America’s tale of woe – step up the protests

Donald Trump recently stated that the US won WW1 and WW2. That is news to the former Soviet Union that lost 27 million people while breaking the back of Nazi Germany’s army. The US lost 419,400  dead.

Trump has started a tariff war with much of the world (especially China) that will likely break the back of the US economy. 

The Houthis in Yemen have shot down 22 US MQ-9 Reaper drones that cost $32 million each. In addition, two $60 million fighter jets slid off the deck of a US aircraft carrier recently while under attack as planes were being launched to attack Yemen. A third jet was shot down by the Navy in a ‘friendly fire’ hit. The US has been bombing civilian targets there in retribution for Yemen’s pledge not to allow any Israel-bound supply ships in the Red Sea as long as the Israel-US-UK genocide in Gaza continues. It now appears Trump has waived the white flag and quit the Yemen attacks.

Trump promised not to start any wars but he sure is working hard to break that promise as his neo-con administration is doing everything it can to support the creation of ‘Greater Israel’. Israel is now attacking Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank. The Zionists have their sights set on Iran and are pushing Trump to ‘bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’.

Back here at home things are getting worse when it comes to health care, education, infrastructure maintenance and repair, environmental protection, cost of living and our freedoms to speak and protest. For someone who claimed he wanted to ‘Make America Great Again’ Trump sure has taken a wrong turn.

But let’s be fair. Most of these issues were staring the Biden administration in the face during his tenure. Virtually nothing was done as the Democrats were preoccupied funding wars against Russia via the US proxy Ukraine, daily carnage in Palestine, attacks on Yemen, and more. It’s a bi-partisan war machine that runs Washington these days.

Biden officials have admitted they never pressured Israel for a ceasefire.

Former Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog stated, “God did the State of Israel a favor that Biden was the president during this period…We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”

A sweeping Israeli Channel 13 investigation has exposed the Biden administration’s complicity in Israel’s 19-month war on Gaza. Nine top Biden officials acknowledged avoiding real pressure on Israel—even as the death toll surpassed 30,000. (It is now well over 50,000 – and maybe double considering those still buried under the ruble.) Israeli leaders openly bragged they dragged out the war, playing for time until Donald Trump’s return.

Former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Ambassador Tom Nides, and others defended their unwavering support for Israel—even as they admitted enabling a campaign one U.S. aide described as “killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying.”

All over the world protests against genocide in Palestine continue but, in the US, Germany and the UK in particular crackdowns on free speech and assembly continue. So much for the ‘exceptional democracy’ of the west!

Trump wants a Star Wars-era ‘Golden Dome’ over the US to protect our nation from counter-strikes after the Pentagon launches their planned wars on China and Russia. Elon Musk’s Space X company is in the lead for the contract as well as seeking hundreds of billions for the colonization of Mars that he so often brags about. Yes, there was method in his madness by becoming part of the Trump administration.

Speaking of which – Social Security is in grave danger of being privatized along with Medicare/ Medicaid, the Veterans Administration (VA), the postal service, Amtrak and much more. The oligarchs are literally draining the public sector and pocketing the cash – sort of like pirates stealing the buried treasure chest.

The desperation shows as we watch the angry words coming from Washington demanding control of Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Ukraine’s resources and much more. The mis-leadership in the White House and Congress know that our day in the sun is over. The myth of American exceptionalism has been shattered by the emergence of the Global South, BRICS+, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and an ever-feisty African continent.

Our Role

Across the beleaguered west (US, UK, EU) we witness populations of depression and some level of resignation to the frustrations of growing oligarch domination. This is not the time to surrender hope and our demand for political sovereignty.

There has been a rise in protests lately across the US but one sad fact is that many of the events are being led by groups funded and coordinated by the Democrat Party. A close look reveals that foreign policy issues are often absent. Virtually nothing about Palestine, or funding the war in Ukraine. It should never be forgotten that much of our domestic economic crisis is currently due to spending $1 trillion a year on the military industrial complex. How can that not be a key issue in any protest?

What could be more important at this time in history than for all of us to tell the bitter truth about what the US role in the world has wrought? How could we not declare that America’s war-state MUST BE DISMANTLED! How could that issue be absent from any public gathering that presumes to right the wrongs across our land?

Most readers of this blog understand these words. But beyond us are legions of ‘progressives’ who for various reasons don’t see fit to make these deadly connections visible for the public.

That is our task – our mission in the coming times. We must never waver or cower under pressures to go along with the flow. The flow will drown us if we are not alert.  

In peace.

Bruce 

EU 'leaders' want no real end to Ukraine war

This is the way it looked in previous times when Russia and Ukraine held peace talks. Each side picked experienced negotiators and had them meet. In the most famous case when they came to agreement the UK's then Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew in and demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the agreement that could have ended the war long ago.

We have been watching the new Netflix series on Vietnam. Last night the episode was about the 'negotiations' in Paris between the US and Vietnam to end the war during the late 60's to early 70's. It was a slow process.

Each side had their negotiation team. 

In our current moment we see the big talk about possible negotiations in Turkey today between Russia and Ukraine. The actor-president Zelensky is demanding that Vladimir Putin be present - or else he won't meet. The Washington Post headline this morning read: Putin sends low-level team to Ukraine peace talks, putting outcome in doubt.

This is all just a show as the UK, France and Germany attempt to put the Z-man on the same level as Putin which is a real joke. But western corporate media is playing that card as they attempt to build up Zelensky and tear down Putin. It's all about image creation. Public relations at the highest level.

But let's be real here. In serious negotiations the way it really works is that each side sends in negotiators to put all the cards on the table and search for areas of agreement. The big boys - in this case Putin and Zelensky - don't get called in until the framework of a real agreement is constructed - if at all.

Let's just take the Vietnam war negotiations in Paris as an example. Did LBJ or Nixon and Ho Chi Minh do the negotiating in Paris? Of course not. They each had their own teams who did that exhausting work. Why should Russia be held to a different standard? Look how Trump sends Steve Witkoff these days to negotiate for the US on Gaza and Ukraine. 

As my mother used to say - what is good for the goose is good for the gander. The west always tries to one-up the stage in order to further demonize Russia. The west is losing on the battlefield in Ukraine - the US-NATO war on Russia is a complete failure so now the western media moves the 'conflict' to the negotiating table in their vain attempt to score a win.

RT reports the following this morning:

On Wednesday, the Russian president announced that the country’s delegation would be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who played the same role during previous negotiations with Kiev in 2022. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin and the head of Russia’s military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov are also set to participate.

Putin last week proposed renewing the peace process that was aborted by Kiev in 2022, with Washington calling such contacts the next logical step in its attempts to mediate a truce in the Ukraine conflict.

The 2022 round produced a draft treaty, which offered Ukraine security guarantees in exchange for neutrality and accepting restrictions on its standing army. Kiev later rejected the deal in favour of continuing with warfare, backed by the West.

Militarily, Ukraine’s situation remains precarious. While its forces are still holding defensive lines in the Donbass, morale and manpower are faltering. Some positions are visibly collapsing. Yet politically, Kiev continues to act as though it holds the upper hand, buoyed by support from the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ – Britain, France, and Germany. These European states have consistently obstructed any serious effort by Washington to push for a quick peace. 

Zelensky’s current strategy is transparent: appease Trump just enough to avoid backlash, but stop short of agreeing to anything that might commit Ukraine to a negotiated settlement. Even in a weakened state, Kiev shows no willingness to make meaningful concessions – or even to engage directly with Moscow.

London is reportedly sending an adviser to Istanbul to give its recommendations to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky ahead of talks with Russia, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

Moscow has barred Western European leaders from participating in the negotiations, accusing them of a biased approach to the conflict and trying to prolong the fighting. Nevertheless, the UK is reportedly sending Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s security adviser, Jonathan Powell, to meet with Zelensky ahead of the talks to provide “background advice” on how he should handle the meeting.

The Guardian reported that Powell’s advice is expected to focus on making sure that Zelensky does not do “anything that alienates Trump” and equip him to persuade the US president that Putin is the “obstacle to peace.”

In the end this will likely be another 'nothing burger'. The public relations antics of the west won't work except to further divide the situation which is what UK, France and Germany actually want. At this very time the EU is working overtime to increase military spending and keep the drum beat of war with Russia alive. Trump is slowly pulling away from the war even though he is still delivering weapons to the Ukraine side.

Kaja Kallas is EU's Foreign Policy Chief

It's still about the break-up of the Russian Federation so the west can grab their vast resource base. It's always been about that when it comes to western wars on Russia over the past 500 years.

Bruce   

Sachs on Covid origins

 

Columbia University economics professor Jeffrey Sachs is now saying he is “99% sure” that the University of North Carolina (UNC) conducted extensive gain of function research beginning in 2015 and that this research led to the development of COVID-19. 

Sachs says he is concerned about unregulated research and the lack of global governance for handling dangerous pathogens. 

This systemic issue underscores the plausibility of an accidental release from a U.S. lab like UNC. 

Jimmy Dore and Kurt Metzger discuss the compelling evidence supporting the conclusion that COVID came from Ralph Baric’s research at UNC.

Send message to Forest Service: Protect sacred grounds in Black Hills now!

 

Lakota Law's Tokata Iron Eyes talks about the importance of protecting Pe' Sla — a site in the Black Hills in South Dakota of great spiritual significance for the Lakota People — from mining. 

Please watch and take action.

Tell the U.S. Forest Service: No mining near Pe' Sla! Use this link to send your message by May 16 to https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=67838

'Bad times are good for Palantir'

 

More Perfect Union

A former Palantir employee is sounding the alarm. 

The tech company, founded by Peter Thiel, claims they can revolutionize government systems with their AI-powered software. 

They’ve been hired by the Department of Defense, the FBI, ICE, and even Wendy’s. Now DOGE will likely hire Palantir as well. 

We talked to a former Palantir employee, dug into decades of research and listened to hours of Palantir CEO Alex Karp's own words to carefully unwrap the layers of Palantir’s carefully cultivated sales pitch — and how they capitalize on fear and unrest to make money.

zionist Israeli collapse underway

 

IDF reserves increasingly refusing to go into battle. Draft resistance in Israel.

A battle inside Israel is looming as the nation's many moral and legal contradictions are coming home to roost.

Netanyahu knows his days are numbered. 

Is the west abandoning Netanyahu knowing that to keep him in power any longer will only serve to drive international public opinion further against Israel (and its backers) - if that is even possible?

The west will cut their loses with Israel and attempt to rehab its own image as the US-NATO juggernaut is busily in planning mode for the next war using Taiwan as the victim.

It's all evil theater that must be stopped.

Bruce

Namibia comes first

 

They say the West stands for democracy. For freedom of speech. For human rights. 

But if you look closely, the truth starts to crack through the surface. Because the West doesn’t actually hate corruption. It doesn’t hate dictatorships. And it certainly doesn’t mind when human rights are crushed—as long as the regime in question stays loyal.

But the moment a smaller nation—especially one they’ve looked down on—dares to align itself with someone the West calls an enemy, everything changes. That’s when the outrage begins. Sanctions are prepared. Headlines are written. Leaders are suddenly labeled as threats. It’s not about values—it’s about control.

And now, a new chapter is unfolding.

This time, the defiance isn’t coming from the Sahel. It’s not Traoré or Assimi Goïta. This time, it’s Namibia. A quiet, stable African country that’s just made a move the West didn’t expect.

Namibia’s president has decided to deepen diplomatic ties with North Korea—yes, that North Korea. The one the West calls a dictatorship, a pariah, a rogue nation. And just like clockwork, the power players in the West are furious.The question now is simple—but dangerous: Will they sanction Namibia?

And perhaps more importantly…

Does the Namibian president even care? What happens next could shake the balance between Africa and the powers that have tried to control it for decades.

Since taking office, Namibia’s new president has done more than just govern—she’s shaken the status quo. 

Her name? Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. And like Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, she’s not here to play by old rules. She’s made one thing clear: Her loyalty is to her people—not to foreign powers.

In Africa, that kind of boldness is rare.  

The U.S. war on Vietnam

 

From Luminant Media and director Brian Knappenberger, Turning Point: The Vietnam War offers an unfiltered look at one of the most defining and divisive conflicts in modern history and the profound, lasting impact it has had on America’s global identity and on the lives of countless people. 

Following in the footsteps of Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War and Turning Point: 9/11 and the War On Terror, this five episode docuseries showcases a war that was more than just a military failure; it was a political and cultural reckoning that reshaped America, exposed deep divisions at home and shattered trust in the government. 

With unprecedented access to CBS News archives, rare Vietnamese footage, declassified government records and previously unearthed White House recordings, the series spans nearly two decades and three different presidential administrations, amplifying often overlooked perspectives. 

As both America and Vietnam mark the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, Turning Point: The Vietnam War offers a timely exploration of how the war’s unresolved wounds, unlearned lessons, and enduring consequences continue to shape the world today. 

Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81756796