This novella (55 pages) goes out next week to all my (free) subscribers only on Substack. It will be up for about a week, then comes down on goes on sale as an eBook. See comment for details.

To everyone watching the surge in far-left violence across the West and telling themselves it cannot get worse: I am old enough to remember when organized left-wing terror groups were killing, kidnapping, and bombing across Europe and America. The 1970s and 1980s are worth a quick revisit. In West Germany, the Marxist-Leninist Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof) and the Revolutionary Cells carried out hundreds of bombings, arson attacks, and bank robberies over some 25 years, wounding hundreds and killing dozens. In September 1977, Baader-Meinhof ambushed Hanns Martin Schleyer, one of Germany’s top industrialists, murdered his driver and three police officers, held him for 43 days, then killed him. In Italy, the Marxist-Leninist gang Red Brigades carried out assassinations, kneecappings, and kidnappings over 20 years, killing nearly fifty people. In 1978 they kidnapped former prime minister Aldo Moro, killed his five bodyguards, and left his body in a car trunk after 54 days. In Spain, GRAPO, another Marxist-Leninist group, killed more than 80 people, including a notorious 1979 cafe bombing in Madrid. It used kidnappings to attack the state and later raise money. Its highest profile victims were the president of the Council of State and a top military general. In France, Action Directe, a self-described “libertarian communist urban guerrilla” group, carried out more than 80 bombings. Its leaders were convicted of assassinating General René Audran in 1985 and Renault CEO Georges Besse in 1986. In America, the Weather Underground claimed roughly two dozen bombings, including the Capitol and the Pentagon. Their bombs killed no one but their own members—three in a Greenwich Village townhouse in 1970—until 1981, when remnants joined the Black Liberation Army in the Brink’s robbery. A guard and two police officers died. These groups did not emerge from nowhere. They began inside much larger movements of protest marches, campus organizing, and anti-war activism. Small cells decided that talking had failed, that the state was illegitimate, and that violence was the only remaining language. They were few in number but they did real damage. The grievances of the 1970s were not identical to today’s. The mechanics of escalation, though, are similar. When political anger, economic frustration, and a sense of moral emergency pile up, it only takes a handful of people to break away and treat armed confrontation as the next logical step. History shows it has happened before. The question is whether it will happen again.

We want to keep you updated on the reviews we post each week (Now). If you already have a big TBR list, don’t worry, we’ll remind you of the upcoming books as they’re about to be published (Later). This week we have reviews of 5 books. Read them now: bestthrillerbooks.com/review…

“Illegal forward handing” I’ve watched football for 36 years and I’ve never seen this penalty called.

The New York Post has obtained and published an official copy of Ilhan Omar's sister's marriage certificate. It describes their father as "Nur Said Elmi," and his profession as a "military officer. More evidence that she is not who she says she is.

Seems clear to me now that the theory is going to be that she was NOT related to the person she claimed was her father, so she could NOT get derivative citizenship via his naturalization whether he ever was naturalized or not. She has been an undocumented alien in the US her entire life because her real father remained in Great Britain when she came to the U.S. with a different family who lied about her being their daughter. This is why they wanted DNA of her sister, and already had DNA of her husband/brother. There is reporting that this all kicked off recently over a group text message on her sister's phone -- LIKELY obtained in connection with the fraud investigations in Minneapolis that involve her sister. THAT's why they wanted her phone so badly -- to find the same message on her phone. She's probably in the group chat that was found on her sister's phone. The message must reveal some information about them not being part of the same family. If she acknowledged knowing that was the case, then she has lied numerous times as an adult about what she knew about her lineage and whether she was naturalized. Lying about citizenship is a federal crime.

Christian McCaffrey's grandpa was the fastest man on Earth, and at the 1960 Olympics he was quietly helping the CIA try to flip a Soviet athlete. That's the family tree behind this jersey swap, and the rest of it is even better. His name was Dave Sime. He showed up at Duke on a baseball scholarship as a premed kid, taught himself to sprint by reading every track book in the library, and in 1956 he tied the world record in the 100-yard dash. Sports Illustrated called him the world's fastest human and put him on the cover. At the Rome Olympics he lost the 100 meters in a photo finish and took silver. On that same trip he was working on getting a Soviet long jumper to defect. Pro baseball teams wanted him and the Detroit Lions drafted him, but he went to med school and spent his career in Miami doing more than 10,000 eye surgeries. Then his youngest daughter Lisa went to Stanford to play soccer and fell for a wide receiver named Ed McCaffrey. Ed played 13 years in the NFL and won three Super Bowls, the first one with the 49ers. Ed and Lisa had four boys, and all four played big-time college football. Max played receiver at Duke, the same school where his grandpa set records. Christian was the Heisman runner-up at Stanford. Dylan played QB at Michigan. Luke, the youngest, was a quarterback at Nebraska who transferred to Rice, switched to receiver, and got drafted 100th overall in 2024. Three of them made the NFL. Christian had played with or against every brother except Luke, which is why he said going into Monday that this game would complete the cycle. Luke has one thing on his famous brother too. He ran a 4.47 forty at the 2024 combine, and Christian ran a 4.48 back in 2017. So the fastest McCaffrey brother, by one hundredth of a second, is the kid who spent most of college playing quarterback. The 49ers won 23-17 and Christian punched in two touchdowns. After the whistle Luke was already out of his Commanders jersey while Christian pulled off the one with the captain's C. The man who said no to the Lions ended up grandpa to three NFL players. He died in January 2016, before any of them had played a down.

Week 6 is almost over. Let’s categorize teams as Elite, Very Good, Good, Bad, or Awful. Giants - Bad and injured Eagles - Bad and injured Cowboys - Bad and sell the team Commanders - Awful and fire everyone Rams - Good and bad Seahawks - Good but Darnold is turning into a pumpkin 49ers - Elite Cardinals - Bad but they fight Buccaneers - Bad Bad Bad Saints - Bad mostly Panthers - Good, close to Very Good Falcons - Bad often Vikings - Elite Defense, Awful Offense Packers - Good unfortunately but fire the coach Bears - Good but not as scary as we thought Lions - Elite Offense, Awful Secondary (we’ll learn a lot about them the next 2 games) Titans - Awful just in time for the new stadium Colts - Awful and worse than the Titans Texans - Good but maybe Very Good Jaguars - Good but maybe Very Good Chiefs - Elite 🥱 Raiders - Bad but promising future Chargers - Blow the whole thing up (but please don’t trade Herbert to the Vikings… but also maybe please trade Herbert to the Vikings) Broncos - Trade for Cousins or Mac Jones and be Very Good Patriots - Very Good but will choke Bills - Josh Allen has the biggest backpack of all time Jets - Bad and probably gonna fire the coach Dolphins - Bad and the future is not bright yet Browns - Good????????? FIRST PLACE?! Steelers - Bad and somehow still look like they’re being coached by Tomlin Ravens - Elite with Jackson healthy Bengals - Good but does Joe Burrow care?

We want to keep you updated on the reviews we post each week (Now). If you already have a big TBR list, don’t worry, we’ll remind you of the upcoming books as they’re about to be published (Later). This week we have reviews of 5 books. Read them now: bestthrillerbooks.com/review…