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The Most Pathetic Display of Diplomacy in History

Never in all of the history of international diplomacy has a man who holds all the cards caved so cravenly to the most desperate, the most prostrate and the most vulnerable military aggressor with absolutely nothing with which to bargain in such a short time. The opening paragraph of the Reuters story says it all:

In a few short hours in Alaska, Vladimir Putin managed to convince Donald Trump that a Ukraine ceasefire was not the way to go, stave off U.S. sanctions, and spectacularly shatter years of Western attempts to isolate the Russian president.

 What “mainstream media”–those now completely subservient to the man who wields the FCC as a weapon–will conveniently omit is the fact that American prestige was the most valuable asset traded away in Alaska. American prestige was obliterated in Alaska. It is now plainly manifest, painfully obvious and irrevocably established that the United States will cave to any show of force and that the United States is no longer a leader in the world: the US is now a pitiful lackey of ruthless, insane despots who engage in murderous campaigns against their own people and the world.

See no evil, hear no evil but speak a lot of evil shaking hands with evil.
See no evil, hear no evil but speak a lot of evil shaking hands with evil.

Source: Putin wins Ukraine concessions in Alaska but did not get all he wanted | Reuters

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US Government to Address Holistic Medicine

RFK, Jr., has very diligently earned his reputation as the champion of the underdog in the realm of medicine. It is supremely refreshing to know that he will leverage his role as the leader of the department of Health and Human Services to put alternative and holistic medicines on the same footing as modern western medicine by addressing the problem of irreproducibility in the hodgepodge of studies that have failed to convince the medical establishment of the efficacy of these miracle cures, to the consternation of alternative medicine advocates and the detriment of the many reputable businesses that produce the highest quality urines for Ayurvedic applications.

The well-designed double-blind and properly controlled studies of vitamin A for measles treatment are coming, and the sterling environmental lawyer at the head of HHS will shepherd the studies that will show how unvaccinated children survive polio, measles and rubella by ingesting his personal medic’s 100% consistent herbal remedies better than vaccinated children who have been thriving for generations.

Yes, there is a replication crisis afoot in alternative medicine, and RFK, Jr., will fix it.

Efforts have been underway for years to improve the replicability of research studies, but some are skeptical of the US government’s motivations to help

Source: Amid White House claims of a research ‘replication crisis,’ scientists offer solutions

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The Timing of Israel’s Attack on Iran

The Israeli Prime Minister is a criminal on the lam in his own government. He has been on trial for corruption for over three years, and he was in charge of the government for years (2009 – 2021 and 2022 until now) before the October 7 atrocities occurred in southern Israel. His evasion of responsibility for the negligence of his administration of cronies has been nothing but stunning.

He unleashed unbridled violence against combatants and civilians alike in Gaza for the sole purpose of earning the distinction of an International Criminal Court indictment in order to galvanize his base, and when this base managed to keep his government intact on June 13, 2025, he launched attacks on Iran to draw attention away from the grievous situation in Gaza. In 20 months, this reprobate prime minister has managed to erase all memory of his gross incompetence at the heart of the October 7 massacres by overseeing atrocities that galvanize his base and by hoodwinking the American President into validating his bogus war against Iran with tactical strikes; strikes that squandered American taxpayer dollars and risked placing America’s most prized bomber in harm’s way in an ultimately unsuccessful sortie to defuse Iran’s atomic bomb progam.

In nearly all political crimes, it is the coverup that undoes the criminal. The Israeli PM’s military efforts have ensured that Israel’s national integrity is harmed by his removal. By thus ensuring that Israel’s existence is imperiled by any attempt for reckoning, the Israeli PM has delayed such reckoning beyond his death, by which time Israel may be a pariah nation. The deviousness of this plan is surpassed only by its unfathomable recklessness. It’s hard to imagine that any Israeli endowed with a sense of country, a grasp of morality and a desire for a peaceful future will elect to stay in Israel.

The timing of Israel’s attack on Iran one day after Israel’s PM survived a confidence vote in the Israeli parliament establishes political survival as his motivation, not patriotism.

 

The BBC’s Hugo Bachega reports from Jerusalem, after Israel launched overnight strikes against sites across Iran.

Source: Analysis: Why has Israel chosen to attack Iran now?

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Propaganda Network Volunteers to Fund Newsom’s Campaign

The statement from the propaganda network this far has been:

Fox said in a statement: “Governor Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”

The translation is that Newsom will have a nearly $1 billion war chest for his 2028 presidential campaign by around this time next year. Just as was the case with the Dominion Voting settlement, the propaganda network will cough up the money moments before subpoenas are issued for its records and for the White House call logs.

 

Source: California’s Newsom sues Fox News for $787 million for defamation over Trump call | Reuters

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Musk is Right About Harvard Grads

Bill Ackman is an expert at extortion. As an “activist” investor, he buys a spot on company boards, complains and whines ad nauseum until he gets his away and often cashes out before anyone has discovered that he has gutted the company he controls. Only a man this bereft of the slightest shred creativity required for creating a company that manufactures a product–a company that creates wealth–could ever graduate from Harvard for the purpose of extorting money from business, extorting his own alma mater for allowing free speech on campus and, eventually, helping elect an extortionist who extorted Ackman himself with Tariffs.

There is no moral to this story. There is only the repetition of phenomenon seen repeatedly in history: authoritarianism ultimately digs its own grave by causing unending infighting.

This is no illustration that all Harvard graduates are stupid, as Elon Musk likes to claim. It is ample evidence that a great many Harvard graduates positively are.

As trillions vanish from markets, the smart money gets a hard lesson about the president it was betting on.

Source: Trump Tariffs: Wall Street Billionaires Criticize Policy as Market Declines – Bloomberg

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Vote for Quality of Life Needs to Be Recognized As Such

Paris residents vote to make 500 more streets pedestrian 

Though only 4% of the city voters participated in this referendum, no significant opposition against making a city that is extremely pedestrian friendly even more pedestrian friendly. Tempting as it might be to view this as a reflection of “leftist” politics, no doubt exists regarding its being another manifestation of the global movement away from the noise, pollution, inconvenience and nuisance of rampant car culture in cities. In Paris, in particular, pedestrian life that was emphasized during covid lockdowns was reinforced by a magical Olympic experience wherein the entire city became a memorable character in every single sporting event. It is not surprising that people would opt to retain the camaraderie and social connection that car-free streets encourage. Paris is lucky enough to have a superb transportation infrastructure that provides residents with multiple means of getting about town. Absent any significant reduction in mobility, it is obvious that people would prefer to walk, bike or ride subway in order to retain neighborhoods devoid of car noise and pollution. Cities were made for people, after all.

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No One Trusts Russia (Putin)

Source: Poland and Baltic nations plan to withdraw from landmine convention | Reuters

Withdrawing from the international land mine treaty is no small commitment. Land mines are considered counterproductive because they cause massive costs in civilian casualties and removal costs for decades after the conflict for which they were deployed. It is an emphatic statement of distrust in Vladimir Putin that the Baltic states and Poland are electing to leave the international land mine treaty. The Baltics and Poland are declaring that they anticipate a Russian invasion and that they will go to any length to thwart the Russian invasion. They are clearly under no illusion that Putin is a trustworthy leader who will conform to international laws and treaties that he signs.

NATO members Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia plan to withdraw from the Ottawa convention banning anti-personnel landmines due to the military threat from their neighbour Russia, the four countries said on Tuesday.

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For Russia Peace is a Deadly Precipice

Source: Breakingviews: Russia’s economy would struggle to cope with peace

The wartime economy poses an addiction akin to heroin, or even alcohol, withdrawal from which is attended by pain so severe that the addict relapses: resorts to feeding the addiction rather than leaving it. In the excellent analysis linked above, Russia–Putin–finds itself at a painful crossroads. Fighting further erodes the civilian economy further, but opting for peace puts enormous pressure on the government to help rebuild the civilian economy quickly enough to keep social unrest at bay. Key to such a rebuilding program is accountability on behalf of corporations and government. Such accountability is simply nonexistent in Russia, and it behooves Putin and his cronies to fight for “victory” in Ukraine rather than risk exposing Russians to the rampant culture of corruption in Russia. (Alternately and charitably, risk Russians lose in the world economy because they have become dependent on the wartime economic cocaine.)

Dreams of empire comprise the most powerful and most perverse intellectual opiate. Democracies that fail to exclude empire addicts from their leadership will sadly fail.

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Elon Musk in Two Stories

There are two stories that perfectly capture the essence, the core, the totality and the absolute truth about Musk. The first is the piece by Sam Harris, The Trouble with Elon. The other is Harry Shearer‘s recounting of Elon Musk’s obsession with being a globally ranked video game player (starting at minute 4:00).

Continue reading “Elon Musk in Two Stories”
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Moral Ambiguity Undermines Military Operations

Source: Some Israeli soldiers refuse to keep fighting in Gaza

There is little doubt that the incoming American president’s threats to unleash hell motivated Hamas to accept wholesale Israel’s ceasefire terms, but the revelation of dissent within the ranks of the Israeli military documented in this AP article cannot be dismissed. The moral ambiguity of the military intervention in Gaza has very nearly torn Israeli society apart, and now it is now introducing cracks into the historically cohesive and unshakably united Israeli military. The Israeli prime minister is always quick to cast aspersions on foreign politicians who oppose his military escapade in Gaza, but dissent in the IDF, no matter how small, is a staggering measure of the degree to which the Israeli prime minister has degraded the cohesiveness of the Israeli fighting forces. No leader, foreign or domestic, has ever evoked open dissent in the ranks of the Israeli military. This fact renders moot the opposition of other soldier to this dissent:

“They are harming our ability to defend ourselves,” said Gilad Segal, a 42-year-old paratrooper who spent two months in Gaza at the end of 2023. He said everything the army did was necessary, including the flattening of houses used as Hamas hideouts. It’s not a soldier’s place to agree or disagree with the government, he argued.

The axiom that moral uncertainty weakens the morale of the fighting force that was manifest in Vietnam holds true in Israel. It is the moral ambiguity of the cause that harms the ability of the Israeli military to defend the nation. The dissenters correctly report the futility of much of the violence they are perpetrating in Gaza. As such, it is difficult to blame soldiers who are acting according to a clear understanding of the teachings of Judaism rather than on the deliberately ambiguous orders of a prime minister who is on trial and is more desperate than a cornered rat to retain power and avoid serving a prison sentence in his 70s.

A growing number of Israeli soldiers are speaking out against the Israel-Hamas war. They say they did or saw things that crossed ethical lines.