labeled as unexpected but i'm not sure its an accurate label;
Thursday, August 20, 2026
larry johnson shows us how the amazing president bigly is either demented or a really good comedian as he claims distinctly separate outcomes in a fashion that ignores the sweep of time;
In my previous piece — The Walls Have Doors Now — I argued that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s promised “measures like have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country” would push against an open frontier: an Iran with land bridges to Pakistan, military and intelligence lifelines to Russia and China, and, most consequentially, an oil trade that has walked out of the dollar entirely, settling in Chinese yuan through China’s CIPS clearing network beyond the reach of U.S. financial plumbing. That argument stands. But there is a simpler problem sitting on top of it, and it lives inside the administration’s own words.
Trump is making three victory claims at once. Iran, he says, is “being very badly defeated.” The Strait of Hormuz, he says, is effectively American — “we own it,” the US has “total control,” the waterway is open and the mines cleared. And the naval blockade, he says, is total and biting, strangling Tehran’s economy. Set those three claims down next to a fourth fact — that his own Treasury is scrambling to invent a financial weapon “like have never been seen,” and that he is again threatening “a harsh new attack” if the strait doesn’t reopen “soon” — and they cancel each other out. You do not need an unprecedented new sanctions campaign to defeat a country you have already defeated. You do not need to threaten fresh bombing to open a strait you already own. The escalation is the confession. Each new demand for pressure is an admission that the last claim of victory wasn’t real.
The victory language has been relentless. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated,” Trump told a police-academy audience in New York on August 14, “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.” Days earlier he had told reporters the US had “total control” of the waterway: “We own it, and at some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away.” On August 18 he posted an image labeling the strait “New US Territory.” On August 19 he insisted the strait was open and the mines cleared — while, in the same breath, confirming that the naval blockade “remains in effect.”............more............
societies that brag about how free they are ruin their reputation by doing the opposite;
I’ve been putting out more and more of these “today in dystopia” write-ups because our society is plunging into iron-fisted authoritarianism and AI-induced idiocracy so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up with how it’s unfolding day by day without shoveling multiple stories into a single essay.
Today in dystopia they’re really going after books. A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza.
The Guardian reports:
“A Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.
“Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach.
“A Waverley council spokesperson said: “The book has been removed from library shelves for review, and council will further consider processes to ensure closer oversight of book selection.”..........more............
arnold has returned in a different form;
America is quickly devolving into a militarized technocratic surveillance state and a story that recently appeared on the Fox News network is enough to make you shudder at the possibilities.
A company called Foundation Robotics is now discussing potential “national security deployments” of its Phantom humanoid robots along the southern border. Foundation Robotics is a Silicon Valley-based startup focused on developing advanced humanoid robots for military and industrial applications, replacing humans in American factories and along the front lines in wars and tense border-policing situations.
The company reportedly received up to $100 million in backing from Saudi royals and also has one of President Trump’s sons, Eric Trump, as its chief strategy adviser. Its CEO, Sankaet Pathak, was the CEO of the bankrupt fintech firm Synapse before it collapsed amid accusations of unethical investment practices.
The journal Financial Debate wrote this about him last year:
“The fallout from Synapse’s failure, including millions of dollars in missing deposits and unresolved issues with partner banks, has cast a shadow over Pathak’s reputation and potential success with Foundation Robotics Labs.”..........more...........
chauvin was railroaded to satisfy a black mob;
Unjustly convicted former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin has asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to hold off on an appeal of a second postconviction petition so his attorney can fight his original conviction for the “murder” of career criminal and drug addict George Floyd.
Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of murdering Floyd with a supposedly non-approved neck restraint. The evidence showed that Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose.
The railroaded cop’s appeals have gone nowhere. Maybe the legal eagles in Minnesota’s judiciary fear riots should they do the right thing.
Now Chauvin wants a chance to file a petition with the Hennepin County District Court — the original trial venue — on three grounds, one of which is that the prosecutors did not convene a grand jury to indict him..........more...........
a fool surrounded by fools notices no opportunity;
President Trump Has the Opportunity to Be the Greatest Statesman of the 21st Century But there is No One in Trump’s Government to show Trump his Opportunity
Paul Craig Roberts
Some responses to my discussion with Nima on Dialogue Works https://www.youtube.com/live/RSeBWcdz9vI and to my posted column https://paulcraigroberts.org/admitting-a-mistake-is-the-road-to-peace/ agreed that my proposal that President Trump end Washington’s conflict with Iran by admitting it was a mistake and stating that the war was over made a lot of sense. But they questioned whether a narcissist, such as Trump, could admit a mistake even it the admission rescued him from a dilemma for which he has no solution except talk of using nuclear weapons.
Think about it for a moment. A narcissist wants the rest of humanity to think as well of himself as he does. By admitting a mistake and, thereby, disposing of a dangerous conflict, the narcissist Trump receives praise from the world. He is elevated from buffoon to Statesman. So, of course, President Trump can admit a mistake and, thereby, deliver into his hands the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump can raise his estimation in the eyes of the world by admitting that Washington’s war with Russia using Ukraine as the proxy was also a mistake and is over. The world would explode in applause for President Trump. America would be redeemed for all of its illegitimate wars. America would be re-established as the moral leader of the world.
The problem is not that Trump is a narcissist, but that he is surrounded by Zionists, including his son-in-law to whom he trusts various negotiations. There is no one to tell Trump how easy it is for him to become the most successful and admired Statesman of the 21st century. Trump himself is too preoccupied issuing threats to see his opportunity.
When I made my suggestion I made the point that there was no one around President Trump to show him his opportunity. Trump’s government, essentially, is allied with Israel, and this leaves Trump with the likelihood of going down as the worst president in US history instead of the Greatest Statesman Of All Time.......https://paulcraigroberts.org/president-trump-has-the-opportunity-to-be-the-greatest-statesman-of-the-21st-century-but-there-is-no-one-in-trumps-government-to-show-trump-his-opportunity/
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