Links 8/20/2025

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21 comments

1. The Rev Kev August 20, 2025 at 7:13 am

   “Trump makes deeply personal confession about brokering Russia-Ukraine peace deal”

   Not sure if there is room enough in Heaven for both Trump and God. What is the difference between the two? God doesn’t believe himself to be Trump whereas…

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   1. Ben Panga August 20, 2025 at 7:58 am

      Donnie’s quote: “I want to get to heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I hear I’m at the bottom of the totem pole,’ Trump said.’If I can get to heaven, this [ending Ukraine war] will be one of the reasons.’

      Too many apocalypse believers and other religious nuts in Trump’s orbit/ear. I’m not sure I’m ready for God-loving Trump.

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      1. Wukchumni August 20, 2025 at 8:17 am

         Aporkalypse Now

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      2. Daniil Adamov August 20, 2025 at 8:31 am

         If it makes him work for peace, I’ll take it. (But that is a very big if.)

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   2. Wukchumni August 20, 2025 at 8:01 am

      Overheard on the other side of the pearly gates…

      ‘For Pete’s sake, you got to get rid of all these pearls, yeah they were popular for a heartbeat before the turn of the century, but let me update things for you, I can promise you the greatest gates the world has ever seen.’

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   3. griffen August 20, 2025 at 8:58 am

      From the climactic episode to end the Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix, said murderer who was sentenced to the death penalty begins to search out the prison chaplain. Even asking the very difficult question, if he is worth redeeming after all the evils he committed. Later he is indeed baptized before he is beaten to a pulp.

      I’m a bit torn on whether Jeffrey Dahmer is in hell with people like Hitler and Stalin, but that is beyond my judgement….Dear Leader should just simply ask his friend Franklin Graham on the path to righteousness and reaching heaven. Adding on, good grief those thoughts by DJT should just stay inside the brain.

      And for RK, from a previous posting discussing Oracle corporation roots with the CIA, there is that book titled that way, it’s the biography of Larry Ellison of all people.

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2. Wukchumni August 20, 2025 at 7:53 am

   Down the line, don’t go over
   There’s a limit you went over
   So much time, time runs out
   Time ran out, make it down

   Would you like to go to Heaven tonight?
   Would you like to go to Heaven tonight?
   Aah, aah, aah, aah
   Would you like to go to Heaven tonight?
   Would you like to go to Heaven tonight? Aah

   Down the line, couldn’t have lied
   Couldn’t have lied much more if you tried
   And tried and tried, you’re as guilty
   It’s a crime, ooh, it’s a crime

   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?
   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?
   Aah, aah, aah, aah

   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?
   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?
   Aah, aah, aah, aah
   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?
   Would you like to go to heaven tonight?

   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come down
   You can never come down, you can never come

   Down, inside, you’re getting nervous
   Nobody ever called your bluff before, oh

   Heaven Tonight, by Cheap Trick

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqh71KfxpY8&list=RDbqh71KfxpY8

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3. Skip Kaltenheuser August 20, 2025 at 7:58 am

   Re: Nearly a Decade Later, the Unmasking Scandal Comes Full Circle

   I never really bought into Russiagate, not when Sheldon Adelson was showering cash on Trump.

   I applaud Taibbi’s steady work to expose the political fraud, and that of writers like Jeff Gerth, who sliced and diced media coverage in his Columbia Journalism Review four-part series.
   https://www.cjr.org/special_report/trumped-up-press-versus-president-part-1.php

   But I do believe a foreign power was working to help the Trump campaign in 2016, as revealed by James Bamford in the March 23, 2023 cover piece for The Nation, The Trump Campaign’s Collusion With Israel, https://www.thenation.com/article/world/trump-israel-collusion/

   I am disappointed that, to my knowledge, Taibbi hasn’t also focused on Israelgate. Particularly given the possibility that the push of Russiagate, purveyed by those long in Israel’s pocket like Adam Schiff, might have been running cover for Israel’s involvement.

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   1. flora August 20, 2025 at 8:48 am

      Israel is the other 3rd rail of American politics. / ;)

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   2. Michaelmas August 20, 2025 at 8:56 am

      I am disappointed that … Taibbi hasn’t focused on Israelgate.

      It would be instant crucifixion for him if he did.

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4. The Rev Kev August 20, 2025 at 8:08 am

   “China Scoops Up Russian Crude Amid U.S. Pressure on India”

   The Chinese must be laughing about this one. Probably they are buying extra oil for strategic reserves while oil is at a good price for them. I have no idea why Indians are backing off buying Russian oil as even if they complied 100%, then the Trump regime would come up with a new demand on India. As long as Trump is convinced that there is still money on the table to take, he will keep on coming back for more.

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   1. leaf August 20, 2025 at 8:49 am

      Feels like the Indians are still sitting on the fence, maybe hoping Trump won’t tax remittances if they comply

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5. upstater August 20, 2025 at 8:38 am

   Add this to Democrats en déshabillé…

   The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis NYT archive
   The party is bleeding support beyond the ballot box, a new analysis

   The problem is branding! They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

   “It would be naïve to call 2024 anything other than a reckoning on the Democratic brand,” said Tory Gavito, the president of Way to Win, a progressive donor network, who argued that more spending on nonpartisan registration was misguided. “To solve a brand problem, you need people talking about that brand — and that requires partisan dollars.”
   But that would be a huge shift, including for politically minded donors, who reap tax breaks* from their gifts to some groups that register voters on a nonpartisan basis and that are considered charities. The donors would not get such tax breaks if they gave to traditional PACs.
   Registering voters is a big business — and an expensive endeavor. Every new sign-up costs $30 to $80, one official involved in registering voters said. The memo from Mr. Strauss, who declined to comment, estimated that netting extra Democratic votes by registering Black voters cost $575 per vote in 2020.

   * so the good billionaires get tax deductions for their charitable work registering voters through the NGO complex?

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   1. upstater August 20, 2025 at 8:51 am

      I guess this is the type of branding real democrats want?

      At Hamptons Fund-Raiser, Cuomo Predicts Help From Trump Is on the Way NYT archive

      Andrew M. Cuomo, who trails in the polls for New York City mayor, is said to have told a crowd of donors that he believed President Trump would help smooth his path to victory.

      Maybe handsy Andy thinks Trump will deport Mamdani?

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6. Wukchumni August 20, 2025 at 8:54 am

   How surging summer humidity is making nights hotter Washington Post
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Worked in the yard yesterday beneath shaded trees @ 90 degrees and quite delightful this dry heat gig we got going on here on the left coast, bottom corner pocket.

   This is officially the most pleasant summer i’ve experienced from a temperature aspect in my 3 score + 3 on this good orb, and its much the same thoughout the golden state, although an itty bitty heat wave is coming Friday with promised 105 temps and then back to the mid 90’s next week.

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7. Wukchumni August 20, 2025 at 9:03 am

   One search makes you longer
   And one’s search returns are small
   And the searches that Google gives you
   Don’t do anything at all
   Go ask AI
   When your back’s against the wall

   And if you go chasing for information
   And you know you’re going to fall
   Tell ’em a hookah-smoking Silicon Valleyite
   Has given you the call
   Call AI
   When immediacy enthralls

   When the men on the Artificial Intelligence board
   Get up and tell you where to go
   And you’ve just had some kind of mushroom
   And your mind is moving low
   Go ask AI
   I think it’ll know

   When logic and proportion
   Have fallen sloppy dead
   And the White Knight is talking backwards
   And the Red Queen’s off with her head
   Remember what your mouse said

   Feed your head
   Feed your head

   White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUXxSIUYyYQ&list=RDRXV1Fkh9D_I

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8. The Rev Kev August 20, 2025 at 9:10 am

   “Trump Breaks Europe Over His Knee: Unprecedented Optics of White House ‘Losers’ Gathering’ ”

   Trump continues to humiliate the European leadership. Scott Bessent has just announced that when they purchase US weapons to be sent on to the Ukraine, that he is adding a 10% shake-down, errr, surcharge on those payments. He further said that the increased price could offset costs for any direct support Washington provides for Kiev. Note that he is adding a surcharge of 10% to not offset the costs of what he is doing but what he might do down the track. So Europe will not cover 100% of the costs of US military equipment to be sent to the Ukraine but 110% instead-

   https://www.rt.com/news/623310-europeans-paying-premium-us-arms/

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   1. ilsm August 20, 2025 at 9:36 am

      US’ direct support to Kiev is filling in Kiev’s “kill chain”. Intell and U.S. tech support, with profit to keep Kiev shooting.

      This suggests that Trump is serious about sustaining project NATO encirclement of Russia.

      Russia needs Odessa and S400s in range of that big NATO airbase forming in Rumania.

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9. ambrit August 20, 2025 at 9:15 am

   A poor woman we know has been caught up in the “work requirement” for Food Stamps. she and her husband often work “under the table” for local ‘elites.’ He does handyman work and she does traditional housemaid tasks. When she was bumped off od Food stamps recently, she was faced with the task of ‘validating’ so many hours of work per week to resume getting assistance. She soon ran into a problem. many of the people who ’employed’ her did not want to attest to their paying her due to fears of tax issues. If she was not “officially” registered as a small business, with attendant tax burdens, the “employers” feared that those tax burdens would be shifted over to them. So, few of the poor woman’s “employers” agreed to give the “employee” a document stating the number of hours a week that the poor woman worked for them in their homes.
   The upshot is that the poor couple now have to scrape by without Food Stamps.
   I became aware of this through the husband’s sudden increase in attempts at eliciting largess or work around the place. When asked, the man was forthcoming about the situation. I had to set hard limits on the number and scope of financial importunings the man could engage in.
   As a related item, it is through these two that I have become aware of a veritable explosion of financial scams flooding the “lower classes” of late.
   Stay safe. Hold tight to your wallets and pocketbooks!

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10. The Rev Kev August 20, 2025 at 9:28 am

    “The War Was The Easy Bit.”

    ‘The only possible counterweight in the circumstances was the United States, but that country was largely demobilised, and turning inwards on itself in a frenzy of anti-communism. Its main foreign policy preoccupation was China.’

    Aurelian is talking about post-WW2 United States and I wonder about the timing. When the Communists finished taking over China the US was now shut out of mainland China so did the US compensate by devoting more resources to the newly formed NATO?

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11. Mikel August 20, 2025 at 9:30 am

    The Israel vs “the resistance” header is beyond annoying. It makes it seem like there exists some force that requires Israel keep bombing and demolishishing…serves their narrative.
    At most, people are trying to negotiate their way out of a slaughter.
    They are in the “break out the bulldozers” stage.

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