Happy Halloween Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 971 words…3.6 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Chernobyl’s Blue Dogs Go Viral, Halloween Terror Plot Foiled, Belarus Balloons Rattle NATO Airspace, Kim K. vs NASA, NYC Floods, Pavel Durov’s Prison Break Game… & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
NYC Mayoral elections: Tuesday, Nov 4th
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🎃 FBI Foils Halloween Terror Plot in Michigan
The FBI says it stopped an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack planned for Halloween weekend in Michigan — a day before it was set to happen.
Federal agents carried out pre-dawn raids in Dearborn and Inkster, arresting 5 young suspects.
Allegedly plotting a violent act during trick-or-treating hours - maximum civilian density with thousands of kids in the streets.
The FBI called it a “potentially catastrophic” plan that was discussed in ISIS-linked chatrooms infiltrated by undercover agents.
👮 The bust: The operation was led by FBI Director Kash Patel, who said the bust “prevented a potential terrorist incident.”
All federal documents are still sealed, and officials haven’t disclosed the attack method — but sources say the suspects had firearms and extremist material.
📍 Dearborn angle: One of the nation’s largest Arab-American communities—ISIS has been targeting Muslims in America to carry out domestic attacks.
💡Why it matters: This marks the third ISIS-inspired plot disrupted in the U.S. this year, showing the lingering danger of micro-cells radicalized online. No wider threat remains, but the episode is a chilling reminder — terror doesn’t need borders, just Wi-Fi.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Source: @dogsofchernobyl
🐶 Chernobyl’s “Blue Dogs” Go Viral
Chernobyl’s legendary stray dogs — descendants of pets abandoned after the 1986 meltdown — just went viral again after several were spotted with bright blue fur.
Cue the hysteria: Social media lit up with “nuclear mutant” theories.
Reality: Scientists say it’s not radiation but chemical leaks from old porta-potties the dogs rolled in.
The hue’s purely cosmetic, and the pups are reportedly healthy and thriving.
💡Bottom line: Even in Chernobyl, the biggest mutation might be online misinformation.
🎈Smokes in the Sky: Belarus Balloons Rattle NATO Airspace
Dozens of giant helium balloons—some weighing over 100 pounds—have floated from Belarus into Lithuania and Poland, forcing airport shutdowns and sparking fresh security alarms along NATO’s eastern edge.
Officials say the balloons are being used by smugglers to ferry contraband cigarettes into the EU.
But Lithuania calls it a “hybrid attack” orchestrated or tolerated by Lukashenko’s regime.
💡Why it matters: The skies over Eastern Europe just got weirder—and tenser, with Poland and Finland already battling rogue drones supposedly from Russian airspace.
🚗 Ford Reboots in India With $370M Engine Bet
Ford Motor Company is making a comeback in India, investing $370 million to revive its Maraimalai Nagar plant near Chennai.
The upgraded facility will produce over 200,000 high-end engines a year—mainly for export, not the U.S.
The move defies Trump’s 50% tariff push on Indian imports, signaling Ford’s global pivot over protectionism.
It also hints at a future EV play in Chennai.
💡Why it matters: Ford’s return to India isn’t nostalgia—it’s strategy. With EV bets rising and U.S. tariffs looming, the automaker is hedging against America-first economics by turning India into its next low-cost, high-skill engine lab for global markets.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
🌧️ NYC Flooded (Again)
New York City was slammed by record-breaking rains on Oct. 30, flooding streets, subways, and even trapping cars underwater across Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.
Central Park logged 1.8 inches, breaking a 1917 record, while LaGuardia hit 1.97 inches.
Two men died in flooded basements
More than 1,000 flights were canceled across the Northeast.
Mayoral candidates Curtis Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo weighed in on X — Sliwa slammed City Hall for neglecting NYC’s sewers, promising to fix it if elected; while Cuomo reminded followers of his proven crisis leadership during Hurricane Sandy, Lee, Irene and help for Puerto Rico.
⚡Bottom line: The storm dumped more than rain — it reignited NYC’s political flood wars.
🌕 NASA vs. Kim K — Moon Landing Drama Goes Lunar
Kim Kardashian thinks the moon landing was faked. On her show, she told Sarah Paulson that the 1969 Apollo 11 mission “didn’t happen,” citing a sketchy Buzz Aldrin “quote” that doesn’t actually exist.
NASA clapped back fast. Acting chief Sean Duffy tagged Kim on X: “Yes, we’ve been to the Moon before… six times!”
He even invited her to the Artemis launch under Trump’s “back-to-the-Moon” push.
Kim’s reply? “Wait… what’s the tea on 3I Atlas?!”
⚡Bottom line: A masterclass in how to get more engagement by being wrong, than NASA gets by being right.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🎮 Durov’s Prison Break Game + AI Revolution
Telegram founder Pavel Durov dropped a curveball — a new game called “Total Glitch” where players reenact his escape from a French prison.
Durov claims no involvement, calling it “fan-made,” but it’s pure meme-fuel marketing.
⚡Launching November 2025, it’s already pulling major GPU investments — and Silicon Valley’s attention.
📺 Disney Goes Dark on YouTube TV After Talks Collapse
More than 20 Disney-owned channels—including ABC and ESPN—just vanished from YouTube TV after contract talks broke down before the Oct. 30 deadline.
YouTube accused Disney of using blackout threats to push for higher prices, while promising users a $20 credit if the outage drags on.
⚡The standoff spotlights the streaming industry’s cost wars, where platforms now fight each other harder than they fight cable.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
🍭 The Candy Economy
Halloween's original treats were non-candy items like fruit, nuts, homemade cookies, cakes, coins, or toys—not mass-produced sweets.
The candy industry ramped up promotion in the 1950s to fuel post-WWII sales after the sugar rations were lifted. The rest is history.