.. they are a vulnerability now even the logistic base is a vulnerability because today what they have is digia togo gcia is supporting three commands one command of course is not active right now the Africa command but sentcom and packcom are being provided the logistics by the by Dugachia. It’s a it’s a massive base where everything happens. Fuel loading, fuel filling and the loading of the missiles. It has a runway for the stealth bombers. Everything is there on this and everything is automated. It is digitized. And as I was mentioning to you, nobody should undermine the cyber capabilities today that the Iranians have. Let me first go back and talk about their cyber capabilities. I just told you about a center that they have on the street of Harbos. So they can disrupt the ship-to-ship communication of the American ships. The ship-to-shore communication can be disrupted. And coming back here to do Garcia when you have so much of automation you don’t know which missile is in which banka because everything is automated and everything is held by what is called the brain and that is what is the PLC which is programmable logic controller and with the cyber capability that today they have they can disrupt the speed of this which means there’ll be total chaos at the base because nobody knows exactly which missile is in which bunker, how to do it. There can be total confusion. So the point I’m making is it is not only their vessels, aircraft, carrier, destroyers, everything is a vulnerability. Even their uh Diego Garcia base is a big vulnerability because it also supports US Pacific Command and lot of capabilities from Pacific Command have already been brought into the theater. The long and short is Mario if there is something that any discerning observer has to read, it is this. You can go and spend $1 trillion every year on your budget. What good are they if you have the capabilities of the 20th century warfare? They are no good. And here is a country Iran whose total GDP is what 600 billion. That is the GDP they have compared to how much it is 32 trillion of the Americans. And but they have the 21st century capabilities, capabilities of missiles, capabilities of cyber electronic warfare and of course they drones. They have jetpar drones. The Iranians have jetpar drones. What that means is the drones which actually can be brought from a long distance with the help of the satellites the you know which have been provided by the Chinese their space capabilities. So you can well imagine when President Putin he told President Pishkian on the sidelines of the SEO that we will support you at the state of harmonos what was he hinting at? He was hinting at the missiles. You see, and then today, one of the big issues in the Ukraine war is that the Ukrainians have the drones, but they do not have the jetpar drones. What they have is only the tactical war, the tactical battlefield. And because they have been good at the tactical battlefield, they’ve been able to hold it so far. But when you look beyond the tactical battlefield, we are talking of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, jetpar drones, which is what the Russians have. And that is precisely what they are doing there today. They are cutting their railway, their railway communication. The Odessa port has been isolated. Nothing is going. The food is not going. Nothing is coming. The military wherewithal is not coming inside. The transportation has been broken. The warehouses have been targeted. It’s all dipped. Where is it coming from? Which is why Zillinsky was so keen that I want patriot missiles. Even if he gets the patriel, what will the a couple of patriots do there? So the point I’m making is that until you understand the war, it is good to talk in your think tanks. I mean the Americans think tanks, they talk of 21st century warfare taking on China, PLA. Please explain me how do you take on China and for decades they’ve been doing this war gaming about the Taiwan strait and how you know we will uh do the we’ll do the war with PLA. How do you do war with PLA? PLA is at the cutting edge of the 21st century warfare. So the but anyway we digressed from from our main subject. One of the key problems today now see where is Trump today? Trump is badly in a corner. His two big capabilities of the American empire, one capability is the military power. It has been thoroughly exposed and this will have a impact on all the other theaters and it’s already having a impact. And what is the second one? Second one is your uh the dollar being the reserve currency of the world and once the American forces they leave they leave uh West Asia it’s at some stage they’ll have to leave then they can forget about the petro dollars then they are again in big trouble in any case there is brick summit that is happening now and before that there was SEO one of the key things that both these summits are looking at is trade in local currency That is what they are looking at and how to have a system where you can you can bypass you bypass swift and that is what they are looking at. So the American empire is in extremely it’s a real trouble and you know people need to understand what’s going on and which is why uh Trump is so keen to salvage something in Ukraine which is why he has sent he first sent the CIA director then you know this Witkov Steve Witkov and Kushner they were there Jared Kushner now what will they do there the war has already being one on the battlefield and as far as Putin is concerned, Putin is very clear that the anchorage spirit on which he was putting so much of hope that happened in August 2025 now he’s given up on that and which is why we are seeing this targeting depth targeting that the the Russians are doing and Russians have huge capabilities people don’t seem to understand that they all along have been fighting with suboptimal capabilities that they have. They have not even used their navy. I mean they are the number ones. They are very good in submarine warfare. Nothing has been used. You see? So the point I’m making is that today the Russians because they are in the fifth year of the war. Their military industrial complex has been geared up to meet the war surge requirements. something that the Americans will take a long time to come to that level. So, President Trump is in next in big trouble. He was trying to see through this pushner and everybody the possibility that this war does not enlarge, does not involve NATO. Because while the Americans want that the Western Europeans, they do the heavy lifting in NATO for the conventional war, they still want to have a foothold and their foothold can only be NATO in Europe. And NATO is in big trouble today. The EU is in big trouble because this war will 100% be decided on the battlefield and what he has said publicly. President Putin, he means business and he’ll get it. So it is up to Zillinsky. I mean Zilinski can keep having any number of conferences. He’s he’s had two round of talks with these fellows you know Kushner and Witkov and in the third round he’s got the Europeans also now who’s he got these three countries which are themselves in trouble the Germans the French and UK they are themselves in trouble the Germans are in big trouble they just lost one election so the point I’m making is Mario the American empire is in trouble uh Iran has accomplished in this war Until now the diplomacy they have created the basic infrastructure they have brought to reality a basic infrastructure based on the concept of collective security which is a key thing in the new world order and now they are focusing on the military side. This is where we start. I think you’ve covered everything. It was a great overview. seeing if there’s anything we missed or any questions I would still have. So maybe to wrap up, one final question to wrap up is what options do you think Trump is currently considering? He’s using the ship for ship strategy, but we’ve seen the Iranians respond disproportionately respond by attacking American linked ships or ships using the Omani route or ships of American allies. And we’ve seen them strike the navy as a warning shot with the advanced missile 3 days ago, the castle missile 3 days ago. So then what options, what military options do you think Trump still is considering now? So the first thing Trump needs to consider is that the Iranians don’t bluff. When they are saying that our military response will be disproportionate, they mean it. So they have already told you that remove your naval blockade and this is the state of dignity of the Iranians. Iranians control that. So there should be no doubt on that. Now basically what was he looking at all this while what Trump was looking at is to get the state of Hermos free to get it what it was before 28th of February. So that is not going to happen and what the what the Israelis were looking all along was the nuclear weapons. So because Israel controls America, so it became a American demand of nuclear weapons and state of Haros. And the point is that I do not see the possibility at all of Iranians going for a nuclear weapon though they have the capability. There should be no doubt about it. They are intelligent people. They have a lot of engineers. But if Israel controls by say Israel controls Trump is focusing just on the straight of not on regime change but Israel doesn’t care about the straight of they care about regime change. See the point is it is up to the Americans to decide. Americans are in big trouble and honestly today the way I see it does not matter what is the outcome of the 3rd November midterm elections. And why I say that is because the control of the Israelis is so much on the US Congress if the reports are to be believed. So much control they have that in any case what Israel wants will happen. So Israel is running the show. Trump is helpless. The American empire is sinking. And I don’t think in America anybody is honestly standing up and saying that look we are in trouble because of the Israelis. Um just one thing when you saying is I think Israel has a lot of influence over the US but when you say Israel has control I’ll ask the same question again if Israel controls why is Trump only focusing on the straight of Hamuz getting concessions on the straight of Hamuz which Israel doesn’t benefit Israel in any way and he’s not seeking regime change as he was or he’s not striking Israel would love to see the US strike the Iranian energy infrastructure but Trump has avoided that. So Iran Israel’s objectives are not being pursued by Trump. So what at least now yeah no no I understand to answer your question Trump wants to save pro dollars and for that it is important for him that the GCC countries see that yes state of harmonos is genuinely free which it isn’t which it will never be that is why he’s focusing on state of harmonos and that is why he will not destroy the energy infrastructure. But having said that, this man is desperate. He can do anything. In fact, I remember we discussed one day the tactical nuclear weapons also because after all the Americans have the no first use policy. I’m not saying that they’ll use it. You ask me what are the options he has. So honestly the only option is that he has no option and he will not come back also. So then what will happen is this war will not end in a hurry. This war will now be determined the course of war. The military aspect will be determined by the Iranians. And alongside the new world order will be created and the dollar will get displaced in 12th and 13th of September in Delhi is the bricks conference. And one of the key things to be discussed there is this only displacement of the dollar not the replacement displacement of the dollar by use of local currency and by bypassing swift this is one of the key things which will be discussed. So if uh you know if 30% the global trade if 30% of the trade in the world today does not happen in the US dollar then America is in big trouble. Uh there’s some argue there’s a lot of arguments a lot of economists argue that the US dollar not being the world global reserve currency could actually be a positive thing for the US. That’s a big debate that happens in finance and between economists. Some but there is a strong argument that that dollar not being used as a reserve currency could lead to a weaker dollar could then allow the US to bring back manufacturing into the country. So I know it’s a separate discussion but it’s just one last point here. I I will not argue at all. I’m not qualified with economist. No I’m not qualified but let me make one point. The point is that this new world order who is joining this it is the global south. majority of the global south country and global south is 80% of the world and global south because of them the wealth and power what we call the global geopolitics has shifted from transatlantic to the Eurasian landmass and Asia Pacific it is because of these economies which are growing so they are the ones and if you see the figures uh how now they are trading in local currencies and trading in yuan So the dollar can remain. Nobody wants to replace the dollar. But if the dollar is not being used by the world, by the majority of the world and the economies that matter, you see as far as the Europeans are concerned, the EU, I mean these three countries, they are headed for a recession. Their economy is in big trouble. Everybody knows that. So what is the use of that dollar when the majority of the world which is actually where the power and prestige has come the the the you know the trade is happening commerce is happening if they’re not using the dollar or they are using the dollar sparingly what good is the dollar that is the point yeah and the dollar is what allowed the US to the living standard to be so high allows the US to be able to borrow money endless amount of money and to the US treasuries to always be considered a safe asset is because of the strength of the US dollar, the demand for the US dollar globally. So if that goes away, it fundamentally changes the US economy in so many ways. Um, Praina, always a good conversation. Really enjoyed it. Thank you for your time and uh I’m sure we’ll be speaking again. Thank you, Mario. Bye-bye. Have a good night. All right, guys. I’ll be live again in two hours, I think, with uh Brandon to give you the daily news recap. And let’s let’s see who we have today. With Brandon, we have Chris Martinson afterwards. Then I have Chank. We’ll be talking to Jenk. I keep getting his name wrong. Jenk, Joe Kent, and then we have Raymond Zukaro and Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kuatowski. So, pretty good lineup. I’ll see you in an hour in two hours. Bye-bye.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you believe that the US Base Diego Garcia is vulnerable to disruption because of signal interference and and automation?

2. Do you believe that the US Empire is in jeopardy?

3. Pravin Sawhneyv predicts that the Dollar will lose market share to local currencies (exchanged for gold). How you see this as a threat to the US dollar?

What happens to human intelligence when artificial intelligence can retrieve information, generate content, analyze data, write code, and perform tasks that once required years of specialized knowledge?

As AI transforms the workplace, millions of people are asking the same question:

Will AI replace me?

Dr. Angela C. Meyers argues that there may be a more useful question:

What kinds of human intelligence become MORE valuable because of AI?

In this video, Dr. Angela C. Meyers explores why artificial intelligence, accelerating complexity, and rapid change are increasing the value of generalists, polymaths, systems thinkers, and adaptable minds. From leadership and hiring to innovation and mental sovereignty, this is a conversation about the skills humans will need to thrive in an artificial age.

QUESTIONS:

1. In the future, will generalists have more value in the job market?

2. What will happen to the market for specialized professions?

3. What will happen to our memory for details? Will we outsource our memory even more to AI?
   

Trump said that Canada needs the US more than the US needs Canada.

Canada’s potential alliance with Europe would bring badly-needed oil, gas, and minerals to the EU. The potential relationship with Europe would prevent the US from isolating Canada and turning it into (more of?) a vassal state.

Description:

Donald Trump just got dealt the ultimate humiliation on the global stage. Thanks to the completely rotten leadership in Washington and a disastrous, chaotic tariff war, Canada is officially turning its back on the United States and is actively pursuing a "unique alliance" with the European Union. Prime Minister Mark Carney is bypassing the White House entirely, leaving America completely isolated while Canada secures massive global investments and pitches its stability to the world.
For Canadians, this is a masterstroke of geopolitical strategy as they explore deeper economic and strategic integration with Europe. For Americans? It's a catastrophic failure of the MAGA agenda that will absolutely wreck our supply chains and drive prices through the roof. Watch the complete breakdown of how Trump just lost our closest ally, and why Canada's brilliant pivot to Europe is a massive victory for them and a devastating, permanent blow to the failing Trump administration.

QUESTIONS:

1. Will this benefit Canada compared to the status quo, or merely do the best to avoid subservience to the US?

2. How will this affect US supply chains?

3. What resources will this cost the US the most? Oil? Diesel? minerals, timber?

4. Will this reduce Canadian brain drain to the US, as more Canadian emmigrate to Europe?

5. How much are Americans aware of the fraying relationship with Canada?

6. How will this possible relationship with Europe affect the US economy and US prices?

Q: Donald Rumsefeld government was missing $2.3 trillion from the defense budget. September 2001. (Gemini)

A: On September 10, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave a speech at the Pentagon regarding bureaucratic inefficiency, modernization, and waste. In his speech, he mentioned that the Department of Defense “cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions”.

KCRW

While this quote often circulates in online discussions and conspiracy theories as cash literally going missing or stolen right before 9/11, audit reports from the DoD Inspector General clarify what that figure actually represented:

• Accounting Discrepancies, Not Missing Cash: The $2.3 trillion figure referred to the cumulative sum of “unsupported accounting entries” (adjustments made to balance financial records between non-reconciled systems) made over previous fiscal years.

• Legacy IT Systems: The Pentagon relied on hundreds of legacy financial systems that could not communicate with one another. When transactions were moved between systems, accountants frequently had to input manual plug figures to force ledger balances to align without a full paper audit trail.

• Double-Counting Aggregate Totals: Because these entries accumulated across multiple reporting cycles and sub-agencies, adding them together created a massive total that far exceeded the Pentagon’s actual annual spending budget.

Rumsfeld brought up the issue to highlight the dire need to overhaul the military’s antiquated accounting infrastructure and financial management rather than announcing a new, sudden loss of money.

GovInfo

This video breaks down the context of the announcement, how the Pentagon’s legacy accounting practices led to the $2.3 trillion discrepancy, and why the money wasn’t physically stolen cash: That Time The Military Let $2.3 Trillion Go “Missing”

QUESTIONS:

1. Had you heard that on September 10, 2023, Donald Rumsfeld announced that the government was missing $2.3 trillion from the defense budget. What was your impression of the situation?

2. How did the Pentagon’s conversion from paper to digital go?

3. Why has the government not been able to pass an audit since? Do you forsee the “Pentagon” being able to pass an audit in the next 10 years?

4. Would you support a new law that the “Pentagon” budget shrink by 10% per year, until they can pass an audit?

3 Reasons for Secret Government Spending: “Black Budget”

.. and he said I’m paraphrasing but he said look there are three reasons for having black programs this is a man with some access to this information.

1. One you’re doing something that should genuinely be secret there’s about five of them and stealth ain’t one of them -

2. You’re doing something so stupid that you don’t want anybody to know about it and

3. Three you want to rip open the money bag get out a big shovel because there’s no accountability for this money

How Tim Weiner Investigated the “Black budgets”

.. get back. I tend to work from the documents that the Pentagon puts out to use the public record to get it something deeper the public record to use what’s public or what’s been declassified taking apart the Pentagon’s budget to determine what’s black what secret is kind of a reverse engineering for example if you want to know the level of secret spending in the research and development budget you’ve got a bottom line let’s say it’s 50 billion dollars you add up the several thousand unclassified line items and you’ll see that there’s a 10 billion dollar gap there so you know that 10 billion dollars is being funneled out into secret spending from there you get to a deeper level by interviewing people who have or have had access to this information and doing a great deal of reading as to the nuclear strategy and technological goals that the Pentagon is pursuing I wanted to ask you about a line that popped out of the pages of your book I could be charged with a felony for telling you I thought this is a free country where you can talk about anything in the first in the First Amendment protection there are code word classification levels and the programs discussed in that passage which are for strategic nuclear warfare Olympic bellwether Meridian Bernie in the reign of director Casey at the CIA he threatened more than a few reporters with felony prosecutions under the Espionage statutes for revealing codeword programs I seriously doubt that such a prosecution could be successfully mounted because of the First Amendment protections but there remain statutes on the book the government interprets as protecting code word classified information and they are effective statutes there on the books there there is it scary enough not to publish it no sir no sir I think the First Amendment is stronger in the back under acknowledgments and you talk about coming to Washington and not being a part of it here but you do thank some people yes and let me read the list and I want you to tell me if you can who they are in Washington I received guidance from Dina Razer mm-hmm and Donna Martin both formerly with the project on military procurement that is the organization that first dug up the raw information on the extraordinary items that the Pentagon was producing such as the coffee pots the wrenches the hammers and they do and have in the past done tremendous cost analysis of how the Pentagon produces its weapons and they have a network of people inside the Pentagon who help them gather information where do they come from they are a privately funded and a political group and they range from cheap Hawks that is people on the right of the spectrum who want the defense dollar spent efficiently to doves who want the defense dollar spent in more Pacific and perhaps and less substantial ways why would anybody want to spend money for that purpose and what kind of money do they get I don’t know I think they’re independently funded from various organizations like Ford Foundation or maybe Stewart lot I really haven’t looked behind their financing but they’re respected institutions I don’t know you know this but why are they both formerly of that project well let’s see Donna went to work for a member of Congress and Dena I believe is now a freelance author did you find them or did they find you oh I went to them and they put me onto some wonderful people inside the Pentagon Ernest Fitzgerald a Ernest Fitzgerald you.thank who earn E. Fitzgerald one of the Pentagon’s most famous and staunchest in-house critics

QUESTIONS:

1. What sorts of programs have been approved since 1990 to be secret under reasons #2 and #3 — stupid and unaccountable?

2. Does the government’s willingness to tie up journalists with prosecution vary, depending upon the program being covered?

3. Are current journalists doing as much coverage of secret programs as they did in the 1990s, when publishing revenue was easier to come by.

SUMMARY:

Uncovering the Black Budget

• Reverse Engineering: Weiner identifies hidden spending by analyzing unclassified line items against total Pentagon budget allocations (e.g., finding a $10 billion gap in a $50 billion research and development budget).

• Sources & Guidance: He relies on public documents, declassified records, and interviews with former and current defense insiders, including cost analyst Ernest Fitzgerald and weapons designer Thomas Amli.

• The “Three Reasons” for Secrecy: Former defense insider Thomas Amli notes that black programs exist for three primary reasons: genuine secrecy (very rare), hiding mistakes or boondoggles, or spending large sums without public accountability.

Secrecy vs. Democratic Oversight

• First Amendment Protections: Despite government threats of felony prosecution under espionage statutes for disclosing classified codeword programs, Weiner asserts that First Amendment protections remain a stronger defense for journalists.

• Lack of Congressional Transparency: Certain classified entities, like the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), operate with annual budgets of $7–$8 billion but cannot legally be named on the floor of Congress, leading to a lack of public oversight even when costly errors occur.

• Overall Intelligence Spending: The overall intelligence budget exceeds $25 billion annually, dominated by the NSA ($12+ billion) and NRO ($7–$8 billion), dwarfing the CIA’s roughly $4 billion budget.

The Role of Independent Organizations

• Organizations like the Project on Military Procurement, the Defense Budget Project, and the National Security Archive provide independent, nonpartisan cost analyses and document access without relying on illegal leaks.

Critiques and Defense

• Addressing a review by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, Weiner defends highlighting both minor administrative misconduct (such as secret courts-martial involving misused funds) and major constitutional issues (such as the Iran-Contra affair), arguing that smaller secret abuses set the precedent for larger systemic failures.

• Weiner emphasizes that while specific technical details and intelligence sources should remain protected, the constitutional requirement for an accounting of public funds demands transparency regarding overall spending levels and major weapon system costs.

How has the government’s “Black budget” changed from 1990 to 2026?

The U.S. government’s “black budget”—classified funding for intelligence agencies (the National Intelligence Program and Military Intelligence Program) along with covert military research and development—has undergone a major transformation in transparency, structure, and overall size since 1990.

Key Shifts in Spending and Structure (1990–2026)

• 1990s (Post-Cold War Contraction): Following the fall of the Soviet Union, total U.S. intelligence spending declined slightly from its Cold War peak. In the mid-1990s, overall intelligence spending sat around $26 billion to $28 billion annually. For the first time in history, the Director of Central Intelligence officially declassified top-line intelligence spending in 1997 ($26.6 billion) and 1998 ($26.7 billion) following FOIA litigation.

• 2000s (Post-9/11 Expansion): Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, classified military and intelligence spending surged significantly to fund counterterrorism, surveillance infrastructure, and dark-project technology. By 2007, top-line figures for the National Intelligence Program (NIP) were formally declassified annually, starting at $43.5 billion and climbing toward $50 billion by 2009.

• 2010s (Surveillance Era & Snowden Disclosures): In 2010, the government began regularly disclosing the total combined figures for both the NIP and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which together totaled over $80 billion annually. The 2013 Edward Snowden disclosures shed light on specific agency allocations within the $52.8 billion NIP budget, showing significant hidden funding directed to the CIA, NSA, and NRO.

• 2020s–2026 (Modern Highs): Classified intelligence and defense acquisition budgets have reached record highs, driven by geopolitical competition, space defense, advanced cyber capabilities, and AI research. Total intelligence spending requests exceed $115 billion annually ($81.9 billion for the NIP and $33.6 billion for the MIP), not including tens of billions in unannounced classified Department of Defense acquisitions.

ELSEWHERE:

• Lawmakers renew call for end to ‘black budget’ secrecy, 03/23/2018

Natural News

An algal bloom in the eastern Mediterranean Sea has forced the shutdown of five of Israel’s six desalination plants, disrupting more than 80% of the nation’s drinking water supply, according to reports published September 3 and September 5, 2026. The Israel Water Authority has ordered local councils to restrict water usage for farming, gardening, and public amenities, officials said. The government has also shut off external water to the Gaza Strip, according to the report.

Middle East Eye

Untreated sewage from Gaza may have helped cause a huge algae bloom that shut down five of Israel’s six major desalination plants on the Mediterranean, Israeli news outlet Ynet has reported.

Scientists are trying to assess possible environmental fallout from Gaza’s destroyed wastewater infrastructure, the report said.

In an alarming development, the algae bloom spread along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, disrupting seawater desalination plants that provide much of the country’s drinking water, CNN reported, citing Mekorot, Israel’s national water company.

Desalination provides at least 65 percent of Israel’s drinking water, with most plants located on the coast.

Five of Israel’s six major desalination plants, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Sorek A, and Sorek B, were temporarily shut down.

Israel’s water authority said the water sector was stable as authorities increased supplies from the Sea of Galilee, groundwater wells and reservoirs while restricting some agricultural and public irrigation.

But the crisis has exposed the fragility of Israel’s dependence on desalination to major environmental disruptions.

QUESTIONS:

1. If this issue with water desalination continues, will it attract attention to how Israel intentionally destroyed Gazan water-treatment infrastructure?

2. What was the motivation for destroying Gazan infrastructure? Ethnic cleansing, by making Gaza unlivable? Collective Punishment?

3. How many American cities have infrastructure, like water treatment, that is vulnerable to environmental disruption?

4. How long are the Israeli algae blooms expected to disrupt water treatment plants in Israel?

   Gemini:

   There is no fixed end date for when the microalgae bloom will dissipate, but Israeli water authorities expect the primary disruptions to be a temporary, short-term crisis rather than a multi-month shutdown.

   Current Status & Timeline Projections

   • Duration so far: The massive microalgae bloom began impacting Israel’s Mediterranean coastline in late August 2026, leading to the shutdown or throttling of five of Israel’s six major seawater desalination plants.

     The Media Line

   • Partial Recovery: Operating conditions are improving gradually. While five facilities were initially knocked offline, as of early September 2026, three plants (Palmachim, Sorek A, and Sorek B) have resumed partial operations, while two (Ashkelon and Ashdod) remain closed due to high seawater turbidity.

     ENR logo

   • Mitigation Efforts: Authorities sprayed copper-containing treatments offshore via aircraft to break down the bloom and are studying whether to extend intake pipes further offshore away from coastal algae concentrations. Plants were deliberately shut off or throttled to prevent irreversible damage to reverse-osmosis filtration membranes, which could otherwise take months to replace.

     ENR logo+ 1

   Long-Term Concerns

   While current plant disruptions are expected to resolve as sea currents shift and turbidity drops, marine scientists and water researchers warn that warming ocean temperatures and shifting currents mean similar algal blooms will likely recur more frequently in the future rather than being a one-off event.

ELSEWHERE:

1. Gaza’s destroyed sewage system linked to ‘rare’ algae bloom shutting Israeli desalination plants (Middle East Eye - featured)

2. Israel’s Algae Crisis: Is ‘War Dust’ From Gaza Fueling the Crisis?, Haaretz (Israel)

3. Water Crisis Triggered by Gaza’s Ruin: Israel Is Paying the Price of Destruction, Haaretz (Israel)

QUESTIONS:

1. Have you heard of other musicians that one might otherwise judge as being musically “incorrect” that have nonetheless gained renown?

   1. Example: Billy Holliday

2. Have you heard of professional musicians that don’t know how to read music?

   1. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Jackson

   2. Ear Training & Intuitive Theory: Musicians who don’t read music often possess an extraordinary sense of relative pitch and intuitive music theory—they understand how chords and scales function together by sound and feel, even if they don’t use standard classical terminology.

   3. Alternative Systems: Guitarists and bassists frequently use tablature (tabs), which displays fret numbers and strings instead of musical pitches. Studio musicians in non-classical genres often use the Nashville Number System or simplified chord charts.

   4. Audio Recorders & Collaborators: For large orchestral or multi-instrumental projects, non-reading composers often record demos or play their ideas on an instrument, collaborating with trained arrangers and transcribers to write out the formal scores for orchestras.

3. What other old, high-quality television programming are you familiar with, like Leonard Bernstein’s Omnibus (Music Education)

COMMENTS

“No composer ever had that, even Mozart to that degree... where everything is so unpredictable and yet so right.
It all checks.
It all works out.
You can rely on it.
You know the next note has to be THE next note, and the ONLY next note that could come.”
- Leonard Bernstein talking with Maximilian Schell about Beethoven

He was a genius on a technical level, like Mozart. But music is ultimately about emotion, and the most powerful emotions are often created through simplicity used in the right way. Ironically, that’s one of the hardest things to achieve.

“It’s all wrong ….but it’s perfect!”

Beethoven didn’t compose melodies. He composed themes. But, boy, did know how to make something of those themes. The Ode to Joy theme is borderline childish, yet the finale of the 9th symphony a masterpiece.

He basically said: Beethoven misses his punctuations, messes up his paragraphs, lexis and structure is mid, grammar...meh. But the story is divine

There are no wrong notes in jazz. It all depends on the next note.” - Miles Davis

He was a genius on a technical level, like Mozart. But music is ultimately about emotion, and the most powerful emotions are often created through simplicity used in the right way. Ironically, that’s one of the hardest things to achieve.

As Zappa said -- it’s the connections.

For someone who never write a ‘good fugue’ the fugue in opus 110 is pretty decent...

The fugue entrance of his 9th Symphony Mvt 2 is phenomenal.

Beethoven’s monitor was his heart,
he tried every chord variation until he was emotionally moved. I’m quite sure his piano keys were stained with tears of soulful bliss after carefully experimenting to find the perfect chord for the mood at hand.

And am I an optimist? No. I mean uh the question is the wrong question because this optimism pessimism is the glasses half full or half empty and then it depends on how you look at it. Yeah. But the smarter definition is the the wording of Vajlafl or even Gshi Antonio Gamshi if you read the prison the prison journals. Yeah. And uh optimism and pessimism is also dialectic. And dialectic means bachel optimism is not that you think that things will get better. Optimism is that it makes sense what you do even if things don’t get better. And this is quite a different quoted quote. Yeah.

Chapter 8: Optimism, magic & the meaning of resistance

Yeah. It’s very beautiful. It means that what we are now in do here here you and I here in this zoom is we are doing something that makes sense for us for you and for me hopefully it makes sense to a lot of listeners. So independently of what things will develop they get better or not we are having sense in what we are doing and this is the importance of history and this is the point of magic that I was pointing for quoting my Indian chief. Yeah. Which means what? Never give up. Never give up. Always try. Samuel Becket. Fail, try harder. Fail better, try harder. Samuel Beckett. Yeah. Vakn of Gudu. So never give up and try harder. And then it’s very important to get this right because this is European culture. Yeah. May I still allow myself to quote Schiller here? Yeah. Schiller. I I need to do it in German but then I do the English. Schiller in the Glocker. The very famous Freilla Glocker is the bell and there is one poem of Schilla about producing a bell for the church and the poem runs in Germany. So, uh, let’s try to translate this. The guys want to use a bell and the bell is um in tone in earth. Clay in clay. Clay in clay. And they want to put the bronzer, you know, to to produce it. The mold. Yeah. The mold. Everybody is sweating heavily because it’s heavy work. And Chilla says go on, do the work. You don’t know whether it succeeds because it’s difficult to produce a bell. It can spring, you know, the the mold can spring. Yeah. The uh dis will come from heaven whether it’s good or not. The blessing will come not from this earth. But you need to try and if you stop trying anywhere there’s no belt. Yeah. So I’m not only I’m doing yoga and I talk with the Indians but I’m also Catholic and this is precisely what it is. Yeah. If you find this connection again then optimism is not the question. The real question is do we do something that makes sense for us in the belief that if we stop doing it then everything will be dark. But if we do our effort and the effort is blessed then we win. Beautiful Raque. Can we still come back to the elections in Saken Anhal and maybe as a segue use the so-called Russian attacks on the airport in Leipik which happened almost a month ago and a couple of days before the election tomorrow at September the 6 was uh labeled on Russia.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think the future will be better? (long term | medium term | short term)

2. Do you have hope / optimism in what you do?

3. Do you agree with Ulrike’s definition of “optimism”?

ELSEWHERE:

• Ulrike Guerot’s website | Ulrike Guerot’s YouTube (Interviewee)

• Thomas Karat’s Substack (Interviewer)

• YouTube Episode URL

A: In the biblical account (book of Exodus), Pharaoh ordered the death of all newborn Israelite boys—not just the firstborn—by commanding that they be thrown into the Nile River. The specific targeting of the firstborn occurs later in the story as a plague directed against the Egyptians.

BibleRef.com+ 1

The Decree Against Israelite Infants

• The Reason: Fearing that the enslaved Israelite population was becoming too large and powerful, Pharaoh sought to curb their numbers.

  BibleRef.com

• The Command: Pharaoh initially instructed the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill newborn male babies at birth. When they refused out of fear of God, Pharaoh issued a command to all his people: every newly born Israelite boy was to be thrown into the Nile River, while female infants were allowed to live.

  BibleRef.com+ 1

• The Impact: This decree forms the backdrop for the birth of Moses, whose mother hid him in a basket along the riverbank. He was subsequently discovered and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.

  BibleRef.com+ 1

The Plagues and the Death of the Firstborn

• The Tenth Plague: Near the end of the captivity narrative, God sent a tenth and final plague upon Egypt (Exodus 11–12). In this event, the Egyptian firstborn male in every family—from Pharaoh’s royal heir down to the firstborn of captives and livestock—died at midnight.

  Tom’s Theology Blog+ 1

• Passover: The Israelites were instructed to mark their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed lamb. The destruction “passed over” the homes with the blood mark, sparing the Israelite firstborn sons. It was this event that finally prompted Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery.

  Jewish Theological Seminary

Q: Would you like to explore the narrative of Moses’ birth and early life in Egypt?

Yes

Would the Egyptian killing of all newborn males be classified as a “genocide” using the modern definition of “genocide” passed shortly after World War II?

A: Yes, Pharaoh’s command to kill all newborn Israelite males fits the modern legal definition of genocide established by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Legal Alignment with the 1948 UN Convention

Article II of the UN Convention defines genocide as specific acts committed with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Pharaoh’s decree fulfills both the mental requirement (mens rea) and physical actions (actus reus):

• Targeted Intent (Mens Rea): Exodus 1:9–10 explicitly records Pharaoh’s motive: fear that the growing Israelite population posed a security threat. The policy targeted Israelites specifically as a distinct national and ethnic demographic, with the objective of reducing their numbers and neutralizing their future strength.

• Killing Members of the Group (Article II(a)): Ordering all male infants thrown into the Nile constitutes direct, systematic murder targeting group members based on identity.

• Preventing Group Survival and Births (Article II(d)): Systematically destroying all male infants in a generation renders natural reproduction impossible for the group’s women in the future. This forces demographic absorption into the dominant Egyptian population, achieving the partial or total physical and cultural destruction of the group over time.

Systemic and Societal Impact

Evaluating the policy by its overall outcomes highlights why modern international law classifies such actions as the highest tier of atrocity:

• Destruction of Aggregate Potential: Annihilating an entire generation of males eliminates all future well-being, innovation, productivity, and social flourishing those individuals would have contributed over their lifespans.

• Widespread Mental Anguish: The trauma inflicted on families and the broader community creates severe, lingering suffering across the entire population, far outweighing any real or perceived administrative benefit.

• Extreme Asymmetry of Utility: Pharaoh attempted to preserve state security and economic exploitation (slave labor). However, achieving marginal security for one group by inflicting total devastation and mass loss of life on another results in a catastrophic net loss to overall human well-being.

By modern standards, policies designed to engineer the collapse of an ethnic population through targeted mass murder meet every criterion of genocide.

Q: Would you like to examine how other ancient conflicts compare to modern legal definitions of war crimes?

yes

A: Evaluating ancient historical and biblical conflicts using modern international law—specifically the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions, and the 1998 Rome Statute—requires treating these modern legal codes as an analytical heuristic rather than active historical standards. In antiquity, total warfare, siege starvation, collective punishment, and forced enslavement were standard rights of conquest (jus gentium), whereas modern humanitarian law centers on non-combatant immunity and specific intent (mens rea).

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Biblical Accounts

• The Command Against Amalek (1 Samuel 15, Deuteronomy 25):

  • Textual Narrative: Israel is commanded to “utterly destroy” Amalek, killing men, women, children, infants, and livestock.

    Wikipedia

  • Modern Classification: Genocide (Rome Statute Article 6). The explicit directive to eliminate a specific ethnic group down to infants satisfies the strict legal threshold of dolus specialis—the aggravated criminal intent to destroy a protected group in whole or in part.

    Access Accountability

• The Conquest of Canaan (Herem / Deuteronomy 20):

  • Textual Narrative: The decree of herem mandated the total extermination of all human life in designated cities so the native inhabitants would not influence Israel’s religious practices.

  • Modern Classification: Genocide and War Crimes. This combines identity-targeted annihilation with the modern absolute prohibition against targeting non-combatants.

    Access Accountability+ 1

• The Campaign Against Midian (Numbers 31):

  • Textual Narrative: Israelite forces kill all adult males in battle, then execute captured women and male children, taking virgin females as captive property.

  • Modern Classification: War Crimes (execution of non-combatants and prisoners of war) and Crimes Against Humanity (enslavement, forcible transfer, and sexual violence).

    Wikipedia

Classical Antiquity Conflicts

• The Destruction of Melos (416 BCE – Peloponnesian War):

  • Historical Event: Athens demanded that the neutral island of Melos submit to its empire. When Melos refused, Athens executed all adult male citizens and enslaved the women and children.

  • Modern Classification: Crimes Against Humanity (systematic mass murder and enslavement) and War Crimes. Modern courts would likely classify this as Crimes Against Humanity rather than Genocide, because Athens acted out of geopolitical subjugation (realpolitik) rather than intent to eradicate the Melian people based on their ethnic identity.

    Wikipedia

• The Fall of Carthage (146 BCE – Third Punic War):

  • Historical Event: Rome besieged Carthage for three years, causing catastrophic starvation. Upon breaching the walls, Roman forces slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians, enslaved the surviving ~50,000, and demolished the city.

  • Modern Classification: Crimes Against Humanity (extermination, mass murder, enslavement) and War Crimes (wanton destruction of cities not justified by military necessity).

    Wikipedia

• Assyrian Imperial Conquests (8th–7th Century BCE):

  • Historical Event: The Neo-Assyrian Empire routinely used public execution, flaying, impalement, and mass population deportations (such as the exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) as systematic tools of imperial rule.

  • Modern Classification: Crimes Against Humanity (forcible transfer of populations, systemic torture, extermination).

Questions:

1. Are you surprised that Pharaoh’s murder of all newborn males would be considered genocide by the 1948 Convention that defines “Genocide”? If so, why didn’t you consider it genocide?

2. Are you surprised by the classification of Roman and biblical genocides and war crimes?

3. What is your opinion on how the Genocide Convention is policed? Is it working? Could it be done better?

World War II Genocide?

Would the American bombing of Dresden and Tokyo be considered genocide by standards of the 1948 convention?

No, the American and Allied firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo would not be classified as genocide under the standards of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

While these campaigns caused immense civilian death and physical destruction, they lack the specific legal criteria required to meet the definition of genocide.

ACC.af.mil - Air Force

Why the Bombings Do Not Qualify as Genocide

Article II of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention defines genocide as specific acts committed with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”

OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS | - the United Nations

• Absence of Genocidal Intent (Dolus Specialis): International law requires proof of a specific intent to physically eradicate a group because of their identity. The primary objectives in Dresden and Tokyo were military, economic, and political: destroying industrial supply chains, disrupting transportation hubs, breaking enemy morale, and forcing unconditional surrender to end World War II.

• Post-War Policy: The Allied goal was regime change, demilitarization, and political restructuring, not the biological or physical destruction of the German or Japanese peoples. The subsequent Allied occupation, economic rebuilding, and integration of Germany and Japan into the international system directly contradict the threshold of genocidal intent.

• Scale vs. Intent: Under international law, massive casualties and total urban destruction do not automatically constitute genocide unless the driving purpose is group annihilation.

How Modern International Law Categorizes the Bombings

The WWII Legal Context

During World War II, specific international treaties explicitly prohibiting aerial bombardment of cities did not yet exist (the 1907 Hague Conventions only covered land and naval bombardment of undefended towns). Consequently, neither Allied nor Axis commanders were prosecuted for strategic aerial bombing at the Nuremberg or Tokyo war crimes trials.

Reddit

Under contemporary international humanitarian law—specifically Protocol I (1977) to the Geneva Conventions—the firebombing of population centers without distinguishing between military targets and civilians is explicitly recognized as a war crime.

Reddit

Would you like to explore how the 1977 Geneva Protocols reformed the rules surrounding aerial bombardment?

Source:

Gemini Query

Building off a 2022 essay by Thompson, Abundance made the case for what can be characterized as “supply-side progressivism”: the idea that the American left has been more concerned with blocking harmful economic development than with encouraging beneficial development, and—borrowing some ideas long popular on the economic right—that legislators can better the lives of their constituents by simply making it easier to build.

More than a year later, the topics and ideas Thompson and Klein brought to the center of the public conversation have started meeting policy. On Tuesday, Congress passed the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the largest housing bill in over 30 years, by overwhelming margins in each chamber. The legislation aims to remove barriers to building homes, lower housing costs, and give local government more control over housing policy. But it also includes demand-side measures—a new program to expand access to small-dollar mortgages and a provision that restricts large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes—and President Donald Trump is refusing to sign the housing bill into law until Congress also approves a controversial elections measure.

Some of the movement’s policy ideas are having a moment in Congress, but despite Klein’s influence in the Democratic Party and the sudden ubiquity of “abundance” talk, that hasn’t translated into an embrace of the broader agenda in this year’s Democratic primaries.

On Wednesday, New York City voters picked multiple Democratic Socialist candidates in the city’s primaries, including Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Valdez, for one, has called for “universal rent control,” pledging that “expanding rent stabilization is definitely one way that we can expand tenant power and keep people in their homes.”

Last night, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze rents on the city’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.

Source: The Dispatch

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you believe that “Abundance Policies” deserve support?

2. Why do you think Abundance Policies haven’t received more support from Democrats?

3. Do Mayor Mamdani’s policies include any supply-side aspect, or are they overwhelmingly about caps, such as capping rents?
   

Transcript

13:33

Uh the post says the Navy in particular is feeling taxed and overextended due to long deployments for the force and then wear and tear on naval assets. We’ve talked about that in the context of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Um but

I talked to a bunch of people who um worked at top jobs at the Pentagon about this post story and most of them said basically the same thing which is like it’s not unsurprising or all that rare to have um combatant commanders non-concur on an order. Non-concur means I don’t like it but I’ll do it. Um, it’s like, you know, you’re with your spouse, you’re like, “Fine, we can get Tai, but I’m not happy about it.” Passive aggressive. I do like Tai. I do that all I get a lot of Tai.

QUESTIONS:

1. Have you or others you know ever done the equivalent of a “Non-Concur?”

2. Does Congress pay attention to the Non-Concurs in the military?

3. Is there the equivalent of this concept in other parts of government?

ELSEWHERE:

Reddit: Experience with non-concur?

Act I: The System That Sustains Him

The “military-industrial complex” President Eisenhower warned about has expanded into something vaster: the MICIMATT — a nexus of Military, Industry, Congress, Intelligence, Media, Academia, and Think Tanks. Each sector feeds the others. Together, they normalize permanent war and support the narrative of U.S. liberal dominance as destiny.

Within this system, failure is no disqualification. Quite the opposite: failure can be rebranded as “experience.” That’s how a man with David Petraeus’s record remains in demand as a television analyst at:

• CNN, Fox News, ABC News, CNBC, and public broadcasting via PBS, and

corporate advisor, and think tank staple.

How David Petraeus represents each of the letters of the MICIMATT

“M”, for “Military’.

• As a General, David Petraeus was selected to lead the US surge in the Iraq War.’

• While there, he worked closely with General Jack Keene

“I” stands for the Military Industry;

• ** General Jack Keene went on to serve on the boards of Military Contractors.

“C” stands for Congress;

• General Petraeus covered up the cause of the Bengazhi attack in his testimony in front of Congress, later admitting that the CIA had known it was a terror attack.

‘I” stands for Intelligence,

• Petraeus was director of the CIA, before resigning due to an extramarital affair with his biographer.

“M”, stands for Media:

• Petraeus served as an expert for several media outlets, listed above.

“A” stands for Academia

• Petraeus as know as a “Warrior Scholar’, graduating from Princeton and holding positions as a Senior Fellow at Yale and Harvard Kennedy School;

“TT” for Think Tanks;

• Petraeus enlisted Kim and Robert Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Network as advisers in Afghanistan, where they recommended a strategy to attack Pakistani-affiliated Afghanis **.

Additionally, Patterers represents two other power centers:

• an Oil pipeline in Canada

• and KKR Private Equity connected to that oil pipeline

Act II: The Petraeus Record

Strip away the myth, and the record is stark. Petraeus:

• Won tactical successes in Iraq, but civil war broke out again, this time against ISIS and the Iraq War resulted in Iraq moving closer towards Iran.

• He collaborated with General Jack Keane on a surge strategy

• As CIA Director, he falsely testified in front of Congress about Benghazi,1 blaming a video he knew wasn’t responsible for the attack, instead of terrorism, as he later acknowledged he was aware of at the time.

• Urged America to extend its stay in Iraq, using “CounterInsurgency Doctrine” to buy time for President Bush and VP Cheney to win a second Presidential term’.

• Championed a counterinsurgency “surge” in Afghanistan, a country where conditions differed markedly with Iraq.

These are not the marks of strategic brilliance. They are the hallmarks of failure. Yet the media keeps him on speed dial as an “expert.”

Act III: Failure Repurposed

Here’s the deeper danger. Counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN) didn’t stabilize Baghdad or Kabul — but its logic has migrated home. Protest is now treated as insurgency.

• At Standing Rock in North and South Dakota, police used COIN-style tactics against unarmed Indigenous and their allies seeking to protect their ground water from future oil pipeline leaks.

• In Canada, while Petraeus chaired private equity company KKR’s Global Institute, his former NATO subordinate drew on counterinsurgency experience to help a KKR-backed pipeline company violate Indigenous sovereignty and force a cheaper route through Indigenous land.

What failed abroad has become a tool of control at home — and a profit engine for private equity.

As Joshua Rovner of the U.S. Naval War College warned a Guardian Journalist:

he was credited with supposedly winning the war in Iraq by implementing the “surge” in 2007, which was advocated strongly by Frederick Kagan and other key neocons.

“We have misunderstood our recent history in Iraq and Afghanistan; we have created new myths about strategy that will persist for many years despite their manifest flaws; and we may make bad decisions about intervening in other civil wars based on these myths.”

Petraeus had such close ties to the neocons that he relied on them to pull him out of difficult political spots. In one embarrassing example in 2010, e-mails surfaced showing the four-star general groveling before Max Boot, seeking the neocon pundit’s help heading off a controversy over Petraeus’s prepared testimony to Congress which contained a mild criticism of Israel

That is the Petraeus myth in action. We misremember failure as wisdom, recycle COIN (Counter Insurgency Doctrine) against our own citizens when they protest, and enshrine its architects as experts. If the MICIMATT is a machine, Petraeus is proof of how media analysts can fail upward, so long as they are good at self-promotion, their failure serves the MICIMATT, and it has growing profits.

Act IV: MILITARY SPENDING?

All Petraeus did was extend that misguided war for another few years at the cost of nearly 1,000 more U.S. dead and countless more dead Iraqis thus giving President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney time to get out of Washington before the ultimate failure of the mission became obvious

QUESTIONS:

1. Why do so many media outlets feature military leaders with poor records and conflicts of interests?

2. Why are many military leaders useful to corporations like oil companies and private equity?

3. How are many military leaders useful to “think tanks”?

AI Note: I used ChatGTP to create this article (see below):

• What were the political goals of COIN in Iraq under David Petraeus? How did Petraeus succeed and how did he fail?

• Have David Petaeus’ counter-insurgency tactics been used in the UK, US, or Canada against civilians?

• Were counterinsurgency tactics used at Standing Rock?

FOOTNOTES & AI Results:

1. Political Goals of COIN in Iraq

Petraeus’s “Surge” strategy (2007–2008) and his wider COIN doctrine aimed to:

1. Stabilize the Iraqi government so it could function and gain legitimacy.

2. Protect the population to separate civilians from insurgents.

3. Reconcile sectarian divisions — especially between Sunni Arabs, Shi’a parties, and Kurds.

4. Undercut insurgencies (al-Qaeda in Iraq, Sunni militias, Shi’a militias tied to Iran).

5. Build Iraqi security forces capable of eventually replacing U.S. troops.

6. Create political space for Iraq’s leaders to pass key reforms (oil revenue sharing, de-Ba’athification reform, federal power-sharing).

In short, Petraeus’s political goal was to turn temporary military stability into sustainable political order.

---

2. How Petraeus Succeeded

• Security Improvements (Short-Term):

  • Violence fell dramatically after 2007, particularly in Baghdad.

  • U.S. troops lived among the population in “Joint Security Stations,” improving local security.

• The “Sunni Awakening” (Sahwa):

  • Petraeus backed Sunni tribal militias (Sons of Iraq) against al-Qaeda.

  • This flipped many former insurgents into U.S. allies, weakening jihadist networks.

• Tactical Innovation:

  • Introduced intelligence-driven targeting, protecting civilians more strictly, and rapid rebuilding efforts.

  • Improved U.S. military credibility after years of failure.

• Narrative Success:

  • In Washington, the “Surge worked” became a dominant story, bolstering Petraeus’s reputation and influencing U.S. foreign policy debates.

---

3. How Petraeus Failed

• No Durable Political Reconciliation:

  • The Shi’a-dominated government under Nouri al-Maliki resisted true power-sharing.

  • Sunni militias (“Sons of Iraq”) were abandoned by Baghdad once U.S. troops left, fueling resentment.

• Institutional Fragility:

  • Iraqi security forces remained heavily sectarian and corrupt; many collapsed in 2014 when ISIS advanced.

• Dependency on U.S. Presence:

  • Stability was linked to U.S. troops on the ground. Once they withdrew (2011), violence spiked again.

• Short-Term Deals, Long-Term Problems:

  • Empowering militias created parallel power structures.

  • Suppressing violence didn’t resolve underlying sectarian competition or weak governance.

• Strategic Failure:

  • The main U.S. political goal — a stable, democratic, pro-Western Iraq — never materialized.

  • By 2014, Iraq had slid into civil war again, this time against ISIS.

ChatGTP Summary:

FOOTNOTES:

Q: What is the argument in favor of the saying “All wars are bankers’ wars”?

GEMINI:

The saying “All wars are bankers’ wars” is a populist slogan and historical theory. It argues that the primary drivers of international conflicts are not ideological, religious, or geopolitical differences, but rather the financial interests of international banking institutions and elites.

Here is the breakdown of the core arguments used to support this perspective:

1. Profit from Debt and Financing

The foundational argument is that war is incredibly expensive, and governments rarely have enough liquid cash to fund prolonged conflicts. To wage war, governments must borrow massive sums of money.

• Interest on Debt: Private and central banks lend money to governments at interest. Whether a nation wins or loses, the taxpayers are obligated to pay back the principal plus interest for decades to come.

• Funding Both Sides: Historically, certain powerful banking houses (such as the Rothschilds in the 19th century or Wall Street firms leading up to the World Wars) have been accused of financing both sides of a conflict, ensuring a guaranteed profit regardless of the military outcome.

2. The Cycle of Destruction and Reconstruction

From a purely financial standpoint, war creates a massive economic cycle of destruction and rebuilding:

• The War Effort: Massive profits are generated by corporations that manufacture weapons, ammunition, and military supplies—companies often heavily backed or owned by major financial institutions.

• Post-War Reconstruction: Once the war ends, devastated nations require billions of dollars in loans to rebuild their infrastructure, creating a second wave of high-interest loans and financial dependency for the vanquished and victors alike.

3. Protection of Global Financial Systems

Advocates of this theory argue that many modern wars are fought to protect or expand specific financial systems, such as the dominance of a particular currency (e.g., the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency).

• According to this argument, when a nation attempts to break away from the established global banking system, trade outside the dominant currency, or nationalize its central bank, it becomes a target for military intervention under the guise of “spreading democracy” or “humanitarian aid.”

4. Historical Reference Points

Proponents of the theory frequently point to historical quotes and events to back up their claims:

• Major General Smedley Butler: In his famous 1935 book War is a Racket, Butler—one of the most decorated U.S. Marines in history—argued that military interventions were frequently conducted to protect the overseas investments of Wall Street bankers and large corporations.

• The Federal Reserve (1913): Some theorists tie the rise of global conflicts in the 20th century to the creation of modern central banking systems, which allowed governments to print money off the gold standard, effectively giving them an “endless checkbook” to fund global warfare.

Counter-Perspective (For Context)

While the financial aspect of war is undeniable, mainstream historians and economists generally view the phrase “All wars are bankers’ wars” as an oversimplification. They argue it ignores complex human factors such as ethnic tensions, ideological struggles (like the Cold War), territorial disputes, and the unpredictable nature of dictators, which cannot be reduced solely to a financial balance sheet.

ELSEWHERE:

The Deluge: The Great War and the Making of the Global Order, 1916-1931 Penguin Allen Lane 2014, by Adam Tooze

Ten years after World War I ended, what kind of international order had been established? With hindsight it must seem as though the postwar settlement was weak and lacked solid foundations. But this is not how it appeared at the time. In 1928, analysts as diverse as Winston Churchill, Leon Trotsky and Adolf Hitler, agreed that what had emerged from the Great War was a new international order framed by the power of the United States and the British Empire, and anchored on the European continent by the military predominance of the French Republic. This would be the order against which Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Imperial Japan would hurl themselves in the 1930s. As I described in Wages of Destruction, their challenge was of an unprecedented scale and this enormous effort was the backhanded compliment they paid to the order they were challenging. To understand what they were up against, we need to examine the preceding period in which the dominance of an American-centered world order first appeared. Deluge offers a new international history of the years after 1916, the moment at which the international order began to reorient itself around the pivot of American power.

The Real Story of How America Became an Economic Superpower

Adam Tooze’s study of the two world wars traces a new history of the 20th century.

Reviewed in the Atlantic by David Frum

RUSSIA - JAPAN WAR, 1904-05 (Video)

The Russo-Japanese War^[a] (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the Liaodong Peninsula and near Mukden in Southern Manchuria, with naval battles taking place in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

Economics ..

During his canvassing expedition in London, the Japanese vice-governor of the Bank of Japan Takahashi Korekiyo met Jacob Schiff, an American banker and head of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Schiff, in response to Russia's anti-Jewish pogroms and sympathetic to Japan's cause, extended a critical series of loans to the Empire of Japan, in the amount of 200 million US dollars (£41.2 million). He also raised loans from the Rothschild family in Britain.^[145][146] Japan's total war expenditure was 2,150 million yen, of which 38%, or 820 million yen, was raised overseas.^[143]

In this article, I will describe the features of Israeli hasbara (propaganda) and list ChatGPT’s counter-responses to 60 real hasbara lines.

What is Israeli Hasbara? [ChatGTP link]

Israeli Hasbara is an organized state-run information operation (propaganda) that seeks to explain Israel’s actions in a favorable light while deflecting or delegitimizing criticism.

Paralyzing Critics of War Crimes

In the following video clip, US Army combat vet, Paul, explains that if he were to call in bombings the way Israel did, he would be in jail because it would constitute a war crime! The Israeli propaganda aims to suppress those calling out war crimes and to paralyze potential critics and audiences, because Israel knows it can’t defend these actions in a good-faith discussion.

🔑 Core Features of Hasbara [ChatGTP link]

1. Purpose

• To defend Israel’s legitimacy and policies abroad.

• To frame Israel as a democratic, moral, and threatened state.

• To counter international criticism of its actions in the occupied territories or in wars.

2. Methods

• Talking Points & Messaging: Distributing prepackaged slogans like “Israel has the right to defend itself” or “the most moral army in the world.”

• Media Engagement: Training officials, diplomats, and volunteers to engage journalists, op-eds, and social media.

• Vocabulary Management: Promoting preferred terms (e.g., “security fence” vs. “wall,” “terror tunnels” vs. “smuggling tunnels”).

• Digital Hasbara: Coordinated online campaigns, sometimes including volunteer “Hasbara Fellowships” or state-backed troll farms.

3. Audiences

• Primarily Western publics and policymakers, where Israel’s diplomatic, military, and economic ties are strongest.

• Media outlets and opinion-shapers in the U.S. and Europe.

4. Themes

• Victimhood & Survival: Israel is small, surrounded by enemies, and constantly under threat.

• Moral Exceptionalism: The IDF is uniquely ethical; Israel is a “light unto the nations.”

• Delegitimization of Critics: Framing criticism of Israel as antisemitism.

• Peace Narrative: “There is no partner for peace”; “Palestinians missed every opportunity.”

60 Israeli Propaganda Lines [link]

ChatGTP generated and analyzed 60 hasbara lines (below).

If you have suggestions of additional lines or alternate responses, leave them in the comments below.

1) Israel has the right to defend itself.

Subtext: Frames occupation as legitimate

AI Response: No state has the right to defend an occupation. International law protects the occupied, not the occupier.

Tim’s Response: (This is a loaded question)

Do others have the same right to the same type of defense?

Is ‘defense’ what Israel is doing by starving unarmed civilians, including children?

Is this Self-defense or retaliation? Is the Dahiya doctrine a legitimate way of defending oneself — using disproportionate force with the goal of causing intense or unbearable civilian suffering, with the hope that this civilian suffering influences the militants to change their behavior?

That actually sounds a lot like the definition of retaliatory state terrorism,1 doesn’t it?

2) There is no partner for peace

Subtext: Blames Palestinians, hides settlement expansion during talks.

AI Response: You can’t negotiate peace while bulldozers steal land. Settlements—not people—killed the Oslo accord.

Tim’ Response: Israel also assassinated and imprisoned potential Palestinian leaders. Netanyahu also chose to support Hamas as a way of divide and rule with Palestinian leadership so it could say there is no partner for peace. The thing that Netanyahu seems to be trying to prevent is a unified government under someone like Marwan Barghouti (who is imprisoned).

3) We left Gaza in 2005.

Subtext: Pretends Gaza is free.

AI Response: Israel still controls Gaza’s borders, air, sea, population registry. That’s occupation by blockade.

Tim’s Response: Gaza is not free if .. their electrical power plant has been bombed, they are prevented from building an airport or shipping port; if their fishermen are restricted from fishing in the Mediterranean, if an outside country has created such a blockade, and they are limiting your population’s food intake, saying that their policy was to “put Gaza on a diet.” (reported: 2006)

4) Human shields

Subtext: Shifts blame for civilian deaths onto Palestinians.

AI Response: International law is clear: attackers are responsible for civilian deaths, not families in homes.

Tim’s Response: One of the features off many Israeli Rhetorical tactics is that they are virtually unfalsifiable. There are no legitimate critics and there are no legitimate victims. If western reporters are prohibited, Israel can almost always claim that either the victims are Hamas or there were Hamas nearby using them as Human shields, or the Palestinian reporters can’t be trusted. Brandolini’s law states that false or misleading information takes an order of magnitude longer than it does to create it.

The “human shields” argument is often actually an excuse to shield Israel from war crimes charges.

5) The most moral army in the world

Subtext: Moral shield against war-crime accusations.

AI Response: Real morality doesn’t need PR campaigns. Actions, not slogans, prove morality. **

Tim’s Response: Does the most moral army have a doctrine — the Dahiya doctrine — that aims to create intense or unbearable civilian suffering as a way to put civilian pressure on militants? Israel no longer has a policy of “knock”[ing] on roofs, because Israel is at war. 972 magazine reported that Israel had a policy of attacking prestige targets such as universities, high rise targets for psychological effect — Power Targets —, sort of like those who attacked the World Trade Centers on 9/11.

6) It’s complicated

Subtext: Defuses outrage by feigning complexity

AI Response: It’s not complicated: one side has nuclear weapons, the other lives under occupation.

Tim’s Response: Jacqueline Cruz coined the term “orchestrated complexity,” the purposeful shrouding of facts, the manufacturing of nuance and qualifications that always privilege the abuser.

7) Only democracy in the Middle East.

Subtext: Uses democracy branding to mask apartheid

AI Response: A democracy for some and military rule for millions of others = apartheid

Tim’s Response: West Bank Palestinians are under martial law and may be detained with no charge for 90 days, which can be renewed without limit. This is called “Administrative Detention.” Palestinian homes may be searched from midnight to 5 am without a warrant.

The democracy could be made real, in part, by granting equal rights to everyone under Israeli jurisdiction.

8) Palestinians teach their children hate

Subtext: Shifts focus from occupation to culture

AI Response: Children learn from lived trauma. End occupation, end cycles of violence.

Tim’s Response: Video: Some Israelis teach their children to hate.

9) Why single out Israel?

Subtext: Why single out Israel?

AI Response: Because Israel receives billions in Western aid—aid comes with accountability.

Tim’s Response: Israel is exceptional in the frequency with which it acts with impunity.

10) Criticism of Israel is antisemitism

Subtext: Conflates state with Jewish identity

AI Response: Criticizing a government ≠ hating a people. Conflation is dangerous for Jews worldwide

Tim’s Response: Israel frequently tries to shut down discussion on an issue using this “cry wolf” technique I call Puttin’ on the RITZ. This technique appears to be used when they know they likely won’t succeed in an fair debate. Jewish Currents describes how India is learning this “crybully” technique from Israel.

11) We made the desert bloom

Subtext: Colonizer myth erasing Palestinian agriculture

AI Response: Palestine had thriving agriculture for centuries—olive groves, citrus, wheat—before dispossession

12) Arabs rejected peace offers

Subtext: Erases unfair terms of past deals.

AI Response: Those ‘offers’ demanded surrender of rights. An ultimatum isn’t peace

Tim’s Response: Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Arab Peace Initiative.

13) Israel withdrew from Sinai for peace

Subtext: Frames Israel as generous peacemaker.

AI Response: Withdrawal came only under military pressure after occupation failed

14) Hamas hides in hospitals/schools

Subtext: Justifies bombing civilian infrastructure.

AI Response: Targeting hospitals is a war crime. Presence of fighters doesn’t erase civilian protection

15) Palestinians use fake casualty numbers

Subtext: Delegitimizes Palestinian suffering

AI Response: UN, WHO, and Israeli media cite the same figures. Numbers are verified

16) Palestinians should focus on building their economy

Subtext: Shifts blame from occupation to victim

AI Response: No economy survives under checkpoints, land theft, and siege

17) Israel gave them Gaza; they chose Hamas

Subtext: Blames Palestinians for blockade

AI Response: Free elections under siege? Israel strangled Gaza long before Hamas governed

18) “We warned them with roof-knocking.”

Subtext: Excuse for civilian deaths.

AI Response: A warning before bombing doesn’t legalize bombing homes full of families.

Tim’s Response: This “roof-knocking” policy is out of date — The previous ‘peace time practice of roof-knocking was discontinued for Gaza.

19) Palestinians glorify martyrdom

Subtext: Portrays Palestinians as death-obsessed.

AI Response: People resist when stripped of dignity and freedom. Ending oppression ends cycles

20) The IDF goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties

Subtext: Justifies mass killings

AI Response: Tens of thousands dead show otherwise. Repetition doesn’t change reality

21) Israel is surrounded by enemies

Subtext: Perpetual victimhood narrative

AI Response: Israel has nuclear weapons, U.S. protection, and normalized Arab ties. It is regionally dominant

22) They teach jihad in schools

Subtext: Orientalist trope about fanaticism

AI Response: Schools under siege teach survival. Occupation, not faith, drives conflict

Tim’s Response: Some Israeli schools teach Jewish Supremacy.

23) We’ve offered Palestinians a state many times

Subtext: Frames Israel as generous.

AI Response: Every offer carved up land into enclaves with no sovereignty. Bantustans aren’t states

24) Palestinians choose terror over peace

Subtext: Frames all resistance as terrorism

AI Response: International law affirms resistance to occupation. Civil disobedience is met with bullets too

Tim’s Response: Israel’s founding fathers practiced terrorism.

25) If Palestinians laid down arms, there would be peace tomorrow

Subtext: One-sided surrender demand

AI Response: If Israel ended occupation, there would be justice tomorrow. Peace follows justice, not surrender

Tim’s Response: Given Netanyahu’s bad faith interpretation of the Oslo accords, can the world rely on Israel to create a true peace, when Israel failed to honor the spirit of the Oslo agreement?

26) October 7 changed everything

Subtext: Treats occupation as irrelevant before 2023.

AI Response: Nothing ‘changed’—decades of siege and dispossession led to October 7. Occupation existed long before

27) Israel ended the occupation of Gaza

Subtext: Denies legal status of blockade.

AI Response: International law defines Gaza as occupied because Israel controls its borders, sea, air, and registry

Tim’s Response: If you can’t leave, and someone else controlled what food and how much you may ate, you were occupied.

28) Israelis want peace, Palestinians want war

Subtext: Creates a civilization vs. barbarism frame.

AI Response: Polls show majorities of both peoples want freedom and safety. It is leaders and systems that block peace

29) Palestinians are taught to deny Israel’s existence

Subtext: Blames culture, not dispossession

AI Response: Israel’s policies deny Palestine’s existence daily—maps erase it, walls cut it off.

30) They could have had peace if they accepted partition in 1947

Subtext: Retroactive blame-shifting

AI Response: Partition was imposed without Palestinian consent, giving most land to a settler minority

31) Israel returned land in peace treaties

Subtext: Portrays Israel as magnanimous

AI Response: Israel only ‘returned’ what it illegally took—restoring stolen property is not generosity

32 a) Israel doesn’t target civilians, Hamas does

Subtext: Whitewash of military targeting practices

AI Response: Civilian death tolls speak louder than claims. Intent is judged by consistent outcomes.

32 b) We don’t intentionally attack civilians. We will conduct a full investigation. We regret any harm [link]

• Double-tap tactic: attack target, then wait for first responders and attack the first responders.

• If they get caught on video, We’ll investigate ourselves (Don’t hold your breath)

33) Palestinians need new leadership

Subtext: Shifts blame from occupation to personalities.

AI Response: Occupation doesn’t depend on who’s in office. Freedom is a right, not a reward for leaders

Tim’s Response: Marwan Barghouti enjoys widespread support amongst Palestinians. He is currently in jail. I don’t know much about Mr Barghouti, but I suspect Netanyahu would prefer Hamas over a united Palestine under someone like Barghouti.

34) Israel is a tiny country fighting for survival

Subtext: Plays the underdog card.

AI Response: Israel is a nuclear power with U.S. backing, blockading millions of stateless people. Not a David, but a Goliath

35) They hate us because we’re Jews

Subtext: Reduces political conflict to antisemitism

Response: Palestinians oppose dispossession and apartheid. The struggle is about rights, not religion

Tim’s Response: Most countries want political independence. Would Israel’s founders fight any less hard for Israeli independence if those they were fighting against were British, Palestinian, or Russians?

36) We must destroy Hamas to have peace

Subtext: Justifies indefinite war

AI Response: Hamas was created under occupation. Even if destroyed, the occupation would still drive resistance

37) Palestinians exaggerate casualties

Subtext: Delegitimizes grief and death

AI Response: Independent UN and NGO counts align with Gaza Health Ministry data—including figures cited by Israel itself.

38) Israel has made painful concessions

Subtext: Frames illegal withdrawals as sacrifices.

AI Response: Ending illegal occupation isn’t a concession—it’s a legal obligation

39) Peace must be negotiated directly, not imposed.

Subtext: Rejects international law oversight

AI Response: Israel uses endless ‘negotiations’ to delay justice. International law exists precisely to prevent that

40) Israel only builds defensively

Subtext: Frames settlements and walls as security

AI Response: Settlements are land theft. Defensive walls don’t come with annexed farmland

41) Look at Arab states, they treat Palestinians worse.

Subtext: Deflects responsibility.

AI Response: Abuse by others doesn’t absolve Israel’s legal obligations under international law

42) Israel is held to double standards

Subtext: Plays the victim

AI Response: Israel is held to the same standards as any state. International law applies equally

43) This is a religious conflict

Subtext: Simplifies to age-old tribal feud

AI Response: It’s about land, rights, and power. Religion is used as cover for political control

Tim’s Response: Would the conflict go away if Israel was opposing Christians instead? In fact, some of the Palestinians, including one of my college friends, are Christian.

44) Palestinians celebrate violence.

Subtext: Delegitimizes resistance as savagery

AI Response: People celebrate survival under oppression. End injustice, and you end desperation

45) Israel is the safest place for Jews.

Subtext: Uses Jewish safety as shield

AI Response: Occupation endangers Jews worldwide by fueling backlash. Real safety comes from justice, not apartheid

Tim’s Wild Idea: I propose the US create a “New Jerusalem” in Colorado Springs as the safest place for Jews. We will relocate Israel to a new mountainus country in Colorado that already has a military industrial complex and can be further fortified. We can continue the subsidization of US arms exports to Israel, enabling Israel to have its own military in a safer location. This would allow more safety, but it appears that safety is not actually a high priority for Israeli “allies.” 2

46) Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state

Subtext: Demands ideological surrender

AI Response: Recognition of states is standard. Demanding ethnic recognition institutionalizes second-class citizenship

47) Arabs want to push Jews into the sea

Subtext: Perpetuates existential fear

AI Response: It is Palestinians who’ve been expelled, blockaded, and besieged. History shows who is being pushed

48) Israel is making humanitarian efforts

Subtext: Whitewashes blockade and aid restrictions

AI Response: Dribbling aid through a blockade you created is not humanitarianism—it’s control

49) UN agencies are biased against Israel

Subtext: Delegitimizes global oversight

AI Response: Most UN members vote against Israel because of clear violations. Overwhelming consensus isn’t bias

50) Palestinians could live peacefully if they accepted reality

Subtext: Demands surrender of rights.

AI Response: Peace built on submission isn’t peace. Justice—not forced ‘reality’—brings stability

51) Israel values life, Palestinians value death.

Subtext: Frames Israelis as civilized

AI Response: Palestinians are struggling to live under siege. Occupation—not culture—creates despair.

52) We must destroy terror tunnels.

Subtext: Justifies mass bombardment.

AI Response: Bombing cities to destroy tunnels kills more civilians than fighters. That’s collective punishment.

53) Palestinians reject coexistence.

Subtext: Blames victims for lack of peace.

AI Response: Palestinians lived with Jews for centuries before 1948. Occupation—not coexistence—is the obstacle.

54) Israel protects women and LGBTQ rights.

Subtext: Pinkwashing/brand-washing oppression **

AI Response: Human rights don’t excuse apartheid. LGBTQ Palestinians still live under siege and checkpoints

55) Look at Israeli Arabs, they’re citizens with rights.

Subtext: Uses tokenism to deny systemic inequality.

AI Response: Second-class citizenship under 65+ discriminatory laws isn’t equality—it’s apartheid. **

Tim’s Response: If Israel doesn’t have a problem recognizing equal rights for Arab citizens, why not extend equal rights to all the Palestinians under Israeli control?

56) Palestinians reject compromise

Subtext: Frames resistance as extremism.

AI Response: Palestinians already accepted 22% of their homeland. It’s Israel that rejects compromise.

Tim’s Response: This means that Palestinian are accepting the loss of 78% of their original homeland.

57) Israel makes the desert safe from chaos

Subtext: Frames Palestinians as disorderly.

AI Response: Palestinians can govern themselves — occupation causes the chaos.

58) The IDF is held to impossible standards

Subtext: Plays the victim when accused of war crimes.

AI Response: International law is the standard for all militaries. Killing civilians isn’t exceptional, it’s unlawful.

59) Palestinians should emigrate to Arab countries.

Subtext: Euphemism for ethnic cleansing.

AI Response: Forcing people off their land is expulsion, not peace. Right of return is protected under law.

60) UN agencies are biased against Israel

Subtext: Delegitimizes global oversight.

AI Response: Courts investigate all states. Fear of accountability doesn’t equal bias

QUESTIONS:

1. How would you evaluate Chat GTP’s responses to these haspara lines? Are the responses good? Could you do better? Are there particular responses to haspara lines that you think are solid?

2. Do you think Israeli hasparicists(?) can come up with a new and improved haspara playbook if their tactics are systematically challenged?

3. What would it take to assemble the best internet response to these haspara lines and then build a web browser plugin to educate readers that want to de-haspara-ize their media?3

4. What do you think of other examples of propaganda on this website and analysis of rhetoric that critics might consider toxic?

Background:

In college, I once attended a debate between a young earth creationist and a scientist. The lesson that I learned from that event is that it is possible for those who don’t have the facts on their side to convince anyone who lacks a background on the topic, in part using rhetorical tricks.

Countering a Rhetorical playbook

One of the key things about the debate was that the creationist only had to debate the scientist opponent once, in front of a first-time audience. This enabled the creationists to use a playbook of rhetorical tricks before they could be thoroughly analyzed and debunked. One famous debate technique, mainstreamed by Dwayne Gish is known as the “Gish gallop.” This technique was named by Eugenie Scott:

The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, without regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available. Gish galloping prioritizes the quantity of the galloper’s arguments at the expense of their quality.

The term “Gish gallop” was coined in 1994 by the anthropologist Eugenie Scott who named it after the American creationist Duane Gish, dubbed the technique’s “most avid practitioner”.

Israel has a similar rhetorical strategy, though it is much more sophisticated and would likely remain effective in a world where critics are unable to collaborate with others on the internet to debunk it.

BONUS: Arabic Calendar is “Hamas”

Lie to me that you have “evidence” of terrorism, assuming I’ll never find out how to translate the Arabic text you pass off as incriminating.

https://youtu.be/0g1o8aPep-8

FOOTNOTES:

A: There is no centralized, public database that tracks the exact percentage of day-to-day purchases (bonds versus gold) for every individual country’s central bank. Many central banks keep their specific transaction flows and exact portfolio rebalancing strategies confidential to avoid signaling their moves to the broader market.

However, by looking at total reserve holdings across the globe, we can see a clear macroeconomic shift:

• Gold has overtaken US Treasuries: According to a 2026 report by the European Central Bank, gold accounted for 27% of global official international reserves at the end of 2025.1

• US Treasuries: By comparison, US Treasury bonds made up 22% of global reserves.

This marks the first time since 1996 that foreign central banks hold more of their reserves in gold than in US government debt.2

Why is this happening?

This shift is primarily driven by a combination of massive, sustained gold purchases by emerging market central banks (which picked up significantly starting in 2022) and the rising market price of gold. While advanced economies (like the US and European nations) have historically held a large percentage of their reserves in gold, recent aggressive buying has been led by countries looking to diversify their reserve assets away from the US dollar and traditional fiat-backed bonds.

Source: https://share.gemini.google/T0qj6CZT8ovO

ELSEWHERE:

• Financial Times, Do central banks really have more gold than US Treasury bonds?, Sep 9 2025

• Financial Post, Posthaste: U.S. Treasuries just got toppled from the world’s foreign reserve throne, Gold now the top reserve asset as value soars and central banks seek alternatives to the U.S. dollar, Jun 09, 2026

• Yahoo: Gold Surpasses US Treasuries for the First Time in 30 Years, October 26, 2025

QUESTIONS:

1. How much do factors like inflation, diversification, and censorship contribute to central banks’ preference for gold?

2. We see, with Japan, that countries may face difficulty selling US Treasuries when needed. Does diversifying into gold help with liquidity?

3. What lessons, if any, should an individual or a business draw from central bankers’ rising holdings of gold?

Central Bank Gold Reserves by Country (2026)

Top 20 Central Bank Gold Holders

1. United States: 8,133.5 tonnes. Held primarily at Fort Knox, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Mint facilities at Denver and West Point. Gold represents approximately 70% of total U.S. foreign reserves. The U.S. has not bought or sold gold in meaningful quantities since the 1970s.

2. Germany: 3,352.6 tonnes. The Bundesbank repatriated approximately 674 tonnes from New York and Paris between 2013 and 2017. Gold now represents roughly 68% of German reserves. About half is stored domestically in Frankfurt, with the remainder split between the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

3. Italy: 2,451.8 tonnes. Managed by the Banca d’Italia. Gold represents approximately 65% of total reserves. Italy’s gold has been a point of political debate, with some Italian politicians suggesting sales to fund fiscal spending. The European Central Bank’s agreement on gold sales has historically prevented such moves.

4. France: 2,436.8 tonnes. Held by the Banque de France. Gold accounts for roughly 60% of total reserves. France has been a net seller in the past (under the Central Bank Gold Agreements) but has not conducted significant sales since 2009.

5. Russia: 2,336.2 tonnes. The Bank of Russia aggressively accumulated gold from 2006 through 2022, purchasing approximately 1,900 tonnes over that period. Russia accelerated buying after Western sanctions in 2014 and again after 2022, using gold as a sanctions-resistant reserve asset. Gold now represents roughly 25% of Russian reserves.

6. China: 2,280 tonnes (reported). The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) officially reports approximately 2,280 tonnes, but many analysts believe actual holdings are significantly higher, potentially 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes. China has a pattern of reporting gold purchases in large, delayed batches. Between November 2022 and late 2025, the PBOC added over 300 tonnes to its reported reserves.

7. Switzerland: 1,040.0 tonnes. The Swiss National Bank holds gold equal to roughly 5% of total reserves. Switzerland sold approximately 1,550 tonnes between 2000 and 2008 under the Central Bank Gold Agreements. A 2014 referendum to require the SNB to hold 20% of reserves in gold was rejected by Swiss voters.

8. Japan: 846.0 tonnes. The Bank of Japan’s gold holdings have been stable for decades. Gold represents only about 4% of Japan’s massive foreign reserves, one of the lowest ratios among developed nations.

9. India: 876.2 tonnes. The Reserve Bank of India has been one of the most active buyers since 2017, adding approximately 250 tonnes over the past five years. India purchased 200 tonnes from the IMF in 2009 in a single transaction that signaled emerging-market appetite for gold reserves.

10. Netherlands: 612.5 tonnes. De Nederlandsche Bank repatriated 122.5 tonnes from New York in 2014. Gold represents approximately 55% of Dutch reserves.

11. Turkey: 595.3 tonnes. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has been a volatile holder, with reserves fluctuating significantly due to Turkey’s unique system that allows commercial banks to hold a portion of required reserves in gold. Net of commercial bank deposits, the CBRT’s own holdings have grown substantially since 2017.

12. Poland: 448.2 tonnes. Narodowy Bank Polski has been one of the most aggressive European buyers, adding roughly 200 tonnes since 2018. In 2023 and 2024, Poland purchased approximately 130 tonnes combined, the largest additions by any European central bank.

13. Uzbekistan: 382.4 tonnes. A significant holder relative to GDP, reflecting the country’s domestic gold mining output.

14. Kazakhstan: 355.1 tonnes. Like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan’s reserves are supported by domestic mine production.

15. Portugal: 382.6 tonnes. High relative to the country’s economic size, a legacy of historical accumulation.

16. United Kingdom: 310.3 tonnes. Held at the Bank of England. The UK infamously sold approximately 395 tonnes between 1999 and 2002 at prices between $256 and $296 per ounce, a decision now referred to as “Brown’s Bottom” after then-Chancellor Gordon Brown. At current prices near $4,800, those sales represent a foregone value exceeding $55 billion.

17. Saudi Arabia: 323.1 tonnes. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has been quietly accumulating gold, though reporting has been sporadic.

18. Lebanon: 286.8 tonnes. Remarkably high for a country of Lebanon’s size and economic situation, these reserves date to Lebanon’s pre-civil-war era as a regional financial center.

19. Spain: 281.6 tonnes. Held by the Banco de Espana, essentially unchanged for over a decade.

20. Austria: 280.0 tonnes. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank repatriated portions of its gold from London in recent years.

Q: How much gold does the Canadian Central Bank have, compared with US Treasuries?

A: The Bank of Canada holds zero official gold reserves and approximately $460 billion in U.S. Treasuries.

Canada is the only G7 nation without official gold holdings. The Canadian government began a multi-decade sell-off of its gold in the late 1970s, completely liquidating its final remaining ounces in early 2016.

FOOTNOTES:

15:27 | Ray McGovern:

.. happened to us in 2011. Yeah. 15 years ago actually, when we outfitted and registered in the United States what we called the US boat to Gaza, it was under Obama. So we called it the audacity of hope. Okay. And we were ready to sail out of the harbor in Pereus outside of Athens. And we did sail even though at the last minute the Greek authorities said, “No, you can’t sail because there’s a defect in your air conditioning system.” Right. Okay. So we had a council of war. We said, “Let’s go anyway.” And we did. We get nine nautical miles out of the port of Pereas when the ninja turtle, the the the Greek in this case, not Israeli patrol boat surrounded us. An hour standoff. They were very apologetic. Look, we’re just following orders, but you got to turn around. You got to we faced them down for a whole hour. And then the then the captain said, “They’re about to board us.” So, we turned around. They seized the boat. We spent the next two weeks trying to get the captain out of jail.

QUESTIONS:

1. Have you been give a pre-textual reason by law enforcement? How did it make you feel about law-enforcement?

2. Does law enforcement need to retain the ability to use pre-textual charges to do their job?

3. Isn’t this essentially the ability to make up phony excuses to do what otherwise would be prohibited?

4. Are pretextal reasons inextricable from the law enforcement job? What would be the cost if steps were to be taken to limit such power?

Necrocapitalism is a socioeconomical concept introduced in the mid-2000s and formalized by Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee from City, University of London, in a 2008 publication of the same name. It is defined as a contemporary form of organizational accumulation that involves dispossession and the subjugation of life to the power of death.

Definition

A form of capitalism where a country’s trade and industry are founded on, linked to and dependent directly or indirectly on death and the profits accruing from it.

In her article Unveiling the Necrocapitalist Dimensions of the Shadow Carceral State: On Pay-to-Stay to Recoup the Cost of Incarceration, Brittany Friedman, demonstrates how necrocapitalism is an increasing vector of civil and administrative pipelines to incarceration, civil financial alternatives to criminal sanctions, and innovations to generate criminal justice revenue.

In his review about Monsanto: a photographic investigation by photographer by Mathieu Asselin, Dr. Thom Davies describes Monsanto’s behavior, that caused ecological, social, and health problems for countless people across the world, as necrocapitalism

Academic Case Study

• Orr, W., Henne, K., Lee, A., Harb, J.I. and Alphonso, F.C. (2023), Necrocapitalism in the Gig Economy: The Case of Platform Food Couriers in Australia. Antipode, 55: 200-221.

Usage:

an economy of genocide which profits necro capitalism

2:44

But he also points out that what distinguishes this genocide from others is that uh certain people including President Trump and his family will profit enormously from what is taking place by seizing and developing large tracks of land in Gaza. the Palestinians will be effectively dispossessed.

What do you make of Omar Bartov’s words?

Chapter 3: Big Tech and the Business of War

The United States with this administration, but also with the Biden administration has assumed huge responsibilities for Israel’s main conducts. And uh yes, I agree um that there is there is a complicity with Israel’s actions that puts the United States in the driving um in the driving seat of this and of course the people profing from it. This is what I this is what I described in my uh last year’s report in my fifth report on the genocide which was which was discussing the the how the Israeli economy had turned from an economy of occupation which profited Israel and other companies into an economy of genocide which profits necro capitalism. I mean there are organizations like Palantir but also big actor in the big tech and other firms who are frankly investing into into the Israeli economy pushing the I mean making the stock exchange race uh while the economy many Israelis is in crisis. So it’s not damaging this genocide is damaging the Palestinians of course so many Israelis and these don’t there is project ongoing and in fact has reached an acceleration and this imper this is US imperialism in the region and I’m when I say US imperialism I know that I’m making I assume that I’m making a disservice and paying disservice to many cities in fact who are not even aware of how uh their resources are uh spent.

Yes.

and pride from it because there are many Americans, many US citizens who cannot meet tens at the end of the month who needs to do three, four jobs in order to put something on the table for their families and they cannot even afford American while their government and many uh private in the private sector are profiting from from a genocidal war in in Palestine. and aggression in the in south in southwest Asia in in the Middle East.

5:21

QUESTIONS:

1. What would it take to graph Necrocapitalism against other trends, such as concentration of wealth, campaign finances, unemployment, poverty, etc?

2. What factors do you think would most closely precede the rise of necrocapitalism.

3. Is there widespread opposition to necrocapitalism among the bottom 75% of the sociopolitical spectrum? What factors, such as jobs, maintain support of the bottom three quarters?

MORE:

In July 2025, Francesca Albanese—the Italian lawyer serving as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories—was targeted by United States government sanctions (read more)

3:42

Yes. Where he was saying uh the outcome of the mayoral election as a data stats guy, I’m telling you, is one in trillion. And it was just the most sort of like seventh grade assessment of of stats and and figures to to come up with the idea that it was impossible that Spencer Pratt wouldn’t have made it into the top two in a city of 75% Democrats. The these are people who nobody around them seems to ever say like, “Hey man, uh you may want to double check that.” Well, part of it is that they’re dumb about politics. They’re really dumb about things they don’t know about, but nobody tells them that because they’re rich. And this is a a general affliction of the wealthy that adds to their psychosis and delusion is that everybody wants to plate and please them and be sycophantic. So, no one ever says, “You know what? That’s totally wrong. You’re an idiot.” You can’t say that, right? It’s all finding a way to nod along. But the more grim side of this is that this is part of their propaganda game. They know they’re lying. They know they’re not telling the truth. They’re engaged in what some call fifth generation warfare, the new era of propaganda, where you fight over what is basic reality, what is basic facts itself. So, they’re playing the old Trump game of just completely fabricating a reality. You know, there’s 15% registered Republicans in Los Angeles. Very unlikely you’re going to get a Republican mayor in Los Angeles anytime ever again. In fact, anybody who is a Republican becomes a Democrat to run because that’s just the way it works now. the Republican party is pretty much dead in California. But so I don’t think it’s necessarily that they’re stupid. I think the other possibility is that they’re just lying because this is part of their their strategy to create a parallel reality and to operate from that. They’ve seen with X that you can create these economies of false information that have real world impacts. You know, Elon Musk got like 50,000 retweets for also making false claims about the LA election. So on a certain level, they know what they are doing and they’re doing it on purpose. And that makes it more nefarious. And I would say that’s a hallmark of fascism is the creation of an unreality1 where people can no longer distinguish between fact and fiction and you can manipulate them from that position of radicalized ignorance.

Uh the the the um age-old debate over stupid and evil and sometimes it could be both. Um, let’s talk about uh Peter Thiel, who is sort of the um one of the the the godfathers of this uh I guess movement or I don’t can you call it really a movement? I mean, it’s a crew of it seems like just like literally a dozen or two people. Um they just have so much money. They’re everywhere. Um, Peter Thiel, it was just expo had um, one of his like I guess I don’t know societies was just exposed. Have uh, have you seen much about this dialogue?

Yeah. Well, the word that Peter Thiel likes to use is cult. And that’s also the word I use in my book. Peter Thiel has created a cult of powerful men who think it is their destiny to overthrow democracy in the 21st century using technology and money. And for about 20 years now, Peter Thiel had this secret cult society called dialogue where they have these weird off the record conversations with wealthy elites. Sort of like a Bilderberg or an Eyes Wide Shut for dorky intellectual subjects as far as we know. Uh, and this list was just revealed because apparently they had it in the coding of their website. This secretive list, these tech geniuses have this massive security flaw that allows some activists to figure out who’s on the list. Now, it’s not clear who’s a member yet to some of the members are clear or who’s just participating, but there are some pretty stunning names on the list. You know, Ezra Klein, uh, Nicholas Thompson of the Atlantic. And, you know, I have to say, I’ve wondered why certain people with very large platforms have ignored criticizing these tech billionaires in the way that they should. And no, I’m I’m wondering if we’re getting toward an answer here, but let’s let the rest of the story come out. But the point is that Peter Thiel in his book Zero to One says, “The way to run your company, the way to run anything is to create a cult.” because that’s where you get people who are obsessed and who are dedicated. And the other word he says for cult is a mafia. So you want a cult or a mafia. And that means getting a core group of people to become true radicalized believers and spread the message and carry out the project from there. And he actually names Jim Jones and Charles Manson as examples of people who have done this saying, “Well, that’s kind of bad. You know, uh, you don’t want to do that necessarily.” At the same time, I’d say that, you know, Manson and and Jones killed, you know, over a thousand people under 1500. These guys will are already on track to kill millions through the US aid cuts. And if they get their way, they’ll kill billions. So, we are dealing with a dangerous cult of radicalized venture capitalists who want to destroy democracy. And and what I like to say is that trying to explain what’s happening to our country without talking about Peter Thiel’s anti-democratic cult is like trying to explain 9/11 without talking about al-Qaeda

8:42

QUESTIONS:

1. What bad assumptions were Californian Twitter users making about Spencer Pratt and the mail-in ballots?

2. To what extend do political programs involve “reality distortion”?

3. How does Fascism employ reality distortion?

4. Have the Republican Doge supporters reconsidered their support for USAID cuts? Are they defending the cuts? How do they view Dogue?

Footnotes:

How do “Anger Management” Classes Work? Gemini

Anger management classes help you understand, process, and regulate intense emotional reactions. Rather than suppressing anger, the goal is to identify root triggers and learn healthy, constructive ways to respond before anger escalates into destructive behavior.

Core Structure & Delivery

• Format Options: Offered as individual counseling, structured group sessions, or certified online courses. Group settings are common because hearing others’ experiences helps normalize struggles and provides opportunities to role-play responses.

• Duration: Typically ranges from 4 to 12 weeks, with weekly 60-to-90-minute sessions. Court-ordered or state-mandated classes often require a specific total number of hours (e.g., 8, 12, or 26 hours).

• Curriculum Focus: Most programs rely on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and actions.

What You Learn

1. Trigger Identification: Pinpointing specific situations, phrases, or internal stressors (like fatigue, stress, or feelings of injustice) that activate your anger.

2. Physical Awareness: Recognizing early body signals—such as elevated heart rate, muscle tension, or clenched jaw—that indicate anger is building before you react impulsively.

3. Cognitive Restructuring: Learning to notice “cognitive distortions” (like black-and-white thinking or catastrophic assumptions) and reframing them logically.

4. De-escalation Techniques: Practical tools like deep breathing, taking structured time-outs, and grounding exercises to lower physiological arousal.

5. Assertive Communication: Shifting from aggressive responses to clear, direct communication (such as using “I” statements) to address conflicts productively.

Assessment & Completion

• Initial Assessment: Programs usually begin with an intake evaluation to understand your goals, history, and whether anger management or a different intervention (such as therapy for trauma or substance abuse) is most appropriate.

• Certificates: Upon completing required attendance and participation milestones, programs issue a formal certificate of completion, which satisfies court, workplace, or legal mandates.

Anger management classes operate through a structured psychological framework designed to interrupt automatic, destructive reactions. Rather than forcing you to “stop feeling angry,” these classes treat anger as a secondary emotion—a signal pointing to underlying stress, hurt, or perceived threats—and teach you how to handle that signal constructively.

The Core Psychological Framework

Most classes rely heavily on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). These approaches break down an angry episode into four distinct stages:

[Trigger Stage] ➔ [Physiological Spike] ➔ [Automatic Thoughts] ➔ [Behavioral Response]

1. Trigger Stage: The external event or internal memory that starts the reaction.

2. Physiological Spike: Your sympathetic nervous system initiates a “fight-or-flight” response, pumping adrenaline and cortisol into your system.

3. Automatic Thoughts: Rapid, often distorted interpretations of the situation (e.g., “They’re disrespecting me on purpose” or “This is completely unfair”).

4. Behavioral Response: The outward action (yelling, stonewalling, physical aggression, or passive-aggressive behavior).

Classes target stages 2 and 3 so you can change stage 4.

Key Skills and Techniques Taught

1. De-escalating the Body (Physiological Control)

When your heart rate exceeds roughly 100 beats per minute, higher-level executive functioning in the brain (the prefrontal cortex) shuts down, making rational thought difficult. Techniques taught include:

• Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR): Systematically tensing and releasing muscle groups to drop physical tension.

• Controlled Diaphragmatic Breathing: Slow, deep breaths that stimulate the vagus nerve and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the body’s “brake” pedal).

• Strategic Time-Outs: A agreed-upon protocol for stepping away from a conflict for 20–30 minutes until your physiology normalizes.

2. Reframing the Mind (Cognitive Restructuring)

Anger is frequently fueled by unhelpful thought patterns. Classes help you identify and correct these:

• “Should” Thinking: Believing people or circumstances must behave a certain way.

• Mind Reading: Assuming you know someone else’s negative motives.

• Personalization: Taking neutral or unrelated events as direct personal attacks.

You learn to challenge these thoughts with questions like: “Is there another explanation for this?” or “Will reacting strongly right now solve the issue?”

3. Constructive Expression (Communication & Boundaries)

Replacing aggression with assertiveness involves:

• “I” Statements: Framing concerns around your experience rather than blaming the other person (e.g., “I feel overwhelmed when plans change without notice” instead of “You always ruin our plans”).

• Problem-Solving Frameworks: Shifting focus from who is to blame to what concrete step can resolve the immediate issue.

What a Typical Session Looks Like

• Check-in (10–15 mins): Participants share instances from the past week where they felt anger, evaluating how they handled it using class tools.

• Skill Introduction (20–30 mins): The instructor introduces a specific concept or skill (e.g., boundary setting, conflict styles, or emotional triggers).

• Practical Application & Role-Play (20–30 mins): Participants practice the skill in realistic scenarios with feedback from the group or instructor.

• Assignment & Reflection (5–10 mins): Reviewing worksheets, anger logs, or practice goals for the upcoming week.

QUESTIONS:

How many anger management graduates reoffend?

If they work, should more people take anger management classes?

When is anger appropriate and how should it be expressed?

ELSEWHERE:

Quantity over Quality. Built to throw away.

• If the plastic button on the power windows breaks, you have to replace the whole panel.

• Manufacturers choose a lower grade of oil because it results in higher fuel economy but this results in lower reliability

• Is this reduction of quality and ease-of-maintenancee symptom of our financial system?

Why are so many car mechanics quitting? Gemini

The automotive repair industry is facing a severe, widespread shortage of technicians. Industry surveys show that a huge portion of mechanics plan to leave the field within the next few years, and a majority say they would not recommend the career to friends or family.

This mass exit is driven by a combination of systemic pay structures, high personal costs, physical burnout, and rapid technological shifts.

1. The Broken “Flat-Rate” Pay System

Most dealerships and independent shops use a flat-rate compensation model rather than standard hourly pay.

• Under this system, a job (like replacing a water pump) pays a pre-determined number of “book hours”—say, 3 hours—regardless of how long it actually takes.

• If a rusted bolt snaps or diagnostic software glitches, turning a 3-hour job into a 6-hour nightmare, the technician only gets paid for 3 hours.

• Unpaid downtime (waiting for parts, setting up equipment, moving vehicles) drains earnings, making income highly unpredictable.

2. Massive Personal Tool Costs

Unlike other skilled trades (like electrical or plumbing) where employers often supply major gear, auto mechanics are generally expected to buy and maintain their own tools.

• Entry-level technicians often spend $5,000 to $10,000 just to get started.

• Master technicians routinely have $30,000 to $50,000+ tied up in personal toolboxes, diagnostic scanners, and specialized equipment—often taking on significant personal debt via tool-truck financing just to do their job.

3. Rapid Modernization & Tech Overload

Modern vehicles are essentially computers on wheels, requiring mechanics to act as both software engineers and traditional mechanics:

• Mechanics must constantly diagnose complex CAN-bus networks, ADAS (driver-assist sensor) calibrations, high-voltage EV powertrains, and proprietary manufacturer software.

• Uncompensated Training: Shops rarely pay adequately for the endless hours of continuing education required to keep up with changing tech, expecting technicians to master complex electronics on their own dime or time.

4. Severe Physical Strain & Poor Working Conditions

The physical demands take a massive toll over a 10- or 20-year career:

• Daily exposure to heavy lifting, awkward positions, repetitive strain, loud noise, and toxic chemicals leads to chronic back, knee, and shoulder issues early in life.

• Many service bays still lack climate control, forcing techs to work in freezing winters or stifling 100°F+ summer heat.

5. High-Stress Environment & Disconnect with Management

• Pressure for Speed: The flat-rate system creates intense pressure to cut corners or rush jobs to make a living wage, creating constant stress.

• Wage Disparity: Labor rates billed to retail customers have skyrocketed (often $150–$250+ per hour), but technicians typically see only a small fraction of that rate in their actual paychecks, leading to widespread frustration with shop owners and dealership management.

Where Are They Going?

Mechanics aren’t giving up on hands-on work—they are pivoting to trades with better working conditions:

• Fleet Maintenance: Shift-based, hourly pay with company-provided tools (e.g., city transit, UPS, heavy equipment, agricultural machinery).

• Industrial & Plant Maintenance: Factory automation, robotics, and HVAC repair offer higher base wages, paid overtime, and milder physical environments without flat-rate stress.

• Tech & IT: Tech-savvy mechanics often transition into field service engineering, software support, or data center hardware maintenance.

QUESTIONS:

1. How pervasive is cost-cutting motivated disposable products. Who does this benefit?

2. Is there a market for better-made cars? If so, what companies are most likely to fill the demand for high quality, affordable cars?

3. What do you think will happen to the supply of, and market for mechanics?

4. Do electric cars mean less demand for mechanics?

5. After you’ve read this, are you more likely to purchase an older car?