A few years ago, Javier Milei campaigned with a buzz saw, vowing to cut red tape and saw through government regulations. He promises a balanced budget and tax relief, in a county burdened with a history of left-wing statism alternating with military juntas.

Some American libertarians and conservatives have taken Javier Milei’s anti-government rhetoric at face value, without looking into the character of Milei, or the movement backing him.

Politicians and those who hold government power are notorious for corruption or attempts at corruption. Rhetoric is one way politicians try to distract taxpayers and other victims from the shenanigans they undertake to enrich themselves. Javier Milei has been gifted in his ability to imitate American libertarian rhetoric, sometimes jarringly mixing it with praise of Donald F Trump. Now the veil of rhetoric is pierced by the sharp sword of reality. The Milei regime is facing financial disaster and the Trump regime is preparing a 20 billion US dollar bailout, as reported @ Politico.com https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/25/trump-argentina-milei-bessent-republicans-bailout-00581449

An insider familiar with discussions at the Trump White House about the bailout points out:“Milei is done politically, his sister is corrupt, his finance minister is an insider trader, and they have pissed away $15 billion in IMF money and $15 billion in central bank reserves propping up a crap currency, and now Treasury wants American taxpayers to double down on stupid,” and adds that Milei “was a fraud. Came in, betrayed all the conservatives and libertarians that supported him … it’s all a wash.”

Libertarians and free market conservatives have long hoped for a politician in Asia or Latin America so see that the only hope for third world countries is limited government and free market economics. Javier Milei has played to this hope; he has been unable to implement pro-capitalist reform in the land of Juan Peron. His vision of free market reform found support in the administration of President Biden. Politico notes: In 2023, the Biden administration and lawmakers sympathetic to Milei, who ran on a platform of embracing the United States and pursuing massive cuts to government bureaucracy and bloat, worked to give his then-fledgling government more time to settle debt obligations with the IMF and other creditors.

Regardless of rhetoric about cutting goverment, the Milei regime is another failed statist project. Now is the time to contact your Senator and member of Congress, urge them to vote against any bailout of the corrupt regime in Argentina. Tell them to protect the taxpayers, for a change.

July 15, 2025 7:20 pm CET

By Nicholas Vinocur

BRUSSELS — Russia is increasingly using chemical weapons in Ukraine in an effort to subdue the country by causing as much pain and suffering as possible, Europe’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after a gathering of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, the Estonian politician cited German and Dutch intelligence reports showing that Moscow has used chemical weapons at least 9,000 times since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and was now ramping up their use.

“As the intelligence services are saying this is intensifying, I think it’s [Russia’s use of chemical weapons] of great, great concern,” Kallas said. “It shows that Russia wants to cause as much pain and suffering so that Ukraine would surrender. And, you know, it’s really … unbearable.”

Most countries around the world, including Russia, have signed a 1993 international convention banning the use, production, development or stockpiling of chemical weapons. Russia is one of 65 countries to have not only signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, but also ratified it.

Kallas’ comments add to a growing sense of alarm in EU capitals that Russia is escalating its campaign to subdue Ukraine, unleashing larger and larger nightly attacks by missiles.

Full Post @ Politico https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-increasing-use-chemical-weapons-ukraine-unbearable-says-top-eu-diplomat-kaja-kallas/

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian civilians in the occupied territories have vanished into thin air. These “ghost prisoners” are whisked away by the occupying forces to informal places of detention, where they’re held outside any legal framework and tortured. Some are then transferred to the Russian prison system, where they languish without charges or serve trumped-up sentences. Forbidden Stories and its partners unveil this opaque system designed to break down Ukrainian society.

Key findings

• According to Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, between 16,000 and 20,000 civilians are currently held by the Russians. By definition, counting secret prisoners is nearly impossible, and so far, few authorities have dared to give an exact figure, but we have chosen to retain the ombudsman’s data, which reflect the extent of the situation.
• “Torture chambers” have been set up in the occupied territories since 2022.
• Forbidden Stories has identified 29 Russian detention facilities where torture is systematic, out of the alleged 186 locations where Ukrainian civilians are held.
• Our investigation also reveals details about the authorities at Taganrog, known as “Russia’s Guantanamo.”

Five minutes of continuous blows. “They didn’t even give me time to turn my head. The Russians didn’t say anything. They just kept hitting me.”

By the time the onslaught was over, Vitaliy* had no strength left. His fellow prisoners helped him clean his face, which was coated in blood. After a pause, his jailers returned. They put a bag over his head, lay him on the floor, and tied him up. 

“They connected wires to my legs. I don’t know how long it lasted. They shocked me with electricity,” Vitaliy said calmly, sitting at Puri Chveni, a Georgian restaurant in the city of Zaporizhzhia. He didn’t order anything to eat or drink. The former mechanic remains, if not only physically, an emotionally wounded man. While he remembers the details of his imprisonment, he still has to summon his courage each time he speaks of it out loud.

Vitaliy remembers every detail of the day he was detained: July 27, 2022. On that late summer day, Russians showed up at his service station in the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol. They beat him, asked him whether he knew anyone from the Ukrainian army, and took him away. Vitaliy was first sent to a location known as “the garages”—a vacant industrial premise used by the occupiers to torture Ukrainians—where he was subjected to electric shocks. Vitaliy was then transferred to another detention center with miserable conditions for almost two months. There, he was denied contact with relatives or a lawyer, but ultimately, no charges were brought against him. He was liberated on the evening of September 22, 2022. He has since fled the occupied territories.  

Full report from Forbidden Stories @ https://forbiddenstories.org/russia-disappears-ukrainian-civilians/

One of the justifications for reciprocal tariffs is the claim that other countries are ripping us off. If anyone is getting ripped off, it’s definitely not the United States. As trade has expanded, all countries have gained, but none has benefited more than the United States. 

Measured in nominal dollars, U.S. GDP per capita increased by $55,075 since 1994, a much bigger increase than in any of our major trading partners. After adjusting for inflation, U.S. GDP per capita has grown by $26,000, a 62% increase. 

Real wealth statistics show a similar success story. According to the World Bank, comprehensive wealth per capita in the United States has increased by 22% since 1995. By this measure, we are much wealthier than our major trading partners. 

The record is clear. The United States has not been ripped off, and we are not subsidizing our trading partners. They have benefited, and at the same time, the United States has gotten wealthier. Everyone wins–and we win the most. We should be looking to continue this progress, not blow it up. 

Source:Bryan Riley @ National Taxpayers Union https://www.ntu.org/publications/detail/other-countries-are-not-ripping-us-off-on-trade

The American Booksellers Association was swift to issue a statement in Wednesday’s BTW newsletter condemning Israeli police’s second raid on Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem earlier this week.

The ABA stated, “For the second time in a month, Israeli police have raided the Palestinian-owned Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem. On Tuesday police detained 61-year-old shop owner Imad Muna, whose son Ahmad Muna was detained last month. Books seized in the raid included anything that seemed related to Palestine, such as works by Banksy and Noam Chomsky. The incitement for the raid is being reported as a tip that a visitor to the store ‘had observed books containing inciting content,’ similar to the raid last month in which police cited a children’s coloring book as evidence of ‘terrorism.’ 

Bookselling is not terrorism. Carrying books about Palestine is not terrorism. It is imperative that booksellers around the world stand together to reject politicized raids of bookstores, wherever they occur. ABA once again stands with the Educational Bookshop and demands a cessation of raids and due process for the booksellers.”

Source:https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=5265&oly_enc_id=0684G9264356E1T

(Berlin, February 20, 2025) – Dozens of arrests on the first anniversary of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death are just the tip of the iceberg in the Kremlin’s continued crackdown on his supporters, Human Rights Watch said today.

On February 16, 2025, Russian law enforcement officers detained at least 42 people at gatherings commemorating Navalny on the first anniversary of his death in prison. Throughout the year, the authorities have used their extensive arsenal of repressive tools to try to suppress public outcry and erase Navalny’s political legacy.

“Russia’s notoriously vague and broad anti-extremism law is used to prosecute those who call for free and fair elections, expose corruption, advocate on behalf of political prisoners, or appear to identify as Navalny supporters,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Kremlin sees the exercise of basic human rights as a threat that must be stopped, something Navalny knew well, and for which he paid the price.”

Navalny died in a remote prison in Russia’s far north while serving a 19-year sentence on bogus politically motivated charges. The authorities threw him behind bars in 2021, as soon as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated after surviving a poisoning attempt apparently orchestrated by Russian security services. 

In September 2024, The Insider, a leading Russian investigative media outlet, alleged that his death resulted from another poisoning by government agents. Prison authorities had arbitrarily and repeatedly confined him to various punishment cells and failed to provide him with adequate medical care.

Last week, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation condemned the lack of “credible investigation into his death” and said that “Alexei Navalny’s fate exposes the systematic and widespread repression against peaceful dissenters.”

In the first two days following Navalny’s death, police arbitrarily detained at least 425 people who had been honoring his memory in various regions of the country; another 106 were detained on March 1, 2024, the day of his funeral. One year later, police in major Russian cities again cordoned off local memorials to the victims of political repression, questioned those who came to lay flowers, recorded their personal data, and even arrested some of them.

Full Post @ Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/20/russia-year-after-navalnys-death-supporters-targeted

The bureau of Liberal International is outraged that President Donald Trump has callously prioritised the illegitimate claims of Vladimir Putin’s Russia over the long-standing Euro-Atlantic commitment to Ukraine – secure, peaceful, and whole – ahead of speculated peace negotiations.

As the war in Ukraine is on the verge of entering a new, critical phase, we find it inconceivable that the Trump administration can presume a lasting peace by minimising Ukraine’s voice and attempt to relegate Europe to a peripheral actor in any negotiations to come. President Trump’s comments after his call with President Putin this week demonstrate total disrespect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In addition, the failure to recognize who the aggressor remains a significant error in the statement of President Trump that will have far-reaching consequences.

President Trump’s recent statements and actions beg serious questions about the United States as a dependable ally and many of LI member parties will be reviewing how to address this dramatic deterioration in relations.

We welcome the unity of European nations including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom who, together with Canada, are collectively the largest source of aid to Ukraine. We urge the Trump administration to engage constructively and openly with their European counterparts and to embolden not undermine the transatlantic alliance that has served both continents so effectively for almost eight decades.

On the eve of the Munich security conference, we are convinced the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia will not diminish based on a ‘peace’ settlement in Ukraine brokered primarily by President’s Trump and Putin. That for a region riddled with Russian influence, this act will reverberate farther and embolden the ambitions of autocrats around the world.

Source:The Liberal International @ https://liberal-international.org/news-articles/trump-putin-ukraine-future/

An American was arrested in Russia last week after airport security found cannabis gummies in his luggage.

The 28-year-old man, who arrived from Istanbul, was detained at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport on Feb. 7, according to Russian state media, after a sniffer dog discovered the contraband.

The man — who was not named in state media reports — explained he had been prescribed the gummies by a doctor in the United States. He was taken into custody and charged with drug smuggling, with a potential prison term of five to 10 years as well as a fine of 1 million roubles, which amounts to roughly $11,000.

The Kremlin has arrested numerous Americans on cannabis possession charges in recent years, including basketball star Brittney Griner in 2022.

Griner, who was arrested for possession of a vape containing marijuana oil and sentenced to nine years in prison, was freed in a high-profile prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Another American, schoolteacher Marc Fogel, was arrested for possessing medical marijuana in 2021 and sentenced to 14 years. He was freed earlier this week, this time in exchange for a Russian cybercriminal.

The U.S. said both Griner and Fogel were wrongfully detained.

Western officials have accused Moscow of taking foreigners hostage to use as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps. At least 10 Americans remain in prison in Russia.

Story by Seb Starcevic “@ Politico https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/14/american-detained-in-russia-019107

Researchers went back to check Palestinian casualty reports from October 2023. They found a deadlier month for civilians—and children—than any other chapter of the “war on terror.”

Matthew Petti | 12.13.2024 11:57 AM

How many people in Gaza have been killed by the Israel-Hamas war? For a long time, the only source of information was the Palestinian Ministry of Health. And the accuracy of their death rolls became the subject of a morbid political debate. Is it fair to call the ministry “Hamas-run“? Did they tell the truth about the Ahli Hospital bombing? What to make of the discrepancy between identified and unidentified corpses?

It’s an ethical question not just for Israelis carrying out the war, but also for Americans, who are providing both the funding and weapons that make the war effort possible.

Airwars, a team of conflict researchers affiliated with the University of London, went back and cross-checked the casualty lists from the first 25 days of the Israeli air campaign against news reporting, social media, and other local sources. And unlike the Palestinian ministry, they differentiated between civilians and fighters, using data such as social media funeral notices to determine Hamas affiliation.

The Airwars report, released on Thursday, shows a rate of civilian slaughter “incomparable with any 21st century air campaign. It is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented.” The Palestinian ministry reported 8,525 wartime deaths, including 3,542 children, from October 7, 2023, to October 31, 2023. Airwars was able to verify a minimum of 5,139 civilians killed by Israeli air raids in that timeframe, including at least 1,900 children.

Most of them were not the collateral damage of combat against Hamas. Out of 606 incidents of civilian casualties studied by Airwars, only 26 overlapped with the death of a militant. And in those 26 incidents, the killing was still incredibly lopsided, with 32 militants killed in total, at a cost of 522 civilian lives.

For example, the Israeli military killed Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari on October 31, 2023, by dropping American-made 2,000-lb bunker buster bombs on the Jabalia refugee camp. The attack also killed at least 126 civilians, including 69 children, according to Airwars. “Children were carrying other injured children and running, with grey dust filling the air. Bodies were hanging on the rubble, many of them unrecognized. Some were bleeding and others were burnt,” Palestinian eyewitness Mohammad Al Aswad told CNN at the time.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht called the deaths in Jabalia a “tragedy of war” in a CNN interview. “About the civilians there, we’re doing everything we can to minimize. Sadly they [Hamas] are hiding themselves within the civilian population,” Hecht told CNN. “We’re going to go after every one of these terrorists who was involved in the hideous [October 7, 2023] attack.”

Hamas raided Israeli towns and villages on October 7, 2023, killing 815 civilians, including 36 children, and 380 military personnel. Its fighters shot Israelis and foreigners in their houses, bomb shelters, and music festivals at close range, returning to Gaza with 251 captives, about 96 of whom are still being held hostage. The human rights organization Amnesty International said that Hamas “flagrantly violated international law and displayed a chilling disregard for human life by carrying out cruel and brutal crimes including mass summary killings, hostage-taking, and launching indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel.”

Full Post by Matthew Petti @ Reason https://reason.com/2024/12/13/the-war-in-gaza-is-far-worse-than-you-thought/