The MAGA base has entered a new social contract, not with the Constitution but with Trump himself as sovereign, trading liberty and truth for the security of belonging to his camp. The horror is precisely that the destruction of American democracy is being carried out not only by a “madman” but by ordinary functionaries who know better and choose not to act.
Child sex trafficking is not just another societal problem waiting for legislative tinkering or bureaucratic reform. It is a moral outrage—a fundamental rupture in the ethical fabric of our world. The measure of our humanity will be taken not by how we treat the powerful, the wealthy, or the competent, but by how fiercely we protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Today’s podcast guest is Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Previously, he worked as senior Gulf analyst at the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and as codirector of the Kuwait Program on Development, Governance and Globalization in the Gulf States at the London School of Economics.
In this episode, we discuss the still-ongoing war on Iran, the impact the war has had on the Gulf States, Trump’s ability or failure to negotiate an end to the conflict, and whether or not we may see further escalation of the conflict.
Listen now; link in bio.
In my latest podcast episode, I speak with Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public and International Affairs, about the impacts on women that this current Taliban regime has had in Afghanistan. Listen to this and more in my latest episode; link in bio.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has produced yet another grotesque abuse of human dignity. Amnesty International has documented how foreign nationals, particularly from poorer countries, have been lured to Russia with promises of civilian jobs, generous salaries, or citizenship, only to find themselves coerced into military service and sent to the front lines with minimal training. Some had their passports and phones confiscated and were threatened when they tried to leave. This is exploitation of the most vulnerable in its cruelest form. Putin’s government is not merely sacrificing its own people to sustain this devastating war of choice; it is reaching into impoverished communities abroad for more expendable lives. Human beings are not cannon fodder. Those responsible for this trafficking and coercion must be held accountable.
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Is it Russia or Zelensky
Israeli citizen Zelensky has been kidnapping kids by the million to sent them to the meat grinder for years.
U spelled Banderite Ukraine all wrong
During World War II, the Soviet Army had what I would call death squads along with their propaganda ministers that would shoot any retrieving troops. What goes around comes around I guess
Nothing new .. .
STFU and mind your own business Your nothing but a world class bitcher Whine somewhere else
Ha ha, this is laughable knowing Ukraine is grabbing anyone and everyone to fight a war the caused and have not yet realized that they have lost . . . . . badly
lol
you are a clown
Zelenski Nazis kidnapping civilians off the street to send to the frontline!! A million videos out there!!
It's the other way around. It's more like Ukraine. Daahh...
Zelenskyy has been kidnapping people from homes and streets and children to send them on front lines and nobody said anything about grotesque abuse of human dignity..
Utter bullshut, not happening , yet Kiev regime has been grabbing men off the street and sending them to the front for years , The Kiev regime and their stenographers project every lousy thing they do onto the Russians
a piece of garbage is nothing but garbage , putin is one to take to the dump
This message is paid for by stolen NATO taxpayers' money laundered in ukraine
Lmao its ukraine snatching people off the streets..
I'm sure our Republicans are looking into doing this here.
You mean Ukraine, fuck the Israeli intelligence propaganda
.... War is hell! Russia has over 500K dead.
Stupid is, stupid be!
What a load of shite! Lol!
Don’t let it happen again - spreading lies, antisemitism, sending drones into Poland, re-writing the narrative that West is evil - the Irony of which is that Putin has corrupted his country by HIS OWN example. When was the last time he encouraged musicians, artists, singers, writers, painters? YOU CANNOT LIE TO YOURSELF, How has Putin enriched the soul of Russians? Promoting fear limits possibilities of greatness.
Raping and kidnapping children
Hezbollah’s use of cluster munitions against Metula exposes a dangerous reality of the widening Middle East conflict: as escalation intensifies, the distinction between military objectives and civilian areas is increasingly being disregarded. Human Rights Watch documented two such attacks in March, noting that these weapons disperse explosives across wide areas and can leave unexploded bomblets that threaten civilians for years. Hezbollah’s actions must be unequivocally condemned. But accountability cannot depend on which side commits the violation. The same international humanitarian law that binds Israel also binds Hezbollah and every party to this conflict. Selective outrage only weakens the laws designed to protect civilians and perpetuates the cycle of impunity that has devastated this region.
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Between March 18 and the end of August, Iranian authorities executed at least 29 people arrested in connection with January 2026 protests, according to Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. Some were only 18 or 19. Many faced vague national-security charges, rushed proceedings, denial of independent legal counsel, and allegations of torture used to extract “confessions.” Some were executed publicly, while scores more remain at risk. This is more than punishment—it is a message designed to terrorize a population into silence. When protesting can lead to the gallows after proceedings that fail basic standards of justice, repression has reached an extreme level. The international community must urgently press Iran to halt these executions and demand accountability for torture, enforced disappearances, and other serious abuses. Silence now risks allowing executions to become a routine instrument for crushing dissent.
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The MAGA base has entered a new social contract, not with the Constitution but with Trump himself as sovereign, trading liberty and truth for the security of belonging to his camp. The horror is precisely that the destruction of American democracy is being carried out not only by a “madman” but by ordinary functionaries who know better and choose not to act.
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