Hal Brown's Substack (fomerly Hal Brown's Blog)

October 31, 2025

A not so Happy Halloween: The Trickster Trump thugs have a message for kids. Eat your candy and breathe the tear gas. By Hal M. Brown

Not so Happy Halloween…

Last night I read this about my hometown: “Portland ICE protests leave nearby residents caught in chemical crossfire. And more.”

The article on the Oregon Live website included this photo:

I’d previously read about Gov. Pritzker asking for a pause in ICE enforcement in Chicago over Halloween weekend:

“Illinois families deserve to spend Halloween weekend without fear,” Pritzker wrote in a Wednesday letter to Noem. “No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood.”

Yesterday I read Trump may walk into a Halloween trap set by Dem: analyst.

Excerpt:

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) issued an impassioned plea to the Trump administration Thursday to pause its immigration raids in Chicago, at least for Halloween, though one journalist and political analyst suspects the plea may also be a trap that could see the administration stumble into a self-inflicted political blunder.
In a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Pritzker pleaded with the agency to halt its immigration raids in Chicago through the Halloween weekend, which kicks off Friday. His request comes just days after U.S. Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas at a children’s Halloween parade, and weeks after children were dragged from beds to U-Hauls by immigration officers during a raid.
“Illinois families deserve to spend Halloween weekend without fear. No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood,” Pritzker wrote. “...Illinois children should not be robbed of their innocence. Let them enjoy a time-honored American tradition safely and peacefully. Please let children be children for one holiday, free from intimidation and fear.”

I thought I might write about it today and used AI to make some images of children in Halloween costumes wearing gas masks.

When I got up this morning I didn’t know what I was going to write about.

Then I read this:

Here’s the comment I posted (click here to enlarge)

I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to write about this. Then I looked at the images that came from Perchance AI and they were nothing short of horrible. I thought about the news about SNAP cuts:

These two stories mesh together. They add up to another demonstration of the brutal sadistic callousness of the the Trump administration.

Consider this:

This is what Republican strategist Lindy Li wrote comparing the 16 million children poised to lose food assistance on Saturday to “socialist beasts” during an appearance on Newsmax on Friday.

As for the total number of SNAP recipients – 42 million – Li questioned that they were even eligible for the program, but for those that were, suggested that they “start making better choices” so that they didn’t “have to rely on the government.”

I suppose the children who die because of the cuts to USAID assistance should have made better choices too.

Addendum/afterthought:

Let’s not forget that the estimated 61 people Trump killed on the speedboats were fisherman who needed the money paid by the actual drug criminals. It’s likely that most of them had families and children they were trying to feed. See: U.N. Human Rights Chief Says U.S. Strikes On Alleged Drug Boats Are ‘Unacceptable.

October 30, 2025

Trump has to be The King of the Jungle so what's bigger than a nuclear bodacious bomb? By Hal M. Brown

If you’ve been paying attention you know that Trump has announced that he’s ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear testing. (Actually the Pentagon doesn't test nuclear weapons, see footnote) 1

I just heard an expert on CNN saying that it would take up to three years for actual nuclear testing to begin and that the mere annoucement could restart a nuclear arms race. He also said that implementing preparations for such testing will be impeded because many of the personnel needed to do this have been fired as a result of Trump’s budget cuts. No matter, for Trump it is the announcement, the threat, that counts.

This is part and parcel of Trump’s macho posturing and his need to be the biggest, baddest, boldest, behemoth in the jungle.

It is said that the lion is the king of the beasts. Trump’s jungle includes lots of lion beasts or “kings.” He met with some of them yesterday.

Come right down to it, as far as he’s concerned, among all these beasts and lions he’s the mammoth mammoth who could handily have those those pesky wannabe kings with their little crowns begging for mercy.

Tarriffs be damned. The better way to do this is to remind them that he can turn them and their countries into radioactive dust on an exponentially large scale than he does when obliterates speedboats with hapless fisherman aboard who are trying to make some money by helping drug lords try to smuggle their nasty goodies into the US.

We’re appalled by images like this knowing there are people being executed:

I have no doubt Trump and his cadre of sadistic psychopaths enjoy viewing them. I also think watching nuclear tests would be like a triple dose of Viagra for him.