Join Us at the 2023 World Economic Conference in Orlando, Florida!

? Dates: November 17, 18, and 19 ? Location: Orlando, Florida, USA (or tune in from home with our virtual ticket options)

Are you ready to unlock the future of economics and finance? Prepare for an unforgettable World Economic Conference experience in sunny Orlando, Florida! This premier event is your gateway to insights, networking, and valuable resources that will supercharge your understanding of the global economy.

?️ What’s Included for In-Person Attendees:

1. Event Admission: Enjoy reserved seating assigned based on the order of ticket sales, ensuring you have a prime view of every presentation.
2. Presentation Slides: Gain access to the presentation slides from all speakers, allowing you to delve deeper into the topics discussed.
3. Video Recording: Can’t make it to a session? No worries! You’ll receive access to video recordings of all conference presentations, so you can catch up at your convenience.
4. WEC Event App: Connect with the conference on a whole new level. Access presentation slides, bonus reports, recordings, and more via the official WEC Event App.
5. Bonus Conference Materials: Get a package of bonus conference-related materials, including exclusive bonus reports and videos (as provided by Martin Armstrong).
6. Morning Information Sessions: Don’t miss out on important morning information sessions, screened on-site in the meeting room on Saturday and Sunday.
7. Networking Opportunities: Exclusive access to the Event App Networking Feature allows you to connect with fellow attendees, both in-person and virtual, fostering valuable professional relationships.
8. Culinary Delights: Savor delicious breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, prepared to keep you energized throughout the day.
9. Cocktail Reception: Kick off the conference in style at our Friday evening cocktail reception. Meet and mingle with fellow attendees while enjoying refreshing drinks.
10. Swag Bag: As a token of our appreciation, each in-person attendee will receive a swag bag filled with goodies, including an Armstrong Economics notebook, pen, and an event collector’s mug!

Unable to travel? We also have two different ticket options for those wishing to attend virtually! 

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a global gathering of economic and financial minds. Secure your spot at the World Economic Conference in Orlando, Florida, and gain the knowledge, connections, and resources you need to thrive in the world of finance and economics.

Space is limited, so act now and reserve your seat! Visit our Events page to register and join us in sunny Orlando this November.

Now available at all major retailers!

The eBook will be available shortly.

The second edition of “The Plot to Seize Russia – The Untold History” is now available for purchase in paperback and hardcover on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The ebook will be available shortly.

Book description:

“Take care of Russia,” Boris Yeltsin said as he departed his presidency in August 1999. These words were directed at current Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin specifically picked Putin as his predecessor to prevent the takeover of Russia.

So, who was Yeltsin warning against? Newly declassified documents from the Clinton Administration prove that there was a plot to rig the Russian election of 2000. These never-before-seen documents confirm numerous attempts to implement pro-Western policies using the Russian oligarchy headed by Boris Berezovsky.

On the other side were the communists who desired a return to the glory days of the Soviet Union. As one of the largest international hedge fund managers, author Martin Armstrong found himself in the middle of perhaps the greatest espionage, or attempt at a regime change for Russia, in modern history.

The Plot to Seize Russia pulls back the curtain to expose the most extraordinary attempt to seize power in modern history, but with the pen rather than armies. These declassified documents reveal a plot that has altered our thinking about the relations between the United States and Russia. The thirst for power comes seething through every line of these papers that alter our perception of reality, change the course of history, and now threaten us with World War III.

COMMENT: Marty, no award could cover what you have accomplished. The forecast that AfD would win was outstanding and as impressive as your forecast back on Poland. I am still amazed at how your computer forecasts war years in advance, politics, and major market movements. What you have discovered is like the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. The euro and Dax all had turning points right of schedule.

Just amazing.

Friedrich

The success of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) in state elections is a warning sign to the madman of Ukraine, that the tide is turning against him. The AfD is now state’s largest party but short of a majority.

Nevertheless, the Neocon Western Press that keeping pushing the false narative that Russia invaded Ukraine “UNPROVOKED” simply want war and to picture as many dead bodies in the headlines as was the case was the famous case of Pulitzer vs Hearst who manufactured the Spanish American War for profit.

Quite frankly, I do not know how these people can even look themselves in the morror. They press has become the cheerleaders of endless wars and dip their pens in blood to write the next line. They are spinning this as a win for Putin for they fear there may not be any blood that they can write about. they are reporting that there is “unbridled delight in Moscow” with the success of the AfD over the weekend.

The press only supports the Neocons – not the people.  They will constantly bash the AfD and do their best to derail them and slander everything they do. They will use their position to disrupt the politics of Germany and Europe pushing their narative at all times. I remember Margaret Thatcher once told me that if she walked across the Thames River, the press would report it was only because she did not know how to swim.

The Western Warmonger Press ignores the fact that the German youth see no benefit in war with Russia for Ukraine, which is by far the most corrupt country on the planet which has been consistently documented over the years, not to mention the latest missing €70 million missing from Estonia. There there was the revelation that Zelensky was sending $50 million Per Month to USA preparing for the day he has to flee. Then they invested $1.5 billion creating a ski resort from war money?

Ukraine remains the most corrupt government in the world, and they are selling the Ukrainian people for personal wealth and greed with ZERO remorse for their nation or their people. Ukrainian politicians topped all other countries for corruption. Even in the Pandora Papers, 38 Ukrainian politicians have to hide cash offshore – the largest number of corrupt politicians in any other country.  Zelensky’s office tried to justify his use of offshore companies for himself as protecting him against pro-Russian forces, following leaked revelations of pervasive corruption. Even Foreign Policy Magazine has reported that the clock is running out on Zelensky.

Merz has been absolutely braindead putting Germany in the crosshairs of Russia and for what? To keep the EU from collapsing? Let’s be honest here, a country that is supplying weapons to a nation at war during both World Wars I and II made the supplier a target, or at least brought it significantly closer to direct conflict.
During World War II, the US claimed neutrality but it began providing massive military aid to the Allies through the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, effectively becoming the “arsenal of democracy.” Though the US wasn’t an official combatant, this policy had significant consequences. This policy supported Britain and the Soviet Union becoming a major factor in Hitler’s decision to declare war on the United States on December 11, 1941. Hitler saw this aid as a direct threat to Germany’s war effort and believed that by declaring war, he could disrupt this supply line.

Sweden’s most critical contribution was providing Germany with large quantities of iron ore, essential for its war industry. In return, Germany agreed to respect Sweden’s neutrality, provided this supply continued. Sweden also permitted German troops and military supplies to transit its territory. In total, over 2.14 million German soldiers and 100,000 railcars of military supplies were transported through Sweden to the front lines, particularly during the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Germany has closed the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in Berlin in response to an alleged attempted drone attack attributed to Russia. This action has led to Russia retaliating by closing the German consulate in St. Petersburg and all Goethe-Institut branches in the country. Germany’s closure of the Russian consulate is part of escalating tensions between the two nations. Merz takes his order from the warmongering Neocons in control of NATO.

Europe is changing all because the leaders of the pack in Europe have been more interested in trying to preserve the European Experiment in Brussels than the people they pretend to represent when in fact they are simply moving to reestablish the Mideval Serfdom where they become the landlord promising safety from evil Russia building their castle walls and moving to total economic subjugation even pressing with CBDCs to eliminate cash. In Spain, the law requires banks to report cash withdrawals exceeding €3,000 to the authorities for tax control purposes. They want to know what your are doing with cash. The potential fines are up to €150,000 for failing to report individuals or financial institutions withdrawing their own money. Obviously, they do not trust their own citizens.

Europe is indeed shifting to the right because Brussel has ignored their culture and flooded Europe with Muslims from some of the most anti-Christian states. This has led to some areas even in Sweden posting signs that Shira Law applies there, ignoring the culture of European countries. These people did not come to assimilate. They brought their culture with them. This has been the #1 reason that the people of Europe are turning to the right against massive immigration. We are seeing this in Austria, France, and Germany.

Austria ??: The right-wing Freedom Party is leading at almost 40%
France ??: Marine Le Pen leading the polls to be President
Germany ??: Polls show AfD consistently the largest party.
Norway ??: The right-wing/Libertarian party leading massively at 33.4%

As we head into 2032, this is the most intense part of the wave. Europe is tearing apart at the seams. All we can hope for is that the EU breaks up ASAP. But I suspect that they will stage a false flag to desperately create war with Russia ASAP. That is the ONLY was the EU itself can survive or the individual states will break apart because of their authoritarian policies that made less sense than the WOKE Agenda.

In the US, the Progressives will win the House and try to push their insane agenda. That is what is needed for 2028 where we may see the Democratic Party split and the people rise up against this progressive movement.

No matter how many times people throughout history try this same Marxist agenda that constantly fails, they will keep trying no mater what. Mandami has fulfilled our computer model right on target. JP Morgan noe has more people in Texas than NYC. Goldman Sachs has ordered many of its top people move to texas of resign. The New Texas Exchange will surpass NYC.

Even James Carville has declared he is no longer a Democrat. The Progressives need to impose their agenda and once and for all the people will see what communism really was all about. EQUITY was achieve not by raised the lower class, but by eliminating the upper class. There went investment, IPOs, venture capital etc. This will be how the political system self-destructs.

When the Democrats take the House, they will be waging war on Trump. They will impeach him again and probably going after even members of his family, probably Kushner, even for criminal allegations. Trump may retaliate and go after Obama. The next two years is going to be politically crazy. Hence, 2027 will start the volatility like we have not seen before.

The American people are not merely dissatisfied with Washington. They have concluded that the government itself is corrupt. A new Gallup poll found that 89% of American adults believe corruption is widespread throughout the government, the highest reading in the 20-year history of the survey. This is no longer a fringe position dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Nearly nine out of every ten Americans now look at their government and see an institution serving someone other than the people.

The 89% reading rose by an astonishing 10 percentage points in a single year. Perceptions of widespread government corruption had remained between 72% and 79% from 2010 through 2025. The public was already deeply cynical, but something has clearly broken. When almost the entire population believes its government is corrupt, the political system has lost more than popularity. It has lost legitimacy.

Gallup found that 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents, and 83% of Republicans believe government corruption is widespread. Americans cannot agree on immigration, taxation, abortion, foreign policy, health care, or the definition of a woman, yet they have reached near-unanimous agreement that the people running the government cannot be trusted.

The partisan movement reveals how voters process corruption. In Joe Biden’s final year in office, only 57% of Democrats said corruption was widespread. That figure rose to 76% during the first year of Donald Trump’s second term and reached 91% in 2026. Democratic concern exploded by 34 percentage points once the opposing party controlled the White House. Republicans have been more consistent, with approximately eight in ten describing corruption as widespread during the past two years, compared with 87% in 2024.

Both parties recognize corruption most clearly when the other side controls the government. Democrats ignored abuses under Biden and suddenly discovered systemic corruption under Trump. Republicans condemned the Deep State under Biden but became more willing to defend Washington when their party returned to power. This is precisely how the two-party system protects itself. Each side treats corruption as a partisan weapon rather than an institutional disease.

America now has the highest perceived level of government corruption among the 38 nations belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The median across those advanced economies was 59% in 2025, down from 69% in 2009. The United States stood at 79% last year, already 20 percentage points above the OECD median and higher than every other member country. The new American reading of 89% may widen that gap dramatically once complete international figures become available.

Since 2023, Gallup has asked the question in 132 countries, and only four recorded readings nominally above America’s current 89%: Lebanon at 92% in 2024, Peru at 92% in 2025, and Ghana and Nigeria at 90% in 2024. The self-proclaimed guardian of global democracy is now viewed by its own citizens as nearly as corrupt as governments struggling with chronic instability and institutional failure.

Corruption in the United States rarely resembles a politician accepting a suitcase filled with cash. Washington legalized much of its corruption and gave it respectable names such as lobbying, campaign contributions, consulting, public-private partnerships, speaking fees, book deals, foundations, and regulatory cooperation. The transaction is hidden beneath lawyers, nonprofit organizations, political action committees, government contracts, and a revolving door between regulatory agencies and the industries they supposedly regulate.

If a businessman hands a government official cash to obtain favorable treatment, everyone recognizes the bribe. If a corporation contributes millions of dollars to political organizations, hires former regulators, funds policy institutes, and helps write legislation benefiting its industry, Washington calls it participation in democracy. The outcome is often the same, but the paperwork makes it legal.

Members of Congress have access to information capable of moving markets while debating whether they should be permitted to trade individual stocks. Defense contractors finance politicians who approve military spending. Pharmaceutical companies influence agencies that approve and purchase their products. Banks help design regulations governing banks. Technology companies cooperate with government agencies while lobbying against restrictions on their power. Foreign governments and their representatives spend fortunes attempting to purchase influence over American policy.

This is why the public distinguishes between government and business. Gallup found that 71% of Americans believe corruption is widespread in business, an increase of eight points from last year. That is certainly high, but it remains 18 percentage points below the government figure, the largest gap recorded in the American survey. Between 2006 and 2025, perceptions of government corruption averaged 11 points above business corruption. Americans increasingly believe government has become the greater problem.

A private company must generally persuade someone to purchase its product. Government does not require consent. It taxes, regulates, fines, licenses, prosecutes, surveils, borrows, and spends through force of law. Corruption in business can destroy a company, but corruption in government can destroy the rule of law because the people benefiting from the abuse also control the institutions responsible for investigating it.

The national debt is another monument to this system. Washington spends trillions of dollars it does not possess, directs the money toward politically protected interests, and transfers the obligation to taxpayers who had no meaningful influence over the decision. Politicians purchase votes today with borrowed money and leave future generations with the interest bill. Both parties complain about debt while in opposition and expand it when in power because neither side is willing to dismantle the patronage network supporting Washington.

Americans have watched trillions disappear into wars with no clear objective, emergency programs with little oversight, failed infrastructure promises, corporate subsidies, foreign aid, government contractors, and agencies that can never pass a serious audit. The Pentagon has repeatedly failed comprehensive financial audits, yet Congress continues approving larger military budgets. No private corporation could admit that it cannot account properly for its assets and then demand even more money without consequences.

The public also witnessed how government behaved during COVID. Officials imposed lockdowns, closed businesses, censored dissent, issued contradictory directives, and protected pharmaceutical companies while insisting that every decision followed “the science.” Small businesses were destroyed while politically connected corporations expanded. Government officials violated restrictions they imposed upon everyone else, and few faced any accountability. That period taught millions of Americans that emergency power protects the institution before it protects the citizen.

The weaponization of law has deepened the collapse in trust. Each political faction now believes the other uses prosecutors, intelligence agencies, courts, tax authorities, and regulators as political instruments. Justice is no longer perceived as blind. The public increasingly assumes that the outcome depends upon the identity, wealth, connections, and political usefulness of the accused.

This is extremely dangerous for a republic. The rule of law survives because most people voluntarily accept the legitimacy of institutions even when they dislike an individual decision. Once the population believes that laws are selectively enforced and government acts primarily for itself, obedience becomes based upon fear rather than consent.

Elections cannot repair this when the bureaucracy, debt structure, lobbying apparatus, intelligence agencies, regulatory state, and government contractors remain largely untouched regardless of which party wins. Voters change the elected management, but the permanent machinery continues operating. Every president campaigns against Washington and eventually discovers that Washington is larger than the presidency.

The bureaucracy protects itself because its survival does not depend directly upon performance. A business that continually fails eventually loses customers and capital. A government agency that fails demands a larger budget, more employees, and broader authority. Failure becomes evidence that it was not given sufficient resources. Success is defined internally, and accountability disappears into committees, reports, and investigations that rarely punish anyone with power.

Americans finally see the system for what it is. The question is no longer whether government corruption is widespread. Nine out of ten have already answered that question. The issue is how long a republic can survive after its citizens conclude that the government no longer represents them.

Argentina is perhaps the most fascinating economic experiment taking place anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. This was once among the wealthiest nations in the world. Generations of political corruption, socialism, currency destruction, defaults, subsidies, and government intervention turned that enormous potential into repeated economic crises. Javier Milei came to office attempting something politicians almost never do voluntarily: reduce the size of government instead of expanding it.

The latest numbers show that the transformation is far from complete, but Argentina is no longer moving relentlessly in one direction toward collapse. GDP expanded 2.3% year-over-year during the first quarter of 2026 and increased 0.7% from the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economic activity has remained uneven, but June strengthened sharply, with growth exceeding expectations and most major sectors expanding from the previous year. Argentina is beginning to show signs that an economy suffocated for decades may finally be attempting to breathe again.

Inflation remains painful at 33.8% YoY, with prices rising 2.1% during July alone.  Argentina entered the Milei era after inflation had exploded into triple digits. Inflation is still destroying purchasing power, but the government is no longer financing every political promise by endlessly expanding the deficit and then pretending money creation has no consequences. Through July, the national public sector accumulated a primary surplus of roughly 0.9% of GDP and a financial surplus near 0.1% of GDP after interest payments. July alone produced a primary surplus of nearly 3 trillion pesos and a financial surplus of about 245 billion pesos. Compare that with Washington, London, Paris, or Brussels, where politicians cannot even discuss balancing the budget without claiming civilization itself will collapse. Milei infamously stood at the podium with a chainsaw while campaigning, making good on his promise to cut down Argentina’s public sector.

Milei understood one basic fact that Keynesian economists refuse to accept. Government cannot permanently consume more than society produces. Eventually, the debt becomes the economy. Taxes rise to service the debt, borrowing costs increase, productive capital leaves, the currency weakens, and politicians respond by printing even more money. Argentina spent decades trapped inside that cycle.

Argentina and Chile recently revived their cross-border mining framework, opening the door to more than $20 billion in potential investment across major copper projects. Argentina has enormous reserves of lithium, copper, gold, silver, oil, and natural gas that were historically trapped beneath political instability and hostile investment policies. If investors begin believing contracts will be respected and capital will not simply be confiscated whenever government needs money, those resources suddenly become economically valuable.

The Vaca Muerta shale formation could prove even more important. YPF and international partners have submitted a proposed LNG project under Argentina’s new large-investment incentive regime with potential investment eventually reaching $51 billion. Argentina possesses one of the largest shale gas resources in the world, yet political incompetence forced a country sitting on enormous energy wealth to repeatedly struggle with energy shortages and foreign currency problems.

That is the insanity government creates. You can have oil and still import energy. You can have fertile farmland and still destroy agriculture with export taxes. You can possess mineral wealth and prevent anyone from developing it. Resources do not make a nation wealthy. Confidence and the rule of law determine whether anyone will risk capital developing those resources.

Private companies are beginning to notice the change as well. Chinese ride-hailing company Didi plans to invest more than $200 million in Argentina during 2026 after investing around $160 million the previous year. Uber has separately announced plans to invest hundreds of millions over several years. These may seem insignificant compared with enormous mining projects, but they demonstrate the same principle. Capital begins with small commitments, observes whether the rules remain stable, and increases exposure when confidence rises.

Argentina is still nowhere near being fixed. Unemployment remains elevated, industrial production is inconsistent, poverty remains serious, infrastructure needs enormous investment, and inflation is nowhere near acceptable. Anyone proclaiming victory already does not understand economic cycles. You cannot reverse a century of political destruction in two years. But Argentina is providing an important contrast to the direction of much of the West. Europe believes every problem requires another government program. Britain believes the solution to excessive taxation is another tax. Canada expands government while productivity deteriorates. Washington runs trillion-dollar deficits even during economic expansions.

Whether he ultimately succeeds will depend less on speeches than on whether confidence returns. If domestic capital stops fleeing, foreign investment continues rising, energy and mining projects move from announcements into actual construction, inflation continues declining, and the government maintains fiscal discipline, Argentina could enter a very different economic cycle. That is what makes Argentina so important to watch. India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore demonstrate economies rising through industrialization, demographics, manufacturing, and international capital flows. Argentina offers another possibility entirely: whether a nation that destroyed itself through government can recover by finally getting government out of the way.

COMMENT #1: North Korea bombing Kyiv
Dam your dates are good. Www3

Brent

COMMENT #2: I could not believe the comment of Alex Plitsas om Raw Story about how uninformed he is calling Putin a war criminal and ignoring everything from the Merkel using the Minsk Agreement to buy time for Ukraine to build an army as you said negotiating in bad faith. What planet is this guy on or does he read the prewritten script from the Institute for the Study of War?

Jeffrey

COMMENT #3: You are right. Trump gave up on just bombing Iran; he is now attacking their tankers. That should help oil even more.

Rick

REPLY: These attacks have come right on target to the week and even the day. I do not see any resolution for Iran or Ukraine. Iran knows it has a shot at influencing the US and Israeli elections just ahead. I doubt that they would surrender before then. This is not my opinion. I do not have that luxury. The computer projected the only possible shift in the Iranian government would come during the first quarter 2027 – not before.

With Ukraine, I couldn’t believe the question to Kushner by the Kyiv Press how could he even negotiate with Putin they claim is a war criminal. The computer shows Ukraine will not exist as a country. Perhaps that is karma. I find it really hypocritical that Ukraine complains North Korea sends missiles to be used by Russia while Zelensky pleads for missiles from everybody else. As they say, what goes around, comes around. Everyone has blood on their hands and they seem to be licking their fingers. They do not even wash their hands like Pontius Pilate.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general just said on Monday he had offered his resignation citing political reasons, in the latest sign of disunity in the senior ranks of the Ukrainian ruling elite. Resistance toward Zelensky is running wild.

Ukraine engaged in ethnic cleansing to kill anyone who wasn’t Ukrainian so they could create their country by sheer ruthless force killing Jews, Russians, Polish, and Hungarians for starters. Hitler promised to give them their own country if they followed him. That they did. They killing anyone not Ukrainian and became the motherland of ethnic cleansing.

What they did to people even horrified the Nazis. They cut babies from the womb and put in a live cat. Here they would kill a Jewish mother but throw the children in to be buried alive not to waste bullets.

I have videos that are too horrible to even post captured from Ukrainians where they nail Russian soldiers to crosses and burn them alive. But Putin is the war criminal. The Western Press is in the hands of the Neocons. They cheer war. They will NEVER report the truth! EVER! There are numerous accounts from returning mercenary soldiers about what is really going on. Ukrainians slaughtering Russians who surrender. I have videos so horrible what they do to Russian soldiers they are sickening. Zelensky then wants to put out the bullshit that Russia is committing war crimes?

Anyone who dares to criticize Ukraine they call a Putin supporter. This is their standard tactic so that they can do as they like, paint Russia as evil, and lead the world into complete destruction making sure nobody looks at Ukraine too closely. Everything we have achieved since World War II is being destroyed from a civilized perspective. People have to start demanding their stupid world leaders stop supporting this insanity and simply HONOR the Minsk Agreement. Ukraine was NEVER a nation. The People in the Donbas and Crimea are Russian and they have always been Russian and have a basic human right to decide their own fate.

There are numerous foreign soldiers who volunteered for Ukraine and then have returned shocked at the extent of the war crimes carried out by Ukrainians. You have no idea of the seething hatred of all Russian-speaking people in the Donbas or in Russia. A significant number of Ukrainians have no problem killing and torturing Russians.

They do not teach what the Ukrainian Nazis did in Ukraine because it was too horrible. One report stated:

“Some Ukrainian educators believe the Holocaust is not an appropriate topic for
teaching because in a Holocaust course a professor would need to let Ukrainian
students know that some Jews were betrayed to the Nazis by Ukrainian neighbors. In
addition, the OUN and UPA took part in the annihilation of Jews in western Ukraine,
and this knowledge can shock young Ukrainians. ” id/pg 205

At Babi Yar, during the Ukrainian Holocaust of WWII, the Ukrainian Nazis murdered 33,000 Jews in the ravine over just two days. July 11th is the day of remembrance where the Ukrainian Nazis slaughtered 100,000 Polish and to this day, Ukraine has refused to issue a formal apology. The documentation is extensive. The sheer hatred of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis is unprecedented in history. They make the German Nazis look like boy scouts.

The Polish Association of Memory of Victims of Crimes of Ukrainian Nationalists documented 135 methods of torture and murder practiced by Ukrainian Nazis. Poland officially called the Ukrainian actions genocide. The Ukrainians have been protected by the CIA for decades ONLY because they hated Russians. They continue to protect the Ukrainian Nazis only because they are waging war against Russia.

The Ukrainians were unprecedented in their war crimes during WWII and the sheer outright cruelty one would expect only exists in some B-Rated horror movies. This included:

• Running children through with stakes
• Cutting a person’s throat and pulling their tongue out through the hole
• Sawing a person’s torso in half with a carpenter’s saw
• Cutting open the belly of a woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy, removing the fetus, and replacing it with a live cat, before sewing up her abdomen.
• Cutting open a pregnant women’s abdomen and pouring in broken glass
• Nailing a small child to a door.

These are the people we now support. We have crossed over to the dark side.

History will not reflect on this war with the same rose-colored spectacles used today to support genocide

PRIVATE BLOG – THE DIESEL CRISIS OF 2026

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Indonesia is another economy that deserves far more attention than it receives in the West. The world’s fourth-most-populous nation expanded 5.29% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2026, beating economists’ expectations of 5.10%. That followed an even stronger 5.61% expansion during the first quarter. For the entire first half of 2026, Indonesia grew 5.45%. While governments throughout the developed world struggle to produce 1% or 2% growth without enormous deficit spending, another major Asian economy is steadily expanding above 5%.

Indonesia is particularly interesting because this is not simply another export story. Household consumption, which represents more than half of the economy, increased 5.06% during the second quarter. Construction expanded 6.68%, accommodation and food services grew more than 10%, and manufacturing increased 4.52%. Indonesia has nearly 290 million people, and that enormous internal market provides something smaller export economies simply cannot replicate. As incomes rise, Indonesia increasingly has the ability to generate growth from within.

This is the same transformation I have discussed when looking at India and Vietnam. People can see an economy change in real time when growth begins producing physical results. Roads appear. Airports expand. Industrial parks are constructed. Factories open. Apartment buildings rise. People who never owned automobiles become consumers. Families that previously lived at subsistence levels begin spending money on travel, restaurants, electronics, education, housing, and financial services. That transformation becomes self-reinforcing because an emerging middle class creates entirely new industries around itself.

Indonesia also possesses something Europe desperately lacks: resources. It is the world’s largest producer of nickel, a major producer of coal, palm oil, copper, tin and other commodities, and the government has increasingly refused to remain merely an exporter of raw materials. Indonesia banned exports of unprocessed nickel ore and forced companies seeking access to its resources to invest in domestic processing. That decision helped produce an enormous nickel refining and smelting industry.

This is economic nationalism in its practical form. Why dig something out of the ground, ship it overseas, allow someone else to manufacture the valuable product, and then import that product back at a massive markup? Indonesia wants the factories, processing plants, employment, technology, and capital investment to remain inside Indonesia. The West may complain about these policies when they interfere with its own corporations, but Indonesia is acting in its own national interest.

Investment has remained a major component of this expansion. Gross fixed capital formation increased 6.87% during the second quarter as spending on buildings, machinery, vehicles, and productive equipment continued rising. During the first quarter, investment had already expanded 5.96%. This matters because consumption can produce temporary GDP growth, but productive investment creates the capacity for future growth.

Trade is expanding as well. Indonesian exports reached $140.81 billion during the first six months of 2026, an increase of 4.13% from the previous year. Non-oil and gas exports climbed to $134.58 billion. Imports increased much faster, reaching $137.24 billion, but Indonesia still maintained a $3.58 billion trade surplus during the first half. The surge in imports is not necessarily evidence of weakness when an expanding economy is importing machinery, industrial inputs, and capital goods required for production.

Indonesia’s demographics provide another enormous advantage. The median age is around 30, while Japan is approaching 50 and Europe continues aging rapidly. Indonesia therefore has millions of younger workers entering their most productive and consumption-intensive years. They will need homes, transportation, appliances, financial services, telecommunications, food, entertainment, and infrastructure. This is precisely the demographic foundation that supported the rise of countless economies before it.

There are certainly risks. Indonesia remains heavily exposed to commodity cycles. Rapid industrialization creates environmental problems, and government intervention can easily become excessive. President Prabowo Subianto wants economic growth to eventually reach 8%, and whenever governments become obsessed with hitting predetermined GDP targets, they inevitably risk wasting capital on politically motivated projects. Jakarta must be careful not to destroy the very private investment it is attempting to attract.

The government is already pushing aggressively to accelerate the economy. It has placed 200 trillion rupiah, roughly $11.2 billion, into state-owned banks to increase liquidity and lending, with the program now extended into 2027. Officials want growth to reach 6% this year as part of the effort to eventually achieve Prabowo’s 8% target. That type of intervention must be watched carefully because credit creation can produce artificial booms if capital is directed politically rather than economically.

Nevertheless, Indonesia’s underlying advantages cannot be dismissed. Nearly 290 million people, a young population, enormous natural resources, a growing manufacturing sector, expanding infrastructure, rising household consumption, and a strategic position between the Indian and Pacific Oceans create the foundation for a major economic power.

This is why looking exclusively at Europe, Japan, Britain, and Canada gives people a distorted view of the world economy. Wealth is not disappearing. Production is not disappearing. Opportunity is not disappearing. It is moving.

India is expanding rapidly. Vietnam is becoming a manufacturing powerhouse. Singapore is attracting international capital. Mexico is benefiting from the reorganization of North American production. Indonesia is using its resources, demographics, and domestic market to move further up the economic ladder.

The global economy is undergoing a geographic transformation. The old centers of economic power are burdened by sovereign debt, aging populations, taxation, regulation, and governments desperately attempting to preserve systems created during another era. Much of emerging Asia is still building.

Indonesia has spent decades sitting in the shadow of China, Japan, and India when Western analysts discuss Asia. With an economy growing above 5% and nearly 290 million people moving through this development cycle, that will not remain the case forever.

The sleeping giant is beginning to wake up.

The United States added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly three times the 53,000 expected, while unemployment remained at 4.1%. The report appears impressive until you look beneath the surface and see where these jobs were created, who has left the labor force, and whether wages can still keep pace with the cost of living. Washington measures economic health by counting paychecks, but the average person measures it by what remains after paying for food, fuel, housing, insurance, and debt. A nation can add jobs on paper while its people continue losing purchasing power, and that is precisely the divide now emerging across America.

The composition of the report matters. Food services and drinking places added around 59,000 jobs, while local government education added approximately 42,000. Government employment increased by 35,000 overall, and the information sector lost 23,000 positions. Manufacturing added 16,000 jobs and construction gained 22,000, which is encouraging because those are productive sectors that build actual goods and infrastructure. Nevertheless, restaurants and government education accounted for a substantial portion of the headline increase. That is not the broad private sector employment boom the political class will attempt to portray.

Wages rose 0.3% for the month and 3.1% over the year, but inflation has been running above that pace. This means the average worker can receive a raise and still become poorer in purchasing power terms. The government counts the job and the wage increase, then ignores what remains after the worker pays for food, gasoline, housing, insurance, and interest. People understand instinctively that a larger paycheck means nothing if every essential expense consumes it before the next payday.

The participation rate edged up to 61.6%, but it remains half a percentage point below January. More than 1.3 million people have reportedly left the labor force over the past year. They are not all counted as unemployed because the unemployment rate does not measure everyone without a job. It measures those who meet the government’s definition of actively seeking work. A person who has given up searching can disappear from the statistic without finding employment. This is how the government can maintain a low unemployment rate while millions feel that the job market has become nearly impossible to navigate.

There were 7 million officially unemployed people in August, including 1.9 million who had been without work for at least 27 weeks. The long-term unemployed now account for 27% of everyone officially classified as jobless. These are not people casually moving between positions. They are workers becoming detached from the economy. Employers are reluctant to add people, workers are afraid to quit, and anyone who loses a job may remain outside the system for months.

The white collar labor force is also beginning to feel the change that blue collar workers endured when manufacturing was shipped overseas. Information employment fell by 23,000, including losses in data processing, web hosting, computing infrastructure, and publishing. Artificial intelligence is not eliminating every office job overnight, but it is allowing businesses to expand output without expanding payrolls at the same rate. Young people were sold the fantasy that any college degree guaranteed security while skilled trades were treated as occupations for those who supposedly failed academically. Now many graduates have debt, no practical experience, and must compete with machines capable of performing an expanding share of entry-level work.

June was revised from 20,000 jobs to 31,000, while July was changed from a loss of 23,000 to a gain of 21,000. Those revisions added 55,000 jobs to the previous estimate. The numbers are surveys that are revised as additional information becomes available. The media nevertheless presents the first release as unquestionable fact because it needs an instant narrative for the markets and politics.

The Federal Reserve will now be pressured to raise rates because stronger employment gives it less reason to tolerate inflation. Treasury yields rose after the report because investors understood that the prospect of easier money had weakened. This is where the Sovereign Debt Crisis collides with monetary policy. Washington has surpassed $40 trillion in debt and is spending over $1 trillion annually on interest. Higher rates may be required to restrain inflation, but they also make refinancing government debt increasingly expensive. The Fed cannot protect the purchasing power of the currency and permanently subsidize reckless government borrowing at the same time.

The August report was better than expected, and the manufacturing and construction gains deserve recognition. Yet one month does not erase the underlying divide. Those who already have stable employment may see an economy holding together, while those seeking work face frozen hiring, automated entry-level positions, and wages failing to keep pace with their living costs. The headline says America added 162,000 jobs. The public knows the more important question is what kind of jobs were created and whether those wages can still support a life.

Taiwan has proposed another $4.6 billion in defense spending, and what is particularly interesting is where a substantial portion of that money is going. Taipei wants more than 600 coastal surveillance and reconnaissance drones, over 40,000 coastal attack drones, and an initial fleet of more than 100 unmanned suicide boats. This comes only days after Taiwan’s parliament approved a six-year drone program capped at NT$240 billion, roughly $7.6 billion. Taiwan is not buying drones as some technological experiment. It is preparing for what it believes a future war with China would actually look like.

Ukraine changed warfare because it demonstrated that a relatively inexpensive drone can destroy equipment costing millions of dollars. The Middle East has reinforced the same lesson. Taiwan has obviously been watching. President Lai Ching-te’s government originally sought roughly NT$210 billion to purchase about 210,000 military drones over six years, arguing that modern warfare has made unmanned systems essential to Taiwan’s asymmetric defense. Parliament ultimately approved its own larger NT$240 billion framework, and Taiwan is now moving aggressively to build the industry domestically rather than remain dependent on foreign suppliers.

This is precisely the type of weapon Taiwan would need if there were ever a conflict with mainland China. Taiwan cannot match China ship for ship, aircraft for aircraft, or soldier for soldier. China’s advantage in conventional military power is simply too great. Taiwan’s strategy therefore has to make the cost of crossing the Taiwan Strait and attempting an amphibious invasion so high that Beijing concludes the operation is not worth undertaking.

That is where drones become extremely important. Thousands of inexpensive unmanned weapons can be dispersed around the island, hidden far more easily than conventional aircraft, and launched against ships approaching the coastline. Surveillance drones can identify targets while attack drones strike landing craft, vehicles, supply lines, and troops. Unmanned boats add another dimension by threatening vessels offshore without placing Taiwanese sailors directly in harm’s way. This is asymmetric warfare, and Taiwan clearly believes quantity matters.

Taiwan is also fortifying the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait, which would become strategically important in any invasion scenario. The military established its first drone force there in July and deployed UAVs during the annual Han Kuang exercises. Penghu sits roughly 50 kilometers from Taiwan’s main island and could provide Taiwan with positions from which missiles and drones could threaten Chinese forces attempting to cross the Strait. Beijing understands the importance of these islands just as well as Taipei does.

The government is not hiding its intentions. Taiwanese officials have openly discussed creating what American strategists have called a “hellscape” in the Strait, where enormous numbers of drones, missiles, mines, and unmanned vessels could overwhelm an invading force. Whether such a strategy would actually stop China is another question entirely, but this is clearly the direction military planning has taken.

What concerns me is the timing because Taiwan is not acting as if war is some impossible event decades into the future. Defense spending for 2027 is proposed to exceed NT$1 trillion for the first time, with the broader defense budget projected at roughly $35 billion. President Lai has said Taiwan intends to raise defense spending toward 5% of GDP by 2030. Governments do not make investments of this magnitude unless they believe the geopolitical environment has fundamentally changed.

This does not mean China invades Taiwan tomorrow, nor should every military procurement announcement be portrayed as proof that war is inevitable. Nevertheless, the entire region is preparing for a confrontation that politicians continue telling the public they supposedly want to prevent. China is expanding its military capabilities, Taiwan is rapidly increasing defense expenditures, Japan is rearming, and the United States continues restructuring its forces throughout the Pacific. Every participant says these preparations are intended to preserve peace while simultaneously preparing for war.

China itself dominates the global commercial drone industry and much of the supply chain required to manufacture them. Taiwan obviously cannot prepare for a conflict with China using critical components that would disappear the moment hostilities began. Taipei is therefore attempting to establish what it calls a “non-red” supply chain that excludes Chinese components while building domestic production capacity. This is as much an industrial policy as a military one.

This is where the world is moving as globalization continues to fracture. Defense is no longer simply about possessing weapons. Governments are realizing that they must control the factories, semiconductors, communications equipment, raw materials, energy, and supply chains necessary to replace those weapons during an extended conflict. Taiwan happens to possess one of the world’s most important semiconductor industries, but even that becomes a vulnerability when the island depends upon imported energy and materials.

Modern warfare is rapidly moving away from the assumption that victory belongs exclusively to whoever owns the most expensive weapons platform. A $100 million aircraft or multimillion-dollar armored vehicle can now be threatened by technology costing a fraction of that amount. The battlefield is becoming increasingly automated, decentralized, and dependent upon enormous quantities of relatively inexpensive systems.

Taiwan has clearly absorbed that lesson. The proposed supplementary budget alone includes more than 40,000 coastal attack drones, and the broader six-year program could ultimately produce a drone force numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Taiwan is preparing to saturate the battlefield rather than merely purchase a handful of extraordinarily expensive weapons and hope they survive the opening days of a conflict.

The political danger is that every military buildup creates another buildup on the opposite side. Taiwan says it needs drones because China threatens invasion. Beijing points to Taiwan’s expanding military cooperation with Washington as evidence that separatist forces are preparing for confrontation. Washington then cites China’s military expansion to justify additional weapons for Taiwan. This is how an arms race develops even when every government insists it is acting defensively.

Taiwan is therefore becoming one of the places to watch closely as we move toward the end of this decade. The investment in drones is not simply another defense contract. It reflects a fundamental change in how Taipei believes a war with China would be fought and demonstrates that Taiwan is preparing seriously for the possibility that deterrence could eventually fail.

Some people have complained that I said that Iran was winning and all they have to do to declare victory is survive. I am not here to read the propaganda. I have to call the shots according to what my computer is forecasting. I have also warned that the Neocons advising President Trump should be taken out of their positions in chains. They are putting not just the USA at risk, but the entire world with their warmongering stupidity.

I have also written about how they have launched so many missiles at Iran, assuming they would bomb it into submission to the point that the stockpile is depleted by about 2/3rds and these things are far too sophisticated so the military-industrial complex can make their fortune as the new merchants of death, that it will take until 2029 to restore the stockpile. That means the USA will be defenseless conventionally.

This past Thursday, Kuwait’s air defenses lit up over the Gulf again with the patriot batteries and radar networks tracking another wave of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones headed for US military installations across the country. The intercepts worked this time. However, Iran is waging a war of attrition, and it knows how to play the game. Every patriot missile fired in defense comes at a huge price tag that defense analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies say the United States is running out of time for it has already burned through roughly 2/3rds of its pre-war Patriot missile interceptor inventory since February. Production lines cannot restock these missiles until 2029 and no matter what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent think his financial siege will collapse Iran, the numbers to not add up.

Bessent may ne an old market-manipulator with Soros, but his podium does not bestow him with a greater power to manipulate the world economy with hollow words. Iran understands that:

• they can deplete the patriot stock and then rain down missiles to utterly destroy US basis in the Middle East pushing the Great Satan out once and for all, which has been a goal since 1979.
• They also know that dragging this out means they have a shot at overthrowing Trump in the Midterm Elections and just flipping the House will yield 2 years of impeachments, disruptions, and feed the hatred of Trump from the Democrats ensuring this war effort may even come to an end to make Trump go down in history as a loser.
• The October elections in Israel have a shot at removing their arch enemy Netanyahu once and for all.

Cyclically, Netanyahu has made a huge mistake. He got Trump to attack Iran in 2025 and assassinated several of their military leaders. This was the end of the 72-year Revolutionary Cycle on Iran so he just began a whole new cycle and that demonstrated that this would NOT end in one day killing the Ayatolla as he told Trump.

While Jared Kushner, the Jewish son-in-law of President Trump and real estate developer, along with Benjamin Netanyahu have known each other for years, I believe that is how Trump was persuaded to let Netanyahu into the Situation Room to sell his war. Trump trusts Kushner way too much.

The connection between Benjamin Netanyahu and the Kushner family is a long-standing, multi-generational relationship that blends deep personal friendship, significant political alignment, and substantial financial ties. The foundation of their connection is a personal friendship that predates Netanyahu’s political career and Jared Kushner’s role as a White House advisor.

The relationship goes back to the 1980s, when Netanyahu was an Israeli diplomat in New York. He was a frequent overnight guest in the home of Charles Kushner, Jared’s father, in Livingston, New Jersey. On these visits, he would often sleep in Jared’s bedroom, with Jared moving to the basement. Charles Kushner, was a wealthy real estate developer and major donor to Jewish and pro-Israel causes, has been a significant financial backer of Netanyahu’s political career. This support reportedly included donations to the Israeli Likud party and was a factor in legal disputes within the Kushner family.

The personal friendship has translated directly into a strong political alliance, particularly during Jared Kushner’s tenure as a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. That is what I believe the Democrats will have a field-day with after the Mid-Terms.

Kushner’s connection to Netanyahu is indeed inherited through his father, Charles Kushner, who was a longtime donor to Israeli causes. President Trump pardoned Charles Kushner after he was sentenced to prison for fraud-related crimes. In 2005, he was convicted and sentenced to two years in federal prison for 18 federal charges connected to his real estate business and political activities and included:

1. Tax evasion
2. Illegal campaign contributions
3. Witness tampering, which specifically involved a scheme to intimidate a cooperating witness by hiring a sex worker to seduce his brother-in-law and sending the recording to his sister

Destroying your own sister’s marriage revealed the character of Charles Kushner. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison and served his time. Years later, on December 23, 2020, President Donald Trump granted him a full pardon. Despite all of this, he was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to France in May 2025.

Jared Kushner and Netanyahu have had a working relationship (2016-2021). The most significant period of their interaction occurred when Kushner served as a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. During this time, he was the lead architect of the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations.

After leaving the White House, Kushner has remained involved in the region, establishing an investment fund that has received backing from Gulf nations. That raises serious questions of a conflict of interest with anything involving Israel.

Discussions of redeveloping Gaza began long before the war. Kushner discussed plans for redeveloping portions of Palestine in his 2020 peace plan. This has caused some to question if the war on Gaza was in fact to grab beach front. That may also become a hot topic of investigations by Democrats post-Midterms.

Real estate developers have been eyeing Gaza and have proposed numerous construction projects for Gaza. Harey Zahav, an Israeli real estate firm, created blueprints for luxury settlements along the West Bank. The company envisions beachfront homes build upon demolished land.

President Donald Trump allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be in the White House Situation Room. The February 2026 meeting was reportedly a high-stakes, almost secret pitch by Netanyahu to convince Trump to go to war with Iran – his lifelong dream. The meeting took place on February 11th, 2026, a highly unusual event where a foreign leader was invited into the White House Situation Room to brief the U.S. president and his senior advisors to see his life-long dream of destroying Iran and achieving regime change by sheer force.

During the presentation, Netanyahu laid out his vision for the war, making several key predictions:

1. Iran’s ballistic missile program could be destroyed in weeks.
2. Tehran would be too weak to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
3. The regime was ripe for collapse and that an uprising could be sparked from within.

Netanyahu’s scenario was the sales-job of the century to convince Trump’s decision to go to war. Netanyahu claimed that Iran would be able to deliver a nuke to the USA as always in a matter of weeks. Trump reportedly responded to the presentation by saying “sounds good to me” or something to that effect, which was seen as a clear signal of his intent. Little did he know that Netanyahu was destroying Trump’s legacy.

The initial optimism in the Situation Room was not shared by key members of Trump’s own administration. An overnight assessment by U.S. intelligence officials deeply undercut Netanyahu’s predictions. Sources say that CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly described the regime-change scenarios proposed by Netanyahu as “farcical.” Sources also say that Secretary of State Marco Rubio went even further, calling the idea “bullshit.”

Despite these warnings, and opposition from other advisors like Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump ultimately decided to proceed with the war, pursuing the more limited goals of striking Iran’s military leadership and nuclear program rather than the full regime change Netanyahu had sold.

I believe Trump listened to Kushner over everyone else. The Kushner and Netanyahu family ties and Netanyahu trying to get the United States to fight his war has been a sales-pitch since 1996. As stated, Netanyahu;s career was also funded by his long-time friend of Charles Kushner.

Jared Kushner is amazingly Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor. He was present at key meetings and played a central role in Middle East policy, being the architect of the “Deal of the Century” and involved in pre-war negotiations with Iran. While the specific person who “arranged” the meeting is not named and will no doubt be shrouded in secrecy that the Democrats will no doubt dig into, this deep web of personal and political relationships between the Kushners and Netanyahu likely served as the background context that made such an extraordinary invitation even possible.

It is time President Trump admit he made a mistake listening to Netanyahu. The world knows this is Netanyahu’s War. Why do down with the sinking ship for Netanyahu? He admitted to a mistake before. We all make mistakes. Own it! He said in regard to that Hollywood tape:  “I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”

It’s time Trump throws Netanyahu under the bus. He is a sick individual and an obstacle to any peace deal EVER in the Middle East. What Netanyahu has done and  any American who conspired with him to manipulate Trump could even rise to the level of treason.

The U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran, including the killing of its leader, unquestionably violated international law that Netanyahu always disregards. The foundational rule is found in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state has only TWO exceptions.

Authorization from the UN Security Council .

Self-defense under Article 51, which permits force only in response to an actual armed attack

The UN Security Council did NOT approve the U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran, including, and MOST CERTAINLY, the killing of its Supreme Leader. In fact, multiple official statements and reports explicitly describe these actions as being taken without Security Council authorization. Netanyahu’s perpetual claim since 1996 has been his justification being “preventive” or “anticipatory” self-defense is NOT accepted in international law, as Iran did not pose an “imminent” threat at the time of the attack and US intelligence agreed with the assassment.

The strikes also raised serious concerns regarding the specific targets. International law grants heads of state special immunity, meaning they are not to be made targets of military attack. Hitler committed suicide rather than be captured. The deliberate killing of a nation’s supreme leader has been specifically condemned as a severe violation of this principle and an act of political assassination. This is constantly Netanyahu’s agenda and he never cares about international law.

Furthermore, attacks that target civilians or civilian infrastructure, such as a school, taking out the water supply, are considered potential violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes. The Iranian representative to the UN has formally characterized the attacks on civilian sites as constituting “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.” It seems that getting Trump involved was Netanyahu’s security blanket that would absolve him of all war crimes.

While the CIA has NOT been the primary agency issuing formal “threat” warnings, the U.S. intelligence community and the Pentagon have expressed serious concerns about Israeli actions that could be seen as threatening U.S. national security. The core of the concern appears to be about espionage, not military aggression. They have been funding opposition to candidates for Congress they see as anti-Israel.

Vice President JD Vance stated in a 2026 interview that Epstein “seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center.” There are now allegations in newly released FBI documents mention that Jeffrey Epstein had links to Israeli intelligence and that Jared Kushner was a central power broker within the Trump presidency, who also had ties to Israeli intelligence-adjacent networks.

I have stated before that Robert Maxwell was part of the “club” and he funded the coup against Gorbachev with the deal that having Israel then recognize the coup as a legitimate government that was seeking to take Russia back to the USSR hinged on the agreement that they would allow all Jews to migrate to Israel. Once again, nobody cared what they would do to the Russian people or to resurrect the Cold War. The coup failed and Epstein in an email wrote that Israel killed Maxwell after he wanted them to cover his trading losses.

The primary organization that makes political donations as part of its lobbying efforts is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) . It is considered the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in the United States . Its influence is felt through its direct lobbying of Congress and, significantly, through the massive sums it spends on elections via a connected “super PAC” that appears to be a grey area of lobbying for a foreign government. I believe they targeted 48 member of Congress and defeated them all.

In June 2016, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., and Paul Manafort met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. That was a meeting about the lies that were used to create the Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on Russia promoted by Bill Browder and pushed by John McCain. That was a total fabrication.

Democrats are feeling confident about their chances of retaking the House even as the GOP successfully redrew more seats to their advantage in the past year’s controversial mid-decade redistricting fight. However, the Senate, once seen as a longshot for Democrats, now appears in striking distance. And both parties are investing major resources in states and districts where Trump won by double digits in 2024.

Nonetheless, the Democratic position in the Senate after electing a Yearly Bullish Reversal previously leaves this door open plus we have a Panic Cycle in 2027 in the Senate. If this proves to be a Democratic VICTORY, they are going to make not just Trump’s life a living hell who will curse the day he ever listened to Netanyahu, they will target Jared Kushner and try to send him off to tax-free living like his father did.

COMMENT: Marty, I hear you cook for your dogs, and you have said they are your greatest companions. My dog detected cancer in me before any doctor. She saved my life. They say they have always been our spirit guides, like a guardian angel in the physical world. Keep them close. They will love you more than any human can possibly fathom.

Jake

REPLY: There is perhaps no greater story of loyalty and devotion than that of Hachikō, the Akita who waited for his owner, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno, for over nine years following the professor’s sudden death in 1925. Each day, Hachikō returned to the train station where he had once greeted his master returning from work. His vigil lasted from May 1925 until his own death on March 8, 1935—a period often recorded with remarkable precision as 9 years, 9 months, and 15 days. So profound was this devotion that a bronze statue was erected in his honor, marking the very spot where he died waiting for his beloved companion.

Yet Hachikō is but one chapter in a far longer story. Ancient writers frequently wrote about dogs, with accounts ranging from detailed manuals on hunting to tender epitaphs for cherished pets. Beyond their practical roles as hunters and guardians, dogs were clearly valued as companions from the earliest times. Some of the most moving evidence comes from funerary inscriptions. Consider the 3rd-century AD epitaph for a dog named Stephanos, whose owner, Rhodope, wrote that she “shed tears for and buried like a human.” Another inscription speaks of a dog named Parthenope, whose owner buried her “giving this favor in return for that pleasure.” These are not the words of mere pet owners; they are expressions of genuine grief and love.

If you have seen the latest film adaptation of The Odyssey, you may recall Homer’s inclusion of Argus, the loyal dog who serves as a powerful symbol of fidelity and loss. After waiting twenty years for his master Odysseus’s return, Argus is the only one to recognize him—and he dies shortly after. It remains one of the most famous and poignant stories of a dog in all of classical literature.

You may have heard the saying that all dogs go to heaven. I believe that sentiment may trace its origins to ancient Egypt. There, dogs were believed to be spirit guides and companions for the deceased in the afterlife. This belief was rooted in both religious mythology and the deep personal affection Egyptians held for their canine companions. It was thought that a beloved dog who guided and comforted its master in life would do the same in death. Dogs were often buried with their owners—sometimes sacrificed after the master’s death and mummified—to ensure they would remain together forever. This theme appears in tomb paintings of pharaohs like Tutankhamun and Rameses the Great, who are depicted hunting with their dogs.

The Egyptians envisioned the afterlife, the “Field of Reeds,” as a perfect version of earthly life. There, the soul would be reunited with loved ones—including, surely, their faithful dog, waiting at home.

The bond formed when you sleep with your dog is directly linked to the release of oxytocin, often called the “love hormone,” which is known to reduce stress and promote feelings of well-being. The science behind this bond is truly fascinating.

The positive feelings are part of a feedback loop, well supported by research. Studies show that when you and your dog share loving interactions—such as gazing into each other’s eyes or cuddling—it triggers a surge of oxytocin in both of you. This is the same hormone that bonds a mother to her baby. The release of oxytocin is particularly powerful because it directly counters the stress hormone cortisol. The relaxation and calm you feel from snuggling with your dog at night are a direct result of this hormonal shift. I can personally attest to this effect, for my own dogs have often reduced my stress when human interactions have sent it soaring.

This urge to sleep together is deeply rooted in our shared history. For centuries, dogs and humans have co-slept for warmth and protection, and some experts suggest this instinct may even be genetic. Your dog likely sees you as part of its “pack” and feels safest and most comfortable when you are close. When I first brought Napoleon home, I placed her in a small cage beside my bed, and she cried. I thought perhaps she missed her mother, so I brought her into my bed. That was the end of the cage—and the beginning of a nightly ritual we have never abandoned.

The health benefits extend beyond mere comfort. Sleeping with your dog is associated with stronger feelings of security and comfort. One study found that people who slept with their dogs felt more secure and comfortable than those who slept with a human partner. I can certainly attest to the stress-reducing effect of oxytocin; I have no heart issues or blood pressure problems, and I have been told this is one of the benefits derived from the bond with a dog. Whether or not that is scientifically proven in my particular case, I am inclined to believe it.

Even throughout Asian culture, the core idea was that dogs served as protectors, companions, and even guides for their owners in the afterlife. It was a widespread and deeply rooted belief across many traditional Asian cultures. The tomb guardians and psychopomps was a key concept. In ancient China, the belief in dogs as afterlife companions was incredibly strong, dating back thousands of years.

From as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046BC), dogs were found buried in human tombs. By the Han dynasty (206BC – 220AD), this practice evolved into placing ceramic dog sculptures (known as mingqi) in tombs. These were not just decorations; they were meant to serve and protect the deceased in the netherworld.

Some ancient texts describe dogs in the role of a psychopomp, a spiritual guide that leads souls to the afterlife. One famous text even tells a story of a white dog being sent by underworld authorities to dig a man out of his tomb, allowing him to return to life to teach the living about proper burial rites for the afterlife.

The fierce, bared-tooth poses of many ceramic tomb dogs suggest their primary role was to be guardians, warding off evil spirits and protecting the tomb from disturbance. This protective role was also seen as a form of companionship for the soul’s journey. It is a fascinating long history of dogs and why they call them man’s best friends.

Augustus, the first Roman emperor, had a small, white dog named Rufus, who was such a constant companion that Augustus would bring him to meetings and public events. When Rufus died, the emperor was reportedly so heartbroken that he ordered a statue of his dog to be erected in his honor.

Here is a Roman silver denarius of Augustus picturing a dog on the reverse. They have been part of our culture for thousands of year. Yes, I cook for my dogs. No kibble and no MRNA vaccines. My view is they should test that first by sticking that in Bill Gates’ ass. They often attribute “never trust anyone who does not like dogs” to Bill Murray. I agree.