Barackface: 15: France

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Grounded Greatness: The Case For Smart Surface Transit In Future Cities
The Garden Of Last Debates (novel)
Deported (novel)
Empty Country (novel)
Trump’s Default: The Mist Of Empire (novel)
The 20% Growth Revolution: Nepal’s Path to Prosperity Through Kalkiism
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade
Trump’s Trade War
Peace For Taiwan Is Possible
Formula For Peace In Ukraine
A 2T Cut
Are We Frozen in Time?: Tech Progress, Social Stagnation
The Last Age of War, The First Age of Peace: Lord Kalki, Prophecies, and the Path to Global Redemption
AOC 2028: : The Future of American Progressivism

Russia launches strikes on Ukraine day after Trump's 50-day peace deal ultimatum
These 5 Trade Issues Could Rattle the Economy. Tune Out the Rest.
Trump orders Australia and Japan to get ready to go to war with China
Opinion: ‘I voted for none of this!’ Were Trump’s voters duped?
Trump's tariffs eroding alliances, pushing partners toward China; Democratic report
Opinion: Trump’s ‘non-security council’ is another ticking time bomb Established by the National Security Act of 1947, along with an independent U.S. Air Force and the CIA ........ On balance, the National Security Council has served the nation well, from dealing with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, breakthroughs to China and an arms agreement with the Soviet Union under Richard Nixon, the historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel under President Jimmy Carter and President George H. W. Bush’s establishment of the international coalition that smashed Saddam Hussein’s army, driving it out of Kuwait. ........ In President Trump’s first term, the National Security Council barely functioned. Two national security advisers were fired. And John Bolton, the third and final survivor, could not have been more critical of Trump’s lack of any formal decision-making process. ............ What has Trump done in his second term with the National Security Council? He fired his first national security adviser, former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), after less than four months in that job — an improvement over Trump’s first term when his then national security adviser, Mike Flynn, lasted 24 days. ........ This is only the second time a secretary of State has also held the national security adviser slot. The first was Henry Kissinger. ....... Whatever his merits, no one would consider Rubio a Kissinger or a Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser. And Kissinger’s deputy, the formidable General Brent Scowcroft, was at the National Security Council until President Gerald Ford named him the national security adviser. .......... The Trump National Security Council has been “restructured.” Given the span of control, no one, not even a Kissinger can conduct both assignments simultaneously. ....... The reason is obvious: Who can be in two places at once? The national security adviser must be in proximity to the president almost constantly. Secretaries of State, by definition, cannot only remain in Washington. ......... As a result, Trump’s National Security Council process has become dysfunctional to the point of uselessness. The war in Ukraine is a case in point. .......... Last week, there were reports that U.S. military aid to Ukraine was being withheld. Despite the headlines, there was no evidence that the National Security Council had reviewed or staffed this decision........... Several stories concluded that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth unilaterally ordered the cutback in aid for defensive missiles and artillery rounds Kyiv desperately needed and did not inform the White House........... This makes no sense unless Hegseth was directed by or misunderstood what the president wanted after a Jan. 30 White House meeting, had a death wish or ventured into a realm for which he was uniquely unqualified. Although anything is possible in this administration............ Asked about the arms holdup, Trump pleaded ignorance. Regardless of whomever was responsible for this incompetence, the national security council process was abandoned for the president’s ad hoc, idiosyncratic and often whimsical approach to decision-making. ......... Next time, this could be catastrophic.

China's AI robotics 'progressing fast', focus turns to robot 'brain' and VLA model: Goldman Sachs
Nvidia Can Sell AI Chip to China Again After CEO Meets Trump

Russia's population crisis is so dire, it's staring down a labor shortage of 11 million people by 2030, a minister told Putin Russia could face a labor shortage of nearly 11 million people by 2030, its labor minister said. ....... Birth rates have plummeted, and labor shortages have worsened because of the war in Ukraine. ....... The demographic crisis is threatening the country's long-term economic stability. .........

Russia is staring down a long-term economic threat that could outlast both the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions: a deepening demographic crisis.

........ Putin has made population growth a national priority, calling it a matter of "ethnic survival" and encouraging women to have as many as eight children. ........ But boosting birth rates isn't Russia's only challenge. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated labor shortages, with battlefield injuries and deaths cutting into the working-age population and a brain drain pulling younger, educated professionals out of the country. ......... Just last month, Russia's economy minister, Maxim Reshetnikov, warned that the country was "on the brink" of a recession.

‘Suddenly, Republicans’ Lead Is Gone’: GOP Pollster Describes How Elon Musk’s America Party Changes Midterms “when it comes to bankrupting” the country “with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.” During an appearance on “The Arena,” Anderson said Musk’s new political project is quietly eroding the GOP’s midterm edge and threatens to siphon off just enough voters to tip the balance in key battlegrounds. ........ “But when we add the America Party in as an option, it doesn‘t do very well. But suddenly Republicans’ lead is gone. Just a couple of points here and there on the edges. But this is a game of inches to try to win the House or hang on to the Senate.” ........ disaffected MAGA voters aren’t likely to back Democrats but could still cause damage by staying home or drifting elsewhere. ......... Anderson’s warning contrasts with what she said in June, when she admitted she’d misjudged President Donald Trump’s appeal to young and minority voters. New Pew Research Center data showed Trump’s 2024 gains with Latinos, Black voters, Asians, and younger Americans. Anderson said it caught her off guard. ............ “The thing that has been the most surprising is someone like me, eight years ago, was completely hair-on-fire that Donald Trump is going to take everything that our party has been doing to try to win over young voters or voters of color, and he is lighting it all on fire and it is going to be unrecoverable,” Anderson said.

Ukrainians unimpressed by Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Putin