This afternoon, I’m tracking urgent, explosive stories you won’t see on mainstream media. In Chicago, ICE agents literally dragged naked children from their homes—tearing them from their families and shoving them into U-Haul trucks. At the same time, ICE is quietly building one of the largest surveillance programs in the nation—designed to monitor your social media and track your every move. And just minutes ago, Diddy was sentenced to four years in prison.
These stories matter. These stories are being buried. And this is exactly why independent media is not just important—it’s essential.
Heading into another weekend, I want you to hear me clearly: I will not back down. I will not be intimidated. I will fight for truth every single day, no matter how ugly, no matter how dangerous, no matter how hard powerful forces try to silence it.
If you believe truth still matters—if you believe journalism must be fearless, unbought, and unbroken—then stand with me. Subscribe today. Share this work. Support independent voices.
Because together, we’re not just reporting the news. We’re defending the very right to tell it. Here’s what you missed:
According to Wired, ICE is planning to expand its social media surveillance program by hiring nearly 30 private contractors to staff targeting centers in Vermont and California, monitoring platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram around the clock to generate deportation leads—raising major privacy concerns as the effort would feed vast personal data into ICE’s Palantir-powered enforcement system.
During a pre-dawn raid in Chicago’s South Shore, ICE and federal agents arrested 37 people allegedly tied to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, but neighbors reported witnessing agents dragging naked children from apartments and separating them from their mothers—part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has already detained over 800 people and sparked outrage over alleged misconduct and mistreatment of migrants.
The Senate failed to pass both Republican and Democratic short-term spending bills for the third time, prompting Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to announce the chamber will adjourn until Monday — extending the government shutdown into its sixth day.
The Smithsonian Institution said it can remain open through Oct. 11 during the government shutdown, extending its operations beyond the previously expected Oct. 6 closure by using prior-year funds to keep museums, research centers, and the National Zoo open to the public.
Portland and Oregon officials are suing to block Trump’s plan to deploy 200 National Guard troops to the city, warning it could spark violence and cost taxpayers $10 million, while local leaders insist protests remain small and peaceful and accuse the White House of manufacturing a crisis for political gain.
Costco will begin selling Ozempic and Wegovy for $499 a month without insurance — a discount aimed at expanding access to the popular weight loss drugs — but doctors warn the price still leaves many lower-income patients unable to afford treatment.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences warned that Donald Trump’s second-term proposals — including NIH budget cuts, dismantling the Education Department, capping international students, and tying grants to “patriotic education” — threaten academic freedom and scientific progress, with critics saying the measures could devastate U.S. research, universities, and economic growth.
President Trump gave Hamas until 6 p.m. Sunday to accept a 20-point ceasefire plan (backed by Israel and reportedly delivered via Qatar and Egypt); he warned that if rejected “all hell” will “break out,” claimed 25,000 Hamas members have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, and urged Palestinians to move to safer areas while calling for the immediate release of all 48 living and dead hostages.
The Treasury unveiled draft designs for a $1 commemorative coin honoring the U.S. semiquincentennial in 2026, featuring Donald Trump’s profile on one side and him raising his fist before an American flag on the other—alongside the slogan “Fight, fight, fight”—a design tied to his 2024 assassination attempt, with officials calling it legal tender once finalized after the shutdown.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a U.S. strike ordered by Trump killed four people on a drug boat off Venezuela, the fourth such attack in recent weeks, as the administration claims a new “armed conflict” with cartels — a move drawing legal doubts and international outrage after previous strikes killed 17.
The Trump administration plans to offer unaccompanied migrant teenagers $2,500 to voluntarily leave the U.S., expanding on its self-deportation incentives for adults — a move immigrant advocates warn could endanger children by pressuring them into returning to unsafe conditions.
An immigration judge in Baltimore denied Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s bid to reopen his 2019 asylum case, though he has 30 days to appeal; Garcia, a Salvadoran with a U.S. wife and children, was mistakenly deported under Trump, returned, then charged with human smuggling, and now faces possible deportation to a third country amid allegations of political retaliation and prejudicial government statements.
Emmy-winning journalist Mario Guevara, a longtime Atlanta reporter, was deported to El Salvador after 100 days in ICE custody despite dismissed charges, sparking outrage from press freedom groups who warn his case marks one of the harshest crackdowns on U.S. journalists and sets a dangerous precedent for silencing reporters covering law enforcement and protests.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Hawaii’s 2023 law restricting concealed handgun carry, which requires permit holders to get permission to bring firearms onto most private property and bans them from beaches, parks, bars, and other “sensitive places”; a federal judge initially blocked the provisions, but the 9th Circuit upheld them in 2024, setting up a new test of gun rights after the Court’s landmark 2022 ruling extending the Second Amendment outside the home.
Actor Tyrese Gibson was booked on an animal cruelty charge after his four cane corso dogs allegedly escaped and killed a neighbor’s Cavalier King Charles spaniel in Atlanta; Gibson admitted responsibility, rehomed some of the dogs, and called the incident “shocking” and “heartbreaking.”
Lawyers for Utah grief author Kouri Richins, accused of fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl in 2022, say prosecutors withheld evidence after a key witness recanted, undermining the state’s case and prompting a request for her pretrial release ahead of her February trial.
Good news:
Camden, New Jersey marked its first summer without a homicide in 50 years, a milestone officials credit to a restructured county-run police department focused on community relationships and real-time surveillance, with homicides down 75% and other cities now studying its model.
After Typhoon Ragasa triggered severe flooding and mudslides in Taiwan’s Hualien County, thousands of volunteers—including locals, foreign residents, and visitors—mobilized with shovels and kitchens to aid displaced families, with relief efforts coordinated by the Buddhist charity Tzu Chi and supported by government stipends and housing assistance.
UNESCO has expanded its Biosphere Reserve Network by an area the size of Bolivia, now covering 5% of Earth’s land with 785 sites across 142 countries, including six nations receiving their first designations, in an effort to balance human livelihoods with ecosystem protection and advance the goal of conserving 30% of land and sea by 2030.
Archaeologists discovered over 170 life-sized animal engravings in Saudi Arabia, dating back 12,000 years, which likely served as cultural markers for seasonal water sources, highlighting early Arabian tribes’ adaptation and symbolic expression in the desert.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
