If at First You Don't Succeed . . .

Convicted felon Donal Trump is trying yet again.  In the midst of diplomatic talks ( ), the Trump administration (in cahoots with Israel) launched an attack on cities across Iran.  The major assault threatened a broader regional conflict, with President Trump vowing to devastate the country’s military, eliminate its nuclear program and bring about a change in its government. Iran and the United States had been engaged a series of indirect talks over Tehran’s nuclear program in recent weeks but failed to reach a compromise that could have staved off American strikes. The most recent talks were held on Thursday when senior U.S. and Iranian officials gathered for a seemingly decisive round of negotiations in Switzerland.  Regarding those talks, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi said that the most recent round of negotiations ended with an agreement on a “set of guiding principles.” 

Waves of large explosions shook the Iranian capital, Tehran, starting around 9 a.m. local time (1 a.m. EST) and witnesses described chaos in the streets as people rushed to seek shelter, find loved ones or flee the city. Israel admitted that it had, in part, targeted a gathering of senior Iranian officials in the opening strikes. 

As they made their public case for another American military campaign against Iran, President Trump and his aides asserted that Iran had restarted its nuclear program, had enough available nuclear material to build a bomb within days and was developing long-range missiles that will soon be capable of hitting the United States.

All three of these claims are either false or unproven.  American and European government officials, international weapons monitoring groups and reports from American intelligence agencies give a far different picture of the urgency of the Iran threat. Iran has taken steps to dig out the nuclear facilities hit during strikes last June, and it has resumed work at some sites long known to American spy agencies. But the officials said that there isn’t evidence that Iran has made active efforts to resume enriching uranium or trying to build a mechanism to detonate a bomb.  The stockpiles of uranium that Iran has already enriched remain buried after last year’s strikes, making it nearly impossible for Iran to build a bomb “within days.”  Even though Iran has a large arsenal of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israel and American military bases in the Middle East, American intelligence agencies believe Iran is probably years away from having missiles that can hit the United States.   

The U.S. Agency for Global Media said it had “significantly expanded” Voice of America’s Persian-language service in recent months and was broadcasting Trump’s speech announcing today’s attack “to the brave people of Iran across every available platform, including satellite.”  The U.S. government’s overall messaging to the Iranian people was muddled. There was no additional information on how Iranian soldiers and police officers were supposed to carry out Trump’s demand that they surrender. And it was unclear how deeply Voice of America and other U.S.-funded media would be able to cover the war in the wake of last year’s extensive cuts. 

Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said there were currently no back-channel negotiations taking place in an effort to end the war with the United States and Israel. “If the Americans want to talk to us, they know how they can contact me,” Araghchi said in an interview on NBC News.  Araghchi added that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and Masoud Pezeshkian, the president, were still alive “as far as I know.” When asked about President Trump’s call for Iranians to overthrow the government, Araghchi dismissively labeled it: “Mission Impossible.” 

Analysts warned that the fighting could easily devolve into a protracted war with no clear exit. Many world leaders urged restraint, although Canada and Australia backed the American campaign against Iran.  The Pumpkin Putin suggested that the conflict might end with Iranians rising up against their own authoritarian government after the American assault. “It will be yours to take,” Trump said, speaking to the Iranian public. “This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

 

Mumford & Sons - The Banjo Song

BBC and BAFTA in Hot Water Over Their Bigotry

At the BAFTA Awards over the weekend, one of the nominated movies was a biographical film of John Davidson, who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. Tourette's is a disorder characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal tic.  Approximately10-15% of people with Tourette's experience vocal tics like coprolalia, which is the involuntary, uncontrollable outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate phrases.  There is no cure for Tourette's, there is no single most effective medication, and no one medication effectively treats all symptoms.   

Naturally enough, John Davidson himself attended the awards ceremony and could be heard shouting various expletives, due to his Tourette’s.  When "Sinners" stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage to present an award, Davidson shouted out the "n-word" which was picked up by nearby audience microphones and was also heard on the broadcast, which was on a 2-hour delay.  25 minutes later, Davidson left the auditorium.  

The BAFTA organization was aware that Davidson was going to attend the ceremony and later admitted that they met to discuss what might happen were he to swear during the broadcast. Despite these efforts (if we are to believe they took place) they took no precautions to seat Davidson away from live microphones that could pick up his outbursts.  The ceremony was on a 2-hour broadcast delay, and the BBC had ample opportunity to "bleep" out the racial slur.  After the ceremony was broadcast, it was made available for streaming for 15 hours before public outrage forced the BBC to take it down.  To make matters worse for the BBC, they did take advantage of the 2-hour delay to edit out award winner Akinola Davies Jr.'s  mention of "free Palestine" in his acceptance speech.

The fallout has been major.  The BBC has been widely criticized for leaving up a version of the ceremony on its streaming platform (in which the racial slur was audible) for over 15 hours before it was taken down. The broadcaster has also been criticized for failing to edit out the racial slur, while it did edit Davies Jr.’s speech, including a part where he says “free Palestine.”

British actor Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù shared a lengthy statement on social media, criticizing what he described as the “institutional racism” behind the BBC’s decision to edit Davies Jr.’s BAFTA speech but not Davidson’s involuntary slur.  

“On a night of incredible joy and celebration, not only of our film but many other wonderful artists, especially black artists, this is the biggest talking point walking away from the evening,” Dìrísù wrote in the statement. “I didn’t want to fuel the discourse about it, but like Vinícius Júnior, racism, bigotry, and injustice have to be exposed and shouted from the rooftops.”  (last week, Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior reported racist abuse during a game against Portuguese team Benfica). 

Dìrísù continued: “That the BBC found wonderfully creative ways to censor Akinola’s beautiful speech about inclusivity and justice and freedom, but were comfortable and actively made the decision to broadcast a message of hate and intolerance shows where its priorities lie.” 

Dìrísù added he is not “ignorant” to how “institutionally racist the UK, the industry, or the BBC are and continues to prove themselves to be.” But he said the actions still hurt when “it’s thrown in your face in front of the world.” 

The Gangs of London actor ended his statement by commending Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, whom he described as “gracious, dignified, and defiant.”  Dìrísù said he is looking forward to a [BBC] apology and repercussion, but he wasn't holding his breath.  Neither am I, frankly.

 

A Real Disaster

 

Meanwhile, Back at the Office . . .

Taxpayers Pay for Keystone Kash Boondoggle in Milan

FBI Spokesman Ben Williamson spent days trying to discredit reports by MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian and others who reported Patel would be attending the Winter Olympics in Milan.  “Your rag outlet wrote that [Patel] went to hang out at the Olympics on the taxpayer dime – even when provided information that your theory was false. When you’re ready to correct that let me know. Won’t hold my breath,” Williamson posted on social media in response to a reporter.

But social media junkie Keystone Kash himself made a liar out of the FBI spokesman, when he posted pictures of himself in Milan, pathetically celebrating with the USA men's hockey team.  Even Steve Baker, reporter for the pro-Trump outlet The Blaze called out Patel’s spokesman, writing, “Ummm…what was that you said, @_WilliamsonBen?”

Reporters and social media users immediately began calling out Patel's "meetings with law enforcement" as the lamest of cover stories, and immediately began asking how much taxpayer money was spent on the boondoggle. Patel is not related to anyone on the team, and is not a donor or supporter of USA Hockey organization.  It is believed that he used his political position to force his way into the locker room.

Plenty of critics piled on to accuse the FBI director of wasting taxpayer money when they felt Patel should have been solving crimes in the U.S. The FBI’s highest profile case currently is weeks-old disappearance of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie's mother Nancy.  During Patel's shenanigans, a would-be assailant was shot dead on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.  At the same time, global tensions are increasing because Trump has been threatening military action against Iran. Such an attack could lead to violence against U.S. citizens via retaliation in the form of terrorism or other means.  On top of all that, Americans living in Mexico were being warned by the federal government to shelter in place in response to increased drug gang violence after the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed by the Mexican army. 

But Keystone Kash has to get in his party time!  Patel has previously come under fire for using the FBI’s private jet to attend a wrestling event, and to see his country singer girlfriend perform at State College, PA. Patel also provided her with government security.  To make things worse for "KK" Patel, critics dug up a 2023 quote from the pint-sized showboat, who (at the time) criticized the FBI Director's use of jets: “I’m just saying [FBI Director] Chris Wray doesn’t need a government funded G5 jet to go to vacations. Maybe we ground that plane. $15,000 every time it takes off. Just a thought.”

Observers point out that the office of the FBI Director carries symbolic weight and that perception shapes how power is received. The FBI director does not operate as a personality. And yet Patel seems more committed to acting like a wannabe Instagram influencer than the nation’s top cop. 

 

Trump Shows Off His Grade-School United Nations

President Donald Trump held his first meeting of his “Board of Peace” this week, and the event was most notable for the absence of major world powers and highlighted Trump’s inability to lead on the global stage.

The group of world leaders included figures who have been close to Trump, including Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán and Argentina’s Javier Milei—who Trump has spent billions bailing out.  More importantly, major world powers like the United Kingdom, France, and Norway were absent. Additionally, the Vatican did not attend Trump’s event. Cardinal Pietro Parolin of the Vatican said in remarks on Tuesday that the main issue the “Board of Peace” had ostensibly assembled to discuss, the future of Gaza, was an issue for the United Nations.  “One concern is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted,” Parolin said.  The world leaders that did choose to attend were forced to stand around with Trump for a photo op accompanied by music from Guns N’ Roses.

Contrary to the event's objective for world peace, Trump threatened military action against Iran in his remarks, noting, “You’re going to be finding out probably over the next 10 days.”  Trump also forgot the names of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in his remarks, flogged his wife’s poorly reviewed movie, and once again complained about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump named himself chairman for life of the “Board of Peace” but failed to outline who would lead the organization after his term as president is over. Also member states are given a three-year membership (for free), but are encouraged to contribute $1 billion within the first year for permanent membership. Details are of course unclear on where that money would go and Trump has a long history of corruption and financial impropriety.

Currently the “Board of Peace” is housed in the former location of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a building which Trump illegally had renamed after himself (as he did with the Kennedy Center.) And despite the fate of Gaza purportedly being central to the board, it has no Palestinian representation. 

In reality, the “Board of Peace” is widely regarded as a vehicle for Trump to avoid the United Nations, where he has consistently given poorly received speeches that failed to rally international support to his positions. Trump’s most notable U.N.-related moments have had more to do with ranting about malfunctioning escalators than achieving international cooperation.  Trump cannot even work productively alongside regional partners like Canada and Mexico—but he thinks his pathetic “Board of Peace” can supplant the U.N. Fat chance!