Somaliland, in red, NW of Somalia, NE of Ethiopia, on the Gulf of Aden

As reported in the BBC, here, Israel has recognized Somaliland as an independent country. While appearing “radical,” and opposed by Turkey, Russia, and China, this is actually recognizing the facts on the ground. Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991.Since then Somaliland has governed itself as an independent state. Israel is the third state, after Ethiopia and Taiwan to recognize Somaliland. And UAE has informally recognized Somaliland. (OrfOnline, here). 

Following recognition Ethiopia and Taiwan, recognition by Israel should encourage other nations to follow suit, increasing Somaliland’s diplomatic credentials and giving it greater access to international markets.

For more information: Business Standard, here.

As Alex Stein wrote, in Love of the Land, on Substack, here,

The strategic reasons for Israel’s recognition of Somaliland are clear. It will provide the country with a forward base for countering the Houthis in Yemen and Turkish expansion into Somalia, while deepening its own alliance with the United Arab Emirates.

Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has promised that his country would join the Abraham Accords, in a step toward regional and global peace.

Relations between Israel and Somaliland obviously benefit both countries, Europe, and the Americas as Somaliland’s proximity to Yemen – south across the Gulf of Aden – provides cover and protection of ships from Houthis and Somali pirates as they sail into or out from the Red Sea.

On Jan. 1, 2024 Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, regarding a 50 year lease in the Somaliland port of Berbera (Ethiopia News Agency, ENA, here).

In July, 2025, Taiwan and Somaliland signed the “Coast Guard Cooperation Agreement” aimed at operational cooperation. The agreement commits Taiwan and Somaliland to cooperation, intelligence sharing and technology transfer. As noted in Taipei Times, here, “This reflects the desire — shared by both nations — to achieve strategic results within the context of their respective national interests.”

Historically, the people of Somalia and Somaliland are one people, speaking one language, but there are different clans in the two countries. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 in the aftermath of the “Hargeisa Holocaust.” This was mass killings, of 50,000 to 200,000 people, destruction of cities, and forced displacement of the members of the Isaaq population, led by the dictator Siad Barre and carried out by the Soviet Union.

The people of Somaliland hope recognition by Israel will lead to recognition by other countries, and equally important, the ability to get funds from the IMF and the World Bank and trade its currency internationally.

Stein also wrote that “Somaliland has shied away from Russian or Chinese support…. With Russia, you don’t get money, you don’t get development, you just get weapons. With China, you’ll have a bridge, but your trees and your resources will be gone.”

Israel’s decision has been condemned by the China, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia, and Turkey.

In an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the issue, the US defended Israel’s decision and observed a contrast with the decision taken by a number of UN member countries to recognise a Palestinian state earlier in 2025, which the US opposed.

Tommy Bruce, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, said “Earlier this year, several countries, including members of this council, made the unilateral decision to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state, and yet no emergency meeting was called to express this Council’s outrage.”

Somalia and Somaliland were separate political entities from 1884 to 1960. Somaliland was a British colony from 1884 to 1960. Somalia was an Italian colony from 1889 to 1941, occupied by British forces during WW II from 1941 to 1945, and a UN Territory administered by U. K. from 1950 to 1960.

The U.K., showing the moral courage, or lack thereof, of Neville Chamberlain, still refuses to recognize the 34 year old actions of it’s former colony. (Reuters, here.) Note that while Somaliland was a colony of U. K. from 1884 to 1960. Somalia was a colony of Italy from 1889 to 1950, at which time it was taken over by U.K. and united with Somaliland.

Contemporary geopolitics was the driving force behind this decision; not the obscure Jewish history of Somaliland and Somalia. However, as discussed in “Somaliland’s little-known Jewish past spans Yemenite traders and contested legends” (Times of Israel, here). A modern Jewish community thrived from the 1880’s to the 1930’s. They were essentially wiped out, initially by Italian fascists in the 1930’s and subsequently by Al Shabaab by 2009. In addition, the Yibir clan may also have originated in Yemenite Jews, has been there for about 1500 years, since the Ottoman Empire occupied and controlled Yemen.

It is the opinion of this writer that the people who support Israel in its defensive wars against Iran and its proxies, and Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia, should support Somaliland.

Benjamin Netanyahu (center), Nikos Christodoulides (left) and Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right) in Jerusalem on December 22, 2025. (Abir Sultan / Pool / AFP)

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides said, “To those who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands, I say: Forget it. It’s not going to happen. Don’t even think about it.”
(Times of Israel, here).

They are talking to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

This is chutzah.

Erdogan is dreaming that he can recreate the Ottoman Empire.

This is hubris.

And when it’s chutzpah v hubris, bet on chutzpah.

Israel has a population of about 9.5 million people. Greece: 10.4 and Cyprus: 1.3, Turkey: 85.8. So Turkey outnumbers Israel, Greece, and Cyprus combined by about 4.2 to 1. On the face of it, one could be forgiven for thinking Erdogan’s expectation is realistic and Netanyahu, Mitsotakis, and Christodoulides are being arrogant or engaging in fantastical thinking. But …given Israel’s response to the invasion by Iranian and Qatari backed forces on October 7, 2023, it may be Erdogan who is engaging in arrogant and fantastical thinking.

Think about it: On Oct. 7, 2023 Israel was attacked by Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip. On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah joined in from Lebanon. All three are and were armed, managed, and funded by Iran and Qatar. And today Hamas has the support of Turkey.

That adds up to 125 million people, not counting Turkey. On October 6, 2023, Israel was – and remains – outnumbered 14 to 1. Despite being caught by surprise, Israel decimated the top leadership of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, and Syria. Bashir al-Assad, the former dictator of Syria abdicated his Presidency and fled the country for Russia on December 8, 2024. (Reuters, here.)

Despite fighting a war on three (3) fronts, including the land borders with Gaza and Lebanon and the skies, plus attacks by Houthis from Yemen and Iran itself, Israeli arms production was sufficient to resupply the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, and also sell $14.8 billion internationally in 2024 – (Times of Israel, here) almost 6 times the value of the S-400 Turkey bought from Russia in 2017, and 39.2% higher than the $9 billion Turkish companies lost because of Erdogan’s folly. (Yahoo News, here.)

Israel has just deployed “Magan Or,” the “Iron Beam,” literally “Shield of Light,” laser based missile defense system. Israel is also focused on continuing to develop its electronics and military, defense, and intelligence industries. Various Israeli weapons systems, including the Arrow 3, Barak MX, David’s Sling, PULS, Spike,  and components of the Iron Dome are in use by U.K, US DoD, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany, and (probably) Ukraine. Israel’s Defense Ministry recently announcing the existence of Magen Or, Iron Beam, and Lehav Barzel, Iron Sting, Iron Beam has intercepted short-range rockets at a distance of 10 KM, or 6 miles. While the costs of missile defense using air to air missiles is in the hundred’s of thousands per engagement, the costs using lasers is under $10 per engagement. (Jerusalem Post, here,)

Erdogan, on the other hand, seems focused on shooting himself in the foot. In 2017, as noted above, Erdogan spent $2.5 Billion on Russian made S-400 missile defense system. S-400 is incompatible with the NATO systems in place in Turkey, so these were never used and are sitting, rusting, in warehouses. This also cost Turkey its role in the F-35 program, and cost Turkish companies  $9 Billion in lost revenue they would have earned manufacturing components for F-35 systems. (Yahoo News, here.)

As Bobby Ghosh put it, in “Erdogan’s S-400 Trouble was his own Making,” Time on 22 December, 2025, (Yahoo News, here)

It takes a special kind of leader to spend $2.5 billion on a weapons system, never use it, alienate his most important allies, get kicked out of the world’s most advanced fighter jet program, endure years of sanctions — and then ask the seller for a refund.

Yet here we are. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility of returning Russia’s S-400 air defense system during his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan [Dec. 12, 2025].

Putin said nothing. His silence was, as they say, deafening. Of course in December, 2024, Putin was and remains, in a catastrophic war of his own against Ukraine. He needs every ruble.

Makes you wonder if the “S” in “S-400” stands for “Schmuck.

Be that as it may, Israel’s defensive capabilities suggest that it would be able to fend off an air attack by Turkey.

Mayor Adams has taken concrete steps to protect New York’s Jewish citizens and all New Yorkers. His successor, Mamdani, vows to “Obey International Law” if and when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to New York City.

Adams

On Dec. 3, 2025 Mayor Adams signed Executive Orders (EOs) 60 and 61. EO 60 prohibits NYC’s appointed heads of agencies from boycotting, divesting from or sanctioning Israel; from participating in the BDS movement. EO 61 directs the NYPD to figure out how to protect people, including Jews, inside houses of worship, i.e. synagogues and yeshivas, as well as in public spaces from harassment, For more information on EOs 60 and 61, see the NYC.Gov site, here.

In May, 2025: Adams Created the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism (here) and launched the New York City – Israel Economic Council, here.  A month later, in June, 2025, Adams signed an EO to recognize the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. For more information, see the NYC.Gov  site, here. These obviously didn’t occur in a vacuum.

The actions in May and June were probably in response to the activities of the self-described “Pro-Palestinians” at demonstrations on college campuses, the Brooklyn Bridge, and elsewhere. EOs 60 and 61 are obviously meant to constrain the next mayor and his administration.

Zohran Mamdani, in contrast, as noted above has vowed to “Obey International Law” if and when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to New York City. The “International Law” he cited is the ICC’s arrest warrant. However, aside from the bias of the ICC, the United States is not signatory to the treaty that created it, therefore, the “arrest warrant” is null and void within the United States, its territories and possessions. In addition, Federal Law prohibits local elected officials from cooperating with the ICC. Mamdani can not legally arrest Netanyahu. If he tries he will run afoul of US law, specifically 22 U.S. Code § 7423 – Prohibition on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, described at Cornell University Legal Information Institute, here.

Netanyahu, who will be doubtlessly protected by Israeli security forces – who train the NYPD and other American and European police forces (here) – will also be protected by the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Services, DSS.

Mamdani and “Globalize the Intifada.”

The “Pro-Palestinians” often repeat the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” The first and second Intifadas were waves of terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers, and Israelis. According to Jewish Virtual Library, here,

During the first four years of the [first] uprising, more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives were reported by the Israel Defense Forces. The violence was directed at soldiers and civilians alike. During this period, 16 Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the territories; more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 Israeli soldiers were injured. Approximately 1,100 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Throughout the intifada, the PLO played a lead role in orchestrating the insurrection. The PLO-dominated Unified Leadership of the Intifada (UNLI), for example, frequently issued leaflets dictating which days violence was to be escalated, and who was to be its target. The PLO’s leadership of the uprising was challenged by the fundamentalist Islamic organization Hamas, a violently anti-Semitic group that rejects any peace negotiations with Israel.Roughly Israelis and Arabs were killed in what is now known as the First Intifada, from 1987 to 1993,

The Second Intifada began in September, 2000, a few months after Arafat declined to accept the Palestinian State offered by Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, US President Bill Clinton in the Camp David Summit of July, 2000. The Camp David Summit is described on Jewish Virtual Library here, and Newsweek, here. The Intifada, here.

The Intifada is, simply and clearly, terror attacks against Jews and Israelis Globalizing the Intifada means terror attacks against Jews and Israelis globally.

Adams’ EOs are all about preventing an intifada in New York City.

Mamdani, when asked about “Globalize the Intifada,” has said “That is not a phrase I use” but he declines to condemn it (Politico, here). Not condemning it doesn’t mean he is necessarily for it; it just means he is not against it.

Mamdani accurately describes himself as an immigrant in a city of immigrants. As of 2023, there were roughly 940,000 Jews living in New York City; which was then a city of 8.5 million people. Threats to these 940,000 people, to 11.06% of New Yorkers who are Jewish, are threats to all New Yorkers. It is unacceptable that the future mayor does not condemn threats to the Jews and everyone else who lives or works in New York City.

Mamdani, at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023, said, “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” reported on CNN, here, Mamdani was describing the collaboration between the NYPD and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which began after the September 11 attacks in 2001, when U.S. law enforcement sought to enhance their surveillance and policing tactics. This partnership has involved various training programs and exchanges of tactics between the NYPD and the IDF. Police departments in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California have sent team members for counter-terrorism training.

One aspect of the Mayor’s job is to ensure protection of the public and public safety. This includes well-trained and well-equipped police, fire, and other emergency response teams. The “Israel Bad” mantra is, in plain English, racist. Given Israeli knowledge and technology, it would be a dereliction of duty to not learn from Israel, not to use Israeli technology, and not to learn from the IDF.

Personally, I think Mamdani should take his oath of office seriously and focus on managing the City of New York, rather than turn his office into a platform for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Qatar, you know, the people who have terrorized Israel since its inception and Gaza since Israeli forces left in 2005.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I have spent a lot of time in NYC: lived there for 30 years, worked there for another 20 or 30 years. I co-founded this blog with Jon Soroko, of blessed memory, late of Brooklyn.)

According to CNN, here, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is “promising” a tariff dividend to households making less than $100,000 per year. In 2024, this was 57.3% of households. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, here, as of Nov. 12, 2024, there are about 132.2 million household in the US. This means about 74.67 million households earn less than $100,000. Giving each of them $2,000 would require about $149.3 Billion, plus enough for logistics and overhead.

This means that the Trump administration defines “High Income People” as those making over $100,000 per year. I know that $100,000 per year was a lot of money 50 years ago. But today?

Given all the news about layoffs from private industry, and the actions of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, i imagine there are a few more households making less than $100,000 per year.

We all know – and even the Trump Administration appears to be acknowledging – that the tariffs are raising prices. So why not eliminate all Tariffs, not just the tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruit?

Note: The graph above is on Statistica’s website, here, published Nov. 7, 2025.

See also “Tariffs and a $2,000 Dividend? Let’s do the Math.” here.

As noted on Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, here, Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords is partly symbolic. Kazakhstan recognized Israel and has maintained diplomatic ties with it since gaining independence from Russia and the Soviet Union in 1991. But this begs the question

Why did the Muslim majority nation recognize and seek ties with Israel in 1991?

Look at the map. Kazakhstan is south of Russia, west of China, and while separated by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, north of Iran and Afghanistan.

Ah-ha. But by this logic a rational person would expect Azerbaijan, India, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan to have ties with Israel. And they do.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, another one-time Soviet Republic, is south of Russia, north of Iran, east of Georgia and Armenia, which are east of Turkey. Azerbaijan’s geopolitical concerns are similar to those of Kazakhstan.

As noted in “Israel’s Enemies United the Region – Around Israel,” in “Future of Jewish,” here,

Documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal [here, and also in Israel HaYom, YNet News] show that Hamas leadership including Yahya Sinwar sought to halt the momentum of Israeli-Saudi normalization and derail the wider regional realignment taking shape around the Abraham Accords. Their fear was not simply Israeli weakness, but Israeli integration. Their objective was to break it.

But the plan has backfired spectacularly. Israel’s military successes against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran have accelerated the alignment Sinwar hoped to destroy. Rather than isolating Israel, the past year has made it a more valuable strategic partner.

Azerbaijan makes this point impossible to ignore. While Westerners declared Israel untouchable, Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company was finalizing the purchase of a 10-percent stake in Israel’s offshore Tamar gas field through Union Energy, its first such venture in the Mediterranean. This wasn’t just a business decision, but a strategic move by a state that sees Israel as central to its energy security, defense modernization, and geopolitical influence. The deal expands Azerbaijan’s leverage in the European energy market, while deepening its alignment with the region’s most capable military and intelligence power.

A broader regional pattern is now unmistakable. States that face Iranian pressure or seek technological and security upgrades are not distancing themselves from Israel, but moving closer. Emirati trade with Israel continues to grow. Over the summer, Egypt and Israel signed a record $35 billion gas deal. CENTCOM, which coordinates U.S. military activity in the Middle East, is deepening operational coordination between the IDF and Arab armies — including those of countries that don’t have formal relations with Israel.

India

Here’s a list of Bilateral Agreements between India and Israel, from January, 1992 to November, 2023, published by the Indian Embassy to Israel. And articles in the Jerusalem Post, here, and The Print, India, here.

Ukraine

Kazakhstan is not the only republic now independent of the Soviet Union and Tzarist Russia to have ties with Israel. Speaking to the Jerusalem Post in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday, Nov 12, here, Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko said, 

“Ukraine and Israel are two fortresses of democracy in our area, but the cooperation between the two countries should be much more close than it is today,” 

Throughout the conversation, Goncharenko highlighted the need for strengthened bilateral ties, not just in political matters but also in terms of media strategy, cultural heritage, and trade.

Ukraine is hosting the third Black Sea Security Forum in May 2026 and wants Israel to attend to increase connections between the Black Sea and the Middle East.

So what do they know in India, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine that they don’t know in the US, UK, France, Spain, Canada, Australia, etc. 

“The first thing is that Ukraine and Israel face a very similar threat, with exactly the same enemy… Iran, Russia, all these proxies of Iran.” He noted that on the day he left for Israel, his hometown of Odessa was attacked by Iranian drones.

The Jerusalem Post also quoted Goncharenko saying, “The first thing is that Ukraine and Israel face a very similar threat, with exactly the same enemy… Iran, Russia, all these proxies of Iran.” He noted that on the day he left for Israel, his hometown of Odessa was attacked by Iranian drones.

This also explains why Ukrainian producer and director Alexander Rodnyansky has pulled his work Notes of a True Criminal from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in response to its decision to exclude Israeli state-backed organizations and films from this year’s edition, as noted on Yahoo News, here.

“My film is not Israeli and neither am I. I am Ukrainian and my decision is based not on my nationality but on the principles I have held my entire life. It is my firm conviction that you cannot judge a nation and that we judge people by their actions, not by their passports,” Rodnyansky wrote.

Uzbekistan

Like Azerbajian and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Israel established relations in 1992, immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Jewish community in Uzbekistan, centered in Bukhara and Samarkand is ancient, believed to originating in the days of King Solomon’s Temple.

On July 27, 2020, Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s Interior Minister, and Kharidin Khardinov, advisor to the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan signed an agreement allowing and facilitating Uzbek nurses to travel to and work in Israel. (See “Israel Tightens Ties with Uzbekistan,” here.

Armenia

Europe and the West?

The politicians say, “Israel bad.”

But the defense, intelligence, and cybersecurity communities say, “Israel Good. Israeli Tech Very Good.”

Especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As reported in the JNS, here, In November, 2023, Germany and Israel signed a $3.5 Billion agreement for Israeli Arrow 3 missile defense systems. Also in 2023, Finland agreed to buy €317 million worth of Rafael’s David Slings. On November 11, 2025, Germany finalized a deal valued at €2 Billion to procure advanced Spike anti-tank missiles from Rafael. The deal will be implemented by EuroSpike, a joint venture owned by Rafael and the German defense firms Rheinmetall and Diehl Defense.

Other European countries, include Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, and U.K, have also increased their arms purchases from Israeli firms, including Rafael, Elbit, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and others.

On June 4, 2025, the Israel Defense Ministry announced that the country set a new all-time record for defense exports in 2024, reaching over $14.7 Billion.

War is hell, but as is written in the Talmud, “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, Portion 72, Verse 1.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, here, “The U.S. has collected tens of billions of dollars in tariffs.”

The Journal also quotes Pres. Trump, on Truth Social, saying,

People that are against tariffs are fools! We are now the richest, most respected country in the world, with almost no inflation, and a record stock market price.”

“A dividend of at least $2000 per person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

The current rate of inflation, as of September, 2025, is 3.00%, according to “USA Facts,” here, and based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, here, which also states that inflation was up 0.3% in September. I’m not an economist, but 3% inflation is not “almost no inflation.”

Now, let’s do the math.

There are about 340 million Americans. Excluding the top 10% high income people, 34 million people, leaves 306 million people. Let’s say, to keep the math obvious, that the tariffs generated $30.6 Billion. (That’s 3.6 tens of Billions.) That’s enough to give 15.3 million people that $2,000 “dividend.” Divided equally among 306 million people that’s $100 per person.

Here in New Jersey, $100 buys a few days worth of groceries, and about one month’s worth of gasoline, if you drive 850 to 1,000 miles in a car that gets 25 to 30 mpg.

In NYC, San Francisco, DC, Boston, $100 buys dinner for two at a modest restaurant.

To generate enough revenue for a $2,000 dividend for 306 million people, the tariffs would have to generate $612 Billion, plus enough to cover overhead, logistics, distribution.

As for “almost no inflation,” according to Consumer Prices, here

• Coffee: up 22% from $11.86 to $14.50 for a 12 oz container,
• Organic Eggs: up 20% from $5.38 to 6.45 per dozen,  
• Bacon: up 8.6% from $8.12 to $8.82, per pound.

This is for the period from August 2024 to August 2025. Note that ConsumerPrices.com is not a government agency.

Forbes, here, notes that the prices of some foods, like cereal, frozen vegetables, and ice cream have dropped, other foods like coffee, bacon, have risen, with the price of beef up 14%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a government agency, says, here,

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, after rising 0.4 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today [October 24, 2025]. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Note that September CPI data collection was completed before the lapse in appropriations.

The index for gasoline rose 4.1 percent in September and was the largest factor in the all items monthly increase, as the index for energy rose 1.5 percent over the month. The food index increased 0.2 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 0.3 percent and the food away from home index increased 0.1 percent.

“The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in September”

But the question is what will be the rate of inflation over the next 11 months until the mid-term elections ? And the next 35 months, until the Presidential Election of 2028?

Here’s the text of the Emoluments Clause: 

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.“ 

⁃ US Constitution, Article 1, Section 9. 

As they say in Latin, “Ubi hoc est, ibi illud est,” meaning, “Where there’s a this there’s a that.”

This is more conventionally phrased, “Quid pro quo,” meaning “What for what.”

Because gifts, emoluments, offices and titles confer obligations of the recipient to the giver. Because emoluments are bribes.

Suppose an Ambassador is having dinner with a foreign dignitary, and he or she chokes, and the dignitary jumps up, performs the Heimlich Maneuver, and saves the Ambassador’s life; that’s legal. It doesn’t need to be approved by an act of Congress. 

But suppose you are negotiating a peace treaty or a cease fire between two (2) warring parties, India and Pakistan, Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas / Hezbollah / Iran, for example, and one of the parties gives you a $100,000, or a luxury car. You are no longer an honest broker or a disinterested third party. Or suppose you are negotiating a trade deal or another agreement between your country and another country and you are offered that $100,000 or luxury car. Your integrity has been compromised; you have been bribed. 

Purchases of cryptocurrency tokens worth Hundreds, Millions, or Billions of dollars, with transaction fees up up to 75% – which therefore confer up to 75% of those Hundreds, Millions, or Billions, are also clear violations of Article 1, Section 9. 

So is acceptance of a gift of a Boeing 747-8 worth approximately $400 Million, as the Emir of Qatar has offered, and as the President has indicated his willingness to eagerly accept.

The jet is also presented as the next Air Force One, ownership of which, upon the current President’s leaving office, would be conveyed to his personal estate. (I guess the good news is that he is planning leaving office. Or at least contemplating it.)

Parenthetically, Qatar has the interesting distinction of being home to Al Udeid Air Force base, home to the U.S. Combined Air Operations Center, U.S. Air Forces Central Command. Simultaneously Qatar is home to the political leadership of Hamas and is allied to China and Iran.

In addition to being a $400 Million emolument, the gift raises some security concerns. 

While customized for the Qatari Emir, it’s a Boeing 747-8, so Boeing engineers should know every system in the aircraft. But could Qatari engineers or others embed tracking devices so they know the plane’s location, altitude, velocity and trajectory? Of course they could. 

Could those Qatari engineers or others embed monitoring systems so they are aware of every conversation within and all communications to and from the aircraft? Well, duh. That would be child’s play for “children” like Ed Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Elon’s Doge Bros, and Putin’s Hackers. Why waste time hacking Signal chats or lurking in the background when you can bug the big kahuna. (Of course you could also simply buy a membership in his favorite country club, or buy a few $million or $billion of his meme coin then call him up and invite yourself to a private dinner where access and influence is on the menu.) 

Could malicious actors sabotage the aircraft in order to damage navigation systems, defense systems, the landing gear, or render the plane structurally or mechanically unsound? (And Qatar is also allied to China, Iran, and Hamas.)

The sky’s the limit.

Elon Musk seems to believe that we – humans – particularly the subset known as Americans – and the smaller subset known as Elon Musk – can and should create a colony of one million people on Mars.

And why not? Raised on the Technocratic wet dreams of his grandfather and perhaps the science fiction of Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein, Musk knows, or rather believes, that there is nothing that man generally and men who are engineers specifically can not do or invent; that there is no problem that we can not solve, including terraforming Mars. After all, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Scotty terraformed planet Genesis – quickly – on Star Trek.

Robert Heinlein’s novels “The Red Planet,” “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” “Stranger in a Strange Land”, and Isaac Asimov’s novels “Nemesis,” the ”Foundation Trilogy,” and its sequels and prequels all feature Mars, other planets, or moons that support life, including human life. They also feature technologies such traveling faster than the speed of light or thru worm-holes in space. And time travel. They do that too on Star Trek. 

Hey Elon, Let’s do that next.

But seriously, as Matt Damon’s Mark Watley did in the Andy Weir book and Ridley Scott film, “The Martian,” let’s science the shit out of it.

This would be a colony with a population slightly less than the state of Rhode Island, slightly larger than the cities of San Francisco and Berkeley, CA, combined, or about half the size of Brooklyn, NY. I would start with a small proof of concept, say a colony of about 100 on the Moon, but unlike Elon, I’m a chill normal dude. As Elon said, on SNL, about 5 years ago, he’s not.

It’s also between 33.9 and 250 Million miles away. I suppose that’s right around the corner when you consider the vast distances of space but it’s not exactly a day trip.

There are a few other details that Elon seems to have failed to consider regarding his Mars colony. Firstly, these stories are all works of fiction. Sure they are adventures; stories of heroes facing and triumphing over dangers; stories of bravery, courage, responsibility, and ingenuity; fighting villains overflowing with arrogance, cruelty, and an insatiable hunger for power. However, the key word here is “fiction.” These are fantasies. They may be compelling, but they are no more real than “The Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter,” or “Game of Thrones.”

Secondly, Elon appears to disregard key aspects of Mars, particularly its ecology, or lack thereof; its atmosphere, the weather and the climate.

• • Mars’ atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, and 1.6% argon, with traces of oxygen, carbon monoxide, water, methane, other gases, and dust. Mars’ atmosphere is also thin – roughly 100 times less dense than Earth’s.
• • Mar’s mass – and gravity – is roughtly 38% of Earth’s. This may explain it’s thin atmosphere.
• • The surface of mars is radioactive.
• • It’s cold. The average surface temperature is around -81°F, (-63°C) with a range from a high of about 68°F (20°C) near the equator at noon to a low of about -243°F (-153°C) at the poles.
• • There is no ozone layer to block cosmic rays.
• • Regarding the soils and the oceans – there aren’t any. No oceans, no rivers, no lakes, no streams. This means no fish, no algae, and no plankton. No soil means no land based plants, no herbivores, and no carnivores. There may, however, be frozen water and frozen CO2 crystals below the surface, and these may contain bacteria.
• • Mars is a desert. And it’s more barren than Death Valley and the Sahara. It never rains. Not Ever.

This is not an environment that can support human life!

Musk also ignores the biology, ecology, and geology of Earth. Our planet is about 4.5 Billion years old. It took 500 million to one billion years for geologic evolution to create conditions for life, and for those next 500 million to one billion years those life forms were bacteria, other microbes and viruses. So Mars may be about 3 to 3.5 billion years behind Earth in terms of geo-evolution.

No arable land means no herbivores; no meat, no grains, no vegetables. The one million colonists; roughly the combined population of San Francisco and Berkeley, would have to be fed on soups grown in hydroponic vats; probably four of five million gallons of water and a protein, fat, oil, and carbohydrate soup, replenished daily, somehow.

It is possible that below the radioactive surface of Mars there are sufficient deposits of frozen nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen that we can terraform the planet, creating subsurface oceans and soils. However, the colony would have to be built underground or under thick glass domes – to allow light and photosynthesis – insulated from the radiation and temperatures on the surface.

While we are really good at using technology to enhance and accelerate natural processes, Musk’s apparent belief that he can terraform mars, giving it a carbon, nitrogen, oxygen atmosphere with an ozone layer, and oceans, continents, rivers, lakes, forests, and grasslands such that it can support humans, animals, and plants, which took one to two billion years, in anything less than 500 million or 1 billion years is naive and uninformed. It is wishful, magical thinking. He might as well enlist Santa Clause, or Gandalf, or Harry, Hermione, and Dumbledore, or the Warlocks of Qarth, or Melisandre of Asshai, as well as Spock and Scotty. (Although Spock is an alien.)

But here’s the thing. People consider a lot of things to be disposable. Does Elon really think our beautiful blue marble is “disposable?” If so, how does he answer Dana Meadows, who famously said, “where is this ‘away’ things go to when we throw them out?”

And if one million people form a colony on Mars what does that do for the other 8.1 billion people on Earth?

As “Dirty Harry,” Clint Eastwood famously said, “Go ahead, make my day.” To Elon he might repeat, “Are you feeling lucky, punk?”

Elon used to boast of doing more, via Tesla, to combat climate change than Al Gore. Now Tesla sales have evaporated like the Martian atmosphere, and he is hated by many who bought or aspired to buy Teslas. Elon’s mantra may be “Move fast. Get the job done. If something breaks, fix it or thro it out.” That may work with software code but it doesn’t work with planets. As Dana Meadows famously asked, “Where is this ‘away’ things go to when we throw them out?”

Maybe rather than waste time, money, and resources trying to transform Mars into a “Earth 2.0” he should return to his environmentalist roots and help rebuild our Earth.

• • Bio-engineer bacteria, plankton and other microbes such that they can metabolize the plastics in the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.
• • Reduce atmospheric CO2 back down to pre-industrial levels of 280 PPM from current levels of 430 PPM.
• • Remove all the non-biodegradable plastics from the oceans and toxins from our food supply, from the whole biosphere, the bio-humano-sphere.

Maybe Elon should listen to the Grateful Dead’s, “From the Mars Hotel,” and pay careful consideration to “Ship of Fools.”

Writing in the NY Times, here, Tom Freidman says “This Israeli Government [Netanyahu’s] is not a good ally of the United States.” But is the Trump administration, is this United States, a reliable ally to Israel? or any country?

Netanyahu and the Israelis, and everyone on the planet, can see what Trump has done regarding Ukraine. They see him threatening Canada, a NATO ally, and Greenland, part of Denmark, another NATO ally. They hear what he is saying. They know the United States can not be trusted.

They see Trump accepting the gift of a 747 worth $400 Million from Qatar. They see that he can be bought.

They hear him saying “I don’t know” on “Meet the Press,” here, on national – on global – television, when asked if he has an obligation to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, and they are all gobsmacked, flabbergasted, and in the Kremlin, smiling.

Fortunately for Ukraine, Germany, UK, and other European countries will step up to fill the void to help it defend itself against Putin and Russia.

But who can Israel count on?

Macron embraces Al Shara – who lead ISIS against Assad and now leads Syria. From Europe to the Americas to Australia pro-Palestinian demonstrators  chant, “From the river to the sea Palestine shall be free,” and “Globalize the Intifada.” This is not “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”  “From the River to the Sea” calls for the destruction of Israel. “Globalize the Intifada,” sounds like a thinly veiled threat against Zionists – that is Jews – globally. And politicians from the left to the right agree with them.

But despite the widespread delusion that Israel is a colony of the United States, Israel is an independent state. The Israeli government must act in Israel’s best interest.

The “Car Assembler” calls the other guy a “Moron” … “Dumber than a sack of bricks.”

In Italy, Saturday, April 5, Elon Musk called for a “Free Trade Zone” between the EU and the USA. “At the end of the day, I hope it’s agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” the tech billionaire told Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s right-wing League Party.” (See USA Today and NBC News.)

Musk also insulted Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, in a post on X, writing: “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing…. “He ain’t built sh—.” (Forbes.)

Navarro, responding on CNBC on Monday, 4/7/25, in as mild and passively aggressive as possible described Tesla as car assembler,” rather than a “car manufacturer.” (YouTube). Navarro explained that Tesla assembles cars from Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese components.

Musk responded calling Navarro a “Moron” and “Dumber than a sack of bricks.” (NBC News)

The White house weighed in, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt giggling, “Boys will be boys and we will let their public sparring continue.” (NBC News)

But Musk and Navarro both work for the same man. Musk is hard at work firing US government employees in the name of efficiency and technocracy, while Navarro is focused on separating the United States from our trading partners.

Who do they work for? Trump? America? Putin?