the funnies

Marwa Osman critiques American activism

• Iran’s Minister of Health: Tuesday night, US attacks in Iran killed 18 people and 108 civilians were injured. The US used its most accurate weapon in its attack on a wedding ceremony in Iran. Weapon remnants recovered from the attack in Kuhestak have been identified by as SLAM-ER components. Manufacturer Boeing touts this cruise missile as the “most accurate” weapon in the US Navy’s inventory.  

• Foreign Policy: Now, after more than seven years in office, four and a half years of war with Russia, and a series of scandals involving his leadership team and close friends, Zelensky appears to have lost the nation’s political support. Indeed, polling points to a major mood swing among Ukrainians, suggesting that many of them have lost faith in Zelensky and would vote him out of office at the earliest opportunity. 

• Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent gets fully pathetic and announces the US is sanctioning another bank which is apparently linked to Iran. 

• 'The rest of the world wants to be more like us. We have this great economy, we’re accelerating away from the rest of the world - except for these malcontents who don't want to work, they want to pull everyone down with them'. Treasury Secretary Bessent, again, showing if you are on Trump’s team - you are a fool and an inveterate liar.  

• Ukraine’s attempted UAV attack on Moscow Region among largest in last two years. According to Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, between 8:00 am Moscow Time on September 2 and 12:00 pm on Thursday, 548 unmanned aerial vehicles were heading toward the Moscow Region.
• The US should start preparing for scenarios where extreme measures must be taken to stop China from achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). In a Centre for a New American Security report, a former Obama administration national security staffer called for the US government to consider diplomatic, espionage, cyber and kinetic measures to prevent China from achieving AGI first. AGI is a hypothetical AI system that can achieve human levels of performance across a wide variety of tasks.
• Black Alliance for Peace: As named in the recent Bulletin on US Domestic Militarization, National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7), formally titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” has fundamentally altered the relationship between dissent and the state by transforming the broader governance architecture into a synchronized counterinsurgency grid. NSPM-7 pre-positions forces by integrating federal, state, and local law enforcement into a single operational framework. Historically, this represents the latest chapter in a long lineage of domestic counterinsurgency directed against Black liberation organizations, Indigenous movements, labor militants, anti-war and anti-imperialist organizers, and other dissident political groups. NSPM-7’s function is best understood as the latest manifestation of a long-standing authoritarian tradition in US governance rather than a break from democratic norms. 

• Sovereignista: The G20 empire wants to rule. The US holds the Presidency for the 2026 G20. The host nation has already begun the first interactions with G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. However, the summit has already sparked many controversies. When Secretary of Treasury Bessent began his address, Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was seen walking out of the room. Several European Ministers protested the inclusion of Russia and forced the US to remove the Russian Finance Minister from the G20 Finance Ministers’ family photo. Meanwhile, South Africa has not been invited by the US, despite being a member as Donald Trump continues to feud with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The main G20 summit is scheduled for November, however it is already witnessing a list of controversies.  

• Marwa Osman from Lebanon: 'I have reached a point where I have zero trust in American activism that claims to be fighting the foreign policy of its own government while doing little or nothing to confront the machinery of repression at home. This is not about demanding that every American become a full-time revolutionary. It is about something much simpler known as political consistency. Yet some American activists will tell the rest of the world that they are doing everything within their power to oppose oppression abroad, while rarely confronting the political structures that make that oppression possible at home. If you cannot lift a finger against the machinery of oppression when it operates in your own name, your claims to be liberating others begin to sound less like solidarity and more like self-image'. 

• Simplicius: One thing that becomes absolutely certain now, is that the CIA director’s visit to Moscow obviously [was to deliver a threat]. There may have been multiple angles to his visit, but we are now left to assume this was the main reason: to deliver a final warning to Russia: “If you do not stop finishing off Ukraine’s infrastructure, a new unprecedented terror campaign against your airports will shut down all travel to your key cities.” A final warning was delivered to Russia, and now we begin a new phase of the conflict. Zelensky’s 40-day special operation failed and the only choice he was left with is to escalate to a new degree of “discomfort” for Russian civilian life. It seems too far fetched to be a ‘coincidence’ that Russia is being framed for attacking German airports with explosive drones only days before Ukraine announces a massive operation to shut down Russia’s own airports. There are clear hints of an orchestrated campaign happening here, which is nothing more than Phase 2.0 of the Ukrainian-Western plan to foment socio-political dissent in Russia and stoke an uprising against Putin. As Ukraine faces its most desperate hour, expect more nasty “Pandora’s box” surprises to be unleashed on Russia.   

• Stars & Stripes: A group of UN-appointed human rights experts renewed calls for an investigation into US strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats as the campaign reached its first anniversary Wednesday. At least 224 people have been killed in the strikes, according to Pentagon figures. Those responsible for violations of international law, “including military and civilian chains of command,” must be held accountable, the panel appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said in a statement marking the anniversary.

• A record number of Americans believe there is widespread corruption in the government, reaching the highest level of distrust in two decades, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday. Nearly 90% of US adults said corruption was widespread in the government, a 10% jump from last year. The US also has the highest level of perceived government corruption compared with other countries with advanced economies as of 2025, the year of the latest available data.
• Space News: The US Space Force has a new commanding general. In a ceremony Thursday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Gen. Douglas Schiess took over as the Space Force's third chief of space operations, succeeding Gen. Chance Saltzman. In his first message to the force, Schiess portrayed his tenure as the next stage in the development of the Space Force, which was established in 2019 and has been moving from its initial focus on building a new military service toward preparing forces for combat. His comments at the change-of-command ceremony signaled continuity with Saltzman, who during his tenure put greater emphasis on preparing guardians for warfare in space and on developing capabilities to protect US satellites and counter adversaries' use of space systems. 

• The Korea Times: As Seoul weighs how to contribute to efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, attention is turning to what military assets Korea could realistically send — and what missions they could perform without drawing the country directly into combat with Iran. Military experts say maritime surveillance, logistics support and mine-clearing operations could be the most practical roles for Korean forces in the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Seoul to contribute to securing the strategic waterway. Cheong Wa Dae said Friday that no decision has been made on whether to deploy forces or what assets could be sent, adding that it is considering a range of options, including combat, noncombat and search missions. [How do the South Korean people feel about this mission to support the US-Israel war?]

• America has finally discovered a cause capable of uniting Republicans, Democrats, environmentalists, homeowners and people who simply enjoy paying less for electricity. They do not want the giant data center proposed down the road. The American Prospect reported that opposition has surged across political lines, citing a Heatmap poll in which 75% of Americans opposed data centers near them and 61% strongly opposed them. The Guardian reported that the backlash is splitting conservatives from Silicon Valley allies and forcing the Trump administration to respond. After years of being told artificial intelligence is inevitable, voters have located the part of inevitability that requires a zoning permit. The politics have moved fast because the physical buildout has moved fast. Data centers require enormous amounts of power, significant land and, in some designs, substantial water. Communities are raising concerns about utility prices, noise, farmland, water use and who pays for new generation and transmission.

Free Imran Khan!

Free Imran Khan now! 

Very sad moments for all Pakistani people . #Imran Khan #imrankhan

The Story

Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was imprisoned by Pakistani authorities after his arrest in August 2023. 

Khan, who founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has faced multiple legal cases following his removal from office via a no-confidence vote in April 2022. His detention stems from convictions in corruption cases as well as charges related to leaking state secrets and incitement during protests. Some convictions were overturned or suspended on appeal, but new charges kept him in solitary confinement since.

He rose to fame as a cricket player who led Pakistan’s national team to a Cricket World Cup victory in 1992. 

Khan’s message before prison: 

"My arrest was expected & I recorded this message before my arrest. It is one more step in fulfilling 'London Plan' but I want my party workers to remain peaceful, steadfast and strong. We bow before no one but Allah who is Al Haq. We believe in La illaha Ilallah.

“My movement is not for myself, but for you, for the future of your children,” he stressed, recalling that Pakistan too was founded on the concept of freedom. If you will not stand up for your rights, you will live a life that is of slaves and slaves have no life. Slaves are similar to how ants are - on the ground - they do not fly high. This is a battle for your rights and freedom … you have to continue peaceful protests until you get your right, which is seeing a government elected by you and not a qabza mafia,” Imran added.

Khan's imprisonment sparked widespread protests by PTI (the party he was Chairman of) supporters demanding his release, with notable clashes in May 2023 and November 2024.

Reports of restricted access for family, lawyers, and party members have raised concerns about isolation and potential mistreatment. Health issues, including significant vision loss in one eye attributed to delayed medical care, emerged in early 2026. Khan and his party maintain that the cases are politically motivated by the military establishment and the government of Shehbaz Sharif.

Following the verdict, Imran’s lawyer Barrister Gohar Khan expressed his disappointment and deemed it “a murder of justice”. “I was very disappointed and disheartened,” he told Dawn.com. “We weren’t even given a chance. We weren’t even allowed to cross [examine], to say anything in defence or conduct our arguments. I haven’t seen this kind of injustice before.”

Later, PTI lawyer Shoaib Shaheen said in a press conference that their witnesses were not allowed in the court. Presenting witnesses was a fundamental right and the PTI was not given a “fair trial”, he decried. “Justice is being bulldozed and buried,” the lawyer said.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed “serious reservations in relation to the legality” of [the] judgement leading to Imran’s arrest.

In a statement, SCBA President Barrister Abid S. Zuberi and Secretary Muqtedir Akhtar Shabbir said the judgement was issued in a “blatant violation” of the Islamabad High Court’s order, in which the trial court judge was asked to re-examine the jurisdiction of the ECP’s complaint.

“It is truly unfortunate that the Court has decided the case in absolute haste and without affording the accused a fair opportunity of hearing and in the absence of the counsel for the accused, which is in blatant violation of the accused’s fundamental rights as enshrined under the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the statement read.

The statement added: “That the historical trend of disqualification and ban of popular political leaders by the judiciary is against the principles of democracy and fair trial as enshrined under the Constitution".

The key motivator for his imprisonment

A leaked diplomatic cable surfaced, indicating that former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's dismissal from office may have been influenced by his visit to Russia on the day Ukraine was invaded in 2022. This revelation, shared by an American outlet, suggested that U.S.-Pakistan relations were strained by Khan's actions.

The document, known as a cypher, allegedly details conversations between Pakistani and U.S. officials. It shows the U.S. expressing displeasure at Khan's visit, indicating a shift in bilateral ties. 

So without a doubt Khan was trying to slip Pakistan out of the UK-U.S. orbit in order for his nation to be a sovereign state.

But the U.S. freaked out over his visiting Moscow. Khan was essentially signaling that his government would not join the anti-Russia phobia that was emanating from the traditional western colonial nations.

The rest of the story is obvious as Khan's 'sentence' will likely reduce his physical and mental abilities to be any real threat to the military government.

- Portions of this post were drawn from various article found on the internet. 

Trump's 'Board of Peace is failing'

Do watch Athena Rayburn, Chief Executive of the Association of International Development Agencies, deliver a devastating assessment of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and its handling of Gaza before the UN.

AIDA represent more than 100 international development and humanitarian NGOs trying to deliver aid to Gaza as Israel’s occupation continues.

She details restrictions on humanitarian aid, blocked medical supplies, and the continued killing of Palestinians under the so-called ceasefire. Rayburn challenges claims that Gaza is improving, arguing that a reduced risk of starvation means little while Palestinians remain at risk of shelling.

“The Board of Peace is failing,” she tells the Council, calling on its members to take responsibility for what is happening under their watch.   

'What I Saw Inside CNN Shocked Me'

Ana Maria Monjardino left CNN in October 2023, after deciding she could no longer reconcile her ethics with the organisation’s coverage of Israel and Palestine.

In this episode of The Walkout, Ana Maria reflects on her time inside CNN, the challenges of platforming Palestinian voices in mainstream media, why she ultimately resigned, and what she learned about journalism after leaving one of the world's biggest news organisations.

We also discuss independent journalism, impartiality and objectivity, and Ana Maria's subsequent reporting on Palestine-Israel in Latin America. 

Professor Marandi: White House has trapped itself in a ‘lose-lose’ situation

Inside the Board of Piss

Jared Kushner has a scheme to profit off world peace — and Gaza is the testing ground. 

There’s a web of private equity billionaires with ties to Israel and shadowy corporate armies who stand to profit off never-ending conflict. 

We investigated Trump’s Board of Peace. 

Ex-Settler Explains Why Israel Is Spiraling

It’s astonishing how comprehensive Israel’s program of indoctrination and control of its citizens is. Here’s the story from a guy who escaped this Truman World.

Daniel Klein was born and raised in Efrat, one of the largest religious Zionist settlements in the occupied West Bank. His family helped build the settlement movement, and he grew up immersed in its schools, institutions, theology, politics, and culture before serving as an IDF tank commander. In this conversation, Daniel shares an insider's account of life inside the religious Zionist world, the psychology of belief, the realities of the settlement project, and how Zionism can present a different face to different people while maintaining a powerful hold over identity and belonging.

We discuss Efrat, the West Bank, violent settlers, the relationship between Judaism and Zionism, the dehumanization of Palestinians, military service, nationalism, religious identity, cognitive dissonance, moral injury, and the personal costs of dissent. Daniel explains why leaving Zionism can mean losing family, friends, community, status, and purpose. He describes the process by which ideological systems reproduce themselves, how Israelis are taught to understand Palestinians, and why so many people remain trapped inside narratives.

We also explore Daniel's awakening during COVID, what caused his worldview to unravel, why he believes Israeli society is entering a period of profound crisis, and what lessons his journey offers for all of us.