Trump in DC and the Mullahs in Iran violate every step on the Noble Eightfold Path every day, but believe that karma doesn't apply to them, that they can enact vengeance on anybody. We are nowhere near any sort of resolution of the kidnappings or the massive protests. What do we think we know?
As I was writing this, the thuggish Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, kidnapped from Caracas, had landed at a National Guard airport in New York, and been transported to a holding center in Brooklyn, awaiting his arraignment on “drug terrorism” charges, presumably on Monday morning. Meanwhile, millions were marching in Iran against despotism, and against financial and environmental catastrophes.
I was at an anti-Trump event in Urbana, Illinois yesterday, protesting against his actions in Venezuela. The organizer, Dylan Blaha, is running for Congress.
Illinois leaders, communities react after U.S. operation in Venezuela
National Guard Captain campaigning for Congress in IL-13 against Budzinski
The Indictment
Oops. Oh, well, not to worry, Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO).
My apologies for showing IT’s face.
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Countries that Donald Trump, the dangerous fool who thinks he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, has illegally bombed:
Iran.
Nigeria.
Afghanistan.
Iraq.
Libya.
Pakistan.
Somalia.
Syria.
Yemen.
Venezuela.
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) January 3, 2026 at 1:48 PM
There are more than a dozen of these scenes of protest in Iran posted on Bluesky. Protestors have trashed militia buildings and equipment, flouted morality police orders, and pushed forward even when shot at. We don’t know how many protestors have died, only that varying numbers are claimed, and it isn’t 0.
The Crisis
[In Swedish] Tehran has about the same number of inhabitants as Sweden.
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"Iran’s president has claimed Iran has no choice but to move its capital from Tehran to the south of the country due to the city’s over-expansion, the lack of adequate water supplies and the growing threat of subsidence."
Teheran har ungefär lika många invånare som Sverige.
[image or embed]
— Johan Jönsson (@johanj.bsky.social) November 21, 2025 at 9:47 AM
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I’m thinking this morning about all the people I spoke to last year who were absolutely convinced, and tried to convince me, that Trump would be antiwar compared to Biden and Harris.
In the past week alone he has attacked Nigeria and then Venezuela and also threatened to attack Iran (again).
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social) January 3, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Snarkaliciousness
No, not The Onion. Better.
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Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
— James Ball (@jamesrball.com) January 3, 2026 at 4:52 AM
Where to Find Me
- Monday, The Pushback Chronicles
- Tuesday, Renewable Tuesday, with disasters and denial
- Wednesday, Diabetes News, including spammers and quackery
- Thursday, The Best of the Best, with much of what I used to put into GNRs
- Friday, Renewable Friday, with disasters and denial
- Saturday, my day off from DK posting, maybe
- Sunday, the koan of karma in This Suffering World
