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Barely 3 weeks old, the 'Memorandum of Understanding' between the US and Iran appears to have come to an end. The US military is targeting Iranian military and civilian sites daily, while Iran is attacking US bases and other assets across the Middle East. That this is occurring at the same time that Russia's energy exports suffer significantly due to 'Ukrainian' drone waves means the immediate, short-term winner is... American energy companies. Trump wants this of course, and is mindful of...

Two high-profile deaths of politicians in three days - one in the US and one in the UK - has the internet guessing as to what happened to US Senator Lindsey Graham, along with former Tory and British Reform party member Ann Widdecombe. Graham dropped dead 'after returning from his 10th visit to Ukraine', and Widdecombe was brutally murdered in her home and the suspect(s) is at large. The latter was a rare voice of reason in British politics, but the former most certainly will not be missed...

On this episode we discuss Dr. Karen Mitchell's new book Human Predators and her research on harmful people across settings such as business, law, medicine, media, religion, and politics. She argues that predators outside prison are common, often act covertly through emotional and social abuse, and share similar traits and tactics regardless of labels like narcissist or psychopath. We also discuss her view that the DSM can blur distinctions between predators and traumatized victims,...

On the surface, the USA is thriving and a "light unto the world", as Trump recited in his speeches marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. But is this 'national mythos' still valid? Was it ever? Does the US live up to its claims of uniqueness with respect to 'freedom' and 'democracy'? If not, what is this exceptional nation's 'chief feature'? Excess? By extreme contrast, the country the US arguably just lost a war against, Iran, is undergoing...

One week into the 'Peace Deal', the US and Iran are back to taking potshots at each other - both online and ballistically - over control of shipping through the strait of Hormuz. And, for all their recent criticism of Israel, US leaders this week gave Netanyahu something of a 'win' in Lebanon: a crooked deal between them and the official Lebanese leadership that sees the IDF withdraw from most of southern Lebanon, but permits it indefinite occupation of two 'security pockets', ostensibly to...

So Trump and Iran's president have at last come to terms, jointly signing a Memorandum of Understanding that 'solidifies', if that's not too strong a word, the de facto ceasefire between the US and Iran that stretches back some 16 weeks. It's the shakiest of peace deals, not least because key issues like charging shipping tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz have been 'kicked down the road' for two months, but most are surprised to see the US accept the first of the document's 14...

The seemingly endless 'negotiations' between the Trump White House and Tehran made a breakthrough last week, when, for the first time since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, Iranian leaders signalled that a preliminary 'peace deal' is indeed within reach... until Israel nixed it by launching airstrikes into downtown Beirut. In the meantime the World Cup is underway, and the US, as one of the host countries, understands that the importance of 'summer games' to the masses means...

Ukraine's drone waves continue hitting Russia, last week targeting St Petersburg right as its annual 'Russian Davos' forum opened, Azerbaijani grain ships in the Sea of Azov, and the nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye. The Ukrainian puppet regime, egged on as ever by the Western Consortium that runs it, is feeling invincible, but its days are surely numbered. Meanwhile the American side of the 'US-rael partnership' is showing rare signs of unease over their pact, with anonymous Pentagon...

The US government continues dragging out terms of settlement with Iran, Israel continues invading, occupying and ethnically cleansing southern Lebanon and Gaza, and the Trump White House continues playing 'MAGA Greatest Hits' to its base. Their detachment from reality is becoming more palpable - and unsustainable, surely? - by the day... Running Time: 01:40:15 Download: MP3 — 138 MB

Another 'TACO Tuesday' came and went... by Thursday the US military was again 'locked and loaded' for another go at Iran... and by Saturday evening Trump was dangling another peace deal - 'for realz this time'. As American diplomacy erratically yo-yo's, in the real world, some oil tankers are once more sailing the Strait of Hormuz, but now on Iran's terms. War is a cynical business, a 'racket', as US General Smedley Butler said a century ago. Wars begin because they're profitable, and only...