Ad Orientem

Report: Musk approached Trump to slow down Starlink in Ukraine

2026-10-16T21:42:16.981-04:00

Elon Musk approached Donald Trump with the idea of slowing down Starlink in Ukraine, The Telegraph can reveal.

The billionaire tech entrepreneur approached the US president with the proposal to introduce speed limits on the system, which hampered Ukraine’s drone defences, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.

One of the sources said Mr Trump “agreed” with Mr Musk’s suggestion, paving the way for the Pentagon to execute the slowdown on Starshield, the military-grade version of the satellite communications system.

Mr Musk had previously blamed Mr Trump for the chaos, claiming any changes would have been decided by the US military and ultimately the president.

At the time, Mr Trump was embroiled in a row with Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries.

US officials had warned Kyiv’s team of peace negotiators that Washington could shut off intelligence-sharing and other kinds of support if the long-range attacks were not halted.

Earlier this week, one of Mr Zelensky’s advisers said Mr Musk’s SpaceX had restricted access to the Starshield system, used by Kyiv to intercept jet-powered drones and strike behind enemy lines.

Speaking on the fringes of an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, the Ukrainian president called the slowdown a “very dangerous and unpleasant surprise”.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk denied he was responsible for limiting Starlink access, blaming the White House. He claimed that “any limits on speed or usage” were “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”, referring to Mr Trump.

However, after what was described as a “night of carnage” in Kyiv because of the blackout, a senior source said Mr Musk had been alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.

Read the rest here.

U.S. may have withheld warnings to Ukraine of Russian strikes that killed 6, cut power to 600,000

2026-10-14T11:36:18.865-04:00

The U.S. may have intentionally withheld early warnings this week of Russian strikes on Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine "received no advance warning from our partners" when Russia launched a ballistic missile barrage at Kyiv and other locations early Tuesday.

The sources said American officials told their Ukrainian counterparts the system used to detect Russian missile launches had failed due to "bad weather." Ukrainian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic, told CBS News they did not believe the excuse, and they accused the U.S. instead of "playing" with the system.

When Russia launched another wave of ballistic missiles around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the sources said the U.S. early warning system appeared to be working again.

Read the rest here.

Leo XIV Has Cancer

2026-10-13T22:01:37.872-04:00

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery Tuesday that confirmed that he has lung cancer, and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said.

Tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.

The statement made no mention of treatment going forward, and the Vatican said doctors were not currently speaking of chemotherapy or other therapies pending the results of other tests. The Vatican press office noted the medical statement spoke of the “radical” removal of the lobe as an indication that doctors removed all suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.

Leo’s lymph nodes also would have been removed and tested, to determine if the cancer had spread, and there was no word yet on those test results.

“Adenocarcinoma is the most common (type of lung cancer), also with the most favorable prognosis,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. “While we know the diagnosis we now need to know the stage.”

“We now need to know how big it is, how many spots in the lung are involved. Is it just one nodule, or more than one, and the lymph nodes, are they cancerous?” Liu said.

Read the rest here.

Poll Suggests Sharp Decline in Support for Trump Among Republicans

2026-10-09T20:13:00.232-04:00

One in four Trump voters say GOP candidates should break with the president to win in November, according to the latest POLITICO Poll, conducted by independent firm PF Global.

The findings underscore the degree to which even loyal Republicans understand President Donald Trump is a drag on the ticket. Persistent inflation, $4 gas prices, 7% mortgage rates, a quagmire in the Middle East and a trade war with Canada have given Republican candidates no shortage of opportunities to take the president to task.

Read the rest here.

Trump to Strikes Deal to Buy Diesel From Putin

2026-10-09T16:08:43.771-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said that he has struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

Trump said on social media on Friday that he struck the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver another 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.

Trump’s shocking announcement comes after he signed a sweeping Russia sanctions law last month that aimed at clamping down on Russia’s energy economy, among other areas, that fuel its war against Ukraine.

His move casts doubt on the likelihood of the White House imposing sanctions on Russia this month, given that a bipartisan law passed by Congress directs the administration to target the top importers of Russian oil and gas.

Trump, in his announcement, did not address the sanctions or Russia’s war but said, “Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority.”

Read the rest here.

The sheer incompetence and immorality of this president beggars the imagination.

Trump plans to turn Mar-a-Lago into official presidential retreat

2026-10-07T18:02:44.726-04:00

Donald Trump plans to turn his Mar-a-Lago club into an official presidential retreat where foreign leaders can be hosted and future presidents offered free memberships.

The US president wants the Florida resort to become a venue for international summits and a holiday residence for presidents visiting the state, according to a proposal submitted to Palm Beach County Officials.

The plans, presented by lawyers for the Trump International Golf Club, would also give future presidents complimentary memberships to the club.

“Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Élysée Palace are known worldwide, so too will the presidential golf course in Palm Beach county,” Harvey Oyer, a lawyer representing the Trump course, wrote to the Palm Beach county board of county commissioners in a letter last month seen by the Washington Post.

“It would further cement Palm Beach county as one of the most recognisable brands and destinations in the world,” Mr Oyer told the Washington Post, adding that a name had not yet been selected for the presidential golf course.

Read the rest here.

Pennsylvania nears 1,000 measles cases

2026-10-03T12:26:40.094-04:00

Pennsylvania’s reported measles cases are almost at 1,000 for 2026, days after its health department confirmed the figure had passed 900.

“977 measles cases have been confirmed across 39 counties in Pennsylvania so far in 2026,” Pennsylvania’s Department of Health wrote in a statement Friday.

The agency highlighted that 34 new Pennsylvania measles cases had emerged since Sept. 30, with hospitalizations tied to the infection reaching 195. The statement also reemphasized the state’s reported five measles-associated deaths amid an ongoing dispute between Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the outbreak’s true death toll.

The outbreak is the worst the commonwealth has seen in more than 35 years.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health added Friday that all but four of its measles cases have been among people who were not fully vaccinated against the virus.

“In a typical month, Pennsylvania health care providers administer approximately 25,000 doses of the MMR vaccine,” it wrote. “In August 2026, more than 49,000 MMR vaccines were administered and so far in September 2026, more than 53,000 doses have been administered.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes measles as a highly contagious virus but adds that two doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection. Pennsylvania’s health department stated that both doses together are 97 percent effective at preventing measles for life.

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Department of Health began the process of requesting emergency assistance from the CDC’s Epi-Aid program following five reported deaths tied to the infection, but only on the condition that the federal agency publicly recognizes the state’s entire reported death count.

The CDC has refused to acknowledge the same number of deaths as the Keystone State in its national count, sparking a bitter political dispute between Shapiro and Kennedy over what constitutes a measles death.

The federal agency to date has only recognized two deaths in its measles cases and outbreaks index, though the website adds that “this number is subject to change.”

The CDC’s database does not specify where or when these deaths occurred, so it’s not clear if the tally includes Pennsylvania’s reported cases. However, no other state has recorded a measles death this year.

Read the rest here.

Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency

2026-10-03T12:21:02.276-04:00

President Trump personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him and his presidency, setting in motion a $20 million contract that used funds from the Department of Homeland Security, according to people familiar with the matter.

The ads have run across cable and network television — on Fox News, CNN and MS Now, with football games on Fox and with national newscasts on CBS, ABC and NBC, including “Meet the Press,” which Mr. Trump is known to watch.

Mr. Trump was eager to see the laudatory ads on the air and told Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to come up with the money from within the government, the people said. Mark Paoletta, the budget office’s counsel, and Will Scharf, the White House counsel, both said it would be legal to use D.H.S. funds. The president and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, both spoke with Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, about the ads.

On Sept. 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection — which falls under D.H.S. — awarded the contract to LMD, a Maryland marketing firm, federal records show.

Read the rest here.

US, Russia talks on Ukraine involve oil deal tied to Kushner, Witkoff

2026-10-03T12:16:20.883-04:00

The Trump administration’s ongoing discussions with Russia to end the Ukraine war now include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives tied to the lead U.S. negotiators, according to new reporting from The New York Times.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been engaged in monthslong negotiations to end this four-year-long war. In September, the two men traveled to both Ukraine and Russia to reopen peace talks.

Several people with knowledge of these negotiations told the Times that Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a substantial deal for one of Russia’s largest energy companies, Lukoil, to acquire oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world during his Sept. 5 meeting with the U.S. negotiators.

The group behind this deal includes two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Witkoff and Kushner, as well as American investor and Trump donor Todd Boehly.

It is not apparent whether or not Witkoff and Kushner would profit from this deal, but the association has raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest in these ongoing talks.

Read the rest here.

Tennessee Execution Fails Despite Two Lethal Injections

2026-10-01T12:33:12.901-04:00

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has been taken to hospital after an attempt to execute her by two lethal injections failed, her lawyer says.

Her legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the convicted murderer's execution as it was happening, saying: "Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring."

One of her attorneys told the BBC that Pike, 50, was now "being provided life-saving measures" in hospital after two syringes of pentobarbital had been administered.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Her execution was the subject of a last-minute legal battle.

Read the rest here.

Lethal injection is a barbaric form of execution. Even when it works, it routinely takes between 30 minutes to an hour. Some executions have taken much longer. And some have simply failed. The British used to be able to carry out their executions in less than a minute from the moment the hangman entered the condemned person's cell. If we must have capital punishment something similar should be the standard here.

Bond Rout Continues

2026-10-01T12:09:30.445-04:00

U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest level in more than two decades on Thursday as a global bond sell-off deepened. A September manufacturing survey in the U.S. showed a sharp gain in prices.

The 10-year Treasury yield breached a level last seen in April 2002, before easing more than 4 basis points to 5.251%. The 10-year is a key benchmark for rates on mortgage and auto loans and credit card debt. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond also hit its highest in 24 years before pulling back to 5.61%.

Yields and prices move inversely. One basis point equals 0.01%.

“Stocks are near records, but with government bond yields also at multidecade highs, there are questions about how long this rally can last. Some investors also expect higher interest rates to undo the decades-long ‘there is no alternative’ to stocks regime,” Hardika Singh, economic strategist at Fundstrat, said in a Thursday note.

Read the rest here.

For a British perspective, see this.

US Government is Paying for Trump Advertising

2026-09-24T12:51:32.522-04:00

At first glance, it looks like a typical Republican campaign advertisement. As images of President Donald Trump flash across the screen, the 30-second spot says “America will never be a communist country” and boasts about the “largest tax cuts in history.”

But there’s something different near the end — a bit of text at the bottom that says “paid for by the U.S. government.”

According to AdImpact, which tracks media spending, the advertisement cost $14,000 and it ran during conservative shows on Fox News and Newsmax.

It’s not clear what part of the U.S. government paid for the spot, which includes background music with singers crooning “love me” over and over. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. Neither did Fox News or Newsmax.

The advertisement does not say who voters should support in the midterms, but it meshes with campaign messaging from Trump and other Republicans, particularly during the party’s unusual convention in Dallas earlier this month.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee if his party wins the majority in November, said in a social media post that it’s a violation of the Hatch Act for government employees to work on such a video.

“It is blatantly unethical under numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns,” Raskin wrote.

Poll: Trump's Approval Rating Breaks Below 30%

2026-09-23T19:09:42.723-04:00

It was received wisdom during President Trump’s first term that his hard floor of support sat somewhere around one-third of Americans. Those were the MAGA true believers, the die-hards, the folks who stood in line for hours to attend their fifth Trump rally of the year. That rule of thumb proved to be true. Trump’s approval was still hovering in the 40s before ending around 34 percent on Jan. 4, 2021.

Whatever truths we can glean from Trump’s trainwreck of a second term, it is clear the MAGA base is now deserting him in record numbers.

An American Research Group poll published this week found Trump’s approval at just 29 percent — a new low for his presidency and a flashing warning sign for the congressional Republicans being dragged beneath the waves by the president’s plummeting popularity.

What is surprising are the circumstances of Trump’s collapse. The economy is certainly in better shape than it was during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when Trump’s approval sat in the 40s. Last month’s 3.5 percent inflation rate is bad but well below its peak. Perhaps, more than high gas and grocery prices, Americans have just had enough of politicians who don’t seem to care about their problems.

The best example of Republican apathy doesn’t even come from Trump, but from the very mild criticism delivered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). In a Sept. 6 interview with “Meet the Press,” Kennedy admitted that congressional Republicans could act before the midterms to ease an affordability crisis that is crushing regular Americans.

“These prices are gutting the middle class like a fish and they expect Congress to address them. And we should have started five months ago. We didn’t. But we need to start talking about it now,” Kennedy said.

When asked by host Kristen Welker if Republicans had the power to address inflation, Kennedy was clear: “Sure, if we wanted to,” Kennedy replied. “We can do anything we want to in reconciliation and ask the House to come back and do it. I’m not saying we will do that. Certainly based on our record of the last five or six months, it’s not likely.”

It is one thing for angry voters to hear Democrats complaining about Republican inaction on inflation. It’s quite another to hear a prominent Republican tell voters in no uncertain terms that the Republican Party just doesn’t care enough about them to address skyrocketing prices. Sure, your nearly $5 a gallon gas may be demolishing your family budget, but don’t expect your Republican elected leaders to lift a finger to help.

The apathy on display among Republican leaders is baffling, given the scope of America’s affordability crisis. A Fox News poll conducted Sept. 11-14 found that more than two-thirds of voters — including one-quarter of Republicans — blame Trump for making the economy worse. Those voters also trust Democrats over Republicans to address the inflation crisis by a 15-point margin, one of the largest spreads to date.

Interestingly, that number is driven more by voter anger over Republicans’ failure to act (51 percent) than confidence Democrats’ plans will actually work (47 percent). Voters would rather try a solution that might not work than let an indifferent and ineffective Republican Party squander two more years of power.

Read the rest here.

The Bond Market Rout Continues

2026-09-23T19:03:33.281-04:00

Treasury rates spiked on Wednesday to multiyear highs in what was the biggest one-day move for the 10-year Treasury yield in nearly 18 months. There were a number of reasons cited for the sudden move higher:

Much stronger-than-expected surveys on U.S. economic activity, especially in the manufacturing sector

Hawkish commentary from a top Federal Reserve official

A U.S. Treasury auction for five-year notes that was met with poor demand

Stubbornly high oil prices with WTI crude rising 2%

The 10-year Treasury note yield

popped more than 13 basis points to 5.104% and reached a level not seen since July 2007. The move gained steam after the 10-year yield broke through the key 5% level. It marked the benchmark yield’s biggest one-day move since April 7, 2025 — when it surged 16.6 points.

The 2-year Treasury note yield

, which is most sensitive to expected changes in Fed policy, jumped more than 11 basis points to 4.889% and hit its highest level since May 2024 as traders increased their bet the Federal Reserve would need to hike again in October.

The 30-year Treasury

yield gained more than 9 basis points to 5.398%. It hit the highest level since June 2007. One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

“This is the market telling us we’ve entered a genuine re-tightening cycle, said Tony Miano, global investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “The Fed’s 25 basis point hike last week to 3.75%–4% was its first increase since 2023, and the dot plot signaled another this year.”

“A week ago you could argue that was a one-and-done insurance move or a one and maybe December hike). Today’s price action says investors no longer believe that,” he added. Bottom line, “you can’t fool or hide in the bond market – unless the Fed gets inflation under control the long end of the curve is going to continue to come under pressure.”

Read the rest here.

See also this for a more detailed discussion of the recent craziness in the markets.

75% of Americans Say Tariffs Will Be Important to Their Vote in the Midterms

2026-09-18T21:05:42.551-04:00

A new Cato Institute/Morning Consult survey of 4,150 registered voters finds that three in four (75%) say tariffs will be important to their vote in this November’s midterm elections.

Nearly the same share—74%—say that Trump’s tariffs increased the prices of things they buy at the store, including 66% of Republicans and 84% of Democrats. Majorities say the tariffs are a tax on Americans (57%) and believe they have weakened the US economy (53%), while just 23% say the tariffs have improved their personal quality of life.

Overall, 57% have an unfavorable opinion of President Trump’s handling of trade policy (an increase from 54% in March), while 43% have a favorable view.

Together, these findings suggest tariffs could pose a political liability for Republicans in the midterms, particularly among independents and voters concerned about higher prices. The survey finds that a plurality of Americans plan to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress over the Republican candidate by 47% to 42%, with 11% unsure.

Read the rest here.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Sees Serious Threats to the Global Economy

2026-09-15T18:30:46.578-04:00

Four powerful shocks are hitting the world economy at the same time. They are escalating and feeding on each other, driving a commodity spiral that can end only in an inflationary blow-off.

The effects are ripping through the global bond markets and confronting central banks with an impossible dilemma. Yields on 10-year US Treasuries have surpassed 5pc, smashing through the Maginot defences of Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary.

The Bloomberg commodity index has risen 48pc this year, accelerating in pace and spreading in breadth from energy to industrial metals and grains. The fever has spread to shipping and freight.

Lloyd’s List says the cost of a giant VLCC oil tanker on the Baltic Exchange has hit $1m (£740,000) a day, eight times the cost in January. “What is happening is truly unprecedented,” said Erik Broekhuizen, the head of shipping at Poten & Partners.

The futures markets are no longer pricing in a quick return to normal, as they were in those first insouciant weeks of the Iran war, when traders still believed in the all-conquering might of the US navy. Brent futures contracts are over $90 a barrel all the way out to the spring of 2027.

European gas futures are locking in prices through the winter that are three times higher than last winter. Wheat, maize and soybeans are all in “contango”: futures prices are well above today’s spot prices.

Read the rest here.

Profiles in Cowardice

2026-09-15T13:05:20.811-04:00

The thing I’ve found most shocking about Donald Trump’s second presidency is not the epic grift, the ICE paramilitary violence or the assaults on free speech. These abuses, while horrifying, are predictable. What has stunned me has been the capitulation of so many American elites to Trump’s vulgar authoritarianism.

I didn’t expect major law firms, some that have long boasted about their progressive pro bono work, to fold with barely a fight. I didn’t expect TV networks to settle bogus lawsuits by paying the president millions, or for Ivy League schools such as Columbia to relinquish autonomy over curriculum, admissions and student discipline. In Hungary, it took years for Viktor Orban’s government to bring most of academia, the news media and other pillars of civil society to heel. Why were so many powerful people in America, a country whose civic culture is steeped in resistance to tyranny, so willing to abase themselves and their institutions?

That’s the question at the heart of Jacob Weisberg’s important new book, “Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era.” It’s an inverted version of John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage,” offering character studies of eight people who gave in to Trump despite surely knowing better. Reading it made me wonder if there’s something about America today that selects for spinelessness at the highest levels.

Some of Weisberg’s choices perplexed me; a few of the figures he focuses on are less morally compromised than simply rotten. There’s nothing that mysterious, at least to me, in the failure of people like Mitch McConnell, Megyn Kelly or the vulture capitalist Stephen Schwarzman to display much democratic integrity. What’s harder to fathom is why people who presented themselves as bulwarks against Trumpism during his first term made such degrading compromises during his second.

The Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos adopted the motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” for his newspaper during the first Trump presidency, then gutted it during the second. As president of Barnard during the first Trump administration, Sian Beilock championed sweeping antiracism initiatives. In Trump’s second term, as president of Dartmouth, she has kept mostly mum about Trump’s attacks on higher education. These are people who once knew how dangerous Trump was, but now that he’s worse than ever, they’re pretending not to see. Why?

Read the rest here.

A Sober Reflection on the National Debt

2026-09-15T13:02:15.638-04:00

Imagine running into a movie theater and yelling “fire!” But just as people are starting to panic, you add, “I mean … not yet … but maybe at some unknowable point in the future.”

That’s a fair description of where many of us tracking the U.S. fiscal outlook find ourselves at this moment. For years, I wasn’t an alarmist about the national debt. During the Biden administration, I even criticized those calling for more austere budget policy; I thought that fiscal austerity would do more harm than good.

Our fiscal reality has changed significantly since those days, and so has my stance on public debt. Here’s why:

The basic budget math has worsened as the interest rate on our national debt has climbed closer to the economy’s growth rate. If the compounding debt consistently grows faster than the economy, we risk entering a debt spiral.

Our annual deficits, currently about 6 percent of G.D.P., are way above where history says they should be. We’re not in a recession, but we’re borrowing as though we were.

Politically, neither party shows any interest in addressing the problem. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in fact, are aggressively creating the very risks I worry about.

Mr. Trump does so by explicitly trying to manipulate the Federal Reserve to lower the nation’s debt payments.

Mr. Bessent may be even worse, abandoning the steady hand that’s essential for being Treasury Secretary for hedge-fund swagger. He’s flexing on markets — “I am the house now,” he said, referring to the Treasury’s recent purchase of Japanese yen to support the dollar — by daring currency and bond markets to bet against him. They did. The traders quickly waved off his swagger, and bond yields rose.

Read the rest here.

Good news (for a change)

2026-09-11T12:59:50.530-04:00

The UK parliament has rejected the legalization of euthanasia.

When ‘12 Angry Men’ becomes one angry man

2026-09-05T14:34:30.599-04:00

“I hope that guy can sleep well at night.”

Those words from Kevin Reddington on the steps of the Plymouth, Massachusetts Courthouse were part of a diatribe against the “guy” who was reportedly the sole holdout in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The scene was a fitting end to a visceral trial, but it added a vindictive element that should prompt Judge William Sullivan to call out the seasoned defense attorney.

After declaring that the 11-1 mistrial was “no time to gloat,” Reddington bragged repeatedly about “crushing” District Attorney Tim Cruz, whom he also attacked. He insisted that, in the trial, no one said a single negative thing about his client as a mother — ignoring that little matter of the three young children whom she had strangled to death, one by one.

But it was his attack on the holdout juror that was a breathtaking abandonment of restraint and decency. Reddington knows it is very likely that the name of this juror (he has already been identified as one of only three males on the jury) will eventually be uncovered by Internet sleuths. He effectively put a target on the back of a juror who committed the unpardonable sin of not being convinced by his arguments.

The fact that this is one of the three male jurors only ramped up the rage. This case prompted a striking gender divide between men and women, with many women expressing sympathy for Clancy and anger at the system for failing her.

For Reddington and many viewers, the hung jury was less “Twelve Angry Men” and more like “One Angry Man.” Indeed, in addition to attacking the juror, women outside of the courthouse heckled Cruz as he tried to speak to the press, shouting that he “only cares about the three children. What about the Mom?”

Reddington followed up by saying that Cruz really did not care about the children (because he looked down to read their names). He also accused the holdout jurors of wasting the time of the jury, complaining “that guy stole seven weeks from those jurors.”

It was an ironic twist on the 1957 classic. In that movie, Juror number eight (Ford) was repeatedly attacked for “wasting time” and not yielding to the majority — until he ultimately convinced all of his peers.

Earlier in the day, Reddington had asked a Massachusetts Supreme Court justice for an emergency order to force Sullivan not to declare a mistrial, and instead to remove the holdout in favor of an alternate. It was an utterly meritless effort, but Reddington used the filing to further denounce the juror. He compared the juror’s refusal to vote for his client as akin to leaving a racist on a jury. In this case, he suggested that the “guy” was a virtual anti-disability version of “Bull” Connor or some deranged “ableist.”

Read the rest here.

Whatever one's opinion on the case, Redington's behavior was grossly unethical. It can only have the effect of undermining public confidence in the jury system and making ordinary citizens reluctant to serve on jury duty for fear of being the target of a vengeful lawyer. He should be sanctioned and removed from the case if there is a retrial.

Dutch central bank moves gold bars out of U.S. and Canada, citing ‘crisis preparedness’

2026-09-03T17:32:13.695-04:00

The Dutch central bank (DNB) has transferred approximately 86 metric tons of gold out of the U.S. and Canada to the U.K., seeking to shore up its contingency planning in view of “increasing geopolitical unrest.”

Just over one-quarter of the central bank’s gold reserves held in New York and Ottawa had been shifted to London between March and August, DNB said Wednesday.

The transferred gold is now stored with the Bank of England because gold stored there must meet international trade standards and is recognized as “the world’s most easily tradable gold,” DNB said, adding that the move strengthens its “crisis preparedness.”

By contrast, DNB said the gold bars held in the U.S. and Canada could not be utilized as quickly and directly in a crisis situation.

“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said in a statement.

The move comes amid a blockbuster rally in gold prices and continued U.S.-Iran geopolitical tensions over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, with a comprehensive settlement agreement far from certain.

Read the rest here.

Israel ‘seeking Trump’s support for plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza’

2026-09-02T17:12:05.200-04:00

Israel’s defence minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime.

Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” during a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He said the Israeli government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”.

Trump discussed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip in early 2025 that would have involved removing Palestinians from the territory, but has since pulled back from the idea. A 20-point peace plan the White House drew up last year did not call for Palestinians’ deportation, an act that would be widely seen as ethnic cleansing.

Read the rest here.

Trump is threatening military intervention against a new target... the Bond Market.

2026-08-29T19:02:19.721-04:00

You just can't make this stuff up.

Memory Eternal

2026-08-28T15:59:01.253-04:00

Harald V of Norway

France: Far left presidential candidate calls for suspension of interest on national debt

2026-08-26T13:52:14.507-04:00

CHÂTEAUNEUF-SUR-ISÈRE, France — Jean-Luc Mélenchon has a radical idea to help solve France’s financial challenges: “set fire” to a large chunk of its public debt.

The far-left presidential contender would essentially have the European Central Bank agree to waive interest payments on a massive tranche of French bonds.

Coming from a top presidential hopeful, the proposal has triggered a flurry of criticism from leading economists and politicians, who have denounced it as irresponsible and dangerous for the economic stability of the country and the entire European Union.

Read the rest here.