An article by former U.S. attorney for Minnesota Andrew M. Luger in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Oct. 19, 2025, reads: "There's a dangerous new wave of violent extremism in Minnesota: For some, left and right don't matter. All they care about is violence." Luger's remarks are a wake-up call for educators, parents, law enforcement and public health authorities.

The wave is being spawned via the internet and attracting what law enforcement and nongovernment analysts call Nihilistic Violent Extremists (NVE) to graphic online sites of sextortion, animal torture and killing, and mass shootings. Their compulsive engagement could lead to acts of violence or self-harm.

What critical experiences during childhood and adolescence contribute to NVE and an inability to empathize and find meaning, purpose and compassion remain to be assessed. In these dystopian times, it is a challenge to identify causative factors. Monitoring and sanitizing the internet of violent and hateful postings and platforms is hardly feasible now that energy-consuming (and therefore climate-change-accelerating) AI is unleashing deepfake images and videos globally. These tactics are also being utilized politically and for dissemination of conspiracy theories, and they could well lead to a global mental health pandemic of hate and violence.

Of particular concern is the use of AI therapy chatbots. A new study warns that these chatbots often violate core ethical standards, raising questions about their safety and accountability. The bots consistently showed poor contextual understanding, weak collaboration skills, deceptive empathy, bias and unsafe crisis handling. In multiple test sessions, the bots often gave generic advice, reinforced delusions and misread cultural or family dynamics, exposing users to potential psychological harm. For details, go to psychiatrist.com/news/ai-counselors-cross-ethical-lines/.

CRYPTO BILLIONAIRES EXACERBATING CLIMATE CHANGE

The rise of the cryptocurrency industry completes the circle of nihilism as server data centers metastasize around the world, exacerbating climate change if not powered by “green” energy (solar, wind and hydrogen), which petrostates oppose while investing in cryptocurrency.

It is notable that a Saudi petro-oligarch gave $2 billion in cryptocurrency to President Trump’s World Liberty cryptocurrency business, which purportedly generated $802 million in actual cash income during the first half of 2025. One digital currency transaction platform, Binance, worth an estimated $85 billion, was used by terrorist groups for illicit activities, from child sexual abuse to illegal narcotics and terrorism.

Bitcoin mining consumes roughly 0.5% of all energy consumption worldwide and is escalating. One Bitcoin transaction can spend up to 1,200 kilowatt-hours of energy, which is equivalent to almost 100,000 credit card transactions.

Karen Hao’s 2025 book, "Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI," explains that the AI race is on, fueled by coal and natural gas. AI-related data center spending in 2025 is expected to reach about 2% of United States GDP. Global private investment in AI reached $252.3 billion in 2024, with U.S. companies and investors dominating the spending. Generative AI, which is part of the broader AI field and a precursor to AGI, attracted $33.9 billion of that private investment in 2024. In 2025, CNBC reported that total global AI spending is expected to reach $375 billion. For more insights, go to mindset.ai/blogs/in-the-loop-ep30-the-real-cost-of-agi#:.

DEAR DR. FOX: I appreciate you covering some environmental issues in your columns. I came across this posting that your readers, at least those who are not in denial, will find relevant. "Extreme Weather Caused More Than $100 Billion in Damage by June -- Smashing U.S. Records" (livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/extreme-weather-caused-more-than-usd100-billion-in-damage-by-june-smashing-us-records).

“The first half of 2025 logged the most damaging extreme weather on record in terms of cost, even after accounting for inflation, data shows. This is partly because of a handful of extraordinary events, such as the Los Angeles wildfires. But the number of natural disasters that struck this winter was also 'exceptional,' Paul Ullrich, a professor of regional climate modeling at the University of California, Davis, told Live Science. All told, the first half of the year likely incurred $93 billion to $126 billion in damages, half-year estimates from insurance companies Munich Re, AON and Gallagher Re suggest. This total smashes the previous most costly first six months on record, of $57 billion (inflation-adjusted), set in 2023, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data.” -- J.R.M., Washington, D.C.

DEAR J.R.M.: Thank you for this disturbing wake-up call for all petrostates. The plight of Alaskan coastal communities, where climate change is rapidly melting permafrost (and releasing more methane, a greenhouse gas), calls for federal emergency aid. According to the Hopi Message there will be ever-increasing suffering from one generation to the next until Koyaanisqatsi, living out of balance, becomes Lomakatsi, life in balance. See drfoxonehealth.com/post/the-hopi-message-prophecy.

Climate change deniers cannot ignore the recent devastation of Jamaica and other Caribbean Island communities by the Category 5 hurricane Melissa. All should realize that planet Earth is at a tipping point. We are in a battle to save the soul of the Earth, Nature, mother of us all.

We are also all in a battle to save the soul of humanity in how compassionately the homeless and refugees, many being victims of war, colonialism and climate change, are being treated. This is a social responsibility of every democracy. Empathy should trump Immigration and Customs Enforcement, now empowered with smartphone spyware to entrap and deport without due process, even separating families.

Animal rescue organizations need more support in the battle to save animals abandoned and injured after extreme weather events and in times of war.

All these battles, and others such as social justice and environmental protection, collate into an existential, spiritual crisis. The rules of law and justice are being eclipsed by the abuse of power, primarily for pecuniary ends in many countries. As 19th-century British historian Lord Acton observed, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: A recent study noted an increase in diabetes risk associated with certain common emulsifiers. Reposting from everything-healthy.com:

“Emulsifiers are chemicals added to processed foods to stabilize mixtures that would not naturally blend, such as oil and water. They improve texture, extend shelf life and enhance appearance -- but at what cost?

“The study followed 104,139 adults over 14 years, tracking their diets through biannual food logs. The findings were alarming ... These additives don’t just disrupt blood sugar -- they wreak havoc on the gut microbiome, the delicate ecosystem of bacteria in your stomach that are crucial for digestion, immunity and metabolic health.

“Emulsifiers can strip away the protective mucus layer in the gut, leaving the intestinal lining vulnerable to inflammation. Chronic inflammation is a key driver of insulin resistance, disrupting insulin signaling pathways and impairing the body’s ability to properly utilize glucose, which leads to elevated blood sugar levels. This is why insulin resistance is recognized as the precursor to Type 2 diabetes.”

(See the study “Food additive emulsifiers and the risk of type 2 diabetes: Analysis of data from the NutriNet-Sante prospective cohort study” by Clara Salame et al., published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2025.)

Emulsifiers are also of concern due to their use in many moist pet foods. For details, see drfoxonehealth.com/post/carrageenan-other-emulsifiers-in-human-pet-foods-cause-health-problems.

DEAR DR. FOX: I recently sent a letter to my local paper in support of your work. Here is an abbreviated version:

“I hope he keeps writing columns standing up for science ... But I also know the Post may get some letters complaining about the 'woke' writer, so I want to weigh in early with my energetic support for Dr. Fox, his column and other advocates of science, facts and 'wokeness.'" -- P.B., West Palm Beach, Florida

DEAR P.B.: Your words of support in these challenging times of misinformation and disinformation are much appreciated. Without facts and science-based ethics, we cannot make informed decisions on many fronts.

AVIAN INFLUENZA's EFFECT ON POULTRY INDUSTRY

According to the CDC, since the start of the H5N1 outbreak in February 2022, the disease has led to the direct deaths or culling of 181.7 million poultry. Most infected flocks are culled by switching off the ventilation, which leads to death from suffocation and overheating.

In 2020, a new variant of H5N1, referred to as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, was detected in wild birds in Europe; it was first seen in North America in 2021, and has since been found in wild bird species in all 50 states. According to the CDC, dairy cows have been infected, as well as some farm workers and veterinarians, plus a variety of wildlife including bears, bobcats, mink, mountain lions, raccoons and skunks. For details, see: aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/mammals.

CALIFORNIA BANS DECLAWING OF CATS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 867 into law, effectively banning the cruel procedure of declawing cats in the state. This is good news, and I wish all states would follow suit. Meanwhile, the American Veterinary Medical Association still does not support local or statewide declaw bans.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: There should be no doubt that there is currently a war raging against science. The nonprofit Global Witness (globalwitness.org) reports that, since 2012, it has “documented more than 2,200 killings and disappearances of land and environmental defenders worldwide,” including 146 in 2024 alone. These people stood up for their rights and for the Earth, peacefully, and were met with violence.

Science is also being attacked by vested interests, as documented in the new book “Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World” by climatologist and geophysicist Michael E. Mann and pediatrician and epidemiologist Peter J. Hotzen. The book is described as “a road map for dismantling the forces of anti-science.” For further reading, see Sen. Bernie Sanders’ new book, “Fight Oligarchy,” about the oligarchs currently controlling the government.

How did we get here? We once listened to influential people such as Francis Bacon, who opened the door to the so-called Enlightenment or Age of Reason. His famous saying, “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed,” implies that the only way to “command” nature is through a thorough understanding of it. Rational materialism, inductive reasoning, and science in the service of industry flourished under the ethos of Baconian philosophy -- but now, we are frying our bacon.

A CENTURY AFTER THE ‘SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL’

It has now been 100 years since the “Scopes monkey trial,” in which a Tennessee science teacher, who had informed his students about biological evolution, was opposed by moral fundamentalists who believed God created man in his own image and that we did not descend from animals. This is highly relevant today as the scientific community and academia are under attack for being “woke.”

Beyond compassion and respect for all life, there are no moral absolutes. The hallmark of democratic society is moral pluralism -- the antidote to authoritarianism. There is no contradiction in the acceptance of biological evolution (backed by fossil evidence) and the belief in God or a higher power of creation. Those who believe that only man was made in God’s image cannot deny our inhumanity. What kind of God would condone human violence and animal cruelty and exploitation?

There are millions of people who experience divinity, or a sense of the sacred, in nature and in the presence of other species, wild and domesticated. Our destruction of nature and cruelty to animals is, theologically, our separation from God. We are part of nature and nature is part of us: When we harm one, we harm the other.

ALASKA’S WILDLIFE AND WILDERNESS AREAS NOW AT RISK

From the Sierra Club (sierraclub.org): “On Oct. 23, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a series of decisions that increase threats to Alaska landscapes, wildlife, and local communities. In a brief ceremony with members of Alaska’s congressional delegation and governor, Burgum announced a decision opening vast swaths of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, along with formal approvals for two controversial road-building proposals, one cutting across one of our most well-preserved national parks and one through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The department transferred nearly 23,600 acres of national public lands to the state of Alaska as part of the Ambler Road decision.”

While conservation organizations mount opposition, we face the backdrop of President Trump cutting federal funds for safer, “green” energy development that would also boost local employment. All in all, these climate change-exacerbating initiatives amount to crimes against humanity and nature, and should be opposed by every means.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)