Cartoon Picks of the Day

By Rich Kozlovich

  

 

 

Points to Ponder

By Rich Kozlovich

As I do my daily searches I often come across some pithy thoughts and decided to share them along with some of my own observations on reality. 

"We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." C.S. Lewis

"Can you name anything a prominent leftist has said or done in the last 25 years that has made America safer, stronger, more prosperous, and more united?"

"Someone should tell Art Garfunkel the Great Barrier Reef is doing just fine", and if he really is going to leave America, I would like to recommend Iran. I'm sure they'll appreciate any derogatory views he may wish to share with the public.

The lone juror who refused to accept the pseudoscience psychobabble about Lindsay Clancy was criticized by a female jurors who said he just couldn't get over the fact she murdered her three children. Imagine that. And as it turned out he was black to boot, and leftists are shocked, shocked I tell you! 

Can anyone explain to me why his morally firm stance and his being black was such a shock to the left? Maybe they think a black jury member should only have 3/5ths of a vote?   How about this; maybe, just maybe, the radicalism of the left is turning off black America? Just a thought. 

Democrats were the party of slavery and the party of segregation.  Democrats who wanted to destroy the United States in order to keep their black slaves said that was okay since they weren't people.  Now, they're saying abortion is just fine because these unborn babies aren't people.  

Since abortion isn't murder, then maybe murder isn't murder either?  They can't define what a woman is, and now they can't define what murder is.  If that's true, and it is, so if Lindsay Clancy murdering her three children was just mental illness, then can we argue Jeffrey Dahmer was just hungry?   I wonder how would these dingle berries react if Lindsay Clancy killed three illegal? 

Leftists have testified under oath before Congress that men can get pregnant.  But when it comes to a woman murdering her children they claim men have no say because they can't get pregnant.  And leftists say conservatives have something wrong with them.  

If hormones make women crazy enough to murder their children, then why are leftists promoting hormones in children to change their gender

Democrats demand blacks be given preferences in redistricting in order to increase black representation in Congress.  Then a white former DNC Chairman, Wassermann Schultz, changed districts to increase her chances of staying in Congress over black candidates in a majority black district. Is anyone shocked?

What do Los Angeles, New York City, and Havana have in common? They're run by communists, and they want the entire nation to embrace communism.  But they may have a problem.  The younger generation lacks the work ethnic needed to build the necessary gulags.  

Ask a Muslim which of these is morally wrong: (1) Beating your wife; (2) Marrying a child; (3) Eating bacon.  This cartoon came from American thinker.   

"There have been over 65,000 Islam terror attacks since 9/11 across 70 countries.  The world’s 4 other major religions, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism make up 2% of all religiously motivated terror attacks, Muslims are responsible for the other 98%."  Well, I guess we should we ignore that as its racial profiling?  Right?  Or perhaps we should take this view.  "This is what we need to remember on September 11th. The world doesn’t really have a terrorist problem, the world has a Muslim problem. The problem is Islam." 

"There is the growing talk of repealing the 19th Amendment—getting rid of the mad, blue-haired females who are distinguished by being irrational, emotional, and often psychotic."

Wisdom is the application of knowledge and understanding. Age limits on voting? Raise it to age 30. Depending on who you read, up to the age of 10 or 12, the brain is structured to understand language. After that the brain restructures itself to the task of gaining knowledge. After 30 the brain restructures itself again developing understanding by applying that knowledge.

Mamdani has been taking a beating over 911, and one commenter snarkily noted: "For all of my life I've been waiting for a Muslim from Ugandan to tell me what it means to be an American."  

If the sun burns out in one billion years that means California will have to finish their high speed rail in the dark.  

Fitness is a sign of white supremacy.   

"It's a tough time to be a conspiracy theorist.  The only things they have left are dragons and a flat Earth.  Everything else has turned out to be true."   So, what's the difference between a conspiracy theorist and a person who believes in conspiracies?  A conspiracy theorist is someone who needs conspiracies to explain a world he doesn't understand.  A person who believes in conspiracies actually read a history book.   

The Swedish word for speed is fartkontrol.  It really is.   

European Nationalism is a Delusion

By Rich Kozlovich

I just watched this podcast by George Friedman regarding Germany the AdF and European unity, and for the most part I agree with much of what he's said in that there will never be a “unified” Europe.  Europe is a continent of competing nations speaking over 200 languages and having their own cultural peculiarities, and the new generation believes it has the right to determine their own fate and not be bound by the restrictions imposed by the events of WWII.  That's especially true in Germany. 

The EU is an illusion, and a destructive one.  NATO was the only thing that held them together.  However, I do think this election victory by the AfD  in Germany is big; much bigger than many may think. We're coming into the final stages of this historical cycle, and it's been my view for years somewhere in the political movements of these nations there's a Hitler or Mussolini style character with the rhetorical charisma to charm the populace into a massive political upset, including violence.

The difference is they're not going to be concerned with conquering the world. Their focus will be on saving ethnic Europeans and the European culture, and that's going be a binding force among these like movements emerging in Europe. It's already taking shape in Ireland, the UK, France, and now Spain after this Ceuta disaster. 

The difference between the mass migration from Europe to the US was all those people who came to America wanted to become Americans. Not Serbs, Hungarians, Poles, etc, who just happened to live in America, but Americans who just happened to be of different ethnic origins. Muslims don't want to be Germans, French, Brits or Spanish, they want Europeans to abandon European culture and become Muslims....or else.

You have to wonder what in the world possesses these European “leaders” to hate their nation, their culture, and their people so much, and the people are going to rebel. While this is being debated as to how big this election was, I think this is huge, and I think will spread throughout Germany and the rest of Europe. The outrages perpetrated by Muslims all over Europe has taken it's toll, and those politicians who've supported all this immigration and covered over the facts are going to pay, and I also believe the transition will involve massive levels of violence, and Russia will be the least of their concerns. Europe is in a downward swirling vortex of economic destruction, and nothing's going to stop it.

September 11, 2001 Started as an Ordinary Day

By Robin M. Itzler 

"The enemy is inside the wire and they will use all means by which to subvert Western civilization into yet one more dhimmitude frontier. This must be made clear to all the potential dhimmis before their fate is made irreversible by their lack of awareness or lack of action. Recalling Trump’s call for the people to “Fight, fight, fight”, this is the most poignant battle which faces the world today, and to the victor will go the spoils of nothing less than the future fate of the world."

September 11, 2001, was just an ordinary Tuesday. That morning at around 8:30 a.m. on the east coast, most people were either at work or on their commute. Kids were settling in at school. On the west coast, folks were likely getting ready to do the same. 

Whether the TV or radio news was background chatter or the focus, suddenly there were interruptions announcing that at 8:46 a.m. an American Airlines Boeing 767 (with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel) had crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center’s North Tower. The jet hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the 110-story skyscraper. Hundreds of people were instantly killed, and others were trapped on the higher floors with no way to escape.

Most people immediately assumed it was a terrible accident, and they continued along with their day while listening for news updates.

However, 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors.

Americans immediately knew that the United States was under attack, with many correctly guessing WHO had attacked us.

This was not the first time the World Trade Center had been attacked by Muslim terrorists. On February 26, 1993, Islamist terrorists targeted the World Trade Center. A truck bomb exploded in the North Tower’s underground parking structure, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000.

(In October 2025, then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani visited Masjid At-Taqwa, a mosque in Brooklyn. The smiling Mamdani had his photo taken with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom federal prosecutors once named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Is anyone surprised?)

While the world focused on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, American Airlines Flight 77 was circling Arlington, Virginia, which is near Washington, D.C. At 9:37 a.m. the jet crashed into the west side of the Pentagon.

A few minutes later at 9:45 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially ordered a complete shutdown of U.S. airspace and commanded all airborne planes to land immediately at the nearest airport.

At 9:59 a.m. the South Tower collapsed.

By this time passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 were aware that their plane was not experiencing a “regular” hijacking. They had been calling family and friends who told them about the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Knowing they were going to die, their goal was to divert the plane away from wherever it planned to go. (Later it was revealed that the fourth plane was intended to hit the heart of America’s republic – the U.S. Capitol.) At 10:02 a.m., at a speed of 500 miles per hour, Flight 93 crashed in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew were heroes for diverting the plane away from D.C.

At  10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. A small group (14 to 18 people) miraculously survived. They were with several New York firefighters in the North Tower’s Stairwell B, which somehow remained intact when the tower fell. Hours later, everyone was pulled from the debris.

Most of the world was glued to their television, radio, social media and phones. For the United States of America, there will always be a ‘before 9-11’ and ‘after 9-11’ view of the world.

President George Bush, who was in Florida when the strikes started, had been shuttled to various locations for protection while in contact with government agents about the unfolding events. By 7 p.m., he was back at the White House. At 8:30 p.m., President Bush addressed the American people and the entire world from the Oval Office. Sitting at the Resolute Desk, he said:

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

In the days and weeks following the attack, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (since called “America’s Mayor” for his outstanding post 9-11 leadership) told the American people:

“The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead, we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.”

On September 11, 2026, Americans will commemorate the horrific day when Muslims attacked the United States of America killing 2,977 innocent people of all races and faiths. Thousands more who had spent weeks digging out the remains of the World Trade Center in the aftermath (and trying to find pieces of bodies) developed illnesses related to 9-11. Many lived with chronic respiratory diseases and died prematurely. More than 100 search and rescue dogs that were deployed to help find survivors in the rubble of the towers also suffered from medical ailments in the years following their service.

About 40 percent of the World Trade Center victims have been identified. It might have been from jewelry or body parts. Only 261 intact bodies were found. While workers were going through the debris, they found 65,000 items, including 437 watches and 144 wedding rings.

Twenty-five years later, there are many people, organizations and governments (including many in our own country) that refuse to speak the truth as to WHO committed the terrorist acts on September 11, 2001. As communist Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar once said, “Some people did something.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) asked that the word “terrorist” not be used in conjunction with the 9-11 MUSLIM TERRORIST attacks. Former Governor George E. Pataki responded on X to that request:

“I was Governor of New York on September 11, 2001.

The planes did not simply crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They were hijacked and deliberately flown into those buildings by Islamist terrorists.

The CBC’s refusal to call September 11 a terrorist attack is political correctness masquerading as journalism. Fear of being accused of Islamophobia cannot become an excuse for denying the plain truth. This is a shameful failure of moral courage.

Truth matters in a free society. Sanitizing September 11 dishonors the nearly 3,000 people who were murdered, the first responders who ran toward danger, and every family that still carries the pain of that day.

No institution should be afraid to tell the truth.”

At this year’s 25th anniversary Memorial Ceremony in Manhattan, families of the victims will gather on the plaza at the Memorial & Museum. They will read aloud the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

A quarter of a century ago, the United States was attacked by Islamist terrorists who used planes as their weapons. Today many believe Islamist attacks are attacking the United States with ballots. What do YOU think?

Robin M. Itzler is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at RobinItzler@yahoo.com.

James Talarico and His Church

 By Rich Kozlovich

Talarico is alleged to be a devout church going Christian, claiming his "Christian faith as a justification for far left policies", but his theological views can hardly be viewed as an embrace of traditionally foundational Christian thinking or values.  It seems to me he's a heretic of the first order.  Others are more specific saying his views are a "perversion, of Christianity.”  Let's take a quick look.

1.  He insists the Bible requires the government to provide health care.  It appears he and John Kasich apparently went to the same Bible classes.  
2. He claims the Bible is silent on abortion, 
3. Supported a gay pride event alongside an 11 YEAR-OLD child drag queen. 
4. Believed.... at least until he backtracked... there are six biological sexes. 
5. Believes and any effort to prevent  “gender-affirming healthcare to trans children as Christofascism.
6. Accuses Christianity of being the “most violent” religion that has done “more damage” to Islam."
7. Defends convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony.
8. Wants to redefine faith and God Is Not a Christian’. 
9. God is non binary 
10. He's convinced Jesus is not the only way to truth and that Islam leads to the "same" truth.

For some time I've watched Talarico's theological views playing out and I wondered how the membership of his church felt about those views.  Now I know.  They're just as strange as Talarico. 

He and his "Woke Church harbored illegal aliens to hide them from ICE, and it turns out members of his church wishes the Trump shooter in Butler, PA ‘had been more successful".  

What kind of members belong to this "church"?  Well, if we're to believe the female pastor of this church, most the members of the congregation are agnostic or atheist.  Make sure to scroll down to see the video of this pastor. 

What I find incredible about these people is why they bother to go to church at all.  If they're atheists what value do they receive from attending, it certainly can't be of a spiritual nature?  Also,  I assume they must pray during their services but if they're atheists or agnostics, who exactly are they praying to and why?  I think there are two words that define these type of people.  Like all members of the Church of Wokeness, they're strange and sick. 

What I'm Reading: Europe

By Rich Kozlovich 

You have to wonder what in the world possesses these European “leaders” to hate their nation, their culture, and their people so much?  Whether it's agricultural practices, energy production, taxes, regulations, or immigration Europe is in a downward swirling vortex of destruction.  And worse yet, what in the world possesses the citizens of the UK and the rest of Europe to vote for them?

Well, not only is Europe facing a maelstrom of demographic and social disaster, they’re all headed into the economic toilet of massive debt they can’t repay. When they default their little worlds will come tumbling down, then we’re going to see civil disobedience and violence in Europe unlike anything the world has seen since WWII.

It’s called Stage Six of this historical cycle, and it's all coming home to roost, and it's been my view for years somewhere in the political movements of these nations there's a Hitler or Mussolini style character with the rhetorical charisma to charm the populace into a massive political upset, including violence.  The difference is they're not going to be concerned with conquering the world.  Their focus will be on saving ethnic Europeans and European culture, and it's my view the violence that will ensue will leave Europe devastated turning Europe into a third rate mess.  

Europe is Doomed 

1. Europe is suicidally complacent about the Islamist threat 
2. What Was the European Dream? 
3. Freedom of Speech Dying a Slow Death in Europe 
4. The European Free Speech Crisis 
5. As Europe Becomes Increasingly Militarized, Norway Expands New Arctic Brigade, Strengthening NATO’s Northern Border
6. Can Europe be saved from itself?
7.  How Europe Grows Gas Tax Revenues Gas prices are rising again in Germany. The main culprit is the state with its towering levies. 
8. Will Illegal Immigration Be The Death Of Europe?
9.  Part II: Demographics + Entitlements = Europe’s Doom August 3, 2026 by Dan Mitchel
10. The EU and the Iron Law of Oligarchy The EU is an oligarchy governed by a small self-perpetuating ruling class that sees “the people” as impediments to its technocratic program.
11.  EU Mulls Letting Farm Drones Spray Pesticides Widely

France

Let's not be delusional.  There is no conservative movement in France as we understand conservatism.  Whether it's Canada, France, England, Germany or any other western nation their "conservatives" are more like our RINO's.   

1. Marine Le Pen Vows to ‘Combat Islamist Ideologies,’ Will Fine the Muslim Veiling of Women...
2.  France Going Right? All across Europe, anti-immigration parties are gaining ground. By convention, they are deemed “far right” by the press, regardless of what other policy positions they may hold. In several countries, legal efforts have been made to keep anti-immigration parties off the ballot, lest they win. One of those countries is France, where Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, was charged along with her party with a crime; namely, using European Union funding for political rather than EU parliamentary duties. Among other penalties, Le Pen was barred from running for office for five years, meaning that she was preventing from running in the 2027 race for President.  But Le Pen’s sentence was reduced on appeal, and she is the National Rally’s presidential candidate. The most recent polling has her with a commanding lead:

Germany 

According to one subscription site:

 "Germany's Merz Under Pressure as AfD Heads for Record Showing in Crucial State Elections With the AfD leading by a wide margin in polls for two upcoming state elections, the parties making up the national government face heavy losses that could paralyze its reform agenda."

And the ruling class doesn't like it and is going to do all it can to prevent them from taking power.  How's that for democracy.  The peasants just don't get it so in some way the ruling elite have to correct their wrong thinking, even if it means being underhanded and corrupt.  After all, since it's done in the name of saving democracy, so that makes it okay.

1.  Bombshell Germany Election Could Mean Left-Right Populist Coalition……Berlin Vows to Use State ‘Instruments’ to ‘Defend’ Against Result Germany’s embattled Chancellor has vowed to use the “instruments” of the security state to “defend” against a potential anti-mass-migration state government after Sunday night’s bombshell election results in Saxony-Anhalt.
2.  40% of Berlin Police Applicants Can’t Speak German
3.  Diversity German Style: Berlin Pool Advertised ‘Black Only’ Swimming Hour
4.  Germany's AfD won a state election in a landslide, sounding an alarm for centrist politics
5.  The Election That Shook Germany's Political Establishment to Its Core 
6.  Europe wrestles with impact of historic regional gains for Germany’s AfD - "Seismic", "a socio-political earthquake", "a watershed moment for Germany".  This was how political analysts and many media outlets described the stunning victory of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in local elections in Germany on Sunday. Is that an exaggeration?.......

Spain

Leftism is a secular religion, and has their own Kyrie Eleison   When failure eventually strikes the chant starts: 

It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault. Amen! 

Whose fault is it then? It's the Jews, it's Russia, it's Trump, it's the fault of the rest of Europe because they're prejudiced about not wanting more Muslim invaders in their countries.  Image that.  After all,  they don't have nearly enough rapist criminal Muslim immigrants of their own, so they should take Spain's.  Right?  

Considering who the Spanish voted in as their leaders this shouldn't have surprised anyone. Schadenfreude! 

1. Migrants in Ceuta catch an infant dolphin and beat it to death—because it’s fun for them Environmental conservation and third-worldism are diametrically opposed interests.
2. 70,000 in Spain Protest PM Sanchez Invasion Cover-Up Last week, I warned that the Sanchez government in Spain had been lying about managing the Muslim invasion of Ceuta and lying that it was under control. Instead, the Sanchez government is preparing to move thousands of Muslim migrants into mainland Spain.......Spain’s Ministry of Health is sending 45,000 doses of vaccines to deal with the migrant outbreaks including 10,000 polio, chickenpox, and diphtheria-tetanus vaccines and 15,000 MMR vaccines suggesting that the true number may be between 10,000 and 15,000. What the vaccine regime reveals even more than the numbers is the fact that they’re staying........People in occupied Ceuta have been protesting for a while, but now there are massive rallies in Spain against Sanchez’s invasion.
3. Ceuta Was an Invasion [Updated] If a group of people consisting mostly of women and children enter a country, it is a migration. If a group consisting overwhelmingly of young men enter a country, it is an invasion. An explosive new report by Spain’s National Police suggests that what happened a month ago in Ceuta, and still continues, was an invasion organized by the government of Morocco: The National Police has informed Judge María Tardón
4.  Ceuta’s once gorgeous beach is now a gigantic migrant slum… — Revolver
5. Women Flee Ceuta, Spain After 15 Rapes Recorded Since End Of July, 10-Year-Old Sexually Assaulted By 3 Moroccans
6. The Fog is Lifting Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is using the Ceuta disaster to strengthen the national-conservative front within the EU. Returns 
7. Ceuta invasion another step toward a Muslim Europe, And Americans Can Ill Afford To Be Smug 
8. Ceuta Struggles to Protect Migrant Girls as Hordes of Men Abuse Them on the Streets
9. Ceuta's Migration Crisis Spain's Interior Ministry Dismisses Police Warnings of Jihadis Among Ceuta Migrants
10.  Bishop of Ceuta: “Migrants are Missionaries of Hope that Widen Our Hearts”  “Typical African songs and dances filled the cathedral.”
11. ‘Enough’ — Ceuta’s Religious Communities Demand End to Migrant Invasions
12. Top Islamist Theologian Accuses Zionists of Orchestrating Spain’s Migrant Crisis
13.  ‘We Are Spanish, We Are Locked in Our Homes’ — Ceuta 2026: The Manufactured Invasion...
14. Spain’s Socialist Government Allocates €25 Million to Immigrant Minors Who Invaded Ceuta as One in Three Spanish Children Lives at Risk of Poverty
15. The Bizarre Efforts to Blame Morocco Migrant Invasion of Spain on US and Israel 
16. Italy’s Meloni Denounces Spanish ‘Regularizing’ of 500,000 Irregular Migrants
17.  Narrative-Crafting Socialist Spain Pushes ‘International Reactionary Forces’ Conspiracy Theory After Ceuta Invasion…
18. VIDEO: Moroccan Men Hide out in Ceuta’s Woods to Escape Deportation from Spain
19. Is Washington Abandoning Spain? How U.S. Policy, Israel’s Alliance with Morocco, and Pedro Sánchez’s Immigration Agenda Are Reshaping the Western Mediterranean
20. Watch: Spanish Woman’s ‘Suicidal Empathy’ on Full Display as Africans Invade City
21. SPAIN INVASION: Failing Socialist PM Sánchez Jets Out for Holiday as Authorities in Ceuta Are Still Chasing Migrants To Deport and Recovering Dead Bodies From the Sea
22.  Dune’ Star Javier Bardem Blames Israel for the Illegal Migrant Invasion of Spanish Ceuta
23.  Ceuta questions The incident in Spanish Cueta last week is quickly being memory-holed before even basic questions are answered. In the span of less than 24 hours, somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 “migrants” stormed the border from Morocco into the tiny North African enclave, which itself has a population of only 80,000 or so. And just like that, they were immediately expelled. We were told by “authorities” that the invaders were almost
24.   Ceuta to Defy Illegal Migrant Invasion and Hold Traditional Catholic Celebration
25.  Spanish PM Accuses Europe of Prejudice for Not Wanting to be Invaded by Migrants
26.   How Spain Invited the Invasion

UK

This is coming to a head in the UK and the new Prime Minister may be even worse than Starmer.  The UK is a mess, and the PM position has become a revolving door of failure with five Prime Ministers in the last five years and seven in the last ten years.  

1.  Warning: Britain on Brink of ‘Serious Civil Disturbance’ over Migrant Crisis
2. UK Woman Working to Help Afghan Refugees… Murdered by Afghan Refugee
3. U.K. government condemns anti-immigrant demonstrators at port city

Thought For the Day

 By Rich Kozlovich

Recently a young boy told his mother when he grew up to be a man he wanted to be a Democrat. His mother told him he could be one or the other.  

There are two diametrically opposing views in America.  

There are those who believe in God, know what restroom to use, believe equal rights is not equity, believe in law and order, believe criminals need to be arrested tried for their crimes and put in jail, and have the most guns.  

And those who don't.

The Democrat party has shown an amazing ability for adaptability and transition.  In 1860 they were represented by the Confederate States of America attempting to destroy the United States, and now they're represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, with the goal of destroying the United States.  

No matter what your views are on life, there are some things that are absolutely foundational.  First, life is about patterns and circles. Patterns of behavior, and the social circles prompting that behavior, and those the patterns of life repeat over and over again.  

If we go through life expecting the best behavior out of humanity, we will live lives of eternal disappointment, because people will always be people, culture is king, and corruption is queen.  That's "the basics" and everything is "the basics".  See things at their foundational level because the more complicated we perceive reality, the less clarity we will possess. 

If you pay close attention to what people say and do, they will eventually tell you who and what they really want and who they really are, because time, reality and history are on the same side; truth! 

One final thought.  Does everyone wonder why people who left nations that are disasters came to America and have worked to turn America into the disasters they left?  

 

The Obscene Imprisonment of Tuo Thao

Chauvin Partner Speaks Out, Blames Obama, Walz, enemies “inside the gates”

By Jack Cashill @ Jack's Substack

Editor's Note:  I stopped publishing the works of others some time ago, with exceptions.  This is one of those exceptions.  RK 

After spending nearly three years in prison, Tuo Thao is prepared to speak out. When asked why, Thao told American Reformer’s Daniel Strand, “If I know the truth and allow an innocent man to languish in prison, what good am I to God?” The innocent man in question was his partner on the night of May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, now serving a 22-year prison sentence.

In the Federal court, Thao was sentenced to 42 months in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights. The State of Minnesota sentenced him to 57 months for aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. With “good time,” Thao served a little more than three years.

Thao has often been asked, “How someone who was doing crowd control and never touched Floyd could have been charged.” The reason, he believes: was that “I would not bend the knee to the mob and could not be bribed as a witness.”

Thao protects officers from growing mob

Thao had particular value to the prosecution as a racial minority. His people, the Hmong of Laos, were persecuted for having sided with the Americans in their shared struggle against the Communists. The son of grateful refugees, Thao was not willing to collaborate with the crypto-commies who run Minnesota. “It was only by the grace of God and His mighty hand,” explains Thao, “that I was able to stand up to evil and call it out as such, knowing that it would cost me much pain.”

Jack’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The prosecutors hoped Thao would turn on Chauvin. He refused. “I knew Derek personally. As a minority officer, if he were racist, why would I want to work with him?” says Thao. “I have never heard of anyone complaining that he was racist. That racial narrative was purely manufactured to stoke racial tension within the country.”

Thao knows his history. “I think we can also trace some of the racial tensions back to when President Barack Obama was in the White House,” said Thao. “You really see this oppressor and oppressed ideology being employed during election years. It’s kind of ironic because President Obama was elected as the first black president.”

Police Chief Medaria Arradondo lied under oath about Chauvin’s restraint

The case against Chauvin, elaborates Thao, was “absolutely unfair.” Knowing the case as well as he does, he cites the specifics. The restraint Chauvin used was “taught by the police department.” The original prosecutors, when “pressured to charge us and/or add charges,” removed themselves from the case.

The medical examiner, Andrew Baker, was “pressured professionally by an outside colleague, Dr. Roger Mitchell,” to add neck compression to the diagnosis or face public rebuke. The prosecutors schemed “to avoid any illicit drug discussions.”

These corruptions in the Chauvin case went unchecked because the powers that be had pre-positioned their thumbs on the scale of justice. Thao does not shy from naming names, citing “Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, Jacob Frey, Minneapolis Police Department Chief Medaria Arradondo…and Judge Peter Cahill,” not to mention “the Biden Department of Justice” and the “mainstream media.” Under these circumstances, says Thao, “It is impossible to defend yourself.”

Daddy comes home after 3 years in prison

Prison was not easy. On day one, he narrowly avoided an assassination attempt. For the duration, he desperately missed his wife and three children. What sustained him was his faith in Jesus. Says Thao, “As we know, Jesus says that in this life we will have trials and tribulations, but he has overcome the world. That is a promise those who are suffering can hold on to.”

For further education on this subject, Thao recommends The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota Mao, both films by Liz Collin and Dr. J.C. Chaix. “The enemies of our nation are not at the gates,” he concludes, “but inside the gates now, infiltrating all our institutions.”

Not without hope, Thao adds, “I believe it is our responsibility to ensure fertile ground for the faith of our children to be practiced and matured in this nation.” Thao’s valiant story undermines every virtue our friends on the left attribute to themselves. Please share.

Thanks for reading Jack’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Thought For the Day

By Rich Kazlovich  (Cartoon source American Thinker)

If this cartoon reflects reality, then of the 193 members of the UN less than half are considered free.   If these other countries aren't free, or only mostly free, then they're violating the UN Charter. Right?   This bodes well three questions. 

1. We're they ever free? If not, why were they allowed UN membership? 
2. What does mostly free mean exactly? 
3. If they were free and then turned tyrannical, why hasn't their UN membership been revoked? 

The answer is simple.  The UN is the most corrupt and incompetent organization the world has ever known. 

Thought For the Day

There are four immutable rules of the criminal mind. 

1. Never give up the con. 
2. I’m innocent, the crime was done by someone who looked like me. 
3. The police planted the evidence on me. 
4. If appropriate, the cops only arrested me because I’m black.

Thought For the Day

By Rich Kozlovich, (This cartoon appeared in the American Thinker article, Why Are Liberal White Women So Angry?)

Between 40% and 50% of all first time marriages fail in America. The divorce rate for second marriages in the United States is estimated to be between 60% and 67%, and 73% to 74% of third marriages end in divorce.  And you wonder why? 

Here's one suggestion:

"[We;'re] living in the feminist future that these witless, self-indulgent, agnostic, supposedly well-educated, and miserable women promoted, there is an ongoing calamitous erosion of a unique American civilization?"

 "New poll shows liberal women the most unhappy, lonely.  Liberal women between ages of 18-40 nearly three times as likely as conservative peers to report frequent feelings of loneliness"

Cartoon of the Day

What I'm Reading: Russo/Ukrainian War

By Rich Kozlovich

Outright conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for 12 years, ever since Russia annexed Ukraine's Eastern area and Crimea.  The current conflict has gone on for 4 1/2 years and has devastated both nations economically and demographically.  

Russia's demographic problems were already substantial long before Putin invaded Ukraine outright, but now it's gone beyond a "problem", it's a crisis for Russia, even if no one is admitting it.  He's had tremendous difficulty recruiting men for his army for a number of reasons so now he's decided to reinstate "martial education for students", which was a traditional social paradigm in all the Soviet Union states, including Ukraine, which is following suit now.  But there's a difference.  

It's been said "generals always fight the last war", and that's what Russia's doing, while Ukraine is forced into fighting tomorrow's wars. 

Russia is pushing for boots on the ground and Ukraine is pushing for more and better technology involving drone warfare, especially since Ukraine doesn't have the population necessary to offset Russia's population.  It's a matter of mathematics, and for Ukrainians, "mobilization is still a source of public discontent."  So they've chosen a different path toward militarization of their population.  Technology, as in drone warfare.  Their program toward militarization involves "building a network to train more drone operators, engineers and designers."  Geopolitical Futures notes:

At first, Kyiv relied on private companies to organize summer schools. Gradually, it developed a nationwide network of private schools that today graduates thousands of drone specialists each year. Still, the supply of drone experts was failing to meet the demands of Ukraine's military, suggesting a need to transform public education in the country. At this point, robotics is better integrated into Ukraine's formal education system than drone training, which is usually offered as an elective course or through training at vocational schools, special university programs or specialized centers.

The conclusion some have come away with is all this won't stop the war and will merely strengthen "internal cohesion", but the fact is war is... expensive.... and neither nation has the economic wherewithal to continue this indefinitely.   

This is part of what historians call a "historical cycle", of which there are six stages.  We're at the end stages of this current cycle, and all end stages are filled with violence and economic downturns.  Currently, depending on who you read, we're at the end of the fifth stage or the beginning of the six stage.  The six stage is often defined by revolutions and civil wars, and it seems clear that's a very real potential, and in my view, that's coming to Russia.  Will Ukraine face that same consequence? It's quite possible!   If reports are to be believed, their government is blatantly corrupt, and their people despise them.  I could see a violent overthrow of their current government.  

Update:  Ukraine’s ousted defence minister challenges Zelensky and calls for wartime elections - Mykhailo Fedorov says Ukraine faces ‘systemic crisis of governance’.   Ukraine’s former defence minister has called for wartime elections in a direct challenge to president Volodymyr Zelensky. Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, whose ouster as defence chief in July triggered major protests in the country, issued the call in a video address shared on YouTube. “Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war,” he said........ 

It might be noted one of the things Fdeorov was attempting to do was fix the financial issues involving Ukraine's military, i.e., corruption.  It's believed senior military personnel demanded his outing and he was ousted with Zelenskyy's approval. 

 Update, 8/21/26: 

1. Ukraine farmers despair as Russian Black Sea blockade traps harvest - Ukrainian farmer Serhiy Rybalko lost two-thirds of his land when Russia occupied a large part of southern Ukraine at the start of the invasion in 2022.  Now he is suffering a different kind of torment as a potentially good harvest is thrown into jeopardy by a Russian campaign of attacks that has almost halted agricultural ​exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.  Ukraine is among the world's largest producers of wheat, corn and sunflower seeds and around 90% of its exports of such crops go through the Black Sea.   Compounding the problem, Ukraine's wheat harvesting campaign is ‌at its peak. Rybalko's grain storage is already nearly full and Ukraine's corn harvest is due to start next month. "There is nowhere to send this grain," the 57 year old farmer said as he stood at his silo.......

Note: One subscription site noted that "Ukraine shipped just 500,000 tons of grain since the start of August, about one-fifth of its potential volume, after intensified Russian strikes suspended commercial traffic through the Odesa-area ports in late July....."

What Governor Maura Healey Really is: A Proud Abortionist

By Rich Kozlovich, Tags:

On August 12, 2026 I posted this piece, Abortion and the Morally Vacuous, saying:

The word vacuous means: "empty, lacking in intelligence, or showing a lack of ideas and thought and describes something or someone that has no substance, meaning or expression."  

Morally vacuous is the term that clearly defines those politicians who support abortion at any level, but this action by this Massachusetts Governor even has some Democrats balking calling this law barbaric, and since she professes to be a "proud" Catholic, she needs to be called to task on that.  This article was published yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey Responds to Excommunication Calls After Legalizing Abortions Until Birth, saying:

The office for Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey responded to calls for her to excommunicated from the Catholic Church for legalizing abortion up until birth in the state.  Healey, who identifies as lesbian and is a self-proclaimed Catholic, signed a bill on Aug. 10 called the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act or H. 5595, which allows unborn babies to be aborted throughout pregnancy up until birth and strikes down the state’s 24-week limit, which had exceptions for the life of the mother and deadly fetal diagnoses. 

Under the bill, doctors have the discretion to decide whether or not to perform a late-term abortion.......CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt also sent a letter on Wednesday to the Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts calling for Healey to be excommunicated and asking for the Church to provide clarification and guidance to people of faith.......

Over the years I've watched politicians who profess to be devout Catholics, like Andrew Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Dick Durbin proclaim their absolute support of abortion.

Andrew Cuomo: Friend of animals, crusher of babies' skulls The New York governor, who bans the use of elephants for entertainment, seemed proud to deny both sanctuary and medical assistance to the unborn.  

Dick Durbin: America is About ‘Flag, Family, God’---and Late-Term Abortion - Sen. Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.) said in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday that he believes American culture is about “flag, family, God.” This comes just five weeks after he voted against cloture on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, thus helping to block a final Senate vote on a bill that would have prohibited aborting a baby after 20 weeks into pregnancy.

Pelosi on Backing Legislation to Guarantee Abortion on Demand: ‘I Come to This as a Catholic Mother  - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) gave a speech on the House floor today talking about her status as a “Catholic mother” before the chamber voted to approve the Women’s Health Protection Act—which guarantees a nation-wide right to abortion on demand.  “I come to this as a Catholic mother of five in six years and one week and with the joy that all that meant to us,” said Pelosi.  “But with the recognition that it was my husband and I –our decision.  It was our decision,” Pelosi said. “And we should not, in this body or in that Court, be making decisions for the women in America.”.

 Pres. Biden Declares That ‘No One Knows Precisely When Does Human Life Begin,’ Contradicting Catholic Catechism - “I’m a practicing Catholic,” President Joe Biden announced Tuesday, before contradicting the teachings of the Catholic Church by claiming that “no one knows” when human life begins. Biden made the comments at a reception in Golden Beach, Florida, for Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist, where the president repeated his desire to pass a law providing a national right to abortion.... 

He's a practicing Catholic?  No, he may go to church, but he's not practicing Catholicism.  In point of fact under church law his position on abortion qualifies him for excommunication, right along with Cuomo, Durbin, Pelosi and now Governor Maura Healey, who if reports are true is in serious violation of church teachings in her personal life as well.  Now they're calling for her excommunication, and the real question is this:  Since abortion is considered a mortal sin by the church, why haven't all of these heretics  been excommunicated?   

Truth be told, and I have stated over and over again that any practicing Christian or Jew who supports abortion is a heretic.  You simply can't be a legitimate Christian or a Jew and a Democrat without being a heretic, and that includes these clerics from the various denominations that support Democrats and their heretical views.  If  that's true, and it is, then being a member of the Democrat party is heresy!  It really is that simple. 

New International Version 2 Timothy 4:3.  "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

New International Version Matthew 22, 23.  "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

 New International Version Isaiah 5:20.  "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

Can we expect to see some action by Church leaders?  Based on past history, I think we can assume the answer is ... no!  Is it any wonder the sound you're hearing is the crash of civilization.  

Add-on's:  

1. Democrat Senate Candidate and Pastor Adam Hamilton Said He Studies Where the Apostle Paul Is ‘Wrong’ in the Bible
2. New President of “Catholic” Biblical Association Is JEWISH, Supports Baby Killing, Is Pro-Homo, and Thinks the Pharisees Received a Bad Rap
3. Bishop of Ceuta: “Migrants are Missionaries of Hope that Widen Our Hearts” 

What Is It You Find That's So Unattractive?

By Rich Kozlovich 

Today Noel S. Williams posted this article, Passport Bros: 'I wish they all could be Filipina girls' saying:

Nowadays, the misguided Gen Z chicks get a kick out of rejecting any tradition, even pleasing standards of classical beauty..... Confusedly, they are still spending on so-called “beauty” products......So why are they getting so ghastly ugly? Is it so their skin-thin facade mirrors their inner ugliness?  

They are using beauty products to intentionally project an unglamorous vibe, that’s why. 

In some twisted way that only a mixed-up feminist could understand, it is a perverted manifestation of their futile “I don’t need a man” independence movement. To prove it, they use beauty products not to veil blemishes, but to enhance them. They want to turn men off, and it’s working.

Well, hey, c’mon man. Just because a woman may have issues with depression, anxiety, gender confusion, is unemployed with her credit cards maxed out, and spends her money on weed, tattoos, dyes her hair in unnatural colors, never met a man that wasn't seriously flawed, is an overweight vegan due to her lack of impulse control and insists on telling everyone  how to fix the country....... you seem to think that’s unattractive?  Imagine that.   You may find her picture among Powerline's This Week In Pictures, which was the source for most of this.   

Race Hustlers Will Always be Race Hustlers

By Rich Kozlovich  

It was recently reported the WNBA players were refusing to wear the USA 250 patch for their All Star game because 250 years ago there was slavery in America.  Okay, so what? 

1. Did it ever occur to them slavery existed for thousands of years?  
2. Did it ever occur to them slavery was ubiquitous in those days, including .... watch out now... here it comes.... in Africa.....where African slavery was created by Africans and Muslim slave traders who did the enslaving and merely sold them to everyone else?  
3. Did it ever occur to them it's still going on in Africa?
4. Did it ever occur to them America was the only nation in the history of the world that went to war to end slavery costing over 600,000 lives, some even claim 700,000 lives? 

That was a massive sacrifice to end the something that should have never taken place, and while there were black soldiers who fought in the war, that massive sacrifice was a white sacrifice.  Did any of that occur to them?  If it did, would they care?  No, they wouldn't because it's all about race hustling to justify everything that goes on in black America that's vile.  Ergo, all things great and small are racist now. 

Obama cast aspersions over the Founding Fathers because so many were slave holders, but that's typical of his ignorant corrupt race hustling.   Before he became President race relations was on a upward trend, and he had a chance to really make a positive difference in race relations in America.  He chose to sink down into the race hustling sewer instead.  

Originally there was an anti-slavery clause in the Constitution… promoted by slave owner Jefferson…. as it was clear that slavery was antithetical to the freedom being promoted by the Founding Fathers, and they understood that right from the beginning, but in spite of that, the battle over slavery was a major issue that was fought over in order to get the Southern colonies to sign the Constitution. 

The abolitionist Founding Fathers realized there would be no unified nation unless they gave in to slavery. What were they afraid of?  At that time the United States wasn't really united at all and worked under the Articles of Confederation.  The central government wasn't really a government.  The states truly were independent, and what they feared was if they didn’t unite and become a real nation, they’d become like Europe with its unending wars, and a very real potential of European intervention.  Truthfully, that’s what France wanted as they were ready to set up embassies in each state.

But for Obama to cast aspersions on the Founding Fathers takes real gall. They put their lives on the line, struggled with the revolution, and in the end they accomplished something that was unique in all of the world’s history. What we know as American democratic capitalism has brought more people out of misery and suffering than any other system in world history, ultimately including the descendants of those whose ancestors were slaves.  

And then Obama, who never had a real job, and never accomplished anything that didn’t turn into crap while President, has the nerve to criticize them. 

Race hustlers will always be race hustlers because they're shake down artists and grifters like Jesse Jackson and have nothing else.  So they live by the first rule of the criminal mind:  Never give up the con.  

Update, 8/21/26:  

•  It’s Reparations Season Again, Again - In California, never a slave state, it is reparations season again – again.  As Politico recently noted in a major piece, African-American lawmakers in the Golden State have “narrowed their reparations agenda to a single bill,” following years of “bruising battles” in the legislature. The bill would “require large corporations to disclose (any) historical connections to slavery,” and in fact seems to be the only significant legislation being pushed by California’s Legislative Black Caucus during this term. Akilah Weber Pierson, current Chair of the CLBC, defended the body’s decision “to pursue only one bill this year,” calling it a way to “give that…that priority the best opportunity for success.”.......

Cartoon Roundup: Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

Every Democrat Should Be Asked: What About ‘Woke 1’ Was ‘Crazy’?

   

   

   

  

   

 

    

   

      

What I'm Reading: Russia

By Rich Kozlovich Tags: The World's Nine Orders 

Some of what appears here is from subscription sites and I can't link the information, so, you will just have to take my word for it... or not.... as it please you.

Military Issues 

If you measure how long the Russo/Ukrainian War has gone on starting in 2014 with Russian's annexation of Crimea until now it's lasted 12 years.  But If you count from Putin's Special Military Operation where he invaded Ukraine in February of 2022 it's lasted four and a half years, and it's been devastating to both Ukraine and Russia, but considering the vast difference between Russia's military, population, and economy, the real loser is Russia in my view.  

Russia's demographic pyramid before this war was a mess and it was estimated by 2040 ethnic Russians would be a minority in their own country.  That's no longer true as Putin has devastated the age group that makes the babies, creates an economy, and does the work.  Fifteen years ago Russia believed it has seven defensive positions they must man, but they only had the manpower to man three of them fully.  It seem clear they must not have the manpower for those three now.    

In July alone Russia lost 42,860 soldiers, killed and wounded, with Russia's total casualties amounting to around 1.5 million, and in spite of recruitment efforts, he's running out of soldiers having to use an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans troops adding to the 15,000 N. Korean troops already there to take the place of Russian soldiers who just don't exist, with N. Korea deploying a missile unit in western Russia.  

Putin has become so desperate in recent months, he’s had to lure his countrymen to join the war effort with false promises of “quiet service” — or recruit Africans under similarly deceitful schemes.

According the Zelenskyy (correct spelling by the way) "This is the first time in Russia's history when they no longer have a strategic reserve", and without North Korea Russia is sunk, but that's from Zelenskyy, and his trustworthiness is subject to debate.  Allegedly Putin is now going backwards in equipment and deploying post WWII-era tanks.  I do think that's a reality for Putin as his ability to manufacture military hardware was already in the toilet.  He not only has insufficient man power for his military, he has insufficient man power to fill his needs in factories.   

"Russian President Vladimir Putin signed orders to negotiate amendments to existing military-technical cooperation agreements with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The agreements regulate the supply of weapons and military equipment, the exchange of military products, and the transfer of technology and documentation."

Ukraine was on the receiving end for most of this war but now they've pushed Russian troops back "more than seven miles on the southern front, near the intersection of the Dnipro, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, through small attacks to gradually erode Russian control gradually."  They're also launching long range missile, jet aircraft, and drone attacks deep inside Russia causing serious damage to both military objectives, "an oil depot and and  a state-run aerospace center."

1. Ukraine Attacks Russia’s Samara Industrial Site as Kyiv Ramps Up Long-Range Strikes
2. Ukrainian drone attack on Russian city of Nizhnekamsk kills 12, authorities say 
3. Ukraine, Russia Trade Blows As War of Attrition, Innovation Continues

Update, 8/16/26:  

• Ukraine launches hundreds of drones into Russia in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war - Ukraine launched hundreds of drones across Russia Sunday, killing at least six people in one of Kyiv's largest aerial attacks of the war. Russia's Ministry of Defense said that it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight. Some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third of those destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
• UK-made drones strike targets inside Russia (Note:  I don't subscribe to the BBC so this is all I can post, but I posted the headline for those who do, and truthfully, the headline tells the story. RK)

One thing is clear, no one expected this kind of warfare.  It's been said, "generals always prepare to fight the last war", and that's certainly true in this case.  While before this everyone... including me.... thought if the US left NATO and Russia decided to attack western Europe, nothing could stop them from rushing down the north European plain right into France.  Well, it appears even without US support they'd have failed, and now Putin, who always styled himself as a powerful world shaker has demonstrated to the world's leaders he's an incompetent nitwit.  And he knows it as his strut is gone, and if reports are true, he's scared and living in a bunker.  

Economic and Social Issues

Russia has been the big energy supplier for Europe, China and India, and Russia can't function without that trade and sanctions have had a major impact on them, having to use a "shadow fleet" to avoid western price caps, and even working to created Arctic shipping lanes and wants to develop a rail link to the Indian Ocean to avoid disruptions of traffic via the Bosporus Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.  Which would be massive economic and diplomatic effort dealing with "Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan", and I don't think he's capable of such an effort.  Currently refining bottlenecks have forced Russia to import fuels from other nations.

Russia's energy problem. Belarusian gasoline and diesel fuel exports to Russia reached a record high in July amid fuel shortages driven by repeated Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries. Belarusian gasoline supplies to Russia increased 13 percent last month compared with June, while diesel shipments doubled. To address the shortage, the Russian government on Wednesday adopted a resolution permitting the production, import and release of lower-quality types of gasoline until July 1, 2027.

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region is experiencing a "critical" water supply problem related to disruptions in electricity supplies, the regional governor said. Work is being done around the clock to restore deliveries, Yevhen Balitsky said. His comments come amid escalating Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia.

Russia’s economy has defied the skeptics. Cracks are getting harder to hide  Russia’s wartime economy is still growing, but analysts say the headline data mask deeper strain.  Civilians appear to be feeling the squeeze, with households trading down to cheaper and store-brand foods as real incomes come under pressure.  Analysts do not expect economic stress alone to end the war in Ukraine. Some warn worsening conditions could instead incentivize President Vladimir Putin to escalate it. 

After four-and-a-half years of full-scale war with Ukraine, Russia has become a two-tier economy.“If you are lucky and you’re employed by a tank production company, then everything’s good. Otherwise, you are probably facing problems,” Alex Kolyandr, director for Europe at consulting firm Eurasia Group, told CNBC.

Russia’s wartime economy has been brought into sharper focus in recent weeks by Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks on oil refineries and delivery warehouses. Though it has defied expectations and is even growing slowly, according to recent data, analysts say this masks problems, such as the Kremlin’s reliance on military spending, higher taxes and subsidized bank lending.

Putin's all upset that Germany is participating in French nuclear exercises wanting to know if Germany is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  Ya just gotta see the humor in that.  Putin threatens Ukraine and even European nations with a potential nuclear attack and then is shocked and upset these nations might want their own nuclear deterrent.  There was a time when it was thought Putin really was sharp, but time and circumstances keep making him look like what he really is.  A fool, and one that's in trouble and afraid.  

Other Issues

 Note:  Some of this is being quoted from Geopolitical Futures subscription site and can't be linked. RK

1. Belarus  Military Buildup Is About Survival Minsk is trying to keep pace with its neighbors rising defense spending and protect a long-neglected border.   
2. Russia has threatened Ireland with serious consequences if its armed forces help detain merchant vessels suspected of involvement in Russia's "shadow fleet", Russian Ambassador to Dublin Yuri Filatov said. He made the comment in response to the passage of a bill last month allowing Ireland's military to board ships to prevent violations of sanctions against Russia.
3. Azerbaijan: Very Small, Very Significant - Azerbaijan is a small country in the South Caucasus, a region that was part of the Soviet Union until  most of its constituent parts became independent in 1991. After Vladimir Putin came to power,  Russia tried to retake the region in 2008, first by invading Georgia. The invasion failed, and the Caucasus was left independent of Moscow. 
4. Don't ask me to explain this one as it's beyond me other than perhaps Putin is looking to recruit South Africans as troops.   South Africa and Russia have agreed to defense ties  
5. Russia is in talks with China, India and others about developing Siberia's Angara-Yenisei cluster for deep processing of rare earths, according to Alexander Maslennikov, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council. He said partners were interested despite potential restrictions on access to technology, payment issues and the risk of secondary sanctions.   
6. Zelensky: Russia Providing Iran With Satellite Imagery Of US Bases - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he will share evidence with the United States showing Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. bases in the Middle East via satellite surveillance.  
7. New ideas needed. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the Russia-Ukraine war with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila. After the meeting, in which Lavrov reiterated Moscow's readiness to negotiate on the basis of proposals from last year's U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, Rubio said new ideas were needed.  My Take - I think this is interesting, as now all of a sudden Putin thinks the deal negotiated wasn't so bad after all.  I see Putin as a clueless desperate man running out of people around him he can trust or ideas that will get him out of the mess he created.  RK 
8. According to news sources Trump frequently uses separate phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to try to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. These high-level diplomatic contacts often involve discussions on front-line conditions, potential ceasefires, and upcoming international summits.