LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS OLD CAT LADY BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNAR
POSTED 30 OCTOBER 2026
Article/Commentary
“THE MAJORITY OF ISRAELIS HAVE HAD ENOUGH.”
Haaretz (10/28/26).
“Netanyahu has lost his mandate to govern.”
· “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition collapsed, and the Arab parties set a historic record.”
“…the opposition won 70 Knesset seats…” and rejected “the vision of perpetual war espoused by Netanyahu and his partners. Millions of voters said “no” to his Likud party’s partnership with the Haredim, the settlers and the Kahanists, who have led Israel into the worst situation in its history.”
· “All of the change bloc leaders must unite around the leadership of Gadi Eisenkot, whose party is the group’s largest, and abandon the campaign promises that needlessly caged them in….”
· Netanyahu “ends his administration with Israel isolated, bleeding, grief-stricken and deeply divided.”
Article/Analysis
“IGNORING THE HISTORIC ARAB TURNOUT IS A SELF-INFLICTED WOUND FOR ISRAEL’S LIBERAL BLOC”
Haaretz (10/28/26).
· “It is disappointing but not surprising to see how, within minutes of exit polls, Eisenkot framed the election results in the form of a Zionist majority for a government led by him, falling precisely into Netanyahu’s trap.”
· “… A few minutes after the exit polls were released. The head of the change block framed the election results in the form of a Zionist. Majority for a government Led by him and fell precisely. Into the trap Netanyahu laid for him over the course of the election campaign.”
· “.. Why would someone seemingly desperate for victory and holding a mere razor thin majority of three seats rushed so hastily to rule out the possibility of immediately ousting his rival? In any other country, this would seem absurd.
· “A situation in which Israel’s Arab citizens go to great lengths to participate in a political arena that relentlessly strives to exclude them, only to be met with another slap in the face, bodes poorly for the future of the block that styles itself as democratic. That is no less true, even if it does succeed in forming A narrow, exclusively Jewish minority government.”
· “… Masses of Arab citizens extended their hand to the public that calls itself liberal and said we want to be part of this country. Despite the emotional and social price a vote like this extracts for the majority of them, Eisencott chose both to spit in their face and dig himself into a hole….” The airwaves were filled with “Analyses of every conceivable and barely conceivable scenario for a Jewish or Zionist government, as if that were the only option on the table. Once again it became clear that you can remove Baby from the government, but his spirit remains in the selection. According to the exit poll, votes equivalent to 70 Knesset seats are opposed to Netanyahu, not 53. The real test for real opposition is to write a narrative of its own and not submit to the narrative planned for them…”
Article:
“HOW WILL NETANYAHU TRY TO REFRAME HIS DEFEAT AS A HUGE VICTORY.”
Haaretz (10/28/26)
· Netanyahu’s coalition won 64 seats in the last election. It has been slashed to 50.
· The fall of the Netanyahu government began in January of 2023 when Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul.
· “…it prevented legislation aimed at turning democratic Israel into a totalitarian Bibi-stan.”
· In addition to October 7, Netanyahu did two things that the opposition thought ensured his defeat. The first was his “loyalty to the ultra-Orthodox parties and his effort to enshrine their draft-dodging.” The other was his refusal to accept any responsibility for October 7 and blocked the minimum required of a democracy – a state commission of inquiry.”
· 100,000 former Israelis came to Israel to vote.
· Thanks to “Kahanist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and messianic minister Bezalel Smotrich, the real bosses in the Netanyahu government,” were to thank for “an unpresented awakening among Arab voters.”
· Netanyahu and his “mouthpieces” will have to argue that it is necessary to continue to exclude the Arab parties and establish an “emergency government” under his leadership to attack Iran. “For both the bloc of change and the media, the challenge, and the test of their character, lies in not cooperating with this.”
· Bibi has been talking about an “economy based on cryptocurrency, his fear mongering about a nuclear attack…and his efforts to ignite a war – has proven that he is sick, that he has gone off the rails. He needs to be removed from the steering wheel of the ship of state by any means, and it doesn’t matter what the composition of the new government is.”
Article: “What Netanyahu might do after the election is the real danger. Haaretz (10/27/26).
· Bibi is once again seeking the trust of Israeli voters without accepting responsibility for October 7. “If he loses, he may try to ignite another war. The opposition bloc must be ready to form a government at lightning speed.”
· Ever since he has been busy with “cover-ups, incitement and destroying evidence.”
· Bibi is promising to continue with the judicial over haul which an analysis in Haaretz claims “tore the country apart, weakened Israel’s deterrence and apparently also encouraged Hamas to attack on October 7, 2023.”
· This week Bibi promised: “We’ll liquidate the judicial dictatorship.
· “completely lost his senses.”
Article: “There is only one way Eisenkot can ensure victory. Haaretz Today (10/28/26).
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LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY (PER J. D. VANCE) WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
Wednesday 28 October 2026
Comment:
Yesterday, I listened to a podcast where the journalist was interviewing people who had flown back to Israel just to vote in the election. All the people interviewed had serious criticisms of Netanyahu, but when the interviewer asked who they were voting for they all said “Bibi.”
It made me think of an interview I heard a few months after October 7, when criticism of the devastating bombing of Gaza and failure to extract hostages was at its highest, but several of those interviewed stressed how they felt they still had to back Netanyahu. It was a matter of loyalty, they said, of solidarity. No matter what failures Netanyahu was guilty of, the country had to stand together. It appears that this sentiment still stands.
Except for a sense of national solidarity in the face of overwhelming international criticism what would cause a country of people to vote again for a man who had been facing criminal charges since before October 7, and who had been warned numerous times, by Middle Eastern heads of state that Hamas was planning an attack from Gaza? Who would vote again for a man who had been funneling money to Hamas for years. I don’t understand it. I just don’t understand it.
TUESDAY WENT FROM ONE EXTREME TO THE OTHER
Article:
“ISRAEL BRACES FOR UNCERTAINTY WITH EARLY ELECTION RESULTS POINTING TO DEADLOCK.
The Wall Street Jornal (10/28/26)
• The opposition evidently overestimated its strength, and Neyanyahu, considered somewhat of a genius at political maneuvering, is still in the lead even though his party does not have enough seats to win conclusively. He may, however, become the first tapped by the President to try to form a new government.
Article:
“FLAVIO BOLSONARO LANDS IN MIAMI AFTER BRAZIL ELECTION LOSS.
The Guardian (10/28/26).
• After losing Sunday’s election (Note: and being turned down by Trump after an appeal for help in overthrowing the election) Bolsonaro (son of Jair Bolsonaro) flew first to Argentina then Ecuador.
• He left Miami airport under police escort. Trump agreed to approve the family’s move to the US.
• In a statement that only Trump would make, he said of the Bolsonaro family: “Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking the boots of the US, as they’ve become accustomed to doing.” (WTF)
• Federal police in Brazil are facing criticism for failing to prevent Flavio Bolsonaro him from leaving the country.
• Bolsonaro is under investigation in at least two criminal cases, “one of them examining suspicions that the senator was involved in a money-laundering scheme worth about 680 M (905m) involving betting companies.”
• Because of this case, Brazilian police asked the supreme court to prevent Flavio Bolsonaro from leaving the country.
• Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio’s brother, is in self-imposed exile in the US. A local Brazilian newspaper reported that the plan to decamp to the US had been worked out by Eduardo and planned for weeks.
Article:
‘THE ISRAELI ELECTION IS OVER. NOW COMES THE POLITICS.”
The Observer (10/28/26).
• “Every party in the country’s history has falen short of an out-right majority, and every Israeli government has been a coalition of compromisers.”
• Gadi Eisenkot, The former army chief who leads the centrist Yashar Party, campaigned on a pledge to replace Benjamin Netanyahu and heal a divided country. To do so, he will be forced either to form a minority government or to work with the elected representatives of Israel’s Arab citizens…. Netanyahu has plainly lost. The public asked for a change of government while withholding from the alternative camp the whole of its power, and a minority government may be the most faithful expression of that verdict.”
• “Arab citizens. Make up roughly 1/5 of Israel’s population, and their parties have almost always been kept outside of the circle of power. Their achievement in this election is remarkable and 1/5 of Israel’s democratic public will be hard to ignore.”
• “Netanyahu “has been in the dock since 2020 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, all of which he denies, in a trial that fueled his government’s efforts to overhaul the judiciary. Now that the public has tired of him and sent him home, he must decide whether to allow an orderly transfer of power or turn the loss of office into yet another national crisis. Alongside this stands the legal question, a plea bargain that would end his trial at a personal and political cost, or a fight to the verdict with the risk of conviction and imprisonment. In the end, the question is simple. Can Netanyahu imagine a life beyond the prime minister’s office and separate his own fate from the fate of the state?”
• The public badly wants change.
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NEWS NOTES FROM 27 OCTOBER 2026
MS NOW
Voting is high in Israel. 31% of people eligible to vote have already voted this morning. A great many people came in from other countries to cast their ballots. Israel requires in-person voting.
Netanyahu has still refused to allow an investigation into Nov. 7. There are dozens of parties vying for position. The president decides who is most likely to be able to form a coalition with the other parties. Usually, no one party is able to win enough votes to not have to form a coalition with the other parties. Voting closes at 4 PM EST.
NEWS NOTES
ARTICLE: “Prediction Markets were comically wrong about the Brazilian election. Futurism.
· “Platforms like Polymarket…were horrendously off the mark when it came to Brazil’s…election.”
· Extremely high odds for the Bolsonaro son, Flavio held at around 80% until the day of the second round of voting began. That day, it was 81%.
· This was a “huge rebuff to a mounting right-wing wave in Latin America.”
· Actual on-the-gound-polling showed an extremely tight race. Polymarket got it wrong.
Article: “Brazil is a Tragic case study”: Maga is throwing a total toddler tantrum over Lula’s election win. Buzz Feed (10/26/26)
· In this article Jair’s confinement is called “house arrest” for planning a coup after losing the 2022 election.
· Buzz Feed is quoting various MAGA posts about the election.
· Lula is referred to as a Communist, there are calls for an international investigation. Flavio is said to have had the election “stolen from him” as did his father.
· Also causing problems is the fact that the justice of the Supreme Court who extended voting hours for two hours was appointed by Lula and said to have been Lula’s former personal lawyer.
· One poster claimed that the Bolsonaro lead held until the two additional voting hours were granted. But analysts say that the two hours did not make much difference in the vote and Bolsonaro requested an extension in the voting hours as well.
· One poster calls it “tragic” “Once you let communism in, it’s though to vote it out.”
· American George Santos, former U.S. Congressman and con artist wrote: “Flavio Bolsonaro should take a page out of his brother’s book and fly to the U.S. tomorrow morning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexandre de Moraes is already writing up his indictment. The world’s 5th largest economy is now officially communist.”
· “Fuck Lula. Brazil is fucked and will continue to be so for the next four years.”
· (Lula’s) “victory” came courtesy of blatant corruption.”
· “Notice how there are zero Brazilians partying in the streets after lyla’s “victory.” (insert photo)
· But not everybody agreed. This is a sampling of some other responses.
· “Brazil has just delivered something the world desperately needed: proof that the authoritarian wave is neither unstoppable nor irreversible….despite the political pressure coming from Trump’s America…the Amazon, once again, has a fighting chance.”
· “may brazil’s victory be the beginning of the fall of fascism.”
· “To understand. How Lula’s supporters are feeling right now. Imagine Trump went to jail for his January 6th insurrection and then Biden/ Harris defeated Don Junior in 2024.”
· From Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: “Brazil showed the world. That the will of the people is stronger than authoritarians who try to suppress it. Congratulations, President Lula, and congratulations Brazil.”
· Bernie Sanders: “Congratulations to Lula on his extraordinary re-election victory in the Brazilian presidential election. Lula has stood up for Brazilian workers and democracy and will continue to do so in the next four years.”
· Zohran Mamdani: “The people united will never be defeated.”
One man is lying. One man sees the truth. 
LULA WON 
Flavio Bolsonaro -
Thursday 22 October 2026
Americans just can’t stay away from psychological explanations for everything. A few days ago Joe Scarborough was yelling about the fact that Russia, Russia, Russia wasn’t a hoax, that it didn’t matter what Putin had on Trump or with Trump, what mattered was it was there and had been there from at least 2015. Today, he is relating a story in which he asked Maggie Haberman why Trump did something like trying to destroy Nato, and Haberman said that he (Trump) just wanted to see what he could get away with.
This tells you just how ideologically confused Joe Scarborough is. You might ask why I watch him every morning and I ask myself the same question, but it’s a habit, like smoking, or drinking – a bad habit that it hard to break.
For years Scarborough was yelling that the “institutions are holding.” Now he’s yelling “justice is coming.” Schichhhh. The institutions didn’t hold and I seriously doubt that any justice is coming.
It’s cleaning day and everybody has this residual tension, inwardly preparing for the stress of confronting the nightmare that is our house and having someone else here for four hours. My mother used to say that every house I lived in looked like teenagers ran it. She would be truly gratified if she saw this one, the worst of all.
Ah, well. Back to politics. I listened to Joy Gray interview Isabella Webber this morning before I dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs to drink coffee with the kitties. It was a good interview. (Insert).
KT McFarlane was over on Fox claiming that the protesters in France were “Muslim military age men.” Scarborough took the same position just less explicitly about Muslims, but he claimed that the protests were over immigration rather than education and cost of living.
Democracy Now
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
· Kyivv and eleven other regions were struck in Ukraine last night. This is after Steve Whitkoff called Putin a “humanitarian.”
· Nigeria is reporting an ebola case. This is a spread of ebola over Africa.
· Trump is cheering a man who threw a punch at a protester at one of his rallies.
· In Michigan El-Sayed is running against Mike Rogers who is backed by Trump. AIPAC is planning to give 9 million to support Rogers at the very end of the race.
· Mehdi Hasan: Interview
· Hasan: AIPAC spent over 30 million to defeat El-Sayed in Michigan primary. A victory for El-Sayed Will show that progressives can win in state not part of New York circuit.
· Hasan; AIPAC has a superpac to funnel money into campaigns (UDP). When they give money in primaries, that’s Republican money going into a Democratic primary. Sanders says that they should ban this.
· Ilhan Omar. Trump calls her “sick” “hates our country” “real shithole” Somalia. “not a country”
· He’s great at accusing other people of what he is.
· Night Flower: documentary. The night flower thrives in the dark, shrivels in the day.
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Thursday 22 October 2026
Americans just can’t stay away from psychological explanations for everything. A few days ago Joe Scarborough was yelling about the fact that Russia, Russia, Russia wasn’t a hoax, that it didn’t matter what Putin had on Trump or with Trump, what mattered was it was there and had been there from at least 2015. Today, he is relating a story in which he asked Maggie Haberman why Trump did something like trying to destroy Nato, and Haberman said that he (Trump) just wanted to see what he could get away with.
This tells you just how ideologically confused Joe Scarborough is. You might ask why I watch him every morning and I ask myself the same question, but it’s a habit, like smoking, or drinking – a bad habit that it hard to break.
For years Scarborough was yelling that the “institutions are holding.” Now he’s yelling “justice is coming.” Schichhhh. The institutions didn’t hold and I seriously doubt that any justice is coming.
It’s cleaning day and everybody has this residual tension, inwardly preparing for the stress of confronting the nightmare that is our house and having someone else here for four hours. My mother used to say that every house I lived in looked like teenagers ran it. She would be truly gratified if she saw this one, the worst of all.
Ah, well. Back to politics. I listened to Joy Gray interview Isabella Webber this morning before I dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs to drink coffee with the kitties. It was a good interview. (Insert).
KT McFarlane was over on Fox claiming that the protesters in France were “Muslim military age men.” Scarborough took the same position just less explicitly about Muslims, but he claimed that the protests were over immigration rather than education and cost of living.
Democracy Now
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
· Kyivv and eleven other regions were struck in Ukraine last night. This is after Steve Whitkoff called Putin a “humanitarian.”
· Nigeria is reporting an ebola case. This is a spread of ebola over Africa.
· Trump is cheering a man who threw a punch at a protester at one of his rallies.
· In Michigan El-Sayed is running against Mike Rogers who is backed by Trump. AIPAC is planning to give 9 million to support Rogers at the very end of the race.
· Mehdi Hasan: Interview
· Hasan: AIPAC spent over 30 million to defeat El-Sayed in Michigan primary. A victory for El-Sayed Will show that progressives can win in state not part of New York circuit.
· Hasan; AIPAC has a superpac to funnel money into campaigns (UDP). When they give money in primaries, that’s Republican money going into a Democratic primary. Sanders says that they should ban this.
· Ilhan Omar. Trump calls her “sick” “hates our country” “real shithole” Somalia. “not a country”
· He’s great at accusing other people of what he is.
· Night Flower: documentary. The night flower thrives in the dark, shrivels in the day.
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FROM THE CHILDLESS CAT LADY WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK.
Article: “Zelensky says US intelligence sharing works now after talks with Trump envoy in Oslo.” BBC News.
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FOR 21 OCTOBER 2026
· Witkoff is due to met Putin on Wednesday.
· Trump blamed Zelensky for increased oil prices in the US.
· “speaking after Zelensky’s news conference in Oslo, Trump again told reporters at the White House he wanted Kyiv to “make a deal.” He said it was “time for Ukraine to end this war.”
· Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukraine.
· Drone attacks continued on Tuesday killing 10 people.
· “intelligence sharing” is evidently different from SpaceX’s Starlink satellite access. “after Ukraine’s military had reported in recent days speed restrictions on the US platform used by Kyiv to carry out drone strikes against Russia.”
· “Unconfirmed Reports earlier on Tuesday said the transfer of more US-made Patriot Interceptor missiles, the only effective weapon in shooting down Russian ballistic missiles, had not yet been approved.
· Vance said that he didn’t’ think Ukraine should be in Nato.
Documentary: BBC News. ‘Inside the shadowy world of anti-Putin sabotage from within Russia.” BBC World Service documentary about Russian saboteurs. Outside the U.K look at YouTube: Shadowmen: Russians working with Ukraine.
Article: The Washington Post. “Riots leave France divided as Macron enters his final stretch.”
· Right wing press blames riots on immigration (Steve Bannon’s AMVO)
· Morning Joe does the same thing. There is no mention of complaints about school funding inequality.
Article: The Guardian. “Nato increases Black Sea deployment amid escalating deadly Russian attacks. (10/20/26).
Article: The Guardian: “Italy to deploy 500 troops to Milan after days of protests and looting.
Article: Reuters “US envoy Witkoff to meet Putin, Trump presses Kyiv to settle.”
Article: “The secret terms of Trump’s Venezuelan oil deal.” Propublica (10/21/26)
· In August, Trump signed what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history.” The deal grants the U.S. “sweeping access to Venezuela’s oil reserves,” but “…the potential benefits to its people are largely absent from the text.”
· Trump’s partner in the deal is Alejandro Betancourt, a “…Venezuelan oligarch who has faced money-laundering investigations in three countries.”
Article: “Federal agents knock on doors to track down possible noncitizen voters ahead of midterms. CBS News (10/21/26)
· Agents, armed and in uniform, from the Department of Homeland Security have been knocking on doors in several states and checking the voter registration and immigration status of residents.
· This can discourage people from voting, just as the administration wants.
Article: “Russia frees retired American teacher as Trump envoy meets with Putin.” NBC News (10/21/26)
· Steve Witkoff hailed Putin as a “humanitarian.” (Note: Jesus).
· A retired American teacher was released. Hubbard, the teacher, was detained in Ukraine in 2022. He was being held on charges of fighting as a mercenary.
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20 OCTOBER 2026
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It’s like trading democracy for diesel.” Professor at Brown University (Time).
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Zelensky was riding on a train when he decided to stop trying to court Trump and confront him. Zelensky had just learned that for the second night, Russia had pounded Kyiv without the usual US warnings.
Even though Trump and Musk and everybody in the administration were denying that they changed the Starlink settings, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page headline was: “To Russia with Love, From Donald.”
It reminds me of a cover of Time Magazine during Watergate just after the tapes were discovered. All the major characters were standing on the front page, each pointing with both hands to someone else.
The panel on Morning Joe was incensed:
Joe Scarborough: Trump has “declared war on Western Civilization.”
David Ignatius: “It’s a betrayal of Ukraine….facing the worst winter of their lives….for the frailest of reasons.” Putin “isn’t after peace. He’s after victory.” What he’s doing is giving Putin freedom from the most powerful weapon Ukraine has (the refineries).
Trump was “truthing” that he made the Decision to exempt Russia from the sanctions because he is quote in the process of negotiating peace. End Quote with Russia. But Russia doesn’t want peace, they want Ukraine destroyed and pulled back into the Russian sphere.
Trump: “Zelinsky. Is using diesel refineries in Russia as a target knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets?… Farmers, ranchers and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly… Zelensky doesn’t care. And frankly, with all the money that Europe is famously giving him and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war and probably never did. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is a shambles. A large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded and or dead. I want this war to end! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Even Darlyene Graham (Lindsey’s sister) is distancing herself from Trump over Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial page continues: Quote Mr. Trump. Is now Mr. Putin’s best friend in the world… Mr. Trump wants Ukraine to surrender on Mr. Putin’s terms… dot There needs to be a bipartisan reckoning for Mr. Trump’s budding alliance with the Kremlin against Ukraine, Europe and American interests.”
Meanwhile, Zelensky maintains that the exempting of Russia from the sanctions “helps only the Russians. It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people.”
Zelenskyy Says. Ukraine. Has the right to defend itself after Trump calls Ukraine’s latest strikes “disgrace” (BBC). (Note: Trump and his administration are the disgrace.)
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUBBASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
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SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026
PODCAST: BBC NEWSHOUR
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY
· Three weeks ago, Trump signed a set of tough sanctions against Russia, named after Lindsey Graham. Yesterday he waived those sanctions. Zelensky called it betrayal. It is.
· “It’s a tragic day.” A member of the Ukrainian parliament said. “It undermines the credibility” of the U.S. “All Ukraine is doing is defend ourselves.” These actions will only “encourage Putin.” It is expected to be a terrible winter in Ukraine.
· The Russia Editor for the BBC: Donald Trump’s diesel deal. Trump blames Zelensky for any attack on diesel. Russia continues to lose large numbers of soldiers on the battlefield.
Brazilian Rain Forest
· Under Bolsonaro deforestation increased. Lula was much better for the rainforest. The Bolsonaro son is a continuation of his father’s lack of concern for the rainforest.
· Bolsonaro thinks industrialization is a better option than conversation of the rainforest.
Spanish Civil War: La Bola Negra
· A movie about Spanish history. La Bola Negra. Lorca play. Won an award at Cannes film festival. The story is by Federico Garcia Lorca. 1930s. Thought to have been Lorca’s lover. The history of the civil war. Lorca was murdered in his mid-30s. It is thought that his gender status was pat of his targeting. The film is thought to be bringing younger people in touch with their history (See Wikipedia, IMDB, New York Times Review, Netflix,BBC ).
UKRAINE
· Dan Johnson from front line. Ukraine is saying that they are making gains.
PODCAST: ISRAEL
Podcast: The Daily Briefing: The Times of Israel 10/17/2
· There is a Haredi woman running for office.
She is a professor.
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17 OCTOBER 2026
DEEP STATE RADIO PODCAST
WORDS MATTER
16 OCTOBER 2026
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· The press secretary lasted about 4.5 days. After an outrageously embarrassing performance, she’s gone.
· Suzy Wiles, after grifting with her family, is now prepared to leave the administration (Note: See Financial Times 10/8/26)
· Stephen Miller is being talked about to replace Wiles.
· There are questions about whether Miller ordered the shutdown of the Starlink system which made it impossible for Ukraine to shoot down Russia’s millies and drones?
· And then there’s “soulless little Marco” Rubio. He evidently spends hours on the phone every day getting orders from Stephen Miller. The “club” that is the Senate confirmed him unanimously. Rubio greenlit ending of programs that cost the lives of millions of people. He has gutted the State Department. He has shut down the departments that deal with climate change. In a recent speech, he recharacterized himself as descended from Spain (instead of Cuba) and legitimated war crimes in the Pacific and in the Caribbean and threats against Cuba. The administration is essentially starving Cuba. (Note: Ending up as what is Viceroy of Cuba and Venezuela is Rubio’s life dream.)
· And then there’s Donald Trump, funding an enemy (Russia) that is helping a country (Iran) actively at war with us.
· As a symbol of just how selfish the administration is, the State Department was surrounded by flags of every notion. Rubio took all the flags down and replaced them with all American flags. Message: Nothing matters but us. Rubio cares about nobody but himself.
· The Administration cut out the mental health aspects of the VA.
· Book “American Resistance.”
· Book “Treasure.” We knew this was going to happen.
· Note the election in Israel is on the 7th and Netanyahu has a chance to form another coalition. The price they pay to have the haredi in government is giving tons of money to the schools.
· France is looking like they are going to make Le Pen the new leader. If the ADF comes to power, Ukraine is going to have much more difficulty.
· Europe has failed to send frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
· Ilhan Omaher’s integration papers are being examined in order to strip her of her citizenship and deport her. Judge in Georgia gave them a search warrant.
· Trump is likely to go on a crisis after the mid-terms.
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FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER 2026
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· As usual, the Trump administration is focusing on destroying any semblance of international law and justice. It announced severe financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The court seeks to prosecute war crimes, including genocide, and other serious criminal acts. Now, companies doing business with the court could be subject to punishment by the U.S. government. Rubio called the ICC a “rogue court” and Trump charged that the court was trying to violate American sovereignty (NYT). (Note: When court established, lawyer).
· Russia is trying to break the will of the U.S. and Europe to support Ukraine and “in a broader sense to change the security architecture of Europe,” said David Cattler, former NATO intelligence official who described what the Russians are with hybrid warfare doing as “hard to attribute….big enough to matter and yet small enough not to trigger.” The Europeans are trying to decide how to respond.
Book: “Call it evil: Understanding the Trump Era” by Susan Neiman. Interviewed on the Chris Hedges podcast. 9/30/26. (Note: The Chris Hedges Report is a fascinating podcast. I don’t agree with everything that is said, but you can’t deny the interesting content. Atlantic Article)
· There is a widespread distortion of the ideas of Adam Smith, Charles Darwin and Michel Foucoult that all we ever do is because of self-interest. This is not true. Everything we do is not to increase our own advantage.
· We grow up with a set of assumptions. We learn to take them for granted. We forget they are assumptions and that we could question them if we wanted to.
· Colonialism, for example, used to be considered fact, not questioned. In the 18th century, we started questioning colonialism as fact. But, now, people like Trump are introducing it again. Trump, recently said: “To the victor belong the spoils.” (Note: oil in venezuela).
· Religion has been a way to express moral intentions, to restrain the more rapacious parts of our characters.
· It is bizarre for some people to hear Christian evangelicals support an administration which is all about ignoring the weak and those we leave behind.
· A faction of Evangelical Christianity itself practices something called Prosperity Gospel. If you are a good Christian, you will be rewarded with wealth and power. Norman Vincent Peale was a religious figure the Trump family admired, but this is an “infantile notion of religion”
· Chris Hedges: “It’s magical thinking.”
· (Note: Hedges’ book about fascists “American Fascists.)
· Mark Millie called Trump “fascist to the core.”
· But, we do not name the ideology that has vomited up Trump as well as masked men who deport people, a government that coerces its citizens and blows fishermen to bits.
· But, counting the crimes is hopeless. (Note: As if a certain number of crimes will qualify a certain government as “fascist.”)
· Our inability to use the appropriate kind of language to describe the activity around us confuses us and makes us weaker. It leads to the surrendering of law schools, media outlets, etc., a moral rot.
· Neiman: “I can’t stand to hear the word authoritarian.” The use of the word authoritarian simply masks the fascism that exists.
· What we see in the society is a cowtowing from people who had no need to cowtow. Being rich should gain you the power to say no, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Google, for example, decided to change its map.
· Neiman recommends a book, a novel by Daniel Kehlmann “The Director.” Americans, Neiman says, have the idea that Nazis are different from other people. (Note: As if you could spot a Nazi by looking). But, people start by saying that they would say not cross some red lines. Then, they cross that line and then another and another and before long they were Nazis. Lanauage is a big part of this transition. It’s not authoritarianism. It’s fascism.
· You convince yourself. “If we don’t name things properly, use language that rings alarm bells” we don’t recognize the reality of our existence. (Note: One of the reasons Eli Mystal is no longer on television is that he named things properly and used language and a manner that rang alarm bells).
· If we make ourselves believe that everybody is out for their own self-interest, and that morality is just for suckers, it makes it hard to stand up for principles.
· Chris Hedges: It is the “Normalizationn of evil.”
· Neiman: Yes, it’s Arendt’s banality of evil.
· Neiman recommends another book: “Eichmann in Jerusalem.” (Note: Documents available about Eichman and how evil he was.)
· Arendt was wrong about Eichman. He was not just this bureaucrat. He wanted to kill them all. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was dependent on millions of Germans, going along.
· (Book: “The Cruelty is the point” by Adam Serwer.)
· Most Americans do not enjoy cruelty. But, their ability to go along with evil but not realize that’s what it is, allows us to go along with this.
· “Call it Evil” “advocates a return to moral universalism as a panacea for an erosion of values.”
· Other books by Neiman “Learning from the Germans” (2019) and “Left is not Woke” (2023).
·
· Neiman argues that the causes for the current state of affairs are: market fundamentalism and its focus on the accumulation of wealth as well as the elevation of power over law.
· Also, adherents of “identarian” policies or wokeness: “We must face the consequences of the liberal/left hesitation to use moral language.’
· Neiman challenges American “self-boosterism” (every survey of wealthy countries shows the U.S. behind on any measure of well-being) and defends Enlightenment thought.
· Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” was, she points out, that of a benevolent God, not that of the capitalist market regulating itself.
· Kirkus Review.2026.
Review of “Call It Evil” by Ellen Gilbert (8/1/26) “Every sentence is worth reading in this compelling book.” www.susan-neiman.com
“This is not a book about Donald Trump, it is about the conditions that have allowed him to prevail.” (In this and other books: “Evil in Modern Thought” (2026) and “Moral Clarity” (2008) Neiman explains how it happened, tracing the history, politics, economics, and the misuse of language and reason that led to this point. It is not pretty, but rather
than feeling defeated by the normalization of beliefs and ideas that should have been rejected, she calls for creative resistance and reconsiders the potential of socialism as a means to restore some semblance of social justice”
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THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER 2026
News and Life Notes:
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· Steve Bannon is complaining that the Justice Department is still full of “deep state” personnel and that people should be fired.
· Trump is making “Melania, Sir jokes. Why?
· There is discussion about strikes on Iran before the mid-terms.
· The tit mice are already here this morning, along with the cardinals and the chickadees.
· I have to go to the doctor and have my stapes taken out this afternoon. I got into a fight with an area rug and wound up hitting the corner of the door frame. Eight stapes. The worst part was the sound of the staple gun. I just hope having them out is not worse than having them put in.
· Surprise, surprise Kimberly Gilfoyle pressured a Trump donor to pay off her credit card bill before becoming an ambassador. What sleaze, what incredible sleaze this woman is.
· ICE shoots another man in New York (NYT).
· Explosions in Saudi Arabia’s capital (NYT).
· Pentagon officials are threatening to live stream the execution by firing squad of the Fort Hood shooter. Public executions are carried out commonly in countries like Iran, North Korea and the Taliban-led Afghanistan (NYT).
· Article: “In Trump’s Russian Oil Deal, Middle East funds are the biggest owners.” (NYT).
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TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2026
LIFE NOTES:
It’s one of those barometric pressure mornings. There is pressure behind my eyes and my joints hurt everywhere. Great. It has just started sprinkling and we still can’t get Sam (the youngest of the rescue cats) inside. I never saw a cat so unbothered by rain.
We’ve got our fruit/yogurt smoothies for breakfast. Wonderful, strawberries, blueberries, frozen bananas, vanilla and vanilla Greek yogurt from Sams. Delicious.
Trump is suggesting at a rally last night that we allow the Iranians to bomb San Diego and another California city and telling his audience that gas prices aren’t that bad. They are laughing. None of them look to have an IQ over 70 and none of them appear to be even listening to him. They are taking selfies or trying to get a look at themselves on the television.
News Notes:
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· (10/6/26) “Ebola Patient boarde commercial flight, died shortly after arrival.” Wall Street Journal. A man who contracted ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo transited three countries and boarded a commercial flight to Nairobi where he died. Ebola’s Bundibugyo strain has killed more than 4,000 people in eastern Congo in the past five months. This epidemic has been advancing faster than any other Ebola outbreak on record.
· (10/6/26) “Trump approves firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter…” The Guardian.
· (10/5/26) “Pennsylvania has logged 1,000 measles cases, among the biggest outbreaks in decades.” The Philadelphia Inquirer.
· (10/5/26) “Spain’s prime minister calls snap election aiming to seize momentum over housing crisis.” AP News.
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1, 2 OCTOBER 2026
BOOKS of Interest: Ancient Rome
Powell, Lindsay (2023) Marcus Agrippa: Right-Hand Man of Caesar Augustus.
Harris, Robert (2026) Agrippa: a Novel of Ancient Rome’s Descent into Dictatorship. (Harris is the very best).
Reinhold, Mayer (1933) Marcus Agrippa: A Biography.
2 October 2026
News Shorts
· Failed execution in Tennessee. Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs. This is the second failed execution in Tennessee this year. “What happened to Christa Pike Can be attributed to the extreme secrecy Tennessee officials have maintained about their execution procedures, their refusal to answer reasonable questions, and their unwillingness to accept responsibility for their mistakes.” Death Penalty Information Center executive director. (NPR).
· Wilber Garces Perez, the man who was shot in the back by ICE finally gets surgery to remove bullet. He was shot on September 20. “The officer shot Garces Perez, who is a Venezuelan national, was not wearing a body camera…the other officer…had turned off his body camera prior to arriving at the scene.” (Velasquez Neira, Gabriel, “Wilber Garces Perez…” Kut. Org.
· The Department of Homeland Security task force program…enlists local police as paid partners in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.” The program has become a “cash cow for state and local law enforcement…After turning over a single deportable immigrant, departments quality to receive $60,000 a year for each deputized officer, regardless of additional arrests.” (Wall Street Journal).
· “For nearly 50 years, the federal government has said people with disabilities should live, work, and learn in the most integrated setting possible rather than be segregated in institutions like nursing homes.” Now, the Trump administration has changed that position. Texas v. Kennedy originally had the federal government as a defendant with states suing to have “integration” removed from a federal regulation. Now, the Trump administration has switched sides and is now agreeing with the states (NPR, 10/1/26).
· “Lawyers for the family of Renee Good…invoked an 1871 law meant to fight the terror of the KKK as they filed two civil lawsuits seeking accountability for Good’s killing…” (10/1/26, MPR News).
· Confirmed measles cases in Pennsylvania have reached 943 this year, the largest outbreak in three decades. A fifth person has died although health officials will not release details. The person was unvaccinated. Two counties have released measles-associated deaths involving an 18-year-old and a 40-year-old. Two deaths in Lancaster county have been confirmed of infants in the Amish community (9/30/26, The Philadelphia Inquirer).
· Ohhhhhhh, I can’t take any more of this. What a dismal news day.
Excerpt from Craig Unger’s “Den of Spies.”
Right before the Iran hostage crisis, the CIA was going through a time in which its secrets were being exposed – assassination attempts, illegal wiretaps, human experimentation, spying for Richard Nixon and more. There had been coup d’etats in Syria, in Iran in Guatemala and in the Congo, the Dominican Republic and in South Vietnam, Brazil and Chile. Congress began to rein in the power of the intelligence community. Carter appointed Stansfield Turner as CIA director. Turner purged 820 CIA operatives, in 1979 another 250 people put in for retirement. When the hostage crisis began, the “intelligence community, much of which had already been deeply alienated, was appalled by Carter’s fumbling efforts in Iran.” (17-19)
(Note: For more information, see Joe Trento’s “Prelude to Terror: The Rogue CIA and the Legacy of America’s Private Intelligence Network.”)
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
To make you feel better, this is Errol Flynn and his son (gray) Alva Edison. -
MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2026
It’s a lovely morning, finally we have cool breezes. I can hear the Monday Morning Mexies outside, so there must not be an ICE raid this week. Bastards. I haven’t checked my Facebook this morning. Last week, it was filled with warnings and lamentations from one woman whose husband had been taken to Folkston where there is the nearest private prison.
Article: Said, Summer and Anat Peled (9/27/26) “Egypt warned Netanyahu…” The Wall Street Journal.
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· By early October 2023, Egypt had already warned Israel twice about signs of an impending attack by Hamas. Israel had done nothing.
· Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, called Netanyahu to deliver a third alert. Days later Hamas would unleash the attack that killed around 1200 people and 250 taken hostage.
· This warning, which hadn’t previously been released, was one of several. Netanyahu is denying all of these advanced warnings.
· (Note: Book about lead up to the attack: “843 Days of Abandonment and Resilience” by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, the reporters who first revealed the call from the U.A.E.)
· Netanyahu has opposed the creation of an independent commission which would take a look at his government’s responsibility for actions that led to the attack. His objection is that such a commission would be led by the Israeli Supreme Court, which he says, is biased against him.
· A large proportion of the Israeli people support such an independent inquiry.
· Accouding to one poll, 68% of Jewish Israelis say that Oct. 7 is a major factor in their decision on which party to vote for.
· Gadi Eisenkot, a former top commander in the Israeli military, is the front runner opposition candidate. He claims that Netanyahu has evaded accountability for the attack and has accused him of possible treason for backing payments by Qatar to Gaza that benefited Hamas before the incursion.
· Eisenkot was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal: “The accumulation of facts exposed in recent months…regarding warnings from the heads of Israel’s security establishment and various officials from foreign countries leaves no room for doubt: Netanyahu led the state of Israel in blindness, arrogance and irresponsibility to the greatest disaster in its history.”
· Netanyahu has blamed his security chiefs, who he says failed to warn him of an impending attack. “He and his allies have said that his security officials hid vital information about the attack from him.”
· Israel’s “sharply divided” electorate and multiparty system “usually means the government is run by a coalition. Analysts say that Netanyahu might be betting on a stalemate and the need for another election, allowing him to stay on as caretaker prime minister.”
· The first Egyptian warning to Israel was vague. They encouraged “Israel to return to the negotiating table with Hamas.” Later on Kamel flew to Israel to convey a more serious warning. The situation in Gaza was dire and could blow up in everyone’s faces…”
· But, the Israeli officials told Kamel they had the situation under control. “The Egyptians. Continue to warn Israel up until 48 hours before the attack. One of these officials said.”
· Analysts also say that the failure to take the warnings seriously go beyond Netanyahu. “The Shin Bet internal-security service lacked human-intelligence sources in Gaza that might have uncovered Hamas’s plans.” “The Israeli military dismissed warnings by female observers on Gaza’s border who reported increased Hamas training and a blueprint of Hamas’s invasion plan was obtained by the Israeli military but was dismissed as unrealistic.”
· There was a great deal of hubris involved in Israel’s assessment of Hamas and its capabilities.
ARTICLE: Maanit, Chen (9/28/26) “Submarine affair findings against Netanyahu likely to stand if he remains silent. Haaretz.
· The “submarine affair” involves decisions made between 2009 and 2016 on submarine and naval vessel deals with Germany.
· A commission of inquiry has reached findings and Netanyahu’s lawyer was supposed to review the findings. He has not, however, gone to the secure facility so he can examine the evidence. At one time Netanyahu was said to be calling many witnesses, but there is no indication now that he will.
· The panel is headed by former Supreme Court President Asher Grunis.
· In another investigation in March of 2024, a separate state commission found that there were reasonable grounds to conclude that Netanyahu knew about longstanding safety problems at the Mount Meron site and the dangers that were posed. In 2021 45 people were crushed and killed at the site during the annual Lag Ba’Omer celebration.
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SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMER 2026
Well, it’s a mercifully cool morning. The measles death count is increasing. Pennsylvania is asking for assistance from the CDC and largely getting obstruction.
The cats are already outside. Aside from napping, their absolute favorite thing to do is to explore their yard. We’ve never really had a problem with one of them straying off the property before Sam. Everything is before Sam. We don’t even know where Sam goes. He’s like another cat when he’s outside, in another world. He’s a wild cat out there. Yesterday he ate, or at least caught a blue tail skenk, which scared his mother to death.
Blue tails can make them very sick. Eddie ate one once. When the vet, the wonderful Dr. Brooks walked in the door he stopped dead in his tracks: “He feels horrible doesn’t he?” Very few people notice what cats feel like if they don’t live with them. Cats are specialists at hiding pain – they are afraid somebody will try to get one up on them if they perceive any weakness.
So, I suppose the wonderful, ingenious skink, dropped the blue tail and escaped because Sam is not sick this morning. Yesterday, I had to pick him up and drag him into the house.
NEWS NOTES
QUOTE: Russian saying: “There is no rock bottom, there is knocking from below the bottom.” Things can and will get worse (Kuznetsova and Storyev)
ARTICLE: Pisani, Joseph (9/25/26) “Trump angers lawmakers with $810 million in cuts.” The Wall Street Journal.
LIFE AND NEWS NOTES
· Trump is clawing back $810 already approved by Congress, again trying to challenge Congress’ authority over government spending.
· The cuts are known as “pocket rescissions” were for programs that “provide health and education services and support for immigrants, refugees and minority-owned businesses.”
· This move tests the Impoundment Control Act under which the White House can pause spending for 45 days while it asks Congress to pass a measure rescinding the money. If Congress doesn’t act, the money must be released.
· (Collins is trying to behave as if she gives a shit by calling it an “unlawful cancellation of appropriations…approved on a bipartisan basis…”)
ARTICLE: Kuznetsova, Maria and Dan Storyev (9/25/26) “6 Russian words…” Foreign Policy.
· Book: “How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America.”
· The authors grew up in Russia and watched as Putin centralized power. “Russians…have generations of experience with the sense of unreality that characterizes life under an oppressive state.”
· (Note: Andrei Tarkovsky 1979 film Stalker)
ARTICLE: Grossman, Nicolas (9/24/26) “Saudi Arabia bribed the wrong people.” Foreign Policy.
· “Saudi Arabia is in serious trouble. Its global influence primarily comes from its leading position as an oil producer and the money resulting from that role…. Today, Saudi tankers are blocked in the Persian Gulf and under threat in the Red Sea, and the country’s biggest oil pipeline has shut down after a drone attacked. Yet Saudi Arabia’s biggest long term problem may be that it’s long time security guarantor the United States is unable to put out the fire and doesn’t seem especially interested in trying.”
BOOKS:
DEN OF SPIES BY CRAIG UNGER.
The Iran Hostage crisis did not come at a good time for the CIA. In 1974. The New York Times exposed that the CIA had been conducting massive illegal domestic intelligence operations against the anti-war movement and other activists during the Vietnam War. Soon after that investigations by the Church Committee exposed the full range of the CIA’s dirty little secrets for all to see. “Among them were 1/4 century of overseas assassination attempts, illegal wiretaps, human experimentation, spying for Richard Nixon and Watergate, and more. They had staged coup d’etats in Syria in 1949, in Iran in 1953, in Guatemala in 1954, in the Congo in 1960, in the Dominican Republic in 1963, in South Vietnam in 1963, in Brazil in 1964 and in Chile in 1973. There were CIA plots to assassinate foreign leaders in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam and more” (17)
