Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Monday, February 16, 2026

Saturday, February 16, 1901. Tariff wars.

Russia retaliated on a tariff raise imposed on Russian sugar with a 30% increase on the tariff on American ferric goods.

Hmm. . . seems like I've heard this tune before. . . 

We don't think of Russia as a player in sugar today, in no small part due to the Russian Revolution.  Before that, however, Russia was a major sugar exporter, being a beneficiary of the German process for refining sugar beets.  The U.S. sugar industry is based on the same process.

The U.S. sugar industry was heavily impacted by the Spanish American War, oddly enough, as the U.S. became a major market for Cuban sugar and tobacco.  When Cuba went communist in the 1950s, Russia in turn became the market for both of those things.  Today, Cuba really doesn't have a market for either.  A logical trade policy would open trade back up with Cuba, which is far more likely to liberalize its government than attempting to starve it to death before Marco Rubio convinces Mad King Donny to invade it.

Also in Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Lamsdorf presented a revised treaty proposal to China's Ambassador to the Russian Empire, Prince Yang-ju. Under the 12-article treaty, China would retain ownership of Manchuria, but Russian troops would be allowed to occupy the territory to guard the railways there, and China would be forbidden from granting rail or mining privileges to anyone without Russian consent. China wasn't impressed and leaked the details to the Japanese and British.

Most of  Alabama's Legislature arrived in Pensacola, Florida, at the invitation of the West Florida Annexation Association, to discuss the possibility of the annexing western Florida.

Macedonian demonstrators in Sofia demanded independence for Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 16: 1901  Governor Richards signed an act that required county commissions to raise taxes for the purpose of building a residence for the governor.  Attribution:  On This Day.

Wyoming's Sixth State Legislature concluded.

It was a Saturday.


The British journal The Sphere reported on a recent visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II, pictured here wearing a completely absurd helmet, to the UK.


In sharp contrast, The Saturday Evening POst had an illustration of George Washington, no doubt in commemoration of his birthday, on the cover. The attempt at illustrating a bit and bradoon was seriously flawed, however.

I'd be interested in what the article on millionaires not being able to stop making money held.  Millionaires at that time  would be like billionaires now.\

The progressive movement at the time was attempting to rein millionaires in.  The Great Depression, a good thirty years away, would accomplish it. . . for a time.

Last edition:

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Friday, February 8, 1901. Russian overreach.

Russia presented China with Russia's conditions for withdrawing from Manchuria.

The conditions were unacceptable to China, and Japan.


Last edition:

Wednesday, June 6, 1901 Joe Boot escapes.

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Was it a honeytrap?

Never get into an elevator with a Polish blonde”

David M. Evans, Consular/Economic Officer, Warsaw, 1964-1967

Cold War era Greek poster warning Greek officers not to yield to oddly friendly women.

The British newspaper The Guardian seems to think so, but The Guardian tends towards the salacious.

It would explain, however, a lot.

We speak, of course, of Epstein Island and the ongoing cover-up of what occurred there.

Yes, cover-up.  The U.S. government is covering it up.

A honey trap is an age old espionage technique.  A country sends somebody, make or female, to have compromising sex with the target.  Once he's compromised, he, and it's almost always a he, is really compromised.  Sexual sins can be amongst the very worse, even in this libertine age.

The Soviet Union was a master at the honey trap. Max Hastings, in his book on World War Two espionage, details this quite a bit and well known examples abound.  While not often put this way, Soviet recruiting in pre World War Two and early Cold War Britain was based on honey traps, with the added element that they wer\e homosexual honey traps.  Homosexuality was illegal in the UK at the time as well as devastating to a person's reputation, but surprisingly common in the "public school" system.  The Soviets learned who would be well placed at some point to be a spy, and provided the sexual target to bring the person in.

The more common female honey trap is of course well known, and was also well deployed by the Soviets, as well as other nations.

Maria Butina is a recently example who buddied up to the Trump administration and the National Rifle Association to gather intelligence from Conservative power brokers, although there's no accusation that she employed sex in her efforts.

Fang Fang, as Christine Fang had sex with two US mayors and targeted Democratic politicians in what US officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China.

Why wouldn't the Russians use it?

What we know about Epstein Island at least gives us every reason to question whether or not it was a honey trap.  The number of very wealthy and connected men that went through it, from all over the globe, made it somewhat unique, although the wealthy and powerful travel in certain circles and there are likely other places that meet this criteria.  What those other places probably didn't have, however, was mid to late teenage girls who were on the dinner menu.

There's utterly no way that the Russians did not know this.

We are told that just because men traveled to the island doesn't mean that they had sex with underage teenage girls.  Quite a few men whose names have been exposed denied every doing that, or denied every knowing that this was going on.  No doubt, that's true min many instances.  Mere wealth is enough to cause some of the wealthy to go to a place. The appearance of wealth attracts the wealthy like shit attracts flies, and I use that analogy intentionally.  But that doesn't mean ever single man who went there ended up in bed with a 15 year old.

Having said that, however, it's clear that girls about that age were there for the offering, and that's the next point.  A honeytrap isn't a rape of the target, it's an offering that tempts the target.  Some men might very well go through a place, particularly perhaps like Bill Clinton did with his wife, and never be tempted, maybe, or even know what's going on.  But to not have some clue strains credibility.  One thing that's showing up, and thank to the Guardian you can see them, is photos of the young girls.  Their faces are blacked out, and in some cases their boobs, but what's interesting is they are of a type.  They're thin girls and look like teens, not the heavy chested women of the Playboy magazine type.  They look, even in the redacted photographs, just like what they were, thing flat chested girls who should have been in high school.

They look like the girl that Donald Trump drew on Epstein's birth card.

And all the more appropriate for a honeytrap.

World War Two Navy era poster.  If the Honeytrap thesis is correct, it's not the girls who were actually the spies. They were only used to compromise the targets, if that happened.

If you are attracting the flies in this fashion, you have to have something to attract them to, and something that compromises them.  Back in the 1970s illicit sex alone would have done that, but in the 2000s?  Maybe not.  And on top of it the guests on Epstein Island were flying in and out, although some did that quite a bit.  Offer a super model up on the plate might not work for a variety of reasons, one being that the supermodel would probably say no.  You aren't going to get any Kate Uptons on Epstein Island.

But  you might very well get the desperate and confused.  Pretty girls on the economic and domestic edge, whose parents are desperate as well.  They'd make ideal entries on the sexual menu.  They are like the prostitute who is murdered to set up the Senator in The Godfather, Part II.  Girls with nothing who "never existed".

You only have to offer them up to the willing, have a camera around, and voila, the target is compromised.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, need we say more.  Posted under fair use exception.

What we know for an absolute certainty is that there were a lot of rich and powerful men who went to Epstein Island.

We also know for sure that a selection of them screwed teenage girls there.

We know for certain that the first time that Epstein was arrested, he got a mysteriously sweetheart deal from a Federal Prosecutor.1  He was being protected.

He was being protected, because his clientele was being protected on some level.

We also know that people who claimed to be horrified about what was going on and to have cut off their connection with him, didn't when they claimed to.  Even while he was in prison he was receiving contacts from the rich and powerful.

We know that right now only a little over 50% of the materials the government has on him has been released and we are informed that the rest will not be.  We've learned of more of the names, but we haven't learned the names of the girls. Their anonymity isn't protection, it makes them a hostage.

We now that there's been a diehard effort to keep material from being revealed and that the names of the victimizers have not been fully revealed, or even really slightly revealed.

What we just don't know, is why.

What we also know is that early on Trump claimed to be for releasing the files.  He radically changed his view when he was in office, but we don't know why.  It could be that his name shows up more than he thought it would, even if so far nobody has come out and said this material shows he screwed teenage girls.2   Or it could be that there's something so compromising in these files that its hugely damaging to somebody he's protecting.

Without a full release of the files, we don't know what that is.  But it'd have to be pretty bad.  

Sex with underage males will still bring a figure down, we know this.  The story of Kevin Spacey proves that.  But what about teenage girls?  A lot of the men that are in Trump's circle already, including Trump himself, have lived a life of sexual license, would teenagers be the line they couldn't cross?

Well, maybe.  Coerced sex proved the downfall of Harvey Weinstein.  Drugged sex brought down Bill Cosby.  Maybe teenage sex is still a bridge too far. We can all hope so.  And frankly somebody who would stoop so low as to engage in this activity in this situation may have well brought additional perverted elements into this.

But what would espionage do?

First, is there any evidence of it at all.

It does turn out that there were girls from what had been the USSR who showed up on the island.  Model  Ruslana Korshunova went there at age 18, and then went out a balcony window three years later in what was ruled a suicide.  Model Anna Malova is known to have flown with Prince Andrew to the island, but at the time the now 52 year old woman would have been 25.  And there are other accusations, but they are pretty murky.

There's enough, however, that Poland is launching an investigation into connections between Epstein and Russian intelligence.

Would this mean that Trump was compromised?  No, not at all.  But it might very well mean that somebody in his orbit was, and he's protecting him, or them.  There's precedent for that.

It's pretty clear that Truman attempted to bury information that the Roosevelt Administration had been compromised by Soviet spies, and frankly, the Democratic Party of the late 1940s and 1950s pretty much succeeded at that effort. The Roosevelt Administration was definitely compromised, but the effort to squash the efforts to reveal that were so successful that they destroyed the reputation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and have caused there to be a common belief that all of his acquisitions were baloney.  They weren't.  They were pretty much dead on.

And this would somewhat explain Trump being extraordinarily careful with Putin.  He's not always in Putin's camp, but he often is.  It's been hard to grasp, although there are other explanations for it.  Keeping a lid on whatever is in the Epstein files might be good for Trump. . . and Putin, and really bad for both of them if it turns out that the US, and perhaps other Western, governments were, and maybe are, heavily penetrated by Russian intelligence.


And, as a final wild note, for years now people have claimed that Jeffrey Epstein was murdered.  The accusations frankly are not credible, but if you are going to entertain them, why isn't a Russian connection a possibility?  MAGAs have claimed that the Clinton's had him murdered, which is absolutely absurd. Frankly, it's make more sense for the Republicans to have him murdered, which would also be absurd, but make a little more sense.

If anyone was going to murder him, the Russians make the most sense.

Now, I don't think that occurred.

But I don't think Harry Dexter White was murdered either.  Just compromised.

A Russian honeytrap?

We really don't know, but it is an interesting possibility.

Footnotes.

1.  Chris Christie spoke about this on the last This Week, noting he was a U.S. prosecutor at the time and that all the U.S. Attorneys wondered what on earth was going on.  His comment was "now we know".  He didn't say, exactly, what we know, but what he meant was that we know that something was going on inside the Administration at that time that secured Epstein a deal where he was allowed to go home every day and just slept in the prison.

2.  It's not true that he hasn't been accused of that.  He has been, but so far law enforcement has not found those accusations credible, and they're never going to find them to be credible during the current administration, no matter what the situation regarding them may be.

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Donald Trump is a Russian Asset. Дональд Трамп — агент России.

 

There is utterly no doubt, whatsoever.

Nor is there any doubt that Trump is a betrayer of American values, and an enemy of the best of Western values.

Дональд Трамп — агент России.  Дональд  did not help the Russian bear take Ukraine, although he sure could help Ukraine defend itself more.  No, what the real question is, is why do so many of his actions help the Russians.  The horrific demands on Denmark for Greenald are a prime example.

The only question is whether is because he sympathizes with the Russians, or perhaps Putin, naturally, or if his collaboration with underlying Russian goals is accidental as he's an ignorant demented open vessel to 19th Century views, or if they have something on him.

We don't know.

We do know that he's betraying the nation's values.  Indeed, he's betraying the nation itself.

The only question is why.

Sunday, December 7, 2025

There Was No Doubt That Russia Had Interfered in Our Election | Senator Mark Warner

Important to keep in mind.

Also, fwiw, while I find Richardson's content interesting, her YouTube channel has the worst production values on earth.  It actually makes them hard to watch.

Sunday, November 23, 2025

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 109th Edition. Lost love. Painting Targets. Piggy. Articles of Surrender. Voting in opposition of something that isn't going on.

Lost love

The big news this past week is that Marjorie Taylor Greene, who came to prominence as one of the most notable and frankly disagreeable figures on the far right, and then who moved away from Trump, is leaving the 119th Congress in January after her pension vests.

What's exactly going on here is really unclear, but Green's transformation was remarkable.  She used to come across like an ignorant howler monkey.  If  Eva_Vlaardingerbroek is the "Shieldmaiden of the far right", she was more like an buffoonish bouncer.

All of a sudden, however, she really came around to opposing Trump and in fact suddenly sounded like a different person completely.  That suggests her antics were always an act put on for her constituents.

Given her change, she was drawing the direct opposition of Trump who was opposing her in next year's Congressional election.  She already had stout opposition and may just be taking off because she doesn't want to spend the next year dealing with a pack of extremists.  Her transformation did not cause her to be loved by moderates who were baffled on her transformation, save perhaps for Thomas Massie, whom Trump also hates.  Trump is vicious to all who oppose him.

Well, as W. E. B. Dubois famously said, only a food never changes their mind.

The Seditionist accuses others of Sedition.

Oh horse shit.  No "great legal scholars" are venturing that opinion.  Pam Bondi probably would, if told to do so, but her sycophantry disqualifies her from being a great anything. 

Donald Trump is a seditionist insurrectionist.  He has not had his act of sedition excused by Congress, so he's actually ineligible to be President of the United States, and legally, isn't.

So that makes it all the more ironic and hypocritical that he's gone after a collection of Congressmen and Senators, all veterans, who reminded service members that they can, and must, obey an illegal order, under certain circumstances (they can't for instance, just assume an order may be illegal).

Some of this has actually already been happening.  Resignations of senior officers, and some firings, have hit the news, usually with a "gosh, I wonder why this is happening" sort of commentary.  It's happening because they're opposing illegal orders.  It's also the case that National Guardsmen have started a backchannel internet communication discussion that includes the same topic.

Trump seems to be in a full blown panic about this, and probably for good reason.  The US is currently murdering people on the seas in extrajudicial killings using military force that some regard as being on the edge of illegality.  Trump has sent National Guardsmen to cities with Courts repeatedly intervening to stop the deployments.  Trump is constantly rumored to be on the edge of using the Insurrection Act.  But as time goes on he gets more and more erratic.

The majority of American people already disapprove of Trump's presidency.  There's no national stomach at all for using the military against the population, but the administration has constantly flirted with it, and to some extent, already done it.  The legality of Trump's actions on all levels are in the Courts.  There's a reviving movement to impeach him, and his behind the scenes support may well be reaching the breaking point.  We still don't know what was in the Epstein files, other than that rich and powerful men feel they can get away with whatever they want, including screwing teenage girls.

Declaring the politicians who spoke to be seditionist is absurd.  They were no such thing.  But it does paint a target on their backs.  This was reprehensible.

It's also a sign of extreme desperation.  We'll note that below.

Piggy

One of the increased signs of Trump's dementia is his inability to hold his tongue.  Last week he called a reporter who asked a question he didn't like "Piggy".  It was a female reporter.

He's demented.

Any other politicians in the US who said such a thing would be howled down to the point they'd offer an apology.  Not Trump, of course.  The fact that he hasn't been is evidence of what redneck trash this country has become.  It's appalling.

It's also a sign that at this point Trump is so stressed by something that the wheels are really coming off of his psyche.

Articles of Surrender

One of the most notable things about Donald Trump is the degree to which he truly seems to abhor war.

Or does he?

It's actually a bit difficult to tell.

Regarding the Russo Ukrainian War, Trump has repeatedly issues statements that approach being homo erotic about the war and how it needs to end, due to all the "beautiful" young men it kills.  At the same time, of course, he doesn't mind killing South American men very much.

Going back to that, however, Trump has being trying and promising to end the Russo Ukrainian War for well over a year now.  He's flip flopped on positions, but one of those that he periodically occupies is acting as an agent for Russia.  We're back at that point again.

The West promised to secure Ukraine's sovereignty when it gave up its nuclear weapons.  The West has not fulfilled that promise fully.  President Biden did a good job of helping Ukraine right from the onset, but didn't go as far as he should have.  The various European nations have done far, far more than they've gotten credit for.  

Trump desperately wants a Nobel Peace Prize, and although he may have convinced himself that he ended "eight wars", so far, he's not really ended any, if we consider that the only real claim he could have made to that effect was the war in Gaza, where Israel conducted a bombing raid yesterday.  Most people who have really looked at the situation in Gaza don't expect the peace to hold permanently.

A real peace between Ukraine and Russia would be a major accomplishment, however.  The thing is, however, that the "peace plan" that Trump presented was basically that Ukraine surrender.  Indeed, it resembles the treaty that ended the Great War to some extent, in that Ukraine gives up land and limits the size of its army, which are two of the things Germany did at the end of World War One.

That worked out oh so well.

Of course, to realize that would require a sense of history, which Trump lacks.  That the plan smacks of the Munich Accords also would require that.

So, back to a couple of things .Why is Trump the only Western leader outside of Viktor Orban who  likes Putin?  It isn't because he's on the populist right.  Giorgia Meloni is on the populist right and she's not a Putin fan.  

But Meloni also is very intelligent and not trying to suck up unwarranted praise all the time.

It might be just because the Russians know that Trump is demented and a narcissist, and they play into that.  But it's hard to wonder if it isn't something else.

At any rate, member of the Administration are already attempting to walk the document back.  That's interesting, as Trump seemed very solidly behind it.  That suggest that there are some forces behind the scenes that can operate a bit independently of Trump.

Voting no on Socialism while Trump cozies up to it.

The House voted on a resolution to disapprove Socialism, which is just about as stupid of thing as they could done.  What on earth was that exactly supposed to prove?

The GOP has really gone off the rails on this topic in that it now asserts routinely that Socialism=Communism.  It doesn't.  All Communists are Socialist, but not all Socialists are Communists, and those who maintain the opposite need to go back to school.

Ronald Reagan's big French buddy Francois Mitterrand was a Socialist.  He was also completely democratic.

Of course, Donald Trump isn't completely democratic, but interestingly, some of his policies are socialist, and now he's had a fawning meeting with the new Democratic Socialist mayor of New York City.  He declared that they had a lot of views in common.

Look for the GOP to now propose joining the Comintern.  

Turning Point at CC

One of the things that the assassination of  Charlie Kirk seemed to do was to boost the creation of Turning Point USA chapters.  There's one at one of the local high schools now, and one at the local community college.

At that one, there was just an event at which the far right Secretary of State and a far right politician who wants less government but who is a major landlord, thereby occupying a role in society that only exists due the major support of the government, or else people would ignore your claim to property rights, spoke.  

Wyoming's far right is sounding more and more irrelevant, so its interesting how these things are a bit behind the curve.  Of course the Secretary of State, in order to try to keep ahead of the curve, has been sounding like a member of Greenpeace recently.  I thought this would have generated some news, but it doesn't seem to.

Interesting.

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 108th Edition. Lost love.

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 8. The Tin Pot Dictator Edition.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

Smedley D. Butler.


October 25, 2025

United States v. Venezuela.

The US has more ships in the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis and with massive overreach is executing crewmen of Venezuelan boats, maybe criminals, maybe not, with expensive munitions meant for a peer to peer war on the sea.

A U.S. senior Admiral has resigned rather than participate in what may very well be murder.

Covert operations have been authorized in Venezuela.

October 26, 2025

Thailand v. Cambodia

The countries have signed a ceasefire deal.

October 29, 2025

United States v. ?

The United States extended its campaign of murder into the Pacific this week, sinking four boats and leaving picking up the survivors to Mexico, which protested over the killings.

Sooner or later, and probably sooner, the U.S. Navy is going to kill a charter fishing boat with Americans on it.  It's inevitable.

Israel v. Hamas

Israel executed a large scale strike on Gaza . . . it appears the ceasefire may be in trouble.

October 30, 2025

The United States, with a demented child in the Oval Office, is going to resume the testing of nuclear weapons.


Trump  is clearly, to use the legal standard, "a danger to himself or others".  

Apply the 25th Amendment.

November 1, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine asserts that Russia has deployed 170,000 troops in eastern Donetsk in an effort to take the stronghold of Pokrovsk.

November 2, 2025

United States v. Nigerian Islamic Terrorists

President Trump threatened to intervene in Nigeria if the country doesn't get that nation's anti Christian terrorists under control. 

United States v. Venezuela

A Russian Il-76 with cargo plane linked to the Wagner Mercenary group landed in Caracas, Venezuela on October 26.

November 18, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

The UN Security Council approved the following resolution yesterday:

Resolution 2803 (2025)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 10046th meeting, on 17 November 2025

The Security Council,

Welcoming the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict of 29 September 2025 (“Comprehensive Plan”), and applauding the states that have signed, accepted, or endorsed it, and further welcoming the historic Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity of 13 October 2025 and the constructive role played by the United States of America, the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Türkiye, in having facilitated the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,

Determining that the situation in the Gaza Strip threatens the regional peace and the security of neighboring states and noting prior relevant Security Council resolutions relating to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,

1. Endorses the Comprehensive Plan, acknowledges the parties have accepted it, and calls on all parties to implement it in its entirety, including maintenance of the ceasefire, in good faith and without delay;

2. Welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace (BoP) as a transitional administration with international legal personality that will set the framework, and coordinate funding, for the redevelopment of Gaza pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan, and in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles, until such time as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has satisfactorily completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French Proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. After the PA reform program is faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence;

3. Underscores the importance of the full resumption of humanitarian aid in cooperation with the BoP into the Gaza Strip in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles and through cooperating organizations, including the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent, and ensuring such aid is used solely for peaceful uses and not diverted by armed groups;

4. Authorizes Member States participating in the BoP and the BoP to: (A) enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan, including those addressing privileges and immunities of personnel of the force established in paragraph 7 below; and (B) establish operational entities with, as necessary, international legal personality and transactional authorities for the performance of its functions, including: (1) the implementation of a transitional governance administration, including the supervising and supporting of a Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee of competent Palestinians from the Strip, as championed by the Arab League, which shall be responsible for day-to-day operations of Gaza’s civil service and administration; (2) the reconstruction of Gaza and of economic recovery programs; (3) the coordination and supporting of and delivery of public services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza; (4) any measures to facilitate the movement of persons in and out of Gaza, in a manner consistent with the Comprehensive Plan; and (5) any such additional tasks as may be necessary to support and implement the Comprehensive Plan;

5. Understands that the operational entities referred to in paragraph 4 above will operate under the transitional authority and oversight of the BoP and are to be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;

6. Calls upon the World Bank and other financial institutions to facilitate and provide financial resources to support the reconstruction and development of Gaza , including through the establishment of a dedicated trust fund for this purpose and governed by donors;

7. Authorizes Member States working with the BoP and the BoP to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza to deploy under unified command acceptable to the BoP, with forces contributed by participating States, in close consultation and cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, and to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law. The ISF shall work with Israel and Egypt, without prejudice to their existing agreements, along with the newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force, to help secure border areas; stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups; protect civilians, including humanitarian operations; train and provide support to the vetted Palestinian police forces; coordinate with relevant States to secure humanitarian corridors; and undertake such additional tasks as may be necessary in support of the Comprehensive Plan. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw from the Gaza Strip based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat. The ISF shall, (A) assist the BoP in monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza, and enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan; and (B) operate under the strategic guidance of the BoP and will be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;

8. Decides the BoP and international civil and security presences authorized by this resolution shall remain authorized until Dec. 31, 2027, subject to further action by the Council, and any further reauthorization of the ISF be in full cooperation and coordination with Egypt and Israel and other Member States continuing to work with the ISF;

9. Calls upon Member States and international organizations to work with the BoP to identify opportunities to contribute personnel, equipment, and financial resources to its operating entities and the ISF, to provide technical assistance to its operating entities and the ISF, and to give full recognition to its acts and documents;

10. Requests the BoP provide a written report on progress related to the above to the UN Security Council every six months;

11. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

United States v. Venezuela

USS Gerald R. Ford Enters Caribbean Sea

This is all part of the illegal use of US military force against suspected drug smuggling entities.  Yesterday, Trump vaguely suggested the US might hit targets in Mexico.

November 21, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

The Trump and Putin administrations combined to work out a peace plan for Ukraine . . .without Ukraine.  The agreement would cede territory to Ukraine, limit the size of Ukraine's military, and prevent additional member states in NATO, the last of which the US cannot actually commit to as it does not unliterally represent NATO.

The text of the proposal is here:

1. Ukraine's sovereignty will be confirmed. 

2. A comprehensive [sic] and comprehensive non-aggression agreement will be concluded between Russia, Ukraine and Europe. All ambiguities of the last 30 years will be considered settled. 

3. It is expected that Russia will not invade neighboring countries and NATO will not expand further. 

Expected? 

4. A dialogue will be held between Russia and NATO, mediated by the United States, to resolve all security issues and create conditions for de-escalation in order to ensure global security and increase opportunities for cooperation and future economic development. 

5. Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees. 

Supposedly it received those when it gave up its nuclear weapons. 

6. The size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be limited to 600,000 personnel. 

This is bullshit.  Ukraine's army is defense.  Why not limit Russia's army? 

7. Ukraine agrees to enshrine in its constitution that it will not join NATO, and NATO agrees to include in its statutes a provision that Ukraine will not be admitted in the future. 

Further bullshit. 

8. NATO agrees not to station troops in Ukraine. 

More bullshit. 

9. European fighter jets will be stationed in Poland. 

Why is this even being discussed? 

10. US guarantee: 

▪️ The US will receive compensation for the guarantee. 

We get paid?  Why? 

▪️ If Ukraine invades Russia, it will lose the guarantee. 

Not going to happen. 

▪️ If Russia invades Ukraine, in addition to a decisive coordinated military response, all global sanctions will be reinstated, recognition of the new territory and all other benefits of this deal will be revoked.  

▪️ If Ukraine launches a missile at Moscow or St. Petersburg without cause, the security guarantee will be deemed invalid. 

11. Ukraine is eligible for EU membership and will receive short-term preferential access to the European market while this issue is being considered. 

12. A powerful global package of measures to rebuild Ukraine, including but not limited to: 

a. The creation of a Ukraine Development Fund to invest in fast-growing industries, including technology, data centers, and artificial intelligence. 

b. The United States will cooperate with Ukraine to jointly rebuild, develop, modernize, and operate Ukraine's gas infrastructure, including pipelines and storage facilities. 

c. Joint efforts to rehabilitate war-affected areas for the restoration, reconstruction and modernization of cities and residential areas. 

d. Infrastructure development. 

e. Extraction of minerals and natural resources. 

f. The World Bank will develop a special financing package to accelerate these efforts. 

13. Russia will be reintegrated into the global economy: 

a. The lifting of sanctions will be discussed and agreed upon in stages and on a case-by-case basis. 

b. The United States will enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement for mutual development in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centers, rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic, and other mutually beneficial corporate opportunities. 

c. Russia will be invited to rejoin the G8. 

14. Frozen funds will be used as follows: 

$100 billion in frozen Russian assets will be invested in US-led efforts to rebuild and invest in Ukraine. The US will receive 50% of the profits from this venture. Europe will add $100 billion to increase the amount of investment available for Ukraine's reconstruction. Frozen European funds will be unfrozen. The remainder of the frozen Russian funds will be invested in a separate US-Russian investment vehicle that will implement joint projects in specific areas. This fund will be aimed at strengthening relations and increasing common interests to create a strong incentive not to return to conflict. 

15. A joint American-Russian working group on security issues will be established to promote and ensure compliance with all provisions of this agreement. 

16. Russia will enshrine in law its policy of non-aggression towards Europe and Ukraine. 

17. The United States and Russia will agree to extend the validity of treaties on the non-proliferation and control of nuclear weapons, including the START I Treaty. 

18. Ukraine agrees to be a non-nuclear state in accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. 

19. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will be launched under the supervision of the IAEA, and the electricity produced will be distributed equally between Russia and Ukraine — 50:50. 

20. Both countries undertake to implement educational programs in schools and society aimed at promoting understanding and tolerance of different cultures and eliminating racism and prejudice: 

Gee. .. maybe the US ought to do that. .  oh wait, that would be DEI. 

a. Ukraine will adopt EU rules on religious tolerance and the protection of linguistic minorities. 

b. Both countries will agree to abolish all discriminatory measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and education.  

c. All Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and prohibited. 

This is baloney.  There isn't a lot of this in Ukraine to start with and Russia behaves as if anything Ukraine does is due to Nazi ideology.

By the way, Donald. . . are you going to address this with Nick Fuentes? 

21. Territories: 

a. Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States. 

b. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact, which will mean de facto recognition along the line of contact.  

c. Russia will relinquish other agreed territories it controls outside the five regions. 

d. Ukrainian forces will withdraw from the part of Donetsk Oblast that they currently control, and this withdrawal zone will be considered a neutral demilitarized buffer zone, internationally recognized as territory belonging to the Russian Federation. Russian forces will not enter this demilitarized zone. 

22. After agreeing on future territorial arrangements, both the Russian Federation and Ukraine undertake not to change these arrangements by force. Any security guarantees will not apply in the event of a breach of this commitment. 

23. Russia will not prevent Ukraine from using the Dnieper River for commercial activities, and agreements will be reached on the free transport of grain across the Black Sea. 

24. A humanitarian committee will be established to resolve outstanding issues: 

a. All remaining prisoners and bodies will be exchanged on an ‘all for all’ basis. 

b. All civilian detainees and hostages will be returned, including children. 

c. A family reunification programme will be implemented. 

d. Measures will be taken to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the conflict. 

25. Ukraine will hold elections in 100 days. 

How about Russia?  

Russia's clearly going to interfere in any Ukrainian election. 

Ukraine has already stated that it won't stand for a limitation on the size of its armed forces.

November 22, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump has demanded Ukraine's position on the peace proposal by Thursday.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 7. The snatching victory edition.

Sunday, September 21, 2025

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Fourth Edition.


August 11, 2025

One of the really nutty things about the Second Trump Administration are the nuts who work for it, of which Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is probably the nuttiest.

My vision that is every American is wearing a wearable within four years.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

If a Democrat had said that, the Republicans would come unglued.

cont:

We’re going to make DC beautiful..You see what we've done at the White House. I do that in my part time because it's a natural instinct as a real estate person. I like fixing things up.

Trump on calling the Guard up in D.C. and taking over the police force. 

August 13, 2025

The man who fired more than 180 shots at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was trying to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines according to authorities.

How does this relate to this topic.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, as are the overwhelming majority of vaccines, but the populist right is anti scientific and the Trump administration has bought into far right fantasies and fueled them, as evidenced by the fact that RFK, Jr. actually has a job in the administration.

More violence by deluded wackos is a certainty.

And then, there's this.

King Donald, twice in the past few days, said he was meeting Putin in Russia, which of course he isn't.  And now this:

St. Petersburg, which was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great.  Peter the Great wasn't a big fan of Russians, just as Frederick the Great didn't really like Germans, and so the city wasn't given a Russian name.  It was later renamed Petrograd, however. Then with the Communist came in and Lenin died, they renamed it Leningrad.  In 1991 it's name was restored to St. Petersburg.

Not that Trump could be expected to know something from 34 years ago. . . .

Anyhow, this does give us a good reason to bring out the Leningrad Cowboys.

August 16, 2025

This:

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump files all the way from Washington D.C.

Putin all the way from Moscow.

Conference already over, and we still have a war.

Is there somebody who actually still takes this clown's promises seriously?

Some history (not that Trump would appreciate it).

New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt negotiated the end of the Russo Japanese War, from the US, from August 9, 1905, through August 30, 1905.

But then, Roosevelt was a genuine article.

So, Trump flies all day to Alaska to a U.S. Air Force Base which has to prepare for his, and Putin's arrival.

Putin flies all day to Anchorage as well.

They meet for four hours, and Trump then talks to the press about "Vladimir" saying this or that.

A person would have to be intensely stupid to believe that a four hour meeting was going to accomplish anything.  Of course, nothing was going to happen without a Ukrainian delegate being there.

Trump is now well.  25th Amendment now.

August 17, 2025

A Trump tweet would appear to place Trump pathetically fully in the Putin camp today:

Basically this means Ukraine can end the war by surrendering, to the extent its capable of being deciphered.  

If Trump was a drinking man, which he's not, this would look like a drunk tweet.

August 18, 2025

One thing we've learned from the Trump meeting with Putin is how massively weak as a character he really is, and how extremely insecure he is.

It was obvious going into it that welcoming Putin to U.S. soil was a mistake, but Trump disregarded any counsel other than his own and looked like a gleeful little boy when Putin showed up. Putin shoved him around like a weakling and the meeting ended a couple of hours later, and ever since then Trump's been trying to figure out what to do, having landed, finally, on just agreeing to demand what Putin insisted he did.

When negotiations with the North Vietnamese broke down in Paris, which took months, not hours, Nixon ordered the resumption of B-52 strikes.  Nixon, who wasn't generally admirable, but who looks better all the time in comparison to Trump, wasn't a weakling.

Donny, it turns out, really is.  He's pathetic, in the true sense of the world.  Demanding attention, demanding love, and have petulant fits when he doesn't get it.  He is truly childish.

A situation a declining mental state doesn't help at all.

August 19, 2025

Now King Donny wants to do away with voting machines and mail in ballots.

This may be a "don't ask about the Epstein Files" distaction, as a segment of his MAGA base already held those views.  Harriet Hageman was asked about it last night in Casper and demurred.

Trump, yesterday, called the Democratic Republic of Congo, the "Republic of the Condo.

August 21, 2025

He’s in there fighting, they’re trying to put him in jail on top of everything else, how about that? He’s a war hero because we worked together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too.

Donald Trump about Netanyahu and himself. 

Trump, a war hero?

Things must not be going well for Trump in general right now, as J.D. Vance has reemerged.  Vance usually appears when Trump's backers figure that he can't be trusted not to say really stupid things in the face of tough questions.  Otherwise Vance wisely hides in the background, probably hoping the stench doesn't attach to him too strongly.

August 25, 2025

Donald Trump is now threatening Chris Christie, formerly an ally and now a critic (like John Bolton) with prosecution.

Those who warned that Trump would be a vindictive autocrat have been proven correct.

By the way, Trump criticizing somebody's hair is rather extreme. His own hair is extremely weird, and the other day he wore a trucker's cap in the Oval Office.

August 26, 2025

China intelligently went in and they sort of took a monopoly of the world's magnets. Nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago, 'let's all do magnets.' There were many other ways that the world could have gone ... we're heavily into the world of magnets now.

Donald Trump. 

cont:

We send hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day to the Pacific Ocean. They turn a valve and the valve heads out. And we turned the valve back. I actually had to do it using force. We turned the valve back and now they have water.

Donald Trump. 

August 27, 2025

His supporters will excuse them, and the rest of the country is numb, but Trump's latest press session demonstrated ramblings that were flat out bat shit crazy.

This is frightening for a variety of reasons.  He's clearly nuts.  But beyond that, he's drawing bizarre sycophantic praise from his cabinet members.  They're sharing in his sickness.  And this isn't limited to just his cabinet.  One comment I saw on John Barrasso, the Senate Whip and Wyoming's senior senator fairly accurately characterized him at this point as an "ass kissing sycophant."

The really scary part is that Trump may have so surrounded himself with a loyal Reichsregierung that there may actually no will to invoke the 25th Amendment, as frankly the time has come.  And if that's the case, were rocketing into unrecoverable Trump dictatorship with nobody to apply the brakes.

August 28, 2025

I’m looking at kids as I walk through the airports today...and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, inflammation—you can tell from their faces, movements, and lack of social connection

RFK, Jr.   

September 2, 2025

Lots of people are doing a 25th Amendment watch today.  Trump has announced a "major" address today at 2:00 p.m. ET, and roads around Walter Reed are apparently restricted today.

Chances are that it will amount to absolutely nothing.

cont:

It's now rumored that the announcement will be that the headquarters for the Space Farce will be moved.

cont:

And, indeed, that was the news. The Space Farce, formed during Trump's first administration, is being moved to Alabama.

It should be moved to the dustbin of history and its mission restored to the Air Force.

cont:

Additionally, Trump attributed his decision to move his pet military branch to Alabama on Colorado having bad voting laws.

It doesn't have bad voting laws, this is just more of Trump's demented vengeful nature coming out.

September 5, 2025

SENATORS GRILL RFK JR. IN RAUCOUS HEARING

Headline in the Trib.

Kennedy is a nut.

And this from the man who never served a day in the military:

Trump to change DOD to ‘Department of War’

September 11, 2025


It's probably in really poor taste to post this today, but Trump doesn't look well at all in this video taken on September 11, 2025.

Some have been claiming he's been having ministrokes.  His appearance here would support that.  Others are dismissing that saying that the stress of losing a friend last night is making him weary.

I really don't believe that Trump has friends, quite frankly.  He seems to have allies, and Kirk was clearly that.  Maybe I'm underestimating him, but I don't take the concept of loss and grief very far with Trump, but perhaps that explains it.  Anyhow, he looks terrible.

If he really is suffering in this fashion, that may explain why nobody has stepped in with the 25th Amendment.  He's likely to be severely impaired in a way nobody can question soon, or worse.

Anyway you look at it, this is not the appearance of somebody who is well.

September 12, 2025
Reporter: My condolences on the loss of your friend Charlie Kirk. How are you holding up?

Trump: Very good. And BTW, right there you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the WH…it's gonna be a beauty
Well on to the next story, apparently.  What a man of profound empathy.

And, apparently, the vandalization of the White House is a go.

September 21, 2025

Trump is the one who negotiated a U.S. exit from Afghanistan.  Now this:


And then there's this degusting bullshit:

THE GOLD CARD
Executive Orders
September 19, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  My Administration has worked relentlessly to undo the disastrous immigration policies of the prior administration.  Those policies produced a deluge of immigrants, without serious consideration of how those immigrants would affect America’s interests.

Most significantly, the prior administration permitted millions of aliens to enter the United States illegally, to the detriment of public safety, national security, and the rule of law.  International cartels, transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and foreign malign actors took advantage of those open borders policies.  The prior administration also permitted abuse of the refugee process, swamping towns and cities with aliens and, in some cases, forcing them to declare emergencies to combat the crisis.

It is a priority of my Administration to realign Federal immigration policy with the Nation’s interests by ending illegal immigration and prioritizing the admission of aliens who will affirmatively benefit the Nation, including successful entrepreneurs, investors, and businessmen and women.

To advance that policy, I hereby announce the Gold Card, a visa program overseen by the Secretary of Commerce that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the Nation.

Sec. 2.  The Gold Card.  (a)  The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a “Gold Card” program authorizing an alien who makes an unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce under 15 U.S.C. 1522 (or for whom a corporation or similar entity makes such a gift) to establish eligibility for an immigrant visa using an expedited process, to the extent consistent with law and public safety and national security concerns.  The requisite gift amount shall be $1 million for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual.  

(b)  In adjudicating visa applications, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, treat the gift specified in subsection (a) of this section as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B).

(c)  The Secretary of Commerce shall deposit the gifts contributed under subsection (a) of this section in a separate fund in the Department of the Treasury and use them to promote commerce and American industry, consistent with the statutory authorities of the Department of Commerce, see, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1512.

Sec. 3.  Implementation.  The Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement the Gold Card program.  Among other things, they shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law and their respective statutory authorities, including the limits on the numbers of visas specified in 8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.:

(a)  Establish a process for application and expedited adjudication of Gold Card petitions, visa issuance, and adjustment of status.

(b)  Specify the date on which applicants (or sponsors if applicable) may begin to submit gifts for consideration under the Gold Card program.

(c)  Establish a process for a Gold Card holder sponsored by a corporation or similar entity to abandon his or her status and for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider the original gift as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153 (b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B), for a different individual specified by the corporation or similar entity.  The transferee shall otherwise be subject to the same procedures as an original visa applicant, including appropriate screening for public safety and national security.

(d)  Establish administrative fees to cover the cost of expedited processing under subsection (a) of this section.

(e)  Establish maintenance and transfer fees for corporations or similar entities sponsoring individuals under the Gold Card program.

(f)  Consider expanding the Gold Card program to visa applicants under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5).

Sec. 4.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person, is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions and applications shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:


(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or


(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Commerce.



                               DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
    September 19, 2025.
And now this:


This is outright nuts and enough to invoke the 25th Amendment all on its own.  If Bondi has any credibility or integrity, she'll resign her office now and come out swinging against Trump.

This stuff is outright scary.  The time in which rational thinking people would have invoked the 25th Amendment is long past.  What's happening now is like giving demented grandpa the keys to his car.

This last one is so weird, we're in a new spot in this story, and will close out this edition.

Last edition:

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Third Edition and Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 98th edition. The Perverts and Fellow Travelers Issue.