“The ancient Greeks told of a proud young hunter called Narcissus, son of a river god and a nymph, famed for his great beauty. His was a cautionary tale, like Icarus with a sharper jawline, and it was from his story the word ’narcissism’ sprang. Centuries later, his namesakes — narcissus flowers — still poke their nodding heads out of the soil every spring, and his character flaws remain just as prevalent among the mortals and self-designated demigods who rule over us now. Pride, cruelty, hubris and ignorance rule the day, but we have no winged Nemesis to restore the cosmic order. Instead, we in the peasantry are consigned to the machinations of a mad king, his scheming courtiers and a cold, preening pretty boy. Handsome, hollow and obsessed with aesthetics, Pete Hegseth, the current secretary of defense, is a modern-day Narcissus.” (10/22/25)
“Of all the countries in Europe, Poland grapples with deep inconsistencies in its approach to both Russia and to Ukraine. As a result, the pro-Europe coalition government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is coming under increasing pressure as the duplicity becomes more evident. In its humanitarian response to Ukraine since the war began in 2022, Poland has undoubtedly been one of the most generous among European countries. Its citizens and NGOs threw open their doors to provide food and shelter to Ukrainian women and children fleeing for safety. By 2023, over 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees had applied for asylum or temporary protection in Poland, with around 1 million still present in Poland today. That of course aligns with Poland’s consistently hawkish line and deep seated mistrust of Russia, dating back to the partition of Poland in 1939 …” (10/22/25)
“Despite being Asia’s oldest continuous democracy, Japan has been far behind the region’s other countries in electing a woman leader. That changed Tuesday when Takaichi Sanae, a conservative in Japan’s long-dominant party, became the nation’s first female prime minister. Despite the ceiling-busting triumph, however, this former drummer in a heavy-metal band got off on the wrong foot with a comment that helps explain why so few Japanese women enter politics or buck a cultural norm that sees women primarily as caregivers. In a speech, Ms. Takaichi asked everyone to ‘work like a horse,’ and then added, ‘I myself will cast aside the idea of ‘work-life balance.’. I’ll work, work, work, work, and work.’ While perseverance is a highly admired trait in Japan … public reaction forced her to clarify that she was speaking only about members of the Liberal Democratic Party like herself.” (10/21/25)
“Pressure is building on Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop his long-shot quest for Gracie Mansion. A stream of prominent Big Apple conservatives — including The Post’s editorial board and Sliwa’s own radio boss, John Catsimatidis — have sagely implored him to step aside and endorse Andrew Cuomo. The absurdity of that sentence underscores the stakes. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s ideas are so backward — and represent such a grave threat to the livelihoods and lives of New Yorkers, and to their city’s moral standing — that an alliance with Cuomo is not just conceivable for many Republicans, but imperative. Polling indicates the former governor is the only one with any chance of sending Mamdani packing — and only if Sliwa drops out.” [editor’s note: Still believe that the only just move is for Cuomo to drop out, and see if that head to head could save the Big Apple from its apparent fate – SAT] [additional editor’s note: It wouldn’t … even if Sliwa won – TLK] (10/21/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Have you ever noticed how whenever you see someone promoting hatred toward Muslims, nine times out of ten it will be someone who supports Israel? There’s a reason for that. Zionists promote Islamophobia because convincing westerners to hate Muslims is easier than convincing them to love Israel. Support for Israel is a hard sell. On paper it’s just a shitty, evil country full of shitty, evil people, and has no redeeming qualities as a state. Nobody can explain how it’s an important ally in a way that makes sense; all the problems they claim it helps solve are problems Israel itself creates with the help of western backing. Unless you’re a devout Jewish Zionist or Christian Zionist there’s nothing about the modern state of Israel you’d naturally be inclined to support.” (10/22/25)
“The government shutdown has focused debate on the vast sum ($136 billion in 2025, as projected by the Congressional Budget Office) that the federal government spends to annually subsize continually skyrocketing Obamacare health insurance premiums. The Wall Street Journal reports that regardless of how that fiscal tug-of-war turns out, health insurance premiums paid by Americans are expected to rise another 8% or 9% next year. The mega-health insurers are leading the charge for more subsidies because this money lands right in their pockets. … In 2024, 11.7 million people, more than one-third of those covered by Obamacare, had no medical claims. They, or taxpayers, paid a lot in premiums — for nothing.” (10/22/25)
“Protesters set a police car on fire and hurled glass bottles at officers in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday night after an illegal migrant was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Irish girl who was in state care. The violence erupted outside the City West Hotel, a sprawling former hotel-turned migrant center where an illegal migrant (who had deportation orders standing against him) is accused of attacking the girl late Sunday night. Irish police, An Garda Síochána, said that six people were arrested during the clashes and one female police officer suffered a foot injury. Police said their officers were subject to ‘sustained attacks’ as they tried to cordon off the building. Nearly 300 police were dispatched to the area in Saggart.” (10/22/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat this week to slap [American buyers of goods from] Colombia with tariffs over its drug policy marked a sharp escalation in his feud with a country that has long been one of Washington’s closest Latin American allies. It was also a rejection of an established idea about countering the narcotics business: that free trade can make legitimate exports more attractive than drug trafficking. Trump’s latest comments marked a new low in relations between Washington and Bogota, which Trump accuses of being complicit in the illicit drug trade. ‘They don’t have a fight against drugs — they make drugs,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Petro has objected to the U.S. military’s strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the extraordinary series of military actions.” (10/22/25)
“When President Donald Trump announced that the CIA had been authorized to conduct operations inside Venezuela, just as US drones struck another small boat off Venezuela’s coast, few people in the United States realized that much of this militarization begins on the soil of a land denied its own sovereignty: Puerto Rico. The island that has lived under US rule since 1898 is once again being used as a staging ground for US militarism, this time for Washington’s latest ‘war on drugs’ narrative, masking a campaign of coercion against Latin America’s independent governments. After invading Puerto Rico in 1898, the United States quickly turned the island into a strategic military outpost: the ‘Gibraltar of the Caribbean,’ with naval bases in Ceiba, Roosevelt Roads, and Vieques designed to dominate the eastern Caribbean and protect the new artery of empire: the Panama Canal.” (10/22/25)
“The U.S. military conducted its eighth strike against an alleged drug vessel, [murdering] two people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday. The Tuesday night strike occurred in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The seven previous strikes all targeted vessels in the Caribbean. According to Hegseth in a social media post, the strike [murdered] two people, bringing the death toll from all the [murders] to at least 34 people. In a brief video released by Hegseth, a small boat, half-filled with brown packages, is seen moving along the water. Several seconds into the video, the boat explodes and is seen floating motionless on the water in flames. In his post, Hegseth took the unusual step of equating the alleged drug traffickers to the group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. ‘Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,’ Hegseth said, adding ‘there will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.'” (10/22/25)
