The KGB was reputed to favor a characteristic test to take the measure of a man: Place him in a deliberately trying situation and observe how he responds. The premise was deceptively simple: Under acute pressure even a carefully composed façade would collapse, and true nature would stand revealed.

Prof. Schlevogt’s Compass No. 46: Dirty work by proxy – The ethics of the Kanzler’s outsourced war
Across civilizations, ethics converge: Power without restraint is tyranny. The war on Iran is the latest proof.

Mars is the sternest examiner of would-be statesmen. Although truth is famously said to be war’s first casualty, it nevertheless prevails in one decisive respect: It reveals character.

The facility where detained Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has been taken is a notorious New York jail that has held a string of high-profile and celebrity criminals, from drug cartel leaders to hip-hop stars.

From the outside, the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) looks like a series of beige multi-storey office buildings.

For those on the inside, it's been described as "hell on earth".

Retired Gen. Charles Wald had a word for it.

“One glitch with a girls’ school,” he told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, “which was really sad.”

When religion is fused with ambition and power, it becomes a tool of division and social exhaustion, writes Mohamed Elbaikam. 

FAITH IS MEANT to be a private moral bond between human beings and God. But when it is fused with ambition, fear and power, it becomes a language of division that leaves societies morally exhausted.

My grandmother used to scatter sugar for ants, so that life could continue.

Israel’s Foreign Minister praised Penny Wong for Australia’s Iran War stance, urged other states to pursue Queensland’s speech bans in Zionist leaders briefing. Stephanie Tran reports. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Australia for expressing the “right positions” on the US-Israeli war with Iran in a conversation with Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong.

Sa’ar made the remarks during a Zoom briefing on Sunday evening hosted by Jeremy Leibler, the president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, according to a transcript obtained by MWM.

The Israeli minister said he had spoken with Wong twice over the past week and, despite “deep disagreements with regard to the Palestinian issue”, praised Australia’s position on the conflict with Iran.

While NATO bombs were still falling on Tripoli in the summer of 2011, a different kind of predator was circling the Libyan capital from the safety of a Manhattan townhouse. Newly released 2026 US Department of Justice documents reveal that Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and alleged Israeli intelligence asset, was also a geopolitical vulture looking to feast on the remains of the Libyan state.

Forget the island: Jeffrey Epstein’s secret war for Libya’s billions

New DOJ documents expose a 2011 plan by Epstein and former intelligence operatives to seize $70 billion in frozen Libyan assets

For almost two weeks now, the US and Israel have been waging war on Iran. What Washington initially presented as a military campaign that would swiftly alter the strategic balance and put Tehran in a vulnerable position has proven to be far more complex. Over the past months, the White House has maintained that Iran could be on the brink of total defeat by the end of the first, or at most, the second day of a conflict. Apparently, the American side expected a rapid dismantling of Iran’s capabilities and a serious destabilization of its government. However, recent developments tell a different story.

Iran war reality check: Why the US miscalculated Tehran’s political resilience

America tried to break Tehran; instead, it exposed its own miscalculation

In full-page statements in the national media today, 19 Australian security practitioners and former Defence leaders have published an Open Letter on why Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels is a critical economic and security vulnerability.

Ian Dunlop,  David Spratt

Daniel Davis talks about United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Israel and the Iran war with Ana Kasparian on The Young Turks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYQGl1sy4c&t=699s

======================

Tulsi Gabbard Wanted a Promoter of Pro-Putin Commentators to Be Her Deputy

But Daniel Davis’ appointment was killed because of his criticisms of Israel.

BY DAVID CORN

We just got one heck of an Epstein files update. We know that state law enforcement authorities in New Mexico are now investigating Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro ranch. That is the scene of allegations of horrific crimes by Epstein, Maxwell, and others, and it's good that the New Mexico law-enforcement authorities are investigating.

But the obvious question is: why wasn't the Zorro ranch searched by law-enforcement authorities when they searched Epstein's home in New York, when they searched his home in Florida, when they searched his home on his infamous island?

Well, we now know the answer to that question - why didn't they search the Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

Donald Trump's Department of Justice told the New Mexico law enforcement authorities to halt there investigation!

This video takes on this dramatic and deeply troubling new revelation.

A US military investigation has determined that a US Tomahawk missile struck an Iranian girls' school because of a targeting mistake, The New York Times has reported.

The newspaper, citing US officials, said the investigation into the February 28 attack was ongoing but preliminary findings were that the United States was responsible.

Deploying an RAAF Wedgetail to West Asia risks making Australia a co-belligerent in the US-Israel war against Iran while exposing the country to serious strategic and economic consequences.

Surprising no-one, the Prime Minister has announced the deployment of a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail and associated operational and logistic support capabilities to West Asia. As noted by the Air Force, the Wedgetail has the “ability to coordinate a joint air, sea and land battle in real time.”

Cameron Leckie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yyABZnjATM&t=309s

Ryan and Emily discuss Bill Maher praising the war in Iran.

Well, to make a long story short, Bill Maher is Jewish!

Since Bill Maher's mother is Jewish, and in Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, those with a Jewish mother (or those who underwent a halakhic conversion) are considered Jewish, then that makes him Jewish. His father is not Jewish.

Bill Maher (whose full birth name is William Maher, Jr.) was born on January 20, 1956 in New York, New York, U.S..

ALTHOUGH OFFICIALLY A VICTIM OF THE WAR BETWEEN IRAN AND THE REST OF THE WORLD [APART FROM CHINA, RUSSIA AND A FEW MINNOWS] SAUDI ARABIA WAS ONE OF THE MAIN INSTIGATOR OF THE CONFLICT.

ACCORDING TO THE "ARTIFINTEL [AI] GUY ON YOOTOOBE" (SEE: MbS's trap....), THE LITTLE NASTY PRINCE WHO [IS BELIEVED TO HAVE] ORDERED THE MURDER OF JOURNALIST KHASHOGGI HAS BEEN PLAYING ALL SIDES OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND AMERICA [AND CHINA] FOR FOOLS IN A WAY THAT MAKES MACHIAVELLI LOOK LIKE AN ANGELIC CHOIR BOY.

Here we go:

— The Saudis needed to eliminate their main rival in the region...

— They cannot do this overtly....