment of the U.S. strategic position due to the Iran war did not provide more detail on how it was collected or how confident CIA analysts are about its accuracy.
    15. Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow … aboard a C-17A military transport aircraft, after a stop in Riga, the Latvian capital. A video shared on social media showed a motorcade of cars, some with diplomatic plates, driving through central Moscow. The C-17A took off from Moscow at 5:30 p.m., about 8½ hours after it landed, tracking data shows.
    16. With the ground war in Ukraine largely stalemated, Moscow and Kyiv have launched increasingly devastating strikes on each other’s territory. Ukraine has hit high-profile targets, frequently aiming at key nodes of Russia’s energy industry and online commerce. Moscow, meanwhile, continues to bombard civilian targets like apartment blocks as well as industrial infrastructure and power plants throughout Ukraine.
    17. Russia has taken advantage of Ukraine’s dwindling stockpile of air defense interceptors, which have been supplied by the United States. European countries have pledged to supply Kyiv with missile interceptors, but many will not arrive until next year.
    18. [One of the people familiar said that] Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was “less about Putin being in a corner” because his army has failed to break a stalemate on the Ukraine battlefield, “and more because Russia assesses we are depleted and can’t intervene.”
    19. [This person said] Ratcliffe told Russian officials that if Putin significantly escalated the war in Ukraine, it would push Trump toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
    20. As the war in Ukraine drags through its fifth year, Europe has been hit by hybrid warfare attacks, including an attempted drone strike at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport that many analysts and some governments say appear to be the work of Russia.
    21. NATO countries in Eastern Europe, particularly the Baltic nations, have voiced alarm that Putin might step up pressure or authorize increasingly provocative incursions, building on airspace violations and apparently errant drones.
    22. MIKE: There is an August 26 story from THEATLANTIC[.]COM titled Why Did John Ratcliffe Go to Moscow?. I’ve gifted a link to that story in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com.
    23. MIKE: One paragraph of that story says, “Russia’s weakness could be making Putin more reckless. The Wall Street Journal reported a few weeks ago that the U.S. intelligence community is concerned that Russia could carry out a limited attack on a NATO state, possibly even launching a small land incursion. Such an assault might thwart Russia’s own interests, prompting Europe to accelerate its military buildup and target Moscow’s sovereign assets. But Putin may see attacking a NATO country as an unprecedented opportunity to break the alliance, by manufacturing a crisis in which the United States fails to act.”
    24. MIKE: We are living in extremely precarious times. Russia’s ambitions are frustrated in Ukraine, and Putin now sees unprecedented weakness in the US and NATO.
    25. MIKE: China, meanwhile, has been embarking on a multidecade military buildup that has been targeted at both intimidating its Asian neighbors, and to make the possibility of taking Taiwan by force, or by using a naval blockade to strangle it into submission, a reality. The period of time we’re in has been called the Davidson Window, and China also may see this time as one of unprecedented US weakness.
    26. MIKE: It’s not all Trump’s fault. These forces were in play before he took power in 2025. What is Trump’s fault is the unnecessary national security dangers that he has amplified or created in the space of less than 2 years.
    27. MIKE: In an August 8 story from WASHINGTONPOST[.]COM called, “Pentagon Presses Defense Firms To Build Weapons As Iran War Depletes Stocks”, one paragraph notes that, “Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders … saying they had no more than 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” [adding]“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable. … We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
    28. MIKE: Trump has acted like the US has a bottomless well of military capability and resources. Our military has felt constitutionally obligated to obey, and the drones — er, pigeons — of that military over-extension and depletion of assets may come home to roost.
    29. MIKE: This is a time of real danger. We have people in the US government who know that and are trying to act. There are only two questions I have: 1- Are they in time; and 2- Will Trump stymie or slow what needs to be done?

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, Livingston/Goodrich 89.9-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!