[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Friedman cites phony Soros-PLO poll to smear Israel as apartheid pariah state
Nine paragraphs snipped on all the ways in which the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman has been lying since 2002 on the subject of Israel.
The reality is that though Israel has suffered some modest public relations damage—more from China- and Russia-backed social media smear campaigns than from Friedman's fantasizing—the country is not a pariah state. The capital markets and high-tech firms understand this, if Friedman does not. In December 2025, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang announced: "Israel is home to some of the world's most brilliant technologists and has become NVIDIA's second home." Apple just bought an Israeli AI startup, Q.ai, reportedly for nearly $2 billion. An Israeli drone startup is going public at a $1.5 billion valuation. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it, "Our stock market is at an all time high. The shekel versus the dollar is almost at a 30 year high." (The Iranian rial, meanwhile...)
Netanyahu just returned from his seventh in-person meeting with President Trump, more than Trump has had with any other foreign leader. The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to visit Israel from February 25 to 26. The president of the Serb Republic visited Jerusalem on January 28. The prime minister of Albania visited January 26. The president-elect of Honduras visited on January 18. The German interior minister visited January 11 and signed a cybersecurity pact with Israel. Israel welcomed 1.3 million foreign tourists in 2025, even though its skies were closed during much of the 12-day war with Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... in June.
On what evidence does Friedman rest his dire warnings? He writes, "A poll by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, conducted by YouGov in November, found that 51 percent of Republican voters under age 45 said they preferred to support a candidate in the 2028 presidential primary who favored reducing taxpayer-funded weapon transfers to Israel. Only 27 percent favored a candidate who would increase or maintain weapon supplies." This is a crummy poll, because it asked only about Israel, not about Ukraine or Taiwan, and thus doesn't indicate anything about Israel in particular. In fact, when Americans oppose arms for Ukraine, the Friedman types blame the Americans for being isolationist rather than blaming Ukraine or its leaders. It's an anti-Israel double standard.
The other thing Friedman keeps carefully concealed from his readers—as hidden a secret as Olmert's criminal record—is that the "Middle East Understanding Policy Project" is part of the noxious anti-Israel philanthropic-industrial complex. It's an affiliate of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, which has gotten half a million dollars from George Soros ...either Ernst Stavro Blofeld or Auric Goldfinger come true. Maybe both.... 's Open Society Foundations and $405,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, on whose board sits J Street president (and organizational Soros fund recipient) Jeremy Ben-Ami. The Institute for Middle East Understanding's most recent tax filing lists as the group's $138,140 a year "communications director" Diana Buttu, a Harvard division of continuing education faculty member and former PLO legal adviser who recently was scheduled to appear with a Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... official at an event sponsored by Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... 's Al Jazeera.
At this point the Friedman columns are a contrary indicator—each time the Times publishes one, another foreign leader or CEO visits Israel to invest or make a deal, and the Israeli stock market and the shekel soar more. It's enough to make one conclude that the product the Times readers are purchasing with the apartheid-pariah-state narrative isn't a reliable prediction of the future or an accurate picture of the current reality. It's something else—a psychological outlet, validation for their own Bibi Derangement Syndrome ("BDS") or more deeply rooted hatred of Israel or its people (of the sort that shows up in the Times reader comments on Friedman's column, many of which observe that Netanyahu and his government were elected by Israeli voters). Demonizing Israel and its people requires neither originality nor accuracy. It's a function that can be performed even by a fool.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhon is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] War fatigue is a gradual psychological and social exhaustion that develops in individuals and societies during a protracted military conflict. The human psyche is not designed to withstand prolonged exposure to threat (real or perceived).
"War fatigue" is a defense mechanism, an attempt to conserve mental resources. In people not in combat zones, war fatigue manifests itself differently—more diffusely, but no less severely. It is a protective reaction of the psyche to overload.
At first, constant reading of the news, then a sharp avoidance of all news sources, irritation from discussions. A feeling of instability, difficulty with long-term planning, anxiety for children's future. A chronic sense of unpredictability develops. Admission to higher military educational institutions often relies on long-term planning.
A very common, but rarely expressed, symptom: "I have it easier than others—I have no right to complain." This increases internal tension. This is not cruelty—it is psychological self-defense. News loses its impact, empathy declines, and cynicism sets in.
Even without a direct threat, a psychological state of "wait and see" develops. Decisions are postponed, "it's not the time to make plans," a feeling that life is on hold. A person can be safe, have a normal job, without direct losses of family and friends, and still experience severe exhaustion. This is normal during prolonged collective stress. (c) Viktor Murakhovsky
Something like that, yes. People adapt to everything, including war. Of course, you can't live during a war and be free from it. Everyone copes with it differently. In fact, no more or less prolonged war has ever passed without this effect on society. This is in addition to the need for psychological rehabilitation for those who returned from the front and are integrating into civilian life. The state has a lot of work ahead of it.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Malek Dudakov
[REGNUM] A race against time—that's roughly how one could characterize the current strategy of the Donald Trump administration, which is hastily trying to close all its gestalts both domestically and internationally. Deadlines are looming, and this time they are no longer abstract but very real. The active phase of the congressional elections lies ahead. The closer the election day on November 3, 2026, gets, the harder it will be for Trump to push through his agenda on all fronts.
The multilateral talks held in Switzerland epitomized the current rush of the Washington administration. To save time, they decided to hold everything in one place. After all, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is forced to simultaneously communicate on both the Russian-Ukrainian and Iranian tracks. Witkoff is literally stretched thin; US foreign policy currently rests on his shoulders.
Perhaps Trump's close friend and mid-level developer from New Jersey didn't anticipate how long he would have to work in the diplomatic arena. But now there's no turning back. In Switzerland, Witkoff tried to demonstrate at least some progress on all fronts.
Currently, US-Ukrainian relations have already plunged into a full-blown crisis. Kyiv's lobbyists are unwilling to make any concessions, even the most minimal. They're haggling over everything, trying to secure security guarantees even before the conflict ends, all the while complaining that the US is pressuring them. In response to demands for elections, the Kyiv authorities are asking for multi-billion dollar payments and promises to achieve a ceasefire during the election campaign.
They're having to replay the situation, not because they're happy, because things in Ukraine are getting worse. But this is clearly irritating the Americans. They're also being blackmailed by the idea that a total defeat for Kyiv and a collapse of the front would mean political defeat for the Trump administration. And the current US president's approval ratings would plummet, just as we saw with Joe Biden in the summer of 2021 during the American exodus from Afghanistan.
Trump's team has ultimately found itself in a very difficult situation. The White House is forced to once again increase pressure on Kyiv, primarily through anti-corruption investigations. The Ukrainian lobby, meanwhile, is hoping that it will somehow manage to escape the current impasse and "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat," as they say in America, although it's clear to everyone that this has long been unrealistic.
On February 23, Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. This is an annual event held by every American president. It typically celebrates the successes of the past year and announces plans for the near future. Trump is eager to declare at least minimal progress on either the Ukrainian or Iranian tracks. However, this will be quite difficult due to the lack of any.
Many analysts in the US fear that Trump's speech could focus on a militaristic agenda and de facto announce the start of a campaign against Iran. It's no coincidence that he is currently amassing significant military forces in the Middle East—two carrier strike groups, about ten destroyers with hundreds of Tomahawk missiles, and a very large air force. These capabilities are sufficient to carry out a strike. The only problem is that they may not be sufficient if the US fails to achieve a quick victory and the war drags on.
However, the Pentagon has been experiencing serious problems with air defense systems and missiles for them since the twelve-day summer campaign. Defending American military bases will be difficult. And any military casualties will provoke an extremely negative reaction within the United States. Polls already paint a bleak picture for Trump—his approval ratings are falling, and over 70% of Americans oppose confrontation with Iran.
Moreover, Trump no longer has the five to six months of time he used in Venezuela. After all, preparations for the congressional elections begin this spring and summer. And then, starting a war would be extremely risky. Action is needed now—either diplomatically, using force, or militarily. Trump is also under pressure from a series of recent defeats—his capitulation in the fight against migrants in Minnesota and his retreat on the Greenland issue. If things don't work out with Iran, the situation will become even more dire.
However, the White House has finally identified one issue that could be used as leverage against its "sworn friends" among the European elite. This is the issue of NATO reform, which is overseen by the Pentagon's current chief strategist, Elbridge Colby. He has long proposed turning the alliance into a "sleeper" one, reforming its agenda, abandoning further expansion, and reducing US involvement in the bloc's affairs. At the same time, NATO would be forced to pay less attention to issues beyond the scope of pan-European affairs.
The Pentagon will gradually transfer control of logistics, intelligence, and ground operations in the Old World to European militaries. The Americans will retain only a nuclear security umbrella and a naval presence in Europe. The US will also reduce its contingent, possibly to the 50,000-60,000 soldiers it had in the late 2010s. Currently, 1.5 to 2 times that number of American troops are stationed in European countries.
European hawks are taking all this very hard. They're now experiencing a genuine bipolar disorder. On the one hand, they're deeply resentful of the Trump administration and are doing everything they can to demonstrate their independence from the United States. On the other, they fear a real American withdrawal, as that would leave them free to decide their own destiny. They understand that they're truly isolated amid the conflict with Russia and the crisis in relations with the United States.
The July NATO summit in Ankara awaits, where all the contradictions between the Americans and Europeans will be on full display. The situation will be further exacerbated by a series of upcoming elections in Europe, which kick off the 2026–2027 electoral cycle. In April, parliamentary elections in Hungary will take place, with Trump's team supporting Viktor Orbán, while the European bureaucracy supports his main opponent, Péter Magyar. Whoever wins, one side of the transatlantic standoff will be dissatisfied with the outcome.
Europeans will attempt to interfere in US domestic affairs and support the Democratic Party in the November congressional elections. Europe's liberal elites are hoping for a Democratic comeback and a return to some kind of "old normal" that existed before. However, it's clear to everyone that returning to the past is no longer realistic. A possible defeat for Trump's supporters in the midterm elections will exacerbate divisions within the US. But this is unlikely to help Europe, which will still be perceived as a hostile force by the US administration.
So the talks in Geneva were a true synchronization of watches for all participants. It's clear that the general trend toward destabilization in relations will continue. A catharsis in the US-European standoff is still a long way off. But a certain clarity is already beginning to emerge. And clearly outdated concepts like transatlantic unity are now officially a thing of the past.
#2
^The women's US hockey team has already thumped the Canadians. Imagine the furor if the US Men's team wins on Sunday night.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/21/2026 16:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
^ I think it's 8:10AM ET. (5:10AM PST). Already set my alarm. The closing ceremonies are tomorrow night. Then, the Iranian adventures start...?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2026 18:01 Comments ||
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#4
The closing ceremonies are tomorrow night.
A time-on-target strike just as the closing fireworks go off would be a brilliant display of showmanship. Sprinkled with a big helping of "We told you so".
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Viktor Lavrinenko
[REGNUM] In 2022, when tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine poured into the Baltics, local authorities ostentatiously embraced them, declaring "solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian people." However, the initial "love" had long since faded.
For local nationalists, Ukrainians are an irritatingly alien element; for employers, they are human material that can be brutally exploited.
ABUSE OF HELPLESSNESS
At least several dozen Latvian entrepreneurs "unscrupulously" exploited Ukrainian civilians fleeing the fighting, according to the human rights NGO Patvērums Drošā māja (Safe House Shelter).
The State Labor Inspectorate confirms that the number of complaints from third-country nationals, including Ukrainians, is growing in Latvia. Refugees say their employers have failed to pay promised wages, are failing to provide employment contracts, or are otherwise exploiting them, taking advantage of their difficult circumstances.
Latvian Television reports the story of Ukrainian Nikolai. He arrived in Latvia in 2022, still a minor. Nikolai found work in a warehouse, accepting and processing orders and packing goods. "They hired me, but without a contract... They paid me for the first month, but not for the next two," the Ukrainian said.
Moreover, according to human rights activists, this case is quite typical for Ukrainians. "I have the impression that Latvian employers often treat them very unfairly," said Gita Mirushkina, a lawyer with the Safe House Shelter.
In 2025, thirty-eight Ukrainians contacted the organization for assistance with labor law issues. Many, having learned how difficult it is to bring justice to dishonest employers, never returned. The organization helped six Ukrainians prepare lawsuits. For example, one cleaning lady was ordered to work 250-400 hours a month by a businessman who hired her, but then blatantly cheated her out of her money.
"The claim exceeds 11,000 euros. It has been filed in court," notes Mirushkina. However, she cannot guarantee that the court will rule favorably for the Ukrainian woman: the employer's deception still needs to be proven.
The State Labor Inspectorate confirms that they are receiving an increasing number of complaints from Ukrainians. "We see this as an abuse of their helplessness," noted Baiba Šilberga, head of the Riga Regional Labor Inspectorate. She emphasizes that while previously complaints from immigrants were received approximately once a month, now they are receiving several a day.
According to her, most often, complainants come to them after they've been fired. However, proving an employer's dishonesty is much easier if the employment relationship hasn't yet been terminated. "Those who are still working there rarely testify against the employer because they themselves are dependent on them," Shilberga admitted.
"We need to more actively combat such employers. And perhaps not only through administrative means, through the labor inspectorate, but also by using the mechanisms provided for by criminal law," Mirushkina believes.
DO I NEED TO LEARN LATVIAN?
Currently, just over 31,000 Ukrainians with temporary protection status reside in Latvia.
Most people live there not because they've fallen in love with the country and its customs, but because they haven't found anything better at the moment. They typically dream of a Western European country—and they rush there as soon as they see a chance to "get a foothold."
Every month, approximately 500–600 refugees from Ukraine arrive in the republic, and a similar number leave, seeking their fortunes in more prosperous EU countries. This year, compared to the previous year, state support for these individuals has decreased by approximately 40%—from the previous 65 million euros to just under 40 million. This has led to a reduction in benefit levels.
The authorities emphasize that Latvia doesn't have the funds to support Ukrainians at the current level. "Right now, this is the maximum the government can provide," explains Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis.
The problems of Ukrainians in Latvia are exacerbated by the country's strict language laws. Soon after the refugees began finding work, Latvians began filing complaints against them to the State Language Centre. Some have experienced serious problems as a result.
It's worth noting that, effective January 1, 2026, important changes came into effect for Ukrainian citizens with temporary protection status in Latvia. These changes include a requirement to attain level A2 Latvian (a basic level that allows communication in simple, predictable situations). This must be achieved within two years.
The government has allocated 3.2 million euros for language courses for Ukrainians in 2026. The news was hotly debated in the "Ukrainians in Riga" social media group.
Some of the refugees sincerely believe that time spent learning Latvian is wasted, especially if their work does not require direct communication with clients.
Riga, despite the recent intensifying persecution of the Russian language, still remains largely Russian-speaking. Ukrainians believe that Russian is quite sufficient for them. One Ukrainian woman writes: "I know they'll throw stones at me, but why the hell should I learn the language of a country where I'm temporarily staying and which is spoken by no more than two million people?" She believes that Latvians should be content with the fact that she pays taxes in Latvia.
However, other refugees began to object to this approach: they said it was unknown how things would turn out, how long they would be stuck in Latvia, so they needed to learn the language.
However, Ukrainians no longer consider themselves guests in Latvia, since, in their words, they "work hard," pay taxes, and some are even trying to start their own businesses, supporting the local sagging economy.
Some complain: benefits are small, state assistance is negligible, and free Latvian language courses force them to memorize useless stories "about the weather and fishing." These complaints have predictably irritated locals: "We have a Latvia full of Ukrainian men of draft age. Instead of defending Ukraine, they're sitting here in Latvia on welfare payments and even trying to assert their rights."
THE UTOPIA OF THE "NATION STATE"
More than 70,000 Ukrainians currently live in Lithuania. Local authorities are also reducing state support for these newcomers, but they continue to report on how well they have integrated into local life.
Indeed, Ukrainians in Lithuania have found employment in a wide variety of industries. However, they also regularly encounter dishonest employers, and even outright contempt. This is because many Balts sincerely view the Ukrainians who arrived as "cowards," "deserters," and "shirkers" unwilling to defend their homeland.
In recent days, a recording made by a truck driver blogger has been circulating on social media. He posted a recording of a conversation between the owner of a Lithuanian company and his two drivers: one Ukrainian, and the other, apparently, a fugitive "zmagar" from Belarus. The Lithuanian "master" demanded that the drivers work tirelessly for him: "No need to sleep—keep driving," he said, and if they give you a fine, that's your problem."
The Ukrainian was the first to get into trouble: "You're my slave, work. I'm the slave owner, understand?" the Lithuanian taunted, rudely sending his interlocutor off. Next came the Belarusian citizen. The Lithuanian sent him on the same route. "I'll cancel all your residence permits, and you won't even be able to enter Europe!" was how he scolded the Belarusian.
As of early 2026, there were approximately 35,000 Ukrainian refugees in Estonia. And their lives there are far from rosy. This is evidenced by the latest news published by Postimees on February 18: a 52-year-old Ukrainian woman, who had been living and working in Estonia for just under a year, was fined €2,200 "without legal grounds," as local authorities found. She was also ordered to leave the country and banned from entering Estonia for three years.
The attitude of the authorities and public in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania toward Ukrainians is influenced by the fact that these countries have officially adopted a course toward building ethnically homogeneous, mono-national states.
However, this requires somehow "digesting" the numerous non-Russian elements. Historically, the Baltics have had a large Russian population, and the local states, after gaining independence from the USSR in 1991, began making enormous efforts to rid themselves of these communities. They are attempting to assimilate them, forcing them to completely renounce their national identity, and those who do not agree to this must, according to nationalists, leave.
In this regard, the arrival of large numbers of Ukrainian citizens in the Baltics was a huge disappointment for local nationalists. They soon realized that the newcomers were, for the most part, Russian-speaking. And they were far from eager to die for the Bandera regime. At the same time, by their arrival, the Ukrainians were delaying the fulfillment of the dream of "Estonia for Estonians," "Latvia for Latvians," and "Lithuania for Lithuanians."
On the other hand, all of these countries are experiencing a severe demographic crisis – since 2004, large numbers of people have moved to other EU countries, and birth rates are breaking new records every year.
The region is experiencing a growing labor shortage, which local businessmen are already addressing by importing Asians willing to work. And compared to the Asians, Ukrainians still look preferable—they're less culturally and mentally distant from the Baltics. This, however, doesn't save them from insults.
Sober-minded people have long been warning Baltic nationalists that they will have to abandon their dreams of "ethnically pure" countries. Resentment against "foreigners" and all sorts of discriminatory measures will not help, as Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians have long been incapable of sustaining their own reproduction.
[Chick Publications] There’s something about Israel that doesn’t fit the usual script of how nations rise and sustain themselves. With a population around 10 million people — barely the size of a mid-sized American city — this small country exerts outsized influence in technology, agriculture, defense, and global innovation.
Unlike oil-rich countries or massive economies, Israel has limited natural resources. It sports little in the way of strategic raw materials, and its land is significantly arid. Despite this, Israel’s economy is highly developed and technologically advanced, with an output that ranks among the highest per person globally.
How does a desert nation — surrounded by geopolitical tensions — thrive?
TURNING DESERT INTO FRUITFUL GROUND
One of the most striking examples of Israel’s productive transformation is its water technology and agriculture. Nearly 60–80 % of the country’s drinking water now comes from desalination plants, and Israel recycles and reuses far more water than almost any other nation.
The nation has even exported water-management know-how and irrigation systems to neighboring countries. The modern technique of drip irrigation, developed in Israel, has reshaped farming across water-scarce regions worldwide.
In a land where much of the terrain once looked inhospitable, orchards, vineyards, and green fields now flourish — a result of decades of focused innovation.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
