Sunday, February 08, 2026
Musk's rocket failures & a Mexican village despairs
Space Race Echoes on Mexico’s Shores: A Coastal Community Grapples with Progress
Playa Bagdad, a once-tranquil fishing village nestled along the northeastern coast of Mexico, finds itself at the intersection of ambitious technological advancements and the complex realities of community life. Situated just south of the United States border and within earshot of the din of rocket testing, the village is experiencing profound changes, both environmental and social, as the global space industry expands its reach. The narrative unfolding in Playa Bagdad serves as a microcosm of the broader challenges faced by communities bordering burgeoning spaceports around the world.
For generations, the residents of Playa Bagdad have relied on the Gulf of Mexico for their livelihoods. Fishing has been the lifeblood of the community, passed down through families, and deeply intertwined with the rhythms of the sea. However, the increasing frequency of rocket launches and associated activities has raised concerns about the potential impact on marine life and the overall health of the ecosystem. Noise pollution, vibrations, and the potential for accidental spills are among the anxieties voiced by local fishermen and environmental advocates.
Beyond the immediate environmental concerns, Playa Bagdad is also grappling with the socioeconomic shifts accompanying the space industry’s presence. While some residents see the potential for new jobs and economic opportunities, others fear displacement and the erosion of their traditional way of life. The influx of workers and investment can drive up property values and the cost of living, potentially making it difficult for long-time residents to remain in their homes. Furthermore, there are concerns that the focus on technological development may overshadow the needs of the local community, leading to neglect of essential infrastructure and social services.
The situation in Playa Bagdad underscores the importance of responsible and sustainable development in the space industry. As humanity ventures further into the cosmos, it is crucial to consider the impact on communities located near launch sites and to ensure that their voices are heard. Transparent communication, environmental impact assessments, and community engagement are essential to mitigating potential negative consequences and fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the space industry and the communities that host it.
The Mexican government, along with international organizations, faces the challenge of balancing the economic benefits of the space industry with the need to protect the environment and the rights of local communities. Finding solutions that promote both technological advancement and social well-being is paramount. This requires a collaborative approach, involving government agencies, space companies, environmental groups, and, most importantly, the residents of Playa Bagdad themselves.
The story of Playa Bagdad serves as a potent reminder that progress should not come at the expense of vulnerable communities. As the space race intensifies, it is imperative that we prioritize ethical considerations and strive to create a future where technological innovation and human well-being go hand in hand. The fate of this small Mexican village, caught between the allure of space exploration and the realities of life on Earth, offers valuable lessons for navigating the complex landscape of the 21st century and beyond.
Saturday, February 07, 2026
Hegseth calls for U.S. space dominance
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered an overly confident and aggressive speech at Blue Origin’s Rocket Park in Florida (owned by Jeff Bezos), emphasizing the strategic importance of space in U.S. war-making.
Speaking to employees and big-wigs, Hegseth declared: 'We will unleash American space dominance'.
He underscored that space is the ultimate high ground, criticized the Biden administration, and praised the military initiatives of President Trump, highlighting the urgency of American leadership in the 'space race'.
This is not completely new as the US Space Command (and now the US Space Force) have long been calling for 'America to come out on top' in space.
He said, 'We have a Commander in Chief who is interested in winning'.
The big difference these days is the current level of braggadocio and arrogance inside this administration.
'We are just unleashing the war fighter to be lethal, disciplined, trained, accountable and ready', he claimed.
Hegseth called it his 'arsenal of freedom tour' during the next month across the country. He declared that the administration intends to spend $1.5 trillion this year on war-making. 'We will dominate in every domain', he bragged.
Those funds include $25 billion to start work on Golden Dome - 'total orbit supremacy' he called it. 'We have to dominate the space domain'.
He congratulated 'America's deterrence in action' at the US border, in Venezuela, Yemen, and Iran.
He described the Pentagon as a place where we 'rip out the bureaucracy....and expedite innovation for the war fighter'.
This aggressive talk reminds me of an Iraq-war era speech by author Thomas Barnett where he told an assembly of Pentagon and CIA reps that America's role in the coming years would be 'security export'. He said at that time that we won't make shoes, cars, refrigerators and the like. It is cheaper to produce those products overseas. Our role under corporate globalization will be to play the role of world policeman.
Barnett declared that the Pentagon would go into nations not currently under our 'control' with overwhelming force - what he called 'Leviathan'. But the problem he said, is who will run these countries after we take them over?
What
we need he said is a force to run these nations after the initial take
down. He called this team 'Systems Administration'. Not too soon after watching his presentation
I noticed that Lockheed Martin had received a huge contract to train
'Sys Ad' forces. Barnett said our 'Sys Ad' troops would never come home.
Barnett also claimed that the US would need legions of young people to go
into the 'Leviathan' force and they would be easy to find because
there are essentially no jobs in this country anymore. He said that we
need to recruit these 'angry young men' who wile away their time
playing violent video games. There is an endless supply of them across
America.
Trump's War Department is returning to this illusory vision that hopes to erase the multi-polar world in favor of American global dominance. Thus, despite all the nice talk about negotiating with China, Russia, Iran and other BRICS+ nations, the US is stepping deeply back into the big muddy. This time though it includes a major league arms race in space.
For years China and Russia have been introducing a global ban on weapons in space treaty at the United Nations. The US and Israel have been blocking the development of such a treaty that would close the door to the barn before the horses get out.
Trump appears to want to release all the war horses, and come what may, vainly attempt to make America 'Mr. Big' once again.
Does his administration understand they are on a crash course with WW3 - total global annihilation?
There is always an Achilles' heel. In the case of the US it is our crumbling economy. Hegseth declares big dreams for global control. But where will the $$$ come from to pay for it? Do they intend to take Social Security for example?
Time will tell but in the meantime we all need to be on the case.
Protest and survive. Build resilience and hope. Keep paddling.
Bruce
Ukraine’s neutrality is best for Hungary’s peace & security
By Magyar Békekör
On its Facebook page, the Hungarian Community for Peace asked its readers to answer the question: What better guarantees Hungary’s security: turning Ukraine into a buffer zone or Ukraine’s neutrality?
The issue is raised by the peace negotiations, since the Russian side wants neutrality, while the Western side wants Ukraine to become a buffer zone between the West and the East. Almost 30,000 people addressed the question, and many answered it.
In the “Let’s talk to achieve results” debate, the Peace Community expressed the following opinion:
Dear Readers!
We are glad that many people answered the question of the Hungarian Peace Community: What do you think guarantees Hungary’s security better, turning Ukraine into a buffer zone or Ukraine’s neutrality?
The question is not a theoretical one, but one posed by life. The Russians want a neutral Ukraine, but the West wants to create a buffer zone between NATO and Russia, keeping Ukraine in its sphere of influence.
Some people answered our question by saying that Ukraine’s NATO membership would be best for Hungary’s security. They ignored the fact that one of the main reasons for the conflict in Ukraine was precisely the fact that NATO wanted to include Ukraine in its ranks.
The Russian military intervention was precisely triggered by NATO’s rejection of Moscow’s number one security demand, according to which NATO cannot expand to the East and Ukraine cannot be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Therefore, those who continue to push for Ukraine’s NATO membership would perpetuate a conflict that even NATO’s leading power wants to end. (Trump took Ukraine’s NATO membership off the agenda a year ago.)
Some readers would see the declaration of Ukraine as a buffer zone as the key to our country’s security, because, as they wrote, the Russians must be stopped from occupying Europe. Declaring Ukraine a conflict zone would mean the perpetuation of the confrontation, instead of the mutual security resulting from the compromise. It would not serve the peace or the security of Hungary, because it would be a kind of time bomb in the body of Europe, in our immediate neighborhood. As soon as this bomb explodes and NATO comes face to face with Russia, we could say goodbye to the peace and security of our country. It is part of the picture that the Russians have created conflict zones in the parts of the Donbass bordering Ukraine with the aim of indicating that they do not wish to move further into the areas of Ukraine outside the Donbass. But this does not mean that they have given up on their threefold goal regarding Ukraine: de-Nazification, demilitarization, and declaring Ukraine neutral.
To our question, the vast majority of our readers answered that the peace and security of our country would be best served by Ukraine’s neutrality.
We agree with them. After all, Ukraine’s neutrality would mean that it would cease to be a source of tension in our neighborhood, and it would have to live in peace and on good terms with both the East and the West. Ukraine’s neutrality must be guaranteed by international law. And such a law depends on a comprehensive East-West compromise.
Compromise can be reached on the basis of the indivisibility and reciprocity of security, with the unconditional recognition of the equal right to security. The piles were knocked down a long time ago, but NATO did not stick to it. Instead, it expanded to the East, engulfing the former socialist countries and targeting the former Soviet republics as well. That is, NATO violated the principle of the indivisibility of security and strengthened NATO’s security at the expense of Russia’s security. It did this despite the fact that on November 21, 1990, the principle of the indivisibility of security was declared at the summit meeting in Paris of the 34 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) under the title Paris Charter for a New Europe. According to the unanimously adopted document, “security is indivisible and the security of each participating state is inextricably linked with that of all others”.
And in November 1999, at the OSCE summit in Istanbul, the principle of indivisibility was expanded by stating that states “cannot strengthen their own security at the expense of the security of other states”. If NATO were to stick to the principles it has adopted, it would have to renounce Ukraine and acknowledge that Ukraine is a “no man’s land”. But Ukraine’s neutral status is closely related to the creation of a comprehensive European, Eurasian security system. In such a new European-Eurasian security system, NATO would no longer be able to dictate the terms, but would have to compromise with Russia, China, India and others on peaceful coexistence. In such a system, Ukraine would be demilitarized on the German model after World War II, and it would receive an internationally recognized non-aligned, neutral status.
He should live on good terms with both the East and the West. We’re not even close today! NATO is trying to tie the mere ceasefire to the condition of sending troops to Ukraine, and it does not even want to hear about demilitarization. NATO is aware of the ripple effect that Ukraine’s neutrality would have on it. Ukrainian demilitarization and neutrality therefore still depend on military coercion.
Friday, February 06, 2026
Turning Taiwan into another Ukraine
Financial Times
China warned the U.S. that if Washington pushes through with a new batch of weapons sales to Taiwan, it will cancel president Trump’s planned visit to Beijing this April.
The Trump administration is developing a package of four systems for Taiwan to purchase on the heels of the record $11.1bn arms package it unveiled in December, according to eight people familiar with the situation.
China has raised serious concerns about the package ahead of Trump’s planned meeting with President Xi Jinping in April. Three of the people said China had told the US that the arms sales could derail the visit.
Xi raised the Taiwan arms sales issue with Trump in a call on Wednesday. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, he emphasised that the US “must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence”.
Several people familiar with the situation said the package could be as big as $20bn. But others cautioned that the final number was in flux and might be closer to the December figure. Some US officials argue that China is bluffing and will not cancel the visit, according to two of the people.
The package will include four systems. In addition to Patriots, used to destroy incoming missiles, the US will allow Taiwan to buy more NASAMS, an advanced surface-to-air missile, and two other weapon systems.
Several people familiar with the matter said the administration had been planning to notify Congress about the package this month. But some experts believe Trump will postpone the move until he returns from China.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is obliged to sell weapons to Taiwan to provide for its own defence.
“As it has been for more than 40 years, the policy of the United States is to maintain Taiwan’s defensive capability relative to that of China,” a White House official said. “Credible deterrence has ensured peace and stability for many years — and will for many more. We do not comment on the specifics of pending sales.”
The arms sale package comes as frustrations are mounting in Washington about political wrangling in Taipei that is delaying the approval of a defence budget that would provide funds to buy weapons from the US.
How Arms Control went out the window
Yesterday the last nuclear treaty between the the United States and the Russian Federation expired. It is the first time in 64 years that there will be no limits on each side’s nuclear forces.
The New START Treaty had been limiting the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons and weapon carriers. Other nuclear related treaties like the Anti Ballistic Missile treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty have previously been ended by various U.S. presidents.
Russia had offered and asked for prolonging the New START Treaty but the U.S. had, until today, not responded to that request.
Most of these treaties were designed to limit the number of weapon system on both sides to roughly equal numbers. They prevented arms races where one side would produce an overwhelming amount of weapons to destroy the other side in a surprise attack. They guaranteed Mutual Assured Destruction as both sides would be destroyed in an all out nuclear war.
But the real value of these treaties were in their verification elements. Verification allowed to build trust between both sides:
To enforce the [New START] treaty, each side had to notify the other of any activity involving its strategic weapons, including missile test launches and heavy bomber movements, share data about the numbers of deployed missiles and delivery systems, and allow on-site inspections.
One example is that under the treaty all strategic bombers of each side had to be parked in the open, not in shelters, so that the other side could see them in satellite pictures. It guaranteed that there were no ‘secret forces’ hidden somewhere. (Ukraine abused this feature when it launched drone attacks against Russia’s strategic bombers.)
The U.S. has never given any good reason why it wanted the treaties to end.
The Bush administration claimed that the ABM treaty was hindering building missile defenses against ‘rogue states’. In reality it wanted to build a missile defense system that would disable a Russian [retaliatory] nuclear attack and thereby give the U.S. the capability for a first strike which Russia would not be able to answer.
Russia, in consequence of the ending of the treaty, built new weapons like the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater vehicle as well the Sarmat missile, which can not be stopped by missile defenses.
When the first Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Treaty [INF] it claimed, without providing evidence, that one specific Russian missile test had exceeded the range limits defined in the treaty. Russia responded to the end of the treaty by developing and deploying the Oreshnik system as a new intermediate range missile.
The U.S. excuse for leaving New START is that a new strategic weapon treaty is needed which will have to include limits on China’s strategic missile forces. China rejects to be part of such a treaty because it has less than 20% of the strategic nuclear weapons that Russia and the U.S. each deploy.
It is unlikely for now that the end of New START will lead to a race to acquire more and more strategic nuclear weapons even as the military-industrial complex will demand more missiles.
But the end of the treaty will lead to less knowledge of what the other side is doing and will over time erode any trust in ones own capabilities as the real capabilities of the opponent will be increasingly unknown. This insecurity and what might follow from it is the real danger.
Over the last hours news has come out of an informal prolongation of the parameters of the New START treaty:
President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner negotiated on New START with Russian officials on the sidelines of Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi.
The treaty will still formally expire on Thursday, and the extension will not be legally formalized, a U.S. official said. “We agreed with Russia to operate in good faith and to start a discussion about ways it could be updated,” a U.S. official said.
Another source said the practical implications were that both sides would agree to observe the deal’s terms for at least six months, during which time negotiations on a potential new deal would take place.
[Earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow suggested sticking to the treaty’s provisions for another year but its initiative “remained unanswered.” Russia will “keep its responsible attentive approach in the field of strategic stability [and] nuclear weapons” but will be always “primarily guided by its national interests,” he said.]
If I were in Russia’s position I would not trust the U.S. to stick to any such informal commitment. Any such agreement will need to be verified.
Russia should test if the U.S. is willing to allow for the verification of its informal commitment to New START limits.
Real story about Epstein-Israeli control
Lowkey outlines the case around Epstein's operations to control global government and corporate leaders.
Don't let this story die.
We must bring down this international cabal of criminality, pedophilia, murder, demonic ritual, bribery, endless war and mind-blinding corruption.
They use our tax monies to run these ugly evil operations.
The worst of humanity are ruling over us.
Thailand fed up with zionist tourists & land grabbers
Did you know Thailand is one of the places Israel sends IDF soldiers to relax?
There are some islands that have become dominated by Jewish people. Lots of drug use by IDF soldiers and illegal operation of businesses through Thai fronts.
In just one week, four criminal incidents were committed by Israelis in Thailand:
Charges of counterfeiting US dollars, stealing money designated for one of the local temples, operating hotels, gift-selling kiosks, and shops without a license, & hosting noisy parties and drug use.
IDF soldiers are taking over Thailand, changing business signs to Hebrew, and harassing locals:
Several restaurants and shops in Thailand, particularly on the popular tourist island of Koh Phangan, have begun refusing service to Israeli tourists and placing signs rejecting their presence, according to Israeli Channel 12.
SURAT THANI — An Israeli woman was reprimanded by a staff member at a Thai restaurant on Koh Phangan after refusing to remove her shoes before entering. In response, she claimed that her financial contributions helped build Thailand. Her comment sparked discontent among Thais.
Thursday, February 05, 2026
US Empire is Going SUPERNOVA
We are witnessing this now with Trump’s instructive actions against Venezuela and his own allies: the nation’s ‘father’ figure imparts the lesson on his people that taking others’ possessions is a purely righteous act simply by virtue of its ‘economic benefits’. The people of the nation thereby become spiritually sickened by this inhuman approach to national selfhood, inured to a sense of exceptionalism and racism: that they are the only “chosen and worthy” ones, while all other people of the earth are merely resources to be extracted after ‘righteous’ pillaging.
This begets the slow descent and decay of the entire concept of nationhood into terminal moral decline to the point where the very fabric of society itself begins to reflect this debasement of values until there is nothing of worth left. A nation which celebrates greed and rapaciousness as pillars of virtue will eventually die from this very spiritual poison: the people thereof become deracinated, spiritless vessels of corporate values, and nothing more, and they reflect these values onto each other as well, which becomes evident in the breakdown of civility and neighborliness. In short, we are witnessing the civic and cultural debasement of the entire populace by the ‘shared values’ instilled of the corrupted political class.
Trump is bringing a business-industry cut-throat thuggishness to world and domestic politics, which he views as some kind of revolutionary ‘patriotism’ he calls ‘America First’. Trump’s treatment at the hands of his Democrat opponents may have also warped his sense of risk-reward. Having survived the various slings and arrows, which include assassination attempts, he may now feel ‘entitled’ to take whatever he wants from the world, achieving glory at any cost simply because he’s now “owed” his greatness by the travails he had fought and suffered through; it is a kind of warped messianic victim-persecution complex at a universal scale that is both dangerous yet, perhaps ultimately, useful to the world.
Such an escalation spiral has no real exit strategy, because the further Trump doubles down, the more enemies and bad-will he engenders which increasingly condemns his future to an unenviable fate: his opponents will likely hunt him for life for all the perceived legal iniquities he committed, both domestic and international. The only way to escape such a spiral is by burning the whole system down behind himself, a kind of anarchic Sunk Cost pedal-to-the-mettle policy of turbo-escalation. Push the system to the breaking point until there is nothing left to “chase him” after he’s done, whether he succeeds in his aims or not; logically speaking, it’s at least a sound strategy.
And through this natural arc, in the spirit of the supernova, the American Age seems to be going supercritical by the combustion of its own runaway excesses. It’s a process that can only stampede forward and may end up engulfing the entire world before it settles because there is far too much blood in its trail for the drivers of the process to ever be able to stop and turn back.
Again, despite how it may sound, this is not a generic slam against Trump because he’s the product of a system, and a long-running culmination of things set into motion long before him. He merely serves as the apostle of a terminal age of American decline, and in some ways cannot be personally blamed since he’s a kind of logical byproduct of everything that the American system has been building toward for decades. Now all we can do is strap in, enjoy the ride, and hope that—in the spirit of true anarchy—he at least takes down the bad along with the good, for all our sakes.
~ Reprinted in part
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Tales from two crashing former imperial powers
France is desperately seeking to rebuild colonial influence in Africa.
Key takeaways from statements by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR):
▪️French President Emmanuel Macron instructed the country’s intelligence services to implement a plan to eliminate “undesirable leaders” in Africa
▪️France was involved in the attempted coup in Burkina Faso on January 3, including a failed plot targeting Burkinabe President Traoré and will continue to destabilize countries in the Sahara-Sahel region
▪️Paris is frantically searching for opportunities for a political comeback in Africa
▪️France is considering ways to overthrow Madagascar’s newly elected president Michael Randrianirina
▪️France has turned to openly supporting various terrorist groups, which have become its primary allies on the African continent
▪️ France sought to divide up Libya’s oil resources after they helped depose and kill Muammar Gaddafi. Did Paris help MI6 kill Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi [son of Muammar] to stop him reuniting Libya and promoting pan-African unity again?
USA! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!
The world is boiling over. People everywhere are trying to seal themselves off from the constant noise pouring out of the United States. The shouting, the threats, the chaos, the endless declarations that change by the hour. It feels impossible to escape.
From the outside, it no longer looks like leadership or even strategy. It looks like living next to a mental institution with the doors ripped open and the loudspeakers turned to maximum volume. Every day brings a new outburst. Every week another crisis manufactured out of ego, fear, or impulse.
Allies are distancing themselves. Markets are bracing. Governments are quietly building buffers, walls, filters, anything that might reduce exposure to the instability.
The message from the rest of the planet is no longer diplomatic.
Enough!
History lesson: Israel attack on U.S. navy ship in 1967
Help the Liberty veterans in their fight to secure their day in Congress: https://shorturl.at/mkqB8
0:00 The “Mistake” - A Cover Story
2:34 "Cyanide": Evidence of a Deliberate Attack?
10:41 The Cover-Up
15:00 The Power of the Israel Lobby
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
AI corporate scam - built on deception and lies
$750 billion in investment. As much electricity as the population of India. And all of our data.
And if he's wrong he'll still profit off of what comes next.
Greed, control, and lies, lies, lies.
Just call it Techno-fascism.
Italians protest in Milan against ICE security at Winter Olympics
Coverage from Milan, Italy, where hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets opposing the involvement of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in security arrangements for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Demonstrators waved banners reading “ICE OUT” and “No ICE in Milano”, expressing anger over recent ICE controversies in the United States.
Watch for on-the-ground footage, protest chants, police presence, and reactions from activists and officials as this international debate unfolds.
Monday, February 02, 2026
Links between Hollywood and zionism
If you want to understand why "Israel" occupies a sacred place in US culture, look beyond politics and straight to Hollywood.
Long before press briefings and talking points, films were shaping emotion, memory, and belief. From biblical epics to frontier myths and modern war stories, cinema helped turn a political project into a "moral cause".
Storytelling, celebrity power, and carefully crafted images erased context, buried Palestinian voices, and normalized a version of history millions absorbed without ever seeing what was left off the screen.
Redaction by Distraction
 |
| Trump claims he didn't know Epstein very well |
Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell presided over a massive international criminal organization facilitated by banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Bank of America.
Virginia Giuffre found dead.
Sunday, February 01, 2026
Rubio getting worried - calls for possible first-strike on Iran
Fast talking Narco Rubio is getting worried that if they go to war with Iran US and Israeli troops will need greater 'missile defense' (MD) protection.
In the last 12-day war Iran obliterated Israel's Iron Dome. US deployed Patriot MD systems could not handle the job as had already been discovered in Ukraine where Russian hypersonics eviscerated the US deployed MD.
So this might be a delay tactic for an Iran attack or quite possibly he is setting up the case for a massive US-Israel first strike on Iran.
Iran has already stated that any hint of an attack on them will unleash a massive counter-strike on Israel and US bases throughout the region.
With more Epstein files being released Trump does need to change the subject.....
Bruce
Growing national anger over ICE ops reaching Fox News too
Fascinating video.
Stephen Miller is a Republican political adviser who serves as deputy chief of staff for policy and as homeland security adviser in the Trump administration. He has given ICE a quota of at least 3,000 apprehensions per day. Even arrests that later turn out to be wrong are counted in the quota. Thus ICE is being told to go on an illegal rampage across the nation.
Fox News hosts, including Maria Bartiromo, are starting to question the official narrative by the Trump administration around the Pretti shooting in Minnesota.
The MAGA base is steadily shrinking. First it was over the Epstein files. Then the economy is collapsing hurting working class people. Now the ICE raids are grabbing legal immigrant agriculture, restaurant, hotel, hospital and other industry workers. Companies are complaining that their businesses are suffering due to ICE raids.
Trump's fascist actions are angering many in his own base of support.
Francis Maxwell reacts.
Witness monks peace walk determination in Virginia winter
Walking Through the Storm: A Journey for World Peace ❄️🙏
Despite the heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures in Virginia, the message of peace remains unstoppable.
Watch as these dedicated Buddhist monks continue their determined cross-country "Walk for Peace," proving that kindness and compassion can weather any storm. 🌨️✨
This journey isn't just about miles; it’s about spreading a message of universal love, peace and unity across the United States. 🐕🚶♂️
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Michael Parenti Presente!
The Islander
REST IN POWER, MICHAEL PARENTI (1933–2026)
Tragic news that Michael Parenti passed away peacefully this week, surrounded by his family, at the age of 92.
One of the most influential anti-imperialist thinkers in the United States, Parenti spent decades exposing how power actually works beneath the language of democracy, development, and humanitarianism. He dismantled the myth that foreign aid is about helping people.
Parenti argued that foreign aid functions as a subsidy for empire, transferring wealth from ordinary people in the Global North to elites in the Global South who protect multinational interests. Drawing on economists like Kenneth Boulding and Thorstein Veblen, he highlighted the missing class dimension, that those who profit from imperial investments are not the ones who pay the costs of maintaining them.
He pointed to the Philippines, Cuba before the revolution, and British ruled India to show a recurring pattern. Infrastructure was built for plantations and exports while entire communities were left without roads, clinics, or schools. Aid money, he argued, props up private corporations and funds police and military forces whose real role is suppressing impoverished populations.
His message was blunt and remains urgent. Empire benefits a small elite and devastates everyone else. Without class analysis the conversation is baby talk. With it the machinery of empire becomes impossible to deny.
Rest in Power, Parenti. You taught us so much.
Friday, January 30, 2026
Nationwide rallies against ICE on Friday
Over 1,000 people in the cold in Portland, Maine (only 1.3 million live in our large state, more trees than people. More than 200 Maine businesses participated in some capacity, either by closing their doors or donating a portion of profits to groups and organizations helping immigrants. Some 206 people have been grabbed by ICE across Maine. ICE has said they have 1,400 'targets' in Maine. We have many African immigrants in Portland and Lewiston.
Republican senators speaking out against ICE tactics
'What she's done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job...it's just amateurish', says
He's referring to
Alex Pretti in Minnesota, Noem threw him under the bus and stated that he was a 'domestic terrorist'.
The people of Minnesota are still showing the way, despite two deaths. They do what they can to obstruct ICE operations and whether they realize it or not, they are providing the leadership that millions of people so desperately want. They are showing that electoral politics will not save us, that popular action is the only route to change'.
Mark Carney's Watershed Davos Speech Signals Elite Schism
Simplicius
At the Davos forum recently, many waves were made by Western politicians turning away from the US and variously announcing pivots to China. One of the big MSM narrative takeaways was that Trump was ‘humiliated’ at the event by this reception from fed-up leaders.
It brings to mind a fascinating discussion regarding what exactly is happening in the West, vis-a-vis these seemingly contradictory re-orientations. Many are rightly wondering how is it that Western deep state shills like Mark Carney—a dyed-in-the-wool bankster globalist—are choosing to orient towards China, which is supposed to be the arch-nemesis of the Western globalist cabal—is there a rift, a split in the global Deep State factions?
After all, it is China that is usurping and ostensibly attempting to destroy the Western banking and finance system which is at the heart of the global cabal that controls the various arms of the Western Deep States: so how do we make sense of this seeming pivot?
First, let’s begin by contextualizing things. Mark Carney gave a ‘seminal’ speech that many are hailing as a kind of bifurcation point of the West’s geopolitical trajectory. It is a quite remarkable speech and should be listened to in full. In it he rails against the overreaching abuses of great power countries and announces the demise of the so-called Rules Based Order, and the ushering in of a new period of might-based diplomacy. But the most remarkable aspect of the speech by far, was his admission that the entireties of the Rules Based Order and system of “International Law” were in fact fictions the West used to maintain the status quo of American hegemony because it was useful to do.
Carney:
“We knew that the story about the rules-based order was partially false... We knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused and the victim. This fiction was useful [because of the goods provided by American hegemony]... So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
The other eye-openingly salient portion of the speech was when he revolted against the dictates of his own clan by renouncing the various ‘economic weapons’ which Western nations have long wielded against the world:
The irony here, of course, is that Carney was totally willing accomplice to these very exploitations he now condemns, when it served him and his clan—which is the first clue of our discussion.
Mark Carney was Governor of the Bank of England when it froze the $5 billion worth of Venezuela’s gold that it holds
It was an act of piracy worthy of Trump + part of the UK government’s wide-ranging 20-year effort to overthrow Venezuela’s government
The gold remains frozen
Oddly, he seems to admit the West was complicit in this selective ‘fiction’ of unequally imposing its made-up ‘rules’ on the rest of the world, yet he deftly avoids personal culpability.
Most importantly, we must ask what precisely is the purpose of his speech?
We know any such lectures by major political figures are not actually coming from them—they do not sit there of their own volition and ask themselves: “What do my constituents want?” Or in this case: “What do the people of Canada want for our shared future?”
No, such speeches are written by speech writers after consultation with the teams of executives, chiefs of staff, etc., which operate as the puppeteers of each ‘administration’. These are the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers who obtain directives from the real power players, which are the money donors, oligarchs, special interest and lobby groups that represent the consolidated interests of the pyramid of finance at the top. Carney is simply the front-facing mouthpiece delivering their new dictum, a kind of glorified brand ambassador or spokesperson.
So, given his speech, what can we deduce or infer from what these controlling interests are actually trying to say, and what directions they are attempting to steer things into?
If we listen to his ‘watershed’ speech, we note a kind of subtle trickery or sleight of hand at play. On the one hand he denounces the ‘old orders’ of illusory international law and the like, but on the other hand he seems to call for the establishment of new “cooperative” orders which are essentially the same thing, or rather, follow the same “values”. It sounds almost like he’s saying, “We should ostracize the one member who went too far, while continuing the same charade as before.”
He criticizes the ‘integration’ of globalization which has led to nations becoming co-dependent—clearly a reference to the US and Trump’s coercive ‘leverage’ now being applied to various ‘allies’. His solution is then for countries to seek more “independence” from those hegemons like the US, while establishing a system of ‘a la carte’ alliances. This is a sort of vision for a decentralized ‘Rules Based Order’ run on a concept of ad hoc membership.
Again, we’re left asking: what is this signalling, precisely? Many will recall long-time conspiracy theories that the so-called London finance cabal would shift its operations to China after parasitically gutting out the American empire, and that the “New World Order” would in the future be based in the East as a kind of strategic re-orientation of the globe-ruling elites. Many will jump to the conclusion that this is exactly what Mark Carney’s speech signifies, and that China is now demonstrably within the folds of the “NWO”. In fact, Carney even ominously invoked the New World Order directly in another speech days ago which was referencing his China pivot:
We can’t deny the fact that the Western banking and finance cabal wishes it could shackle China in the way it has done to every Western nation, so Carney’s words could certainly be a hint of implied intention. But there is very little chance that China will fall for such easy wiles. It is already far too powerful to be readily manipulated with the typical economic lures and vanity tricks employed on lesser nations.
It’s more likely that Carney’s speech represents an act of desperation from these Western elites. They know that they need to consolidate power as much as possible, and that they need to stay in the game: Carney references this specifically by stating that ‘Middle Powers’ need to work together to get a seat at the table and avoid being “on the menu”. Further, he even openly admits the new vision revolves around a realpolitik kind of pragmatism dubbed “value-based realism”, as coined by Finland’s Alexander Stubb.
When you add it all together, the vision becomes more clear: the elites appear to understand that in order for them and their order to survive, they need to maintain a ‘seat at the table’—or in other words, retain some semblance of power and influence. And right now the only way to do that is to embrace “realism”—rather than dogmatic and illusory thinking—which in this case means opening up to China. In other words: temporarily embrace your enemy if it means surviving a little while longer.
The reason they are not calling the previous ‘Rules Based Order’ completely dead, but simply in the process of dying, is because they likely believe they can still wait out this “temporary” American period of chauvinistic resurgence. If only we can bide our time, they think, by letting China keep us afloat, eventually this dangerous American “phase” will pass and our two Deep States will again unite into one proper Western Imperial Order—like the good ol’ days!
It’s possible they also believe that by pivoting to China they can help “starve out” the Trump administration, shortening its grip on power. In other words: the more business they re-orient to China, the fewer economic goals Trump is able to hit, weakening his standing and facilitating his unpopularity and—hopefully, in their eyes—the demise of his entire movement.
To some extents, the “rupture”—as Carney called it—proves that the “elites” are not entirely a monolithic cabal with precisely uniform marching orders. There are various emergent properties that naturally stem from their shared interests which happen to align them along convenient vectors most of the time. But in those gaps, there is room for many of these top elites to diverge in their thinking. This was recently underscored by a viral video of BlackRock’s Larry Fink explaining how countries which avoided mass-migration might actually be best-positioned for future growth and prosperity contrary to prevailing theories of yesteryear. This would seem to fly in the face of conventional theories of elite power dynamics and their assumed uniformity.
We know that Trump’s administration is likewise knee-deep in the globalist ‘swamp’ despite portraying themselves as rogue political disruptors. Yes, in many ways Trump was a schismatic because he rebelled against some of the Deep State’s motions, while keeping fully in line with others. As explained before, much of the global conspiracy is emergent in its nature, rather than being totally centrally controlled. There are various overlapping interests which flow naturally together toward mutual goals, but there are many areas where the various arms disagree. Think of the mafia: the families sit down to work things out and make agreements as much as possible on dividing up the various territories of their dominion. But there are many disagreements which lead to violent internecine conflicts where top families are forced into major episodes of bloodshed.
Similarly here, Trump and his clan have many overlapping interests with the wider global Deep State, most notably when it comes to Israel and the general prolongation of Western supremacy over the world. But he didn’t see eye-to-eye with them on certain cultural aspects. For example, it seems within the global Deep State itself there are competing factions, one of which does not agree with the mass-Kalergification of the Western world as the largest social-engineering and genetic displacement project in world history.
Trump appears to want a return to a status quo ante, where the global financial system’s terminal ails are dusted over with the ‘glitz’ of an ersatz economic boom. But he is no longer reading the room because the new generation of observers and political activists are increasingly hip to the fact that something is fundamentally wrong with the entire system on which all global commerce and civilization is based. Trump wants to return to the ‘golden days’ which can never be restored because they were artificially engineered by kicking a can down the road—but that can has reached a deadend, and people can feel it in their gut.
This is the underlying reason for the factional splits in the so-called global Deep State: no one even at the very top truly knows how to right this ship of runaway fiat and the resultant social and geopolitical unraveling taking place, and so each faction now desperately stabs out on its own with different high-risk experimental forays, causing internal friction to swell.
Granted, beneath the layer of disorder they remain faithful votaries of their financial leviathan, and will always game-theoretically side with each other when it advances the overall cause. But it is simply the case that now, perhaps for the first time ever, there are deep disagreements over how to proceed into the unknown of their own making.