Government Betrayal and Lies. Opinion.

 

Observing current events around the globe has become a frustrating game of whack a mole. You believe that you have a handle on a single event, and another issue pops-up. It almost feels intentional, that is, keeping the public distracted with too much information combined with misinformation. Unlike the Russia-gate hoax that legacy media promoted ad nauseum for over four years, and the Hunter Biden laptop story that was suppressed and labeled "Russian disinformation" by US intelligence agencies, possibly influencing the 2020 presidential election, the MAGA movement led by the current president Donald Trump is in disarray, more so split, because of the Jeffery Epstein lies and the reversal on the war in Ukraine.  

Back in April of 2025, I penned an opinion piece on Substack, The US is Captured by a Foreign Entity, see The US is Captured by a Foreign Entity. expounding on Israel and their lobby group, AIPAC, influence on the American government. Since this writing, the behavior of President Trump and his neocon, Zionist cronies, have not only reared their reptilian heads, but are currently howling the same ridiculous talking points justifying the on-going genocide in Gaza. Their current practice is lawfare in the form of censorship, fining, deporting and jailing any pro-Palestinian protester, journalist or writer that raises the issue of genocide. This is not only happening in the US but many western “democracies” around the planet. As I have written many times over the years, censorship is the central tool of dictators and authoritarian regimes.  

The Jeffery Epstein case since his “death” in 2019, has been a major issue for particularly the MAGA movement in the US. Independent journalists and on-line “influencers” within the MAGA brigade have been pounding the table, so to speak, to release the Epstein files. All politicians lie, though Trump promised to “drain the swamp” when returning to office.  Strangely last week, he denied the existence of said files and told his followers to “move on.” This has caused a giant rift in the movement and has put the president in the spotlight.  

The Epstein case is only the tip of the iceberg for the public to understand the deep depravity of our leader's and their corruption. Releasing the names of these elite criminals also opens the door to the identities of those individuals and institutions who truly make the decisions in our democracy.  

Those who have a small grasp of geopolitics know that the war in Ukraine is an American proxy conflict against Russia. President Trump promised to end the war once and for all. It appears now he has folded under the influence of the neocon warmongers in DC and will be sending more weapons to the failed state of Ukraine.  

Following my whack a mole theme, the president has now given Moscow a deadline of 50 days to stop their attacks or else. Because of the administrations 180 on Ukraine, Moscow does not take Trump’s rhetoric seriously anymore, and because they’re winning, will continue the onslaught until the goal is achieved.  

When it comes to the Trump administration, it’s hard to keep up, on what to believe and what not to believe. This has placed a huge strain on the America First agenda.  

The betrayal of the people runs much deeper.  

It has become evident to many that Trump’s America First rhetoric is another lie. Their actions have become crystal clear that Israel is the Trump administrations’ priority. Billions of dollars and weapons go to Israel every year. Israel has universal health care and a subsidized university program. (the US does not) Israel is committing the most horrific genocide this century, and without US money and weapons, this genocide would not have reached the utter devastation it has in the last two years.  

Unfortunately, promises made by this administration are not being fulfilled: draining the swamp of corrupt pedophile politicians, businesspeople and celebrities; ending all foreign wars; transparency in government; and that there is no America First agenda, but only a Israel first agenda as proof by subsidizing the biggest genocide in the 21st century.  

As said, those in charge seem to be in a panic, changing direction on a daily and weekly basis. For those paying attention, you believe you have a handle on one major story for it only to drastically change the next day.  

I despise the game of Whack-a-Mole.  

And may all the good in this universe save us from these idiots. 

Seneca – On the Shortness of Life – Comment.

This volume of work is part of Penguin’s Great Ideas series.  Included here are three letters from Seneca entitled On the Shortness of Life, Consolation to Helvia and On Tranquility of Mind. Many familiar Stoic themes are discussed such as how are we to live? Understanding our true natures, and how reason and morality are areas of existence that we should strive to practice and maintain to live a meaningful life.   

In On the Shortness of Life, Seneca provides his central proposition: 

Human beings including a few great minds complain on the shortness of their lives. Generally, we only begin to figure out the ‘why’ of our existence and purpose, when suddenly it all comes to an end. He writes: 

So it is: we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it. Just as when ample and princely wealth falls to a bad owner it is squandered in a moment, but wealth however modest, if entrusted to a good custodian, increases with use, so our lifetime extends amply if you manage it properly. (P.2) 

How does a person “squander” their lives making it feel like it has passed in a blink of an eye? Seneca provides us with several examples. When a person is “gripped” by insatiable greed. It can also be wasted by the pursuit of “useless” tasks, such as political ambitions, attaining power where you are constantly at the mercy of the judgement of others. Overindulgence in bodily desires, such as wine, expensive foods and a preoccupation with sex. To constantly seek the approval of others, creating a “image” of the everyman, pleasing all the people all the time is to squander one’s life.  

What should we place our attentions on to experience a meaningful life? 

In essence it is to seek and understand the nature of oneself and existence.  

Seneca writes: 

You really should leave the ground and turn your thoughts to these studies. Now while the blood is hot you should make your way with vigor to better things. In this kind of life, you will find much that is worthy your study: the love and practice of the virtues, forgetfullness of the passions, the knowledge of how to live and die, and a life of deep tranquility. (P.31) 

To be mindful of one’s life in the moment and use this time in the pursuit of virtue and understanding our own natures, we can live a long life, no longer afraid of death.  

Personally, I have always had great respect for the Stoics. A philosophy of great ideas that we can put into practice in our everyday lives. These words are not meant to be read once and discarded. We should go back to them time and again to refresh our notions in how to live a meaningful life.  

Seager - Behind the Gates of Gomorrah - a year with the criminally insane. Comment.

 

The notorious NAPA State Forensic Hospital in California for the criminally insane known as Gomorrah, comes to life, almost too life-like, in this, at times, hard to read text by Doctor Stephen Seager.

After the second chapter, Doctor Seager positions himself as a victim; a job he agreed to take on because he and his family are in financial straits. The gratuitous violence is rampant in the hospital, and the good doctor is attacked on his first day though he keeps coming back. Why? Dr. Seager explores these feelings to no, really, rational outcome, apart from a sad altruistic "ideal" explanation he gives, revealing more about the author than the book's subject.

We are given a lesson about mental ill facilities over the last two hundred years. A sad indictment of western values and how we have treated each other over time. For example, in the infamous "Bedlam" hospital in London, during the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the staff would put their worse cases on display in cages, conducting "tours" for the general public and charge a substantial fee. The criminally insane hospitals are a relatively new creation, and those sent there are terribly violent, and no real safety measures are implemented, thus the violent deaths of the hospital's staff from time to time, and no real handling of the perpetrators, that are simply put back in the system.

We also learn:

What is the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath? (There is a difference.)

Why do the Rights of the patient override the Rights of the carer?

It is obvious that our current institutions for the criminal insane are lacking in so many ways, so what can be humanely done about these very dangerous individuals?

Honestly, reading this text was akin to watching a train wreck: wanting to look away, but looking, anyway.

Mental illness has been with us since time began. This little book reveals that society continues to not fully understand the phenomenon. And, more so, productively deal with these violent and lost souls.

A text worth exploring.